Looking for teammates in this new venture:

For all of our careers as pastor and pastor's wife/musician/teacher/counselor (Kathy has done a lot), Kathy and I have encouraged participation in the Great Commission, Matthew 28:19-20.  For the past couple of years we have been transitioning out of our pastoral role.  Most people would say we are retiring.  That transition from the role in which we served at Covington Bible Church for more than forty years is coming to an end.  Beginning in January we will assume a new role as Missionaries.  I have previously posted about this new role on this blog, here and here.

As you can see from those previous posts we are asking for folk to join us in preparing and enabling a new generation of world-changers.  Here are the kind of teammates we are looking for.

A wonderful family, with whom we have been privileged to work over the years, joined out team about ten minutes after we announced our intentions.  I got this text from them the other day.

"[Six-year-old son] prayed for you guys tonight.  (This family prays for missionaries after supper, each evening.)  He prayed for a safe flight because a solar flare could take the plane down."

I found out, just tonight, that big sister had been studying about the sun in science class.  She had shared about solar flares and how they could disrupt safe air travel. . . .  

Jesus said that He would build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it.  That's what we are seeking to do.  We are looking for some other folk who would stand with us financially and in prayer to help make this possible.

I, Howard, am the one doing this letter-writing, Facebooking, blog-posting thing.  It isn't the way we want to do it.  We'd much rather sit down over a cup of coffee, or at least be means of phone or Skype.  So, if, after reading about what we are doing, you say, "I'd like to find out more?" please drop us a line, or just call us.  If we are close enough we'll get together, if not we'll make a time to talk by phone or Skype.
My email is hmerrell@piu.edu, or covbchm@gmail.com.  If you would rather write Kathy you can get her at kmusiq@gmail.com.  Our phone numbers are: Kathy, 540 691 4438, & Howard, 540 691 6539.

Thanks, and may the Lord protect you from falling-rocks, meteorites, rogue elephants, and solar-flares.

Howard, for us both.

ps:  Our pastor, Doug Williams, has been contacting other churches on our behalf.  If you would like to get in touch with him, his email is awa4him@gmail.com.

 

 

This is getting real:

There is no doubt that this next phase of our life and ministry is coming to reality.  Fast, I might add.

I have bought tickets--I was able to get them with frequent-flyer miles--to go to Guam & Palau the second half of November.  I'll be training on procedures, policies, etc. for running a PIU Teaching Facility and I'll be meeting, greeting, promoting in Palau.  I'm looking forward to some of that great Palauan food.
Kathy will be going to Louisiana for Thanksgiving.  Our boys and their families have established a tradition of getting together for Thanksgiving and Easter, so Kathy will get to see all our family.  I hope I can Skype in, maybe for the prayer before Thanksgiving Dinner.  They can give thanks for dinner as I give thanks for my "next day's" breakfast.  Kathy will drive to LA, leave HM's car there, and fly back to Roanoke.
We haven't bought tickets for our January - April time in Micronesia, yet, but we plan to fly from Roanoke VA to Palau in January and then back to Monroe Louisana, stopping in Guam for the PIU graduation, at the end of April.  Our Granddaughter, Carrington, graduates from Sterlington High School, May 9.  Then we'll drive home.
Kathy and I have been privileged to share about our ministry at a sister church, here in Covington, and are looking forward to other opportunities.
Right now I'm in the middle of a two week series of lectures, on homiletics and pastoral ministry, at Appalachian Bible College, our Alma mater.   It wasn't set up to be such, but it is kind of a warm-up.  I don't know, yet what I'll be teaching at PIU.  The registrar is looking to see what will be most useful.  Like most adventures there is a lot

that is unknown
We do know that God has brought us to this point so that we can use what He has entrusted to us for His glory.  This looks like a great way to do that.We know that all over the world there is a great need for prepared leaders to step up to help lead the church in obeying the Great Commission.  As you can see from our last post, that is what we'll be doing--helping recruit and prepare leaders.   We know that our Pastor, church, family, and friends have been very supportive.  We are told that we have an apartment in Palau.  Several folk have already indicated that they are joining our support team.  So there are some things that we do know.  We have a couple other questions to answer before we know just what our full support package looks like.  We should have those answered in a week or so.

If you would like to be on our email or snail-mail list, let us know.  covbchm@gmail.com

Our last post has more information about what we are doing, not only for the four months we'll be in Micronesia, but for the other eight months as well.

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