October - November 2013

“ I thank my God for you every time I think of you; 4 and every time I pray for you all, I pray with joy 5 because of the way in which you have helped me in the work of the gospel from the very first day until now. 6 And so I am sure that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it on until it is finished on the Day of Christ Jesus. 7 You are always in my heart! And so it is only right for me to feel as I do about you. For you have all shared with me in this privilege that God has given me, both now that I am in prison and also while I was free to defend the gospel and establish it firmly. 8 God is my witness that I tell the truth when I say that my deep feeling for you all comes from the heart of Christ Jesus himself. 9 I pray that your love will keep on growing more and more, together with true knowledge and perfect judgment, 10 so that you will be able to choose what is best. Then you will be free from all impurity and blame on the Day of Christ. 11 Your lives will be filled with the truly good qualities which only Jesus Christ can produce, for the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:3-11)

 As we enter into the Thanksgiving season, it is truly with thankful hearts that we write this letter. Paul’s words to the Church in Philippi express what we feel toward you. We are unable to do the work that we have been called to do without your prayers and financial support. Though we are not in chains or in prison, we are separated from you through many miles.

 We are thankful that several of you responded to our request to establish a Scholarship Fund for our teacher’s children. There is still a need in that area, but Praise the Lord, we have been able to help several of the families out already.

 As we said in a previous newsletter, we instituted the “block” system this year and already we are seeing an increase in the students achieving better grades. Also, we added a “club” time at the end of the day which gives the students the opportunity to have some extracurricular activities in which to be involved. What was once referred to as Parent & Teacher’s Meeting, is now called St. Mary’s Family Night where the students get to “show off” their artistic talents in dance, music, art, and cooking. The last Family Night was a huge success and the parents just lingered around in no rush to leave; that has not been the norm for these meetings. We give God the glory and are thankful for the hard work that our students and teachers put into the evening to make it happen.

On October 11, we returned to the states for a few days to take Abney to “double New York,” as she called it on her first trip there when she was 7 years old. She is attending the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA). We were able to stay with Art and Marilyn Terpe, friends of ours from Holy Spirit days in Baton Rouge that we had not seen in 20 years. It was a joy to be able to catch up on our families and a relief to know someone nearby that Abney can call on if need be.

From the information that we received from AMDA, we thought we would have to just drop her off and leave. But it was the most organized check in that we have been a part of all these years. So we were able to help her get moved in her room and then were able to go and have lunch with her before heading back to PA to stay with Art and Marilyn. Driving in NYC was a piece of cake after having to drive here in Tegucigalpa!

When we returned to Honduras, we had to go drive to La Ceiba to have a meeting with Bishop Allen and Veronica Flowers to discuss a Christian Educational Program for all the Bilingual Episcopal Schools in Honduras. Much was accomplished and much more needs to be done. The program that we are looking at is only in English, which means that we will need to have it translated in order for those who teach Christian Education in Spanish. (Translators Needed!!! Please pray!!!)

St. Mary’s School has 2 new teachers now in our science department. The teacher that we had, resigned to pursue other endeavors. We have been blessed by having good teachers to replace our vacancies. God is Good! All the Time! God is Good! We continue to pray Psalm 118 over St. Mary’s and ask that you would join us in praying this Psalm. Needless to say, each day brings new adventures with the Lord and He is mighty to save! “O, Lord, you have saved us; O, Lord, you have granted us success.” Psalm 118:25

Some of you have given to our roof fund and it has gone to “stop the leaks,” but we really do need a new roof for the school. Patch work is not too good in the long run, especially here. Pray that we can receive a grant to replace our roof. We need roughly $36,000.00 to have it replaced along with the ceiling tiles in the class rooms. Tina has begun leading a weekly DVD teaching series on Esther by Beth Moore for several of the young ladies here at the Catedral de Santa María. On Friday, November 8, Tina and I began teaching a 5 week course on “Life in the Spirit” for the Catedral de Santa María. Later this week, Tina will be leading a retreat for 1-3 grades.

And so, we are back to Thanksgiving! We are so thankful for our families and friends. Thank you again for investing into the lives of others through our ministry. We “give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Psalm 118.29

Be Blessed to be a Blessing,
Fr. Joe and Tina 

Prayer Requests: Yes, we still need money for several things concerning the school: Scholarships, Roof, Ceilings, Paint, Computers, Musical Instruments** and Projectors; but more than anything else we ask that you will pray for our students, teachers, and staff. And if the Lord puts it on your heart to send some money down to help the school out, email us and we’ll give you the information you need to make a “tax deductible” contribution.

 **If you have a musical instrument that is taking up space in an attic or closet, please pray about donating it to St. Mary’s School in order for us to establish a school band. We will be returning to the states in December and would be glad to receive your instrument at our home. We have a way to get them shipped to us in Hon

September 2013

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118.24 We feel it is time to rejoice and give thanks because of God’s faithfulness and to share with you who pray and support our ministry, what has been going on in our lives here in Honduras. In August, we returned to Tegucigalpa in time for our teacher’s orientation week before school began. We returned to find two teachers who would not be returning, but the Lord very quickly took care of the situation. There probably were the normal glitches that occur in any school at the beginning of the year, but before we could be weighed down the Lord gave us Psalm 118 to begin to use as our prayer over St. Mary’s School and Church on August 8, 2013. Please take the time to read it! You will catch a glimpse of what we have felt like and possibly have been dealing with without giving any details of all the things that we faced to begin this new school year. We still have more challenges, but we certainly have seen the Lord’s right hand doing mighty things and for that we are grateful. No! We still do not have a new roof, but the patchwork is holding up pretty well and we have had rain almost every day since we have returned. The new year has brought us the same number of students that we had at the end of the school year. This is good, but please pray that we will receive more students. We need at least 200 in order to operate better. On the high school level, we introduced the block system for classes. The classes are longer, but the students do not take the same class every day. Therefore, instead of taking 12 to 13 classes a day, they take 6 to 7. The students and teachers really love it! Also, we extended our school day by 30 minutes so we could offer some extracurricular activities. That has proven to be quite an exciting thing with sports, art lessons, chorus, yearbook staff, cooking club, book club, acolytes (church helpers club), Honduran folk dance, puzzle club, jam musica (club where they gather with guitars and other musical instruments and just jam)! The second quarter of school we have added a sewing club, a taste of Japan to learn about the Japanese culture, and gymnastics. It is hard to believe that our last 30 minutes of each day is ending with such marvelous activities, because last year the school had none of this!! God is so good!! We are about to come to the end of our first quarter or partial as they say here. There is a lot that still needs to be accomplished, but a lot has been accomplished already. “O, Lord, you have saved us; O, Lord, you have granted us success.” Psalm 118:25 We ask for your prayer support by praying Psalm 118 when you think of us and St. Mary’s School and Church. On October 11, we return to the states for a few days to take Abney to “double New York,” as she called it on her first trip there when she was 7 years old. Abney has been accepted to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA). We are planning to take her and help her get settled in before returning to Sumter. We are proud of her and excited that the Lord has opened the door for her to study what she loves! We will return to Honduras around the 22nd of October to begin the 2nd partial of the school year. Sundays here are special for us as Joe conducts the English service at St. Mary’s and then he helps at the next service with the Spanish congregation. Sunday afternoons have turned into a real special gift to us. Just up the road from us is a huge mega non-denominational Church and at 4:00PM on Sundays they have an English service. The people who attend this service are missionaries from several countries. A mixed group of many denominations coming together to worship, fellowship and be encouraged to go back out to serve in all the many different areas and ministries here in Tegucigalpa and the surrounding areas. The worship team there is amazing and has blessed us so much! Joe was asked this past Sunday afternoon to share about the Holy Spirit and give his testimony of how the Holy Spirit has worked in his life. We realized that it was 34 years ago, almost to the day, that we were in Darien, Connecticut under the teaching of the Reverend Terry Fullum and hearing about the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit for ministry!! Well, this letter is short, but long in gratefulness and thanksgiving for you and your gifts of prayer and money to enable us to serve the Lord here in Honduras. We “give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Psalm 118.29 Be Blessed to be a Blessing, Tina and Fr. Joe Prayer Requests: Yes, we still need money for several things concerning the school: Scholarships, Roof, Ceilings, Paint, Computers, Projectors; but more than anything else we ask that you will pray for our students, teachers, and staff. And if the Lord puts it on your heart to send some money down to help the school out, email us and we’ll give you the information you need to make a “tax deductible” contribution.

September 2013

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118.24 We feel it is time to rejoice and give thanks because of God’s faithfulness and to share with you who pray and support our ministry, what has been going on in our lives here in Honduras. In August, we returned to Tegucigalpa in time for our teacher’s orientation week before school began. We returned to find two teachers who would not be returning, but the Lord very quickly took care of the situation. There probably were the normal glitches that occur in any school at the beginning of the year, but before we could be weighed down the Lord gave us Psalm 118 to begin to use as our prayer over St. Mary’s School and Church on August 8, 2013. Please take the time to read it! You will catch a glimpse of what we have felt like and possibly have been dealing with without giving any details of all the things that we faced to begin this new school year. We still have more challenges, but we certainly have seen the Lord’s right hand doing mighty things and for that we are grateful. No! We still do not have a new roof, but the patchwork is holding up pretty well and we have had rain almost every day since we have returned. The new year has brought us the same number of students that we had at the end of the school year. This is good, but please pray that we will receive more students. We need at least 200 in order to operate better. On the high school level, we introduced the block system for classes. The classes are longer, but the students do not take the same class every day. Therefore, instead of taking 12 to 13 classes a day, they take 6 to 7. The students and teachers really love it! Also, we extended our school day by 30 minutes so we could offer some extracurricular activities. That has proven to be quite an exciting thing with sports, art lessons, chorus, yearbook staff, cooking club, book club, acolytes (church helpers club), Honduran folk dance, puzzle club, jam musica (club where they gather with guitars and other musical instruments and just jam)! The second quarter of school we have added a sewing club, a taste of Japan to learn about the Japanese culture, and gymnastics. It is hard to believe that our last 30 minutes of each day is ending with such marvelous activities, because last year the school had none of this!! God is so good!! We are about to come to the end of our first quarter or partial as they say here. There is a lot that still needs to be accomplished, but a lot has been accomplished already. “O, Lord, you have saved us; O, Lord, you have granted us success.” Psalm 118:25 We ask for your prayer support by praying Psalm 118 when you think of us and St. Mary’s School and Church. On October 11, we return to the states for a few days to take Abney to “double New York,” as she called it on her first trip there when she was 7 years old. Abney has been accepted to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA). We are planning to take her and help her get settled in before returning to Sumter. We are proud of her and excited that the Lord has opened the door for her to study what she loves! We will return to Honduras around the 22nd of October to begin the 2nd partial of the school year. Sundays here are special for us as Joe conducts the English service at St. Mary’s and then he helps at the next service with the Spanish congregation. Sunday afternoons have turned into a real special gift to us. Just up the road from us is a huge mega non-denominational Church and at 4:00PM on Sundays they have an English service. The people who attend this service are missionaries from several countries. A mixed group of many denominations coming together to worship, fellowship and be encouraged to go back out to serve in all the many different areas and ministries here in Tegucigalpa and the surrounding areas. The worship team there is amazing and has blessed us so much! Joe was asked this past Sunday afternoon to share about the Holy Spirit and give his testimony of how the Holy Spirit has worked in his life. We realized that it was 34 years ago, almost to the day, that we were in Darien, Connecticut under the teaching of the Reverend Terry Fullum and hearing about the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit for ministry!! Well, this letter is short, but long in gratefulness and thanksgiving for you and your gifts of prayer and money to enable us to serve the Lord here in Honduras. We “give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Psalm 118.29 Be Blessed to be a Blessing, Tina and Fr. Joe Prayer Requests: Yes, we still need money for several things concerning the school: Scholarships, Roof, Ceilings, Paint, Computers, Projectors; but more than anything else we ask that you will pray for our students, teachers, and staff. And if the Lord puts it on your heart to send some money down to help the school out, email us and we’ll give you the information you need to make a “tax deductible” contribution.

September 2013

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118.24 We feel it is time to rejoice and give thanks because of God’s faithfulness and to share with you who pray and support our ministry, what has been going on in our lives here in Honduras. In August, we returned to Tegucigalpa in time for our teacher’s orientation week before school began. We returned to find two teachers who would not be returning, but the Lord very quickly took care of the situation. There probably were the normal glitches that occur in any school at the beginning of the year, but before we could be weighed down the Lord gave us Psalm 118 to begin to use as our prayer over St. Mary’s School and Church on August 8, 2013. Please take the time to read it! You will catch a glimpse of what we have felt like and possibly have been dealing with without giving any details of all the things that we faced to begin this new school year. We still have more challenges, but we certainly have seen the Lord’s right hand doing mighty things and for that we are grateful. No! We still do not have a new roof, but the patchwork is holding up pretty well and we have had rain almost every day since we have returned. The new year has brought us the same number of students that we had at the end of the school year. This is good, but please pray that we will receive more students. We need at least 200 in order to operate better. On the high school level, we introduced the block system for classes. The classes are longer, but the students do not take the same class every day. Therefore, instead of taking 12 to 13 classes a day, they take 6 to 7. The students and teachers really love it! Also, we extended our school day by 30 minutes so we could offer some extracurricular activities. That has proven to be quite an exciting thing with sports, art lessons, chorus, yearbook staff, cooking club, book club, acolytes (church helpers club), Honduran folk dance, puzzle club, jam musica (club where they gather with guitars and other musical instruments and just jam)! The second quarter of school we have added a sewing club, a taste of Japan to learn about the Japanese culture, and gymnastics. It is hard to believe that our last 30 minutes of each day is ending with such marvelous activities, because last year the school had none of this!! God is so good!! We are about to come to the end of our first quarter or partial as they say here. There is a lot that still needs to be accomplished, but a lot has been accomplished already. “O, Lord, you have saved us; O, Lord, you have granted us success.” Psalm 118:25 We ask for your prayer support by praying Psalm 118 when you think of us and St. Mary’s School and Church. On October 11, we return to the states for a few days to take Abney to “double New York,” as she called it on her first trip there when she was 7 years old. Abney has been accepted to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA). We are planning to take her and help her get settled in before returning to Sumter. We are proud of her and excited that the Lord has opened the door for her to study what she loves! We will return to Honduras around the 22nd of October to begin the 2nd partial of the school year. Sundays here are special for us as Joe conducts the English service at St. Mary’s and then he helps at the next service with the Spanish congregation. Sunday afternoons have turned into a real special gift to us. Just up the road from us is a huge mega non-denominational Church and at 4:00PM on Sundays they have an English service. The people who attend this service are missionaries from several countries. A mixed group of many denominations coming together to worship, fellowship and be encouraged to go back out to serve in all the many different areas and ministries here in Tegucigalpa and the surrounding areas. The worship team there is amazing and has blessed us so much! Joe was asked this past Sunday afternoon to share about the Holy Spirit and give his testimony of how the Holy Spirit has worked in his life. We realized that it was 34 years ago, almost to the day, that we were in Darien, Connecticut under the teaching of the Reverend Terry Fullum and hearing about the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit for ministry!! Well, this letter is short, but long in gratefulness and thanksgiving for you and your gifts of prayer and money to enable us to serve the Lord here in Honduras. We “give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Psalm 118.29 Be Blessed to be a Blessing, Tina and Fr. Joe Prayer Requests: Yes, we still need money for several things concerning the school: Scholarships, Roof, Ceilings, Paint, Computers, Projectors; but more than anything else we ask that you will pray for our students, teachers, and staff. And if the Lord puts it on your heart to send some money down to help the school out, email us and we’ll give you the information you need to make a “tax deductible” contribution.

Life is a Journey with the Lord

“The Great Commission” is the last thing that Jesus told the disciples. Interesting enough, Jesus entrusted this commission to only eleven people. Eleven people that had walked with him for no more than three years. A few years later, the apostle Paul was added to the number. And Paul writing to the church in Thessalonica wrote the following, “we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.” (1 Thessalonians 2.4) I remember a few years back, that the word translated to nations means people groups. So with this in mind, you can start looking around and identify various people groups in your sphere of influence. The infants, the youth, young adults, adults, grocery store, bank, school, etc. Most of us don’t think in these terms. I know I don’t unless I’m very much aware of the different people around me. Yet, this is a challenge for each of us to be ready to share the gospel with others. So what each of us needs to do is to be aware of the world in which we move and have our being. Well, it’s been a very busy two months since our last newsletter in May and we have been blessed to be going and making disciples. We had a wonderful VBS and Youth Retreat at St. Mary’s Episcopal School in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Our theme revolved around being a “Child of God”…..How do you become a Child of God? Who you are as His Child. Who your heavenly Father is and where you are going. Many seeds were planted! Of course this work had some pretty awesome helpers. Our team from the states was small, only 4, but we combined them with 11 high school students from St. Mary’s and the worship leader from St. Mary’s Cathedral to do the VBS and Youth Retreat. An amazing team and we thank the Lord for their gift of time to help make disciples. There are many steps to making disciples and if we all do the part we are called to do, God will bring about the growth. On June 25, we returned to Sumter, SC to rest and to prepare to leave for our Australian mission on July 1. While home, we saw our new grandson, Colton Rhodes Jones. Marie and Paul’s son who was born on the 3rd of May. Then we also celebrated our “baby’s” 21st birthday. Yes!!! Abney is now 21! In our April newsletter we had requested help in getting the worship leader from St. Mary’s Cathedral to be a part of our team going to Australia. God worked a couple of miracles here because the VISA process to get Jose Juarez to Australia was a nightmare!! He had waited weeks upon weeks for an answer and not until we returned to the states on June 25th did he hear from the Australian Embassy, which was in Mexico City for citizens of Honduras, that he had been approved to enter Australia (Miracle #1). Jose contacted us and then we were able to able to book a flight for him from Tegucigalpa to Sydney, leaving the next day so that Jose could attend a Hillsong Conference on Worship from July 1-5 (Miracle #2). The registration for the conference was CLOSED!!! However, our daughter, Stacey, who is on staff at the Youth With A Mission – Island Breeze Sydney Base was able to get Jose a ticket for the conference. She told those in charge of the conference about Jose’s story of how he had always wanted to attend a Hillsong Conference in Sydney and that he had been in the process of getting a VISA for weeks on end and that he had finally received his VISA to come to Australia that day. Now, Miracle #3! After hearing Jose’s story, the people at Hillsong felt that God was working to get him there so they sold a ticket to Stacey for Jose to attend the Conference! Boy, if you could have seen how blessed Jose felt!! He was in a whirlwind of joy!! We do serve a mighty God and when doors close, only He can open them!! While Jose was attending the Hillsong Conference, we arrived on July 3 in Sydney with Dalana Barnett, our 4th team member. Dalana is our WIN-GS intercessor administrator and a prayer warrior. What a blessing to our Team!! Our time in Sydney was short but filled with fellowship with the YWAM staff, students, and guests. Some of the students we had taught before in years past and Joe was able to preach at the Samoan Church where Stacey, Simon and the children attend. After church we had a feast!! It is amazing how God’s people anywhere love to celebrate and eat! But it was a special time for us to be with Stacey, Simon, Taimane & Gideon and to share in their life. Skype is nice, but does not replace the physical presence of someone. We also found out that Stacey is expecting another child in December. This will bless us with 9 grandchildren—5 boys and 4 girls. On the 12th of July, the team left for Brisbane. Simon, Stacey and their children drove up to Brisbane and we flew. Simon has family in the Brisbane area and they needed to take a much needed break from their duties at the YWAM Island Breeze-Sydney Base. This also allowed us to have some more time with them during our stay in North Lakes where our son in law is in charge of a church plant with the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane. On July 13th in Brisbane, The Queensland Music Festival opened. It began by setting two World Records. Our grandson, Isaiah plays the trumpet and was able to participate in setting the World Record for the largest gathering of trumpet players directed and conducted by James Morrison. Mr. Morrison is a world renowned Australian jazz trumpeter. He is also a dynamic Christian. The trumpet players gathered in front of the Brisbane Court House and practiced, “Purcell’s Trumpet Voluntaire” and “When the Saints Go Marching In” before parading through the streets of down town Brisbane and it’s open air mall. Then later in the day at the Sun Corp Stadium, The World’s Biggest orchestra (also directed and conducted by Mr. Morrison) played. Isaiah, along with all the earlier group of trumpeters and even more, came together to make an orchestra of 7,223 people! This broke the previous record of 6,400. They had to perform over 5 minutes without stopping. Please view on You Tube….”World’s Biggest Orchestra.” An amazing event to attend! Thank you Lord! That evening, Jose was contacted by his family to let him know that his grandmother was very ill and the next morning she had died. This was a difficult time for Jose since he could not return home in time for the funeral. But the Lord provided another miracle for Jose and his sister who is in Spain doing her residency in Pediatrics and could not return home either. Both were able to attend their grandmother’s funeral through Skype!! Then a few days later, Dalana’s father in law died. She was able to return home in time for the funeral. The Lord opened a seat for her on the plane that morning. We were amazed that in 3 hours’ time from when she received her message; she was at the Brisbane airport heading home. This time in our trip was difficult, but the Lord sustained all of us and took care of all the needs. Our Brisbane invitation had come from our son in law, Daniel Berris, who is an Anglican priest in North Lakes just north of Brisbane. We had been invited to talk and share about short term missions from our experiences over the last 35 years in missions. Joe & Jose met with several informal men’s groups and Tina met twice with the women’s Bible study group; all from North Lakes Anglican Church. We were also blessed to address several home church groups and Joe was able to preach one Sunday at North Lakes Anglican Church. Towards the end of our time there, we had a one day seminar at St. John the Baptist Anglican Church in Bulimba for the newly ordained clergy in the Diocese of Brisbane. It was a time of teaching not only about the value of short term missions, but the awareness of the mission field around us every day. We were able to encourage and pray for those gathered and share lots of good resource information. This mission was about discipling in our everyday lives, interacting with people in everyday situations. The mission field is right where you are and may we always have eyes, ears, and a heart for others because “we have been entrusted with the good news of the Gospel.” Now this mission was different because our times of teaching were spread out and blended in with many family activities. One day at lunch some friends of Daniel and Kerry’s came to visit and as we talked, we realized there were 11 different nations present! We were also blessed to share in the 1st birthday party of our grandson Gideon Siuta Surielu Fua. Tina made the birthday cake and we gathered with many of Simon and Stacey’s relatives and friends at the YWAM Island Breeze-Brisbane Base. It was a Samoan feast with a pig roasted in the ground! Food in abundance again! We did have our fun tourist moments….Jose and Dalana saw kangaroos in the school yard of our grandson, Ethan. This is in the city and so for us it is unusual to have kangaroos hopping along the streets. Well, this is a brief synopsis of our God filled mission. We especially want to thank Daniel, Kerry and the congregation of North Lakes Anglican for their hospitality; for both YWAM-Island Breeze bases in Sydney and Brisbane for their hospitality; and for the hospitality and generosity of the Samoan congregation in Sydney. We could not do what we do without your support so again our hearts are filled with gratitude for you and thank you again for enabling us to go and make disciples. Little by little, step by step, day by day, and moment by moment…. “making disciples of all nations (people groups), teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 Be Blessed to be a Blessing….You are on a Mission…and “YOU will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1.8 Fr. Joe & Tina Sowing Seeds for the extension of the Kingdom of God List of needs: 1. New roof for St. Mary’s school 2. Lower and upper school needs painting 3. Covering for an eating area 4. Picnic tables for the eating area 5. Scholarship Fund for St. Mary’s staff, teachers, clergy, and families with special needs 6. VBS & Youth Retreat fund 7. More supporters for our ministry Prayer Needs: 1. New school year of 2013-14 for St. Mary’s School family. We need 200 students to keep the school up and running. 2. For the school to adjust to all that is “new:” New families, new teachers, new schedules, & new activities 3. For the needed repairs to the campus of St. Mary’s to be accomplished. 4. For the school to get out of debt! 5. For every member of our St. Mary’s family to grow daily in their walk with the Lord. 6. For God to raise up individuals and teams to come and walk along side us at St. Mary’s Personal prayer: 1. Good health for Joe & Tina 2. Abney…preparation and arrival in New York City on October 16 to attend AMDA..American Musical and Dramatic Academy. 3. Our trip home to help Abney move to New York 4. For our daughters and their families here in SC and Australia 5. For a healthy and safe delivery of Stacey and Simon’s little boy in December…this is #3 for them

Easter 2013

Alleulia, Christ is Risen!!! The Lord is Risen indeed, alleluia!! Don’t you just love being able to shout this out during this Easter Season!! As I write this, I am fully aware of how many of our brothers and sisters in Christ cannot shout this out with their tongues but in their hearts they do indeed shout it out! And indeed, there are millions more that do not know Jesus the Christ and what he has done for them! We had a fantastic SAMS retreat at Ridgecrest during Easter Week (that’s the week that comes right after Easter in case you didn’t know). The Reverend Gary Hoag was our retreat leader talking about the difference between the “Economy of God” and the “Economy of the World.” So, it begs the question: Which economy do you live in? Tough question, is it not? Years ago when I was fresh out of seminary and Bishop Temple came on his first visitation to St. Christopher’s in Sumter, SC. He said, “If you want to know where your heart is, look at your check book!” It was one of those illustrations that you don’t forget. At least, I have never forgotten it. You put your money where your heart is. Back to Gary. He is a New Testament scholar and co-author of “The Sower,” a book about “Redefining the Ministry of Raising Kingdom Resources.” Do yourself a favor and go and get a copy. One of the many things that he said that made an impression on me at the retreat was when he was referring to Paul’s letter to the Galatians concerning the fruit of the Spirit. He said that where some translations say “goodness,” a better rendition of the Greek word is “generosity.” So, it would read like this: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 6.22-23) It’s the difference in being a good person and a generous person. I am well aware that some of us have the gift of giving which makes it easier to be generous than those who have different giftings. However, when you see that “generosity” is part of the fruit of the Spirit, then it means that all who confess Jesus Christ is to have this characteristic. That is awesome!!! We should expect our brothers and sisters in Christ to be generous people or at least moving in that direction. It’s a process of growing and maturing in the faith. I’m not talking about being irresponsible, but I am referring to the fact that we are to be generous in all aspects of our lives. What an insight to ponder! As you read this letter, you are being generous toward us in the fact that you are interested (since you have not told me not to send our newsletters to you) in what we are doing and we thank you for that act of generosity. And then there was the New Wineskins Conference! Glory Halleluiah!!! Abney was able to join us for the conference. She was able to spend some time with her friends through the Re-Mix portion that they had for the teen-agers and early 20’s. It’s gotten to be a great big reunion of the family of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just a little bit of Heaven on this side of the grave. Friends that you haven’t seen in years from all over the world show up for 3 and a half days. You get to spend time together in worship, for meals & workshops, at the various exhibits for the varied ministries throughout the world and just free time (which was not much). Each day began with the Holy Eucharist with different clergy from around the world celebrating and preaching followed by breakfast. Each general session began with worship, general remarks, testimonies, bible study/reflection and the speaker. Just a great time of the Church gathered! We really enjoyed Bishop Ken Clarke from Ireland and the morning devotions that he did. Especially on Saturday morning when the scripture was from Mark 10.46-52 dealing with Bartimaeus, the blind man, on the road to Jericho. He referred to the Church as the blind man. Think about it. How many things the Church does not see!!.... unless Jesus opens her eyes to see. All the speakers were good, but the session with Rev’s Fouad Masri speaking on reaching the Muslims in North America was the best for us. I (Joe) wanted to sign up and go on one of his short term mission trips to Lebanon straight away. And then there were the workshops! Too many to go to, but enough variety for everyone. We decided to go to one led by someone who ministers in a Muslim country. He talked about the stars and altars in the scriptures. He talked about trying to find the “thumb print” of God on a person and their culture. It reminded me of Don Richardson’s book, “Eternity in Their Hearts.” One of the first books I read when we arrived in Louisiana 27 years ago. Then we went to a workshop on “Human Trafficking” with Summer Benton and The Rev’d Brian McVey. Summer shared what she was doing in Cambodia with helping to get the young women off the streets. Fr. Brian was sharing what they were doing in Davenport, Iowa to minister to those passing through at the truck stops. We could not believe the number of people who were being trafficked just through that one portal in the US. Modern day slave trade and it is big business!!! The sad news in this is that over 50% of Christian men help to support this business through the pornography industry. And what is more amazing is that a large percentage of women also support this industry. This industry affects the lives of children, women and men. Unlike the drug & arms trade, humans can be used over and over again. And so, we see the significance of the Easter Event in all of this. New Life!! New Beginnings!! Freedom!! “Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28.18-20 We are now back at St. Mary’s where we are planning for the next school year, the VBS/Retreat coming in June and our teaching mission in Brisbane, Australia in July. Speaking of which, we still need help with the VBS/Retreat for the 160 students at St. Mary’s. We need $15.00 per student (which includes a T-shirt, snacks, and supplies) and $2,000.00 for the service project. The Retreat is on the 7 & 8th of June and the VBS is on the 10th and 11th. Please keep us in your prayers for the VBS/Retreat. We also need some financial help with our WIN-GS Mission to Brisbane and Sydney, Australia in July for air fares to/from Australia and within Australia. ($6,000.00) We will be teaching on the importance of Missions to those clergy who have graduated from St. Francis Theological College in the last 2 to 3 years, to the congregation of North Lakes Anglican Church, where our son-in-law is the priest, to his deanery; and to the Youth With A Mission – Island Breeze base in Sydney where our daughter, Stacey, and her family live. We also have a young musician from here at St. Mary’s that is part of our team that will be going to Australia and he needs help in getting there. He will be attending a conference at Hillsong in Sydney to receive some training concerning worship while we are at the Youth With A Mission – Island Breeze base. St. Mary’s Church is going to pay for his conference fees which is awesome! It’s exciting to see them sowing into Kingdom Work. The first seeds have been sown, help sow more seeds for Jose. He will need around $5,000.00 to be able to join us in Australia. Well, I don’t need to tell you that there are a lot of needs around the world. Some very close to you. All we ask is that you go before the throne of Grace and ask our Father what you are to do. This we do know: You are to Sow Seeds for the extension of the Kingdom of God!!! Where you sow is between you and the Lord. So, go before the Lord and get ready to Sow; and Sow generously. 2 Corinthians 9.6-12 If you are to help financially with any of the above, please let me know. Be Blessed to be a Blessing, Fr. Joe & Tina

Holy Week 2013

To the Saints that are holding us before the throne of our God: May His grace and love shower over you in ways that you never expect! Last Sunday, we began Holy Week with Passion Sunday or as it is more familiar, Palm Sunday. For me, it’s the best of the best in the Church year. It defines why we exist; to have a relationship with the Father eternally. As we bask in this reality, there are millions that have no idea that God loves them. And we really don’t have to go far to bump into someone who “knows not the Christ.” Our prayer for you is that you will have the opportunity to share Jesus with those who come into your circle of influence. Wow!!!! Three major brances of Christianity have new leadership this Holy Week and Easter; the Coptic Church in Egypt (Pope Tawadros II), the Roman Catholic Church (Pope Francis), and the Anglican Church (Archbishop Welby). These are exciting days to live. The Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Constantinople attended the enthronement of the new Pope of Rome and the Russian Orthodox Church sent a delegation. This is BIG NEWS!!! Yes the Anglicans were present as well, but having the presence of the Eastern Church is monumental. Now if that is not news enough! In February, the Church in Egypt formed its first Council of Churches which includes: The Greek Orthodox, the Coptic Catholic, the Coptic Orthodox, the Evanglical (Presbyterian) and the Anglican Church. Please continue to pray for the Church and her unity throughout the world. Tina and I were able to get our residency cards before she came back to the states. This allows us to be able to stay in Honduras longer than 90 days at a time. More flexibility for us in our goings and comings. All went well with Abney’s and Tina’s surgeries. Tina still does not have “her” voice back, but she can talk. Just not to talk as much, if possible. She can’t sing at all right now which is a real problem since she loves to sing, but I’m sure this will come back in time as will her normal voice. But her thyroid showed no signs of cancer and in that, we rejoice! It turns out that Abney is not going to Los Angeles to enter into the film industry. While she was in Australian, she believed the Lord told her to go to New York instead and take some more training for the theater and film industry. So keep her in your prayers as she sorts through all of this. At the moment she is working as a hostess for Logan’s Restaurant here in Sumter. Right before I returned to Sumter, Abney had a wreck in my car and totaled it. Praise God no one was hurt! We do have a rental for a few weeks, but we are going to have to figure out how to get everyone from point A to point B, C & D. It’s amazing how dependent we are with our vehicles. No wonder the gas prices are so high!! It’s hard to believe that the SAMS Retreat and the New WineSkins Conference at Ridgecrest Conference Center in Ridgecrest, NC is next week. The New WineSkins Conference begins on Thursday, the 4th of April and ends on the 7th. We would encourage you to attend this conference if at all possible. You will not regret it!!! It’s not too late to register so go here to register: www.newwineskins.org/ Last month I gave you a list of some of our financial needs. I want to thank the Lord and those who responded to help us in being able to get 1) the brochures for St. Mary’s School, 2) the drive way to the school, and 3) the monthly expense of St. Mary’s School’s website off our list. Remember, only give what the Lord tells you to give. All we ask of you is to be obedient to what the Lord asks of you in all aspects of your life. So, here’s a list of some of our financial needs for WIN-GS: 1. To help with the VBS/Retreat for the 160 students at St. Mary’s, we need $15.00 per student (which includes a T-shirt, snacks, and supplies) and $2,000.00 for the service project. The Retreat is on the 7 & 8th of June and the VBS is on the 10th and 11th. Please keep us in your prayers for this event. 2. To establish a Scholarship Fund here at St. Mary’s for the Staff, Teachers, and Clergy children, as well as, for children with special needs: $5,000.00 (Some monies have been pledged for this) ($200.00 given…..now let’s see it grow!) 3. Roof for St. Mary’s school: $16,000.00 (This is a priority project that needs to be done before we can address the needs within the classrooms: painting, lighting, ceiling repair, etc.) 4. WIN-GS Mission to Brisbane Australia: $6,000.00 (air fares to Australia and within Australia) In July to teach on Missions to clergy, to those recently graduated from ST FRANCIS THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE in the last 2 to 3 years, to the congregation of North Lakes Anglican Church where our son-in-law is the priest and also to their deanery; and to the Youth With A Mission – Island Breeze base in Sydney where our daughter, Stacey, and her family live. We also have a young musician from here at St. Mary’s that is part of our team that will be going to Australia and he needs help in getting there. He will also be going to a conference at Hillsong in Sydney to receive some training concerning worship while we visit and teach at the Youth With A Mission – Island Breeze base. He will need around $5,000.00 to be able to join us in Australia. Please rejoice with us in what the Lord is doing to meet our financial needs for the ministry that He has called us. Bit by bit; little by little. I know the Big Items seem to scare some of you, but you need to know what our needs are so you will know better how to pray for us. Every little bit helps, so just be faithful to give as the Lord leads you. If the Lord leads you to help us financially, please send us an email so we can tell you where to send the check. Thank you again for your support of our ministry. Our prayer for you is that you will be able to see the world from the Lord’s point of view and to respond to His leading at all times. Be Blessed to be a Blessing, Fr. Joe & Tina