Services on the East side

That is the east side of the mountains not to be confused with the eastside of Seattle or the East coast of the US. We were blessed this weekend to share in Sunnyside and Grandview. We had some of the most interested listeners and best discussion we have had in this whole itineration cycle. As we make a final push to finish raising our funds we are so encouraged by churches that stand with us in prayer and financial partnership.

Traveling with our son Ethan has also been a lot of fun. We are so proud of him that it can sometimes even lead to distraction, but he seems to be enjoying all the attention and travel hasn't been too hard on him. We have another great weekend of services coming up! If you read this and want to get together with us, or have us come and share in your church or small group you can contact us or leave a comment here.

Great Services this week

Well, I had almost forgotten what a joy it is to share with people the passion we have for student ministry in Austria. After a few weeks off to rejoice over and recover from the birth of our son, we headed out this week for services on the Washington coast and in the Chehalis area. We were blessed by these growing congregations and being able to share our vision. I felt buoyed up by the encouragement and prayers. It was also Ethan's first missions service on the 14th. He did great and only made noise to encourage those praying. We were quite the proud parents showing him off to everyone.

Back on the Trail

We are getting ready this week to head back out on the itineration trail. We have had a few weeks of planned down time in order to adjust to life with a baby and now we are getting ready to head out this weekend for Grayland, WA. We are ready to make a final push to find the pledges we need in order to return to Austria as quickly as possible. We have a deadline of the end of February to have all of our funds raised and commitments made so that we can return to serving in Austria.

Summer update

Well, this summer has been incredibly busy and our blog has suffered for it. But wait a minute and listen to all the reasons why and you might be more forgiving.

Michelle and I have been anxiously expecting the arrival of our first child. It has been quite the roller coaster with many medical complications. Michelle was on bed rest from about the middle of June and Alan was cooking, cleaning (okay, not real cleaning-this was surface only), taking care of Michelle and trying to work on this whole itineration job -- contacting churches, trying to find new pledges and raise our support so that once the baby came we could head back to Austria.

That is my excuse up until the 12th of August at which point my reasons became even more compelling. Ethan Zayne Cornelius Ambrose was born that day at 8:46 pm, weighing in at 7 lbs 13 oz and 20 inches in length. We have been pretty busy taking care of him ever since. I didn't think anyone could be so happy to be so tired. We have been waiting for this little miracle to arrive for over 10 years, and can't really express all the joy he has brought.

Now I am back at work, trying to catch up on my communications, send out a newsletter to get everyone in the loop and find more partners who have a burden for reaching the students of Austria with the message of Hope that we have in Christ. More updates coming soon! (I hope, it is currently 11:30 pm and I am about to feed Ethan.)