a finish line and a starting point
What began three years ago was a gentle urging from God into our hearts. Though some of us took longer to accept it, eventually somewhere along the way God molded us into missionaries. We are extremely grateful for the sacrifices and encouragement people have provided along the way. Two days out from our initial departure date, I couldn't sleep much, mainly with thoughts of custom forms, "it's hot in this room", praising the Lord for my sweet daughter and ever patient husband.
Soon thoughts crept up about a recent issue regarding our visas. Our visa process was put on hold and not accepted. While this should signal a time for panic, God granted me peace. The current issue is that the Japanese government wants to see our monthly support go up. Finding out that they won't count our savings or one time donations was a major blow because we are uncertain now as to when Emmaly can begin school or when we will move into an apartment. Then our option for a student visa was thrown out because we have a child. There is another option which is for a work visa. We would have loved to have had a missionary visa but we recognize that God's ways are not our ways.
Our goodbyes have been hard. I have a hard time saying 'goodbye' because it's too final so my one-liner has been 'see you later.' It's amazing to feel the strength that God has given us, for when we feel our weakest he props us back up. How can we not start singing "What a friend we have in Jesus" at these points in our life? Our bags have been packed and re-packed. Material items have been evaluated and re-evaluated. It seems chaos and lack of sleep is on the horizon, but we're excited!
This is our finish line.
Narita will be our threshold, the bright lights of Japanese night life will be our welcoming banner. We pray that more missionaries will follow us into this fertile country. God has been so good and proved ever faithful, I know he'll work everything out. The hardest part is understanding his time but accepting it has become easier. It was difficult to think of dismantling our lives, but giving has become second nature. Sure, we're nervous! I believe we experienced almost every human emotion possible but we are still standing.
This is our starting point.
We need only 14 more monthly sponsors @ $30 per month. Just one month ago we needed 27. I know he'll provide those people.
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