Christmas has arrived!

Our apartment is all decorated for Christmas and we're done with our Christmas shopping. This year we had to be very economical in our purchases because of the added expenses of our arrival in February and the lack of pay during maternity leave. God as good and provided money through our rewards points on our visa which we have never cashed in. We feel so blessed!

This afternoon was a bit traumatic (especially for Michael). Ever since we moved in our apartment nearly two years ago it's been our intention to find a new home for Schroeder. The apartment is so small and the two dogs don't have space to get out all their energy. We didn't want to just get rid of him, we wanted to find him a home that would love him and take care of him. We've been dragging our feet because we knew it would be hard, but we finally realized we had to do it. A lady in Orlando posted on Craigslist that she was looking for a small dog. She has a big backyard, another dog to be Schroeder's friend and a nephew for Schroeder to play with. He sent to her immediately and licked her face. She thought he was so cute and sweet. Michael is sad and will miss him for a while, but it's much more peaceful in the apartment and Hank seems to love having the attention all for himself. It will be easier to keep him out more and walking one dog is much easier than walking two (especially with a newborn in the house soon).

This week I started my last trimester. 11 1/2 weeks to go!! (assuming Clark decides to show up on time). He is an active little guy who loves to kick and squirm and move around in my belly. We've had so much fun watching him move. One of our favorite things is Michael likes to put his ear to my stomach to see if her can hear anything. When he does, Clark will kick right where his face is pressing. He's a feisty little boy already kicking his daddy in the head :) We've got the nursery set up and if I can figure out how to post pictures on here I'll put up some shots we took as well as the sonogram picture.

Michael finishes finals on Tuesday and then he has two Winter term classes, a full load in the Spring and three more classes to take in the summer and online. He'd love to be done now, but he's close enough we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We're trusting God to provide the finances we need to get through the last few classes and live during maternity leave. He has been so faithful to provide in the past, we know he will provide now, although it's a little scary when we see the numbers on paper.

We're going to Colorado for Christmas to spend time with Michael's family. We're excited to see everyone and spend time with Trey who found out this week he's going to have a little sister just a month and half younger than Clark. Everyone is super excited!

Since I'm not very regular about posting, I'll go ahead and wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

The Halfway Point...

...20 weeks and counting.

In just two days we have our only sonogram. Hopefully we'll be able to start calling the baby a he or she rather than referring to his/her as "it." We can't wait! Michael found a doppler heart rate monitor on Ebay for $100. It is the coolest thing! Hands down, it's the best hundred dollars I can remember spending. Every night when we get in bed, we listen to the baby's heartbeat. My own heart beats faster when we hear the quick and steady beating of our little one's heart. I've even recorded it on my phone to play for friends. The funniest thing is that when the baby flips it make a staticy sound. Apparently the baby doesn't like the heart rate monitor very much because it "swims" away every time I put the receiver down. It's our little game.

We've been ignoring the season and spring cleaning. Our apartment is in shambles right now since we've pulled everything out of several closets and both bedrooms. The good thing is that after our garage sale today we have a little cash in our pickets and a nearly empty front bedroom. All of our efforts have been aimed at making room for the crib and other baby furniture. In case you can't tell, we're just a little excited about this baby. So far we've been good and not bought baby stuff. The only things we've bought were purchased in Baton Rouge. We got a little onezy, some pacifiers, a bib and a little warm-up suit. All are unisex (although a little girl would need a purple hair bow to complete the outfit). We couldn't help ourselves since it's nearly impossible to get LSU gear in Orlando. Once we find out the sex, it will be more difficult to stay self controlled.

**Note to Grandpa: I've already picked out (but not purchased yet) a little Georgia outfit for the baby. Plan on the staging of a great grandchild picture with you in your Georgia attire.**

Back to School Again

It's been a while since we posted anything, I'm not sure if anyone is still reading this. As soon as we got back from London we had a couple days to recuperate from jetlag before leaving again, this time for Denver, Colorado. Our only chances to see Michael's parents, brother Jack, sister-in-law Janice and 2 1/2 year old nephew Trey are at Christmas and summer. We had to make the trip as soon as we got back so that we could see them before school starts. God has blessed us with generous parents who fly us out to see them when we have time. We had a terrific visit! It sure is convenient to have family in Denver to give us a reason to see the amazing terrain and beautiful mountain sunsets over the Rockies. Trey is at such a fun age. He talks continually and says the funniest things. He sings his ABC song, You Are My Sunshine and Take Me Out to the Ballgame (Rockies style), rides his tricycle around the porch for hours, goes on make-believe trips to Walmart to get treats and particularly enjoys "pattowing" Michael. We are missing them already!

This week I started back to school and get students on Monday. It's nice to be back at the same school in the same classroom. We have to pack everything up every year, but it's easier to unpack in the same room. This is a first for me. I've never spent a third year at any school. It definitely seems to get easier with time and experience. Thursday evening we had "Meet your teacher," so I had a chance to meet some of my new students. I always get excited and nervous to meet my students. It looks like it should be a good year. For the first time ever I have on-grade level reading students. I've always had the lowest reading class (which I have enjoyed and love motivating the students who are used to failing and helping them get excited about reading). I'm not sure what to do with students who are actually on-grade level. I guess I'll find out quickly.

Michael starts back this coming Wednesday. He's happy with his class schedule and particularly looking forward to his two classes with Steve Brown. He is beginning his senior year. We're both excited that the end is in sight!

We heard the baby's heartbeat at our dr's appointment this week. It was strong and steady, just what we wanted. The nurse found the heartbeat right away, even though I'm only 12 weeks and said everything sounded great! We kept hearing a swooshing sound every few minutes. She said that was the baby flipping around. Already the baby has all his/her vital organs and arms and legs can kick and move. God is so amazing in knitting together our little one. Every once in a while I wonder if there's really a baby in my belly, hearing the heartbeat was such a wonderful confirmation that we really are having a baby. Next week I begin my second trimester. 12 weeks was my miracle week. I felt 100% better as far as morning sickness and I have gotten my energy back. Praise God!! Just in time for school.

We are still praying about where God is leading us in terms of London. Nothing has been made clear yet. Believe me, when it does become clear, we'll be broadcasting it to all our friends and family. Please continue to pray for direction. We are so blessed!

Home Sweet Home

Yes, we're home now safe and sound! Everything in our travels home went smoothly and the apartment was even clean when we got home. Joel had been staying here while we were gone, so there's no telling what it was going to look like (no offense Joel). Mom came over before she picked us up from the airport and did some cleaning :)

Right now there's too much to process to be able to write anything yet. God did amazing things and we're still praying about what all we've taken in means for our future. So far there haven't been any definitive signs to point us in the direction of "yes definitely go to London" or "no don't go to London." We did get a chance to meet with Bob Heppe, the team leader, and discuss where they could use us and what their long term vision for ministry looks like. They have just have two families and one single person leave the team to go back to the states, so there are several ministry gaps they were excited to plug us into if we feel called to come. They said it takes about two years to raise support, so we still wouldn't be talking about returning as soon as we might like. Please continue to pray with us that God would make his will clear. If it's London, then there's no place we'd rather be. If it's not London, we don't want to act too quickly and miss the best he has for us. Right now, we're just thankful for his provision, your support and the ways we have been stretched and grown...hopefully to make permanent changes in our lives as we return to our usual routines.

Look for more in the future after we readjust to the eastern time zone.

Also, on a side note Schroeder (AKA: Escape Artist, ADD Dog) managed to get out of Mom and Dad's backyard Tuesday night and was missing when we got home. Michael was distraught and panicked. Mom and Dad had already searched the neighborhood Tuesday night and Wednesday morning to no avail. We searched when we got home from the airport, looking in the found dog ads and planned to put up signs today. Thankfully a kind dog loving family a few streets over from my parents had found him right after he got out and taken him in. They put a listing up on Craig's List and we got him this morning. So, Michael is sleeping right now after his sleepless night worrying and both dogs are going to vet tomorrow to get shots and id collars. I praise God that he even helps us in the little things in life that don't make an eternal difference, but comfort us in the present.

What can I say?

We just finished with our final meeting and saying good bye to everyone on our trip from other churches. I'm at a loss for what to write. There is too much. The three most significant things that have happened since I last wrote are the Sunday evening service with the church members from the two church plants with combined worship in Hindi and English, two more times of street evangelism and the praise and worship.

The service last night was a highlight of our time. The chapel here at the seminary where we're staying was packed. They told us we didn't need to pack anything special to wear to church, but people came dressed in traditional saris and pujabi suits. It was beautiful just to look around the congregation and see people from many nations all worshipping together and praising God for his goodness. Tears couldn't help but flow from my eyes as we sang "Ask and I will give you the nations, that's the cry of my heart." God is a God of all nations and we saw just a small glipse of that. Three more people gave testimony to their faith in Christ despite family rejection, mental illness and fighting against the gospel until they could no longer resist Jesus and had to put their faith in him. Two of the ladies who gave their testimony actually saw a vision of Jesus when they were alone and he told them he is with them and he tolds them in his arms. One of the missionaries commented that this is not uncommon in Pakistan and among other Muslim people to report having come to Christ because he showed himself to them and they knew he was who he said he was in the Bible. He said one man had asked why these vision don't happen in America and the response was, "Because we have the Bible." It was such a testimony to the fact that God is working even in "closed" countries to bring people to himself. Even when missionaries are killed and people are banned from telling others about Jesus, he draws people to himself through other means. Both women just radiated with joy in their Savior even though their lives are still difficult. They said, "New Life Masi Garh is our family. Even though our earthly families have rejected us because we follow Christ, we have a family in the church. They have been our family and we trust them because we know they love us." What a testimony to God's people caring for one another!

Yesterday and today we had two more times of manning the book table and passing out literature in two busy shopping districts and doing a prayer walk around the community. We also passed out information about the Kid's Klub going on next week that University Presbyterian is helping with. Our main goal was to get the word out about Kid's Klub, be available to talk to people who had questions and pray that God would bring people who were truly open to the gospel. We didn't have any life changing conversations, but we were able to pass out books and Jesus films to a number of people who came to the table and pass out all the Kids Klub fliers we brought. Kid's Klub is like Vacation Bible School. Parents were enthusiastic about the Kids Klub (which is spelled with a K...it's not a missprint) because they are always looking things for their kids to do in the summer. Please pray that many children will come to the Kid's Klub and whole families would come to Christ through contact with the church family.

At another book table yesterday a lady came running out of her shop and said, "I want to know about Jesus. Please tell me about Jesus." She said she had been wanting to know about Jesus and she wanted to believe. One of our team members is originally from Pakastan and spoke her language (Urdu) and explained the gospel and prayed with her. Before we went out we prayed that God would bring those who he was calling. He answered more than we could have imagined!!

Finally, the praise and worship has been incredible. The musicians are either interns or apprentices with the team here just volunteered to help out, but they were used of God to minister to my spirit. I was overwhelmed by Jesus' sacrifice, my own sinfulness and utter dependence on him and the greatness of God to have his name praised in all nations. He is a great God and I am so thankful to be able to have a person relationship with him and know his unconditional love and forgiveness through Jesus.

Please continue to pray for our health as we travel. Michael is better except he is losing his voice and coughing frequently. I have an incredibly sore throat, but thankfully no body aches or fever. Please pray we recover quickly so it is not an issue on the flight. Everyone here has been so kind. Today three people gave me throat losanges which felt wonderful on my sore throat. We can't wait to get home and share with everyone in person, and sleep in our own bed :)

More Testimonies of God's Goodness

Our days are packed with activities, so by the time I get ready to write in the evening I'm tired and my mind is fuzzy with all the events of the day. The last couple of days I opted to go to bed, rather than write, so I have some catching up to do. I'll try to summarize and just hit the highlights, as I find I always write more than I intended. Also, before I get into any stories, let me throw out a few prayer requests. There is some sort of cold/flu type sickness that is going around. Michael started feeling bad last night, running a low fever and is still not feeling well today. Please pray he will recover quickly (by tomorrow since it's the highlight of our trip to get to go to the mission church here), for the others who are sick, and for me, that I don't get it. I feel it coming on, but I'm praying I'll be spared since I can't take the medicine he's taking.

Thursday evening we had a concert of prayer. The worship was amazing. We sang praise songs in English and Hindi. Many of the church members came to share testimonies and worship with us. I'm terrible at remembering names in other languages, so I don't remember the names of those who shared. There was one lady who shared about the joy and peace she felt since she began following Jesus. She said she had renewed strength each day and was eager to share with her neighbors the joy she found in Jesus. She suffers from medical conditions which cause her to be in pain often. She said she pleaded with God to take it away, but he told her it was like fire for her. The gold can only come to the surface in the midst of the fire, and without the pain she would not fully know his love and be able to sympathize with others who suffered. She had such passion when she spoke and gave testimony to her love for her Savior. It struck me that God is the same in all nations and languages. He is teaching things to his children here in England that are the same lessons he is teaching his children in the US and all over the world. Regardless of the language, he is God and he doesn't change.

Her brother also gave his testimony. He has been following Jesus for 8 or 9 years, but he has never publically shared his full testimony. (You'll notice I don't say Christian, because here they don't call themselves Christians because of the history of England and people thinking England is a Christian nation. The connotation here is that becoming a Christian means becoming English, she they say becoming a Jesus follower instead.) He wasn't even on the schedule to share, but felt God was calling him to give testimony of his grace. He told of how he had been in prison because he got caught up in some illegal ring, and his father came from India to visit him when he was released. He father was so shamed by him that he would not even look at him for the first three visits. Finally, he father came back and told him he had found Jesus and had learned how to forgive. This man was so amazed by the change he saw in his father that he also began going to church. That Sunday the preacher said, "If there is anyone in here who is not a sinner, leave my church." He said he was sitting toward the front, so he turned around and noticed that no one moved. He decided that if all the other people were sinners and had found forgiveness in Jesus, then he needed Jesus too. His religion did not offer forgiveness, but in Jesus he had hope. He said his life is now changed forever and he lives to love Jesus.

Another man shared about a ministry he and his wife had started this year producing Christian television which is broadcast in Europe and North Africa. They show the Jesus film in all the languages in their calling area and give people a telephone number they can call if they want to talk to someone. They receive hundreds of calls a day from Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs who have seen their programs and want to know more about Jesus or get a Bible. Daily they are reaching millions who would never talk to a Christian, but hear about Jesus on their TV. The station is called Glory TV and their website is www.glorytv.uk.co if you're interested in finding out more about what they do. I can't remember all the stories they told about people who had called to find out more about Jesus after watching. They said that many Muslims tell them they watch Glory TV because they are fed up with all the bad things on regular television and would it matches better with their convictions. Through watching they hear the gospel. He and his wife began the station by selling their house and using all the money they had to float it for the first few months. They stepped out on faith to begin something that is bigger than they are capable of. Please pray that they would find supporters and people who want to buy time on the station to cover the cost. We were all inspired by hearing of their faith and the miraculous stories of people reached in just last few months.

Yesterday was our free day, so we went back into London and went inside Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral which were both closed last weekend. Everything here is so old and historic that it blows my mind all the history that has taken place in the places we have seen. William Wilburforce, Queen Elizabeth I, a whole host of other kings and queens, Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Chaucer, Handel and others are buried at the Abbey. Princess Diana laid in state there as well as Winston Churchill and many others. The disturbing thing about both churches we went to was the fact that they have become shrines to people. All the little "chapels" along the outside of the Abbey are filled with statues and shrines to the men and women buried there. They do have worship that meets regularly at both churches, but it has become more of a museum than a place of worship. So many of the churches here have been sold to become Mosques, restaurants and hotels. This country is overrun with church buildings, but very few followers of Christ. In the whole country we are told only 7% attend worship at a Bible believing church.

Tonight we have our second day of door to door evangelism. We are less scared than the first time, although we are very aware of our need for prayer and for courage.

Thank you for your continued prayer. The feedback I have gotten is so encouraging. We are truly not here alone, because there are so many back home praying for us. God is so good to us. Thank you for being a part of what God is doing here and what he is teaching us.

Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims

The official trip we are on is called LEAP, which stands for London Evangelism And Prayer. As a part of the trip, and to help us pray for the people of southeast Asian decent with whom we have been speaking, we have received quite an education in the beliefs of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims.

Monday we went to a Hindu temple, the biggest one outside of India (I think I wrote more about it in a previous post). Today we went to a Muslim Mosque and a Sikh Temple. Before our visit, we also watched two short videos on the beliefs and customs of the two religious groups and heard from two men who had found Christ through the team here. One used to be Sikh and one Muslim. I realized how uneducated I was. For instance, did you know that Muslims believe Jesus was perfect, is in heaven now and will return one day? Unfortunately, they don't believe that he is God's Son or that he actually died on the cross, therefore, they don't accept his death to cover sin and give everlasting life. They have taken out the most important and most beautiful part of the story and replaced it with a works based system of doing good and evil and hoping your good outweighs your evil so that you can go to heaven.

We observed a prayer time and funeral at the Mosque and were toured around the Sikh temple. The men were very kind, answered all of our questions and explained more of their beliefs. We were not there to debate theology, but to be observers in their way of thinking to be able to be better equipped in evangelism.

Tonight we had our first time of door to door evangelism. It was a bit frightening, but they sent us out in groups and gave us a survey sheet to give us a reason to talk to the people and engage them in conversation. Our experience was very positive! A number of people weren't home or were not interested in talking, but we spoke to five people who shared about themselves and had a positive encounter with someone representing the New Life Masik Ghar (probably spelled wrong) Church in their neighborhood. Our goal was to engage them in conversation, ask questions and find out if they are interested in any follow-up from a team member or have any needs that can be met by the church. We have two more evenings of door to door evangelism and two afternoons of working the book table (a form of street evangelism/relationship building with the community). We will report back with more specific stories after those days.

Praise God I had a much better day physically today. Thank you for praying!!! God is answering. Several people here have been very sweet when they found out I had morning sickness. One lady told me she prayed for me during dinner that it would settle well with my stomach (we had greesy pizza). It touched me that she thought of me during her meal even though we weren't sitting together.

Well, I'm off to bed. Thank you for all the wonderful birthday wishes.

I've Hit The Big 3-0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today I had the privilege of celebrating my 30th birthday in London! We didn't do much celebrating since our day was full of scheduled activities, but they did sing to me at dinner and I opened the cards from Michael and others I received in the mail before we left. Major brownie points for Michael, he packed all the cards I got so I'd have something to open here. My two singing cards were particularly fun!

I wrote a super long post the other day about the street evangelism we did at Leicster Square, but we can't get the wireless internet to work on our laptop here at the London School of Theology, so you are spared from my long ramblings. Thankfully we do have access to the internet on their school computers.

I'm going to make this short, since I need to get to bed, but numerous things have happened since I last wrote. We have begun to be immersed in the Southeast Asian culture in Wembly and Southall (both areas of London) where the World Harvest Mission team is working and doing church planting. Yesterday we went to the largest Hindu Temple outside of India. It was made of marble shipped to India, handcarved and fit back together here in London. We had a tour guide who showed us a video and answered questions about Hinduism. It was extremely interesting to hear him talk about his own faith. I am uneducated as far as what Hindus believe, so I was particularly curious to find out how he explained his own faith. At the same time, it broke my heart to see people prostrate on the floor in front of marble statues painted to look like people and half animal half humans. Our prayer as we went through the temple was, "Father, give me a heart of love for
these people, and bring your kingdom to this land and glorify your name." Tonight we heart testimonies from two men, one who grew up Hindu and one who grew up Sikh. Both of them said they eventually found Christ (or were found by him) because they were looking for meaning in life, true peace and a God who answered prayer. After many Christians poured their lives into these men, they found Jesus to be the answer they were looking for. They said they were initially held back by the fact that they thought Christianity was only for westerners, and they could not follow Christ because they were Indian. But that Jesus broke through all barriers and reached them. It was so encouraging to hear these men testify of God's work in their life and the difference Christ made in their lives.

It has also been eye opening to hear the missionaries talk about the ways they present the gospel in a way that reaches people where they are. For example, when speaking to Hindus, one way of explaining Christ's sacrifice is to say that our bad karma was taken away by Christ and he gave us his good karma in exchange. Obviously it doesn't explain every aspect of Christ's death, but it speaks in terms that Hindus understand. Most think it's ridiculous, because in their religion there is no forgiveness, it an equation of you get good for doing good or bad for doing bad.

We will have much more information and stories to share when we return. This will have to do for now. We are so glad to be here and soaking everything in. It is such an encouragement to see God at work here bringing people to himself from all over the world.

Also, most of you probably know that I found out I'm pregnant a few weeks before we left. I'm 8 weeks, due Feb. 21st. Please pray for supernatural strength to keep up with our schedule. So far, I have been blessed to not have much morning sickness, but today was my worst day yet. Please pray for me. I know God will answer and give me the strength to do what he has called me to do.

A lot has happened!

I'm growing tired so this may not be as detailed as it should be. Jenny and I are currently at London School of Theology where we are being housed, for our London Evangelism and Prayer Week.

The last few days have been a whril wind. Alison, A.K.A. Captian dictionary, met us in London on Thursday but not before we went to a London City Mission center that was set up to care for the Homeless in London. We helped prepare tea and coffee. Jenny served food on the serving line, and then we met a few of the people that frequented the center. Jenny will have more to say about that I'm sure. She looked rather cute in here apron and server's cap.

We met Phil Moore who is in charge of short term missions for LCM. I was encouraged by our conversation with him that the work that LCM does is something I'd be comfortable doing. He is a straight shooter and said that if my gifting is in pastoral work that LCM wouldn't be a good fit. I haven't figured out if that is my gifting. I just want to be a part of bringing the Gospel to the world in some way. He was very gracious with his time and a great help in explaining how LCM works especially if we were to consider their organization for long term mission work.

We went to Leicster Square to do street evangelism. It was a first for me. I was teamed with the team leader so I didn't get to talk too much. I did have a good conversation with a young man that had some new age ideas on life. We agreed to disagree but he did take a gospel with him and agreed to read it and ponder what we talked about. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, most of the people were polite, and the ones that did stop to talk were mostly stopping to argue but I think it was tastefully done and the Gospel was shared in a clear way without harassment and confrontation.

On to Alison. What can I say she's, well, Alison. We put her in charge of our second day of touring London but she didn't know what she wanted to do and we didn't know what we wanted to do so we pretty much didn't do much. Just kidding we had a blast together in London. We stayed dry and tried to stay warm. We had pizza and Alison was the only one of us to have fish and chips. We saw so much stuff it would be crazy to list it all here. We said goodbye to her this morning never to hear from her again, until next we meet back in Orlando in two weeks.

I said I wouldn't be detalied and I really wasn't but now I see that I've typed too much so I'll quit for now and come back to this another time.

Thoughts on Webber Street

This morning we went to Webber Street ministry which serves breakfast and gives showers and clothes to homeless.  It is just one of the ministries of London City Mission, but we were told it was recommended to visit if we only had a few days.  

Neither one of us have much experience in homeless ministry, so we weren't sure what to expect.  I've (Jenny) worked at the soup kitchen type ministries in Orlando as well as the Coalition of the Homeless where we cooked food, served food and cleaned up the kitchen.  Webber Street was not run this way.  Webber Street was much more relationally focused.  The dining area opened at 9am with a short devotional/Bible reading and sharing from the missionary in charge for the day, food service began around 9:30 and the doors were open until noon.  After the food service was finished (I got to wear a cute apron and hat...which made me look official), the men and women just sat in the dining area and read the paper, chatted, waited for their numbers to be called for showers or clothes and the missionaries responsibilities were to talk to people.  They made their way around the room chatting and looking for opportunities to meet needs and share the gospel.

One woman we spoke to had been homeless for 2 years and had traveled all around England.  She said being homeless in one place made her get in a rut of the same activities all the time, and that traveling made things fresh and new all the time.  She said she used to be a nurse and also worked in financial management, but after she got arrested and went to prison (she didn't explain what for, although she mentioned something about a car robbery) all her carrier options were closed and she became homeless.  We were both a little shying in talking to her, not knowing what to was ok to say or what kinds of questions to ask.  One of the missionaries, Neal, who works at Webber St. three days a week spoke with this same lady.  It was neat to see how he was purposeful in his conversation and how he turned it toward Jesus.  He listened to what the woman had to say and met her in her need.  She was not open to the gospel right now, but I pray that in time God will open her heart and she will be able to hear the message.

I was convicted of my lack of boldness and unwillingness to step out of my comfort zone and speak of Jesus to those I meet.  This evening we will be going to Leister Street to do street evangelism.  I have a feeling God is trying to stretch me through this trip and the experience this morning is just the beginning.  It's exciting and scary all at the same time.

For lunch we met with one of the administrative leaders at London City Mission.  He was extremely gracious and spent several hours explaining how the mission works, what the process for application for long term service would look like and how we much fit into their ministry model.  We came away with some of our questions answered, but no real direction as far as our call.  Much of what he said fits with our hearts, but the question still is unanswered, "Is London the place?"  Much prayer and seeking of God's will still needs to take place before we will be able to answer that question.  

For now, we are just overwhelmed to be here, taking in everything we can, trying to overcome jetlag and being taught lessons of our own inadequacy and need of Jesus daily.  This is a terrific thing!  Thank you for your prayers for us.

We're Here!

After nearly 24 hours in transit, we have arrived at our destination.  London is cold and wet, but we are thrilled to be here.  Our accommodations at London City Mission are very nice and the people we met were helpful and friendly.

At the crack of dawn tomorrow morning we will be at the Webber Street homeless shelter passing out clothing and food with the team from London City Mission.  

For right now we have an internet connection, but it's not guaranteed the entire time.  Look for a more detailed post tomorrow.

Thank you for your prayers for us in travel, God answered.  Please keep praying!

My first words!

Jenny christened the new blog already.  I'm just as excited and can't wait to share how things are going now that we have a blog.  

Jenny got a new toy so be expecting some videos every now and then (That is if we can figure out how to use the software that came with the camera!)

For those of you who have supported us in any way up to this point we can't thank you enough.

God is amazingly blessing us each day and we cannot explain how precious it is to us to have such wonderful friends and family.

We're up and running

I've read other people's blogs for years, but never felt like I had something to write about.  Now, with two days until we leave for London, we decided it was time to get a blog of our own where we can write about the people we meet, the places we go and what God is teaching us along the way.  If you're reading this, then you're probably family or close friends.  This is our first venture into blogging, so hopefully it will be successful.