Dear Friends and Family, Please read on… Please help us… We love you guys. We need you guys. More than you know. We still plan to move to Angola later this year. We’ve been praying hard, and I know many of you have been praying for and with us. There are many issues that need to be resolved before we can move there. We work hard; we pray hard; we trust. In order to get a work or residence visa to live in Angola we must be sponsored by a recognized business or non-profit in Angola, or we must be recognized as a non-profit by Angolan immigration officials ourselves. We are pursuing both options and hope to see God open one of those doors. from jon I know that this next section may be hard to follow for some. It is written pretty emotionally, and I hope that I can convey the deep things that stirred inside me when I wrote it. I was going to write more about Angola and about the progress and lack of progress we’ve been seeing in moving there. But something happened just a few days ago. We had our feet pulled out from under us. It hurt. When we found out, we stayed up late and wept and prayed. And I had to remind myself to remember. And so I want to remind all of you to remember too. Remember the vision that we are a part of. The vision is the Gospel of the Kingdom forcefully advancing. The vision is the hand of Christ touching “the least of these”. The vision is food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, clothing the naked, taking in the stranger, and visiting the sick and imprisoned. The vision is a ministry in south-west Angola. Children orphaned by AIDS, war, poverty, who are given a chance to have a father and mother. The vision is long days, late nights, dirty hands, breathing in and breathing out the life, love and pain of giving ourselves to others and to Christ. Remember… oh friends and family, remember the vision.
It’s important. Vitally important. I had just finished telling a young man in Africa of the love of Jesus Christ and about the intimate plans and relationship that Christ has for him, when he asked me why his parents and grandparents hadn’t heard this. You see, this vision has been around for a long time. We are just a part of it and we affect it mightily. That young man’s parents were a part of the vision. But some times people forget the vision. Ezekiel tells us that we have a heavy responsibility as Watchmen to speak and to warn people. Ezekiel metaphorically tells us that their blood will be on our hands. Don’t believe me? Read it. Read Ezekiel chapter 33. Read it. Verse 6… “His blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” YOU are a watchman with the rest of us. You are not alone. We stand together. Together. Be desperate with us. Dear friend be desperate with me. We cannot do this alone. STAND body of Christ… STAND! Remember… oh friends and family, remember the vision. It’s important. Vitally important. from layne: As you remember the vision, I would implore you to not give up on that vision, our vision. When things take longer than expected, when it seems as though everything is at a standstill, do not give up. If Jon and Layne falter, if we grow weary …please… Do not give up. It is imperative for the people of southern Angola to have people fighting for them. You fight by interceding. You fight by financially supporting the hands-on effort. You fight by spreading awareness of the need. Fight for the fatherless. Fight for the sick. Fight for the poor. And do not give up. Ever. Honestly this whole process has been somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster for me. When I say this, I have to giggle because we have not even gotten to Africa. I know it is only the beginning, but let me share. I want you to understand the process in all of this. For now it may seem like we are just sitting, however, we are anything but that. I started this with so much determination. Don’t get me wrong, I am still determined (said with my serious eyebrows), but over time I have wavered. There have been moments of utter weakness, ready to throw my hands up. I have struggled with the fear of not being able to do this, thinking maybe it is all too big; maybe I am going to let everyone down. I have prayed earnestly, thought I have heard the voice of the Lord, acted, and then nothing happened. I was left discouraged. Maybe I made up the voice in my head. Perhaps I longed so much for direction that I made up my own. Who knows? I would not be able to answer that even now.
At one point I began to get quite hopeful and decided I would let my heart go there, to get a little excited. That ended with deep hurt and what felt like betrayal. I was left uncontrollably sobbing into my husband’s arms (even now I get tearful thinking about it). Right now I have surrendered all my efforts. I am at peace. Truly, I am. I read in Psalms 46:10 (NASB) “Cease striving and know that I am God.” I simply need Him to be God. next: We never imagined ourselves living in Europe. Now here we are, and our move to Portugal is quickly approaching. We will be arriving in Porto, Portugal on July 5th and staying for twelve weeks. We will be studying Portuguese with Apple Language School so that we can speak with the people of Angola in their first language. The school has set up a host home for us with a local Portuguese woman. Our schedule will be comprised of three hours of private tutoring, as well as a few hours of study on weekdays. In the evenings and on the weekends we will be practicing our new skills by travel and socializing. We have spent about $15,000 on language school, and we plan to be as conservative as possible with our finances while we are in Portugal. Hopefully we will be able to deal with our living expenses on a few hundred dollars per month. Our airfare is paid for, and we feel confident that the finances for these few months in Portugal are secure. We hope to move to Angola in November and we are budgeting about $2,000 in airfare and about $2500 monthly to live there (a “good” quality apartment in the area – no electricity or consistent water – runs for about $1000 rent per month). We have been able to save some money from Jon’s job and from the support that has continued to be given, but the moving costs (starting up a new life there) are probably going to be near $5,000. Altogether we hope to have $10-15,000 raised by November before we move full-time to Angola. If you wish to support us please email us or Vicki Heller (who is in charge of our finances) at spartacusheller@gmail.com or vickiheller@yahoo.com and we would be happy to get you more information regarding how you can become involved in the team that is sending us. If you have any questions at all about the ministry we are involved in please do not hesitate to contact us. Jonathan and Layne Heller Missionaries sent from Trinity Christian Fellowship Missionaries sent from Quiet Time Ministries
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