Next. . .

Dear Friends,

 After a long time of thinking, talking, and planning, our future ministry has “suddenly” come to a public reality.  I, HM, have had a long relationship with Liebenzell Mission USA, and Pacific Islands University, a college on Guam founded through Liebenzell Mission.  Out of those relationships, a role that fits our abilities, gifts, and interests and that meets a critical need in furthering the progress of the Gospel, is emerging.  Our Pastor, Doug Williams is encouraging us to move ahead with these plans.

It has been said that “Everything rises or falls based on

James Plueddemann, Effective Ministry and Mission
in the Global Church 

leadership.”   We are seeking to leverage the experience we have gained in over four decades of service in Christ’s Church to help raise up, and assist leaders who will labor in pre-evangelism, evangelism, planting and nurturing churches, and repeat leadership development.  Two broad areas of our ministry are taking shape.

January 1, 2016, we will become missionaries with LMUSA.  Four months of the year we will be assigned to serve with Pacific IslandsUniversity.  Howard will be the Director of the Palauan Teaching Facility of PIU.  PIU’s campus is located on Guam.  The core of our ministry is providing Christian Higher Education to the people of Micronesia.  One of our core values is making this education as accessible as possible to the people of Micronesia.  With that in mind we have operated Teaching Facilities in Yap, Chuuk, and Palau.  If you think of the way Community Colleges are related to State Universities, and then reduce that to a micro-scale, you have the right idea.  Howard will teach some courses, coordinate with visiting teachers, and assist students with online classes.  Some of these students will go on to graduate from one of PIU’s programs.  All of them will receive training to be more effective leaders in their church, and community.  The Palauan Evangelical Church, which has a close relationship with PIU, is currently preparing missionaries to serve on the Island of Papua, Indonesia.  This is illustrative of the potential.  In addition our efforts will make PIU a healthier institution, benefiting all of Micronesia, a region where leaders with a solid Christian worldview are desperately needed.

Click on the picture to find out where Micronesia and Palau are.

This aspect of our leadership development will require us—really tough—to live in Palau for four (winter) months/year.   For these months Howard will be on a full-time schedule.  Kathy will use her gifts and abilities in hospitality, music, teaching, and encouragement to good effect.

The second part of our leadership development will be “assistant to the director of Liebenzell Mission USA.”  Our motto is “Live Ready” (Eph. 6:15).  In this role we will be assisting missionary recruits and their sending churches, working in a pastoral role with existing missionaries, and in other ways seeking to help world-changers push back the boundaries of darkness.  For the eight months that this is our focus, we will be on a part-time status.  While this aspect of our ministry will involve some travel, we plan to keep our home in Covington and work from here.

Part of our income is coming from Social Security, but we are seeking supporters to partner with us in this venture.  We are  currently working on a budget.  We would love to talk to you about what the Lord is doing in our lives and what we believe he will do through us.

I have worked really hard to keep this description of what we will be doing to one page.  If instead of writing about what I know, I had writen about what we don’t yet know it would have extended to ten pages or more.  Pray for us, and join us in Praising our Great God for the opportunities He is placing before us.

We would love to hear from you about this new chapter in our adventure.

H&K