First Missions Service
Our first full week back in NJ is behind us and it’s been a great one! We visited our first church and had the privilege of sharing about our work in Finland, tell some funny stories about our experiences there and share the word of God. It was great to hear people say “I never knew that about Finland” or “We will be praying for you”. Sonia and I are grateful to pastor Jack and Ginny Cairns for receiving us so well and for the wonderful people at Capital Assembly of God in Hamilton, NJ. We are posting some pictures from our visit in this article which also includes images of our missions stand.
Finally… I got my Italian Passport
Also this week, we celebrated the special occasion of Stephen finally receiving his Italian passport. After 17 years of documents, lost papers, and delays, he was able to visit the Italian consulate in Philadelphia and get his passport processed. Besides being a long-time dream, having an EU passport will enables us to live and be in Europe and Finland much easier. We are thanking God that such a long process is now behind us. Below are some photos we took outside the consulate. We also were able to briefly visit Independence Hall and see the room where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed.
Stephen’s birthday!
The day after celebrating my Italian citizenship, the celebration continued with my birthday. So we rolled two celebrations into one by going to an Italian restaurant! Of course! Thank you to everyone who sent birthday wishes, notes and gifts! :)
As we continue to get settled into our apartment here in West Deptford, NJ, we visited the local IKEA store to pick up furniture and items for our apartment. It’s challenging to furnish an empty apartment, even with just the essentials. During our last visit, we picked up several items and God worked it out that much of what we needed was just brought down to the clearance area with huge discounts and with pretty much no issues! We saved a lot of money and could witness God’s provision in our lives, even in these small details.
It’s moments like this week… people hearing about missions and responding… open doors with my citizenship for future ministry opportunities… divine appointments for even the mundane things of life and the gift of another year. It’s been a busy week, to say the least! But it has proven to, once again, reveal how God is at work in our lives for our good and for his glory. What will this next week bring? Who knows, but I know it’s all in God’s hands and that is a very good place to be in.
Thanks for praying with us and for joining us on our journey…
Love,
Stephen & Sonia