In Vanuatu!

We made it to Vanuatu! I can't type much cuz I'm paying per minute, but hopefully next month I'll be able to put more on. Thanks so much for your prayers and be patient if you are trying to e-mail me. It may be a bit before I am able to read them. Left is the view from the temporary place the Richards and I are at for this month. To the right is the water heater in the bathroom. It's a funny mix of technology here. We have cell phones that have service anywhere on the islands but the water heaters are pretty ghetto. :) You have to watch to not be too close when it starts up so as to not light your hair on fire... Gotta go but we are busy learning how to get around and learning Bislama, which is fun but humbing.

Water treatment plant fun

So just before I left for Vanuatu, Brenda threw the Richards and I a fun little supporters party from our sending church (Grace Bible in Miles City). Here's some of the group that was able to make it to that. Love and miss you guys!

August newsletter

Outgoing Needs met in July 2009

In my July newsletter, the highlighted outgoing need for the month was a solar system and large appliances for $11,000. It is in the larger category of bush set-up. The Lord already provided$1545 toward that need, praise Him! Here is the current chart with what is left. You may also check the sidebar about outgoing needs from time-to-time as I'll update that each month when I get my statements.

My new hero

I'm super grateful to Marguerite from Bridgeport Community Church in Nebraska. She told me a few months ago that if no one else was able to take my cats, she was willing to take them for me. I was unable to find a new home nearby so I took her up on her offer. Not only was she adding 2 more cats to her existing 3, she thought of everything I would have hoped for. She drove and met me halfway at Rapid City, South Dakota. She found a shady place and bought me a sandwich for lunch. She is willing to keep me updated on how they are doing so it will be fun to be able to still hear about them.

Another friend from Bridgeport, Debbie, organized a Cabelas wish list for us through the church. She is an employee at the national headquarters in Nebraska so was able to get some discounts. The Richards and I got her a needs list from each of us for Cabelas items and she shared the need with the church and purchased items with raised money. When Marguerite met me in South Dakota, she brought all the items the church had been able to purchase for us so far. Quite a deal for me trading cats for items needed in Vanuatu! So many people out there with big hearts, thank you!

Friends visiting and final church goodbyes

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Grace Bible hosted sending off services for us for our last Sunday in the States. That evening we drove out to Coalwood country church to spend one last service with them as well. Here are pictures from those churches.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Some awesome blessings

This is a great outlet for public praise to the Lord for His grace! I am blessed this week in a few areas:

1. A new home for my cats. A friend from Nebraska at a church we shared at last Fall volunteered to take my cats and either keep them herself or find good new homes for them on my behalf. What a huge relief to be able to stop trying so hard here in town to find someone to take them. I'll meet her on Thursday, Lord-willing, to hand them off.

2. New legislation in Idaho making it a snap to handle my counseling licensure and certification. It's difficult to make decisions about whether or not to keep current on such things. I don't know what the Lord may have in the future in Vanuatu or otherwise. Up until just a few months ago, were I to not keep up all my continuing education and credits each year (a near impossibility to do overseas), I would have lost all my credentials. Reinstating them meant essentially re-taking my entire master's degree over again (or proving that while my license was lapsed I had kept up the required continuing education). That's a decision worth thousands and thousands of dollars, not to mention the wasted time. So, I was looking into how I could possibly keep up on all the requirements. However, a recent law was passed allowing an "inactive status." The only requirement for that is that if I want to become active again, I show proof of 20 hours of education in that 12 month period (but don't have to worry about years previous to that). This will save me a ton of money in credits, correspondence courses, and allow me to focus on where the Lord is leading - tribal church planting. Boy, what a huge blessing and load-off! Thanks, Lord, for the unexpected and timely blessing!