Showing posts with label furlough. Show all posts
Showing posts with label furlough. Show all posts

Jan 15, 2014

Road Weary & Yet longing To Finish Well!



              
On the road again.
 
It has been an amazing adventure but like all adventures they eventually need to come to an end, don't they? This furlough like the ones before has been an exercise in faith from beginning and I am sure it will be until the end. We left PR in pretty bad shape and unable to pay the bills for the last two months we were there. We did not know where we would go, how we would get there, or where we would sleep or what we would eat. We had some ideas though, and most things turned out to be completely different than what we had thought they would. The trip has been a mixture of mountain tops and valleys as most good journeys do.


The Lord led a man we had never met to give us a car to drive throughout the course of this journey, fully insured, and it has ran great for over 10,000 miles now. We have met more amazing people than I could name here, and I have had the opportunity to preach two revivals, in two separate states just days apart. Reports back say that they are continuing to impact the communities they were in. The one in IL was the most
20 min. before revival service begins
attended they have had there and several of the churches that participated are now seeing real growth. Though several of the places we went cost us more to get to and stay for the time we were there than was placed in our donation box, others took up love offerings that made up the difference and kept us on the road headed to the next one. There have been many unplanned Bible studies that came perfectly timed and we have made new friendships that will continue to grow and flourish in the years to come and we have had several opportunities to reunite with dear friends we have not seen in years. 


            We have also had our fill of bumps in the road as well. Sadly the Bible I have
So what are my choices?
taught every Bible study, preached every sermon with, each revival, and every church start since I was 14 was lost on this journey after having been placed on the roof of the car while kids and materials were being loaded from one church to the next. In truth each one of us have lost more than one thing on the trip. It is to be expected really with all there is to keep up with, the lack of sleep, and those endless miles something is bound to get lost along the way.  We have also been battling illness. For three weeks we each had our time with the flu, both congestive and stomach. Poor Jacob’s temp reached 103.7 and it prompted a trip to urgent care. Since we do not have health insurance as we travel, medical costs are typically high for us. Thankfully Jacob and all of us are back to our healthy selves. May God grant us health and safety the rest of our time here.


Here it is now mid Jan. and we are wondering what is next, longing to be back home in PR, we have not yet met our ministry’s fully funded goal, we have spoke at most of the churches we have in the past, new opportunities are not opening up like they did when we first arrived, and we have even lost existing support as we have traveled (though new support has balanced that back out now). We are not that much further ahead in committed monthly support than when we left PR.           



           Yesterday I was feeling pretty discouraged as I thought on these things and also
Birthday surprise with friends
from the response I received from a church I had reached out to earlier in the day when I received a text from my best friend.  We have been best friends since High School (20 years) and though we do not always get to spend as much time together as we would like to visiting with each other and our families or talking over the phone because of our schedules, we do seem to know how the other is feeling just in the way the other will say hello. Having not heard from me in a while he texted me with encouragement on the journey and hope for a good and what he felt would be a well earned ending, even though he knows that means we will be an ocean apart once again. His text came at just the right moment with exactly what I needed. One of only a few times I have seen Eph. 4:29 fulfilled to its fullest by others in my life:

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” ~Ephesians 4:29

        His words surely fit the occasion of my life at the moment and I am grateful both for my friends love and encouragement and for the Lord’s leading and timing in our lives.
Those words reminded me of another portion of scripture that are often needed and to easily forgotten:
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”~ Galatians 6:9

The journey continues.
This coming month will be our last month of furlough. I do not know yet where we will go, who we will meet, what opportunities or challenges lay ahead but I do know with the Lord and the love and support of our family and friends we will press on being encouraged to not grow weary of doing good and looking for the time of reaping of all that has been sewn. 

          Maybe things have not gone as you had planned or working out quite the way you felt they would. If so let me say to you with all confidence and with all the love I posses that God loves you and has far better plans for your life than you or I can even imagine at this moment and that this is my prayer for you,

…”that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;  that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the of Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." Col.1:9-14

 


God Bless,

David Ingram

New Day Christian Ministry

Isa.43:18-21



PS. Any church, Sunday School Class, or small group that you are a part of that would like to have us come and share about this marvelous work the Lord has called us to we would love to have the opportunity to come and share before we head back and continue on with what the Lord has called us to. 

Update: After writing this blog post we faced a very scary challenge later in the day. While I was on my way back from the store Heather called very upset explaining Jacob could not lift his head or craw and that he was in a lot of pain. Hannah had been playing with him, thinking she was entertaining him. She lifted him up about a foot and dropped him on to her air mattress thinking he would like it. We did not know how badly he was injured and was 40 minutes from the hospital which was the only place prepared to work with children in the area. When we arrived they looked him over thoroughly and decided that nothing was broken and that his muscles in his neck, back, and shoulders were strained. He has been bathed in prayer since we left for the hospital and we are grateful for all who have been in prayer for Jacob. He struggled to go to sleep and woke many times through the night. Today we are happy to say he has improved greatly though still recovering. He is able to sit up, hold up his head, and has crawled. He is still recovering and clinging close to Heather but we are encouraged by all of his improvements this morning. 

Jul 29, 2013

Hope to see you soon!



Hello and greetings in the Lord,
           We have great and exciting news! For those of you living in the states, the Ingram Family will be coming to a church near you starting this September! We have not had a furlough in 3 years and our ministry is in great need of one. We will be stateside from September until January 2014. We will be traveling extensively to Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, North and South Carolina, possibly Georgia, and Michigan and to any other state that we get and invitation to come and share. Our goal is to speak to new churches and also visit existing supporters. 

       We do not yet have tickets but we do have a ride to the airport on Aug. 27th and our first speaking engagement is scheduled for the first week of Sept. in Illinois. We plan on staying there in the area and sharing with churches and groups for the whole month of Sept. We are then planning to hold a revival at Germantown Baptist Chapel in Germantown, OH from Oct. 7th-11th. After that we plan on heading south.

       If we have spoken at your church before or if you have started getting our updates in the past 3 years and have not yet had us visit your church  or group we are wanting to here from you. Soon!  Please call us at 1-937-307-0694, email us at david@newdaycm.org or write to us at our stateside mailing address: New Day Christian Ministry PO Box 49610 West Carrollton OH 45449. We are willing to go anywhere that will extend the invitation for us to come.

       We have a letter for you to print and share with your church and small group. We hope that you will help us by sharing it with them and also forwarding this blog post on to others who we hope will also share it and help us spread the word. You can print the furlough letter from here:



Here are some important things to pray along with us for as we are preparing for travel: 

1.)Airfare:We have a ride to the airport on Aug. 27th but we have not yet purchased tickets. Please pray the Lord will provide money to purchase tickets for travel. One way tickets for our family to travel is going to cost about $700.00

2.) Transportation: We will be in the States a total of 5 months and we do not yet have transportation. It would be great if we could use a motor home to travel and lodge in but any transportation would be greatly appreciated. If you, or if you know of anyone who has an extra vehicle that we could borrow please contact us soon or pass along our information to anyone you know of that may be able to help with this. 

3.) The Ministry: Please pray for our ministry here in Puerto Rico as we travel. 

4.) Health: Although we have insurance here in PR it does not go with us when we leave. Please pray for a healthy and safe trip for us and our small children. While in the States we will need medical insurance of some kind, pray that the Lord will work out the logistics and just protect us while there so we won’t even need to see a doctor. 

 5.) Blessings along the way: Please join us as we pray that the Lord will bless us with many places new and old to visit and share this wonderful work the Lord has led us to these past 3 years.

Donations are needed and gifts of any amount would be greatly appreciated as we prepare to set out on this next big adventure. You can give a donation of any amount here:  (Click Here) , through the mail at the address given above, or you can also find donation options at the bottom of this page. 

May God bless you and make you a blessing. We are really excited about this trip back and hope to see you really soon!

God Bless,
David Ingram
New Day Christian Ministry
Isa. 43:18-21