We said “good-bye” to New Jersey today, not knowing when we will be back…we were overwhelmed with emotions and sentiments as we walked through the house Nicole grew up in one last time. We are now back in Pittsburgh trying to tie up the endless loose ends, and we did have a breakdown (not our car). One of our computers hard drive just broke, luckily we were able to get it fixed and have it back to working order by the next day. We are thankful it broke down before we left for PNG, and that is grace…grace that it broke where we can get it fixed.
We have been waiting many weeks now for an 8 digit number for Nicole’s letter of sponsorship. Well, we are happy to say that we have it! Next up, we sent in all of our paperwork and passports (there is a weird and sickening feeling putting those documents in the mail) to the PNG embassy in Washington DC to finish the process. Yup, that is it! We are now at the mercy of the US post office. Thank you for all of you who are praying for us, this is the last step of our paperwork…then reality sets in. Please pray we get our visa and passports back quickly.
Deja Vu
We have been having a lot of last moment sub-realities like; this is the last time I will go here, or this is the last time I will have a good Oreo dunked in whole milk, you know…the important things 🙂 we are being overwhelmed with emotions. God has given such sweet times of fellowship with friends and family this past week it is amazing.
Send Off
Our send off service in New Jersey this past weekend was humbling; scripture was read, the word was preached, hearts were open, the Spirit was present, and many eyes were filled with tears. That is what occurred Sunday morning as we were sent off by our sweet dear friends and family at Calvary. The spirit of fellowship, intentionality, and love were very present during the service, after which sparked over 3 hours of conversation over lunch. We want to say thank you to everyone at Calvary in NJ, your love was felt and we will carry it with us to PNG.
How to Pray?
Please pray that our visa’s will be processed quickly so we can leave around the 27th. The earlier we get them the better we will feel and be able to finalize last minute details.
Please pray we manage our time better; we have many loose ends (shots, doctor, dentist, etc.) with sentimental things, finish packing, getting rid of stuff, figuring what to do with our stuff that we leave in the states, and connecting with people as we say that “final” good-bye (see you in 5 years, Lord willing).
Please pray we can stay healthy, so we can get to the field and be ready to go.
Please pray we stay strong spiritually and emotionally, we have waves of emotions that we will have to deal with in the next 3 weeks…Gulp! Yes, there is some anxiety, but by God’s grace we are leaving in 3 weeks!!!!!!!!! (as long as we get the visa). 🙂
Do NOT Forget our commissioning service in Pittsburgh January 14th 🙂 ALL are invited.
~Your humble co-servants for Jesus Christ, Seth and Nicole Stokes.
Stoking The Fires 