Following my trip to Kenya last May of 2014 we prayed concerning God’s call on our lives. We knelt before the Lord and sought his direction, his will for our lives. We wanted to know if God would allow us to join Him with what He was doing in Africa and so we prayed. Over the course of 3 weeks in June it became apparent that God was indeed leading us to Kenya. We were overjoyed that this calling came for our family.

We knew the next step was to pick a date for our training at MTI (Missions Training International) because the slots fill up fast. In July, we settled on February 2015 for training and we both thought it seemed like it would be a long time before we would be leaving.

Now its February, 20 inches of snow fell last weekend which was a reminder that this will be our last Chicago winter and things are changing. As I shoveled the driveway numerous times, I kept reminding myself that there would not be snow in Kenya. Oh there will be things that will be much tougher then shoveling, and our family is trusting that God will help us walk through them as he leads us on.

Today is Saturday February 7, a day that has been on our minds recently as it’s the day before we leave for MTI. MTI has always been a marker that this is for real, we are really moving our family to Kenya. Obviously Colorado is not Kenya but MTI serves as a reminder that Kenya is close. For 4 weeks we will be in Colorado so that we can learn how to serve Christ in a foreign country. Our hope is that MTI will provide much needed training for our family as we all press on towards what God is calling us to in Africa.

Please lift our family up in prayer as we are taught about how to deal with cross-cultural challenges. And pray for our boys as they are saying goodbye to their normal surroundings and routine and enter the reality of this life change for our family.

Liz and I are grateful for you, our team of supporters, and are lifting you up in prayer daily.

For His Name

Mark