Off The Beaten Trek - Tony and Tracy Boyd

Well friends, the months continue to fly by. Our delay in writing is due to the hectic schedule we have had over the past few months with many new ministries developing around us and mentoring and relational ministry at every turn. It will be difficult to encapsulate all that God is doing in our midst in this email. We have just finished our MTW Area Retreat for Asia/Australia in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia . These meetings were followed by additional Australia Field Counsel Meetings. What an encouraging time for us spiritually as the Spirit really fed our hearts with a renewed sense of HOPE we have in the Gospel to transform our lives and accomplish His mission in this world. From Kuala Lumpur we traveled as a family to India where we have spent a few days of holiday while preparing for our first short-term team from Australia ....keep reading!
Our Big Announcement: But first, our announcement...we are expecting Baby #2 in early May 2008! Kathryn will be a big sister, which is very exciting for her because she LOVES babies, socializing, and needs a permanent playmate! We marvel at the miracle of God giving us another child and ask that you pray for both Tracy's and the Baby's health. So far, so good as Tracy has NOT experienced any sickness--which is another amazing miracle considering how sick Tracy became with her first pregnancy. Even now, as we are traveling, we have observed the powerful Hand of God protecting Tracy 's health in Malaysia and now India . PLEASE PRAY for God's continued protection over Tracy and the Baby's health while traveling. Please pray for little Kathryn too, as she is nearly 2 and many things still make their way into her mouth.
To India or Bust...with Aussies! We continue to see God weave our lives and hearts into the Aussie ministry context and are amazed at what an opportunity we have to both mentor some amazing young men and women from our church plant, and also influence the nations-both locally and globally. Since last writing, God has unfolded a wonderful opportunity to mentor and mobilize some of our young church leaders (all in their mid-20's) in their global ministry vision-particularly towards India! In fact, in a few days we will begin leading a team of 5 young professionals from Christ Community Church (CCC) on a Life Vision Trip to India-the first short-term team to be sent from CCC! In brief this is an opportunity for the team to experience a "real picture" of life & ministry in India including exposure to various facets of Indian daily life, culture & religion. We also want to help them begin to understand various contexts and methods of ministry in India by meeting with Christian workers in diverse ministries and locations. We will be spending time in Mumbai, Delhi , Dehra Dun & Mussorrie over the course of 12 days, networking broadly with many of our personal friends and ministry partners from India . Many Aussies we have met have expressed their interest in missions, but lack of exposure or opportunity. Each person on the team are at different stages of seeking God's direction regarding their future in ministry and are working through what the "next steps" look like for each of them. One teammate, Karl, just wrote us today, "As I was catching the bus home from work my heart was leaping at the prospect of being a part of the gospel going to the nations." PLEASE PRAY for us as we seek to encourage this team with what God is doing in India as well as within their own hearts. We welcome you to pray for Karl and others on this team (Alex, Robbie, Jeanne & Mindy)! Please see our Team's specific Prayer Requests at the end of this email. As a result of God opening the door widely for this opportunity, we have been very busy both organizing all the logistics and contacts for this multi-city trip, developing training materials that provide a good foundation in the theology of missions, missiology, and leadership development, as well as meeting regularly with the team members individually and as a group. Needless to say we are loving it and hoping that this trip may be a "pilot" for future trips to come, particularly as we hope to use many of these training materials for future short-term teams and individuals/couples we send out.
Caring over Global Missions: In developing CCC's global and local mission's ministry, over the past few months our initial Global Missions Team (GMT) has begun to meet, work through our vision and values and pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit as we begin to together in building a ministry from the ground-up which we pray God will use for His glory and the furtherance of His Kingdom. Beyond leading the GMT, we have been actively involved in helping send our first two couples to Japan . One couple, the Warrens, recently arrived in July 2007. The second couple, the Kings, are hoping to arrive by mid 2008 and we are actively involved in mentoring/ training them, using many of the materials we are developing for the India Life Vision Trip as well as coaching them through support-development in a culture where raising support is extremely difficult. We are also mentoring (to varying degrees) an additional number of young adults at various stages of understanding their giftedness, vision, and God's direction into missions. The past few months have involved MORE meals with people in our home than not. PLEASE PRAY that we would learn to balance the amazing opportunities with our need for some personal margin and rest. We have found that in our zeal for the ministry here, we are having trouble pacing ourselves.
Caring over Ministry to Internationals: As mentioned in our last email, Tony continues to plan for launching International Friendship Partners (IFP) as a ministry of CCC to the thousands of international students and scholars in the Brisbane area. The official launch will be in January 2008 to coincide with the beginning of the new University year. Tony has already begun to make some strategic contacts into the University through which we can connect students with people from our church. PLEASE PRAY for more strategic inroads into the Universities of Brisbane . We will continue to keep you informed on this and how to pray as God unfolds the way. In the mean time, we are seeking to reach out to the International community of Brisbane through weekly Soccer games at the University of Queensland (Vietnamese, Korean, Middle Easterners) as well as intentionally following up international visitors to church (Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Indians). Kathryn certainly loves all the attention from her Asian "Aunties" every week!
Prayer Requests:
-For our marriage and family to be a reflection of the Gospel of Grace towards one another and the world around us.
-For the Holy Spirit to guide and empower us on a daily basis and for our hearts to be drawn more deeply into knowing Christ and His abundant love and grace.
-For a healthy and stress-free pregnancy for Tracy .
-For unity as we lead the India Team together-and for sensitivity to the Spirit while we come alongside each team member as they process all God is doing in their lives.
-For WISDOM and GUIDANCE by the Holy Spirit as the Global Missions Team develops vision and strategy for developing a missions ministry at CCC.
-For inroads at Universities in Brisbane for the International Friendship Partner (IFP) ministry.
-For wisdom and balance in the many mentoring opportunities before us with Aussie believers-particularly those interested in cross-cultural ministry.
-For the ability to rest, pace ourselves and say "no" when necessary.
-For the US Dollar to "stretch" to meet our needs. (The US Dollar has lost significant value since our arrival in Feb)
-For our Australian Permanent Residency process to go quickly and smoothly...huge request!
Life Vision Trip-- India Team Requests:
-To pray towards how God may desire to use us and Christ Community Church in ministry, both in Australia and beyond.
-That we would be a blessing and encouragement to all the Indians and Christian workers we meet.
-For safety, health, and smooth logistics as we travel.
-That our hearts would be open to all experiences of Indian daily life, culture, and ministry opportunities.
-That our dependence on God would increase as we expect Him to guide us daily to the people and places He desires.
-That we might make some strategic connections for Christ Community Church .
-That our hearts would be ENLARGED & AWAKENED for ministry to unreached peoples as we explore our own ministry vision and calling.
Thanks for your continued prayers and support!
Grace,
Tony, Tracy, Kathryn and Baby Boyd!