The house is on fire!! NOT!

The fire alarm went off at exactly 1:43 AND 3:14 AM this morning! There was no fire. But twice we all gathered outside in the soft glow of the lights from our building. Twice the alarm continued; and twice the ILC security responded and we waited for the fire department to come and silence the alarm – what a way to begin our missionary journey ;~{b)

We are now done with our orientation. The Commissioning service yesterday afternoon had the highest attendance ever – I think because we were the largest class that has come though the ILC. We have grown deeper spiritually in the past eight weeks than we have ever thought we could. The question that keeps coming up is this: “Are you ready?” I suppose we would have to answer that we are as ready as we can be to go and answer the call that God has placed upon our lives. In our own strength, we are ill prepared to get out of bed in the morning. But in God’s strength we rise early to meet Him, just to sit at His feet and allow Him to fill us up.

In just a few hours we will take the next step in our journey. This part has become routine for us over the years. It will be just one more trip, another long day of traveling. Even as we are going, though, we want to be BOLD witnesses for the Lord . . . why should we wait until we get there? Yesterday morning, that was our prayer request as we took part in one of the FPO closing ceremonies. Please join us in this prayer. We are not able to do it without YOUR prayer support. Also, pray for us as we travel. It will take us about 21 hours to get from Virginia to our new home in Germany. We leave the ILC at 11 AM Sept 24 and arrive in Lorrach, Germany at about 2 PM on Friday, Sept 25!

We already have an apartment in Lorrach. Our supervisor wrote to us the other day and told us that they would even have some basic groceries there when we arrive. Once we arrive, we’ll get signed up for telephone and internet service. WARNING! This process takes longer than it does in the US, so it may be a while before we are able to get back on line. Please pray for us about getting our household and routine established quickly. We begin our language school on Oct 6 in a town about an hour away. Even though we will have a car when we arrive, we will ride the train to and from language school. Since Lorrach is a small city, we will also be walking more than we will be driving.

Please pray for us that we would kindle afresh the gift of God which is in us;
Please pray that we will realize that God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline;
Please pray that we will not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord but boldly share the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. (2 Tim 1:6-9)