Hi everyone!
Thank you!
Sven and I wanted to say a huge thanks for celebrating in all our excitement! If you haven't heard already, we are pregnant! We're expecting our little one to come on March 5 next year. The shock of parenthood is starting to hit us, but to be honest it feels like a reality that will only come once our baby's here.. or maybe once I start showing more! I am 16 (almost 17) weeks along now and doing well. The 2nd trimester wonders have hit; morning sickness, which believe me is not just in the mornings, has started to pass but snacks throughout the day continue to be such a necessity. We went for an ultrasound at 10 weeks and got to see the baby move all around, at 19 weeks we will be finding out the gender. We will be having our baby here in Australia as this is where our health coverage is, we are set up at a Birth Centre and are looking forward to starting pre-natal classes there soon!
We would really appreciate your prayers for everything to continue to go smoothly in this time. Thanks :)
Happenings
Over the last six months, since our last schools ended in March, we have been plugging into the ministry's we lead separately and are now getting ready for our schools to start again. It's been a slow start for me, Andrea, to re-pioneer the ministry I lead called Faces58, but it is happening! Last year I did a Leadership and Pioneering School in order to develop the ministry, so during these last 6 months we went for it in the community getting as connected as possible. We partner regularly with a Association in the area doing community events, setting up a community garden and developing a house that will be used for community classes in the future. Sven has been getting into high schools (both private and public) with his ministry to run camps, sessions and see the youth of Australia be all that they can be!
On October 5th, the schools we lead will start for the next six months. This is Sven's 7th Discipleship Training School (DTS) that he will be leading, and this is my 4th year of leading the Art Evangelists School. Since I am due in March, I will not be joining for all of the outreach this year. We are still figuring out what that will look like. But we are very excited for a new group of students that will come from all over the world to grow in their relationship with God and be trained in missionary service.
Realisations
Through everything going ahead, specifically with the growth of our family, we are realising a big reality among us. With the growth of a family, many would know that there's a growth in the budget. During the last couple years we have been trusting for larger lump sum donations for outreach and school fees, which we are grateful that we saw such generosity, but it did affect our monthly donations quite a bit. We would love to tell you that we are doing fine financially, but unfortunately our monthly donations keep us just scraping by. Though this might not seem like the best time to bring up issues like this, we feel the great joy and privilege of seeing new doors open up for partnership and connection.
Looking at a New Way of Doing Things
During this time in our seeking for financial support, we thought we would let you know our specific needs and that way you could claim one specifically of your choosing! That way you'd know exactly what your money is going towards. Of course there's never any pressure or obligation, we want this to be a blessing for you to be able to give.
Please Consider...
We would kindly ask that you'd please set aside some time to think through and consider the different options. If this confuses you and you would rather donate without choosing options, you could just consider a monthly amount and go ahead that way. Below you will see how you can donate. Thank you
Thank you!
Sven and I wanted to say a huge thanks for celebrating in all our excitement! If you haven't heard already, we are pregnant! We're expecting our little one to come on March 5 next year. The shock of parenthood is starting to hit us, but to be honest it feels like a reality that will only come once our baby's here.. or maybe once I start showing more! I am 16 (almost 17) weeks along now and doing well. The 2nd trimester wonders have hit; morning sickness, which believe me is not just in the mornings, has started to pass but snacks throughout the day continue to be such a necessity. We went for an ultrasound at 10 weeks and got to see the baby move all around, at 19 weeks we will be finding out the gender. We will be having our baby here in Australia as this is where our health coverage is, we are set up at a Birth Centre and are looking forward to starting pre-natal classes there soon!
We would really appreciate your prayers for everything to continue to go smoothly in this time. Thanks :)
Happenings
Over the last six months, since our last schools ended in March, we have been plugging into the ministry's we lead separately and are now getting ready for our schools to start again. It's been a slow start for me, Andrea, to re-pioneer the ministry I lead called Faces58, but it is happening! Last year I did a Leadership and Pioneering School in order to develop the ministry, so during these last 6 months we went for it in the community getting as connected as possible. We partner regularly with a Association in the area doing community events, setting up a community garden and developing a house that will be used for community classes in the future. Sven has been getting into high schools (both private and public) with his ministry to run camps, sessions and see the youth of Australia be all that they can be!
On October 5th, the schools we lead will start for the next six months. This is Sven's 7th Discipleship Training School (DTS) that he will be leading, and this is my 4th year of leading the Art Evangelists School. Since I am due in March, I will not be joining for all of the outreach this year. We are still figuring out what that will look like. But we are very excited for a new group of students that will come from all over the world to grow in their relationship with God and be trained in missionary service.
Realisations
Through everything going ahead, specifically with the growth of our family, we are realising a big reality among us. With the growth of a family, many would know that there's a growth in the budget. During the last couple years we have been trusting for larger lump sum donations for outreach and school fees, which we are grateful that we saw such generosity, but it did affect our monthly donations quite a bit. We would love to tell you that we are doing fine financially, but unfortunately our monthly donations keep us just scraping by. Though this might not seem like the best time to bring up issues like this, we feel the great joy and privilege of seeing new doors open up for partnership and connection.
Looking at a New Way of Doing Things
During this time in our seeking for financial support, we thought we would let you know our specific needs and that way you could claim one specifically of your choosing! That way you'd know exactly what your money is going towards. Of course there's never any pressure or obligation, we want this to be a blessing for you to be able to give.
Please Consider...
We would kindly ask that you'd please set aside some time to think through and consider the different options. If this confuses you and you would rather donate without choosing options, you could just consider a monthly amount and go ahead that way. Below you will see how you can donate. Thank you
How to Donate:
Canadians and Americans:
For Canadians this is really easy and the most efficient way to donate monthly. I can help you start up a tax deductible automatic monthly withdrawal account at YWAM BC. All you need to do is email [email protected] or call 604.436.4433 and they will set it up for you.
More info at www.ywamcanada.org/donations.html
For any Americans let us know and we can start up an American system the same way (I just haven't had any Americans do this yet)
All other options include:
1. Credit card payment through the YWAM Perth Website:
https://secure.ywamperth.org.au/payments/ This is a secure website with a 2% credit card fee.
(Bank transfers are also possible)
2. Deposit into our Bank Accounts
Andrea's Canadian Account: 9190 6210073 - TD Canada Trust
Sven's South African Account: 1899004327 - Gateway Branch
Our combined Australian Account: Brach #: 086366 Account #: 740210310
3. PayPal:
all you need is Sven's email for this: [email protected]
4. Can give cash or cheques in hand or by mail:
to Sven's Church: Harvest Church,1 Wincanton Way, Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal (direct transfer into Sven's South African account)
or to Andrea's parents: 1110 Johnson Rd, Penticton BC V2A 1W7, Canada (they will deposit into Andrea's Canadian account)
Thank you again!
Thanks so much and we'll let you know how all the progress goes with baby and all!
Lots of love,
Andrea, Sven and baby!!
2. Deposit into our Bank Accounts
Andrea's Canadian Account: 9190 6210073 - TD Canada Trust
Sven's South African Account: 1899004327 - Gateway Branch
Our combined Australian Account: Brach #: 086366 Account #: 740210310
3. PayPal:
all you need is Sven's email for this: [email protected]
4. Can give cash or cheques in hand or by mail:
to Sven's Church: Harvest Church,1 Wincanton Way, Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal (direct transfer into Sven's South African account)
or to Andrea's parents: 1110 Johnson Rd, Penticton BC V2A 1W7, Canada (they will deposit into Andrea's Canadian account)
Thank you again!
Thanks so much and we'll let you know how all the progress goes with baby and all!
Lots of love,
Andrea, Sven and baby!!