July 20, 2007
THE YEAR IN REVIEW!
Now I know that some of you are confused by that title as you are saying that this is not the end of the year, but only half way through. But for us, it has been one year since we returned to the USA from our first term in Madagascar. And the year has flown by. It has been one of blessings, growth and a few moments of challenge.
With knowing that we have been here a year, some of you will immediately begin to ask the question, when are you returning to Madagascar? While our heart is to return immediately, that is not possible at this moment. Due to the challenge of raising a financial budget that greatly increased, it has made it necessary to extend our time here until the end of the year. We need the extra time to continue to build new relationships with churches and potential supporters, as well as giving additional time to churches who already know us, but have been unable to support us until now. Would you prayerfully consider supporting us on a monthly basis? If so, would you please go to our website at www.rostorferreport.com and print off a commitment form to send in with your first financial gift. It is only through the signed commitment forms of supporters like you that we can be released to return to continue the work God has called us to do.
Here are some of the highlights of our year in review.
BLESSINGS:
Living in our hometown has been a wonderful time to get reacquainted with our family and friends. We have enjoyed family dinners, cookouts, picnics & just getting together to hang out or play games with those who mean so much to us. Our girls have made some great friends during this time. Our house (including today) is the gathering spot for other kids from the church. I never know when I return off the road how many extra girls will be sleeping in our house, or if our girls are staying at a friend’s house across town. This has created some great memories for our girls.
It has also been a great joy to visit so many of our supporting churches (more visits to come) and let them know what God has done through their investment of prayer and finances. There is no greater joy for me than to be greeted by someone who lets me know that they read these e-mail prayer updates each time or they still have our prayer card on their refrigerator and pray for us on a regular basis. We truly believe our financial and prayer partners are the greatest people in the world.
CHALLENGES:
One of the unexpected challenges we faced when returning to America was in regards to our health. Between Carey & I we have had four surgeries in the past year. I had a knee surgery, as well as a double hernia surgery. Carey had two outpatient surgeries to remove pre-cancerous growths. While facing 4 different surgeries presented challenges to us, physically & financially, we are thankful to take care of these issues here instead of overseas. We can also say that all four procedures were successful & we have a clean bill of health to return to Madagascar.
GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT:
As a result of facing these physical challenges, God convicted us of the need to take better care of our health, especially in regards to our weight. Carey, myself and our two oldest daughters needed to get more control of our health in the area of our sizes. We started eating differently, walking everyday & drinking lots of water. To date (allow me to boast for a moment) Carey has lost 25 pounds, Jordan has lost 25 pounds, Constance has lost 22 pounds & I have lost 61 pounds. The main thing is we are getting healthier so we can be more useful for God’s kingdom.
The more important area has been our spiritual growth and development. When we returned to America, we made a difficult decision of not having Carey & the girls travel with me as I visited our churches who support us. The reason; so the girls could experience life in a Pentecostal church and benefit from the consistency of a home church. First Assembly of God in Bellefontaine, Ohio has provided that environment for them. The girls have flourished during this past year spiritually & socially as they have spent each week in youth and children’s ministry. Allow me to use our oldest daughter Jordan as an example by quoting an excerpt from something she recently wrote describing her time here so far: “I read all the Psalms and found out how great God is. I read John and memorized Isaiah, and learned what Jesus did for me. My prayer life has become so strong. My relationship with God has grown.” Thank you for allowing our daughters to have this important time to grow and develop spiritually!
IN REVIEW
As already stated, this year has been a year of blessings, challenge & growth. Thank you for praying for us and believing in our ministry. Please continue to pray that God will enable many to become financial partners with us, for while we have enjoyed this year, we are very anxious to return to the country of our heart, Madagascar. We love being here & seeing each and every one of you, but we know that the needs increase and grow everyday overseas. So let’s believe together for God to do great things in the near future so we may return to our work in Africa.
Blessings!
Jay