Ten Talents International Blog

Wednesday night Simon Peter Ngoga safely arrived in the Portland airport. He arrived just in time for our typical northwest (northwet?) weather to begin! Sunday morning he spoke at our church, Heritage Church, in Vancouver. Monday night he is going to be speaking at a Bible study in Seattle. Thursday night he will be sharing at a local house church here in Vancouver. If you would like Simon to share at your church we are still working on filling up his schedule- both Sundays and mid-week services would be great!

Please be praying for Simon & this time. I can not imagine what it is like to be asked to share a story that includes a painful time in his life, and having to share it over & over again. It is a testimony to the grace of God, and of God’s promise of hope, but I am sure it is difficult none the less. Please also pray for God to use his story to encourage more people to become supporters of the work in Rwanda, as well as supporters of Simon Peter Ngoga. We are hoping some will commit to supporting Simon (through Ten Talents International) on a regular basis.

Simon will also be sharing at our banquet, this Saturday night. I would appreciate your prayers for this night to be a success (and a full house)! If you are planning on coming we need to know so we can guarantee your meal, so please email us right away. It is going to be a great night! Besides Simon we will also hear from Mike, have a special video presentation, and special music. We want to share this night with as many people as possible!

The following Monday night (September 29th) we will be having a “Container Party” at Heritage Church. The container company will arrive with a separate container (on a truck) which will be the one actually sent to Rwanda. We will transfer all the items from the current container into the one on the truck. Come join us & have some fun!

Thank you for your prayers & for believing with us for God to do great things!

God Bless You,
Lisa

On Sunday night we got to celebrate. Background: our church (formerly Bethel) merged with another congregation (formerly Hazel Dell Assembly). The Bethel church property/building was sold. The church board recommended to the congregation that we tithe from the sale, this amount being donated to Ten Talents International. The sale was just under $1 million, so the tithe amount was $100,000. This was brought before the congregation for a vote on Sunday night. The congregation (now merged & with the name Heritage Church) voted unanimously to give this amount to Ten Talents International. Praise God! Of the $100,000 half of that ($50,000) is specifically designated to be a matching gift. The means that at our banquet we will be able to match whatever amounts are given, so that the gifts are doubled! This is a huge thing and we are so happy for our church to be able to have this part in changing lives in Rwanda for eternity!

We have also received a generous donation from a local plumbing outfit that will provide much of the plumbing supplies we needed to put in the shipping container for phase 1. Praise God!

We do have room in the container for some *NEW* dontated items for the kids there. If you would like to bring something to Heritage Church (http://www.heritagenorthwest.org/) we can put it in the shipping container. Suggested items would be *new* clothes (including socks, boxers), towels, washcloths, toothbrushes, toothpaste, mini photo albums (all the kids like these for holding the few precious photos they have), soccer balls (flat if possible), ball pumps.

Please continue to pray for our upcoming banquet, for God to use it for His glory. And for the time when Simon Peter Ngoga will be here, for God to enable him to share with more churches about what God is doing for street children in Rwanda. We are scheduling speaking dates for him now, so if you would like him to come to your church please contact us ASAP!

We appreciate your continued prayers for our family, the ministry, the Acres of Hope. God is good. We trust in Him and submit our plans & hopes to Him.

God Bless You,
Lisa

Things have been very busy around our household & the TTI office lately. We have been working on putting things together for our upcoming banquet (September 27th). We were excited to see the banquet room last week (appropriately named “Heritage” – just like our new church name)! Mike has also been very busy working on details of getting a shipping container that will be delivered to Rwanda. This container will be for a tractor (to do ground work at the Acres of Hope), plumbing supplies, wiring supplies, trusses, and other items needed for the construction phase. In fact, last week the container was delivered to the church & once we are able to fill it, it will take 55 days to be delivered to our site in Rwanda. Because of this, there have been some changes made to the Nov. 1st team plans. Some people are choosing to delay their trips until the end of November or 1st of December so they can be there after the container & help with the construction.

We had an informational meeting last Sunday for the upcoming trip. Right now our team is not full, so if you are interested in going but didn’t make it to the meeting please contact us. We know many people who can tell you that going to Rwanda to minister to these kids will change you- so be prepared for that- it is great!

Many people want to know when our family is planning to go back to Rwanda. Right now it looks like we will be going back the end of October & staying a couple months. We continue to pray about it & wait for God’s provision.

If you would like to pray for us- these are some prayer requests:
*for provision for our family- God has taken good care of us, and we just pray that we would continue to have the support that we need
*for the banquet September 27th- for God to use that night to involve more people in supporting the work of TTI & that the night would push us forward in the financing of phase 1 of the Acres of Hope
*for all the details, supplies, equipment needed for the container & for God’s provision for all that He has put on our hearts to do
*for those who are looking to go to Rwanda this fall- for God to direct them & provide for them
*for Ngoga & his family as he prepares to come to the US Sept. 18th- for God to bless them and to use this time
*for the children on the streets in Rwanda- that God would protect them & take care of them, and that they would have hope in Him
*for the children in the Faith Home and Kanombe Home to be blessed & to prosper

Maybe I say this all the time, although I could never say it too much, but we really do appreciate you so much. There are many people who pray for us and help us in so many different ways. We are thankful to have you as our co-workers in this. For each of us, God gives us a task to do and we just have to say, “OK”. That’s all we do, and we trust Him to take care of the details. The wonderful thing about it is the benefits that go along with that simple “OK” & our trust! God takes us along for the ride! We get to experience life in way that’s fuller & more amazing than we could ever find on our own.

In the busyness of life, don’t forget to find quiet moments to spend time with God and let Him tell you, “I love you”.

God Bless You,
Lisa