Round Trip
This summer has been a whirlwind while raising support and we’ve been hard at work. If you’ve read our past updates, you know that we were hoping to be fully relocated by August. As August was creeping up, we saw it was less and less likely we would have 100% financial support to be able to fully relocate by then like we had hoped. We knew ultimately it was in the Lord’s timing and it would happen when it was best. But we were still a little bummed. We wallowed for about .05 seconds and then realized even though we weren’t at the point of full relocation, there was an opportunity we didn’t want to miss. So last minute we decided we wanted to be apart of the Kinfire Festival - the island wide family festival for all believers across all denominations in Kilkenny, Ireland. This was the third year of the festival and EdenGate put on the logistics of it every year. We decided instead of letting our burnout of raising support get the best of us, we would continue to further our relationships and partnerships across the sea and participate in the festivities.
Two weeks later from when we decided to go, we arrived in Kilkenny and spent the next week seeing the in’s and out’s of what it took to put on this festival and seeing 900 people from all over (the island and the world) come to worship together, meet others in the body of Christ, and be encouraged. There was a lot to take in but it was an absolute joy to see so many come together to make this event happen and for so many more take part in it. We got to reconnect with some old friends, make new friends and plant our roots a little deeper.
Our second week was probably my favorite of the whole trip. We drove a few hours north to Newcastle, Northern Ireland. For the first time, we got to show the kids the town we’d be living in and the church we’d be apart of. We were able to meet with their new school principal and teachers for the school year as well! To top it off, they finally were able to begin to build friendships with the Chestnutt and Morris children. This was all so helpful in their processing all of this… we’d been telling them for months about all they could look forward to and it had been so long since they’d been back to Ireland, so refreshing and making tangible memories for them will make the transition easier. RJ was excited to see that we would not be living in a city (he has been praying we would live somewhere with “more nature”) and Emery was giddy about her newfound friendships. They were nervous about going to a “real school” but meeting their teachers and seeing their school helped ease their minds - they were sold once they saw the fooseball table!
This was our third trip back and it was the most realistic feeling one so far… we got a very small taste of what it would be like for us. Jeremy mastered driving on the other side of the car and road (in manual no less!). Our second Sunday church service at St. Donard’s was spent as returning members, not as new faces in the crowd. We knew people by name and had stories that crossed paths with one another now. We started settling in… When the time came to come back to the states, it felt bittersweet.
When we did return, we were feeling ready to continue on in our support raising and then we were hit with unfortunate news about our visa… Remember when I asked for prayer that it would be smooth sailing with that? HA HA GOOD ONE CHRISTA!! The gist of it is… we are having to start at square one with the process due to my job being removed from the list of jobs you can have to attain a visa. SOOO our goal is to have our visa approved for January departure with Jeremy’s tech job still being on the list of eligible visa holders.. Though that was a small set-back, we were encouraged to see that we had reached 86% for monthly supporters. We are still seeking monthly partnerships to get to 100% and the pressure is ON because we are not able to let our visa lapse. Now more than ever, we really have to dig deep to find those that have a heart for this global ministry and know that the Lord will bring forth those people. This is the last leg of the marathon but we’re feeling re-energized.
On one of our last nights in Ireland before we came home, we got to spend time with the Morris family one last time and Colin handed Jeremy a wristband with the verse Proverbs 19:21: “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” Jeremy said it well the other day saying “we aren’t waiting on people, we’re waiting on the Lord and I find comfort in that” because ultimately, He doesn’t let us down.