FISHER’S NEWS
FRESH NEWS ON BUSINESS AS MISSION AND THE UNREACHED
May, 2022
Celebrating!
Dear Friends in Christ,
Yesterday we got to drive up to Greeley with Amanda and family to celebrate Hanna’s graduation from college! We are so proud of her! She graduated with a degree in Secondary English with an Endorsement in Cultural and Linguistic Diversity. Her hope is to get a job as an English teacher for an eight-grade class in the same school where she has been student teaching this last semester. She should find out soon if she’s been hired. It’s so great to hear her say that she has loved student teaching, that she has found it easy (when her peers have struggled), and that her host teacher has told her over and over that Hanna has the best class behavior management skills she has seen, even compared to more experienced teachers. That should be proof that she has found her calling, right?
On our way home, Mark and I dropped Amanda and family off at Denver International Airport. After only a couple days at our house, and celebrating Hanna, they continued to Kansas City where they will meet up with Michael’s parents and be part of the preparations for the large mission mobilizing gathering, The Send. From
there they continue on to Atlanta to introduce the newest addition to their family, Levi, to Michael’s extended family. A couple weeks later they fly to Istanbul, Turkey, to visit a team of friends that was sent from their YWAM ministry in Kona, HI, to connect with and encourage. And in June we will meet up with them in Finland! Mark and I will be there June 11 to July 6, and the Roppos will meet up with us for the first ten days, to introduce Michael and the boys to my par- ents, who have not seen their grand- daughter Amanda in flesh for 10 years.
The day before the Roppos arrived in Colorado Springs, Mark and I flew in from having been at a YWAM conference in Chico, CA. Every year (last year in Mexico) the western area circle teams meet up for this gathering of team leaders, base leaders, and others participants, to process, pray, and worship. Honestly, I (Åsa) had been carry- ing things on my heart in prayer that our mission has gone through in the last two years of Covid-19, etc. There had been some tough seasons where we have lost staff members to death, division, and for other reasons. It was a relief to be able to process these things together as a mission, to hear
each other, to repent, and pray together. Every session felt relevant. As always, there is a lot of interaction with old and new friends, and too little time to connect with every familiar face.
Mark
Mark’s SOBE is going strong. The nine students in the cohort here on our campus bonded quickly and have turned out to be a really fun group. They are in the process of starting to write their business plan. It’s been a really busy season for Mark with early mornings and late afternoons. He has been the only facilitator in class, so he has had to stay very focused since this is the first time we are using the recordings from the online course in a live classroom. He gets to watch the whole course himself for the first time, and adjust as needed. Since we were gone last week for the conference and graduation, and then go to Finland during the last two weeks of the school, other people from Mark’s staff will have to step in and facilitate, but Mark will still have to stay involved on some level.
Since we moved here in 1997, Mark has been running the Firstclass secure intranet system which has served thousands of missionaries and has been the main communication system for our campus. After 25 years, our campus is now moving over to another system, and Mark is “retiring” from running Firstclass. The old system is
no longer making upgrades, and Mark has served us long enough. That to say, it takes a lot of work to move a whole campus, with all its departments and folders, and to learn a new system (especially for us “older folks”). A lot of patience is needed for the transition group. The old system will still run for paying customers through the end of 2023. Recently, revenue from those customers passed half a million dollars over the life of the system. Not bad for a small side ministry.
Åsa
Last month I wrote all about the new assistant Personnel role I was stepping into. Well, after some more prayer and training, I have now accepted the Personnel Directorship (instead). We added another assistant, and it turned out that the director tasks are more up my alley anyways. There are more people interactions and less admin, and if I go back and listen to the word from the Lord during our staff conference, and other words God has spoken in recent years, it makes sense. I feel the sanction of the Lord in my spirit, and I’m confident that He will help and guide me, even up the very steep learning curve. I would love your prayers for my brain, for it to stay pliable and fresh, especially as I will also be learning our new campus- wide communications system, and as we move all our existing folders over.
I will also be at the large mission mobilization gathering, The Send, in Kansas City next weekend. A friend and I will be driving all Friday, attend The Send on Saturday, and drive back on Sunday. It feels like Mark’s and my schedules have picked up speed in the last month, but by God’s grace, and following Him in obedience, He is renewing our strength like the Eagle. Our days will be pretty full until we leave for Finland, but we look forward to forest bathing (it’s a thing!), and enjoying the water’s calming effect while there.
Ukraine
Even on our campus our hearts have been broken for the situation in Ukraine. Therefore, a group took the initiative to fly over and help. They started by helping refugees over the border to Poland, but a few of them ended up driving into Ukraine to several places to help with evacuations, replenishing of supplies, and repairing of damaged homes. A very dangerous task. After two weeks, most of them returned home, but two young men decided to stay for another month. The team’s daily written firsthand reports were heartbreaking and in- formative about the situation there.
Finally, please continue to pray our Ford Focus transmission part arrives. Mark spoke with Ford this month and they were of little help!
Mark & Åsa Fisher
The Mission
To plant churches, businesses and YWAM ministries that apply God’s Word to every area of thought and life in a culturally appropriate way amongst Muslim peoples and the least reached peoples on the planet.
Contact Information
Mark & Åsa Fisher
5648 Preminger Dr.
Colorado Springs, CO 80911
Cell Åsa: 719-330-5342
Cell Mark: 719-659-1512
Mark-email: fisherm@ywamcos.org
Åsa-email: fishera@ywamcos.org
Support Information
YWAM Colorado Springs/Donor Service
505 Popes Bluff Trail
Colorado Springs, CO 80907
Note: Make the check out to YWAM and place the number “111” on the memo line of the check. Enclose a note saying “Donation is for the Fishers”. Or donate ONLINE.
