Raymond and Mary Ebbett

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Prayer Letter/Ministry Update

Home Assignment
June 5, 2013

Dear praying friends,

Two weeks from today we will be returning to Madrid! Our six-month Home Assignment has flown past and we are looking forward to returning to Spain. Please be assured of our deep gratitude for your support in prayer. It does make a difference! We depend upon the intercession of God’s people, without which we would accomplish nothing of any lasting spiritual significance.

Since returning to the States in January we enjoyed a speaking tour in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware (January through March). We have also had wonderful opportunities to reconnect with family and friends over these past five months. Our home church in Lilburn (greater Atlanta), Georgia has also been a huge encouragement and blessing. From old friends to new friends, we are humbled by the generosity and kindness of God’s people and can only say… thank you, Lord! And yes, we are excited about returning to Spain. God is providing new workers for Spain in amazing ways. We will tell you more about that next month.

As we enter the home stretch of our time stateside, here are a few prayer requests for the next three weeks:

● June 10-16 -- Raymond and Mary go to Tampa, FL for Pre-Council and Council of the C&MA
● Final packing, purchases and farewells as we prepare to return to Spain
● June 20 -- We fly back to Madrid
● Renewal of our residency cards immediately upon arrival in Madrid

Thank you again for your partnership in the Gospel!
Yours for the "Spiritual Greening" of Spain,
Raymond and Mary

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Home Assignment
January 24, 2013

Dear praying friends,

We arrived back in the States three weeks ago tomorrow and are enjoying our Home Assignment. We are currently traveling in the Mid Atlantic District and ministering in missions conferences in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. We are thrilled to be traveling together this time! It is always a joy to share the exciting things which God is doing in Spain, and even more so as we have the opportunity to minister together. We would appreciate very much your prayers over the next seven weeks. Please pray that:

We will minister in the power of the Holy Spirit
We will remain healthy in the midst of the flu season
We will be a blessing and encouragement to the people and churches we meet

We return "home" to the Atlanta, GA, area on March 18th. See down below in the Prayer Requests/Answers to Prayer section for some additional updated prayer requests for Spain.

THANKS AGAIN!
Thank you so much for both your prayers and for your faithful support of the Great Commission Fund. As you give to the GCF, you are touching the lives of countless others and furthering the work of the Kingdom of God. Without the foundational support provided by the GCF, our work in Spain and Italy, as well as the work of our other Alliance colleagues around the world, would not be possible. Thanks so much for your prayers, support and partnership in the Gospel!

Yours for the "spiritual greening" of Spain,
Raymond and Mary

_____________________________________________

Colmenar Viejo, Madrid
December 20, 2012

Dear praying friends,

As 2012 rapidly draws to a close, we want to thank you for your faithful prayers over this past year, and during the past two months in particular. This fall has been pretty intense but also full of blessing. We have definitely needed and felt your prayers. A few highlights and answers to prayer from November and December include the following:
-- Trips (both of us) to Barcelona and Granada to visit our international workers there
-- Annual national pastors and wives' retreat for Spain
-- Trip to Italy in November (Raymond) with our regional director to visit our local pastors and our new U.S. workers there
-- College of Prayer module/teaching in Madrid with Dr. Fred Hartley for our seminary students
-- The approval of several new families from Canada who should arrive in Spain next summer!
-- A much-needed week of vacation and rest
-- Preparations for our upcoming Home Assignment (January through June, 2013)

Investing in Leaders
Much of our ministry involves working with our national pastors. It is a tremendous privilege to serve alongside these dear brothers and sisters from a variety of different countries. It is exciting to see how God is at work, especially with the next generation of leaders that are being prepared in our new seminary. It is wonderful to see these future pastors and leaders learning to pray. The recent spiritual emphasis week and special teaching on prayer with pastor Fred Hartley was powerful and strategic. Spain and Western Europe in general is not exactly a spiritually responsive corner of the world. Ministry can be tough and the spiritual battle intense. Building a strong prayer foundation in the lives of our future leaders is critical.

Pray for our colleague Kurt Peters as he teaches a course in our seminary next month on spiritual health and well being in ministry. The goal is to see God use this as a launch point for some ongoing prayer groups among our students. Please continue to intercede as well for our pastors and their families in general. The disastrous economic conditions in Spain are putting extra pressure on all our churches and leaders, but at the same time opening up new doors of opportunity! In November our pastoral couples met together for their annual retreat. God met us in a wonderful way!

Upcoming Home Assignment Ministry
We would especially appreciate your prayers as we head back to the States very soon now--on January 5th! We are thrilled to be living once again in the greater Atlanta area where we can reconnect with family, as well as with our friends at the Lilburn Alliance Church. Here are a few specific requests:
-- Grace and strength: we need to finish a number of tasks before we travel back to the U.S.
-- Safe trip to Atlanta on January 5, 2013 (we will be in the States for six months)
-- Fruitful ministry as we both speak in missions conferences in the Mid-Atlanta District (January 19 to March 17). Write us for details.
-- Spiritual vitality, that we might truly minister in the power of the Spirit
-- Spiritual refreshment, recharging our batteries, physical rest, and a great Home Assignment in general
-- Wisdom in balancing responsibilities; Raymond will continue some work (email especially) as field director while in the U.S.

THANKS AGAIN!
Thank you so much for both your prayers and for your faithful support of the Great Commission Fund. As you give to the GCF, you are touching the lives of countless others and furthering the work of the Kingdom of God. Without the foundational support provided by the GCF, our work in Spain and Italy, as well as the work of our other Alliance colleagues around the world, would not be possible. Thanks so much for your prayers, support and partnership in the Gospel!

Yours for the "spiritual greening" of Spain,
Raymond and Mary

_____________________________

Colmenar Viejo, Madrid
October 27, 2012

Dear praying friends,

We never tire of saying "thank you so much for praying!" We have certainly felt your prayer support of late. These past five weeks (since our last update) have continued to be very full, with many blessings and answers to prayer, including:
-- Trip to Granada by Raymond to visit our staff there
-- 10-day trip to the States by Raymond for a regional leadership meeting, plus ministry in a couple of churches
-- Meetings with the national church committee and field leadership team here in Spain
-- Welcoming a new family of international workers to Spain! (Kim Peters and children finally arrived!)
-- Mary's participation in the National Church Ladies' Retreat
-- Our annual pastoral care retreat with fellow international workers was a tremendous blessing
-- Another worker, Linda Strecker, approved to come to Spain with Marketplace Ministries!

Advances in Italy
Good things are happening in Italy. This past weekend a new church plant was started in the city of Genoa, with some 30 people present. Some are Italians and others are Latin American immigrants. This is a joint effort between our existing church in Ancona and an Ecuadorian pastor here in Madrid, whose wife has an amazing number of family members and contacts in Genoa! Our churches in Spain have adopted Italy as a missions project and are sending short term teams to various cities in Italy on a recurring basis. Pray also for Doug and Naomi Ord, Alliance international workers from the U.S. who have been assigned to Italy after serving 32 years in Colombia. Last month we asked you to pray for their visas to be approved soon and they were. In fact, the Ords arrived in Italy today! (Administratively, the Ords will be part of the Spain field.)

Upcoming Events/Updated Items for Prayer
The Fall is always a busy time for us and we would appreciate your prayer support for health and strength, and for several special events and travels over the next two months in particular. Raymond has been a bit tired recently and we have a full schedule between now and January 5, when we are scheduled to return to the States for a six-month Home Assignment. We certainly count on and need your prayers. Here are some key updated requests:
-- Oct. 29-31 -- Visit to Madrid by a vision team, along with our former and current regional directors
-- Oct. 30-Nov 3-- Next Class of INFORMA seminary in Madrid, to be taught by Dr. John Healey, from Canada
-- Nov 4-7 -- Trip (both of us) to Barcelona to visit our international workers there
-- Nov 15 -- "Peacemaker" seminar in Madrid area with Rev. Tim Owen from the U.S. National Office
-- Nov 16-18 -- Annual national pastors and wives' retreat for Spain, with Rev. Tim Owen
-- Nov 23-29 -- Trip to Italy (Raymond) with our regional director to visit our local pastors and the Ords
-- Nov 29-Dec 1 -- College of Prayer module/teaching in Madrid with Dr. Fred Hartley for our INFORMA seminary students


THANKS AGAIN!
Thank you so much for both your prayers and for your faithful support of the Great Commission Fund. As you give to the GCF, you are touching the lives of countless others and furthering the work of the Kingdom of God. Without the foundational support provided by the GCF, our work in Spain and Italy, as well as the work of our other Alliance colleagues around the world, would not be possible. Thanks so much for your prayers, support and partnership in the Gospel!

Yours for the "spiritual greening" of Spain,
Raymond and Mary

Prayer Requests/Answers to Prayer

See the requests included above in the text of our update.

Pray as well for several families who will be transitioning to Home Assignment shortly after we return to Spain. Plus 5 new families will be arriving in Spain this summer/early fall! Pray for the timely approval of their visas.

Additional prayer points for Spain:
Each month you can also find additional updated prayer needs on our Spain field website. (see link above, at right: "visit website")

Spain

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