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Serving alongside the Church in the United Kingdom |
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This page contains the text of our latest quarterly newsletter, the ‘Funka Chronicle.’ This is the January 2010 edition.
Itinerary below… please scroll down
Our work is supported through the prayers and generous gifts of individuals, families, and churches who form our Support Team in the USA. If you would like to join our support team, please contact us!
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MARCH UPDATE: WE ARE NOW BACK IN THE USA AND ON OUR WAY TO VISIT YOU! KEEP TABS ON OUR JOURNEY ON ANDREW’S BLOG.
Dear Family and Friends,
Happy 2010! We hope you enjoyed your Christmas celebrations, and pray that this new year will be one of deepening faith for us all. This will be a year of many changes and transitions in our service with Alongside Ministries! In January and February, we are phasing out of our various responsibilities alongside Stockethill Church. We are pleased to be able to leave Stockethill in a place of strength. It is difficult to say goodbye to our friends, but we believe we have arrived at an appropriate conclusion. We enjoyed a fantastic final Christmas celebration together – scroll down to see the ‘Alongside’ feature.
Andrew has been accepted by Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary to study for a Master's degree in world missions and evangelism. This takes us to South Hamilton, MA in July to begin the two year program. Andrew will be working with Alongside as their 'East Coast Associate,' focusing on recruiting more Alongsiders. This will be a part-time position with an estimated monthly budget of $930. Amy plans to renew her teaching license in secondary math and, hopefully, find additional gainful employment while we're in Massachusetts.
These next two years will be a time of preparation as we believe God is calling the Czech Republic to our attention. During Andrew's seminary studies, we plan to investigate how we might effectively serve alongside the Church in the Czech Republic with Alongside Ministries. The Czechs present an entirely new cross-cultural ministry challenge for us, as well as immense opportunities to advance the Gospel alongside them!
As part of the team who successfully sent us to serve alongside the Church in Scotland, will you pray and consider how God may be leading you to partner with us during seminary and into the future? We still need your prayers, financial gifts, and correspondence. Our journey with Alongside Ministries will not end with our departure from Scotland! We will still have to raise support for Andrew’s East Coast Associate position and for travel expenses to investigate our combined service in the Czech Republic. There is the additional opportunity to specifically help with Andrew’s seminary expenses. One advantage to being back in the USA for a while is that we will be able to operate in US Dollars, creating substantial savings for our budget. Please let us know how you believe God is leading you to partner with us in these new endeavors either by emailing us or by filling out a new partnership card and posting it to Alongside Ministries.
On 1 March we will depart Scotland to begin a three month journey that will take us through 27 states and allow us to see and spend time with as many of you as possible! The beginnings of the itinerary are posted below - scroll down to see. We hope we have the opportunity to speak with you directly when we visit a church or home near you!
Your thoughts and questions are most welcome as we embark upon this new direction. A special web page offers more details about our plans - contact us if you would like to access this page and are not yet part of our support team.
Thank you for all the prayers and support that have made our mission in Scotland a success! We pray that you will know the joy of seeing the Gospel continuing to advance in 2010!
Yours in Christ, Andrew & Amy Funka |
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Alongside… This space features some of the people, Churches, and organizations that we serve in our work with Stockethill Church and as UK Directors for Alongside Ministries International. |
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Christmas '09 at Stockethill was an extra-special time for us. Andrew worked with Ian and Sarah Aitken, Matthew (parish worker) and Stuart (seminary student) to plan Stockethill's Christmas Eve celebration. Despite Aberdeen experiencing the worst winter weather in decades, over 110 people attended the Christmas Eve service. The service featured a combination of music, video, stories, and small gifts made by Stockethill's Community Groups. We participated in Stockethill's traditional communion service on Christmas morning and enjoyed much feasting at the annual Christmas Dinner in the afternoon.
Mary, from our community group, has had an especially difficult Christmas season due to a broken ankle. We were glad to be able to work out transportation for Mary, her husband John, and Mary's (temporary!) wheelchair with our trusty yellow Skoda.
As we enter our final weeks in Aberdeen, please remember to pray for Stockethill Church. Our departure will be a significant change for the congregation, and especially the Leadership Team does not always feel as strong and capable as we believe they are! Thank you for your prayers! |
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Christmas Eve with Stockethill Church |
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The Funka Itinerary Spring 2010 We hope to see as many people from our Support Team as possible over the next few months. Below is our planned itinerary that we intend to keep updated. We hope to see you soon! A very special thank you to all our hosts along the way! |
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March 2010: Western PA 13 Saturday Service Emmanuel Baptist Church, Johnstown PA 14 Sunday Services Emmanuel Baptist Church, Johnstown, PA 14 Sunday Afternoon Reception Emmanuel Baptist Church, Johnstown, PA 17 Wednesday Seminar Christ United Methodist Church, Bethel Park PA 20 Saturday Informal Gathering at the Patrick Residence 21 Sunday Service BCK Ministries, Johnstown PA 24 Wednesday Evening at Oakland United Methodist Church, Johnstown, PA 28 Sunday Service Bridge To Life, Johnstown PA
April 2010: Across the USA 11 Sunday Service First Presbyterian Church, Miami Springs, FL 16-19 Tulsa, OK 22-25 Tucson, AZ 25 Las Vegas, NV 26-28 Los Angeles, CA 28-1 May San Francisco, CA TBC: Informal Gatherings in Miami Springs, Tulsa, and San Francisco
May 2010: The West Coast 1-3 Portland, OR 3-4 Olympia, WA (locations of informal gatherings TBC) 5-7 Seattle, WA (locations of informal gatherings TBC) 9 Sunday Services Westside Church, Richland, WA 10-14 Tri-Cities, WA (locations of informal gatherings TBC) 16 Sunday Service Community Presbyterian Church, Post Falls, ID
Later in 2010: Grace United Methodist Church, Oil City, PA |
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Sarah Aitken created this tree as a symbol of our connections with God and each other in the family of Christ. Photographs of Stockethill's Community Groups and worship gatherings were added each Sunday of Advent. |