The Clancy Chronicles

2011-12-04T09:07:00.004-07:00

The Container

It’s almost here! The schedule keeps adjusting: the ship is now scheduled to dock in Matadi on December 6th. This is a large matter of prayer, since that is the date scheduled for the presidential election results to be announced (more about that later in the letter). Once the ship docks, it can take up to 4 days for the container to be unloaded, depending on where it was placed on the ship. It will then enter “parking” for 3-5 days. The customs inspection is estimated to take another 3-5 days after that. So, estimating on the conservative side, and Lord willing, we should have the container in Kinshasa around the 23th of December.

Your prayers and sacrificial gifts have been invaluable to get this container and its contents here. We finally received the estimate for the cost to get the container into the country, and to Kinshasa. Unfortunately, the cost is higher than we were expecting. Please continue to pray for the Lord to provide for these funds.

Please also continue to pray for wisdom and guidance in what to do with the container. The Lord has not, so far, opened the doors for us to be able to transport this 40 foot container to Dibaya. It looks much more promising to get 20 foot containers up through the rough roads, so we are now praying about the possibility of trading it for two 20 foot containers, or one 20 foot container and some cash. The Wards are working diligently on trying to find us a buyer/trader. We need to have a plan on where the container will be delivered before the truck brings it to Kinshasa. The plan at this point is to unload the pickup and pile the other items into the Grings’ car port, while the container is still on the trailer, and then have the truck deliver it to the buyer. The shipping company said this should not cost us any extra since they have already quoted us for “delivery and unloading.” There really isn’t a place to unload the container here at the Grings’ house. The Lord already has a perfect plan!

Orphanage

Myndii has been able to return to the orphanage several times, and Martha and Titus have each been able to go once as well. It was such a blessing to see our two oldest respond to these little ones. They both keep asking when they can go again.

Visas

Thank you for praying!!! Our passports our back in our hands! We were approved, in a miraculous short time, for our 5-year missionary visas. We have been told that the wait time recently has been up to 9 months for this specific visa, but the Lord moved quickly and we had them back just 25 days after giving the immigration office our paperwork. Praise the LORD.

Dibaya

The men returned from Dibaya in mid-November. They were able to accomplish many things while in the interior. After a lot of work, they were able to level the missionary house. However, there is still work to be done.

We are praying that we will be able to return to Dibaya, as a family, in mid-January. At that time, there will be an Association Director’s Committee meeting at the Bible Institute. Again, it is such a blessing to have a location for these types of meetings in the interior where it is so much more accessible to the interior pastors.

Elections

The elections on November 28th went fairly well. There were a few reports of people trying to submit pre-marked ballets, some confusion about where people were supposed to vote, and a few instances of violence. However, for the most part, things went peacefully and smoothly. Our neighborhood went on as usual.

The next date for your calendars is December 6th. Please pray earnestly for this country as the election results are to be announced late that evening. The people of Kinshasa seem to be split on their votes. Please continue to pray for peace and unity!

We are not anticipating any trouble in our neighborhood. However, we are preparing to stay home for a while if things get out of hand in other areas.

Holidays

We hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving and were able to remember many things to thank our Heavenly Father for. We were pleasantly surprised to find frozen turkeys at a local store, so we had a grand Thanksgiving feast and time of fellowship with the Ward and Grings families.

Christmas will be a bit different this year, as we will be celebrating the birth of our Savior in 90º tropical weather, and without many of our family and friends. We are looking forward to starting new Congo Christmas traditions as we spend this time focusing on Christ and why He came to earth as a babe so long ago.

Under His wings,
“He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust…” Psalm 91:4

2011-11-26T13:13:00.002-07:00

In Dibaya

Right now, Sparky, Dan Grings and Orlic Ward (the eldest Ward boy) are in Dibaya! They left Kinshasa on Monday, October 24th and were in Dibaya by Tuesday evening. They did have some difficulty with the fuel system on the Grings’ Land Cruiser, but other than that it was a smooth trip. The road is paved from Kinshasa to Kikwit now, which made the trip shorter and much easier.

The plan while in Dibaya was to spend some time with the local church, make boards so they can be drying for future projects, and finish up the temporary mission house so that it would be ready for us to move into as soon as we get the container and can move up. They plan on being gone for 3 weeks.

On his last trip to Dibaya Dan hired, and left instructions for, some local carpenters and masons to build the house and had received reports that the exterior and interior walls were complete. This trip they planned on putting in a ceiling and poor a concrete floor. However, when they arrived they found that no one leveled the ground before starting to build. The walls were plumb (level vertically) but the back side of the house (toward the river) was a full 12 inches lower than the front side. All the exterior doors and windows were in, but all slanted. The men were a bit discouraged. They spent the first week breaking out parts of the brick walls to adjust windows and doors, raising the roof so the masons could build up to a level roof-line, and leveling the floor. After a full week of working, they were at the point they thought they would be when arriving. Please pray for the construction projects at the Bible Institute!

On the spiritual side, they have been able to do chapel at the school several times, share the gospel and have a testimony in the community, and Sparky preached (with Dan translating into Kikongo) this last Sunday.

Hopefully, we will be able to share some pictures with you when the men return.

Visas

Our passports are still at the DGM office waiting for the 5-year visa stamp. However, we have received word that our visa applications have been approved and are only waiting for the final signature. We are expecting to pay the final fees and receive our passports and papers this next week. Please continue to pray that this process will go smoothly and quickly.

Orphanage

Myndii was able to join two other missionary ladies and visit a local orphanage. Most of the time was spent with a group of toddlers…around 30 of them. They were all in such need of personal touch and attention. The kids especially liked it when the ladies sat on the floor, so many of them could get close at once…it was a bit like being a human jungle-gym. They also really enjoyed the bubbles that one of the ladies brought and blew for them to chase.

French was a blessing once again. Myndii was able to communicate with the orphanage workers and ask questions about the children. Myndii was so blessed by this opportunity and is hoping to make this a regular ministry while in Kinshasa. (The other missionary ladies usually go 2 times per month and have invited Myndii to join them.)

Elections

If you haven’t done it already, please mark November 28th on your calendar. The Democratic Republic of Congo will be holding its second official presidential election on that day. Please pray for peace, stability and unity for this country that is now our home. They are not expecting to announce the results until December 6th (or so). We will keep you informed as things progress. Thank you for your prayers!

The Container

The container is safely on its way, though it still requires much prayer. Please pray for the ship that is carrying it here, those involved in its transport, and for the customs officers that will be processing it. Please also pray for wisdom in what to do with the container and our things when they arrive (where to store things, what to do with the container, etc.).

We are also still praying about the possibility and logistics of trucking the container [empty] to Dibaya to use as a building. Some items of prayer are cost, reliable and capable semi-truck, honest and skilled driver, and road conditions. Can our God do it? Absolutely!

“I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings. Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.” Psalm 77:11-14

Remembering His wonders,

2011-10-12T07:13:00.002-06:00

We Made It

Miraculously, all 5 members of our family, all 12 of our checked bags, and all 10 of our carry-on’s (as well as the Grings and their entire pile of luggage) made it to Kinshasa on September 27th as scheduled.

We are settling into this phase of our adventure (in the capital city of Kinshasa) in the apartment attached to the Grings’ garage in their back yard. It is a 2 bedroom apartment with a bathroom, kitchen area, and small living room.

Our bodies took a few days to get used to the time difference, and get over the “jet lag” but we seem to all be on schedule now. It is taking a bit longer to get our bodies used to the climate. We arrived just after the beginning of the rainy season so it’s pretty humid. The hottest we have seen so far is 90º with a humidity of 92%.

The kids have started school work back up, and are doing well. Myndii and Christine Grings have worked out a “kid swap” so Christine teaches their youngest and ours (Anna and Ruth) up at their house, while Myndii teaches Martha, Titus, and their Timothy at our house. Everyone seems to be doing quite well with this arrangement.

The Container

The shipping container was loaded onto a semi-truck trailer by a 75 ton crane the morning of September 22nd, just 4 days before we left for Congo.

According to the “Dock receipt” it is scheduled to arrive in Matadi (the port in Congo) on December 4th. From there, things get interesting. First, because they estimate the presidential election results will be announced around the 8th. We still have not received an estimate for cost or time that it will take for this container to be transported to Kinshasa…around 225 miles by road. Once it arrived in Kinshasa, we will have to have it cleared by customs. We have heard this can take anywhere between days to months. God knows all of this, and has a perfect plan, but we appreciate any and all prayers for this container, and its contents, on this journey. Pray also that the Lord will provide the finances that will be necessary to complete the shipment, and receiving the container.

It would be quite impractical for us to move to Dibaya-Lubwe (where the Bible Institute is located) without the container. First, we have to be physically present to receive it without having to pay the customs fees. Also, because we only brought the “bare minimums” with us on the plane so most of our even basic survival items are in the container. Please pray for things to go quickly and smoothly so we can make our move to Dibaya!

Visas

We have begun the process of visa applications. (No, not the credit card...this is the stamp in our passports that allows us to stay here as missionaries.) There are so many steps that must be completed. We asked you to pray about permanent visas, but this does not look like a possibility at this time. So, we are applying for the 5-year resident missionary visas. Some of the steps include: finger printing for criminal background checks, official certificates from the US embassy here declaring that we are in fact US citizens, registering as residents, applying for a resident card, and filling out piles of paperwork. Of course, each office we go to wants a fee for completing their specific step in the process. It also seems that each time we complete one step, we are told about 2 more. Please continue to pray for the Lord to guide us to the right people that can speed this process along.

French

We have already had opportunity to use our French! It is such a blessing to be able to communicate. The accent here is quite a bit different, but we are starting to pick up on the differences and can understand pretty well… as long as they don’t switch to Lingala on us (which happens frequently).

The Lord has already given Sparky opportunities to teach in French. Sparky is preparing a series on how to study the Bible with the deacons at Nsango Na Bomoi (the Grings’ church) each Saturday morning, starting October 8th. He also has been giving devotionals during school chapel and youth group meetings.

A young man is tutoring both Sparky and Myndii two afternoons each week. So far we have just been working on review so he can get a good feel for what we know. It has been great practice. The kids have been doing French each day as a part of their homeschooling, and are also doing well.

What does 100% mean?

In 2009, we sat down with our field team and IFM to come up with an estimated amount needed for monthly support. We are now reporting that we are at 100% of this estimated monthly support need. However, our support goal is the minimum necessary to survive and minister here as first-term missionaries. Any additional monthly gifts could be directly used for evangelism, discipleship, and distributing training materials to the national churches. We also will be evaluating cost of living and other expenses to make sure we are truly “fully supported.” Please continue to pray for the Lord’s provision.

Thank you!

We really can’t say “thank you” enough for all your support and prayers! Without your partnership in this ministry, we wouldn’t be here now. Thank you for allowing the Lord to use you to reach and teach the people of Congo!

Your missionaries IN the Congo

2011-09-24T21:27:00.004-06:00

On Your Mark, Get Set, GO! …And we’re off!

Well, the time has come. This will most likely be our last communication with you, from this side of the Globe. Our flight is still scheduled to depart the Boise airport on Monday, September 26th at around 7:45 am.

We have been in contact with the airlines and have been told that we each get 2 checked bags, up to 50 lbs each, with no extra fee. So, now we start the process of packing, weighing, and re-packing again in order to get every ounce possible. Most of our “long-term” supplies have been packed into the shipping container; however we will have to survive until it arrives in Kinshasa sometime in December or January. This includes the children’s school materials, clothing, etc. Please pray as we are preparing these last few items.

Please also continue to pray for family members as we are spending time with them and saying good-byes. This is not an easy process for extended family; those being left behind are in just as much in service of The King as those who are sent. They are giving much in order to see the Gospel spread, souls ministered to, and disciples made! Please remember them in your prayers as we go.

Ephesians 3:20-21

We began our deputation in February of 2009. We were able to enroll in language school just over 1 year later. A year of language school down, and we’re off to the field. (Wow! That was much easier said than done!)

After one of our first presentations in 2009, we were told that we should have a “projected leave date” of when we would like to be in Congo. After much prayer, we selected the fall of 2011 (just 2 ½ short years from that time). There were many reasons behind this choice, but mostly it was because we knew that God was [and is] capable of making it happen. Likely? Of course not! But He is able to do exceeding abundantly above…

“Don’t you know that our country is in the worst recession since the great depression?” But you see, the Lord didn’t check with Wall Street first before calling us to Congo.

So, how did we raise support so quickly? The honest answer: we didn’t, God did. The Lord lead to the selection of the date back in 2009, and has honored it. There is not a formula, process, or program in order to get missionaries to the field more quickly. God calls and sends His people, and God provides through His people. Thank you for letting the Lord provide through you!

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Titus

As I write this, Titus is sitting next to me with a bright green cast on his right arm. This week, during a friendly soccer game, his arm was broken (by his wrist). It is not a “bad break” but enough that he will be in the cast for 4 weeks; we will have it taken off after we have been in Congo for a few weeks. He is still getting used to this new addition, and still has some swelling and pain. Please pray for fast and proper healing!

The Container

We would love to be able to tell you that the container is half-way to Congo right now, but it’s not. For some reason, the Lord has chosen for things to be delayed. His timing is the perfect timing! We are working with the shipping company and are hoping to send it off around the 15th of September. This puts it in the port of Matadi around the beginning of December. There is still no word on how much it will cost, or the time it will take, to get the container from Matadi to Kinshasa. It is all truly in the Lord’s hands!

We would like to have people praying for the container and the process it will be going through. First, it will be put on a truck from Caldwell, ID to Seattle, WA. Then it must pass through the US customs. This can be a tricky step since we are shipping vehicles (pick-up, motorcycles, etc). It will then be placed on a very large boat. Because of shipping patterns, our boat will most likely go from Seattle, down around the end of South America, back north up to Canada, across to Europe, and then south along the coast of Africa. Of course, it will be making many stops along the way. This whole process is only supposed to take 75 days (which is pretty amazing, really). Once delivered to Matadi, we are at the mercy of Congolese processing. We are praying that the Lord will allow the container to travel this whole process un-opened, until Kinshasa where we can be present for and supervise its opening and inspection.

We are still waiting upon the Lord to provide the final funds to make all this happen. We have enough to pay the trucking company to get the container to Seattle, and get it on the boat heading toward Congo (at the price we were quoted). However, they are still estimating several thousand dollars will be needed to clear it in Matadi, and a few thousand more to get it from Matadi to Kinshasa. We don’t know how much this will cost, be we serve the one who does! We trust the Lord will provide exactly what we need, when we need it.

Pressing toward the mark,
(Philippians 3:14)

~The Clancy Clan
Sparky, Myndii, Martha, Titus, & Ruth

2011-08-11T15:27:00.003-06:00

Shipping (and other needs)

We have received the price quote for shipping the container to Congo. We have to hire a semi-truck to take it to Seattle, WA, which should be around $1,000 (Praise the Lord, a gift has been given to cover this amount). It will cost $8,000 to get it from Seattle to Matadi, DRC. There are other fees and things that have to be paid in the US which bring that to $10,000. After getting the container to Congo, we will have to pay more fees (even though we get it in “customs free” there are still other fees), and pay for the container to be brought to Kinshasa where we can pick it up. These Congo fees and transport costs are estimated (you never know exact costs in Congo) at around $5,000. So, our estimated total for shipping at this point is $16,000. This is quite a bit higher than we were told at first, but our Lord is not surprised. We are confident that He has a plan, and that He will provide. Please pray with us as we wait upon the Lord.

**We just got news that in the last few days, Congo changed the rules. Instead of 46 steps to clear a shipment at the Matadi port, it now is only 4 steps…yes FOUR! This should save time and money and is nothing short of a miracle! It’s so exciting to see God paving the way! Praise the Lord!

As you know, we have set several dates as goals for having the container packed and ready to ship. These dates seem to be pushing back as fast as we pick them. We are still looking for and gathering up a few remaining supply needs, and we are also still looking for some items that will be blessings to those we will be ministering with and to in Congo.

Some of the remaining items are:

Communion cups (preferably glass, as they will be used, washed, and re-used many times, but plastic are ok too)
Reading glasses for Congolese pastors (Dollar store or used are fine; 1.00, 1.25, 1.50, 1.75, and a few 2.00+)
Sun glasses
6 190W solar panels ($1750)
Power inverter (for the solar panels)
Center page stapler
Welding rod (7018 or 6011)
Outboard boat motor, 10-15 HP, 4 stroke
Well pump(s) (solar powered; we are hoping to dig a well at the Bible Institute property)
Acetylene bottle for a cutting torch

As for our monthly support, there is not much “white” left on our arrow to Congo. We need only $150 more per month. Praise the Lord! Please continue to pray that the Lord will lay a burden for Congo on the hearts of those that He would have partner with us in this ministry.

Remaining outfit and passage needs are now estimated at $25,000. This includes the amount needed to ship the container, our visas, vaccinations, and materials to build our house in Dibaya. Please also continue to pray for the funds to build the remaining buildings necessary to start the Bible Institute (duplex dorms and a 1-room class building…estimated at $2500 each).

Guillaume

It was such a blessing to have Guillaume Boulanger with us for 2 weeks! (Guillaume is a young man we “adopted” while in Québec.) He spent his work’s vacation time this summer to fly to Idaho, but didn’t have a very restful vacation. We did have some fun and were able to give him a small introduction to life in the Northwest…but most of his time was spent helping with work projects, gathering things for the container, and packing. Our most precious times were those we spent in God’s word and discussing things of our Lord. Continue to pray for Guillaume as he strives to seek and follow God’s will for his life.

The Grings

Dan Grings and Sarah, their eldest daughter, were able to make a quick trip to Idaho. It really was a blessing to have them here, fellowship, and get some more ideas for what to pack and how to get it all in the container. Also, continue to pray for Sarah as she is seeking the Lord’s guidance on where exactly He would have her serve in Congo. She is praying about joining us in Dibaya-Lubwe, which we are very excited about…however, we truly want her to be where God wants her!

Looking Ahead

Our time in the States is slowly fading away. We now have less than 2 months and our schedule is nearly full.

August

7 Shelly Baptist in Shelly, ID
8-12 VBS at First Baptist in Roswell, ID
14 Bethel Baptist in Kalispell, MT
21 First Baptist of Columbia Falls, MT
28 First Baptist of Marion, MT

Sept.

11 Faith Baptist in Nyssa, OR
19 First Baptist of Notus, ID
26 Leave for Congo!

Running with patience,
(Hebrews 12:1-2)

2011-07-15T11:42:00.006-06:00

Where God Guides, God Provides

A few months ago, the Lord started moving again toward us going to Congo this fall. There were, and still are, many things that needed to happen before this can be a reality. However, the Lord does not send without going before!

We are excited to report that we are now at 95% of our monthly support needs. We have also received gifts toward our Outfit and Passage. Please continue to pray with us that the remaining $265 per month will be provided, as well as the remaining needs for our O&P.

That being said: we believe He will provide and that we will be on the plane September 26th…heading toward Congo for our first full-term as missionaries.

Catching Up and Making Plans

We were privileged and blessed to spend a weekend with the Grings family (our field partners). It was so nice to sit face-to-face and tell of how the Lord has been working on both continents in such amazing ways. We were also able to discuss where we see the Lord leading in the future.

It was especially good for the kids to spend some time with them. Titus and Timothy Grings got along swimmingly and Titus is still talking about the discussions they had, things they did, and what they plan to do in Congo. (This is a big deal for Titus as it usually takes him a while to “bond”, and he and Timothy haven’t been able to spend a lot of time with each other.) All the kids spent time running around Camp Utibaca, building a bridge across a creek, playing with snakes, you know…camp stuff. It’s hard to believe the next time they will all be together is on the plane.

When we arrive in Kinshasa (the capitol of Congo) we will be staying with the Grings. They have a storage building/garage in their back yard that has been converted into an apartment. What a blessing! It will be nice to transition and adapt while being so close to the Grings, and the Ward’s live next door as well. We will live there until our container arrives and we have our long-term visas. Only the Lord knows how long this will take, but we are planning on 2-3 months. Once those are in place, we will start the move up to the Bible Institute in Dibaya-Lubwe. We are hoping to celebrate the birth of our Lord in our new home town!

French Practice

Another blessing at Camp Utibaca was getting to practice our French. As we were walking to our tent after dark Thursday night, we heard someone trying to set up a tent…in FRENCH. We soon realized that it was Patrick and Becky Weolongo Booto. We were able to help them set up the tent, and have a brief conversation that evening. For the next few days, we took every opportunity to use our French. What an amazing blessing it was to start practicing our “Congo French” and confirm that we actually did learn something!

Projects

A group at our home church is helping us spiral-bind some of the French materials we will be taking with us. Many of the books we purchased were bound by being folded and stapled together. This would not last very long in Congo as the staples would rust and the humidity would cause the books to come apart.

The packing and gathering continues. We have filled over 150 boxes and stacked them in the container. We still have a few things on our list that we are trying to collect. The Grings gave us some more ideas of “filler” items for the container (i.e. powder laundry soap, toilet paper, etc.). Please see our website for current lists and ideas.

Congo Update

Many of you have been praying for the chief of property in Dibaya (he is pictured in many of our presentations). He attended the seminars while we were there and continued to hear the Gospel as Dan Grings made trips to work on the property. We are excited to report that this last trip Dan made, the chief of property accepted the Lord and followed Him in believer’s baptism!

The projects on the property are advancing. It sounds like we did get the 100 meters on each side of the new airstrip to use as student garden space. The temporary missionary/guest house is under construction, which is where we will stay when we first arrive in Dibaya. Please continue to pray with us for the Lord to provide the funds for 3 more dorm buildings, the first classroom, and our permanent house.

Unashamed,
(Romans 1:16)

~The Clancy Clan
Sparky, Myndii, Martha, Titus, & Ruth

2011-06-04T00:21:00.002-06:00

Container and Shipping

The big (very green) metal box is finally here! Our 40 foot shipping container was delivered May 20th and now sits just next to the house where we are staying in Idaho (on Sparky’s parent’s farm). Our boxes, numbered and labeled complete with detailed packing lists, are now forming colorful plastic-brick walls inside the container. (We’re on box #89 right now ) Most of the items needed have been donated, purchased, or promised already; however, we still have a “packing list” on our website for items that we would still like to gather, Lord willing, before sealing-up the container. Please let us know if you would like to participate in providing some of these last few items. Our goal for having it packed and ready-to-go is July 22nd.

Thank you for your prayers: we have a shipping company! We are still waiting for a more exact total cost of shipping, but our “rough estimate” so far is $10,000. This should pay for the container to get from Seattle, Washington to Kinshasa, Congo. We will have to get the container from Idaho to Seattle, and are still praying about those options. From Kinshasa, we are hoping to build a trailer for it and tow it to Dibaya to use as a secure storage building at the Bible Institute.

Support

Praise the Lord! We have partnered with new monthly supporters. This means a need of just $690 per month. Please remember that no gift is too small. If you break it down mathematically, with new or increased support amounts we would be completely supported with:

28 at $25 per month or
14 at $25 and 7 at $50

Where does this support go? The amount lacking goes toward the ministry funds. In order to effectively train national pastors and their families, evangelize unreached people groups, and aid in planting churches, this last amount must be covered.

Our outfit and passage amount is still an ever-moving target. At this point we are estimating $28,000 is still needed. This includes the cost of shipping the container, gathering the rest of the necessary supplies, regular maintenance items for the pick-up, and for the materials to build our house when we get there. Other one-time gifts are needed in addition for Bible Institute buildings which cost around $2500 each.

The Plan, Lord willing

We will fly out of Boise, Idaho at 7:45 am Monday, September 26th, 2011. Mark it on your calendars…we appreciate your prayers!

Ruth

This is a bit of a story, but an important one, so please bear with us. A dearly loved lady in our home church (Mrs. June Thomas) has been suffering with cancer for several years. Just a few days after our return to Idaho, she took a bad turn and we knew the end of her life here on earth was near. We took the kids to see her on a Monday morning, and she passed away that afternoon.

Our youngest, Ruth, has been asking a lot of good questions about heaven, hell, death, sin, and Christ’s forgiveness, for several months now. She asked again as we were saying our earthly good-byes to Miss June. On that Monday evening, May 16th, Ruth told us she was ready to ask Jesus to be her savior so when she died, she would get a new body in Heaven, just like Miss June. Sparky told her that if she really believed, and wanted to do that, she would be able to pray on her own. Our little 4-year-old said the most beautiful prayer: “Dear Jesus, I know I have done lots of bad stuff. I don’t want to go to the scary place. I want to go to heaven when I die. I know you can do that because you died on the cross for my sins. Amen! Now I want to make good choices…that makes Jesus happy.” We were so thankful that the Lord was able to use our beloved Miss June for His glory, even in her death. What a time of rejoicing there was in heaven that day!

As parents, we are extremely blessed to now have all three of our children as professing believers in Christ’s finished work on the cross. Please continue to pray with us that we will be all that the Lord would have us be as we raise these precious treasures to love and serve Him.

If you have any questions about what will happen when it is your turn to die, please speak with us about it. Nothing is more important!

Your missionaries,
(Romans 10:14-15)

2011-04-30T07:40:00.001-06:00

Off We Go…

This issue of the Clancy Chonicles is a bit early, since next Friday we should be on the road, on the way back to Idaho. We are planning to leave Québec this next Sunday, after the 2:00 pm church service. We will be sad to leave our church family here!

Our first night will be with friends in Vermont, and then we will head westward. We need to be in Rock Springs, Wyoming by Friday night because Myndii will be speaking at a ladies bruch Saturday morning. We then have meetings (in that area) on Sunday and Wednesday, to share the ministry. We should be back in the Boise area on Thursday evening, May 12th. **It’s an interesting feeling to realize that that a large part of our first missionary term is over.**

French…Preaching and Presentation

Many of you were praying for us as we prepared for these “final exams” in French. Thank you!

Sparky preached on James 1:2-4 and was well understood. What a blessing! Our ministry presentation was supposed to be easier, since we had the PowerPoint slides. In fact, Myndii mentioned several times that this was not a big deal because “pictures are worth a thousand words” (maybe even more in French ). Sparky did the first half of the presentation without incident, however when it was Myndii’s turn, the computer crashed. Yes, really! The comfort zone of having the pictures was gone. She managed to spend about 20 minutes in question and answer time (all in French, of course), while Sparky and another gentleman frantically tried to reboot the computer. They were able to get the computer going, and the rest of the presentation went well; Myndii got more French practice than she planned, a good dose of humility, along with a greater distrust in technology.

Technology

Speaking of technology, it is becoming increasingly obvious that this laptop will not make it until we leave for Congo. Looking back, this computer has not had an easy life. It has done around 100 church presentations, been packed and unpacked at least that many times, been used for countless e-mails to pastors, churches, and supporters (including prayer letters), performed “daily” computer functions (including the use by 2 full-time language school students), and followed us across the US and Canada several times. We have been given an offer to help pay for a new one, and will start shopping around as soon as we get back to Idaho (pray with us that this one makes it that far!). This has also made us more aware of how fragile technology is, and the need for at least one “back up” in Congo…since we will be using the computer in our ministry at the Bible Institue, evangelism, and to keep in touch with all of you!

Books…en français

One of our goals while in Québec was to gather French resources for the Bible Institute of Congo. This includes books to use in the classroom with the students, items to start a B.I. library (commentaries, Bible dictionary, concordance, Bible handbook, Bible atlas, etc.), gospel tracts, and children’s recourses (for VBS and/or Sunday school). These basic items will be used to minister more effectively to the people of Congo. (We will need Bibles as well, but can get them printed in Congo.)

Printed materials tend to be expensive. This last month we have gathered around $3000 of these types of materials. Please pray about how you can participate in the purchase of these important items. Also, please pray that we are able to get all the materials across the US boarder without having to pay customs on them (since the items will not be staying in the US).

Container…Finally!

The Lord provided a shipping container! Our original plan was to have the container packed and ready to ship before leaving for Québec last summer. However, the Lord did not allow that to happen. He did provide for the funds, specifically to purchase a container, a while ago; however we were finding it difficult to locate one with our needed specifications. After much searching (ourselves and others) the Lord provided a container that is in very good condition and already certified for international shipping. We have paid the deposit on the container, and will have it delivered as soon as we get to Idaho. Thank you for your prayers in this matter!

Also, we have contacted a shipping company. Please pray that the Lord will provide and guide in this next step!

On the road again… our summer schedule

The Lord has given us less than 5 short months between language school and leaving for Congo. We are curious to see how the Lord will work during this time. We are also excited to see how God will provide the remaining approximately $800 of our needed monthly support.

Please pray with us that God will provide churches where we can share His ministry in Congo, and provide an opportunity for His people to participate in His plan for this needy country.

Sharing Him,
(Romans 1:16)

2011-04-01T19:36:00.003-06:00

A Departure date

In faith, we have reserved airline tickets. A travel agency was able to get us a very good price…just after a gift came in for very close to the total amount. God continues to provide as we have needs! We were unable to get the exact flights as the Grings, but we will be able to meet them in Brussels, and fly into Congo together from there. Lord willing, we will be leaving Idaho the morning of September 26th, and arrive in Kinshasa, Congo the evening of September 27th.

The “Plan”

There are many things “up in the air” (in God’s hands where they belong!) but here is a rough estimate of how we see God working.

We will be leaving Québec about this time next month. (There is a lot to do between now and then!) On our drive back to Idaho, we are hoping to stop at some churches along the way. We are praying about the possibility of spending some time in Wyoming, as we are passing through. After returning to Idaho, there is much to be done. We will continue to gather supplies, pack the container, and visit churches.

With the Lord’s provision, we will leave the end of September for Congo. To get into the country, it is necessary to come in under tourist visas. Once we get there, we will apply for our long-term visas. This is a process that can take up to several months. We are praying the Lord will speed things along so our visas will be in hand before the elections in November. After we have our long-term visas, we will be able to move up to the Bible Institute property in Dibaya-Lubwe. In the mean-time, we will be living at the Grings’ house in Kinshasa. This time will be good for us to start learning Lingala and adjust to “Congo French.” Prayerfully, our container will arrive during this time, intact, with all the contents that we put into it.

A “New” IFM missionary to Congo

Praise the Lord with us! We are so excited that Sarah Grings (Dan and Christine’s eldest daughter) was appointed as an IFM missionary to the Democratic Republic of Congo! Having grown up in the country, she really will be “returning” to the field. She will be adding to the Grings’ family legacy in Congo, being a 4th generation missionary to serve there. Please pray for her as she begins her deputation process.

One Down, Two to Go

This last Wednesday, we (both Sparky and Myndii) shared our testimonies to the church here, in French. We had the whole service just for our testimonies, so they were more detailed than what we usually present. We both made it through what we wanted to say…without too much nervous shaking. Our most fervent prayer was that we would be understood. After the service, we received many comments, mostly about how well we had been understood…our God is so gracious!

Next Wednesday, April 6th, Sparky will be preaching in French. Please continue to pray for preparation, clarity of thought, and to be understood. Then Sunday, April 10th, we will be sharing our ministry presentation in the 2:00 afternoon service.

In Congo

There are some pictures that are worth a thousand words…click on the "Pictures" link at the top of this page.

Trusting in Him,
(Proverbs 3:5-6)

2011-03-04T08:45:00.003-07:00

Congo
There are so many things to update you on!

The ÉLBC annual conference was the middle of February and was held at the Bible Institute property again, for the second time. (ÉLBC is the group of independent Baptist churches in Congo.) We are so excited because more pastors and church leaders are able to attend with this Bible Institute location in the interior. Praise the Lord, there were 126 in attendance! However, the interior has its own set of issues. The truck with the supplies from Kinshasa (Bibles, literature, song books, food, etc.) was delayed due to a bridge being out; it did not arrive in Dibaya until after the end of the conference. (The materials will be locked in the completed storage building until Dan can make it back up to the Institute.) The team that went up is resourceful, and did what they could without the planned supplies. The Lord answered many prayers for this meeting; please continue to pray for the churches and Christians in Congo! Prayerfully, we will be there to “host” this conference next year!

The Congo presidential election has been changed; the election is now going to be held the 27th of November. (You may be thinking this is an odd bit of information to insert right there, but there is a method behind the madness…)

Dan and Christine Grings are heading back to the U.S. in May for a short furlough. They will be returning to Congo the end of September, and strongly recommend us returning with them at that time. One of the reasons is the new election date. If the Lord allows, it would be much better to already be in the country and start “settling in” before the elections. Also, it would be a tremendous blessing if we can travel with the Grings. We can’t adequately express the joy and excitement in having a prayerful departure date!

Container

Anyone need a reminder that the Lord is good?!? A dearly beloved church gave the remainder of the finances needed to purchase a shipping container! WOW! Praise the Lord!

On the same day, a member of another supporting church called and may be able to get us a better deal on a container through his company. Please continue to pray for wisdom and good stewardship in choosing the container and shipping company!

We were so blessed by all the thoughts, prayers, and “foot work” for this need! We received e-mails and notes from several people looking into possibilities for containers and/or shipping. We are continually thankful to be serving our Lord WITH you!!!!

French

We were told the other day that French will definitely be the language of heaven…
Because it takes an eternity to learn! :)

Packing List

We have updated our packing/supply list on our website. After discussing more with our field team, there are some items they felt we should add. Thank you for your prayers concerning the provision of our necessary supplies!

Picture Update

There are new pictures on our website! Be sure to check them out…

Looking Ahead

Please remember, we keep our current ministry calendar updated on our website at www.theclancychronicles.blogspot.com. Just click on the “Calendar” tab at the top of the page. Also, please remember that these dates are always subject to adjustment according to the Lord’s timing.

March

4th-14th Spring Break (for Martha and Titus)
13th First Baptist of Shelburne, Vermont
30th Sparky preaching at ÉBÉO (the church here in
Québec City) in French

April

10th Ministry presentation at ÉBÉO, in French

May

Leave Québec, heading back to Idaho
Grings head to the U.S.

Sept.

To Congo!

Our plan, Lord willing, is to finish up our French language studies in mid-April. We will need some time to wrap things up here in Québec, and should leave here the beginning of May.

We are beginning to schedule meetings for this summer (May-September). We trust the Lord to provide us with contacts and meetings that will be glorifying to Himself and for furthering His ministry in Congo.

In between the meetings, we will continue to prepare for Congo. Please pray for wisdom in prioritizing.

With His peace,
(Jeremiah 29:11)
~The Clancy Clan

2011-02-04T07:29:00.005-07:00

Return to Québec

Well, we’re back. God gave us a wonderful sense of peace as we returned…the best way to describe coming back is that we are “comfortable.” Being on the airplane with all French-speakers: comfortable; landing in an airport where the customs agents and security officers speak French: comfortable; driving through town and walking into our apartment after being gone for a month: comfortable. No big deal! This is much different than the feeling we had our first time arriving in Québec. What a difference knowing (even some) the language makes!

Back to the Books

Our time in Idaho was very busy, but now we are back to the “different busy” of studying French. Sparky is attending the other language school here in Québec, four days a week. He has a professor that specializes in International French, and is teaching him customs and speech differences we will find in Africa. He is very good about sharing this information with Myndii so we are both gaining from this experience. Myndii is working with Catherine Webster as a tutor at home. This has proved to be quite beneficial as she is practicing “practical” conversational French. We have been working on how to communicate with people in the market, fishermen, around the house, etc. as well as how to share the gospel and explain Bible verses/passages.

Martha and Titus returned to the French-speaking elementary school. They are both doing pretty well. We really like hearing them speak French when they don’t know mom and dad can hear them…they speak and understand more than they let on! Ruth has been watching some movies in French (we were pleased to find out that many of our children’s DVDs have a French soundtrack!) and is starting to repeat lines from her favorites. She also loves to say “comme ça”, which means “like that”, when she’s showing us things, or describing things.

Shipping Container

We are still waiting for an estimate on how much the shipping of a container will cost. However, we have been given about $1200 toward the purchase of a container (the 40-foot metal box). What a blessing! The total cost of the container should be about $5500. We are hoping to purchase the container soon, so it will be ready for loading.

Support Update

We are currently at 81% of our monthly support goal…just $900 a month more to be fully supported and ready for Congo!

Where is our support coming from? 12 individuals/families and 14 churches are faithfully giving monthly.

A few of our individual supporters were unable to continue regular support. However, we are excited to report that we are partnering with another church! This has kept our support level fairly even. The Lord is faithful, and we are prayerfully expecting His provision in His timing. Will you continue to pray with us for faithful financial supporters to partner with us in this ministry?

Where does the support go? If you are considering a one-time gift, or partnering with us long-term, you may send the support directly to IFM at their address (immediately to the right). On the memo line simply write “Clancy” and your commitment (one-time, monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc). You will receive a receipt from IFM for your records.

What is the support used for? Right now, our monthly support goes toward our training in French and our living expenses in Canada. At our current support level things are pretty tight; nevertheless, the Lord is faithful. Once we are in Congo, the support will be used for ministry (Bible Institute, evangelism, travel in the interior, etc.) and living expenses.

Most of the current one-time gifts go toward our “Outfit and Passage” needs. This is a fancy way of saying the cost and/or items needed to get our family to Congo, and set up to live there. This figure is just a guess at this point since so many things are still “unknowns.” However, we have estimated that we will still need approximately $50,000.

A French Funny

We finally got up enough nerve to go out to eat…all by ourselves. Someone from church came and watched the kids for us, and we went to a near-by café for supper. We ordered our food and had a basic conversation with the waitress, all in French of course. We were feeling quite proud of ourselves…until she came, toward the end of our meal, and asked if we wanted “something.” We didn’t understand what the “something” was, so we politely said no. She looked a little flustered and asked again, would we like ONE or TWO of “the something.” We figured whatever it was, the fewer the better, so we said one. When she brought us the bill we realized she was asking if we wanted our check together or separate! No wonder she didn’t accept our polite “no, thank you.”

And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ. II Thess. 3:5

~The Clancy Clan
Sparky, Myndii, Martha, Titus, & Ruth

2011-01-08T19:11:00.001-07:00

The Year of our Lord…2011

Happy New Year! We trust that you are giving this next year to the Lord, and everything in it.

When we started our journey toward Congo, many people asked us when our goal was to leave for the field. After praying about it, and considering the needs in Congo, we set the date at “the fall of 2011.” (We set this as a tentative date, always allowing for the Lord to have other plans.) It occurred to us this week…2011 is THIS YEAR! We are still looking at the possibility of being in Congo this fall.

Idaho

We have spent a few very productive weeks in Idaho. We had a long list of things that needed to be accomplished…most of them we were able to cross of the list as “done.” We did not get to everything, but we feel progress was made.

There was an overwhelming few days at the beginning, getting used to all the English! However, we settled in quickly. We were able to spend some time with family and friends, and enjoyed the opportunity to visit.

The most overwhelming times in Idaho were the times we were set back in response to the generosity of God’s people! The Christmas gifts we received were such a blessing! Our “Packing List” has been dramatically reduced this month. There are just a few items left to collect, and we will be ready to GO! (It has been difficult to prepare for the return to Québec at times, since so many things are bringing us closer to Congo!)

Shipping Container

One of the main items on our “to do” list had to do with a shipping container (40-foot-long metal box, certified for international shipping). This will be used to send our pick-up and things to Congo.

The Ward’s put us in touch with a shipping company in Congo that will be able to receive the container once it reaches the port there. This will potentially save us a lot of headache since they will handle all the receiving process with the shipping company and the government. The company said they should be able to transport and deliver the container at least as far as Kikwit (about one day’s drive from the Bible Institute property). They also suggested that it would be cheaper and easier, in the long run, to purchase a container rather than lease one. The best price on a container we have been able to find is about $5,500. This price is for the box only and does not include the cost of shipping or receiving. We have also been in touch with a shipping company that will be able to get the container to Congo, but do not have a quote from them yet.

Please pray with us for the Lord to provide the finances and wisdom necessary for this step in the journey.

The Packing List

We really can’t say thank you enough for all the gifts of love we were given. As mentioned, there are only a few things left on our list. What a blessing! We spent some time packing, and most of the items are already in boxes, labeled, and ready to be loaded into the container!

However, there are still some things left to collect so if you would like to participate, there is still time. Among other things, the children are still in need of their future school materials. We will be using the A Beka homeschool curriculum, and we have a very detailed list of the books they still need.

Québec

Lord willing, our plane will arrive back in Québec City at 10:47 pm (Eastern Time) on Monday, January 10th.

We will continue our studies in the French language; however things will be changing a bit. Myndii will be working with a tutor at home, and Sparky will be attending language school. The big kids will continue to attend the local public school, 100% in French; though we are hoping it will be easier on everyone with mom home more. Please pray for us as we each diligently apply ourselves to learning this language.

We are excited to get back to Québec, mostly because we know the Lord has put us there for this season. We are ready to see our friends again, and get back to working on French. We are still unsure of how long the Lord will have us stay in Québec. Our answer at this time is, “When the Lord tells us it’s time to go, we’ll be ready.”

Will the Lord provide for us to be fully supported before we leave Québec? Please continue to “Pray for Rain” with us as we look to the Lord to provide financial partners. We are so very close, but also are waiting for His perfect timing!

Laborers of the LORD of the harvest,
(Luke 10:2)
~The Clancy Clan
Sparky, Myndii, Martha, Titus, & Ruth

2010-12-06T19:55:00.001-07:00

It’s Time to Pray for More Rain!

Will you pray with us for the Lord to move incredibly once again?

Last April we asked you to “pray for rain” with us and ask God to speed us on our way to language school and Congo. God answered with nothing short of a miracle! Now we are looking a bit to the future, to the end of our time here in Québec. It is time again to “pray for rain,” expectantly while preparing. We are currently at 82%. This means we need an additional 18% in order to be supported for Congo, plus further funds for outfit and passage.

Does the Lord desire for us to be in Congo in 2011? Will God provide through His people again and have us fully supported before we leave Canada? He does own cattle on a thousand hills!

**Thank you again, and always, to each of you that give faithfully and sacrificially!**

Language School

This week is full of homework, studying, and review, as next week (Dec 5th-10th) is our final exams. We have learned so much! However, Laval University is very expensive. After much prayer, and seeking godly counsel, we have decided that only Sparky will return to language school after Christmas break. However, we do not feel that Myndii should stop her studies. We have looked into hiring a professional tutor, which is less expensive than Laval, but is proving hard to find. Catherine, the young lady that has been watching Ruth, is willing to take on the challenge. She speaks French fluently, having been born here, and has a patient, sweet spirit. We have already discussed some options of what she will be teaching. On top of that, Myndii will do all of the same homework Sparky is assigned from the language school. We are praying this will keep both of us on track to be ready for Congo!

Québec

We have one more dilemma: when to leave Québec. The next set of classes at Laval end on April 22nd. There is an option to take an additional 5 weeks of classes in a summer term. Our visas are good until next August. We have several options! There are considerations concerning our finances and our field team in Congo.

First, the longer we are here, especially if we continue with classes and tutoring, the more recourses (time and money) that will be used here. The more we learn about French, the more we realize that we could spend the rest of our lives here just to learn French; so how much is “enough”? Please pray diligently for us to listen for God’s wisdom in this!

If we are not fully supported when we do leave Canada, it will be necessary to spend time visiting more churches before we will be able to set a date for Congo.

The Grings (our partners in Congo) are due for their next furlough, but are waiting, so they will be in Congo for our first year. We do not feel that we should ask them to wait too long…

Congo

God is making preparations in Congo and at the Bible Institute for our arrival! We spoke with Dan Grings just before he took another trip up to Dibaya, a few weeks ago. He had quite an ambitious list of things to accomplish, one being our “temporary house” so we will have a roof over our heads when we arrive. We will live in this smaller house until we can build our own; it will be used in the future for visiting mission teams, when the Grings come teach block courses, etc. This summer, the Grings (including all their children and respective spouses) were able to complete the first 2 dorm buildings. Please pray for the Grings and Wards as they continue to work hard in preparation for this ministry.

Practicing “Français”

As mentioned in our last prayer letter, we are receiving a lot of help in this process of learning French. We cannot say thank you enough for all the time and effort others have put into this.

We meet for desert on Friday evenings with the Rivest family. Joël and Nathalie help us with our conversational French and with our homework. They have 4 children; the older three are the same ages as our three, so the kids have a chance to practice their French also. They have been such an encouragement and blessing to our family!

On Thursday evenings we have a single gentleman, Jean-Pierre, over for dinner. He does not know very much English (which in many ways is good for us), and is very patient with our “butchering” of his language. He helps us a lot with our pronunciation and vocabulary.

On Sunday afternoons and evenings, a young man named Guillaume (pronounced g-ee-ome) comes over. He has been a great help in proof-reading our written papers. He and Sparky have started doing a Bible study together also. You can pray for Guillaume as he is truly searching for Biblical truths and how they apply to his life.

In addition to our “scheduled” help, there are many others. If we try to name them all, we are sure to miss someone (and we don’t want our prayer letter to start looking like the first chapter of Matthew). However, we do thank God for each of them! We are so grateful for a church family here that has accepted us, really adopted us, and is willing to put in so much effort for us to learn their mother tongue.

Laborers of the LORD of the harvest,
(Luke 10:2)

2010-11-05T20:49:00.003-06:00

Language Studies

The mid-term exams are done, and we lived to tell about it. With the move up-to the intermediate courses, we had to work very diligently to catch up to the level the professors would be expecting for these tests. Most of the other students have taken several years of high school level French, and/or at least one year in College. We prayed beforehand that God would allow us to remember what we had studied, and give us the scores we deserved. After each exam we said, “Well, we did much better than we would have 2 months ago; we wouldn’t have even understood the directions at that point!” So, at least we feel like we are improving some. However, as we got our graded exams returned to us, we were pleasantly surprised that we both had almost exactly the average scores for each respective class. Without a doubt, this is due to the prayers of God’s people and His limitless grace.

Test scores don’t mean anything if you can’t use what you’ve learned, so we have been very encouraged when the people here tell us that we are improving each week. It is such a blessing to know they are noticing and that our hard work is producing some fruit.

The kids are doing quite well. Martha and Titus are learning fast. During Sunday evening service and Wednesday prayer meeting, we have them write words they hear and recognize and they are getting more each week! Ruth is catching a lot of simple vocabulary and phrases, also.

L’Autobus

We are now officially city-folk. (Well at least in practice.) We are now the “proud” owners of public transportation bus passes! While this is saving us money for fuel, it is costing us much in time. Driving the Suburban every day, and fuel at over $4.00 per gallon, we were seeing a lot of recourses being gulped down by our thirsty vehicle. The down side is the time element. Catherine has graciously agreed to spend the extra time here with the kids, but it is hard being gone that much more...for us and the children.

Vieux-Québec
“The best of Québec on the worst day…”

We finally went down to Vieux-Québec (Old-Quebec)! We had been here almost exactly 2 months, and it was getting a bit embarrassing to answer ‘no’ when people asked if we had gone yet; especially since it’s a whole 10 minute drive from our house. Looking at the calendar we all had the 25th off from school, so we decided that was the day.

We should have known it was going to be an interesting day when the Suburban refused to start that morning. (Melanie Webster rescued us by driving over to our place and giving us a jump-start.) We were told to park outside of the old city because the streets are so narrow, and we have what people here call our “grand camion” (big truck, in French). So, we stopped at the bottom of the hill going toward the old part of Québec and found a parking lot. The map we had of Vieux-Québec made this part of town look fairly small, so we decided it surly couldn’t be too far to walk. We couldn’t find where we were exactly on the map, but we knew Vieux-Québec was up the hill, so we went up…and up…and…

…and up…into a part of Québec we were quite sure was NOT a part of the “tourist trap.” A kind elderly woman stopped us and asked in English, “Are you tourists?” (Another clue that we were not in the right area!) I’m not exactly sure what gave us away: our unfolded map, our confused look as we were trying to read it, the kids speaking loudly in English, or ?... At any rate, she gave us very good directions to the “right part of town” and we discovered that the reason we couldn’t find where we were on the map was because we had parked a long ways away and were not yet even in Vieux-Québec! We finally got to the Citadelle at about 12:00. We had planned on being much earlier, but remember the Suburban didn’t start…and we had an extra-long trek. The morning had been pretty nice, weather wise, but it was just starting to drizzle a bit and we could feel the wind starting to pick up. A tour of the Citadelle was starting about 10 minutes after we arrived, so we decided we would eat lunch after the tour. About half way thorough, it started pouring rain and the wind was down-right frigid. So, now we are all wet, cold, and hungry. We decided to stop at the first place that looked even remotely kid-friendly. At this point, I’m sure it’s needless to say: we made it all the way back to the Suburban without lunch. By this time it was after 3:00, we are now very hungry, soaked clear through, freezing, and exhausted!

However, it is necessary to say that we had a very good time despite (the kids really are smiling under their coats), learned a lot of Québec history, and there was so much more to see; so we look forward to going back. Though, next time I think we’ll take the bus…it stops right next to the old city walls!

Addition to our Website

We have added a new page to our website. We now have a tab at the top for “Pictures.” We hope this will give you a glimpse of what we have been up to, and our life here in Québec. As they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words”…

In Idaho

Lord willing, we will be in Idaho December 14th to January 10th. (Please continue to pray for God’s provision for the finances.) We have much to do while there, however we would love to see as many of you as possible. If you (or your church) are having any special holiday events during that time, we would love to be able to attend. Please feel free to contact us with an invitation and details.

We will need to keep up with our French. One month of “nothing” would surly set us back. We will be bringing books, but that’s not the same as conversation. If you know French (even a little) and are willing to meet with us, we would love the practice! Please let us know if and when you will be available. Thank you!

His Clay (Jeremiah 18:1-6)

2010-10-04T14:07:00.003-06:00

Things that have surprised us in Québec…

We have been here for just over a month, and we discovered many things that are different than what we are used to:

*Milk: the cost was higher than we expected at $5.65 per gallon however the real surprise was how they sell it…there are no milk jugs! They sell it by the gallon, divided into 3 smaller plastic bags. There are special milk pitchers you place one of the bags in, cut one corner off the milk bag, and pour directly from the bag. [On our first trip to Costco here, the checker accidentally ripped our milk open while scanning it, and milk went everywhere…the Webster’s said they’d never heard of that happening…what a welcome to Québec style milk]

*It is much cheaper to buy pre-made or boxed foods than the ingredients to make your own. (???)

*As we expected gas is sold by the liter (about ¼ gallon), what we didn’t expect was the price jumps. One morning it was 99.4 cents per liter, that afternoon it was 107.4 cents. That’s a difference of 32 cents a gallon! Just like the States, however, it goes down much slower.

*It is not uncommon to see cars and minivans with receiver hitches…towing things! Our favorites were the minivan with an 18-20 foot camp trailer, and the 2-door Explorer with a huge 4-horse trailer. There are very few full-sized SUVs and pick-ups. Our Suburban looks massive around here!

(Yes, we are aware that we will have a much longer list when we arrive in Congo!)

Ruth

Thank you for all your prayers for Ruth. PRAISE THE LORD!!! She is doing very well now, since we removed the chairs we think held her allergen. It could have been most anything: the glue they used, something the chairs had been cleaned with, something they had absorbed at some point, etc.

It was special to be able to share with her how God answered our prayers by provided for us to figure it out, and for His healing. Isn’t it a wonderful thing to have a God that cares about everything in our lives! This is the first time she has really been aware of God answering one of her prayers. She often says, “God made my spots go away.” Could this all have been so she will see her need for a Lord that can heal her soul, as well?

Address Apologies

The correct address is:

Sparky and Myndii Clancy
2215 rue des Tours
Québec City (QC) G1G 2B6
Canada

(You do need to write it just like this, even the “Canada” at the bottom.)

**THANK YOU for all the letters, cards, and packages so far!

Our Schedules

Thank you for all your prayers concerning our schedules:

Ruth (w/ Catherine)Monday 11:15 am – 4:45 pm; Tuesday, Wedednesday, and Friday 7:00 am – 12:30 pm

Martha & Titus (School) Monday - Friday 8:00 am – 3:30 pm

Martha and Titus walk home each day for lunch. Their break is from 11:20 am to 1:00 pm. Catherine watches them at lunches, before school, and/or after school if we are at our classes.

Sparky & Myndii (Classes at Laval) Monday 12:30 pm –3:20 pm Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday 8:30 am –11:20 pm

Sparky and Myndii: Monday: Pronunciation, Tuesday: Grammar, Wednesday: Oral, Friday: Writing. On Thursdays, we take turns volunteering at the kid’s school library; this gives us LOTS of practice as none of the other volunteers or kids at school know English.

Looking Ahead

Please remember that our updated calendar is on our website at www.theclancychronicles@blogspot.com just click on “Calendar” at the top of the page.

October

18th – 22nd Mid-term exam week at Laval
25th – 29th Semaine de Lecture (“Week of Reading”: a week off for Laval)
20th – Nov. 8th Catherine will be gone. We have not figured out
an alternative arrangement for the kids yet…

December - January

14th – Jan 10th Back in Idaho
9th Grace Baptist in Twin Falls, ID

Back in Idaho

We have purchased our plane tickets to return to Idaho on December 14th, and to return to Québec on January 10th. There are obvious reasons for the timing like the scheduled break from school(s) and being back for our last Christmas before Congo. However, there are many other reasons for this trip. We had such a short time-frame to get ready for coming here, we left many things undone. We need to finish the Congo pick-up, sort things and pack for our container going to Congo, get the “borrowed house” ready for other missionaries to use, etc. We also had previously scheduled to share at a church in January. This is a necessary but costly trip. Will you pray about helping with the expenses?

If you would like to schedule us to speak at your church while we’re in the area, please let us know. Also, if you are having any special holiday events during that time, we would love to take that opportunity to fellowship with you. Please feel free to contact us.

Serving Him together, (Philippians 2:1-2)

2010-09-04T09:52:00.004-06:00

Québec!

Thank you for all your prayers for our travel. We made it to Québec City in just less than 1 week in the car. We are so thankful that everything went quite smoothly, and that we are now settling in to our new apartment.

Another mailing address

We will be keeping our PO Box in Notus, Idaho; however, we also can receive mail here in Québec (Our cell phone numbers will remain the same)

2215 rue des Tours

Québec City (QC) G1G 2B6

Canada

Legal Papers…

Our applications for CAQ (the papers to let us study in Québec) were received by the office in Montreal. However, just before our arrival to Canada, they requested more proof from our mission agency concerning our finances. We (along with Melanie Webster) hand delivered the notarized documents to the CAQ office last Wednesday (August 25th). As of today (September 3rd), we still have not received word on when they will get us the documents we need. PLEASE continue to PRAY for God’s intervention in this process!!! We still are confident that He is hand-carrying these papers through the process and we will get them in His timing. Once we get this document from CAQ, we can drive to the boarder and get our Student Visas. Right now we are here under “visitor” status, which is legal, but we need these papers to register as students at the university.

Laval

Despite the fact that we were not supposed to be able to do anything without our CAQs and Student Visas, God has provided! Laval University (our language school) is allowing us to attend all our classes. We will not be able to officially register for our courses until we have our legal documents, but this way we will not have to start late and try to catch up. So, we became college students on Monday and were able to attend the whole first week. However, the registrar’s office would have liked for us to have the CAQs by today. Please pray for them to have patience as we are still waiting…

After attending classes for one week, one of our professors asked for us to consider advancing to the higher level class. We had intended to take “Elementary French” but she suggested that we move into the “Intermediate French” courses. This meant a change in schedule, a commitment for much more home-work, and quite a challenge! (Not to mention that we’re not officially in the classes anyway…) However, God has brought us here to learn French. We feel that God has presented this opportunity for us to be further along in language than we had originally “planned.” So, 12 college credits of Intermediate French (each!) it is…

Ruth

Please pray for our littlest one! A few days after arriving here, she broke out in a rash. We have been unable to figure out what is causing it (believe me, we have tried just about everything!) and it doesn’t seem to be going away. Antihistamine helps (which indicates an allergic reaction) but is not getting rid of it. The hardest part is getting her to leave it alone…she is causing more problems by scratching and making sores. It is making mom and dad quite sad and at a loss for what we can do to make her more comfortable.

God has provided for Ruth to have a GREAT sitter. The Webster’s daughter, Catherine, was unable to attend college this year and was looking for work. She agreed to watch Ruth at our apartment while the rest of us are at school.

The Bigger Kids

Speaking of school, the older two children were supposed to wait for us to have CAQs before attending school. However, God intervened once again and the school has allowed Martha to enroll in 4th grade, and Titus into 2nd grade. Their first day of attending school was September 1st. God gave them both fantastic teachers! Martha’s teacher is happy to have Martha in her class, and prepared the other students, getting them excited for Martha’s arrival. Titus’ teacher taught French immersion in Alberta, Canada and is pleased to have another student to teach French.

Church

We have been so blessed by the church here in Québec! The apartment we are living in is the former parsonage, and is the 2nd floor above the fellowship hall of the church building. The church did a lot of preparation for our arrival including providing many of our furnishings, and even filled some of our pantry. Even more importantly, they welcomed us into the family immediately. We felt at home right away, and are really looking forward to the year we get to spend with them all! They have also already been a great help with our home-work

Looking Ahead

Please remember that our entire updated ministry calendar is on this website at just click on “Calendar” at the top of the page.

September

1st Martha and Titus’ first day of school

9th Scheduled to have our internet hooked up

23rd Ruth’s 4th Birthday!

Au Revoir,

~The Clancy Clan
Sparky, Myndii, Martha, Titus, & Ruth

2010-08-09T08:06:00.003-06:00

Where to start?!?!

So much has happened in the last 30 days…it’s hard to know where to start. We’ll try and get it all in. First, thank you again for all your prayers on our behalf!

“Home”

We started off July by returning back to Idaho for a week and a half, after spending a month in Montana. Myndii’s brother (Ben) and his son (Reece) were able to come for a visit, and everyone had a great time together, especially the cousins.

Martha was off to her first-ever week of camp. It’s still hard for mom and dad to believe she’s old enough! She had a great time, and was not really ready for it to be over. :o) While Martha was gone, the rest of the family was busy getting things ready for the next trip and for Canada.

On the Road again…to E. Idaho and Utah

The next trip took us to Eastern Idaho where we were blessed to share at 2 churches (in Shelley and Pocatello), and spend some time in Idaho Falls with Pastor and Mrs. Lovegrove.

Then we were off to Utah. We were scheduled to speak at Camp Utibaca for the end of Jr. High, and beginning of Sr. High Camps. We had an amazing time with both groups of kids, and the camp staff. It was a true blessing to participate! We are also happy to report several salvation and re-dedication decisions.

We had a bit of an adventure getting to and from Camp Utibaca. One of our tires completely exploded and shredded to pieces on our way to the camp. We praise the Lord for His perfect timing as it happened on a quiet 2-lane highway instead of in rush-hour Salt Lake City traffic (which we had just left)! We planned on getting a new tire the following week before heading back to Idaho. On our way down to Santaquin, to speak at the service on Sunday, another tire’s tread started to separate. Having already used our spare tire on the first incident, and it being Sunday when all the tire shops in the area were closed, we limped our poor vehicle all the way to the Bardon’s home. We are thankful there was a place to buy tires there in Santaquin!

This is the first car trouble of any kind we have during our deputation. Praise God with us for His protection during all our travels, including this event.

Salem

After getting back from Utah, we spent a few days in Idaho and left for Salem, Oregon. We were so excited to get to share our ministry at Faith Baptist, where we were members when we were first married. We also got to spend some time with good friends, and some of Myndii's family. It was great to spend this time with everyone before heading off...

Congo Pick-up

Somehow, Sparky has managed to spend quite a bit of time on the Pick-up that we will be shipping to Congo. He has re-built the transfer case, rear-end, and engine; replaced many of the factory parts with heavy duty and off-road parts; modified some things to make them more durable; and more! Our prayer is that God will bless these efforts, and we will be taking a reliable, sturdy, hard-working vehicle to Congo.

Moving

It is impossible to accurately describe the process of moving to a new house and to 2 foreign countries all at the same time. At least we can’t say we’re bored! In between our travels, we have endeavored to pack all our things we are taking to Canada, while gathering and sorting things for Congo, and working around the boxes still unpacked from the move. At this moment we have less than 1 week before we leave for Canada, and we are far from finished. Many things will have to wait until we come back during Christmas break. Please pray with us for endurance, patience, and the peace to let things go undone!

Commissioning Service

What a true blessing to be sent! On August 1st, our church officially commissioned us as missionaries to Congo. They have been behind us since the very beginning, but it was a time of official dedication and sharing. There were several pastors (including Myndii’s dad) that spoke and prayed. We were pleasantly surprised by several that made long trips to be there. THANK YOU to all that were able to come and support us on this special day. Also, THANK YOU to all that were not able to attend, but were with us in thoughts and prayers!

Looking Ahead

This section will look a bit different from now on. We have been giving you a schedule of our speaking engagements, trips, and ministry opportunities. Our ministry is now changing. We still want to keep you updated on our schedule…so please keep in prayer over the things going on. :)

Please remember that our entire updated ministry calendar is on this website, just click on “Calendar” at the top of the page.

August

1st Commissioning Service at First Baptist in Notus
8th Centennial Baptist in Caldwell, ID (am)
Meridian Baptist in Meridian, ID (pm)
13th-20th Travel to Canada
15th First Baptist Church in Columbia Falls
23rd Martha and Titus’ first day of school
27th Registration day for Laval
30th Sparky and Myndii’s first day of Language School

Trusting in Him,
(Psalm 147:5)

~The Clancy Clan
Sparky, Myndii, Martha, Titus, & Ruth

2010-07-06T10:31:00.003-06:00

Beautiful

In a word, this is what our last month has been. We were in one of the most beautiful places in our country, and spent time with some of the most beautiful people and churches.

Myndii had the privilege to share her testimony with Bethel Baptist in Kalispell, Montana and how they were a part of her “spiritual legacy” since her mother was saved there during their VBS 45 years ago. We also were able to be a part of their VBS program this year as their “featured missionaries” and had a great time ministering alongside them. We stayed at the missionary house, and quickly felt right at home. We are so grateful for them welcoming us into the Bethel family!

While in the area, we shared at different 7 churches and met so many wonderful people. Sparky got to help with a few workdays at Whitefish Baptist. The whole family got to help do some projects at Lake Blaine Baptist Bible Camp for their work day. We had a great time of fellowship, and we are thankful the Lord allowed us to spend the month in Montana with them all!

Language School

Please continue to pray earnestly about our French schooling in Canada! Long story short, our applications were not originally received correctly by Laval University, so we had to resubmit all the forms. As of right now, the admission office is still reviewing our files. They told us to expect waiting another week or so to hear their answer. This gives about a month to get the Visas. We continue to trust God for His provision and guidance in all, but do covet your prayers on our behalf in this matter.

“Packing List”

THANK YOU to each of you that have looked at our “new” website (still at www.theclancychronicles.blogspot.com) and provided items from our “packing list.” We are trying to keep everything updated by removing things from the list as they are provided, and adding things as needs become known.

Our biggest need right now is our pick-up. Sparky is working diligently during the times we are in Idaho to get it ready to ship to Congo. There are many things that need to be done to it, and many parts to buy. Please let us know if you would like to participate in helping get this vehicle “Congo ready.”

Martha, Titus, and Ruth (update)

We have started something special for our children, and YOU are the key.

We are completely convinced in the power of prayer. Each of our children are very unique and have specific things in their lives that need prayer. In the next few months, we would like each of our three children to be supported by at least 10 prayer partners each (individuals, families, Sunday school classes, youth groups, churches, etc.) We put together separate prayer list for each of them that will only go out to their specific prayer partners. We hope to e-mail out updates, and more specific prayer needs to their prayer partners every 2-3 months. If you would like to commit to faithfully praying for one of our children on a long-term basis, please let us know!

Thank you to all that have contacted us for this ministry to our children! If you asked to be on one of their lists, you should have already gotten your first letter from them. If not, please let us know.

We are still in need of more prayer partners for each of the children. You may choose the child you would like to pray for, or have us choose for you. Please prayerfully consider participating in this vital way.

Looking Ahead

Please remember that our entire updated ministry calendar is on this website just click on “Calendar” at the top of this page.

July

3rd Martha’s 9th Birthday
4th First Baptist in Notus, ID
11th Shelley Baptist Church in Shelley, ID (am)
Pocatello Baptist Church in Pocatello, ID (pm)
15th-19th Camp Utibaca in Utah
25th Faith Baptist in Salem, OR
27th Myndii’s Birthday
28th Sparky’s Birthday
26th-30th Notus Baptist *VBS*

August

1st Commissioning Service at First Baptist in Notus at 3:00 pm
8th Centennial Baptist in Caldwell, ID (am)
Meridian Baptist in Meridian, ID (pm)
9th-13th Roswell Baptist *VBS*
13th Tentative leave date for Canada

Casting all our cares upon Him,
(1 Peter 5:6-7)

~The Clancy Clan

2010-06-04T15:33:00.002-06:00

Official Full-Time Ministry

This month starts our official full-time ministry! We begin with several churches in Western Montana. The Lord has provided a very full schedule for the month of June, and we are so excited to fellowship with these churches. We will then spend a week and a half in Idaho the beginning of July, and back on the road for 3 weeks.

We just finished up our “first leg” of this journey with a missions conference at Faith Baptist Church in Missoula. We had a wonderful time fellowshipping with this church and made some friendships that are sure to last a very long time.

One of the churches has very graciously offered us a “missionary house” for the month of June. This is an amazing blessing!!! We were unsure of housing availability, and were planning to take our tent, just in case. This means we will not have to use our tent (unless we want to for fun), AND we will not have to move from house-to-house as we share at different churches. One more blessing: the missionary house is very centrally located for our scheduled meetings. The furthest drive will be about 2 hours, but the majority of the churches are between 15 and 45 minutes.

Language School

We have been in touch with Mike and Melanie Webster, the couple we will be working with in Canada. Our applications for “Laval University” in Quebec had to be filled out and turned in by June 1st. Now we are waiting for our acceptance letter. Once we get it, we will apply for our CAQ (a special Visa for Quebec). After all that, we will apply for our Canadian Student Visas. The Canadian Consulate recommends 4 months for the Visa process; we have about 2 ½ months (and don’t have the acceptance letter from the school yet). We know God can move this along at His exact timing; please continue to pray!

“New” Website

The address is still the same; however, we have made some changes. There are now tabs at the top of the page. Clicking on “Home” will take you back to this prayer letter page. “Calendar” is the new location for our ministry schedule. “Praises and Prayer Requests” will be updated as things come up.

There is now also a tab called “Packing List” which is an updated list of what we would like to have packed and ready to go to Congo with our container. As with the last list we published, lack of any items on this list will not prevent us from leaving for Congo. However, we will be quite thankful for any of these things the Lord sees fit to provide.

Martha, Titus, and Ruth

We would like to start something special for our children, and YOU will be the key.

We are completely convinced in the power of prayer. Each of our children are very unique and have specific things in their lives that need prayer. In the next few months, we would like each of our three children to be supported by at least 10 prayer partners each (individuals, families, Sunday school classes, youth groups, churches, etc.) We will be putting together separate prayer list for each of them that will only go out to their specific prayer partners. We hope to e-mail out updates, and more specific prayer needs to their prayer partners every 2-3 months. If you would like to commit to faithfully praying for one of our children on a long-term basis, please let us know!

Our House

After having the house for sale for almost 1 year, we prayed about the possibility of keeping the house and renting it while we are on the field. A gentleman at our church offered to manage the property for us and listed our house as a rental on a Friday evening. By Saturday at 8:00 am the house was rented, and we had first and last month’s rent in hand.

Just as we were getting used to the idea of keeping the house and settling in as “land lords,” the renters are seriously considering buying the house. Please keep this matter in prayer as we are looking for the Lord’s direction.

Looking Ahead

Please remember that our entire updated ministry calendar is now in a new tab on this website...just click on “Calendar” at the top of this page.

June

6th First Baptist in Whitefish, MT (am)
Bethel Baptist in Kalispell, MT (pm)
9th First Baptist in Bigfork, MT (pm)
13th Swan Valley Baptist in Swan Lake, MT
14th-18th Bethel Baptist in Kalispell, MT *VBS*
20th Whitetail Baptist in Heart Butte, MT
27th First Baptist in Polson, MT

Seeking His path,
(Proverbs 3:5-6)

2010-05-07T08:44:00.006-06:00

It’s Raining! (It’s Pouring!)

Last month we gave an illustration of two farmers praying for rain. The farmer that started working in his field, preparing for the rain to come, had the faith that God would send it.

We have been praying and preparing, with you, for God to work in amazing ways to get us to Congo. This month, He did just that. God “sent rain” and doubled our support from 40% to 80%.

What does this mean? Lord willing…

*We will keep our scheduled meetings for May, June, and July. We are very excited to share about what God has been doing!

*We will start preparing for language study in Canada, starting this fall.

*We will continue to gather the materials needed to ship in our container. We ask for prayer for wisdom in what to (and not to) take, and for the Lord’s provision for these things. We are hoping to have it ready to ship before language school.

What this does not mean…

*We are not leaving tomorrow. There is still much to be done! Please continue to pray for wisdom in prioritizing what needs to be done and when.

*We are not fully supported. We are still praying that God will provide the remaining amount necessary to effectively serve Him in what He is preparing for us to do Congo.

Our Last month at “home”

What an exciting step! We are officially entering full-time ministry this month!

We leave the last week of May for Missoula, Montana and God has provided a full schedule through the end of July.

Please remember that our entire updated ministry calendar is at the very bottom of this page.

May

2nd Roswell Baptist in Roswell, ID

8th Mother/Daughter Tea at Columbia Heights Baptist, Boise ID
(Myndii will be speaking)

9th Columbia Heights Baptist in Boise, ID

16th Atlanta Chapel in Atlanta, ID

23rd Greenhurst Baptist Church in Nampa, ID

30th-June 1st Faith Baptist in Missoula, MT
(“kicking off” our full-time deputation)

Congo Happenings

The Grings wrote a prayer letter recently that some of you may have received. For those of you who did not, we felt it necessary to give you an excerpt:

"In January, the Board of Directors of E.L.B.C. gathered at Dibaya-Lubwe with 25 other pastors and deacons to enjoy a week of intense Bible study and taking care of business. Dan was also able to oversee several projects on the building of the Bible Institute as well as the new airstrip nearby. There is much yet to be done on both of these projects! Dan, Pepe, & Glorie will spend a month at Dibaya-Lubwe beginning the last week in March. Pray for safety as they travel in the old Toyota Land Cruiser which Dan has recently “resurrected.” The airstrip there has almost been cleared of the more than 700 trees; now the holes left by stumps need to be filled and the airstrip leveled and tamped. On the Bible Institute property we are ready to begin the first student family housing duplex! Each duplex will cost approximately $2,500 to build and will house two families. Pray for God’s provision to continue building."

We are so excited to see that men are willing and able to travel to Dibaya for meetings again (many of them traveled in last year while we were there). It is easier, and much less expensive for interior pastors to travel to Dibaya rather than all the way to Kinshasa. This will be able to be a more common occurrence once there is a full-time missionary (US!) at the Institute.

As the Grings pointed out, it does cost money for materials to build the student housing, as well as other buildings at the Institute. If you are interested in giving toward the building(s) for the Bible Institute, donations may be sent to IFM with the note “Bible Institute of Congo Building Fund.”

2010-04-02T15:20:00.004-06:00

Looking Ahead

Normally, this is the last section in the prayer letter…however, there are some really amazing things happening that are front-page news worthy.

We are moving! FREE housing has been provided for us in Caldwell, Idaho not far from our current home in Notus. (Thanks to Sparky’s parents.) We intend to be completely moved by the first of May. This will leave the house here ready for God’s plan for it, whatever that may be.

We are now praying about the option of renting this house out. This is partially because of the condition of the real estate market; however, the main reason is because we know God could easily have sold it, if it were His will. He doesn’t seem to be opening that door, at this point. So, after much prayer and a huge leap of faith, we are exploring the possibility that God does not want us to sell, but keep the house and rent it. We are aware that God is also capable of giving us a wonderful renter. If you look back, from the very beginning we have asked for prayer “For the Lord’s provision and clear leading in our housing situation.” Please continue to pray for this! Renting, especially from another continent, is a bit daunting to us. Therefore, we also ask for prayer for peace!

Full-time Deputation is just around the corner. We have been praying about the timing of this, and God seems to be “kicking us out of the nest.” We have a mission’s conference scheduled for the Memorial Day Weekend, the end of May, in Missoula, Montana. It looks like the Lord will be providing us a full enough schedule to warrant us staying in that area for at least a month, maybe two. We will then start praying about scheduling meetings in a clock-wise pattern around Idaho: Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, etc.

Will the Lord have us to Congo in 2011? This is a very real possibility! The Bible Institute is getting closer and closer to the time when everything will just be waiting on our arrival. Dan Grings has been making “work trips” to the property, and things are moving along. He is hoping to get our first classroom done while up there this time. However, class instruction will not be able to start until we arrive. We still have a list of men waiting, willing, and ready to be trained.

Will you pray earnestly about this with us?!?

Visit from the Ward Family

We were so excited to have Lee, Becky, Orlic, and Paul come back to our area for a “mini-furlough.”

Orlic had a checkup on his leg at the hospital in Salt Lake City (where they did the surgery for his bone infection last spring). Praise the Lord, there are no signs of infection, and he was given a clean bill of health!

We had a great time visiting with them, even though it makes us want to be to Congo even more. Please pray for their trip back to Congo, as they will be leaving here on April 9th.

Preparing For Rain

The illustration is of two farmers. Both pray for the Lord to send rain each morning. But, only one goes out to plow and plant his fields. Which one has faith? It is obvious that the one that prepares for the rain has the faith that God will send it.

Many of you have been praying with us for the Lord to provide quickly, so we can do what God has called us to do in Congo. We have been preparing together, in anticipation for the Lord to do His work. Thank you for having the faith to plow alongside us.

Are you looking up? I’m sure I just felt a drop…

Looking Ahead (schedule)

Please remember that our entire updated ministry calendar is on this website at the very bottom of the page.

April

19-21 Conference in Salem, OR

26-27 “Foundation’s” Conference in West Valley City, UT

Looking toward the Lord of the Harvest (and the rain)

Matthew 9:37-38, Luke 10:2

2010-03-20T13:59:00.004-06:00

Treasure Valley (Idaho)
Mission’s Conference

We “kicked off” our deputation ministry one year ago at the mission’s conference in our local area. We were encouraged and so well received…what a way to start this journey!

We have been extremely blessed once again by the churches in our area, as we have been able to participate in this year’s conference as well.

We have the unique blessing of having a wonderful sending church in Notus; and a sending group of churches in our valley! We have been amazed at how supportive these local churches have been.

Thank you for your Prayers!

God has done (and is continuing) an amazing work in our family this last month.

We told you last month about Sparky’s grandfather’s unexpected passing and of Sparky’s uncle, Kelly, who was in Haiti the time of the big earthquake. Uncle Kelly has shown amazing faith and trust in our sovereign Lord through this ordeal. He has been communicating with the mission agency he was ministering with, and is already planning a return short-term trip to Haiti as soon as the Lord allows. Many have been truly blessed through his testimony!

Praise the Lord; there are some family members that have become much more open to the Gospel during this time, and we pray God will continue to draw them to Himself.

Support

Praise the Lord!!! We are now at 37% of our support goal with 10 individual/family supporters and 10 supporting churches. We also have many giving one-time gifts that are going to our “Outfit and Passage,” as well as other specific projects/needs.

We often include our current support levels in this prayer letter, so you can praise the Lord with us, and know more specifically how to pray. However, we update our website map to keep it current with our support levels, so it is the most up-to-date information.

The progress map and support information is found on the right side of this webpage, about half-way down.

Duplicate Mailing

First, if you are not on our “snail mail” prayer letter list, we invite you to join! Our e-mail prayer letter goes out, Lord willing, the first Friday of each month. Our mailed out prayer letter, Lord willing, will be mailed out quarterly. These letters contain information and messages from IFM and pictures and a prayer update from us. It would be great to have you apart of both mailings. 

If you already are on our list, you may have noticed something odd with this last mailing. Many people got duplicates, with incorrect names. Something happened with the printing process at IFM. We apologize for this “snafu” and if you didn’t receive one this last month, please let us know and we will get you a copy.

Beware of “Ministry” Scams

It is sad, but true, that there are those who take advantage of other’s generosity and compassion. Unfortunately, this deceptive spirit has not overlooked God’s ministries. We have heard of several situations recently where scammers impersonate a missionary and try to get money sent for some sort of emergency situation. Supporters of any ministry should be aware and alert for any scams.

Please be cautious of where and how money is to be sent. If a missionary/ministry is asking for immediate financial assistance due to some kind of emergency, it is best to contact the mission agency or sending church directly. If it is a legitimate need, they will be aware of the situation and have a plan in place to deal with that need. Be very wary of wiring money overseas or being asked to give money without going through the proper ministry channels.

Remember that many missionaries, including ourselves, have ministry and personal information on websites. We do this so you can be involved in the ministry and keep current with events, praises, and prayer needs. Even if the person contacting seems to have correct and/or detailed information, it still may not be genuine.

If you ever have any questions about our financial needs, where our support goes, how it is being used, or any other concerns, please feel free to contact IFM and speak with the financial director, Kevin Kurtz, at (336) 292-1255.

2010-02-10T17:15:00.002-07:00

What a Month

The month of January, 2010 will not soon be forgotten.

Sparky’s maternal grandfather, Galen Perkins, passed away very suddenly. He had fallen a few weeks earlier and hit his head; he seemed to be fine, but (unbeknownst to anyone) had started bleeding in his brain. He went unconscious Friday, January 8th, and never woke up.

He is survived by his wife, 3 children, 6 grandchildren (and their spouses), and 5 great-grandchildren (plus one on the way). Grandpa Perkins was a big part of all our lives, and he will be missed greatly.

Sparky’s Uncle Kelly was on a short-term, 3-week, mission trip in Haiti at the time of Grandpa’s passing. As I’m sure you are aware, Haiti was hit with a major earthquake on the 12th. Uncle Kelly, who just lost his dad unexpectedly a few days before, was just miles from the epicenter. We are praising God that he came through uninjured, physically. However, three people in his ministry team were killed, and two were seriously injured, when the mission station building collapsed. After helping with rescue efforts, Uncle Kelly was evacuated by the US Military and is now back in Idaho. Please continue to pray for him, as he has a lot to deal with right now!

Please also pray for Sparky’s family during this time of grieving and healing. We earnestly pray that Christ will use this to draw some to Himself. We are already seeing God do some amazing things!

Utah

We took another trip to Utah the beginning of the month. We were able to visit two churches: Mountain View Baptist in Grantsville, and Santaquin Baptist in Santaquin. (Neither is far from Salt Lake City.)

Both churches were quite a blessing to us, and we were privileged to get to know them better.

We are continually encouraged at the reminder of how God is working in local churches, and how faithful His people are.

French

Thank you for your continued prayer for our language study. Please also pray for our French tutor, Eliane, as she has been having problems with her back. This makes it difficult for her to drive or sit for any length of time. She does seem to be feeling less pain lately, but we know she appreciates prayer on her behalf.

Kuna Youth “Snow Day”

This month we got to spend some time with the Kuna Baptist Youth Group. Two Suburban loads went up the mountain to Placerville, Idaho. We had a great time, and praise God for safety while sledding and playing in the snow. We also are praising God for the time he allowed us to share Him with this group of kids!

Support

We are so excited to add new support partners! We are currently partnering with 9 churches and 10 individuals. Praise the Lord!

We are still praying that God will allow us to leave for language school (in Canada) during this year of 2010. Please continue to pray with us for the Lord’s will concerning His provision and timing.

House

We have a couple very interested in buying our house. They are currently going through the steps to get a loan. Please pray that the Lord will intervene in whole the process, according to His will.

Looking Ahead

Please remember that our entire updated ministry schedule is at the bottom of this web page.

February

Southern Idaho Mission’s Conference
14th Kuna Baptist in Kuna, Idaho
21st Roswell Baptist in Roswell, Idaho
24th (or March 3rd) New Hope in Nampa, Idaho
25th Meridian Baptist in Idaho, Ladies Bible Study
(Myndii will be sharing)

March

7th-10th Faith Baptist in Townsend, Montana

2010-01-02T21:49:00.004-07:00

Happy New Year!

We trust that each of you had a blessed time of remembering our Savior’s birth, and had clear reminders of why He came!

As we look forward to this New Year, we hope you will join with us in committing 2010 to our Lord and His will.

Our Little Miss Martha

On the 3rd of December, at 9:00 pm (before leaving for meetings in Southern Utah the next morning) Martha hit her head on the bottom of the top bunk, splitting her head open with a gash almost exactly an inch and a half long, just above her hair-line.

After spending several hours in the Emergency Room, and receiving 5 staples, she seems to be healing up just fine. The staples are now removed and [unless you know what you’re looking for] it’s pretty hard to see. I must say she was quite a trooper about the whole thing and handled herself amazingly well.

We received one of those “speechless blessings” this last week. One of our beloved churches covered almost the entire hospital bill (within a few dollars)! A mere thank you doesn’t even begin express our gratitude for their thoughtfulness. We are reminded once again of Ephesians 3:20, “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think…”

To Marysvale, Utah and Back

We had an absolutely wonderful time going to Marysvale with our Pastor and his wife. (The kids stayed with family here in Idaho.) What a difference it is to travel with ADULTS! No questions of “Are we there yet?” or “Is there a rest stop in the next 10 seconds or less!?!” We really did have a great time of visiting. What a blessing it was to have those hours of driving time to catch up on all God has been doing in this deputation ministry.

Our time in Marysvale was quite a blessing as well! Pastor and Jean knew some of the folks there from a previous ministry, and it was neat to see them reconnect. Myndii spoke at the Ladies Christmas Luncheon and had a wonderful time visiting with them. Sparky was able to share our presentation in Sunday School, and then preach in the morning service.

One of our favorite things about deputation is getting to see how God is working in different areas of our country. As discouraging as our current economic/political situation might seem, let us assure you that God is still at work and not done with our nation yet!!!

“No Turning Back”

The Life and Adventures of Herbert Grings, Missionary to the Congo
by Jan Van Hee

This is the biography of Herbert Grings who went to Congo in the early 1900’s. We are honored and blessed to be working with some of his family who are still in Congo today, as well as seeing and participating in the fruits of his labors.

We have a unique opportunity in regard to this book. The author, Jan Van Hee, is the pastor’s wife of one of our supporting churches. She has received permission from the publisher to allow us to offer this book to you at cover price, with the profits going into our ministry fund. It is not a long book at 88 pages, so it is perfect for a quicker read or young person. If you are interested in a copy of this book, please let us know.

In Congo

Please remember to pray for all the things that are happening in Congo before our arrival. There are many things happening there NOW that are paving the way for us, as well as other ministries that are carrying on. Please continue to pray for the national pastors that will be ministering with us, the national Christians who are without pastors and/or Bibles, our fellow missionaries, and the political situation there.

Looking Ahead

Please remember that our entire [continually updated] ministry schedule is at the bottom of this web page.

January

1st-4th Utah
3rd (am) Mountain View Baptist in Grantsville, Utah
(pm) Santaquin Baptist in Santaquin, Utah
31st Notus Baptist in Notus, Idaho

February

21st Roswell Baptist in Roswell, Idaho

March

7th-10th Faith Baptist in Towsend, Montana

We have some other opportunities to speak this month, but don’t have exact dates and times yet. Please continue to pray for us as we seek God’s direction in the churches to contact and schedule with.

Giving thanks,
(Colossians 1:3-5)

~The Clancy Clan

Sparky, Myndii, Martha, Titus, & Ruth

2009-12-03T11:37:00.010-07:00

One Year with IFM

2008-2009

It was one year ago, November 14th, 2008, that we officially joined the IFM family. So much has happened since then! Here are some of the highlights of this last year:

Dec-Jan—Sparky and Myndii went to the Democratic Republic of Congo
Many churches and individuals gave sacrificially and miraculously
to see that we take this short-term trip. Thank you again to all that
participated. We can’t wait to get back!

February—Our first mission’s conference…as missionaries.

March—Our son Titus accepted Christ as his savior!

April—The Lord provided us a French tutor.

May—Paul Ward (son of co-workers in Congo) came to stay with us while
his brother Orlic had leg surgery. Orlic Ward’s surgery was a great
success. Bob Grings (the eldest in our ministry team) suffered
from several strokes; praise the Lord he recovered and was able to
return to Congo in late summer.

June—Our house went on the market, with lots of help from others to get
it ready. We participated in Kuna’s VBS program

Churches we have visited are marked with a white marker; consistent financially supporting churches are marked with a Congo flag.
We have monthly financial supporting individuals/families from Idaho, Washington, and the Philippines.

July—Many miles were added to our van as we were in Churches in
Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Utah. We were able to catch up
with several members of the Grings family, and met with Caleb
Schaaf, while in Utah.

August—We got to be a part of 3 VBS programs (Notus, Columbia
Heights, and Roswell Baptist Churches). God, through miracles
and His people, provided for several of our Outfit and Passage
needs and several wants.

September—Mission’s conference in Northern Idaho and E. Washington.

October—Mission’s conference in Rock Springs, Wyoming.

November—Mission’s conference in central Utah.

In between all of these amazing things, we had the privilege of sharing in 46 church services with a total of just under 2,500 people. We have stayed with some amazingly gracious hosts and hostesses in 6 different states. Our prayer letter list, and list of committed prayer supporters, continues to grow at an amazing pace.

THANK YOU for helping make this year an amazing one!

We joyfully look to the future as we are excited to see what God has in store for the next year.

Support

Praise the Lord with us! We have some new ministry partners; a total of 7 churches and 8 individual/family financial supporters put us at 30% of our monthly support goal. That means we are right on the heels of 1/3 of the way there!!!

Looking Ahead

December 5th-6th Marysvale, Utah (We are excited to have our Pastor and
his wife joining us for this trip.)

So far, it looks like the rest of December will be spent at “home.” The kids will be involved in our church’s Christmas program, and there are always lots of family celebrations to attend.

Merry Christmas!

We pray that each of you spends this season remembering the true reason for this season. Our Lord and Savior humbled himself and came to earth as a mere babe, all for one purpose: to give mankind (you and me) a chance at an eternal relationship with an almighty God.

In His Loving Care,

~The Clancy Clan
Sparky, Myndii, Martha, Titus, & Ruth

2009-11-06T14:29:00.010-07:00

Our October Surprise

Last month’s prayer letter we told you that our schedule was pretty clear for the month. Just a few days after sending out our e-mail, we started getting calls from pastors, and October filled up fast.

So…this is what October ended up looking like:

October

11th Atlanta, Idaho

17th AWANA conference in Baker City, Oregon

18th Kuna Baptist in Kuna, Idaho

25th Roswell Baptist in Roswell, Idaho

26th-28th Grace Baptist in Rock Springs, Wyoming

29th-31st With the Adank’s in Coalville, Utah

November

1st-4th Utah mission’s conference

Apparently, God was not ready for us to have a break. Thank you all for your continued prayers about our schedule and travels!

Caleb Schaaf

We also told you about Caleb Schaaf in the previous prayer letter. Caleb was in Dibaya, helping with projects at the Bible Institute but had to be flown back to Kinshasa from Dibaya via an MAF plane. (He had a piece of meat stuck in his throat that would not dislodge.) He was treated by a doctor in Kinshasa and is recovering without complication.

Praise the Lord, Caleb is fine! Also, now MAF has now landed in Dibaya and says the runway is perfectly adequate and will be willing to fly in for support of the Bible Institute and any other future emergencies.

Another discovery was made in light of this incident: Dibaya has a Doctor. This will be a great blessing to us not only for our own medical care, but also for the students and families that will be attending the Institute.

We actually got an e-mail from Caleb this morning. We are very excited to talk with him more about the projects in Congo, and his trip. He sent us the following pictures from the building projects in Dibaya!!!

Look, buildings! :)

Mission’s Conferences

We just spent the last two weeks with some wonderful servants of God. We have been so encouraged to see how God is still working in amazing ways in our country!

Three evening services were spent in Rock Springs, Wyoming. What a wonderful family of believers! They completely spoiled us, and were such a blessing.

The next meetings were in Utah at a “Round Robin” conference. We started in Mt. Pleasant, our hosting church, on Sunday. We then traveled to evening services in Marysvale, Delta, and Nephi. These churches each also spoiled us with great accommodations, food, and gifts.

A whole prayer letter could be written on the blessings these past few weeks. Please know that God and His people have been pouring out grace!

Support

The Lord continues to provide in miraculous ways! We now have 5 churches and 8 individual/family supporters and are now just over 27% of our monthly support goal. We have also been blessed with many one-time gifts. The Lord is moving!

Thank you again to all who have given sacrificially.

Looking Ahead

Please keep an eye on our website for future scheduling. Our ministry calendar is located at the bottom of the page.

~The Clancy Clan

Sparky, Myndii, Martha, Titus, & Ruth

2009-10-05T21:59:00.003-06:00

Our Latest Travels

We took off on September 18th for our first mission’s conference “away from home.” We were extremely blessed to have this time, getting to share our burden for Congo, and fellowshipping with the people there.

We stayed with several families, and each were so wonderful…we were quite spoiled! The churches spoiled us as well with warm welcomes, encouragement, gifts, and promise of prayer support.

We spoke at Valley Baptist, Priest River, ID; Emmanuel Baptist, Lewiston, ID; First Baptist of Clarkston, WA; and Opportunity Baptist, Spokane Valley, WA.

After our time in Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington, we were off to Missoula, Montana. (We did get to spend time with some of Myndii’s extended family that lives in that area, an added blessing.)

On Sunday, we were privileged to share at Faith Baptist, Missoula. They allowed us the majority of the time in each of their three services, so they got to see LOTS of pictures. We had such a wonderful time fellowshipping with them, and they spoiled us as well. The church invited us to come back this next May for their mission’s conference, and we were grateful to accept.

The kids did wonderfully! They were in the car for about 30 hours in the space of 10 days, and we all survived. We did stop and sight-see a bit; among the stops were the Nez Perce National Historical Site and the Cataldo Mission. The kids are still enjoying history, and we are glad to encourage that!

The House

We put our house on the market in June. Until this month, no one had even come to look at it. However, God started moving, and it has now been shown several times. There seems to be a few families showing interest, but we haven’t received any offers…yet. We are confident that God is in control of all things, and the right buyer will come in His time.

In Congo

Dan Grings (fellow missionary), Caleb Schaff (short term missionary), and Pastor Osee (national pastor and future Bible Institute professor) left Kinshasa last week, heading for Dibaya-Lubwe. They will be doing some preparations on the Bible Institute property and buildings while there. Please pray for their safety, traveling mercies, and productivity.

Support

In September, we were excited to partner with some new monthly financial supporters. We now have 5 churches and 7 individual/family supporters. Praise the Lord, we are now just over 24% of our monthly support goal.

Prayer support partners are being added consistently. We are so blessed to have so many of you praying for us!

Looking Ahead

Please remember that our entire ministry schedule is at the bottom of this page.

October

17th AWANA conference in Baker City, OR

(This conference is for AWANA leaders/workers in area churches in and around Baker City. Sparky will be providing two seminars throughout the day. One will be our mission’s presentation; the other is entitled “Leaving a Legacy.”)

25th Roswell Baptist Church in Roswell, ID

Right now, you might think October is looking a bit “empty.” The last time God provided a break like this was in June. We were grateful for that time, and used it to get the house ready to put on the market, and for Sparky to catch up on his College work. We are confident that God has a reason for this slower time, and will be praying for wisdom in how to use this time wisely.

November is shaping up to be another busy month with a mission’s conference in Southern Utah. Also, Myndii has been invited to speak at a ladies event in Nampa, ID on November 8th.

***P.S. Since this letter was written, our October schedule has changed. Please refer to the calendar at the bottom of this page for updated information.***

2009-09-07T08:41:00.006-06:00

Our "Team" is Back in Congo!

Praise the Lord that our ministry team (minus us, of course) all arrived back in Congo safely! Becky and the boys made it through all the airports and customs with no issues. The Grings had a few minor delays but finally made it to Congo, miraculously with all their luggage. Caleb Schaff made it through the Congo airport without the blessing of a translator…he was supposed to be flying in with the Grings…Orlic Ward met him outside so he didn’t have to take his first ride through Kinshasa in a taxi alone.  Bob Grings is doing fantastic! We’ve been told that he’s doing even better than he did here in the states before his strokes.

Please pray for Dan Grings and Caleb Schaff as they take a trip to Dibaya-Lubwe (our “home town”) to help make and gather materials for the future Bible Institute buildings.

VBS

We had the opportunity to participate in three Vacation Bible School programs this last month. What an amazing experience to see all those kids, from 3 different communities, learning truths about God and His character. We also had the blessing of watching these children give. Through these VBS programs, God provided a solar panel kit and an entire set of cast iron cookware.

Please do continue to pray for all the children involved in VBS this summer; that God would use the time during these programs to reach them and their families for Christ.

God is So Good, and So Are His People

This has been an amazing month of God’s abundant blessings! We attached a list with our last prayer letter of items we have started looking for in preparation for the move to Congo. In this last month God, through His people, has provided for MANY of these items, and some things that weren’t even on the list!

We now have:

• A Diesel Pick-up (it’s going to need some work to get it “Congo worthy” --those of you that have seen pictures of the highway know any vehicle would)

• An entire set of cast iron cookware (2 Dutch ovens, 3 skillets, a griddle, and several accessories)

• One solar panel kit

• Cook books for pressure cooking and preservation

• A 4-wheeler (not on the list, but will be SUCH a blessing!)

• A Maytag wringer washer

French

Many have been inquiring about our French lessons. Our amazing tutor, Eliane, is still coming to our house (every Saturday we are not on the road). We are concentrating on conjugations, adjectives, and plurals at this point. We are building up vocabulary, but are still making sure we understand the “mechanics” of the language well. We are also still using Rosetta Stone and Eliane has been a great help and encouragement for that program as well.

We greatly appreciate your prayers on our behalf concerning our language study. This will be an essential part of our ministry when we reach Congo and we are so thankful our Lord has given us the opportunity to get started now.

Looking Ahead

Please remember that our entire ministry schedule is at the bottom of this page.

Toward the end of the month, we will be involved in a mission’s conference in Northern Idaho/Washington. We covet your prayers for scheduling and travel mercies.

September

13th Atlanta Chapel in Atlanta, Idaho

18th-23rd Northern Idaho Mission’s Conference

20th Valley Baptist in Priest River, ID (am)

Emanuel Baptist in Lewiston, ID (pm)

22nd First Baptist in Clarkston, WA (pm)

23rd Opportunity Baptist in Spokane, WA (pm)

~Our little Ruth’s 3rd Birthday!~

Thank you for your continued and faithful prayer support.

Dwelling in His supply,
(Philippians 4:19)

2009-08-07T10:47:00.007-06:00

Traveling Mercies

Many miles were traveled this month, and God provided traveling mercies. We had a only a minor issue with our minivan, that Sparky was able to fix with just a few minutes, and a quick stop at a parts store. Thank you for your prayers!!!

Our family at The Golden Spike Historical Site

We were able to stop at some historical sites and points of interest along the way. It’s been fun to see, the older two kids especially, become so interested in the history that was made in places they see.

On our trip to Oregon, we got to share at Bethany Baptist Church in Salem. Many people from “our college days” either attend there, or were able to come hear us speak. It was so wonderful to see everyone again! We got a special blessing in Sunday School when we got to hear from some veteran missionaries about how God used them for years in Thailand. We spent one night with Myndii’s Grandpa in Washington, and then some dear friends in Salem for the 4th. It was a very quick trip, there and back in just under 2 ½ days, but were blessed through the time God allowed us to have.

The Utah/Wyoming trip was the next weekend…so we were “home” long enough to unpack, and pack back up again. We were at Grace Baptist in Kemmerer, Wyoming for morning service and a BBQ lunch. The evening service was at Grace Baptist in Randolph, Utah. We spent most of our weekend with Pastor Adank, Pastor Acree, and their families. Everyone made us feel right at home, and we made some great friendships!

Monday morning, on our way back to Idaho, we were able to stop by and see the Grings! Dan, Bob, Timothy, and Anna, met us at the church in Sandy, Utah and then we went to lunch together. Bob is really doing great, and it was wonderful to see him doing so well. (Christine Grings was visiting family; Heidi and Amy were at camp; so we missed seeing them this time.)

Support

One church and two individuals/families have committed to be financial support partners, and one church increased their support amount. This brings us to a total of 4 churches, 6 individuals/families, and almost 20% of our goal. (We also know of churches that are praying about joining the support team soon.)

We are adding prayer partners consistently, and thank the Lord for each of you!

Looking Ahead

Please remember that our entire ministry schedule is on our website (below)

August

2nd Kuna Baptist in Kuna, ID (am)

3rd-7th Notus Baptist VBS (speaking Mon, Wed, Fri)

3rd-7th Columbia Heights Baptist VBS (speaking Tues & Thurs)

9th Roswell Baptist in Roswell, ID (am)

10th-14th Roswell Baptist VBS (speaking Mon, Wed, Fri)

16th Crouch Community Church in Crouch, ID

30th Notus Baptist in Notus, ID (am)

We continue to stand in awe of our Lord and Savior! He continues to shower us with His blessings, and lighting the pathway ahead. We must confess that He has chosen not to illuminate very much of the pathway, but continues to guide along one step at a time; leaving no doubt as to which step to take, right it is time to do so.

On His path for life,
(Psalm 16:11)

2009-07-01T08:29:00.006-06:00

One Year, Already?!?

As I typed in the Volume # for this month’s letter, I noticed that I was typing in the number 12…has it really been nearly a year since we started this prayer letter? Time flies when you’re having fun! Thank you again for all of your prayers and support for this adventure God has called us to!

You will notice that our heading, and some other things, have changed. This is because we ended up getting another computer this month, and the new one doesn’t have the same font choices. (And, we’re on a bit of a learning curve.) Last month we shared that our old one was dying, and it finally gave up. We got some excellent advice from several of you (thanks again!) and, the Lord provided a very nice computer; for that we are extremely grateful.

Our Ministry Team

So much is happening with our ministry team right now. Please keep everyone in prayer, and we will try and keep you updated.

The Pastors in Congo are always in need of much prayer support. With all the missionaries gone, there is a lot of pressure on the men that are trying to stand firm.

The Grings’ girl’s wedding went well, even through some interesting “curve balls” that were thrown in. Now Dan and Christine, with 3 of their kidos will be traveling around the US giving churches updates, and talking about the Bible Institute. They plan on returning to Congo in August.

Bob Grings is remarkably recovering; far from his previous condition, but better than expected. He is still on some medications, and the doctors are keeping a close eye on him. Please continue to pray for God’s will in whether or not he will return to Congo.

The Ward’s are now ¼ in Congo. Lee left June 25th and is now back in Kinshasa (and was back to work at the Embassy on Monday the 28th). The rest of the family is still here in the states, and will also be traveling a lot in the next few months. Becky and the boys (Orlic and Paul) are hoping to return to Congo in early August. Orlic has at least one more appointment for follow-up on August 6th.

Robert Marsh was here in the states for the wedding, and unfortunately we were unable to see him while he was here. He is now back in South Africa with his wife, Esther, and the kids. They are in need of prayer for direction, and perseverance where God has placed them for the time being.

Housing

Our house is officially for sale…complete with signs in the yard and all. We are still packing many of our things, and we still can’t tell you where we’re going next. However, we are sure of this very thing: God knows! Please continue to pray for His will and direction in all.

Wonderful Helpers

You know who truly loves you when you need help, right? Well, we can tell are well loved! A group of 12 teenagers from Fellowship Baptist (in Meridian, ID) come up with an idea (all on their own) to donate an entire Saturday for hard labor. We had them pulling old fence, digging up stumps, painting, yard work, cleaning, and other odd jobs…all day (I have more pictures that I will put on the website). It wasn’t even the same place when they left. What amazing kids they are!
We have also had several others volunteer time, materials, and more…what a great help and blessing they have been!!! Thank you all, again!

Vacation Bible School

We had a fantastic week of VBS at Kuna Baptist Church the end of June. It was such a blessing for us to get to know them and their kids better. There are at least two other VBSs that we will be involved in this summer. Please pray that the Lord will use this time to further His kingdom and inspire even the youngest children to serve Him with their whole lives!

Looking Ahead

We will be putting a lot of miles on our minivan in the near future. This next Sunday we will be in Salem, Oregon and then back for Sparky to work on Monday. The following weekend we will be driving to Wyoming, and back again. Please continue to pray for traveling mercies, safety, alertness, and patience.

Please also continue to pray for us as we are in communication with churches about potential church meetings.

Remember that our entire schedule is on our website; the calendar is at the bottom of the page…just scroll down to see future months, and click on events to see the details.

Confidently in Him,

~The Clancy Clan

Sparky, Myndii, Martha, Titus, & Ruth

II Corinthians 5:6-9

(More pictures from our "teen work day")

2009-06-05T09:20:00.001-06:00

Bob Grings

Many of you know, or at least have heard of, Bob Grings. He went to Congo in the early 1900’s as a missionary kid with his parents, and has served faithfully there since.

He is now in the states in preparation for 2 of his granddaughter’s weddings. Over Memorial Day weekend, he was taken to the hospital with a suspected stroke. After tests were done, the doctors found that he was also having trouble with his heart. On Tuesday, May 26th, they placed a pace-maker. That Friday, they moved him to a rehab center. Please remember Bob, his family, and the Congo field team as we wait on the Lord.

Orlic Ward

Thank you all for your prayers for Orlic, his surgeries, his parents Lee and Becky Ward, and his brother Paul (that got to stay with us during much of this process).

Praise the Lord, there was no signs of bone cancer or lingering bone infection. The doctors thought his bone would still required a bone graft from his thigh, and muscle and skin grafting from his back, which meant more surgeries and more recovery time. However, our Lord is still the Great Physician; after 2 weeks Orlic was healing miraculously and they decided none of the grafting was needed after all! He still has a lot of recovery left to do, but we praise our God for the healing He has provided thus far.

Housing

We have officially started the process of selling our house. Anyone who has done this before knows we could use a lot of prayer! We are trying to pack, sort, prioritize, etc. which admittedly would be easier if we knew where we were going to live next. There are some interesting possibilities that have come up, including a house that is adjacent to our Church’s property. Please continue to be in prayer for us to get everything ready, and for the Lord’s direction in what steps to take next.

Praise the Lord, a group of teens has put together a work crew to come help with projects this coming Saturday! They will be coming for about 6 hours, and we have a list of ideas for them to tackle. Please pray for their safety as they help us.

Poor “Old” Computer

Those of you that know computers well, will surely cringe…those of you like us, will most likely just shrug (because we don’t know any better).

We have a laptop that has served us quite well. We bought it [used] several years ago. We love our old, chunky, slow, computer, despite it being an “ancient” nearly 7 years old…however, deputation has not been very kind to it. We have been using it a lot more lately; the screen is going out and it’s getting notably slower.

To us, like many of you, this computer is still (or should be) brand new. However, we could use the advice of those of you that “know better.”

We have been doing some research, but would love some input on what we should be looking for, what to avoid, etc. If we end up having to buy new, we are hoping to limp this one along until the back to school sales hit, mid to late summer.

If you know of anyone selling a good used laptop, or would like to give us pointers on what we need to be looking for, please let us know.

Looking Ahead

Thank you all for being in prayer about our schedule! As things have begun filling up, and we are scheduling meetings/events so far into the future, our “looking ahead” section was getting quite lengthy. In light of that, we will start only listing the following few months in each monthly e-mail newsletter. Please remember that our entire schedule is on our website in the calendar at the bottom of the page…just scroll down to see future months, and click on events to see the details. This calendar is consistently updated, so should show current changes and additions. As you can see, we have several things coming up, but we still have openings. Again, thank you so much for your prayers!!!

June:

6th Double Wedding in Utah (for 2 of the Grings’daughters)Due to some things that have come up here, we will be unable to attend

21st Kuna Baptist in Kuna, Idaho

22nd-26th Kuna Baptist VBS

July:

5th Bethany Baptist in Salem, Oregon

12th Grace Baptist in Kemmerer, Wyoming
and Randolph, Utah

19th Columbia Heights Baptist in Boise, Idaho (am)

August:

9th Roswell Baptist in Roswell, Idaho

16th Crouch Community Church in Crouch, Idaho

2009-05-09T07:39:00.002-06:00

Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

(Our Housing Situation)

Our plans to trade houses have fallen through due to changes in the financial situation of the man with the other house.

We know God is in control of all, and are now praying for wisdom in how to proceed. We are unsure if God would have us invest in a different property, or use the funds from the sale of this house in another way. We also are praying for His timing in the sale of this house, and wisdom in which “projects” to start/complete that will be the best for the next owner.

We continue forward, knowing that God has a perfect plan…yet unknown to us.

Temporary “Addition” to our Family

We are very excited that Paul Ward, Lee and Becky Ward’s adopted son, is going to stay with us for a time while their other son, Orlic, has surgery in Utah. (Orlic’s surgery is scheduled for May 11th) Paul is a lot of fun to have around! He and Titus have become good friends, and have made a deal to teach each other English/Lingala. Paul has certainly encouraged the kids’ passion for Congo!

Utah Conference

We had a fantastic opportunity to attend a conference on the fundamentals of the faith in West Valley City, Utah. God used this time to encourage us and remind why we believe what we believe. We are so thankful for those who have come before and contended for the faith, even under adversity.

God also allowed us to meet many pastors and Christians from churches in and around Utah. Please pray earnestly for those who continue to reach out to the members of the LDS communities.

Support

We are excited to report we now are partnering with 3 financially supporting churches (with the newest addition of Kuna Baptist in Kuna, Idaho) and 4 faithful individual supporters. This puts us officially in double-digits with 10% J We also are so very blessed to have a prayer support base of well over 200 families!

Thank you all…it is such a privilege to serve our Lord with you!!!

Looking Ahead

Praise the Lord! Our calendar is starting to fill in.
We still have some openings, and are trusting God to guide and provide!

May:

17th Fellowship Baptist in Boise, Idaho

24th Atlanta Community Chapel in Atlanta, Idaho

June:

6th Double Wedding in Utah (for 2 of the Grings’daughters)

July:

5th Bethany Baptist in Salem, Oregon

12th Grace Baptist in Kemmerer, Wyoming
and Randolph, Utah

19th Columbia Heights Baptist in Boise, Idaho (am)

August:

9th Roswell Baptist in Roswell, Idaho

September:

20th-23rd Northern Idaho Mission’s Conference

20th Valley Baptist in Priest River (am)

Emanuel Baptist in Lewiston (pm)

22nd First Baptist in Clarkston

23rd Opportunity Baptist in Spokane

(Ruth Clancy’s 3rd birthday!)

November:

1st-4th Southern Utah Mission’s Conference

2009-04-04T22:51:00.005-06:00

A Month of Miracles!

When God works, He tends to do it in a way that you absolutely can’t miss His hand in it!

Salvation

Our son Titus prayed to accept Christ as his Savior on Saturday, March 14th! He has been struggling with this lately, and we immediately saw the peace the Holy Spirit gave him as he submitted his heart to God. What a true miracle each time His salvation becomes a reality for a lost soul! We hope you all rejoice with us in this eternity-changing event in our family.

French

Last month we asked you to pray for the possibility of us being able to start learning French while on deputation. At the mission's conference we met a man (thank you Eric!) that put us in touch with one of his co-workers...a Christian lady who is an immigrant from France. Eliane came to our house, and has offered to tutor us FREE, 2-3 hours a week! This could possibly take more than a year off the time needed for formal language study in Canada. Please continue to pray for us as we learn from Eliane! (Also, for her patience with us as we try and grasp this difficult new language.)

Friends

The Lord brought the Ward’s safely to America. Through a series of interesting delays, the family of 4 made it to Idaho. Lee and Becky, with their boys Orlic and Paul, will be some of our co-workers in Congo. It was such a blessing to see them and spend time with them again!

They have the unique perspective that only veteran missionaries from Congo can have. They were gracious to give us advice, and prayed with us as we move forward toward the field.

Please pray for this family as they travel to a hospital in Utah; Orlic has a bone infection in his leg that requires more surgery.

Support

Prayer, as always, is the most important way you can support us. We are completely convinced that prayer does matter and we don’t take your prayer support lightly!

We understand that if we look through human eyes, the present economy and political climate can get discouraging. Isn’t this how the Israelites felt when they sent spies into the Promised Land? Most of the spies came back discouraged, and very discouraging to others! We aren’t saying the walls aren’t big, or that there aren’t giants in the land…only that our GOD can have the victory! Commit with us to being Joshua’s and Caleb’s as we look toward God doing amazing things on our path to Congo!

Thank you again for sharing with us in God’s ministry to the Democratic Republic of Congo!

*Thank you Meridian First Baptist Church for supporting us monthly!*

Our Schedule

As you can see in the following section, we are starting to fill our extended schedule. Sparky will continue to work as long as the Lord provides for him to do so, which is why we are trying to stay as close to “home” as possible. However, we are going to start traveling to neighboring states. Please let us know if your church (or another one you know of) would be interested in having us come. You are our best contact for potential church meetings.

Looking Ahead

April:

19th Centennial Baptist in Caldwell, Idaho (pm)

20th-21st Pastor’s meeting in Utah

May:

3rd Bend, Oregon

June:

6th Double Wedding in Utah (for 2 of the Grings’daughters)

September:

20th We have been invited to participate in the Northern Idaho Mission’s Conference

We have several tentative dates for meetings with churches in the next few months. Please pray that we will get these dates firmed up, and that God will be glorified each time He allows us to share.

2009-03-03T16:56:00.007-07:00

Our First Mission’s Conference

We made it! March 1st was the final day of our very first mission’s conference…on this side of the fence. What a blessing it was to have our first conference at “home” with churches (people!) we already know and love. We also got to meet a lot of new people, and renew friendships with some that we hadn’t seen in a while. Praise the Lord for the way He preserves family relationships within the body!

We were able to hold meetings at 8 different churches in just over 3 week's time; we had such a great time sharing with them all. We are also so very thankful to all the fellow missionaries that participated in the conference. They were a great source of encouragement and ideas. What a privilege to serve our Lord together with them!

Our Prayer, Lord willing

The most popular question is still, “When are you leaving?”

We would like to share with you how we see God moving, and our prayer concerning this. We have told most of you that we are preparing for God to move quickly, but are also willing to wait on His timing. We are preparing to be in Congo by the summer of 2011…in time to settle in before beginning teaching at the Bible Institute that fall.

This is possible…only with God!

Realistically, for this to happen, we will need to be fully supported (monthly support) no later than July of 2010. We would then spend time in intensive French Language training. When that is completed, we should be ready to hit the ground running.

The reason for such a short time-frame is that the need is NOW! There is already a waiting list of applicants who want to be considered as students at the Institute. Most of these men are already pastors and leaders in churches, but have little to no Bible training.

Will you pray with us about this goal, and the clarity of God’s leading?!?

Prayer Cards

We have ordered our first prayer cards! If we have your “snail-mail” address, you should have received one from us already. If you have not received one, please let us know, and we will get one to you.

Prayer is the most important thing you can give us, and the most vital part of your ministry to us. Please use these cards as a reminder to pray not only for us, but also the people in Congo, the Bible Institute, and our fellow workers on the field. This ministry is so much bigger than the Clancy’s…we are but a small piece of the puzzle that God is using for His grand plan. Thank you for your commitment to being “pieces” alongside us!

Support Levels

Please look to the right of this letter to see where we are currently in regards to financial support.

We were reminded recently that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and the contents of every mine. He doesn’t need to ask for money, and neither do His ministries. However, what a privilege He has given us believers; being allowed to participate in what He is doing, by giving back some of what He has given us!

Thank you again for sharing with us in God’s ministry to the Democratic Republic of Congo!

Looking Ahead

March:

1st Kuna Baptist (am), Meridian Baptist (pm)

8th Notus Baptist in Idaho (am; possibly pm)

15th Whitney Baptist in Boise, Idaho (am)

April:

19th Centennial Baptist in Caldwell, Idaho (pm)

20th-21st Pastor’s meeting in Utah

May:

We are still planning on switching to the smaller house

2009-01-24T21:16:00.002-07:00

What a blessed time God gave us in Congo!

Attempting to condense the last 3 ½ weeks (and almost 2000 pictures) into under 2 pages is no small feat. So, this is an attempt at a "Reader's Digest" version…and some of the pictures will be posted on our web site.

We left Caldwell early on the morning of Saturday, December 27th, and landed in South Africa in the afternoon of Sunday, December 28th. We spent a wonderful evening of fellowship with the Marsh family, and others. Monday morning we left for the Congo.

Our plane landed in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo at noon on December 29th. It was such a blessing to have Robert Marsh (and son Jordan) in the airport where we said good-bye to the English speaking world. Everything went pretty smoothly, except the absence of one trunk…which happened to have almost all Myndii's clothes. It arrived safely 2 days later, which we were all very thankful for!

We got right to work…Myndii helped with housework (which takes longer in Congo due to power and water issues, and things like having to mill your own flour), and some other odd jobs around the property. Sparky was busy helping get the vehicle ready for the trip to the interior.

Wednesday evening we got to participate in a New Year's Eve fellowship. We had a fantastic time playing games and eating our first official Congolese "pot-luck" meal. Thursday we got to welcome a new "visitor"…Evangelist Randy Chovan arrived for his 3rd trip to Congo. Saturday afternoon was a Pastor's and Wives fellowship for the Kinshasa area pastors…more Congolese food, and a time of getting to know these men and women in God's service there.

Sunday morning, Myndii taught the women's Sunday School class, and Sparky preached in the morning service. We also both had the opportunity to share our testimonies and the way God provided for this trip. This was the first time either of us had spoken through an interpreter…it took a bit to "warm up" and keep thoughts flowing, but we were told the points got across.

Monday morning, we got an early start. Our travel companions were Pastor Osee, Pastor Paulin, Dan Grings, Randy Chovan, and Robert Marsh. Pastor Osee and Pastor Paulin are national pastors of churches in Kinshasa, and will be professors at the institute. What a blessing to have them along, and a chance to get to know them. We are truly looking forward to working with these great men and their families!

We drove all day Monday and stopped in Kikwit where we spent the night. We met a young man named Claude, who feels called into the pastorate and is praying about attending the future Bible Institute.

Tuesday morning we took off again. We stopped at the church and school in Idiofa. They gave us quite a welcome, and fed us lunch. With all of our breaks, we still drove into Dibaya just after dark.

Pulling into Dibaya is unexplainable. It seemed that the whole church was awaiting our arrival. What a welcome! We felt so at home, and at peace about where God has called us.

We spent the next 3 days fellowshipping with the people, participating in seminars for the local pastors and church leaders, evangelizing, familiarizing ourselves with the town of Dibaya, and gathering data for our future in the area. We saw many make decisions, and are praying for their sincerity and growth! Those who were able to attend the seminars seemed to drink in the messages (and took countless notes), as few of them have any Bible training.

On Saturday we said tearful good-byes. Mama Luti was our hostess for our stay…we so look forward to seeing her again! It was difficult to explain to the people that it would be a while before we could come back to live there. They are so hungry for the Word, and the laborers are so few.

We drove to a village called Nkumi, spent the night and shared with them on Sunday morning. God allowed us to witness the addition of several members into His family there! After morning service, we drove to BBC where we had an evening service. In the morning, Sparky did chapel for the school there. Then, we packed up for the road trip back to Kinshasa…complete with a variety of produce and 2 live goats tethered to the roof rack of the Toyota.

We camped out our last night by the side of the road a few villages before Kenge. We had an evangelistic meeting in the morning, and arrived in Kinshasa for dinner. (After a brief interruption to change a flat tire in down-town Kinshasa, just down the road from the Grings' house…the only incident the whole trip!)

The last week in Africa went by VERY quickly. Sparky shared at the school chapel on Wednesday and Thursday and did the devotional for Wednesday evening prayer meeting. Myndii taught ladies Bible study on Thursday evening after we all went on visitation. On Sunday, Sparky preached at Petro Congo (the church Pastor Mosanga the Ward's attend). Monday morning we were off to the Kinshasa airport, this time without our personal interpreter. God was gracious, and everything went very smoothly. God even provided for our plane to San Francisco to miraculously land 1 hour 20 minutes early, so we were able to catch an earlier flight into Boise…in time to have dinner with our kids!

Thank you again to all who participated in making this trip possible!
We are excitedly awaiting God's timing for our return!!!

2008-12-10T08:30:00.005-07:00

Where God guides, God provides!

In case you haven’t been reminded lately…
Our God is still in the miracle business!

In almost exactly 3 very short weeks, in the midst of the Christmas season, “Black Friday”, and a struggling economy, our LORD provided the full amount through several churches and countless individuals!

In a series of not-so-small miracles, God used His people in mighty ways. This last Sunday we were privileged to witness one of these miracles as God used a congregation to take an offering that amounted to just pennies over the amount we had remaining. Anyone know the statistical probability of this? It’s probably something like 1:1,000,000,000. We say it was definitely 1:God!

The tickets have been purchased, VISA’s applied for, shots received, and packing is underway. Sparky and Myndii will BOTH be leaving for South Africa on December 27th, then from South Africa to Kinshasa, Congo on December 29th. The last leg of our journey we are very blessed to be accompanied by Robert Marsh, who purchased tickets for the same flight, not knowing we were even coming. (Hmmm, wonder who planned that?!?) Thank you, Lord!

In humble gratitude, we thank you for allowing God to use you in His ministry to the Congo!!! All the praise and honor to our Father!

Njambe ajua lokumu! (God be praised! -in Lingala)

Why another December Chronicles?

We chose to do a second December Chronicles for a few reasons. First, there was much to tell! Second, we will not be publishing a January prayer letter. We will be leaving before December is over, and not returning until late January.

However, there will be plenty of things to share when we get back! The plan at this point is to send out an e-mail prayer letter…as soon as we can…in late January (which will actually be the February prayer letter). We will also mail out a prayer letter from IFM around that time.

Timeline

The most popular question we seem to be getting right now is, “When are you leaving for the field?” Our answer: Only God knows! Most likely sometime between 6 months and 10 years from now…does that help?!?

Due to schooling, job, and house situations, we don’t think we will be leaving before this next summer. However, if you read the first page of this letter, you know that God can do amazing things, fast. So, we are preparing for God to move quickly, but are also willing to wait on His perfect timing.

Having said that, there is much to do…we will need to raise 100% of our monthly support, as well as Outfit and Passage expenses. Also, extensive language study will be necessary in order to teach in French at the Institute. At this point we are looking at the possibility of studying while working in Quebec City, Canada with some fellow missionaries that are starting a French speaking church there.

Support

Have you been praying about sharing with us in God’s ministry to the DRC?

We are heading into a “new phase”…we are now officially on Deputation. This means that we will have the opportunity to travel to many different churches. If you think your church would be interested in hearing about what God is doing in the DRC, please have your pastor contact us; we would be happy to visit with him about this ministry.

Deputation is a time of preparation, perseverance, patience, and faith. Thank you for participating in encouraging us during this time!

If you would still like to contribute to the Survey Trip, there are a few options. We set aside some to help with fuel cost into Dibaya, but the more we can help with that, the more of a blessing we can be to the Grings. We also would like to keep some in our fund, incase God is helping us plan for a cost we are yet unaware of.

Any gifts can be made payable to IFM, please include our name in the “memo” (no account number necessary), and mail to IFM, PO Box 7791, Greensboro, NC 27407.

Joyfully in His care,

~The Clancy Clan

Sparky, Myndii, Martha, Titus, and Ruth

2008-11-25T10:37:00.008-07:00

Thank you ALL for your prayers as we traveled to North Carolina!

IFM Board of Directors

We are thrilled to inform you that on November 14th, 2008 the IFM Board voted unanimously to accept us as full-time missionaries to the Democratic Republic of Congo!

The board members were all very encouraging, and we feel quite blessed at the opportunity to meet them. We are excited to proceed knowing that these great men of God will be praying for us!

We got to spend some wonderful time with the staff at the IFM office. We learned so much, and had a great time of fellowship. It was so nice to put faces to the voices we’ve been talking to on the phone for months. They all do such a wonderful job, allowing the missionaries to focus on the ministries God has called them to. What a blessing to have them working with us!

Thank you again to Mike and Marie Cannon for providing us a room, putting up with us, showing us around historic Winston-Salem, and a great time visiting during our stay in North Carolina! Please pray for their daughter, Kristin Cannon. She was hospitalized during our stay due to seizures. The doctors are trying to figure out the cause and course of treatment.

Survey Trip to DRC Update

Many people have given toward this upcoming survey trip to Africa. Thank you all who have given sacrificially to help see this happen! After gifts and offerings through November 25th, we are now around 34% of our goal of $6000 needed to purchase tickets, visas, and travel expenses.

Myndii’s mother has already purchased her tickets to come watch the children during the 3+ weeks we would be gone.

Last month we shared some of the unique opportunities a trip now would allow us. This included, accompanying Dan Grings to Dibaya to survey the new property, meet with national pastors and church leaders at their biannual meeting in Kinshasa, and gaining personal insight into this mission field. In addition, this trip would allow us to gain more accurate estimates on needed monthly support, outfit and passage expenses, what we will need to do to prepare, etc.

In order for us to make this small window of opportunity, the airline tickets MUST be purchased within the next two weeks and will cost approximately $5000.

Please pray with us that (in His will) God will provide the needed resources to meet this timeline. If the Lord is leading you to share financially in this project, please send gifts to IFM, P.O. Box 7791, Greensboro, NC 27407. They keep us informed frequently so we can track the progress, and keep you all updated.

Support

Have you been praying about sharing with us in God’s ministry to the DRC?

Our account at IFM is up and running. Please include our name with any gifts (no account number necessary). Please remember, no gift is too small, and all are appreciated! (Current support will go toward the survey trip unless otherwise designated.)

Looking Ahead

Mission’s Conference: will be held in February 15th through March 1st. We will give you specific dates and locations when we get the schedule.

Thank you all again, so much, for all your prayers and support!

In Him,

~The Clancy Clan

2008-11-03T10:08:00.009-07:00

The Survey Trip

We let you know about the possibility of Sparky flying to Congo this winter for a “Survey Trip.” This trip would include travel in to Dibaya, where we will be living, along with stops in several villages along the way, and some time spent in Kinshasa (the capitol). Many of you have expressed the thought that Myndii should go as well.

We are not opposed to this option (in fact, Myndii is quite excited that she might be able to go as well!). We also understand that it will cost quite a large sum of money to make this happen. We have been researching the cost for airfare, and the cheapest we can find is around $2500 per person. If Myndii were to travel to Congo as well, this would mean $5000 just for the flights. The closer to the trip that the tickets are purchased, the more they will cost. In addition to the airfare there will be a cost for Visas, vaccinations, expenses to travel to Dibaya, food (at Congo prices), and Sparky will be missing 3 weeks of work.

Myndii’s mother is willing to fly down from Alaska to watch and care for the children if Myndii is able to go. However, her tickets will become less available as time goes on.

At this point, we are looking at the estimated dates of leaving on December 27th, arriving in Kinshasa December 28th, leaving for the road trip to Dibaya on January 1st, returning to Kinshasa about 1 ½ weeks later, and flying back to the US on the 17th and 18th. We are hoping to time the trip to catch the first day of the pastor’s conference, meet with many of the interior pastors, share with them our burden for the Bible Institute, and get their ideas and feedback.

Despite the cost, we believe this would be an important trip to make. It would give us a perspective on this field that cannot be gained another way. It would give us a chance to have our own pictures to show and experiences to share at the upcoming mission’s conference(s). A trip now would also allow the national pastors and leaders to get to know us. They can better pray for us in this process, and start preparing for us to help with the Bible Institute.

We have already committed some of our own finances for this trip (for passports and other items that have come up) and still have some personal savings. Also, some gifts and offerings have come in. However, at this time there is still quite a short-fall. We do not feel that it would be wise to go into dept for this trip…so we are leaving this in God’s hands. If it is His will for Sparky, or both of us, to go He will have to provide.

Getting to The Democratic Republic of Congo is no easy task. Finances
are not the only obstacle. Timing and coordination are essential. Here is a list of things (in order) that must be done in order to travel:

 Obtain Passports: Sparky and Myndii have both applied for and received their passports

 Purchase airline tickets

 Get all required shots (for DRC, only vaccinations for Yellow Fever are necessary, but there is a long list of recommended ones)

 A person in Kinshasa must get a notarized invitation to the Visa office (with names, dates, and flight information)

 MAIL all documents (passports, shot records, etc) to the Visa office in Washington, DC. and receive them back in time for the flight out

Support

Have you been praying about sharing with us in God’s ministry to the DRC? There are several ways to share in this ministry…

The first, and most important way, is prayer! Will you commit to praying for us, and what God is doing in Congo, on a regular basis? If so, please let us know that you are joining with us in this way.

Another way is through financial support. This can come in different forms. One time gifts will go toward the Survey trip, equipment needed for deputation (projector, prayer cards, travel expenses, etc.), and Outfit and Passage for our first term. Ongoing gifts can be contributed monthly, yearly, or whenever is convenient for your budget. These gifts will go into an account until we are able to go on full-time deputation. Monthly support that is given before we are drawing from that account will be saved for the initial Outfit and Passage. Special gifts are ones that are designated toward a specific project or fund. If you are feeling led to support in a specific area, you may designate your gift, and it will be used for that purpose.

IFM should be setting up an account for financial support soon. Until then, all gifts can be mailed to our Home Church (information on the right). Please include a short separate note with our name and stating the purpose of your gift.

Looking Ahead

IFM: Sparky and Myndii will be flying to North Carolina November 11th through the 15th to meet with the mission board and participate in “new missionary training.”

Mission’s Conference: We looking forward to participating in the annual Mission’s Conference in our Valley. It will be held in February and March 2009. We will give you specific dates and locations when we get the schedule.

House: We are still looking at “trading spaces” in May.

Thank you all again, so much, for all your prayers and support!

~The Clancy Clan

2008-10-06T20:35:00.010-06:00

God’s Ministry

We have been asked why we would want to move half way around the world, to an unknown place, with an unknown language, strange diseases, dangerous animals, large bugs, etc.

Let us take a moment to explain that us going to Congo (or anywhere else, for that matter) is God’s work and ministry. God is working in the Democratic Republic of Congo…He is just asking us to be a part of the work He is doing there. This is very humbling! Why would the Lord of the Universe choose to use two country folk (and their 3 kids) from a small community in Idaho? We aren’t anything special; we don’t have degrees in linguistics, or experience with living in the middle of a jungle. However, God’s plan is to use His children to carry out His work here on Earth. He asks each individual to be a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2). No longer are animal sacrifices needed. Christ, fully God, came as a man to die in our place (the once and for all atoning sacrifice) so that we might live forever with Him. Trusting in Him is the only way to be considered right before God. It is essential that all understand that doing anything, does not gain points, get one closer to heaven, or make one “better” in God’s eyes. The believers’ position in heaven is secure and equal. We are but willing tools to be used by the Almighty.

Will living in Africa always be easy, safe, encouraging, and fun? Certainly not. One of our dear missionary friends, John McKeeth, wrote us the other day, “There will be times on the field when it will get tough and it is critical at that point that you be able to look back and see that it was God's hand and provision that lead and provided for you to be there. If you get there by your own manipulation of people and situations, then the tough times will ones that you got yourself into. It is different when God puts you there.”

Looking back on our lives thus far, we can see how He was grooming, stretching, and growing us in preparation for Him using us. We also can see how He is providing and leading. And so, our prayer is, “Here am I Lord, send me!”

If this still doesn’t make any sense to you, please consider your position with God. This will be strange to you if you are an unbeliever. Please give this some thought, and if you have any more questions, feel free to contact us! We would love to speak with you more about this.

What about us, believers? Will God ask you to go on the mission field? Perhaps, perhaps not. But what He is asking of all of us is our whole hearts. He is asking us to examine our lives, and know for certain we are giving Him all that already belongs to Him.

Looking Ahead

Harvest Dinner: Our church has invited us to speak at our annual harvest dinner, and chose us as the project for this year. We are looking forward to sharing more with our church family, and having this great time of fellowship with them.

IFM: IFM has received our application, is reviewing and praying over it, and also reviewing and praying over references. This is understandably a lengthy process. They are wisely being careful in consideration of us as new missionaries. We will let you all know as soon as we find out dates for our travel to meet with them in North Carolina. PRAISE the Lord that we have a place to stay while we are there. Some friends live about 40 miles away from the IFM office, and have offered to give us their down stairs for the time we are in NC!

Trip to Congo: We are still praying about the possibility of Sparky flying to Congo. In January, national pastors will be meeting in Kinshasa (the capitol city) for a conference. We are hoping to time his trip so he gets to be a part of the last few days of the conference, meet with many of the interior pastors, share with them our burden for the Bible Institute, and get their ideas and feedback. Then, Lord willing, be able to stay a few more weeks to “survey” Kinshasa, make a trip up to Dibaya, and start looking at how we should be preparing. Please pray for God’s will and provision for this trip!

Mission’s Conference: We have been invited by local pastors to participate in the annual Mission’s Conference in our Valley. (Pending appointment by IFM.) It will be held in February and March 2009. We are very excited as this will give us a chance to share with many of the churches in our association in a short period of time. This will be the first Mission’s Conference “on the other side of the fence.” What a blessing to have our first with our friends and family! It will be a busy time, so we ask for your prayers for strength and patience with a very packed schedule.

House: Last month we shared with you our miraculous house situation. We are looking at “trading spaces” in May.

Thank you all again for all your prayers and support!

~The Clancy Clan

2008-09-03T22:29:00.006-06:00

God’s Confirmation

Last month, we let you know about our burden for Africa; specifically the Democratic Republic of Congo. We have all our paperwork in to IFM (Independent Faith Mission) in request to be appointed by that mission board to go to the DRC.

Since sending in our application, God has continually sent confirmation as to His will in this! He is opening doors where we wouldn’t have thought to look. And, where we thought God might be opening a window, we find a garage door sized opening.

Just one of the many examples we could share, concerns our house. We own an older farmhouse on a few acres (pictured above). We do not feel like it is something we could keep and rent out while on the field, so we were making plans and preparations to get ready to sell. This is our first house, so selling is a new process for us…and with the slowing economy…we weren’t sure how and when to put it up on the market. We discussed the possibility of using our equity to help purchase a small house in Notus where our home church could keep an eye on it, and the payment would be manageable, even without renters. This was quite a lot to ask of God, and we viewed it more as “wishful thinking” than a prayer. However, our Heavenly Father hears our hearts desires! A gentleman that Sparky works with heard we were going to sell and said he wants our house…whenever we’re ready. He said not to worry about doing any more repairs or preparations (which will save us a lot of time and money). AND, he asked if we would pray about a trade… he could pay off our current mortgage, and give us a house in town (Notus) that he has been renting out and owns free-and-clear. Not only that, but this house is ONE block from our home church! We are praying that if God chooses to follow through on this, we will be able to use that house on our furloughs as well as make it available for other missionaries that may need housing during their time in the States.

As we are “preparing for rain”…God seems to be sending flash floods! This is just one confirmation in the midst of so many. We are so excited to be on the path God has for us, and that He is seeing fit to confirm the steps we are taking.

Dibaya-Lubwe

We introduced Dibaya-Lubwe
to you briefly last month. It is
a mid-sized village on the
Big Kasi River. It is about a 3
day’s journey from Kinshasa,
either by river or by road.
Hopefully these pictures will
give you a good idea of where
it is. (These are pictures from
Google Earth.)

(Below) This picture is about
35 miles across (East-West)
and 20 miles high (North-
South). You can see that
there are many villages near by.

There are several churches in the DRC. Unfortunately, there has been little to no training available for pastors or church leaders in the interior for many years. Dibaya is in a very good location: it is relatively accessible to national pastors and Christians in the interior; it is under a “normal” MAF flight line, and has a maintained landing strip; the cost of living is much lower than bigger towns and cities; among other things. Our prayer—Lord willing—is to help establish the Bible Institute in Dibaya, train national pastors and their families for ministry, disciple, encourage the national pastors and Christians, and assist them in evangelism and church planting.

Looking Ahead

We are praying about the possibility of Sparky flying over to Congo in January. Lord willing, he would be able to meet several of the national pastors and make a trip to see Dibaya in person. Please pray for God’s will and provision for this trip!

2008-08-13T10:31:00.005-06:00

Welcome to the first issue of
The Clancy Chronicles

This is the first issue of our prayer letter. We are using this letter to introduce our family to you, and to tell you about the ministry opportunity we are praying about.

Sparky and Myndii met in high school and were married in 1998. Sparky attended Western Baptist College (now Corban) for four years until 2000 when he enlisted in the Army Reserves. He spent 16 months active duty for his tour in Iraq from 2004 to 2005. Myndii has been a stay-at-home-mom since Martha was born, but never seems to be “home,” there’s always something to do, and somewhere to be. Sparky and Myndii have served in the local church in many areas such as Sunday School teachers, Youth leaders, and AWANA workers. Sparky has preached at several churches, either without pastors or filling the pulpit during their absence. He also serves on the deacon board at First Baptist Church of Notus, Idaho (our home church).

Martha is our oldest. She turned 7 the beginning of July. She is attending a Christian School in Caldwell, Idaho (about a 20 minute drive from home). She enjoys music and loves to read.

Titus is a boy’s boy. He turned 5 in February. He loves to be outside, getting as dirty as possible, and is a great problem-solver. He enjoys puzzles, mazes, and playing with his puppy, Gilbert. He will be going to Kindergarten this fall.

Ruth is our youngest. She is almost 2 years old, and quite a busy one. She was a bit of a surprise as we got a call from the Health and Welfare that said, “If you’re here in an hour, we have a newborn baby girl for you.” The last two years have been full of ups and downs, and some interesting challenges, but we are so glad God chose to let her be a part of our family. Her adoption was final on May 8th.

Now that you know who we are, we’d like to share with you our burden for the mission field.

Our Possible Ministry Opportunity

We have felt a burden for full-time ministry for nearly 12 years. Four years ago were blessed to meet a family that serves in Kinshasa, Congo (the Grings). We have been praying for the possibility to serve there since. As we have prayed about this and other mission fields, God shut doors. At times we thought He was saying “No” but we realize that He was just saying “Wait.” Looking over the last several years, we can see how God was growing us. He has allowed so many lessons and opportunities to stretch us. We see why He was asking us to wait.

However, we have been challenged recently, and feel that now is the time!

The missionaries in DR Congo have had the opportunity to purchase some ground near Dibaya-Lubwe where they intend to build a Bible Institute to train National pastors and church leaders. We are praying about the possibility of us living there and helping run and teach at this new Institute. We have been in contact with IFM (Independent Faith Mission), the mission agency that the Congolese government will accept missionaries through. We are working with our home church in the process of prayer and continuing to search out God’s will. We are confident that God has called us to full-time missions! We are so excited to see how and when God will lead.

Please pray with us as we start on this journey. We will keep you updated on our process. Thank you so very much for support!

Love in Christ our Lord,

~The Clancy Clan