Dear Friends,

After weeks of working from home, today I am sitting at my desk at Amnion writing this newsletter. The center is now open, and with a few adjustments we are back to providing our regular services. Praise God!

 know we are not out of the woods with COVID-19, especially now dealing with the economic consequences of the lockdown. Since we are community funded, we know that our budget will be impacted to some degree or another. It is times like these that give us opportunity to trust the Lord in even greater ways.

Our Walk for Life is still taking place, only now it's a virtual walk. Get all the Walk details HERE.

Please let me know if there is anything we can do for you. We call you friends, but you are really family.

Thanks for helping us SPREAD HOPE!

Mark Opseth
Executive Director
952-898-4350

A COOK AND A CARPENTER

This month I want to share with you about the mission work of a cook and a carpenter.  We read in the Bible (John 21:9) that Jesus had prepared breakfast for his disciples.  I like to call that the "Great Fish Fry".  We also read in the Bible that Jesus was the son of a carpenter; which means Jesus worked with his hands as a carpenter.

Now let's move forward to today's context.  What are your Emanuel Mexico Mission missionaries doing during this time of "Stay at Home"?

For one, Sheri is cooking, and cooking alot.  Everyday she makes more than we can eat, so she can share it with our neighbors.  Every Friday she prepares a complete meal for a family of 5, whose mother has cancer.  Cooking and Sharing just go hand in hand for Sheri.  She has made simple dishes to complete banquet type meals for this family.  Are they grateful?  Their oldest daughter said one Friday night, "Mom is having a bad day and I'm tired of cooking and cleaning.  I have my school work, via on-line, to complete.  Thank you so much".  Their favorite desserts so far have been Sheri's Pecan Pie and Orange Cookies.  Their favorite meal was homemade thin crust pizza, made on a pizza stone.  Mom's favorite is Sheri's fruit salads.

Now, on to a carpenter story.  Jose, the minister at the Ontañon Church of Christ, has always loved working with wood.  So it was natural for him to help a church member build the shelving that they needed.  Then the same family said, "Can you build us an entertainment (T.V.) stand for our living room"?  Other church members heard about Jose's work as a carpenter and asked if he could build them 2 individual bed frames.  

So, the story goes that while in quarantine, both Sheri and Jose have been busy.  Sheri in her natural environment, the kitchen and Jose turned his apartment back patio into a carpenter shop.  It's like the WWJD bracelet "What Would Jesus Do".

You can find Jose sharing his Sunday morning messages through Facebook live at 11:00 a.m., on the Emanuel Mexico Mission, Facebook page.  Also his weekly ministry programs (live on Facebook called Atrevete) at 9:00 p.m., on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.  

This past month (April), I was able to get all the plumbing and electrical repairs finished !  Now onto repairing and replacing broken doors and door knobs.  I'll continue to be the Uber Eats driver to deliver meals and work as the maintenance man that the ministry needs at this time.

Our scheduled May trip to the U.S., was canceled and we hope to reschedule it for June.  Hope to see many of you in June!  God bless you and thank you for supporting your ministry work in the kitchen and carpenter shop of Emanuel Mexico Mission.

David DeBolt

Dear Christian Friends
 
Amid great adversities, discoveries are possible, and opportunities arise even as challenges confront. TCM has been through many of these since our beginning in 1957. And now we discover God positioning us for creative expansion opportunities ahead.
 
As you know, all our training and operations have continued through various distance delivery tools. No classes have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The best distance education delivery practices are increasingly being utilized. International disciple-making students from nearly 50 countries continue their training, ministries, and mentoring.
 
As you may have heard, challenges with different virus peaks, border crossings, airline restrictions, and visa procurements remain. This negatively impacts our staff, faculty, volunteers, and students. For these reasons, the leadership of TCM has made the decision to continue with 100% distance education delivery for the rest of this year. This decision includes postponing the 2020 Graduation from August 2020 until May 2021.
 
We foresee returning to a blended education model in 2021 that will include face-to-face mentoring...

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING THIS UPDATE

Happy Monday!

We at The Open Door want to start your week with some inspiring news about the impact you have made in our community over the first 30 days of this crisis response. We asked for more support during this crisis and you responded in a remarkably generous way. Because you gave more, we are doing more.

You helped us not only meet our $200,000 goal for the Minnesota FoodShare March Campaign but exceed it. Your infusion of generosity has helped us serve more people in more places at a time when it’s needed most.

In the last 30 days our volunteers and staff have provided fresh and healthy food to nearly 10,000 of our neighbors. We started our summer meals program early and have already served more than 5,000 meals to low-income students directly in their neighborhoods. 
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO KEEP READING...

Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2020 11:37 AM
To: Carolyn Krob
Subject: RE: How can we pray?
 
Thank you so much for your inquiry as to how to pray for TCM during this time.
 
First, we want to praise God that we are able to continue all of our classes with online delivery.  TCM was approved several years ago to offer classes with 100% distance delivery.  We have kept a portion of classes with face-to-face sessions.  However, due to restrictions of the Austrian Government and the U.S. Government, we had to cancel the face-to-face class time at Haus Edelweiss for Sessions 1 through 4, but moved those sessions to online delivery as well.
 
Please pray:
For our professors and students as they adapt and adjust to the totally online classes.

For our staff who have had to return to the U.S. due to visa issues.  We have three U.S. employees who have applied for visas, but have not received them yet, so they could not stay in Austria. Please pray that even with the COVID-19 crisis, the visa applications will be approved.

For our Executive Leadership Team as they make decisions related to the current pandemic and plan for the future.
That TCM’s graduation, scheduled to be held in August, can be celebrated as planned this year.

For our staff in the Indianapolis office as they are all trying to work from home to comply with the stay-at-home order and especially for those who are in the high-risk category.

That God will provide for TCM, as well as other mission organizations, during this time of financial uncertainty.

For our students as they continue to minister in their respective countries as they also deal with travel and government and social distancing restrictions and that TCM can continue to equip disciple makers.
 
As a staff, we continue to meet virtually each day for our prayer time.  During that time, we pray for our supporters and any specific needs we are aware of.  I there are ways we can pray for you or your congregation, please let us know.  We especially pray for those affected by this pandemic and pray that God will work through this situation for His glory.
 
Again, thank you for praying for TCM and for reaching out to us.
 
In Him,
Carol Fields