Praise and Prayer September 5, 2020

Fear thou not for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. (Isaiah 41:10) God continues to show His kindness to us as we cling to His promises.  We are so thankful for His help in working out a myriad of details as our time in France came to an end and we travelled from Bordeaux to Grand Rapids, MI on August 6.  From precious final visits with brothers and sisters in Christ and thoughtful gestures from neighbors and friends to the kind provision of our final meal in our house and help with cleaning and moving, the Lord has sent us help and encouragement while providing for our needs.  

He worked out the details for the sale of our car and the walk-through visit of our house with the realtor and the new buyers the day we moved out.  And when upon early check-in for our flights (23 hours before departure) we discovered our airline tickets had all been cancelled without notice, He even helped us to find new tickets out of Bordeaux on the same date. The new tickets included a forced overnight in London which provided us with desperately needed rest.

Since arriving on this side of the “pond”, the Lord has continued to provide His help with each step.  We were met in Chicago by family from Allendale, MI and Tipton, IN and have felt His healing while He surrounds us with loving family (including Cherith’s sister Hadessah who is home from her field of service waiting for boarders to reopen) and a loving church family.  

Through the generosity and love of His people, He has provided for the special financial needs outside of our regular support.  He provided a place for us to stay with Cherith’s parents for the first couple weeks and now we are in a mission house in Jenison, MI within 20 minutes of family and church. He helped us to secure phone service and internet (and gather necessary materials and equipment) in time for the children to begin school on August 24.

In seeking God’s direction for our future ministry we had hoped to make a survey trip around now to see a particular work closer up.  However, with boarder closings due to Covid-19, a survey trip is out of the question.  We are asking the Lord to clearly lead us even without a visit — just as He has done for us, our parents and grandparents in the past.  

Praise for

• all that God has done for us as He has given help with each detail.  Praise for His provision for our needs, including through a family from our church that invited us to their garden to pick fresh produce. 

• Praise for His provision of all of our special expenses caused by this move.
• this time that God is giving our family to fellowship with loved ones and continue to heal and adjust to all the changes. 

• continued contacts with neighbors and friends in France.
• opportunities that God is giving us to serve Him here.

Pray for

• our adjustment to God’s plan for us and for His direction to be clear to us regarding our future ministry even without the possibility of making a survey trip.
• God to use us during this time of healing and waiting. This evening, we will be helping a family from our church here to hold an outreach to their extended family and Sunday, Adrianna will be playing her violin in a duet with a friend on the clarinet for special music in the morning service.
• a safe trip to northeast PA later this month to spend some time in our sending church after the arrival of our shipment from France. 
• relief and healing for Cherith’s respiratory and sinus problems that have worsened possibly because of pollen since we arrived in MI.