While you are reading this I am somewhere between Kolkata, India and Kigali, Rwanda – if everything is on schedule.  We, at Hayden Lake Friends Church, have been privileged to “invest” in global outreach to several cultures over the past few years. 

The reason that I, along with Ron Stone, went to Kolkata was to lead a seminar for D.K. Sarkar’s team of evangelists and to visit the Emmanuel Hostel, an orphanage outside the city.  Our financial responsibility for this work is $5,500.00 per year for D.K.’s support, a very small amount when compared to many other cross cultural budgets.  In addition, we provide one half of the needs, or $12.50 per month, for each of the children who live in the hostel.  Even though our financial responsibilities are relatively small, the monthly amount often lags behind what is needed for D.K.’s support.

In Kigali, Rwanda, I will be participating in a missions conference where our goal is to challenge church leaders  from Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Tanzania and Kenya, to see the vision of becoming mission outreach workers. 

Within HLFC’s mission connections is one of our own, Scott Frame, with whom everyone should be familiar.  He lives and works in Tibetan China with our support under a philosophy known as “poverty alleviation,” which the government has approved.  This involves planning and designing projects that can help small remote villages, although this past year has been one of uncertain transition.  His underlying purpose is to share his discipleship material with locals when the opportunity presents itself.  Our prayer for Scott is that new doors will open in a few weeks when he returns from his vacation.  We are totally responsible for his monthly support and it includes small projects when they become known.

 Matt Hines is another of our own men and he recently completed his first year as a fulltime missionary in Penza, Russia.  He works with youth camps in the summer and leads Bible studies for young men who are interested in practicing their English.  Matt and his new Russian wife also lead Bible studies for young couples and he helps with work in their churches.  We are totally responsible for his monthly support.  He is scheduled to come home and bring his wife, Luda, in late October for a few weeks.

 We at HLFC have been privileged to host many missionaries during recent years.  Ones that we support monthly with designated gifts include Bob & Debbie Adhikary in Nepal; Jaime & Lydia Tabingo in Manila; and Dr. Samson & Priscilla Retnaraj, in Nepal.  These couples are nationals who live and work in their own countries.

 American mission workers that we help to support include Bill & Betty Kelley, who are teaching English and working with women, respectively, in North Africa; Patrick & Christy Neifert, who are planting a new church outside Moscow, Russia; David & Debby Thomas, who are teaching leadership development in Rwanda; Hal & Nancy Thomas, who are directing advanced seminary educational opportunities in various settings throughout the Latin countries of Central and South America.

 It has often been said that the church that grows is the church that gets outside itself.  The vision at HLFC is to do this, both in our community outreach and in supporting global outreach.  All of this is possible to the degree that our families are committed to providing designated financial (and prayer) support.

 I look forward to bringing home challenging updates from the work in Kolkata and Kigali, Rwanda.  The Friends Church in Rwanda has contributed remarkably to the recovery of the country following the genocide of 1994, when nearly one million citizens were killed.  We are privileged to partner with each of the mission workers named above.

  Maurice