The date is set

Hello friends,

Our warmest greetings during this cold month in North Carolina! Have you ever heard the expression, "when it rains it pours?" That's been our experience this month-- in a good way. At the beginning of January, Nick and I sat down and faced the reality that we were probably not going to make our (self-imposed) move date of May 1. Support-raising had been slow and we were going to need a miracle. But then God, like he does, made a way.

A couple of weeks ago, we met with Jonathan (our lead pastor) and Pam (our missions pastor). They had come with news that the elders of Crosspointe had agreed to support us. Substantially. And all in one fell swoop we transitioned to a place where our move is not only possibly, but it IS happening.

So let me cut to the chase and give you our anticipated schedule for the rest of the year:

• We are leaving for 3 weeks for Mission Training International (Colorado) on Feb 23
• Gwenn is visiting Haiti with a team from her mom's church (Liberty) on April 11-18
  
• WE ARE MOVING TO HAITI ON APRIL 27!
• We will start language school on May 18.
• We will finish language school by the end of June.
• We will shadow the Pye's (the current house family) until early November.
• We will take our first "furlough" (2 weeks) in early November.
• We will begin accepting children in early December.
  

All of a sudden our lives went into overdrive! It's a crazy and exciting time. There is so much to do it's a bit overwhelming, but in an exciting way. Because of the exorbitant cost of shipping/customs, we're not shipping a container filled with our personal belongings. So that means in the next 3 months, we're completely "liquidating" our assets-- furniture and basically all of our personal belongings that cannot be packed in suitcases.

We wanted to ask you to be in prayer for our family during this crazy time of transition. We need to make sure we're doing "life" well with our kids and with each other as we hammer out the details of all of this. So, with that in mind, here are some specific requests:

• Please pray personally for each of our family members-- Nick, Gwenn, Nia, Nico, and Josiah-- as we commence this great adventure God has called us on. As we face a lot of transition in the next year, please pray we could be grounded in God and reminded that "home" is where we all are together.
• Please pray for continued financial support. We're getting very close to the numbers we need God to provide for us. We're experiencing a good "momentum" at this point. Please join us in trusting that God will be faithful to do what he has called us to do. Forward our website onto anyone you think might be interested in learning more about this journey.
  
• Please pray for move logistics. There are a lot of them. Here's a few:
• We need a house in Jacmel. We would ideally like to find a rental that we could call "home" until at least one house could be built on the land. (In which case we would move to where the current home is.) We are earnestly praying that we can find a place where we (and, specifically, our children) can feel is "home." We see the need of having a specific place to call our own, where we can unwind and just be a family-- without having to worry that we're in someone else's house or someone else's way. We see this as integral to our adjustment. Please pray the right place would become available and obvious.
• Please pray we would be able to sell all of our stuff here in the US (specifically vehicles and furniture) in an efficient and quick manner.
• Please pray our initial transition and language school. Please pray that our minds would open to the language and that we'd become fluent quickly. Please pray we'd find a good lodging opportunity in Port Au Prince during language school.
• Please pray God would lead us to the right vehicle for our family and that we'd be able to purchase it and insure it quickly.
• The logistics of us getting the "right" stuff down to Haiti with us, and the ability to furnish our home without too much difficulty.
• Please pray for the Pyes, and the other staff in Haiti, as our move puts more work on them-- to help us figure out how to get everything done. They are the "feet on the ground" that are making most of the in-country logisitics happen. We're so grateful.

We could probably go on and on with specific prayer requests. But we're going to leave it at that for today, but now that we have so much movement happening, we will now re-commence our twice monthly updates!

Thank you for your support and prayer for our family. We are excited and nervous and just very, very happy all at the same time. Our hearts ache to be "home" in Haiti. As we spend the next three months in "go mode" to make that happen, our greatest desire is to show God glory.