As summer is well under way, Charles and I are drawing closer to our departure date! As mentioned in the previous letter, we met our financial support goals in the spring and were able to register for classes at Center for Intercultural Training (CIT) over the summer. Well, we’re here! We wrapped up our jobs and left the D.C. area on June 17. We started our first class two weeks ago at CIT here in Union Mills, NC, just east of Asheville.
The week leading up to our D.C. departure was a bittersweet time for both me and Charles. We were commissioned at our church on June 12 before the congregation. What a blessing that church has been to us
! Walking out of church that Sunday reminded me of the line from the hymn ‘When I survey the wondrous cross’ that says, “sorrow and love flow mingled down” – hard to leave but under blessed circumstances! We spent the week surrounded by our friends at dinners and parties where we celebrated God’s goodness in sending us to the field. Charles and I drove away from D.C. saying “God is good,” feeling as though our cups were overflowing from those friendships and that He was leading us to yet more relationships in a land we don’t yet know.
After a long road trip, we arrived at CIT where classmates met us at our car to help us unpack -- the friendships with them began immediately. It has been amazing to hear testimonies of how God has led them to serve Him (literally) all over the world. There are nearly 20 of us in class together. I think it’s safe to say we are all learning more about God than we ever imagined through our classes on Acts and the Old Testament – the New Testament is yet to come. Charles and I both feel like God has given us this time to really study and prepare for our time on the field in a way that hasn’t been possible over the last year. The hours of study we’ve been p
utting in, in addition to the class time, will be such an instrument in sharing our faith and has already strengthened our knowledge of scripture greatly. We regularly gather with classmates to pray for our needs as well as the people groups we will be serving overseas. What a time of fellowship with other believers! Our pastor at Briarwood Presbyterian in Birmingham, Harry Reeder, would always insert this phrase into his sermons, “God is good – all the time, and all the time – God is good.” We seem to come back to that a lot lately, being in a new place and in new circumstances with so much uncertainty in the near future and yet God is good – all the time.
As far as the future goes, we will be in classes two more weeks and then on vacation with our families for the remainder of July. We return to Memphis for several weeks before departing Aug. 30 for Costa Rica. We have been communicating with our big brother/sister couple in Costa Rica who have found a family for us to live with in San Jose close to the language school we will be attending. God is doing amazing things to provide for us!
Please keep us in your prayers as we finish the second half of classes here and spend time on vacation with our families. You can also join us in prayer as we lift up those on our team (already in Bolivia) and the nationals we will be in contact with both in Costa Rica and Bolivia. We continue to pray for all of you receiving our letters as so much of the ministry is the prayer and financial support that is behind it. **Also, if you are not receiving this via email, please contact us with your email address so that we can add you to our list.
By God’s grace and mercy,
! Walking out of church that Sunday reminded me of the line from the hymn ‘When I survey the wondrous cross’ that says, “sorrow and love flow mingled down” – hard to leave but under blessed circumstances! We spent the week surrounded by our friends at dinners and parties where we celebrated God’s goodness in sending us to the field. Charles and I drove away from D.C. saying “God is good,” feeling as though our cups were overflowing from those friendships and that He was leading us to yet more relationships in a land we don’t yet know.After a long road trip, we arrived at CIT where classmates met us at our car to help us unpack -- the friendships with them began immediately. It has been amazing to hear testimonies of how God has led them to serve Him (literally) all over the world. There are nearly 20 of us in class together. I think it’s safe to say we are all learning more about God than we ever imagined through our classes on Acts and the Old Testament – the New Testament is yet to come. Charles and I both feel like God has given us this time to really study and prepare for our time on the field in a way that hasn’t been possible over the last year. The hours of study we’ve been p
utting in, in addition to the class time, will be such an instrument in sharing our faith and has already strengthened our knowledge of scripture greatly. We regularly gather with classmates to pray for our needs as well as the people groups we will be serving overseas. What a time of fellowship with other believers! Our pastor at Briarwood Presbyterian in Birmingham, Harry Reeder, would always insert this phrase into his sermons, “God is good – all the time, and all the time – God is good.” We seem to come back to that a lot lately, being in a new place and in new circumstances with so much uncertainty in the near future and yet God is good – all the time.As far as the future goes, we will be in classes two more weeks and then on vacation with our families for the remainder of July. We return to Memphis for several weeks before departing Aug. 30 for Costa Rica. We have been communicating with our big brother/sister couple in Costa Rica who have found a family for us to live with in San Jose close to the language school we will be attending. God is doing amazing things to provide for us!
Please keep us in your prayers as we finish the second half of classes here and spend time on vacation with our families. You can also join us in prayer as we lift up those on our team (already in Bolivia) and the nationals we will be in contact with both in Costa Rica and Bolivia. We continue to pray for all of you receiving our letters as so much of the ministry is the prayer and financial support that is behind it. **Also, if you are not receiving this via email, please contact us with your email address so that we can add you to our list.
By God’s grace and mercy,
Charles and Hannah McCall
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