May Newsletter '09

Greetings,

May was a celebratory month with our ministry's fourth graduation of a class of students. We also had a great beginning to our team season with the Grace Church team from SC, and we are so enjoying serving.

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Graduation

The main event in May is Graduation. It is such a milestone for our ministry as we get to experience both the culmination of two years of intense training and the joy of praising our Lord for His faithfulness to them and to us.

This year's graduation was CMA's 4th, and the 3rd consecutive one at ETBC in James Cistern. This coming fall well will be committing ourselves to training down in the southern part of the island: an area which has been semi-remote to our ministry's influence thus far.

We give thanks to the Lord for the celebration of Graduation and we thank you for your investment in the lives and ministry of these graduates who are being equipped to effectively lead their congregations in devotion to God's Word.

See more pictures of Graduation
Click HERE for past graduations
Student Ordination Service HERE
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Team Season with Grace

Our summer teams began with a blessing. CMA's newest staff addition, Mike and Shannan Fastzkie, are partnering with their sending church, Grace Church to invest in CMA's ministry to the island. This was their church's first trip to the island, and they were a fantastic team.

We rarely run across teams which are so sensitive to the needs, struggles, and challenges of missionaries. Even on our first night with them, they were asking questions about OUR well-being OUR need to be loved and cared for as we are serving.

Not only did they come to bless us, but they were committed to working in the community and preparing the house on the hill which Mike and Shannan's family will live in this summer. I believe they were willing to do anything and everything.

We certainly were blessed by this team and we quickly formed new friendships. We love it when the Lord gives us teams that we hate to see leave - and we look forward to reuniting with the Grace Church team as they commit to partner with us on God's Mission to reach all peoples. Certainly God has started our team season off with giving us "Grace."

Read more and see pictures of the GRACE TEAM
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Update
I am actually writing this from an airport on my way back to the Bahamas, however the update from my recent travels will have to wait until next month's letter, but suffice to say that our family is doing better than ever with adjusting and coping to the challenges of ministry. We are daily blessed to care for and love our little boy. You can watch him learn something new each day, and we cherish each moment. Ministry-wise we will be laboring in 3 areas: solidifying and deepening our Alumni Followup, working with teams and churches, and preparing the ministry for Training down south coming this fall.

See the recent pictures of MICAH

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Prayers and Praises
Praise for the blessing of the Grace Church team and the encouragement they will be to our missionaries and ministry
Praise for a refreshing trip to see dear friends who are forever close to our hearts
Praise for God's provision as we've received many new pledged supporters to help bring our support to 100%
We daily praise the Lord for our little boy and the uncountable blessings he gives us

Please pray for the ministry as we continue to look to the southern portion of the island - we are utterly dependent on the Lord to prepare the way and hearts of those who might receive training
Pray for missionaries Mike and Shannan Fastzkie as they bring their family down this month for a summer of service, as well as their financial needs as they continue to raise support
Pray for the gospel in Eleuthera, specifically that it would visibly change lives to pursue an authenticity in their faith that may bring revival to the island
Pray for us as we have a new team traveling down EVERY week throughout June and we will be expending much energy and effort
Pray for the nations, that the Lord would continue to pour out His Spirit on those blinded by sin and trapped in deception

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Thank you for keeping up with us and our progress in ministry. We so value your prayers and support, and we would ask you to take a moment and pray for our journey and how you can play a part. To find out more CLICK HERE.