In The Land of Maple Syrup: February 19-24

Thank you for your prayers these past couple weeks! They were all answered in the most amazing ways. Because of your prayerful involvement: 

• we had UNBELIEVABLE weather in PA & Canada, enjoyed safe travel, and made multiple border crossings without incident
• we all enjoyed good health at Candidate Orientation as the fourteen of us lived, learned, and worked in close proximity for a week
• our times of devotion and teaching were TOTALLY graced by God
• and, through The Spirit's power, we believe we accomplished our goals and modeled our core HR values in orienting Global's next wave of missionaries for effective field service.

Here's a snapshot of me and Karen as we led one of our workshops.

Winter 2017 Candidate Orientation Graduates

We are very pleased to introduce our newest missionaries and two newest HQ staff members:

Jesse Jerge

US HQ--Finance Officer

 David & Andrea McCormick

Guatemala--Orphanage

Damian & Emily Obando

Costa Rica--Evangelism

Heather Redig

Sierra Leone--Nurse

 Adam & Melissa Satterthwaite

Ohio--Pastoral, Prison, and Motorcycle Ministry

Melissa Vandermey

US HQ/Administrative Intern

Home Staff, Orientation Staff, Mission Guests, and New Missionaries at our closing banquet.

Thank You for sending us so we can send others!

We did wake to a dusting of snow this morning at the retreat center in Niagara On The Lake, Ontario, CA!

It's Time? Did Someone Say It's Time?

The welcome baskets have come out and are just about ready to roll. You know what THAT means??? It's soon time for us to pack up the Honda Civic and head north for Global Outreach Mission's next Candidate Orientation in St. Catherine's Canada, February 19-24.

Putting the final touches on the welcome baskets for orientation.

It's always exciting to anticipate this semi-annual event with our coworkers in Buffalo and St. Catherines and our next "class" of missionaries ready to work thru an intensive week learning-the-ropes of being a GOM missionary.  We expect to arrive in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario, the evening of the 17th and kick-off the orientation the afternoon of the 19th. Our nine orientees represent ministries in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Sierra Leone, and Ohio with two being new administrators with our home office in NY. We are blessed to once again be hosted and well-cared for by Perry and Bonnie D'Elia at Pearables Ministries.

It will be a full week! Keith has three presentations on the topic of Partnership Development as well as two other sessions on "Executing The Event" and "Basic Partnership Tools." I will prepare and serve for each of our breaks and lead a "Concert of Missions Prayer" one evening, as well as take care of other odd jobs that always seem to pop up. Keith and I will team up to teach our missionaries how to use TntConnect, a powerful computer data base geared specifically for missionary use. We're working with Greg Constable, VP of Personnel and Randy & Jan Kent, career missionaries to France, for the main parts of the orientation. Several of the Global team from our Buffalo office will join us at various times as well.

Keith practices for the Newsletter Photography Round-table Discussion

On our way to Canada we will stop in PA to represent Global at a collegiate missions emphasis week. That will help break up the 13 hour drive time. We leave for PA this Sunday.

Prayer Requests
As we prepare, plan, and go, please pray for our orientation team as well as for the missionaries attending who represent ministries in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Ohio, Sierra Leone. We'll also orient two new administrative personnel. Please pray:

• for good weather and safety for everyone traveling to and from the orientation
• for good health as fourteen of us live, learn, and work in close proximity
• that our times of devotion and teaching would impart all God desires for each person
• that, as leaders and teachers, we would be patient in problem solving, loving in our listening, and be faith-filled distributors of God's grace. 

We look forward to getting on the road again for such a time as this and we REALLY hope we don't need to trade the Honda for a sleigh!

Thank you for your prayers and support that allow us to play a part in preparing a new generation of missionaries to continue sharing the Gospel and harvesting the fields to the Glory of God!

DEPLOYMENT! DEPLOYMENT! DEPLOYMENT!

THANK YOU
Thank you for the role you played in helping send Josiah & Haley Neeley to Ukraine last week! Your gifts to us and prayers for us made each of you part of training, coaching, and encouraging this young couple through support development and beyond!

Josiah & Haley Neeley

Neeley's Deploy to Ukraine
After the Neeley's acceptance by GOM the end of September, I had the pleasure of shepherding Josiah & Haley through discovering the team of financial partners God had already assembled to transform their ministry vision into a Harvest Field reality.

Leaving on a jet plane...

Josiah & Haley were quick learners. They rapidly embraced the concept of "giving God the glory, through telling His story, and inviting others to join in." In only three and a half months, God revealed their financial partners for His work, and they received the Global "green light" to deploy!

We're not in California, anymore Toto!

The Neeleys have joined a missionary team already in Ukraine as part of an outreach to families impacted by disability, and are involved in a local church-plant.

Ukrainian Flag

New Year Visitors from the East, North, and Southwest

As bird visitors brought 2016 to a close, a flock of human visitors opened our 2017!

From the East: Andy Swanson 
Andy finished apprenticeship at MMS Aviation in 2013 and is currently stationed with Mission Aviation Fellowship in Uganda, Andy was Stateside with his family to enjoy Christmas. Andy and I were able to get together for lunch, eat some BBQ, tour GOMEX, and chat about some of the things God has been teaching both of us.

Andy and me in the GOMEX office.

From the North: Dwight Jarboe, Phil Maddux, Bob Schwartz, and Dan Pottner
I met Dwight, Phil, Bob, and Dan at Stavro's Grill in Burlington for breakfast as they prepared for their return to MMS Aviation in Ohio. They were in town for a meeting with Missionary Air Group. Dwight and I had the standard "brains-n-eggs with grits and a side of bacon" breakfast. Dwight was born and raised in Kentucky.

Midway through a brains-n-eggs, grits, and bacon breakfast.

Phil, Bob, and Dan stayed a bit more "northern" in their breakfast orders. After breakfast the guys swung by for a tour of GOMEX led by my beautiful assistant, Karen! It was good to have the chance to share our work with Global Outreach Mission with them.

Karen, me, Dwight, Dan, and Bob.

Not in the picture (because he was taking the picture above) is Phil. Here's a file photo we have of Phil, the new CEO of MMS Aviation.

Phil is an interesting guy.

From the Southwest: David Langford
David arrived at MMS shortly after I did, completed his apprenticeship in 2001, served several years in Africa, then resettled his family in the desert Southwest. A lot of the River of Life had passed under the bridge since we last saw each other 16 years ago. Last week we were blessed to break bread together as he traveled through the region. We're both older and, I'm pleased to say, just a bit wiser than we were when this photograph was taken of us working in the hangar at MMS.

David and me: 1999

Me and David: 2017

Thank you for making it possible for these relationships to be possible. Thank you for allowing God to weave our lives together with so many other lives in mission service. Thank you for being part of all God is doing in us, through us, and in spite of us!