We continue to be amazed how God has revealed Himself to us in many new and refreshing ways! In times of uncertainty, He was always there with His quiet voice to reassure us – we praise Him for his faithfulness!
After lengthy discussions amongst our leadership team, Partnership Ministries has decided to change our name to Beyond Partnership with a tag line of Serving Their Vision Together – stay tuned for updates! The reasons were many and some were purely a simplification of our vision…
- We saw the word “Partnership” overused, especially in the secular world – with the obligatory photo of two hands shaking signifying some sort of mutually beneficial agreement… but we have noticed that “partnership” even in missionary circles has a connotation of power because of economics.
- One of our ministry cornerstones since its inception has been to serve UNDER the national ministries in the majority world – and that the power needs to reside in the local church associations and churches, not in the North American churches or organizations that provide economically.
- There is an existing Partnership Ministries… a valid yet unrelated ministry – when we officially established our ministry in 1991, the Internet was not utilized like it is now – we did not need to have a domain name or email. To avoid problems with finding our ministry online, we decided a name change would help facilitate that.
To recognize God’s greatness, here are a few of our recent ministry highlights and what He has planned for us…
- Over the past couple months, I have been able to meet up with some new church partners and individuals who have expanded the base of our prayer and financial supporters – God has been good to us by opening these new opportunities!
- Beyond Partnership, at this point has 21 teams booked for projects next year already! This is unprecedented this early in the planning calendar! We anticipate maybe 4-5 more teams bringing our overall total higher than any previous year – praise God! As it stands now, Lee Ann and I will lead 3-4 church building project teams aside from our home church’s trip next February!
- We are receiving considerable interest in the Summer 2009 Internship program – an 8 week adventure to experience first-hand the people and culture of Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua as well as some very cool ministries in the region. If you have any “20-something” young adults in your midst that would be interested, please have them contact me directly! Dates are June 15 – August 8, 2009!
- Prayer Request - In order to make me more effective in ministry in Central America, we are finalizing plans for me to attend intensive language school from right after our home church’s team leaves Nicaragua on February 22nd until the 2nd week of April – this will give me the needed skills for translation and communication! Pray for the time that Lee Ann and I are away from each other - that we can draw strength from God!
What can you do to help us?
Your prayers are the foundation from which we function best – without folks like you praying and advocating for our ministry, this all would be an uphill battle! If you would want to have us present the vision and focus of our ministry at your church or with your small group, we would love to hear from you! 
We ask that you consider financially supporting our ministry with an ongoing contribution (monthly, quarterly, etc.) – we are reliant on folks just like you to partner with us. We promise to be faithful stewards of your investment in our ministry and desire to welcome you as “part of our family”!We thank you for your interest and ask you to continue to pray for us as we offer ourselves in service to the Living Lord!
Peace,
Rick & Lee Ann
