October 2016 Prayer Calendar

Hi all!
Please see our October 2016 prayer calendar below.  If you would like a PDF version, please email us at McBrideFlock@yahoo.com.  Thank you for your support!  We really appreciate you!

Love and blessings,

Andrew and Dawn McBride

Prayer Calendar for September

Here is our prayer calendar for September.  If you would like the PDF version, please email us at mcbrideflock@yahoo.com

Thank you for your prayers!!!

What’s been going on

Hi all!!  August was a crazy good month.  We celebrated our seventh anniversary, Dawn had a birthday, and school started!  

Taken on our anniversary

Most of the interns arrived on August 19^th.  Cami, Andrew, and myself got to host three guys as they acclimated back to New Zealand’s time schedule and season.

Students started arriving on the 23^rd and most of them had arrived by the 25^th.  We are waiting for one more student to arrive, so pray with us that God will help take care of what needs to be taken care of.

Orientation weekend went really well.  Students were a little shell shocked but enjoyed the abundant baked goods that Tecla and Cami dished up for the breaks and welcoming atmosphere.

Registration is now complete and we have 25 students enrolled in classes and sinking their teeth into the goodness of the Word.

The weather is starting to warm up which is so wonderful since we left Denver in April and winter had not finished its snowy craziness.  We arrived at the tail end of Fall only to go into a damp and chilly winter.  Glad to say that we didn’t have to shovel snow during our winter here.  Pastor Ed would probably like these winters in Rotorua with the exception of a few days of iced windows.

At the tail end of July and beginning of August I saw so many beautiful rainbows.  It was fantastic to be reminded of God’s promises ... and often.  He is a good good Father!

Outside our front door

Now we are enjoying colorful sunsets.  It truly is a land of beauty.  I forget that we live out in the country.  Just now as I am writing this, Shadow, the resident donkey, is braying at the other end of the campus.  She is probably asking for a carrot to enjoy.

Outside our back door

A new term we have learned.. Tea means dinner.  If someone asks you over for tea, they are saying that would like to have you over for dinner.  Super cool to be able to learn more and more!

Today Andrew is teaching his first session of the Gospel of Mark.  I am so very proud of him and all of the steps of faith he is taking.  This winter he led worship multiple times at Shoreline while playing the bass guitar and Gordon accompanying him on the electric guitar.  The Lord is stretching and growing Andrew and it has been a privilege to watch.

We are completing our first week of classes tomorrow and I must say, I am excited to see what this semester is going to bring.  We have four outreaches planned for the students: 1) Wellington CC to help with their VBS, 2) Fiji – to help with their disaster recovery from Cyclone Winston, 3) Lakes Ranch Youth Camp, and 4) Raglan, NZ – to help with their youth camp.  There are a lot of great things going on and I can wait to share with you what God is doing here. 

Please keep us in your prayers!  There are a lot of moving parts and so I hope to be able to share with you at least once a month.. if not more.  Here are some of our prayer requests:

-          Wisdom, provision, and safety for the outreach teams

-          Health and healing for both of us (Andrew’s foot and my back)

-          Guidance for the decisions that we have to make

-          Continued growth and connection with the students, interns, and staff

-          Our visa renewal will be coming up in January or February.  Pray for God’s perfect will.

-          Discernment for the situations we encounter

-          Keeping our eyes fixed on the Author of our faith

A great quote on a wall in alley in Napier

We love and appreciate you!  Having your support has been a blessing in many ways.  Your kind words have been encouraging and we love to hear from you!  May God richly bless you as you continue to seek His face.

Dawn and Andrew

If the Lord leads you to support us, please click on this link to our support page with Shepherd's Staff.

The McBride's Support Page

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

Romans 12:10-13

In Preparation...

 Hello friends and family, it has been a little bit since we gave an update on what is going on for us here in New Zealand.  We are currently in between semesters for the Bible college but this is an important time for us.  This time allows us to be better prepared for the different types of ministry upcoming.

First is learning the culture, customs, and the geography of New Zealand.  Learning these now will help us with the first-time students as they settle in when they arrive.  We will be able to point them in the right direction as needs arise.  For example, if someone needs vitamins, they should go to a pharmacy instead of a store like Kmart. 

Second, becoming a part of our new church family.  We are attending Shoreline Church (www.shoreline.org.nz) in the Tauranga area which has a congregation of about 40 people. Over the summer I have been involved in leading worship and running sound.  Dawn has been getting to know the ladies in the church on Sundays, helping with hospitality as well as attending the woman’s Bible study.  We are able to pour into people and be poured into by this loving family in deeper ways than what would have been possible during the semester.

And lastly, we have been able to observe and talk with people who call New Zealand home.  What are they struggling with?  What do they love about Rotorua?  Where are the best places to buy groceries!  Most kiwis (what New Zealanders call themselves) love their country, but they are concerned about the rising cost of housing, the rising up of local gangs, immigration, racism and the pitfalls facing the youth, like suicide.  While pain and suffering are universal, how much greater is the love of Christ.  While our main ministry is serving at the Bible college, ministry does not stop during the semester breaks.  We need to be aware of the opportunities of ministry all around us.

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV)

The next semester is coming up in a little over three weeks.  There will be almost 30 students/interns this semester and almost half have never been to this location.  We will begin ramping up our staff meetings shortly and preparing for all that God has in store for us this semester.  We thank you for your prayers, emails, and encouragements.  God Bless!

Andrew and Dawn McBride

August 2016 Prayer Calendar

Hi there... here is our prayer calendar for August.  Please email us at mcbrideflock@yahoo.com if you would like a PDF version emailed to you.  Thanks and God bless.

Dawn: Thoughts of My Heart

Infertility… That word brings such pain and sorrow as well as a plethora of questions.  What’s wrong?  Why not?  What do I need to do?  Did I do something?  Can this.. will this.. change?  Will I …. some day?  My arms ache.  My heart aches for someone I have never met.  I long to hold this baby.  Where are you, little one? 

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life."

Proverbs 13:12

Hopelessness can settle in, if you allow it.  Not having this child that you long for can completely disrupt your life, if you allow it.  In the midst of the storm, this hurricane of the heart that threatens to strip away all joy and hope, there is an Anchor who is waiting for you to turn to Him.  God offers hope in the darkest nights.  He offers light in the ugliest of thoughts and fears.

He has promised to never leave you nor forsake 

(give up on) you (Deuteronomy 31:6).

When your eyes are fixed on what you desire, rather than on the One who desires you, dissatisfaction can overwhelm and crowd out any good and any gift that God has given you.  Remember Him.  Remember His heart towards you is good and not harmful, not mean, not a big bully in heaven tormenting you.  That is not God.  His heart towards you is peace, kindness, love, gentleness…

I have loved you with an everlasting love… (Jeremiah 31:3)

Don’t allow the storm clouds of doubt and anger steal away the light of His promises, His love, and hope.  There is nothing we can do to make Him love us more or even less.  His love is constant, not fickle, unlike the world in which we live.  He can be trusted.  Will you trust Him with this precious desire, this hunger that gnaws at your heart?  There is hope!

I have walked this road.  The sadness can take you down like quicksand, but I remember who He is.  When I can’t see what He is doing, I can trust His heart towards me.  There is no darkness in Him.  There is no sinister ulterior motive behind infertility.  The thoughts of: “maybe if I serve Him more, if I loved Him even more.. maybe He would give me a baby.”  Those are lies from the pit of hell.  It indicates that our heart is not settled on the fact that He is the giver of good gifts.  He has a divine plan and is very much into the details of our hearts and our lives.

I know this isn’t easy.  I have cried, wept over the dream eluding me.  I never imagined it would be like this.  I got married in 2009 and we decided to wait a few years before growing our family.  We set the mark of October 2011 to be our family kick off month.  Here we are years later and every month there is hope that it just might be the month we start a new journey as a family.  You are not alone in your feelings.  The challenge is not giving your feelings, your emotions more validity, more value than the truth of what God says about you and about Him.

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.

Psalm 139:14

God is intimately acquainted with you.  He took the time to knit you together in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13 NIV).  Knitting takes effort and attention, especially when there is a delicate design in mind.  You were not haphazardly put together.  Every bit of who you are, the length of your fingers, the size of your nose, even your shoe size was designed by God.  He created you to be you, not someone else.  You are a one of a kind masterpiece.  Please know His precious heart towards you is good, not hardened, not angry, not vengeful.  He loves you.  He adores you.  He sings over you.

The LORD your God in your midst, 

The Mighty One, will save;

He will rejoice over you with gladness,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

You are His beloved and He has good things for you.  I know your wishes and unmet desires threaten and scream that He is anything but good.  The truth is He loves you, always has and always will.  He has beautiful plans for you; whether to become a mommy or not, the plans are still beautiful.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, 

says the LORD,

thoughts of peace and not of evil, 

to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

When your unmet desires threaten to take you under, to drown out hope... look up, reach up to God.  He is right there and will come to your aid.  He is waiting for you with arms wide open.  

This song blesses my heart so much: Casting Crowns: Just Be Held

This song helps me keep things right: Lauren Daigle: First

I felt pressed to share this entry.  I know my Redeemer lives and has a plan.  I believe God wanted me to share this so that others in this boat would know they are not alone.  Please feel free to share this blog entry with women that are dealing with infertility.  It can be devastating and lonely.

July 2016 McBride Prayer Calendar

Please see our July prayer calendar.  If you would like us to email you one, please send us an email at mcbrideflock@yahoo.com