June Update

Tessa’s June News Great is God’s faithfulness! I am excited to announce that the Lord has provided 90% of funding and I have requested permission from mymission agency to buy my ticket to Germany! This means that I will be there in time for teacher training and to welcome the new students when they arrive!! Praise the Lord! Staff Training 140 missionaries gathered in Wheaton, IL for two weeks to participate in TeachBeyond’s new staff training at Wheaton, IL. Most of us will be serving missionary kids and families in schools around the world, such as my upcoming ministry at Black Forest Academy (BFA) in Germany, and some of us in local schools in restricted access countries. I wanted to share with you all what I learned about TeachBeyond’s tagline. It goes: “Transformational Education Services” (see the logo at the bottom of the email). The organization believes that transformation can only come through the work of the Holy Spirit, and that the tool the Lord has equipped us to use in this organization is education, emphasizing that all we do is done as a service: First, to the Lord, our God, and second, to the children and families we work with. The desire is to help those we work with discover who God intended for them to be. Transformation As I was thinking about the way God brings transformation in our lives, I envisioned a beautiful lantern sparkling in the night: God is calling me to bea lantern in Germany, letting His light shine out to those around me. I drew the picture at the beginning of the email to remind myself that I am a vessel for the Lord, and it is He who will bring transformation. As always, I am so grateful for you, thank you for your support and prayers. I am keeping you in my prayers as well, and would love to hear specific requests if you would like to share. Just email me! Many blessings and much love, Tessa Want to know more about what I’ll be doing at the BFA and what the ministry impact is? Listen to Katrina’s story, a teacher at BFA, who like me was an MK in Austria.  Nuggets Numerous valuable nuggets of information were shared at TeachBeyond’s training, and numerous connections with people around the globe were formed. Below are several pictures describing some of the lessons and experiences I took with me when leaving training.

One of the best things about driving to TeachBeyond staff training (VA to IL), was getting to stop along the way to visit friends (in Hartville, Cincinnati and Wheaton) and strengthen these relationships.

We discussed how important it is to have a systematic approach to track all the information you need to remember on the field. If you don’t, you just end up like me: Lot’s of ideas and details in my head, and nowhere to put them!

These are my teammates, just before we were commissioned at a special service into the TeachBeyond missionary family. It was valuable to be able to start building relationships with these people before actually getting to Germany.

Praise I have reached 90% of funding and am in the process of booking my ticket to fly to Germany!! I hope to leave July 15th.  The Lord has been so faithful throughout the past two weeks affirming that “Surely I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27). It has been humbling (in a good way), to realize that there are times when I have really doubted God’s goodness...He has patiently been teaching me to trust Him.  Last newsletter I shared that I was struggling with a positive attitude about having to go to staff training. Thank you for your prayers! I really felt a change of heart towards the end of the week, and left training with gratitude in my heart.  Prayer Jordan, pictured in the middle of the photo above, is also going to BFA as a teacher. She is only at the beginning of her fundraising, and I would love if you would lift her up in prayer. She and I would like to live together in Germany, and so please pray that she will be fully funded in time to start the school year (August).  Please pray for the Lord to provide a good apartment in Kandern. I have found temporary housing for the first two months, which will give me a good base to look for my own place. Please pray for the Lord to provide the right apartment. I have been learning from others who have been at BFA that there is a housing shortage in Kandern.  Please pray for the remaining 10% to come in, so that I will be able to leave for the field fully funded. This will allow me to do the ministry God has called me to, to the fullest.

Helpful Links: If you would like to read previous newsletters, follow the link to my blog: http://teachingtcks.blogspot.com/ If God may be calling you to join my ministry support team financially, follow this link: https://give.teachbeyond.org/support/tessa-sydnor/

If you would like to unsubscribe to my email updates, please just email this address, and let me know so I can take you off the list.

Copyright © 2019 TeachBeyond, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: TeachBeyond 2940 Rivermont Ave Apt 22 Lynchburg, VA  24503-1487 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

May Update

A painting of my daily view and walk up the hill from my dorm, to the main part of the campus for classes. Tessa’s May News Dear friends and family, The time has come for me to leave my home of two years in South Hamilton, and enter an in-between-phase before I can go to Germany. YES, I am in fact finished with seminary! On May 11, I graduated with an MA in Religion, focus in literature, from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. Below you will find some pictures from my graduation. As my family could not be there, friends who have become like family came to support me in their stead and it was truly a celebration of all God has done to get us to this point. And now that I have reached this point of finishing my studies, and the door to my future stands wide open...I peer through it with some slight trepidation. I am so excited to start this ministry in Germany, a ministry I truly have felt God calling me to, and preparing me for. However, it is hard to exist in this limbo state, where I have finished grad school, but cannot quite start my ministry and go to Germany yet, until I have completed fundraising, as well as the orientation for TeachBeyond in Wheaton mid-June. A friend of mine loves to ask, “What is God inviting you into?” And this question has been in my mind, as I enter this in-between-stage until I leave for Germany: What IS God inviting me into, in my relationship with Him, to learn and to experience during this time? Below, in the prayer requests, I would love if you would join me in prayer that this time of in-between would be a time of growth and blessing as well, and I would not feel it wasted time, for our Lord never wastes anything! And more than anything, I just want to thank you all for the prayers that have helped get me through. I know countless people were praying for my thesis (which I completed on time, and received a good grade on!), fundraising, and my health. Please know that those prayers were very definitely answered and heard, and much appreciated, and that you have been in my prayers as well. God’s blessing and grace to you all, Tessa   The past two weeks have been filled with spending time with and saying goodbye to friends. Here, two of my closest friends and I are hiking around Walden pond.  Since my parents couldn’t come to my graduation, my church family stepped in, and celebrated with me!  The past year I’ve nannied for this family, and it’s been a huge blessing to be able to get to know all three of them. They were my adopted family for graduation, and I will sorely miss them.  Prayer Requests: Praise: I reached 60% of funding! Graduating and finishing seminary well. I couldn’t have done it without the Lord giving me strength. All the friends and family that have supported me to even get this far. I’m so grateful for the way I have caught a glimpse of what true community means here at seminary. Leaving seminary, and all my friends, is SO hard, but that means that I spent my time there well.  Supplication: I need to reach 90% of funding before I can leave for Germany. Please pray the Lord would provide this by the end of June.  Leaving Gordon Conwell is really hard. My heart feels heavy leaving friends who have become like family. Please pray that the Lord would allow us to remain in touch. I am leaving, and entering a state of limbo for the next month or so. I will be visiting several different people, several different states, even, and will not be able to settle down for a while. Please pray for strength, endurance, and an ability to live out of my suitcase.  Helpful Links: If you would like to read previous newsletters, follow the link to my blog: http://teachingtcks.blogspot.com/ If God may be calling you to join my ministry support team financially, follow this link: https://give.teachbeyond.org/support/tessa-sydnor/  If you would like to unsubscribe from my email updates, please just email this address, and let me know so I can take you off the list. Copyright © 2019 TeachBeyond, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: TeachBeyond 2940 Rivermont Ave Apt 22 Lynchburg, VA  24503-1487 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

April Update

Tessa's April News

Dear family and friends, It is nearing May, and time to send a little update about all the things the Lord has been doing this month. Below, you will find a few highlights, pictures and prayer requests. The picture above is the crown of thorns. Easter came late this year, but the timing was just right in my book. In the midst of paper writing and finishing my MA degree, it was restorative to simply pause. Reflect on the terrible beauty of the cross. And realize, that Christ suffered immense pain for me. That should blow me away every single day (sadly I pass my days mostly forgetting it instead). One of the things I emphasize when I share about my ministry is that the missionary kids (MK) at BFA need to know that God sees their pain. Unacknowledged pain is one of the loneliest things to bear, and most MKs experience this loneliness. But this Easter reminded me that Christ bore unacknowledged pain for me! A friend reminded me of this truth: That though we (as believers) will know pain in this word, it doesn't have to be lonely, if we remember and acknowledge that Jesus bore pain even unto the cross. He comforts us knowing full well what it means to suffer pain. What a marvelous truth! Some highlights from this month: Within a week, God raised 20% of funding, putting me at approx. 50% fully funded! My papers and thesis are finished, and I graduate from seminary in 2 weeks! I held an art exhibit/ministry evening to raise awareness and funds for the ministry, and people prayed over me. It was so encouraging and uplifting to see everyone there. I spoke at the Northeast Association Women's Fellowship of Massachusetts on the 24th, and was encouraged by these women who care about what God is doing in the world. As always, I pray for you and am so encouraged by your prayers for me. May the Lord our God, who knows all our pain, bless you and keep you. Love, Tessa

Seminary friends praying over me at my art event.

Sharing about my ministry, and how my art connects to the vision God has given me to care for these MKs.

The burning of Notre Dame shocked Europe, and I think, is a symbolism for European spirituality. Part of my vision is to reach out to the German community around me when I am at BFA, who need hope as much as the MKs do. Prayer Answered I have submitted my thesis and other papers for my MA degree! I have reached 50% of full funding! Praise God! The Art evening was successful, encouraging, and glorified God! My carpal tunnel has almost entirely gone away! Prayer Requests That God would lay people on my heart to approach personally about joining my ministry support team. That God would continue to help me prepare well for the ministry. That God would raise 100% of funding by the end of June 2019.