Stateside:

Apr 5-7 M I Sun City

Apr 12-14 M I Florida
May 4-6 M I Sun City
May 4-6 M I Michigan

Upcoming:
Volume 10, Issue 2 May 7, 2019

2020 Mission Trips Bearing Fruit that Lasts

Mar– Apr M I Turkey Few leaders finish well. According to Dr. Bobby Clinton, professor of Leader-
ship at Fuller Seminary, less than 1/3 finish well. However, those that DO finish
Apr 17-19 M I Hungary
well all seem to have several characteristics in common as well as practices
that help them along the life-long journey of faith and leadership. Having men-
tors is one of those practices.

Mark and Pat came alongside my husband and myself when we were in Turkey
(9years) and had been married for roughly 5-years. We are now celebrating our
15th anniversary and continue to point back to the timely input and influence
our marriage intensive gave us as a young couple.

The “sunk cost” of even getting to Turkey as a missionary is high and can even
be in the $100k range if one has a family. Of the roughly 2000 workers in Tur-
key from all over the world, at any given time, half of them have only been in
country for less than three years. It takes roughly 8 years to become fluent in
the language and culture. Certainly significant ministry can be accomplished
with shorter term stays, but it takes a different level of health and intention to
stay longer and create the essential stability and trust that this nascent church
so desperately needs. Mark and Pat’s work has had a direct impact on stem-
ming the tide of high-turnover rates.

I have yet to witness any ministry with as much immediate impact and wide-
spread influence as what Mark and Pat have done. Regardless of church or
sending organization, they were able to bring necessary tools and training to
myriad contexts and couples that had a direct impact on the relational health
and well-being of workers in country. In a place where resources and member
care are scarce, their love, openness, and genuine affection felt like an oasis in
the desert.

Lastly, as someone who lacked the initial approval of her biological parents to
be a “missionary”, Mark and Pat stepped in spiritual parents and fulfilled Jesus’
promise from Luke 18:29-30, “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who
has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of
the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in
the age to come eternal life."

10 years have passed since our marriage intensive with Mark and Pat. We con-
tinue to employ the tools and wisdom that they gave us as well as pass them on
to others. We now have the privilege of saying “yes” to possible long-term work
with Muslims in the Middle East because of fundamental shifts in our perspec-
tive and values can be tied directly back to that intensive 10 years ago. We are
so grateful for their mentoring and continued love and support!
Page 2

We now have a Website if you would like to Investing in Couples

maybe share with others. For the next several months, we will be sharing testi-
havenofhopeinternational.org monies from couples that attended Haven of Hope's
"Marriage Intensives" during the early years of minis-
try, while we were living in Turkey, to allow our sup-
Also for your convenience anyone can go online porters to understand the long term results your in-
to make a donation. vestment has over the past 10-years. Also we want
1. Go to this link http:// to humbly invite those that have been reading about
www.northwestfellowship.com/ media- our ministry to Turkey to jump on board and begin to
center support Haven of Hope in order for us to continue to
2. Select Give on Line serve couples overseas in the future. Please join the
team by prayer and financial support. Thank you
3. Go to drop down box and select
Introducing KK & Cynthia
Haven of Hope. Haven of Hope.
This month we want to introduce you to KK & Cyn-
thia, the newest couple of our team, that
We are a couple from the Asia Pacific and have re-
tired from our jobs since 2013. In 2016 we had the jumped on board with us last year for 3-weeks and
chance to undergo the Marriage Intensive (MI) in our this year for 2-weeks. I have had the pleasure of
second home in the Middle East. During the MI, we working with them as their coach last year and to
learned, through practical exercises, to build up inti- mentor them over the past year. It is our goal to in-
macy with our spouse, to enter into the spouse's world vest in as many couples as God enables us.
and share the emotions among each other. We learnt
to help meet our spouse's needs, confess with each
other and forgive. We found the abundance in our
marriage which we had never experienced before. It
was amazing!

After the MI we followed up our "Intimacy Action Plan" till now

- we continued the practical exercises that we have learnt. It really
helped us to stay intimate!

We strongly felt that the MI would be helpful for all couples in

restoring their intimate relationship because it was God's heart. In
2018 we started to learn to facilitate in the MI. In the past 2 years,
we were so blessed to have Mark and other facilitators mentoring
and encouraging us so that we could step out and move forward.
We still have much to learn in order to be accredited by Haven of
Hope but it is our wish that more couples can enjoy the abun-
dance of marriage through the MI tools. While our vision is to
serve the Chinese speaking couples, translation of the MI work-
book from English to Chinese becomes necessary and a big chal-
lenge. Please pray for us to have all achieved in God's time, ac-
creditation and the translation.

KK and Cynthia