Goodbyes and Hellos

After two months of travel and fellowship, our time in Seattle (and the surrounding areas!) is done and we’ve returned to Spokane! Sometimes I wonder if we’ll ever get used to the push and pull of our travel: always saying goodbye to dear friends and family on one side, yet going directly from there to see others – whom we’ve often not seen for too long! It can be a bit of an emotional roller-coaster, yet we count ourselves blessed to have that opportunity. In what other way could we grow close with so many brothers and sisters in the Lord, who are spread out and serving Him in so many diverse locations? Saying ‘so long for now’ after a too-short visit will always be bittersweet, but we are grateful to have each of you in our lives – to encourage you in your pursuit of the Lord, even as you encourage us!

Our current plans for the next two months (read: until the Lord redirects us!) promise to keep us busy! As always, our primary goal is to get to Mexico as quickly as possible. To that end, we will continue sharing the need for intercultural missions among Mexico’s unreached people groups: meeting with individuals, couples, small groups and churches that we might present that need, and give them opportunities to partner in that work with us. We have been tremendously blessed by those who continue to pray for us and encourage us as we go, and humbled as we watch God continue to raise up our partnership team! We are now seeing 21% of our monthly field budget come in each month, and have received additional commitments that (once begun) will put us between 34-44% of our total goal. It seems like we can almost ‘feel’ our departure coming closer and closer, and our level of excitement is growing off the charts!

Yet even as we prepare for sharing the Gospel in Mexico, there are other wonderful opportunities here and now in which we are privileged to participate. Here are a few of the other things we will be doing over the next two months, before we zip off once again to Seattle!

• Vacation Bible School – this summer, Amy and I will be assisting with two VBS programs in the north-of-Spokane region. The first opportunity will come at our home church (Peaceful Valley), and we hope to be involved with multiple aspects of the week’s ministry. A couple weeks later, we will lead the music program at Newport Southern Baptist’s VBS program. In both cases we hope to play a role in helping the students who attend grow closer to the Lord, and to encourage them to share with others the hope they’ve found in Jesus!
• Everyone’s Youth Group – our home church has a bi-weekly youth group which is open to everyone… not just the youth! Over the past few months, Amy’s brother Josh has started teaching through from Genesis to Christ, using the same material New Tribes missionaries draw from in planning Bible lessons on the field. I (Jordan) hope to come alongside Josh as a co-teacher, both covering for one another’s off-weeks and using a tag-team approach to the week’s material. Amy and I look forward to building relationships in EYG, and can’t wait to see how God chooses to work through us there!
• Discipling – ever since the end of our time in Missouri, Amy and I have been impressed with the need for believers to both disciple others and be discipled ourselves. We have each found opportunities for this during our time in Washington, and hope to continue pursuing the Lord alongside others for as long as God keeps us here.

As you think of our family these next several months, please pray for us in these areas! Even as we work hard to get ready for Mexico, our desire is to be found faithful servants of the Lord right here in all other ways as well. We would particularly appreciate prayer for wisdom, both as we ask God to lead us to the ministries where He would have us serve, and as we depend on Him to work through us in those areas. However, please also pray that He allows us to not slacken at all in our preparations for Mexico!