Resting Between His Shoulders

Since my last blog update, not much has changed. I prayed about some dates that I could possibly leave for language school, checked them out online, but didn't feel peace about purchasing tickets. Within days, as has been in the past, the ticket prices went out of my range. As I wait, somewhat impatiently, I have been helping to organize our church team's upcoming service trip to the Dominican Republic. It is a privilege and a joy helping others get to the place I will one day be living. It has been fun reuniting with last year's team (all of whom are going again!) and sharing stories with the newcomers. It looks like we will have 12 going this year! You can be praying for them as they each prepare in their own way (passports, immunizations, etc). My goal has been, through this whole process, to leave with the team and then just stay down in the DR. To have this accomplished, I will have needed to complete language school (6 weeks) and have all of my support in. Currently, I need $220 more a month pledged to me and around $8000 for my one-time budget. God has done miracles in this area and I am watching for more. Thank you for all who have given and I ask for continued prayer in these areas.
One awesome gift that God is blessing me with is an upcoming visit from my friend Amanda! I met Amanda in Colorado at our pre-field missions training. She is a young woman from North Carolina who has been raising support for 2 years in order to get to Italy. Unlike me, she is planning on moving there indefinitely. She is working for Greater Europe Mission (GEM). I have a link to her blog that I encourage you to check out. She is in great need of R&R and Cambria is just the place for this!!
Actually, I encourage you to check out all the links I have posted, especially the Slabach Family blog. Nate Slabach is our staff pastor down in the DR and he continually posts goings on, ministry stuff, etc that I will eventually have on this site once I am down there. In fact, there is a story he posted about a young boy and a bicycle. You can't imagine how overjoyed I was to read about him, but especially to see his photo. I carried that young boy around on my back for hours one night when we were doing an outreach in his community. As we walked around his village, he just laid his head on my back and rested there, pointing out different friends' houses. Occasionally, because of the heat, my glasses would slip down my nose. I would say, 'Gafas!' ('Glasses') and he would push them up for me, since my hands were in use trying to hold him up. It was easy to love him and then, months later, to see his picture on Nate's blog and to hear his story...
I so look forward to being able to share more stories of my own, with beautiful photos once I am there.
Peace and blessings to you all as you rest between the shoulders of Christ.