Our departure day is here!

We have thought about this day for over a year now, how it would feel to say goodbye to everything familiar, get on an airplane at Ohare airport, and watch the Chicago skyline disappear one last time. Now that it’s happening it feels surreal!

This past month we’ve stayed at 9 different places in 6 different states; IL, OH, PA, IN, NE, CO. We’ve been able to have a lot of fun memories followed by many goodbyes.

At our training at MTI, one of the teachers told us it should hurt to say goodbye.  He explained that when we are loved well, and we love well in return, it hurts to say goodbye.  As we look back at our last month it has hurt to say goodbye.  We have been well loved by you, thank you.  Our hope is that you have felt our love as well.

When we returned from our youth discipleship trip to Colorado on Sunday, it hit me that there were more goodbyes to give.  As I hugged each youth and said goodbye I knew that I was no longer going to be their youth pastor.  I fought back the emotion for the first 15 hugs but then that lump in the back of my throat developed that makes it hard to speak.   I will miss each of you and it was a privilege to be your youth pastor.

Today is the day we have prayed for, the day so many of you have prayed for with us.  We are so excited to begin this new adventure and feel thankful to be sent out by you to make much of Christ’s name to the nation of Kenya.

Psalm 105:1,3-5a,7a
1Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
3Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
5Remember the wonders he has done….
7He is the Lord our God;

Items for prayer and praise:

Travel: Pray that our flights would go smoothly and all of our 28 bags would make it safely to Kenya.

Transition: Pray that we would adjust and settle in quickly to our new home in Kenya.

Relationships with Naomi’s Village: Pray that God would help us to develop meaningful relationships with the kids and staff.    
 

For His Name,
Mark and Liz Sisler

³I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Phil 1:3-5
 
As we prepare for our missionary journey to Kenya this verse seems so timely.  Liz and I cannot express the joy that God has brought us through you as supporters.  Each day before bed time we pray for 4 of our sending partners.  Liz wrote down every individual or family on a card along with each child from Naomi’s Village.  Before bedtime we each take a card and pray for one family and one child by name.  We thank God for you by name about every three weeks!  We praise God that in His goodness he laid on your heart a desire to partner with us.  We praise God that you listened to His call and stepped out in faith.  We pray that God would use you to make much of His name in the areas that He has placed you.
Thank you for your encouragement over the last year. God has used this to grow our faith in Him immensely.  
We have felt God’s presence with us through your prayers as we’ve entered the “chaos” stage of this journey as MTI labeled it for us. This past week we’ve said goodbye to our two pet cats as they moved to another home. Said goodbye and packed everything going with us to Kenya as we moved out of our house. And will now live out of a suitcase for the next month.

Our departure date is only 29 days away.  July 29^th marks the start of a new adventure, a new home, and a new ministry.  Thank you for making this journey possible. 
       Here is a time line of our next month.
July 1:  We say goodbye to our house at 116 Cascade.  July 6 is the closing date to sell our house.

July 3-10:  We will be on vacation in Pennsylvania with Liz’s family and then with friends in Indiana.

July 12: I will be preaching my last sermon at Western Springs Baptist Church. If you would like to attend the service but don’t normally attend WSBC, our service starts at 9:30am.  The address is 4475 Wolf Rd Western Springs IL.  Liz and I would love to see each of you!  Following the service there will be a lunch reception.

July 18-26 We will be leading our last high school summer trip to Colorado.  Please pray that our group would experience God in a profound way that would draw us closer to Christ.

July 29, 2015 at 4:30pm:  We will be boarding a plane for Kenya, it’s a one way ticket, wow!

Items for prayer and praise:

House closing:  We are supposed to close on July 6th, please pray for a smooth uneventful process!

Mini van praise:  God provided a buyer for our van that is allowing us to keep the van until we leave, truly a huge praise!

Relationships with the kids at Naomi’s Village: Pray that God would help us to quickly develop meaningful relationships with the kids once we arrive.   
 
My Brothers family at MTI: Would you pray for their family that their time at MTI would draw them closer to Christ and help them to soak in tools that will help them adjust quickly once they arrive in Kenya in August.

For His Name,

As we edge closer to our departure date (July 29^th) we just keep trusting that God is good.  We are doing really well.  We have had some emotional moments, when our heart tugs at all we are leaving behind, mostly in regards to people and great relationships God has given us.  But in those moments we keep reminding ourselves that God is directing our path to Kenya.  We want to trust God fully with our lives, not holding onto anything tightly.  So today is a mile marker, less than 2 months until we are dropped off at O’hare airport with a couple dozen bags and containers headed out on a 1 way ticket to Africa! For months I have envisioned that airplane door closing as we leave the gate in Chicago ready to depart on a mission that will stretch our faith and draw us closer to Christ.

A Pair of Ducks:
It’s exciting to anticipate a new journey with God and yet sad to say goodbye to a life here that we have absolutely loved.  At MTI they taught us a lesson about the paradox missionaries face by using a “pair-of-ducks”, get the pun! One rubber ducky was called a “Yay” duck and one rubber ducky was called a “Yuck” duck.  On our journey there will be yay duck thoughts and yuck duck thoughts often at the same time and they are both valid emotions.

A definition of a paradox is:
“A statement that apparently contradicts itself and yet might be true.”

So we are thrilled to be leaving for Africa (Yay duck) and yet part of us is still wanting to hang on to the familiar handles of our current life (yuck duck).  We are excited to embrace new relationships (Yay duck) and yet sad to leave behind the friends that God has faithfully provided (Yuck duck). We are excited that our house sold but sad to leave behind 12 years of memories at our house.
Hence the paradox or pair-of-ducks we feel as we continue to prepare for our departure.
We are thankful for your support and prayers as we continue down this journey.

Update on our House:

This is the duplex that we will be sharing with Steve & Anji’s family. We will live on the left side.
We are grateful for Robert Kimball and all he has done in keeping the house construction on target.  Please keep praying that there wouldn’t be any delays in the completion. 

Items for prayer:

House closing:  Please continue to pray that our house sale closes on schedule (July 1).  So far everything has gone very smoothly.

Mini Van Sale:  Pray that God would provide a buyer for our 2009 Toyota Sienna.  If you know of anyone looking to purchase a used mini-van let us know.  

Kids at Naomi’s Village: Pray that God would draw these kids to himself and use them to make much of His name throughout Kenya.

Naomi’s Village Staff:  Pray that God would encourage them and give them strength this week as they shepherd the kids.

For His Name,
Mark and Liz Sisler

A few years ago, another pastor challenged me to keep track of how God answered my prayers so that I could remember how faithful He is.  His contention was that often times we think God doesn’t answer our prayers, because we don’t remember what we actually prayed. By not keeping a record of what we ask for, we don’t realize how often God answers our prayers with a “Yes”.  So from the beginning of this Africa journey, we have kept track of God answering our prayers and we just wanted to share a few of them with you as encouragement that God hears and God answers.  Sometimes God’s answer is different then what we asked for but He always answers.

Prayers that we have prayed and Gods response:
 
That someone would join Mark on his vision trip to Kenya:
God cleared his brothers work schedule and allowed for Steve to join Mark in May 2014
 
That God would clearly show us if he wanted us to go to Naomi’s Village:  Sunday May 25 God answered with a distinct call.
 
Naomi’s Village needed an experienced building manager to help with all of the new projects: Robert and Julia Kimball were led to join NV in May of 2014.
 
That God would give clarity to Marks brother and his family as to if they should also join Naomi’s Village:  On Sept 20 Steve and his family made the decision to join Naomis’s Village. 
 
A place to live in Africa, there was no housing for us in Kijabe:  God blessed our request for a house by allowing us to build at Moffatt Bible College property.
 
We needed to raise financial support in order for us to serve in Kenya:  In a short amount of time so many of you stepped forward in partnership with us.  We cannot tell you enough how much each of you mean to us. God used all of you to encourage us throughout the last 10 months.
 
That our families would be supportive of us going to Kenya:  Both our families have been very supportive and have sent us with their blessing.
 
That our boys would make great friends while we were at MTI: Both boys made friends on day 1 of our training.
 
That God would provide a buyer for one of our cars who would allow us to keep the car until we left for Kenya. God provided a man from our church to purchase Mark’s car and he is content with waiting until the end of July to take possession of it.
 
We prayed for a buyer for our house who would be content with us staying in the house, through June.  Oh, and we also prayed that it would be bought by a family that had boys who would enjoy our house and park as much as we do:  Our house was on the market for 3 days and the buyer is a lady with 2 young boys that was fine with us waiting to move out until the end of June!
 
God is faithful to answer when we pray.

Update on our House:

Robert Kimball has been working hard at keeping the duplex on track to be completed some time in June.  We are grateful for him and all he has done.  Please keep praying that there wouldn’t be any delays in the process.

Apparently this room already has tenants!!

Items for prayer:

Transition:  Our family is going through a lot of transition over the next few months.  The church is in the process of hiring a new youth pastor, we are cleaning out our house and preparing to move out on July 1.  Our departure date is currently set at July 29!  Please pray for smooth transitions and that our eyes would remain on Christ.

Cornerstone Academy: Pray that the process for building the school would continue on schedule without any delays.  The hope is that this school would be open early next year.
 
Support: We are grateful for all of you that have supported us through prayer and finances. If you have wanted to partner with us monthly, but have not done so yet, there is a link at the bottom of this page.  We would be grateful for your partnership!

Children at Naomi’s Village:  Pray for the 2 new children that Naomi’s Village took in over the last month, Franklin and Hope.  Pray that they would adjust well to their new loving home at Naomi’s Village.
 
For His Name,
Mark and Liz Sisler

It was much harder to say goodbye then I thought it would be. Over the last 4 week our family has had the privilege of being surrounded by 31 adults and 37 kids that have also accepted the call to bring the power of the gospel to the ends of the earth. These families represent ambassadors for Christ that will be ministering on the continents of Africa, North and South America, Europe, and Asia to make much of His name.

At MTI we learned, laughed, prayed, cried and made many memories together. We had many late night conversations with others about how God has powerfully worked in our lives, and how he continues to direct us as we journey towards the ministry that He is calling us to. In a very short amount of time we developed deep, meaningful relationships with many of the other missionaries.

One of the first days we were at MTI, we were told that if it hurt to say goodbye to each other when this ended, it meant that we had loved each other well. I didn’t think much of this statement at the time because our training had just begun. However, as the weeks went on I started to realize that saying good bye was going to be tough, it was going to hurt quite a bit, because we had loved and been loved on by so many at MTI. We all had built relationships that we know will continue on even as we serve our God across the globe.

And so today, it is with a heavy heart that we said good-bye to one another, knowing that we probably will not see most of these people again this side of eternity. It hurt to say good bye. Following breakfast we embraced one another and fought back the lump that starts to grow in the back of your throat and paralyzes your vocal cords as you say goodbye to each person that has had a profound impact on your life.

We are thankful for the relationships that God gave us while we were at MTI and we are grateful to God for the faith that he has given these families to proclaim His name all over the world. So we are sad to leave, and yet we are grateful at the same time. Trusting that He is greater, and trusting that Christ is worth everything!

Thank you to all of you that have prayed for our family while we were away. Our time at MTI was so rich with information that will help us adjust to ministry in Kenya. Next time I will share more specifics about what we learned. For now though, we just want to dwell on how thankful to God we are for the people that he allowed us to rub shoulders with over the last month.

Phil 1: 3-6

I thank my God every time I remember you. 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.

Our time here at MTI (Mission Training International) has flown by and we are grateful for all of the things that have been taught to us. The first 2 weeks centered on language acquisition. It would be too long to explain this in any great detail so, I will give you the cliff note version. In the English language there are 44 sounds that we make for any word that we say. In other languages there are many other sounds that are not used in English.  In our training we learned how to form new sounds that make up words in other languages. We spent hours looking into a mirror and watching the placement of our tongue in order to form the new sounds.

Liz with our Vietnamese Language Helper.

Some of the other teaching has focused on how we can thrive in a new culture. We have played culture games, role played scenarios, and spent time in small groups discussing differences and emotions that we will encounter once we arrive in our country to minister.

One of the highlights of MTI are the relationships that are developed between each other. Our 2 weeks together has had the feel of a summer camp experience. In a short amount of time we have bonded with others quickly as we live in community with one another. Throughout our time so far we have laughed, prayed and shared how God has provided abundantly for the ministry He has called us each to. We know that God brought each of us (37 adults and 31 kids) together to encourage and support one another before we venture out into unknown soil, trusting that He will guide us through each peak and valley.

Jaden and Josiah have also been learning the kid version of everything we have gone through. They have made new friends and have enjoyed their teachers.

We have been enjoying the crazy weather here in Colorado. We have had gorgeous sunny 60 degree days and also snow storms like today. Our boys have had fun in all the different climates. Here is a picture of a Jaden’s sledding accident from a few days ago!

A Point for Reflection from our training:

Often times we look back at a tough event or situation that God walked us through and we say that “God taught” us this or we say that we have “learned this truth or lesson”. But the reality is that we never reach the past tense. Our journey with God is always active and God is always laying new things and challenges in front of us that will stretch our faith in some of the same areas that he already stretched us.  God is always teaching and we are always learning.

Thank you for your prayers as we continue learning new ways to adapt to a foreign culture.

Following my trip to Kenya last May of 2014 we prayed concerning God’s call on our lives. We knelt before the Lord and sought his direction, his will for our lives. We wanted to know if God would allow us to join Him with what He was doing in Africa and so we prayed. Over the course of 3 weeks in June it became apparent that God was indeed leading us to Kenya. We were overjoyed that this calling came for our family.

We knew the next step was to pick a date for our training at MTI (Missions Training International) because the slots fill up fast. In July, we settled on February 2015 for training and we both thought it seemed like it would be a long time before we would be leaving.

Now its February, 20 inches of snow fell last weekend which was a reminder that this will be our last Chicago winter and things are changing. As I shoveled the driveway numerous times, I kept reminding myself that there would not be snow in Kenya. Oh there will be things that will be much tougher then shoveling, and our family is trusting that God will help us walk through them as he leads us on.

Today is Saturday February 7, a day that has been on our minds recently as it’s the day before we leave for MTI. MTI has always been a marker that this is for real, we are really moving our family to Kenya. Obviously Colorado is not Kenya but MTI serves as a reminder that Kenya is close. For 4 weeks we will be in Colorado so that we can learn how to serve Christ in a foreign country. Our hope is that MTI will provide much needed training for our family as we all press on towards what God is calling us to in Africa.

Please lift our family up in prayer as we are taught about how to deal with cross-cultural challenges. And pray for our boys as they are saying goodbye to their normal surroundings and routine and enter the reality of this life change for our family.

Liz and I are grateful for you, our team of supporters, and are lifting you up in prayer daily.

For His Name

Mark

We are excited to give you all an update on the progress for our family and with Naomi’s village. Our family is doing well and both boys have had birthdays since our last newsletter! Jaden is now 8 years old and Josiah just turned 6 years old today.  They are full of Kenya questions have been embracing the changes we have begun to make.

The groundbreaking for Cornerstone Preparatory Academy  took place on Tuesday, January 20. The school campus will be located on a 21 acre plot of land across from Mount Longonot.
 
 Cornerstone is founded on the principle that change starts within Kenya, will provide an excellent education and knowledge of Jesus Christ to needy kids without charge to their families. In doing so, a nucleus of bright young leaders will be raised despite their background of poverty, and they will be encouraged to be part of the solution to their own country’s problems.

Click here to see a short video on the vision for Cornerstone Academy.

Update on our House:

The land that will be used to build the duplex for our family and my brother’s family was recently cleared!  We were thrilled to finally have a visual as to where the house will be. This is the next step towards our future residence in Kenya.  Pray for Robert Kimball (Naomi Village Building manager) as he and Bob Mendonsa work hard to have this house built in a timely manner.

Items for prayer:

MTI: On Sunday February 9, we will be leaving for Colorado Springs to embark on four weeks of language and cross cultural training at MTI (Mission Training International).  It is our hope that while we are there our entire family will learn new things that will help us to be more effective in adjusting and thriving in a new culture for the good of the gospel.

Selling our house: We will return in the first week of March and begin the process of selling our house.  Please join us in prayer for a smooth process.

Support: We are grateful for all of you that have supported us through prayer and finances.  We have currently raised about 85% of our monthly support.  Thank you for your sacrificial giving!  If you have wanted to partner with us monthly, but have not done so yet, there is a link at the bottom of this page.  We would be grateful for your partnership!

Children at Naomi’s Village:  Continue praying for the kids at NV that they would come to know the Lord. Pray also for the kids that have come to Christ, that they will desire to draw near to the Savior and grow in their knowledge and understanding of Him.

For His Name,
Mark and Liz Sisler

I am trying to imagine Mary and her husband Joseph, a very young couple watching the birth of the Savior being born. As they held him tight, keeping him warm, did they realize just who Jesus was?

Click on the video below to see the Christmas video from Naomi’s Village. 

Items for prayer:

The Children at Naomi’s Village: Continue to pray for the Children at Naomi’s Village.  Many of the kids just got back from a trip to the Ocean.  It was a great time for them to see the splendor of Gods creation!
 
Cornerstone School: A builder has been secured and they plan to break ground on Cornerstone School in mid January.  
 
Support: Please continue to pray that God would raise up people that desire to be a part of what He is doing in Kenya.  Our monthly support is now at 75% praise God! If you have wanted to partner with us monthly, but have not done so yet, there is a link at the bottom of this page. We would be grateful for your partnership!