Teammates

I had a request to post the names of all of my teammates going to Viet Nam with me, so here there are:

Vinh:
Joel, Dawn, Amy

De Nang:
Lucretia, Lisa, Leslie, Adrianna

That's it. Just the 8 of us. Please remember to pray for them by name.

Support update

Hey guys,

I just wanted to update you all and let you know how things are going here in Pasadena. God is providing for me in so many different ways, and in ways I didn't even know I needed support. We've been working on being very open and vulnerable with our teammates, and it's been a growing experience for me to open up to these new people. It's healthy, though, and my spirit has really been blessed by the lack of pretenses that I have with these people. They're becoming my family, my brothers and sisters in Christ, and that is such a blessing.

On the more practical front, I am still struggling to complete my studies at IIT. My professor is really being a stickler, but my advisor has stepped up to help me get the work that the professor wants finished, and for that I am grateful as well, because I don't have much time to work on this stuff, especially as my heart is so far from being in it.

As for monetary support, another one of my teammates has been blessed above and beyond her needs, and she has been gracious enough to share that blessing with me. I am still working and praying that you, my friends and family back home, will be able to share in this adventure, but God is providing these needs from all over the place, and I am SOOOO thankful for that. My parents are being so very supportive as well. They've been helping to contact those that I didn't while I was at home, and I know that any day now, I'll be able to share even more stories of God's unending faithfulness.

Prayer continues to be the cornerstone of my endeavor. Without the prayers of all of you, I would fail. Earlier this weekend, I was able to talk with some of you back home, and it was such an encouragement to hear how proud of me you all sounded, and how you're all praying for me. I especially want to thank Dad, Mom, Mike and Bonnie, Mark, Shena, and Brittney, and of course, Noelle for praying for me. I love you all and can't wait to keep sharing everything that I know God will be doing in this next year.

I almost forgot to mention, currently I need $6600 more to meet my needs. If you're praying for me, please pray specifically for that number, and I hope that we can continue to keep praying together as it gets smaller and smaller.

God Does Provide

Just wanted to drop a quick note to let everyone know that my first teaching session yesterday went very well! I've got things to learn, but it was pretty comfortable. This may work after all! ;-D

One note of praise, one of my teammates has actually stepped forward to help me with my support raising. She's given me some money, and is in talks with her church about supporting me, too. I've only just met these folks, but we're growing closer every day. God couldn't have provided me with a better group of folks to teach with.

Praise Him!

First Week of Training

Hello to all my friends and family!

I'm writing you from William Carey International University in Pasadena, CA. We've started our first week of training, and let me tell you, it is intense! We go from 7AM to 9:30PM and are usually really busy. We've already had one official day of training, and now that we're on our second, we're expected to begin teaching ESL classes! I am not training tonight, but my teammates Joel, Lisa, Leslie, and Amy will be. I'll probably start tomorrow night. We're teaching all levels of competency, not just people with some sort of skill. The beginners class actually looks easier than the advanced one. Some of the students know more than we do!

I only have the moment to update everyone, so I wanted to ask once again for your prayers and support. As far as I know, I am still waiting to see the fruition of God's abundance in terms of financial support, but I have faith that He will provide. Keep praying that He does! Secondly, it seems that I will not be able to get my grade fixed in time to graduate in July, so that will push me all the way back to December, but that shouldn't affect my ability to go to Viet Nam.

As I close, I'd just like to thank everyone who's praying for me and supporting me. Without you, I'd never even have begun this adventure.

The Day of Reckoning

Well, that day is finally here. My last day in NW Illinois. It's a busy one, too. I've been to the doctor's office, given blood, I'm going out to lunch with Pastor Warren, need to be fingerprinted for a background check, pick up my last paycheck, make sure I've packed everything that I need, and drive out to Chicago to say goodbye to my friends there.

The morning has been pretty neat though. Many, many thanks to Dr. DeHaan and everyone at Md-at-Home for their help. I know that I've been a bit of a quirk in their routine, and I'm grateful to them for all of the things that they've done to help me get to Viet Nam. I especially want to thank Gerry, she's a really sweet nurse, and very understanding.

After the doctor, I went to the Rock Valley blood bank to give my last unit of blood for a while. I've always been an active donor, but with my travelling coming up, I will be screened out for a while. While I was there I got to meet Darren Marlar and Cindy Swanson from Marlar in the Morning, the local christian morning show in Rockford. If you think they're funny on air, you really should meet them in person. They said that they would be praying for me, and we all know that that is the best way that anyone can support this trip. I also got some Mercy Me tickets, and although I'll be on my way to Viet Nam, my parents will really be blessed by that.

There are a few unresolved issues at this time that I'm praying that God will provide for soon, and while I have faith that it will happen in His timing, I'm looking forward to seeing that provision. If you, my partners, could pray with me for these things, I'd really appreciate it.
1) I am still trying to negotiate the terms of my graduation with my professor. The school has given me a deadline of July 28 to get the incomplete resolved in order to graduate in the summer semester, so time is of the essence. If I don't get this figured out by then, it may jeopardize this trip, because I need to have my education completed before I can teach.
2) There are some due dates coming up for the costs of this trip. While I believe that ESI has been extending me some grace due to how late I got involved with them, I don't want to use more than I need to of that grace. When it all comes down, I need to have about $5500 by mid-August. This would cover all of the ESI expenses for my training and international airfare.
3) While this isn't an "unresolved issue" please continue to pray for my team, safe travels, and for my family back home. While I'm sure they'll welcome some time without me driving them crazy, I know they love me and will miss me. I'll be praying that they go to God for everything they need. He's got so much more to offer!

I love you all so much; thank you for praying for me, and I can't wait to keep sharing all the wonderful things that God will be doing with you.

2 Corinthians 4:5-6

4 Days and Counting

There are four days left until I leave for training. I'm finishing my work for Computer Dynamics, getting my affairs in order, and packing for training. I'm looking forward to it, but as usual the ambiguity leaves me wishing that I knew more of what lies ahead. I have faith that it will all work out, but a part of me still wants to know how. I am looking forward to meeting my new teammates, but leaving everyone here, especially my girlfriend, Noelle, and my parents will be difficult.

Some good news I have though is that God has provided a decent laptop and a camera for me to take with me. This will let me keep up with everyone from home, and I really am grateful for that.

Thank you all for your prayers!

Who knew you'd get poked so much!?

So, today was the day that I went around Rockford getting poked all over the place. I had to get my immunizations and some blood drawn for my labs and such. The ladies at the Winnebago Health Department were really nice. If you need to get travel shots, that's the place to do it. They're very informative and explain everything. I'd like to send a big thank you to Dr. DeHaan and everyone at Md-at-Home for being really nice and helping me get all of my lab work set up. My physical is next week, but they needed samples for the labs today. The tests are going to cost upwards of $300, but I have faith that God will provide the money as needed.

In other news, I am still looking for a laptop to take with me so that I can keep up with all of the wonderful people back home. I had a possibility come up this week with a computer that I thought I had resurrected from a junk pile, but some better techs told me that I didn't fix it. I might be able to get by with its quirky attitude, but I'm not sure. A sure thing would be great, but if I can get one for free, I won't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Anyway, I've got to get back to getting my homework done, so I'll sign off now.

Keep Praying!
Colossians 4:3-4, "And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should."

And so it begins...

So, here I am, sitting at my computer at home, 12 days before I leave for training for my trip to teach English in Vietnam. I'm going to be using this blog to keep track of interesting things that are going on so that I can compile them into a newsletter every so often, but if you want to know what I'm doing in real-time, you can keep up with it here. Thanks for visiting, thanks for praying, and I look forward to sharing this adventure with everyone.