May newsletter

May 09 update

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks! There are a few more here from when my parents were here their last few days, some class pics, and a few others thrown in. There are just six weeks left of this semester so crunch time is setting in and it's starting to feel a whole lot like summer school again! That's a bit overwhelming. It's been a busy time with my parents here, then the Director of Biblical Ministries Worldwide (our missions organization) here sharing vision for BMW for the next few years, then our Area Director from BMW here. Our weekends have been packed with meetings but it was nice having visitors from the States. I've had a bit of time to hang out with my new Coptic friends amidst the craziness so I'm enjoying getting to know them. Enjoy the pictures and praise God for a way to share this with you across the world!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

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

Georgia and Team Vanuatu

Georgia was the location for this year's 2 week training with Biblical Ministries Worldwide (located in Atlanta) called Field Preparation Seminar. It was 2 weeks of non-stop learning. We had classes Monday through the next week Wednesday from 8-5 and because we were so blessed to have the entire Team Vanuatu (see all of us plus kids to the left here) all there together, we had team meetings every day at lunch and after supper. That left no free time so we were running, but it was time very well spent! BMW feeds and houses us very well and with very little expense on our part, which is nice! The above picture is all those who came through Field Prep this year. This was their largest class ever but what was really crazy is the number of people here for Candidate Orientation (which is what we went through last summer there). There were 27 adults in attendance and all were accepted by BMW's board so the Lord is growing this organization by a lot. This year's attendance is at least double that of last year's so our prayers are being answered for workers to go out into the harvest fields, praise the Lord!

Here are the classes we took at Field Prep, each of which were 1-2 hours:

A Passion for Missions, Avoiding Spiritual Burnout, BMW Update, Discipleship - Insights and Errors, Evangelism - the Heart of my Work, Family in Ministry, Life Long Learning, Church Planting Models, Church Planting Stepping Stones, Motivation for Church Planting, NEEDIA (a practical application of setting up vision and purpose and goals for an imaginary country), Theology of Hell - A Motivator for Missions, Training National Leaders, Your Exit Strategy, Brain Dominance Inventory, Elements of Cultural Resilience from Ruth, Guess who is Coming to Our House, Cultural Adaptability, Response to Culture, Strategies for Lifelong Language Learning, Language and Culture Evaluation, Building Spiritual Hedges (for men), Conflict Resolution, Maintaining and Growing Relationships with Supporters, Teamwork on the Field, An Introduction to Local Church Finances, Financial Matters on the Field, Emergency Management, Hospitality on the Field (for women), Conducting a Ministry Survey, Working from Home, Writing your Ministry Plan

Many of these classes were immediately applicable for our team meetings, which was an awesome blessing!

It was very beneficial to have all of our team present as we were able to work out our team structure and start hammering out purpose and vision statements, timelines, key performance areas, and job descriptions for the ministry in Vanuatu. We still have a long way to go in getting strategy and goals in written form, but the foundation was laid. As of now, the field of Vanuatu consists of two teams. One team is now just the Gibb family (with other potential team members they are recruiting from their church in Australia). They are planning to have their ministry be one of doing leadership training with existing native pastors in Vanuatu (or with those interested in becoming pastors) to plant churches that way. They would be primarily based out of the town of Luganville on the island of Santo. Here is the Gibb family (minus Matt, who will be attending boarding school in the US to finish out his high school career). Please pray for the Gibbs as they raise the last bit of their support that the Lord would give them wisdom and direction as they prepare to head over to Vanuatu this January, Lord willing. The other team is the bush team, consisting of Brad and Amber Jones, Houghton and Gretchen Richards, myself, and a new family who just joined BMW - the Kenners. Jim and Tania heard about the ministry in Vanuatu from the Richards and within the day were already praying about and pursuing the ministry themselves! Our team will seek to do evangelism, discipleship, and leadership training with an influential tribal people group in Vanuatu and empower the nationals to plant their own reproducing churches. I'll type up our vision and purpose, as well as some estimated timelines in a future post. Please pray for the Kenners as they spend the next year or so wrapping up work and ministry commitments and preparing for deputation. Also, pray for the rest of us who are in the middle of deputation that the Lord would lead us to those who He is preparing to team with us financially and prayerfully to reach Ni-Vanuatu people!

In our travels to and from Georgia, we were so blessed to be housed a huge chunk of the time at my aunt Betty and uncle Fred's home in Minneapolis. We stayed there almost a full week just before flying out to Georgia and for a few days immediately after Field Prep before heading back on our way to Montana. My grandma lives in Minneapolis as well so we enjoyed visiting and eating with her as well. She got together a group of women in her retirement complex that Gretchen and I were able to present our ministry to. They are already fervent prayer warriors for our team so it was awesome to meet them and share about the Ni-Vanuatu that they will be reaching through us!

We also stayed one night with our friends Ralph and Shari Solberg in North Dakota. They have been very encouraging in our ministry sharing (deputation) time. The Lord has given friends and family along the way already who have been so gracious and hospitable to provide us a home away from home and a chance to reconnect. Although we are tired and have been sick most of the traveling time, God's grace is sufficient and the prayers and encouragement of the saints (that's you) sustain us, thank you!

If you're wondering what is happening from here, this is the known (written with a smile and a prayer...) schedule for the next month below. We are working on newsletters this week to send out to all of you! Look for it in the mail hopefully in the next week or two.

August 5 Fallon, MT (about 45 minutes from home base in Miles City here)

August 12 Ronan, MT (around 9-10 hours away in western MT)

- Midweek sometime in Kalispell

August 19 Frenchtown, MT (an hour or 2 from Ronan)

August 26 Coalwood, MT (about an hour from Miles City)

Places to go, People to see

PLACES: So now that you know I am heading toward Vanuatu, Lord-willing, maybe you want to know who with and where on earth it is! Here's a pretty good picture of where Vanuatu is in the world. It's about 83 islands off the coast of Australia. An organization called Biblical Ministries Worldwide (BMW, but no, we don't get a free BMW by signing up...) accepted me this summer after a growing, but grueling time of testing and interviews. They can be checked out at http://www.biblicalministries.org/ for doctrinal position, mission fields reached, vision in ministry, etc.

PEOPLE

So, places to go is here, now just people to see...it with (and minister with, of course)! Our team is made up of 3 families and myself. My sister, Gretchen, and her family is going (Houghton and kids Jesiah (2) and Gwenyth (3 months)), as well as the Jones' (Brad and Amber with Zoe and baby on the way) and the Gibbs (Steve and Jane with 6 kids - Matt, Tiffany, Jennifer, Emily, Ethan, and Rose). No, you can't tell that Gretchen and I are sisters by this or any picture. She's the really pregnant one here holding Jesiah, my super-cute nephew. Here's a picture of all of us (minus 4 of the Gibb's kids and Gwenyth, who was born a few months later) at our candidate orientation this last summer in Georgia.You can check more out about some of them at their sites: the Richards (my family) have a blog at http://richardsroad.blogspot.com/ and the Gibbs have a website at http://web.mac.com/gibbsx8/iWeb/gibbs2vanuatu