Ehlers Family Letter Feb 2011

Join Us for Cake We’d love for you to join us for our Bolivian Bash and Cake Auction on March 12th. Come prepared to taste some Bolivian snacks and beverages, and learn more about El Jordán and how you can join with us in supporting this ministry. We’re also excited to have Winnipeg folk musician Haley Cook come and play for us as the doors open. We’ll be selling coffee from Green Bean Coffee Imports (remember the fantastic coffee we were selling before Christmas?) and a good friend will be selling Epicure products as a fundraiser for us. Be ready to out-bid for delicious desserts ranging from red velvet cake to cupcakes to banana loaf at the cake auction. Miles would love to have some kids to run around with so please bring your whole family! See you there! … For El Jordán as they work to build the team of people and complete the building projects necessary for their new men’s ministry. … That God would be glorified as both sides of our family deal with illness and a recent death. … For peace in our lives while we move out of our home and resident manager job at the end of March.  Small Steps of Obedience Partner With Us For the past eighteen months, we’ve been working as resident managers of our apartment building. Through this job, we’ve met many of our neighbours who have invited us into their homes for a meal or coffee. Our neighbours come from all over the world, so we’ve had the privilege of being served food from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, and India. We’ve learned the power of using simple greetings in their home languages to build relationships quickly. We’ve learned about being servants by cleaning other peoples’ messes, and learned about justice and grace when dealing with tenants. We’ve learned about hospitality, and how to live with no guaranteed “private time,” as calls and knocks on the door come at all hours. Your prayers have been invaluable as we’ve started the support raising process. It’s been a really enjoyable month, as we’ve had the opportunity to meet with several friends that we haven’t seen in a while – it’s been wonderful to catch up. Sam at a neighbour’s birthday party Throughout the process of getting to Bolivia, Sam has called the journey, “small steps of obedience.” We could not see the bigger picture of how living in this job would prepare us for going to Bolivia, but God has used these experiences to slowly move us in the direction He wants us to go. We’re still on track to leave by the end of April, as we currently have 34% of our support raised. Thank you to everyone who pledged support or made a donation. We are required to raise 100% of our support before we can leave for Bolivia. Including all living expenses, administration and insurance, we are required to raise $3,000/month. Would you join with us in this ministry to the people of Santa Cruz? Cheques may be sent to: Avant Ministries 2121 Henderson Hwy Winnipeg, Manitoba R2G 1P8 Or online at: www.avantministries.org/give While in Bolivia, we’ll be serving at El Jordán, a centre that works with families that are living in poverty. The centre helps people to change their circumstances by teaching practical skills, giving access to resources, and providing support for their families. Our project number is 11846. We would love to meet with you and share more about what we will be doing at El Jordán. Please contact us at: (204) 452-7133 or sjehlers@avmi.org You can also find more information on our blog: samandjessehlers.blogspot.com ®