The Year Ahead….
This month we would like to introduce you to three of our ministry partners who are serving Jesus in various places around the world. Our hope is that you will check out each of their ministries and see if the Holy Spirit prompts you to serve them in any way. We would love to help you follow through on what God is calling you to do to serve our current partners or other missionaries that you have a passion to bless.
As always our mission is to connect a Timothy culture in the Church, so we do all we can to partner with believers like Timothy who have other’s best interests in mind and what matters to Christ.
This year we also have five areas that we will be focusing on as we do all we can to help make connections like we see in Philippians 2:20-21.
We plan to focus on:
Connecting Timothys with mission partners
Helping more people engage with missions
Making disciples who make disciples
Ministry coaching
Ministry training
Currently we have plans for hosting several ministry forums and training seminars this year as well as sending mission teams to Dominican Republic, Albania, Spain, Uganda and to some of our partners in the United States. Please let us know if you would be interested in going on any of these trips.
Again thank you for you prayers and support. We believe God is using you to help us move further in and further up with what he is calling The Church to be, as we each share our piece of the puzzle and He places it where He wants it to go in His Kingdom!
Hello! We are the Waggoner family, serving in Albania. We live in a village of about 600 residents in central Albania. Together, we seek to live out the spirit of adoption, communicating the good news of a heavenly Father who is pursuing the spiritual orphans of the world to bring them into His family. We live in an apartment above a community center, which holds afterschool recreation times, tutoring sessions, English classes, kids’ club, Bible studies, and a weekly church service. We also lend our time and services to helping ministries dealing in orphan care, special needs and disabilities, and networking and evangelism within the greater missionary community in Albania.
Kenya
https://smallworldconnect.org/
Grain of Rice Project is a non-profit organization that empowers Kenyans through education and training initiatives in Jesus’ name. Although we initially were based in Kibera Slum, our program was expanding, and we needed more space. Because many villages have little access to resources, we recently moved to a small village outside of Nanyuki, 4.5 hours from Nairobi. Our new site is comprised of 8.5 acres, which house our artisan program, volunteer housing, vegetable gardens, and our recently launched Grain of Rice Academy. Grain of Rice Academy is a primary school that provides high-quality, hands-on learning within a Christian context to children in need. Our students represent a range of tribes and ages as we focus on building a unified environment. Our school has a heavy emphasis on literacy, and we follow a cross-curricular approach to learning. Our vision is to create leaders who become problem-solvers in their own communities, thus expanding our reach.
Additionally, we support over 20 artisans from both the village and others who started with us in Kibera Slum and have now moved to our new location. Artisans create handcrafted products that help them to earn a living wage and support their families.
Although we cannot change all of Kenya, we strive to do small things to empower people that will add up to make a big difference in their lives and will in turn spill over and make a difference in the lives of others around them. Join us in tipping the scale.
Guatemala
https://smallworldconnect.org/
VisionTrust started serving children in Guatemala in 2007. Through our two preschools and Learning Centers, we provide children with nutritious food, clean water, educational help, and most importantly, mentorship and spiritual discipleship from trusted adults. In a country with only a 26% high school graduation rate, our preschool programs lay the foundation for primary and secondary education completion. Since the public education alone system is insufficient, we host after-school programs for school-aged children. Our Learning Centers also offer a unique Long-Distance Education program, providing engaging and accessible secondary education opportunities for adolescents.
From 1960 to 1996, Guatemalans endured a civil war and various military-led regimes. The sustained conflict between wealthier Guatemalans of European descent and Indigenous Guatemalans living in poorer, rural areas led to tens of thousands of deaths. Today, Guatemalans face an unpredictable economy and governmental challenges such as lack of transparency and corruption.
