Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Decisions are made


I have wanted to put this off for so long. It is my least favorite part of what we do. My favorite parts: working on putting an internship in place, thinking of ways to improve the school and systems that are in place at TRS, watching my husband work with Pastor Daniel to build a garden and play area for the kids, teaching the kids at TRS, spending time getting to know them and what they love, getting to know community members and their needs and then trying to find a way to help, talking with Sierra Leonean nationals about adoption and what it means. I love so many things about this job God has called me to, but naming our own needs is not one of them.

God has provided and blessed us throughout our time here. We have been blown away! Every month God gives us what we need in love, cards, special notes, financial contributions and little extras that get us through those tough days. It is so amazing to me!

We have made the decision to call Sierra Leone home for a while longer. We feel that there is more work we want to accomplish both with TRS and with other ministries that exist here. (We’ll tell you more about that one later) However, we still have need to go to the US for an extended stay trip to visit churches that partner with us, talk with new churches about partnerships, see our dearly missed friends and family and restock on supplies we can only get there. It has been nearly 2 years! We are a little homesick.  We will then come back home to SL and continue the work we are doing. Both leaving here and having to leave there will be bittersweet.

When we arrive in the US we will be fundraising for another two year stay. However, the need to fundraise is not waiting for our adoptions to be finalized and we find ourselves short to finish out the year. Rent is paid one year in advance here as well as residency visas, vehicle renewal expenses, etc. If you are reading this you may already contribute to the ministry we are doing here and this isn’t a plea for you to give, give, give, but a request that you share with others what you obviously see as important. It is important and it takes a village to do it. We could never do this on our own. We have teams of people helping us, family that supports us so totally. We have prayer teams that drop everything to lift us up, we have smart financial people keep track of things for us, we have friends packing bags with gifts that make us happy, happy, happy. Not to mention, friends and family that come to see us and boost our spirits. There are no words.

We are asking for a little more help though. We have a large sum of money we need to raise and quickly. So we are asking you to do our job a bit and pass on the word for us. If you know someone who may be interested in being a part of what we do or even a group of people that want a connection here in SL. We are so close we just need this extra push.  

In all honesty, we are in a time crunch as well. We are hoping to take care of many of these details by the end of the month. It’s a big task and we are sure God is up to the task.

We appreciate everything we know you all do for us. We are overwhelmed by the love that is poured over our family and we can’t wait to hug necks and see everyone who has been such a support throughout this crazy ride. Thank you for seeing value in what we are doing here.


How to give:


http://thebridgefellowship.net/online-giving 
This web address will show you a few options on how to give. There is also an option to mark it
for the Ropieckis. This is easy and completely secure.
THE BRIDGE FELLOWSHIP
5066 LEBANON ROAD
LEBANON, TENNESSEE 37087
You can also send a check to the above address and just put “Ropiecki Africa Mission” on the for line.