To the Kitchen and to Croatia!
At one of our stops this summer, Alex was playing with some animal and dinosaur figures and a toy shopping cart. He loaded all the toys into the cart and announced “Bye Mommy! I’m going on a walk!” “Where are you going?” “To the kitchen and to Croatia!”
We’re Fully Funded!
We laughed at Alex’s remark, but were also struck by how fitting that answer is. Where are we going today? Probably somewhere mundane, like the kitchen or the classroom or the store. But in a few months? We’re going to Croatia! Because, praise God, we’re fully funded! Thank you to those of you who have partnered in prayer and those who have partnered with their finances, God has been using you and we are a major step closer to going!
Our Summer of Travel
A lot has happened this summer: We moved out of our house in June, put it on the market in July, closed in August! We drove east then west, visiting churches and lots of friends in Idaho, Ohio, Michigan, New York, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington D.C., and Kansas, ending in California. We visited museums with dinosaur bones, national monuments and national parks. We shared 16 times at churches, small groups, annual sessions/yearly meetings, and VBS’s. We drove through 26 states (I think) going one direction or another, ending up most recently in Colorado for a month long training at Mission Training International (MTI).
Sharing at Evangelical Friends Church -Eastern Region’s Yearly Meeting Sessions
Mission Training International
All four of us are in class all day, 5 days a week, learning strategies and techniques to learn a new language faster, tips for adjusting to a new culture, techniques to help with the emotional roller coaster of moving overseas, and spiritual practices to help keep us grounded throughout. This program has been even better than we hoped! We’re making friends, loving our classes and trainers, already seeing progress in some things as we implement the tools we’re receiving. For instance, I have never been able to trill an “r” and I need to if I want to speak Croatian well. Last week one session was working on “r’s” and I was able to trill for the first time! Sounds minor, but it felt major!
Still to Come
In October we will be doing a bit more visiting in the mid-west, then driving back to San Diego for some downtime with Fred’s parents. In November, Fred and I will fly to Ohio for some meetings with EFM, then will fly from there to Croatia for two weeks. This trip will start out focused on pre-move logistics, then will shift to a time of focused prayer in several key locations. We will be joined by a few people from across the country, including two potential teammates! Language school in Split, Croatia starts at the end of February, so we hope to move by the end of January. It’s coming fast!
The Kids
Our kids have been blessed by quick connections everywhere we’ve gone. They’ve gained extra grandparents and an awful lot of friends. This has been a great blessing, but the goodbyes are hard. Through the summer we’ve seen signs of increased emotional stress in both Alex and Jael, peaking right as we got to Colorado. Being in one place for more than a week has helped with that. But within the first few days of training, we also learned more of the early indicators to watch for, as well as a steadily increasing number of tools to use. It has been empowering and encouraging to see the differences as we use things they have taught us mixed with things we figured out on our own. Please keep praying for them though, their world is already shifting and their hearts hurt for the people and places we’ve already said goodbye to.
The next few photos are the kids with their bonus and real grandparents!
Please Pray
- For these next few months, that we would be drawing near to God and finding rest for our souls, even as we do all the things that need doing before we can leave.
- For the kids, that they would know God’s nearness as a constant. That we would have wisdom and patience as they deal with the stresses of this time.
- For our potential teammates, that God would guide their process and draw us together in unity even before we reach the field. Pray for clear discernment and peace as they seek to follow His leading.
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