Drum Roll Please

Yesterday was the big day for learning which outreach team we will be part of. 

Here are the basic details.  We are on the South America team!  We will be going to Cartegena, Columbia and Rosario, Argentina.  In both places we will be staying at or within walking distance of the YWAM bases in those cities.  We will get to participate in the on-going ministries these bases have set up.  We are going to learn more details about what this will look like in the next few weeks.  Our team is made of 5 families with a total of 22  people (12 kids ranging from 9 months old to 15 years old.  One of the families is our leadership team, JP and Britt, who have four kids, and have loved Columbia and wanted to be missionaries there for some time.  They love people, and are down to earth, and easy to relate to. They are also the teachers for Eloise’s 12 to 18 year old class, and JP leads the men’s 5:15am weight lifting.  I’m looking forward to getting to know them and their kids.

Brian’s thoughts (which I agree with completely):

We have a varied group of teammates which seems nicely balanced in personalities.  It doesn’t sound like our ministry will be at a breakneck pace which will be great for meeting the needs of the families with small kids. I like JP’s leadership style because it makes me feel confident.  He can kindly and gracefully answer questions, wants to support growth, and challenge people to try things. 

Eila’s thoughts:

I’m happy I got Lizard (aka Elizabeth, age 9) to hang out with.  I don’t know what to expect.

Eloise is still internally processing and not ready to say anything about her expectations of the outreach.  However, she feels at peace about the process of how we chose/were assigned.

There is so much more for us to tell about what has been happening and what we are learning!  

Praises for this week:

1. We are excited and trust our outreach team leaders!
2. The water flavor seems a bit more palatable this week 😊and I’ve started adding chia seeds and lime sometimes…healthy and tasty.
3. Brian and I are growing closer and praying together regularly.
4. This week we are learning about hearing God’s voice from a wonderful teacher named Asher. We are getting to practice listening.  It’s a new experience!

Requests

1. Our team leaders will be buying plane tickets in the next two weeks. What that means is that we will have to raise about $8000 for our family.  Please pray for this money to come in.  Here is the link for tax-deductible donations through our church. https://subsplash.com/u/-7J2RCQ/give?frequency=once&next_process_date=04/01/2025&campus_id=e7726fbf-7863-40ab-bdd8-eef6120a8d4e&fund_id=be7d6d24-e942-47a6-9091-2425411e2ba6
2. Pray that God will help us love the harder to love people in our school, and be able to work together with them.
3. Please feel free to send us or the girls cards or letters, or emails.  We also can receive phone calls just like in the states.  It helps a lot! If you want the mailing address, please contact me privately.

We appreciate you all, and knowing that you are praying for us, is so encouraging.  Also, I really want as many people as possible to get to have this kind of growth.  Please let yourself ask God whether he is nudging you this direction.  I have so many wonderful things already that I’m thankful God is teaching me.  I feel lighter in so many areas.

Here is our team!