As we begin this new adventure of starting our NTM ministry blog, we wanted to give you an update on a different adventure: our new location and our new ministries. This new part of our life started on April 1st when we arrived here in sunny Sanford, Florida. After having a little bit of time to settle in to this new home, we officially began serving in our new positions on April 22nd, and we have been learning more and more about our roles ever since.
Now we will flashback to pre-Sanford days. Julie’s brother and sister-in-law allowed us to use a nice, big van from his bus fleet to move down from Wisconsin—we filled that van up nicely! We stayed with Bruce’s parents for the first (almost) three weeks as we waited for our apartment to be finished. The maintenance crew did a magnificent job of renovating the apartment—well, you’ll see when you come to visit. We needed to purchase just about everything to go into the apartment: kitchen appliances (except for a dishwasher and a new microwave furnished by NTM!), tables, chairs, living room furniture, washing machine and dryer. The LORD used different ones to supply a king-sized bed and frame for us—so much room to snore! Julie had found so many of the needed pots, pans, linens, towels, and other kitchen utensils at wonderful prices while we were in Wisconsin, so we were able to get set up right away. All that to say that we are settled in our nice, little apartment.
As to our different ministries, now that is a different story. Julie had intended to learn about the distribution center/bookstore in order to be the backup/helper to the existing staff. As it turns out, she is being trained to take over the whole shooting match! She has been trained by a very competent couple, learning so many things about the computer setup, taking phone orders, shipping, packing, keeping track of past orders. She has had her brain stuffed with information, but I am so proud of how much she has taken in and been using. So if you perchance happen to call the NTM Bookstore in Sanford, you very well may end up talking to Julie!
Bruce has had a stretching experience as well. He was expecting to spend a good deal of time doing editing and proofreading. It didn’t take long until he was put to writing, though it wasn’t big articles or any such thing. He has had to rethink some of the things he has taught in grammar classes for 30 years in order to fit into the journalistic frame of mind! It has been VERY good to read the different prayer letters coming from overseas, telling of victories and struggles, of language learning and supply buying, of airplane flights and long boat rides.
We have wonderful teammates to work with us and help us along. With all the newness, it has been so comfortable being able to work in such accepting surroundings.
There is one thing that has come to light since we have arrived here. It has come to our attention that there is indeed a recommended support level here at the headquarters in Sanford. As it is now, we are around 40% of that amount. If you would like to join our team, you can just check this link out.
As we close off this little snippet of a first blog post, we just wanted to express our gratitude for all the support from so many of you already—prayers, letters, as well as finances. You not only help us, but you help those with whom we come in contact. We look forward to continuing to update you on our new ministries down here, and again, thank you for being part of our adventure with the Lord!
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