Unusual Get-Togethers

Well is it finally our last week in the States. We are really leaving for Brazil on Monday! We had so much to do this week to get ready to leave, but that didn't stop us from making time for a few out of the ordinary get-togethers.
First, Stephanie's sister, Christa, invited us to her public high school. Christa is a junior in the same high school where Stephanie went growing up. Over the past years she has been the leader of the Christian club and each week she plans the meetings. This week she decided to invite us to be the speakers and to share our testimonies with the students. Over the past months we have shared in many settings, but sharing in a public school was the most unusual. It was such a great opportunity, especially for Stephanie, to return to our roots and share with students at the same age as us when we really put a stake in the ground and decided to live for Christ.
Later in the week we had another special get together - with some of Jeyson's distant relatives he had never met before. When we were planning our wedding, Jeyson's mother mentioned that she had a relative living in New Jersey. We met this relative when she and her husband came to our wedding. Last week they invited us to their house to meet the whole rest of that side of the family that we had no idea lived in the area! We had a wonderful time getting to know them and sharing a bit about our ministry. Here are some pictures.


This week we also had several other get-togethers which weren't as fun. We made trips to say good bye to friends and family we care so much about. It is so hard to say good bye not knowing when we will see them again. Stephanie's parents came back home yesterday from Arizona and we are spending our last days with them getting ready to say good bye in just days.
Meanwhile Jeyson is very busy packing our bags. People often ask us if we are shipping things. We have decided not to since it is rather expensive. Instead we have have been weeding though and getting rid of everything we don't need and packing the important things. Thinking of going long term makes what is on the "important list" a little bit confusing. If we were going for only a few months it would be easy to leave behind photos and resource books, but since we are making our home there the "important list" gets long!
Over the last week we have also been emailing friends from Brazil who are busy with ministry. We can't wait to get return! At the same time, those good byes are still hard! Please pray for us during this emotional time of transition.
Tomorrow we having a little get together lunch at Stephanie's parents house to say bye. If you can make it and haven't RSVPed yet just let us know - we would love to see you there!