The Means Mission

Tulsa Literacy Workshop

2011-05-01T18:47:00.001-05:00

The first week of April, I (Amy) went to Tulsa, Oklahoma to organize and teach a literacy tutor training workshop at the LEI headquarters. I worked with the Tulsa Literacy Center director, Barbara Merrill. The Tulsa Literacy Center is a part of LEI's local ministry in Tulsa that partners literacy tutors with those in Tulsa who can't read. It is a vital and growing ministry that reaches out to many different people and is run completely through the efforts of volunteers.

During the workshop, Barb and I taught four wonderful students during two sessions. The first session was three hours, and the second was five hours. All the students learned very quickly and will be excellent tutors for the Tulsa Literacy Center. Here are some photos from the workshop.

Barb Merrill modeling how to teach the Pre-Reader.

An apt student in her mid 80s. What an example!

Two students excited to become new reading tutors.

Amy teaching what an hour and a half lesson should contain.

Barb teaching our tutors how to witness to their students.

Me with our four wonderful new tutors at the end of the workshop.

While I was in Tulsa, I also got to enjoy some wonderful spring scenery with Barb and LEI's North America Director, Bob Biederman and his family.

The Biederman girls in their dresses. So Precious!

The whole Biederman family.

Bob with their youngest. What a sweet daddy.

Beautiful tulips!

Barb and Amy

ESL Workshop

2010-11-22T16:56:00.001-06:00

Well, we did it! We held an English as a Second Language Tutor Training Workshop. That's a mouthful, but it just means that we trained people who speak English to use our Bible-based materials for teaching others to speak English. So now they are all ready to start teaching English.

This was the first workshop that we coordinated and taught by ourselves, and we were so happy to be holding it right here in our home church. We really have a heart for our neighbors and friends in Russellville, Arkansas, and teaching English can open doors to minister in our area. There are many international students attending the local college as well as a significant Spanish-speaking population that are interested in learning English . We can minister to these and others by teaching them English and about Jesus Christ.

Brad had everyone interested in how to relate with other cultures.

Amy talked about learning by doing with Total Physical Response.

We enjoyed teaching together.

We had seven students graduate with their certificates. They all learned so quickly and asked great questions.

Lydia was a smart and sweet student.

The Scott family: Lydia, Lane, Marcia, and Abigail

Teresa was a great student.

Teresa and John

We gave everyone a chance to teach one of the eight steps. It was great practice for everyone to see how a lesson would look from beginning to end. They all did a wonderful job!

John entertained us teaching the "Vocabulary" section.
..."These are cats!"

Abigail tackled some complicated rhythms with "Clap the Stress."

Lane taught "Pronunciation."

Brad and Amy demonstrated how to teach a conversation.

Marcia taught "Activities."

Then we gave everyone a certificate and discussed where they can use the training. We are starting a new ESL class here at our home church, so many of our students plan to join us in that ministry as teachers.

We are so proud of our graduates!

Come be a tutor!

2010-10-19T16:45:00.003-05:00

Do you speak English? Can you spare an hour a week? Are you in the Russellville area? Well, you should consider being an English tutor. We're starting some ESL (English as a Second Language) ministry right here in the Russellville area!

We'll be doing a training with the ESL curriculum that we use at LEI next week, so this training should give you plenty of teaching tools to get started as a tutor. The schedule for the sessions is as follows:
Tuesday, October 26th, 6:30-9:30pm
Thursday, October 28th, 6:30-9:30pm
Saturday, October 30th, 8:30am-12:30pm

Location: First Freewill Baptist Church of Russellville 1103 East L Street

So call us or contact us at bmymeans@gmail.com if you're interested in coming. The cost is $35, to pay for the cost of the books and materials. As soon as the training is complete, we'll work on helping to pair you up with a student as soon as possible. Or if you already have someone in mind, that's great, too. You and your student can meet once a week for an hour, or whatever the two of you decide.

What's going on with us right now?
We've decided to focus on things closer to home. We've had a lot of people asking about ESL ministry because of the growing needs and opportunities right on our doorstep.

What's our current goal?
Our goal is to establish a flourishing ESL ministry in the Russellville area.

What's our plan?
Our plan is to train tutors, partner them up with a student, and support each of these partnerships to become a long term learning relationship and friendship.

We feel that our current vision follows the LEI motto:
"Each one teach one and win one to Christ"

I guarantee you that as a tutor, you'll get just as much out of it as your student will. I know all of you can speak English and can spare an hour a week, so you're all set to become a tutor. No, you don't need to have any foreign language to become a tutor. Please ask us any questions you have if you're sitting there pondering this opportunity. You can even leave a comment on this post, and we can do a follow-up post for frequently asked questions (choose 'Anonymous' and you won't need any account to comment).

That's what's going on right now-- so help us make this vision happen!

Invitation

2010-08-26T19:05:00.005-05:00

IF YOU CAN'T WATCH THE VIDEO:
For those of you who can't watch the video, this is us doing our best to do an honest presentation of ourselves as missionaries. We are hoping to pursue a career in helping people by taking short-term teams to work with Literacy and ESL ministries going on through LEI, beginning in Central America. But to do this work, we need ongoing financial support from people that believe in what God can do through us. We would be honored to have your support as we work for Christ in literacy ministry. No donation is too small, but a regular donation is better than a one-time gift. If you want to support us, a $10 donation every month for a year is better than a one-time gift of $120.

Beyond financial giving, we really need your prayers. Please pray for us as we are going and doing. There's nothing like the power of prayer to fuel our ministry.

If you have any questions or just want to sit and chat, we are happy to meet with you in person to talk with you and answer any questions you may have, even if you decide against supporting us in the end. We just love telling people about what God is doing in our lives. Sharing this vision and heart is a joy for us.

Whatever you decide, please contact us if you're interested in joining us in our ministry. Our email address is bmymeans@gmail.com.

OPTIONS FOR DONATING:
1. Send a check payable to 'Literacy & Evangelism International' to

Literacy & Evangelism International
1800 S. Jackson Ave.
Tulsa, OK 74107

and include a separate note that says "for Brad & Amy Means" to designate your donation for our account.

2. Donate by credit card through the Literacy & Evangelism International website (there is a small extra fee that goes to JustGive.org when using this method)
https://www.literacyevangelism.org/opportunities/donate

3. Most donors choose the option of having us electronically charge your account the amount you specify each month, quarter, or year. We can use an automated bank transfer to do so. You just have to fill out a form which we can mail to you or email to you for you to print, and then send it to LEI. Or we'd be happy to come to you in person and go over everything with you. These transfers can be stopped at any time.

CURRENTLY PLANNED MODEL FOR OUR FUTURE WORK:
I) Internationally
   A) Short-term missions (beginning in Central America, with hopes for the
        rest of the world some day)
      1) Find an LEI literacy or ESL class in need
      2) Find a short-term team interested in literacy or ESL ministry
      3) Train the short-term team as literacy or ESL tutors via Tutor Training
             Workshop (10 hours of class spread over 3 days)
      4) Go ahead of the team to prepare the way (housing, transportation,
             etc.) at the target location
      5) Bring short-term team to the literacy classes and pair each team
             member with students from the classes to tutor in 1 on 1 sessions
   B) Planting literacy classes abroad with Teacher Training Workshops
      1) Hold a Teacher Training Workshop in a target country to train native
             literacy teachers
      2) Help the new teachers get their own literacy class started
      3) Come back with a short term team to help their class later on
II) In the United States
   A) Promote literacy ministry & LEI among churches, conferences, and
          events in U.S.
      1) Present literacy as an urgent and overlooked need for Christians to
             focus on
      2) Plant seeds of the vision that may grow into:
         a) A ready and willing short-term team
         b) Church members that want to start their own ESL/Literacy ministry in
                that church
         c) People who want to support this ministry financially
   B) ESL/literacy ministry in the United States
      1) Help to train and pair up ESL/literacy tutors in our own home town
      2) Help those interested in starting their own ESL/literacy ministries in
             their own home towns
   C) Help teach/host the annual ILTI (International Literacy Training Institute)
          at LEI each summer in any capacity needed/requested
      1) Serve as teachers and dorm managers
      2) Build relationships with the students as potential future teachers of
            classes that we will visit with a short-term team

ILTI

2010-08-11T23:06:00.000-05:00

Each summer, LEI hosts its International Literacy Training Institute (ILTI) in Tulsa, OK. Students come from all over the world and live in the LEI dorm for five weeks while they attend classes about everything LEI has to offer. Many different professors come to the ILTI to teach its courses: ESL (English as a Second Language), English Literacy, International Literacy (in the language of the student's choice), Literacy Primer Construction (learning how to design an LEI curriculum in a new language), Leadership, and more. We do our best to teach them everything we know, so that each student is fully equipped to build their very own literacy program in their home countries and beyond.

Students taking notes during class

Last year we had students from the United States, India, Kenya, the Sudan, Brazil, Korea, and Burma. This year, we had students come from the United States, Canada, Japan, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Guyana. At LEI, we want each country to have a growing and thriving literacy ministry, so that each and every person will be able to read-- not just well enough to write their name, but well enough to read their Bible. So, the ILTI is all about sending out people with the power and passion for literacy ministry to every group of people in the world.


These 11 students come from 8 different countries

Brad and I have both attended the ILTI training in the past, and this year we were invited back to be teachers and to help out at the dorm as "house parents." Amy taught English as a Second Language during the first week. Brad led the inductive bible study each morning and taught English Literacy during the second week. The teaching was so fun and gave us great experience for when we will be teaching these things overseas.


Amy teaching about how to teach a conversation for ESL

A group of students learning to teach English conversations

Brad teaching about supplementary materials for a literacy lesson

The students working together and learning from each other

When we weren't teaching, we were "parenting." Our duties as dorm parents included preparing supper, buying groceries, driving the "kids" where they needed to go (walmart, the doctor, the airport, etc.), celebrating birthdays, and making sure that all the household chores got done. We loved being parents! Granted, we had great kids who did everything we asked with a joyful attitude and as true Christ-like servants. It was hard work, but so rewarding. We built wonderful relationships with the students, teachers, and LEI staff.

They're glad to have finished the dishes...
It's not easy cleaning up after 25 people

We're ready to say our mealtime prayer

We loved the fellowship with the students

The beavers at the Tulsa aquarium were really fun


But Amy's favorite were the playful otters

Our time in Tulsa flew by, and before we knew it, graduation was over. We were so blessed by our summer at LEI and the people we met there. Please pray with us for our brothers and sisters who attended the training to be blessed as they begin their literacy and ESL ministries. Praise God for their calling to share His love with LEI!

Celebrating after graduation

Another team in Nicaragua

2010-08-02T00:15:00.001-05:00

The team spent their second night in hammocks at the church in Likia.

The villagers had a lot of fun showing us how to ride their horses...

... and we had fun learning from them.

We'll miss Velloso, our trusty, loving, and protective companion.

Scott was a great ESL student and even better friend.

Heidi was another dedicated ESL student and such a sweet friend.

Our goodbye dinner with the team's host families

Everyone shared their stories of living together

Relaxing and reflecting on the experience at debrief

Amy with Ana, one of the team members

Wherever we went, we tended to attract a crowd, so the teams were prepared for the kids with bubbles..

Saying goodbye to our youngest ESL class

There's often a shortage of pictures of all the hardest work, because there's a shortage of time to take them..

The second short-term mission team in Nicaragua went really well! We taught literacy, ESL (English as a Second Language), helped build a church, and taught community health with educational skits. The team also had a great mimed drama that the locals really connected with.

It was really amazing to see the team bond with their host families that they lived with for the duration of the trip. By halfway through their trip, they were a real family. They were calling each other "mama" and "hijo/hija" (son/daughter), and the siblings grew to be real brothers and sisters as well. The impact that the mission team had on the people of Rio Blanco, Nicaragua amazed us.

This trip has dissolved all the skepticism I had about short term missions. Prior to this trip, I (Brad) didn't have much international short-term missions experience, so I still didn't know what to think about them. Short-term missions can sometimes catch a lot of criticism for not being cost-effective. Some people say why pay to send your own people to help, when you could just send the money in the mail so that the people there could hire their own help and buy their own things. However, this trip has blown that viewpoint out of the water. This trip showed me first-hand the unseen personal impact of a short-term missions trip that is never to be underestimated.

Short-term missions fill work with love. With love, they are worth well beyond the good work they accomplish. God could have sent us a letter from heaven to say "I love you", but He knew how much more effective it would be to come here in person as Jesus. We would do well to follow that same example.

Our first short-term team

2010-05-22T19:43:00.008-05:00

Well, we did it! Our first short-term missions team just left. They were 16 college students and 2 leaders from Purdue University, and they were such a blast to work with! We had so much fun and learned a lot about God and each other in the 10 days that they were here. We started their experience in Nicaragua off by taking them for a two hour ride in the back of a milk truck out to a rural village called Likia. There we taught a literacy class. The whole village seemed to gather for the night. 23 gringos makes for a real party out there. They had a long church service and even killed the fattened calf for us...literally! We spent the night in hammocks in their one-room church and got up at 5 a.m. to watch the sunrise and milk a cow. Then we made some fresh corn tortillas and had some tender cow heart for breakfast! The group embraced rural life like pros! They were eagerly helping them cut grass with a machete and planted yucca and corn with the farmers. They rode horses...and one burro, and overall had a wonderful experience.

Brad teaching in Likia

Then the real work started! We came back to the bustling city (not really) of Rio Blanco and started working on helping a local church build their new building. All I have to say about that is...MUD MUD MUD! Mud is lodo in Spanish, and we sure did have a load of it! We were put to work leveling a floor, which basically means shoveling mud all morning for four days, but the group had an amazing attitude and worked like true loving servants all week!

They also did a great job teaching four nights of ESL classes. We taught them conversations and games and Bible verses, and the students really enjoyed having them here.

Oh yeah, and did I mention there was a mariachi band? (We had a fun night to celebrate three of the team members' birthdays that happened while they were here. So fun!)

The team did a wonderful job. Rio Blanco will not soon forget them. And I'm sure we won't either!

And the next one arrives in a week. Wow! We'll be leading that one, so keep us in your prayers, and we'll let you know how it goes!

Wrapping up our Bolivian adventure

2010-04-27T16:19:00.007-05:00

Have you ever tried llama meat? We have! Our trip to South America was full of new experiences. During our two months in Bolivia, we were able to explore and learn many new things. We took some Spanish classes, and our tutors helped us catch up to the language and culture of Bolivia. They helped us out a lot, and our knowledge of Spanish has improved in leaps and bounds. We also enjoyed learning the local foods as well. We will not quickly forget the taste of llama meat and freeze-dried black potatoes!

Ah, Bolivian hospitality. Every church we visited fed us a delicious meal.

We met with a leader of the Quechua people to discuss literacy. They're always so friendly.

We also learned a lot about the literacy situation in Bolivia:
After investigating the need and possibilities for establishing our own literacy ministry in Bolivia, we have decided that, although we love Bolivia and its people, we are not going to move there to begin a full-time literacy ministry at this time. We may return to hold a training workshop, but are not planning to live there long-term as we had thought possible. Here is what is going on with literacy in Bolvia:

● The government is funding a literacy program that offers payments to their students, such as supplies of food. They also lend a TV/DVD combo to the students for use with their educational DVDs, and they get to keep it for the duration of their classes. This is very difficult for literacy ministries like ourselves to compete with, because we simply don't have the resources to pay our students.

● There are literacy programs already present in Bolivia who are already struggling to compete with the government's program, despite being established for many years.

●The need for literacy in Bolivia is mainly in Quechua and other tribal languages, not Spanish. We do not speak these languages, only Spanish. We may be able to return and train in Quechua with a translator, but we could not lead our own ministry there. To meet this need, there is currently already a Bible-content literacy program working in Quechua.

●The Quechua culture is a very oral culture. In fact, the written form of their language did not exist until the Spanish came over and wrote it. Therefore, there's not much of a passion for literacy to work with, which is why the government is offering payments to their students in the first place.

Thanks so much to all who prayed for us and gave towards our trip to Bolivia! We know that God has a perfect plan for us, and He will continue to open the right doors to lead us to His will!

So, what now?
Well, good question! We have been asked by the LEI staff to consider becoming a contact for their short-term missions department. So, we are now in Nicaragua for six weeks to help host two short-term teams. We have joined an LEI missionary couple, our good friends Tedd and Emily Lodes, who are already in place teaching literacy and English classes in a village called Rio Blanco. When the teams arrive, they will assist with teaching these classes as well as doing some church construction work. We are very excited to be here learning more about how to plan for and host short-term teams. Please pray for us as we go and live in Rio Blanco. We know God has another great adventure planned for us there!

Brad with three boys from one of the Lodes' ESL classes. They all greeted us in English: "Hi, I'm James. It's nice to meet you"
"It's nice to meet you too, James."

We're really looking forward to helping out with Tedd and Emily's classes and working with the teams when they arrive on May 9th. It is so exciting to see the Lord working all over the world!

Our Journey to Llallagua, Bolivia

2010-03-22T17:12:00.016-05:00

We could spend several paragraphs telling you about all that we experienced and learned about the people and culture of Llallagua (pronounced yah-YAHG-wah), Bolivia, but these videos and photos are probably a much better introduction.

Quechua hymn we attempted to sing along with at a church in Llallagua, Bolivia

Here's Victor preaching in Quechua after we sang. He's the one that made all this possible.

Quechua women spinning yarn in a church in Llallagua, Bolivia

Our visit to another small church on a rainy afternoon in Llallagua, Bolivia where the women were spinning yarn.

We also have lots of good pictures of our trip to Llallagua on Amy's Facebook. Just click this link to see them, even if you don't have Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=155774&id=615102321&l=177056e3c9

Back On Our Feet

2010-03-04T19:23:00.014-06:00

Well, some digestive sickness knocked us off our feet for the past few weeks. It's easy to forget how wonderful eating is. We could only drink fluids and fantasize about what we would eat if we were able to. (Don't ever stop drinking fluids if you have that sort of sickness. Ahem, anyway..)

However, we're happy to report that we're finally back on our feet! And good gravy-- is it wonderful to be able to eat or what?

With the illness hitting us so hard, we're only just getting started with the bigger stuff. We've already been out today making plans for literacy, and we'll be making a trip out into the countryside next weekend to talk to some pastors from another area about their literacy needs. We'll let you know how that turns out very soon. But for now, we would like to share a few of the simpler things that struck us about living here.

-There are a ridiculous number of stray dogs here. They're everywhere, on every street. You're just as likely to see stray dogs as you are people. In fact, once when I (Brad) was walking home by myself to Amy (who was already feeling sick), one of the stray dogs charged me, barking like crazy. It wasn't a big deal though, I simply pretended to pick up rocks and throw them at it, and it quickly ran away.

-Liquids often come in bags. Milk, ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, and yogurt are all good examples. Seeing ketchup in a bag kinda reminds me (Brad) of a giant ketchup packet.

Here's some chocolate milk in a bag. Brad can't get enough of this stuff!

Here's how we pour the milk: snip a corner and use a pitcher.

-It's rude to slam your door if you get into someone's car.. but the doors feel really light here for some reason. I'm still working on this one (Brad).

-The water from the sink is not good to drink, so we fill this tub with filtered water and use that for drinking, cooking, and brushing our teeth.

-Watching the streets for a while will challenge your idea of how many people and how much stuff you can get into/onto a single vehicle. I wasn't aware that a motorcycle could transport a family of 5.

-Because of the altitude, the Sun is super strong here and it tends to burn us, so we wear good sunscreen every day. Not a bad habit to be in, really.

-The steakhouses in the United States could learn something from the steakhouses here. Why hide all your food in a secluded kitchen? Here, they cook everything on an open flame out in the open so that everyone sees the juicy steaks, and entire streets smell like steak on the grill around suppertime. Entire streets..

-Bread here is not like sandwich bread at home. We buy fresh loaves like the ones below every few days for sandwiches and snacking. It's so fresh and tasty!

The bread on the left is our sandwich bread. The small ones on the right are a local type called cuñape (koon-YAWP-ay) that are made of cheese and yucca flour...yum!

Amy enjoying a cuñape, her favorite.

-The outlets are a bit different here, but for the most part, all our stuff works. Note there is no ground (three prong) option, so we had to borrow an adapter for our computer (Thanks Wassers!).

The far left is a light switch.

-We have discovered a new favorite food. They are called humintas (oo-MEEN-tas) and are made fresh every afternoon at our corner market. They are made with cornmeal, corn, egg, cheese, and oil that is steamed in a corn husk for an hour. They taste like a moist cornbread.

A new favorite for Brad! Note the chocolate milk. :)

All gone! Yum!

I (Amy) will have to learn to cook these so I can make them when I get home.

These are just a few of the things we have learned/observed while being here. I'm sure there will be many things about home that we will see in a new light when we return to the US. It has been an adventure so far, and we're looking forward to many more.

Thank you so much for all your prayers! God is certainly working on our behalf here. We'll be back with some literacy updates when we get back from our trip (to Llallagua if you want to google it) next week.

Wow, we're actually here!

2010-02-15T16:20:00.016-06:00

That's what I keep saying to myself as I look around and realize that Brad and I are spending our first time together in a foreign country. Bolivia has been a wonderful adventure so far. We are enjoying our time here very much, and are learning so much every day!

So far we have...

traveled a really long time on a plane before finally arriving here in Cochabamba,

our second day of flying...almost there!

Beautiful Bolivia

explored our neighborhood and gotten to know some of the local customs,

These mountains are always visible from Cochabamba.

Stands like these are on almost every corner where people sell their goods.

The traditional dress of women. We see this on about 30% of women here in the city. It's pretty much all you see further out in the countryside.

Construction workers

eaten some new foods and enjoyed buying things from the local market,

Isn't the produce beautiful here? Check out the size of those avocados (far left)! Recognize the mango?

Something new in the lower left--it's called tuna and is a fruit from a cactus. It tastes a bit like cantaloupe, but with many seeds that you just swallow down.

and enjoyed sharing many new experiences with each other!

Our first week in Bolivia has been full of exciting new experiences, and we have accomplished a lot! We have taken 16 hours of language study where we have learned many new things and gained needed confidence. We have met some missionaries and Bolivians who are helping us to find our way around and learn the local customs. (Thanks, all of you!) We learned about a Bolivian holiday called Carnaval. It is kind of a mix between the Andean celebration of the provision of the rainy season and the Catholic-based pre-lent party. It has become pretty rowdy and full of water balloon fights. We've had fun trying to stay out of the cross-fire!

We also had some progress on the literacy front! We had a very informative meeting with an established literacy mission here in Cochabamba that works in the Quechua language. They offered to use their many contacts and check on local churches that could be interested in beginning a literacy ministry in Spanish! This is a huge step forward for us, since it will allow us to follow-up only with the churches that are interested in literacy. We never could have contacted so many churches without this help! Praise God for sending such a useful contact so early on in our trip! They also spent a few hours with us, sharing the state of literacy work in Cochabamba and telling us where the need is greatest here and the best way to approach a literacy ministry. We have a good idea now of what we can expect to accomplish here and what the people need. We are excited to be able to solidify a little further what our future in Cochabamba might be if God continues to open the doors here!

Some praise items:

We arrived here safely!
We have had no health problems, which is amazing since our bodies are adjusting to many new things.
Great connections with people who know a lot about Literacy work here.
New friends that are helping us get to know Cochabamba.

Some prayer requests:

Continued safety--it's a big city (about the size of Nashville, TN in population)
More connections with churches interested in literacy ministries
Guidance as we pray about where God is calling us to work.
Patience and understanding for us as culture shock and missing home sets in.

Thank you all so much for thinking of us while we're so far away!

The Future

2010-01-16T17:09:00.004-06:00

Lately, we've been getting questions about our directors at LEI, Tedd and Emily Lodes. They are the directors of the Latin America branch of Literacy and Evangelism International.

It can be a difficult and abstract endeavor to try to paint you a picture of our hopes for the future.. but if you take a look at Tedd and Emily's blog, you can see some of the fruits of LEI missionaries that are already active in the field of Latin America. I hope this helps to show you our hopes for our own future.

http://teddlodes.blogspot.com/

Tedd and Emily are great examples of the people at LEI that bind us so closely and firmly to LEI both as a group of people and as a cause.

Planning our first trip to Bolivia

2010-01-06T14:51:00.006-06:00

Boy, what a blessing this last month has been! We got to spend a lot of time with our family for Christmas, and then a week later, Brad turned 23 and we had a wonderful time reuniting with old friends on New Year's Eve. Yesterday, the 5th, was our two year wedding anniversary, which was another wonderful night. We are so blessed to have each other, our friends, and our loving family!

But now that the holidays are over, it's time to look forward to heading into Latin America to begin our ministry. We've been making some big plans for the next six months. First of all, we're going to Bolivia in February and March. Things are starting to come together for this trip. We have applied for our visas and are ready to step out in faith and go where He has been leading us. It's an exciting time, but also a faith-growing one. We have been on a roller-coaster of spiritual highs and lows as we deal with questions about where God is leading us and how to best fulfill His call. But I thank God that we are growing daily as we seek to follow Him and cannot lean on our own means to make any of this happen. We are praying more, seeking Him constantly, and preparing our hearts for this new and exciting time!

We are planning to be in Cochabamba, Bolivia for eight weeks from the beginning of February to the end of March. While we are there, we will be meeting with local missionaries and pastors about starting a literacy and ESL (English as a Second Language) ministry in Cochabamba. We will be assessing the need in the area for literacy and determining if Bolivia is where we want to establish our full-time ministry in Latin America. I'm sure our Spanish will be improving daily as well, which will undoubtedly be a fun and challenging experience.

Below is a map of Bolivia. Cochabamba is near the center, right at the base of the Andes Mountains (it's elevation is 8,500 feet). It is a beautiful city with relatively nice weather year-round (When we're there it will be summer and the rainy season, with average highs in the 80s.)

We are very excited to go, and we will be posting videos and pictures of the people and places that we see in Cochabamba while we're there. For a financial update, we have about 35% of the funds needed to make this trip happen. We are so blessed by your prayers and support that are transforming our vision into a reality!

To answer some recent questions...

2009-12-29T22:06:00.004-06:00

First of all, I want you all to know that we treasure your hearts, minds, and attention. I know that if we can inspire you all to see the scope of this vision, it'll add a little bounce to your step and drive to your life.

Surprisingly, people's first questions have been how to donate. We are deeply touched by how eager everyone is to put that kind of confidence in us. So, if you've asked, here's how to donate. Any donations should be made payable to Literacy & Evangelism International, and addressed as follows:

Bradley Means
c/o Literacy & Evangelism International
1800 S. Jackson Ave.
Tulsa, OK 74107

All donations will go into our own account at LEI. This process keeps the donations documented and accounted for, and therefore non-profit, non-taxable, and tax-deductible. We regularly receive updates on donations and who they're from.

We really appreciate how willing everyone has been to get on board with us financially. However, the subject of money can sometimes weigh down the inspirational mood. So we'll be following up this post by exploring more of how we can change this world together. Don't worry if it's not in the cards for you to donate! We need you. We need your thoughts, ideas, and prayers.

A spear isn't much use without its shaft, is it?

And so it begins...

2009-10-30T13:00:00.003-05:00

We are so excited to share with you what God is doing in our lives! Since Brad graduated with a Nursing Degree from ATU in May, we have been pursuing God’s calling on our lives to become missionaries to Latin America. After much serious prayer, God opened the door for us to join with a mission called Literacy and Evangelism International (LEI) whose mission is to teach the illiterate world how to read as a means of evangelizing and church-strengthening. We had always taken the ability to read the Bible for granted until we learned that so many Christians cannot turn to the Word to seek comfort, guidance, and spiritual strength because they cannot read. We stepped out in faith and spent June and July in Tulsa, OK training with LEI. Since then, we have been accepted as LEI missionaries and are ready to take the first steps toward building our ministry.

Check out LEI at their website: http://www.literacyevangelism.org/

Our ministry vision includes teaching in the areas of:

Literacy
English Language
Basic Health

To teach literacy and English, we will be using LEI's excellent materials. Each lesson of these materials has Bible content. Brad will use his training as a nurse to help meet our community's basic health needs once we are in Latin America.
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This September, we taught a Literacy Workshop in Tulsa to help us gain experience teaching with LEI's materials. A workshop includes:

An introduction to the problems and causes of illiteracy.
The Biblical basis for a literacy ministry.
Training adults who can read to use LEI's materials.
Teaching students how to tutor a non-reader.
How to begin a church-based literacy ministry.

Amy demonstrating a portion of a lesson during the Literacy Workshop.
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Brad simulating the experiences of a non-reader for our students.
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Teaching at this workshop was a great experience, and we learned so much that will help us to establish our own literacy ministry in Latin America.

Our next step is to take a two month trip to Latin America. We plan to visit Bolivia and Nicaragua because these countries have some of the lowest literacy rates in the region. During our stay, our goals are to:

Assess the needs of each region. How much do they need literacy, English, and health instruction?
Learn more about their cultures.
Determine what country God is calling us to work in, and for how long.
Make connections with those working in literacy, English, and health in the area.
Assist the area in any way possible.

We greatly appreciate your prayer and support as we follow the Lord's guidance in every step of beginning our ministry!

The Means Mission

2009-09-17T23:25:00.004-05:00

If you're looking for the blog of Brad and Amy Means, you're in the right place.

We're getting things started by setting up our lines of communication. Our internet communications will center around this blog. Whenever we have a new post, we will send out e-mails and Facebook messages to let you know we've added new info. If you'd like the Facebook messages, join our Facebook group, The Means Mission. If you want to receive emails, which will include an outline of the post, just send your email address to us at the address below.

Aside from our electronic means of communication, we'll also be mailing out a printed newsletter with the same content of our blog. If you would like to receive the printed version, just email us with your mailing address.

Our email address: bmymeans@gmail.com.

More on our plans coming soon.