Rex and Shirley Schaffner Training the next generation for cross cultural evangelism Wow, the time is just flying by. We are about to start the 3rd block; there are five 3 week blocks in our semester. We are really enjoying our time with the students. Shirley is meeting regularly with many of the ladies and her RA’s Casie, Grace and Emily. Prison ministry is very encouraging as I watch Steve, Andrew, Russell and Ken teach about 45 guys each week. What a blessing to serve here and encourage these dear ones to read, study, trust and walk with our great God. We so appreciate your prayers for wisdom and strength as we wrap up the semester and point them to the Lord for real Life each day! May we also walk in light and His Life and be examples they can follow. Thank you for taking us before the throne of grace.
Field trip with students
We would appreciate your prayers for us as 20 students and I travel to Dearborn tomorrow and experience another culture. We have been studying their religion for a time and now it is time to experience some of what we have been learning. A Q & A session withone of their pastors will be one of the highlights. A catered cultural lunch will be another. Thanks for praying.
Still Privileged to Serve!
How we thank God for another semester of service here at NTBI. Over 150 students are seriously studying the Word full time and loving what they are learning. Or should we say loving Who they are studying. It is always amazing to see students respond to what they learn. Things like: their assurance of being a child of God; their security in learning they cannot be lost…ever!; their understanding of their position of being placed in Christ; their possession of God’s Life in the Holy Spirit; their possession of everything they need for life and Godliness; full forgiveness of sin and sins…past and present; being fully accepted by God as they are, never to be loved more by God and never to be loved less! “WOW!” they say! And we can relate. These truths are still making their way into our hearts on a daily basis. May you be encouraged as you contemplate these things in your own life. we pray it will be so!
Love Speaking!
We would really appreciate your prayers for us as the next two weeks find us with 3 opportunities to share about what the Lord is doing in tribal missions.
The 19th and 26th we will be at First Baptist of Tekonsha, speaking in their morning services. Please pray that what we share will be encouraging, challenging and relevant to the folks there. We will also be joining them for a rafting/camping trip the weekend of the 31st. So safety, wisdom, etc. would be great prayer items for that time.
Sunday - Tuesday, the 19th – 21st, we will be in Cambridge City, Indiana. On the evening of the 20th, Shirley’s cousin and her husband will host a meeting where we will be sharing about my recent trip to PNG and sharing about NTM.
How we thank the Lord for times like these when we can speak about God’s desire for all to know Him, and how He is raising up laborers to accomplish speading the Gospel to those who have never heard.
Thank you for praying for us! Please let us know how we can pray for you… rex_schaffner@ntm.org
Much love in Christ!
Adjusting to life without Mom
Our last posted prayer request asked for prayer as my mother was pretty sick. She had melanoma cancer. We flew to FL to be with everyone as she was admitted to ICU. Well she was in ICU for 9 days, when she was transferred to a wonderful hospice facilty in Largo where she received wonderfuyl care for the last 15 days of her life. She went home to be with the Lord on May 11. We had a wonderful service for her May 15. Shirley and I stayed with Dad for an extra week to do whatever we could to help. He seems to be doing ok since then, but you can imagine the tough time it is to adjust to not having your partner of 58 years around. Your prayers for Don are greatly appreciated. As far as the rest of us (my brother and sister and me and our spouces), we are doing ok too. We had time with Mom and were able to say everything i think we wanted to say before she left. We talk more now than we used to which is a good thing. Our conversations are more God centered too which is another very good thing…Thank You Lord!
Thank you for your prayers for us as we traveled this tough path together. We cherish the Body of Christ and thank God for the way she reached out to our family throughout the past month. May you know how much we appreciate you.
Philippians 1.3
Being Enriched
Having all things that pertain to life and godliness…how much more can we ask for? And yet, being with 500 of our coworkers for a week of fellowship, relaxation, praying together, hearing about what God is doing around the world…that can be pretty enriching. Add to that hearing from AWANA president Jack Eggar, a pastor from Colorado and several of our own NTM leaders about our vision for the future and what we are trusting God for and you have a pretty packed week spiritually. We are pretty excited about being here and look forward to what God will do in our midst.
We would appreciate your prayers for our whole group to be encouraged and refreshed. Thank you for praying.
Unexpected trip to FL
We would appreciate your prayers for our family. My (Rex’s) Mom went to the ER April 16 and ended up staying in ICU for 9 days. We thought we were going to lose her. However, she did come out of it a bit and Saturday the 25th she was able to transfer to the Woddside hospice facilty. What a blessing!
She had just finished 3 months of chemo for Multiple Myaloma, through which she had done well. She apparently came down with an infection though that really threw her for a loop. My Dad is reeling too, as you might imagine. They have been married 58 years.
We are not sure what will happen now. Today, Wednesday the 29th, she has slept most of the day. It is a day to day dependence on the Lord. We praise Him for how He has brought our family together at this time. We have talked much about salvation and God’s sustaining grace. What an answer to prayer. We know His timing is perfect and He only does what is good! Hallelujah!!!
Thank you for taking us before the throne of Grace!
Much love in Christ,
Rex and Shirley
Skiff Conference kicks off new year of Faith Promise
Ron Blue (DTS),Steve and Sharon Sanford (NTM), Bob and Stephanie Caudle (Cadence) and Shirley and I were the speakers at the Skiff Lake Missions Confference this past weekend.
It turned out to be one of the most encouraging weekends of our lives. We spoke 8 different times and were so encouraged by the response. I was privileged to report on many different aspects of my recent trip to PNG, which included visits to two of the tribes Skiff has invested in for about 20 years.
How exciting to be able to tell of God’s wonderful works in these tribes, to the saints who have been supporting and praying for the missionaries all these years! What an incredible opportunity to go and come back and tell.
We have never received so many encouraging comments. Thank You Lord!
Thanks to those of you who prayed for us too!
Arizona here we come
March 26 will find us once again taking to the air…this time to AZ to visit Mike and Rachel. While there we hope to see the grand canyon and also head over to LA to see AJ and Meg.
Your prayers for us will be so appreciated as we travel in unknown territory :>). Not exactly like PNG is it?
Here are a few other things we are praying about:
- Shirley speaking at a Women’s retreat in April.
- My 1,2,3 John class coming up in April.
- Senior retreat coming up late April.
- My Mom, Dot, is undergoing chemo treatment for Myaloma. Please pray for her spiritual well-being.
- My Dad, Don, as Mom goes through the chemo…They have been married 58 years. WOW!
Thank you so much for praying for these things with us. We thank God for each of you. Let us know how we can pray for you please!
Opportunities abound before the throne…
How thankful Shirley and I are to be together once again. The month went by very quickly as we suspected it would. My time in PNG was very profitable…rich in seeing God in many circumstances, and moving in the hearts of the students. We are so thankful for what God allows us to do as we join Him in what He is doing…in Jackson and around the world.
Coming up, we have some opportunities to share about the trip and missions in the next couple of months. We would so appreciate your prayers for us to communicate clearly and share what God is doing in a way that would challenge more folks to get involved. Here are some dates:
Friday Feb 13 – Chapel at NTBI Jackson
Sunday Feb 22 – Missions conference at Crystal Cove Community Church
March – Missions Conference at Skiff Lake Bible Church
April – Women’s Conference – Jackson Christian School
Thank you so much for taking us before the throne of grace. Please let us know how we can pray for you too.
Phil 1.6