Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Pray With Us

Hello Friends:


Last week we completed a week of travel which included a concert in Iowa, then a concert in Illinois, followed by a day of ministry and presentations in Iowa again. It was a wonderful time of effective ministry. Also, I was able to spend time with a new friend in the Czech Village, Cedar Rapids, IA. It was also the week that our support level finally made it to a full 30%.

Back in Kalamazoo, MI, the satisfying glow of ministry began to fade and the problem of our support level weighed on our hearts once again. It has taken us three years to get to 30% support, and for 18 months of that time our support has been moving up and down between about 26% and 29%. Two churches have joined as supporters, and several individuals have joined, which offset some other support that was lost.

"Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain." Psalm 127:1

We've begun to wonder if we are "laboring in vain". We had about 83 meetings in three years and have a full schedule into the fall. The response to our ministry and our mission to the Czech republic has been exceptional. Here are some quotes from the evaluation forms we give for each church we visit.

"They blessed and challenged me"
"The Parmenters were a blessing to our church"
"The day was a blessing, challenge and very positive"

We are worried that after such a full schedule of great meetings that we are not seeing more support come in. ABWE guidelines show that we should be at about 60% support by now.

In the coming week, we are working to discern if we are supposed to continue with prefield. Please, pray with us that we will have clear direction from the Lord. We need a clear indication that God will provide the supporters we need to continue. Also, this week, I'm going to call churches we've been to in an attempt to find out if there are any that are planning to support us. We are also praying that we will be able to discover any individuals that have been considering supporting us.

If there are no churches planning on adding us then that could be an indication that we aren't where God wants us to be.

Over and over I think about the Czech. In such a strongly atheist country like the Czech, there are college students that are curious and interested in Christianity. They would be willing to study the Bible with some one. Our age and background make us suitable for a number of ministries to help the little church in Southern Bohemia grow and Christians there mature in their faith. It's heart breaking to consider that we might not have the funds to go help the Czechs.

We have been praying about our support for some months, some times with tears. We know that God is good, and that He is able to do anything in His will, regardless of the economy or political system. Pray with us that we will have wise discernment and clear direction over what to do next.

We appreciate your prayers, and will keep you posted on our next steps.

Adam Parmenter on behalf of Marge, Michael & Maryellen

www.sharethecrown.com

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