By the time you read this, we will be nearing the end of our furlough. By faith, we anticipate having reached our relaunching goal of $33,334 and our new additional monthly goal of $1,035. That is our prayer, and we are working hard toward that end. Our return flight to Benin is scheduled for September 18.

For AFM missionaries, furlough is not just a time for vacationing. It is primarily a time for donor ministry to reinforce and reconnect with the team of financial supporters, prayer partners and advocates who enable our ministry in the field.

While we are in the field, donor ministry means writing thank-you cards and letters to donors, sending out a newsletter every few months to keep our team updated and connected to our work, exchanging emails and communicating on special occasions. While we are on furlough, we visit with donors in their homes and speak at supporting churches and camp meetings.

Because our extended families live in West Africa, our furlough time in the States doesn’t include time for family visiting. Our schedule is filled with donor visits and Sabbath speaking appointments. During a typical AFM missionary furlough, six weeks are reserved for business, and 11 weeks are allotted for personal time. In our case, this is reversed. Since our arrival in the States on June 5, we have had speaking appointments every single Sabbath all over the nation—Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas, Massachusetts, California and elsewhere. In three months, we have driven more than 8,000 miles, trying to make use of every single day we have in the States. The constant travel has been exhausting for our family, but the Lord has been our strength, and we’ve been richly blessed by the many families we have visited and stayed with.

The Lord recently added a special blessing to our fundraising experience. A family from our main supporting church, the Midland Michigan SDA Church, generously donated a 2006 Lexus RX 330. Not only is it enabling us to finish our furlough travel in comfort, it will significantly boost our funding when we sell it at furlough’s end. Providentially, we received this vehicle the very day that our 2000 Chevy Venture minivan broke down for a third time and was declared not worth repairing. What a God we serve! We never dreamed we would finish our furlough driving a Lexus! While the luxury image of the vehicle is somewhat at odds with our status as missionaries, wherever we go and tell the story of how we came to have it, people’s hearts are touched by the donor’s generosity, and they feel inspired to join our support team to help reach the Dendi people.

Praise God for His providence! And thank you for your prayers and for helping us reach our fundraising goal so we can return to our ministry among the Dendi Muslim people of Benin. God bless.

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