And now it is March ....

When we last left our hero's  Richard was just about to undergo knee replacement surgery on his right knee. Since then there have been many adjustments to living. I pondered showing you the progression from  knee elevation & walker and ice packs, TO a cane and smaller ice packs & knee elevation TO walking freely but carefully, and driving to his own PT appointments. We "walked" this out through the Thanksgiving-Christmas-NewYear's holidays. We have met many wonderful servants along the way who have helped us, encouraged us, answered our many questions, did gift shopping for us and cooked meals for us. It is an amazing journey. We are not quite at the end of the valley but we can see the light. The picture above is the New Year with Daniel and Melanie visiting from UK and Nick & Abby (local to us). Their coming around us helped us to turn a corner and we thank Father God for them. We are looking for what God has for us next as Richard heals.
PS I am so grateful that I only had to shovel snow once, and just a few inches at that!

Catching Up

 

Expect the unexpected; when you walk with the Lord you don't get bored; Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world....there are so many words and "sayings" that help us as we walk through life on this earth. There are also many promises in His Word that encourage us with the truth of His Love, His Presence and His Power. Richard and I have been laboring to rest in His truth!

In less than 2 weeks Richard will have his first knee replacement surgery. In mid September he had surgery to remove the screws from when he broke his knee 20 years ago. After some initial bumps the recovery process went pretty well. Then we got a call from a niece that his sister Barbara was declining. So we hastily put together a trip to see her in Colorado. It was a challenging time with some surprising opportunities and heartaches. Now we are back, recovering and pushing through the pre-op requirements. We are trusting that Father God is doing what He needs to in others & us so we can return to actively serving Him in the field of His choice.

We appreciate your prayers as we press on to the goal (Phil 3:14) and victory prize through the anointing of Jesus. We believe GOD IS ABLE!

New School Year Approaches

 A lot has happened over the summer months for our team! There are some new additions to our team, for which we are grateful to God and new areas being reached. 

The above map shows the area we reach out to and the schools being reached by our current team. We are all looking forward to new student outreaches, welcome dinners,parties, picnics, and tabling activities. We are currently in 40 days of prayer with our prayer partners and supporters to soften the ground for us.
Please join us in praying for good contacts, favor with university/college administrations, and volunteers to come alongside and join in the harvest.

Where did Spring go?

 Visiting one of our favorite & delicious places, we noticed some changes (there is a building missing!).

 We enjoyed visiting the "ladies" that help provide the delicious ice cream!

 We are enjoying a longer than usual spring in VA, but it is coming to an end here.

 We were blessed to spend a very full, wet, and fun week in CT during May. We got to visit some of our favorite people and places. We were enjoying ourselves so much we often forgot to take pictures...duh... So not all our fun times and people and places made it to this blog.

 Of course we spent an evening at ICF! Richard got to teach and even Carol said a few words of encouragement.

 It is such a blessing to see how God & the Alumbaughs are continuing the ministry at UConn with faithful and loving volunteers! We praise God for you all!!!

Special Friends

ICF blessings!

We spent our last evening in this wonderful place of peace with special friends. Kissed by God!

Volunteer Training

 The DC Regional Team came together in February to offer training to those interested in reaching out to international students.

We were blessed by good attendance at a generous local church where one of our team is now working as staff.

 We are praying that the seeds sown will take root and lead to some volunteers for outreach at Northern Virginia Community College Loudoun campus.

Behind the Scenes

December and January is the season for behind the scenes work and prayer. Time to contact pastors, formerly interested volunteers & students. Time to pray for God's plan for the up coming season of Conversation Cafe. We are currently engaged in 40 days of prayer for the new semester with our DC Region team. Conversation Cafe begins again in February. We are looking forward to it. We have a volunteer training event for our team in Fairfax on February 9th. Hopefully there will be good attendance and some new beginnings for our work at NOVA Loudoun (Northern Virginia Community College=NOVA.). Please join us in praying for God to bring His people to work in this harvest field.

The Battle continues ...

This semester has been an adventure! We have had great attendance at Conversation Cafe. In September we had a lovely dinner night, in an American host home, followed by English practice in discusing American life style or Bible. Students could choose which option to attend. Of the 11 students attending, 9 chose the Bible option, much to our delight!

Conversation Cafe

Conversation Cafe

 While attendance at Conversation Cafe continues to bless us, the dinners in October &  November  were cancelled due to weather and other issues. A bit disappointing after such a great start.

Dinner Night English Practice with the Bible

Dinner Night English Practice American Culture

                                                                                       

The semester for the English classes ends in two weeks. So we will continue to pray and connect with students that we know live "closer" to us.

Beginning a new school year.

We wanted to up date you all, but as Carol usually in the photographer and she has been home recuperating, there are no new photos to share.

 Every Tuesday Richard is on NOVA Loudoun campus offering Conversation Cafe. In this time he (and some volunteers) offer games, like ANOMIA, to help international students improve their English skills between their class times. This opens the doors for relationships and opportunities to invite them to dinner nights and events. We are still in ground breaking mode.

We are awaiting a commitment from the Open Doors Presbyterian church. They are processing their resources and our needs.

This coming week, Oct 2nd, is the dinner where we are launching additional opportunities for conversational English. The students will have 2 choices: one is a topical discussion and one is a Bible based discussion. There is a good amount of interest from the students.  We are praying that Father God will bring many hungry souls.

My recuperation from surgery is side lining me at this point, but i will be home praying.

The next Saturday, Oct 6th, Richard is teaching at our DC area training day for local volunteers. The topic is Spiritual Warfare.

We are thankful to be a part of a growing team here in the DC area. We bless you for your prayers and support.

 

VA style picnic

 We were blessed to have a picnic to re-connect with some of the students Richard met last semester at NOVA Loudoun.

Our friends from Sterling Park Baptist hosted the event in their home and we all brought food. Our hosts are "famous" for barbecue roast beef, so we were really favored to have them prepare it for us!

 But being VA and summer, we didn't last outside at all. Table games inside were enjoyed by all, and the students from Germany, Taiwan, & So America did an amazing job practicing their English and conquering the rules of the games.

Future engineer at work!

Empowerment: to turn our world right side up! Acts 17:6

view from our hotel room...Pikes Peak!

The prayer room in the new home office

 Our National Staff Conference was in beautiful Colorado Springs this year.  The speakers this year blessed us so much. Bill Lawrence spoke from Jonah each morning. Fred Markert (YWAM) brought us up to date on where we are in world developments and trends. Carol Staubi encouraged us to maximize technology for ministry, especially for Gen Z and Milleniels. Dr Abraham showed us how to reach m*lms. We are still processing all the challenges and encouragement.

Doug Shaw with Richard

Susan Shaw with Carol

 We visited ISI's new home, as we finally have our own building. It is just beautiful and an appropriate way to celebrate 65 years of ministry. Sadly, Doug Shaw announced that he will be retiring as president when a replacement is found. He has brought much to this ministry and made us a family.  To say we will miss him is an understatement. But God has great plans for the future of ISI and we look forward to what He will do.

We are in this picture, near the light on the right...good luck!

April and May ...

Richard sharing at the Bible Church of Waterbury

 Although not in correct chronological order, these are some of the people we got to see and churches we got to visit in our recent trip to CT.
We had a great time visiting and getting caught up with everyone, praying together and hearing what Father God is doing in your lives!  He is so good, all the time.

Richard sharing at Glastonbury Community Church

Blessed by GCC friends!

Meeting in the middle to catch up.

ICF at UConn

We crossed on the new Tappan Zee bridge!

Meeting new family members!

Besties for a long time.

Our hosts, such a blessing!

We came home totally blessed and totally tired! We had a couple days of rest before son Daniel and his wife Melanie came from England to visit us for 2 weeks.  A super good time, and we miss them terribly as they have returned to "jolly ole England".

Another Step Forward

In spite of snow, freezing rain, and sickness a group of volunteers with us offered a dinner & game night to Conversation Cafe attendees.

 We welcomed the students and got to know them a bit.

 Then we shared a delicious meal and continued conversations.

Afterward, Richard shared about cultural and religious Easter.

We ended the evening with a rousing game of Uno that seems to cross all cultural barriers! This evening felt like a big step forward for which we felt very blessed by God and His volunteers!

NE Reg'l Conf Cortland, NY 2018

 In March every year we join together as a North-east region.  We use to be able to fit in our living room in Tolland, CT. My, how we have grown!(see group photo below).

One of the things we do is meet in Prayer Squares to share personal and ministry needs and pray for one another.





We are always blessed by the attendance of the president of Int'l Students Inc, Doug Shaw.
He shared that last year there were 22,519 decisions for Christ! Since the new year there have been 4,000 per month! God is moving mightily among international students!

 We meet in the mornings and evenings for a time of worship.  As we were challenge this year by winter storms, the guest worship team couldn't make it.  So, our own multi talented staff led the way! It was a blessing!

 Aside from special speakers, we enjoyed small round table presentations from different staff on varying topics. Here Jon and Ruth Alumbaugh share about ICF UCONN, and their adaptation of M-28.







Richard is the un official official photographer for the event. He isn't in the group photo this year
 as it is getting for difficult to jump and run!

 Dave Larson is our NE region Director, sharing a message with us about Sowing in Tears.











We close our time together with worship and communion, a very special time, indeed!

 The drive back to VA was clear and dry, thankfully.