July 2010 Update

Some progress as we are waiting to move...

-Dejan had his appointment for biometrics July 6th, so we are now clear to leave the U.S. once the finances are in order;

-Dejan also had a chance to share the vision for Edmonton and his work in translation at Calvary Chapel Flathead Valley while we were there visiting. Pastor John Michaels--a great missions enthusiast--also led in prayer for us with the pastor and elders at the church. He was around when the church-planter to Calgary, Glen Nudd (now the pastor), was sent out 17 years ago.

Some prayer requests...

-The LORD to raise up the rest of the financial partners/supporters for us that He is calling. $4000 per month is nothing to Him who owns "the cattle on a thousand hills" (Psalm 50:10). Church sponsors as well as individuals.

-Continued preparation of our hearts and minds for the work ahead. The LORD has provided many tools that we are using to prepare ourselves--we are prayerfully reading, studying and learning.

-Physical, mental and spiritual health.

-Patience while we wait: Sara is often quoted as saying "I want to go to Edmonton," to which our reply is simply, "We will go, honey, as soon as the LORD opens the way." This is difficult for a two year-old to grasp sometimes.

-For the people of Edmonton.

Thanks for your continued interest and prayers for us!

So we're moving to Canada already...just not in June

God promised the children of Israel that they would enter and possess a land flowing with milk and honey when He brought them out of Egypt. It was an exciting vision that instilled the confidence in them to follow Moses.

However, we know the LORD didn't lead them to their new land by the shortest or quickest route. That route they were not prepared for, as it led right through Philistine territory. Instead, He led them across the Red Sea and into a wilderness. There, He formed them into a family of people, a nation, and gave them a common identity in His law and in worship.

On that route, He allowed them to be tested multiple times before leading them forward to the border of His promised location for them. He went before them in the pillar of cloud and fire, and when He moved, the nation moved with Him. (Yes, they failed the tests, grumbled and then refused to go in, but that's beside our point here).

In a similar way, we know that God has spoken to us about going to Canada, and the vision He shared with us has given us the confidence to step out and follow Him in that direction.

However, things haven't gone as quickly as we would have thought was best, but we trust that His route is the one we need. So we are in a sort of wilderness time, in that, we are on our way, having set in motion many things for leaving our town and this country.

Here, God is testing us and leading us, forming us into a closer family. At present, that pillar of His presence hasn't yet moved north, so we are waiting, living, working and worshiping Him until He does.

So to keep you updated, aside from daily life, here's what we're doing as time is marching on (twiddling our thumbs didn't make the list):

-Julie finished teaching her Kindermusik classes and childbirth classes at the beginning of the month, so she is closing things off for those businesses.

-We are moving along in packing at a leisurely, but thorough pace. The Canadian government requires itemization of all the things we're importing when we come. They have handy forms, but it's a process.

-We are waiting for a response from the U.S. government on a permit Dejan needs before we leave, as well as an appointment time from them for his fingerprints.

-Our 5th wedding anniversary was last week--so we took an evening to celebrate God's faithfulness to us this far and 1,825 days of marriage.

-We are continuing to meet with our pastor and prayer team.

-There are other, minor things we do daily, but we won't bore you with the details.

We are grateful for any and all of your prayers for us during this time, and for the mission ahead!

Trip to Edmonton!

It's been over a month since we've been back from Canada!! Our experience in Edmonton and visiting the church in Calgary was very encouraging, productive and confirming.

There was a list of things we were hoping to accomplish, and with the exception of looking into local Kindermusik studios, the Lord made it possible for us to do them all. Thank you for your prayers! We truly noticed that God's hand was upon us, guiding our decisions, plans, and even our detours!

A great answer to prayer that made our 5 1/2 days more productive and smooth than they would've been otherwise was the rental of a car, which the Lord graced us with through a brother in Christ. Edmonton is HUGE, and it was cold, so without a car, we would've been much slower on public transport and less able to see as much of the city as freely as we did--and we only saw maybe 30% of it at that!

A second blessing, which we didn't even pray about, was a GPS. We thought we'd use our little tourist map to get around, but our host offered us her GPS to use during our stay, and that helped us get pretty much everywhere with no troubles. Especially when we went to Calgary, we would never have found the church after a 3-hour drive and been on time for the service without it!

We met with the contact given to us by the assistant pastor in Calgary, a man named Scott and his wife Lindsey. They are a young couple who have been praying for a Calvary Chapel type of church to be planted in Edmonton for the last 2 years. Scott used to live in Calgary and went to the Calvary Chapel there; their church in Edmonton "self-destructed", according to Scott's own words, and many couples were left church-less and disillusioned. They were encouraged and surprised to learn that we are hoping to come to Edmonton during 2010.

One of our great desires was to get in touch with the Serbian community on our visit, and the Lord used the rental car and the GPS to make that happen! We needed groceries and the GPS led us to the closest supermarket. Inside Julie noticed a worker with the name tag "Dejan", so she waited to meet him and later called in our Dejan. The young Dejan told us about the Serbian culture center, when to go, etc. We spent Friday evening there getting acquainted - they have weekly Serbian language lessons for young children and a folk dance club to teach traditional dances to the youth, as well as basketball in fall/winter and soccer in spring/summer for the men. The parents mill about and the children not in class play freely. Sara enjoyed watching the dancing and being led around by several of the little girls.


On Sunday, we visited Calvary - a long 3-hour drive (each way) to go to church but well worth the time! We enjoyed the service and were welcomed by many of the people in the fellowship. After service, the assistant pastor and his wife took us to lunch, and we enjoyed getting acquainted with them a bit and hearing their insight into Canadians, as well as their church-planting and pastoring experience.

Overall, we were very encouraged by the Lord and felt quite comfortable being in Edmonton, even though it is a very large metropolis. We are praying in more knowlageable ways now for the city and are seeking the Lord for His continued guidance in our preparation and His timing for our move. Thanks again for all your prayers and for your interest in what God is doing up north!

Blessings to you in His Name!!