New Colleagues and Going Stateside

Hello all! We have great news to share: a new family arrived at the end of June to serve with us here in Bucharest! Here's the backstory.

When we first arrived in October 2012, Jessica and I joined a team of five other families in our city (with other IMB colleagues working with Roma scattered around the country). In July 2019, we became the only IMB unit in Romania.

About that time, Drew and Brooke Tucker (and family) were sensing God's call to come to Romania. Drew found my email address and we began Skyping with the Tuckers about coming with IMB to Bucharest. Drew and Brooke's background is business and education, complementing our gifts well. For example, Drew told me yesterday he worked a side job for five years in sales, a job that forced him to become "comfortable" with striking up conversations with strangers and turning conversations towards specific ends. In the three weeks they've been here, I've seen Drew comfortably talk with neighbors and people in the park. 

We believe they will be a strong witness among Romanians. Whereas Jessica and I came after only having been married one year and used to apartment living, the Tuckers sold their house and cars and downsized to an apartment (with their two small children). Thankfully, their apartment is only minutes away from ours through the park. The Tuckers have now begun language study and are well on their way to getting to know our expat friends and friends from our Romanian church, Biserica Agapia.

Please pray for Drew, Brooke, Emerson, and Lydia Tucker. Please pray for quick adjustments, especially for the kids, and for genuine friendships among both expats and Romanians. Please pray for their language learning and for opportunities to use what they are learning. Please pray they would have joy.

In addition, we wanted to ask for prayers for our family. Early Saturday morning, we fly to the United States for five months! Besides visiting family and friends, we will speak at roughly 12 churches including the Romanian Baptist Church of Chicago, where I'll preach in Romanian. Both our kids are enrolled in the preschool program at the church that is hosting us in their mission house in Kingsport, Tennessee. A few months ago, Sara asked me, "You mean even the kids there speak English? Even my teacher?" Every time we fly back to the States, the sensory overload of hearing English everywhere is powerful. This will probably be especially so for Sara and Noah, who are now old enough to reflect and remember things on their own.