July and August of 2024
Hello everyone! Can you believe that it is already September?
We hope that life is treating you all well, but if it is rough on you remember there is a season for everything and that God is there with you through it all.
The past two months have been a stressful for us, but we are confident in the Lord's protection and provision.
July:
-In late July we felt God calling both Bradley and I to commit fully to partnership development, so we are now full-time fundraising!
-We had a garage sale to sell some of our things in preparation for moving to Guatemala in March, as we won't be able to bring or store all of our things.
-God has blessed us with a bridge card and health insurance, plus some personal savings, and help from some generous people. God has provided perfectly for our needs this past month and a half. That has allowed us not to have to use our mission's fund money yet. But, that is not a full time solution. We do not want to waste any of the resources God gives us, and so we are planning to sell our house this fall. That will allow us to no longer have to pay for our home's utilities, and God-willing will give us extra as a cushion for emergencies.
-Caitlin has been working on some curriculum and has created educational games for the students to use in Guatemala. It was exciting for her to be back in a teaching role creating curriculum again, something she enjoyed back when she was teaching in a learning center.We are glad to be able to work with our co-workers even from within the U.S.
In August:
-We participated in a training program that provided us with more advice, and taught us about the importance of stories when we are sharing with prayer and financial partners. During the course of that training it tested us in different ways, and helped us to understand what our strengths are when we are communicating with others. We will take some elements from the training into our future conversations, but for the most part we are going to lean on the Holy Spirit's guidance during our meetings and will remain genuine in all of our dealings with all of the opportunities God brings before us.
-We met with a realtor this month, and began discussions about when is best to sell and all the other miscellaneous things we will need to do to sell the house.
We are confident that God wants us to do this, as many people have prayed and are also confident in the decision we are making. At this point we are only waiting on God's timing to make sure we do this his way, not ours.
-We spoke in front of a church for our second time. We were a bit frazzled that day, as we had just finished our two week course of training and various spiritual warfare situations were going on around us. We are thankful that their church will be supporting us.
-This was a month of time with family, for happy reasons and sad reasons, but we are thankful for the family and friends that support us, and who support each other during the ups and downs of life.
-We met with some more individuals we hope to partner with this month, and also met with our mentors. Their listening ears and advice are helpful, and will continue to be so in these upcoming months and years.
-We have been wrestling and praying with how exactly we should go about these next few months, trying to see what God wants and to observe which doors are opening or shutting around us. No matter what happens though, we are reassured in knowing that God has the plan already worked out, and that He will provide for us when and how He deems we need it, for His glory's sake and for the sake of the Kingdom.
Prayer requests:
1) That God can bring us into contact with more people who are interested in hearing what we are doing, and willing to partner with us, or who can refer us to those who can financially partner with us. We know that prayer support is very important, and that we have a lot of it, but it would be nice to see our financial partners growing as well.
2)That we will all remain healthy over the next couple months as we try to meet with people and move.
3)That God will bless those who are partnering with us in their own lives as well, and that they can feel joy at being part of the great commission by partnering with us.
4) We are pretty sure that God wants us to move to IL in the coming months, after we sell the house. But we are very much hoping God will open a door so that we have housing to stay in for overnight visits to MI. Most of the people we know or will be referred to will likely live here, and we wish to have as many in-person conversations as possible. If anyone knows of any housing that might be available or an extra bedroom at a house without furry pets, feel free to contact us.
All in all it's been busy these two months! But God is moving and working. We are at 12% of our monthly goal right now out of 100%. That is a daunting number at times, but we know that God is in charge of all the wealth in this world, and that He will bring us exactly what we need, according to His timing. We are looking forward to seeing how God raises the rest.
If anyone has any referrals for us about people we might contact about meeting to hear our partnership presentation please email us.
May our God bless all of you who read this,
May the Spirit move each of us into action within our lives, however it is needed, so that we are able to be as effective as possible.
May we all remember and follow Christ's examples to us.
Sincerely,
The Webbs