Cool news in our outreach

This last week while at my outreach, I finally got a chance to have a deeper conversation with one of the kids there about Christ. He was curious, but reluctant, because he believes that he has sinned to much to be saved. I would ask that you pray for him, and that he would ask more questions the next time that I see him. Pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to work in his heart to hear and understand the gospel of grace and that God would give me the right questions and words to say. Also be praying for all the other kids there. Mike (another New Triber) and I have been trying to build relationships with these kids for about 9 weeks now and they are finally opening up to us. Praise God. Same goes for Amanda's ministry with the teen pregnancy center. The girls there were very much quiet and did not want anything to do with the girls that went to help and teach them some basic skills, but now they are more interested and learning these skills and asking questions about the bible. It is so cool to God working on the hearts of these young people (well younger than us =) ). Class have been going well thus far we have now moved into the phonetics. which is teaching us to listen and write down sounds. So we have been learning all the sounds that we make in English and all the ones we do not. It has been difficult but fun. The reason for this is to better prepare us to learn languages once we get to the foreign field and to help brake down the tribal languages. Writing down the sounds phonetically allows us to be able to read and reproduce them the way we heard them. Please be praying that we would continue to be diligent students as we learn these new skills to help us once we get to the foreign field. Please also pray for the kids that we are talking to in our outreaches also that they may come to know Christ as their savior. Thank you for all your prayers

- john stro

PLEASE PRAY

This last month we only received 79 dollars for the month, due to money transfer thing i mentioned in the last post, where 800 dollars that has been given over a few months was transferred to another account and taken from ours. that hurt our budget quite a bit as you can see the amount we are working with this month. so i would ask that you all be praying that more people will join our support team so that we can reach the minimum recommended amount a month of 2500. Praise God that He has provided another person to support our ministry here and our ministry when we get over seas. Please pray that we will continue to trust God for His provision in these tough times. And that we would be good stewards of what He has already given us. We all thank you for the prayers and support that God has provided to us through all of you.

God bless you all
- your brother and sister in Christ - john and amanda

Prayer requests

Hello!

Sorry there have not been any updates lately, things have been getting crazy busy here. I feel as if the training is now getting up to full steam as we start our phonetics course on Monday. We do have some prayer requests right now.

- Sickness has been spreading around, and a few cases of swine flu here
- Pray that those who are sick get well soon and that it does not spread further

- Also pray for our finances, currently we are at about 50% of the recommended $2500 a month, and due to some errors at the finances office some checks went to us instead of someone else for 5 months and they removed that from our account and put it into the correct account. So that put a 800 dollar dent in our finances and it stung. So we would ask if you could pray with us for God to continue to raise up supporters for us, and if you are interested about joining our support team please email us at jahardname@gmail.com

- You can be praying that I can get a deer this hunting season. Last year the meat was a huge blessing to us, it saved us a lot on out grocery bill and allowed us to have more people over so that we could get to know them and or minister to them.

- Please be praying that we would keep our eyes on Christ and the goal of seeing every tribe tongue and nation coming to know Christ.

Thank you so much for you prayers. We are blessed to have so many people praying for us. It means the world to us, when we get a letter from you guys telling us you are praying it's so encouraging. Thank you!

Thanks and God bless!
- John and Amanda Strozewski

NTM Posted a New Video

Hello!

NTM, the organization we are studying with just put out a new video on the web and we wanted to share it with you. We hope you enjoy it!
If you have 10 or so extra minutes check it out at: http://www.ntm.org/reach/awayo.php
If that link doesn't work go to www.ntm.org/reach click on "share the story" to the left of your page. This page should bring up the video.

Hope you enjoy!
John and Amanda Strozewski <><

First Two Weeks

It feels like these last two weeks have just zipped right by. Starting off, classes are going great. We are currently in Foundational Bible Teaching, Communication, Worldview Analysis, and Learning Styles. We just got back home from working on our group project for Learning Styles. We are creating a media presentation showing a conflict due to people having different learning styles. We will try and get some of the pictures we took up on the blog and explain some of what is going on.

I'm loving working over at the MKEC (Missionary Kid Care and Education Center) for my campus ministry. They will be training me to be a home school consultant. We have also discussed various other training opportunities for me. I look forward to learning as much as I possibly can from them. For my outreach I am volunteering at a Pregnancy Center. My team narrowed down each of our roles into pairs. My partner and I are going to ask them if they want to learn to sew. :) Please be praying as we build relationships with the moms and workers there; we will be visiting the center on Monday evenings.

John's campus ministry is grounds crew. His team takes care of the campus grounds. What a great crew! They were weed-whacking earlier this week. John came home exhausted, but his area looked great! On Tuesdays John will be doing his outreach with teens at a new center. Please be praying for him as he builds relationships with the teens.

The Klines, will be our staff mentors. We had dinner with them last Wednesday, and enjoyed catching up with them. They are good friends of John's parents when they went through Bible School. Rumor has it they were in John's parent's wedding! We look forward to spending time with the Klines while we are here as students.

Thanks so much for your love and support! It means so much to us to know that we have people standing behind us in prayer, and encouraging us to keep moving forward.

John and Amanda Strozewski <><

Visiting Uncle Bob and Aunt Raye

Wow What a great time we had visiting John's Uncle Bob and Aunt Raye! Most of the weekend was John and Bob heavily discussing hunting, while Raye and Amanda enjoyed getting to know each other. What a joy it was to sit back and relax. On Saturday they took us to the site where the initial point for surveys of the land, for the Louisiana Purchase. It was so interesting looking and reading about the science and history behind this particular area. If you look carefully by John's shoulder you may be able to see the gap in the trees that creates the base line for the surveys. It was also Amanda's first experience in a swamp. Praise God the mosquitoes were not as hungry as anticipated.

We also enjoyed the drive out and back. It was interesting to note the changes in the land. It was fascinating seeing all the ranches, and farms that would stretch for miles on end. One unusual thing we noticed, while driving out to visit Uncle Bob and Aunt Raye, were the number of buses parked in people's lawns. We entertained ourselves by coming up with theories about how they got there. Our favorite was that the bus drivers felt compelled to go off-roading and then got stuck. :P Who knows!? We also entertained ourselves by counting the number of "off-roading" buses. And the grand total was 20! Yay for random!

School starts soon!!!

So here we are 6ish days before school starts!!! I am super excited and John is getting there. What a blessing it was to take a year off but the teacher in me wants to get back into a classroom and learn. :P Silly I know. School here doesn't just contain classes, there is work detail, outreach, and E-link.

Work detail is basically a program that was established for students to help out around campus/ learn new skills. Students are asked to put in about 8-10 hours each week. I will be working at the MKCE (Missionary Kid Care and Education Center). I am excited to join the team of missionaries that currently work there. I can't wait to learn what they have to teach me. I will be trained later on this semester to be a home-school consultant. (Basically a go to person for homeschooling moms.) We aren't sure where John will be...he could request to be back on the construction crew, but he wants to see where they will put him. We will find out the first week of school.

Outreach is basically where students plug in helping out the local community. There are many different avenues in which people do this. Some women help out at the local pregnancy center, and other women to women ministry opportunities. There is a rehab center that a portion of the guys help out with. There is also a Young Life program out here that a number of students help. Plus a few more opportunities. Not sure where we are going to plug in just yet. We are waiting to hear about each of the different ministries.

E-link is a program where students/couples are partnered with a staff/couple. Basically a discipleship program. We are excited to see which couple we are partnered with!

Classes won't officially start for us until after the first week of starting up. We have a week of orientation. :P Not so excited about that but it's needed! Please be praying that we are patient during this particular week.


Other Prayer Requests:
-Our visit with John's Uncle Bob and Aunt Raye. They live in Tennessee and we are going for a short trip before school starts.
-We use our time wisely as students.
-Child Care: there is not enough staff to properly run it this year so all female students are to work one morning a week. Some of the students I have talked with thus far are very upset with this decision. Please pray for their attitudes! It's a great opportunity to serve our fellow student Moms.
-Our marriage would be Christ focused. One year down... so far so good! ;)

California

Vacation Bible School (VBS) was a blast. We had two days that were "scheduled" for us to speak and the other days we were "floaters." On Monday we jumped right in and filled in for a teacher who went home early. It was fun figuring out where and what we supposed to be doing with the third graders. The kids were great and just went with the flow. Tuesday we spoke to the kiddos and adults about languages and the importance of learning a culture. We were amazed at how attentive the kids were. On Wednesday, John stayed home due to a migraine, but I was able to fill in an open spot in the nursery. I enjoyed my time with them but was thankful when their parents came to pick them up. ;) Thursday we spoke once again to the kids and adults, and were amazed with how much they remembered. We were able to bring a few things from Brazil to show. They loved the bow and arrow! Friday was spend helping transfer pictures for a slide show presentation for the parents. What a joy it was helping out in different ways!

We have a prayer card made!!! The idea formed while helping out with VBS. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do and it helps as a reminder to pray for us. :) We are beginning to distribute them.

John and Amanda Strozewski <><

PS. We will be in Phoenix on the 10th of July until the 22nd of July. We look forward to catching up with family and friends in the area.

prayer

So here we are a week from taking a month long trip to visit family and friends in California and Arizona. Words can't explain how excited we are to see everyone. Please be praying for our time to be honoring to God. We are excited to share what God's been doing here and to hear what God's been doing there. Pray that we will be a blessing to those who have blessed us throughout out lives.

We fly out to Phoenix the morning of June 16 and then drive to California the following day. We then will be driving back to Arizona around July 10 and flying back to Missouri July 22. Praise God for the provision of tickets and a vehicle to borrow. Please pray for safe travels as we fly and drive this summer, look forward to seeing you all and God bless.

Stroze <><

Coming up

Only three more days left of this semester!!! What an exciting time it has been serving here at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) this semester. So what now... the semester is over. There is still a lot that needs to be done over the summer. MTC hosts a week long "Refresher Course" for all of the New Tribes Missionaries from the States. We will be helping the campus get ready.

Traveling is also a part of our summer. We are planning on visiting California and Arizona mid June through mid July! We are excited for another opportunity to reconnect with family and friends in the area. John will be traveling to Wisconsin the beginning of August. His buddy, Grayson, is getting married and has asked John to be a groomsman. :)

We will be students in the FALL!!! Starting in August we will be students, and go through the training! We are very excited! Please be praying as we begin preparing. One of the needs we are facing is purchasing another laptop. Amanda's laptop was getting extremely sluggish, so her sister Katie gave her her old one. Well Katie's old laptop is faster but it has a mind of it's own as it randomly shuts down. :( Not good. So we are working on looking into investing a more reliable laptop.

Life

Hello from Roach, Missouri! (The name of the town is priceless!) Seasons are changing once again, yet this state can't make up its mind. Last week was rather cold and this week has been very warm. Yay for Missouri weather!

Life in child-care has been a bit crazy this week. We were low on staff, due to sickness and other reasons. Chelle, one of the women I work with, took an emergency trip to visit her father in Florida on Monday. He is home with the Lord as of Thursday night. Please be praying for her and her family. Please also pray for all the ladies who work in child-care as this week has been difficult, due to it's abnormality. Pray that everyone will be refreshed this weekend and ready to begin a new week. (I found out next week will be a lot like last week. Please be praying for the ladies who are working and please don't forget the kids.)

Construction of the five-plex has been moving right along. We are just about finished with the wiring. Things have been moving fast it seems. I have been learning a lot that will help me serve better where-ever God has us in the future. I have really enjoyed learning everything. I am currently wiring the electrical panel for the last unit, the guys here that know the most, have been very willing to teach me anything I ask as we are going along. This has been a great learning experience. We just had the first 2 units rough in inspected and they passed with some minor alterations. We are praying that we can get the last three inspected by Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. From there they will be insulated and dry walled, while we are finishing up the siding. Pray that we can stay focused on why we are here building so that others can train and learn here and go reach the unreached. We all have a part to play to further the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth, some give, some pray, we build. Would you guys also keep in your prayers funding for the building projects here. God has been blessing us through and through, for this building, and as we move forward in planning for the new classroom building and more housing please pray for wisdom as that moves forward and the finances. Your prayers have been a real encouragement to me and Amanda as we serve here, thank you. If you could also keep in your prayers our goal, it is to get this built, so the new missionary students can live in them by August first. Please pray for continued safety on site.

There are four more weeks left in this semester here at the Training Center. Please keep the students in your prayers. Please pray they finish strong. Pray for adjustment as many will be leaving campus and serving others over their summer break. (There is one group that is headed to Indonesia.) Pray for the children here on campus as they know things are changing due to the parents packing up.

The end of the semester also brings transition even among the staff. Please be praying for people to fill in where others have stepped out. For example... us! It has been a joy serving here at the training center; however it is time for us to begin the training in the fall. That leaves one less person in child-care and one less person on the new construction crew. Please pray that God will bring people along to serve where we had served.

Praise and prayer

First I will go with the prayer request because it is needed right now. Our crew chief broke his collar bone over the weekend and due to it not setting right he is going into surgery today. If you could be praying that the surgery goes well and that he has a speedy recovery. As for the praise the building project is going smoothly, but slowly without Todd on the site. We have passed our first inspection, and are currently getting 2 of the units ready to be sheet rocked. The sewer and water have gone into a few of the units already, the main thing we need right now is the electrical put in. Pray that it can get done soon so we do not fall behind schedule and it's ready for students in the fall. We have also got a modular building to help with our classroom space until we can get the new ones built. It was a real blessing, to get it for the price we did.

As for Amanda and I, we are doing well, the warmer weather has been a blessing, it just sort of lifts our spirit to get out of the cold. Work gets started quicker and we get more done with the warm weather. Also thank you for your continued prayers and support we are both glad to have people praying for us all over, and just being apart of this ministry here.

Your brother and sister in Christ,
- John and Amanda Stro

ps. A picture will be added later today :) It just needs to be taken!


Update on Todd~
Todd's surgery went well. It took a bit longer than anticipated as the surgeon found a three inch gap in his shoulder bone. He had an overnight stay in the hospital and is currently home resting. Please be praying for a speedy recovery. He is getting a bit anxious to be back into the swing of things.

Amazed!?

A picture from us to you!!! Praise God, it finally worked!!! Hopefully it will continue working.

I wanted to share this picture with you all. In it are the ladies from a Bible study I attend on Wednesday nights. They have been such a blessing! Last semester we were studying the attributes of God. This semester we are going through the book Crazy Love by: Francis Chan. It's all about love and our relationship with God.

Even before our study began God amazed me with what He can do. For starters, I was a bit nervous about purchasing the book. As you know finances are rather tight, and I was having trouble justifying buying the book. God totally eased my mind when I was talking with my sister KT a few weeks ago. She had bought the book last semester to go through it with a friend and never did. Thus she was more than willing to mail the book to me so that I may borrow it for the study! God is good! There was no need for me to be concerned.

The first chapter challenged us to think about who God really is. What really struck me was how we often miss the little things that God blesses us with. Such as what we see, hear, touch, and taste. He lavishes us through the diverse colors that we see in a sunset. Or what about all the different kinds of laughter we hear? Think about how nice the sand feels between your toes when at a beach. And what about FOOD! Everything could have tasted like peas, but God had other plans in mind for us. Praise God for the diversity of senses!

God is constantly blessing us all throughout our week. The question is do we choose to recognize them. I am totally guilty of not always recognizing blessings. For example last Saturday it snowed here! Crazy I know! I was not so excited about it because I was thinking... Great another cold week! Winter is never going to go away. Boy was I wrong! As the snow was melting I saw a little bit of green poking out of the snow in various places. And then I looked over by our shed/shack there were clusters of green plants, which will grow to be flowers. Wow! Spring is really on its way. And to top it all off the past few days have been very warm... as in 70 degrees warm! Praise God for the snow to help emphasize to me that spring is on its way!

Serving an Amazing God,
Amanda Stroze <><

PS. Thanks for your prayers regarding finances. We are seeing God working! Please keep praying for us, and we thank you for being apart of our ministry.

Inreach

The Rock House, our church here in Missouri, held an inreach on Saturday. Basically the premise of the event was to reach out and help out the church body with various needs. One of the pastors, John Shelton, was inspired with the idea as the church has been studying through Acts. We all saw how the early church supported one another through meeting various needs. So John Shelton thought, "Wow the economy is a bit crazy right now and things are rough on many families... we can do that, help our fellow brothers and sisters at the Rock House" and thus the idea was born. So they held a "rummage" sale that was free to the church members. Everyone was encouraged to give what they could and those who had needs were encouraged to come and be blessed. It was great! John and I donated a bag of clothes to help out families who needed clothes. When we attended the event on Saturday we were blessed with food. It was awesome to see how the body provided for so many needs. It was such an encouragement to see how the church body provided for the needs of its fellow members.

Both pastors encouraged the church members to voice their needs. Their point was "no one is a mind reader, so how are people supposed to know how they can help when you don't tell them." Funny how this simple concept can seem so profound. We love you all very much and are blessed with your prayers. The reality is we have a need that still has not been met. Our current financial support is at about 30%. What we are receiving right now barely covers our bills. We know that God will meet this need. Please pray that God will move people to support us financially. Also pray that we will use the money we have wisely.

Thanks for your love and support!
John and Amanda Strozewski <><

life's blessings

Family and Friends,

Yay for more updates! The five-plex that John is working on is going up rather well. They have the roof on and a layer of tar paper. John says they are now working on framing the inside of the second floor. This particular building will be able to house five large families. Each home will each have three bedrooms. What a joy to bless a larger family with more bedrooms.

Child care is going well. What a joy it is to say that I love going to work in the morning. We now have 9 kids in the preschool room! It's been a joy and a challenge this semester. The dynamics in the room have drastically changed. We are really noticing the vast differences between five year olds and three year olds. Two of the students need quite a bit of extra attention, they have never been in a preschool setting. I am learning the balance of grace and timeouts for these youngsters. :)

Please be praying for the Milton family, their preschooler is in my room. His mom was hospitalized this week with a blood clot in her leg, and then found out they are no longer going to have a baby. Please pray for this family, as they cope with these new adjustments in their daily lives.

Our Current Prayer Requests:

• Safety for John and the crew on the job site.
• Health - we currently have mild colds. :( No fun!
• Patience for me as I work in the Preschool room.
• Our marriage stays Christ focused.

Amanda Strozewski <><

PS. We are still working on figuring out how to post pictures up. John's computer doesn't seem to do it, and my computer is being rather slow about things and times out before the picture has finished loading. Our appologies.

Back in Roach

Well we have made it back to Missouri safely. Thank you all for your prayers while we were traveling. We both enjoyed sharing our lives and what we are doing here in person with you while in California and Arizona. It is such a blessing to have so many people that pray for us and encourage us while we serve here. I had a chance to catch up with some other co-workers since we have been back; I have heard that the ladies in the preschool are happy to have Amanda back. I also was able to mosey around the job site. We are getting ready to finish framing the second floor and get the roof on. If you could specifically pray for continued safety on the job site as well as health in the child care. Thank you for your prayers and support in our ministry.

See you here, there, or in the air.
Your brother in Christ - John Stro