And our goal has...

WE SERVE AN AWESOME GOD

who has worked through some amazingly faithful people.

_______________________________________________________

 

January 23, 2025

 

I am left in awe of the way in which the Lord has moved so many, that in two short months we have exceeded our financial goal of $11,000. The current figure is an amazing $11,316.50 (including a $1836.50 balance from 2024). And that is against a projected budget of:

 

 

BUDGETED EXPENSES:	EST. COST	ACTUAL
MALAWI: Member Care African Bible College Staff
Feb Round Trip Airfare (for 2) to Lilongwe, Malawi @ $1900/person	$3,800.00	$3,315.42
Miscellaneous/Unanticipated 10%	$380.00	$159.84
Sept Round Trip Airfare (for 2) to Lilongwe, Malawi @ $1900/person	$3,800.00
Miscellaneous/Unanticipated 10%	$380.00
LIBERIA: Member Care African Bible College Staff
Round Trip Airfare (for 1) to Monrovia, Liberia (1 trip)	$2,000.00
Incountry bus Monrovia to Yekepa (round trip)	$200.00
Miscellaneous/Unanticipated 10%	$440.00
	$11,000.00	$3,475.26

Thanks to those who have so faithfully and prayerfully sacrificed on any number of levels to participate in this ministry of care for missionaries.

So far we have been able to come in under the budgeted amount which may allow us to schedule yet another trip to Thailand to pick up where we left off there. (A follow up trip to Thailand will also allow us to begin to plan for a community mission trip to Thailand and perhaps Cambodia in 2026.) And any additional funds received will go toward that - or any emergency trip which may arise.

As excited as we are, excitement also seems to be building amongst the members of the Holliday Alliance congregation where Glen serves as Mission Coordinator, as well as amongst our increasing contacts and support from congregations like the Shallow Well Church in Sanford, NC, and its members.

Theses trips allow us to visit with and care for missionaries, in the countries we visit, who are brought to our attention. So far that has included a dozen different agencies. (Does your church have a missionary they’d like to have visited? Drop us a line and give us some details and we’ll see what we can do to make that happen.)

The bottom line is that, at this point we see this as an ongoing project which will occupy significant amounts of time, travel,and ongoing support. There are, in some circles, concerns about short term engagements such as these, but hard statistics and anecdotal observations demonstrate clearly that outside engagement of a consistent recurring short term nature can have tremendous positive results when done well. See Short Term Positives Here

It is our hope and prayer that lives will be changed, not just those whose lives will be immediately impacted through member care services, but those who participate through supporting that kind of effort. Not all are called. Not all can go. Not all should go. But those who don’t can easily facilitate that going for those so called. And we are over the moon thankful for folks like you who make it a point to steward the resources God has provided to help others hear the good news, be nurtured in the truth, and become mature believers and world-changers themselves.

Carol and I leave in less than three weeks. We’re excited and hope you are too!

In Him Who is Able!

*Special email updates are provided, from the field, solely to our donors.  To be a part of this team, tax deductible donations can be made to:

Holliday Alliance Church

33 Oakwood Dr. 

Middlebury Center, PA 16935

(mark check: Special Mission – Halleads and include your email address to be added to our special update listing)

Funded, ticketed, and making preparations

Good News! We have received more than sufficient funding at this point to purchase our "first round" tickets to Malawi.  Housing is being prepared as we write this and we anticipate a six day overlap with the ABC President's visit on arrival in Lilongwe. This connection provides several positive elements.  

• it further advances the credibility of the new international leadership's commitment to change the culture of missionary care;

• it presents a visual unity in our efforts; and 

• in light of the fact that the wife of the President is SIM's West Africa Member Care coordinator, it helps to provide a broader vision of what inter-agency partnerships look like. 

 

The days of denominational based missions working alone within their own teams are quickly waning, giving way to inter-agency partnerships to accomplish the shared-goals of evangelism and training without the limited parameters of denominationalism. It just represents better stewardship of mission dollars.

Back to the funding side...we were able to secure a less expensive ticket by purchasing one set of tickets from Raleigh-Durham to Nairobi and a second set of tickets from Nairobi to Lilongwe.  As an added bonus this will allow us to visit with some workers in Kenya with whom we have had a relationship for 35 years and to visit a children's home we have been supporting since Glen's first trip to the continent in 1989.

We've been blessed to see water wells dug, electricity put in, a successful primary school started and, more recently, a number of university graduates of the home beginning to support their home, all based on the long-term development model utilized.

The Githiga Children's Home is a testimony to the tenacity, flexibility and willingness of its generous supporters to fund the administrative aspects of the home as well as the children's support on a long term basis. In fact one of the congregation's Glen pastored has been supporting this home since 1996.

We will arrive in Lilongwe after the five day layover in Nairobi and hit the ground running.  Carol is excited to provide in home hospitality and visits, while Glen will be continuing some ongoing care, which he has been providing via the internet, with students, faculty, and other staff in addition to missionary encouragement. Our stay will encompass 31 days.

We hope you will stay tuned to this blog for generalized future updates.  Our more frequent and informative email newsletters are available to our financial donors only, so if you'd like to be on the email list you can do so with any financial contribution -

either directly to us at:              or through our church at:

Glen Hallead                             Holliday Alliance Church

12 Monks Hill Rd.                      33 Oakwood Dr.

Middlebury Center, PA 16935      Middlebury Center, PA 16935

be sure to include: "Hallead Short Term Mission" on the memo line of all checks.  And if you want a personalized thank you note don't forget to write us directly and inform us of any donation made through the church.