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3 days and counting…

3 days and counting…

We were sent off by our church body and we have visited with all our kids (of course it’s never enough time) and we still have a long list of “to do’s” to get finished!!!  We haven’t even started packing but my closet (the only place I can put stuff and it will stay put) is full.  We actually have 6 suitcases full of things for ourselves as well as the team in Togo.  Team Togo keeps thinking of things that we can bring over so our space is getting very limited.  Lewis found these two at the market and thought they would be great for the farm and company for us!

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Meet Buddy and Buster (German Shepard mix) who will be our companions on the farm!  They are less than 6 weeks old, we think.  They should make great guard dogs!  We will have a day of rest after travel and be heading North to do an eye mission as soon as we arrive!  So we will try to keep you posted as the first 2 weeks will fly by as we have a lot to accomplish before a couple of our team members has to return to the USA.  We are counting the hours now….very excited to start our “new journey”.  We will keep in touch and please pray for us if we come to mind!!  We LOVE our church, friends and family who have been a great support to us!

Thoughts on Short Term Mission Trips

Thoughts on Short Term Mission Trips

In two weeks, I will be joining the rest of our team in Togo. This will be my first time in Togo, but not my first to Africa, and far from my first time to a third world country. One of the many hats that I wear at Sight.org is “Volunteer Coordinator.” Translation: When people want to volunteer, I find a place for them. Some people just want to volunteer with our events and office work in the States. Others just want to go to Africa! When they want to go to Africa, I prepare them before, pray for them during, and debrief them after. This is where it gets fun for me!!!

I grew up oversees as a missionary kid. I have been to approximately 50 countries, yes you read that right. The majority of those countries were third world countries. About 35 of them were before I turned 15 years old. I am the very definition of a Third Culture Kid. Because of this, I am extremely passionate about preparing people for international mission trips.

There are several things that happen to me when I travel oversees:

  1. If I fail to prepare myself physically, emotionally, and most importantly, spiritually, I will be completely paralyzed by reverse culture shock when I come back home.              6358799858389347231288676707_Culture%20Shock
  2. I have so much to tell people, but I don’t know how to explain it well, therefore others don’t really understand what I’ve experienced.
  3. I am bothered by materialism.
  4. I want to go back immediately.
  5. I feel different than I was before I left.
  6. I get easily frustrated with American life.                                                                                                                                                                                                       best_things

The first time I realized that I needed help with reverse culture shock was back in 2000 after coming home from a trip to Uganda. All I did when I came home was sleep. I thought it was jet lag, but it was more than that. One day, I was sleeping and dreamed that I was back in Uganda. I was in such a deep sleep, that I nearly fell off the couch. When I did, it jolted me awake and I had no idea where I was. I was so disoriented for days that I couldn’t function.

I used to think that I was the only one who felt this way. However, after many trips with other people and much research, I now understand that this is a very common response to international travel. In the last several years, I have developed my own coping skills to lessen these symptoms of reverse culture shock. I have also helped many other mission teams prepare so that they can lessen their own symptoms. 

“If these are natural symptoms of reverse culture shock, then why try to combat them?” You may be asking…

When reverse culture shock hits hard, people freeze. When you are going on a mission trip, the last thing God wants from you when you come back to your homeland is for you to be unable to function. He wants you to continue the work where you live. He wants to transform you while you serve, and then continue to transform you when you come home. If you are emotionally paralyzed, He can’t do that.

Ok, so here are some things that I teach my teams to do before they leave to combat reverse culture shock:

  1. Research the culture of the country you are traveling to.
  2. Pray, pray, pray for the trip and recruit a prayer team for while you are gone. Do a fast as well if you feel led.                                                                                         285197_654877224453_1813196739_n
  3. Journal every single day. My favorite journal to use is this because I can also glue pictures and memorabilia while journaling. I can’t tell you how important journaling is, even if you aren’t a writer! It gives you a space to process.
  4. Read one or more of these books before, during, and after trip:
    1. Freedom of Simplicity by Richard Foster
    2. Cost of Discipleship by Richard Foster
    3. Seven by Jen Hatmaker
    4. Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne
    5. Radical by David Platt
    6. The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Stearns
    7. Let the Nations be Glad by John Piper
    8. Voices of the Faithful by Beth Moore
  5. Ask God to show you one specific thing to do, change, or put into place when you get home. This is vital! If you don’t know specifically how to move forward when you get home, you won’t go anywhere. This is where you start to feel paralyzed. If you ask, God will always show you something, big or small, to do.
  6. Keep the Great Commission at the forefront of your mind always, even when you come home.                                                                                                              Great_Commission
  7. Process daily with your team members while on your trip.
  8. Be prepared to tell your story to at least one group of people. Set up this time before you even go. This group can also become your prayer team.

If you are planning on going on an international mission trip anytime in the near future, I highly encourage you to put these things into practice.

-Beth

Getting Ready to GO!

Getting Ready to GO!

Next week, we will have the 4 of our 7 mission team members on the ground in Togo. A few weeks later, the other 3 will be arriving. We would like to introduce you to the team and give you an idea of what they will be doing in Togo.

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From left to right: Lewis Swann, Naomi Swann, Wayne Riley, Beth Reed, Linda Payne, Larry Payne, (not pictured) Elaine Riley.

Lewis and Naomi Swann are the founders of Sight.org. They will be leading the team as well as supporting our medical staff in Togo. Read more of their story here.

Wayne and Elaine Riley will be living in Togo for the next year. They will be there to support the medical staff, help run the farm, assist in evangelism and discipleship in the villages, and help build new housing and facilities on the farm. Elaine has been on staff at the Sight.org office in Tyler for the last year. Read more of their story here.

Larry and Linda Payne will be on the first flight and are going for six weeks. They run a healing ministry in Lindale, TX and Linda is a Christian Counselor. They will be ministering to the team and assisting in evangelism and discipleship in the village. They are also praying that God will use his healing power through them as they meet people in need in Togo.

Beth Reed is our Communications Director and Volunteer Coordinator at our Sight.org office in Tyler. She has been to Africa numerous times but this will be her first time in Togo. She will be going with the Rileys on the second flight. She will be assisting our Field Journalist, Sametone Brunel, and coordinating their efforts to better communicate patient stories back to our supporters in the US. She is very excited to see the patients with her own eyes and get a feel for life in Togo. She will also assist in administrative work for pre and post-surgeries. Read more of her story here.

Please pray for our team as they prepare to go. We have set up a prayer calendar for the mission team and our medical staff. We will be sending updates as the team arrives next week.

Officially Volunteers Now!

Officially Volunteers Now!

garage sale---yard

This week we are preparing for our final fund raiser–a garage sale at our church on 3421 Old Jacksonville Hwy.  The sale is Friday, January 29 starting at 8am-4:00pm and Saturday, January 30th ending at noon.  We NEED help in pricing, setting up, selling the days we are open and tearing down!  You can private message me on Facebook or call me to let us know you are coming!  We have had many families bring in their donations and we are thankful for those….we will be posting pics of items on the Tyler Online Garage Sale and Swap and Shop online soon as well as posting the garage sale times.  Pray that we can get rid of 85% of it!!

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We got to do children’s ministry yesterday at our church; it was fun sharing.  The kids were very curious and had many good questions. They decorated an African ornament and got to pretend through a game what it would be like to be blind. Please meet one of our “support prayer groups” while we are in Africa.  “Let the little children come unto me…Matthew 19: 13-15. The children will be praying for these needs specifically:

–They will be praying for the work (sight.org) in Togo.

–Praying for a water well.

–Praying for a work truck.

–Praying for people to ask Jesus into their hearts.

–Praying for us to learn the language of French quickly.

We are so privileged to know that they will be supporting us in this way each month!

volunteer

As of the end of today, We will be officially Volunteers for Sight.org with 19 days to go.  We have reached our 70% mark in monthly donations.  If you have not had a chance to donate please click on the following link to to do so.  We will be honored to work for the Lord through your support!! Click on this link— https://sight.org/support-a-missionary/

You will have to check out our NEW website (SIGHT.ORG) that is finally up and going strong!  We are completely blown away by the support of our family, friends and church!  Thank you for giving us this opportunity to serve the Lord!

-Wayne and Elaine Riley

 

From Office Volunteer to Missionary in Togo.

From Office Volunteer to Missionary in Togo.

Inside, I am jumping up and down like a little child because we finally get to GO!

Hi, I’m Elaine Riley, and I work for Sight.org! My story began 33 years ago at a Calvary Commission Conference that my husband Wayne and I attended; the keynote speaker was Dallas Holmes. At the end of his message, he gave an altar call to all who would commit their life to go serve on the mission field, and we both answered that call. After many years, we eventually gave up hope that we would ever go. Last year, however, when God obviously closed the door on my job, I was finally at a place in my life where I wanted to get serious with God, and I sensed my time was running out…He sure did get my attention!
Our church leadership had been praying over a book study called “Rooted” and was led to have our whole church go through this series together in small groups. As I worked through the series, I came to grips with a lot of things in my life, and I started asking God what my life was for. I’m still alive on this earth because God has a plan for my life! So what is it?
I happened to be on my Facebook page when I saw a post that said Sight.org was looking for a part-time administrative assistant. I immediately felt a tug in my spirit to apply for this job. As in everything, the enemy said, “There are so many more qualified people than you, why bother?” However, I KNEW that God had told me to apply, so I applied as an act of obedience. I received a call from Lewis Swann the next day asking if he could talk with me. He told me he had already filled the position, but I felt led to volunteer in whatever Sight.org needed. We agreed that I would start at the first of the year and help with planning events for the ministry. In January, I got a call from Lewis saying that the administrative assistant job was open and asking if I would like the job! I started working for Sight.org the beginning of February 2015.
Over the past few months, I have learned the story of Sight.org and seen firsthand how this ministry operates, and I am intrigued at how God has used Lewis in building this ministry with a vision of what God wants to do in the country of Togo! It’s so very exciting to be a part of the work of giving hope to an individual where there was none by providing the gift of eyesight! Working on the logistic/support end of the ladder has only made me want to go and see for myself the wonderful works that are being done by our Togo team. Their areas of care include some of the most remote villages, villages where people have never seen an American before…it’s like going to where no MAN has been before (if you will for those Star Trekers! 🙂 ).
My husband Wayne and I have sensed the leading and desire to serve alongside this medical team in Atakpame, Togo, for an initial one-year commitment. There is always room for volunteers who are medical and who are NOT medical. Sight.org will be moving headquarters from Lome to Atakpame, and we will be responsible overseeing and building housing for staff and volunteers, assisting the medical team as training enables us to, doing local evangelism/teaching, and supporting the established churches as opportunity arises. Sight.org owns 20 acres in the midst of several villages that will be our home base for outreaches into remote areas of the region. We will present the gospel whenever we have opportunity. We desire to build relationships in this community where voodoo is prevalent. Shining the light of Jesus will be our focus as well as pointing the way to Him, as He is the way and the truth and life! Pray for us as we will be coming against spiritual darkness, and pray that God will be glorified using us as He sees fit!
We are eagerly praying and starting our preparations, as we have been waiting to be sent out for over 33 years. We pray that God will give us strong prayer intercessors and that God’s kingdom purposes will be fulfilled! We are humbled to serve the Lord in this capacity. We covet your prayers; whenever we come to your mind, please pray for Sight.org and that the gospel will reach into the most remote places in Togo, Africa!

If you would like to support the Riley’s financially, go to our Gift Catalog page.

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