My new hero

I'm super grateful to Marguerite from Bridgeport Community Church in Nebraska. She told me a few months ago that if no one else was able to take my cats, she was willing to take them for me. I was unable to find a new home nearby so I took her up on her offer. Not only was she adding 2 more cats to her existing 3, she thought of everything I would have hoped for. She drove and met me halfway at Rapid City, South Dakota. She found a shady place and bought me a sandwich for lunch. She is willing to keep me updated on how they are doing so it will be fun to be able to still hear about them.

Another friend from Bridgeport, Debbie, organized a Cabelas wish list for us through the church. She is an employee at the national headquarters in Nebraska so was able to get some discounts. The Richards and I got her a needs list from each of us for Cabelas items and she shared the need with the church and purchased items with raised money. When Marguerite met me in South Dakota, she brought all the items the church had been able to purchase for us so far. Quite a deal for me trading cats for items needed in Vanuatu! So many people out there with big hearts, thank you!

Friends visiting and final church goodbyes

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Grace Bible hosted sending off services for us for our last Sunday in the States. That evening we drove out to Coalwood country church to spend one last service with them as well. Here are pictures from those churches.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Some awesome blessings

This is a great outlet for public praise to the Lord for His grace! I am blessed this week in a few areas:

1. A new home for my cats. A friend from Nebraska at a church we shared at last Fall volunteered to take my cats and either keep them herself or find good new homes for them on my behalf. What a huge relief to be able to stop trying so hard here in town to find someone to take them. I'll meet her on Thursday, Lord-willing, to hand them off.

2. New legislation in Idaho making it a snap to handle my counseling licensure and certification. It's difficult to make decisions about whether or not to keep current on such things. I don't know what the Lord may have in the future in Vanuatu or otherwise. Up until just a few months ago, were I to not keep up all my continuing education and credits each year (a near impossibility to do overseas), I would have lost all my credentials. Reinstating them meant essentially re-taking my entire master's degree over again (or proving that while my license was lapsed I had kept up the required continuing education). That's a decision worth thousands and thousands of dollars, not to mention the wasted time. So, I was looking into how I could possibly keep up on all the requirements. However, a recent law was passed allowing an "inactive status." The only requirement for that is that if I want to become active again, I show proof of 20 hours of education in that 12 month period (but don't have to worry about years previous to that). This will save me a ton of money in credits, correspondence courses, and allow me to focus on where the Lord is leading - tribal church planting. Boy, what a huge blessing and load-off! Thanks, Lord, for the unexpected and timely blessing!

Outgoing Needs

Well, I skip the country in just 2 short weeks, Lord-willing. I can't believe the time has finally come! I am very nearly at 100% covered on my monthly financial needs, thanks to 5 churches and 41 individuals/families as of June. Many more have given one-time gifts, supported through prayer, and through encouragement. I am so grateful to you and to the Lord for the teammates here in the States working as the body of Christ to allow this ministry to happen. Some have expressed interest in one-time giving toward specific needs. Well, here's your chance. :) Initial set-up fees for a ministry are rediculously expensive, and especially so because BMW doesn't have infrastructure or other teams set up yet in Vanuatu. (Lord-willing, our team will pave the way for many more to come more cheaply and easily with fewer headaches!!) Consequently, in addition to monthly support, missionaries are required to raise a one-time large lump sum for outgoing expenses as well. In looking ahead to the various areas we need to be set up in, the following document (2 pages) shows categories of needs and budget amounts in each area.

As I post more on this blog, this post will soon disappear off my main page, but I will continue to update the narrative Outgoing Needs list on the sidebar, to the right on my blog. If you have questions or concerns, please let me know. Although various items are needed at different times in the ministry (I have already dipped into my outgoing travel fund to buy tickets to leave for Vanuatu in August, for example, but won't use the bush items for several years yet), there is a reason for posting all of this and making a plea for help at this time. The reason is that, Lord-willing, all the items from this list that the Lord provides will be shipped overseas with us in summer 2010-ish. Vanuatu charges up to 35% duty fees for any items owned for less than a year so we hope to purchase as much as possible by May 2009. Items will be stored in Miles City, where we will pack and ship them off when we return to the States in 2010, Lord-willing. Thanks for your prayers for the provision of needed items and for the spiritual success of this ministry.

(Click on each document to enlarge to full size.) To give a one-time gift, please write a check to: Biblical Ministries Worldwide. On a separate sheet of paper write "Laura Thulesen, OUTGOING project." Writing this ensures your gift stays tax deductible and that I don't have to pay taxes or administrative fees on it. Therefore, the full gift goes directly to expenses listed in this document. Send to:

BMW

1595 Herrington Rd

Lawrenceville, GA 30043

July 4

Grandpa and grandma Thulesen hosted us at their home in Newell, South Dakota. My uncle and aunt John and Karen, who live nearby were able to get away from haying for a few hours on the 4th so we saw them, as well as my uncle and aunt Mike and Libby and cousin Ariel. Mike, Libby, and Ariel drove from Sheridan, Wyoming to visit. The town had a little fireworks show and just enough breeze to blow off the mosquitoes. You have to be grateful for the small stuff! :) We got to see the Plymouth Coupe car my grandpa refurbished but with all my encouraging and prodding, he still wouldn't take us for a spin - awww! :) No rest for the weary though - we headed out the next day so we could go to Plevna, Montana for a presentation on Sunday. It was a super friendly church and should be our last deputation presentation for..ever, I think, how awesome is that! We have a few other churches we'll be at the 3 Sundays to go before we head to Vanuatu but they are just visits, not presentations so we can relax a bit more. God has been faithful in providing for and preparing us!

July 08 newsletter

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Family vacation

Make a Smilebox photobook

One last family trip generously gifted us by my parents took us to the Black Hills of South Dakota for a few days. We stayed in some beautiful little cabins half an hour or so out of Rapid City, which allowed us to visit various sites in the area each day. We enjoyed the Black Hills Caverns, Storeybook Island, Old MacDonald's Farm, Reptile Gardens, Bear Country, and Roo Ranch. I also enjoyed hiking in some gorgeous areas back behind our cabins. What a pretty place and lots of family fun.