How much longer are you here?
That is perhaps the question we get asked more often than any other these days. Our answer: "We plan, Lord willing, to head for River City in mid-October." Some respond to that, "Wow, you have lots of time yet.", while others respond, "Wow, that's coming fast." To us it feels a bit of both. We are ready to be in River City beginning our new life there but at the same time we wonder how we are going to get done all that needs to be accomplished in the short time that remains. Please pray as we purchase tickets, get Ch@rity's visa, schedule vaccinations and decide what needs to come with us and what needs to stay behind.
"What are you guys doing these days?"
This is another (and very valid) question we get asked a fair bit. We officially moved from Minneapolis, MN to Duluth, MN the first week of June. However we were out of town for most of June, so it did not really feel like we were living here. We are now traveling less than we were, which means we are able to connect with some of our friends from the Duluth area. Though we are overall traveling less these days, last week we did take a trip to the Twin Cities and also traveled to Wisconsin to speak to the youth of Mount of Olives. Please pray that as we travel, God will continue to grant safety on the road, tomorrow we leave for a three day trip to North Dakota to visit some friends/supporters. Praise the Lord with us for His traveling mercies these last months.
Last week we were grateful for the opportunity we had to welcome Ch@rity's parents back to the States. After living in London (doing church-planting work there) the past 11 years, they will be taking an extended time in Minneapolis for the next two years. You can pray that God would refresh them, re-tool them, lead them, and prepare them for what he has for them after this season.
We have the privilege of facilitating the Sunday School program here in Duluth (Mount of Olives Baptist) for July and August. We are delighted that the focus is on "macaroni work." Most weeks we are interviewing a "worker" supported by Mount of Olives. You can pray that God would use these times to stir in the hearts of those present a greater burden for the work of grace God is doing among the nations.
How you can pray:
Please pray for us as we anticipate the big move to River City in October. We both need your prayers. We both need his grace to walk through this transition in a manner pleasing to Him. While this move to River City will present challenges for both of us, I (Ch@d) would ask that as you pray, you keep in mind the unique challenge this will be for Ch@rity. While she is a woman of great faith in the LORD, this will still be a significant stretching experience for her. Unlike it is for Ch@d, for Ch@rity this is NOT a "return trip." She is not "going back" to the familiar sights, and smells and sounds of River City. Rather, she is going to a brand new neighborhood, in a brand new city, in a brand new country, among people she has never met. I am going back to what is familiar, she is headed toward what is new. God is able to make all grace abound to her so that she might have all sufficiency in all things at all times, so that she might abound in every good work (see 2 Cor 9:8). Please pray that God would cause his grace to abound to her, so that she would abound in this "good work" of moving half way around the world in order to be used of God among the Weavers of River City.
Warmly, Ch@d & Ch@rity
2 Cor. 9:8 (ESV) And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
We enjoyed having some time with Ch@rity's sister Mercy, her husband Walt and their kids Bliss and Thomas this past weekend. All six of us plan to be living in South Asia by this Fall, so we thought we better re-familiarize ourselves with modes of transportation common to South Asia. Above is a picture of us down near Duluth's LakeFront Board Walk in what is about as close to a rickshaw as you will find in Duluth, MN.
