Thank you!

Keeping up to date on a blog is a lot more difficult that Sandra and I both thought! I think our realistic objectives for this space are to use it as a forum for our own reflection, sharing with each of you and for you to feedback any comments or thoughts to us. The site won’t be updated daily, especially in this interim period as we are preparing for the transition. There are so many thoughts flowing through my mind that I’d like to get out on this site, if not for posting, simply for archiving and later reflection, but it seems more and more difficult to be able to find some time to sit down and do this!

We do want to say thank you to those of you who have sent in words of surprise, encouragement and contacts for Asia. As each day goes by since we’ve made our decision, we’re more and more confident that this is the right step for us to make at this time. While we will miss life here, we think it will be healthy for us, as individuals, and as a couple, to learn to step outside of our crazy routine, learn to rely on each other, and learn to say, I need help and to be served by others.

FAQ – 11 Hollybrook Cres.

I should get back to work, so I’ll keep this post short by starting a FAQ. For some reason, the most common question to date hasn’t been what will you be doing, have you decided on a mission organization or church, what will you do about the stuff you’re involved in here, etc. It has been, what will you do about the house!?

The simple answer is that we’ll be keeping the house! Keeping the house makes the physical and psychological transition much easier for us and our families. Financially, its probably not the most shrewd decision, but it’s a safety net and comfort that we’re not ready to make a full decision on. We agreed to revisit this in a year or year and a half time. Sandra’s cousin will continue to stay with us as well as a new friend from China will be living upstairs. So some with their help, we should be able to manage the house.

I’m personally glad we don’t have to deal with the emotional decision about selling the house. Even though we’ve only had the house for three years, we already have lots of memories of great conversations, small group meetings, mission orientation sessions, etc. When we bought the house, we really wanted to dedicate this house as something that was not ours, but for our community – friends, church, neighbours, etc. We hope that overall, we’ve been faithful in this. We hope that even in our absence, that our friends will continue to be comfortable using our home as a place of community and relationship building.

Last night we studied Acts 2 in our small group. While the study wasn’t as organized as I liked it to be, I was personally glad in the preparation, I had a chance to be reminded of the verse that Sandra and I chose as the theme verse for our wedding. We’ve used this concept of the local church for our decisions around our house at 11 Hollybrook Crescent and hope that this verse will also drive our life and ministry in Asia. I’ll end my babbling here and just let the word of God explain what we mean:

Acts 2:42-47:

The Fellowship of the Believers

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.