Lots going on this month! We want to give you a brief update of the many different ways God is working.
Our region had a virtual gathering a few weeks ago, and we were able to co-lead a breakout on communications. We taught on two things how to set yourself up for a video teaching, and how to capture basic b-roll to add in to your videos. It was so fun to see our missionaries moving themselves and their cameras to follow our tips, and noticing things in the background that they hadn’t thought of before. After the breakout, one of our missionaries told us, “I should have waited 2 more hours to post that video. I did everything wrong!” We’re hoping to do this lesson again sometime in the next few months. Let us know if this could be useful for you as well, and we’ll see how we can include you!
Local church visits continue to encourage us. It is a joy to talk with these pastors and worship in these churches. We are blessed to have our community in support of this ministry.
You have been faithful in prayer and faithful in giving. Because of that, with our start-up fund complete, we have now reached 21% of our equipment fund. Praise God for his provision through you all.
This month we’ve seen some monthly partners drop off and we’ve had new people join. Our monthly partnership commitment is now at 40%. While we’re sad to see that our percentage has gone down this month, we’re looking forward to seeing how God continues to set people in place to partner with us in this ministry.
Poland Update 🇵🇱
Poland has been in the news lately for two reasons. First, a recently created law regarding abortion has led to widespread protests. We won’t dive into this issue, but a related BBC article pulled an interesting quote from a protestor – “I’m here today because it annoys me that in a secular country the church decides for me what rights I have, what I can do and what I’m not allowed to do.” This young woman pointed out a shift that our organization and a few like it have already begun to see: many people in this country no longer view their Catholic heritage as valuable today. While we may still think of Poland as a Catholic nation at least in tradition, the young people adamantly disagree – they are living in a secular nation where Christian values are not relevant.
Second, there has been a huge spike of Covid cases throughout central Europe. Several of our team member’s friends, kids’ teachers and classmates, and neighbors have tested positive. All of Steve and Jenny’s kids are schooling from home now, and there is tremendous stress in re-acclimating to life in Poland at a time like this.
We launched our Instagram account as a way for more people to hear about us and see what’s going on in our ministry, and as a way for you to share this ministry with your friends. If you haven’t already managed to find us, we encourage you to check it out and follow us @hansonstoryteam. Guaranteed pictures and stories of us working, glimpses into our daily life as we prepare for the field, and scriptural puns about media equipment.
Praise God with Us
For God’s provision and for the generosity of His people.
For a successful first communications workshop.
After the opportunity to test the camera we plan to buy for this ministry, we are feeling confident in our choice.
For the encouragement we have received from our various teams (in Poland, in the Converge leadership, and in you)
Pray with Us
For our Polish brothers and sisters who are striving to live out the Gospel through all this turmoil.
For God to continue to guide us in our conversations about the development of a full team.
For tremendous growth in partnership over the next few months. Please pray for 50% in our monthly partnerships!
From Galatians 6:9, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer.
Hanson Story Team 