One of my roles with Child Evangelism Fellowship's Hawkeye Chapter is CYIA coordinator.  It's the reason I couldn't quit CEF or our church before the end of August.

Winding Down

As CYIA (Christian Youth in Action) coordinator, I'm responsible for recruiting, training and organizing a group of teens who then lead 5-Day Clubs throughout the summer.  We begin in the early fall and meet once a month to familiarize our teens with the 5-Day Club lessons.  In the spring, we start booking churches and families to host the week-long Bible clubs.  Having laid the ground work over the better part of a year, we couldn't leave without seeing it through to completion.

With the help of friends and student families, we carted them to six different 5-Day Clubs, falling between late June and the middle of August.  George was one of those teens, and Rachel kept busy making lunches for us between clubs.  These seven teens explained the Gospel, taught memory verses and shared about the life of Mary Slessor to 74 children across the Cedar Rapids metro area and beyond.  We were especially delighted to see so many kids come up to our teens after club to ask follow-up questions.  Last night, we celebrated the end of this summer ministry.

That leaves one last week before I finish my duties at CEF Hawkeye Chapter, and one last message to preach at our little country church.  I'm grateful that I'll be able to finish teaching through Ephesians before we leave!

Gearing Up

With those duties soon to be completed, Rachel, George and I will be able to turn all our attention to preparing for Bosnia.  Rachel's had a little more free time, so she's already gotten a head start on clearing house.  We have our flight tickets and will be leaving for Bosnia on September 22nd.  There is some question about whether we'll be able to get work visas, so we booked tickets for a three-month stay.  That'll bring us back to the US in time to head to the Dominican Republic to spend Christmas with Tim.  Because of that visa question, we've decided to hang on to our home, but list it with ServantCARE to make it available to ministry families and individuals in need of a short-term stay.  That also lightens our load as we prepare to leave the country, since we don't have to jettison everything, and ensures we have a place to come back to if needed.

Thank you for faithfully praying for us and for equipping us to return abroad to serve.  As we finish up our duties, the excitement of what lies ahead is beginning to take over!