End of Year Review
“Philip, what’s that smell?”
“Sorry, it's probably me.”
“It does smell like gas but not that kind…is the propane stove hissing?”
Everyone out of the fifth wheel!
Living in an RV does have a bit of a learning curve, like making sure to ignite the propane when turning on the stove eyes so as not to fill the whole house with flammable fumes. With the exception of some of these more exciting moments we have loved our cozy little home. We are so thankful for our immediate neighbors in the RV park, our community on base, and this new phase here at JAARS. Our journey has taken us through many things this past year and we want to take the time to give you a snapshot of it all.
The beginning of 2024 saw us leaving Tampa and moving in with Anna’s family in Ocala. It didn't take long for God to open up opportunities there for us to begin to invest in the local church and community. Philip began to volunteer with a local church youth group and soon found himself regularly teaching the students. Anna helped with a ministry for single mothers. Additionally we both helped to start a young married couples community group where we made some dear friendships. January to March was a sweet time for us to enjoy our final months as a family and team of two before “onboarding” the newest little member!
April came jam-packed with preparations for Anna’s sister’s wedding. It was a beautiful day full of family, laughter, tears, and great joy. Philip emceed the event, and Anna, after delivering her matron-of-honor speech, hit the dance floor at a full nine months pregnant. Yet despite her best efforts, Malachi didn't come for another two weeks. After the wedding we purchased our future home and the house projects commenced!
The excitement of April continued when we finally met our son at the close of the month. After a long but nearly complication-free labor and delivery, we brought home the son for whom we had so long prayed. We were blessed to be living with Anna’s parents during postpartum recovery. It was a blessing to have help so close by and be able to share the first grandbaby’s first few months with her family.
In June the time had come to begin planning our next move: Waxhaw, North Carolina. We had been operating on a vague plan to complete our partnership development phase of ministry and then launch sometime at the end of 2024, but the Lord had a different plan. We received a phone call at the end of June: JAARS would be starting a training cohort in September and would like Philip to start at the same time. Could we be there by September first? A few timeline changes, much prayer, and many meetings, generous partners and acts of God later, we found ourselves at 100% of our ministry budget and set to move to JAARS training headquarters by the end of August.
September arrived in a blink. We packed all of our things into the car and the fifth wheel and we headed to North Carolina. Both Malachi and our cat did amazing on the 8 hour drive and we all made it without incident. We spent our first night in our new tiny home on the JAARS campus. It is so much cozier than we expected and we truly feel at home in our new space. Even the cat has adjusted well–a sweet answer to prayer!
Shortly after moving we met Philip’s training cohort and trainers. They are an excellent group of individuals who are all passionate about missions, the Lord, and airplanes. The families have connected quickly and we are blessed by a community who is becoming close-knit and dear to us very quickly
As many of you know and have experienced, this year has been full of hurricanes. Though we did not experience significant impact from the storm here in Waxhaw, our neighbors in Western North Carolina were badly hit by Hurricane Helene. JAARS sprang into immediate action and set up at the Avery County Airport to begin serving that community. Philip was part of a group sent to help at the airport which had quickly become a resource and logistics center for planes to bring supplies for the impacted area. There were around 300,000 lbs of supplies that came through Avery county as a result of JAARS efforts. We praise God that we were able to share in serving the devastated areas of our new home state.
The Lord has allowed us to serve in other ways too! He has provided us with a very unique and exciting opportunity to start another Bible study. There is a local crossfit gym in Waxhaw which has been very intentional in starting Bible studies for its members. The youth, however, did not have a study. Through some God-orchestrated connections, the need for a youth leader came to Philip and a few others at JAARS. For the past month Philip and two other individuals have been leading a group of 10 youth, ages 11-16. They have been going through the book of Luke together because many of these youth have not gone through the gospels before.
Through all of these moves and changes, God has been so faithful to continue to teach and guide us. He has been showing us how to continue to invest wherever we are no matter how long we are there. It is so easy to remain aloof when you know you will only be living in a place for only a few months. It is especially difficult because saying goodbye is hard. Why invest in relationships when you know a goodbye would come so quickly? We who believe the confession that the faithful will be resurrected to a life everlasting know that it is never goodbye. Rather it is, to quote Tigger, “TTFN, Ta-Ta for now!” We know that a life of missions will probably mean a life full of hellos and goodbyes. We desire not to let it all pass by without ever connecting, enjoying, and truly living it. We want to choose both the joy and the pain of investing and reinvesting wherever we find ourselves
Just as Paul begins his letter to the Galatians by saying that all had been done in conjunction with all the brothers and sisters with him (Galatians 1:2), we feel as though we are doing all we do in partnership with you. We are so thankful for your partnership with us and with this work that we are privileged to do. Thank you so much for your partnership, your investment in our lives and ministry, and your prayers that cover us. We cannot express how grateful we are for you.