Unexpected Opportunities - January 2024

Every new year I like to sit back and marvel at all God has done. He gives us twelve months in a year, twelve chapters to make count for His glory, and more often than not, I can't help but be in awe at the places He takes us, the people He allows us to meet, and the things He allows us to do. If you'd of told me ten years ago that I'd be doing what I'm doing today, I'd of thought you were crazy. But that's just the thing about God - He works in mysterious ways, and it's often those things we feel the least qualified for that He eventually calls us to do.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 - "And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." 

I'm not entirely sure what we expected this year to hold for us, but it surely wasn't the news we got toward the beginning of this month. Shortly after the new year, we received an email from a couple on the field in Australia asking us if we'd be willing to partake in the Sports Event Evangelism ministry a number of our teammates are taking part in at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.  We prayed, talked it over, and sought counsel from our sending church pastor before making any decisions,  and have since submitted our applications to go. The trip is currently scheduled for July 29-August 7, 2024 and we are extremely excited to work with a number of our teammates to learn more about this ministry which has operated out of Australia for many years. Our prayer is that it will ultimately open some doors for us in the future,  both in Australia and abroad.

This month we also had the chance to celebrate national Australia Day with a few friends. We had a great time catching up over some good traditional Aussie foods,  something Hanna thoroughly enjoys sharing with everyone here in the states whenever she gets the chance.  She made Lamington's and Anzac Biscuits for our church potluck which was held on the 21st.  

Our outreach ministries for the month included a Life-Size Clue event on the 27th, which had an outstanding turnout from church-goers and non-church-goers alike. And we are currently taking strides in the youth program to extend meetings to every week rather than once every two weeks, which we are hoping will take affect in early March.

Still no date on the release of Hanna's first book. She is still waiting on the editor and is hopeful a lot of it will get done this month. She is about half-way through the first draft of the second book, and is hoping to release some information on it very soon. She wrote a question and answer this month that you can check out on our website below:

 https://littlehoofllc.wixsite.com/siministries/post/what-i-call-home-a-question-and-answer-blog-with-author-hanna-m-shields

As always, we'd like to thank you for your prayers and ask you to keep praying as the Lord leads us on this long journey of pre-field ministry. 

• Pray for our support. We have been stuck at 20% for quite a while and have not seen much growth, so continue to pray that the Lord will provide in His time. 

• Pray for Australia and the spiritual state of the country, that the Lord would prepare the hearts of the people. 

• Pray for Paris and for all the people we will have the opportunity to speak with this summer. 

• Pray for our sending church which is going through an exciting time of growth, that the Lord would add to His church through the dedication of those who serve Him on a daily basis. 

• Pray for endurance as we juggle ministry alongside full-time work.

• Pray for our marriage as we don't often have a lot of time to spend together, that the devil's attacks would only make our relationship stronger.