Who Would Have Thought

So like I said last week... (If you didn't catch that, check it out here: Once Night at a Concert)

I was surprised when my indoorsy, not-handyman jumped at the idea to go to Mexico to build houses and do street ministry. Who would have thought that God had already been doing a work in his heart and all he needed was the right opportunity?

God did. God knew. Time and time again it amazes me that God knows it all before I ever act upon the opportunities in my life. So...Needless to say we were both excited, but we figured we should slow our roll and pray and make sure this was God, and that's exactly what we did. We took about five days to dedicate ourselves to prayer and to discerning whether or not THIS opportunity was the one God had been placing in Jimmy's heart.

The more we prayed and the more times we pestered Sharon Agee (Adam Agee's wife and fellow mission trip coordinator), the more it was confirmed that THIS was it! God willing, we were going to Baja, Mexico in 2018!

The first step was to pay our down payment/registrations. Again, we saw the hand of God in the timing. As many of you may or may not know, Jimmy has been contracting with the Gem Theatre here in Claude, Texas, to direct the 2017-2018 play season. We received the check we needed from them just when we needed to pay our registrations. Now it is official. We have reserved spaces on the God's Not Dead Missions trip to Baja. Next time, I plan on sharing a bit about some of our wonderful local teammates. Now on to Duolingo...but more on that later ;)

I will do my best to post weekly updates that will share more of our story and where we are in the process of fundraising and preparation. Visit our Mustion Mission Trip to Mexico GoFundMe Page to donate toward our total expenses for the trip.

We Did It!!!

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” Luke 18:27

It seems impossible but WE ARE FULLY FUNDED! YES!!! We just have to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has become part of our team through financial support and/or prayer. You have made the difference. Thank you for helping us to be ready for Taiwan. We really couldn't have done this without you.

I can't tell you how good it feels to be able to focus the next two weeks on getting rid of the rest of our stuff, cleaning the house, studying language and culture, and packing to leave instead of stressing about whether we will have enough money to live on until are fully established in Taiwan.

Please continue to pray for us as we seek God's leading in finding jobs and a place to live. Things are coming together nicely so far but we still have so many details to hammer out. This is really hard for my "ducks in a row" personality. Jimmy is struggling with the unknown of foreign travel as this is his first time outside the United States. We appreciate your prayers and thoughts more than you know!

Grace and Peace,

Christiana

Taiwan Update

Here we are at just under a month until we leave the United States. Can you believe it?! I know that I am still not sure that I do. So many things are happening right now that it is really, really hard to keep track of everything. I thought I would help you and me both out by giving an update on all the things we have going.

#1 Passports and Paperwork...DONE
Jimmy and I have both received all our passports and paperwork. *whew* We are ready to board the plane on July 29th and head into our new future.

#2 Job Interview with Giraffe...
A little over a week ago we had a job interview with Giraffe English School. They are a great franchise and we had a good time interviewing with Emily (their corporate recruiter). Our interview went very well. However, before Emily could recommend us for the open positions one of the schools filled their placement on their own. The other school was uncomfortable offering a position to one of us without the other having a position in the company as originally promised so both opportunities fell through. Emily will keep our names and data on file, but at this time we do not have a position with Giraffe.

#3 Selling Stuff...Woohoo!
Sales are going well! We have sold almost all of the big ticket items. Plus the garage sale we had last weekend went amazing! The Dixon girls came and helped out and served up some tasty lemonade (Thank you!) and we sold knick knacks and other household items until we were exhausted and couldn't see straight! All in all we were able to add a profit of $500+ to our Taiwan fund from the garage sale alone. Thank you to everyone who came out and supported.

#4 Other Opportunities...
We have also had a few other opportunities to share about Taiwan.

• On Sunday, Jimmy spoke at Ebenezer United Methodist Church here in St. Joseph. They were a great group of people and were gracious to pray over us and give toward God's calling in our lives.
• We also have a friend who is doing an online 31 Party to help us out. We are receiving 25% of all the proceeds from this online party and we encourage you to purchase products to support both us and our friend who was kind enough to do this for us. Click here to order by visiting the 31 Products website.
• Some of you may have heard that we would be speaking at Villebrook Baptist Church (one of our former churches) in St. Louis on July 14th. We want to let you know that although we were super excited about seeing everyone there again; the opportunity has fallen through and we will no longer be making a trip to St. Louis. Sorry to disappoint those of you who were planning to meet up with us then.

I hope this update has helped you to catch up. Please continue to pray for us as we prepare to serve God full time in Taiwan. Also, if you have given yet and you feel like it is something God is leading  you to do then please give by our fundraising deadline (July 17th).

Grace and Peace,

Jimmy and Christiana

One Third of the Way to Taiwan

Today we have reached approximately 1/3 of our goal funds! It's exciting! Thank you to everyone who has bought stuff (our house is starting to look empty!) and/or given donations to see this ministry opportunity through. We will be accepting donations until July 17th which is our deadline for having all of our funds raised. By July 17th, it's our goal to have three months of Taiwan expenses set aside.

This will allow us to travel to Taiwan, reside in temporary housing (a combo of hostels and hotels), get around (by bus, taxi, or subway), and eat while we find a job and wait until our first paycheck. Although we hope to find employment quickly--we even have a few interviews set up already--it can still take up to a month after our first day of work before receiving a paycheck since 99% of all people working in Taiwan are paid on a monthly basis.

Pray for us as we seek God's will about where to live and where to work. Pray that our phone interviews go well too.

We still have a couple of "big ticket" items we need to sell to help push closer to our financial goal. They are: a 2002 Ford Windstar Minivan, a washer and dryer set, the desktop computer (can be viewed on the for sale page), a Queen Mattress set, and one couch. If you or anyone you know are interested in these items you can email us at iwantthemustions[at]yahoo.com or private message us on Facebook.

Don't forget our Garage Sale starting on Friday, June 28th at 8:00 AM!