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Jan 2011 newsletter & Prayer requests

Posted by Peter Brokopp , 09 January 2011 · 898 views

This blog is our Jan. 2011 prayer letter:

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year! As our Burkinabe friends would say, “many good things for this new year 2011. May God bless you and prosper you and give you health.” :-) My own sincere wish for each of you would be that God would bring you closer to himself, teach you something cool, and use you for His glory in some way.

I do pray He has been able to use Pete and me for His glory during 2010. But as we looked over the last year and prayed this new year in, we realized that 2010 has been possibly the most difficult year since we’ve been married.

From January – June
  • We started in our new “short term ministries coordinators,” role, orienting 2 new couples to ministry, helping them get their homes ready, setting up language study, training them to take over teams while we were gone, trained a cook, helped develop and tried to understand a complete bookkeeping system, and packed up our house, all while still doing the normal every day busy things we always did! I think INSANE was the term I had used.
  • I and the kids said good-bye to friends, many for good, as they would be moving on.
  • I tried to anticipate what it would be like to raise 2 school aged kids in the States (so far, I still find it more challenging here! :-) With different benefits though.)
  • We dealt with some interpersonal issues (we all do, if we are human!)
  • I had a couple of accidents
  • Over 1 weekend, I almost got Pete incarcerated by losing his car papers to a police officer who stopped me for “going through a red light.” When Pete was stopped at a checkpoint, the papers were no where to be found, and the ticket that showed which police station had issued it was lost. God used his friendly character to get him his papers back and keep him out of jail!!


From June—August:
We traveled around visiting family and supporters, mostly in the South. We had a great opportunity for ministry, and were well loved on. LIFE 2010 was a highlight as well. The summer was a real gift

From August -- Dec.
  • I worked hard to get settled and understand the American way of doing things
  • We missed Burkina and our friends
  • We didn’t end up finding an orthodontist for Charity’s teeth. (this had been a prayer request). The first one we went to rudely and unprofessionally turned us down. But the second kindly made himself available to fix problems.
  • We experienced serious medical issues
  • We experienced some unexpected family issues
  • We had lots of trips — with the family, Alice and Pete away from the kids, Pete on his own.
  • We had many speaking engagements
  • We are still continuing to work through ministry changes


Though there have been some positive moments in 2010, the struggles have left us wondering apprehensively , “What does 2011 hold for us?” But God gave me some verses to show He was still in the business of working everything out to the good of those who love Him and trust Him!!! So we await with anticipation to see what He will do.

Blessings:
Meanwhile, we will remember His blessings:
  • Each other. We have appreciated each other more and more over the last few months.
  • Our children.. They are true gifts from God
  • Our present church family at Glenview Alliance
  • Our amazing home (Glenview’s Alliance’s Missionary home)
  • An amazing wood—burning stove! (with lots of wood — thanks Miles! :-) )
  • God’s financial provision through a variety of means
  • The opportunity for quality education for Charity... She was thoroughly tested, and in October, we met with about 7 professionals who designed an IEP (Individualized Educational Plan) for her. She is being taken out of her regular class for math, reading, and writing, and is receiving OT once a week. She also qualifies for special allowances when she is taking tests. We are blessed! And she seems to have a more positive attitude about school
  • The opportunity to “un-stress,” and decompress after a full term
  • Good friends for the kids
  • Good vehicles — one on loan to us by a church in this district.
  • A significant Christmas with family
  • Good recruiting opportunities and great speaking opportunities — for both of us.
  • Safety in travel.

We really do have a lot to be thankful for. God is good. And as long as we continue to seek his face, and follow in His ways, he promises to bless us.

MAY HE BLESS YOU THIS YEAR!!!

Prayer requests / praises:
  • Thank you for praying for all of our church conferences and trips. We were both happy to be able to share our ministry with people and challenge them. We do enjoy it. Pray for people who have made decisions — that they will follow up.
  • Thank the Lord for the significant family time we had in Sept. and Dec. when Pete wasn’t gone very much.
  • Thank the Lord for the opportunity we are having to spend time with our extended families.
  • Pray for Pete’s 3 week trip to Africa, Sun. Jan 9 — Fri. Jan 28. He will go to Gabon first to talk about Envision. He will have to cancel his trip to Ivory Coast (Please pray for peace for that country!). Pray for his time in Burkina. He will be visiting our Envision personnel, trying to move some construction projects ahead (The land acquisition for our second team center has come to a stand-still). Pray too for our “SFR,” (Strategic Field Review), when C&MA leaders go to a field, meet with field personnel, and evaluate where the field should be headed. The establishment of an Envision site in Burkina has been thought to signal certain changes, and this is a scary time for some. Pray above all for peace. Pray for Pete’s health issues and safety during this time. PLEASE PRAY FOR HIS EARS — that they wouldn’t hurt in the plane
  • Please pray for the family at home. These long trips are when the kids break down — Charity in sadness, and disagreement, and Sammy in disobedience and anger.
  • Please pray that the Lord would continue to guide in decisions to be made.

Thanks! You guys are great! Love, Pete, Alice, Charity, and Sammy




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Kara Sappington
May 17 2011 07:47 PM
I always love to get your updates, praises and specific ways to be praying. What a year for sure!
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