A week at Samaritan's Purse HQ

This past week marked our week-long orientation at SP headquarters in Boone, NC. Caleb spent the week with both grandmas and grandpas touring the Pacific Northwest. We loaded up Jael, and when we arrived at the airport we were surprised to find out that our flight had been changed and we would actually be arriving in Charlotte at about 12:30 AM. That was a bummer, since we also had to pick up a rental car, drive two hours, and check in to our hotel in Boone. The trip to Ecuador won't be any longer than this trip.



We were a bit tired on our first day, but we were so blessed by everyone at SP that we soon recovered our energy. If we had to sum up SP in two words, they would be "prayer" and "share-the-Gospel". We learned about the broad scope of programs available at SP. Each program is designed to bring help to a hurting world, and in so doing share the love of Jesus clearly. Every day, SP employees gather for a time of devotions and prayer--SP staff intercedes for every member of the field staff (including us) every weekday. We'll have to be sure to be careful on the weekends : ) We also had a great time fellowshipping with other missionaries, which included newbies like us and saints who've spent their lives on the field. We are honored to be representing the Lord through SP.



Kristina and I also had time to reflect and pray about what to do with our house in Caldwell. Currently we've been trying to short sale the house. A short sale is what it's called when the bank agrees to let a person sell their house for the market value (instead of what is owed on the house) in an effort to avoid foreclosure. One thing we didn't know until just recently is that many banks will not accept a short sale offer unless the owner stops making mortgage payments. We are in a pickle with the house right now--we just want to get rid of it so that it won't be a hindrance to our ability to stay on the field. However, we also feel that it wouldn't be right for us to stop payments on our house while we still have the ability to pay, at least as long as we have some money in our personal savings account. So, proceeding as we believe the Lord would have us, we've decided to rent it out until the market improves enough for us to be able to afford to sale it without a short sale or the bank agrees to another creative solution. Please continue to pray for us in this matter--we need God to do a God thing to get this situation figured out.



Thanks for being an awesome support group! We love you all and we're excited to serve.

The Two Month Count Down

Wow! Less than two months before we head to the field. We're getting more excited each day, yet at the same time realize that we're getting our last precious moments with the friends and family we have here. Sydney, Kristina's sister, and her husband, Chad, have been visiting us this weekend. We've laughed sharing college memories, enjoyed playing with the kids, and frozen our backsides tubing down the Boise River at 10:00 in the morning. (Not the warmest time in the day, but it's when we had an available Grandma to babysit, and we got the privelege of being the first floaters of the day :) We're blessed to have such wonderful family/friends in the US and are praying that God will help us establish new, close relationships when we move to Ecuador.