We Are Going To China

We received our travel approval from China today. We are waiting to hear about our consulate appointment, but hope to leave next Thursday, October 4th. More soon....check journeytojanelle.blogspot.com for updates and travel journal.

Independance Day Fiesta--September 15th

First Sunday in New Church Building

First Meeting in New Church

Wednesday afternoons at 4:00 the ladies of the church gather for their weekly Bible study. Today was no exception, but there was one difference. Instead of meeting at the home of one of the ladies, we met in the new church for the first time. It was fitting that the ladies were the first to have our meeting there, because many of them have been so very faithful in working in the construction. We have been involved in every aspect of the construction, from hauling block, filling buckets with sand and gravel, mixing cement, providing meals, laying tile, doing grout, cleaning----you name it, the ladies have done it. They are a faithful group!



This weekend we will hold the first Sunday service there. On Tuesday the ladies gathered to load the chairs, tables, and boxes of church supplies in a truck and haul everything over to the new building, up the stairs and into the sanctuary.

Also, our family will be moving into the new house this weekend. We still lack some windows and one door, but we will move in anyway, and trust that they will be ready and installed soon. Sunday after church we will have dinner together, then everyone will chip in and haul boxes and furniture. We are really looking forward to getting installed there. The house is two rooms smaller than the one we have now, so it will be a challenge to get everything put away--or given away if it doesn't fit!



Check back again next week for pictures of our first Sunday in the new building!

Meet Janelle

I think that most of you who are reading this know that we are closing in on completing another China adoption. Jiang MinMin, who will be called Janelle, caught our attention back on February, and we began the paperchase to bring her home to our family. Last week we received the next paper we needed from China to bring her home. That has been returned to China, and now we await our Travel Approval, which should take another 2 or 3 weeks to arrive. We hope to travel the first week of October to meet her and bring her home. Taylor and LiAnne will be staying in Missouri with the family while we travel.

Please be praying for Janelle. Just imagine what it would be like to leave the only home (orphanage) that you have known for 12 1/2 years, your language, culture, food, smells, comforts, friends--and travel half way around the world with two people you had just met. She has no real idea of what is going to happen to her or what to expect. Please pray that she would be comforted in this time of extreme change. Also, that she will have a tender heart, and will come to understand our love for her, and God's love for her.

The more we read and learn about older child adoption, the more of a challenge this seems that it will be. We have corresponded with a number of families who have gone through this, and have learned of many things that we might face in the days ahead. We don't expect that it will be easy....quite the contrary. But, we do know that it will be worth it. There will be days that we wonder what we got ourselves into, and probably wish that we hadn't. But, in the end we know that God had had His hand in this since the day that we first saw Min Min's picture, and felt called to her.

If you would like to read more about Janelle, or to follow us on our journey back to China, please go to: journeytojanelle.blogspot.com.

Lancy--off to Thailand

Our daughter Lancy finished up her Bible school training earlier this year, and stayed in Argentina to work in the Church Planting office there. She has been involved in secretarial work, as well as working with teams that visit, translation, and working in the town of Oro Verde--helping in the church there.

Lancy's desire is to serve the Lord as a missionary. For the past year or so, she has been praying that the Lord would show her where He wants to use her. The answer to her prayer seems to be the country of Thailand!

In June of this year, Lancy was able to attend missionary canditate school in Schroon Lake, NY (a looooong way from Argentina, and a blessing of the Lord as He supplied the cost of her ticket and training week). At the end of this time, she was appointed as a missionary to Thailand. She will be working with Jeff and Jessica Gordon in opening the Word of Life ministry in Thailand.

Please pray for Lancy, as she needs to raise a very modest $1200 a month for her first two years in Thailand. During this time the idea is to live with a Christian family there while she attends language school. Living with a family will greatly help her in language learning, as well as greatly reduce the cost of living there.

If you would be interested in knowing more, please email Lancy at: lancykull@wol.org.

If you would be interested in supporting her financially, the mission address is:

Word of Life International

PO Box 600

Schroon Lake, NY 12870

Volleyball Tournament

On Tuesday, August 21, we were invited to bring a volleyball team to play against the mayor or Bernal, and his team, as well as the mayor of Ezequiel Montes, and his team, and a couple of other teams from nearby. This was the second time that we have been invited by the local mayor to play....the first being when the group from Village Bible Church in Garden Grove, CA were here. That was such a hit with the mayor, that he invited us again.

Well.....you win some, you loose some.....but it was a great time of getting to know people in town, and having a positive testimony with them.