Settling In and Stepping Out
Yikes! We did not mean to let so much time go by between updates. We have now been in the US for three months, and what a whirlwind it has been. We continue to settle into our house while also continuing to wait for our shipment to arrive with the rest of our things. Last we heard, we are “penciled in” for a delivery at the end of this month.
Since our last letter we have . . .
- Finished furnishing our house (Praise God for Habitat for Humanity Restore!), minus the items from our shipment
- Attended Mission Orientation
The president, board members, and executive directors praying over newly appointed missionaries and families at the end of Mission Orientation.
- Hosted friends of our daughters both for evenings and a couple of overnights.
- Attended a “Fundraising Boot Camp”
- Attended Freshman International Student Orientation and made some fun connections with students and their parents.
- Helped Layla start her first year at Cedarville
- Began meeting with potential partners
- Stacy started back into her master's coursework
- Matty is back into homeschool, as well as playing soccer once a week and joining in church youth group activities
- Been teaching Kylie to drive
- Been trying to help all three kids navigate the job market
- Begun to make new friends and reconnect with old ones
The most incredible part of this whole journey has been watching God move ahead of us, providing before we even ask. The house, the car, the ministry to students, and people to join us in partnership. We are planning a trip to the West Coast in October to meet with potential partners and attend a family wedding. Before dinner one evening, we booked our tickets for our trip. Originally, we had planned to fly into Seattle on October 9th, so we could share in a church in Spokane on the 11th. However, as we looked, October 7th was significantly cheaper, and even more so if we flew into Portland instead of Seattle. So, we booked those tickets, figuring we would spend a few days with family in Salem before driving up to Spokane. A couple of hours later, we got a notification from another church in Salem wanting to meet with us on the 8th. They did not know we had changed our original plans, but God knew we would need a different plan to meet with that church! George and I looked at each other and said, “Wow, God!”
As we look ahead to the next few months, we'll be spending a lot of time connecting with people and sharing about what God is doing through our ministry. Our goal is to be fully funded by January 1, and we're excited to see how the Lord continues to provide.
If we haven't had a chance to connect with you yet and you'd like to sit down with us, we'd love that. We're trying to meet with people in person whenever possible, but we're also happy to hop on a video call if that's easier.
We'll be on the West Coast in October, so if you live out that way and would enjoy getting together, please let us know.
One of the biggest ways people help us is by introducing us to friends, family members, or others who might be interested in hearing about our ministry. If someone comes to mind, we'd be grateful for the introduction.
Feel free to reply to this newsletter or fill out the form on our website if you'd like to connect, ask questions, or introduce us to someone you think would enjoy learning more about what we're doing.
George, Stacy, and Family