We have an exciting update on what’s next for our family. We want to let you know how God has been directing us in recent months. We have been considering what God would have us do next and have had several wonderful ministry adventures. In early July, Reid traveled to Romania to provide teaching and support for a colleague's mission church. It encouraged him to minister to the church there and provide a much needed respite to the pastor and his family for two Sundays.
Our whole family went on a missions work trip to Indian Bible College in Flagstaff, AZ in July. We went with a team of 12 people from our church and replaced the aging plumbing system in their administration building. One team member helped optimize their computer network. It was great to minister as a family to a great organization. We visited the Grand Canyon on the way home and even got to see a powerful thunderstorm over the canyon while we were there!
Reid continues to engage with Pastor Riccardo St. Gelus in Haiti and help him plan for development of 5 acres of property that our church helped secure for the ministry (another elder from Grace Baptist and Reid traveled to Haiti last May to assist with the purchase). Pastor Riccardo serves his country by presenting the Gospel, teaching, and training leaders. He is seeking to establish legal organizational status in Haiti which will help with funding and import of goods from the US.
As you can see, Reid continues to be heavily involved in ministry here in the US and around the world. He has a passion to see the church live out the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20) and make disciples. That means relationships and mentoring in our local churches and helping people see what God is doing around the world. That leads us to tell you how God has directed us recently as we seek to understand what ministry position God has for us next.
Reid has been serving on the board of ARM Ministries since it was founded back in 2002. ARM Ministries is a missions organization that allows men and women with unique ministry visions to serve the church worldwide. It is distinct in that it limits administrative fees to less than half of those typically required by other organizations (many others require 18% or more of a missionary's support to operate while ARM limits it to 7.5% and has a goal to reduce this further through other funding). It is also one of few organizations that allow national (non-US) church leaders to raise US-based support for ministry (about 1/3 of ARM missionaries are national leaders; they often operate effective ministries at much less cost than US-based missionaries and are typically more adept at reaching their own people).
At a recent board meeting, it became clear that God was directing us to join with ARM Ministries on a new level. The organization needs someone to help raise funds for general operating expenses to help keep contributions in the hands of missionaries themselves and not used on administrative fees. We have agreed to step into this role and, for now, Reid will take on the title of Vice-President of Development. Carrie plans to assist ARM with some of the accounting of financial contributions. Reid will also continue consulting in higher education through AACRAO Consulting and hopes to participate in missions and consulting, each about 50% of the time (as well as other activities such as teaching). He will continue to serve in ministry in other ways, including short term mission trips. Reid went to Flagstaff in December to assist Indian Bible College by helping them prepare for their upcoming accreditation process. He is also going to Haiti this February with a small team to deliver a church planting workshop for church leaders there.
We’ve had many people ask how they can partner with us through prayer and funding. If you would like, we would love to have you partner with us to serve the church around the world. We have created a blog for ministry updates (see web address in the box below). If you are interested in receiving blog/email/letter updates, please let us know and we will add you to our list. We greatly desire your prayer in support of our family and ministry. If you are also interested in support us financially, please see the Support Info below. We are seeking partners who feel called by God to engage with us and would love to sit down and talk with you about it if possible. Just let us know.
We thank you for your support and encouragement. May God bless you richly as you seek Him with your whole heart in this coming year!
Support Info
To support us online, please visit:
http://armmin.org/
Otherwise, please send financial support to:
ARM Ministries
P.O. Box 141324
Dallas, TX 75214
(please put Kisling's in your check memo line)
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