The Weaver Five will fly

Today, March 14th, I booked our one-way tickets to Germany.  In the olden days of missions, people boarded ships sailing to their destinations and packed their belongings in a coffin.  They were diehard.  Well, we are not packing our things in coffins nor are we probably never going to see family and friends again.  But, yes, it did feel very strange to book a one-way ticket to the mission field for our family of five.

Missions looks a little differently now in 2013 than it did 90+ years ago during the Student Volunteer Movement, when thousands of young people gave their lives to foreign missions.  We have skype, viber, internet, email, texting, airplanes, cell phones, GPS and many other amazing gadgets of technology that make missions and missionaries' lives different and not so isolated.  Today again, thousands are answering the call to preach the good news of real hope and salvation through Jesus all over the world -developed countries and underdeveloped countries. I count it a privilege to be counted among them again.

Brian at the Berlin Wall

God is doing something in Germany.  We keep hearing about it. We keep sensing it. We keep meeting people who know people who know people (if you know what I mean) who are doing something or being sent to Germany at this time.  What is this Kairos moment for Germany? I don't know. But I do know that all of the confirmations, signs, words, connections and God-things that have happened since we said YES to the call have reaffirmed over and over again that we are supposed to be in Germany and not staying here in our wonderful church, house and life.  So while this has been a huge process for us, me in particular, I am peaceful in my heart and my expectations are huge.

I should have been blogging all of the amazing things that God has done in the last year to get us to this moment.

I will tell of one: the housing God gave us to land in the first 8 months in Germany.  It doesn't get any better than this!

Brian was in Germany February 14th (yes, Valentines Day) to February 28th visiting with various ministries, friends and contacts and making plans for our upcoming relocation to Germany.  On his way home, he asked God, "Could you just find us a furnished place that we could land in for season with our young kids and NOT have to land into an empty apartment?"  The next day, he gets an email from our friends there telling us that they know of some Christians who are leaving for 8 months and want to rent out their apartment in city center Karlsruhe (45 minutes south of Frankfurt).  Turns out they have 3 kids the same ages as ours (so they have all the kid stuff and toys and kid-friendly furnishings), a 5 bedroom apartment with a parking place, a fenced in backyard, walking distance from a Christian kindergarden, stores, doctors office, zoo and other great things, a SPOT for Abigail in the Christian school (this is huge) and a car sharing pass!!  We could have passed out!  And the price was right!

So for the first 8 months, we can focus on language and acculturation while slowly gathering the necessary peices to furnish our own apartment, look for the right place to live and hear from God as to what specifically he wants us to put our hands to.  We feel soooooo blessed.

Abbie thinks Pastor Cheryl
loves her the most!

Some folks may ask, "Is that really suffering for the gospel? Shouldn't missionaries suffer?"  My answer to this is simple.  We WILL suffer for the gospel.  It is inevitable when you step out, do missions work, and make a dent in enemy territory.  We will feel the spiritual warfare, have to fight some major battles, and experience hardship.  It is par for the course.  But what we don't have to do is suffer needlessly.  My children are very important to me.  I want them to fall in love with Germany and Germans.  I want them to have the easiest landing possible so as to acculturate well.  They will suffer too. They will miss English schooling, English cartoons on TV, grandparents, friends, our church's children's pastor and kids ministry.

They will miss driving to Nana and PopPop's or going to the beach with Bibi and Babu.  They will HAVE TO learn another language.  They will have to leave most of their belongings behind in America and watch them be sold in a garage sale. This is not easy. There are many tough things to saying YES to God's will. But I know that every part of this will be worth it to feel the pleasure of God in my heart and to know that I am raising my children exactly where God wants them to be.  I have to trust God with the rest.

The most important Weaver missionaries

So, as I re-connect with the blogging world, I thank you for taking the time to read this, for loving our family and for committing us to your prayers.  Good night.