Al & Diane Mellinger's Missionary Adventure

God is on the Move…

October 10, 2019 – I say that God is on the move as I see his hand working in so many places and I see the enemy working overtime to distract us from all that is happening.

Diane & I with Granddaughter Faith - A very GOOD thing!

Over the past month (while we have been stateside) we have reported on the dedication of the safe house, the beginning of 7 new church plants in Bulgaria and 9 in Serbia. And the work is on track to become an annual Conference in our movement next year. Time with family has been awesome. Our church visits have gone well with many folks connecting in new and deeper ways.  And things are looking up for Marketplace Manna.

At the same time, we have had struggles with things at the store, our car and with our home and the rental units in it.

Funds and cash flow to help with all that is going on continues to be an issue we deal with. Our trust is in God but we also know we have to do our part to let the needs be made known without seeming to be begging.

With about 1 month to go on this stateside partnership time, we are getting tired and looking forward to returning to the Balkans. but even that is still a bit of an unknown as our new apartment is still being redone and we hope it is ready when we get back. We live one day at a time.

So, we are excited, tired, expectant and a bit apprehensive all at the same time which only drives us to trust in God all the more. This week pray or praise for whatever you see above that catches your eye.  God knows what we need and He will let you know how to pray!

Thanks again for your prayers and support!

 

Our schedule:

October 13, 2019 – Ferndale FMC – Ferndale, MI

October 18, 2019 – JTV show -  1:55 (local Jackson TV show)

October 19^, 2019 - Woodstock FMC 10 AM (Saturday)

October 20, 2019 – AM - Grace FMC – McConnell. IL –

            PM – Monee FMC – 6 PM

October 22 – Trunk or Treat – Jackson Crossing 5-7 PM      

Oct 24 –  Small Group SA 7 pm

October 27, 2019 –Wesley Church – Waukegan

October 29 – Rotary Breakfast Club 7 AM

You Never Know what God will do!

October 2, 2019 – This week I have been talking with one of the new missionary families who are working on raising their support to go to the field.  I knew I had met the wife a number of years ago when she was helping with a Latino Church plant in Jackson but I did not realize until this week that the husband and I had known each other about 20 years ago.

He is from Peru and was a teen in the church in Tacna, Peru that we took teams to from both McPherson and Crossroads churches about 20-year ago.

That seems like so long ago but as we chatted he told me that God began to stir in him the desire to do mission work when the team was serving in Peru.  I am again amazed and thanking God for the connections his church has and for the ongoing impact being faithful to do and go where God sends.

Please pray that God would help RODRIGO & TANYA ROSADO as they work to raise their support.

Pray for our travels as we begin the last 4 weeks of presentations stateside.

Pray too for our support and funding as we still need some for ourselves, the Country shares and development fund for Marketplace Manna.

Partnership Schedule:

October 6, 2019 - Westland FMC

            PM – SAFMC 6:00

October 13, 2019 – Ferndale FMC

October 19^, 2019 - Woodstock FMC 10 AM (Saturday)

October 20, 2019 – Grace FMC – McConnell. IL

            Monee. IL – 6 PM youth group

 

New Church Plants Started!

September 26, 2019 – Last week began our third cohort of church plants in Bulgaria. We are launching 7 new locations in Bulgaria where churches will be planted. These will be added to our 14 existing churches.

Our church planting cohorts are a 2-year program with some kind of training or contact every month either together or by our leadership visiting the location of the church plant to work with the church planter.

Here are pictures of this year’s leaders.

 

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We will also be launching 9 new church plants in Serbia the first weekend in October. These are the first official churches for us in Serbia. A third cohort will be started early next year in North Macedonia. This is the second cohort for North Macedonia these 5-6 churches will join the five we currently have there.  These are exciting times for the work in the Balkans

In addition, come February 2020 the plans are for this group of churches to elect a Superintendent and boards as well as establish their own annual conference.

Please pray for each cohort as well as the plans being made to establish the Balkan Conference leadership.

On a personal note, we have a few unspoken requests that are weighing heavy on us right now.  Pray for God to intervene and do a miracle.

Partnership Schedule:

September 29, 2019 – Trinity Evangelical, Upper Sandusky, Ohio

October 6, 2019 - Westland FMC - W/ the Sweets

October 13, 2019 – Ferndale FMC - W/ the Sweets

October 19^, 2019 - Woodstock FMC 10 AM (Saturday)

October 20, 2019 – Grace FMC – McConnell. IL 

            Monee. Il – 6 PM youth group

Holiday Gift Giving Idea!

September 20, 2019 – We are under 100 days until Christmas.  That is a long way off for many and very close for others.  If you are like most there are folks you need to get a gift for but not sure what they would like and need.  Often, we settle on Gift Cards.

We have gift cards for more than 750 businesses nationwide.  You can get physical gift cards or send e-gift cards to emails.  Almost any denomination is available.

Why get your gift Cards from us? 

Because when you do you it is like giving twice – First the face value to the person you are giving the card to and second to help Marketplace Manna help the poor, disenfranchised, persecuted disabled and unemployed around the world.

For example: you give a $50 Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, or Target Gift Card – you pay $50 – and you give $50 as the gift but we get $1.25 to help us with our mission (that is 2.5%) Some cards give a higher percentage back – a $50 Starbucks would give us $3.50 back,

Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, Red Lobster, Buffalo Wild Wings, Applebee’s and Panera Bread all give us $4 back from a $50 Gift Card

Marketplace Manna now offers Gift Cards to over 750 Businesses nationwide for you to purchase (just like you do at the grocery or major home improvement store). Anywhere from 1.5% to 16% of the value of the card comes back to us for our work.

If you are thinking of getting Gift Cards check with us and let your giving do more.

To learn more click here - https://almellinger.typepad.com/scrip/

O flyer on the program click here https://almellinger.typepad.com/Corperate%20Giving%20Program%20web%20page.pdf

Or watch this video below

Things to pray about this week:

• Our Virtual Christmas Gift Box Program – Pray that we would have enough funds to give all the kids we have a nice Christmas
• David, Jill Sweet, and boys as they arrived stateside for several months – pray that they are able to make the contacts need to raise the support they need. Also, Praise God the trip with the boys went very smooth!
• Our Livelihood Groups as they start up again – pray that our sales would allow us to increase these to more of the people in need.

 

St John House Dedicated

September 12, 2019 – Last weekend (9/7) the St John’s Home for Girls was dedicated in Bulgaria.  We were not there to participate in person but through report of those who were and the photos, it was an amazing time. Here is a quote from Kevin Austin – Director of Set Free

“Incredible day here in Bulgaria. Five years ago God gave a vision to Dee Dee Hester Galloway to partner with the Roma and others to establish a safe home for vulnerable Roma girls. It was a HUGE step of faith - but she took it. Today we dedicated the home. It's been a global movement. It was a #freedomsunday project.”

From this quote, you can understand the time and energy it took to bring the idea from a dream to reality.  This week take some time to praise God for what He has done and what will be done to serve the girls that will go through this home!

(all photos taken by Kevin Austin)

Also, pray for an unspoken need we have right now.  I hope to share more of the details soon.

And remember to pray for the Virtual Christmas Gift Box plans and preparations - pray that we have a good number of Churches participating.

Here is our travel schedule for the next few weeks:

September 15, 2019 – Freeport

September 22, 2019 – Taylor/Journey of Hope – AM

            Cornerstone – Battle Creek – 6 PM

September 28 – SAU Vendor Fair Homecoming

September 29, 2019 – Trinity Evangelical - Upper Sandusky, Ohio