Blessing on the margins

As we begin 2017, we have some exciting news to share with you! This year marks the 5-year anniversary for giveDIGNITY. That means that it's time for a furlough to get some perspective, spend time with family, and do some more intensive fundraising for the next phase of our ministry.
 
As many of you know, Annabel is off to college this fall. We're pleased to announce that we have been selected as the John Brown University Missionaries-in-Residence for the 2017-2018 academic year. This means that we will live in Siloam Springs, AR from August 2017 to May 2018. Our job will be to care for and shepherd the missionary kids and international students attending JBU (about 150), and promote missions on campus. The university will provide us with furnished housing on the campus and tuition remission for Annabel's freshman year. We will continue to receive our salary through our ministry-raised support, as is customary for missionaries on furlough.
 
This time will be an enormous blessing for a number of reasons.

• We will be able to aid both Annabel and Alden (who will be in his senior year of high school) to navigate some important transitions as they move back to the U.S. to begin adulthood. Going off to college is stressful for everyone, but it becomes doubly so when it involves things like an international move, reverse culture shock, and a rather sudden increase in independence and exposure to new experiences. As parents, we are thrilled to be near as they walk through all this.
• The chance to have a formal role and a "people group" to minister to during our furlough will provide refreshing and satisfying work and a chance to recover from things like compassion- and culture-fatigue that accumulate when working overseas in an extremely poor community.
• Proximity to KC will give us time to reconnect with friends and family throughout the year, be with family on holidays (a rare treat!), and visit partner churches throughout the Midwest.
• While we will still have a ministry role at JBU and be directing giveDIGNITY from afar, this time should be much less stressful than our normal lives in Costa Rica, providing time for us to recover from significant health, emotional, relational, financial, and spiritual challenges over the last several years. The enemy will stop at nothing to exhaust us, and this time away will strengthen us to head back into the battle!

 
What does this mean for you?
We will need you to continue your financial gifts to our ministry, as we will continue to need a paycheck during our furlough, and we will also continue all current child sponsorships. In addition, we need your prayer to cover all aspects of this transition. And finally, we will have a 5-year anniversary bash in KC this fall, so we hope you'll plan on coming to celebrate with us!
 
What does this mean for giveDIGNITY?
We are putting a team of volunteers (and hopefully some new staff!) in place that can keep our basic programs going, so that the people of the community will continue to be blessed by the ministry during our absence.
 
So please join us in praising God for providing for our family in such a beautiful and marvelous way! He is so good and always has a plan that is good for us, even when we don't know what it is and can't see it coming! Stay tuned, and we will keep you up-to-date with more information via our newsletters and our blog at www.give-dignity.org. And please always feel free to contact us with questions or comments at [email protected], [email protected], or 913-933-0044.
 
Blessings, The Sears Family