Support Update

Approximate Amount Remaining: $9,445 — that’s only about 39 people at $20 per month! Please pray with me for the rest of the faith promises to come in quickly. If you can help out financially as well, check out the Support Info page and sign up. Thank you!

Tomorrow

Hi all — I’m heading back to NB first thing tomorrow morning — about a 10-hour drive. Please pray for me if you think of it. Now, for example, would be a good time. Probably most of you will be reading this tomorrow while I’m already on the way, anyway.

The trip has been an enjoyable and, I think, productive one. Looking forward to getting home, though, and back into some semblance of a routine. More later. Good night.

Prayer / Support Letter

Instead of a weekly re-cap this week, I’m copying and pasting my latest prayer letter, which I just email out… Please read and pray.

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your ongoing prayers for me and my ministry! I just thought I’d send out a quick note with some prayer points, along with a support update:

1. PRAYER

Please pray for me as I hit the road again this weekend. I’m leaving tomorrow morning (Friday) very early to travel to Shawville, QC, where I speak in two churches on the weekend. Then Monday I go to Ottawa, ON, where I’ll be spending the week, with a meeting on Monday and a speaking engagement next Sunday. Pray that I have a safe, productive, fruitful journey.

2. SUPPORT

Currently I have less than $24,000 left to be raised in Faith Promises. I’ve come a long way, thanks to all of you who are praying and giving! Let’s pray the rest of it in!

I wanted to take a moment to explain some things about Global Partners’ support system. Please read this even if you’re already giving, just in case you’ve missed something:

GP has what is called a Faith Promise system. Basically what that means is that they set a yearly ministry budget for a missionary, and supporters make a faith promise of what they intend to give towards that goal. I need 100% promised (and at least 18% in actual money) before I can leave for Japan.

At $20 a month per person, I need less than 100 people to make a faith promise! That’s so close! If you’re not already giving, please prayerfully consider it.

Here’s how you can help:

1. I would ask that those of you who have committed to giving but have not let Global Partners know of your intentions, please let them know so that they can add your pledge to my total.

2. If you’re already giving, and plan to keep doing so, but haven’t let GP know that it is an ongoing commitment, please let them know, too.

3. If you’re wondering when to begin sending the actual donations in, any time is good. I still hope to be in Japan before the year’s out, and some cash flow will obviously be necessary.

4. If you are a pastor or missions director, please consider adding me to your missions budget, if you haven’t already. If you do (or have already but haven’t told us), please inform GP of your intentions.

You can get more info and/or sign up online through my website (Here). Any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

Thanks for putting up with such a long email! And thanks for your prayers and support! You are much appreciated!

– robin

Weekly Wrap-Up

Well another week has come and gone (yeah I know it’s only mid-day Friday, but it’s pretty much gone), so it’s time for another wrap-up. Here’s some of what I’ve been up to this week, as well as a look at things to come…

  • I did a new Podcast episode (see previous post) this week.
  • Support totals have gone up a little more (see Support Info page) this week. I need only about $23,000 in Faith Promises (Yes I said only. It’s all relative, really.) — that’s less than 100 people at 20 bucks a week — could you be one of those people?
  • I’m getting ready for a trip to Ontario and Quebec next weekend. First I’ll be in Shawville, QC, for the weekend of September 30, and then onto Ottawa, ON, where I’ll hang out for the week, do some meetings, visit some friends and family, and then do at least one service on October 7. I’m still waiting to hear back from one church about a booking, but it should be a full week anyway. I’ve actually never been to Ottawa, so that’ll be cool, both because it’s our nation’s capitol and because I have so many connections there. Never been to Shawville, either, now that I think of it.
  • Before going on that trip, though, I’m taking a shorter trip to my own district’s Ministerial. Looking forward to that.
  • Still waiting on my TESL course materials. Hopefully they’ll be in next week, though it looks like I’ll be a little busy the next couple of weeks anyway.
  • I’ve been enjoying this less-busy time lately, and the opportunity to be home for a change. I am looking forward to getting back on the road, though. Sometimes being at home can make me restless — I’m not used to it anymore! And getting on the road again will mean making new connections and (hopefully) gaining new prayer and financial partners. On the other hand, I’m looking forward to having all the team building done and getting myself to Japan. Hopefully I can wrap it up this fall; it would be great to be in Japan before the snow flies!

Wow, I had more to say than I thought. ‘Nuff said for now then. See you next week.

Weekly Re-Cap

I’m hoping to update this blog more consistently, starting now. I won’t be posting daily, at least not yet, but I’m thinking of a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule. Monday will continue to be Photo of the Week day; Wednesday I’ll try to post a story, a cultural note, or some thoughts on missions; and Friday will be a weekly re-cap posting, featuring personal, ministry and/or website news — starting now.

Here’s what’s been going on this week:

  • I’ve been accepted into an introductory Teaching English as a Second Language course, which I’ll be doing by distance education. I need to send them a cheque, but whenever they get that and send me my materials, I can get started. I’m looking forward to this, as I have limited experience and no formal training teaching English, and it’ll definitely be an asset to my ministry in Japan.
  • My support continues to climb; I’m less than a hundred $20/week commitments away from reaching my goal.
  • I’ve been getting into a pretty decent routine with my Japanese studies. I still need to try to spend more time each day on it, but at least it’s actually daily now.

And that’s a wrap for this week’s re-cap.

Home!

I’ve arrived safely at home after about 3 weeks of traveling and team building. To my prayer partners: thanks for praying! I had a great time, met some great new friends and caught up with some old friends too. I also gained some financial and prayer supporters, which is great! I now have close to 550 prayer partners, and am getting closer and closer to my financial goal. Check out the support page for more on that, and on how you can help out if you’re not already. To those of you already committed to giving, thank you!