Twas the Day Before Departure...

‘Twas the day before departure and all through the place

Bags were being packed till there was no more space.

Hugs had been given, some near and some far

Last minute details being taken care of, including the sale of the car!

Your prayers have been felt and are ever so great,

To see what God does next on this journey, we cannot wait!

Dear Friends, 

A Small Taste of the Chaos

  Thank you all for the texts, calls and emails letting us know you are thinking of us as we get ready to leave for language school in Brazil tomorrow.  We will be flying out of Roanoke, VA shortly after lunch, switching planes in Atlanta, arriving in Sao Paulo around breakfast time on Saturday morning.  We then will take a shuttle to our apartment which is about 1 ½ hours away in Campinas, Brazil.  We will work on getting settled and learning our way around the neighborhood before language class starts January 7^th.

  We have no doubt that you have continued to pray for us as we see prayer after prayer answered.  Our car has sold (just today!), we have an apartment to call home in Brazil and visas/plane tickets to get us there.   If you have time to lift us up over the next few days, please consider praying along with us for health, safe travel, arrival of all our luggage, smooth transitions, school details for the boys and friendships in Brazil to begin forming.  Above all, pray that we would walk in a manner worthy of our Lord, boldly sharing His love and grace.  

  As we get settled, we hope to send you another email with all of our contact information, including mailing address in Brazil.  Until then, you can contact us by responding to this email, as well as calling or texting us (message us for the numbers). Life will be busy over the next week, so please understand if it takes a while for us to respond.

  Thank you for being willing to be used by God to touch our lives and to bring His Word to the Bibleless of Mozambique!   We love you all and will continue to be praying for you often!

For His glory,

David, Wendi, Caleb & Nathan Richards

A Blessed Christmas!

Making a List...

10 days to go till we depart for language school and we are making our list and checking it twice...

-Visas. Check!  We are cleared and able to travel to Brazil.  Your prayers and the power of God going before us made this process extremely smooth! 

-A place to live in Brazil.  Check!  Just this week we have agreed to rent a 2 bedroom apartment which puts us in walking distance of the language school, grocery store, several restaurants and a playground.  (The playground is especially welcome knowing how much the boys love to play outside.)  For those of you interested in having the address, I will be sharing it sometime soon in our newsletter.  (If you do not get our email newsletter, sign up by clicking on contact.)

-Commissioning service.  Check!  Sunday night was a special night of worship for our family and friends.  We praised God together for His provisioning and for allowing all of us to be a part of His work to redeem the nations to Himself.  We will not soon forget the words of encouragement, the prayers of faith and hug after hug.

-Good-byes shared.  Check...almost!  Some have been said, many more to say.  Lots of special memories being made as we leave those we love and those who love us so well.  This task has been emotional for all of us (and will continue to be so.).  One of our dear friends summed it up well when she said to the boys, "I didn't want you to cry as we say good-bye, but I welcome your tears because it means we love each other so much."

-Bags packed.  Check...almost!  We have roughly packed most of the toys, books and household items we are taking, but will wait till after Christmas to finalize it all.  (Currently we have 100 pounds of books packed...which seems completely reasonable to me, the book lover...but that amount might be going down as we shift things and learn of new things we need to bring.)

So that is the list...or at least the list so far.  We will keep adding to it and keep double checking it. 

Thank you for continuing to pray that God goes before us preparing friends, a church, a school and all that He desires to share with us! 

Building Our Homes (part 3)

God has graciously given us the perfect blueprint to build our homes in His word and through the life of His son, Jesus Christ.  

God has also graciously given us some very important tools with which we can build our home- our hands.  

The verse we are focusing on today holds our hands as such an important tool that it is with our own hands that the foolish woman will tear down her own house.  As I thought of this, I could not help but think of that other famous wise woman in Proverbs- the Proverbs 31 woman.  This woman knew how to use her hands- she works with willing hands to cultivate fields, to sew garments, to provide food for her family, to run a business.  Her hands are busy building her home nonstop.  

So is this what we should obtain to? Do we all need to learn to sew, cook and sell our items?  I hope not.  I can remember when I was first married, doing a study of Proverbs 31 and feeling defeated before I even started.  I don’t sew, quilt or anything crafty in the least.  I could barely cook at the time and had no idea of how to cultivate fields.  If this was it takes to build our houses with our hands, I was miserably behind.  

Looking deeper into this woman and her hands, I think it is far less about the activity of her hands as their position before her God.  

Follow me for a moment.  There are two major positions in which we hold our hands, open and closed.  I believe it is with closed hands that the foolish woman tears down her house.  

It is with hands closed in anger, failing to forgive the wrongs that have been done to her or her loved ones.

It is with hands closed with fear, clinging to that which means so much to her, refusing to let go in fear of what might happen.

It is with hands closed with the need to be in control, never allowing God to intervene and change her plans.

It is with hands closed in hurt, never willing to risk love or disappointment. 

It is with closed hands that the foolish woman tears down her own home.

Yet, it is with open hands that the wise woman builds her own home.

It is with hands open in trust, ready to be used in whatever way God sees fit.

It is with hands open in worship, surrendering the fullness of her life.

It is with hands open in love, ready to fill her arms with whoever needs her.

It is with hands open in service, willing to give all that she is and has to those who are in need.

Yes, the activities of our hands are important and God will use them greatly.  Still far more important than the specific activities in which we involve our hands is their position before the Holy One.  As a wise woman of God, our hands must be open to receive the glorious gifts with which He desires to lavish us.  

Friends, let us open our hands to God.  Surrender our lives fully to Him.  Live intentionally and begin to build your home as the wise woman He has created you to be.  


-part 3 of 3 of a talk Wendi shared with the women of Westminster Presbyterian Church this past week

Building Our Homes (Part 2)

As the wise woman, who has surrendered our lives and our homes to God, what do we do now to build our home? What does a house being built by a surrendered life look like on a daily basis?  

Jesus gives us the rough blueprint when he answers a question posed to Him, “The greatest commandment is to love God with all that you are and the second is to love others like yourself.”  Simply put, the blueprint that a wise woman follows in building her house is to love God and to love others.  

“To love God and to love others.”  So easy to say, so hard to live.  I am sure it is a phrase, a concept you have heard many times.  Again, one of those precious, quick treasures of faith to which we all will nod in agreement and then most often move on way too quickly.  

I believe it is the wise woman of God who will stop at this truth, study it intently and then intentionally work to make this blueprint of life a reality in her home.  You see, we can all agree that loving God and loving others is important and should be the foundation of our homes, but until we INTENTIONALLY apply it to our lives we are doing no more than foolishly tearing down our homes with our own hands.  

Our lives are often over full- work, family, extra-curricular activities for the kids, hobbies, friends, housework. With the holidays you can add parties, traveling and gift-buying.  I could go on and on.   Our lives are full to busting at the seams.  And the funny thing is more often than not, it is all good stuff.  But more often than not, we get so busy living life, that unless we are purposeful and intentional about loving God and loving others, that blueprint gets moved to the bottom of the pile, the greatest thing forgotten among all the good things of life.    

The dictionary defines intentional as "to be done with intent or purpose, to be firmly or steadfastly fixed or directed." The writer of Hebrews puts it this way: "Since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..." (v 1-2a)

Intentional living with our eyes fixed firmly on the author of our faith requires action and commitment.  It often requires planning and even a little sacrifice.  For me personally, it means sacrificing a little sleep each morning as I try to spend time with the Lord before my day gets loud and busy.  Throughout my day it means less facebook and email time, in exchange for time spent in playing with the boys or serving my husband.  Intentional living is often a sacrifice of what is comfortable and easy for what takes effort and energy.  But it is so worth it in the end.  

As we live intentionally, our time becomes more than our own and our lives become more than living the day to survive to bedtime. Intentional living recognizes and invites the very presence of God into our everyday lives, allowing the mundane to become glorious.  Intentional living realizes there is far more than today, far more than this moment; intentional living recognizes the eternal significance in our daily living.  By purposely living in such a way where we intentionally give time and effort to loving God and loving others, we as the wise women of God, begin to build our homes in such a way that eternity is its focus and desire.

 This idea of intentional living brings me back to my lack of building skills as seen when I play Legos with my boys.  I can take a stack of Legos and do my best to create something, stacking one here and one there.  And at the end, when they ask me what it is, I look at in and say, “I have no idea.”  That is the life I feel like we live most days.  Adding things here, taking away there, living life in the midst of much good, some bad and little of the best.  

Intentional living is instead like me building Legos while looking at the book of instructions that come with the sets.  Ok, the red block goes here. Two black blocks.  Wait, not there.  Ugh. I have messed up.  Let me look closer at the instructions to see what I have missed.  The wise woman who lives intentionally will give her life to live what is best, intentionally filling her times with opportunities to love God and to love others.  Looking closer and closer at her instruction book, the Bible, as she goes about building her home.  

Friends, I cannot be up here in good conscious telling you to be more intentional without confessing to you this is something I struggle with daily.  It is so easy for me to be caught up in the daily motions of living, teaching my boys, working on our ministry, checking facebook, writing emails, and all the tasks that fill my day.  “Be intentional” is something which God has been whispering to my heart for many seasons.  

There are a couple of practical ways which I am working on this currently that you might consider applying in your day to day living.  One, as I wake up in the morning, I give my day to God.  I praise Him and recognize He has ordained this day.  He has specifically ordained its details and all that it contains.  I ask Him to show me how He would like me to fill it, who He would like me to serve and what He would like me to do with the gift of this day and all it holds.  

Then, as I walk through the day, I try to stop myself often to ask myself, “What can I do with the next 15, 10 or 5 minutes to bring the most glory to God?” Sometimes, this is specifically, intentionally playing and cherishing my boys- regardless of what I think I “need” to fill that time with doing.  Sometimes this is sitting in a chair doing nothing, but thinking about the love of God.  Sometimes it is sending a note of encouragement to a friend.  Daily, moment by moment, I am working on building my home and life as the wise woman by being more intentional with my focus and time.  


-part 2 of 3 of a talk Wendi shared with the women of Westminster Presbyterian Church this past week

Building Our Home (Part 1)

One recent windy day, David and the boys decided they would like to spend some time flying kites.  They gathered all the necessary supplies and began building away.  As I stood nearby watching their activity, Caleb asked me if I remembered building kites with them at our old house.  I smiled remembering the day with fondness.  

“Mama, I hope these kites work better than yours did.”  

Just a little crestfallen, I listened as Nathan chimed in, “Yeah Mama, your kite didn’t work because you aren’t a good builder like us and Daddy.  But don’t worry, Mama, even if you aren’t a good builder, you are a good reader…and a good cooker.”

Ah, the encouragement of a little one is so true.  You see, I am not a good builder.  My kites were a mess of string and torn garbage bags, while the kites made by their dad soared high and fast.  

While God has not gifted me with the skills of a good builder, there is a verse in His word that calls all of us women to be a builder of one of the most important aspects of our worlds- our home.  

 The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands. Proverbs 14:1

Such a quick treasure of God’s truth tucked in amongst many others.  It is easy to read it, nod in agreement and move on. Yet, while I hope we will nod in agreement today, I don’t want to miss out on the far reaching implications of this verse for myself or for you.  

The truth of this verse applies to all of us- whether we are married or single, in the throes of children or empty nesters, young or mature.  We as women have the unique ability to build and shape our homes. 

If you are single , you have the choice of whether your house will be a sanctuary or a place of gripping loneliness.  If you are raising children, you have the choice of whether your home will be a place of encouraging love or sharp criticism.  Every woman in this room is the builder of her home.  While we are often not alone in this building process (our families definitely pitch in for good or bad), it is our responsibility to do our best to build and shape our home to be a place of Christ-centered love and peace.  

I would even go so far as to say as women of the church, it is our responsibility to build up our spiritual home, our local body of believers, as well.  This church is your home of worship.  As wise women of God, part of our task is not only to build up our place of physical living, but also our place of spiritual living.  God desires to use each of you and the talents with which He has gifted you to serve the church and one another.  As wise women of God, we will be used by Him to build up His church, creating in it a spirit of worship and love.

Before we go on to talk about how we do this- what are the things that God uses to build up and how we tear down with our own hands- I think we should pause for a moment and consider a key part of this verse.  Let’s read it again.  

The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands. Proverbs 14:1

It is the WISE woman that builds her house.  So, what makes a woman wise?  Is it knowing how to cook a five course dinner, while raising perfect children in an immaculate house?  I hope not, because I definitely missed that boat if so.  No, I think it is much, much more. 

Proverbs 1:7 tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  This is echoed again in Psalm 111.  To fear the Lord- not in a scary movie, dark night, spooky noise kind of way- but to fear God in a reverential, awestruck, God is HUGE kind of way- that my friend, is the beginning of wisdom.  

We become wise women by recognizing who God is. He is the Creator of the Universe. Colossians 1, speaking of Jesus, states, “¹⁶ For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

As we begin to get a small understanding of who God is, we cannot help but to see who we are as well.  You and I will never be the wise woman in ourselves.  No, you and I and all others have failed God, we have sinned and in ourselves are the very enemies of God, deserving nothing but His wrath. 

BUT GOD, being rich in love mercy, through His grace alone, sent us His son, Jesus the Christ, who lived the perfect life and died the death we deserved so that we might be forgiven and adopted into the family of God.  Jesus Christ, who has all authority in heaven and earth has authority over our lives.  

Becoming the wise woman is not about attending church, reading our Bible, or trying to be the “good Christian woman,” the wise woman is one who recognizes God’s authority over her life and then surrenders her life fully to Him.  Being a wise woman is not about praying a prayer one-time, making a single decision- To be a wise woman, to be disciple of Christ, is to live a life surrendered to Him. 

Friends, before we go on, we need to ask ourselves that question, am I a wise woman?  Am I a disciple of Christ? Am I living my life surrendered to His Lordship and authority?   This is too big of a question not to ask ourselves or one another.  Nothing else that we think of and nothing else that we talk about today will make a difference like the answer to that question.   I urge you, sisters, if you have never come to the end of yourself and cried out to God for forgiveness of your sins, submitting yourself to the saving Lordship of Jesus, do that today and become the wise woman that God desires you to be.  

For it is the wise woman, the woman who fears God, the woman who knows God intimately, the woman who is surrendered to His authority over her life, it is this wise woman who builds her house. 

-part 1 of 3 of a talk Wendi shared with the women of Westminster Presbyterian Church this past week

Taking a Hike

The path stretched before us steep and rocky.  But looking down the side of the mountain, tangled with mountain laurel and boulders, I was thankful for the path that lay before me...no matter how hard it appeared to be to follow it.

Life following Christ is like that sometimes.  The path is rough and the journey hard.  We are asked to sacrifice and give up our desires for His will.  But if we really start to look around, we can see just how thankful we should be for the path itself- no matter how difficult it might be. 

This was just one of the thoughts that crossed my mind as we were out yesterday.  The days have been unseasonably warm lately, so we decided to take advantage and head out for a picnic and hike.  Hiking and being outdoors is one of our favorite things to do as a family, so it was a great gift from God to be able to do this once more before we depart on Dec. 28.

We headed up to the Peaks of Otter only to find the picnic area (and most of the park) locked down for the season.  Not to be deterred, we parked by one of the trails and did a little side hike into the camping area to find a pit to roast our hot dogs on.   After a yummy lunch, we headed up the mountain trail.  Up being the key word.  1 1/2 miles of rocky steep terrain.  The boys (and Sky) did great, but David and I realized just how out of shape we have become lately. Gonna have to work on that one. 

As we walked, over and over again we were stunned by the glory of God's creation.  Huge boulders, a tangled mess of leafless trees and a wide variety of mosses begged for our attention.  Much to our chagrin, the boys had to touch/scale/conquer every rock formation on the hike of course.   They are truly fearless when it comes to climbing and scaling rocks.  (They get that from their dad.)  Nathan told me more than once, "It is ok, Mommy.  You don't have the climbing experience Caleb, Da and I have."  Have agree with him on that one.

The vistas at the top of Flat Top mountain were stunning.  The day was clear and bright and we could easily see for miles around.  God's handiwork is breathtaking to say the least.  And yet, as we looked at it, a friend's comment from year's ago, came to mind.  "See all this?  See this beauty?  This is NOTHING compared to heaven and eternity with God."  That will get your head spinning for a moment.

After enjoying the views, we headed back down the mountain.  Going down at points was harder than climbing up.  As I was helping Nathan over a particular rocky area, he slipped and we both went down toward the ground.

Since we had fallen closer to the rocks, we were both able to see something we would have missed otherwise, a single ladybug walking across the rock.

Nathan exclaimed, "Look! I see a ladybug!"  I guess sometimes it takes falling down to take in and appreciate the little details of life.  We got up smiling that we had shared the moment and continued on to catch up with Caleb and David so we could finish taking our hike.

 A beautiful day.  A rocky path.  A glorious view.  Memories well made.

Important Dates

Highlights:
-God has provided commitments for our full financial partnership needs!
-December 28th is our departure date for language school in Brazil.
-You are invited to a special night of commissioning, December 16, 6 pm at Rich Fork Baptist Church, Thomasville, NC. 

 

 

Faithful, loving friends,

The past couple of weeks have found us with much for which we are thankful.  We finished up our time with friends and family in North Carolina by celebrating with them our full financial partnership.  This was a truly exciting step in our journey and we were blessed to share it with many of those who started this journey with us many months ago.

We returned to Virginia in time to celebrate Thanksgiving in grand style…well, in “sick style” that is.  All four of us have battled the same fever/cough for going on two weeks now.  (We would ask for your prayers for health.)  David and Nathan are still feeling poorly, but Caleb and Wendi are almost fully recovered.  Caleb was running around the house, cheering for some reason earlier today and we agreed it was easy to see he is feeling MUCH better.

We fully expect to overcome the germs in time for our commissioning on December 16, 6 pm at Rich Fork Baptist Church, Thomasville, NC.   We hope that many of you will be able to attend this special evening of preparation and worship as it is not just about us.  This night of commissioning is for you, our entire team of partners, as God is calling all of us to serve Him by bringing His Word to the Bibleless of Mozambique.  As we have often said, our family is just a small part of a large team of people who love Jesus and want to see His name made famous.

The remainder of December will find us cherishing the gift of celebrating the birth of our Savior with our family and preparing for our departure on December 28^th.  Continue to pray for the visa process as we will be sending in all the paper work to begin the process this week.  We are asking God to go before us in the visa process, making it smooth and quick.

We thank you again for all you have done for our family.  Your words of encouragement and acts of kindness are high on our list of thanks this year!

We love you dearly and pray for you often!

Join us in praising God for:

Full financial partnership needs being met.

Reasonable price for plane tickets to Brazil.

Friends and family who love us dearly.

Challenging us to grow in our walks with Him.

Teaching us that this process is all about Him and His glory, not about anything we say or do.

His Word which is truth and life.

He is sovereign and His timing is perfect! 

 

Join us in praying for:

God to go before us in the visa process and for it to be finished in a timely fashion.

Healthy bodies, minds and souls.

Clear communication with our language school.

God to prepare housing and friendships for us in Brazil.

Us to rest & trust in the sovereignty of God.

Blank pages of Bibles all around the world to be filled.

What is next for us:

Dec. 16, 6 pm
Commissioning Service
Rich Fork Baptist Church
Thomasville, NC

Dec. 28
Departure for language school in Brazil

Near Future:
Complete visa process.

Pack!

Go to language school in Brazil!

Would you like us to share an update with your group?   Let's set something up! Email us today!

One Little Post

Seemed like an easy task.  Post something each day about which you are thankful. 30 days of thankfulness during that time of year that turns all of our hearts to thanksgiving.  

Then hits the week when it is hard to be thankful.  Nothing big, nothing bad.  Just the mundane.  Illness. Disappointment. Short tempers.  Sharp words. 

What to post?  Most of life's circumstances were unchanged.  Still much to be thankful for...except my heart just wasn't in it anymore.  I didn't want to be thankful.  No big deal, right?  Who's going to miss one little post about being thankful? 

Your unthankfulness robs Me of the glory due Me.  

A reminder from the Spirit of God that this was about far more than a little post.  The attitude that I had fostered and allowed to grow in my heart was flat out ungratefulness.  Wrapped up in the self-pity and selfish desires, I could not see beyond myself to all that He continued to do. 

Reading in Romans 1 that day, full of my own self-righteousness, I couldn't help but to look down at those who are mentioned that abandon God for their own desires and pleasures. Glad this wasn't about me, I almost missed the part that was...

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him... (v 21).

Your unthankfulness robs Me of the glory due Me.

Unthankfulness tells God that what He is doing is not good enough for you.  It puts you in a higher place than Him as you put yourself in place as His judge.  (Fairly sure me trying to judge the Perfect judge of the Universe is not the best of ideas...)

Thankfulness is far more than a little post or even a certain day or season of the year.  Thankfulness is an attitude of the heart.  It is a heart that looks toward God and falls to its knees, praising Him for all that we are and have, knowing that it is all but a gift of His grace.

It is not my hope that this would inspire you to be more thankful, to carry the thanksgiving spirit through the year and all that.  My desire and the lesson that I am continuing to learn through this all is the magnitude and importance of thankfulness. 

Thankfulness is and should be the foundational response of our heart towards God.  When we are ungrateful or unthankful, we completely miss the mark of how we are to relate to the Holy, Awesome, Might, Perfect Creator of All. 

Unthankfulness is far more than missing one little post-  it is the robbing of God's glory and the honor due His name.  

 

Sacrifice of Praise

Sacrifice of praise.  Not two words that I would put together or think have much to do with each other.  But there they were. Together.

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Hebrews 13:15

Sacrifice. To give up. To surrender. To offer.  Images of loss, pain and hands letting go.

Praise.  To rejoice.  To celebrate.  To give honor due.  Images of joy, adoration, and hands lifted.

When does praise become a sacrifice?  How does acknowledging His name become an offering? 

Praise given in the midst of pain is sacrifice. 
Many that we know celebrated this Thanksgiving with hearts that ache for those who are no longer here.  Many celebrate this season of thanks with those who might not be here for next year's.  On a much smaller scale, we celebrated our Thanksgiving in a subdued manner as we all struggled with illness.  In these circumstances, and in so many more, praise is still given. 

Praise given to Whom it is truly due is sacrifice.
Praise gives honor to where honor is due.  It is so easy to look around in the midst of joy and say, "Look at all the good I have done.  Look at all the good I have accomplished."  Our praise should turn the focus away from ourselves and to the One who purposes and accomplishes it all.  In giving praise to Whom honor is due, we are sacrificing our own pride, our own recognition, our own praise. 

Praise resulting in open hands is sacrifice.
In the midst of praise we have two options: we can cling to that for which we praise, hands tight and unmoving or we can hold to it loosely, hands open, surrendered.  Our praise should be continuous, but not unmovable.  If we seek to hold on to that for which we praise, we will miss out on so much more.

In every circumstance, let us acknowledge Him who is truly worthy with open hands and lives surrendered..for that friends is truly the sacrifice of praise. 

Exciting News!

Today was a day full of exciting news... make sure you read to the end to hear it all...first we were able to send this update:

Highlights:
-We have received the go ahead to purchase plane tickets and begin the visa process for language school in Brazil.
-Recurring monthly financial partnership need is now $150 per month!

-We are spending this week in the Lexington, NC area and would love to see you!

Friends,

What an exciting week we have had!  Yesterday, we were able to travel to NC and spent the morning worshiping at our home church, Rich Fork Baptist.  It was very encouraging to see familiar faces and receive hug after hug after hug.  In the evening we attended a fabulous night of worship and celebration of missions at Centergrove Baptist.  Both events worked to strengthen our spirits and leave smiles on our faces.

We also received news this weekend from our advisors at Wycliffe that we can go ahead with buying tickets and starting the visa process for language school in Brazil!  Please be praying for us as we take this next big step of faith.  Pray that we are able to communicate with the language school about our arrival date.  Our hope is that we would be able to purchase tickets for the end of December (right after Christmas).  Still, we continue to trust that God’s timing is perfect and that He will get us there when He wants us there.

Pray that God goes before us in the visa process and clears the way.  Pray that the last little bit of our recurring monthly financial partnership needs are completed so that we can leave for language school.  God continues to provide abundantly for our needs, adding several new partners this week.  Our current need rests at $150 per month.  If you are interested in being used by God to join as a prayer or financial partner, please email us or visit http://partner.richlysupplied.com.

Thank you friends for loving us so well- for your encouraging notes, words and hugs.  We are blessed by each of you and count you as gifts from God.  May He bless your day with His presence and His favor!

For His glory,
David and Wendi

...THEN JUST A FEW HOURS LATER THIS NEWS...

Faithful friends,

We could not wait to share with you the news that we all have long prayed for and anticipated…

God, in His lavish grace, has richly supplied ALL of our recurring financial partnership needs!  Through you, our friends, we have reached 100% of the necessary funding!

Our hands shake with joy and praise of God as we type that phrase.  We are speechless at your generosity and willingness to give.  Thank you for touching our lives and the lives of countless others as God uses you to bring His Word to the Bibleless of Mozambique!

With His love and admiration,
David and Wendi

Now that is what we call a day of exciting news!

Praises and Prayers (Weekly update)

**Make that $275 per month needed now to complete our financial partnership needs**

Highlights:

• Only $330 of our monthly financial budget needs remain to be met!
• We will be in NC Nov. 11-18. We would love to see you if you live in the area!
• Read on for specific ways to join us in prayer...

Friends and faithful prayer warriors,

As you might know, prayer has been the foundation and center of our calling and mission from the beginning.  We have repeatedly seen God answer specific prayers as it has progressed.  For this week’s update, we wanted to share with you our prayers in hope that you will join along beside us in praying for God’s hand to move in our ministry to the Bibleless of Mozambique.


We praise God:

• For a week spent with friends in Pennsylvania and northern Virginia.  It was a time of joyful renewal as we shared about what God is doing in our lives as well as learned about what He is doing in theirs.  We praise Him for friendships that have lasted through distance and time and will last throughout eternity!
• For His provision of 4 new financial partners!  Our current monthly financial need is at $330.  We praise Him for continuing to raise up a partnership team that supports and encourages us beyond belief!  (If you are interested in joining the team as a prayer or financial partner, please email us or visit http://partner.richlysupplied.com today.)
• For Nathan's fourth birthday coming up on Wednesday! 
• That we will be in the Thomasville/Lexington, NC area November 11-18.  (Email us if you would like to get together while we are there.)

In addition to praising God, we ask Him:

• To break down any barriers, physical, emotional or spiritual, that are hindering people from being able to commit to partnership.
• To go before us in the visa process, smoothing out all hindrances before we even begin.
• To fully supply our monthly financial budgetary needs in His timing—and that His timing would be before Thanksgiving.
• To work through His Spirit to help us to stand steadfast as we wait.  Some days are harder than others and we need His power to help us stay focused and trusting in Him.

Thank you for coming alongside us in prayer as we go with confidence before the throne of grace!  Your prayers, encouragement and support are truly priceless to our family!  Please continue to let us know how to pray for you.  We count it an honor to pray for you and are eager to know just how we can pray.

For His glory,
 David and Wendi Richards

"Four" Your Birthday

Your fourth year of life has been the start to a great adventure

You have moved from the house you always knew and gave up most of your toys in the process.

 You have said, "See you later" to many cherished friends...

And made many new friends throughout our travels.
 

In the midst of it all, you have remained the loving, cheerful, laughing boy we love.

 
You are a charmer and are really too cute for your own good.  You are our love-bug, often confirming your love with words and actions.
 
You love your brother fiercely...sometimes too fiercely...  

A hotdog and desert eating machine, you make us laugh often throughout the day.

You are our Natey, our Nathan, our gift from God.

May God continue to grow you in stature and wisdom in favor with Himself and men.  May you live and love for His glory alone.  May He guide you, keep you and cause His face to shine upon you...that His name would be made known in the nations.

Happy fourth birthday Nathan!

Homesick

The tears flowed slowly at first and for a moment I couldn’t even place why exactly I was crying.  David looked at me with a questioning look on his face.  We had just finished our journey back from a wonderful week of travel to see friends and share about our ministry and the tears could be really about anything.  Was it exhaustion?  Was it joy at being able to sleep in our bed?  Did my heart already miss those who mean so much to us?  

Yes. No. Maybe all of the above.  As I mumbled and sought for words to put around my tears, one thought seized my heart,

“I am homesick.”

It may not be a good thing to be homesick before we even leave, but it is a good way to describe where our hearts are these days.  Now do not get us wrong, God has blessed us abundantly with amazing friends and family who have loved us deeply by letting us join as a part of their families as we stay with them.  We have enjoyed the time pouring deeply into these friendships and have been changed for the better by the generosity and hospitality we have received.   

Still, our hearts ache with a longing of home.  

A home that was…we miss having our space as a family.  Wendi misses fixing dinner as the boys play in the backyard.  David misses tinkering in the yard and the garden.  We miss watching the leaves change on the pecan trees and the piles of leaves which they produced that were perfect for jumping into.    

A home that is…our home now is where ever we happen to be.  As Nathan reminds us often we are nomads (and even yes-mads somedays.)  This nomadic life is very much like living on tour…we get to travel all over seeing amazing people and places, but our hearts long to be in one place, settled and secure.

A home that will be…we desire to be home in a place we have not yet even seen- whether that is an apartment in Brazil or a house in Nampula, Mozambique, our hearts are partially already there.  We desire to meet the people God is going to use to grow His kingdom through our lives.  We desire to make new memories and to learn more about who God is through the new experiences we will have.  We long to share with others the glorious truth of His grace, forgiveness and love.  

Our hearts long for home in so many different ways it is difficult to wrap words around the depths of the emotion.  It is as if our longings for things that once were are mixed with an appreciation of what is, as well as eagerness for what is to come.   

And in the depths of these emotions, the Spirit of Truth whispers to our hearts, “This is only the beginning.”  For you see the homesickness which we know now will be multiplied at points while we are in Mozambique, and even more than that, the more we seek God, the more our hearts will ache to be home with Him.  

While the tears have now dried, the emotions still swirl in our hearts…and will continue to do so until that day when we find ourselves truly at home with Him.

A Quick Note of Randomness

Ready for cold weather

Ever have those days that seem to fly by and then when you look back, you can't quite remember what all you did?  Yep. That is life this week.  Being "hurricaned" in for a couple of days made this week go very quickly.  We have a couple more days to share with friends in northern Virginia before heading back to Roanoke...(and rumor has it that we might be in the Thomasville/Lexington area in the next couple of weeks as well!)

We haven't had time to download pictures from our visits, so this funny picture of the boys will have to do.  (As you can see, we aren't quite ready for the cold weather, since we got rid of most of our winter clothing items.)

Until things settle back down, below is our latest update on our ministry.  We are happy to report that it is already out dated and that only $372 of our monthly financial partnership needs remain.  God is good!

 Friends,
We had a quick break in our travels and wanted to say "Hi!" and let you know how
God has worked over the last week:

-We truly enjoyed spending the weekend with friends in Pennsylvania and the last few
days "hurricaned" in with friends in northern Virginia.  Although we lost power for
several hours, we thrived with Phase 10 and stove top popcorn.
   
-We will spend the next few days trying to connect with different people here in
northern Virginia before returning to Roanoke, VA on Nov. 4.
   
-God has continued to provide for our team!  We have gained 15 new prayer partners
and 4 new recurring financial partners this week (as well as had current partners increase
their gifts.)  We now need $397 per month to complete our monthly financial partnership needs.
(If you would like to partner in any way, please visit http://partner.richlysupplied.com.
God is so good and we continue to praise Him for His abundant provision as we wait to
see Him finish this good work!

For His glory,
David and Wendi

Perfect Provision (weekly update)

**An update for our update:  As of this morning, we now only need $500 per month to meet our needs!**

 

Highlights:
-God continues to provide!  We only need $550 per month to meet our monthly financial partnership needs!
-We have received our state police background checks.

-Oct 28-Nov 4 we will be in northern Virginia and want to see you!

 

 

Faithful Friends,

We have continued to see God move in the past week.  He has been faithful to use many of you to encourage and pray for us.  Your notes and calls have come in at just the right time to shine His light and joy into our circumstances.  Thank you for being used by Him in so many ways!

This week He has lavished His provision on us as He added two new recurring financial partners and led three other partnering families to increase their monthly gift.  We are thrilled to let you know that we only need commitments totaling $550 per month to fulfill our financial partnership needs!  If you are interested in partnering with us as a recurring financial partner, you can respond to this email or visit http://partner.richlysupplied.com.

We were excited this week to receive our State Police background checks which are needed for our visa process.  This was one of the few steps we can take to prepare for the visa process before we reach our full monthly budgetary needs.  Now that we have them, there is a time crunch for us to start our visa process.  The background checks are only good for a limited time and we do not want them to expire in the middle of the visa process.

On top of that, our supervisor at Wycliffe has strongly encouraged us to have our funding complete at least one week before Thanksgiving so that the holiday season will not further delay the process.  Please be praying with us that God's perfect timing to complete our partnership team would be soon!

We wanted to let you know that we will be visiting the northern Virginia area next week (Oct. 28-Nov4).  With our funding coming in quickly, we do not know if we will back in that area again before we leave for language school.  If you live in the area, we want to see you!!  Please email us to set something up.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support!  We cannot wait to email you next week to let you know once more how God has used each of you to bring His word to the Bibleless of Mozambique!

For His glory,
David and Wendi Richards