Our First Real Speaking Engagement

Thanks to the church in Hinton, OK! We had a wonderful time meeting and greeting you guys! Aaron's grandparents, Herb and Louise Els are the pastors of Cedar Lake Chapel. If you are ever vacationing there, stop by. We went this past Saturday and stayed the night there in the parsonage/chapel (really cute). Sunday morning we sang the obligatory special and spoke for 15 or 20 minutes about our calling from a young age and our mission to Poland. God has really sent us on this journey and we are totally made for this. We are blazing the fund- and awareness-raising trail, so we'll probably be at your church soon! :)
-brittany (of aaron and brittany)

Public Service Announcement

We sent out our first round of "Who wants to help us go to Poland?" mailers today...please join us in praying that God will inspire the right people to act/think/share in our mission. We're trusting in his help and timing, big-time...scary, exciting, exhilarating stuff! :)

That Reminds Me...

Today's update was inspired by this morning's Faith Promise sermon by our friend Henry Siems, who reminded us of a passage we latched onto a few weeks ago as we contemplated our trip:

"...so the king asked me, 'Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.'

I was very much afraid...Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king. 'If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it....

I also said to him, 'If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?'

And because the gracious hand of God was upon me, the king granted my request." -Nehemiah 2:2-8(ish) [NIV]

There's so much to be inspired by here! God sees us even when we are discouraged...he has a plan for our lives, and is willing and able to meet our needs, and give us favor with those in authority over us...he loves us, and is gracious to us, and his hand is upon us...we're so blessed to be his children!

GOD is the only way Aaron will be able to graduate from OSU in May, on time and under budget...GOD is the only way we'll be able to afford (and navigate) 2 years of volunteer service in Poland...GOD is who we're trusting to grant us favor and meet our needs...and he is mighty to save! :)