June 25, 2009
Goodbye, Duncan…old friend.
So, this is my tribute to Duncan…my trustee 2005 Nissan Altima. I will be selling this car soon and just completed my final road trip in this old friend of mine. Well, this is what I would like to call, “Ode to Duncan”:
Duncan, O Duncan, tried and true,
A better car, I never knew,
Through rain and snow and hail and sleet,
Driving you was always a treat,
Even though we have to part ways,
You will have a place in my heart always,
Thank you for the good times, old friend,
I hope for you the road never ends.
All I have to say in closing is, “Don’t judge me.” More important things in life, but you find time for all kinds of stuff to do when you are delayed in an airport. Here are some more photos for you.
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June 4, 2009
And reality sets in…and it is sweet!
Hey everyone!!!
It has been awhile since our last post on the website. Our main point now has been to keep you updated on where we our in our support raising. So, keep coming back to see our donation meter. We are currently at 82% right now!!! God has been so incredibly faithful to us.
We received an email the other day from our field leader in Bosnia. It contained the OM Bosnia policy. It clarified a lot of questions that we have had about what to expect, but also brought us so much deeper into the reality of going. Okay, I will not lie. As all of you know, a lot of times reality has some fear that comes a long with it, and we are no exception there in some regard. However, the bigger truth is that we find ourselves getting even more excited about what is to come.
The Lord continues to ignite our hearts for the necessity of the Gospel preached to the nations. He is worthy of all that we have. Please continue to pray that the eyes of our hearts are enlightened to His true purpose for missions.
We love you all and stay connected with us. We pray that God also enlightens the eyes of your hearts as well. Don’t forget that you are serving alongside us in this work.
So that all may know,
Billy and Jess.
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May 9, 2009
50% and beyond!!!
Hey partners in ministry!!!
We just wanted to give a quick update for you. As you may have noticed, we have officially broken the 50% point on our monthly pledges. Actually, we may now be up to something like 66% now. God continues to blow us away and encourage us greatly as we continue to prepare for His work in Bosnia.
Most importantly, the Lord continues to ignite our hearts more and more for missions. We believe more than ever that international missions is so necessary. Please pray that God continues to encourage and burden our hearts with this work.
We love you all and keep an eye out for our May newsletter that should be coming soon. If you did not receive our April newsletter, then you may not be on our email list. Let us know and we will make sure to send them to you. We’ll talk to you again soon.
So that all may know,
Billy and Jess.
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April 25, 2009
“Missions exists because worship does not.” – Piper
The past few days, the Lord has been re-igniting our fire for His Word, His people, and most noteably, for missions. I have been praying for weeks now, asking that the my heart would be set afire once again for the people we will meet and mininster to in Bosnia. I knew that my passion for the people was still there, but the hum-drum of daily life and raising support seemed to cloud my vision of the task we are SO priviledged to possess.
At the moment, Billy and I are both reading (or re-reading) books by John Piper. In both Let the Nations be Glad and Don’t Waste Your Life, he reminds us that “missions exist because worship does not.” We are not going to Bosnia (or anywhere for that matter) because the people there need our help. We are going because they need the grace of Jesus Christ to fill up their souls with so much love and joy and purpose that they simply cannot help but worship Him! If we at any point, begin to think that programs or projects are more important than pure worship for our God, we will have missed it.
Oh Lord, may we always be passionate for You, may we trust in your Truth and believe that we are mere messengers – “but a vapor” in the history book you continue to write for this world. May we always be willing to go where worship is lacking!
“I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds”
Psalm 77:11-12
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April 21, 2009
Start-up costs…CHECK!!!
Great news everyone!!!
Praise the Lord! We have officially raised our start-up costs of $9,492. That is huge! God is so good. Now, we are working on getting monthly pledges. Currently, we have $1,257 per month pledged and we need $2,895 per month pledged. For you math wizards, that is technically 43% of the way there. Please continue to pray that we are fully funded by August 1st. We expect bigger things and believe that we will meet our goals by mid-July.
So, just in case you are wondering what happens if you give a one-time gift now…that amount will be distributed over the 24 months that we will be in Bosnia. So, feel free to give a one-time gift or pledge a monthly amount. Above all else, we continue to ask for your prayers.
Lastly, we just recently sent out our first issue of The Streus News (our newsletter). If you did not receive and want one, that means that we either don’t have your email address or don’t know that you want to be on our list. Just let us know and we will send one your way.
We love you all very much and thank you for your support and partnership.
So that all may know,
Billy and Jess.
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April 13, 2009
The Streus News Newsletter is coming…
Hey everyone!
We just wanted to let you know that the first issue of the The Streus News Newsletter will be hitting your email boxes soon. Keep an eye out. It should be really soon, but we are still trying to contact some of you to complete our email address list. So, be checking your phones as well. Love you all.
So that all may know,
Billy and Jess
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April 8, 2009
Subscribe!!!
Hey everyone,
I know it has been a few days since we have left a post, but working jobs and raising support is busy business. I wanted to let you know about something cool on the website that I think you should sign up for. If you look on the bottom left under “links,” you will see the words “Subscribe(RSS).” I encourage you to click on that and then click “Subcribe Now” on the next page. This should set our website as a bookmark for you. If it works right, you should somehow receive updates each time we put up a new post. Just a great way to keep updated.
God continues to truly bless us. Please pray that we keep trusting the Lord in His provision. It is funny how the enemy can take something that you know God has control of and sometimes convince you that it is out of control. We had a huge number of support (one-time and monthly) come in at the beginning, and now we have seen a slow down. We have occasionally let this worry us. Truth is, we still have over three months to get everything in. This is just us being real in this process. In short, pray that we stay strong in our trust in the Lord.
FYI…if you know how much you want to pledge and have not let us know yet, go ahead and let us know so we can update our records (even if you are not going to begin giving until later).
We love you all and are blessed to have you on our team!!!
So that all may know,
Billy and Jess
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March 19, 2009
Newbies to the website…
Just in case you have not noticed, there are a couple of new additions to the website.
First, there is now a “How to Give” page. If you are interested in joining our ministry team financially, that page will help you learn how to get started. Of course, if you have any questions or need us to clarify something, shoot us an email at worldstreus@gmail.com or leave a comment on this website.
Second, our web developing genious friend (Dwayne Parton) just made a Donation Meter for us. We are having to raise $10,000 in start-up costs and get $2,900 in monthly pledges, but the donation meter is lumping all of that together. So, the total for the donation meter is $12,900. I hope that makes sense. We wanted a way to keep you updated.
Well, keep us in your prayers as we continue to raise support. God is good and we know that He will provide.
So that all may know,
Billy and Jess.
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March 14, 2009
Learnin’ the web work…
Hey everyone!!! We have had several people ask us if we have any access on our website to be able to give. With these requests, I decided to learn more about how to develop our site. If you have not noticed yet, there is now a “How to Give” page to your left. Therefore, if you want to contribute to the ministry God has led us to, then give away. We cannot begin to tell you how much we appreciate you wanting to join our partnership team! Glory to God!!!
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March 8, 2009
Streu News 03/08/09
ZDRAVO everyone!!!
Zdravo is hello in Bosnian. At least that is what our language program has taught us. We are still in the process of making sure that this program is teaching us accurately. Well, we figured it was about time for an WorldStreus update. Here we go…
The Lord continues to blow us away during the process. We want to thank everyone who has taken the time so far to meet with us in person, over the phone, on facebook, etc. It has been such a blessing to share our story with so many and find deeper confirmation in God’s call to missions in our life as we see more and more people believe in what we are pursuing.
We just spent the weekend in the Dallas/Fort Worth area visiting with friends and family. We want to especially thank Kyle and Jennie Jones for opening their home to us and hosting a cookout party with our friends. It was such a great time!
We also got to have lunch with some family (Billy’s side) this afternoon before we started heading back to Lubbock. Thank you, David and Mary, for opening your home as well for our small family reunion. We truly enjoyed our time with all of you this weekend. If you are confused by the pictures, I forgot to take pictures during the cookout at Kyle and Jennie’s. He took a couple of pictures to prove that the whole thing happened.
Before I sign out, I want to give you a rough update of where we are financially. We have been officially raising support for a little over a month, and we have approximately 60% of our one-time costs and 28% of our monthly pledges committed. God is good!!! Please pray that the Lord continues to provide the funds for us. Our goal is to be 100% funded by July 18th at the latest.
One last thing…please feel free to post comments on the site and talk to us. You have to register, but it is free. We love you all and will keep bringing the Streu News!!!
Billy and Jess.