December Update

(This is the text of an email I am sending out to various supporters, friends and family members.  If you don't see it in YOUR inbox, that might mean I don't have your email address - or I've got the wrong one!  If you'd like to be on our mailing list, drop me a quick note at sgross@onemissionsociety.org.)

The Cowman School's kindergarten in Vaudreuil, Haiti is waiting for Mrs. Gross...

Greetings!  We certainly hope this email finds you well at the start of the Christmas Season.  Remember when you were a kid and this “season” seemed to last FOREVER?

I am missing those days – especially this year when time seems to be flying at an alarming speed.  We have spent the last two months writing letters, making phone calls and speaking to churches and individuals about this call God has placed on our hearts to serve Him in Haiti.  Before Christmas arrives, we are making a big push to raise new financial support in the hope that we might be able to move to Haiti in January and get started with the work there.

We have reserved plane tickets for the family for January 10^th out of Fort Pierce, Florida, to Cap Haitien.  We can cancel those tickets right up until a few days before Christmas without penalty, so by the end of December we need to know if we are going in January or waiting until the start of the next school year in August.  We are feeling amazingly at peace considering we don’t know whether six weeks from now will find us wearing short sleeves or parkas. 

The biggest factor in whether we go … or stay put … is our level of funding.  We are so appreciative of all who are supporting us with prayer and finances.  You are precious to us and we thank God for you! (2^nd Corinthians 9:12+13!)  Especially encouraging to us is the reality that some have been giving financially for a year now, building a solid foundation from which to launch us to the field. 

AND we are encouraged by many others who have verbally pledged support.  Unfortunately, until those pledges reach OMS in writing, they do not advance the official funding level.  So in these next two weeks we are doing what we can to make pledges official and to raise new pledges to a degree that will allow One Mission Society to release us for departure to Haiti. 

It’s a steep goal, but it’s not impossible. 50 more monthly pledges of $50 each would put us in a place where we could get started in January.*  (For the math-challenged, I should point out that this goal could also be met by 25 pledges of $100 or 100 pledges of $25 – or various combinations of all.)  That’s why a friend helped us create a website which makes pledging simple, fast and convenient:  grossesinhaiti.com.  I mention it here because I’d be very grateful if you helped me get the word out in any way possible. 

I will be sure to pass along the news once we know for certain what January holds for us.  (If/when we get the green light, you will probably hear me whoop it up ... even if you live a couple of states over.)  Thanks so much for your prayers and support!

In Christ,

Steve and Melissa Gross

P.S. My friend James is working at OMS headquarters and just finished an overhaul on the OMS website: onemissionsociety.org.   And it is GOOD.  Now I can link directly to our support page there as well, at http://www.onemissionsociety.org/give/thegrosses. 

* As of this writing, 3 down and 47 to go! Praise the Lord!