Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

How To Partner With Us

We love serving at Black Forest Academy with students from all over the world. In order to keep costs low for missionary families, we raise our own salaries. We currently need about $300 per month to raise due to recent giving changes that our partners have needed to make. We would welcome your partnership with us as we further God's kingdom in the classroom. 

We truly view this process as a partnership. We didn't suddenly start serving God by moving overseas. He has called each of his children to serve in the communities around them. We are each a vital part of the work of furthering the kingdom through our prayers, gifts and service. We warmly invite you to be partners with us in the work of MK education.

If you have never partnered with us or are already partnering, the chart below gives an overview of how to be a part of our team. (Can you tell I'm a teacher? I LOVE graphic organizers!) :)

There are three basic ways to partner with us: pray, give and go. All are so very important!

Pray: Join our weekly prayer exchange! Pick a day of the week to pray for us, and we will pray for you on the same day! Send us an email to let us know which day, your most current requests, and watch how God works through prayer.  

Keep up with our blog & newsletter updates. Pray through the names of God for MKs (missionary kids) & for us. You can join the RSS feed in the sidebar or become a follower of this blog. You will get updates as soon as they're posted!

Give: Join our financial partnership team by giving regularly. We welcome monthly, quarterly or annual gifts of any amount. 

New Partners

You may give by check, electronic fund transfer (EFT) or credit card. To give securely online via any of these methods, go to wycliffe.me/isaacandsuzanne

To give by mail, send checks to Wycliffe Bible Translators / PO Box 628200 / Orlando, FL 32862-8200. Please make checks payable to Wycliffe Bible Translators with a separate note indicating "for the ministry of Isaac & Suzanne Micheals #238613." 

Are you a farmer or rancher? STEER, Inc. exists to help this special group give. This organization will give you a calf to raise, and the amount raised at auction will go to the ministry of your choice. 

Current Partners

If you are already on our team, consider giving us a 20% raise or inviting a friend or your church to partner with us. Coordinate giving as a small group or Sunday school class.

Check with your employer to see if they offer a gift-matching program. If they do, you could double your pledge amount without stretching your budget! Forward this blog post to a friend or publish it on your Facebook page.

Go: Join us in serving with Wycliffe or at Black Forest Academy to further God's Word and his kingdom! 

We can't wait to see how our Father will provide for us! We would love for you to be part of his provision.
*We work closely with Wycliffe to set an appropriate budget for our personal & ministry needs. The exact amount we are raising may fluctuate, however. Several factors are involved in this process. Some lovely folks have indicated they will be joining our team but do not yet know an exact amount. At times, partners must change their giving priorities. We do try to portray the most accurate & current figure possible. 

Friday, May 3, 2013

The Piano Story: Grandma's Secret Music

This Roland digital piano was a mainstay for me through graduate school at Wichita State University. It had fantastic touch and sampling sounds, and was a delight to the students that came to me as well with its assortment of instruments and pop rhythms. While it was never an adequate replacement for an acoustic, it was a convenient alternative that didn't keep my grandmother, also my roommate, awake until 2:00 a.m., which was often when I put in valuable practice hours."Oh, I'm awake anyway," she would wave me off as I apologized for the noise. 

Pics taken recently to aid in selling the piano before we return to Germany.

Quite unintentionally, the piano became a window for me to glimpse her inner world. A few months after the instrument arrived in her home, I began to notice small things that were different than I had left them: the volume would be higher, a score had been moved or the bench was tucked in. Sometimes it was left on, and once I thought I heard it being closed as I opened the door. 

"Grandma, are you playing my piano?" I asked her one day. 

"Yes. I play sometimes," her eyes twinkling. 

"Would you play for me?" 

Looking down, she replied, "We'll see." 

Eleven years later, I have still never heard her play. She asked my mom and dad to come pick it up a few years ago while we were still in Germany. "I can't play it anymore," she explained sadly, "my arthritis hurts me too bad." 



Grandma this March. She takes fantastic pictures, doesn't she?

Visiting her this semester, I asked if she remembered what songs she liked to play. "Oh yes!" And she began to hum and play her fingers in the air, swaying from side to side in her chair. Even in the absence of a piano, she's still playing.