January update

For those interested, I thought I'd post a quick update on our journey. We have been hard at work raising the necessary funds to move to Bolivia. It has been an interesting season for fundraising - during the holidays and now with the urgent needs at hand for the people of Haiti. In spite of these circumstances, God has been good and folks have been committing to support us. Many have committed to a monthly monetary amount and even more have sent in one time gifts to help us get to where we need to be to follow God's call. We are so very humbled and grateful by these gifts and commitments, considering the current economical state so many are in. We are now at approximately 36% of our financial goal - so we still are in need of much financial support before we can make hard plans to return to Bolivia. We are preparing to put our house on the market, hoping that the sell of it will allow us to save more and have less material responsibility as we prepare ourselves spiritually for the field. Obviously, if the house sells quickly, we will be looking for a place to live temporarily until we leave. This is a little nerve wracking, but again, just one other way we can put all of our hope and faith in the Lord to provide for us. Our goal is to be able to return to Bolivia by the summer - June or July preferably. In order for us to realize this goal, we will be meeting with individuals and hosting "Dessert and Coffee" meetings for groups to share more in depth about our journey, our needs, and our goals. We are praying for those folks who are able to commit to help us financially to be raised up between now and then. If you have received a letter from us or read our letter online, please continue to pray about whether or not God would have you help us. EVERY GIFT, NO MATTER WHAT AMOUNT, WILL HELP US GET TO BOLIVIA SOONER TO BEGIN CULTURE ADAPTATION, LANGUAGE LEARNING, AND MINISTRY!! We determined that we have contacted approximately 900 people, through letters, email, and facebook. My wonderful Mother-in-law who loves math, figured that if all 900 contacts could commit to giving us just $5.00 a month, we would be at or over our monthly goal!! Wow! So cool. And hey..if just 450 of those contacts could commit $10 a month, voila! Done!
We could even take it farther and say 225 of our contacts giving $20/month, or 112 giving $40/month. That is VERY doable! We are just so excited to see what God is going to do with this journey. He has already shown himself true and real. We are trying to remain faithful to a very clear calling on our lives, and He will remain faithful - no matter what. "For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies." Psalm 57:10

With much anticipation -

Shay

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Waiting

We are in the season of waiting..waiting...waiting. Now that our support letter has gone out - by email, facebook, and mail, it is now just simply a waiting game to see how God is going to provide for us. There are still some letters we need to send out to folks out of town, but for the most part, we feel that the majority of the people in our lives know that we are deep in the throngs of trying to raise our financial support for Bolivia. It is all really a matter of serious prayer. God is ultimately the one who will work on people's hearts and move people to give, or make it possible for them to. We are also praying for His perfect timing. It is difficult to know how long it will take to raise the funds we need to make our move. It is difficult to know when to put the house on the market or to sell a lot more of our belongings. The future is certain, yet uncertain. For now, we will try to focus on living in the here and now, taking care of daily things, enjoying the holidays, educating the kids, and continue to share our story with folks who are interested and praying for God's provision! Raising financial support is one of those things that can REALLY grow your faith and strengthen your dependance on the Lord. It is out of our control, HE must work and move and provide. It is exciting, yet nerve-wracking! We know that He is good, He has called us, and that He will remain true to His promises. He is faithful. We must remain faithful and not fearful. We must not begin to doubt when it seems things are not going as WE plan or during the waiting period when Satan can do his nasty work on our minds. We are so thankful and grateful (during this season of Thanksgiving) for the people in our lives that have already committed to support us and that are praying for us. Please, as the Lord brings our family to mind, pray a simple prayer that He would provide financially for us to follow His calling, and that His timing would be perfect. Also, please continue to pray for us as we prepare -physically and spiritually - and that we would be empowered and strengthened by the Holy Spirit. May God bless you all this Thanksgiving. Take time to reflect on all of your many blessings!

Shay

Next Steps #2

I just realized that we more or less left you hanging after our post "Next Steps"! We have begun taking those steps - tiny as they may be. We have written an official support letter and posted it on our website, which is www.theballews.org. We are in the process of mailing out hard copies of those to many people as well. Mass emails have been sent. Facebook notifications have been posted. We are in the throngs of raising our financial support! It is exciting, and hard to remain patient as well. We are also making preparations to put our home on the market. You know...doing all of those fun little projects that you've been meaning to get around to but haven't bothered because they don't really effect your daily life. Well, now that other people are going to be considering your home to buy, you put forth tons of effort and money to get it just right. Just the way you'd like it to be while YOU are still living in it! Ha! The irony of it all. We will wait to officially list it until we feel God is guiding us to do so. We are hoping the timing will be perfect between raising the needed funds and the house selling. A matter of prayer, please. We don't want to be "homeless" before being able to leave for Bolivia! Please continue to pray for our spiritual, physical, and emotional preparedness as well. It seems each day is a roller coaster of emotions and feelings, always caught somewhere between "totally excited, thrilled, giddy and motivated" or "really stressed, overwhelmed, afraid, and doubtful". Thanks so much to those that are already supporting us, both financially and prayerfully. We love you and are indebted to you. God's Blessings -

Shay

Out of the mouths of "babes"

I know my boys are not exactly "babes" anymore, but I was reminded of this quote/verse this morning as I listened to them pray. We (try) to have a devotional every morning to start our day - I say "try" because sometimes we are scrambling to get out the door to a field trip or dance class and we don't get to it. Not every time, but sometimes I ask the boys to each say a prayer and then I close. I do not prompt them at all concerning what to pray about. I let them simply pray about whatever comes to their minds or what's in their hearts. I was very humbled and pleased this morning listening to them pray for our journey to become missionaries in Bolivia. I dare say I was even a bit convicted. I was reminded first of all, about how often and how fervent we should be praying for our journey, and also not to place low expectations upon our children. That may sound odd, because most parents tend to place very high expectations upon their kids. As far as spiritual things go, I feel that every time one of my boys does something or says something that seems overly spiritually mature for their age, I am shocked or surprised. This is a pleasant and joyful "problem" to have! They so impressed me with their sincere prayers this morning, that I really wasn't quite sure how to respond! It really helped confirm in me that God has given them a deep understanding of what we are doing and why. Kids are incredible beings, driving you crazy and misbehaving one moment, and the next impressing you with their knowledge or making you proud of their character choices. Guess God feels the same about us. It's just awesome to know that God was there with us, listening, heeding their requests, and he was pleased with them! He knows their hearts and their capacity to learn and grow. He has such mighty plans for each one of them - in Bolivia and beyond!!

Shay

Next Steps

We are in the process of determining what our next step in this long journey will be. We know that we must begin building our support team and raising our financial support, but the task seems daunting. Especially in light of the fact that we must continue living our normal daily lives (Lowell working and me schooling the kids, not to mention all other household duties), plus ready the house for sale. I (we) know without a doubt that Satan is going to be working on our minds and trying to place many a doubt in our hearts during this season. Please pray for our strength and that we would stand fast upon God's original calling and the promises of his Word. 

Romans 11:29 states "For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable."

Shay

Ballew Photo Album on Photobucket

Visit http://www.photobucket.com/ballew to see our Bolivia photos.