Dear Friends and Family,
First of all, I apologize that it’s been so long since our last update! Because of that, this letter might be a little long. Rest assured that future updates will be much shorter!! We’d like to begin with a short story:
One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed
a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.
Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”
The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”
“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and thousands of starfish?
You can’t make a difference!”
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish,
and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said,
”I made a difference for that one.”
Did you know that there are over 143 million orphans in our world today? Babies, toddlers, young children, and teens that have been left without a family. They have no hope. There is no way that we can help all of these children, but our family believes that God has called us to do our part…to make a difference in as many lives as we can.
"What? Wait a minute! What do you mean do your part?" Well, God has been doing amazing things in our family over the past year. Maybe we'd better rewind and do some catching up!
In May of 2008 Scott lost his job of 15 years due to downsizing. We were okay with it because we had been praying that God would provide a way for Scott to be home more. So, in His own way, God answered our prayer! Scott began applying for jobs in Texas and we decided to try our hand at a home business. After about 4 months we realized that it wasn't actually working; Scott had no job offers. We'd wanted to move back to Arkansas for a really long time so, after praying about it, Scott began to go up to Arkansas during the week and work on getting our home business going. We did that for about 2 months and then decided it was time to move our whole family to Arkansas.
Kelly’s parents graciously offered to let us live with them until our house sold. Once in Arkansas, Scott applied for over a hundred jobs in a 2 month period. God provided a job (in February) at the *first* place he applied! We are very grateful for his job and the hours he has to work.
So Scott got a job and we had our house in Texas on the market and we began making plans about what we were going to do when it sold. We decided we were going to put money down on land and we started looking at house plans. Meanwhile, God had another plan....
God began to work separately on our hearts, drawing us to the mission field. Drawing us to be a family to the orphans in Uganda. Drawing us to give them hope and to tell them about the ultimate Hope found in Jesus. Drawing us there, not on a short term basis...but for life. We were praying and struggling individually with "what ifs?" until one day I (Kelly) was talking to Scott about a presentation I heard on the plight of orphans in Uganda and he said, "Have you ever wondered if God wants us to go to Africa when we sell our house?" I said, "As a matter of fact, I have!" And that began our realization that God was calling our family to move to Uganda.
We got an offer on our house the next day! Praise the Lord! We told God, "Here we are, send us." We're not qualified, we have no special skills, we're nothing special....but we're willing to be used by Him where He chooses.
So what does our future look like? We are planning to go to Beautiful Feet Boot Camp in July. BFBC is a five month intensive missionary training program that is offered by Heart of God Ministries (www.heartofGod.com) in Oklahoma. Lord willing, after Boot Camp we will be heading to Uganda under the ministry of Every Nation Ministries (www.untilallhaveheard.org).
Maybe you're wondering how you can be involved?!? Well, the most important thing we need is *prayer*!! We covet your prayers as we launch into this phase of our lives.
If you would like to be part of this mission through your financial support you can send a check or set up an online donation. Envelopes are enclosed for your convenience. Please make your check payable to Every Nation and write "Suubi Family" on the memo line. To donate online please go to www.untilallhaveheard.org and click on "Donate." You can then enter your contribution under "Suubi Family." All contributions are tax deductible. Please be sure to include your email address so that we can thank you via email. We feel like that will help us be good stewards of the money God is providing for us, as 44¢ will feed a Ugandan orphan 3 meals.
As much as we need people to come along side us and contribute to our monthly support, we need prayer supporters even more. We know that on our own there's no way we can accomplish anything. But Second Corinthians 4:7 reminds us that "we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." We recognize our weakness and His power. We need His wisdom and His guidance. Our desire is that all glory go to Him.
Maybe you'd like to know more about our children (we didn’t update you on them at all!), our prayer needs, or other bits about our lives. Well, we can help! We've set up a blog (thanks to our computer savvy 13 year old, Melissa!). The website address is www.suubi-family.blogspot.com. Why Suubi Family? Suubi is the Lugandan word for "hope" and that is what we desire to bring to the orphans we work with...hope (both in this life here on earth and the Hope that is found in Jesus alone).
If you would like to receive online newsletter updates, please send your email address to suubifamily@yahoo.com. Thank you so much for your prayers and support of our family!
All for HIS glory~
Scott and Kelly Rackley
Katelyn, Josh, Melissa, Benji, Laura, Nate, Annie, and Garrett
