Faithful friends:

     Tomorrow, I will be taking a team down to Bolivia for a short-term mission project. I would like to ask you to begin praying for this trip.
     The team is from United Methodist Church in Dunwoody, GA. There will be 10 of them and myself. The projects we will be working on will include: Construction, Vacation Bible School, and a Dental Clinic. The location will be at a church called Alto Pagador. The pastor is a dear friend named Johnny Marca. We have done several projects with Johnny over the past few years. Johnny's home church has planted this new church in a nearby community and he has taken over as pastor. We are excited to partner with him to reach out to this community.
     After hearing the Envoy Seminar some five years ago, the Holy Spirit stirred Johnny's heart about missions and what he must be doing to involve his own church. They started small, community projects, then going across the hill to show the Jesus film and eventually sending out a full time missionary from their own little church to Paraguay. By the time he was leaving this church to start the next one, his church had sent out two full time missionaries to Paraguay. This is not heard of very often in mission circles but it is Johnny's conviction to get churches started, teach them about missions from the beginning, and send out their own missionaries to other parts of the world.
     We want to thank you for your investment in our ministry through prayer, finances, and friendship.
     I would also ask you to pray for Cindy and the girls as I travel. Pray that as I travel, God will put people in my path and beside me on the cramped plane who I can share His good news with. Pray for me as I lead the team that their hearts will be stirred to know the Savior intimately. Pray that their world-view will be shaken with the things that we will see.
     God Bless each and everyone of you. You are vital to us.

Wick and Cindy Jackson

San Juan, Argentina… Again?

     "It was truly one of the best seminars I have ever attended," the church leader stood and announced to the crowd. "It's taught me how the church not only should be involved in world missions, but how it can become a sending church."
     That welcomed remark came from Paul Harb. He was born in Australia to Lebanese parents. He lives in San Juan, Argentina with his beautiful wife Veronica and three children.
Paul and other church leaders, were so excited when they met us in April 2005 and heard what God had put on our hearts about world missions that they asked us to please come back and teach the Envoy World Impact Seminar in April 2006. Months of planning on their part and ours, flying in cramped planes and sleeping in small beds made the trip all worth while after Paul and others told us what it meant to them for us to come back and teach them. There were about 100 participants in our seminar. The impact of the initial contact, follow up trip and week of travel and teaching was evident two weeks after I had returned home. Sitting in front of the computer I received a note from Paul that made me love what we do in Envoy International. The email read…

The other good thing that is happening as a result of the Envoy Seminar is that a family of five from our church is now preparing to go full time as missionaries and our church is preparing to send them out!"

More excitement to come…

     One of the pastors who served on the missions committee in San Juan is attempting to put together a large seminar for next year that would include their entire denomination. We are encouraging and praying with him to see that this happens.

Short Term Missions comes alive!

     We teach a session in our seminar about involving the entire church in short-term missions. We have been able to do that locally with my own church and partnering with others to serve folks who lost so much after Hurricane Katrina blew through last year.
     To date, I have been in the Mississippi area five times. Each time is significant in that we are able to touch people who have lost literally everything. Many have told me that they did not even have a photograph left to hold on to. We were able to be part of the thousands that have gone back into these cities to share the love of Christ through serving others.

Speaking of Mission Trips!

     Two families from Atlanta asked if I would be willing to take them on a "Vacation with a Purpose Trip" to Bolivia? I thought about it for nearly two seconds and said, "Let's go!" Each family has a son and a daughter and hang out together all the time. They wanted to take a trip and experience another culture, work some, play some, and come home. One thing we always say in the mission world is prepare for the unforeseen. The unforeseen happened. We landed in Lapaz, Bolivia, at the highest airport in the world and found out that the Bolivian airline to our next destination was on strike. It all worked out and we were able to spend the entire day in Lapaz and that night flew out to Cochabamba. During the week there were other strikes in the city but we took it in stride as we found back roads to the job site and places of interest. The two families were able to visit an orphanage and also the Burn Care International clinic while we were there. Our work focus was to help a small country church continue finishing putting in doors and windows. We pulled electrical wires, ate soup prepared by the ladies of the church, and got to work along side men from the church. During some of the days the kids went to a small kindergarten near the job site and helped teach Bolivian children some English phrases. It was neat to see the American kids enjoying the Bolivian culture. One of the highlights of the trip was to visit "Kabobs." It is an Iranian restaurant owned by my friend, Mohamed. His restaurant is as colorful as he is and the food is marvelous. Pray for wisdom as more families decide to take vision trips to experience other cultures. Pray for my good friend Mohamed and his family to come to know Christ as Savior.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work I go...

     I will be leaving for Chile, South America, on the 17th of August. I will assist in teaching the World Impact Seminar twice—once on the 19th and the next week on the 26th. During the week in Arica, Chile, we will be speaking on the radio and various churches in different cities near by. The exciting news about Chile is that my Bolivian friend and pastor Johnny Marca set it up. It is wonderful to have our Bolivian instructors reaching out to teach the seminar cross culturally. I will leave Chile and go straight to Cochabamba, Bolivia, in order to meet and encourage our other Envoy Instructors. It will be a time of hearing what God is doing in their own lives and how we can help them meet their own goals. Pray for me as I make new contacts and for as much comfort as possible as I travel. Pray also that I will be able to encourage our Envoy Instructors. Pray that these new contacts in Chile will lead to invitations to come back and share the Envoy material that has impacted so many where it has been taught. Please pray for Cindy and the girls while I am away.

Closer to home…

     Story telling… Not the kind of story telling that I used to get my mouth washed out with soap but the kind that I have done recently through my writing. Every now and then I send out a story from true-life stuff that God is putting on my heart. One such story came after a trip to New Orleans called "One more dance." Well a newspaper man got a hold of it in Michigan and asked if he could publish it. I am amazed at the way God works in order for others see His mission passion. If you would like to receive stories I have written or will write let me know by an email. Also, Pray that God continues to use my writing as a tool to encourage others.

Family Affairs…I mean family stuff!

     Girls… Emily and Mary Ashley arrived home last Sunday night after being away all Summer long. They both worked at Dizzy World…I mean the Tragic Kingdom…I mean…you know, where Mickey Mouse is! They both went down there with a large team from Campus Outreach and it turned out to be quite a challenge. They learned so much living in cramped rooms with other girls, who don't always think the same way they do. When they pulled up into the drive way last week we all cheered and hugged and Emily ran inside and wrapped her arms and a leg around the door frame and said… "I'm home." We felt the same way.
     Emily will be returning to Francis Marion University. She continues her studies in Elementary Education. She will be sharing the gospel and discipling girls as she gets to know them.
     Mary Ashley will be heading to Columbia International University for her first year. She is excited and plans to study nursing.
     Maggie starts the ninth grade at TKA. She is excited and a little nervous about being a High School girl. She plans to be involved in sports and anything else that she can cram into her busy life. Maggie had a great visit this summer with Cindy to Bolivia.
     Elizabeth will start the 5th grade and knows all the answers to all the questions of the known universe. She has never met a stranger and is able to make me nervous when she starts talking to anyone she meets. She wants to sing on stage and act in movies. She loves cheer leading, singing to crowds, tickle fights, cooking, and having friends over.
     Cindy has been busy as usual with the same things any normal mother and wife is involved with. Plus she went to Bolivia this summer to check on the progress of the Burn Care International ministry, held cheerleading camps, friendship clubs, and so on.
     Wick… I traveled to Mississippi several times with teams to serve folks. I finished a course at CIU…and passed. I traveled to Argentina and was impacted by the number of folks that are being called to missions…not just locally, but abroad. While in Paraguay I could not help but notice as one after another, soon to be on the field, missionaries came up to me and told me that they felt God calling them to third world countries. I am proud to be a small part of Envoy as we teach what God's word has to say about missions. I can see how God is calling the folks from outside the US to go to places where Americans are not as welcomed as they once were. God's plan has not changed. That is that every man may hear a clear presentation of the gospel so that he can either reject or accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I am still heavily involved in discipleship of young men and am encouraged by new accountability partners that God brings to my door step. God does some of His best work in one on one relationships.
Pray for our family and our needs the same way you would pray for your own. We are no different than the people we live with and around. We all have jobs and responsibilities, victories and disappointments, happy and sad times, wants and needs. Pray that we stay in God's will as we continue in full time ministry here in South Carolina.

Contact the Jackson's

Wick and Cindy Jackson
419 Woodland Drive
Florence, SC 29501

Envoyseminar at* aol.com (*Of course, use the @ symbol. This is merely an attempt to keep the spammers away.)

843-662-6717

Donations should be sent directly to:

Envoy International
PO Box 1068
Grayson, GA 30017
Make a note on a separate paper indicating that the donation is for the Jackson family.

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