| The past 10 months has been one of the most faith-stretching and faith-building periods in our lives. We arrived back in the US after 12 beautiful years of life and ministry in Istanbul, Turkey in June of 2021. Wrestling with transition, the grief and loss, has been a family affair. Each of us have experienced the pain of leaving a place that we loved so dearly and entering into the unknown of this next season of life in the US. There is no simple way to sum up all the ways that God has been working to heal us, grow us, unite us and guide us forward. We can only say a huge, “THANK YOU!” to those of you who have prayed and encouraged us along the way. God has used you greatly to care for us and guide us through the prayers of the saints! This update will just be a short overview of how the Lord has directed us. A New Ministry We are excited to share that the Lord has clearly provided our future steps in ministry as a family over the next three years. We will be serving with Unto, the humanitarian aid arm of Cru. Unto’s vision is to express the kindness of Jesus to people living in the toughest places on earth by relieving suffering, restoring dignity, and revealing hope. Unto partners with local churches, church leaders and Cru staff all over the world to live out this beautiful vision. The Lord’s provision for a plan for us is one that allows us to continue in a global focus and be a part of bringing the light and love of Christ to some of the most difficult places in the world. In this next season of ministry we are also going to be able to focus on re-tooling for our next 25+ years of ministry together. We are beyond grateful that Unto will also help us with additional time in our schedule to finish my Masters of Divinity and complete a Masters of Arts in Counseling over the next three years. We look forward to sharing more about this new ministry and role in the coming months, but here a link to a short video about the ministry of Unto. Unto Humanitarian Aid with Cru – YouTube A New Church Home The first major decision that we made was to join a local church. We committed to membership at Christ United Fellowship in Orlando before we even knew where the Lord was leading us beyond June of 2022. Ann and I believe that our ministry in and through the local church is essential both for our growth and for our call to live out discipleship in the body of Christ! Christ United Fellowship is still in it’s early stages as a young church and is committed to being a gospel-centered, diverse church in the heart of Orlando where anyone is welcome to experience and share in the love of Christ. His heart and vision for the church can be seen in the video below. You can also listen to a discussion our pastor led with Dr. Tim Keller and Dr. Irwyn Ince on the topic of Race and Justice here. Prayer Requests 1. Praise God for helping us, step-by-step, in the transition process- and for opening some new and exciting opportunities for our next season of ministry! 2. Pray for us as we are venturing into the home-buying process for the first time in our lives. It is all a bit overwhelming. Pray that God would use our future home for his glory and that it would be a place where the love of Christ would be at the center. 3. Praise God for a wonderful visit with my (Mark) parents in March here in Orlando. We had many great memories and lots of quality time with them over our kid’s spring break. There were tears when they left- which only speaks to our deep love for them. |
Silas and I enjoyed a Father-Son camping trip a few weeks ago. Time with him is a treasure:)
| A wonderful meal with my parents at the Bosphorus- a Turkish restaurant in Orlando! |
| Friendship is a beautiful thing:) Iris with one of her favorite Kindergarten classmates! |
| Thank you so much for praying for and supporting our family. We are so grateful for your partnership in the Gospel! Copyright © 2022 Mark and Ann Updates Inc., All rights reserved. This email is for those interested in staying updated on our work with college students in the Middle East Our mailing address is: Mark and Ann Updates Inc. 13672 South 500 East Draper, UT 84020 Add us to your address book |