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Here is some more information I found out about the property- it is very close to the ANLM (Africa New Life Ministries) Dream Center property. ANLM runs the feeding program for street children at their Dream Center property- the very same program that we want to use for finding the street children who will become the residents of the new Home of Innocence. That is very awesome!

I sent out an email update which I am going to paste here (save me more typing) …

Thank you everyone for your prayers. The Lord has provided in that a local church has been able to give Ten Talents Int. a loan for the remainder required to go ahead and purchase this land. Praise God!!! That way Mike can complete the paperwork to have the land legally, and we will have more time to raise the money needed. The funds are being wired to Rwanda today & Mike should have them there Friday morning. They (in Rwanda) are supposed to have all the paperwork ready to go for the sale transaction.

You see, Mike was supposed to fly out on Friday at 5pm (Rwanda time). However, he has been cautioned by another minister that getting all the required paperwork completed may take longer than he has been told. He was concerned that it would be 3pm on Friday & he would have to leave for the airport without getting everything completed. We found out that he could change his ticket to one day later (flying out Saturday) without a fee, so with much sadness we went ahead and did this.

My hope at this point is that I will call him at 3:30pm Friday (Rwanda time- 5:30am Friday our time) and he will in fact have been able to get everything done & we can change his flight back. What makes this flight delay such a big deal (besides it being that we are ready for him to be home *now*) is that KaLia is singing and performing with the kids at church Sunday morning (Christmas program). With the new flight he will not return until Sunday night, and that will make KaLia very sad.

So, I am updating you & asking for your prayers again. Please pray that the wire transfer of funds would go through without a hitch & be waiting for him Friday morning. Pray that Mike would be able to complete all the paperwork for the property on Friday before 3pm. Pray that we would be able to get him back to his earlier flight. And if he does have to stay the extra day, please pray for KaLia to be able to understand & not be exceedingly sad about Daddy missing her performance.

Thank you for standing with us in prayer thus far. It has been an amazing journey the Lord has taken us on & He is so good & faithful! Of course this is just the beginning- how exciting that TTI will actually own it’s first piece of land in Rwanda & all that God will use us to do there! Praise Him!

God Bless You,
Lisa

Mike & Sitaki met with the property owner on Sunday, and he agreed to the purchase price of $30,000 for the 5 acre property. Mike said the man was nice & they found out the property is actually bigger than they thought. Mike told the man he would put $10,000 down before he leaves & then the balance later. We do not have $10,000 in our Home of Innocence account yet, but we believe God is going to do big things still! Thank you for continuing to pray that God would speak to hearts – that people would give as God calls them to.

Before this meeting with the property owner Mike was talking to the president of another ministry there in Rwanda & told him about the property & what he wanted to pay for it. The man’s response was, “You can’t do that- not in that area. That’s prime real estate.” Then he said, “If you are able to buy it for that price that would be a true miracle!” Well, let’s praise God for miracles!

Our church, Bethel Church, took an offering towards the property this morning. They were excited about the wonderful news of what God is doing & gave generously in response to the opportunity. We are so very proud to partner with you Bethel & that you have a part in what God is doing in Rwanda & making a difference in so many lives. Thank you!

Mike & Sitaki are both well and Mike will be in the country until Friday, the 14th. He will arrive back in Portland on the 15th at 9pm. We appreciate your prayers & faith believing for God to provide for the vision he has placed within our hearts.

We do serve an awesome God!
God Bless You,
Lisa

I have spoken with Mike and he was supposed to meet with the owner of the 5 acre plot that he is so excited about, but they have not been able to get ahold of this person yet. He did have a meeting with the owners of another plot- it is 1/2 acre and they are asking $16,000 (now lowered to $14K). One of the owners is a deaconess in a church that belongs to the denominantion that Sitaki is affiliated with there, and who we worked with in the spring when we distributed New Life Workbooks. Another great thing about both of these properties they are looking at is they are both within walking distance to this church. That is wonderful to have a good church for the kids of the Home to attend easily.

They hope to meet with this other property owner tomorrow (the 5 acre plot- the one that Mike desires so much – because it is just so perfect & has so much room for future plans).

Another thing they did on Thursday was to visit a group of widows. This widows organization (there are several in the country) has 150 members. Through a new program of ERM these widows will each be given a goat (funds have already been raised for this). The government has given the widows a plot of land to use & they will be able to raise & care for their goats there. Once the goats have matured & given birth (goats have twins) the widows will each pass on one of their goat babies to another widow – thus perpetuating the program. The other goat baby, and every baby after that, will be the widow’s choice to sell or keep. It is a very great thing that is beginning!

Please continue to pray for God to open up the floodgates of heaven & pour out the funds needed for buying this property & fully funding the Home of Innocence. It is exciting that we can all be a part of what God is doing & making eternal differences in lives on the other side of the world!

God Bless You,
Lisa

I spoke with Mike this morning. He had sent me some amazing pictures of him with the gorillas, but we didn’t have time to talk about that today! We spent our time talking about this piece of property he & Sitaki have found- now we need to pray it in!

It is five acres of land for $30,000. It is big enough to build the Home of Innocence and so much more! Mike tells me this property is amazing (it is on a hillside with an awesome view) & because it is prime real estate it won’t last long on the market. Plus it has a paved road all the way there! (Those of you who have been to Rwanda know that this is a huge bonus!) They had been looking at track homes for $150,000, and then were taken to this piece of property which has so many possibilities for ministry.

Please pray for Ten Talents International to be able to come up with the $30,000 for this property/location for the new Home of Innocence. Mike would like to purchase the property before he leaves (that’s December 14th) which would require at least $15,000.

Please pray for people to get behind the vision for this work in Rwanda & for us to see a great outpouring of the Lord’s provision!

Thank you for praying & believing God with us! God’s hand is at work!

Blessings,
Lisa

I spoke with Mike Sunday morning (our morning, his evening) and he was doing well. He went to church that morning with Sitaki & he said there was about 800 people there. They had a nice meal at the home of Francoise’s sister (Sitaki’s wife’s sister). He said it was wonderful. The bad news was the place where they were staying ran out of water (it is stored in tanks there). It was supposed to be coming “soon”. Mike said he could really use a shower & shave- and especially before he went on his next trek:

Mike has been given the opportunity to visit the mountain gorillas (50% of the world population of mountain gorillas live in Rwanda). He & Sitaki will be meeting up with another group, part of a team from Portland, Oregon and be up there on Tuesday. There are professional tour groups who lead you up to the gorilla nesting area (gorillas are extremely calm & not aggressive to humans, in case you’re worried). One of the members of the other group has been before. Mike is very excited to have been given this awesome opportunity! I can’t wait to hear the fantastic details.

Wednesday they will begin the full search for the Home of Innocence. We appreciate your continued prayers for God’s blessing to be on Mike, Emmanuel, the in-existence-but-not-yet-seen Home of Innocence, and the favor of God to go before them. Thank you for your prayers, commitment, and giving!

God Bless You,
Lisa

I got an email from Mike & this is an excerpt-

Update: I am feeling better now. I ate a little dinner last night, alittle breakfast this morning, and a regular amount of Chinese food today. I slept a lot yesterday and last night. I feel good about this trip and believe that God is going before us. Sitaki is here now. He got in early. I have not seen him yet but I have talked to him on the phone. I exchanged some money and got my cell phone set up to use as a modem for my laptop.

Thank you for your prayers for Mike & Sitaki & this trip. God is faithful & is at work in many ways! We will see great things!

God Bless You,
Lisa

I talked to Mike this morning (Friday night there- 10 hours ahead of us). He has been feeling sick again. It started the evening before. Lots of stomach distress. Please pray for him to be strong & no trace of any more sickness. He thought he was feeling better, but he also hadn’t eaten anything. No more of this! We agree in prayer together.

He almost missed his flight from Ethiopia to Rwanda. They told him the wrong gate. He was waiting around at that gate (had even asked someone there & they told him to just sit & wait) when he asked someone else he found out he was supposed to be at the other end of the airport! He hustled down there & they said the plane was already gone. He was waiting at the counter while they tried to figure out what to do with him, when the personnel noticed a camera sitting there on the counter. A few minutes later the counter got a phone call- they grabbed the camera & Mike & took off for the tarmac. Apparently someone on Mike’s flight had forgotten the camera, so they ended up holding the plane & Mike was able to board because of that! So thank God for that!

Once he got to Rwanda they got a taxi for him. He asked the taxi driver his name, and the man said “Innocent”. Mike just stared at him in amazement! Just a cool God thing right there.

I also praise God because although we had a serious problem with our TTI website yesterday (appeared to have been hijacked to someone else’s site) & after several hours of wondering what was happening, the web host was able to restore our site.

Thank you for your continued prayers for God’s grace & mercy to be over Michael & Sitaki (who has been healthy- but because of restrictions he had to take a flight to Uganda & is right now riding the bus from Uganda to Rwanda). We pray for God to cover them completely and to prosper this trip- that it would accomplish above & beyond what they have even hoped. For the glory of God. I also appreciate your prayers for the kids & I. KaLia has been pretty emotional- which is how I think the stress of having her dad gone comes out (and I get cranky with the kids).

God bless you as we look forward to the wonderful & amazing things that God is going to do. How awesome that he chooses to use all of us working together to accomplish his work!

Lisa

Mike is in Ethiopia right now (11 hours ahead of Pacific Time). He emailed me & said the Hanna’s Hope home is very nice. He felt very sick to his stomach on the way from DC to Ethiopia, but is better now & does not expect it to return (and we will pray such). He will be in Ethiopia until Friday at 10:55am, when he flies from there to Rwanda (that would be Thursday night, 11:55pm for those of us in Pacific Time).

Thank you for your continued prayers for the covering of the Lord to be over Mike & Sitaki, for God’s provision, blessing, and grace to be upon the work they are setting out to do. You can also pray that any “road blocks” or disturbances that the enemy has planned would be snuffed out & come to nothing!

Thank you!
Blessings,
Lisa

I have talked to Mike a few times today. Right now they are on the plane that will take them from Washington DC to Ethiopia. So far, everything is going fine. Apparently because Emmanuel does not have a US passport, but official travel documents, his documents get gone over very carefully & even airport officials aren’t familiar with it & don’t know what to do with them. But he’s made it this far!

Thank you for your continued prayers for thier safe travels & for the safety of their luggage (Mike is bringing a water purifier bulb that we don’t want broken- as well as a printer, etc.) As well as everything listed below! 🙂

God Bless You!
Lisa

Mike is ready to go- in the sense that his bags are packed & he is ready to get to Africa. Of course he is not ready to leave his family- or us for him to leave- but we are thankful for the grace of God that is always with us & helps us in these times.

If you would like to pray specifically for Mike & Emmanuel- pray for a safe journey, with no problems with flights, connections, or international check points. Pray for all of their belongings to arrive at their destination on time & safely. Pray for God to help them with time change adjustments and to keep their bodies completely healthy, whole, and strong throughout the entire trip. Pray that God would go before them and give them favor with those they encounter. Pray that God would be setting up divine appointments, for miracles to happen in provision for this home. Both the finances and the exact location. I pray that the location for the Home of Innocence would be quickly found & would be beyond what they have even imagined to this point- abundantly & exceedingly! 🙂 Pray that God would connect them with people and provide contacts that are needed for establishing the ministry of the Home of Innocence.

I will update you as I can!
Thank you for praying- our mighty & awesome God has chosen to work through the prayers of his people – which is humbling but also empowering! God listens to our prayers & our prayers bring change- thank you Lord!

God Bless You,
Lisa