Ten Talents International Blog

If you were around back then (early 80's?) you can hum that song, but it does feel good! :) Mike was able to get most of the paperwork for the property done on Friday and was able to fly home (arriving Saturday night) like he was originally scheduled. Praise God! He was able to be in church Sunday morning to see KaLia & the kids perform. Yeah! He has a friend in Rwanda, formerly with Africa New Life Ministries, that should be able to complete the rest of the paperwork to complete the sale this week.

Another exciting bit of news: we found out the property is actually 7+ acres! Truely a miracle that we were able to purchase it for such a low price, and we thank God for that.

The task before us still remains to raise the remainder of the purchase price ($25,000) and then the funds to begin building. Right now we do have cattle stalls on the property but that is it! (The previous owner used to have cattle there.) God has so much in store for this property & it is so good to know that He is at work & we can not even begin to imagine the plans He has- they will go far beyond what we can dream. Our God is good!

Let's dream together, pray, give, & believe that there are no limits on our God!
Together With Him,
Lisa

Here is some more information I found out about the property- it is very close to the ANLM (Africa New Life Ministries) Dream Center property. ANLM runs the feeding program for street children at their Dream Center property- the very same program that we want to use for finding the street children who will become the residents of the new Home of Innocence. That is very awesome!

I sent out an email update which I am going to paste here (save me more typing) ...

Thank you everyone for your prayers. The Lord has provided in that a local church has been able to give Ten Talents Int. a loan for the remainder required to go ahead and purchase this land. Praise God!!! That way Mike can complete the paperwork to have the land legally, and we will have more time to raise the money needed. The funds are being wired to Rwanda today & Mike should have them there Friday morning. They (in Rwanda) are supposed to have all the paperwork ready to go for the sale transaction.

You see, Mike was supposed to fly out on Friday at 5pm (Rwanda time). However, he has been cautioned by another minister that getting all the required paperwork completed may take longer than he has been told. He was concerned that it would be 3pm on Friday & he would have to leave for the airport without getting everything completed. We found out that he could change his ticket to one day later (flying out Saturday) without a fee, so with much sadness we went ahead and did this.

My hope at this point is that I will call him at 3:30pm Friday (Rwanda time- 5:30am Friday our time) and he will in fact have been able to get everything done & we can change his flight back. What makes this flight delay such a big deal (besides it being that we are ready for him to be home *now*) is that KaLia is singing and performing with the kids at church Sunday morning (Christmas program). With the new flight he will not return until Sunday night, and that will make KaLia very sad.

So, I am updating you & asking for your prayers again. Please pray that the wire transfer of funds would go through without a hitch & be waiting for him Friday morning. Pray that Mike would be able to complete all the paperwork for the property on Friday before 3pm. Pray that we would be able to get him back to his earlier flight. And if he does have to stay the extra day, please pray for KaLia to be able to understand & not be exceedingly sad about Daddy missing her performance.

Thank you for standing with us in prayer thus far. It has been an amazing journey the Lord has taken us on & He is so good & faithful! Of course this is just the beginning- how exciting that TTI will actually own it's first piece of land in Rwanda & all that God will use us to do there! Praise Him!

God Bless You,
Lisa

Mike & Sitaki met with the property owner on Sunday, and he agreed to the purchase price of $30,000 for the 5 acre property. Mike said the man was nice & they found out the property is actually bigger than they thought. Mike told the man he would put $10,000 down before he leaves & then the balance later. We do not have $10,000 in our Home of Innocence account yet, but we believe God is going to do big things still! Thank you for continuing to pray that God would speak to hearts - that people would give as God calls them to.

Before this meeting with the property owner Mike was talking to the president of another ministry there in Rwanda & told him about the property & what he wanted to pay for it. The man's response was, "You can't do that- not in that area. That's prime real estate." Then he said, "If you are able to buy it for that price that would be a true miracle!" Well, let's praise God for miracles!

Our church, Bethel Church, took an offering towards the property this morning. They were excited about the wonderful news of what God is doing & gave generously in response to the opportunity. We are so very proud to partner with you Bethel & that you have a part in what God is doing in Rwanda & making a difference in so many lives. Thank you!

Mike & Sitaki are both well and Mike will be in the country until Friday, the 14th. He will arrive back in Portland on the 15th at 9pm. We appreciate your prayers & faith believing for God to provide for the vision he has placed within our hearts.

We do serve an awesome God!
God Bless You,
Lisa

I have spoken with Mike and he was supposed to meet with the owner of the 5 acre plot that he is so excited about, but they have not been able to get ahold of this person yet. He did have a meeting with the owners of another plot- it is 1/2 acre and they are asking $16,000 (now lowered to $14K). One of the owners is a deaconess in a church that belongs to the denominantion that Sitaki is affiliated with there, and who we worked with in the spring when we distributed New Life Workbooks. Another great thing about both of these properties they are looking at is they are both within walking distance to this church. That is wonderful to have a good church for the kids of the Home to attend easily.

They hope to meet with this other property owner tomorrow (the 5 acre plot- the one that Mike desires so much - because it is just so perfect & has so much room for future plans).

Another thing they did on Thursday was to visit a group of widows. This widows organization (there are several in the country) has 150 members. Through a new program of ERM these widows will each be given a goat (funds have already been raised for this). The government has given the widows a plot of land to use & they will be able to raise & care for their goats there. Once the goats have matured & given birth (goats have twins) the widows will each pass on one of their goat babies to another widow - thus perpetuating the program. The other goat baby, and every baby after that, will be the widow's choice to sell or keep. It is a very great thing that is beginning!

Please continue to pray for God to open up the floodgates of heaven & pour out the funds needed for buying this property & fully funding the Home of Innocence. It is exciting that we can all be a part of what God is doing & making eternal differences in lives on the other side of the world!

God Bless You,
Lisa

I spoke with Mike this morning. He had sent me some amazing pictures of him with the gorillas, but we didn't have time to talk about that today! We spent our time talking about this piece of property he & Sitaki have found- now we need to pray it in!

It is five acres of land for $30,000. It is big enough to build the Home of Innocence and so much more! Mike tells me this property is amazing (it is on a hillside with an awesome view) & because it is prime real estate it won't last long on the market. Plus it has a paved road all the way there! (Those of you who have been to Rwanda know that this is a huge bonus!) They had been looking at track homes for $150,000, and then were taken to this piece of property which has so many possibilities for ministry.

Please pray for Ten Talents International to be able to come up with the $30,000 for this property/location for the new Home of Innocence. Mike would like to purchase the property before he leaves (that's December 14th) which would require at least $15,000.

Please pray for people to get behind the vision for this work in Rwanda & for us to see a great outpouring of the Lord's provision!

Thank you for praying & believing God with us! God's hand is at work!

Blessings,
Lisa

I spoke with Mike Sunday morning (our morning, his evening) and he was doing well. He went to church that morning with Sitaki & he said there was about 800 people there. They had a nice meal at the home of Francoise's sister (Sitaki's wife's sister). He said it was wonderful. The bad news was the place where they were staying ran out of water (it is stored in tanks there). It was supposed to be coming "soon". Mike said he could really use a shower & shave- and especially before he went on his next trek:

Mike has been given the opportunity to visit the mountain gorillas (50% of the world population of mountain gorillas live in Rwanda). He & Sitaki will be meeting up with another group, part of a team from Portland, Oregon and be up there on Tuesday. There are professional tour groups who lead you up to the gorilla nesting area (gorillas are extremely calm & not aggressive to humans, in case you're worried). One of the members of the other group has been before. Mike is very excited to have been given this awesome opportunity! I can't wait to hear the fantastic details.

Wednesday they will begin the full search for the Home of Innocence. We appreciate your continued prayers for God's blessing to be on Mike, Emmanuel, the in-existence-but-not-yet-seen Home of Innocence, and the favor of God to go before them. Thank you for your prayers, commitment, and giving!

God Bless You,
Lisa

I got an email from Mike & this is an excerpt-

Update: I am feeling better now. I ate a little dinner last night, alittle breakfast this morning, and a regular amount of Chinese food today. I slept a lot yesterday and last night. I feel good about this trip and believe that God is going before us. Sitaki is here now. He got in early. I have not seen him yet but I have talked to him on the phone. I exchanged some money and got my cell phone set up to use as a modem for my laptop.

Thank you for your prayers for Mike & Sitaki & this trip. God is faithful & is at work in many ways! We will see great things!

God Bless You,
Lisa