Hurry Up and Wait

That seems to be the motto of our life at the moment. After a crazy, busy finish to the school year and summer, we are now moved out of our rental house and... waiting. Our original plan was to be headed for Papua New Guinea by this point, but evidently God has decided that we needed a lesson on patience and trust! Our work permits have not yet come through, so here we are, waiting on that.

Waiting on work permits has actually been a blessing, since it has given us extra time to work on fund-raising. We have spoken at a couple churches so far, and through the incredible generosity of the people at these churches, we are now at $6500 of our goal of $10,000 that we have to have before we leave the country. Only $3500 to go! That actually begins to sound like something that can happen! We are so overwhelmed by the support and love we have felt from God's people over the last couple of months.

The other half of our support is measured in long-term pledges: we need 33 $25-per-month pledges. So far, 3 of those have been taken, and we have had several more people say that they are planning on signing up for one or two of those pledges. Again, we are amazed by the generosity of the people who have come alongside us to make this possible!

If you want to make a one-time donation toward the $3500 we still have to go, or take a long-term pledge, you can do that online here: Stephenson Donation Page

We are right now working on things like doctor appointments and tests for entry permits, so that we will be ready as soon as our work permits come through, and booking more church services to raise the rest of our support funds.

In July, we attended the General Assembly in Indianapolis for the Church of the Nazarene (the organization we are going through). We had a great time, both on the trip and at the assembly!

Thank you for being a part of our journey thus far! We will continue to keep you updated as we move forward.
-Morgan, Danielle, and Theron

About Us

Our Story

We are Morgan and Danielle Stephenson, and our son, Theron. We are working to raise support so that we can serve as missionaries with the Church of the Nazarene in Papua New Guinea. Danielle will be teaching at the Missionary Kid Highschool on Kudjip Mission Station, while Morgan will be working in various functions on the mission station, including maintenance and construction as well as team building facilitating.

Danielle: I grew up as a missionary kid in Fiji and Papua New Guinea, and from a young age felt a passion for serving those in ministry. Having grown up in missions, I wanted to use my experiences to minister to missionary kids and their family. During my college career I discovered that I love teaching and tutoring. Over the last four years, God has been constantly at work in my life, breaking down my need for control and teaching me to trust in Him and in His plans for my life and that of my family.

Morgan: My dad was a missionary kid in South Africa, and I grew up hearing the stories of God’s work around the world. I have always wanted to see the world and to serve God however He led. In the summer of ‘09 I worked at Golden Bell Camp Ground in Colorado and found out that I love working outdoors and in a ministry setting. I felt called to ministry, but not as a pastor or a youth pastor. Since then, I’ve remodeled two houses and have worked at another camp doing challenge course, team building, and high ropes course facilitation. Most recently I have realized that God is calling our family to take the next step in surrendering to His plan.

Together we have felt strongly that this opportunity to volunteer as Global Serve Missionaries to Papua New Guinea is the next place that God is leading us. We are excited beyond belief to see what God has in store for us as we move forward!

 

Support

We need people to partner with us as we pursue God’s leading. Prayer support will be incredibly important during this crazy step for us, and we want to ask you to hold our family in prayer. We will be keeping anyone who wants to partner with us updated on our family blog, and on this blog you can also find a Prayer Calendar. On this calendar, you can commit to pray for us specifically on a certain day, with a certain prayer request in mind. In this way we can know as we serve that we are covered in prayer every single day.

As volunteer missionaries, we are responsible to raise our own support of $20,000 to cover our round trip airfare and the costs to live for year on the field. We therefore do need people to partner with us financially to make this possible for us! On this page there is a button where you can make a one-time donation or commit to ongoing financial support of our family.

Please feel free to email us at asmidgenofmadness@gmail.com. We would love to hear from you!