What a great weekend it has been! Lately our weekends have been packed full with a never-ending to-do list. But this weekend we finally began to get caught up. Usually we are cramming to finish our week’s homework over the weekend and into Monday night. This weekend we were able to finish it by early evening on Saturday. Since we didn’t have anything that needed to be done right away we were able to take the rest of the weekend off.

Then, today at church we had some missionaries come to visit, Garry and Pat Cruce heading to Peru with Free Methodist World Missions. Their presentation was great and really reminded us of what we saw in Ecuador and how much we missed it. After church we went with the Garry and Pat and some others from church out to lunch. It was such a great time of refreshment and encouragement, sharing stories and ideas.

Thank you for praying for us and that we would be able to find time for rest. God is answering prayers as we move forward with his work!

Our first Support Letter is in the mail!!

After a lot of time and energy invested, it's finally on it's way, and we are really excited about it.

The letter has two objectives, as it is truly a support letter, the first reason is obvious. The second reason is that we want family and friends to understand why we're going to the missions field and to be excited with us.

If you don't receive a letter, we apologize, please call or email to let us know and we'll make sure to send one your way.

Before I sign off for the evening, I have a prayer request. Its been a busy month as we have prepared for this mailing, continued in our Old Testament Survey class, and worked at our full time jobs. Would you please pray first for our organizational and task juggling skills, and also for our spiritual health. When busyness sets in, thats when Satan attacks with everything he can to keep us from doing this.

Thank you and God bless,

I need your help! I am trying to figure out realistic ways to save money that will be worth the time and effort put into them.

We've come up with a few ideas and so far we are doing pretty good, I think. For one, we now have 'Mac & Cheese Mondays' since a box of mac & cheese is pretty cheap--and we are usually finishing up the week's homework due on Tuesday!

Another cost cutter requires a hats-off to Dennis and his bravery. We took one month of haircut money and bought a do-it-yourself hair cutting kit, and I started cutting his hair. Actually, setting aside the scary responsibility of making his hair look good, I like the fact that the budget no longer has to determine whether he has to be shaggy another week or not ;)

At any rate, I am looking for more ideas! How do YOU save money? What are your tips and tricks, or even things you've tried which really didn't work. Click on the 'comments' link at the end of this entry and post a comment. I can't wait to hear from you and try out some of your ideas!

In order to make sure your contribution goes to our ministry, please make sure to include our name and account number with all contributions. 110522 - Crissman

Online
Donate

Please make sure to include our name where is says “Enter the Missionary’s Name” and our account number is 110522.

Mail
Checks should be made payable to HCJB Global.
Please include our account number on the memo line: 110522-Crissman
Checks can be mailed to

HCJB Global
PO Box 39800
Colorado Springs, CO 80949

Phone
Donations can be made by phone by calling 719-590-9800
Please make sure to designate your gift to our ministry: 110522-Crissman
Information to have ready:

* Credit Card
* Card Number
* Expiration Date
* Name on Card
* Address

Labels: ministry

Sarah and I recently went to a free Skillet concert here in Grand Rapids!!... oh and we took some of the kids for our church's youth group too.

Skillet, a Christian band that we have followed for years, just released their new album "Comatose" and made a stop here in Grand Rapids for a album release party.

Of course we picked the album up and got a picture with the band.

On our way home from church Sunday, we found probably the second worst place in Grand Rapids to get a flat tire—US 131 heading straight through the heart of the city.

Once we realized that the smell of burning rubber was coming from us, we were zipping down the highway in the far left lane with no where to go. There is no shoulder on the left or the right and so we were completely stranded in the left-hand lane of one of the busiest stretches of Grand Rapids highway. Dennis was driving, and in an attempt to get off the road as much as possible, he was right up next to the concrete median and couldn’t open his door…not that he had anywhere to go…. I was in the passenger seat unable to get out either because of the traffic rushing by at around 80 mph.

So, we called 911 and waited and winced as each car raced past us, narrowly missing us as it swerved over to the next lane. And we prayed…and waited… and prayed… and waited… It seemed like we sat there for an eternity.

Then, a tow truck came and stopped. We didn’t ask questions and just let him tow us out of there as quickly as possible. As it turned out, our tire was shredded, but our rescuer was able to tow us back to his house just a few blocks away and quickly change it out for the spare.

Apparently, this guy just happened to be driving by and saw us in distress. He went down to the next exit, turned around and came back for us. God was surely looking out for us to send this man our direction! Not to mention keeping all those cars from running into us as we sat and waited! We were extremely fortunate; this guy was telling us he went to tow someone out of a similar situation just a short distance from where we were, and as soon as he stepped out of his truck they were rear-ended.

And as if all this wasn’t enough, this man sent us on our way and never charged us a penny! Praise the Lord! We prayed for help and God sent us an angel :)