Friends and family!

After two great trips to Texas and Arizona, we now enter into a brief ‘normal’ season. Change, however, is inevitable. Thankfully, in our case, ‘change’ signifies progress.

Please read on to hear about our last two trips, a financial update, and a brief look at what’s ahead.

Austin, TX – Grace Community Bible Church

On October 5th, we were warmly greeted by one of the elders of GCBC, Ned, and his family. Their home is in Lago Vista, TX. Their two kiddos and spacious home were perfect for our family. There was non-stop play, and lots of laughs. Our hosts were also our source of intel for the most-liked coffee shop in the area. We are collecting a hat from each state we visit as memorabilia for our supporting churches in them.

It was also a great encouragement to reunite with our friends, Henry and Allie, from The Master’s Seminary. We can always count on meaningful conversations with these two. Their three kids were a great joy to spend time with as well.

We had the great privilege of spending time with one of GCBC’s Bible Studies in Austin, TX. This one consisted primarily of young adults. We got to worship with them in song and open the floor up for a Q&A about the Czech Republic and our lives. We also learned that we were just in time to miss out on a violent hale storm in that area… which we’re glad for.

Jared had a full Sunday morning there. He got to give a 1hr presentation on our life and ministry, preach from 1 Corinthians 1, and have another 1 hour Q&A with the church. We are immensely encouraged by the deep interest this church takes in its missionaries, and in the Great Commission.

We were also treated to some fun tourist activities, like the children’s museum. All around, this trip was well-balanced with rest, fun, and fellowship with other sweet supporters from this wonderful church.

If you’re ever in the Austin area, you’d be blessed to visit GCBC.

Gilbert, AZ – Redeemer Bible Church

On November 9th we settled into our Airbnb in Phoenix, AZ just 20 min from Redeemer Bible Church in Gilbert. This church generously provided us with all we need for our time in Arizona.

We were connected to this church through Marcus Denny, who completed his Doctorate of Ministry program alongside Jon Benzinger, the church’s lead pastor. On Friday, Jared got to have lunch with Jon. It was enlightening to learn more about the church’s history, its recent growth, and the many things God is doing through this church.

Our schedule was more open than usual on this trip, which turned out to be very refreshing. We also got some time with some of Claire’s family there. The Phoenix zoo was also a highlight, especially for the kiddos.

On Sunday we were granted the chance to converse with 30 (or so) of the church’s members as they stopped by our information table between services. Finally, Sunday evening, Jared visited the young adults group and briefly got to share about our ministry there, then caught up with a friend from seminary, Jeremiah Dennis, who is their young adults pastor.

Pray for Redeemer as they faithfully handle the load of being a large, biblically influential church in the Phoenix area.

A brief financial update…

Praise God, we are at about 70% of our one-time costs pledged/given, and about 80% of our monthly costs pledged/given.

It’s amazing how specifically God is answering out prayers at this time. From the start we’ve prayed that supporting churches would make up about 75% of our needs, and the rest could be individuals and families.

The support we’re getting from churches currently makes up 59%; the support from individuals/families makes up 23%. Pretty cool to see!

Currently we are in conversation with one other Spokane church about the potential of them supporting us as well. We’ve been told they will have a decision by December or January. This works out well, since January 1st is the date by which we pray to be 100% funded in both monthly and one-time needs. That’s just 46 days away!

God has provided thus far, and we know he’s able to continue with his gracious provision.

What’s ahead…

We continue to enjoy ministering with the college students/young adults here at Faith Bible Church. We recently had our annual fall retreat, and it was wonderful. The students learned how to ‘get to the heart’ in evangelism, especially as it relates to addressing ‘hot topic’ issues of the culture.

Sadly, however, our season of officially overseeing the college ministry is coming to a close. January 1st will mark Jared’s last day as College Pastor at Faith Bible Church. While we’ll continue to minister to the Gonzaga University group, a piece of us will feel like it is ‘missing.’

That being said, this means we will be able to focus more fully on prepping for the Czech Republic. We’re praying about beginning to learn the Czech language in a formal format (rather than just Duolingo for now) via Zoom with our teacher in CZ. We’ll also continue working on our visa process, getting our house ready to rent out, and continue in other forms of ministry here at Faith Bible Church.

We’re also visiting growth groups at our church for the chance to get to know them, and for their chance to get to know us. It’s been a joy to spend time with people we might not otherwise get to.

We’re done with traveling for now, until we go to LA for our visa interview. We’re thankful for a time of respite as far as travels go. Please pray we’d maximize this season we’re going into, doing the most important things excellently unto God’s glory.

Until next time…

That’s all for now, folks. We’re so thankful for your love and support. May you ‘continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven…” (Col. 1:23)