November Update

Dear friends and family,

Thank for your prayers over the last few weeks for our family and community, we have experienced God's presence and peace.

Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts,
"Be strong, do not fear; your God will come—Isaiah 35:3-4

last night these promises were experienced as God encouraged and strengthened us deeply! As we sat around our living room, there were five communities represented whom God brought together for the purpose of uniting us together to join together in proclaiming and incarnating the good news of God’s kingdom to downtown Phoenix :

the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.

Update on Noleen

She just returned from her weekly visit with the eye specialist and her eyes continue to show improvement. They are continuing to taper her off the steroid medicine. Thanks for your prayers, we are experiencing God’s gracious healing.

Please Pray:

• That God would continue to give us wisdom and His counsel for whom we are to partner with


• For direction and discernment with who is to live and serve with us in the apprenticeship to Jesus properties


• November 30^th community barbecue for our neighbors


• Upcoming 24x7 prayer/worship/fasting weekend Dec. 12^th-14^th at the A2J property

Request

We sense that God is growing our ministry and will continue to bring young people to us to serve, disciple, train, and release we are asking God for more property in our neighborhood! Do you know anyone who might be interested in buying investment property in our neighborhood that we could use for the ministry. Please contact me if you have any ideas.

As always we are grateful for your love and partnership with us

Ryan, Noleen, Ethan, Keilah, & Micah

The time is now fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15). “Jesus then came into Galilee announcing the good news from God. ‘All the preliminaries have been taken care of and the rule of God is now accessible. Review your plans for living and base your life on this remarkable new opportunity.’ Jesus’ mission compels us beyond ourselves and towards others, reaching out to those on the margins, healing those who are sick, blessing those who are cursed, and combating evil with love and justice. We are invited to join Jesus in his ministry of reconciliation, gathering people up into the kingdom and kingdom living.

Apprenticeship Service Trip to Nogales, Mexico

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Through Apprenticeship to Jesus we are trusting Jesus words, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my father I have made know to you” (john 15:15) God calls us his friend. He wants to talk to us personally and frequently. As Dallas Willard writes, “The ideal for divine guidance is…a conversational relationship with God: the sort of relationship suited to friends who are mature personalities in a shared enterprise.” Asking questions, what are you teaching me here God? What are you asking me to do? Or what do you want me to let go of? What in my heart are you speaking to?

Our time in Nogales was rich as we were able to experience in the weekend full expressions of our rhythm of prayer, study, and service as a way of strengthening this friendship with God. Our time was interwoven with corporate prayer as well as times alone with God, we also received great teaching from Brian Donohue about the kingdom of God. The service projects were diverse and rewarding:

1) We made a pancake breakfast at the kids café for the neighborhood kids and then we had a time for crafts and bible stories.

2) We were able to place steel posts in the ground above Miguel’s house to protect his home from another car sliding off the road and into his house. Now Miguel can sleep peacefully through the night something he hasn’t been able to do since a car fell into his kids bedroom last month

3) Some of us were able to facilitate a tea and craft time for the women in the community at the Cuirim House it was a neat way to shower love upon them.

4) We were able to lay a cement floor down for a family in the neighborhood

Enrich, Lord, heart,
Hands, mouth in me with faith,
With hope and charity,
That I may run, rise, rest in Thee
-George Herbert
















Amber,Ryan & Ethan, Charlie, Tyler, Jason, Breeze, Madison












Charlie, Amber, Jason and Tyler
eating breakfast with Ethan




Carlos and his family are friends of the Cuirim House and they live in a small 8by8 home. The group was able to lay a cement floor for them. They were very grateful.


















Pouring the freshly mixed cement
into Carlos' house







Brian, who runs the Cuirim Ministry and Miguel who directs the Kids Cafe, work on putting one of the steel posts to protect Miguel's house. A month earlier a car slipped while climbing the steep road and landed in Miguel's house, fortunatley it wasnt while his kids were sleeping because the car landed in there room on their beds.














Tyler & Miguel oversee the 'child labor'
as the kids mix cement for the steel posts

Tyler and Jason dig three foot holes for the steel posts to protect Miguel's house


one of the
neighborhood boys
eagerly awaits the
next batch of pancakes
to be ready

















Amber loving on the neighborhood girls and helping them with crafts


It was awesome having some one on one time with Ethan, he loves going down to the Cuirim House and he loves participating in the service projects, like his mother he is very handy





Jason and Charlie bask in God's light as they wait for morning prayer to begin














Morning prayer in the chapel















A view of the backside of the chapel, overlooking the stone theatre and to the left the library



The cross of Christ is the still-point in a turning world. Everything before leads up to it, everything that follows flows from it. It is the climax of the story the center-piece of the whole drama
-T.S. Elliot

October Update

Dear Friends & Family

I wanted to share with you a devotion I wrote to encourage us in our present difficulties to stop and practice the gift of remembrance, to reflect on God’s constancy and goodness. Click here: http://capturingmoments.wordpress.com/

We also wanted to invite you to join us any day except Saturday for Morning Prayer at the Apprenticeship Property. ( 115 N. 12^th Avenue from 8-8:30am).

You are also welcome to join us on Thursday Evenings for dinner at 6pm and prayer and study from 7-9pm.

Please pray for us as the Apprenticeship group travels to Nogales , Mexico this Friday for the weekend to serve at the Cuirim House. http://cuirimoutreach.blogspot.com/ I will be taking Ethan with me and Noleen will stay home with Keilah and Micah.

We are so grateful for your steadfast love and support for our family and ministry!

Love,

Ryan, Noleen, Ethan, Keilah, & Micah

Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,” says the Lord. By these words Christ advises us to imitate his life and habits if we wish to be truly enlightened and free from all blindness of heart. Let our primary effort, therefore, be to study the life of Jesus Christ.

-Thomas a Kempis

September Update

Bosnia Trip Summary

• Confirmation that Bosnia is long-term ministry focus for our family


• Work of reconciliation and discipleship was affirmed after meeting with key leaders


• Reconnection with young men I discipled 7 years ago while living in Mostar


• Confirmation that we are to continue our ministry of encouragement and support to the Bosnian leadership & strengthen the relationships with the men I have been discipling.


• We also believe that the discipleship model that is developing with ‘Apprenticeship to Jesus’ here in Phoenix can be reproduced in Bosnia in the future.

To see photos and captions of the Bosnia trip click here: http://thurmanupdates.blogspot.com/

Apprenticeship to Jesus (A2J)

You have been hearing a lot about this for over two years. We just finished taking our second group through a six month training. We are getting ready to begin our first full ‘year’ long training this month. God has graciously provided two houses for us to rent for the next year. In these houses we now have 4 apprentices living there, with another 3 who are hoping to move in beginning second session in January 09. If you want more details about this please contact me or come to our next update September 28^th @ the apprenticeship property. (115 N. 12^th Ave)

Upcoming schedule

September 8^th—‘Take my life’ conference planning meeting http://takemylife.org/

September 15^th—Apprenticeship to Jesus training begins

September 28^th— Barbecue and Ministry Update @ Apprenticeship Houses

September 30^th—Downtown ASU campus ministry kick off (partnering with Shane Copeland)

October 2-4^th—-Renovare Conference with apprentices http://renovare.org/

Developing work

Part of the vision of A2J is to give the apprentices opportunities to be trained in cross-cultural ministry. We have recognized that more and more the ‘nations’ are coming to us. This year alone Phoenix is expected to get over 5000 refugees from all over the world. We believe working with these refugees will be a great opportunity to connect with God’s heart for the vulnerable and ‘foreign among you’ as well as give us opportunities to grow in cross-cultural ministry. We are asking God for another property in our community to use to house refugees so that we can minister to them in an everyday relational way. There are 1300 refugees expected to arrive from Iraq, we have a special burden to serve these families in hopes that our love and service towards them could be a used of God to bring redemption and peace out of the brokenness from the conflict that has ravaged their country and lives over the past 7 years. Please pray about this

We are grateful for your prayers and support,

Love,
Ryan, Noleen, Ethan, Keilah, and Micah

Rethinking and Restoring Biblical Discipleship

Jesus’ enduring relevance is based on his historically proven ability to speak to, to heal and empower the individual human condition. He matters because of what he brought and what he still brings to ordinary human beings, living their ordinary lives and coping daily with their surroundings. He promises wholeness for their lives. In sharing our weakness he gives us strength and imparts through his companionship a life that has the quality of eternity. He comes where we are, and he brings us the life we hunger for. An early report reads, “Life was in him, life that made sense of human existence” (John 1:4).

-Dallas Willard

Summer Report Part II Written August 1 2008

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Enjoy the photographs and captions from our summer trip to Bosnia



We ended our time in Herrnhut, Germany and drove to the Eifel to reconnect with friends we have built while working with George and Hanna Miley over the past five years. After a short visit we flew out of Cologne to Osijek, Croatia



Bible School in Osijek, Croatia:
I first stayed here 13 years earlier while working with Bosnian refugees. It was a surreal experience, being back and reconnecting with old friends before catching a train to Sarajevo


Waiting at the train station


Train to Sarajevo

This is a photo that captures the raw real-life stress and fatigue we encountered on our month long trip, you can see in Ethan's face how much he is 'enjoying' this 8 hour train ride





Driving Mladen's car from Sarajevo to Mostar

Our trip was definitely a planes, trains, and automobiles experience. Although the travel and schedule was intense and challenging God was merciful in all our travel.






Experiencing the birth of a baby goat
Ethan and Keilah were outside the church in Breza playing and we hear them yelling for us to come down and look at something--that something was a baby goat. It was a cool unexpected experience for them both and a good taste of what rural living in Bosnia is like.



Ethan and the local Breza Shepherd






















Mladen and Violeta and their son Andrej

This precious family has become some of dearest friends in Bosnia, we have a deep committment to them and the church they lead in Breza.




Keilah and Ethan cleaning a rug the 'old-fashioned' way



Ethan and Keilah helping clean Elvis's house
Elvis is a young man whom I have known well for the past 7 years. His Father was the first person to pass away in the Breza church years ago and this past January his Mother died. One of the ways we served the Breza Church was to help them rennovate Elvis's house-it was an 'extreme makeover' Bosnia style. It was such a joy to be able to serve together as a whole family. Ethan and Keilah enthusiastically worked along side us and the whole team. It doesnt get much better that serving with your own family



Keilah Cleaning



Elvis (left)and Sanel (right) at the Prayer Conference














Ryan Andrews with Micah
One of our highlights of our time in Bosnia was having Ryan with us, he was a great asset to our team. It was an important part of our development of a discipleship process that at the foundation is inviting young adults to live and serve with our family


Noleen with Svetljana and girls from a U.S. team we partnered with















Mladen and Violeta praying with a small group at the Prayer Conference
It was amazing to be able to participate in the second of the three prayer conferences in Bosnia this year. This year has been a special focus of prayer for Bosnia. This was the largest gathering of Bosnian christians to gather for the purpose of focused prayer. It was so encouraging to see the unity and focus of the Believers to gather together to pray for their country.



A young woman dancing and worshipping freely














One of the ways I sensed God affirming Bosnia as place of focus for my family was the way that God gave me such sweet and powerful times of worship as I worshipped Him through singing songs in the Bosnian language




Basketball at the Bible School in East Mostar



Sejo (left) & Boske (right)
These two friends I have known and loved since I lived in Mostar back in 2001. They were only teens back then but are now in their twenties and trying to figure out life.




Sejo
One of the greatest highlights for me was being able to spend time with Sejo. After playing basketball together we spent many hours catching up, when we parted Sejo wept openly. Our friendship is deep, when I lived in Mostar 7 years ago we spent almost every day together and I often ate meals and spent the nigth at his parents house and felt like an extension of his family. Sejo is one of the only young men I know from Mostar who have chosen to follow Jesus, he has little fellowship and support I have dreamed and prayed about bringing Sejo to Phoenix to participate in 'Apprenticeship to Jesus'





Some of the faces of Bosnia



Young woman and two older men watch a chess match in Sarajevo


Man in Sarajevo
















Woman in Breza

















Man in Mostar
















The Beauty of Bosnia


Train Station-Breza
















Old Bridge-Mostar
















Nretva River-Mostar















Nretva River-Mostar
















Sunset-Breza
















Mostar-A city divided and trying to cover up its pain & shame
“Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,” (Isaiah 64:1) This cry of Isaiah communicates the cry of desperation that God would take notice of and act on behalf of the pain, suffering and injustice rampant among His creation. It could be translated, If only you would tear the heavens in two and see what is happening among your creation… If only you would sever this distance that sits between us like a heavy garment… May this be our prayer for the places and people that God has entrusted to us.

Summer Report Part I (Written July 1, 2008

We are home, we made it safely and are now readjusted to the time changes and feeling caught up on life. Having the entire family at the meetings in Germany was very powerful. We are so grateful for Brittney and Ryan's help with the kids, their participation in our lives and ministry was a highlight. As we move forward in Apprenticeship to Jesus we recognize that the greatest opportunity for discipleship occurs in the context of sharing our lives with others!

The time together with the AN staff and the many guests from around the world brought strength and richness to our prayer and worship time. The speakers did a great job challenging and leading us. (we recorded the teaching times if you are interested—click here:

We will send out some photos and stories from our time in Bosnia in a later email. Again we want to thank you for your prayers and support that allows us to minister both here in Phoenix and Bosnia

May Update

Upcoming Schedule
Take my Life planning Mtg-- May 15th
Preaching at St. Georges Church-- May 18th
Apprenticeship Retreat-- May 23-25th
Germany and Bosnia-- June 2nd-27th

Germany and Bosnia
Herrnhut, Germany—there will be about 80 of us from all over the world seeking to praise and worship God together and seek His counsel for the direction of ministries.
Bosnia—We will be serving the local church communities in Breza and Mostar. We will also participate in a prayer conference in Sarajevo. This will be an important time for Noleen and I to hear from God together about our long-term involvement in Bosnia.

Apprenticeship to Jesus
For the past couple of months we have been leading a small group of young adults who are pursuing Jesus’ call to be his students; they are exploring the possibility of beginning a year-long apprenticeship starting in the fall. There has already been noticeable growth in each of us and Christ at the center of all we do is weaving our hearts together beautifully.

Financial Update
Would you consider giving a financial gift towards our summer ministry?
We also need monthly supporters, would you like to join our monthly support team?

Daily Prayer Blog
I have been asked lately, what are some of the ways I purse a life of prayer. To find out more click below:

Daily Prayer

We are grateful
Ryan, Noleen, Ethan, Keilah, & Micah

March Update--Written March 4th, 2008

Greetings friends and family,

Apprenticeship to Jesus momentum: As God continues to nurture, protect, and provide for this precious vision we have great hope; because just as in child birth, the mother and father have faith in God that He has prepared the mother’s body and the baby to naturally know what to do. So we in faith trust that God has prepared us for such a time as this. Still, we are aware that birthing vision, as well as a child is messy, painful, & full of labor. Therefore, we continue to ask for your prayers and support as the Lord leads you. Here are some recent highlights

Take my Life Conference—Here is a testimony from a ministry leader who attended: “After the conference 4 of our young Chinese students spent several hours talking about different issues including 'treasuring Jesus. One of them was led to faith in Christ by the others, who had met Christ at a past conference. The sessions we taught on A2J were well attended and received. We are already beginning to plan next years.

30-hour Famine: Noleen and I were able to hang out with the ODF high school students over a two-day period. Where I had the privilege of teaching on ‘Apprenticeship to Jesus’ (A2J)

College group: teaching a 3-week series on the foundations for (A2J)

Teaching at Southwestern Chapel Service: God continues to open up doors to serve college students and cast vision for ‘A2J’

City Networking: continuing to meet with a group of leaders from all walks of life, who have a vision to see the body of Christ unite and partner to address the needs of our city.

St. Georges kick off: After the past year of working with Shane Copeland in the implementation of the vision for St. Georges it was powerful to be able to participate in the first church service

Turkey work:
+Preparing for a 21 day prayer and fasting campaign that begins with the date of last years martyrs of three believers in Turkey and lasts until Pentecost
+Overseeing the translation of a prayer booklet into the Turkish language

Mark your calendar: Thursday March 27^th—Our next Ministry update will be at Tom & Marcia Kuyper’s house—more details to come!

Financial Update: We are going into our third year with AN, and God has been so faithful to us. We are currently at 60% monthly support. If you are interested in learning how to join our financial support team and help fill in the gap please contact us!

We are grateful for you in our lives! Love,
Ryan, Noleen, Ethan, Keilah, and Micah

February Update-written 2-10-08

Greetings friends and family.

We hope this finds you well!

Bosnia Trip—Thank you for your prayers; I accomplished all I had hoped to. I have arranged the details for this summer and was able to reconnect with friends and get a good sense of the current needs of the young Bosnian church and how my family and Apprenticeship to Jesus (A2J) can serve and be a blessing in Bosnia . My family experienced God’s provision in mighty ways in my absence through your prayers and service. (details and photos later)

Take My Life Conference—You have heard a lot in the past two years about A2J, and it is now officially going public as we (myself and Dan Kane) present the vision and invite college students to consider participating in this years inaugural ‘program’. Please pray that we will communicate effectively and powerfully the life-changing call to discipleship that Jesus proclaimed. If you would like to catch one of our two workshops, they will be at 11:20am and 2:00pm on Saturday the 16^th. Click this link for more information www.takemylife.org (click discussions to read the details of all the workshops offered including ours)

Upcoming ministry update—We are planning on having our annual ministry update next month. There are a lot of new developments that we are excited to share with you. We are also looking forward to visiting and praying together with you. Specific date and location will be in our next update! We would love for someone to be able to host the evening weekday meeting; if you would like to and are able to serve us in this way please let us know. Thank you.

We are Grateful!

Love,
The Thurmans

January Udate

Trip to Bosnia

God loves the people of Bosnia . Bosnia is a country full of beautiful people created with purpose and intention. The physical destruction of war is less evident today, yet the hearts and souls of many people remain broken and in disarray. A remnant bearing the name of Jesus marches on refusing to give up. They boldly cling to the promises of their King , “I have come to make all things new”… “I know your many wounds, I have come to bind them up for My hands heal.” Many of these courageous ones, the leaders of the Bosnian Church , are my age and younger.

I will be heading to Bosnia January 24^th; this will be my 7^th trip since 1995. I go with great expectancy to once again see the faithfulness of our God. I go as an ambassador of the Church, who has the privilege of standing with our brothers and sisters in Bosnia .

Prayer Requests

Mladen, Viki & Andrej with the Breza Church—Mladen and Viki have become dear friends. He and his wife are caring for the people of Breza, a small town outside of Sarajevo . Ask God that I would be a deep encouragement and source of joy and for wisdom and insight to offer.

Elvis—Elvis (right side), was about 13 in this picture and he is now 17; his mother Ljilja just passed away on Monday from an aggressive cancer, Elvis already lost his father six years ago and now is an orphan. Ask God that I would be a source of deep encouragement and comfort.

Dalibor & Vesna with the Mostar Church—I will be participating in an outreach w/ Dalibor, to the nearby cities of Livno & Glomoc. Ask God that our time together would bear much fruit & that I would encourage Dalibor.

Enes, Sejo, & Boske—While living in Mostar for 6 months in 2001 I became deeply connected with a large number of young men, many who had lost their fathers in the war. I have spent the most time with these three. Ask God that, through our time together the Holy Spirit would bring spiritual life and hope into their lives.

Apprenticeship to Jesus—Through my time in Bosnia I am hoping to discern the possibility of bringing several young adults back this summer for a service project as part of “Apprenticeship to Jesus”…ask God for confirmation and favor.

Love,

Ryan, Noleen, Ethan, Keilah, & Micah