Our June-July Letter

Dear Praying Partners,                                                                                                                   

Thank you for praying!  We arrived safely from Nigeria, first to our SIM offices in Charlotte, NC, and then onto Milwaukee, WI, in early April.  God answered prayer regarding a place to live: Our home church helped arrange 2 months and a ministry friend for one more.  Another answer to prayer: encouragement to persevere in the midst of “adjusting to the U.S.” stress.

Home Assignment:

See for yourself what is going on in Nigeria.  Thanks to Andy at SIM and J.J. at Elmbrook Church, we have 4-minute and 10-minute videos (DVDs) to use during our upcoming meetings.  Both guys did a cool job with this!  Contact us for a meeting or go to VIMEO to see the 4-minute edition.  Click on:  http://vimeo.com/24735905

Updates by Email.  We encourage email and will be sending updates by pdf attachment.  If you are now receiving a paper copy of our updates, please let us know if you want email. Thanks!

      Sawyers-in-mission blog.  We will also post our updates on a blog created just for that purpose.  More info is coming on that.

Prayer and Finances:

We are very thankful for all of you that support us with prayer.  We are also thankful for any and all financial support that you have sent and for your faithfulness in spite of rough times.  

Health News:

We are thankful for really good health year after year.  We arrived in the U.S. feeling fine, but John’s routine physical indicated something suspicious.  To make a long story short, a hematologist here in Milwaukee confirmed that John has CLL, a type of leukemia.  It’s true that CLL (like other leukemias) does not have a cure.  John has not been experiencing any symptoms, and the doctors assure us that many people with CLL continue this way for years.  We were also told to return to our field and carry on normally.  We will have to send blood samples for lab testing periodically, but that’s about it for now. 

We are thankful.  If you are going to have leukemia, this seems to be the easiest one to deal with.  Please pray for us.  Pray for continued good doctor’s care and for healing.

Family: 

Our children.  We’ve enjoyed great times with Jennifer, Melissa and Orlondo.  We’ve tried a restaurant or two, checked the tulips, walked through blowing snow and of course, hit “the malls.” May was big with Jen’s birthday, Melissa and Orlondo’s anniversary and of course, Mother’s Day.  We’ve been around enough weeks now so that when we get together in one room we are NOT all talking at once!!! 

John’s mom.  Last November, John’s mom moved to a senior apartment with extra care available.  We visited her in April for our first look at her beautiful new surroundings.  Mom is receiving important help with daily activities and is stepping back from one of her favorite strongholds: meal preparation!  Others now come in to lend a hand.  She is walking much less and gets help with longer distances.

     There is a lot she is doing very well.  She always gives us an energetic and cheerful greeting, keeps up on the news and maintains her spirit of love and encouragement.  She is also our number one prayer supporter.

Future Plans: 

         We will return to Nigeria July 23rd, Lord willing.  Please pray for us during these upcoming weeks.  Pray for effective communication with individuals and supporting churches.  Pray that we will manage our time well: family, office time at church, shopping and of course, packing! 

         Pray that the Lord will bring in our personal support.  Presently, we are about $500/month short of an already reduced figure.  In order to return to our previous salary and to full ministry funding we should increase to about $900.  Pray that each of us would know God’s plan in this and that we would not have to cut our next term short for lack of funds.  Contact us for more information (addresses below.)

         Please pray also for our workers in Nigeria.  Pray for safety in the face of violence and protection from a recent cholera outbreak in Jos.  Pray for worker commitment and follow-through.  Pray for new individuals to join in where we are working.  We believe the time is soon coming when we will hand our work over entirely or in part.  Some of what we do could be continued from a U.S. location.  Pray for the Lord’s leading in all of this.

“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome…”          Deuteronomy 10:17a

Thanks for standing with us,

John and Nancy Sawyer                  1606 S. Coachlight Drive, New Berlin, WI  53151           nsawyer_cmjos@yahoo.com