Fundraising.. . .grrrr

Hi all, as we think back over this past month we realize that life has been made up of small little activities instead of any one really big thing. In that vein, we'd like to share with you some of those "bits."

The most important "bit" we've been working on is fund raising. In the last fifteen years our support has gone up and down, but with Steve being so very busy in the business office for the past three years there's really been no time to put into developing partners who are willing to sow into our ministry. With some of our long-term partners having to make life changes, this has resulted in our ministry being seriously underfunded. . . while we remain confident that God will meet all our needs, it's also important that we do our part too. We ask that you join us in praying for us during this time. Pray that God will lead us to ways to support our ministry, as well as people in whom God is working to support this work.

As we think and pray about developing partnerships, one area we'd like to step out into more is the area of educating churches about Mormonism. As you know, we came from that background, and know quite a bit about it. We've also done ministry in this area so have stayed current with what the LDS church is teaching. Katrina has a book that she's written to LDS people coming out of the LDS church that's been a GREAT help to many. Steve also has been active in this ministry and is running the mentoring program for the Institute for Religious Research out of Grand Rapids, MI. We would love to share more about Mormonism, and especially about how YOU can reach out to your LDS friends and co-workers in love and compassion while holding to the truth of God's Word. If you or your church would like to have a seminar on this, please contact us--we'd love to share more about our heart for the LDS people, and God's heart for them as well.

Katrina signing her book Making the Journey from Mormanism to Biblical Christianity

In addition to support raising, Steve has also been working in the pottery relearning how to do all the things he used to do. This has been super exciting as he's working through making "test tiles" as well as doing bigger tests on bowls. It's sometimes a slow and tedious progress, but also exciting to see. Every time he opens the kiln it's like Christmas!

The kiln in the midst of firing

 

Katrina and the kids finished school for this year the end of May! As you can imagine they're all excited to have a bit of a break before next year starts. Next year, however, will be a big change for them as John and Anna will be attending a local charter school in which they'll attend college classes for dual high school/college credit. James will continue to be home schooled (and probably will be a bit lonely).

John, Katrina, Anna, and James at Jemez falls after the end of school

Katrina continues in the ladies ministry that she works in as well as in her ministry as housing and hospitality coordinator for Western Indian Ministries. In addition she's also started doing one-on-one counseling of some of the ladies who need more help and encouragement than the larger Bible study provides. Please pray for her as she transitions to doing more and more ministry with the ladies.

Katrina and Janelle, one of the ladies she works with

One of our greatest needs, and one we ask that you pray for, is newer vehicles. Starting in August John and Anna will be traveling to Gallup four days a week for school and Katrina will be traveling to Gallup at least one more day a week. (This is a round trip of sixty miles.) The vehicles we have now are not reliable and use quite a bit of gas. Would you pray for us to obtain a newer vehicle that gets better mileage?


Thanks for praying with us and for us. We truly can't say how much we value your care, concern, and support in so many ways!

Katrina and Steve Marti