Final Move from Wilmore - 5 Days 'til Venezuela

We loaded the moving truck this past Tuesday, drove to Georgia on Wednesday, and unloaded the truck on Thursday, placing our things in storage. We are now spending a few days taking care of final administrative tasks prior to our move to Venezuela. We leave next Wedndsay! It amazes us that the time has drawn so near. We are grateful for God's call to do this, but it does still feel a bit weird to think that we are sort of homeless in the USA, and on the verge of living down there for a year. Mostly, we are anticipating (sort of have a curiosity about) what God has in store for us. His ways are always far wiser than our ways, so we look forward to seeing what He has planned. Thank you for your prayers. Much Love, Dan and Nancy

Costa Rica Mission Team

This week Dan has been serving in Costa Rica with a mission team from Due West UMC in Marietta, Georgia. The team has been partnering with a fabulous ministry that is led by Sonia and Edwin Brenes. The ministry, Amor en La Calle (Love in the Street), works with street children/teens and other at-risk kids and families. They have a variety of ministry outreaches, including discipleship groups, street evangelism, providing food/clothing, weekly visitation in the juvenile prison, and a residential ranch program. They touch the lives of 1,000 children each year. This week the team was helping lay the foundation for a new dining room project at the girls' ranch. Great progress was made on the construction, and more importantly, wonderful friendships were formed and a great deal of prayer and conversation were shared. Pictured to the left is Dan with two of the street teens and one of the team members. Pictured to the right is Sonia addressing the group, with Dan translating. Thank you for your financial support and your prayer support, which make it possible for us to follow God's call in our lives to participate in this kind of ministry. Through your partnership with us, YOU were sharing Jesus' love in Costa Rica too. Dan will be preaching at Due West this coming Sunday. Please pray for renewed energy and strength. Much Love, Dan and Nancy

Joy in St. Louis, Disappointment in Kansas, Research in Illinois

We had a great visit with Chris and Eleanor at the end of last week. It was so good to be with them for a couple days. We wanted to be sure we got together with them before heading to Venezuela in August, so we are grateful it worked out. We drove from there to Kansas to visit with a relative in prison, and experienced heartbreak and disappointment. The day we went to visit him the visitation got cancelled due to flooding in the visitation room. We haven't seen him in a long time and were really looking forward to spending time with him before heading down south, but it was not to be. We went back on Monday to ask for an exemption to the weekend-only visitation rule, but they wouldn't make an exception, so no joy there. Curious as to God's larger plan. We are now in Effingham, Illinois, where Dan is doing dissertation research interviews. This is the last church he'll do this with, and then the field research component will be complete. This will leave literature review, field research analysis, and writing as the three large components remaining to finish his dissertation, which he will do while we are in VZ. Thursday we drive home to Wilmore for Dan to pack a suitcase for his Costa Rica mission trip, then we drive Thursday afternoon/evening to the Atlanta area, because on Friday we need to go to Athens to open a bank account. Then Saturday Dan flies to Costa Rica while Nancy drives to Wilmore to finish up the packing prior to a big move on July 27th. Thank you for your continued prayers. Much Love, Dan and Nancy

Heading Out Again

Today (Monday) and tomorow we will continue with our packing for the "big move" at the end of the month, while also getting ready for our upcoming short-term trip. On Wednesday we will drive a small moving truck to St. Louis to take some of our furniture to Chris and Eleanor, and more importantly, visit with them a couple day before we head for Venezuela. From there we travel to Kansas City to visit with a nephew who is in prison, and then we travel to Effingham, Illinois to engage in research with the final church that Dan will be working with related to his dissertation field research. Please pray for safe and God-honoring travels.

This past weekend was a blessed one. We got a lot done at the house on Friday and Saturday, plus enjoyed the focus on the freedom we enjoy here in the USA. Worship yesterday was nurturing and insightful, and we were especially blessed to run into missionary friends Josh and Jennifer Reynolds, who serve in Mexico. Yesterday afternoon we enjoyed giving our freezer to a young couple who will be married in 13 days, plus some relaxation on the couch. Given our upcoming travels, we knew that a relaxing couch afternoon would be a big plus for us, so we are thankful for that opportunity. We are grateful too for your continued prayers as we serve in Venezuela, Costa Rica, and the USA. Much Love, Dan and Nancy