Seeing my wife getting antsy as I packed up books I realized how much this verse spoke of us from 1 Corinthians 1:26
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
We must not be the wisest pair to want to move to a foreign country with 5 kids and no money, but God chose us anyways.
Today Jessica and I packed 4 bags with books, towels, sheets, some tools and a motorcycle helmet. This made not sound like much, but it was a step of faith for us. These 4 bags all weighing about 49 pounds, making sure not to go overweight for the airlines, are going with a short term missions team to the Dominican Republic. The bags will end up being stored with other missionaries who live in Santo Domingo, the capital of the D.R.
Luggage going
The reason this is a step of faith for us is that we are sending things ahead of us that at this time we don’t have the funding to go and be missionaries, but we are trusting our Lord for the provisions. We believe He put it on our hearts and have seen confirmation of, for us to be missionaries in the Dominican Republic. We believe He is the one who has made the connections and sold our house. He is the one who will go before us and who prepares our path.
Luggage to the D.R.
Our biggest challenge of moving is knowing what to bring, what we can replace there and really what we need. Many things are not available or can be expensive there. Clothing would seem to be inexpensive, but we have learned otherwise. Shoes can be very expensive there and the quality of many things can be much lower quality than what you would want to spend money on. We have been told to bring sheets and towels as well as bringing shoes, sandals and other basics. Bringing five children and the amount of curriculum they will need for schooling is adding up to be quite the load, we are looking at shipping via the airlines, but that means getting a shipment to Sacramento or Portland and being set up with them as a business.
Please continue to pray for us as things move into place.