Thurman Update #31 Written April 20th, 2007

 Recently, I have been devoting most of my time working with Jayson K., for the past five months I have been helping him with the development of a strategic web page focused on mobilizing prayer for Turkey. Currently, the focus is translating the web page into Turkish, Spanish and eventually Korean so that Latin, Turkish, and Korean Believers can use the resources and tools provided on the web site to pray effectively for Turkey.

 I will be heading to Turkey next month participating in our bi-annual Antioch Network staff meetings. It will be a special time as I get first hand experience of the ministries and workers that I have been serving behind the scenes through this Turkey prayer initiative.

 Our family is continuing to serve in Nogales as much as we can. I recently returned from a short trip.


Short story about latest trip to Nogales

Hundreds of illegal immigrants are bussed back to Nogales, Mexico each day. They are given the option to go to the Grupa Beta detention center, where they are allowed a phone call to try to get money wired so they can return to their homes in Mexico and Central and South America.

Many hang out, ashamed, scared, and not sure what to do next others are desperate to figure out how to get back into the US where some have family.


Dan Kane and his family have begun a ministry of compassion by providing meals to these immigrants. This past week I joined the Kane family; we prepared and then distributed a warm meal, they were all grateful. Those who spoke English told us a little of their stories. Juan(photo) shared a little of his story with us as he was waiting around for friends that he was detained with on the U.S. side but had since been separated from.

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.”
-Jesus


Grupa Beta is a Mexican government-funded humanitarian organization that is involved in helping illegal immigrants. They have welcomed Dan’s effort to provide meals, recognizing it as a crucial need that they are not providing.

Thurman Update #30 Written March 28th, 2007

This is the team! We spent our time, this past weekend, enjoying the rhythm of work, prayer and study that is foundational to the
Cuirim House Ministry in Nogales, Mexico. For the work project
we continued where the college teams left off.
We mixed cement with a mixer and when that died we mixed it by hand and laid the
foundation for the addition that was built for Miguel’s house last month! It was a special trip for me, to have my wife and son with me, as well as some of my closest friends!



My Lovely wife
doing her part,
she was in charge of
holding the buckets under
the cement mixer. She
has the concrete on her
face to prove it!


Frederick was the
the pulley man. He
was in charge of getting
the five gallon
buckets of cement up
to Miguel’s house.


Zach is up on top
making sure the cement
doesn’t fall on Frederick
but rather becomes the
foundation of Miguel’s house.

Prayer Request Written March22nd 2007

Dear Team,

My family minus Keilah who will stay with her grandparents will be heading down to Nogales, Mexico this Friday afternoon for the weekend. We will be continuing to work on Miguel's house. Miguel and his family oversee the kids cafe. Two weeks ago we built an addition and a new roof to their existing small house. This trip we hope to lay a cement foundation for the addition and possibly frame the interior walls. There will be seven us total going down from Phoenix.

Please pray:

*that we represent Christ to the people of Mexico.
*that we would accomplish the tasks
*that we would learn new inisight from Jesus on what it means to be his followers
*for protection, joy and laughter

Thanks for your support

We are grateful

Ryan and Noleen

Thurman Update #29 Written March 10, 2007

Last week I spent 8 days working in Nogales at the Cuirim House. I went to help Brian Donahue, who runs the ministry lead 30 College students who used their spring break as an opportunity to serve Jesus. I had many wonderful conversations over meals, as we worked, and after our daily times of prayer and worship. We wrestled with the person of Jesus Christ and how his life is relevant to our every day living.

It has been 15 months since I first started working in Nogales, and it has been amazing to see friendships strengthened and to see God use this ministry to give hope to the poor and help equip Mexican leaders to serve their own people.

Miguel is one example. As I sat with him at one point during the week, he shared how Christ had saved him from a twenty year self-destructive battle with drugs. For seven years God restored him, healed him, and gave him a family as he served at a rehabilitation center in Mexico. After the seven years in exchange for his service, the ministry gave him two pieces of land. Just a few years ago, Miguel was completely broke, but full of vision and passion to serve Jesus he began to dream about how God would use him and the property. This is where the Cuirim House ministry comes in; it has been able to provide the laborers to build the Kids Café as well as the resources for the day to day operations and also to pay Miguel and his family so that they can be free to focus on serving the community. We rejoice in our God who is able to restore and heal the broken and place the light of His Son Jesus into our lives to shine in the darkness!

Thanks for your ongoing love and support,

Love the Thurman Family!


Miguel along with his wife Mari and adult daughter Lisbeth, live next to the Kids Café property. He runs the ministry, overseeing the property, cooking the meals, and leading Bible studies with the kids.







The building with the red roof is the Kids Café, every MWF 70+ kids come and get an amazing meal, (I eat there when I am down there). Miguel’s house is just above the Kids Café. This past trip we filled in that hole you see in front of the Kids Café, built a concrete porch to wrap around the Café so there would be more room for the kids and added an addition onto Miguel’s house and replaced his roof.

Christmas Greeting Written Dec. 19th, 2006

“Wisdom unsearchable, God the invisible,
Love indestructible in frailty appears.
Lord of infinity, stooping so tenderly,
Lifts our humanity to the heights of his throne!

O what a mystery! Meekness and majesty,
Bow down and worship for this is your God!”
-Graham Kendrick



Merry Christmas! Through your love for us you reveal the heart of our Father! Thank You! Our God is faithful! We have once again seen His abundant provisions for our family. God provided strength for us to endure many hardships and grace in relationships to forgive as well as be forgiven. He lifted our heads when we were discouraged and guided us back when in rebelliousness or ignorance we went astray. Every ministry work that God laid upon our hearts to do, He provided the resources for, and we lacked nothing. And then there is the amazing miracle of a place for us to call home! Thank You God, every good gift comes from You!
I find myself this year in a pursuit of learning to follow Jesus; becoming his apprentice. A season that I believe will lead to a life of fruitfulness no matter what assignment the Lord gives us! As I spend time with Jesus I long to see, feel, think, and hear as He does so that in all things I would respond as He would, in the small as well as the great things.

We are grateful,
Ryan, Noleen, Ethan & Keilah



This is a time when we celebrate and rejoice that Jesus came down to save us from the ways of death, and to teach us how to live ‘real’ life, and to give His own Spirit to restore us to the image of God so that we will indeed be the hands and feet of Jesus to a lost and broken world that God desires to show His love to, through us! It is also a time to remember what was told to the disciples after they spent time with the risen Christ and watched him ascend to Heaven, “this same Jesus shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go.”

Thurman Update #28 Written Dec. 5th

We write this email with wonderful news, after15 months of difficulty including one verbal threat and another via certified letter to take away the house, the house officially is ours, or more accurate God's! We finished signing the paperwork today! God is indeed mighty! He does amazing seen and unseen deeds, not least of these is the work in our lives so that we did not lose hope but were able to persevere in hardships. He also has used you, our friends and family to provide words of encouragement, help moving, material gifts, and shoulders to cry and vent on!

Thank you for your prayers and support! Let me say this again Thank You! No I don't think you understand we have been loved so fully by our loving Father through you! Thank You! We want to invite you to a celebration and dedication of this house to the Lord, we are thinking late January after things slow down from the holidays, we will keep you posted!

Please pray for us as we continue to journey with a small group of others, learning to be apprentices to Jesus. Please also pray for the work in Nogales, I am leaving this morning to go down to help with the final preparations for Monday's opening of the Kids Café that we have been working on, over the past several months! We are also planning on taking a group down over New Years Eve weekend!

We are grateful,

Love the Thurmans!





Our new address is:

1215 W. Monroe

Phoenix, AZ 85007

Thurman Update #27 written Nov. 8th

Dear friends,

I will be taking the Apprenticeship to Jesus group back down to Nogales this weekend. In September, our group built the stone walls (figure E.) to protect the trees, which are the only shade for the kids from the sun, from being washed away by the rainwater runoff. This trip, we are hoping to complete the finishing touches on the property so that it will be ready to start serving meals to the children of this community!

Kids Café—

A.) The German style structure was built this summer, this is where the kids’ meals will be prepared.

B.) Old community outhouse that needs to be torn down and filled.

C.) Vacant lot that we are hoping to purchase to add to the Kids Café.

D.) Tire wall we are rebuilding to protect the land from rain damage

E.) Rock barriers to protect trees from rain runoff.

F.) New bathroom being built for the Kids Café.

G.) Miguel’s house, Miguel and his wife will be coordinating the everyday operations of the Kids Café



Please pray for our upcoming weekend in Nogales that the Spirit of God would shape our thoughts, feelings, and actions to reflect His Son Jesus as we pray, worship, serve, eat and laugh together!

P.S. if you would like to come down and participate in or just see the work in Nogales sometime, let me know, it is only a 3 hour drive to the border!

Thanks for your love and support,

Ryan, Noleen, Ethan and Keilah Thurman

Thurman Update #26 written October 15, 2006

Photograph of the chapel at the Cuirim House


Ministry in Nogales, Mexico

My family is working with a friend who has started a ministry center called the Cuirim House. The Cuirim House is a center located in the heart of the Nogales slums that partners wiht local Mexican churches to love their neighbors.


The ministry includes:




Feeding children through the Kids Cafe



Facilitation the construction of houses, churches, and other projects; using young people from the U.S. through short term trips throughout the spring and summer.

A cross cultural discipleship and training center for Christians seeking to mature in Christ through a rhythm of prayer, study, and service among the poor.

Weekly trips to Nogales

I have begun to make weekly trips down to Nogales as well as periodic trips with the whole family to help with the completion of the Kids Cafe. We are hoping to have it up and running in the next few weeks. It will be the only place like it in this community.
A place where children and can have a delicious and hearty meal. It is also a safe place for children to play. Miguel and his wife Mari also provide Bible studies for for the children. Even though we are still finishing the work, kids are already seeing this as a safe place to gather!

Thurman Update #25 written Sept. 26, 06

We just returned from Nogales, Mexico. We went down as a family along with several young adults on an exploration mission trip. Some of you may remember that I was down in Nogales a few times last spring working with a friend of mine, Brian Donahue.

Last month I went down to Tucson to connect with Brian, and he invited my family to explore a deeper partnership with him and his family in Nogales. After this weekend we sensed from God that this work would be a great context for us as we spend this next year inviting others into a lifestyle of discipleship and training for missions that is called “Apprenticeship to Jesus” (read attached file).

We see the work in Nogales as one unique expression for this emerging community of disciples to be practitioners; where they can practice the inward disciplines of solitude, prayer, and silence as well as the outward disciplines of service and sacrifice as we serve the poor and needy. http://cuirimhouse.blogspot.com/

Our family is also praying about a downtown center; a base for “Apprenticeship to Jesus” for those seeking to live out Christ’s call to come away to be with him (intimacy) and also his call to lay down your life for others (service).

We are looking forward to catching up with each of you soon. We are hoping to invite you all to our house (as soon as we get in) to celebrate God’s provision and share more vision for our ministry in this upcoming year!

As we prepare to move into our house we are aware of the fact that our monthly support of $1200 will not be sufficient. Please contact me if you would be interested in joining our monthly support team. Thank You!


Ryan, Noleen, Ethan, and Keilah




Part B

Apprenticeship to Jesus:

Shipwrecked lives are almost as common among “Christians” as among non-Christians. All across the board in church today we find a yearning for greater reality. What is at the heart of this cry, “there must be something more to my Christian experience”? Many find a crippling contradiction between what they intuitively know Jesus offers them and their actual day by day experience of Him. Dallas Willard calls this the Great Disparity:

“There is an obvious Great Disparity between, on the one hand, the hope for life expressed in Jesus—found real in the Bible and in many shining examples from among his followers and, on the other hand, the actual day-to-day behavior, inner life, and social presence of most of those who profess adherence to him.”

Arriving on the human scene, Jesus spoke words of life. No one else in all history has ever spoken with His depth of insight and understanding. What He teaches us is how to live life in the Kingdom of God – life at its fullest – now! We cannot learn this from anyone else, and the context for learning it is apprenticeship (discipleship) to Him. We are with Him, to learn from Him, and how to be like Him. Thus He commissioned us to be and make apprentices to Him among all nations.

In this past year with Antioch Network we have had the rich experience of working with Christians from all around the world and from different Christian traditions. God has gently but persistently been opening my eyes to realize that I have much to learn about living as an ‘apprentice’ to Jesus.

I have begun to ask the question, do we have as our ultimate goal to be followers of Christ, learning to obey everything He commanded, if not, why not? If it is, what are we doing daily for this purpose to be attained?

‘Apprenticeship to Jesus’ is being birthed out of a desire to follow the call of our Lord “to leave all and come follow me” and from conviction that without intimacy with God that transforms our character, our actions will often be misguided and lack the power of God that can bring about the genuine transformation of individuals, cultures, and nations.

If you would like to learn more about how we are exploring a lifestyle of ‘Apprenticeship to Jesus’, I would love to talk with you more about it.

Thurman Update #24 (written Sept12th 06)

It has been over a year since we began our journey towards finding a home for our family; it has paralleled our ministry exploration. We believe our home is to be a strategic beachhead for a ministry expression in downtown Phoenix—focused on developing and shepherding a community of ‘apprentices’ to Jesus that will serve the Church, transform the community and bless the nations. This vision will allow us to build upon the International work in Cyprus, Germany, Bosnia, Senegal, and Mexico, as we train others in missions and invite them into the work.

Since this house downtown would be such vital part to the ministry, we now better understand the spiritual opposition we have encountered over the past few months. Things hit a head 3 weeks ago, when those we were working with abruptly turned on us and basically said they were going to take the house away. Here is one short example that illustrates the battle for the house:

“God, what shall we do? They are trying to take the house away!”
“Ask me to bless those who are treating you unjustly?”
“But God….okay but I need you to work this mercy and love in me, because I am full of anger and frustration. Lord I do ask that you would touch their hearts, that they might know your love and peace, and bless this project regardless of whether we get the house... Now what Lord?”
“Go talk to the director in person.”
“But Lord she has not been working with me at all!”
“Go and I will go before you.”

When I first showed up I was treated very rudely by the director and she said she would not talk with me and even walked away as I was talking to her. But with courage from the Lord, I followed her into her office and sat down and told her I wasn’t leaving until she spoke with me. An hour later, after explanations and apologies on both sides, I left knowing that there were still three large hurdles that had to be overcome in order to get the house, but I was aware that God had worked in her heart and she was once again for us! A week later, all three hurdles, including a need for $10,000 in additional grant money, were all overcome. One more of many miracles in this whole process! Praise the Lord!!!

We have started the closing process on the house and hopefully by end of the month we will have a home for our family and will be freed up to focus on the ministry God is calling us to! Thank you for your prayer and support!


We are grateful,

The Thurman Family—Ryan, Noleen, Ethan, & Keilah

Thurman Update #23 (written Aug 7th, 06)

I hope this email finds you thankful for another day to walk this journey of faith. Praying with those who have traveled this road before us; give us today what we need so that we can reveal your Goodness to the world through your working in us!

We wanted to give you the latest information on the house. The great news is that we have received approval for the loan, and we received a move in date of September 18. But we still need a lot of prayer! I received a phone call from the city saying that there are still problems with us having enough income for the grant program. We are hoping to straighten this issue out this week.

Secondly, we wanted to share with you that God has been so good to us this summer. Even though it did not work out to be overseas this summer we have found joy in supporting the work in Cyprus and Germany through prayer. I shared with you last year how I made a great friendship with a young man, Mehmet, from Cyprus . At the end of the trip he stated that He believed in Jesus and wanted to learn to follow Him. Well a huge answer to prayer is that Mehmet (picture attached), through trials and challenges is still following Christ and participated in the work in Cyprus this year!



With Love and Thankful hearts,


The Thurman Family

Thurman Update #22 (written July 15, 2006)

Have you ever felt the pain of feeling left out and forgotten? Have you ever wondered if your life was still valuable and capable of blessing God and others? Or questioned whether those around you understand the depths of your heart and the journey God has called you on? I am quite sure you have because these are some of the common themes of what it is to be human. I am reminded of a song written by Rich Mullins, this is an excerpt from “hard to get.” It communicates the human struggle and the strength we find when we understand Jesus to experienced our pain and is able to be an “ever-present comfort in our troubles”


You who live in radiance
Hear the prayers of those of us who live in skin
We have a love that's not as patient as Yours was
Still we do love now and then
Did You ever know loneliness
Did You ever know need
Do You remember just how long a night can get?
When You were barely holding on
And Your friends fall asleep…
And I know you bore our sorrows
And I know you feel our pain
And I know it would not hurt any less
Even if it could be explained
And I know that I am only lashing out
At the One who loves me most


We have experienced our share in this journey we are on with Antioch Network, as we have stepped out in faith to follow God, not knowing where exactly He is leading us. It says in Genesis that God called Abraham and spoke to him and told him to leave his home, people, security and go to a place he did not know. Abraham stepped out in faith The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. Later on it says that God showed up in a very personal way to Abraham: the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. By the goodness of God this has been true for us, as we have followed his voice he has showed up.

He has showed up over and over again. In a small hut in the middle of the bush in Africa opening up the Bible with eight Wolof brothers and sisters, God was among us in our fellowship. In Nogales among the poor and in India among the Untouchables God was there as the One who is near, The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Most recently as I have struggled with feelings of inadequacy as I continue to wait for God’s timing for us to be fully supported so we can devote our full attention to the things God has placed upon our hearts to do. God has showed up and revealed Himself. This has been a season where I have found Jesus whispering an invitation to find strength in Him.


Like never before I have found strength in Jesus who as fully human can sympathize with our struggles, and has the ability to give His peace and presence to empower us to keep taking the next step! I also find strength knowing that we are not alone but each one of us have been called on this journey of faith as we follow Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life.

We are grateful!

The Thurman Family

Thurman Update #21 (Written July 3rd, 2006)

Hello!

Noleen here, we wanted to give you an update on our housing and loan situation. We want to tell you about a huge praise first! A week ago we were given two separate one-time gifts that bumped up our year-to-date income through Antioch Network, which allowed us to qualify for the loan. We submitted the loan application last Tuesday morning and it is now in underwriting. We are hoping to find out by the end of the week if the loan is approved! Please continue to pray with us.

Please also pray for Keilah, she is doing better now, last week was difficult as she was fighting an urinary tract infection. After she has recovers we will have to get some extensive tests done to see if there is any kidney damage or other anatomy issues.

We are doing really good, enjoying this season of being together as a family, wishing we were overseas, but trusting God for his timing!

Thanks for your continued support and love!
Love the Thurman Family,
Ryan, Noleen, Ethan and Keilah

Thurman Update #20 (Written June 8th, 2006)

Greetings from Baltimore !
I am here for five days for Antioch Networks bi-annual staff meetings. I came out a day early to help make all the arrangements and spent all of yesterday making 1 & ½ hour round-trip airport pickups. Thus the day in the life of part of the ways I serve within AN. Today was the first official day and it has been wonderful. Our time together are not planning meetings, but more accurately a five day prayer meeting where we seek Gods heart and planning is a bi-product of our time with God!

I write to you to once again thank you for walking this year-long journey with us! I also write to ask that you be praying for our family. We are at a critical time with needing to discern Gods next step for us. I just received a phone call from the non-profit organization that is building our home stating that we may no longer qualify for a loan for the house, because we do not make enough income. Please pray very specifically that God would increase our support through AN or that God would open up a part-time job that would supplement our income!

I also wanted to share Gods miraculous provision for us. Two weeks ago we felt the Lord calling us to move out of Noleens parent’s house. We set the date for June 1, not knowing where we would go or how we would afford a place for the summer. It just so happens that on June 1st the Tannous house opened up for us to move into for the summer. They are allowing us to pay what we can afford for the summer. We will be staying there until mid-August and Lord-willing our home will be ready to move into in September and we will have means for the loan so we can move in!

Thank you so much for your prayers, love and support!

We are so Grateful!

Love the Thurman Family

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Thurman Update #19 (Written May 20th, 2006)

I hope this letter finds you all doing great! It is quickly closing in on our one-year anniversary with Antioch Network! We have set aside time this week to reflect on this past year and seek Gods counsel for this upcoming year! We feel we’ve accomplished what God had for us in this first year we were able get to know the majority of the AN staff as we worked closely with them on the projects in Cyprus, Germany, Africa, and Mexico. This gave us an overall perspective of the vision and work of AN, as well as allowing the AN team get to know us! We wanted to share with you what we feel the Lord saying to us:

How our role is developing:
1. Part of the International Team
2. Development of Pursuit of God/Apprenticeship to Jesus(Discipleship training)
3. Continue working with George Miley and Hanna Miley
4. Working with Dan Kane on “Apprenticeship to Jesus”
5. Developing 24x7 prayer center in Phoenix

Our role is continuing to develop as Antioch Network is growing in its understanding of the role of pursuit of God and Discipleship within its call to the Nations.

We are committed to working to supplement our income until we are fully supported through Antioch Network.

We will have to discern soon, whether or not I will need to get another part-time job.

We have started a Photography Business, (our first phase is making cards), more on this later

With our current financial situation it does not look like we will be able to participate in the summer work in Germany . Please pray with us that God would supply the resources necessary for us to go. If God has other plans, pray that we would discern what they are for us this summer! Thanks for your support for us this first year! We would love to have you continue to partner with us!


We are grateful,


Ryan, Noleen, Ethan & Keilah

Thurman Update #18 (Written April. 30th, 2006)

Well it is finally done! I just finished the Senegal Blog. Please browse through the pictures and stories. all you have to do is click this link: http://woloftrip.blogspot.com/ (if that doesnt work than cut and paste it)

When you first get to the blog page look at the right hand side of the screen and it will give you a link section that has some of our past blog pages. (all you have to do is click on them to see them) Most of you have seen them, except the Mexico one, which is new as well!

I also wanted to remind you that we will be having a time of sharing at Bob Thal's house next Saturday May 6th from 4 to 6pm. It will be an important time for us as we are closing in on finishing our first year on staff with Antioch. If you can make it, that would be Awesome!

Call us if you have questions! If you would be willing to bring an snack let us know as well!

Thanks,

Love,
Ryan, Noleen and Family

Thurman Update #17 (Written April. 12th, 2006)

We have been really busy since returning from Africa. Indeed we made it home safe! But things have been challenging, especially becuase both our little ones have been battling RSV since we have been back. Last night we had little Keilah, at the ER from 2 A.M.-7 A.M. She was having trouble breathing because of the the RSV she is battling, she is doing better today! Keep praying for us please.

We are hoping to send out a Senegal Report in the next few days with a blog page so you can see photographs and read stories, look for it!

I also wanted to ask if any of you might be interested in hosting and or helping out with our next little get together! We were hoping to have a time of sharing about Senegal and about our upcoming Summer work on either Saturday May 6th or Sunday May 7th. If interested that would be awesome! Call me or email me!

p.s. and if you want to check out Antioch Networks web page it has been updated, check it out: http://www.antiochnetwork.org/

p.s.2 come check out the 24x7 prayer that Christopher Sugata and I and others are helping facilitate around the valley, this one is at One Place, which is in dowtown Phoenix! (April 9th-16th)

Love,

Ryan, Noleen, Ethan and Keilah

Thurman Update #16 (Written Feb. 24th, 2006)

We wanted to send out a reminder of our get together next Saturday the 4th of March at our parent’s house @ 4p.m. The focus of this time is to be with you, our friends. We look forward to visiting, fellowshipping and praying together!

As most of you know when I first joined Antioch staff we knew this first year would be an opportunity to get my hands on as many projects as I could and work with as many of the staff as possible so that we as a family could best discern where the best fit for us within the many works of Antioch Network. In Senegal I will be working with Mark Snelling, President of Antioch Network, who also is part of Adventure of Faith Church. They have adopted the Wolof people of Senegal in West Africa; specifically the people of a village called Sorokogne.

It is here that we will work with missionaries in the towns and villages to establish a meaningful long-term relationship with the Wolof people.

We are currently involved in two projects: the first is raising money for solar-powered mp3 players that will play the books of the Bible in their language and the second is raising money for mosquito nets because of the spread of Malaria by mosquitoes.

The other thing we will be doing is participating in the Wolof Consultation, which was created as a network of churches, organizations, and individuals who have a focus on the Wolof people to have the opportunity to pray, plan, and work together.

Hope to see you next Saturday!

We are grateful,

Ryan, Noleen, Ethan & Keilah Thurman

Thurman Update #15 (Written Feb. 16th, 2006)

Hope this letter finds you remembering that there is a meaning beyond absurdity, and sure that every little deed counts, that every word has power. Never forget that you can still do your share to redeem the world in spite of all absurdities and frustrations and disappointments.

We are doing our best to remember this truth as we have been near the point of complete exhaustion recently because of the challenges of sickness, stress, failure, and circumstances that can lead to hopelessness.

Yet our hope is sure because it is in Jesus and our confidence is in Him. We are continually amazed at how creative and capable He truly is to hold us in the palms of His hand. To stop and reflect on the continual provision He provides through His body, other believers, (that’s you guys), is such an important discipline. I think that is why so many Psalms (the prayer book of the Bible), are continually remembering and testifying to Gods wonders and deeds of power and provision. I better reel it back in; I know how hard it is to try to read long emails.

We wanted to let you all know two important updates:

First
We will be having a time of sharing on Saturday March 4th at my parent’s house @ 4:00 p.m. (Please mark your calendars). We will be giving a brief update of the direction of our work with Antioch Network. But mainly we desire just to be with you. We would also value having a focused time of prayer for the upcoming ministry in Senegal.

Second
March 5th I will be leaving for Africa, my family will be leaving March 6th. We will be able to spend almost a week in South Africa getting time with Noleens Family then I will fly up to Northwest Africa, Senegal, to do ministry work with Antioch Network. We will be ministering among the Wolof People. Click on this link if you want to know who the Wolof are:
http://www.2001pray.org/PeopleGroups/Wolof.htm

Prayer Requests: We are asking God to give us the wisdom to ask a number of our friends to consider forming a support group that would represent us before the body of ODF and care for our family. Pray for wisdom, and direction on who to ask.

We are also asking God for a group who would consistently pray for me and the ministry in Senegal for the 11 days I will be there, it is a much spiritual opposition to the message of the gospel and to those who would want to share it, (if you are interested in praying for me and the work in Senegal and for my family while I am away from them please let me know).

Finally pray for Gods financial provision for the work in Senegal. If you would like to give a special gift towards our work in Senegal please designate on your check in the memo section Thurman/Senegal

We are Grateful,

Ryan, Noleen, Ethan & Keilah

Thurman Update #14 (Written Jan. 29th, 2005)

Germany: International Staff & Council Meeting
This month all the Antioch Network staff, council and guests had a wonderful time of praying and sharing stories of God’s faithfulness with each other. It was great for me to visit with the many friends Noleen and I have made over the past four years, who are part of the Eifel fellowship in Germany. Through our prayer and time together we continued to discern that my family is to continue to pursue the work to establish an Apostolic Center in Germany of non-stop worship and prayer that influences the German people and Nations beyond. ( I am attaching a newsletter from the Mileys)

House
Most of you knew that we were praying about the possibility of getting draw for a subsidized home in the heart of downtown Phoenix. On January 10th our name was drawn! Wow, what a gift from God, there was no way that we would get a house on our own. This is a true provision from God. The challenge is that we do not know exactly when the house will be finished, the best-case scenario is this July. We are asking God to provide a temporary housing situation for us until then.

New Developments
We are entering into our eighth month on staff with Antioch Network. It has been all that we hoped it would be. We started off the journey knowing that God was leading one step at a time. This continues to be the case. It has been affirmed that I am to be a part of the International Development Team. It appears my role with George Miley will likely be evolving, we are pursuing the possibility of me taking on the role of George’s personal assistant. We wait for God’s confirmation in this. We also have a sense that the summer of 2007 will be the probable time for our family to move to Germany. Again, we wait for God’s wisdom.

Spring
February/Mexico:
A close friend of Antioch and someone I am enjoying getting to know is Brian Donahue; he has begun a center in Nogales, Mexico that is akin to the vision for apostolic center in Germany. He has created a center that is designed to make disciples through the Celtic model of prayer, study, and work. The work is caring for the impoverished Mexican people and serving the Mexican national pastors. Brian has invited my family to come down in February to pursue the possibility of working with him while we are still living in Phoenix.
March/Africa:
We are still praying about this but it looks hopeful that I meet my wife and children in South Africa (who will fly down with her parents) where I will for the first time visit her homeland and meet her family. From S.A. I will fly up to Senegal and join Mark Snelling, the President of Antioch Network, who has invited me to join him for an important Wolof Consultation. (More about this to come soon)

Financial Updates
Currently 25% of our budget is coming from monthly givers, another 25% from periodic one-time gifts, and another 25% is coming from an after-school program I am teaching to Native American Students. We ask your continued prayers for the provision of the remaining 25%. If you are interested in how you can be more involved with what we are doing please contact us via email or cell phone. (cell phone 602-791-4892)

Love,

Ryan, Noleen, Ethan & Keilah Thurman