Here in northwest Montana, summer is starting to fade and fall is fast approaching. I wanted to take some time and update you on what our summer was like and what we have planned for the fall.
After spending January through April in Japan, May in California, and June in Montana, July was spent with Daphne at my parents’ farm in Nebraska. We always enjoy our time there; the pace of life is slow and we get to have experiences unique to rural America. While the cliché of the dimwitted, more harm than help, farm hand is proven true by my efforts; I look forward to the opportunity to do farm-work every time we’re there. We were able to experience county fairs, summer storms, hay harvest, and livestock wrangling. The time went by quicker than I would have liked, but it was sweet while it lasted.
We extended our time there by a week when my grandmother passed away at the start of August. While we will miss her, and her prayers she faithfully lifted up for us, we are thankful to spend an afternoon with her a few weeks prior to her passing. She was ready to be with her Lord and it wasn’t so much a time of sadness as a time of thankfulness for her and her life. It gave us an opportunity to see the entire family, some we wouldn’t have gotten to see otherwise so we were very thankful for that.
We are now back in Montana and have a busy fall ahead of us. At the end of September, I’ll be going to Peru with a team to help facilitate a missions conference. I have also been given the opportunity to teach at our church here in Whitefish. We are also praying about attending a conference in November, as well as continuing to build our prayer and support team. Please keep us in your prayers for all of these events.
Our departure date for Japan is January 29, 2024. This will be our long-term move and we’ll have a lot of preparation ahead of us to get ready. We’ll be getting our visa and housing sorted out in the next few months as well as deciding what to take with us and what to ship over later. It will also be a short-term trip for several other people that feel called to Japan as well. Alishia has been working hard planning that trip and we are excited to see what kind of team the Lord is building. We are also working on getting Alishia’s US citizenship, please pray that it goes smoothly.
If you’d like to hear more about our calling to Japan, have any questions for us, or would like to become part of our sending team, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Please consider joining us in what God is doing in Japan, there is a link at the bottom that will take you to our giving page.
Prayer requests:
- For Jeff’s trip to Peru in September.
- For provision and guidance as we plan our move to Japan.
- For Alishia’s citizenship process to go quick and smooth.
- Praise for a wonderful summer with Daphne and all the family that we were able to see.