Brent and Lisa Liberda

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Prayer Letter/Ministry Update

LIBERDA FAMILY PRAYER JOURNAL - JANUARY 2018

Having a “Timeline” has taken on new meaning in today’s age. What once passed into the past now gets preserved in digital media files and the “timelines” of our social media. This is great for holding onto and reliving the good. However, it also has the potential to give unwanted, additional staying power to the bad…the difficult trials, the traumatic and tragic. If only we could, by erasing something from our “timeline,” remove it and its effects from our lives! But would that then remove the good purpose and result that God intends even from every bad thing? Sometimes it is helpful to recount the good times, and to see God’s plan and purpose through the happiness and pleasures. But it is also helpful to recount the bad times, and to see God’s plan and purpose through the sadness and pain. In God’s economy, these are opposite experiences leading to the same result: our good.

This truth, however, is of no good to us if it is not backed by faith. As we have navigated much transition in these past two years, we are so thankful for the assurance and hope that our faith in Him provides. Most of you know that we decided a year ago that we could not return to Mongolia. As we enter the throes of another “transition” and explore the “whys” and “hows,” it is helpful to remember that God had a purpose for our going, and He has a purpose for our leaving. It also helps to recount the triumphs and the trials of Mongolia. Its triumphs included tremendous spiritual fruit, the joys of getting to know and love a people very different from us, and living on the front edge of what God is doing to advance His gospel in the world. The trials included harsh conditions that dealt out difficulty in daily doses, medical emergencies that punctuated our lives at regular intervals and ultimately curtailed our ability to continue living there, and ongoing threats to our immigration and visa status that cast a shadow of continual uncertainty on our coming and going.

With the triumphs come lifelong rewards that can never be lost, and with the trials come lingering effects that must be discarded. Because the trials of the previous ten years were many, and because of our weakness, we are finding in this time of transition that we are in need of much healing and renewal. Our goal is to move on from Mongolia to another place of international service, and to do so from a place of strength. So as we “wait on the Lord” for what is next, we are also actively seeking Him for that renewal and strength. After consultation with the leadership of our home church and C&MA International Ministries, we have come to the decision that we will not be ready for deployment to a new ministry field in the summer of 2018 as we had hoped. This is disappointing for us, as our hearts remain committed to seeking overseas service. However, we are confident that this is the Lord’s leading, and that more time is needed to ensure that we are sufficiently healthy as we redeploy to a new field. We are confident that from this position of “weakness” God will make us “strong.”

This decision also comes with some significant changes, since additional time in the U.S. will require that we transfer from our current extended home-assignment status to a "leave-of-absence" inactive status with International Ministries of the C&MA. While on leave-of-absence, we will not be on C&MA Great Commission Fund support, but will need to find alternative employment during this time. It is our desire to remain in Los Alamos, as this will provide the conditions most favorable to gaining all we need for redeployment by summer of 2019, Lord willing. Please be in prayer for us in this transition time, for the Lord’s provision, and for trust and hope in the face of more uncertainty. Thanks to all of you who so faithfully and generously support us! We will do our best to keep you all informed as our “timeline” unfolds.

SUPPORT LOGISTICS

Thanks to those of you who have been supporting us financially! Our ministry accounts will be “frozen” while we are on inactive status, so you will want to redirect support funds elsewhere until we are redeployed. Here is the status of our funds and some options for alternatives:

Outfit Fund: We will not be needing outfit funds at this time. Should we redeploy as planned, we will begin receiving outfit funds again about a year from now. We will keep you informed.

Work Special Fund: The present balance in our work fund will be held for us in an inactive state until redeployment. It will no longer be receiving contributions until the time of our redeployment.

Support Fund: Contributions to the “Great Commission Fund” in our name, or our “Support Fund,” can still be made, and will be directed to the “general” fund until we are redeployed.

We encourage you all to continue supporting missions, missionaries, and the Great Commission Fund as you redirect your giving during this time. Some options for redirecting can be explored at the web address below, including giving to the Great Commission Fund, giving to specific missionaries and their Work Special Funds, and giving to special initiatives and projects in need of financial resources by giving to Approved Special Funds. Let us know if you have any questions and we will be glad to help.

www.CMalliance.org/give

Prayer Requests/Answers to Prayer

PRAISES AND PRAYER REQUESTS - JANUARY 2018

We thank God for our supportive church family at Crossroads Bible Church here in Los Alamos, NM, and for all those in our extended church family across the country and the world who continually support us in so many ways. You are remembered in our prayers as well!

We praise God for health and healing. Isaiah's thumb (injured last July and requiring surgery to repair nerve and tendon damage) has healed well. Continue to pray for increasing range of motion and strength. Continue to pray for Lisa's allergies as well. She has had several severe reactions in recent months, and the exact cause still is not clear. Continue to pray for protection from further reactions, clear identification of causes, and complete healing.

We are thankful for the great educational opportunities for the kids here in Los Alamos, and for a good first semester of college for Malachi at The Master's University in California. Pray for motivation and diligence as they start a new semester.

Pray for resilience for the kids as they flex with changing plans and navigate "adventurous" lives. Pray for contentment in any and every situation, and that their hearts would be increasingly rooted in God and Christ, seeking all they need from Him.

Pray for good jobs during our leave-of-absence that provide adequate income and that serve to advance our health and strengthening for future redeployment on the mission field.

Pray that God will open doors for effective ministry and use us to be fruitful for Him in this "time" and "place,"

We are thankful that as we seek to trust in the Lord with all our hearts, lean not on our own understanding, and acknowledge Him in all our ways that He will make our path straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). Pray for unwavering trust to lean on Him through uncertainty, uncompromising devotion to acknowledge Him in all that we do, and increasing strength to move forward on the path He lays out for us.

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