Dear friends and family,
A roller coaster of events have happened in the past few months and we are learning to trust God through it all. James 1:2-3 says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” As Christians, when unfortunate circumstances come our way we can still thank God through them as they can be used to grow us in endurance and our trust in God. There is so much hope for the believer because they know God is sovereign over everything, so no matter what happens He still holds them in His Hands! These truths have brought us great peace in the few past months leading up to our vision trip to Japan.
Car Trouble & A Halloween Outreach
It was October 31st when I (Lydia) woke up to take Geoff to work as I usually did most mornings. Just like any day, I returned home to park our car on the street, went inside, and finished getting ready for the day. Less than 2 hours later I went back outside to drive myself to work, but to my surprise the car was gone! Nothing but a few shards of glass lay in its place.
I couldn’t believe this was happening! I called the police immediately and then Geoff to tell him what happened. They both came about 45 minutes later and the policewoman took a report. Geoff and I went back inside to pray after she notified us they were searching for the car.
Soon, the shock of the event transitioned into acceptance and we decided it was time to move on with our day as we waited to hear back from the police. That evening we had a Halloween outreach we had to prepare for so I went to work and then later we showed up to the outreach to help set up. Our church puts on “front yard parties” where some of our church members open up their front yards to host a night of games, candy prizes, hot dogs, popcorn, and most importantly it’s a time to evangelize! We hand out tracks, church invites, and have gospel conversations with the families that come through. Geoff and I encountered some bold tween girls who asked the tough questions! We praise God for their curiosity about Christianity and for the wisdom He gave us as we spent time dialoguing with them about the Bible.
It was amazing because in the middle of that evening, Geoff got a call from the police and they notified him that they had retrieved the car! Praise God that within 12 hours our car was found!
Our Trip to CBI Kauai
As we mentioned in our last update, we got an opportunity to go to the CBI (Calvary Bible Institute) in Hawaii. Well, only a few days after the car incident we found ourselves on a plane headed to the island of Kauai! It was there that we spent a few days filming our pastor’s block class, “The Purpose of the Church.” Thankfully, we experienced little to no technical difficulties during the filming process! Praise God!
Aside from the filming, it was super fun meeting some of the CBI students, some of the staff, and of course getting to see a few sights of Kauai! We are so grateful for that experience and to everyone who welcomed and hosted us.
Theft & Thanksgiving!
Well, apparently we weren’t out of the woods yet because a week after we returned from Hawaii, Geoff’s driver’s license and passport got stolen! The enemy was definitely trying to throw many darts of hindrances at us as we entered the busy holiday season! But despite the inconveniences, we kept moving forward and the Lord brought us so much support through our church family as well. We are so grateful for them all!
Speaking of gratitude, we were able to serve at our church’s “Thanksgiving Feast” that they put on every year. As you can imagine, it was a wonderful time of fellowship, great food, and thanksgiving as we entered the holiday season. Geoff was in charge of setting up the soundboard and stage at the venue for the worship team. It was a great night and we were grateful for a time to thank the Lord together as a church.
1 Year Married!
Christmas was also a wonderful time and we were able to see both our families that week! It was also a very restful time for us which we were grateful for. Then New Year’s came around the corner and we celebrated our 1-Year anniversary on January 6th! What a first year it’s been! We are so grateful for the life God has given us and even more grateful to be able to go through it all together.
Thank you so much to everyone who has come behind us in prayer and support, we have felt your love so much this past year. As we wrap up this overdue update, we wanted to share with you a little highlight video of some of the events we shared with you in this written portion. We hope you enjoy and look forward to sharing more in the near future!
Again, we are so grateful to you all for your care and support as we seek to be used in God’s call to reach those who have never heard the gospel.
Sincerely,
Geoff & Lydia
Praise Reports:
- The “Purpose of the Church” class recording in Hawaii went very well!
- Our car was found and returned to us within 12 hours of it being stolen!
- We were able to celebrate Thanksgiving & Christmas with both our families!
- We celebrated 1 year of marriage!
- We were able to get Geoff’s driver’s license and passport replaced in about a month and a half
Prayer Requests:
- Pray that Geoff would be able to finish editing the POTC videos well (it’s an 80-hour project).
- Pray that we would grow in our relationship with God and in our relationship with each other.
- Pray for our 3-month vision trip to Japan; that the Lord would show us clearly whether He would have us planted there as missionaries. Also that we would be good learners and servants as we get plugged into ministry at Calvary Abide Osaka.