Praise God!

Saturday morning we signed a lease to rent our house, effective August 1! The couple was ready to start moving this week already. And this is a tremendous answer to prayer.

Also, it looks like we should be receiving the go ahead from Second Tunic. We have not met the 80% required, but because of time constraints, it appears that we will be given special permission to let us go. We still need to hear official word, but it looks promising.

So we leave from Philadelphia on Friday morning at 7:30 and we arrive in Oregon (via Salt Lake City) around 12:00 p.m. (I think PDT). I'm not sure about the rest of the flight information; I'll have to post that later.

Thank you all for your interest and support and prayers. It is all very much appreciated.

Winding down to gear up!

Just a quick update:

We are leaving on Aug. 6th-right now that seems to be approaching way too fast compared to my laundry list of to-dos.

Please keep Joshua & I in your prayers as we pack-up and head-off to the Philippines so soon. We need prayer for safety, sanity (don't let stress & tense emotions get the best of us) and unity in forming friendships with these other wonderful ladies I will be training alongside.

Thanks for your interest in God's work in this corner of the vast globe-it's quite exciting to see how God can use us when we are willing to be open & vulnerable.

Below is a picture of our lovely home stateside that we need rented out. Hopefully we will soon find someone-we've had some people who were interested!

EUZ Fundraising Meal - July 11

So on July 11 we had our second fundraiser meal. The menu was basically the same as the first meal, but the location was at my parents' church. We got help from my parents and a few others for preparing the meal and clean up. My parents' Sunday School class provided a large and wide assortment of desserts for the meal. Thanks for that!

The beginning of some endings

So, this week as it's almost over marks the end of some activities for us. Josh is working his last week and we are packing up what housing possessions we have left to store them. It's an odd somewhat freeing activity. It's amazing to see what earthly "stuff" we have gotten and how much (despite what the mass media wants me to believe) we can go without.

Had our second fundraiser meal at Ephrata United Zion, this past Sunday. This one was also a great time of eating and mingling with others. The final tally is not in yet as to how much was raised....stay tuned!

P. S. about 3 weeks and counting down...still much to do

Couple of items:

Pack up our house

Find renters for our house

Pack suitcases...ugh

Eat an Achenbach's donut :)...this one will be easy

Thanks to everyone for your prayers, financial support, encouragement and interest in this crazy, amazing, can't-do-it-without God Journey!

Blainsport Fundraising Meal June 27th

The air was thick and warm, but the aroma of Hamburger BBQ wafted from the fellowship hall to the attentive churchgoers upstairs. After the service, a hearty buffet of Hamburger BBQ, gourmet potatoes [no really, that's what they're called :)], cold veggies, relish tray, chips and assorted desserts filled our hungry stomachs. Food, fellowship and a good cause-that's the way to spend a meal!

Time flies~July already!

Wow is it July already?!~Time flies when you’re having fun and keeping busy.

Let’s start with some good news, and some not-so-good news.

The GOOD part, last week we received our letters that will be needed to apply for long-term missionary visas once we’re in the Philippines!! Yeah!!! (loud clapping/cheer whoops)

On the other hand, (the NOT-SO-GOOD news) I failed to realize that our birth certificates and marriage certificate needed letters from the PA secretary of state as well, so Josh and I drove back to Harrisburg this Tues. to get them. See, it’s much quicker to drive there and they process it while you wait, than to snail mail them back and forth. Then on Wed. I remailed that information to the Philippine consulate in NY.

Quick Update...

So a lot has happened in the past month. And I mean A LOT! To make a long story short, God has provided a great need. Basically, we needed to find a sending agency, and within 24 hours we basically had one. We are now partnered with The Second Tunic, a local sending agency that fit our needs perfectly. And everything was just perfect. They are based in Lititz, just 10 minutes from our house. The directors, Daryl and Mary Martin, have been to the Philippines to visit missionaries they support. They have been to Davao City and have had interactions with midwives from Mercy Maternity Center. Wow! Like I said, it just seems like a perfect fit. I really don't think God could have provided a better solution for us. Well, of course not. He's God, He's perfect, so of course it is a perfect solution.

So now all of our funds are being processed through The Second Tunic. We have packets of information we can hand out or mail to people. We have shared at our home church and at my parents' church the past two Sundays. We also have fundraiser meals planned for each church. Now we are in the fundraising phase. We have to have a lot of money raised or pledged before we can leave. When I think about it, I really have no idea how this will work out. But, knowing how much God has provided for us already, and truly believing that God has called us to go to the Philippines, I am simply trusting in Him that He will provide the funding for us. Our task is to be obedient to His call and move forward into the call He has placed on us.

So that's about it. We are selling furniture, raising funds, finding renters and life is just moving along quite rapidly right now. Two months from now we will be in the Philippines. Wow! All I can say is "Praise God"!