We made it!

We've arrived and are getting accostomed to the time change (13 hours), the new sights and smells, delicious food and THE HUMIDITY!  This afternoon we walked to the beach with some of our new friends from the US and Canada. We can tell already that it is going to be a fantastic week!  We get to serve some amazing families this week!  Everything will officially kick off this evening with dinner.

A few ways that you can be praying:
1.  Our first sessions start tomorrow morning at 8:30am. That is Thursday night, 7:30pm your time. Pray that we are able to make great connections with our teens and children and that we'd be able to set a good tone for the week.  The first days of anything are always difficult.

2.  Pray the God would speak to katie and i's hearts as weead. We have plans for the week, but we don't want to become some rigid in our plans, we miss out on what God wants to do.

3.  Pray for Caden. He is doing Awesome!  He's been adventurous with us, tried new food and handled his tiredness well.  But heat and lack of sleep are not a good combo for him. Pray that he continues to have a great attitude and that he'd be able to see how God can use him this week. This isn't a request because he hasn't been doing well.  It's simply a request from a dad who wants to see his son understanding how God can use him (and from a dad who doesn't want a crabby kid 😏)

Thanks for your prayers!  We are excited to get started.

It's almost time to fly!

According to my Delta App, we are about 8 hours from checking into our flight to Indonesia!  Yeah, that means we still are 24 hours out, but it's coming!

Our bags our packs, our lessons are prepped and we are ready to head out early Tuesday morning!  We are forever thankful for our amazing friends and family who have help us make this trip possible.  It truly would not be possible without your support and prayers!  We are the ones who get to go, but you all are the ones who have helped to make it possible in the first place!  Thank you so much!

Last night I came across this verse as I was reading before bed.  I thought it was very appropriate for us.  It's from Deuteronomy 31:8.  "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

I'm so thankful that we are not going at this alone.  I am thankful that we are simply following after God.  I trust that He's making the way, preparing hearts and working on all the details.  I am thankful that we get to be a part of what God is doing on the other side of the world!  

We'd love for you to join us in praying for our trip as we get ready to take off!  Here are a few quick request that we have.  

1.  Please pray for Caden as this is his first big trip and first time on a plane.  He's super excited!  We are praying that we will have a positive experience and that he'd be a great traveler.

2.  Speaking of traveling - we have some very tight layover connections to make on the way there.  Please pray we are able to make our connections in Atlanta and South Korea.  

3.  Pray for the families and teens/children that we will be ministering to.  We know that they've had some hectic schedules leading up to our time with them.  Please pray that their hearts would be ready for what God has for them, and that they'd be able to catch their breath and recharge as individuals and families.  We want to serve these families the best we can so that they can relax, rest and enjoy their week with us.

4.  Health.  Please pray that we would all continue to be healthy as we prepare to travel an throughout our whole trip.  It seems like an obvious request, but please pray that we, along with our whole team we will be serving with, will stay healthy.  

Thanks for joining with us in prayer!  We will do our best to continue to post updates on the blog and on Facebook as Wifi connections allow.  

Thanks for joining with us!  We love you all!  

Where are we going?

Ok, so if we (Katie, Caden and I) are honest, we don't know a ton about the country of Indonesia.  We've been busy reading blogs, watching videos and researching this country that we will be visiting in just a few months.  As we've researched, we've begun to get excited about our time with our new friends who we will be working with.

Below is a video from the Christian and Missionary Alliances' president, John Stumbo that he filmed during his first trip to Indonesia.  We would love for you to take a few minutes to watch this video as you hear about this country, the people and the work that God has been up to in the last 80 years through Alliance missions.

John Stumbo Video Blog - Message No. 34 - May 2016 from The Alliance on Vimeo.

A few things stuck out to me about what President Stumbo said.

 - This country is made up of over 13,000 islands.  This tells me that the Alliance workers here are spread out.  Our team in Indonesia are serving in pockets throughout Indonesia, but clearly cannot be everywhere.  Our time with this is so important as they come together as a team for the week to recharge, celebrate, catch their breath and be encouraged together.

- Over 2500 Alliance Churches!  This is awesome!  There are more Alliance Churches in Indonesia than there are in the US!  This is the story of faithfulness!  We are not going there to teach them how to minister, to explain a new church planting method.  We are going there simply to minister to them and to encourage them to keep up the good work!

 - About 120 enreached people groups do not have a church!  Though we are going to encourage our team, it is also clear that the work is not done.

Thanks for those who have partnered with us to pray for this ministry opportunity for our family.  We appreciate the financial support that we have received from many.  We are SO THANKFUL for those who would join us in prayer!  Thank you! Thank you for helping us minister to others, as we minister together.

THANK YOU!

We are so thankful for the support that we have seen and heard from our friends and family over the past week or so.  So many of you have send us messages and told us how excited you were about our opportunity to go on this trip.  Many have said that you and your family will be praying for our family as we prepare and as we travel.  Thank you!  Some of you have even chosen to support us financially, Thank you!  We are humbled and honored to have such great people around us.

Thank you for your support and encouragement!

Currently, we are working on brainstorming and preparing our sessions for our time in Indonesia.  Katie is working on preparing a VBS style ministry for the children and I am brainstorming what the sessions with the teenagers will look like.  We would love for you to be praying for us as we prepare for our time with these children and teens!

Step of Faith

Our airline tickets have been purchased!  3 weeks ago, this trip was  not even on our radar.  Today, we booked our airline tickets!  This has been a crazy whirlwind thing for us, but we could not be more excited to minister to our new friends in Indonesia.  We are excited, nervous and now trying to wrap our heads around our responsibilities while we are there.

We will be leaving June 6th and return June 16th. There are a lot of details that have yet to be worked out, but we are trusting and moving forward in faith.  We would love for you to partner with us to help us financially with this trip, specifically with paying for our airfare that was just booked.  You can do so by going to https://squareup.com/store/ACVstcroix.  To pay by check, please contact me and I will give you instructions.  chris@stcroixalliance.com.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask away!  We'd love to hear from you!

What will we be doing?

Katie

Katie will be hosting a VBS style ministry for the children of the international workers.  This will include story time, worship, games and crafts. Katie and the kids will also be presenting a short program at the end of the conference showing their parents all that they have learned and experienced.

Chris

I will be meeting with a group of teenagers each day, leading them through a study.  My goal for our time together is that we would look into God's Word in a fresh way.  We will also be a part of some of the adult sessions during the conference. We are still working out the details of our time together.

Caden

Caden is going to be the super helper with the VBS program. He will help Katie with all the different aspects of their time together. He will help teach actions to the songs, help with crafts and be friends to the children. We are excited for Caden to be a part of what we are doing!  He will be a big help to us!

We are just starting to learn what our time in Indonesia will look like. We trust that it will be filled with opportunity to build friendships and minister to others.  Thank you for joining us on this new adventure!  We really appreciate your prayer support!

To financially support this trip, use the link on the right side of the page.

Prayer Request

Timing us everything, right?  Isn't it weird how God's timing and our timing don't always line up?  I am starting to be ok with that. I am starting to trust the God really does know what He is doing. Even when the timing seems less than ideal. 

Katie and I literally sat in the Honolulu airport on our way to our vacation on the Big island of Hawaii  and planned our trip to Indonesia. It seemed weird to be planning this trip when we were on our way to a vacation that we had been planning and saving for, for months. 

The more we talked and prayed about it, the more peace and excitement we had about the opportunity. We love the international workers of the Alliance!  This was an opportunity for us to minister to some of them in a very strategic way, and one that allows Katie and I both to use our skills and passions.  This may not have been on our radar, but God has called us to do this, and we are excited to see it all come together!  

We will be leaving the first part of June. That doesn't leave much time for us to get everything in place. Please pray for us as we renew our passports, and apply for Caden's passport. Please also pray for us as we secure our airline tickets in the next few days. We want to have those purchases as soon as possible.

Thank you for joining us in prayer for this trip. We are honored to be able to serve in this way!  If you'd like to help us make this trip possible, especially helping us be able to purchase our airline tickets, we would love to have your support!  You can make a donation to our church's  Vision/mission fund by clicking here. https://squareup.com/store/ACVstcroix 

Thanks for your support!