Here we come Milan!

We are officially done fund raising. Praise the Lord!!! He brought everything together.

As a team we are really starting to bond, it is very exciting. We had a great time on Sunday exchanging testimonies and preparing for the trip (logistics). Steven and I (along with Will and Ryan) will be teaching the Intermediate Class. Steven taught this before and I taught Advanced English. I'm excited because we will be with the same people all day. Last time it was difficult to decide which group to go with when it came to dinner time, this time we wont have to choose. I am so excited to meet the people the Lord has prepared for us.

We found out Steven will be the only other person, besides the team leader, who will be staying for two weeks. I know he is going to come home wanting to move there... which would be fine by me. I actually want to stay for two weeks, but I know my school schedule just won't allow for it.

Right now we need lots of prayer for our class planning times. The discussion topics are as follows...

• Family
• Food
  
• Friendship
• Occupations
• Cultures

So, we will have a meeting next week to plan out at least the first two. Feel free to post ideas that you might have. For example, on the day we discuss occupations I am going to bring the job cards from the game of Life.

The trip is coming so quickly. We are only 3 weeks away!!!!

Almost Done..

Howdy!

Steven and I are at 72% done raising support!!!
The final deadline is this weekend... and I beginning to get really excited about Milan. I'm going to post some links and info about the trip soon. I might have said this before, but after support is complete the trip because a TON less stressful. Which is good, because I have a concrete test next week.

We had to post-pone our Valentine's camp out till next weekend. Which made me kinda sad... but I would rather finish up support raising and relax on our camp out. We are looking into renting a canoe from the school... the fish should be spawning about now... so hopefully we can have a fresh crappie over a camp fire. I'm really excited about that.

Our car recently broke. Initially we were very upset, but God has provided many good things through it. For one, I'm not intimidated by a mini-van (Thanks again for the use of the van, Neva). And we are going to begin paying ourselves a car payment each month so that we will have enough to buy a second car.

Thanks again for your continued prayers!

Fallon

Zombies Ahead!

Hey Family,

This is pretty funny. Steven told me about it yestarday. Enjoy!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,484326,00.html

After Prayer Time

I just got to school from our Italy pray time. Prayer was really good. It seems like everyone is concerned about finances, but it's really beautiful to see how people release that concern to the Lord and how He blesses you afterwards.

At the training time our team leader announced that we need to have ALL of our support in by 2/15... and that there could be no extensions because the person who processes the money is leaving on a mission trip (to Nigeria) on 2/18.

I have a hard time with support raising, but there is good biblical justification for how our church raising funds. I don't really have time to go into it, but a thought that is communicated that really encourages me is the "partnership" idea. People who support our trip have the opportunity to partner with a mission trip. I know that the Lord wants to use people who can't leave their home and job to travel overseas. He wants to use their finances. Steven and I have given to several trips/missionaries and it is such a blessing. I honestly don't know why my heart gets so crazy during fund raising. I've decided to stop trying to figure it out and justify it, but to follow the leading of my God and husband.

On the other hand. I received more conformation that we should be going this year. During prayer time I asked for a peace about the trip, and 30(ish) minutes later the Lord reminded me of the people we spoke with in Turin. Just their faces and smiles and the long (LONG) conversations we had with them at dinner and afterwards. Italians are so easy to befriend and so hungry for a deep relationship (like we all are), it is so easy to connect with them. I know Steven and I also love to hear about their culture and how general things are done in Italy. So the Lord really reminded me of our heart to serve in Italy. It's tricky, because it is Europe, it doesn't seem like a typical place for a mission trip. However there is such a need.

On the home front... not much has changed. This weekend we spent some time on our yard. That was a lot of fun. I planted more spinach and lettuce, while Steven trimmed a bush that provides afternoon shade for our herb garden... he really opened up a lot room, which is good because I need space for basil... it grows so well here. We are thinking of planting forget-me-nots at the base of the bush, because they are shade loving. I also planted strawberries and started seeds for tomato and pepper plants. We are pretty excited about our gardens this year. Hopefully I can post some pictures.