The mountain tops and the valleys.......



Clearwater Beach

Once again, thank you for your prayers and specially for those of you who prayed for the team that came from Midtown in March.  There is nothing sweeter than having fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ.  Outside of the huge encouragement that the team was for us here, they were awesome in helping us make connections with people here in Tampa.  We didn't want them to go.  We love you Josh, Toy, Alex, Blake, Corrine, Amanda and Jerri!!!!  You were used by God in many ways, keep serving the Lord!

One of the connections that was made that week was with a guy named Peter.  Mark has met with Peter a few times to study the bible.  Peter is going through some difficult times right now and has not made himself available to meet with Mark.  We already love Peter and have a burden for him so please pray that God will be at work in his life and that he will make contact with Mark again.



Teen bible study

Our teen bible study has been growing and our kids have taken the challenge to keep inviting friends.  We want to see each of them grow in their walk with the Lord and for those that don't have a relationship with God come to know him.  We are asking God in faith to bring a young couple that love teenagers to come and join our team so they can lead the teen bible study.  We love teenagers but we see the need of having somebody else take over.  So please be praying with us for that.

Mark and I were talking this week about the blessings of walking in faith.  What is walking in faith?  The bible says in Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  Taking a step of faith is obedience without knowing what's on the next step.  Let me explain how this applies to us personally.  If you remember a year ago we asked you to pray about the possibility of moving from the area where we were living to the area closer to the university.  If you recall that meant that our kids would have to change schools again.  Mark and I were having a hard time with this because we didn't want to move our kids again. (This was going to be the fourth school for Dylan in a period of four years).  It was a big decision, so we started praying and asking God to lead and open doors if this was what he wanted.  He answered as you all know in different ways that was clear he was saying "MOVE".  We obeyed his voice not knowing what that would mean for our kids but trusting and believing that God will take care of them.



Syera in a play at school

 All of that to say, Cambridge Christian (this is the school our kids now attend) has been a tremendous blessing to each of our kids in many ways.  It has also given us ways to connect to other families to make new friendships.  God has taken care of our family in every way as a result of our obedience.  So, if God is asking you to do something in your life, don't be paralyzed by fear but instead take a step of faith and be obedient to His calling.  We finally feel at home after 4 years of feeling unsettled.  I believe this is where God wants us and we're excited to see what he has in store for us and the ministry.

As all of you know, and probably have experienced, life is not always colorful and pretty.  There are difficult and discouraging times too.  Needless to say, we've had those times too.  Making disciples one by one is a difficult task, and one that takes time.  There are times when I feel alone and wonder if there will ever be a body of believers gathered together. I know in my heart that God will take care of that but in my flesh there are times when I want to stop following the vision that God has given us and just take the easy route.  Some Christians stop walking with the Lord because at some point life gets hard, choices they have to make go against what most people do and they take the easy way out and they don't choose to endure.  I'm so thankful for God"s Word because during these times of discouragement and unbelief, I can go to his truth and claim his promises and change my way of thinking and endure the hardships of life, knowing that in eternity, it will be worth it all!!!

We were sad to see Mallory move back to Texas.  She had become a part of our family.  But on the other hand, she is a product of what we're doing here.  Lucy took a year to disciple her and invest in her and she went back to her home better equipped and with a heart to invest in others.  We personally (in numbers) didn't gain anything but in the scope of eternity we did!  God used Lucy to make a disciple that now has a heart to make disciples in her own home town.  Praise God for that because that is what we're all about.   Mark is doing the same thing here with some international students.   He meets with them every week and opens the bible and invests God's Word into men that, in a year, will be gone.  Once again, we won't have numbers to show it, but we are making an impact on the nations from Tampa.  This is exciting!!!  Please be praying for Wei's salvation.  He's one of the men that attends the bible study and he came with zero knowledge of Jesus and now he's asking lots of great questions.  The Totis have also made a connection with a couple that they are building a relationship with but they already have had open doors to share the gospel with them.  Their names are Charlie and Marie so please be praying for their salvation.

There is a lot more I could share but I'll stop here.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.  Keep praying for this ministry and for God to give us lost people to invest in.  We covet your prayers everyday!!!


Prayer requests summary:

-Peter to be available to meet again with Mark
-A couple that has a heart for teenagers to come join our team and lead teenagers
-Wei's salvation
-Charlie and Marie's salvation
-Contact with more lost people to join us in bible study (Tuesday nights)
-Encouragement for our team during the hard times



We love you all and please continue to pray.  God is definitely moving and using us here in Tampa to further His kingdom!!!

The Schaffers

Craving spiritual fruit

Thank you for praying for our mission in Tampa, Florida.   The support from our prayer warriors is priceless!  We are trusting God for spiritual fruit this year.  We want to see people come to know Christ and get discipled but the hard thing is that we can only trust him to give us the increase.

We are so excited to welcome the team from Midtown this week!  We are asking God to give us more connections with people around the city that are ready to get saved and grow in the Lord.   The enemy has already been at work.  We've had some gliches with the plans while the team is here.  We don't want to create our own agenda.  We want to be purposeful and intentional so please pray that God will lay out our week for us in the next couple of days.

Let me give you some updates on our ministry:

Teen Bible Study

Teen bible study

Last month we started a teen bible study at our house.  We've had 7-10 kids every week.  Mark is going through the 7 stages of spiritual growth.  We have some kids that already have a relationship with the Lord and some that don't.  The kids lead the worship time and we usually break up in small groups at the end for prayer.  

Discipleship

Lucy is still meeting with Mallory and she's continuing to grow in her walk with the Lord.  I'm still meeting with Danielle and Nora.  It's been  exciting to see Nora invest in her friend Venus.  She's meeting with her once a week to study the bible together.  This is exactly what we're asking God to do, to multiply us.  Mark and Jaime are meeting again after the long break due to his health issues, but now his work schedule seems to be getting in the way. Please pray that Mark and Jaime will have that one on one time every week.  Our ministry need men to be ready to go and teach others also.

Tuesday Night Prayer

Pearsons at Tuesday Night Prayer

We are faithful every tuesday to gather together and pray for our needs, friends, city, missionaries and anything else that arises.  It is a time to regain strength for the rest of the week.  We had Doug Pearson as a guest in January.  The night that he came to speak, Mark invited one of the international students from India and he was able to hear the gospel and be loved by the Pearsons and us!  

Friends of Internationals

Mark has had the opportunity to meet every Monday with a guy from China to study the bible.  Actually, it's been more like pastoral training.  He wants to go back to China and pastor.  We count it a blessing to be able to train a chinese guy from Tampa and have the Lord use him in his own country.  This is awesome!!!  Rebecca Toti was also able to share Christ with a girl from Iran.  She was open to hear about Jesus.  Seeds are being planted and we just need to wait for God to give the increase.  This Saturday while the team is here, we have a sport activity planned with international students but so far we don't have that many signed up.  We need you to pray that students will show up this Saturday.  We want to share the love of Christ with them.  We can't make it happen but we know that God can.  

Our team celebrating Lucy's Birthday

Our team....

As we shared with you last time, the Totis have joined our team!  It has been a blessing for Mark to have another man.  They are here ready to make disciples.  Please be praying for Ron's job.  We know that God will provide.  We are asking God for more team members that are ready to count the cost to be a part of a church planting, disciple making team!  

Once  again, thank you for your prayers and support.  Unless you're in the battle field, you don't realize how much it means to know that others are supporting you.  There are days that I get discouraged and long for the day that we will have a church body and see the fruit that God has given.  I want to be bold and intentional when I'm around people.  People need Christ and they don't know it, I can't waste my time thinking about myself and let people  go on their way.  I have a heavy burden, an urgency to tell others about my Savior.  Please pray that our team will have boldness to speak the good news to people!  I don't want to be discouraged by the enemy.  I want to be focused on what God has called me to do!  

It feels like summer time already in Tampa.  The temperatures have been pretty hot.  We got to go to the beach with our kids last week for a couple of days for their spring break.  It was a great time to get away and just create more memories as a family!  We are greatful for God's blessings in our lives. He is good!  

Continue to pray for the mission in Tampa.  We desperately need him to do a work and lead us to those who are ready to hear!  

We love you!

Tampa Team

Schaffers, Lucy, Totis

I have planted, Apollo watered; but God gave the increase. I Corinthians 3:6

I have a lot to share with you!  God has been doing some awesome things that He can only do.  

Mark and Rajiv getting the fire started

Couple from India

I'm going to have to rewind a couple of months to get you up to date. In
October we had a get together for halloween and we invited a married couple from India to spend the evening with us.  They learned a lot about the american culture by eating chilli and roasting marshmallows.  It was a great evening to love on them and to build our relationship with them.  God has put them on my heart to invest
in them.  God will take care of giving the increase.

Get together in November

The following month in November we also had an evening of games and snacks with some international students and some students from USF.  It was a great night to connect with them and to start to establish some friendships.  One of the girls that came is a close friend of the girl that I am discipling.  She's going through a lot right now and not very open to spiritual things but we're praying for her and we believe God can change her heart and maybe she will be willing to study the bible together. Her name is Brittany, you can pray that her heart would be open to hear God's truth.

Tuesday night prayer

 Danielle and I are moving forward with discipleship and God has been giving her some cool open doors at the USF campus.  Lucy has been meeting with Mallory for discipleship and she's been faithful to come to tuesday night prayer.  Mallory also brought one of her friends to prayer and she's been having some spiritual conversations with a couple of her roommates.  It's awesome to see how she's already wanting to invest in others when she is still growing in her faith.  The bad news now is that Mallory may go back to Texas next semester.  We're praying that God will make a way for her to stay so she can get more grounded in God's word.  Mark and I have not been able to meet with Jaime and Nora due to all of his health issues but we're planning to go back to it next month.  God has taken them through some rough times but I believe this season has been a season of growth in their faith in God.  Nora has been praying for one of her neighbors, finally last week she was able to meet and pray with her.  The awesome thing is that she's willing to meet weekly with her for bible study and her son may come to our teen bible study that we'll start next month at our house.  Her name is Venus so please pray that nothing will come up so that they can have that time in the Word together.  This is one of those things that only God can take credit for because Nora hadn't been able to see this neighbor and the very last day before she moved from that apartment God gave her a divine appointment and allowed them to connect.:)  It's awesome to see how our disciples are catching the vision of making disciples. Praise God for that!

Teen Reunion at our house

 In December we also had a reunion with the teens that were a part of our bible study at the apartments.  We had 9 of them to our house for some snacks and a time just to love on them.  They were very happy to be at our house.  There is one teen in particular, Jason, that has been asking Mark more spiritual questions lately via text.  We believe that our short term investment of the Word of God was not in vain. Somebody else will come in their lives to water that seed and God will give the increase.

Friends of Internationals Christmas Party

A couple of weekends ago we had the Christmas party for Friends of Internationals at USF.  We had more people show up that we had expected so food was very limited.  It seemed a little crazy but it all worked out.  Mark shared the gospel clearly to everyone, some students got up and left as soon as he started to speak but most of them stayed.  One student said that that was the very first time he had ever heard that message and we were told that this student got saved that night but Mark needs to follow up with that.  We'll keep you posted with that, so stay tuned for the next blog!:)

Sunday Morning Service

We have more members in our church planting team!!! This is an answer to prayer! The Toti family arrived in Florida a couple of weeks ago after a long driving journey from Oregon.  We are very excited to have them with us! Please be praying for their transition.


Once again, we got in the spirit of the christmas season. Lucy, Syera, Nykki and myself spent last saturday afternoon baking cookies, and alright, Mark baked some rice krispies too. He wouldnt be happy if I left him out..haha:) The Totis and the Barajas baked some cookies too and brought them to our house to do a cookie exchange.  Each family took some plates filled with yummy cookies to deliver them to their neighbors.  Our family had a blast meeting neighbors and inviting them to tuesday night prayer and if they had teenagers to our teen bible study that we're starting in January.  Pray that God will bring those he wants to be a part of it.

 We are praying for spiritual fruit in 2015.  We want God to connect us with lost people that will be willing to study the bible and through that, they will come to know the Lord.  We can't make that happen on our own, so please be praying with us that God will do it!

A quick update on our family, starting in January Mark will no longer be doing his insurance job, he will be focusing his time in the church plant and Friends of Internationals ministry at USF, I will continue to work as an interpreter as long as I need to. God knows my heart desire is to be more available for my children and the ministry but for the time being this is what God has given me to do and I am thankful that I can help our family during this time.  The kids are doing great in school and God has provided great friends for them.  Mark will be coming to the Focus conference in January to Midtown.  He's looking forward to it and I'm jealous....haha:)

Thank you so much for your love, prayers and support.  We know that we''re not alone here, we know we have a church body behind us!

We love you!  Have a happy New Year!!!

 The Schaffers :)