In less than a week after writing about our need to raise $1500 dollars to come home for Christmas we have received all of the money in pledges! Praise God! We are so excited to be coming home for the holidays and getting to spend time with friends and family as well as gain more supporters for 2013! We will hopefully be able to purchase our tickets in the next few weeks. So thank you to those who have decided to give toward our plane tickets! We are extremely thankful! And we are also very thankful to those of you who prayed along with us for the money to come in!

On the Radio

Sean has been on the radio for the past two Saturdays and has another two or three scheduled. He has received a lot of feedback from those looking to know more about CEF in St. Kitts and to take the current TCE (Teaching Children Effectively Level One) class. His series about “Why Evangelize Children?” has given the ministry great exposure so far. We are excited to see how the Lord will continue to use this opportunity!

‘Meet The King’ Distribution

During the summer we received 5000 “Meet The King” booklets to hand out to every child in St. Kitts! After much thought and prayer of how to exactly go about doing this we decided to reach out to all of the elementary (or primary schools). For the next two months Sean will be teaching at every primary school through their assemblies and will bring enough booklets to give each child! So in two – three months we will literally reach every primary age child in St. Kitts with the Gospel!! This is an amazing opportunity! Will you join us in prayer for the distribution to be fruitful? Sean will teach the first assemblies next week — Monday at Irishtown and Wednesday at Beach Allen Primary.

Two guys from the Seattle team in August helped Sean put the 5000 ‘Meet The King’ booklets and other literature in the office.

Other Updates

We haven’t heard anything about our van accident. The police have yet to finish their report so we are still waiting and praying for the outcome to be fair. The first TCE class on Tuesday went very well. We had eight people show up and 12 registered so we should have a little more tonight (Thursday) for our second class. And our Good News Club in Fig Tree is still going well! We have the same kids coming week after week and they really seem to look forward to club. We started a points competition for the new series and if they get enough points we are going to pay for a pizza party!

There is so much wonderful ministry happening between the radio program, the “Meet The King” distribution, TCE classes and the Good News Clubs taking place all over the island! And now we can enjoy all of this while we look forward to spending the Holidays at home!

By: Sean Miller

Coming Home For Christmas

We are excited to share about our December and January plans! We were recently approved and recommended to take a four week trip back to our home towns to visit our families for Christmas and New Years. We will also spend time with many of our friends and support team. Originally when we moved to St. Kitts & Nevis, we desired to take a short three-week trip back over Christmas. However we did not see many ways that it could be financially feasible. We were recommended to take a refresher trip back to see family and friends by our regional leadership, with all that has happened over the past year, it will be much needed and beneficial.

We pursued getting the short trip officially approved, and splitting the cost between frequent flier miles and our account funds at CEF. Through discussion, CEF HQ advised us that we need to spend a longer amount of time for family and friends, and also to share the vision with others, as we greatly need to be at 100% support to finish our time here strong. This was approved by leadership in the States and the local National St. Kitts and Nevis Board. We are really looking forward to seeing so many of you!

When? We are planning around the week of December 17th through January 21st or so, depending on how the flights work out. Ideally it would work to spend around December 20-28 in Texas, January 4th-16th in Montgomery, and all the times in between/after with my family in Spanish Fort. We urgently need your help, because every day that goes by the chances of getting tickets the way we need them to work out diminish. I have enough frequent flier miles to cover my ticket, so we are in need of a few special, one-time gifts amounting to $1500 donated ASAP to purchase the tickets for Mandi and Maddy. This is done through CEF HQ through our support account, so this is all fully tax-deductible and part of our CEF field expense.

Would you prayerfully consider giving toward this? You can go to the “donate” page for instructions to give online or with a physical check by click on the link here. Please mark on the memo line “flights” or in the comments so we can know that this has been raised. We would greatly appreciate it, and as you seek the Lord, know that this is an investment, as it will bring us back to St. Kitts & Nevis refreshed and ready to kick off 2013 ministry. It will lead to stronger existing support with sharing face to face about the ministry and to new supporters!

Van Accident

Friday was quite the eventful afternoon, and with the local holidays, it continues to be on our minds. Friday I was traveling through town to pay a bill, and went through a very tight, high traffic section of downtown. There is the equivalent of about 1 1/2- 1 3/4 lanes when you have cars parked on the side of the road. A petroleum truck topped off a downtown gas station and was headed back, and chose to go down that road (semi-trucks aren’t supposed to be there) as a shortcut. He also had somewhere to be so he quickly accelerated toward me and the other cars. Every car quickly tried to get out of his way, however they were smaller cars than the CEF van and his tire clipped off my back bumper and dented in the back, cracking the light enclosure, etc…

I was in my lane, and close to the curb, but simply was not a small enough car as the semi flew past me. No harm was done to either driver, and thankfully it was just me in the car. The driver privately admitted fault, said he was going to get in big trouble because this was his second accident on the same road. The police came and took measurements, took statements, and right now the accident is “under investigation” to officially determine fault. All of the evidence and common sense leans heavily in my favor, but you never know how this could turn out. The biggest issue is that who is at fault gets the “driving without due care and attention” ticket, which is quite severe, plus whose insurance pays. Please pray for correct justice to be done, and quick, simple resolution. Also pray for the driver that God would work in his heart, and my prayer is that he would not lose his job or anything.

Do You Wonder Why? Booklet Distribution

Nathan Johnston and I taught a 3-Day Club in the small village of Stapleton in early August. Not many children came due to the local holidays. It was a great club, but you sometimes wonder its effectiveness with it being so short. Just last week Esther (a girl who came only one day to club), her brother, and grandfather were at a beach and drowned. Esther was in the hospital (survived) but her brother and grandfather died. Tuesday I gave 20 CEF “Do You Wonder Why?” booklets to our contact there to give to the family and their friends. This whole tragic situation really spoke to the fact that every club matters, every child matters, even if they only come once.

You can read more about what happened here

We are so grateful for your prayers, encouragement, and support as we are here in St. Kitts and Nevis! Looking forward to sharing next week about even more that the Lord is doing in the lives of children here!

Summer for us is over. We no longer have any 5Day Clubs scheduled, school has started back for the kids and Ross University has begun it’s new semester. But Fall hasn’t quite picked up yet either.

It seems most everything we have planned for the Fall ministry won’t begin until the end of September. So for the next two weeks we will be doing a lot of office work, support raising and getting ready for teacher training classes. We are also using this time to get back into a routine… Maddy has been a little difficult with having so many people in and out. I’m sure the frequent change is hard on her but as our days become a little more predictable I think she will be a much happier preschooler. 🙂

Although TCE (Teaching Children Effectively Level 1) classes don’t begin until later this month we still have some non-ministry related things to tell you about!

I mentioned it last week but… Sean is officially a college student again! He will be taking classes online with Moody Bible Institute to finish up his undergrad. Moody offers two 8 week terms a semester so his first class doesn’t begin until October. He will only be taking about six hours for each 8 week term. We are really excited about this even though we realize it’s adding more to our “plate”. But is there ever really a perfect time to go back to school?

The Graysons are leaving this week to visit their home in the States. They will be gone for six weeks which means Maddy will be missing her best friend Audri. Brandon Grayson does a radio show every Saturday so Sean was asked to fill in for him while he is gone. He is planning to do a four part series on why churches should be reaching out to children. We are praying for God to use this opportunity to bring in more church partnerships and volunteers.

Sean will also be preaching a three part series on the book of Philippians at our church Caribbean Christian Fellowship. So please be in prayer for him as he prepares!

We are attending a married couples book study this semester (When Sinners Say I Do) with some Ross students and their spouses. We are really looking forward to getting to know some of the other couples here and the opportunity to strengthen our marriage. Marriage in general seems to be under attack here. In the last two years 5 couples somewhat involved with CCF (Caribbean Christian Fellowship) have separated or divorced and adultery is fairly common among the locals.

The weather in the last week has been significantly different. While the temperature is the same, the humidity seems to have lowered. There isn’t a haze on the horizon like there was all summer and in the evening we can be outside and feel comfortable. We are hoping this will stick around and won’t be a fluke. We have about one more month to enjoy barren beaches before the cruise ship season picks up!

Here are some instagram pictures from the last week…

Mavis teaching at our Good News Club in Fig Tree

Maddy has worn a tutu everyday and carries her purse everywhere

Maddy riding her bike at the empty (for now) cruise ship port

Maddy and Sean on an ice cream date

Beautiful horizon without haze!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! We truly appreciate it!

We loved having the Evangelical Chinese Church from Seattle here! Their trip was a little unusual in that we had never met them before. However, they were amazing people, worked really hard and reached many children in St. Kitts! (For those of you in CEF who remember Po… this was his church.)

They taught four 5Day Clubs, reached 289 children and 18 of them received Christ! They also fixed a house for a recent widow with children… one of whom attends the Grayson’s and Jones’ Awana program and also was part of a 5Day Club.

They made a huge impact on this tiny island and were also a big encouragement to us. They even took us out to dinner for Sean’s birthday and cooked us dinner the night before they left!

While they were here we experienced Tropical Storm Isaac… which turned out to be fairly uneventful for St. Kitts. We had some wind and a some rain but most of the action happened two islands south of us. For the most part, our 5Day Clubs weren’t much affected! The normally calm Caribbean side of the island though, turned into a churning sea that rose significantly! You can see how high the waves were as they slammed into the road!

We were sad to say goodbye but we did get an extra two days with Marshall and Kim Pennell and Jessica Ching (they coordinated the trip) because their flight was cancelled when Miami airport closed for Isaac.

After the Trip

The week everyone left turned out to be a little crazy. On Monday night Maddy put a bead in her nose and we were about to head to the hospital (which we try to avoid here) when she finally sneezed it out! Two days later she become so sick with a cold that she threw up and literally stayed in bed all day long. On Friday she fell out of her bed and hit her face on the concrete floor… she now has a nice black eye and a cut below her brow that will likely leave a scar. On Sunday Sean preached at a local church for their “Back to School Service” and this week he officially became a college student again! He is taking classes through Moody Bible Institute to finish up his undergrad.

We are trying to settle back into life. We realized this is the first time in three months we had more than a few days without hosting any company. It is taking some getting used to but with so much work to be done, I’m sure we will have a new routine soon.

Fall TCE Classes Start Sept. 25th!

Sean will be teaching a TCE class this fall in St. Kitts and next Spring we will offer one in Nevis. He only recently began advertising the class and we already have a few people signed up! It looks like we will have a good number turn out!

School already started back for the kids so our Good News Clubs will be starting soon too!

It’s hard to believe the summer is over… our time here is going by so quickly! In only a few more months (3 1/2 to be precise) we will be coming home to visit for the holidays, Lord willing, and a year of life in St. Kitts will be behind us…

To read our latest prayer requests click here.

Last week was a very busy week for us. Nathan left on Monday and for the rest of the week Sean and I taught a large 5 Day Club (60+ kids) by ourselves! On Thursday afternoon Marshall and Kim Pennell and Jessica Ching arrived in from Florida. On Friday the rest of their team from Seattle arrived in the evening. They were tired from traveling all day but they had no issues getting into the country.

Today (Monday) is their first day of ministry. They are teaching 4 5Day Clubs in the mornings and have a work project in the afternoons. They will be laying tile down, installing cabinets, installing a toilet and painting the inside and outside of house for a recent widow with children. She is currently living in a house with a tarp for a roof and the government has given her a house to move into… but it is nowhere near move in ready. One of her children will be at a 5Day Club the team is teaching this week!

It seems they will be able to reach hundreds of children this week and change the lives of a local family! We are excited to see all that God will do through them!

We would appreciate your prayers for the team and for us!

We also celebrated Sean’s 25th birthday yesterday! Even though things are hectic right now he still had a great day complete with dinner (the team took us out) and an Auburn cake. 🙂