Happy New Year from The Sanders Family!
Scott, Amilee, Benjamin (5), Nathan (3), and Abigail (1)
Happy New Year! This past month has been a whirlwind, but it's finally starting to sink in that we now live in Northwest Arkansas. We just spent a much-needed vacation in Branson, Missouri with Amilee's family. We just returned home today and it's time to start focusing on what God wants us to accomplish in 2015.
We want to share some exciting news with you. A few weeks ago, Scott went to his first missions meeting with a group of men from Northwest Community Church who are interested in taking a trip to Papua New Guinea. In case you don't know, Scott's brother, BJ, along with his wife, Jill, and their three children (ages 4, 2, and 1) moved to PNG last January. They have spent the past 11 months in training and they have been surveying the area to find a tribe who wants to hear the gospel. They have finally selected their tribe and will start building their house in the next few months. After their house is built, BJ and Jill, along with 2 other families, will move up into the mountains and begin learning their tribe's language. After that, they will begin sharing the Bible with them through story-telling and present the gospel to them! They will then work on translating the Bible into their tribal language. What a huge task that lies before them! They need all the prayer and support that we can offer. To learn more about what they are doing, please visit their blog here.
So, at this missions meeting, several men from our church decided they wanted to be the ones to help build BJ and Jill's house. Scott spent several days researching plane tickets and prices. It will take 30+ hours of flying, along with 4 layovers and a helicopter ride, for them to reach the tribe. And, Scott is going to be in charge of the trip! On March 14, four men from NCC will be leaving from Northwest Arkansas to head to PNG. They will be gone for two weeks and will be working as hard as they can to build BJ and Jill's house! Please join us in prayer for this huge, God-sized task!
- Pray for wisdom for BJ, Jill and their teammates as they choose where they should build their house, put posts in the ground, and gather building materials.
- Pray for safety for the four men traveling to PNG. Also, pray that they meet the weight requirements for the helicopter! This may sound amusing, but all of the men (including their belongings) cannot exceed 1,015 pounds.
- Pray for the four men's families that they are leaving in the States. Amilee is excited for the opportunity that Scott will have, but is dreading being separated from him for two weeks. Also, pray that the families are able to raise support for this expensive trip. Airline tickets alone cost about $3000!
- Pray that the Wantakia tribe will be excited and ready to hear the gospel and that many come to know Him in the coming years.
God is already teaching us so much. Our faith is being stretched daily. But, the more we are stretched, the more we realize that God doesn't want us to stay in our comfort zones: He wants us to be stretched daily, by letting go of our fleshly desires and submitting to His will.
Praying that all of us will have our faith stretched in 2015, so that we can become MORE like Christ.
"When we fight to stay in certain and controlled circumstances, seek comfort over discomfort, or need a fully mapped-out plan, can we even claim faith in God at all?" -Christine Hoover
