Sparks Family Leaving for Ukraine Update
Sparks Family Update
July 2011
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Praise and Prayer Requests

Praise that all our financial support is pledged!  In the current economic situation, that is a true gift from God!  

   

Please pray that our passports would be returned from the Ukraine Consulate soon and we would have our approved documents for entry into Ukraine.  

 

Pray for wisdom and understanding as we make decisions over the next month related to our transition.   

 

Pray for energy and wisdom as we sort through belongings again and determine what we should ship to Ukraine and what should be sold/stored/given away.  Also, pray for wisdom in anticipating future needs and preparing for them (particularly for Stevie).

 

Pray that God would provide an apartment that will be within walking distance to the Seminary office and have all the things we need.

 

Pray for safe travel to Kyiv and quick recovery from jet lag :)

Pray that God would prepare us to leave extended family as we move and that He would prepare our family to be comfortable with our moving.*

 

*This was in the last newsletter, but still a vital request for us! 


Dear Friends!,

 

Praise God for His provision! We have reached the needed level of financial support for our life in Ukraine to begin. We have now begun the process of planning, packing and preparing for the final transition. Please pray that things will progress smoothly over the next few weeks. We are leaving for Ukraine soon.   

 

This newsletter includes:

 

 - Support Report: Ready, Set, Go! 

 - Saying Goodbye: It's a PARTY! 

 - Our Prayer Requests to the left

 - Pledge Card at the bottom 

Support Report: Ready, Set, Go!

 

 

 

Ready: We are working hard to be ready for our ministry in Ukraine. We have been in a mode of preparation for the past few years. While everyone on this list is aware of the countless visits to

  • Individual homes
  • Presbytery meetings in Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi 
  • Churches in all the above cities as well as McAllen, Katy, and Tyler as well as previous visits from Dawn to Pennsylvania and Florida,

We have also traveled and spent time doing the following:

  • Visit to Ukraine - June 2007 
  • Interview and Orientation with MTW- September 2008
  • Stevie arrived - November 2009
  • Kicked off Support Efforts - January 2010 
  • Living in Grace - June 2010
  • Cross Cultural Ministry Internship - January-February 2011

 

Set: We feel fortunate to have sold our home almost a year ago, despite the loss of value, and to have sorted, packed and sold lots of our belongings. It has been a stressful and complex process disposing of my (Steve's) accumulation of stuff from living in Austin for 20+ years!   

  • Our Home sold in July 2010
  • Moved into Apartment - July 2010
    • Moved into Friends'q1a2w Home - March 2011
  • Moving to Ukraine - August 2011  

 

Go: We leave Austin for Ukraine on August 30th. That is about 5 weeks from today.  Despite preparing with all the above, it seems like a surprise for us to finally be leaving Austin! We have lots to complete before we leave Austin.   

  • Purchase Tickets - Complete!  
  • Packing and Shipping - In Progress
  • Finish MTW Pre-field Requirements - Complete!
  • Final visits with Family and Friends - In Progress 
  • Finding an Apartment in Ukraine - In Progress
  • Get VISAs from Ukraine consulate. - In Progress. Pray!
  • Departure to Kyiv - August 30th @ 10:50am

Thank you so much for joining our support team. We appreciate your commitment to our mission and to world missions in general through your pledged support. If you have any difficulty with getting support payments or need more information on our prayer needs at anytime, please feel free to email us. If you need help getting a checking or credit card set up you can also call MTW at 1-866-373-6133.  

 

The donations address is:

Mission to the World (#10572), P.O. Box 116284, Atlanta, GA 30368-6284 The #10572 is our account number and needs to be included on the check.  

 


Saying Goodbye: It's a party!

During the past month we have had opportunities to visit with family and see all our brothers and sisters. Dawn's family had a small reunion in Tyler over the 4th of July weekend and I've been able to visit my brother in San Antonio and will be visiting my brother who just moved to Washington, DC later in August. 

 

We are planning a informal goodbye/birthday party for me this next weekend. You are invited! The party is a "come anytime and say hello" kind of party. We will have a few snacks and would love to sit around and chat and catch up as well as say goodbye.  Details are below. 

 

 

Time
Saturday, July 30 � 6:30pm - 11:00pm

Location
BB Rovers Cafe & Pub
12161 Jollyville Road

Created By

More Info
Come celebrate Steve's last birthday in the U.S. (for a while) and say goodbye to us as we prepare to leave for Ukraine in August. We'll have food and cake for everyone and you can purchase some of Rovers' famous selection of beers, if you like. This is a good chance to stop by and catch up with us as we take a little break from all the packing!

Please feel free to spread the word about this and invite others who know us!

If you did not get an evite or something on Facebook, PLEASE RSVP especially if you plan on attending by REPLYING TO THIS EMAIL.  

 

If you received this email because someone forwarded it to you, you can join our email list by clicking the link "Join our Mailing List" in the left sidebar of this email.
Sincerely in Christ,

Steve, Dawn and Steven

Sparks Ministry Blog

www.sparksministry.org

Dawn has been working to keep our status on our progress and other news tidbits posted on our blog.
How to Set Up Support
 
We get asked at times how you go about supporting our ministry.

While we recently reached the needed level to move to Ukraine, we will always need additional support team mebers through the months and years! 

The first decision is on a means of support. This can be:

1. Financial Support

2. Prayer Support

3. Both 1 & 2

 

The next step would be to notify us or Mission to the World (MTW) that you would like to be a ministry partner.

This can be accomplished by  

 

1. Emailing us with how you would like to partner and, if the partnership involves financial support, include the amount and frequency. (You can simply reply to this newsletter.)

 

2. You can also print and mail the form at the end of this newsletter to MTW. You then specify the details as outlined on the form.  

 

3. If you have one of our prayer cards then detach the bottom part and mail that card to Mission to the World.

 

When you begin financial support you can pay by check, bank draft or credit card.

 

Checks and Automated payments can be mailed to:

 Mission to the World (#10572), P.O. Box 116284, Atlanta, GA 30368-6284 

The #10572 is our account number and needs to be included on the check.

 

Credit Cards can be set up on the MTW Website or by calling  1-866-373-6133 

Additional details about donations can be found

here at this link 

 

Please
Join
Our
Team

I would like to record my commitment to MTW/Short Term and Steve and Dawn Sparks (#10572) by:

(  ) Receiving Prayer Letter             (   ) My intent to contribute $_________
(  ) Praying faithfully for them                 to their support:
       (  ) Daily    (  ) Weekly            (  )  Monthly  (  ) Annually  (  ) Quarterly

                       (   )  Enclosed is my one-time Gift $_____________

Name:___________________________________________________________

Address:_________________________________________________________

City:_____________________________________ State: _____ Zip:________
 
Church:__________________________________________________________

Please make check payable to:
Mission to the World (#10572), P.O. Box 116284, Atlanta, GA 30368-6284