Just a few days after I got back from New Zealand I attended my last language class of the semester! You know what that means? It’s summmmmmmmer!

I remember the days when finishing the last class meant hours of hide-and-seek sprinkled with intermittent dips in the pool for a round of Marco Polo followed by drying off in the driveway while soaking up the sun. Not this year… There are still nearly 30 million university students waiting to hear the Good News, so there is still a lot of work to be done! Here is a look into my next few months and how I’ll be enjoying my summer:

  1. Language Study – just because school is out for the summer doesn’t mean I’ll stop studying. This will continue to be a main focus of mine as I meet with a tutor and spend hours of self study a week.
  2. International Admin – With new workers joining us from 3 different countries outside the U.S. come August, there are a lot of details to work out (visas, banking, health insurance, etc). I’ll be researching the best solutions for each international worker and making sure they are ready to hit the ground running in August.
  3. Support Raising Support – Our two Mexican interns are currently home in a season of support raising so that they can continue to work with us long term. One of our new international workers is also still raising support for this fall. I’ll be connecting with the three of them regularly offering support, encouragement and guidance.

Things to ask God for:

  • Supernatural learning! I’ve been a little discouraged since returning from New Zealand, feeling like my language took a major step back.
  • Focus – with my time split between studying and international work, please ask that I am able to stay focused at the task at hand.
  • Motivation, specifically with studying. With the hot and humid weather and being discouraged with my language progress, it’s easy to not want to do the hard work of hitting the books.

 

Things to thank God for:

  • Olli and I (and all our bags) made it back safe and sound from New Zealand.
  • Great connections that were made in New Zealand.
  • I successfully finished my first semester of language study!
  • Two of our three new international workers are already fully funded!