NTM

Cody and I will be on an adventure of ministry from 23 April till 4 May. Here is a short list of prayer request for this trip. If you want the full story go to our news section.

Things to pray about.
1.Saftey in travel
2.Wisdom in ministering with the other area leadership. Both interior and in town.
4.A listening ear as we spend time with other missionaries
5.A great time of relationship building with Cody
6.Cheryl and Cheyenne as they hang out together for the 12 days we are gone
7.God’s extra provision for the trip.

Thanks for praying.

Craig for…

the 4 C’s

Dear Ministry Partners,

Greetings from Central Indonesia were it rains off and on but summer is continuously before us. We sure appreciate how you continue to pray for us, upholding us in this ministry. Many of you also sacrificially give as well as send notes of encouragement. Where would we be without you? Not in the ministry that’s for sure. There are no real "Lone Rangers" in any ministry. According to Paul in his letter to the Corinthians, we, along with you, are coworkers together with God. He uses us, but all the glory goes to Him and Him alone.

We would like to ask you to pray about something special. I know it always seems that we have something special to pray about, doesn’t it? On Thursday, April 23rd, Cody and I (Craig) will be embarking on an adventure together. We will fly to a city in Central Sulawesi, hang out with some missionaries there for a couple of days. This will give me an opportunity to meet new folks that are under our Central Indonesia leadership team. This way they will be more than a name on an email or voice on a cell phone.

Then on Sunday 26 April, we will fly by helicopter (1.5 hrs) and spend about 4 days interior. We along with other area leadership will be visiting with several of our tribal churches and the missionaries who planted these churches. This will be Cody’s first time flying on a helicopter and first time for me in over 25 years. Just this part of the trip will be cool enough never mind all the great ministry stuff that will be going on.

This trip will give our area leadership the opportunity to begin helping the local churches in reaching out to other tribal groups. We want to see how they see us partnering with them in expanding the reach of the gospel of Christ. Our time interior will also help Cody see the bigger picture of why we are here at the Missionary Training Center (MTC). It’s not just because daddy can’t stand the cold of New England. Smile.

After our time interior we will have two days of area leadership meetings. Then a couple more days of hanging with missionaries. We are looking forward to that. Especially the part when we get to drink coffee at a place affectionately know as "the dirty sock" . Sounds good doesn’t it?

Our plans are to arrive home the evening of May 4th. Looks to be a great time.

Things to pray about.
1.Saftey in travel
2.Wisdom in ministering with the other area leadership. Both interior and in town.
3.A listening ear as we spend time with other missionaries
4.A great time of relationship building with Cody
5.Cheryl and Cheyenne as they hang out together for the 12 days we are gone
6.God’s extra provision for the trip.

Thank you for praying. We will tell you all about it when we get home and hope to post some pictures too.
Craig for…
The 4 C’s
Craig,Cheryl,Cody & Cheyenne

Its the Heart not the Shirt
"What this world needs is for us to care more about the inside, than the outside. Have we become so blind that we can’t see God’s gotta change her heart before He changes her shirt ?" (Casting Crowns – "What This World Needs")

This is the basic premise we are learning as we study together around the ping-pong table. The two classes I am involved in are hitting this concept hard. In Spiritual Growth class we spent several weeks learning that everything outside of our relationship with God is vanity. We are now learning about a life of faith and how the hard times that God allows or brings our way are used of Him to cause us to rely on him (2 Corinthians 1:8-11).

In our church planting class we are looking at what it means to be a servant of the church. A servant has the right to follow his master. We are learning to follow where Jesus leads rather than going our own way.

You prayed and guess what? God did something. No, we don’t have the $10,000 dollars that we are praying about. Instead, I, Craig just received a phone call from our head office in Jakarta telling us about a change in plans. We were told that only I will need the 5 year visa and for now Cheryl and the kids can continue using the 1 year visa. This will lower the cost by quite a bit for this year. It looks like we will only be needing about $4,000 instead. We don’t have all of that yet, but just like before, we are trusting the Lord to work. He is bringing in the funds. Cody and I were discussing this the other day and we came to the conclusion that God can provide for our visas and a vehicle if He so desires. We are taking everything one step at a time as the Lord directs them. Thank you for praying. We truly believe, based on God’s word (Philippians 1:19) that He works through the prayers of His people.

Keeping you posted,

Craig for…

The 4 C’s Craig, Cheryl, Cody & Cheyenne Cassel

Dear Ministry Partners,

21 years ago this week the Boston Celtics were in the NBA finals. 21 years ago this week the Boston Celtics were playing against the LA Lakers. This was the era of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and other NBA greats. That year, 21 years ago, Boston Celtics lost the NBA finals to the LA Lakers. 21 years later, the Boston Celtics are baaaaaaaaaack in the finals. 21 years later, the Boston Celtics are playing against the the LA Lakers. What an awesome week. Sports history in the making.

21 years ago this week, Craig Cassel was in Oklahoma. 21 years ago this week Cheryl Ross was in Oklahoma. 21 years ago this week history was in the making. This was the era of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Ronald Reagan and other greats of the world.

Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics lost. I on the other hand won because 21 years ago this week history was in the making. 21 years ago this week Cheryl Ross became Cheryl Cassel. 21 years ago on June 13, 11:30 am I was able to kiss my new bride, Cheryl Cassel for the first time. 21 years ago on June 13 I walked down the isle with my NBA trophy (Nice Bride Always).

21 years ago this week during our honeymoon we as a new couple watched the Boston Celtics play in the NBA finals. This week, 21 years later, I am still married to my NBA trophy. On June 13th, 2008, (Indonesian time),21 years later, we will be watching the Boston Celtics play in game 4 of the NBA finals against the LA Lakers. 21 Years later, I am still with my NBA trophy, my prize. Larry Bird and the Celtics may have lost, but I won big time and am still winning today, because of my NBA trophy, Cheryl Cassel. What an awesome week.

Honey, I love you.

Craig for ….

The 4 C’s
Craig, Cheryl, Cody & Cheyenne Cassel

Dear Ministry Partners,

Over the next several days we will be sending our latest PPMMP bulletin. Because the file is fairly large, we want to send it in two or 3 installments. This will give you a chance to see what we as a training facility have been up to and what is ahead for us in the near future. Today we are sending Page 1. For those of you viewing this on our website, send us an email requesting the bulletin. We will get it out to you as soon as possible.

Apart from this we also want to say thank you to those of you who have responded to our last update. To date the Lord has provided through various ones $1,050 to go towards our travel needs. We ask you to continue to pray for these needs. In our last email I said that our travel needs would be $1,000. Due to my (Craig’s) misunderstanding of the Retreat cost, I under calculated. That trip alone, for just the basics will cost closer to $2,000. We are looking to the Lord to meet this need and ask that you would continue to pray with us for HIS provision. The trip for the software training is taken care of. Thank you Lord.

Cheyenne is finished with 1st Grade and now is ready for a break before entering 2nd Grade. Cody just has to finish up a nations report on Indonesia and he will be done with 6th Grade. It’s hard to believe we will have a Jr higher in our family already. Once he is done, school is done for the summer. Hopefully learning will continue but the school will be closed.

Enjoy the PPMMP Bulletin page 1.

Craig for ….

The 4 C’s
Craig, Cheryl, Cody & Cheyenne Cassel

How to contact us

YMMP Box 1036

Manado, 95011

Sul-Ut, Indonesia

Email: Craig_Cassel@ntm.org

EXPANDING THE REACH OF THE GOSPEL in INDONESIA

Psalm 18:2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Dear Ministry Team,

Where do I start. I think with Proverbs 19:9 A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps (NKJV). This is the verse that came to my mind when thinking about writing this update. A couple of updates ago we asked you to be praying about two personal projects, ministry travel and a vehicle. Well it appears that we have a turn in the direction of our steps that caught us by surprise. It did not catch the Lord by surprise though.

Yesterday I received a phone call from our main Indonesian ministry office in Jakarta. We were told that our present visa could not be renewed as it had been for the past 6 years. The "normal" way is that each year our visa is renewed and good for that year. Our plan was, starting this summer, to begin the process for the 7th one. Once that was done we would begin saving up for the 5 year visa to be done next year. We were told that we can not process a 7th year on this visa. We have to convert to a new 5 year visa. This in itself is actually quite good news. Once this is done, we only have to renew it every 5 years. The surprise is we need to pay all 5 years at one time. The cost is approximately $2,500 per person, totaling $10,000 for our family of four.

In light of this Cheryl and I believe we need to focus our prayer and finances towards this new personal project rather than a vehicle. We would like to ask you to join us in praying about this need as well. We believe this is more important than a car right now. We can minister here in Indonesia with out the car, but we can not minister here with out the 5 year visa. Our visa date is 25 September, but the process will actually begin this month of June. This new turn is not according to our plans, but the LORD is directing our steps.

Serving together with you,

Craig for….

The 4 C’s
Craig, Cheryl, Cody & Cheyenne Cassel

How to contact us

YMMP Box 1036

Manado, 95011

Sul-Ut, Indonesia

Email: Craig_Cassel@ntm.org

Website: Our Website

EXPANDING THE REACH OF THE GOSPEL in INDONESIA

Psalm 18:2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Dear Friends,

Thought I’d take today to write a more upbeat update. As we shared with you last week, it was a down time for our staff. Down in the fact that God had us go through some deep waters in the death of 2 family members from two different staff families. But up in the fact that He is still God. When my mom passed away, nearly 6 years ago (wow!), me and my sister went through her Bible. Salllye asked for the Bible but I got some of her notes and 2 sheets of her favorite songs. Momma didn’t know much about copywrite laws and we have no idea how long the yellowed sheets of music had been in her Bible. To us, probably more to me, they showed the themes of her life. One was “Three Rusty Nails”, a song of Jesus’ death on the cross. She was a strong believer in what Christ did for us on the cross and that it was/is all we need. She shared that with anyone who would listen. The second song was “God on the Mountain”. In our minds “when things go wrong …. The God of the day is still God in the night”. That has been our encouragment this week.

Craig has one more week of teaching his 3 one-hour classes! That may not seem like much to you (Bob!) but with everything else he has going, it has been a long 5 weeks. He looks forward to the week ends and some buffer time. Right now he, Cody and Windra (a co worker’s son) are out mowing the yard to finish up their ½ day of yard work. This is relaxing to Craig and no, I do not understand it. His next classes to teach are Spiritual Growth 2. We are very glad to have our co workers Doug and Nancy Berglund back and Craig’s “hooray!” was one, I’m sure, that was heard around the world. We are enjoying very much our Bible study time with 2 Indonesian couples. Craig’s responsibility of “member care” allows us to spend one on one time with each of them to encourage, challenge, and learn from them. What a blessing! I have added the married student ladies to my list of member care. We get together on Wednesday afternoons (just before our big soccer game of the week!) to talk …. About anything and everything! You ladies know how hard it is for us “spaghettis” to stay on just one subject. ^_^ Pray that I would be a good listener.

The kids are well. Cheyenne has an awful cough, something that her friends shared with her. It hasn’t slowed her down at all for which we are thankful. Cody showed us his creativity this week with the Valentine card he made for his daddy. We took some time on Thursday to do our fun art project of making cards for all the campus kids and the single students and then, for the family. Let’s just say Cody’s excuse of “I can’t be creative!” is out the window. On our countdown, we are 50 days away from summer vacation. Do you still call it summer vacation when you live in a tropical country?!? Part of our opening for school is to sing a different patriotic song and praise song each week. You should’ve heard us belting out “I am a Friend of God” on Friday! I usually start out solo on Monday, Cody joins me very quietly on Tuesday with Cheyenne humming, Wednesday is 3 voices (2 very quietly), Thursday is more confident (with clapping and other movement added) and by Friday it is a favorite. I love to hear my kids praise God. Pray for us as we share with them our love for God. We want them to love him too with their young, tender hearts.

My days continue to be fulfilling and full! As you’ll remember (maybe) I have “resigned” from all my duties on campus to fully devote my time to Cody and Cheyenne’s education. I love spending the mornings with them! The guilt of not being as involved with the campus activities is lessening as the realization of this season of my life sets in. One of my co workers, bless her heart, just encouraged me by saying that “discipleship isn’t just 3 hours a week in the classroom”. I choose to take opportunities outside the classroom as God gives them. He still gives me time to enjoy the 3 days of required sports with the ladies. Mornings with Cody and Cheyenne, afternoons being a secretary/home maker (on call as wife and mother), evening sports (on call as a wife and mother), nighttime with my kids again and Craig …. Doesn’t that sound fulfilling?!? Thank you Lord! I love this season!

Okay, time to move on. Trust this note found you well and enjoying whatever God has you doing today. I need to bring in the clothes before the rain comes. Know we thank God for each one of you and count you as one of our biggest blessings!

Till the whole world knows,

The 4 C’s
Craig, Cheryl, Cody & Cheyenne Cassel

Dear Ministry Partners,

What a great week at Family Camp at the Cherokee Baptist Association assembly grounds in Tahlequah OK. We count it a privilege to be able to minister along side our Christian brothers and sisters here in Cheryl’s home area. Cheryl (Tweety in OK) taught the 5^th and 6^th grade class. The theme was Game Day Central which is a sports theme. Cheryl brought her coaches whistle from her days coaching basketball. The whole class made up the rules together and any infraction cost them push ups or sit ups.  She was able to keep the kids interest as she taught them the various bible lessons.

I was asked to teach the young adults. Our class was on leadership. I started with three young men all around the age of 18-20. Some days we had others in our class but each day this core group met. We did small group discover time, giving them time to discover for themselves what biblical leadership is. We then discussed it as a group. I was more of a facilitator, guiding and directing them as they learned. We spent the last day looking at practical ways to get our personal spiritual growth on track. I was really impressed with what these future church leaders came up with.

 Cheyenne’s class was small at first. On the first day she was the only. As day two started her class got bigger. I think she had about eight kids all together. She had a great time learning bible verses, bible stories and doing cool crafts. We hardly saw her and Cody the whole week as they were off with their friends during free time and sports time.

Our mush ball tournament had to be postponed again. After hard rains in the early morning Cheryl’s brother Stan checked the ball fields. He said we would need boats in order to play. The family is now working on securing fields for next weekend. Because of the 1^st postponement 4 teams had to drop out. We were really looking for 12 teams to participate. Pray for good weather and an increase in teams.

 Sunday we will be sharing in two churches, First Baptist of Peggs OK and Ballou Baptist church. Pray God will be glorified and His people challenged to apply His Word to their lives.

Craig for the 4 C’s 

Craig, Cheryl, Cody and Cheyenne Cassel.

We are in our last weeks before heading back to Indonesia and our ministry training Indonesian missionary candidates. We have several prayer request related to this.

1. Cheryl’s passport to return soon so we can send all of them to Chicago to get the visas stamped in.

2. So far we have $372 set aside for our tickets back to Indonesia. The total cost is just under $5000. Pray for God’s provision for these tickets. We are planning on leaving 30 July but tickets need to be paid for by June 20th.

3. We leave on 15 June for our last trip out to Oklahoma to visit with Cheryl’s family. We return to NH July 2nd. Pray this will be a great time.

4. While in OK we will be at church camp for 1 week. Cheryl will be teaching 5th-6th grade and I will be teaching young adults. Pray the Lord will use this time for His glory.