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

October Update.....

Henry's Eye Problem: My eye problem is just part of the aging process... vitreous degeneration.

So, I put up with the "floaters" that come across my vision quite regularly, and I have been

sidelined from Floor-ball till this past week. The season is almost over, but it has been great to be

with our team… even though we did not do so well in the league this year.

ACTI Trainee Visa: Once everything got sorted out, we were able to get everyone into Singapore

but one trainee. Norbu came in from Nepal 3 weeks late, but we were expecting that anyway...

However, a man from India was not accepted. This man showed a lot of grace and humility. I

talked to him on the phone a few times a week, as we looked to the Lord for an answer. There is a

chance he may be able to come next year. Pray that he, Ami, will continue to grow in the Lord.

Trip to Pontianak: From 2 to 5 September, Dave Enns and I were in Pontianak for an important

meeting of the PPIK church denomination. Over 200 delegates gathered to hear reports from the

past leadership team and to elect a new team. There were a few glitches, but all in all it was a very

encouraging time for us. Please pray for Lajim, the new leader of the 158-church denomination.

Dave and I have a very good working relationship with this man, going back many years. We look

forward to working with him and his new team.

Trip to Papua: From the 3rd to 16th October, Janet and I will be in Papua (formerly Irian Jaya),

Indonesia as part of a Field Ministry Evaluation Team for World Team (other team members

include John and Gloria Wilson, Tom and Debbie Seckler). Please pray for wisdom for our team, as

we seek to help this field in evaluating their ministries. Also, Papua is known to be a hotbed for

Malaria. We will take as many precautionary measures as we can, but we do appreciate prayer in

this regard as well.

Presently at ACTI: Please pray for stamina, and joy in ministry. Pray for protection from the evil

one. Pray that we will be effective trainers and will influence these trainees through our lives as

well as through the classroom times. Because we are short-staffed, we are both carrying a much

heavier work load than we would like to have. We are quite tired as we pass the half-way mark of

our term with the new trainees. As can be imagined, no matter how mature our trainees are (they

are all upcoming missionaries, after all), yet there are a lot of little things such as personality and

cultural differences that can cause conflict and stress. This group will graduate on Oct.23. The

last month will be a challenging time for everyone,

so please pray that each one will finish well.

Present trainees (from left to right):

Sung Eun & Young Soo & So Yoon from Korea,

Norbu from Nepal, Pauline from Malaysia,

Janice from Singapore, Chiu Yun from Taiwan.

Indonesian Maids Ministry: Janet continues to minister every Sunday (as well as a lot of prayer

and counseling by phone & text messages during the week). This ministry is facing intense spiritual

warfare, and we covet your prayers for Janet and the ladies she serves them here. Over half of

the 20 or so ladies now attending are of another religion. Some are very close to knowing Christ,

but there are a lot of barriers… cultural, religious, and family….that are keeping some of them

from making personal commitments. We are seeing God answer prayer as He takes some of them

through crises where they must rely on Him. Please pray for strength and wisdom for Janet and

for a breakthrough in the lives of these ladies.

Immediate Future: Oct 30th Janet and I will fly to Thailand to be part of the World Evangelical

Alliance Missions Commission Summit. Though ACTI is a small school, it seems we are on the

cutting edge of what the WEA would like to see happen in missionary training. We feel so

privileged to be a part of what is being done to help prepare workers for cross-cultural ministry.

This conference will help to sharpen our focus even more. Following the WEA meetings we will

take a much needed break in Thailand.

Projects and Finances:

Kalimantan Ministries Fund: We have now run out of funds for traveling back to Kalimantan

for ministry. Recently we were given the go-ahead from World Team to raise US $15,000 over

the next 3 years for Kalimantan ministry. As we work together with the indigenous church there

our financial partnership is becoming less. However, funding is still needed for travel from

Singapore, as well as for a few areas of leadership development. Each trip costs about $250 per

person. If you would like to assist in this aspect of our ministry, please designate your gift:

Kalimantan Ministries.

Batam House: We are also looking into another year of ministry with the Batam House. There are

needs for monthly salary for the 2 ladies who are in charge of the house, and also funds for

assisting Indonesian ladies readjust back into Indonesian life, especially if they have been treated

unfairly. There are 2 churches here in Singapore that are interested and excited about this

ministry.

Pray also that we will find people to teach / train these ladies in life-skills in order for them to be

able to have some type of work to fall back on when in their home villages.

Personal: Over time, our support account has slipped from “healthy” to “in need of nourishment”.

While thanking our financial partners for many years of faithful service, we ask you to pray with

us for a few more partners in the financial aspect of this ministry.

In all of the above ministry concerns we praise God for His grace, strength, and provision. Thank

you for taking the time to read this, and for your ministry to us

In His Strong Arms,

Henry & Janet

April 2008 Vancouver etc

April 9th we left Singapore for Vancouver, BC, Canada, where we attended both Joel and Andrea's Grad Shows (an opportunity for them and their classmates to display some of their work and to try to make contact with some potential clients).  We spent most of the next 2 weeks with them (on and off) as well as making contact with some, (not all, sorry!) of our friends and supporters in Abbotsford. (see pictures below)           I'll admit there is always a lot of stress when we come back to Canada / US as we feel guilty for not meeting with everyone.... but honestly, if we were able to visit 3 different people or families each day, we could probably spend half a year in BC alone just visiting.....  We praise God for the special people He has blessed us with over the years who have prayed for and financially supported us. 

April 21st we had a wonderful time of fellowship with a World Team prayer fellowship (they meet in Abbotsford and Chilliwack). What a wonderful group of people; mostly retired missionaries who have spent most of their lives in cultures not their own. We were so blessed by these wonderful people!

March 24 - April 4

March 24 to 28 saw us in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia at a Member Care conference.  Opportunity to meet with many wonderful people who are concerned about the welfare of cross-cultural missionaries.  As the conference brought out, missionaries are perhaps the most misunderstood and under-rated people in the church.  Because they are away from their home church they are often forgotten and left to try to survive on their own in a foreign environment.  Praise God for those who seek to minister to the "sent ones"!  

March 28 to 31: I left the conference early to take a bus back to Singapore on the night of the 27th.  Arriving home at 5:30 AM, I got ready to leave for Batam and Pontianak.  At 7:00 I met with 3 other men from the church and by 8 we were on the ferry to Batam.  Dave Enns met us there.  The flight to Ptk was delayed till 2, so we spent the time getting to know each other better. The whole weekend was great as we helped our brothers from Singapore get to know our brothers from Kalimantan.  Lots of cultural differences to compare. 

March 31st: Back to Batam and to Singapore.  Stopped to visit our good friends Wendy, Linda and Merry (former domestic helpers in Singapore... members of our Indonesian Fellowship) who are now living together in Batam.  Janet came over on the 30th to visit them.  

Now have just a few days to get everything in order... we leave for Canada on April 9th.  Will spend 2 weeks or so in BC, but will not be able to visit even a fraction of our friends there.  Priority will be to spend some time with our children.  Andrea's art show (her graduation from Capilano College) is on the 14th.  Joel's presentation is later in the week.