Monday, January 15, 2007

Soon to survey

The next part of this journey in following as God leads toward missions in Vanuatu is a survey trip. I heard one missionary call such a trip a "Joshua trip" because the purpose is to go "spy out the land" and the people. The trip is scheduled for March 18-April 3, 2007, which is really soon. Lord willing, my family will be driving to my place and we'll all fly out from here to LAX airport. Air Pacific will be getting some great business then from all of us (including my dad, who is very excited to join us for this trip) and also Brad Jones as we fly out at 11:30PM Sunday night from LAX to Fiji, Fiji to Port Vila, Vanuatu (the capital). We arrive in Port Vila Tuesday morning at 9:10. The flight from LA to Nadi, Fiji is 10 hours, 40 minutes and from Nadi to Vila is 1 hour 40 minutes. We lose 18 hours going so that's part of the leaving Sunday arriving Tuesday thing. Of course, it is a long trip too. Gretchen (my sister) is planning to bring both 2 year old Jesiah and 6 month (then) Gwenyth so be praying for them in advance that they'll be able to handle all the travel and changes. I'll type more about our specific itinerary when it's more set later, but the overall purpose is to pray over the country, the people, get some great pictures, and come back with a vision for what the Lord would have us do and how. Also, I'm hoping to check out more specifics on how much it will cost to live in Vanuatu for sure and get a good feel for what it really entails to live there.

We'll also be putting in our visa applications with the local authorities (which is $500 for visa and $300 for work permit...per year). All of this trip is obviously quite costly so should the Lord move you to help out financially and in prayer, please let me know. My overall estimate for the trip is $3,500. If you are interested in the breakdown of that, let me know and I can send it to you. I'm looking for people to partner with me in this trek toward Vanuatu so if that's you, send me an e-mail. Please pray with me too that the Lord would give great wisdom and confirmation about serving in missions in Vanuatu.

2 comments:

David and Kathy Washburn said...

WOW! The Lord is good. I am so proud of you guys. I know that He will provide for you. Kathy and I will pray for you, and how He would want us to support you. I am envious of David going with you. :)

Anonymous said...

If you're interested in Laura's trip, we will introduce her and the concept of what she will be doing at Heritage Bible Church on Sunday February 11 at 10:30 AM. Call 208-353-4036 or go to
hbc-boise.org for directions.