mid-November 2019 – BIG changes!

Here we are in the middle of November, but there is so much to update you all on that we are posting now and will follow up with a shorter post at the end of November as well. BIG things have happened since our last update. Here’s an overview!

BIG happenings!

As many of you know, our largest single expense to get to Oaxaca was a vehicle. Many of you have been praying for just the right thing to handle the mountain roads we’ll be traveling. Ben had been researching different models and searching locally and online for the right thing. This was rather tricky since in 2020 the only model years that Mexico allows to be imported (without paying exorbitant fees) are 2011 and 2012. This narrowed our choices considerably. Ben’s ideal car was a Yukon, with a strong preference for a Hybrid to curb costs of gas.

We were also limited by funding, since we were waiting for the cost of the car to be raised before seriously considering a purchase.

Wouldn’t you know it? The week that we thought we had nearly enough funds, Ben found a Yukon Denali Hybrid in Dallas, TX. It was actually in the price range of we had already raised, and appeared to be nicer than anything else we had seen! After numerous calls to the dealership getting all sorts of details on the car, we booked ultra-cheap tickets to Dallas, Ubered to the dealership, and bought our Mexican vehicle!!

We had a perfect stopping point in Kansas City, where our dear friend Tina Unruh and her sweet babe Judah hosted us overnight. Sadly her husband Eli wasn’t there, but we had a great time and left refreshed for the rest of the drive home.

Truly God’s blessings are surprising in the best way possible. This car is exactly what we needed and then some! It was in better shape than we had expected, and is super pretty to boot. We keep finding different bells and whistles on it that we weren’t aware of. Amazing! THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed so far!! We still need to raise funds for the import fees (about $3,000) but the car is ours. We’re so thankful!

Yet ANOTHER amazing story of God’s faithfulness: we had considered raising funds for a trailer to bring a few things down to Oaxaca with us (bicycles, clothes, some kitchen stuff, etc.) but didn’t feel quite right about it since we don’t really need a trailer after arriving in Cacalote. We thought that if we bought one we could potentially donate it to the clinic at Roca Blanca after arriving, but it still didn’t make sense for us to buy one just for our journey down.

A couple of weeks after we made that decision, Laura, who helps run the clinic, called and told us that a donor here in the U.S. wanted to buy the clinic a trailer, but didn’t have a way to get it down there. She wondered… would we be willing to pull a trailer for them?  !!! Incredible planning on God’s part.

Check out pictures below!

Breckenridge, MN – 10/27/19

Next up was Valley Christian Church in Breckenridge. Pastor Dean and Marijo Bjorlin hosted us and we were able to share at their church service on Sunday morning. 

Pastor Dean shared about being aware of the way the devil prowls around looking for someone to devour. He encouraged everyone to pay attention to what is happening in our lives and continue to cast our burdens on God who can handle them so we don’t get overwhelmed!

We shared about our missions journey. Since then we’ve learned VCC will be regular givers! It’s great to see these things coming together. Hannah loves adding names into our support spreadsheet and watching the “still needed” amount go down. Yes!!

After the service we joined the church body in Souper Sunday, a fundraiser where members taste test a bunch of soups. A winner is crowned at the end. Fun, and super tasty. 

Thank you Valley Christian for hosting us!

Even more BIG happenings!

Another huge need we had on our last update was to find renters for our house. Our goal had been November 1st, but the Lord knew better as we weren’t actually ready to leave until the 7th. We have renters coming in December 1st.

So… we are out of our house of 9 years. It was such a huge process. If you’ve ever done a major move you’ll know what we’re talking about!

We set up piles with taped notes all around on the walls: “Donate”, “Give Away”, “Trash”, “Storage”. “Mexico but not NY”, “NY and Mexico”… the piles grew and grew and were occasionally taken out to their respective destinations.

The kids’ intense displacement began in earnest. They helped with all the work while beginning to work through what all these changes mean for them. We gave each of them a bin to pack with their personal things (not including clothes, obviously) and told them anything they didn’t pack in there wasn’t coming. They made some hard choices.

They are troopers! But please continue to pray for them as they walk this journey.

We said goodbye at 4:30 a.m. on the 7th and headed for upstate New York, where Hannah’s family is hosting us for November while we raise funds. We will be back home in Minnesota for most of December before crossing into Mexico on January 1st. The “die is cast” as we are now homeless – no turning back now!

It’s been awesome to hang with family, and weird to be far less busy than we have been. The pacing feels funny but we’re thankful for some down time.

Wrapping up these last few weeks

WHOA. It’s really happening!

Thanks for your prayers. We are on our way with support raising and still have a way to go. Will you join us in praying?