Saturday, July 19, 2008

Glean Ministries E-Newsletter

I know that some of you have expressed interest in our future Africa plans and what is going on there. Please see below the newsletter to get an idea of what is going on. You can also see my previous post, "Sending George to Africa" for additional information and how to donate. Even if you cannot donate with time or money, prayers are always appreciated! If you would like more information, leave a comment with your email addy and I will get back to you! (All comments are moderated, so I will not post your email addy if requested). Click on any pics in my blog to make them bigger.

*My apologies to the original creators of the newsletter, I did need to change the original format slightly to make it more "blog friendly."

Wow we love you guys. We wake up talking of you and go to bed talking of you. We pray for you and wonder how you are doing. The distance complicated by the intensity of life makes it hard to keep up on a daily basis but nothing makes it hard to keep our precious friendships in our hearts. Thanks for being there!


One saw, but the pain in his heart from the gravity of the problem was so overwhelming so he removed himself from the pain. He didn't know that Jesus could move in the midst of any problem.

One saw, but believed his position superseded his duty to
respond. He didn't know that Jesus is not a respector of persons.

One saw and let the pity in his heart turn to compassion and the compassion moves him beyond his position and his fear for himself or his prosperity. This one moved and helped and Jesus says this one was obeying the command of His Father. This one was not hindered in his way as the others feared - rather he was blessed as being the one who knew the heart of the Father.

Our friend Edith moves us, we are deeply moved by this girl. In the midst of her bitter pain she believes God loves her. She said, "Yes," to Jesus and prayed to commit her life into His hands. One time when we visited her we found that she spends her days caring for her younger brother. Tenderly making sure his needs are met!

By standards of the world she is "expendable." By standards of this world this is a situation that could cost us a lot of money we don't have-she is too expensive. We can't get over the fact that Jesus made each one of us worth the price of His blood.

Glean Ministries has a grand vision for Benin. You are supporting us to start churches all over the country, a school to educate hundreds of children with a Christian education, a radio station so thousands can hear the Word, a Bible school to invest in leaders for all of West Africa and various plans to reach the communities directly for Christ If in fulfilling this vision we pass by the heart of Christ, we have wasted your support, trust and faithfulness to us. No reward is waiting in heaven for completed work, only for obedient hearts. We as a family have already decided to care for Edith.

We still would like someone capable to look at her x-rays and lab results to give any advice, but we have found a surgeon here who says he can do the surgery. We are praying that it is the right decision for now. The total cost of one surgery, tests and 5 subsequent treatments of chemotherapy will be a little over $6,000. If you want to help with your expertise you can contact MaryAnn Petzold at 216 921-8005. If you can make a donation enclose a separate sheet of paper marked Edith and send it to the Glean Ministries address. Surgery $186.00

Anesthesia $84.00

Lab Analysis $60.00

Chemotherapy 5 treatments $1,446

Hospital
Stay $1,561.00

Transport to and from hospital to her village for appointments, surgery, post appointments, and chemotherapy $1,200.00

Care of family while staying with her in the city (six hospital st
ays of one week each)$1,214.00

Pharmacy bill unknown
MRI $481.00
TOTAL NEEDED thus far $6,232

We are working out a dilemma of sorts right now as we look to get the Bible school started and the Glean offices out of our house. The amount of people in our living room each day is enormous. Sometimes we have work going on from 7 in the morning until 11 at night. We are beginning to feel as if we have no refuge. In addition, the container is arriving shortly allowing us to set up our computer, sewing, poultry labs, ESL, Bible and seminar classrooms and bringing up our need for storage again. The Bible school students are returning their applications and we have promised to start classes.

Prices have sky-rocketed as American aid has allowed the president to promise construction projects that lead everyone to believe that their land is now worth 5 times as much as it was before. We could build a temporary structure on a friend's land, rent a space or try to buy a small area of land for a temporary structure with plans of buying more land in the same area when we expand. We do not see the wisdom in pouring good money into renting, but our needs are becoming immediate. The hours spent on searching for land are uncountable. Just when you think you have found something, you pay to have the land researched and find out that it is disputed land. Or it turns out that they never paid the government the portion it requires making it much smaller than promised or four people try to sell you the same land and you wonder which one it really belongs to. Sometimes things look good but the promised deed never shows up or another sibling changes the price at the last minute or this, or that! Believe us when we say our efforts to find land that we can afford are endless. We know that God will make a way and we know that He is leading us so wait and pray with us please. Pray for wisdom in meeting our immediate need and patience for the future.

We forgot our quote the last time - sorry!
When Oise heard that all our personal belongings did not make it onto the container and the kids were very upset.
Oise said, "Don't worry guys we will just see what we get and then we will rearrange our priorities." Ebi (3) responded in tears, "I don't want priorities I just want my Barbie bicycle!"
Just so you don't worry the bicycle made the cut and is on the way, so for now she won't have to "rearrange" too much.


We want a team to come do medical missions in October or November. The last mission was very effective and we feel it is time to serve our villages in this way again. We have some commitments that we could not fulfill last time and we see how effective this type of mission is for deeply touching people's lives. Last time we hired many people to make it work, and we would love to staff the mission with volunteers supported from the States and Romania this time. We will choose an exact date very soon so if you are interested and have any preferences let us know.

You are looking at spending about

$1,800.00 air-ticket

$600.00 Room and Board (two week stay)

Then you will need to update your shots for the tropics, apply for Benin visa and provide yourself with any needed supplies for the mission.

If you feel you want to go but do not have the money let us know we will begin to pray with you.

We also need support staff very badly! For example, patients sometimes wait all day long to see the doctor. You could be doing a children's program (there are usually 100 or so children hanging around the site) or a Bible study, giving a talk on nutrition or anything in your expertise, or simply praying with individuals. We also have set up and tear down, organizational needs, or cooking. If you can come we can use you!

Did we also mention that it is A LOT of fun?!

Thanks for being interested!


Glean Ministries exists to...

...gather those untouched by the main harvest. Individuals may be unreached by God's Word because they live in hard to reach areas geographically. Perhaps the obstacles are economic, social or purely spiritual. We trust God as He overcomes the "obstacles" and draws His precious creation closer to His heart.

Glean Ministries believes...

...that our lives are not our own. It is not about our own gain but about His kingdom and His glory. The Father's heart aches for the oppressed and the lost so we make ourselves available for His work. He then frees and guides His children home.

To contribute to the work in West Africa, please send any gifts to:

Glean Ministries

3670 Winchell Road

Shaker Heights, OH

44122

Any questions?

Contact MaryAnn Petzold at glean1ro@sbcglobal.net

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