A Big Thank You

This past weekend I travelled to Garrett, IN, where I grew up and lived for pretty much my entire life excluding my time in college. The weekend was spent visiting friends and family and getting an oppertunity to speak to my home church about Lindsay and I's trip. It was set up very nicely by the church and I am extremely appreciative for that. They had printed off copies of our support letter and had them in the church bulletin. I was able to speak during the offering time too, which I feel like went very well. There were quite a few people who were very interested in our trip and how things have been going for Lindsay and I. So I was extremely encouraged by my time there this weekend. God blesses us everyday in different ways and this trip was a huge blessing. I am yet to know any sort of amount that we will receive from the church, but the receptiveness was encouraging enough.

This Weekend

I will be travelling to my home town of Garrett, IN this weekend to speak at my home church. This is a great oppertunity for Lindsay and I to raise support as my church has always been extremely supportive. It has been a great blessing. I ask that you prayer for the message, and the hearts of those who will hear it.

An Update

We have begun this crazy process of fund raising and following God in every way possible. We have started sending out support letters and are in desperate need of more funds. We were blessed with an opportunity to speak at Lindsays fathers' church in Harrodsburg, KY. The church received the message well and we were able to answer questions and get our story to that church. We are planning to go to Alex's home church in Garrett, IN on Sunday, March 30th to speak about the trip and answer more questions that may arise.

If you are thinking of supporting us or have anymore questions we would be more than willing to send a support letter to you, if you just leave us your address. If you would like to email it to us instead of leaving it here, you can send that to alexstebing_12@hotmail.com.

Also we continue to ask for your prayers as none of this would be possible without the direction and care of God.

Support

As is the case whenever someone does this type of work, Lindsay and I will need to raise support for our upcoming trip to Zambia, Africa, as well as any full time work we will do in the future. Below are some details discussing the support we are asking for.

Our Plea:

With God calling us only two months before we are to actually to set sail, we need a lot of support and a lot of supporters. We realize that we cannot provided for this trip on our own. We feel like God is testing us to see if he will depend on Him and His Church to provide. We are trying our bests to trust in God! We ask that you pray for us and our journey. We also ask if you are able, to support us financially. If you are interested in being a supporter for when we do travel to do mission work full time please let us know.

Trip Costs:

AirFare: $2000.00 per person
Cost of Living: $55 a day for 12 days (this includes, food, travel, and rooming).
Extra Expenses: $300 a person. We expect unexpected things to pop up. After all it is Africa! Any of this that we don’t use will be donated to the orphanage.
Lump sum of: $5,260 to raise
* $4000 has to be raised by March 31, 2008 so we can purchase the plane tickets.

Contact:

You can call or email us any time with any questions. Cell phone: (260)226-0276. Email addresses: alexstebing_12@hotmail.com, liliangel333@aol.com.

God's Timing

God has a funny way of doing things. His timing is impeccable and completely daunting at the same. My faith is about to be completely tested in a lot of ways that I am not sure I am ready for. God has put on my heart and my wife's heart an oppertunity to go overseas to Zambia, Africa for a couple of weeks of work with AIDS orphans. The reason the timing of this is so daunting and exhilerating at the same time is because the oppertunity that has been presented is much much sooner than we expected. We are planning on leaving on May 9th. Now your first reaction, as well as my own, is that this date is too soon and it does not provide enough time to actually plan the trip or fund raise.

This is where God, for me especially, will stretch the boundaries that embody this situation. I am the type of person that likes to rely on myself to get most things done. This situation really does not allow me to do so. I can frantically plan all I want for this trip to happen, but in all reality, it is in God's hands. He put this on our hearts, he provided the oppertunity, he will provide adequate funds for this to happen. I am learning about myself and my God everyday.

This trip will also be one of great importance to Lindsay and I's future. The work that we will be doing and get to experience in Zambia will be exactly what we plan on doing full time in the future. I am extremely excited and scared all at the same time.

I would ask that anyone who actually reads this meager blog to pray for this entire situation. Pray for God's plans that Lindsay and I cannot see yet. Thank you.