House Hunters International

Today marks three weeks that we have been on the ground here and we feel as if our bodies have finally adjusted to the time difference and schedule of S. Asian living. We have a praise that our house hunters international has come to a conclusion as we have signed the lease on a house and move in sometime this week. We believe that the house we decided on is in a strategic area of growth in the city where relationships will be formed with our current neighbors and those moving into the area.

Andrea has already had the opportunity to use her Spanish here as a team of eight from Paraguay came this week to conduct medical and dental clinics in the red light district. The work in the red light district is also an ongoing ministry that Andrea has been able to get plugged into from week one.

Andrea on her way to the market in an auto rickshaw

The last week has been packed full as we were taking language classes, assisting with the team from Paraguay, and spending every afternoon going around in a taxi as we tried to find necessary household items. It will be nice to finally feel like we are settled since we have been living out of suitcases since July.

Here are some immediate requests that you can be lifting up to the Father:

• Intentional conversations with our neighbors at the house warming party.
• Continued learning of the language.
• Patience with each other amongst cultural frustration.
• Adequate time to spend with the Father and his Word.

New Year, New Adventure

Happy New Years everyone! Our new year started off with quite the adventure as we left for S. Asia on New Years day. We flew out of Charlotte on the late morning of the 1st and then Newark that night. We arrived in our new city on Tuesday morning, which was a week ago now.

So far our days have been filled with learning the city, where to shop, how to get around, and house hunting. Perhaps the most important thing we have done in the week that we have been here is start language immediately as we value being able to communicate with the people in their heart language.

                                     (Matt & Elliot going to the market)

Here is a list of unexpected surprises in the week that we have been here:

• Subway for dinner our first night (Not our decision)
• Chris Tomlin playing in Subway
• Manger Scene in the mall (A great opportunity to share about Jesus)
• Visiting with friends from the Summit (This one was expected, but still a nice surprise!)

                        (Andrea & Elliot making friends at the mall)
Our supervisors have been gracious to us in letting us slowly adjust this first week, but we know starting next week we will be given more freedom, but there will also be much more expected of us. So please "ask" for the following:

• Quick adaptation to culture
• Quick language learning (I mean I don't care if you believe in the gift of tongues or not, but just pray we get it!)
• Finding a house
• Learning how to drive here (Matt is crazy enough to drive here and our supervisor is crazy enough to let him!)
• That we can form meaningful relationships in our neighborhood.

May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you.
Psalm 67:3

The Need and What Exactly We Are Doing

Below are two videos that truly help describe our hearts for Church Planting in the part of the world where we are going. Listen carefully to the first video to see what it is and what it is not that we are going to do.



In this second video we pray that you see how great the need is and we pray that you consider how maybe God is calling you to respond in light of what you watch.

                

The Seasons are Changing

The weather and trees in Richmond this time of year are beautiful, but we are daily reminded that the seasons are changing. It seems like we are in a mixture of faint glimpses of summer, the colors of fall, and starting to experience some of the cold of winter. All of these are also daily reminders for us that the seasons of our lives are also changing. We are on the brim of entering a new season in our lives, a very different one like no other that we have experienced before. And although we feel that we are ready to embrace this season, we also sense the difficulty of entering it.

We have three weeks left in our orientation/training in Richmond before we start the packing process. We then will spend Christmas and New Years with family before officially stepping foot on the plane only to return at an undetermined time. Just as we have learned to embrace all of the seasons of weather we ask that you would pray with us that the same would be true for our lives. The new season is full of questions and uncertainty, but we rest and lie in the arms of our Father's love who we know that is sovereign over all of the plans of our lives.

We do want to briefly express our thankfulness during this time of year for all of our partnering churches and for those individuals that have committed to pray and interceded on our behalf in the midst of the darkness on the battlefield. Without the prayer support of all of you this would not be possible nor would we go.

As John Piper says, "Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given us prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as the kingdom of Christ advances in the world. Prayer gives us the significance of front-line forces, and gives God the glory of a limitless Provider. The one who gives the power gets the glory. Thus prayer safeguards the supremacy of God in missions while linking us with endless grace for every need."  

Training

Today marks the end of the second week of training in Richmond, VA. Reflecting on the first two weeks, we are thankful for all the many individuals and churches that have made this training possible for us. It is amazing that we could come up here and virtually live for eight weeks without having to spend a dime if we wanted to, but of course we like to get off campus every now and then to get a taste of some goodness such as Chick-fil-a.

Our training seminars have been full of practical, logisitc stuff, but also packed full of spiritual stuff, showing us our deep need for our Savior. It has also been refreshing to network with like minded individuals and families who are all preparing to go and plant churches all over the globe. Thus far this two weeks have given us an opportunity to leave the crazyness of the last three months behind us and push forward into deeper intimacy with our Father.

The highlight of week one for both of us was an opportunity to take a three hour spiritual retreat. This allowed us the opportunity to get away in a quiet and secret place to commun with God. The highlight of week two was our seminar on prayer and the importance of it in our lives. This has convicted us both as we noticed that in many ways we were depending on our own strength for preparation, which is both sinful and stupid.

We still have six and half weeks of training ahead of us so we have some prayer needs that we would like to leave you with:

• Strength and Energy
• Marital Growth
• Protection from distraction of the enemy
• Complete healing of Elliot as he has been with a cough
• Completion of our many "to do" lists

El dia a llegado

Por fin la espera a llegado a una conclusion y hoy estoy escribiendo estas lineas con un auto nuevamente empacado hasta el techo (por ultima vez) y ya terminando nuestros ultimos detalles aqui en Carolina del Norte. Maniana luego del desayuno partiremos hacia Virginia, donde estaremos internados por 8 semanas en un entrenamiento intensivo para nuestra preparacion hacia Asia del Sur.

A lo largo de estos 3 meses de espera, hemos vivido un sin numero de historias y aventuras; hemos hecho amigos y afianzamos otras amistades; hemos disfrutado de nuestro bebe; pero por sobretodo, hemos visto la mano de Dios y su provision diaria sobre nuestras vidas.

Queremos agradecer infinitamente a las familias que nos hospedaron en Raleigh: Los Chaneys (nuestros amigos y tios de Elliot ahora), Los Parkens y los Simmons. A los amigos argentinos en USA y a los amigos de argentina (Gracias Marcelo Avalos por la ofrenda!). Tampoco nos olvidamos de la familia, que nos sostuvo en oracion y alento constantemente: los suegros que ayudaron en todo lo posible, mis padres que ofrendaron, mi hermano que nos hizo asados y viajo hasta Raleigh para ayudar con la mudanza, la ofrenda de la flia Odom y de extensa familia en Virginia Beach. GRACIAS A TODOS!

Tambien estamos agradecidos por nuestra iglesia The Summit por enviarnos como iglesia y apoyarnos en todo este proceso (especialmente nuestros mentores Hilary y Curt). Tambien a las iglesias de Northside y Western Avenue que nos estan apoyando en oracion, provision y mediante posibles grupos que iran a visitarnos a nuestro destino final en Asia.

Iglesia Western Avenue (Statesville, NC)

Iglesia The Summit (Raleigh, NC)

Hoy mas que nunca sabemos que las puertas de las naciones nos esperan. Que hay un mundo afuera con hambre y sed del evangelio y que hay millones que aun siguen muriendo diariamente sin conocer sobre Jesus y el sacrificio que el hizo en la cruz para nuestra salvacion y vida eterna. Hoy mas que nunca queremos alentar a todos a predicar a diestra y siniestra sobre el mensaje de la cruz, no para hacer "procelitismo" como muchos dicen, sino para que todos tengan la oportunidad de ser salvos. Y cuando esto sea una realidad, recien ahi diremos... ahora si Dios... que venga Tu Reino!!!

Where we've Been and Where we're Going

As most of you know the last three months has been a whirlwind of unexpected occurrences in our lives, but we are continually being told that is the life of a missionary. So in some ways we feel legit now, although we have still yet to set foot where we will be planting churches.

In the last three months we have lived in six different houses, traveling with a car packed to the roof every time as we went from one house to the other. Definitely not what we would have ever chosen, but God has been faithful and allowed this time to prepare us in many ways. It has allowed us to see more friends and family before moving, it has allowed us more time together, and it has allowed us to do many things that we would not have been able to do otherwise.

We currently have five partnering churches and many others that are interested in sending short-term teams to work with us, which we are grateful for every one of them and what they are doing in their contexts to plant churches and spread the gospel. Our local church, The Summit, commissioned us to plant churches two weeks ago, which was a very special time in our lives as we value and love our local church.

Now as these three months are coming to a close, we are spending our last week in the Charlotte, NC area where I grew up. This is allowing us to see family, pack, repack, and connect with some more partners of the gospel.

In one week we will be driving north to Richmond, VA, where we will spend the next eight weeks for training and preparation for life in another country. We will then spend Christmas back in Charlotte and then start our new year and new lives in South Asia, arriving approximately January 3, 2012. We would really appreciate prayer during this huge transition in our lives.

Here are our current prayer needs:

• Our adjustments to so much traveling and moving (Specifically our 7 mo. old Elliot).
• For humility and open hearts to learning as we are in our training.
• For a smooth transition with the existing team members in S. Asia as we will be the newbies. 
• For our national partners in S. Asia that we will be equipping and training to send out.
• For the salvation of the people that we will encounter that have never heard the name of Jesus.