WINTER 2012
“And we know
that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to
those who are called according to His will.”
Romans 8:28
We would like to
take this opportunity to invite you into the lives of the INKPEN’S. Most of you
are aware of how our journey to China began. Some, however, are not aware of
how our acceptance with International China Concern (ICC) came to be. For those
of you who know nothing, or very little, of our journey, we would like to let
you in on this part of our lives. If you know all this already, feel free to
skip to the next section. If you
need a reminder, continue reading.
Andrew has felt
the call into mission work since 2006/2007. It was never on Darcie’s heart. Andrew
had been praying for Darcie’s heart to change. In June 2009, we were invited on
a missions trip to China. Almost
immediately (and unexpectedly) Darcie felt God saying “YES! Go!” So we went. We
fell in love with China. Darcie returned to China in 2011. At that time Darcie
worked in an orphanage. Now Darcie’s 2 loves – children and China – were
combined. This was heaven here on earth for her. When Darcie returned to Canada
she began investigating options for missions work in China involving the
unwanted children of the country. (We had been investigating opportunities to
serve in China since we returned in 2009 but nothing worked out) Through a
chain of people Darcie found International China Concern. This was in March
2011. In December 2011 we were accepted to go serve the children in China with
this organization. The process was long and in-depth, but we knew God was
leading the way. For more specific information on our journey please go to our
blog at www.inkpensjourneytochina.blogspot.com
(Next section)
We are sure you
are wondering where, and when, exactly, we will be going in China. We will be
going to a city called Changsha. It’s the capital of the Hunan province of
south-east China. It is a small Chinese
city of about 7 million (yes, million) people. The average temperature varies
between 0C (32F) as a low in the winter to a high of +40C (104F) - plus the
humidity that will send the temperature up, way up, in the summer. You may be
thinking “That’s not too bad.” BUT: there is no central heat or air
conditioning. Changsha is about a 1 hr flight north of Hong Kong, and about a 2
hour flight south of Beijing. That is a
little bit about the city. We will be moving in August 2012. Only a few short
months away. We have committed to a 2
year term with ICC (although we’re sure this is just the start of many ‘2
year missionary contracts’).
Now about the
project. There are approximately 8 different sites in Changsha that ICC is
involved with. There is the large orphanage that is home for up to 150
children, then there are smaller “home type” settings for the children with
severe physical and/or developmental delays and there is a foster care program
that is run under ICC as well. We are not 100% sure yet which site we will
serve in. We may be at a few different sites until we work out with ICC the one
that fits best with our gifts and talents. We do know that Andrew will be
working with the teens and Darcie will be working with the preschool children. All our children will be able to come to the
site with us, after the ‘big kids’ are done their school work (Darcie will be
home schooling).
Now that you
know a bit about what, where and why we are headed to China, we need to ask you
for your support. There are many ways you can support us while we prepare to
leave and while we are in China.
Most
importantly, we covet your prayers for our entire family. We have already felt
the effects of spiritual attacks on each of us and we expect them to continue. Prayer
is powerful. We know that God listens to those who come to Him. We need prayer
for all things that come with moving – preparing our children for the move,
saying goodbye to our foster children, saying goodbye to
family and friends, visa’s to get into
China, the selling of our possessions, home schooling options, etc. “Devote yourself to prayer, keeping alert
in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as
well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak
forth the mystery of Christ” Colossians
4: 2-3
We
also ask you to prayerfully consider financially partnering with ICC’s ministry.
We are going where God has called us. We are moving on faith. “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying
'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said 'Here am I. Send me!'
" Isaiah 6:8
You
can partner with us 3 ways: monthly, one-time, as well as yearly. No amount is
too small (or too big). As ICC is a
charitable organization, any donation ear-marked to the ‘volunteer service
fund’ is eligible for a tax receipt.
Please
carefully read the following 2 paragraphs from ICC on how to financially
partner with their ministry.
“If
you would like to make a donation, please make cheques payable to “International China Concern” or if you want to
donate online go to www.chinaconcern.org/donate
and make a note in the comment section that it’s for the “Volunteer Service
Program”. Due to Canada Revenue Agency
(CRA) guidelines, our name should not be written on the cheque or anywhere
online. If sending a cheque
please also send a separate note stating that you wish to support our specific
trip to help ICC in China. If donating
online, please send an email to Canada@chinaconcern.org
to alert that office of your donation and your wishes to support our trip. Donated
funds will be used to cover expenses related to this mission trip.
Spending
of funds is confined to approved programs and projects. Each restricted contribution designated
toward an approved program or project will be used as designated with the
understanding that when the need for such a program or project has been met, or
cannot be completed for any reason determined by the ICC Canada Board, the
remaining restricted contributions designated for such program or project will
be used where needed most.”
Address
to send cheques: International China Concern (Canada)
698 E.
64th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5X
2N2
We
appreciate any, and all, support you can offer for our family. Thanks, in
advance, for your prayer and/or financial partnership with ICC and our family.
We
invite you to keep in touch with us via:
our
blog: www.inkpensjourneytochina.blogspot.com
email:
Andrew: ajinkpen@gmail.com Darcie: momsmail13@gmail.com
Love,
The Inkpen’s - Andrew, Darcie, Brendin, Jacquelyn, Andrea, Alysa
No comments:
Post a Comment