The Plan Is...

As you can see from the date from my last post it has been close to a year. I'm sure a lot of people have given up on checking this blog for updates. It seems to me that blogging has become less and less of a priority to folks. It's like when you get a new toy or gadget and play with it and use, but as soon as the newness wears off it sits on the shelf only to be picked up once in a while. That's the way it is for me at least. Maybe we've found more important things to do.
Well, Esther and I are in our last semester of French language school in Quebec. We've enjoyed our time here, gotten to know some pretty neat folks and have learned some French. We are, however, excited about moving on to DRC. It looks like at this point it will be the end of January when we take off. We don't have an exact date but our formal request to purchase tickets has been turned in. Our time line kind of looks like this, and we reserve the right to change it at any time :). December 12 is our last day of class, or maybe our last day of exams. The next few days following that we'll be busy packing up our stuff and moving out of our apartment. We'll then head down to Worthington, MN where our shipment is being put together. We'll be there for one night and then go to Missouri for Christmas with our family. After that, it's back up to Worthington to finish up our shipment and any last minute details before blasting off.
Some days it seems like our departure is still aways off but most days we know that it is right around the corner and will be here sooner than we know it.
Anna is doing well, she really growing up. She seems more like a little girl than a baby. This summer she started walking so now it's a challenge to keep up with her. We are truly blessed to have her in our family.
Well, I can't promise it won't be another year until I post again, but maybe I'll get one in. Thanks to everyone who continues to think about us and pray for us.

On Our Way...Again!

We are getting ready to head up the the big white north on Saturday. We've been in Nampa, ID for the last 10 weeks gong through what MAF calls technical standardization. Basically what that means is that I have been working in the hanger learning a bunch of stuff that MAF does with their airplanes overseas. It's been a good experience and I've enjoyed getting my hands dirty again after not working on an aircraft for a little over a year.
On Saturday we depart from Nampa and head to Canada in order to learn French in Sherbrooke, Quebec. We'll officially start classes on the 7th of January but we are going to set up our apartment and get settled in before hitting the books.
Thanks to all those who continue to lift us up in prayer while we are traversing North America. We'll continue to try and be in better blogging form after our brief hiatus.

Bringing Home Joy

We are so thankful for the blessing of our new daughter, Anna Joy Writebol. It has already been one week since we brought her home from the hospital and we can't believe how fast it's gone and how much joy she brings us already. Yes, there are the 2 am feedings and diaper changes but for the most part the transition has been great. Esther is doing really well too and doing a great job at being "mom". What a privilege and responsibility it is to be entrusted with the care of a little one. It gives me an added respect for my parents that I've never had before.
As you can imagine we are taking lots of pictures and have put them on a web album for friends and family to check out. Here's the link. I continue to add pictures on a regular basis.

It's been a looonnng time!!

Well I suppose it is time for me to post on the blog again. I'm sure a lot of people have stopped checking this page in the WWB because of the lack of posts. Maybe my creative juices are just not happening at all. Well a lot has been going on. We are a mere five weeks away from having our baby, our support to go to Africa is coming in, and we find ourselves busy meeting with people and Sharing MAF.
Last week I started biking with a group of guys. If you don't mind the 5:45 am wake up call and the grinding climbs it is a pretty good time. Helps me kind of balance out all the good food we have when meeting with people.
Anyway, we are still in Santa Rosa, CA. We have been encouraged the past couple of weeks by being able to speak at a church as well as meet with a couple of mission committees. We are continuing to plug away while we see God's hand go before us.

We've also been hearing some bits and parts of things that are going on in DRC. It makes us really want to get over there, but we know there are things that have to be done before we land in DRC. A couple of things that are going on in DRC is MAF's involvement with sharing the JESUS film to different tribes and language groups. MAF is also working with national pastors in order to be more of a service to them as well as partner with them in some distance education. These are exciting times and our hearts are really growing to love the people of DRC and Africa even though we haven't been there. Praise the Lord for the work that He is doing!!!

Videos

Many of you have seen our "Overcoming Barriers" video. We like it because it shows the many different ways in which MAF uses technology to reach others with the gospel. There are several other videos that show some other sides to MAF that I think are good. This link will take you to the videos so grab your popcorn and enjoy.

Church

Well, it is official we have left Worthington, MN and are now living in Santa Rosa, CA. We had a pretty good drive over even with all the wind and some blowing snow. So what are our next steps? Well, at this point we are trying to get into as many churches as possible. This is done one of two ways, being refered to the chruch by someone who know someone else in the church or by visiting the churches and seeing if they are interested in hearing about our ministry with MAF and if they might be looking to bring on some new missionaries for support. Right now Esther and I are praying that there would be a few more churches that would be willing to bring us on. We are thankful for the Churchs that have already teamed with us and we are excited to see what else the Lord has in store during our time in Santa Rosa. It has been really neat to see how the body of Christ comes together. Thanks for the continued prayers and support.

Baby on Board

Esther and I are proud to announce that we are expecting!! Baby is due mid June and most likely will be born in California. We are excited about this new addition to our family. We recently were able to announce our good news to our families and wanted our friends to be the next to hear. Please pray for us as we prepare to embark on parenthood!!! Pray also that it would be a healthy pregnancy and baby.