Clatskanie, Oregon

Well, we made it to Oregon. We got up around 3:00 a.m. EDT and my parents and two friends dropped us off at the Philadelphia airport. We got through security and everything with no problems and our flight was leaving at 7:10. I heard a flight attendant comment while we waited to take off that something must be wrong as they normally don't wait that long. Not a good thing to hear! But soon the pilot told us that a plane had experienced a "bird strike" while taking off and they had to check things out to make sure it was safe to take off. So, we soon were in the air. We couldn't sleep much, but we got to Salt Lake City about 10:00 CDT (about 12:00 at home). Our next flight left about an hour later and we arrived in Portland, OR about 12:00 PDT (about 3:00 at home).

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.