Home Away from Home

As I mentioned in last week’s post, we will be heading out at the end of this month for 80 days of support raising. Here’s our rough itinerary.

• September 25-28 --> Indiana, PA
• September 28 - November 18 --> Oklahoma
• November 19 - December 1 --> Baton Rouge, LA
• December 1-12 --> Nashville, TN

We are excited to see as many of you as possible. Things are coming together in so many ways. We have a car arranged for us, almost all of our Sundays are booked, our Wednesday evenings are booking up fast, and we are starting to plan coffee meetings and various other appointments.

Here is one more way you can pray (and possible help). We are in need of a place to stay in the Oklahoma City area from September 28 through November 18. We don’t have to stay in just one place during that window of time, so if you have something for a week or two even that would help. In fact, we have family who have offered to put us up, but would prefer not to inconvenience anyone for more than a few days.

If you know of any accommodation (we can afford a small amount of rent) for all or some of our stay in OK, please let us know.

We are so grateful for all your prayers and support. And we can’t wait to see you!

Support Trip - Fall 2015

We are officially at the end of our first term as missionaries. Due to our Irish visa, we can only leave the country for 90 days, so we will be doing a "shortened itineration" (fundraising trip).

AG World Missions (our sending organization) gives us a two-sided budget: monthly and cash. Our monthly budget (funded by monthly givers) goes to our living expenses, insurance, office expenses, weekly travel expenses, etc. Our cash budget goes towards purchasing Bibles, outreach events, special ministry travel, etc. 

Thanks to many of you, our monthly budget is doing well. However, our cash budget is getting low. Don't worry, this is normal when nearing the end of a term in which ministry has gone well. Our primary goal on this short trip is to raise money for our cash budget. Our secondary goal is to raise a little more monthly budget. And of course we will most definitely enjoy time with friends and family. 

We will be in Oklahoma from September 29 - November 23. If you are a pastor or church leader we would like you to consider booking us for a service, small group, missions meeting, or any situation for us to share God's heart for Ireland. The exciting part for us is to give people an opportunity to join our team as we work towards something bigger than ourselves. No matter who you are, please consider joining our monthly giving team or donating a special gift towards our cash budget. For more info on how to give, click here.

Your prayers and support are the foundation of our team. Together we are committed to connecting the university students of Ireland to Jesus. Thank you for those who have been so faithful. And thank you to those who are considering to join our team.

It Is Finished

This past weekend was one of the toughest of our lives. With moderate miscarriage complications, we rushed Katy to the hospital. She ended up having a surgical procedure called a “D&C". (I'll let you look that up on google. Not fun.) It was tough, but it is finished.

On a recent personal prayer retreat I (Blake), I had an opportunity to walk through an art instillation designed to meditate on the "Final Three Hours" of Jesus' life, focusing on the scripture. It was an important moment for me in dealing with this situation. As I came to the second station, I meditated on Jesus' words, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Jesus questioned God as we do at times. Yet, He asked for a drink. I’m not basing my theology on this, but His words reminded me. While I question God, I am the one who thirsts. I am weak. He is not. On my own, I am incomplete. He is complete. I spent a while meditation on this, asking God why He didn’t save our Zoe.

The final station in the installation focused on Jesus’ final words on the cross. “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” It was a perfect follow-up to my questions. Although I will never understand why things like this happen, at the end of the day I will always commit my life and my family to God. He is complete, He is good, and He is truth. 

I want to thank you all for your prayers during this time. We are so humbled by how our friends and family stepped up spiritually and practically. We want to specifically thank Janice, Ellie, Des, Judith, Maddie, Dan, and Deb for all they did in our moment of emergency.