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Friday, June 7, 2013

Well, here we are!

Hey Everyone!!!

       We are officially living in Washington D.C. The boxes have been unpacked. (FINALLY!) The groceries have been purchased and physically carried to the house (in the rain... hahah!). The car has been parked in a garage outside the city (because parking in the city is too expensive). There have been several times that we have looked at each other and said, "Um... so... WE LIVE HERE!!!!" It's crazy to think that so many months of planning and praying are finally playing out before us.

       God has a funny way of reminding you that He is in control. We met with a small group of people on Tuesday night in Wake Forrest, NC that really blessed our hearts. We had stopped in Wake Forrest to unload our furniture into a storage facility on our way to DC and Keelan (our supervisor) leads a bible study there. We said we wanted to go so that we could meet some people and have something to do. I think if I was really honest, I'd have to admit that I wanted to go to this bible study so that I didn't have the down time to sit and think about all the people and family and familiar that I had just left in Nashville.

      When we got there, Keelan led the group in something called " Evidence of God's Grace."  Every member of the group had to go around and share a point in time that past week when God had sustained, been faithful, or moved in their life. When it came time for Zac and I share, we looked at each other and could only say, "Where to begin!?" The thought of it actually moved me to tears... (which really messed up my plans of an emotionless bible study evening... )

      God's grace has been more than evident in our lives over the last few days. Every meeting has been a blessing and encouragement. Do I miss home? Of course I do! Do I miss familiar faces and places? More than I could ever say. However, there have been more than enough moments where I have looked at my husband and seen that shiny look on his face and known that we are doing exactly what God has designed us  for in this season of life. 

       Every day, we will be working to engage the people around us. Washington D.C. has 190 people groups in it and 96-97% of the D.C. area is considered "unreached." That can be a very overwhelming statistic and sounds like a number used to describe a foreign country, not our nation's capital. Therefore, we have picked 4-5 of the key people groups in the area that we have some expertise on to build relationships with first. Starting next week, we have a team coming pretty much every week to help us with our work. Basically, those teams will help us go around the city and build relationships with international people in hopes of sharing the gospel with them. Ultimately, we want to see at least 4 churches commit to this project long term so that we can pair them with a people group in need of ministry. Please pray that we are able to serve those teams well and lead them effectively. There may be some training involved for these teams to learn the right and wrong way to engage another culture in the context of D.C. most effectively. The first team to come will be a large group of teenagers. (I'm so excited!) After that, most of the teams will be older.

That's the short answer. I will post Zac's long explanation later so that you can read it in more detail if you'd like. :) He's a better writer on those things than I am. :)

Please pray for us.
1) Pray that God uses us to build relationships with someone from each people group that we are looking to engage. He alone can make those connections and help us build that trust.
2) Pray that God gives us the wisdom, discernment, and leadership abilities that are necessary to leading each team.
3) Pray for our marriage. Pray that God continues to keep us joint together in Christ. We know that part of our ministry here is showing the people we encounter the beauty of a God centered marriage. We long to do that.  
4) Pray for our hearts as they settle in a new place. Pray that all the emotions associated with that get processed properly. :) That can so easily become a distraction for us.

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