July Update

We are almost finished with our CROSS cultural training in Indiana and preparing to go straight to Ecuador this Saturday. We do have a connecting flight in Atlanta that will be nice to see southerners and drink sweet tea for one last time!  

We currently go to class from 8am to 5pm. Our class has 14 other missionaries who are going to 6 different countries. Our evenings are normally full with events. We also meet with our Loja team twice a week for prayer. We spend our quiet time with Sophie taking walks and going to playgrounds.

Lacey and I value our family time and need it to get recharged and refocus on our purpose.

God is continuing to work on our hearts as we are currently praying about the possibility of living with a host family. This will be a great way for us to be immersed into the culture and be beneficial in our language learning. However, it can be dangerous and our health is at a greater risk. This could be the hardest transition, but most beneficial to our ministry. 

As of right now, we will spend 2 weeks in a dormer with a shared kitchen. We will spend the next 8 weeks living with a host family learning the language and culture. Then we will move into our new unreached area in the mountains in which we will spend the remainder of our time establishing healthy relationships with the locals by learning  from them.

  One of our major challenges is to appropriately manage our ministry time and family time. We understand our purpose as Christ followers and the importance of ministry, but firmly believe that our ministry will not be successful if these two priorities are out of balance. Lacey and I continue to closely observe our personal relationship with God and each other to ensure that there is the least possible risk of an unhealthy balance. 

Our prayer verses:
Philippians 2:1-30, Galatians 2:20, Hebrews 13:12-14

Other prayer requests:

• Our spiritual preparation: We will not make it without God!
• Our health: We have all been battling colds and allergies.
• Our hearts and intentions: God continue to remind us why we are doing this.
• For all of our mentors, prayer warriors, and supporters. We know that all of you have prayer needs and do not want to overlook any of them. We love you!

We thank you all for investing in our life. We cannot do this without your prayers, advice, and support. 

God continues to do amazing things in our life!