Belated April Q.U.O.T.A

Apologies for the few who might have been following this blog. Some of us (read: I) are finding it hard to get out of "old school"... I am not a blogger, it seems.... Most of my time is taken up with people on a non-digital plane.... But I am trying to catch up.... here's our QUOTA from April 2010

February saw ACTI finish an intensive 6-week residential cross-cultural training program with 10 trainees and 3 young teens - 1 family and 2 single ladies from Sarawak; 1 single lady from West Malaysia; 3 single lady pastors from Hong Kong; and 2 young men from Singapore. All from ethnic Chinese backgrounds, but 4 distinct cultures... all learning together…with varying abilities in English, all fairly fluent in Mandarin, but with mother tongues which were: Foochow, Hokkien, or Cantonese.

A great bunch to work with! We were also privileged to have Joey here to tutor the children as well as to help in a number of other areas.

Joey spent several weeks at the Batam Ministry House helping with computer, internet and English skills. Andrea joined her end February, was a few days in Jakarta with a group reaching the extremely poor with the gospel by living among them, then also explored art school opportunities in Yogyakarta. Joel stopped in on his return to Vancouver from a working holiday in New Zealand. So, for a few days we were again a family all together in Asia.


In March, Janet and Henry attended meetings in Bali with World Team leaders from various parts of Asia, then took a 5 day holiday with the girls. Henry was in Kalimantan to teach at a pastor’s seminar end of March.

18-30 April is another Step Aside For Encouragement program (S.A.F.E.). Please pray over the next 2 weeks as we help Christian Workers who have been worn out and perhaps "burned" in ministry. We cannot share all the details; however, over the next 2 weeks we hope to be of use in the Master's hands to touch these souls.

Last week was great! We had 2 groups of overnight missionary guests, Henry had 2 meetings with other missions leaders, we had a day out with Dave and Phyllis Enns, and we visited missionaries from Java (formerly in Kalimantan) who were in the hospital recovering from hemorrhagic dengue. We helped serve food at an evangelistic outreach, and cleaned the ACTI premises for the SAFE program. This morning Henry borrowed the church van and drove Janet, Phyllis and 10 Indonesian ladies to a restaurant where a good friend hosted them for her 50th birthday celebration.

The Indonesian Fellowship has picked up in the interest shown from the ladies. Some are allowed a day off once a month, so Janet is teaching handwork and computer skills. (A few are on Facebook if anyone is interested in communicating with them once a month or so – contact Janet for info).

The Batam House ministry is struggling with direction and lack of funding. We are praying that more ladies will benefit from this ministry, and more churches in Singapore will utilize this for their domestic workers. Wendy and her husband, Eman, are heading up this ministry.

2 weeks ago we were invited by an Indonesian Christian fellowship to have dinner with the Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore. We made some good connections and ate some of the most delicious Indonesian food ever!!!!

QUOTA April 2010 page 2

QUOTA November 2009

*Nov 1-13 we host another S.A.F.E. (Step Aside For Encouragement) program aimed at helping missionaries gain a better understanding of God’s love and care for them. Long-term cross-cultural ministry has to be one of the most difficult vocations ever. Personal stress is multiplied due to the cultural differences, spiritual warfare is intense, people get wounded emotionally and worn out physically… and when they return home, often the church does not understand the stress that they face.

Please pray with us as we host this 2 week program, that we will be channels of God’s healing and blessing to the 1 family from Singapore (served in Philippines), and 1 single American lady from Cambodia who will attend. As the name implies,we want this to be a SAFE place for them. May His Name be glorified as these tired servants are encouraged and refreshed.

Life has been super full these last 2 weeks and we are a bit tired... sorry for the late notice on this......

A number of other friends will be helping in various ways:

Dave and Phyllis Enns will help with some of the cooking.

2 other couples will be helping to teach some sessions, and we have 2 volunteer baby sitters

Thanks so much for standing with us in this .

In His Strong Arms,

Henry

September 2009 QUOTA

May 29: we headed back to Canada to re-connect with a number of supporters and spend a little bit of time visiting our family…We had saved up for this, as our furlough account does not have enough to cover expenses, but it was well worth the trip. Due to a number of complications our Warkentin family reunion did not happen. However, our children, with the help of some dear friends and relatives, put on a 30^th Anniversary Tea for us.

For those whom we were not able to connect with, we sincerely apologize. Thank you for your patience and understanding in this.

Back in Singapore:

ACTI:

I wish we could say that all is well, but last week I had to cancel our training course as we only had 2 applicants out of about 10inquiries. Some stated they would come in January instead. But the lack of applicants has caused our Board of Directors to seriously consider drastic changes. As we pray for direction for the training centre and personally, we do remember that God is in control. We continue to be busy with a number of things, including helping other missionaries with various tasks. Thank you for praying with us.

Indonesian Domestic Workers:

A bit of a struggle to find the pulse of our present group. 10 to 12 ladies attend, of whom we can only confirm that 2 are true believers; 8 are from another religion. Janet is alone in this ministry, as even the ladies who are believers are not mature enough to be of much help. Pray for strength and encouragement for Janet in this.

Batam Ministry House:

We ask for prayer for Linda, one of the ladies working at the Batam House. She has encountered some personal problems and needs to make a stronger commitment to follow the Lord in the situation. The future of this ministry also needs prayer.

Kalimantan:

I (Henry) continue to dialogue via e-mail, text messages and Skype-Out with our Denomination Leader in Pontianak. As the PPIK church continues to grow and reach out, we are reminded of the great privilege we have to be a part of God’s work in Kalimantan. It certainly is a very different world from what most of you are accustomed to, a world (culture) that we have come to enjoy, and miss! We wish we could get over there more often.

In His Strong Arms, Henry & Janet

World Team:

-7575 Danbro Cres., Mississauga ON L5N 6P9 Canada

-1431 Stuckert Rd., Warrington PA 18976 USA

-PO Box 217, Ringwood East, Victoria 3135 Australia