Greetings from Washington!!
So, we are fully moved in and have started working at the church. The people are awesome, and we have gotten the best holiday cookie baskets ever! We have had snow for the last full week, and lots of fog, so the twists and turns driving have been done carefully. Small town life is fun! We are about an hour “from town”, which is Vancouver. Though many of the folks actually use the phrase, “down river”!!! It’s really fun! We are the only church in town, so we go to church with our postman, the fire chief, the local trapper, half the volunteer fire department, and the family that discovered the Ape Caves, a series of caves, well known in the area, and a great tourist destination. We have been able to be a part of delivering Christmas baskets for the community, so we have already visited many in the area, and are getting used to the area, with roads that aren’t on the map! Casey has been out with the men, using a new toy, the log splitter. The kids are settling in well, thanks for the prayers on that topic. There are some families with younger children, so Finn is thrilled. There are lots of grandmas in the church, so Caleb is happy with all of the snuggles! Rosie is still sticking closely to mommy, but is beginning to warm up a bit. We also have the local “Mr. Wilson” next door, one of the families we delivered a Christmas basket to, and he seemed to do well with Casey, so that was a fun surprise!
Casey is starting to settle into his duties, which will be light until after the new year, but something big has come up…the date for his first sermon, which will be January 12th!!! He is a bit freaked out, but very excited. The pastor here is very good, very biblically based and a teaching pastor, so Casey’s joke is that it wouldn’t be that bad if he didn’t have to follow Pastor Rob! He will be giving his testimony, rooted in scripture. It will be a way for him to start off with a pretty easy topic for him, and will be a way for the congregation to get to know him. I am so proud of him, and that his excitement is greater than his fear!
We know that coming up we will be busy with church duties. Casey will be preaching at least once a month, have custodial duties, we will be teaching a bible study, as well as running the youth group. I will be working with a weekly after school kids program and helping here and there, when able.
We are praising God for the wonderful welcome from the church and the community, the children’s transition going well, and seeing how amazing this internship is going to be for Casey. Pastor Rob teaches the way Casey learns and has a true heart for others, though loves to talk, so I never expect him home quite on time after their meetings! And of course the beautiful country up here is a continual blessing! We so appreciate your prayers, and are already seeing and feeling God’s answer in a big way. Thank you so much. We ask for continued prayers for transition, relating to people we meet, and that we can really hit the ground running. When there’s someone new in the community, and especially with people coming to church during the holidays who normally don’t darken the door, there is a huge opportunity to reach out and connect that we really don’t want to miss. We also pray for balance and discernment. We have lots of ideas, want to volunteer for all we can, but we want to really be in God’s plan and be a help and blessing, without overextending or burning out. Please send us an email if there is anything we can pray for on your end. Let us know if it’s confidential or public and we will post some of the public ones here to get more people praying. The more the better.
Finally, thank you all for taking an interest in our calling and our activities. We are planning on posting smaller, more regular posts. Some will be stories from our mission, some stories of the family, etc. I, Hope will also be looking to post some homemade recipes as well, cleaning supplies, lotions and such, as well as various homemade food ideas and successes. We love you all and thank you for joining us on this ride.
