Heading North

I write this from our van somewhere in central Illinois. We're on our way to Michigan!  We got a call on Friday from the leadership at our Bible Institute/Training Center asking if we would be able to come up there to meet with them about us possibly serving there!  We were very excited and more than happy to make the trip.  Some of you may recall that this NTM training center is were I, Bethany served with New Tribes for 5 years and also where Joel and I met.  We are excited to see what will happen, how God will lead us.  We'd love your prayers that God will reveal His will to us and the Bible Institute regarding our future ministry. 

 

We will stop tonight in Bloomington, Il and then head on up to Michigan tomorrow, arriving around 1pm.  We plan to stay there till Thursday morning when we will drive south to Indiana, where Joel's brother and sister in law live.  It just so happens that Joel's sister had already planned to spend several days there in Indiana and so we'll all be together again; all the Potter children and grandchildren!  We are super excited to see them all again and for the boys to see them too!

 

Thanks for praying for safe and enjoyable travels for us!  We'll let you know if we get any concrete answers from our visit this week!

 

Bethany for Joel, Jack and Owen too!

ALMOST home

Well, as I said Joel made it to US soil but he's not home yet. His flight that should have left Minneapolis last night at 9:15 got cancelled due to a mechanical problem on the plane and was rescheduled for this morning with one stop along the way getting in around 11am. I just checked email and got a notification that the flight out of Minn. is delayed an hour, causing him to miss his connecting flight and now is re-booked to get here this afternoon around 4pm. We are anxious to see him again and after flying for 4 days, Joel is more than ready to be home.

Like I said yesterday, waiting is not easy but we know God will encourage us as we do. Thanks for praying!

Bethany

On His Way Home

Joel landed in Portland about an hour ago and has made it safely back to US soil. I'm sure he's exhausted by now. He said he had just finally adjusted to Indo time and then it was time to come home again.

Thanks for your prayers for us this week. Joel was able to do everything he needed to there. He sold much of our stuff with just a few items left that a friend will try to sell later. The rest of our belongings are waiting at a port in Indo for the ship to bring them across the Pacific to LA. The cost for shipping the crate once it arrives in the US was so costly that it looks like Joel will likely fly there to get it and drive it home in a rental truck. Anyone interested in a 3 day road trip?

Jack, Owen and I have held up well here. There were a few days that the Mommy in me had had enough but God... the boys are still alive and I think they still love me and I am alive and still love them. I guess we could say then that it was a success and we survived. My hat definitely goes off to those mom's who parent alone every day!

We still haven't gotten any word on our next "assignment", if you will. Waiting is one of the hardest things to do, but we are convinced that waiting on God's timing is so much more peaceful than trying to push ahead of Him and then landing in something that is outside of His will. So, we wait. Please pray for those involved in making the decisions. There are many variables to consider and we know they are also waiting on God and His direction.

Thanks for waiting with us and we'll keep you posted!

Bethany

Safely in Singapore

Joel just wrote - 1:30pm our time - and he made it safely to Singapore. He'll be there till about 10 pm tonight and then he'll fly on to Indonesia. Thanks for praying for him as he travels - so far so good!

Bethany

April update

Joel left this morning for Indonesia. He will arrive there sometime in the middle of the night tomorrow night but since he's flying alone this time, hopefully he won't be too worn out when he arrives. He'll be on a different island than we lived on for a few days taking care of some paperwork so he can leave the country again without having problems if we should ever want to return again. Then he'll fly to java where our stuff will be waiting for him. A good friend in Papua shipped what we had left there to Java. Joel will sort through some of it, sell what we can't bring back and then ship home what we would like to have with us here again.

This will be a bitter sweet trip for all of us. We didn't see this coming, but I suppose that is true of all of our lives. We can't see around the next corner but we as believers have HOPE because we know the One who created us and we know for SURE that He knows what awaits us. We still don't completely understand all that happened to bring us to this point in our lives but we trust that God will never leave us or forsake us and we are holding tight to His promises to provide for our every need.

The boys and I and my Mom will hold down the fort for the 10 days Joel will be gone. We told Jack this morning that he is now the man of the house while Daddy is gone. His response was, "I'm a man!"

If you feel led to pray for us in the next week or so, we'd love that. Joel will be traveling a lot in a short amount of time and then still has to choose a shipping company, have a "yard sale", sort, pack and head home again. Here at home, I have 2 little ones that will need a bit of extra love and attention while Daddy is gone and I'll need extra doses of God's grace to handle being a single parent for a while. Please also pray for me as I strive to live according to what is true and not what my mind sometimes wanders toward; feelings of guilt or insufficiency are always lurking around trying to discourage me.

Things are continuing to move forward for our future ministry. We have met with some folks from one of our training centers here in the states and hopefully will get some word on whether or not that will work out some time this week. Please be praying for that too!

We are blessed beyond measure by God's love for us and your love for us. Thanks for all the encouragement and love!

Bethany for us all