International Teams - training

Chicago IL is our home for the rest of this week! We arrived at International teams this past Wednesday to start training. It has been a long time since I have sat in a desk from 8am til 5pm....(with an hour and a half break for lunch)! Our minds are full....ok..overloaded! We have spent alot of time talking about the values, mission, and vision of International Teams..which I will go into more detail later about. We have spent alot of time in Gods word...regarding missions, discipleship, team dynamics, and cross-cultural communications....and so much more! Our kiddos get to go to class with Miss Judith and have had alot of fun with her.

This morning began with praise and worship. Several of the people training with us are gifted in music and led .....beautiful. The individuals we have journeyed through training with are incredible. The stories of faith, struggle, and desire to follow are amazing. We have been blessed. The staff at International Teams is also incredible. They don't just do their job....they all have been called to their job and do it with passion because they know who they are doing it for. Enjoy the pictures! They may explain more than I can in words!

Faith

This devotional I read today spoke right to my heart...because this is just where we are at. We don't know Gods specific plan right now, but we need to keep moving forward in faith.

Don't See How? God Will Make a Wayby Rick Warren “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV) You may be facing a dead end right now — financial, emotional, or relational — but if you will trust God and keep on moving in faith, even when you don’t see a way, he will make a way. It will become more understandable as you head down the path he sets before you, but understanding is not a requirement for you to start down the path. Proverbs 4:18 says, “The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day” (NIV). One day you will stand in the full light of eternity and view the big picture. You’ll see God’s purpose behind the path he specifically chose for you. In the meantime, do what Proverbs 3 says: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Be patient. God knows what he’s doing. God knows what is best for you. He can see the end result. You can’t. All those problems, heartaches, difficulties and delays — all the things that make you ask “why” — will one day be clear in the light of God’s love.But for now, we’re learning to trust God.

New Year

The New Year 2012 has begun. The beginning of this year has brought many changes for our family. We spent new years eve moving the last things out of our home where we have spent the last 7 1/2 years. It is the only home our kiddos remember. So many memories. We left amazing friends and neighbors. We said goodbye to our cat 'sweetie'. Yes, tears were shed. We are adjusting and we have been blessed to stay with an incredible family. A family who should get a special award for hospitality. They have specifically finished their basement for families moving to the mission field to stay. They have had 29 foster children through their home. A friend of mine told me about this family at the very beginning of this journey during our trip to the Orphan Summit 2011 (Wendy, the girl we are staying with, actually drove us there!). I didn't give it too much thought. After our house sold and we were looking for a place to rent, she once again brought it up and encouraged us to call and check it out. We did and after much prayer and encouragement from others, knew it was where we belonged. Easy...No. It has been an adjustment for everyone.....but the family we are staying with couldn't have made it more easy or comfortable staying here. Each day gets better. This morning Trayton prayed, "Thank you God for leading us down the right path and to this house" We are getting there.

Tomorrow Team Beyond begins a 4 day retreat where they will be praying...planning...strategizing..and casting the vision for the team. The president of I-teams is in Uganda right now taking part in this retreat. It is our prayer that the team will have a clear idea of how, where, and if our family will fit into this vision. So, we wait...moving forward...and trusting His perfect plan....even when we don't know what it exactly looks like right now. Isn't that faith? Moving forward..trusting...and not knowing all the details. It is not always easy. Our family will be leaving on Jan. 18 for Elgin, IL for training at International Teams. We will be there 10 days. This summer we hope to finish the other 3 1/2 weeks of training needed. We hope to begin our support raising for International Teams after returning from training. Our kids are all coming with us. They have a program for the kids while we are in training where they will do their homework...fun activities...and also learn about the country they are going to. We have heard great stuff about it!

If you would like a really great inspiring book to read about a young girl serving in Uganda...check out Kisses from Katie. It have just read a couple chapters, but it really gives a great picture of life in Uganda and the dependence in Christ that is needed each day..hour...while living there.

Fun in the cornfield behind our home














The neighborhood boys football games














Kidist, our neighbor and friend Cameron, and Chloe

Sweetie the cat with Chloe and her friend Katie

Happy New year from our family to yours!

Our home on Ericridge court May 2004-Jan 2012

Contact

Please feel free to contact us with questions through our email at chris@afayo.org

The Call

After speaking to our church youth group, a young man asked "how do you become a missionary?" We answered in sharing some of the steps we have gone through to get to this point. However, in thinking about this more, I think I would have answered a little differently! All Gods children are missionaries in the place where God has called them.  "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20  We all are called, we just need to be open the the 'where' part of our calling!


I believe our call to Uganda began even longer ago, but I am going to begin here.......In January 2010, we traveled to Ethiopia to bring our daughter Kidist home. She was four years old and the answer to our daughter Chloe's prayers. During our wait to bring Kidist home we spent time in scripture exploring God's heart for the orphan. We grew to understand that His heart is for the least of these. In Ethiopia, we saw the faces of the ones He speaks about in Matthew 25; Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison and come to You? And the King will answer and say to them,  'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' We met a mother who was forced to give up her daughter because she could not feed her. We saw orphan children on the streets begging.  God opened our eyes to a need. He opened our eyes to the people of Africa who need hope. We have a solution. Are we going to stay here and stay comfortable or GO make disciples, Go be the hands and feet to people in need, and GO share the hope we have in Christ. We struggled upon returning to the States and trying to go back to our normal routine. Four months after Kidist joined our family I (Michelle) was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was forced to think a lot about life, death, and priorities. We came to realize even more clearly that  life is truly a vapor here on earth. We had to ask ourselves if our life here was focused on ourselves and our comfortable lifestyle or on Christ and His priorities. God was at work in both of our hearts preparing us for our dinner with Tim and Angie Sleidrecht in the Spring of 2011.


Tim and Angie are the team leaders of Team Beyond in Soroti, Uganda. We had met previously to talk about our church orphan ministry team helping out with their ministry to orphans in Uganda. The plan was to talk more about this at dinner. However, the conversation was mostly focused on the ministry they are presently doing in Uganda and Chris asking lots of questions! Toward the end of our time, Tim and Angie asked us to pray about joining their work in Soroti. Chris would say that everything in his head was saying NO NO NO and his heart said YES. We asked them to pray for wisdom, courage, and for a letter from God.....wouldn't that be nice.  Eight hours later the below letter arrived, emailed to Chris from a close friend who never emails him. Similar letters along these lines arrived the next several days. Our friend Steve knew nothing of our talk with Tim and Angie. Coincidence? No, we believe God really needed to get our attention.


May 10, 2011 

Hard of Hearing

by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Exodus 3:4--22

Moses had been resistant for forty years, telling himself all that time that his was a lost cause. Now, when God came with a direct, simple call, the old shepherd couldn't handle it. In fact, he wouldn't let himself believe he might still be useful to God. "Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt" (Exodus 3:10).

Now that wasn't complicated, was it? The Lord spoke in a tongue Moses could understand. He gave him a simple, two-fold command. First, He said to Moses, "I will send you." And second, "You will bring My people out." That was the plan.

Notice, please, that this was not a multiple choice arrangement. It wasn't even an invitation. It was a call. God does not speak and ask our advice regarding His plan. God makes declarations. He doesn't open up the scene for a rap session or a dialogue. He doesn't call in a blue-ribbon panel of consultants to suggest viable options. He speaks, and that is that.

At very unique junctures of our lives, God says to us, "Now, My child, I have this in mind for you. I know that you have knotted things up in the past. And I know that you may knot things up in the future. But as far as today, right now, this is My plan for you. Now go. I'm sending you, and I will be with you."

God told him that he would be an instrument in the deliverance, but God Himself would be the deliverer. Huge difference. In God's calling, He has a plan; but He never expects you to carry out that plan. He's going to pull it off. He simply wants you to be the instrument of action. After all, it is His reputation that's at stake, not yours. All He asks is that you give yourself to Him as a tool He can pick up and use. That's all.

Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

This letter was a beginning of the way that God confirmed to our family that He wants us in Uganda, serving Him through being the hands and feet of Him to the people there. The vision of Team Beyond is to transform lives and communities through the power of God. They do this by walking alongside the local church to reach out to the oppressed. They strive to energize, equip, and engage local, passionate, Christians to grow deep roots in the Biblical worldview, centering on Christ, the full expression of the Fathers love, and on the value of human life and, as result, to bring hope, dignity, and wholeness to the poor, slave, and blind! We are excited to use the gifts God has given us to join Team Beyond in the work that is already being done!

The Afayo Project

About Us

   The Fisher Family Story

Chapter One

During the first chapter of our lives, the pen was mostly held by us. As we learned to surrender the writing to a much more experienced author we have discovered the JOY of letting Him write our story. However, God’s story for us is exceedingly different than what we would have ever imagined. Our once easy reading novel has now turned into an adventure with a lot of twists and turns and some mild peril ! Although we don't always know what the next page holds, we do have great HOPE and PEACE in knowing how it will someday end. 

Our story began together as a family when Chris and I were married on September 18, 1998. A year later, on the same date, we buried our precious first born son. Trayton David is waiting for us in heaven. God gave us 4 amazing blessings in the years to follow.

Christian is our firstborn and is 

already 11 years old. He enjoys

 sports, friends, and doing things

       with his Dad. He is a fun loving kid.

Chloe is our 9 year old daughter. 

She has a heart for Africa, loves

people, doing crafts and enjoys

 playing guitar.

Competitive and a smile that
will melt your heart describes
Trayton our 6 year old. He is
 an animal lover and can spend 
 hours with paper and markers.

Kidist came home from Ethiopia

 in January 2010. She has brought

endless joy, laughter, smiles, and

energy to our home. She literally 

wakes up each morning with a

 smile on her face!

We have been married now for 13 years. We have ran our race hand in hand through times of joy and sorrow, laughter and pain, and grown a little more like our Father through it all. The last couple years he has stretched us in ways we would have never imagined and we have been blessed. Surrender sounds like a word that would hurt, but instead has brought us peace. In expectation and delight, we look to where God is now calling our family. 'Our' story had us staying in Hudsonville MI, but God's story is for us to move to Uganda to share the love of Christ with the people there. We know from experience that with God as the author of our lives it WILL be 

better (even with the 'hard' that always comes with it) because we serve a God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us. Journey with us in bringing Glory to God through the work He is doing and continues to do in Uganda.  PRAY that lives and communities would be transformed through the power of God!