Hi again! It has admittedly been far too long since we've used our blog, much in part to not being able to post pictures of Raelyn while she was in foster care, and due to the rise of easier things like Instagram. However we realize that staying connected is really important and this blog is a good way to communicate. We've been thinking about using the blog to give more prayer requests and ministry updates, so here is our start.
I write this to you on the eve of our going on our big trip, first to spend time with friends in Finland and then on to Romania to see our kiddos (who mostly aren’t little kids anymore). We enjoyed our trip to San Diego a few weeks ago to see our friends who we worked with in Romania, and Raelyn really hit it off with their daughter who is her age. Raelyn did well flying so we are praying that is the case for this trip as well. We will drive to Chicago and fly 9 hours straight to Finland, then take a 4 hour train ride to our friend’s place. It will be a long day of traveling, so we ask for prayers that all will go well and that we’ll be able to rest on the way. Also for Raelyn to be able to travel well and maybe sleep a lot, since normally she is very active and wants to run around, which won’t be possible on the plane!
Raelyn got a cold after we came back from San Diego and is still recovering from that so we’ve been low on sleep. Also Rebecca’s jaw (mainly left side) has been hurting her pretty badly at times. We’ve been praying a lot for healing and we invite you to join us as well. We were blessed by some help from friends to buy a new bike to replace my old one which was stolen last month. It has been nice to have a bike again to commute to church whenever I can, and I was able to upgrade some of my safety/security equipment. Then a couple of weeks ago Rebeccas computer died and we had to have the motherboard replaced, which was very expensive, but she uses it for scheduling prayer ministry so we felt it was necessary. Still, we are thankful for all that God has done for us and continues to do and we praise his name for all of his blessings in our lives.
Things have been going well at church, I have spent a lot of effort getting everything ready for us being gone. It has been like a jigsaw puzzle with many moving parts but it seems like everything is in place now. We are still praying for more workers in our children and youth areas. God has given some guidance on how to restructure a little and shift people around, also asking a few new people to help, and it seems like when we get back we will be able to do some building up and strengthening of our teams.
In our youth group we have started studying the book of Mark, with a vision of teaching the youth how to study the Bible for themselves. Last week there was a lot of excitement around figuring some things out and we hope that continues. We also desire to continue to be led by the Holy Spirit and to be open to times of spending time listening to the Lord, journalling, and/or asking for inner healing. The leadership team is also rotating leading responsibilities which is how we are keeping it going while I am gone. We sense that the enemy will ramp up attacks and ask for prayer for our youth and us leaders. We ask for protection for their housing situations and for more friends to come.
An answer to prayer has come in that a family from church was facing eviction and it was looking like moving in with some friends in Florida was the only option. We prayed for something to open up and as they were packing to go something did. It is not too far away in Wyoming. We are praying that this family, which has two youth in the youth group and other children in our children’s ministries, will stay with us as we really enjoy having them as a part of our church family.
It is so hard to believe that fall is here, and we’re finally getting some fall weather. Thanks again for all of your prayers, we appreciate it so much!
Love you all!
Mark, Rebecca and Raelyn
