14 Apr 2021

A Good Bad Year

Posted by Tom Scatliff, With 0 Comments, Category: Newsletters,

Dear friends, what a year it has been! Due to COVID-19, this past year has looked quite different for us, but there is so much to praise God for.

Over the past year, we have not been able to travel abroad to work hands-on with ministry partners, nor have we been able to visit family, supporters, churches, and friends in Canada. However, this has meant that we spent an unprecedented amount of time in Indiana at the mission and Tom has made significant headway on a number of projects. Although, admittedly, to me most of it looks like wires, circuits, and garbled computer code (resembling something a cat would type while walking across the keyboard a great number of times), Tom assures me that significant progress has been made on a number of fronts.

He rewrote the entire software for the SonSet® radios, which was not a small undertaking. This resulted in a more robust product which was capable of doing much more than ever before. I know, that’s a very simple summary, so for anyone wanting more details or a few more technical notes, ask Tom (scatliff.tom@gmail.com).

 

 

In May and June we were mandated to work from home… Oh the productivity you can get out of an engineer when he gets to lock himself in upstairs!

 

He’s also made significant progress on the new software platform for the satellite-based water monitors. We have a number of these units shipping to ministry partners this week and over the coming months so we are very grateful to have had the time for this progress and are seeing the tangible results. Praise God for this.  

I (Candice) continue working with my ministry colleagues in Congo on a nutrition program for malnourished community children. Malnutrition is especially detrimental during the first six years of life (the first near-year of that spent in the womb). If left unaddressed, malnutrition can lead to a lifetime of reduced mental and physical capacity – often perpetuating the cycle of poverty.  If we can intercede at a young age, nutritional status can be improved and the benefits are long-lasting. In Congo, we have a multifaceted approach trying to achieve just this – nourishing meals, education for families, employment opportunities (opportunities to earn money to cover school fees), health checkups, and a flourishing garden that provides produce for the feeding program and demonstrates how to cultivate and harvest nourishing vegetables. We provide seeds and tree cuttings to those in our program who are interested in building up food security for their household.  

To put faces to this project, below are photos of two infants who joined the program last week. They, along with their mothers, receive breastfeeding support, supplemental meals, nutrition education, and bible lessons each day. Both infants (and mothers!) are already benefiting. We currently have 13 children in the program and have graduated a few dozen over the past year. Praise God! To read more about this project, click here.

 

 

Two new infants to the feeding program. Our ministry partner in this, Mama Anne, is the lady in the middle (wearing the striped shirt).

 

Thanks to the shift in meeting styles and increased comfort level of online group meetings my colleagues in Congo and I were able to meet with the head agricultural consultant for Africa from ECHO International Farm (in Florida). ECHO is a ministry that excels at providing quality information on agriculture to those of us working in the developing world. They understand the many challenges we face — extreme heat, drought, heavy rains, pests the size of goats, limited supply chain, lack of resources, and the like — and provide quality researched-based solutions. Based on the conversations in that meeting we’ve been able to improve on a number of processes and approaches and have since brainstormed more clearly on how we can advance our project in the community. An exciting opportunity is to acquire a produce dryer from a local researcher who has completed his research in Congo and will be leaving the country in a few months. The opportunities for such a dryer are endless! For example, drying moringa leaves to make nutritional supplements, preserving fresh produce to be consumed during the dry season, increasing the shelf life of food items that can be taken to market, etc. If you see the potential here and are interested in helping us acquire the dryer, please let me know!

The past year has been challenging, but so much progress has been made. I’m blown away that the team at SonSet Solutions (where we serve in Indiana, on loan from MissionGO) assisted 180 ministries in 60 countries via equipment, service, consultation, and partnership development during the unprecedented year that 2020 was. Praise God for this. What a good bad year!

I can’t thank you enough for your support. Your sacrifices mean we are sustained in ministry and can be part of such projects. Thank you and may God bless you!


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14 Mar 2021

Movie Star!

Posted by Tom Scatliff, With 0 Comments, Category: Newsletters,

About a year ago, just prior to Covid-19 entering our collective lives, our nine-year-old son Jonathan was working hard at SonSet Solutions, where we work on loan from MissionGO, filming a new promotional video. The video is about satellite-based monitors, known as SonSetLinkTM. These monitors are used in 27 countries, on 6 continents and are one of Tom’s main projects. Among other uses, SonSetLinkTM is a technology-based ministry tool that helps ministry partners provide physical water as a way to introduce them to the Living Water. The promotional video was just recently finished — see our "movie star" Jonathan’s big debut here:

 

 

As always, we thank you for your faithful dedication to our ministries and we are grateful for your sacrifices and support.


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17 Dec 2020

Rejoice With Us!

Posted by Tom Scatliff, With 0 Comments, Category: Newsletters,

Last December our youngest, William, had just turned one and was facing serious health complications. He was admitted to Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis with dangerously high blood ammonia levels, failure to thrive, and abnormal metabolism markers. Although this past year has had its challenges, the Lord worked a miracle in our son’s life.
What a difference one strange year and one BIG God can make!

This December we had a follow-up appointment with the pediatrician. Not only is William meeting all of his milestones, but he’s growing very well (five pounds in six months!), he’s officially shed the failure to thrive label, he shows no indication of metabolism issues, and all blood values are normal. Gone are the specialists, health concerns, and the plethora of doctors’ appointments - and we are left with a thriving toddler. Rejoice with us!

Thank you for walking with us during this challenging year. We are joyful to report that work at the Mission continues and we are grateful that the Lord has sustained our ministries through all the challenges of 2020. Thank you for your sacrifices that keep this team going.
 
Merry Christmas!

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14 Oct 2020

Squeezing Seeds to Combat Malnutrition and Poverty.

Posted by Tom Scatliff, With 0 Comments, Category: Newsletters,

Missionaries from Marino Village, an agriculturally-minded group of children’s homes in Tanzania, visited SonSet Solutions (where we work on loan from MissionGO) and expressed a need for a moringa seed oil extractor. Moringa is, by far, one of my most favorite plants – it’s incredibly nutritious and flourishes in the difficult growing conditions found in much of the developing world. Moringa leaves can be consumed raw or cooked to provide a nutritional punch (we do the latter in our neighborhood feeding program in Congo) or steeped to make a tea with many health benefits. The seeds from moringa are also very nutritious, containing a high amount of monounsaturated fat and fat soluble micronutrients; however, the seeds are notoriously hard and the oil is difficult to extract.
Moringa seed pods on the tree.

These missionaries from Tanzania have a small, cumbersome, hand-crank oil extractor that they currently use to press the seeds and obtain the nourishing moringa oil, but they were hoping our missionary engineers could develop something that they could use to extract oil on a larger scale – not only to provide the children in the orphanage with additional nourishment, but also to sell at the market to create income for the orphanage and micro-enterprise opportunities for children aging out of their program.  

Our engineers did not disappoint.
The sheller is powered by a bicycle generator.
Oil is extracted from the seeds with the help of a hydraulic ram.
Missionary chemical and mechanical engineers and student interns worked closely with our experts in the machine shop over the past few months and we are delighted to be shipping a prototype moringa seed sheller and oil extractor to Tanzania within the next few days. This sheller and oil press do not require any electrical input (the bicycle powers a generator, which in turn drives the variable-speed motor) and uses the strength of a hydraulic jack (available in-country to most of our ministry partners). We are eager to hear performance reports from the field and continue to explore the options of using this technology-based solution to help our ministry partners around the globe squeeze seeds to combat malnutrition, create enterprise to alleviate poverty, and make connections with the community for the sake of the Gospel.

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20 Aug 2020

Malawi and Madagascar.

Posted by Tom Scatliff, With 0 Comments, Category: Newsletters,

In February, a team of engineers from SonSet Solution’s Community Development Department (which includes our Tom Scatliff) started working on a new version of our SonSetLink (a satellite-based clean water monitoring system) at the request of a partner ministry in Malawi.

SonSet Solutions, where we work on loan from MissionGO, is excited to partner with this ministry because they faithfully preach the gospel at each and every maintenance visit to their numerous water wells across the country. They also partner with local churches in Malawi to further spread the gospel to people that come to the wells to get clean water.
Photo Credit: Rural Water Supply Network

In spite of the perceived difficulties of designing a new product in the midst of a worldwide lockdown, four prototype units were completed, shipped, and then installed on existing “Afridev” model well pumps in Malawi in April and May. One SonSet Solutions engineer said the design work was actually easier in many ways because there were less interruptions on the project. The design team is now taking data from those prototypes to build a production model for this and other partner ministries that use Afridev pumps.

Join us as we praise God for taking a difficult situation and using it for His glory.
The SonSetTM Radio is having an impact in Madagascar.
SonSet also recently received this short video from a ministry partner in Madagascar that uses the SonSet Radio, which is another one of Tom’s main projects. Tom was greatly encouraged by this pastor’s short message and I hope you are too. Have a look and know that this is only possible because of your generosity and partnership for the Gospel.

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14 Jul 2020

Updates and Internships.

Posted by Tom Scatliff, With 0 Comments, Category: Newsletters,
At the beginning of June, Tom transitioned back to working at the office. His summer intern arrived that same week and together they are continuing to make headway on the SonSetLinkTM monitoring firmware. Tom will be mentoring Nathan, an engineering student from Liberty University, for ten weeks as he learns about missions, ministry, and how he can use his professional skills to advance the Kingdom. Nathan is one of three interns we have at SonSet Solutions this summer.  If you are, or know of, an engineering student or young professional with a desire for using their professional skills in a similar way, our internship program is always looking for bright young minds to mentor.

On the home front we have fantastic news. William underwent the last of his investigative procedures in June, to explore why he has had such poor growth and abnormal metabolic lab values. The results of these recent tests are very encouraging! An endoscopy indicated there are no issues in the gastrointestinal tract, and the two most result blood tests had perfectly normal values (HUGE praise!). In addition to this, his symptoms, which have plagued him since the day of his birth, seem to have subsided.

With this, he has GRADUATED out of being an active patient of the metabolic and genetics team at Riley Children’s hospital. William is doing so well that his local pediatrician said unless something new arises, he doesn’t need to see William again until his routine visit around his 2nd birthday (that’s 5 months from now!). The GI team has said the same.
William has turned a corner, and although he is ridiculously small for his age with a history of wonky lab results for two (very serious) metabolic markers, he is a bright, spunky toddler who is crushing his milestones, and ceases to have poor test results. I attribute all healing and health to your prayers and our Lord’s grace and mercy. Thank you for rallying with us, loving us, and carrying us. Now please, praise the Lord with us, and celebrate his grace and mercy which we certainly do not deserve. 

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10 Jun 2020

Six.

Posted by Tom Scatliff, With 0 Comments, Category: Newsletters,
We packed our belongings into the back of a U-Haul truck, said farewell to our church family, and headed south. With fresh work visas to work as Canadian in the USA, we took a giant leap of faith, left all we knew in Canada, and headed to Indiana. Our kids were 8 months and 3 years old. It was June 2nd, 2014. 
Last day as Montrealers.
Would God really sustain us in full time ministry?
Would we make new friends, find another great church family?
Could we really be used in ministry?
Where is the grocery store!?!

We had just finished up six months of full-time partnership development (that’s the fancy term for nervously sitting down with friends, family, or anyone else who is willing to listen and, with sweaty palms and a slight stutter, ask them to partner financially with us in ministry).  During those refining six months God brought together a support team to send us off. Now, we had arrived: Elkhart, Indiana, USA to start our new life as full-time missionaries.
Brand new Elkharters.
And now, it’s six years later. Six.
 
When we took that leap of faith we had no idea the Canadian dollar would take a nose dive within the first year, or our sending organization would require us to find someone else to serve with, or a global pandemic was in store. When we took that leap of faith we had no idea we’d have another kid (an AMERICAN?!), end up in the hospital with him, navigate health insurance…

You know what else we had no idea about? We had no idea we’d be involved in so many international projects or that God would use us for things so close to our hearts! Over the past six years we’ve been involved in helping ministries in Haiti, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Canada, United States, Ecuador, Peru, Mali, Liberia, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Congo, Malawi, Zambia, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea, to name a few…

We didn't know we'd be required to travel to Congo (three times), Haiti (twice), Dominican Republic, India, Peru… That we’d work passionately on clean water projects and food security issues, assist orphanages and hospitals meet the nutritional needs of their vulnerable, help rural pastors in developing countries reach their own people.
It's been a wild six years
We also had no idea that our support team would become like family, rallying with us through the challenges, cheering with us in the successes, and encouraging us along the way. We didn’t know how special each team member would become and how we’d cherish getting to spend time together praying, encouraging one another, and truly becoming partners in bringing the gospel forward.

From the bottom of our hearts, we want to extend the most sincere thank you for the past six years. None of this would have happened without your direct involvement and personal investment in our lives!

Happy anniversary. And here’s to many more.
 

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22 Apr 2020

Congo + COVID-19.

Posted by Tom Scatliff, With 0 Comments, Category: Newsletters,
This time last year we were in Congo. No one could have imaged what the world would look like just a year later, but what you can imagine is the hardships faced by so many of our beloved Congolese… And now, they are also facing COVID-19.

In late January, to help combat the rampant malnutrition in the area, we launched a neighborhood feeding program at the MissionGO mission station in Impfondo, Congo. Local families with children showing signs of malnutrition are invited to participate in this daily feeding program, which not only consists of nourishment for children, but also daily lessons in nutrition, health, cooking, and gardening for parents. The main focus is on locally available foods and introduction of nutritious new foods that grow readily in the area, but aren’t traditionally part of their (limited) diet. For example, powerfully nutritious Chaya leaves (for anyone who remembers the resounding negative response we received when we tried Chaya in the hospital feeding program, you’d be interested to know we received a much more positive response to it here!). We’ve been offering cuttings of Chaya trees to families in the program with simple instructions of how to plant, tend, and harvest it. Ideally, the neighborhood nutrition program will not only boost nutritional status of the children in the short term, but build up their families with knowledge and know-how to continue combatting malnutrition on the home front in the long term.
Feeding program on the missionaries' front steps.
As COVID-19 has made its way to Africa, it has had an impact on ministries (to read a doctor’s perspective on the virus’ impact on Africa, see this document, https://www.newsightcongo.com/a-doctors-thoughts/, penned by my friend in Ouesso, Congo). The hospital’s chapel and church services are now hosted over the air at the hospital’s Christian radio station (the one Tom was working to improve this time last year). Our neighborhood feeding program, which started with just nine children but now hosts a few dozen children and their families, is also impacted. We are needing to alter the program so families arrive in shifts rather than as a group. Additionally, the Congolese government’s restrictions on movement within the country, to help quarantine COVID-19, will impact food supplies and undoubtably result in food shortages. The Lord was already working out the details as to how we would be able to keep supplying these vulnerable children with food during this time.

When I was at the ECHO farm conference in Florida this past fall, I was able to obtain various high quality heirloom seeds ideal for growing in Congo. I sent these seeds to my colleague Jesse Mitchell, who serves on the ground in Congo full time. While Jesse waited for the seeds to arrive, he worked with local teenage boys to prep raised garden beds and reinforce the fence (to keep out those pesky goats!). After the seeds arrived, they sprouted just a few days after planting and now, just a few weeks later, the vegetables are being harvested and fed to the children. Families of the neighborhood feeding program are also witnessing the importance of a local garden during such unpredictable and challenging times. It is our dream to share seeds with the families involved in the program and continue to promote food security for all. Below is a photo of the garden, and a link to a video tour for those who are interested!
Photo and video of Jesse's garden.
Although COVID-19 is a challenge for all of us, I encourage you to look at how God provides. Please write to us and let us know how you are doing during this time. How can we be praying for you? And be sure to let us know how God has provided in advance to sustain you during this time!

We thank you for your sacrifices so we can serve in missions together. The world urgently needs God’s Word.

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28 Mar 2020

Used for God’s Purposes.

Posted by Tom Scatliff, With 0 Comments, Category: Newsletters,

The following was written before the corona crisis really hit. I hesitated about sending it out, considering it isn’t corona related, but maybe we could all use a break from that and benefit from a beautiful reminder of how God provides. 

As for the impact the current global scenario has on our family: We have both transitioned to working from home and are isolating our family 100%, not only as our contribution to the community, but also for the sake of our William. Without knowing what’s going on inside, we are unsure of any underlying conditions he may have so we err on the side of caution and are staying home. We are thankful we homeschool and can continue our mission work while in isolation. We are living under a statewide stay-at-home order, and so the mission building is closed and church gatherings are suspended.

We are still working full-time (from home), plus have taken on many roles with our local church, helping to broadcast the sermons online and coordinating assistance for any needs that arise in our congregation during this time. We're busy, and very thankful to be able to contribute in such a time as this.
Four stellar pieces of technology were recently crated up and shipped out from our mission in Elkhart. Their purpose had been totally redefined. Previously used for secular purposes, they’ve been given a second lease on life and will now be used in God’s service. 
Secular tools being used for God's purposes.
SonSet Solutions, where we work on loan from MissionGO (which recently changed their name from Global Outreach Mission), exists to equip global ministry workers with technology tools and services that will help them reach people with the Gospel. When a Peruvian pastor told us two years ago that he received broadcast licenses for three new radio stations, we rejoiced with him! He was now able to bring God’s word to large populations of minority language speakers. However, he was not able to afford the transmitters necessary for such a task. Far to the north and on another continent, God was already orchestrating a solution. 
 
Two months after we were approached for help, the country of Norway did away with FM broadcasting. Everything is digital now. Someone in that country contacted Christian broadcaster TWR to see if they might have a use for ten nearly-new, top-quality analog FM transmitters, which were suddenly obsolete. TWR, in turn, asked SonSet Solutions if we would have floor space and tools for staging all ten of these transmitters – and we did! Engineers at the office outfitted them for new assignments and four have been shipped off to Peru – including some transmitters for the pastor we heard from in 2017! How cool is that?!”
These shipping crates should get the transmitters safely to Peru.
What a tangible example of how we can be repurposed and given a new lease on life when God replaces our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).  People, we serve an awesome God. 
 
Thank you for your sacrifices and support so we can serve in missions. 

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26 Feb 2020

Update on William.

Posted by Tom Scatliff, With 0 Comments, Category: Newsletters,

Last December our youngest, William, had just turned one and was facing serious health complications. He was admitted to Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis with dangerously high blood ammonia levels, failure to thrive, and abnormal metabolism markers. Although this past year has had its challenges, the Lord worked a miracle in our son’s life.
What a difference one strange year and one BIG God can make!

This December we had a follow-up appointment with the pediatrician. Not only is William meeting all of his milestones, but he’s growing very well (five pounds in six months!), he’s officially shed the failure to thrive label, he shows no indication of metabolism issues, and all blood values are normal. Gone are the specialists, health concerns, and the plethora of doctors’ appointments - and we are left with a thriving toddler. Rejoice with us!

Thank you for walking with us during this challenging year. We are joyful to report that work at the Mission continues and we are grateful that the Lord has sustained our ministries through all the challenges of 2020. Thank you for your sacrifices that keep this team going.
 
Merry Christmas!

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