No need to Worry

Matthew 6:25-27 (Jesus speaking) “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life - whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear.  Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?  Look at the birds.  They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them.  And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?  Can all your worries add  a single moment to your life?” (NLT)  

“living the good life” &  spending time with one of our granddaughters “Maddie”

We love God’s sense of humor!  He gave us a wonderful and beautiful “Lake House”(as we liked to call it) on Lake Michigan to live in for the month of April and part of May.   And now we are staying in the complete opposite.  We are staying in a friend’s pop-up camper, parked back at the kid’s house.  The first 3 nights  there were severe thunderstorms.  The next 2 nights the nighttime temps dropped to the thirties.  Poor Bruce and Janine.  Brrr......Our kids even begged us to move back into the house. So we did.  We have laughed a lot at how, “The Lord Giveth and the Lord Taketh Away.”  All for our good!  Even while living the “good life” in a camper, God is preparing us to minister to those with even less. 

As most of you know our plans for a departure in May is not happening for a variety of reasons: still short on funding, unexpected trials in the field, God still teaching us things, etc.  But we are finally leaving!  We have purchased our tickets and will be headed to Uganda on Monday, July 14. 

The day we paid for our tickets was a bit surreal.   We both had that strange feeling in our stomachs, a bit of nervousness and excitement all at the same time. There is no turning back now.  This is finally going to happen!

We are still a little short on our finances.  We have 15% of our budget left to raise, which is about $850 monthly still needed.  We have contacted hundreds of churches and shared our mission with everyone we could think of, and have “left no stone unturned”.  So now is the time to step out in faith and trust that God will provide and continue to work in the hearts of the people and churches that we need for the rest.  We must follow where God leads and trust Him to complete the work He started.

If you have been meaning to give but haven’t given yet, or if you feel God is leading you to help us by partnering in this ministry, Please send in your pledge card, or email us to let us know you need one and we will get one to you. 

There are two ways to give: online by credit card or by check.                                                                                  

If you want to give online simply click here: www.ecmafrica.org 

click on the “Donate Now” button.  In the Designation box, type “Cokers”

Or

If you would like to give by check, Make checks Payable to:

Every Child Ministries

P.O. Box 810 

Hebron, IN 46341

In the Memo line on your check make sure to write "Cokers"

So, during the month of June we will continue to do what we can to raise more support and enjoy spending this time with our family and friends!  We apologize in advance if we do not have anything new to report to you until we arrive in Uganda and get settled.  We look forward to reporting to you again near the end of July.

Serving together with you,

Bruce & Janine

Our Prayer Needs 

*God to supply the remaining 15% of our support needed 

* Safe travels on July 14th

*Lead us in preparations and packing

*Visas and all paperwork in order

*God prepare us for all the cultural and language challenges we will face

*Our Children and Grandchildren to adjust to our leaving and adjust to family separation

*Protection
*Keep walking in Obedience and humility the path marked out for us!

Trust in the Lord

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

What does it mean to trust in the Lord with all your heart?  Heart, in Hebrews, refers to one’s emotions, intellect, or will.  This means we have to first realize that our wisdom, or insight, is no match for God’s.  God’s ways are sometimes meant for us to understand and sometimes they are not, but we must follow because He is trustworthy.  The second part of this verse says we are to acknowledge God and He will make our path straight.  Strong’s Concordance defines the word acknowledge, in this passage, as submit.  We are to submit our ways to God and trust in Him to lead the way, and then the pathway will be clearer to see. 

God gave us a call and the first thing we decided to do was to acknowledge that it was something we needed to answer, and answer we did.  Answering meant we had to sell our home and most of our belongings in order to free ourselves of unnecessary possessions and unnecessary debt.  This task seemed to come easy, because God provided a buyer for the house.  The belongings went pretty fast as well; who doesn’t love a yard sale.

The second part of answering led us to leaving the security of our jobs.  Telling our bosses that we were leaving to serve God was an emotional strain because of the friendships built, and a leap of faith because we would no longer be living on a typical salary.  We would be living on what little bit of savings we had until we arrive in Africa and begin to use the money we have been raising for support.

We have had the privilege of learning to trust in God and to submit to Him in ways that are unfamiliar to us.  Over the past 28 years, we have relied on God to provide for us through the jobs we held, and on the finances we earned ourselves.  We seemed to have some control.  Our life, now, is totally in God’s control.

We planned on being in Africa by the end of February, but God had other plans.  Living with our children and granddaughter was a joy, but after living together for over 5 months it was time for us to give them a break.  They love us tons, but in smaller doses.  So, we prayed we’d find a place to stay for the month of April.  We gave it to the Lord and trusted in Him to provide for us.  God is faithful and trustworthy!  God provided a beautiful cottage for us on Lake Michigan, through generous believers we had never met before.  He gave us a place far better than we even imagined.  God also used this situation as a time for preparation.  The house has no Internet, cable, or cell phone coverage.  Wow!  This is how it will be when we move to Africa.

Because of our downsizing, and living in a small house with our kids, we lost our ability to exercise and we needed to get back in shape after such a long drawn out winter of being cooped up inside.  God provided a month or more of free memberships at a local gym.  Time to pump it up!

Friends of ours offered us their frequent flyer miles to purchase our airline tickets for the flight to Africa.  We were in awe that someone would do that for us!  This was a very generous offer, but was a bit difficult to use due to the fact that we had to keep moving our departure date out. (Short on support)  We shared with our friends that we greatly appreciated the offer, but we were torn about using them because it would be difficult to lock into a date.  If we had to cancel for any reason the miles could be lost and they would have wasted them on us. We could however, lock into flights through a missionary organization and cancel at anytime (not using flyer miles) without penalty.  Our friends asked the amount and then offered to pay for the tickets out of their pocket.  We told them they did not have to do this. Their response was, "God had told us that He wanted us to get you to the field in Africa."  This brought us to tears. (Literally)

We share these stories with you not to be boastful, but to remind us, and you, that God does provide for His people when we call on Him and are trusting in Him.  We may not understand everything God is doing or why, but we can trust that He is in control and that He will make our paths straight.

Our Prayer Needs 

  

* God to supply the remaining 30% of support needed

* Our May 22nd departure to happen as scheduled

*Lead us in preparations and packing

*Visas and all paperwork in order

*God prepare us for all the cultural and language challenges we will face

*Our Children and Grandchildren to adjust to our leaving and adjust to family separation

*Protection

*Keep walking in Obedience and humility the path marked out for us!

Views from the house we are Blessed to stay in for the month of April