Thanks for all your kind words of encouragement since our last post. It's so nice to be asked how we're doing and how our plans are going, and we really appreciate your interest!
Thanks also to any of you who have come over and purchased some of our things! We still have lots of stuff that needs to go, so if you're in need of any furniture or household items, just email us!
If you'd like to stay up to date on our preparations, we'd love it if you would sign up for our email list by CLICKING HERE.
Since we wrote last our travel plans have begun to take shape and we finally have some actual news to share!
For the last several months we've been looking for a placement for our initial immersion experience. It was recommended to us that we immerse ourselves in the Romanian language and culture by living with a Romanian family for several months before we begin living at PDF. The hope is that by immersing ourselves in the culture in this way and actively engaging in intensive language study that our ministry at PDF will be more effective. We've been praying about this experience and there have been many times where we were so unsure of how this experience would even be possible. We're so excited to report that we've actually found a family willing to take us in for a time and it is a HUGE answer to prayer!
We're so grateful to the Ionsecu family for offering to have us live with them this fall. They live just outside the capital city of Bucharest and have 3 daughters, 2 of whom will no longer be living at home while we will stay there (one is getting married this summer and the other is moving to Austria to attend Tauernhof Bible School, the Torchbearer Centre in Schladming, Austria). We're very much looking forward to learning as much as we can about Romanian life from them and we plan to enrol in Romanian language classes in Bucharest as well. A few of the family members speak some English, but we will definitely need to use our growing Romanian language skills in their home!
We have met them before - Rebeca, Debora and Mary (the 3 daughters) were all at PDF when we visited in the summer of 2013 and we also met their father Manu when he came to help produce a promotional video for the centre. We enjoyed getting to know them a little bit back then and we're so excited to spend more time with them soon!
We're also glad that they live close to Bucharest so there will be lots to see, do and experience close by. We also plan to do some travelling around Romania during these first few months, simply so we can expand our understanding of the country as a whole (some areas are very different than others!) and get to know some of the smaller cities and towns where many of the PDF program participants live. We also hope to visit the Black Sea, as we hear it is definitely a great place to see.
Because we have now determined a placement for our immersion experience, we're able to see our travel plans taking shape. We need to be at PDF for a few days before August 22 to take care of some business, and we'll head back to Bucharest to begin our immersion experience after the 22nd of August. This means that we will likely leave Canada on or around the 15th of August.
Aside from travel plans, we're also busy planning our fundraiser which will be taking place on Friday May 6th! We'd love to see you there and we're excited to share more about our ministry with you that evening. We've also got some amazing silent auction prizes lined up so it's going to be a great time!
We're also busy selling our things and making plans to ship a few small things ahead of us (some books, a few small household things, winter gear, etc.). It feels strange to be living without "necessary" items already - we have only one lamp left in the whole house - but it's helping us learn the discipline of living without and trusting that God will fill those empty spaces.
Please pray:
- And thank God for what He's doing in our hearts. We are feeling hopeful and we're so thankful for everything God has provided for us along this journey.- That God would prepare us for sharing a living space with another family from a different culture.
- For our fundraiser. That God would provide for our financial needs, including monthly support needs, travel expenses, and the funds required to purchase some furniture and household items when we arrive in Romania.
- That God would provide a trustworthy renter for our home here in Canada.
- For our children as they begin to experience the loss of the concrete, familiar things in their lives; pray that they would feel safe and secure and that we'd be able to maintain a level of consistency in our family even though life won't be consistent for awhile.
- For strength and energy as we work through the seemingly endless list of "little things" that need to happen before we leave (working out financial details for being overseas, securing health insurance, medical appointments and vaccinations, selling our vehicles, etc.)
Practical things we need:
- Used suitcases in good condition! We're looking for large suitcases to help us transport our things overseas when we fly, as well as a few for shipping ahead with the airline. The larger the better! If you have one you'd like to donate, please let us know!!- Silent Auction prize donations! If you're able to donate anything we could use as a silent auction prize we'd be so grateful. Gift Cards or brand new items are great!
Thanks so much for reading this update! If you'd like to stay up to date on our preparations, we'd love it if you would sign up for our email list by CLICKING HERE.
