The Journey of Partnership

The Journey of Partnership

 

“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”

-Philippians 1:4-6

 

Oh if I could accurately explain the ups and downs of this journey of partnership. It was on my way home from our travels all around ND and my wife and I broke down. Just crying realizing that we can’t do this.

 

To give you a short synopsis of the journey we have been on over the last two weeks.

We have been from Bismarck, ND to St. Cloud, MN 

From St. Cloud to Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

And not just in one place in the Twin cities either. Everywhere we went in the big city seemed like it was all the way up north or all the way down south.

We then traveled Grand Forks, ND and then back to Bismarck for a couple days.

We then got back in the car, traveled 5 hours around rural ND.

Stopped in Munich, ND and shared our heart with the body of believers at Salem Bible Church.

Went on to Mayville, ND about 2.5 hours farther, to reconnect with friends.

Stayed two days and then headed back to Bismarck.

 

As we drove in the car crying on our way back, I realized how hard I have pushed not only myself but my wife. Realizing that the image I was getting was from the Lord. He wanted to show me picture and it wasn’t easy to handle…

 

The picture was of me trudging through the mud. Not only was I hiking through the thick of it, but I was dragging my wife behind me. She had a back pack on and was face down. I had my hand on the back pack and I was pulling her through the mud.

OUCH! The Lord was bringing so much conviction to my heart. That of lack of trust, and trying to perform on my own strength and not willing to slow down. It reminded my of the time I was in the Republic of Georgia stuck in the mud with no way to get out except to wait for someone to help.

 

We took the next three days to refocus and reflect. We stopped setting up meetings and just waited on the Lord after this image. We had been doing so much in our own power that we forgot about who is in control and who determines when we get fully supported.

 

As a recent husband I have really leaned a lot about my wife. I am amazed by her giftedness to be so good at so many different things. She is unique in the fact that she can run with me. But the biggest thing I am learning about Emily is how to take care of her needs and to recognize them before they are even there. The best gift I could give her was rest and to refocus on the Lord and letting Him be in control of the process.

 

Despite what we feel and how we think everything is going, I look back and see God’s hand in incredible ways. The ministry God has given us perfect for our gifting and we love doing it. Here are some highlights over the last couple of weeks:

 

Speaking at Salem Bible Church in Munich, ND

Seeing God provide 5 famers to sow into our ministry through Steer INC.

Reconnecting with old friends and seeing them want to Journey with us in Ministry

Seeing tears come to the eyes of those being touched by God

Speaking at Shiloh Christian School in Bismarck

Seeing the Lord provide for our needs 

 

We are currently at 64% of our goal! Praise God with us for that!

Lastly, we feel like the church is sending us out and we feel honored, blessed, and adopted! 

Our mentor Dave, gave us this verse and we have been holding on to it strongly in the last week praying it over all those who partner with us:

 

“Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this they will lay up treasures for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”

 

Please pray with us in our needs:

-Rest and strength to continue on in this process of partnership development

-Motivation in the day to day and task to task

-Youth to be moved and grasp God’s heart and calling in their lives

-Holy Spirit to activate the church to be doers and not hearers of the Word

-Barriers would be broken down that hinder us from bringing hope to the nations

-Family to be healthy- my mom, brother and others have had Covid recently

-Grandpa Hershey was diagnosed with cancer and it has been spreading – pray that in the process he would grab on to the hope that He has in Jesus and have supernatural peace!

-Pray for partnership in this ministry and the advancement of the Kingdom

 

Have specific pray needs? Comment below or send us a message!

Thank you all for choosing to journey with us in partnership. We couldn’t do it with out you! I hope this encourages you today!

 

Blessings,

 

Andrew & Emily