Dear Prayer Partners,

Thank you for continuing to pray with us as we walk and serve with Jesus in Central/East Africa. We are thankful for your partnership over all these years.

Brad has now been living in Rwanda for 20 years, and in June, Chelsea will have been here for 17 years. We praise God for the many ways that He has helped and empowered us to be a part of what He is doing!

Much has happened since we last wrote.

Thank you for praying for the trip to Burundi and South Sudan in December. The trip was great. It is exciting to see how God is leading Burundi Friends in preparing a plan to send missionaries to unreached people in Tanzania, and Rwanda Friends preparing to send missionaries to South Sudan in May.

In January, our EFC-Rwanda Friends hosted a team from EFM who led a 5-day Small Business Development training that we believe will be an important part of how God wants to give Rwanda Friends new ways to do His mission here in Rwanda and beyond. Mission through businesses is exciting and will open many opportunities for ministry in the communities.

On January 29–30, the Administrative Council of EFC-Rwanda met to discern the Lord’s plan for who the next executive leaders of EFC-Rwanda are to be. We believe that the Lord helped the group make wise decisions.

On February 14–16, we will have some important D4D meetings with David Thomas, one of our D4D coaches.

On February 17–18, there will be an important Pastors’ retreat. On February 19–20, there will be Yearly Meeting sessions to fill several other leadership roles for the coming years. Please pray for God’s blessing and help in those days of discernment and decision.

Please also pray for a retreat that Brad will attend in Kenya from February 19–24 with others working in Disciple-making movements. Pray for good connections with God and others who are doing similar work. Please pray for Brad to have special times that are renewing and refreshing with the Lord. Also, please pray for Chelsea and the kids, who will be home in Musanze.

We continue to be so thankful for the ways the Lord helps us stay healthy in general, and the ways He heals us when we do get sick. We are still praying for Brad’s stomach issues that interfere with his sleep. Our kindergartner, 4th grader, and 7th grader continue to show diligence and kindness at school, and we also all enjoy the school events that help us feel like a community. We are thankful to have rhythms of hosting special visitors and everyday home life—normal days and exciting days, work and rest. We pray the Lord blesses you with these things as well!

Brad, Chelsea, Sarai, Gideon, and Ian

The post Brad & Chelsea Carpenter | February Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Hi Friends and Family,

I’m writing to you from the Wycliffe compound in Juba, South Sudan and am a little over halfway through my trip. For the past 6 days, I’ve had the opportunity to meet the missionaries and the South Sudanese who work with Wycliffe here, and I have absolutely loved it! I’ve felt so welcomed by various people making sure I have what I need and looking out for me, and several people have had me over for dinner on various nights to get to know me better. Beyond that, I’ve loved being with people who have a love for linguistics and Bible translation. From conversations about the process of Bible translation to Greek and Hebrew to the software tools Wycliffe uses to aid the translation process, I feel very at home here.

But one of my favorite things has been sitting in with a couple of translation teams (the Avokaya team and the Fur team) as they work on translating the Old Testament. The Avokaya team, who I visited on Friday, were checking their draft of Exodus 21 and talking about various exegetical and translation issues that came up. The Fur team, who I visited on Monday, were checking their draft of Joshua 14 and doing the same. I’ve learned a lot by watching them and was able to help out in small ways when they had questions about the original Hebrew text or about the cultural context of the passage they were working on.

Today (Tuesday), I will leave Wycliffe’s compound and have a different focus for the rest of my trip. Pastor Nicodeme, a missionary from Rwanda, has been in South Sudan for the past two and a half months to figure out the logistics of his family and him living here starting sometime next year. The plan is for Nicodeme and his family to be joined by Evangelical Friends Mission (EFM) missionaries in the near future so that we can partner together in planting churches in South Sudan. I, two pastors from Rwanda, an EFM missionary, and an EFM director will spend the rest of the week with Nicodeme to be with him, encourage him, and help him debrief. I’ve already gotten to spend some good quality time with Nicodeme when he’s visited me at the Wycliffe compound and am looking forward to hearing more about what the past few months have looked like for him.

Finally, I’m so grateful for all of you! Thank you for how you’ve prayed and are praying for me and for how you’ve given so that I can begin a disciple-making apprenticeship with North County Project in January. Currently, I’m 73% funded! Thank you for your incredible generosity! As a reminder, if you’d like to partner with me through financial gifts, here are the ways you can do it:

• Online: Visit the NCP Apprentice donation page by clicking this link. Once there, scroll to find my name and select your gift amount. You’ll have the opportunity to indicate whether you are giving monthly or as a one-time gift.
• Credit Card: You may give online (as stated above) or by calling the EFM office at (303) 421-8100 to provide your information to a live representative.
• Automatic Bank Transfer: Download the form here and email it to Debby McElroy (EFM Bookkeeper) at debby@friendsmission.com. Please note that ACH payments are processed on the 10^th or 25^th of the month.
• Check: Mail a check to EFM, P.O. Box 771139, Wichita, KS 67277. Please mark your check with “Thomas Moore NCP Apprentice Support” and indicate if your gift will be recurring (monthly, quarterly, etc.). Make the check payable to “EFM.”

Thank you again for how you’re coming on this journey with me. I look forward to giving many of you more details about this trip. I’d love to meet with you to tell you more about it if you live in Southern California or talk with you over the phone or video chat if you live elsewhere.

In Him,
Thomas Moore

The post Thomas Moore | December Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Dear Prayer Partners,

Many things have happened since we last wrote. We are so thankful for your prayers and partnership in the whole-life discipleship movement here in East Africa!

From Saturday, December 13, until Sunday the 21st, Brad will be on a trip to Burundi and then South Sudan. Time in both countries will be focused on starting new mission work and partnership with our African friends. Please pray for wisdom and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, and to each other, as we (EFM) work with EFC-Rwanda and EFC-Burundi. We are praying for God to lead us into the best ways of partnering together for more effective mission to the nations. Please pray for health, safety, and blessing over those who are travelling and for their families at home.

We are thankful that we are all fairly healthy after being sick recently. We are also really thankful that Brad’s parents are with us until the beginning of January! We look forward to spending this Christmas season with them and some friends in Musanze.

Most of all, we pray that all would hear about the hope that God offers through Jesus. May He be glorified all throughout the world!

Thank you!
Brad & Chelsea
Sarai, Gideon, and Ian

The post Brad & Chelsea Carpenter | December Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.