May 2025

Deputation

In May, we were in seven churches in Colorado and California. This is a slow time of year for deputation as churches usually do not make decisions during the summer. Last summer, I think that we went two to three months without a church partnering with us. This does not mean that we will not receive support from these churches, just that we usually take longer to hear from them. This is only a problem since we are leaving August 25th. So, our support may not be at 100% by the time that we leave, but I am confident that it will get to 100% by the end of the year.

Family

May was mostly about family. We spent the majority of the month in Colorado. It was great to spend time with Steele and Lisa’s parents. We had a graduation party for Steele and a going away party for us and invited family and people from Windsor Baptist Church. Lisa’s brother’s family also came in for a week from Florida and we got to spend some time with them. This will be the last time that we get to spend any time with these people before leaving for the Czech Republic and so we made the most of it.

Moving to the Czech Republic

We have sent our paper work to our lawyer for translation and then it gets sent to the consulate. Unfortunately, there was more paperwork needed than we were originally told and we messed up on one item and have to resend them. We had to wait about two weeks longer than expected on some of the paperwork and so we are behind schedule. There is still time to get the visa, but there is no longer a cushion. This is a little nerve racking but we are continuing with the plan of leaving on August 25th and pray that we will not have to change our tickets. We will need to turn in our passports for the visa process and so we would not be able to get on the plane and go if our visas do not come back.

On the positive side, we received another $7,500 for our visa and setup costs. Thank you to everyone that helped with this! That leaves $15,038 left for the visa costs, language school, socialized medicine, and set-up costs. If you would like to give to these expenses, please designate the amount as Visa/Startup. We also found an apartment to move into and I signed the lease yesterday. We have been looking for around six months and found a place that we liked in a good location and worked things out with the landlord. What had been suggested is to get a hotel and look for places once we arrive, but that would mean an extra expense of a hotel and having to move again. The girls are done with moving and just want to be able to have a place to call home that does not move around. So, we are very grateful that God has blessed us with finding a place to rent.

Prayer Requests

* Steele’s medical treatment

* Gain partnering churches

* Safety/reliability on the road

* Souls saved (esp. Nathan’s Dad)

* Visa/Set up costs and logistics