A few photos from the new babies home at Good Shepherd's Fold

These beautiful babies are being cared for at GSF!

Encouraging Support Update

We have recently received encouraging news of several people who have committed to monthly support for our ministry! We are very thankful! We are grateful to now have over 10% of our monthly support coming in already!

Since our departure date is 10-11 months away, several people have asked when they should start sending in monthly support. If you feel led to financially support the work God has called us to do, we would like to ask you to consider beginning your financial support now. Any gifts received before we leave will go toward our significant one-time expenses. We are raising support to build additional missionary housing at Good Shepherd's Fold Orphanage, purchase a vehicle, and move our family to Uganda. If we had all of our monthly support coming in over these next 10 months, these one-time expenses could be covered! So please pray about whether you are able to begin supporting this work that God is doing at GSF as He sends us to be support staff teaching the missionary kids there. We are praying that God will provide 150 more people/families to join our monthly support team. If you have any questions or would like to hear more about this work, we would love to meet with you sometime soon!

Below is a photo of one of the cute kids living at Good Shepherd's Fold.

Chattanooga

An early college visit. :) Actually we met with people in admissions about how to help the missionary kids we will be teaching to get ready for the college admissions process.

Elijah in the butterfly garden at TN Aquarium

At the end of July and the first few days of August our family went to Chattanooga, TN to share our calling with friends there, hopefully raise support, and have some family fun before the start of the school year. We met with friends from St. Elmo Presbyterian, Covenant College and Signal Mountain Christian School. It was great to catch up with everyone! Some friends also generously shared passes to take us to the Creative Discovery Museum and the Tennessee Aquarium. Also, special thanks to Rob and Petrina McGarvey who let us use their home for a week! Here are some photos of our family enjoying the time in Chattanooga.

Ezra wanted to spend the whole day digging for dinosaur bones at the Creative Discovery Museum

Our kids "bee"ing nice at the Creative Discovery Museum.

Something is fishy here.

Our kids loved the penguins at the TN Aquarium! One even followed Elijah around.

Support update

Many people have recently asked how the support raising is going, so I thought I would add a brief update. It is very encouraging to meet with people and share about the work God is calling us to do. We have had many people tell us that they plan to support our ministry and have offered many words of encouragement. What we have heard from other missionaries is that it often takes a few months for the funds to actually come in for various reasons. So right now, the support and commitment cards that have actually been received and processed at Global Outreach are a very small percentage of our needed support. I think we are currently at something like 5% of our needed monthly support and 2% of our one time need. We believe that several other funds are in process, either not yet sent, or in the mail, since several other people mentioned wanting to support us.
I think that living in a culture with fast-food, fast-internet service, and fast cars has gotten us used to everything happening fast. We are preparing to move to a culture where everything moves more slowly, so this support raising process is good preparation for us. As one of our financial partners in this ministry just reminded me, when God calls us to do something, He provides the means to do it! Please pray for us as we grow in trusting our Lord.

As I was writing about not having fast-food in Uganda, I remembered that there is a Ugandan drive-through. It is the roadside markets. You drive up and everyone runs up to your vehicle and shoves their produce into your windows in order to get you to buy it. It is very convenient, and they sell the most delicious bananas ever, but it can be a bit overwhelming if you aren't used to that kind of service.

Update letter

Here is a letter we recently sent to many of you about our plans:

Many of you know that in March we went on a short term trip to Uganda. We are excited that God is calling us to participate in the advancement of His kingdom through working at an orphanage there called Good Shepherd’s Fold. Our primary role there will be teaching the missionary kids in order to free their parents to run the children’s home and Ugandan school. It is our hope to go in July of 2013.

            In retrospect, we can see that God has been preparing us for this work for many years although we have only been aware of this direction over the last six months or so. If you would like to read more about how God has led us recently, you can go to our blog at: schooloffishinafrica.blogspot.com

            Over these past few months we have been thinking about how God has called many missionaries to serve overseas, but the education of their children is often a stumbling block. With the variety of educational experience God has given us, we feel well equipped to help parents on the mission field in the education of their children. Early this year God brought to our attention the need for teachers at Good Shepherd’s Fold. The three families who are overseeing the orphanage and school at GSF have nine children who need an American education.

            We are very excited about being support staff to assist in the work God is doing at Good Shepherd’s Fold. In Uganda there are nearly 3 million orphans, in addition to many abandoned children with special needs. Because of the devastating poverty in Uganda, the local community is unable to care for the needs of these children on their own. Good Shepherd’s Fold is partnering with the Ugandan community to assist in caring for, educating, and discipling the “least of these.” This ministry is meeting the needs of the fatherless and making disciples who will then go and teach others. (James 1:27, Matthew 28:19-20 & II Timothy 2:2)

            Our whole family is excited about this aspect of our ministry. Our three oldest children have all expressed a desire to serve the Lord at GSF by ministering to the children there. Zeke is too young to communicate that, but I’m sure he feels the same way. J It has been a blessing to see how God has been working in all of our hearts as we seek to follow His leading.

            We are excited about this new direction and are trusting in the Lord as He leads us one step at a time. Please pray for us in this upcoming year of preparation and transition. We would love to meet those of you who are nearby to show you more pictures from our trip and share with you more about this exciting ministry. Please contact us with any questions and with information about how we can be praying for you.

For His Kingdom,

David and Lisa Fish

dfish@wcalions.org

elisabeth.fish@gmail.com

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Letter of introduction from Global Outreach

 Dear Christian Friends:

We are happy to announce that David and Lisa Fish have joined Global Outreach International as missionaries to Uganda.  We are excited that God has led the Fishes to serve as members of the Global Outreach International missionary family.  If you know David and Lisa, you know their heart for the Lord and that they are committed to service. We are confident at Global Outreach that God will do a mighty work in and through the Fish family as we pray for them and support their ministry.

Let me take this opportunity to encourage your financial support for the Fish family through Global Outreach International. One hundred percent of your gifts will go to the support of their ministry; nothing will be deducted for administrative costs. Global Outreach International is an approved 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization under the United States Internal Revenue Code.  Therefore, all gifts are tax-deductible.  Please make your gifts payable to Global Outreach International and include a note indicating the gift is for David and Lisa Fish.  Any monthly gifts received before the Fish family leaves for the field will help cover their significant one time expenses, so please consider beginning your support now.  On our website you will find a form for monthly support using electronic funds transfer, which is a simple and effective way to consistently contribute to the work God is doing through David and Lisa. You will receive a quarterly record of your contributions.  Each month the Fishes will also receive notice of your gifts, and will acknowledge those gifts, keeping you informed regarding their ministry.

If you have any questions about the Fishes’ ministry or about Global Outreach International, please call or write.  We invite you to send us your e-mail address to receive the GO News, our periodical report on Global Outreach missionaries.  GO News shares information about the Global Outreach family around the world.  You may also visit our website at www.globaloutreach.org for more information.  Should you at any time desire to discontinue giving, please notify us at Global Outreach International, P.O. Box 1, Tupelo, Mississippi 38802, or call 662-842-4615. 

May the Lord bless you as you partner with David and Lisa and with Global Outreach International as we seek to “declare His glory among the Nations.”

Sincerely in Christ,

Sammy Simpson

Chief Executive Officer

Global Outreach International, Inc.

A Compassionate God

I am reading this book and came across a quote that I really wanted to share. So here you go:

"God is a compassionate God. That is the good news brought to us in and through Jesus Christ. He is God-with-us, who finds nothing human alien and who lives in solidarity with us. He is a servant- God who washes our feet and heals our wounds, and he is an obedient God who listens and responds to his divine Father with unlimited love. In fellowship with Jesus Christ, we are called to be compassionate as our Father is compassionate. In and through him, it becomes possible to be effective witnesses to God's compassion and to be a sign of hope in the midst of a despairing world."

Here is a photo of Caralina helping at the weekly outreach to the people from the local villages. They come for medical care and food for children in need. In Uganda, 1 out of every 4 households is caring for at least one orphan. In a country with an average annual income of $450, caring for additional children can be a significant burden, particularly if they have any special needs. This program assists with providing food and medical care for some children so that they can be raised by family.