Ten Talents International Blog

I talked to Mike this morning (Friday night there- 10 hours ahead of us). He has been feeling sick again. It started the evening before. Lots of stomach distress. Please pray for him to be strong & no trace of any more sickness. He thought he was feeling better, but he also hadn't eaten anything. No more of this! We agree in prayer together.

He almost missed his flight from Ethiopia to Rwanda. They told him the wrong gate. He was waiting around at that gate (had even asked someone there & they told him to just sit & wait) when he asked someone else he found out he was supposed to be at the other end of the airport! He hustled down there & they said the plane was already gone. He was waiting at the counter while they tried to figure out what to do with him, when the personnel noticed a camera sitting there on the counter. A few minutes later the counter got a phone call- they grabbed the camera & Mike & took off for the tarmac. Apparently someone on Mike's flight had forgotten the camera, so they ended up holding the plane & Mike was able to board because of that! So thank God for that!

Once he got to Rwanda they got a taxi for him. He asked the taxi driver his name, and the man said "Innocent". Mike just stared at him in amazement! Just a cool God thing right there.

I also praise God because although we had a serious problem with our TTI website yesterday (appeared to have been hijacked to someone else's site) & after several hours of wondering what was happening, the web host was able to restore our site.

Thank you for your continued prayers for God's grace & mercy to be over Michael & Sitaki (who has been healthy- but because of restrictions he had to take a flight to Uganda & is right now riding the bus from Uganda to Rwanda). We pray for God to cover them completely and to prosper this trip- that it would accomplish above & beyond what they have even hoped. For the glory of God. I also appreciate your prayers for the kids & I. KaLia has been pretty emotional- which is how I think the stress of having her dad gone comes out (and I get cranky with the kids).

God bless you as we look forward to the wonderful & amazing things that God is going to do. How awesome that he chooses to use all of us working together to accomplish his work!

Lisa

Mike is in Ethiopia right now (11 hours ahead of Pacific Time). He emailed me & said the Hanna's Hope home is very nice. He felt very sick to his stomach on the way from DC to Ethiopia, but is better now & does not expect it to return (and we will pray such). He will be in Ethiopia until Friday at 10:55am, when he flies from there to Rwanda (that would be Thursday night, 11:55pm for those of us in Pacific Time).

Thank you for your continued prayers for the covering of the Lord to be over Mike & Sitaki, for God's provision, blessing, and grace to be upon the work they are setting out to do. You can also pray that any "road blocks" or disturbances that the enemy has planned would be snuffed out & come to nothing!

Thank you!
Blessings,
Lisa

I have talked to Mike a few times today. Right now they are on the plane that will take them from Washington DC to Ethiopia. So far, everything is going fine. Apparently because Emmanuel does not have a US passport, but official travel documents, his documents get gone over very carefully & even airport officials aren't familiar with it & don't know what to do with them. But he's made it this far!

Thank you for your continued prayers for thier safe travels & for the safety of their luggage (Mike is bringing a water purifier bulb that we don't want broken- as well as a printer, etc.) As well as everything listed below! :)

God Bless You!
Lisa

Mike is ready to go- in the sense that his bags are packed & he is ready to get to Africa. Of course he is not ready to leave his family- or us for him to leave- but we are thankful for the grace of God that is always with us & helps us in these times.

If you would like to pray specifically for Mike & Emmanuel- pray for a safe journey, with no problems with flights, connections, or international check points. Pray for all of their belongings to arrive at their destination on time & safely. Pray for God to help them with time change adjustments and to keep their bodies completely healthy, whole, and strong throughout the entire trip. Pray that God would go before them and give them favor with those they encounter. Pray that God would be setting up divine appointments, for miracles to happen in provision for this home. Both the finances and the exact location. I pray that the location for the Home of Innocence would be quickly found & would be beyond what they have even imagined to this point- abundantly & exceedingly! :) Pray that God would connect them with people and provide contacts that are needed for establishing the ministry of the Home of Innocence.

I will update you as I can!
Thank you for praying- our mighty & awesome God has chosen to work through the prayers of his people - which is humbling but also empowering! God listens to our prayers & our prayers bring change- thank you Lord!

God Bless You,
Lisa

We are currently working on our end of the year letter for TTI. It hasn't been that long since we mailed out our last newsletter, but this is a little different from the newsletter and an end of the year letter is important for our supporters as well as for our organization. If anyone is interested in helping fold, stuff, label, stamp, seal, etc. I will welcome such offers! :) The goal is to have this in the mail next week.

Please keep the Sitaki family in your prayers. They have had a rough couple of days.

Only one more week til Mike & Emmanuel leave, your continued prayers for this trip are so appreciated. Specific prayers: Mike is still waiting for the actual tickets to arrive, and there are still funds needed for the downpayment for the Home of Innocence. Pray for God to go before them, prepare the way, remove obstacles, and make the path straight. The home would be ready, easily found, & easily acquired.

Thank you & God bless you!
Lisa

Mike's tickets have been purchased and this upcoming trip will actually start on November 26th, not the 29th. He decided to extend his layover in Ethiopia for a couple of days. He will be visiting a facility operated by All God's Children International (organization based in Portland, Oregon). As well as seeing what they do there, he will possibly be helping with some repairs needed on their orphan home. The rest of the trip Mike & Emmanuel will be in & around Kigali, Rwanda finding the location for the new Home of Innocence.

One of the ways you can give towards the Home of Innocence is by purchasing a framed photograph from Rwanda. These photographs are really special because they were each taken by kids living in the ANLM orphan homes (they went through a photography workshop even). We do not have these all listed on our website yet, but we hope to soon. If not, I may be posting them on our blog here. (Recently Mike tried to update the Ten Talents International website & bad things happened to it- but it's back to normal now thank God!) Of course you can always contact us directly if you are interested (info@tentalentsint.org).

We appreciate your continued prayers for this trip and the Home of Innocence. We believe God will provide the funds that are still needed, and if you would like to give please click on this link http://www.tentalentsint.org/about%20homes.htm Starting a new home requires some up front expenses, but we believe God will use this home to have an eternal impact on the lives of many children who are right now on the streets. Ten Talents International is not the ministry of the McColm family- it is your ministry. God chooses to use all of us together, ordinary people, to do extraordinary things for the kingdom of God.

We are so blessed to work together with you!
God Bless You,
Lisa

You might not realize just what a relief it is when we finally get a newsletter in the mail to you! I feel like saying, "HoOoRaY!!!" :) This one has had even more "bumps" in the road that have made it take longer to get out. The last one being that we ran out of toner in the middle of printing. We had to order more on-line (they don't stock it locally). A few days later we put in the new one & the print quality was terrible! But thank God, after praying, the print finally improved! So, it was the last day of October, but we finally got that newsletter printed, folded, and stuffed so it could be on it's way to you- whew!

There is a small insert in with your newsletter that is telling you about the photographs Ten Talents Int. has available for purchase. This is a fundraiser for the new Home of Innocence. We are in the process of cataloging these framed photographs (which are accompanied by a short bio of the child who took the picture) and you will be able to view them on our Ten Talents International website. Hopefully this will be a nice fit for some of you who would like to find a unique gift for someone on your Christmas list, or for those of you who would like to add a beautiful photo and conversation piece to your home. As a gift, how much more wonderful is it to give a something that gives twice- to the recipient as well as to the children on the streets of Rwanda who are waiting for a home.

Please continue to pray for the provision of the funds for the Home Of Innocence. Mike is wanting to raise $10,000 before his trip at the end of this month. Thank you for standing with us! God is faithful!

God Bless You,

Lisa