Wanna Help? Here's How!

 I have amazing people.  From the first days that I began sharing about going back to Quito, my people have been asking how they can help.  Thank you so much to all of you!  Here are some suggestions.

-A New Home for My Kitties

I still need a home for my two sweet kitties.  It needs to be indoors; probably a home without other pets; and if there are children, they would need to know how to be gentle with animals.  My girls are 14 and 13 years old, so I'm trying to make the transition as un-traumatic as possible.  If you have any leads in this are, please let me know!

-Two Work Days to Help Get My House Rent-Ready (July 11th or July 18th)

There will be two Saturday work days at my house (July 11 and July 18) and we will need volunteers!  The 11th will focus on household repairs and yardwork.  The 18th will involve a lot of moving my packed belongings into the basement or shed, and some moving-out cleaning.  On both days there will be jobs for people with all levels of skills and abilities.  If you're interested in helping, or need more info, please let me know and I'll fill you in!

-Filling A Void in the Nursery Volunteer Team (Life Community people only)

 Last week I served in the church nursery for the final time before I go.  The nursery can almost always use more volunteers (like basically every church on the planet), and one way you could help with my preparations to serve in Quito would be to volunteer to fill in my nursery spot.  Each service requires two volunteers (either two adults, or one adult and one teen helper), and generally you would serve once a month.  I can talk for a long time about how I consider nursery duty to be one of the simplest ways to bless the local church.  If you are interested in learning more, please reach out to Carol Harbor (Nursery Coordinator) or Abbey Guntle (KidsLife Director) at church.

**PS-Nursery is MUCH more fun with a great partner!  Consider recruiting your spouse, a teenaged child, or a friend to serve with you.  It can be a great time of fellowship, as well as a blessing to the young families in your congregation! 

-Yes, We Are Taking Donations!

While I will receive a salary which I am hopeful will cover my normal living costs, the process of wrapping things up here [making some improvements/repairs in my house before the renters move in; buying a year's worth of things I can't get there; and buying tickets and gathering visa documents] are all spendy and they are adding up.  I am not asking more monthly donors, but if you would like to make a one-time donation toward these expenses, thank you!!  You're welcome to use Venmo, PayPal, Zelle (if you're a Chase Bank user), mail a check, or hand me cash.  Just let me know the funds are for my trip preparations.

Because I'm not going with a sending organization this time, I have decided to set up some accountability for myself and my donors.  I want to provide transparency for donors so that they feel confident that the money they give is being used responsibly.  And I want the accountability for myself.  

Stan Miller, an elder and the head of the missions committee at my church, has agreed to meet with me monthly to go over the specifics of what has come in and how I have spent it.  Stan is Good People and a Godly man.  If you would like any additional information about this arrangement, please don't hesitate to ask.  I am happy to share!

-Prayer is Always Very Welcome!

 I left prayer for the end, because people who pray tend to be people who both persevere [say, to the end of the blog post] and care enough about me to read to the end.  If that's you, bless you.  I don't pretend to understand all the inner workings of how prayer works, but I know that Jesus said we should do it, and that's good enough for me!  Here are some general prayer requests, which I will update as things progress and different challenges present themselves.

 -Pray for energy to think clearly and complete the daunting list of things to accomplish over the next 3-4 months of transition

-Pray for peace, courage, and confidence in our God as I step back into the world of expat living

-Pray for financial provision, and faith as I wait.

-Pray for favor and discernment as I wade through all the many details of moving abroad; renting out my house; gathering visa documents; handling my car situation; re-homing my kitties; and several other Big Ticket Items. 

-Pray for my arrival- for my housing situation; my relationships with the faculty/staff team at AAI; for my students and their parents.

-Pray that this season would draw me closer to the Lord; into deeper commitment and fellowship and into greater understanding of His character. 

-Final word is a repeat from my last update.  If you would like to get a brief email from me with the blog post link each time I write something new on this blog, please click here to complete a short, 4-question response and I will add you to the notification list!

Thank you, friends, for all your support!