We keep getting asked the same questions. Questions like, "When are you guys leaving Alaska? Where are you going? Have you heard any news from Cadence?" Well, here is your chance to hear first hand what is in store for us over the next few months.
When are you leaving Alaska?
After discussion with Headquarters, our current U.S. Field Director, the European Field Director, and Dan and Barb (our current supervisors here) we have decided to move away from our ministry in Alaska July 31. This will end our year long internship here and start our transition to Partnership Development (aka. support raising). We will use the month of August to plan our time in Pennsylvania and Texas, to sell most of our belongings, clean our apartment, and have a little bit of down time before we start the biggest transition of our married life. We move out of our apartment on Aug. 31 and will leave Alaska after the beginning of Sept.
Where are you going?
The first step is fund raising. We have been assigned to the European Field
(read more about that here) and will need more money than we have currently have coming in each month. So we will spend four to six months living in PA or TX asking friends and family to come along side us and financially support our future ministry. The reason we don't know which state we will be in is because God has not told us yet. We are praying that someone can offer us a place to live with little to no rent per month. This would be temporary until we have raised enough funds to leave for our assignment. (I'm handy with a hammer so I certainly wouldn't mind working a little for our landlord.)
The reason I haven't told you the exact location yet is because we don't know. Cadence headquarters is working on figuring out the best place for us. For most new missionaries the ministry sends them to an established place that has an existing ministry. The problem is all the ministry houses are full. Although, we are not 100 percent sure we will be opening a new house, we most likely will. This is exciting news because that mean we can help expand Cadence's ministry. We should hear something within the next month and as soon as we do we will let everyone know.
What has Cadence told you?
Short and sweet we have been told a lot of speculative information. First, we will more than likely open a new house and the European field director told us the number he gives when a couple is planning on opening a new house in Europe is $75,000. (I know, wow, that is a lot of money.) Second, most of Cadence's missionaries are in Germany so we believe we will end up there as well. And finally, we received our monthly support calculation and it will increase from around $5,000 to around $6,000 a month. Currently we have $4,500 a month coming in so we will need to raise about $1,500 more a month.
So as you can see we have a lot to think and pray about. We long to have you pray with us. Whether it is for our financial needs, a place to live, a firm location or guidance about where we should spend the next few months we would be honored to have your prayers.
Wes (& Elaine)
