May Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

The month of May was a great time for us, as we enjoyed a camping trip with friends and the pleasure of announcing a new baby on the way! Yes, that’s right; we’re expecting again and enjoyed seeing the first pictures of the new baby last week in our first ultrasound. The projected due date is December 19th.

What we’ve been doing
In the past six weeks or so, I have had the privilege of leading a series of training courses in Web Development with ASP.NET 2.0 at a mission organization's Charlotte headquarters. The time we spent together has been profitable in helping them develop a strategy for software development using the power of the Web.

Leah and Christie enjoyed having me around the house, as I was working from home as a freelance Web Developer. I treasure the extra time I was able to spend with them these past weeks.

Leah is feeling well and her first trimester has gone smoothly, without undue amounts of discomfort. Of course, if you ask her, she might tell you differently! The new baby is growing well, and we pray that the Lord will continue to make it strong and healthy.

Making plans with an eye for the future
The expected arrival of a new little one will necessarily postpone our departure for the Philippines, and we have moved our hoped-for departure to sometime next summer. During the extra time, I have been blessed with the opportunity to begin a three-month contract next week at one of the major banks in Charlotte. I'll be working as a Web Developer in their e-commerce division, and I look forward to the challenges and opportunities that will present. I praise God for continuing to provide generously for our needs each day.

Partners in the Adventure
We have also been blessed with several financial partners who have already begun donating towards our monthly support needs! We praise the Lord for these folks and thank them for their willingness to share with us and to follow God obediently as He leads them to give. I would ask any of you who have considered supporting us to let us know about it! I imagine that there may be many of you who plan to do so, either presently or in the future, and we'd love to hear from you.

Summer Missions Trips
I plan to participate in both of our church’s summer mission trips this summer: first to New York City, June 30 to July 8, to be trained in and perform urban street evangelism, then to Norfolk, VA, July 21-28, to do construction work. Please pray for me, as I’ll be traveling with large groups of adults and students and helping to oversee the ministry during these weeks. Please pray also for Leah and Christie, since we’ll be apart.

With love from the Andersons!

John, Leah, and Christie

Personal Correspondence:
John and Leah Anderson
7015 Davis Road
Waxhaw, NC 28173

Financial Support:
Interlink Ministries
P.O. Box 460
Apple Creek , Ohio 44606
Include a separate note stating: “For John and Leah Anderson”

Davao Pictures

A friend of ours took some great pictures of Davao, Philippines during his recent travels and was kind enough to share them with us. There are several of Faith Academy - Davao, where Leah will be teaching music lessons, and a couple of MICA, where I will be teaching computer and business courses. Check them out!

Our April Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

Much has happened in our journey with the Lord since our last update! We continue the process of following God’s call overseas and we’re learning, as a family, more about how to trust Him to provide for our needs. We celebrated Christie’s first birthday in March. It was a fun time with family, friends, and of course, cake! She continues to grow strong and healthy. Praise the Lord!

An Organizational ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’
We are now members of several mission organizations. I know that may sound confusing, but I’ll explain. We’ve joined a small group called Interlink Ministries, formerly Friend of Missions, which will handle our finances. As members of Interlink, we can serve any missions organization to which we are called. To that end, we have joined another mission organization dedicated to Bible translation, through which we have received an invitation to support Bible translation in south-east Asia while living in Davao, Philippines. I will serve as a Software Developer and will also teach business and computer classes at Mindanao International Christian Academy (MICA), while Leah will teach voice and piano lessons part-time at Faith Academy - Davao and MICA. We’re extremely excited that the Lord has brought together this mix of organizations and assignments that will allow us to serve Him wherever He calls us.

More about Our Adventure Plans
Now that we have our organizations lined up and our assignment defined, our next steps are:

1. Raise support! We can’t go onto the field without adequate prayer and financial support.
2. Plan our move to the Philippines. This will involve packing up our lives here in Waxhaw and preparing to live in Davao. We’ll also have to update our passports and obtain visas in preparation to travel internationally.
3. Prepare for our assignments. I will need to spend some time preparing to work with the technologies used in software development in Davao, including a new programming language. Leah will continue to teach voice and piano in Waxhaw while we’re here.

We don’t know what God’s timeframe will be for raising our support, but we’re prepared to respond to His provision, whenever it arrives. That could mean going to the Philippines as soon as early next year!

The End of a Chapter
It was with mixed emotions that I finished my ministry at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in the end of March. I feel that the Lord used me to be a part of great things that advanced the Gospel and His Kingdom, but my time at BGEA had come to a close. I will surely miss seeing the many long-time friends I have gained there! He is now preparing our family to serve Him overseas by teaching us to trust Him and to work more closely together as a team. God has been faithful and good to us in the weeks since my departure and has blessed us with additional family time together as I have spent my days developing our organizational connections and doing some freelance computer work. As we begin our period of full-time support raising, please pray that God will give me courage to trust Him to continue to provide for our needs.

Summer Missions Opportunities
Both Leah and I have opportunities to participate in summer mission trips with our local church: one to New York City to be trained in and perform urban street evangelism and another to Norfolk, VA to do construction work. The NYC trip dates are June 30 to July 8 and the Norfolk trip dates are July 21-28. Please pray for us during those times, as we’ll be traveling with large groups of adults and students and helping to oversee the ministry during these weeks.

We’ll need Your Help!
As we begin the phase of our ministry that many refer to as “Partnership Development”, we need your help to build a support base for our family.

1. We need you to commit to partner with us in prayer, that the Lord would continue to bless our work with students here in Waxhaw, our preparations for service in the Philippines, and our growing together as a family as we trust Him to meet our needs.
2. We also need you to commit to partner with us financially. Please prayerfully consider how the Lord would have you give to support our ministry. We need individuals, families, and churches to join us in serving God through technology and education.
3. A third way you can become involved in our ministry is through a one-time gift to help send us on our summer mission trips! We need to pay our own way on these trips so that any scholarship money the church is able to raise can be used to sponsor students. If you’re interested, please call or e-mail us.

Please seek the Lord’s guidance with us as to how you can be a part of our support team. If you’re ready to get involved, that’s great! Thank you so much for your faithful participation in God’s redemptive work! Please send personal correspondence and financial support to the addresses indicated below.

With love from the Andersons!

John, Leah, and Christie

Personal Correspondence:
John and Leah Anderson
7015 Davis Road
Waxhaw, NC 28173

Financial Support:
Interlink Ministries
P.O. Box 460
Apple Creek , Ohio 44606
Include a separate note stating: “For John and Leah Anderson”