Miles and I want to thank you all for all of your support. Your Physical, financial, and spiritual support means so much to us. We would not be fully funded without each of you. We are humbled that God has chosen to send us and use you to help in the accomplishment of the Great Commission.
Prior to leaving for orientation we were told that MAF worldwide is being challenged by the evil one to change the way they do business. This issue has our visas in limbo. We were privileged to be able to meet our regional director and take him to lunch last week. He is going back to Sentani on Tuesday and will personally attend to the consulate not just on our behalf but on behalf of MAF et all in Indonesia. We know that we will not arrive in Sentani one day later than what God has planned for us. We are ready and are waiting on the Lord.
Our breakneck pace has slowed and we are spending much needed time with each other. Since it seems that mid Aug is now the earliest we will leave we are planning a vacation where we will be able to re-bond with each other and move forward as a team. After 7 weeks apart and 2 weeks of being in a pressure cooker while we got moved out of our house, cleaning, painting, packing, and sorting, we are looking forward to spending some quality time together with the pressure off. We will be back under pressure once we arrive in Sentani as we begin to settle in and prepare to find our niches where we will be.
Our orientation group includes four "candidate" couples who are just in the beginning of the process as we were in November. It is exciting to meet these young families who are committing to serve Christ with MAF once they are accepted. Each region has presented themselves to the group. Each region would love to have the entire group come to their programs. The group has gelled nicely and they would love nothing better than to serve together. We of course are the oldest couple in our group and have no children coming to the field with us.
We are spending time in classes designed to prepare us for ministry overseas. We have very full days learning about cultures, conflict resolution, spiritual warfare, different regions, the Indonesian language, as well as chapel every Wednesday morning. Our group is in charge of Chapel this week as we introduce ourselves to the home office staff. Our classes coming up this week include cooking from scratch, travel, safety, more language and Hr stuff like benefits including medical.
We have been invited home for dinner this week by a family from the church we visited today. It is so good to be part of the family of God. We are all parts in His body. Praise Him!
We are still available by phone, email, and face book. We will try to keep in touch with each of you but please keep in touch with us.
Blessings,
