We make plans, but God directs our steps.
(see Proverbs 16:9)
How has the Deputation “Relaunch” gone?
In a word, great! For many of us, last year did not go as expected. In God’s wise providence, we were not able to connect with the number of churches as we had planned. We were both a bit discouraged as 2020 was coming to a close. But we are so grateful for the new relationships and partners God put us in contact with while out in the Midwest last year! At the end of the year, we moved back east to Louisville to relaunched our deputations efforts.
In December, we were able to have a few sit-downs with pastors to discuss our ministry vision for Japan and even got to present our ministry to a dear church in Kansas before heading back east. Made many contacts for our next trip through this area.
In January, we moved back to the Louisville area to relaunch our fund-raising endeavors. We caught Covid our first week back but quickly recovered without any serious symptoms. After that, we were able to schedule and attend several meetups and zoom calls with more pastors who are interested in supporting our ministry. At the end of January I was able to attend a couple of pastors conferences in Florida and Nevada. By God’s grace I got to make several great people and began the partnership conversation with a handful of interested pastors.
In February, we were able to nail down several meetings with interested churches later this year! We were also able to schedule a handful of pastor meet-ups and zoom calls. The second week of February, we hit the road to visit a new supporting church in Illinois, then presented a missions conference and a Sunday at another church in Kansas. We were also able to grab lunches with a few interested pastors on this trip.
So what’s next for us?
We are still building out our calendar for 2021-22, but for the next couple of weeks we are at home. Sierah is busy making our home a hospitable environment to regularly have people over for fellowship. I am in preparations for my ordination council coming up in less than a week! Meanwhile, we are both plugging away at our online schooling. Our next road trip will be the third week of March where we will head out east to the Carolina’s.
How can you pray for us?
– Ordination: My ordination at our home church is coming up this first weekend of March.
– Support levels: Right now, we are at 19.4% committed. Praise God!
– Education: We are both immersed in online classwork right now!
Grace and peace,
Joe and Sierah Pliska