They say a picture is worth 1000 words… maybe this photo will help communicate how our life has gotten very busy and interesting this past four months. On the left of the photo is Dieter, who Katey met at the church she attended in Madrid in March, then they got to know each other in April and May, and he came to visit her in July. Jesse is in the middle, and on the right is David with his future bride, Kristen. The wedding was on August 9th in the evening, and then Katey flew to Mozambique on August 11th. I hope this helps you to understand why all of our time has been focused on getting the two youngest ones out and on with their lives.
The last letter we wrote was in March, and we have only been to a few church meetings to talk about the work we plan to do in Sierra Leone since then, but life has been busy. In the February GMLT meeting Randy told the group that a specific prayer request for us to get going to Sierra Leone was that I would get laid off my job. Neither of us expected what God would do next. On April 15th, as we drove back from a weekend in Illinois and Iowa I was explaining to him what my projects at work were and I realized he could help with the demolition of one of the rooms. The next day my supervisor hired Randy on for three days, and he has been working with me for the past five months now.
Other changes happened with my job, that included my direct supervisor being fired in mid-June, and I was given his responsibilities. The work will stay busy for a couple more weeks, and then there is nothing on the horizon and we may be back in the situation where I am without work. Randy will be let go in the next week or so, and that would allow us both to focus more on SL.
These photos are from David and Kristen’s wedding on August 9th, and of Dieter and Katey here in Springfield on July 7th. Katey is finally on the ground in Mozambique working on her linguistics project and she has realized how much a battle her allergies were for her parents. By the time you get this note I hope she will be living in the house that Randy built in Espungabera. She is staying with AIM missionaries most of the year she is there, and she is also learning why we valued our colleagues so very highly. It is fun to have the children find out just how interesting or funny our friends are…who they saw as just another boring grown-up back when they were little!
David and Kristen have an apartment in Columbus not too far from OSU. School starts for them on September 19th, so they are doing the getting settled in thing. Now our house is down to just Jesse, Randy and me. Jesse began his college career at Clark State this week.
So when are we leaving for Sierra Leone? The answer to that question depends very much on our financial situation. We need approximately $4200.00 per month to live and work in SL as well one time gifts to cover expenses such as airline tickets, shipping costs and car purchase which will amount to about $25,000.00. We have a little over 25% of commitments pledged for monthly needs and we need basically all of the one time gifts. There are encouraging signs of growing church interest but building a support team is certainly a prayer request. We see these needs as one way the Lord will lead us to set a final departure date.
Many of you are aware of the housing market slump, and with the reality of all the work we need to do to make this house sell, we are now praying about the idea that we do NOT sell prior to leaving, but keep the house for our first term. This is one of the things you can pray very specifically for us about. We realize we are looking at a long term burden if we keep the house, but getting it ready to sell sounds like a huge effort that we do not know if we have the time for at this point. Fortunately God does know, and He can lead as He desires.
I will try to summarize the things we are praying about so you can join us:
#1. For Katey’s protection and health as she does the linguistics research in Mozambique this year, and for the direction of her life as she experiences Africa as an adult.
#2. For David and Kristen as they approach college life as a married couple, that they would seek out good fellowship and grow in a way that honors Jesus in all they do.
#3. For Jesse’s fresh start at college life, that he will honor God with the gifts that he has been given and use all of his potential for the Kingdom
#4. For speaking engagements and supporters that want to join with us in encouraging the church in Sierra Leone to reach more people with the great news that is the Gospel.
#5. For wisdom about what to do with work situations, whether to quit at a certain point, both for Randy at the church and me at my job on Base. Quitting frees up time, but costs a great deal and we do not want to use support for living in America while we can still work.
#6 For wisdom regarding this house… possibly a missionary family who would want to house sit
And so, now you see what we have been doing the past six
months, the
next six should be great fun as the Lord leads us!
In His Service, for His Kingdom,
Randy and Toni Fennig
453 East Madison Avenue
Springfield OH 45503