July Update

Psalm 27:13-14 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Dear Supporters,

I just returned from a mission trip to St. Louis with my youth group. It was an incredible time of seeing God work as we helped New City Fellowship in their outreach to the inner city. We tutored inner city kids (many had been abused), helped widows, and lead Bible Clubs in inner city neighborhoods. I also lead a team to help clean out a warehouse that will be used for job-training/discipleship in a bad area where the men have trouble getting hired for jobs. This ministry will be called More than Carpentry and will focus on woodworking skills. The Lord is definitely moving in that area as well as in our youth group. We were able to encourage and help the workers their, and we left with great ideas and questions concerning how we can do similar work in Memphis.

This month has been encouraging regarding my support. My one-time is up to $11,320.67 and my monthly is at $518.33. Again, I know of a few hundred monthly dollars that have not been pledged. The Lord has also been faithful regarding my attempt to contact the churches in my presbytery for monthly support. I mailed and called all of them and have already heard back from some. This will be a continual and hopefully fruitful process over the next few months. I am also looking into how I can incorporate businesses into supporting my ministry opportunity.

Your prayers have been encouraging to me as I go through this time of waiting on the Lord. He has been faithful to me in allowing me to feel more settled here in Memphis, as he has given me a general contentment about being here. I do feel that God is preparing me socially for Ethiopia by taking me from a lot of my friends and I’ve learned my lessons about depending solely on him.

Prayer requests:

1. Heather is coming to town this Wednesday for 5 days. Pray that God allows this to be a time of encouragement and direction.

2. I am speaking at Zion Presbyterian Church in Columbia, Tennessee on August 16th around 6 p.m. This is Andy’s dad’s church, so they are very familiar with the work in Ethiopia.

3. I am very hopeful that a lot of my monthly support will be gained this fall through contacting and visiting churches in my presbytery. Pray that God would open these doors.

4. I continue to struggle with having patience with God to get me to Ethiopia and give me a firm call on a particular vocation where he can use me to satisfy the needs of people around me. Pray for patience and that he would be faithful to give me a particular call where I can serve.

5. Thanksgiving for the mission trip to St. Louis for safety and the seeds planted.

6. Pray that God would open a clear avenue to a job in the next month that would be flexible during my time of support raising.

7. I will be completing my church internship in the next month. It has been a great experience. Pray later laborers in the kids’ lives would water that seeds planted.

In Him,

Jim Plunk
Missionary to Ethiopia
plunk.memphisblogs.org or jimplunk.blogspot.com