Boyd Family Update

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where

he was going (Hebrews 11:8).” We spend a lot of time talking about the life of Abraham as we continue on this incredible journey. For the last five years we have walked down a road with many highs, many lows, and many chasms we weren’t sure how to cross. Over and over again, we have seen God faithfully move us forward to experience His costly grace and immense love. God has opened doors all around this country for us to share our lives, the ministry of TWR, and God’s leading in all of it.This summer was the busiest of Shawn’s life. Since the first week of June, he has been home in Illinois for roughly three weeks in total. Shawn and Laura traveled together to Portland and Seattle in June, and shortly afterward Shawn left for Europe for 22 days to visit some of our ministries and work with a team on a film in Poland. The day after he returned from Europe, the entire family traveled to Colorado to speak at a conference and have a few days of relaxation. A week later we were in Indiana, and this past weekend Shawn traveled to California for a very brief trip. When not on the road with Shawn, Laura and the kids have been enjoying a restful summer mostly enjoying time with our neighbors. In a flash summer is over! We are readying ourselves for the start of the new school year and beginning to set up our speaking appointments for

the fall and winter. While we know that Vienna is our destination, God continues to ask us to trust and obey Him as He leads us to the people He has chosen for our support team. It is an exciting journey!

eUrope trip recap

This summer the opportunity arose for Shawn to travel to Europe to see more of the ministries in which we will be engaged once we move to Vienna. In Austria and Slovakia, he was able to reconnect with our future team members and see more aspects of our European

ministry. In Poland, he learned about the history of the often turbulent and divided country and the difficulties they have understanding faith by grace alone. With a team of seven talented students from Master’s College in Santa Clarita, CA, an extensive video project was undertaken to help TWR Polska reach people with Christ’s message of grace. The project took the team all around Wrocław (the birthplace of Dietrich Bonhoeffer) and into the nearby village of Lubiąż for an art and music festival called SLOT which is set at a stunning 1,000 year-old abandoned Cistercian abbey.

TWR USA, P.O. Box 8700, Cary, NC 27512The Boyds | (630) 244-7778 | blog: twrboyds.wordpress.com@twrboyds | sboyd@twr.org | lboyd@twr.org | facebook.com/TWRBoyds

September 2013a quarterly newsletter from the Boyds

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit...” John 15:16a

Der Weg nach Wien

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Family photo atop a chilly Mt. Evans near Idaho Springs, Colorado.

Shawn also traveled to Bulgaria with Felix Widmer, director of TWR Europe, and Peter Kolarovsky, TWR’s Central and Eastern European Ministries director. We met with our partner, Studio 865, in Sofia and traveled to Lom in northwest Bulgaria to visit Roma people who have come to Christ through the radio ministry. Through Dr. Stoyko Petkov, Studio 865 director, we were introduced to Nachko, an incredible young pastor and producer who labors tirelessly to shepherd the Roma in Lom and numerous villages.

Shawn also visited with our partner in Belgrade, Serbia known as Ikonos. He learned of the extensive obstacles this ministry faces throughout the Balkan region. With so much recent history of war and international turmoil following the breakup of Yugoslavia, Ikonos works hard to introduce Jesus to the surrounding populations, and also to help the small evangelical communities overcome the ethnic difficulties that have penetrated their societies for many years. To be in that place was sobering. It was only in the late 1990s that the Balkan wars were decimating the lives of its many diverse citizens. The marks of those wars are still very evident today. Our Bosnian producer recounted how most of his generation was killed during that time.Traveling throughout Eastern Europe this summer was incredibly invigorating for Shawn. Our future ministry can at times feel so foreign, both in distance and culture. Spending time with these ministries learning of their successes, failures, numerous obstacles, and

incredible diversity is a great reminder why our ministry is so important. We have to see life through their eyes. Only then can we know how to most effectively reach them with the love and grace of Christ.Setting our SightS on Vienna in 2014We say all the time that we hold our goals very loosely in our hands during this time of ministry partnership development. While we want to arrive on the field as soon as possible, we know fully that this is a process which only God controls. We continue to work incredibly hard to begin our appointment in Vienna with TWR Europe. As we near 50% of our needed monthly support level, we are excited that God is connecting us with so many devoted partners in ministry. Getting to know you is a joy and we are excited to work with you for many years to come! Thank you!We recently signed up for our final round of training which will take place from the end of June through the end of July in 2014. Our hope and prayer is that we will be able to depart for Vienna immediately following that training. Would you please pray with us that God will continue to draw people to financially and prayerfully support our ministry so that we can begin our work by August of 2014?

additional Prayer PointS

• Pray for our family as we adjust to the new school year and for all of Shawn’s ongoing travel.

• We’ve heard from many churches and families that they are praying about supporting our ministry. Pray God will lead them clearly as they seek Him.

• Pray for the connections we need to reach our goal of arriving on the field by August of 2014.

TWR USA, P.O. Box 8700, Cary, NC 27512The Boyds | (630) 244-7778 | blog: twrboyds.wordpress.com@twrboyds | sboyd@twr.org | lboyd@twr.org | facebook.com/TWRBoyds

September 2013a quarterly newsletter from the Boyds

“Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.” Philippians 4:17

Der Weg nach Wien

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From left: Nachko Zajkov, Stoyko Petkov, Shawn, Peter Kolarovsky, & Felix Widmer in northwest Bulgaria.

Wrocław, Poland