Hello from Virginia!

​We have finally settled into life on campus here at our training center. The girls absolutely love being in “school” with their friends, and Jeremiah and I have enjoyed becoming “co-workers” and attending class together again. 

This past week has been full and exhausting- but our favorite so far! It has been Evangelism week. We have been learning about how to share the Gospel, why we share the Gospel, and of course we’ve practiced sharing the Gospel. 

To be fully transparent, it took a bit of convincing for me to agree that we should be walking up to strangers at the park, on the street, or in the grocery store, and asking if we can share the Good News of Jesus with them. I was pretty sure that Gospel conversations were to be had once we established a relationship with someone and wouldn’t make them feel too weird about discussing eternity. But, I have changed my mind. 
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Every two seconds, someone in the world dies and spends an eternity separated from their Creator. To be separated from God is to be in complete darkness, suffering, with no hope for the future. To die without a relationship with God is to be in hell. I had previously thought that sharing the Gospel with a stranger was disingenuous, that I didn’t really care about who that person was, just that I wanted them to believe in my Savior. I have come to realize, though, that to be a Christ-follower, to love like Jesus, means that I love other humans so much that I don’t want them to be separated from God for even a second longer than they must be. Of course, it is not up to us, or even in our power, to offer salvation to others, but “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” Romans 10:14. 

Aside from a new resolve to share the hope of Jesus with everyone I can, we have also been working on obtaining documents for our Residence Permit, and spending time with our sweet friends and colleagues. The rest of February will come and go quickly, I’m sure, and we are tentatively set to land in Europe around the third week of March. 

Please be in prayer for everyone in our training class as we prepare our hearts and minds for the task that is before us. Pray that we will be fully reliant on God as we continue to work through assignments, attend class, and prepare final details for our departures.  Please pray that our partners who are already on the field will be encouraged and have perseverance. Most importantly, please pray for the over 157,000 people who die every day and spend an eternity in hell.