Training in North Carolina

We are here in Charlotte, NC for some missionary training.  Before we left Caleb kept saying," I can't wait to go on our adventure," what a adventure it has been.  We arrived at the Spokane airport and received word that our flight was delayed leaving 1 1/2 hours because of severe weather in Minneapolis.  We arrived in Minneapolis 15 minutes after our connecting flight, so now what to do?  After about an hour of checking we finally found another flight with a different airline that will get us to Charlotte just 12 hours later than expected.  Because of the severe storm they were many (I mean many) flights that were missed, which means very difficult finding a room.  We finally found a room and got there at 11:30 and we were back up at 3am to get ready to go back to the airport by 4:15.  It was smooth flying from there, until it was time to pick up our luggage.  Yep, you guessed it no luggage for us.  And to top it off Deanna fell asleep on the last flight with her cell phone in her lap and when she woke up she must have dropped it without knowing and lost her phone on the plane.  So we arrived to training with no suitcases which inside was Deanna make-up and straightener and now no cell phone either.  But with all the complications, God was watching over us and gave everyone a lot of patience and stamina.  The kids were wonderful and did great the whole trip. 

Today (Sunday) we went to church then just relaxed. The kids played in the creek and on the playground, then they discovered frogs.  So the rest of the evening has been playing with frogs.  We have already met some amazing people and the kids have met quite a few kids their age to hang out with.  So tomorrow the training really starts with classes from 8am to 8pm. 

We appreciate your prayers while we are here adjusting to meeting people, going through the training and adjusting to new climate.

It's Official!

After months of waiting we have exciting news to share.  Bingham Academy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia has extended an invitation for Leanne and me to join their staff.  I will serve as Youth Minister and Leanne will hold the campus nurse position.  Bingham is a K-12 international school in the capital of Ethiopia operated by SIM-Serving In Mission, and supported by the Southern Baptist International Mission Board.  We hope to have our fund raising done by July so we can attend training in Charlotte before leaving in August.  We have agreed to a three year commitment and are looking forward to serving at Bingham and living in Addis. 

We hope that some of you will partner with us as we begin this adventure.  We need to create a support team that will pray for us as we prepare and while we are on the field in Ethiopia.  We also ask you to prayerfully consider joining our monthly financial support team. 

We will post further information about Bingham, specific prayer needs, and details about joining our support team in future posts.