excerpts about living, loving, and serving
BBC NEWS | Europe | Mediterranean fires still burning
If you haven’t heard already, there are massive wildfires burning all along the Mediterranean Coastline, including around Barcelona. Officials are saying that it was caused by arsonists.
Please pray for the families of the 6 Spanish firefighters who lost their lives last week.
76 days ago we applied for our visas. If you had told be that we’d still not have our visas by now, I would not be that surprised, but would be disappointed. And as I sit here and type, we don’t have our visas and I’m not surprised but kind of bummed about it.
In a week and two days we’ll be out of our apartment. Our stuff will have been sorted. Some given away. Some sold. Some ready to be shipped. I’m really praying that we’ll have our visas, our plane tickets, the support we need, and even more faith as we’ve seen God, once again, take us to the wire and teach us to trust.
Join us in praying for these things! Thanks for keeping up with our lives…
Justin
Hola Friends, Family, and Supporters!
We hope everyone is doing great! We’re counting down the days until our departure for Spain! It really does seem surreal that we’re in our last few weeks before moving! Thanks to God for your prayers encouragement, we are doing really well spiritually, emotionally, and physically as we get ready to begin the packing process all over again. I never thought that I would become so good at moving…Hopefully this is the last time for a while!
In this update you’ll hear about:
Visa Update
Keep up the prayers! Thank you to those of you who are already praying for our visas to come in, but PLEASE continue praying! We received word from the Spanish Consulate last week that they needed a Spanish translation of Maisie birth certificate. It is good news that they are processing our applications and it hopefully means that we’ll be getting our visas soon! We have put in our notice on our apartment here in California and we’ll begin packing up our place next week! Pray that this will be a smooth transition and that God will meet us in our steps of faith.
To keep up with our thoughts on ministry, prayer needs, and updated news check out our new ministry blog! (This button will always be available on the right of our updates)
Great Support Parties the Last Few Weeks!
Over the past few weeks we’ve had some great opportunities to connect with many in our support team. First, our party in Sacramento at Jen’s mom’s place. Then we got to worship with our friends at Oak Tree Community Church in Elk Grove, California. We always feel so loved, encouraged, and honored each time we have visited the Oak Tree community.
Last weekend we had a great time with our Parkcrest friends! Parkcrest is a supporting church of ours in Long Beach, CA and is also where I started working in high-school ministry when Jen and I were in college. Many of the families that adopted us back in those days are still around and, along with our new friends, are a huge encouragement to us!
Dave Beard and Paul McMurtrie, who were with us on our research trip in March, did an amazing job organizing this for us and we felt so incredibly honored and loved. We’re looking forward to seeing how God will grow our partnership with Parkcrest! (And I’m already looking forward to more carne asada at our next party with them! Yum!)
Support Update
We’ve had some great momentum building over the past couple of weeks! We’re over half-way towards our goal of having $1000 more in monthly support committed. The support blocks below are a graphic illustration of our goal…
…be encouraged along with us that God is providing for our ministry! The dark squares represent what has been committed. Maybe God will call you to help us reach the goal before moving to Europe in the next few weeks?
Please be praying for our monthly support and also for our ministry start-up costs. We are still significantly short of these funds. We want to be in Barcelona more than we could possibly describe to you, but we can’t go until we have our moving costs provided for. Ultimately, we trust that God is in control and that we’ll have even more than we could ask or imagine! Please join us in praying in faith that we’ll receive all that we need! We can’t wait to tell you that we’ve bought our tickets and have a for sure date of departure. Our visas and our funding are in the hands of God…and we’ll continue to put our trust in Him!
Family Update
Things in our family life are going really well. Despite not having all the details of our move organized, we feel a peace about everything going on. We keep talking with Maisie about this place called Barcelona that she’s going to be living in, where they speak Spanish, and there are lots of parks! We’ve watched video of her playing on the playground to remind her of how much fun she’s had there.
We are so thankful for the time we’ve been given with Jen’s family in Southern California. Knowing that our lives will be rooted in Europe for the next long season of life has made this time very significant and special for us. Please pray for us as we begin packing and goodbyes start looming. Leaving is never easy.
Prayer List
Please pray that…
-We get our visas in the next 7 days!
-Our faith is matured as we wait for God to provide for our needs
-The logistics of travel and lodging will come together
-God will lead us to friends when we arrive in BCN
-Our goodbyes would be sweet and full of hope
Thanks so much for everything! We’re so grateful for your prayers for us and our ministry in Barcelona. We’re so excited to be on the verge of starting this next season of life and ministry with you!
Talk to you soon…hopefully to let you know that we got our visas!
Grace and Peace,
Justin, Jen, and Maisie
