Blast from the Past

We have had a blast spending the last few days in Rochester, IL where we used to live. We were able to spend time at South Fork, the church where Joe served as the youth minister, and share with them about our time in New Zealand. We were also able to spend time with many people who have a very important place in our lives. 

Here are Bob and Phyllis. These are two very special people who have taken us into their home before we had our own, and always have an open room for us when we come to visit, and always have ice tea and chocolate chips cookies and time for a chat! We were able to stay with them while in Rochester and enjoyed every moment.

Spending time with Josh (the minister from South Fork) and his wife and sweet little boy.

Joe speaking at South Fork.

Our old house! 

Most of our old small group, it was great to catch up.

Now we are back in Bloomington for a few days to catch up. Joe has been fighting a bad cold and hoping to recover before we hit the road again. We will be going to a few different locations in Indiana to meet with churches, friends, and finally our team. We will try to update you when we get back! 

International Focus Event

We have been so blessed by the last couple of days. We were able to be a part of the International Focus Event at Lincoln Christian College this year. the International Focus Event is a two day event that helps raise awareness of missions around the world for the students at Lincoln. For those two days classes are canceled and there are classes, workshops, chapel services, and events for different missionaries/mission organizations to get in touch with the students. 

We were able to teach a class and hang out with some of the students. We had a booth set up to explain more about our ministry in New Zealand and even had some interest for some interns and future teams to come to New Zealand. 

The main speaker for the event was from Australia. Though New Zealand and Australia have many differences, there are quite a few similarities and we enjoyed hearing him tell stories of Australia and chatting with him a bit. 

Catch up

My apologies for taking so long in between blog updates, this might be the case while we are traveling! We have been traveling every few days and meeting with many people. Often times the last thing I want to do is pull out our computer when we are with someone that we don't see enough as it is. 

(one of our partnering churches mission wall...New Zealand was on the map twice!)

We expected our time in America to go by fast, but we truly can't believe how fast it is going. We are thankful for all that we have been able to do and are trying to cherish many of the new memories that we are making with family and friends. 

 (Seeing Joe's little sister at UVA )

The past few weeks have been filled with church meetings as we have five partnering churches in New York. Joe has been preaching on Sundays and then we usually meet up with different members of the church or church leaders during the week for a more in depth talk about New Zealand. When we aren't meeting with churches, we spend time preparing for our next meeting or trying to get new meetings in the area. Part of our objective while we are here is to try to raise funds for the church plant start up costs. So if we aren't meeting with a current partnering church, chances are, we are meeting with a potential partner specifically for the church plant. 

We have also made time to catch up with our family and east coast friends. It has been refreshing and encouraging to reconnect with the people who have played such important parts in our lives. 

The last thing we have spend a lot of time doing is praying. Will you pray with us for the following things: 

 for potential partners to help with the start up costs of the church

 for the city and people of Christchurch, that God will soften their hearts 

 for our team-that God will prepare us for moving into Christchurch & diving into this new community where we know no-one

for each couple to come away from furlough refreshed, not worn down

 for each couple to be fully funded at the end of furlough

for health, energy, and good times of catching up as we travel while we are back in the States