Presently, teamAREQUIPA has received commitments of support from the church of Christ at Cedar Lane (Tullahoma, TN) and Shiloh Road Church of Christ (Tyler, TX). Each congregation is providing half of the team's salary and benefits needs.
2008 Work Fund contributions include:
$18,000 from individuals
$1,000 from New Center Grove Church of Christ (just outside of Tullahoma)
$1,000 given in memory of the late Jewell Rives
This means that we have secured all of the workfunds for 2008! Praise God and thanks again to all who have given.
Because many of our 2008 contributions were one-time donations, our current need is for more partners contributing to the annual work fund (2009 and beyond). Please contact us if you would like to become part of teamAREQUIPA. We now have a secure way for you to donate. Follow the "Support the Work" link at the top of the page for more information.
Wednesday Reprieve
Written by Kyle Smith
Well we are certainly in the thick of packing right now. We leave
Tullahoma on Sunday (or Monday) and have been burning through lists of
errands and business and figuring out the most efficient ways of
packing in our bags. Instead of loading and shipping a container of
belongings we decided to only take what we could fit into our alloted
checked baggage. Currently those requirements are 2 bags per ticketed
passenger of 50lb each. To maximize our options we bought a full
ticket for Shaye so we get 6 bags (300 lb) checked and 6 bags carried
on. I'm glad my wife is a genius at packing and organization or I
would be a lot more worried right now.
While I might not be
worried I certainly have been a little stressed this week. Between
packing and banking and other business it feels like our lists are
neverending. I got a short reprieve last night though as I taught the
combined class at church. While I am usually more comfortable in a
class setting or a small group I actually enjoyed speaking (lecture
style) last night. It was something different, a chance to pause and
connect with people. It was a little sad realizing that it would be my
last Wednesday night with the good people at Cedar Lane. I bet Sunday
will be even more emotional.
Keep praying for us as we near our
departure date. We leave Monday the 25th and will be in Lima for a
week getting our paperwork started. A lot still happens before we get
to Arequipa.
It is more than a little surreal to find ourselves 16 days from departure (we fly out on Aug 25th). We're nervous and anxious but excited and thrilled all at the same time. I'm sure our emotions will be all over the place the next two weeks as we say goodbye to friends and family. Certainly boarding the plane and realizing that there is absolutely no turning back will be sobering. As we're running around getting all of the little things finished it's hard to see the big picture. That picture is that for 5 years we've been dreaming, praying and planning for this mission. For 5+ years you, our friends and family, have been praying and dreaming for our mission. For so long you've fed us, housed us, financed us and sent us. Now the time is at hand and I can't help but say: It's about time!
Pray for the next few weeks as we finish our time here in the States. We have traveling to do (the McKinzies are in Alabama with family now), packing to complete, banking and insurances to get in order. I have a class to teach on Wednesday, Greg has a sermon to preach on Sunday. We are helping coordinate a special service on the 17th. We are juggling a lot right now. Pray for us to have peace during this time and to have the excitement and joy we should have as we enter the field.
We've finished up with the second Global Missions Conference here in Arlington. It was a great experience once again--more about it to come in the next newsletter. We were all blessed. As for the McKinzies, this is our last Texas run before launch. We're visiting with friends and family in the DFW Metroplex and then in Tyler for a couple of days. The Smiths have gone on to a family vacation in Georgia. We'll be back in Tullahoma soon, packing and wrapping things up. Most everybody asks if we're getting nervous yet. The answer is yes. But our excitement and expectation is far greater.
