A Month In Review

This has been a very busy and emotional month for our family.  Let's recap….
 *   Jason was in Africa for three weeks.  He had a very good, successful trip, albeit a tiring one.  Please continue to pray for villagers in Ambo.
 *  We had to give away Snickers, our dog.  That was heartbreaking.  Snickers was Adam's shadow and most loyal companion.  However, God brought to us a most wonderful home for the dog.  His new owners love him as if he was their child.
 *  We also accepted a contract on our house.  We were supposed to have closed already, but there have been a few hiccups along the way.  We are praying that the closing happens this week for sure.
 *  We had our moving sale.  That was really difficult as well.   I realize it is just stuff.  And I have let go of a LOT of stuff lately, including my home.  But it is still hard.  However God was SO gracious.  Thursday was our first day and we had many people come that asked where we were going, what we would be doing, etc..  Many were genuinely interested in missions and even paid a higher price for items!  I even had a couple people pray for us on the spot.  How cool is that?!
  *  Since the time we accepted a contract on our house till now, we have often been asked "So, where will you go in April?"  Our response has always been "We don't know.  We will see what God surprises us with."   My parents generously offered their basement to us if needed, but we just knew God was going to provide something.  Well, this week we have been told that a church, a mile down the road, has a house that is empty that we can use! Praise God!
  *  Support levels have risen 1% this month.  We still need to find more monthly/ annual supporters.  We are about 13% short of our goal.  We are still hoping to leave at the end of May, but that may not be possible if we can't get our support team built up fast.  Having said all that, we are still very grateful for all the support we have received and are praising God in all of it.

Out and About In Africa

From Jason….
I have just completed the field work for a project in Ethiopia. I joined a team of engineers from Engineering Ministries International that is consulting for Joy of Heaven, which is a non-profit directed by a Canadian-Ethiopian pastor. 

We had a great week of hiking the countryside to study the geology and seeking locations for potential water supply.  In this one week I have probably hiked 15 miles.  As you can see, the people enjoyed watching me do my work.
We will be providing a report that includes recommendations on school design, water distribution, water quality improvement, waste water planning, agricultural recommendations, etc. 
The Ethiopian people are so friendly and inviting despite living in such challenging conditions.   We sure are blessed in the U.S.!

Upward Movement

Well, a lot has happened since my last post.:
1. Jason, through Cold Water Intl., and EMI is working on a special Africa project….stay tuned for details.
2. We are now at 82% of our needed monthly support. PRAISE GOD! It’s so neat to see how He is working and moving. Speaking of moving…
 3. We have an accepted contract on our house. Woo-Hoo! We are set to close at the end of March and will be out by the 31st.

Typical neighborhood as seen from roof

Please continue to pray for us during this time. We don’t know where we will be living come April till our May departure. But we also don’t know where we will be living in Arequipa either. We are praying God will be preparing safe, affordable housing for us there. My “cherry on top” request is that it would also be quite close to a park or some semblance of a green space. We also need it to be close to our kids’ school. That is another prayer request. . .
We have applied for admission to a local academy in Arequipa but have not yet heard if they will make room for them. We also need the kids to be accepted as “alumnos libre”. 

Basically that means that they will not be enrolled with the Dept. of Education and therefore exempt from certain classes so that we can supplement with US standard classes.

Housing in Arequipa

Our friend, Sue Querfeld, had given us this
very good advice last March when
we were visiting there. They did a great job of  
navigating their children through the Peruvian
school system. God willing, we will be able to do the same.