BenHoleton.com

12 weeks and counting?

benholeton — Sat, 26 May 2012 01:26:49 +0000

Greetings everyone! Things are moving forward. I have enough in my account to purchase plane tickets and I should be doing so soon. I have emailed the pastors in Haiti today to try and lock down some dates. I’m getting excited. I still have a ways to go financially but am trusting God to take care of that. I went home to Iowa a couple weeks ago and picked up 2 one-time sponsors, got 4 people to agree to monthly support (though they are praying on how much) and another 8 that are praying about support. Things keep progressing. One of my coworkers at Provident just signed up for support. Very thankful for everyone who partners with me on the journey. I couldn’t do it without each of you!

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Catching up

benholeton — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:18:18 +0000

Hello friends. I want to apologize in advance for the long time between posts. It’s been a crazy couple of months. As much as I wanted to just jump right into missions, after speaking to a couple of full-time missionary friends, I stepped back a little and have been more deliberate on how i am approaching this. The first thing that was decided on, both by myself and the mission director, was that leaving as soon as i was intending to would be more detrimental in the long run. I have been meeting with him and a couple of other guys who raise their own support each week, and we realize the importance of making sure the funding is there before I go. It was a hard thing to wrap my head around first. It didn’t seem like that was “living in faith” but it makes sense. If I am in Togo but worrying about where my next support check comes from, then I am less effective while i am there. I can then concentrate on the job at hand. So I will hold off until August and go to Haiti first (I am confident that I can be fully funded by then). The group of men I meet with have gone through a book on full time missionary living and I just finished my support letter which will be going out in the next week or so. In the mean time I am starting to put together a team of close friends here in Middle Tennessee that I can lean on for prayer and support and advice. I meet with the first of those friends this evening. I am certainly at peace where things are heading.

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Last weekend, I helped a couple of good friends move. They filled a 26′ box truck twice with their belongings. This helped reaffirm my commitment to minimalism. I never want to have to move with that much stuff! I took some time during the holiday weekend and purged some more things. i had some clothes that had gotten stained or ripped and I hadn’t cleared them out of the closet. I did that this weekend. I need to get rid of a couple of other things I am not using as well. I think this is a good thing, personally. I can continue to simplify my life and be ready to go wherever god leads me.

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A short note…

benholeton — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 04:30:45 +0000

One of the thing I struggle with most in life is a feeling I’m never quite good enough. I have a hard time seeing myself as anything buy awkward and a screw up. I know so many more people qualified to go do missions than I am. Why did God pick me? I don’t know I’ll ever know in this lifetime. I do know I can take solace in the fact that He is made great because I certainly am not. Any good I do is because of Him. Certainly not because of me. Actually, that might be why He chose me. His strengths will be magnified in my weakness. That’s a good thing.

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New Website!

benholeton — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:22:59 +0000

hey everybody. Welcome to my brand new website, benholeton.com. This website is active today! Still has that new website smell! Go ahead and take a sniff. I’ll wait.

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Ok, done? Good! This is where you’re going to find all the latest information on what’s going on with me, as well as updates on what God is doing in Togo, Haiti, and wherever else He might call me to go. While you’re here, I’d love it if you were able to help support God’s mission work. There is a lovely little link my web girl, Amanda, put together for me. Thanks for visiting. God bless all of you!

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Returning to missions

benholeton — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:18:04 +0000

On January 12, 2010, at 4:53 in the afternoon, an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the richter scale hit the small country of Haiti. In the days following, an additional 33 aftershocks measuring from 4.2 and 5.9 were recorded. Over 300,00 people perished as a result of that. Millions more Haitians were affected as homes were destroyed and lives forever changed. Little did I know, at that time, that those events would change me, too. Shortly after, I felt lead to head down to Haiti and offer my assistance. I went down and made my way to Jacmel, on the southern coast of the island. It was a place I had visited previously, but this time would be different. I spent 3 months there helping clear rubble (they don”t have a lot of heavy machinery…we broke concrete up by hand), building homes, a school, and a church. I assisted medical clinics, played with kids, and generally did everything I could to help bring some normalcy back to the country, in whatever way I could. And something happened that I never expected. I fell in love with them. It became a second home to me. The people in that community became my family. I even learned to speak a little Creole (I can tell them I’m hungry….) Those 3 months changed me in ways I’m not sure I can ever fully explain. I have always known since that I would eventually move to doing that full time. It just felt natural.

That time is now. After months of deliberation, discussion, and prayer, I will be moving into full time missions with Conduit Mission, the same group I went to Haiti with 2 years ago. Through them, I will work not only in Haiti, but Gbentchal, Togo, Africa, as well, along with any other place that might need help. Conduit is a 501(c)3 non profit based in Middle Tennessee. Not only do they work in Haiti and Africa, they also work with Place of Hope, a Christ-centered drug and alcohol rehab facility in middle Tennessee. In addition, when disaster strikes (such as the tornados in Alabama and Joplin, MO), Conduit has sprung into action delivering financial support and supplies. I will be providing support in any of those areas deemed necessary. I will go with supplies, assist in the upkeep at Place of Hope, and do anything else that needs to be done. This is a project I am very excited about. My spiritual gift is acts of service, and it’s such an incredibly natural fit for me.

So, where do you come in? Well, first and foremost, as I will be traveling and working in less-than-ideal situations, I ask for prayer. Secondly, there is a financial side to it. I need to raise the support to be able to do this. My monthly financial needs are approaching $2500, once you include the costs of the flights, visas, etc. I would request each of you prayerfully consider a monthly support over the next year. Each gift is tax deductible through Conduit Mission. Thank-you to each of you for reading this. God bless!

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