And so it begins...

Aaron and Michelle came to town yesterday. After we finally tracked down the correct Wal-Mart that had the trunks we needed to pack with...we began packing. There are several things we can't get in DRC so we are bringing a few important things that will come in handy...such as shampoo, razors and deodorant. And we must bring books! We might as well get it packed up now.

The next four weeks...

We are leaving Illinois one month from today. Even though we have been raising support full-time since October, and we were orginally hoping to return to the Congo in January 2010, I (Sarah) still can't believe we are leaving in a month. I began to pack up all my winter clothes last week and it hit me that we are really leaving the country. Packing boxes of clothes I won't see for two years seemed like a very "official" step toward moving to the Congo. This is really, and finally, happening.

Here is what will be taking up our time in the coming weeks:
July 1-3: Sam's brother Caleb is getting married and we are excited we will be here to join in the celebration!
July 7-8: We will attend an Ohana Foundation training with the Larsens and Sam's aunt, Rachel. This is the curriculum we will be using to teach English at the Elikya Center.
July 10-12: Family friends are coming to visit.
July 25: We fly out of the country

Of course, there will be plenty of packing and getting together with family and friends in these coming weeks as well. Not to mention some of the smaller (but important) details to take care of before we can leave.

Newest Support Letter

Here is our (early) July support letter. Click on July 2010 to read about our plans this upcoming month. We will continue to send out quarterly support letters while we are in the Congo. We hope to post more personal stories, photos, videos and testimonies on this blog while in the Congo as well.

Please pray for us as we have a lot of small details to take care of in these final weeks in the states. We desire to spend quality time with family and friends during this time as well.

We are leaving!

As of this past week we reached 101% of our support and bought tickets to Congo! We will leave July 25th from the Chicago airport. We have five weeks left in the states which will be filled with packing, a training, Sam's brother's wedding, saying goodbyes and preparing to jump into ministry. We will write more in the near future. We just want you to know the latest news.