This year's Mission Team in pictures with a brief description of daily events provided by Andy and Marcia Butcher.

A strange thing happened: On the way to the close of the vestry meeting last Sunday, right before we anointed and prayed for our Senior Warden, Bill Stone, the treasurer, Rick Moss, reported, among other things, that we were not in the red. It’s the end of June and summer is upon us, a time when I usually write to you all asking for more support. This is wonderful! What am I to do?

I was tuning into my umpteenth movie on the long ride back from Africa when I heard the Beach Boys singing “Wouldn’t it be nice.” (By the way, you can hear and see the original recording of it on YouTube.) My mind drifted from the movie and before sleep caught me I began to fill in my own lyrics. (By the way -- Sara tells us to sort of do that with our praise on Sunday mornings, not so much fill in lyrics, but in the open moments to fill in our own words to the Lord, or listen for his words for us.) Wouldn’t it be nice to sing a new song to the Lord and hear him whisper your name?

People change, grow and develop into new people. And though family and close community can be wonderful, they can also stifle us or tempt us to stay where we are instead of stepping out on the path that Jesus has set. If you spoke to people from my hometown, they would likely paint a completely different picture of who I was as a Christian in years past than who I am now. I always viewed foreign missions as a distraction from the work we need to do here. Mind you, I did very little work here, but in my mind, it was always local work or foreign work, us or them. My entire view was predicated on human understanding, not God’s economy. In the past several months, God has been showing me just what John Wesley meant when he called for “both/and” not “either/or”.

The Training continues... Thirty five clergy from three dioceses in the Congo and and twenty five from Tanzania are learning, praying, sharing and forming relationships with our clergy and laypeople. Please continue to pray for all of the participants and trainers that they would continue to seek God's will with all of their hearts and that their actions would be the fruit of that submission.

This past Sunday, we joined Gil and Linda Riley as they reaffirmed and renewed their wedding vows on their 50 year anniversary. Their children and grandchildren watched with us as we witnessed their re-commitment to one another for "another 50 years."

Kibondo, Tanzania class. Everybody arrived safely and all of the initial bumps in the road were worked out. The classes are underway in both locations. I am including a map to orient yourself on where each of the teams is located. It includes the African map to see where on the continent they are, and then a localized map for you to see more detail. Canon Donlon has provided great detail on the daily events. Rather than try to paraphrase his comments and possibly miss something of importance I am including his remarks in their entirety.

The entire team, minus Sheryl Curbow Shaw who had not arrived yet, meeting in Kilgali, Rwanda, before launching to their respective training sites. The team arrived and went right to work, despite some logistical hurdles thrown at them, including flight adjustments and luggage issues. The team beautifully adapted the plan and started classes today. Their goal is to train the trainers for the African churches participating and to strengthen the partnerships through fellowship. I am proud to be part of a society so true to its vision. But don't take my word for it: read it yourself. (Copied from the Mission Website, http://www.theamia.org/vision.html) OUR PEOPLE OF MISSION

The phrase “completely calm” often appears in our conversations as more of a wish than a description. The public is urged to remain calm in the face of distress, tragedy, or danger. Families are asked to be calm at the hearing of difficult news and friends offer the advice at the beginning of a difficult conversation.

Dear Friends, Here are some of the responses I got from you all, and you were all so different and each so spot on! Thank you for sharing! I have included a 3-4 minute video that I intend to show Sunday. It is guaranteed to bless your socks off.