“He is your praise and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awe-inspiring works your eyes have seen.” Deuteronomy 10:21

Our eyes continue to see things that inspire awe, and someday I pray that we will look back on our years here and will see this verse as a fitting description.  Since our last letter, I’ve had some good news and some “please follow up at some point” messages.  My liver enlargement is due to an anatomical variant, though they found some things in the labs that need to be followed up with non-urgently.  We plan to do that here.  I had the procedure to break up my kidney stones and it went well.  Overall good news.

Fred had a wonderful visit with his friends in Japan and at the family wedding in the Philippines.  The kids took turns being sick while he was gone, which meant that I got a lot less done than I’d hoped.  But we did drive north from January 20-23.  Our flights could not be scheduled when we had hoped, they were confirmed for February 6.  So on January 25 we had our commissioning at Peninsula Evangelical Friends Church with our home congregation and several out of town family.  It was a wonderful time of fellowship and a wonderful weekend of visiting.  Then I got sick, which turned into asthma, and again we were slower getting things done than hoped.  But God was faithful, and despite the delays we were able to visit with several dear friends, pack, and leave on time.

We moved a bunch of suitcases and bags, a guitar and baritone ukulele, two cats, two kids, and three adults (my sister, Jennifer, traveled with us), arriving in Split, Croatia on Saturday, February 7th.  Minus half of our bags, which ended up being a blessing in that it let us move things in stages.  They arrived two days later.  God provided an apartment the week before we left that we were able to move straight into.  The landlords are friendly and helpful, the neighborhood is bustling and quiet.  We don’t have a car, but using public transit and ride shares is going pretty well.  We have been attending a Croatian church and are hopeful to be at home there.

Our first few weeks have been packed.  Jen got sick our second night here and was out of commission for several days.  My asthma got a lot worse the day we left the US, it is finally mostly better.  After multiple visits to several government and business offices, we are registered with the police, have Croatian ID numbers, have internet and local phone numbers, and our apartment is coming together.  Fred and I have finished three weeks of language school and are enjoying seeing pieces start connecting, even as it feels a bit like a fire hose.  We were unable to find a preschool with openings for the kids, but God provided a nanny for school days and that seems to be going well.  Jen was here for three weeks and the emotional stress of transition seems to have started after she left.  The kids, especially Jael, had a pretty rough couple of week, but now we are seeing steady “settling” in all of us.  There is still a ways to go, so please continue to pray for peaceful hearts and grace with each other.

Croatian Adjustments

We have found some familiar foods, which has been helpful for the kids, but even those have slightly different flavors and textures which has been especially hard for Jael.  A surprise for the rest of us was that our address is just our building, and then visitors call up or the post office puts our mail in the box with our name on it.  We are still getting used to the rhythm of life here, especially that almost everything closes on Sunday.  Many ingredients that we are used to are available, but figuring out the Croatian names was a bit of a challenge.  Having said that, we are enjoying trying new foods and finding new favorites!

The Kids

Alex and Jael are excited to be home, though they miss friends and family from the US.  Having the cats has been helpful.  Jael is often seen carrying one then the other around, frequently telling us: “I need to hold the kitty!” She has been singing the alphabet song “H, I, P, T, H, I, P, T, …” and was thrilled to go to the beach.  Alex sings “the Croatia song”, that his grandma wrote, all the time; notably while we were walking around the old city of Dubrovnik, to his Sunday School class here, and on several walks around town.  He will walk up to random strangers and start with “Hi!  My name is Alex, I like dinosaurs!”  He gained a new scar on his eyebrow when he split it open on the corner of the table less than a week after we arrived , then the next week got another on his side when he tripped on a sidewalk while running at full tilt.  We’ve had some tears about missing home, and also statements of “I like it here” and “I’m glad we live here!”

Praise & Prayer Requests:

• We’re here!  God answered so many prayers for specific things about the trip, the apartment, the kids’ adjustment, in the last few weeks.  We are thankful for all your prayers to that end.
• The body of believers here has already been encouraging.  If you remember a few months ago, I wrote about Fred and I crying during the song “Holy Forever” at yearly meeting in Ohio.  We longed to hear the Croatian church singing that song, sharing that prayer.  Our first Sunday at the church here, that was one of the songs they sang.  The next week they sang “Christus Victor,” which was another song that was something of a them the last few months.
• We’ve been praying, as have many of you, about what the kids should do while we are in language school.  None of the preschools that we’ve talked to have any openings.  But Jen’s last Wednesday here the Lord gave me an urgency to post on a Facebook page for foreigners in Split, asking for recommendations for a Croatian nanny.  Someone connected us to one and she started the next Monday.  We are thanking God for His provision!
• The kids are still having sleep disturbances and emotional stress.  Please pray for their hearts and minds, for wisdom as we take care of them, and that they will pick up Croatian easily from the nanny.
• Please pray also for our language studies, that we will learn quickly.  We are also looking for a language helper to supplement our formal study, please pray for someone who can also become a friend.
• We are starting to connect some with people in our class, please continue to pray that God brings friendships with people who need Him and with people who already know Him.  Pray that we will be a faithful witness, even in this transition period when stress levels are high.

The post The Liddell Family | March Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

“Do no call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past.  Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? The people whom I formed for Myself will declare My praise.”

During one of our prayer walks in Croatia last month, an old property jumped out at me.  Like the spiritual strongholds we were praying against, this house had stood there for generations.  It was in disrepair, yet still holding firm.  And this is the verse that God brought to mind, with the prayer that this time, when religion is an identifier, not salvific, when God is a nebulous entity not Immanuel, that this time would be a vague memory.  God is already doing something new. He has already formed a people for Himself, in Croatia and in your neighborhood.  Will we not be aware of it?  Will we not join Him?

Stateside Busy

We continue to be so grateful for your prayers!  Since our last update we: finished our training at MTI, visited friends around the midwest and southwest, shared at Argonia Friends Church in Kansas, had three weeks of most of us being “home” in San Diego, Jonelle flew to WA for a dear friend’s memorial service, we had another friend visit us in San Diego.  We started gathering documents for visas and did a lot of preparation for our November trip.  In early November, Fred and Jonelle flew to Ohio for some EFM meetings and a commissioning at the annual missions banquet. Then we spent a few days in Salem, Ohio visiting Salem First Friends Church and spending time visiting some dear people from that congregation. The kids stayed with Fred’s parents in San Diego.  Being in the same place for more than a few weeks was a gift for them.

Prayer/Planning Trip

We flew from Ohio to Split, Croatia, joining up with several teammates on the way.  Over the course of the next few days we met with: a representative from our language school, an immigration attorney, a realtor, and a local pastor.  We found out that the visa path we had planned on would not work at all (it wouldn’t let us bring our kids) and found another way that should be a really good fit for our first couple of years.  We spend time getting a feel for the city and scouting out both what is available in local stores and how much things cost.  We prayed around several neighborhoods in the vicinity of the language school.

Then one more teammate joined us and we shifted gears to a prayer trip.  We moved to Orebić, visited the closest church and renewed our acquaintance with the pastor.  We prayed around the center of Orebić.  Then half of our team went home, one person leaving early due to respiratory issues.  The rest of us moved to Ploće, spend time praying around town there, and got a bit of rest.  We visited friends across the border in Bosnia and Herzegovina, then moved south to Dubrovnik.  Lunch with missionary friends there, a visit to the local Baptist church and renewed acquaintance with the leaders there, a respiratory bug in our remaining teammate, and a prayer walk in the Old City.  Our last afternoon, as we were debriefing our prayer walk, I started to feel some back pain.  It got worse, I ended up in the ER diagnosed with my first kidney stone.  Thank God for our missionary friends, they helped us navigate the ER and the urologist the next morning and helped us get to the airport on time to make our flight.

Getting Ready to Move!

Since we got back, life has been a blur of doctor appointments and exams, two ER visits, time with the kids, continuing to get our visa documents in order, meetings.  The first kidney stone has passed, but there are two more in my left kidney.  While they were looking for the stones, they found that my liver was enlarged.  Turns out there is also something there, as yet undiagnosed, that needs to be addressed.  We also had a memorial service for Fred’s uncle, who died while we were in Ohio.  And got a brief visit with Fred’s brother, who came home for the service.

The current plan is to continue getting through doctor appointments, visa things, packing/sorting, until the end of December.  Then drive to Sequim, Washington.  Fred will fly to the Philippines for his cousin’s wedding (he’s a groomsman) while Jonelle and the kids enjoy family time and work on packing there.  We’ll have one week all together, and a commissioning at our home church.  We hope to fly to Split on January 23 and begin language school on February 23.

As you can probably guess, these plans feel a bit hectic and uncertain.  We are trusting that God is not surprised by these inconveniences and His timing is good.  Please pray with us for continued peace in the process, for energy and focus to get all the things done, for clarity if/when we need to adjust.  Our hands remain open, our plans held loosely.

The Kids

Alex talks frequently about moving to Croatia.  He continues to be our social butterfly, ready to talk to anyone and ask them all about themselves and their opinions on dinosaurs (Where do you live?  Do you have kids?  Do you like T rex or Ankylosaurus better?).  Jael loves coloring, swings, and singing.  Her current favorite game is bathing her toy animals in a tub on the back deckThey play trains and dinosaurs, family and cooking together and it’s really adorable!  Their theme song for this season is “Jesus Calms the Storm” by the Gettys, followed closely by “Jesus, Strong and Kind.”  They continue to love the book “found: Psalm 23” by Sally Lloyd-Jones, and we’ve added “It Will be Okay” and “He Always Hears.”  Reinforcing the lessons they learned at MTI, the things we’ve been talking about in the car, with stories and songs has been helpful for all of us.  If you also find yourself in a season of changes, of goodbyes, take a listen and feel His balm “There’s a Rock where I can go, keeps me safe and this I know, deep within my troubled soul, Jesus calms the storm.”

Prayer Requests:

• Please continue to pray that we will draw near to God and find rest for our souls in this time of unknowns and transition.
• Pray for our kids that will know God’s peace and will grow to love Him deeply.
• For physical healing and health, for protection from spiritual opposition in any form it may take.

The post The Liddell Family | December Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

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.

The post Liddell Family: September 2025 Newsletter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

The Liddell Family | Preparing to Serve in The Balkans

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He Who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” Hebrew 10:23-24

In June, we moved out of our house and left for Idaho, visiting several churches there in July and enjoying sweet fellowship with individuals. Then we headed east and were encouraged by our time at the yearly meeting sessions for Evangelical Friends Church-Eastern Region. As we were driving east for those sessions, our house went on the market, we accepted an offer, and we are now under contract. The next few weeks will be spent visiting seven churches and several loved ones around the East Coast. It is easy to get caught up in the busy, but we opened with this passage and close our presentations with it for a reason.

First, we pray this for each church and person we visit; that you would both hold fast and hold out your confession of hope without wavering, holding to and introducing your neighbors to the faithful one who promised. Known locally for the way you love and the way you live out that love.

Second, we need that prayer. As we visit churches and as we go to the Balkans, we want to live this. Local pastors and missionaries reported that many workers come into this region and leave within two years due to discouragement, but that doors of opportunity open if you stay past that point. We need prayer to hold fast to our confession of hope, holding out the faithful one, living love.

But most of all, we pray this for the people in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro, that they will gain a confession of hope and will hold it fast, that they will know the faithful one who promised. That a place known for bloodshed and deep ethnic hatred will be known for the way its people love one another.

“And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” May this be true in our churches, here and around the world!

Praise God… In the chaos of moving, I (Jonelle) was feeling quite stressed. Driving a load of stuff somewhere, we passed a field and Alex got excited and insistent until I looked, “Look, Mommy, it’s soft green grass in a meadow by a little stream! Just like Jesus gives! He makes our hearts quiet!” He was referencing a children’s version of Psalm 23 and has applied it a few times, in a few places. Praise God that this little disciple is seeing God’s gifts around him. For the body of Christ with which we have been privileged to fellowship. They are not just loving us well, but we are getting glimpses of the ways that God is using each local body to shine where they are and make his name great. It is a delight to see! For two potential teammates, who are praying about their role in the Balkans and are taking steps to go! Please Pray… We are driving hundreds of miles around the East Coast, then back to San Diego, where we will base with Fred’s parents, then to Colorado for a month of training, then back to San Diego. Pray for safety on the road. For those potential teammates as they continue to discern God’s leading. And if God does continue to lead them to this field, pray for unity as a team. “Jesus, I miss (grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, friends, my house, my cats). I’m sad. Jesus, you stay with me?” We are hearing that prayer regularly from the backseat, as Alex processes goodbyes. Usually followed by “mommy, I prayed, and Jesus is with me, now I’m happy!” Please pray with us, as our kids navigate this season of change and goodbyes, that even when they aren’t happy, they will know Jesus is with them. May we all be so quick to cast our burdens on the Lord.

Download this month’s prayer letter here…

The post August 2025 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Great news! Jonelle and Fred Liddell, the first household to respond to EFM’s Five-Year Goal are now halfway to their support raising goal. We celebrate God’s faithfulness and the generosity of his people. Join us all in gratitude for this significant development!

This is a major milestone because they can now join EFM’s missionary community full-time! They will pour all their energy into training for language and culture learning, partnership development, and preparing for the field. Once they finish this training and reach 100% of both their monthly financial need and prayer partner goals, they can deploy to the Balkans.

As you celebrate this benchmark, if you sense the Lord prompting you to support the Liddells through prayer and/or financial support, follow this link [their Classy page]. It would propel towards stepping into this amazing opportunity to share Christ’s love in a place of great need. It will be a great encouragement to them too!

Finally, I am honored to be a part of this expression of God’s relentless love to the world. I am grateful for people like you who faithfully help make it so.

The post Exciting News: The Liddells Reach 50% first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

The Balkans is officially a new EFM field! We have a field! Since we were already hoping to go there, some things will continue as they are. We are still working with our coaches on preparation to be missionaries. We are still building relationships with the workers we know in that region and trying to find out what we can about this region and the people living here. We are also still raising prayer and monthly financial partners.

The post Liddell Family: Field Approval Update! first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

    “And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul . . .”

In this part of 2 Kings, Josiah has become the child king of an idolatrous Israel. He directs the priesthood to clean up the temple, and they rediscover the law. They read it to Josiah, he repents and has the law read to the people, and they renew their covenant with the Lord. The Balkans are much like Israel was, with a history of knowing the Lord and very few faithful today. One of our prayers is that the people will come back to the Lord, following him “with all their heart and all their soul.”

Thank you for your prayers for us recently! We had a great visit with Fred’s parents for a couple of weeks, including an overnight in Victoria, BC (a short ferry ride from Port Angeles). They also watched the kids while we had our first weekend away together when we went to southern Idaho for a weekend. Their visit was too short, but it was such a help and blessing!

We had a full weekend in Idaho, reconnecting with friends we made in Kodiak, meeting new friends, speaking at Whitney and Boise Friends on Sunday morning, and at an area rally at Greenleaf Friends on Sunday evening. It was fun to meet some of my dad’s school friends in Greenleaf and hear some of his stories from their perspective. We look forward to visiting more of the churches in the area and reconnecting with those we’ve already met, but probably not until we’re full-time with EFM. We’ve made it to 15% of our monthly support. We’re excited for when we can be full-time with EFM!

The next weekend we spent in Oregon, with a Friday memorial service for my great uncle that the kids and I went to, and then a missions dinner at Medford Friends and a Sunday morning service at Talent Friends. Again, it was good to reconnect with some people and make some new friends. Both weekends were times of encouragement for us, and we hope for the churches we were visiting as well. It was also good to spend some time with the Fodge side of the family at the memorial.

Now, things slow down slightly, we think. This weekend, we are home. Next weekend, we are in Oregon again for my grandpa’s memorial service and a morning service at Clackamas Park Friends. Fred is on call at work the rest of the month and cannot travel out of town, so we are looking forward to having some family time together and getting some other things done.

We are very thankful for your prayers over the last few weeks. There has been a lot going on, but we are thankful for new prayer and financial partners, for opportunities to worship with other parts of the body and see how God is working in other parts of the Northwest, and for the kids traveling well. We are especially thankful for God’s protection over my dad. He had a quadruple bypass on Monday and is recovering well. There is lots going on!

Prayer requests:

1. Keep praying for Fred as he balances his various roles and tries to finish well at the city. Pray for moments of rest.
2. Keep praying for the kids, that we will parent them well through this season, that they will find joy in the new relationships and will continue to travel well.
3. Pray for the Balkans, that God will draw many to himself, that he will strengthen and increase his workers there, that he will bring peace and healing to the people there.

The post Liddell Family: October 2024 Newsletter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

In hectic seasons, it can be hard to take time to be quiet, to “be still and know that I am God.” Our coach challenged us to make a few minutes of quiet every day a priority and we appreciate that reminder. It is much easier to pray as we are on the go and working on various things than it is to set the distractions and tasks aside and listen to the Spirit. But it is vital to take that time, in the busy seasons as in the slower ones.

Since our last letter, we have spent a morning service at First Friends Church in Vancouver, Washington, at East Hill Friends Church in Kent, Washington, and one at our home church. Worshipping, fellowshipping, and sharing with Friends in other congregations has already been such a blessing! We look forward to visiting more churches in the next weeks. We’ve also spent a blessed weekend with my mom’s side of the family in La Grande, OR. These times together are a joy.

Fred continues to serve as interim IT manager for the City of Sequim, though we are hopeful that a new manager will be hired soon. Balancing that increased workload with EFM training and deputation, family time, and church needs has been a strain. Thank you for your prayers for him; please continue to pray. He will continue to work full-time until our monthly fundraising is at 50%, at which time he will quit his job, and we will be able to focus more on pre-field training, connecting with churches and partners, and moving preparation. We are very grateful for those of you who have already partnered with us in prayer and financially, thank you!

In the meantime, we are working on building our connections with contacts in the Balkans. We are working through a reading list with our coaches and meet with them regularly. I continue to clerk our church missions committee and serve on the Northwest Yearly Meeting Board of Global Outreach. We have a few situations with extended family that are taking more of our emotional bandwidth, especially as we watched my Grandpa Comfort dying. It’s a season of transition, with some joyful highs but still holding painful lows.

It has been a joy to spend more time walking together as a family recently. I love reading with the kids and seeing their excitement over books. They sing along with their catechism songs, and Alex is working on memorizing a few verses. Alphabet hide-and-seek, Roar, toddler soccer, and pretend-to-be-asleep (until the child startles you awake) are favorite games. Thank you for your prayers for them; this schedule and time of transition are difficult for little ones.

Prayer Requests

• Keep praying for Fred as he balances his various roles and tries to finish well at the city. Pray for moments of rest.
• Keep praying for the kids, that we will parent them well through this season, that they will find joy in the new relationships and will continue to travel well.
• Pray for the Balkans: that God will draw many to himself, that he will strengthen and increase his workers there, that he will bring peace and healing to the people there.

Thank you for your support and prayers!

Fred and Jonelle Liddell

Alex and Jael

The post Liddell Family: September 2024 Newsletter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Then we all traveled to Newberg, Oregon for the Global Outreach Conference that I’ve been helping plan (as part of the Northwest Yearly Meeting Board of Global Outreach), the annual Missions Banquet, and Yearly Meeting (our denomination’s annual sessions). I am on the above-mentioned board and serve as our church’s representative at the business portion, so it was a busy few days! During the sessions, the representatives gave their endorsement of the Eastern Europe field for the Luke 10 Initiative and recommended changing its name to “The Balkans” to more accurately reflect the area we are looking at. In addition, we have several new prayer partners, and several churches asked us to schedule a visit with them. We are working our way through that list, getting those visits scheduled. If you would like us to share at your church, please email me at jonellel@friendsmission.com to set up a time!

Helping Grandpa with stroller during Yearly Meeting

Jael “helping” Grandma set up before church

A lot of my extended family lives in the Newberg area, so we enjoyed spending some all-too-brief time with uncles, aunts, cousins, and second cousins on both sides of my family. We also got some precious time with my grandpa, the kids’ last great-grandparent. This family time, the conversations with old and new friends at Yearly Meeting, and the increasing interest in the field of the Balkans were such encouragement and joy!

It has been a busy summer already and that will continue, but it will be shifting focus somewhat. We are fully in the partner-raising stage, looking for individuals and churches who would like to join us as prayer partners or as monthly financial partners. We hope to be on the road most weekends, driving to different churches and meeting their congregations. We would love to meet with any of you who are interested in learning more about how God is leading us.  Some of you have already partnered with us and we are very thankful for you! We’d love to meet with you, too, and learn more about how we can uphold you in prayer. If you are not our prayer partner and want to be, welcome! And if you are ready to become a financial partner, welcome to you too!

Prayer Requests:

• Fred’s position in the city is shifting, possibly just temporarily, and that brings a lot of unknowns and a lot of new responsibilities. Please pray that he will be faithful in his work while we are fundraising and that God will give him the strength and focus to fill both roles (IT interim manager and EFM candidate) well.
• Please pray for us as we are on the road a lot. Pray for safety, for health, for the kids as their routine is mostly gone right now.
• Please pray for the Balkans, that God will prepare us for this place and that he will raise more workers to go. Pray for the people, that he will soften their hearts towards the gospel and will bring deep peace and healing to troubled minds, souls, and relationships.

Thank you for your support and prayers!

Fred and Jonelle Liddell

Alex and Jael

The post Liddell Family: August 2024 Newsletter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Sickness took down each team member, one at a time. Our rental host served us a homemade Bosnian breakfast. Missionaries told of great need and great difficulty in building trust to start ministry. Bombed-out buildings remain a feature in every Bosnian town we saw. The corner store lady nearly cried when we said goodbye and gave us candy when we left. Pastors shared about how God is moving and gave us a better understanding of the difficulties of ministry in this region.

We spent a lot of time on airplanes.

At SeaTac airport, checking in for our first flight.

Thank you for your prayers. We met with pastors in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and missionaries in both of those countries and Montenegro. God brought us men and women of peace who welcomed us, offered insight and advice, and provided us with opportunities for ministry and partnership if EFM moves forward with this field.

The team is recommending moving forward with this field of southern Croatia, possibly including southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina/northwestern Montenegro. We are feeling called to go to this field and are planning accordingly. However, the final decision on whether or not to approve it won’t be made until the November board meetings. We continue to feel a strong call to EFM and have discussed a “plan B” if this field isn’t approved, which would likely be working with Muslim refugees in Greece. In the meantime, our family will be busy with deputation, fundraising, continuing to build relationships here and abroad, and maintaining the activities of “normal” life.

Part of our team at Stari Most in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The kids walked a ton, but sometimes they needed help. This is in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Family Life

On the home front, Fred continues to work in the city and to run tech for our church. Jonelle has been busy with the kids, planning a missions conference for later this month, and family things. Alex continues to love dinosaurs and cars, sings all the time, pushes the stroller on our walks, and is fascinated by letters. One of his current favorite things to sing is the last line of the alphabet song “w, x, y, i, z,” and he sings it every time he sees letters on something. Like a box, a book, a shirt. He is working on his first memory verse and a simplified catechism. Jael’s vocabulary grows every day. She loves building with blocks, playing chase with Alex, petting the kitties, and reading books. She is a bundle of sunshine and energy.

Alex wanted to “help Jael walk”.

And here Alex is walking Daddy.

Snuggles on a long day in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Below).

Prayer Requests

Please pray…

• For Fred as he juggles family, work, church, and missions things. Pray for peace, for energy, that he will be a light in his workplace.
• For our interactions, as we are with family, friends, and visiting churches. Pray that we will be an encouragement and a witness.
• For our preparation, that we will be diligent in study, faithful in drawing near to Christ, and will clearly discern his leading

Thank you again for your prayers and support!

Fred and Jonelle Liddell

Alex and Jael

The post Liddell Family: July 2024 Newsletter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.