Mike and Hannah Blair Newsletter (Winter 2023)

Hello Dear Ministry Partners,

 

We give thanks and praise to God that in the past four months He has sustained both us and you in life and ministry. Your commitment to prayer and financial support through Teen Missions has allowed me (Mike) to speak to over 3,500 students so far this year.  I have maintained a full schedule traveling between Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. On one trip last November I was able to travel all the way to Portland, Oregon, in order to attend a mission conference for 6-12 graders called Student ConneXion. Your partnership with us in the Gospel has challenged many students to consider devoting their spring or summer break to the Lord. May He raise up a harvest of laborers out of this generation.

Hannah and the kids have been doing well. Along with maintaining their homeschool routine, they also remain involved with a local ministry called Kid’s Life. You may remember from a past update that Kid’s Life is a ministry to students (1st-12th grade) from immigrant and refugee families from the Middle East. On most Monday nights, volunteers from a number of different churches come together at Dearborn Free Methodist to help these students with homework, play games and share a story from the Bible. It has been a blessing to get to know these students and their families. We are praying that God will continue to draw them to His Son as they hear more of His Word.

Hannah and I are planning on leading the first ever Teen Missions Spring Break team to Detroit this year. We are hoping to host 15 students from around the country to come and serve Jesus between March 26 and April 1. One of the activities that we will be involved in is a four-day camp run by the ministry of Kid’s Life. Other activities may include cleaning up a few lots in our neighborhood and looking for witnessing opportunities.

In November our spiritual daughter, Tebah, came from Iraq to live with us. And then in December, we welcomed her and her husband’s first child, a baby boy named Malcham. Though Tebah is an American citizen, her husband, Mohammed, is an Iraqi citizen. He is currently in Iraq waiting for visa approval to join her and Malcham in the US. Our family has been absolutely blessed by their presence. All of our kids love holding Malcham, and he has quickly grown accustomed to being around a lot of people in a big family. Tebah has prepared a number of delicious Iraqi meals for us, and she has enjoyed the opportunity to cook for a nice-sized family.

We are planning on leading a repeat team to Iceland this summer. After being there last year, we wanted to return and pursue some joint-ministry opportunities with the youth group from their main church campus in the capital. While Rachel and the younger kids are planning on accompanying us on our team, Zipporah is planning on going with the team to Brazil and Hosea is planning to go with the team to Guatemala.

Here are some praises and prayer requests that you can keep in mind as you pray for us:

Praises:

- That God has kept our family healthy, both spiritually and physically

- That God has given Mike many good opportunities to encourage students to be obedient to God’s call in their lives

-That God has blessed us with the joy of the Lord in our relationships with one another

Prayer requests:

- Pray with us that God will provide for our project expenses for our summer mission teams with Teen Missions.

- Pray that God will encourage many students to register on the teams scheduled to take place during their spring and summer break

- Pray that God will provide the support we need to raise for Teen Missions so that we can continue to do what He has called us to do. 

- Pray that God will provide for some special projects that we have coming up: Facilitating our adoption of Amelia and putting an extension on our house 

As always, we want to encourage you that your investment in God’s kingdom through Teen Missions for us is not in vain. He will bring about a harvest through our partnership. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, persevering in our faith as we wait for him to reveal himself in the coming season.

In Jesus,

Mike, Hannah and all the kids