The future for Tim and Maz ......

Below is a copy of an email that we've sent to friends, family and supporters, if you weren't included on the list it's probably because we didn't have a recent up to date email address for you so we hope you don't feel left out.....if you'd like to find out more about what our future is going to look like, as far as we currently know, then please read on and get in touch via email if you'd like to know more!

The future for Tim and Maz 'Extra Mile Walkers'

Dear Friends, family and supporters, No doubt you’ve been following our progress via various different social media applications over the last few months and will have seen that we have been able to take some sabbatical time which has enabled us to reflect on our six years at the village of hope, reconnect with family and friends around the world, and to seek God over his plans for our next steps. This has been a total blessing and one that we feel truly grateful to have been given the chance to enjoy. Having reflected at great length, however, we are now convinced that our time with Thembalitsha, on the ground in South Africa, has come to a natural end. Although we love the work they are doing and continue to see lives changed, we do now know that we will not be going back to our old roles in Grabouw. We will continue to lend our support to the UK side of the charity, but we do know that God is calling us on to something new, and so we've tried to capture what we believe that is, in the short paragraphs below. Throughout this time God really placed the word ‘fluid’ onto our hearts and we sensed that this next season would be one of serving the Kingdom in various different places rather than serving one specific people group in one town and at one base. Some flesh has now started to emerge on those bones! Late last year we made contact with the directors of an incredible organisation called Emerging Leaders who provide practical life skills training to many thousands of people in sub-Saharan Africa via their links with the British High Street retailer Marks and Spencers (M&S). Emerging Leaders were keen to expand their programme beyond the farms that supply M&S so we hosted a three day workshop of enthusiastic local people who live in some of the poorest informal settlements of Grabouw who attended their life changing ‘Leadership for Hope’ course. We were so inspired by the way in which Emerging Leaders are able to communicate practical, effective and new ways of thinking to those who live in what we would see as hopeless situations and after further discussion with them we have agreed to a 'personal partnership' which will allow us to use their materials to bring hope to some of the people and organisations that we are already connected with around the world. Between now and the end of January we will be developing our skills to become effective trainers for Emerging Leaders, bringing together their programmes with the other skills that we have developed in the various seasons of our busy lives and then using that to bring hope be that in the third world or right here in England. The next season will see us being based in our home town of Aylesbury and from there venturing out for shorter effective trips to people groups near and far. The leaders of our local Aylesbury Vineyard church are also excited about this new opportunity which will give us an opening to support them on some local missions via their various compassion ministries. Please pray for us, as we have lots to do, to get to a position where we can start this ministry early in the New Year. So, this is really exciting! But, there are some practical challenges that we’d like to share with you. The main one is that the financial support that we received whilst we volunteered for the Thembalitsha Foundation stopped in July. We are so grateful for all of the support you have provided over the years – thank you! It would be wonderful if you felt able to prayerfully consider the possibility of offering us some financial support in our new ministry, in which we’ll be trying to fulfill what we feel is a God-given mandate to bring hope and transformation to those most in need, be they families living in tin shanty towns in Africa or young adults trying to find their identity here in the UK.  We’ve been consulting widely among the godly men and women who have journeyed with us to this point and they have expressed their support and willingness to create an accountability structure for us, within a UK charity framework, which was an important first step. They will continue to be our ‘council of reference’ and provide us with pastoral and financial oversight.  If you would like to find out more about how you can help us then please get in touch via email by return or click on the link below and we’ll let you know more. God bless and we hope to hear from you soon! Tim and Maz  Bringing hope though life-skills and leadership training programmes. Partnering with existing organisations throughout the world.

Our mailing address are: extramilewalkertim@gmail.com or extramilewalkermaz@gmail.com