Checklist

Four checked bags- check
Two carry-ons- check
Two personal bags- check
250 pounds of our stuff- check
Apps to translate- check
Pregnant wife- check
Myself- check
Peace that only God can give- check and double check.

Commissioning Service

Sunday- August 5th- was a truly special evening service for us at our church. We had our commissioning service at First Christian Church in Ramseur N.C. www.fccramseur.org. David's grandfather, who is the pastor at Berea Baptist Church in Hiddenite N.C. and who married us, gave the charge. The special music was great and we were truly blessed by everyone who took part in this service. We could tell that many people put time into this special service for us. (There was a ton of food so thanks for all who brought the yummy goodies.) Several of David's family came over from Statesville, Hiddenite, and Taylorsville which was also wonderful because we were able to see them one more time. It was an awesome time that reminded us of how truly amazing God is and how the body of Christ of works together to fulfill His purpose. We were also blessed to be surrounded by our First Christian Church family. So many wonderful church members have come around us to encourage and support us, it was great to speak with many of them personally. God is good!!!

Staging and Packing

One of the most common questions we get about going to Japan is how do you pack for something like that, and what I have found is a pretty simple answer- one pound at a time. Because we are not shipping anything we have to stay under a 50 lbs limit for the 3-4 checked bags we will be taking. This can prove to be fairly difficult when a bag that you are taking can potentially hold 75 lbs of items. The flights that we are on allow us to take 2 free checked bags each so we are very thankful for that. To the right you will see a little of what we are doing as we stage things that we are preparing to put into our luggage. (the oreo cookies are a gift for a missionary that is in Tokyo- she said she wanted some oreo's from the states so we were happy to be able to bring some.) We will continue to stage things and pack them away the rest of the week until we have found the proper balance between things we have to have and the 50 lbs limit we do have. Thanks for your prayers.

Flexiblity

Flexibility is defined on dictionary.com as- capable of being bent, usually without breaking. I was reminded this week that even though we make our plans and do our best to see them through that God is the one that directs our steps and that He is in control. We had an issue come up with our visa's and for a short time we were not sure if we were going to be able to depart on time, but thankfully God worked in an amazing way and it looks like everything is going to work out. I received an email from my aunt and uncle with Wycliffe stating that they got to Cameroon and are getting settled in. They said that the first flight they had was delayed and that caused them to be late for their connecting flights but thankfully the airlines worked it out so that they arrived around the same time. Unfortunately they have not received any of their bags yet so please pray for them as they try to be flexible in not having anything but their carry on bags in a brand new country. As we are a little over a week away from leaving ourselves their flight issues along with our visa complications was an awesome reminder that God is in control and that He will supply all of our needs

Just a quick update about some recent happenings in our lives- we recently visited with my family out in the midwest and it was a truly awesome time to get to see everyone before we leave for Japan. We will be going to the burg (Lynchburg) one last time to say our goodbyes and to have one last check up on stephanie and our new little one before we fly to Japan.  We just got our last piece of luggage a few days ago and already have one bag packed and ready to go. We will continue to stage things and make last minute wal-mart runs until we leave. We have been told that an apartment has been spoken for on our behalf very close to where we will be ministering and that we will be able to move in on the 21st when we arrive in Shimonoseki. This is great news for us and we look forward to setting up a home that we can use to share Christ in. 

Please pray for us:

That we will have no further complications with visa's or other paperwork

That we will have safe travel

That we will add more prayer partners before we leave

That we will add more financial partners before we leave

That above all we will be open to God's will for our lives

Pray for Tony and Marcia as she recently lost her mother.

Some recent praises:

God has added several people who have been willing to partner in prayer with us

We have had safe travel and a reliable car during our summer travels

Several children have already signed up for the weekend pre-school classes- (pray that even now God will be working and that those children and parents will be receptive to the gospel.)

Several more people have signed up for the conversational English classes that I will be teaching.

Shimonoseki Christ Bible Church recently had a mission trip group come and had good success in accomplishing the goals the trip had.