requested by: LOCKWOOD
COMMUNITY CHURCH
2013 MISSIONARY ANNUAL REPORT FORM
Dear Co-laborer,
Our desire is to minister to you. In order to do this most effectively, we need
to be regularly updated about your ministry, plans, and personal needs. Please be assured that anything of a
sensitive nature will be kept confidential.
Thank you for taking the time to keep us informed. Please return the form to us by mail or email
by October 1 so that we can use it for budget planning for 2012. God bless you as you continue to serve Him.
Personal Information_______________________________
Name Jim & Jennifer B.
Location of Ministry Field: ~ Mali, West Africa, but this past year we have been on Home Ministry in NC & MD.
Location of Ministry Field: ~ Mali, West Africa, but this past year we have been on Home Ministry in NC & MD.
Family members living
at home: From Christmas until our return to Mali, our oldest daughter lived
with us.
Current Address:
We do not have a postal address on the field yet (have just moved to a new
city, and will get a PO box in the neighborhood where we find a house).
Telephone: MALI Country code 223
Date of next planned
home ministry: summer 2015
Ministry Information____________________________________________
Briefly describe your
ministry:
Our Home Ministry year had 3 facets: 1. Participating in new missionary training;
2. Working on our Master’s Degrees; 3. Visiting supporters.
State your ministry
accomplishments this past year.
- In the fall, we were
Missionaries-in-Residence for the Center for Intercultural Training (CIT)
in Union Mills, NC. This is a
training program for new missionaries begun by UWM, but which is now run
and used by about 15 agencies. There
were four sessions: 1. Cross-cultural training (4 wks.); 2. Second Language Acquisition (2 wks.);
3. Church planting (1 wk.); and
4. Sharpening Your Interpersonal
Skills (SYIS). We attended all
classes, which was a good refresher for us, and we were available as a
resource for the staff and trainees.
- Jim took 2 online classes
and 1 on-campus Intensive toward completing his Master’s in Intercultural
Studies (Muslim emphasis) at Columbia International University (CIU) in
the spring and summer ‘13. He needs
one more online course, which will be offered in the fall of ’14, in order
to complete his degree.
Jennifer continued working toward
her Master of Arts in Teaching (Elementary emphasis) through Liberty University
online. She took two of three required
on-campus courses, in fall and spring, and one online class. She is about 2/3
of the way through her coursework.
- We spent many weekends and
whole weeks on the road visiting supporters. We used the time in NC to deepen
relationships with churches there, and even picked up one new church
supporter. While living in
Baltimore, we also got reacquainted with some of our supporting churches
there. During the week, Jennifer
volunteered at an inner city Christian school, and Jim volunteered at the
Christian Community Center, an inner city ministry to women and children.
State your goals for
this next year.
Now that we have returned to Mali, we have moved to the
capital. First and foremost, we
are house- and car-hunting. We are
blessed in that we have a home to stay in where we need only pay utilities
until we find a place of our own.
We originally decided to move here so that Jennifer could
teach at the Christian Academy.
However, due to the aftermath of 2012’s coup d’état, the school will probably not open for at least 2 years
(it is very safe here, but many families have just not yet returned. In order to be able to keep the building, it
has been rented out to another ministry for 2 years).
Jennifer is therefore in search of a ministry! She is already teaching 2 classes/week at a
Christian ESL center, and hopes to expand her involvement next semester. Furthermore, she is tutoring another
missionary in the Bambara language 2-3 mornings/week. She also expects to become involved in
women’s ministry in whatever church we end up attending regularly. There are lots of opportunities here and she
is exploring them.
Jim will be involved in cross-cultural training of African
missionaries and Bible school teaching, as well as making frequent visits back
to Kayes to visit Fulani contacts and monitor the block machine work for the
construction of a Christian elementary school we have helped establish,
Rehoboth Christian School. Jim will
continue his relationships with the many Fulanis he knows, too.
Please explain any
anticipated changes in ministry such as location or type of ministry.
See above. We are now
living in the cpital instead of Kayes.
What were the
greatest joys or ministry highlights during this past year?
We always enjoy reconnecting with our supporters. We
were thankful for an extended period of time in the South, because the churches
there have supported us since we were in
CIT nearly 2 decades ago, and although we have made visits
since then, it was great to participate in the life of those churches as
well (Jim to men’s breakfasts; attending Homecoming Sunday, and so on).
In Baltimore also we were able to get involved in the church
we attended the first year we were married.
God is doing great things through this inner city ministry, and we
enjoyed coming alongside to help.
We had our oldest daughter living with us from Christmas
onward, upon her return from 5 ½ years in Senegal. She had not lived with us for an extended
period since 2004.
We also bought our first home, a typical Baltimore rowhouse. Danielle is renting it from us now.
What were the
greatest heartaches or struggles during this past year?
In many ways this was an easy year. However, studying is always a challenge. Jim took his two online courses
simultaneously and he was up to his ears in work much of the time. Jennifer did not do as well as she had hoped
in one of her classes and will probably have to retake that one.
Besides our support and funds for a replacement vehicle, we
were trying to raise funds for a building for the Christian school in Kayes. We are just not gifted fund-raisers because
NO ONE gave ANYTHING to this project‼!
We diverted a part of our honorariums and such to this fund, but it did
not amount to much.
Of course, it was a tremendous disappointment to learn that
Bamako Christian Academy would not reopen.
What are your prayer
requests?
Ø
For Jim as he makes contacts to build a ministry
of training African missionaries.
Ø
For Jennifer as she teaches English, and seeks
the place of ministry God has for her.
Ø
For a short-term missionary to come oversee the
block machine for a couple of years. (We
have a guy “in the pipeline” whom we think is coming; some details to be ironed
out).
Ø
For the Christian Academy to reopen in 2015.
Ø
For our children:
·
Danielle as she teaches in a classical Christian
school in MD and makes decisions about grad school and a church home.
·
Ruthanne, working in the Business Ofc. at Dakar
Academy.
·
Benjamin, a senior at Greenville College, IL, with
a double major of Sound Engineering and Philosophy, and for his “serious”
relationship with a young lady.
·
Susanna, a sophomore at Greenville, majoring in
Elementary Ed and serving as a Resident Chaplain in her dorm.
What is your current
required monthly support need? $7000
What are you lacking?
Although actual pledges to our
support only amount to 67%, we are receiving about 100% in contributions each
month, praise the Lord!
However, we are still hoping to raise an initial amount of $20,000 to help Rehoboth Christian School with its building projects. WA School Facilities fund.
Other funds of the UWM - MALI Field, i.e. WA Medical Fund, Fulani Ministry fund, Radio fund, WA Relief & Development fund, Evangelism fund, & Training fund, also need consistent support.
If support need has increased, give reason (inflation,
education, etc.)
_____________________________________________________________
Thank you for taking
the time to complete this report. It
will enable us to better minister to you.
God bless you and your ministry.
Please
mail to: Larry K., Coldwater,
MI, Or Email: XX
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