April Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

The last four months have been a whirlwind of activities and growth in our family! We had a very scary experience in January with Rowen in the hospital battling RSV, as many of you knew and prayed about, Christie celebrated her second birthday in March, and Rowen is now six months old! The Lord is so good to us!

Respiratory Syncytial Virus
On New Year’s Eve 2007, Rowen was admitted to the hospital in Charlotte and diagnosed with RSV, a nasty “super-virus” that can cause terrible breathing trouble for kids under the age of one. She was in the hospital for about two weeks and gave us many sleepless nights. Christie also got the bug, but was able to fight it off with the help of a nebulizer. As soon as both of the girls were well, Leah and I got sick with something similar, passed it around to friends and family, and were sick for a week! That was the story of January. Praise the Lord for our current great health!

Christie’s Birthday
We enjoyed celebrating Christie’s second birthday with family. She got a beautiful new dolly from my folks and a kids’ Bible from Leah’s folks. She was also surprised with a new swing set from “Grammy” and “Granddaddy” Anderson. She enjoys swinging and sliding, and I love to spend time with her out there in the evenings after I arrive home from work.

We all enjoyed having Leah’s family in town for Easter, and Christie and Rowen loved playing with their three cousins, Sara, Nathan, and Cody. The Easter egg hunt was a huge success! Christie’s look of surprise and joy at finding each egg was worth all the decorating, hiding, and cleanup.

Small Groups
Leah and I have both been enjoying our youth small groups, where we get the opportunity to challenge students with God’s call on their lives and encourage them with God’s Word. We are also greatly encouraged by our adult small group. We meet together each week for a meal, fellowship, Bible Study, and prayer. These are our closest friends and we greatly value the time we can spend together in community.

Taking a hint
After a year of planning and talking about our overseas plans, it’s become apparent that, while the Lord still has that in our future, it’s not going to come as soon as I’d thought. I was just sure that He would have us over in the Philippines by this time, but instead, here we are, with a huge list of opportunities to serve Him right here at home.

We began raising support last year and immediately, several of our long-time family friends offered their contributions and have been faithful each month. This, however, was the extent of the increase. Admittedly, many missionary families don’t see the greatest levels of support until they “take the show on the road,” but I didn’t feel the Lord calling us that direction.

Instead of raising our support and putting us on a plane, He gave us students to minister to, family to enjoy, friends to encourage, a church to support, fulfilling work to do, and of course, a family to raise and nurture through illnesses. I’m not sure how long this situation will last, but for now, this is where He’s planted us, so this is where we’ll flourish.

Hobbies
Speaking of flourishing, Leah and the girls have been busy planting flowers and herbs for the spring. We’re just seeing the tops of the lilies poking themselves out of the dirt! Christie loves to help with anything Mommy does and Rowen is content to watch whatever is going on.

While the girls have been planting, I’ve been pursuing outdoor activities of my own. I’ve been playing a combat sport called Airsoft for the past several years. It’s similar to paintball, but with more realistic-looking weapons and military tactics. Great fun!

Anderson Music Studio
Leah’s music studio is back open this spring! Now that Rowen is old enough, Leah has enjoyed getting back into teaching music. She has seven students this semester taking voice and piano lessons.

With as much as we have going on, we still enjoy an occasional quiet evening as a family. There’s a lot to reflect on and we are grateful for all the blessings the Lord has showered on us so far this year. Please continue to pray for our family as we follow Him on this adventure.

With love from the Andersons!

John, Leah, Christie, and Rowen

Summer Missions Wrap-up

I returned two weeks ago from our second mission trip of the summer, this one to Norfolk, Virginia. We had a great time and were able to accomplish several much-needed construction projects. The students all worked hard and were a great witness to those we were serving with their good attitudes.

I could describe the trip to you, but I'd rather let the students tell about their experiences in their own words, so here is a video of our Sunday morning Summer Missions Wrap-up service. Enjoy!

Click here to view the video

Back from NYC, off to Virginia!

We returned last Saturday from a fantastic week in New York City, ministering and watching God work. All of the students did a wonderful job and were a pleasure to lead. Us adults were all exhausted by the end of the trip, but the Lord gave us an extra measure of strength to keep up with the young'uns.

We traveled to Baltimore, MD on Friday, staying overnight at Long Green Baptist Church and enjoying the hospitality of the Childs family. We left bright and early Saturday morning for NYC, arriving in Queens at NYSUM in the mid-afternoon. We were shown our rooms and had a briefing, ate supper, then were taken out to Manhattan to Apple's Core, a homeless "coffee house" ministry.

We were all out of our element in that setting, and I was proud of our students for getting right into the ministry, helping set up the meal that would be served and preparing to lead worship. Once the guests arrived, I watched them as we served, and they were truly impressed by our students and their willingness to serve them and spend time talking with them. The time of worship was wonderful, and we really appreciated seeing a group of people who are used to singing acapella join in with us as we played.

Sunday was our free day and we spent it touring lower Manhattan, riding the subway for the first time, visiting the World Trade Center site, eating Dim Sum in Chinatown, seeing the Statue of Liberty, and visiting Ellis Island. We all really enjoyed these sights, as most of us had never been to New York before. Click here to view the photo set from the trip, which includes lots of sights from our tour!

Monday morning was spent in classes and preparation for our week of ministry. We discussed topics such as compassion, cross-cultural ministry, and New York City urban ministry. Later that evening, after a period of rest and some preliminary instruction in the subject, we were taken to Manhattan's Port Authority area, where we ministered to homeless people on the street. We were given some boxed meals and packets of toiletry items to distribute, as well as New Testaments in both English and Spanish. Many of the students and adult leaders had done similar outreaches in Charlotte, so this was perhaps the most "comfortable" ministry we did all week.

On Tuesday, we had the privilege of visiting the United Nations building and doing a prayer walk throughout the public areas. Each of us was given a sheet with a specific UN country's details and were asked to pray for that country as the Lord led us. This was new for many of us, and we all enjoyed the opportunity to spend several hours in prayer and contemplation at that place that is a shrine to mankind's efforts to bring peace to the world.

On Tuesday, we spent several hours studying the topic of Russian Jewish evangelism with a missionary who spends his life ministering to this group of people. Apparently, there is a large population of Russian Jews in the Brighton Beach area of south Brooklyn. That afternoon, we set out for the beach, where we joined up with a group of Russian youth from the Rochester, NY area. Most of them were from Ukraine, so they all spoke fluent Russian. It was fantastic to see our students begin to interact with these new friends. The Spirit of God was evident as we sang and played music together. Many of us knew all of the same songs, and we would join in with them, sometimes even singing in English while they sang in Russian.

After a delicious supper at a Russian market (I love pirogies!), we all walked out to the boardwalk and set up to play music, worship God, and witness to the bystanders at the beach. Several of the Russian students gave testimonies in their native language, which really drew a crowd. We sang songs in both languages and our guide for the day, Don, gave Gospel messages in both as well. We enjoyed this opportunity to meet fellow believers and see all that God was doing in each other's lives. One of our students remarked that, "it was like in the book of Acts, where the apostles would travel to another town, find a group of believers there, and worship together."

We spent Wednesday touring mid-town Manhattan, visiting Fifth Avenue, Times Square, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, and St. Patrick's Cathedral. We ate lunch at a superb little hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant that impressed even Peter, who spent fifteen years living in Hong Kong! We then went back to NYSUM to watch the fireworks over the city, since it was pouring down rain and we didn't want to get stuck downtown. The view was still fantastic!

Thursday morning was spent in an introductory session before our visit to the Bronx to serve in the Love Kitchen, an outreach of the Love Gospel Assembly. It is set up in the basement of the church and serves lunch five days a week to 200-300 people. We helped prepare the meal, set up the tables and chairs, and then acted as hosts, servers, and worship leaders for each group that came through to eat. I got an opportunity to share a story about Christie's dramatic birth and how much more I understood God's love for His children after experiencing that. We also helped organize and stock a store-room full of donated food for the ministry.

Later that evening, we were taken to the Coler-Goldwater Memorial Hospital on Roosevelt Island by our guide for the evening, Mama Miriam. Miriam is legally blind, but she has an abundant love for the Lord and others around her, and she visits the terminally ill patients at this hospital weekly. All of us were moved as we met patients who had been there for years, but still had a positive outlook and a strong faith in God. We sang songs acapella with/for many of the patients, some of us even remembering enough Spanish to sing several choruses for some that didn't understand English.

Friday's ministry opportunities began with a morning trip to a Manhattan park where the Rescue Bus had set up its sidewalk operation. The Rescue Bus is a ministry out of New Jersey consisting of a couple of school buses that have been renovated into mobile soup kitchens and outreach stations. We helped serve free bread and soup to any passersby and took the chance to talk with them about the Lord, if they were willing. I was also able to help the crew of the Rescue Bus with a computer problem they were having, which I felt privileged to be able to correct for them. I always appreciate how the Lord is able to use the talents He's given me in so many different situations.

After our work with the Rescue Bus, we headed back to NYSUM to pack the vehicles and prepare to leave. We drove to our last ministry site, a church VBS in South Brooklyn, and spent several hours with the children there, entertaining them and helping the church staff teach them Bible lessons and crafts. Peter and I were able to help them with their audio system while we were there, which will be a blessing to them, as they hadn't been able to afford someone to come and fix the problems they were dealing with.

From the VBS site, we drove out of New York around 9:00 p.m. and progressed all the way into upstate Virginia before we stopped at a hotel for some rest at about 3:00 a.m. The Lord was faithful to protect Bliss and me as we drove late into the night and kept us alert and safe. We pulled out of the hotel the next morning and made it home by mid-afternoon!

Overall, the trip was a huge success! Praise the Lord for His protection, guidance in ministry, and generosity to us. Please pray for those that we spoke to and shared Christ's love with, that His light would illuminate their hearts. Thank you for all your prayers and support. Please continue to lift us up as I leave for our trip to Norfolk, VA, July 22-28.

Off to New York City!

Tomorrow morning, I'll leave for New York City with a dozen or more student and adult leaders from Waxhaw Bible Church. We'll be in NYC to be trained at NYSUM (New York School of Urban Ministry). We'll have the opportunity to serve in food kitchens, homeless shelters, and to do homeless and Jewish street evangelism. We'll be there until Friday, July 6.

Please pray for me and the members of our group as we undertake this mission trip and seek to serve the less fortunate citizens of New York City. Please pray specifically for safety in travel to and from NYC and around the city as we move from location to location.

Please also pray for Leah and Christie, who will remain in Waxhaw while I'm gone.

Praise the Lord for a great first two weeks at my new job. I'm enjoying the environment and team members very much. They were very generous to let me take a week off to go to NYC and another week later in July to go to Norfolk, VA, even though I just started my work assignment there.

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”