Reflections on 2009, looking ahead to 2010

Well, here we are at the start of a new year and it seems appropriate to look back over the year that just ended - not to pat ourselves on the back but to see just how gracious God has been to us in all His dealings with us. 2009 was an incredible year for this ministry and all the glory goes to God who is the One leading and directing all of our good works. The brief synopsis of our year looks like this -

Total number of team trips to work with our partners outside the US - 5
Total number of countries visited - 5 (Guatemala, Haiti, Uganda, Rwanda, DR Congo)
Total number of team members on those teams - 61
Total number of children "processed" on those trips - 1,527

These numbers are staggering to us given that at the start of 2009 we only envisioned 3 team trips with the potential of 31 total team members! Praise God for His incredible provision!

This year also brought us a new ministry partner - Pastor Merari Rodriguez of Iglesia Galilea in San Lucas, Guatemala. We look forward to many years working in partnership with this incredible man of God.

Looking ahead to 2010 our theme for the coming year is "Increase Capacity". We are currently talking with another international Christian relief ministry about a possible partnership between their ministry and ours. If this partnership develops, there is great potential for more growth of our ministry so our primary focus here at home will be to look for ways to continue to increase our capacity. We have already made great strides in this direction taking full advantage of the incredible opportunities provided to us through modern technology. Already we have been able to set up a new system for remote assistance from some wonderful volunteers in Southern Maine, Texas and Utah who are able to work on our computers here in Central Maine without leaving their homes! We are also looking for even more volunteers to help streamline our old system of lists and charts to make it more efficient, thus increasing our ability to add more ministry opportunities. But we do all these things with our eyes directed towards God, who is the One who will bring it all to pass.

Thank you to all of you who have prayed with and for us and have supported us for the past 8 years. Little did we know where all this would go when we made that first trip to Haiti just 8 years ago this month. We thank God for the incredible ministry He's given us and we pray to be equal to the tasks He continues to set before us.

For Him and for the children,
Jamie