Living in a Car

So, we are now about halfway through out big roadtrip!  We are currently in Minneapolis, MN attending Mission Orientation with TeachBeyond.  We just arrived yesterday and have already met tons of amazing people and been given a wealth of new and helpful information about going to the mission field.  It has been very interesting to see old and new faces here and to get a grasp of what the Lord has been doing in the lives of His children as we participate together in his kingdom ministry.

Our travels so far have gone very well.  The only real downside was Austin got sick for a few days in Chicago with a fever.  Otherwise, the kids have done extremely well with all the traveling.  They have made great friends with the various families where we've stayed.  Every place we stay Austin says that he wants our trip to be over so we can stay at that house with his new friends :) We've enjoyed seeing and experiencing the boldness of our young ones as they share with their new friends and complete strangers about our journey to Germany and to BFA.  We've received some strange looks when this happens, but overall people are amazed and awed by our boldness to do such a thing, but deep down we personally know that it is the Lord who is orchestrating everything.  Clarence and I have loved having a chance to visit old friends as well and reconnect and share stories about our lives together.  Check out Clarence's Facebook page for some pictures of our journey so far!

Visiting Mommy's College

Thanks for your prayers for safety.  We will leave Orientation on Saturday (June 30) and then have another 22ish hours of driving ahead of us until we reach Calgary.  We're hoping to arrive in Calgary on July 4th, and then we will be settled again for a few weeks until we fly back to Ohio on July 20th.  Please continue to pray for safety and joy as we travel and share our lives with the people around us. 


New Friends

The Journey Begins! (and continues)

Okay, I guess our journey [of going to BFA] really began several months ago.  But the particular journey I’m referring to is our “Epic Road Trip”.  It officially began today with driving from Toronto to Ohio.  We will spend a few days here, and then continue on our big road trip totaling 4000km.  Here’s a rough overview of our itinerary:

June 12-15:  Pandora, Ohio

June 15-17: Mishawaka/Goshen, Indiana

June 17-20: Chicago, Illinois

June 20-23: Green Bay, Wisconsin

June 23-30:  Minneapolis, Minnesota – for Orientation with TeachBeyond

June 30-July 1:  Grand Forks, North Dakota

July 1-3:  Winnipeg, Manitoba

July 3-4:  Moose Jaw/Caronport, Saskatchewan

July 5-20: Calgary, Alberta

July 20-August 8: Pandora, Ohio

August 9 and onward – GERMANY!!!

So, this past week has been a crazy blur.  We packed up our house, got rid of all of our furniture, and moved in to stay with friends this weekend.  Monday we closed on our house, and Tuesday drove to Ohio.  It has been full of lots of sad good-byes as we say farewell to so many wonderful friends in Toronto.  Our church has really become a family to us, and we will miss them all dearly, but we’re very thankful for their blessings as they send us on our way in following God’s call. 

The past week has also been full of good news.  Our housing is finalized for where we will be staying in Germany, which we’re very excited about.  The school has recently purchased an old guesthouse/hotel which will eventually be turned into a girl’s dorm, but for this coming school year, our family will be living there on the main floor.  There will be another BFA family living in the bottom floor, and the upper floor will probably be available for guests and visitors to rent (yes, so we should hopefully have a nice place to house visitors!)  We also purchased a used minivan from another couple who works at BFA.  And finally, we bought our PLANE TICKETS!  Woo hoo!  It’s really happening!   We fly out of Detroit, MI on August 8 and arrive in Germany on August 9^th.  The only downside is that our housing will not be available until August 15^th, so we will be housed somewhere else temporarily for week or so. 

Finally, a support update.  I (Anna) am completely humbled and awed to report that we are at 98% of our monthly support!  God is so good.  I am so thankful that He has chosen to bless us through generous friends, family, and churches.  Praise God!

The Unintimated God

So, you may recall from our last newsletter, we set a goal to reach 90% of our monthly support by May 20.  Quite ambitious considering we only started support raising in February, so 3 months to get to 90% is fast.  Thankfully, God is not intimidated by big numbers or quick deadlines!  We are thrilled to report that we are at our goal!!!   Thanks to God's amazing provision through lots of generous friends and family, we are now at 90% of our month support!  This has truly been a faith journey for me as I've learned so much about trusting God.  He is always in control even when my faith is lacking.  Praise the Lord!  We are now on the 'home-stretch' of our support raising.  Just 10% to go, or roughly $650/month until we are fully funded.  If you'd like to help with the last bit, please let us know or you can donate online by going to www.teachbeyond.org and clicking the Donate button.  :)

I have been continually reminded of this verse lately:  Now to him who is able to do IMMEASURABLY more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.  Ephesians 3:20-21

Mother's Day Sharing

Wanted to quickly inform everyone that we will be sharing about our ministry this Sunday, May 13 at St. John Mennonite Church in Pandora, OH at 9:45am.  Everyone is invited; if you need more details, please feel free to contact us!

April Update!

Hello again!  Hope you’re all doing well and enjoying the spring weather.  We have some exciting updates to share with everyone! 

First, we sold our house!  Hooray!  I have to confess, it was a little stressful and I (Anna) often choose to worry about things instead of trusting God.  Thankfully God is gracious and continues to provide in spite of my doubts.  We will be closing on June 11, so now we’re working on packing up our stuff and getting rid of our furniture.

Another big praise item: our church here in Toronto has officially approved us as missionaries and will be helping to provide a significant portion of our financial support.  Although we’re sad to leave our church family here, it’s wonderful to have their blessing and support.  Also, this means our current support level is 70%!  It’s amazing to see how much God has provided via our friends and family in such a short amount of time.  The last 30% still seems overwhelming at times, but we continue praying and trusting.

That brings us to our timeline.  This summer will be an exciting adventure of traveling for us.  We will be leaving Toronto around June 12 (shortly after we close the house and finish up other details).  We are then planning a big 2-month road trip across North America, which will involve visiting around friends and family and also attending a one week Orientation with TeachBeyond (our sending mission).  Our travel plans look something like this:  Toronto, Ohio, Northern Indiana, Chicago, Wisconsin, Minneapolis, Winnipeg, Moose Jaw (Saskatchewan), and Calgary via car (4000km!).  We will leave our car in Calgary with Clarence’s parents, then fly to Ohio.  After a few weeks in Ohio with Anna’s family, we plan to fly from there to Germany.  For those who live in any of these areas, drop us a line and we’ll try to arrange a visit!

We are hoping to fly to Germany around August 8^th.  However, we need to have 90% of our monthly support pledged before we can purchase our plane tickets.  The sooner we can purchase our plane tickets, the better, so we have made a goal to be at 90% support by May 20.  This means we need another $1300 of monthly pledged support.  Thank you so much to the many who have already joined our support team both in prayer and financially.  For others who would still like to join, we have attached another pledge form in case you misplaced the first one. We are looking for another 20-25 monthly supporters; if you would like to join this vision, please let us know!

SOLD!

Yeah!  Our house is sold!  I have to confess, the process was a little stressful for me (Anna).  Keeping the house clean with two active little boys was quite the challenge.  But most difficult was the waiting process; the 'what if's' that constantly plague my mind.  I have been learning about faith and trusting God.  He keeps showing me over and over that He has and will take care of us, but I still struggle with doubt somedays.  But right now I will focus on praising Him for bringing the right buyer at the right time.  Praise the Lord - our house is sold!  As Clarence said: no turning back now!  Our move to Germany is really happening; we can't stay here anymore!  ;)

God is Good

Hello again!  We are currently enjoying March Break Week (Austin has no school), including some very beautiful weather!  What a wonderful blessing that God delivered nice weather and we can be outside enjoying the time off of school.

We wanted to write a few updates about our move and our ministry.  First, a bit of clarification about our support raising.  Black Forest Academy (the school where we will be serving) does not pay any of the staff.  All staff are considered missionaries and must raise 100% of their own funds.  This includes all basic needs such as housing (the school does not provide any living accomodations), food, utilities, insurance, transportation, schooling for the kids, etc, etc.  As we mentioned before, the cost of living in Europe is quite high.  The amount of support we need to raise often feels overwhelming to us, but we know that God is amazing and able.  We continue to ask all of you to pray about joining our ministry through supporting us financially on a monthly basis. 

We are thankful that we have had some families already commit to supporting us monthly as well as several one time gifts!  Our church is in the process of deciding how much financial support they can give us as well.  As we have looked over our finances again, the amount needed does seem a little lower than we initially anticipated (we’re now estimating $6500 instead of $7000).  There are still a lot of unknowns, especially since our housing is not finalized yet, which is why the amount needed is still being adjusted.

On another note, we are getting ready to sell our house here in Toronto!  It feels a little scary selling our house, when we’ve just begun support raising.  But this is another big step of faith and trusting God.  Please pray that the showing and selling of our house will go smoothly.

 Finally, we wanted to mention that the website listed on our newsletter was incorrect.  The correct website for Black Forest Academy is:  www.bfacademy.com.  Thank you again for your love and support.  Please send us an email and let us know how you’re doing! 

God bless,

Clarence and Anna