Monday, March 31, 2008

More Power To Ya ... 1982

This is the end of March, and God sure has shown He is Mighty. We have waited upon the Lord to reveal Himself and to watch how He is going to help us as He has called us into this new step in life. I want to share with a song that keeps going through my thoughts. It was song by Petra many years ago rings true today as we wait for God to fulfill His promises to us just as He did when the Book of Isaiah was written. Here is the lyrics:

More Power to Ya Words and music by Bob Hartman Based on Isaiah 40:31

You say you've been feeling weaker, weaker by the day
You say you can't make the joy of your salvation stay
But good things come to them that wait
Not to those who hesitate So hurry up and wait upon the Lord

(Chorus)
More power to ya
When you're standing on His word
When you're trusting with your whole heart in the message you have heard
More power to ya
When we're all in one accord
They that wait upon the Lord, they shall renew, they shall renew their strength

Jesus promised His disciples He'd give strength to them
Jesus told them all to tarry in Jerusalem
When they were all in one accord
The power of His Spirit poured
And they began to turn the world around

So be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might
Put on all His armor and fight the good fight
In all of our weakness, He becomes so strong
When He gives us the power and the strength to carry on

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Support Update

Praise the Lord! As of today we have $834.00 toward our trip to Dindiza this summer and $1,025.00 toward our Full Time Support. Thank you for praying for our family and the journey God has us on. We are excited to see how God will continue to provide in the next few weeks. We had a team meeting this past Saturday and Jill taught about Spiritual Warfare. We ask that you please pray for our family as well as the other team members and their families as we all prepare for the mission trip this summer. As of now we have 13 people commited to going this summer. There are still a few available spots left.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Sending out our support letters ...

Well, after a few weeks of stuffing envelops, finding address, printing labels and of course the Raley family "stamping party" last night, we are ready to mail out our support letters. It was nice to work on this together last night and spend time praying together for God to get the glory for all He is doing in our family. We are excited to see how God is going to provide.

Here is a copy of our support letter we sent out.

We wanted to share with everyone all that God is doing our family's life at this time. As most of you know, we have had the blessing to go to Africa four times and Mark and I are preparing to go back this summer. We will be returning July 18th to Dindiza, Mozambique, the same village we went to last year. Our focus for this trip will be hut to hut evangelism, men's, women's and children's Bible study, as well as nightly meetings which consist of worship, testimony and the preaching of God's Word.

We have shared with you over the last 5 years how much we love Africa and enjoy our time on the mission field. We have been praying for the last several years for God to show us what His will for our family is and we believe that He is calling us into Full Time Missions! Our team will come home this year on August 2nd, but Mark and I will stay one more week in South Africa to meet with the church leaders and Samaria Mission leaders. We will also use this time to look into a school for our children, housing, cars and furniture. We feel that the Lord is asking us to join Samaria Mission full time 2009.

With all that said, we are asking first that you join us in prayer for the trip this summer as well as our move next year. We will need to raise financial support for the summer trip as well as our Full Time Support. Romans 10:13-15 says, "For, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!" We are asking you to prayerfully consider financially supporting us so we may be sent to Mozambique to share The Gospel.

Below you will find a list of the financial needs for this trip, as well as information about becoming financial partner with us as we become full time missionaries.

  • The total cost for the trip this summer will be $7,500.00.
  • The first $4.000.00 is due by March 31st.
  • The remaining $3,500.00 will be due June 1st.

If you are able to support us financially, please check out the "support" page on our website. We are asking all Believers to pray for us and the journey God has our family on.

Serving Him Together!

Mark and Alicia Raley

Saturday, March 1, 2008

February 3, 2008
Wow, alot has happened in the last week and a half. Many of you know we have surrendered to Full Time Missions in Africa. We are so excited to see what God is going to do in and through us as we join Samaria Mission. Well, Sean and Gina (Missionaries from South Africa) are currently in the States and we have been able to spend a lot of time with them visiting. Specifically asking lots of questions and getting lots of advice for the journey we are on.
Here is a little about what we know so far.... We will join Samaria Mission, which is a ministry that was started in 1977 through Christ Baptist Church in Polokwane (used to be called Pietersburg) South Africa. We will work with them taking short term teams into Mozambique. Mark will also be involved in some of the on going training they have with the Pastors in Mozambique throughout the year. We are willing to do whatever He has for us. It is a huge blessing to us to be able to join God in the work He is already doing through Samaria Mission in Mozambique.
We will head to Africa this summer on another short term trip. We are in the process of getting the new team together and preparing to raise the funds for this trip. When our team heads back we will be staying an extra week this summer (along with The Hixon's) and meeting with the leaders of Christ Baptist Church and Samaria Mission. We will also have time to look at housing, cars, furniture stores and check out one of the private schools that the kids might be able to attend. We have heard great things about the school. A few of the missionaries with Samaria send their kids to this school. We even heard they play soccer, which you know is a plus for Brit!
Another HUGE thing that we weren't planning on focusing on until we got back from our trip this summer was raising our support for when we go full time, but God had other plans. This past week we were given a check to start preparing for our full time support. We couldn't believe it and we are sooooooooo excited that God is already providing. Romans 10:13 -15 tells us ... (13) For "Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (14) But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? (15) And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news?"
We are willing to go and tell and we are so thankful to everyone who has supported us in the past and sent us on our short term trips and are thankful for those who will support us and send us in the future as we prepare to go full time.
We will try to keep everyone posted as we continue on the journey. Please pray for us as we start to raise our funds for the trip this summer and for our full time support. Most of all pray for God's will to be done in our lives!!!!!