Happy September everyone! We have had a lot of cool things happen this past month and we have a few big announcements for what is to come in the rest of the year. |
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First things first... WE’RE PREGNANT! In case any of you haven’t run into our moms recently and already heard, we’re expecting our first child! It has been kind of a difficult journey but we are so excited to say we have a baby boy arriving around January 1st. We have had a lot of people asking, but as of now we still have no idea what his name will be…. How can you just decide what to call someone for the rest of their life?! So be free to send in all of your best boy names. |
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Because of the coming baby, we will be returning to the states this year. We will fly to Texas at the beginning of November and are planning to stay in Texas until the baby arrives. Then we will travel up to Pennsylvania in mid-January, and if all goes well with our paperwork we plan to return to Angola at the end of February or early March. So we will be around hopefully for no more than 4 months, and would love to visit with all of you! While we will be based primarily out of Texas and Pennsylvania, we hope to make some other trips during our time so wherever you may be, reach out to us and we would love to try and make a plan to visit you. |
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We will also be doing some fundraising during this trip. Surprisingly, babies cost money for some reason, as well as for increasing food costs here in Angola and for more expenses in our ministry fund. |
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In total, we will be trying to raise roughly $900 in monthly support, and we'll be raising for a few one-time expenses, specifically internet and solar for our home so we can have consistent electricity! If you are interested in increasing your support, or if you can say to yourself “oh, I think so and so might be interested in supporting the coolest missionaries I know,” then please put in a word on our behalf and ask them if they would like to hear from us about what we are doing. Fundraising always goes much smoother when our supporters advocate for us and help connect us to others! |
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But enough about upcoming excitement, what have we been up to? |
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Last month we mentioned that we would be hosting our first Farming God’s Way (FGW) conference here on the farm. FGW was a huge part of our ministry in Zambia and we have been excited to teach it here as well, but have been hesitant because of our Portuguese! Thankfully, this conference went fantastic. |
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We taught four days in the afternoon, right after everyone got off work. It was a tiring four days prepping what we would say in Portuguese all day and then teaching in the afternoon, but it was well worth it. People seemed excited to hear and learn and ask questions. We can’t wait to see how many people will try to apply what they saw this coming rainy season. |
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We also visited Zambia this past month to be a part of “Revival week” at the main logistical base at Rapid 14. Overland holds revival week twice a year for the AMT classes and invites different speakers to come and pour into |
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everyone there. It was an amazing time to sit under the teaching of so many different people and worship with our family for five days. During this time, every area of ministry that is represented has a chance to share what the Lord has been doing in the last year or so. It was so encouraging for us to hear all the incredible things God is doing through our team all over the world! This is also a cool opportunity for AMT students to get an idea of where they might want to serve when they finish training and support raising. After revival week we spent two days at the training center where we worked in Batoka during our last year in Zambia, got to catch up with the team there, and saw the amazing growth God has brought about there both physically and spiritually! |
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Last we want to share something awesome Overland has been working on. We have some incredible musicians on the team, and they have a vision to record songs written by the team all over the world. Back in February, a group gathered in the states to record some songs that have been written by Overlanders, and that’s just the beginning. As I am writing this, three of the songs have already been released and more are on the way. During revival week, Lauren got to be part of recording two more songs in Nsongwe village. The media team is planning to release music videos of all of these songs on YouTube in October. These songs are powerful! On whatever music platform you use, search "Overland Missions Music". The three songs currently out are called "Heaven's Roar" , "What is His Name", and "I Give You All'. Find them, listen to them, you won't be disappointed. |
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We can't wait to see you all very soon! In the meantime though, send us your thoughts, update us on your lives, share pictures of your pets with us. We love you! The Benders |
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