Meeting with our Ministry Support Team: Laurie King, team leader; Anne McKee, financial coordinator; Liz Brinkman, communications coordinator; Ramona Yoder, prayer support coordinator; Roger & Clara Bontrager, personal support coordinators.

Meeting with our Ministry Support Team: Laurie King, team leader; Anne McKee, financial coordinator; Liz Brinkman, communications coordinator; Ramona Yoder, prayer support coordinator; Roger & Clara Bontrager, personal support coordinators.

As we prepare to leave for a week of training with Mennonite Mission Network (MMN), we wanted to post about how things have been shaping up these past few months. We intentionally paused after our last blog post. In regards to our movement towards Spain, our need for financial partners is one of the biggest obstacles we've had to tackle during this season in the United States.

That said, we've certainly done more than sit on our hands since then:

  1. We have a Worthwhile Adventures Facebook page. This is for all of you who might be interested in getting a more frequent dose of what's happening with us. It's also a good way to see glimpses of God's Mission that might not be substantial enough to make into a blog post.
  2. We've stood alongside those who fear being [further] marginalized in solidarity and in protest.
  3. We've done our best to be fully present in our community here in Phoenix. Life has been full of celebrations (weddings, birthdays), visits from loved ones (Laura Glass-Hess, Marlene Wall, Alison & Zach Stevenson), housesitting, and general memory-making (Mexico house build, small group meetings, horseback riding & the Renaissance Festival).
  4. We've connected well with our Ministry Support Team -- a group of great folks who have been working to make our service in Barcelona a reality. Liz also recently sent out an amazing newsletter. If you didn’t receive it, you’re absolutely missing out. Email info@worthwhileadventures.org or sign up at the bottom of our home page to get on the distribution list.
  5. We are students. At the encouragement of the Anabautistas, Menonitas, y Hermanos en Christo ESPAÑA (AMyHCE) church network, we are now pursuing student visas through our Spanish Language school – BCN LIP Language School. This makes sense as our first few years in Spain will focus on language and culture acquisition. We’re now just a few documents away from setting our appointment at the Spanish consulate in Los Angeles.

While in Indiana, we’ll have a few days to connect with family and friends and say our final goodbyes before our U.S. exit. We’re looking forward to attending church with Josh’s brother Jordan at The Vine on Sunday, seeing Josh’s family, and spending some time with Alisha's family in Anderson.

Alisha's sister Alison has even coordinated an early first birthday party for Asher and we’re coordinating a Pizza Party to connect with extended family and friends as well. Please stop by because ALL are welcome. 

FUNDRAISING UPDATE

You’re probably saying to yourself, “Wow! All this talk of a Barcelona departure… they must be close to their fundraising goals!” We are happy to report that we have reached a fundraising threshold that allows us to move forward with visas (and SOON plane tickets). While this funding will send us to Spain for our first term, it's reoccurring pledges that will keep us there.

If you would like to be a part of the community of supporters who are contributing financially, click here for multiple options of giving. 

CALL FOR PRAYER

We appreciate all of you who have walked alongside us through this process so far. Your words of encouragement regarding both our mission’s needs and personal needs (ongoing insurance debacles, outstanding thyroid concerns, other circumstantial anxieties) have been invaluable. As we enter the next leg of our race, please pray that we continue to feel wonderfully full, happily equipped, and joyfully supported.

May God prepare our hearts for the farewells ahead of us, as they will be hard. Finish-line Barcelona, here we come.

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