01 November 2012

A Season of Change

Dearest Friends,

A whirlwind of happenings has engulfed us since I last wrote you... I apologize for my lack of communication. The American summer flew right by us, and before we knew it, the Fall semester commenced, leaving me with more homework than I knew what to do with.

Like the changing of the leaves, much change has begun to take place in our lives. For one thing, I am no longer the only student in our household, for Hunter signed up for a Biblical Interpretation class at Phoenix Seminary this semester! A true academic, he is loving the reading and homework assigned to him each week. Recently, the opportunity has also arisen for Hunter to receive a full ride scholarship for seminary! This has been a major dream of his! We are praying that, if the Lord wills, he will be awarded the scholarship, enabling him to earn either his Master of Divinity (MDiv) or Master of Arts in Biblical Leadership (MABL). Please join us in prayer over this, for this would further equip Hunter as a missionary to train up future leaders in the continent of Africa!

Another change for us this season was the adoption of another cat - only this time, we adopted a kitten rather than an adult! As you know, we named our other beloved fluff Sherlock. So it only seemed natural to name our next kitty Watson! Sherlock was left alone for most of the day on work days, so we desired to acquire a companion for him to keep him company :) We adopted Watson a few weeks ago when he was just less than 7 weeks old! He is now around 11 weeks old and is a constant source of joy and entertainment :) When we brought him home, Sherlock was hesitant (to say the least) to accept this strange ball of fur who had invaded his territory. By day two, however, they were best of friends and have not stopped chasing one another around our apartment since :) Hunter and I are beyond blessed to have them both as our furry companions.

My dear husband and I also decided to make the big decision to transfer this month to a larger apartment for the purpose of being able to minister to our neighbors around us. As a couple with a big heart for missions, yet unable to live in the mission field we know God has called us to, we desired to begin living our lives as missionaries right now where we live! Living in an apartment complex, we have hundreds of people with whom we can develop relationships and share the Word of God :) We have already had our immediate neighbor, Ray, over a couple of times and have developed a friendly and neighborly relationship with him! Unfortunately, our current apartment is very small which makes it difficult to entertain guests. For this very reason, we decided that having a larger space would better enable us to invite neighbors over for dinner, coffee, or tea, and talk with them about Christ :) Additionally, the extra room will provide Hunter with a work space for all of the seminary homework he will be inundated with. We will be making the move on the 17th of November and could not be more excited!

We are currently making plans and preparations to go to South Africa next summer for a missions trip! Our hearts long to visit again and to minister to the lost. We hope to travel to Zambia while we are there, but we are praying for God's guidance on where the greatest need is. We will keep you updated as the plan unfolds :)

God has been so good to provide for all our needs! Without His provision, we have no idea where we would be right now. We are so thankful for all of your continued prayers and faithful support. Please pray for God's wisdom in regards to the mission trip next year. We deeply desire to follow the will of God - not our own. You are all a constant source of encouragement and we thank God for you :

With much love and thankfulness,

Andrea