Update From Our Class Missionary: Alicia Shedd

We just finished our first family camp week at Maranatha, with 16 guest families and over 100 guests! It was a great week learning about the treasure found in Christ. Despite a couple really hot days in the 90s and a couple cool, rainy days in the upper 60s, the campers had a ton of fun!

This happened to be my 50th family camp to work as a full-time staff member (between Life Action and Maranatha camps). Crazy to believe that I’ve been involved in that many family camp weeks! Family camp is my favorite event, as I love seeing the impact on the whole family as they get a chance to rest, have fun, and seek God together.

Below are a few testimonies we received from the week. Forgiveness was a huge theme!

 

“I’ve been angry with my daughter. I realized that it was me, not her. I’ve been convicted that I have to work, by the grace of God, to provide her with love and guidance.” – guest dad


“I’ve been challenged to forgive people I felt made poor decisions that affected my family’s life. It’s been hard on my family to heal and after this week I’ve realized forgiveness is the only way we will be truly healed.” – guest mom


“The sessions helped to remember to thank God for His grace, embrace forgiveness daily, and trust that the same grace and gospel which brought me salvation will also sanctify me and help me as I seek to embrace the treasures in Christ.” – guest youth

Pray that God would continue to solidify the truths in the hearts of those who came.

Also, this week we’re holding our annual Boys’ and Teen Guys’ camp, so please pray that God would reach the hearts of the 60 young men who are here.

Blessings,

Alicia Shedd
Maranatha Ministries
(c) 603-748-0656
A gospel centered camp for the whole family.

Summer Joy

Mrs. Shedd made it safely to Michigan to visit with Alicia, Andrea, and Andrea’s family.  Oh, what books they will read!  What adventures they will have!  Here is Alicia’s latest report on the basement construction that YOU helped make possible.

While we did grill for 4th of July, our day was primarily focused on basement projects. Thanks to family friends who spent the holiday serving with us, we made great traction in one day! What a huge blessing! We’ve been working tirelessly to make the basement functional for my parents’ visit (who just arrived today!) and were running out of time. This workday made it possible for us to finish the necessities like doors, ceilings, lighting, and smoke detectors.

Each step brings us closer to visualizing our new space in action! There are still projects left before we can call final inspections and I can move into my new room. Lord willing, we’ll be finished within the next couple months!

News From Our Other Class Missionaries, the S. Family

We just looked at all your pictures in our class today!  E looks like he’s helping you show the love of God to everyone there around you!  You look like you’re having fun.  That food looks good too.  We hope you’re making a lot of friends there.  We could see a lot of friends already.  The chicken looks really good.  We wonder what food you will be trying next!  Keep sending us pictures of that, for we’re really curious about delicious foods around the world. Questions we are wondering about:
 
How is baby E doing in the new place, with the heat and humidity? 
***E is doing absolutely great! We are blessed that he is so flexible! We also have AC in our rooms at night and during his naps which helps. 
How are you doing in your new house?  Do you have everything you need?
***We aren’t in our new house yet. It is being painted and we have more work to do before we’re ready to move. We also still need to buy appliances (fridge, stove, water cooler, etc)
We liked how you used some of the new words you are using and learning.  How is your language study going?
***Language study is going well, slowly but surely. We can look back at day one and see how far we’ve come when we get discouraged by how limited our language still is. 
What has been your favorite place you’ve seen so far?
***We like the market. Also we went to a bird sanctuary our first weekend here which was cool. (Sorry, no pictures of it handy at the moment)
Is it hard to learn the language? 
***The language thankfully is fairly easy. 
We really liked how you showed your pictures.  What program do you use to do that?  We would like to try that on our blog.  We hope you’ll do another one soon to show us the news.  Wow.
***Adobe Spark.  We downloaded an app and made it on our phone!
Will E go to school there when he gets older, speaking in their language?  Will he learn both languages in your house?
***E will learn both English and the language here. We will homeschool him.
How fast can you talk in your new language now?
***Haha not too fast yet. 
What has been the hottest temperature there so far?
***Hottest temp—maybe 95? Not sure. It’s also very humid. I think we’re getting used to it though 🙂
We really care about you and can’t wait for your next update!  We pray for you often.
 
Love from Miss Blessing, Nico, Natalie, Nathaniel, Jackson, Micah, Nevaeh, Sylvie, Benjamin, Keziah, Timothy, Audrey, and Owen

Praying for Anibal, our Compassion Child

Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to volunteer for the Compassion Experience in White River Junction.  Look who I saw during my shift!

We just received a letter from our Compassion child Anibal along with an updated photo, so I thought I would pass it on to the children so they can be reminded to pray for him.

Dear sponsor,

I send you greetings with love and I hope you are in good health next to your family.  I am happy to write you again and I answer your questions.  I had the chance to have a happy Easter next to my family.  We went to church, we prepared delicious tamales (traditional Guatemalan food made of corn dough and meat), we went for a walk, and we visited my grandparents.  I like to go for a walk and play soccer.  Now I am in a soccer team named Barcelona.

I am well, and thanks for asking.  I am healthy.  My family is wonderfully enjoying of the blessing of God.

This year I started eighth grade.  I am taller, and there are new changes on me.  I take care of my animals, and I feed them.  My school is big.  There are 12 classrooms.  It has two yards.  One is to play soccer, and the other is to play basketball, and the roof is of terrace.

We are five in my family.  My parents are lovely, but my father is the most serious.  We share, and we go for a walk.

I thank you for the letters that you sent me where you show your love to me, and I love you too.  My hobbies are to play soccer and take care of my animals.  I share with my friends.  I have a pet named Boby, and he is a fun dog and he likes to play.  Do you have any pet?

Please pray for my education.  I say goodbye and hope you have success in your daily activities.

~Wilfred Anibal Manfredy Colop Tayun

Update from our Missionaries

Don’t forget to be praying for our special people over the summer!

***Alicia is in the middle of her busiest season.  Right now it is her sixth week of Family Camp at Life Action Ministries.  She is in charge of leading all the CREW of volunteers among many other projects.

***Pray for our Compassion child Anibal in Guatemala. Here is the link to Compassion’s wonderful Explorer magazine for kids, which can help you to learn more about different countries all around the world.

***Here is the latest news from the Laubachers as they prepare to go out with New Tribes in the near future.  They are serving at New Tribes headquarters as they continue to recover from Lyme disease.

 

Laubacher Update

I promised the students that I would post updates from our missionaries and Compassion child over the summer to help them continue to pray. Here is the latest from Daniel and Rebecca Laubacher, with a link to their blog within the newsletter for even more information. They just helped at Family Camp Week at the camp I will be serving at during Girls’ Week.

Thank you for remembering to pray for them.

Daniel and Rebecca Laubacher’s newsletter

Our Missionaries: Jordan and Laura Bracy

To help all of the students as they pray for our missionaries this summer, here is the latest newsletter from Jordan and Laura Bracy, serving in Madagascar.

Hello Friends,

First we want to just thank you so much for your prayers! We know that being far away makes it difficult to pray for someone (especially when there are many things at home that demand your attention)! We want you to know that your prayers are a huge encouragement to us! We also want you to know that we thank God for you whenever we think of you.

At the end of this week we will finish the first “unit” in our curriculum. A lot has happened over the past 12 weeks! This week Daniel (Unit Leader of AIM Madagascar) has come to visit our team and to help “debrief” us with one of our team members having returned home. We are pleased to have him here! This past Sunday, June 23, our team leader just found out about a death in her family. Please keep her and her family in your prayers. She has worked very hard for us and has sacrificed a lot for us. She has had a lot on her plate, especially when we arrived, so please pray for God’s strength and peace for her and her family. Pray that she will be able to make it to the funeral, as she really wants to be there with her family.

Our team has a planned outing this weekend to celebrate the end of our first unit! We would appreciate prayers for a time of refreshment and renewal for all of us. After that we begin our second unit, in which we will be focusing on spiritual warfare. This second unit will begin with 2 weeks of “intensive” language learning.

We were recently able to put some pictures on our blog: byhisgrace.aimsites.org/media/photos of us, our house, and our kitty. Check them out!

“Walking” Water:

Upon arriving in our village, we were pleased to find that there is a public fountain that is about a minute walk from our house where we can get water. In the local language we learned the word for “going” is also the word for “walking.” And that term is also used to describe that the fountain is working – or that the fountain is “walking.” While it has been very nice to have this fountain so close to us, it has also proved to be somewhat frustrating as it is not always “walking.” When the fountain is not working we have to find another fountain in town that does work, but on occasion there are days (like the past couple of days) when none of the fountains work. That means that everyone has to go to the well to get water, which happens to be on the exact opposite side of town near a clinic. Well, we have 3 jerry cans which hold 20 Liters (about 5.3 gallons) each and two buckets that we use to hold our water. And that works out really well when the fountain nearby is running, but when it’s not that makes life a little more difficult. There was one day when one of our teammates and I (Jordan) were waiting in line at one of the few fountains that were working (barely working) and we noticed our neighbor going somewhere else to get water. Our neighbor invited us to come along and get water at a different place. We both thought that we would go to a fountain that not many people new about at the time that was running nearby. Well, we walked through the middle of town, past the clinic and the other side of town and continued going for much longer than either of us wanted to trek. We eventually ended up at a fountain that was running really well, which was nice, but hiking 15 minutes with a jerry can and two buckets was a bit further than we had planned. The walk back took us a bit longer.

Prayer Requests:

Pray for our team leader and her family as they work through the death of a family member.

Praise that we have reached the end of our first unit.

Praise that we are starting to feel at home in our new home.

Praise for progress in language learning.

Continue to pray for language learning and relationships to be built.

By His Grace, For His Glory