The Prayer Exchange

December 2014

How is it the last month in 2014? This time last year we had not even attended out first training sessions, and now here we are all finished with our required stateside training and pulling together all the hundreds of loose ends before we fly out in May!

As we enter into this holiday season, we can't help but acknowledge this will be our last Christmas here with you for at least 3 years... that is a sobering thought. You, and our time together, is a cost we counted many times as we decided to serve overseas. The weight of that loss will be felt all the more fully as we try to navigate celebrating on the other side of the world removed from you in person, but not in spirit.

So extend us a little grace this season if we seem to be drinking it all in a little too eagerly, if we hug you just a little longer, or we invite ourselves over to visit.... its because we love you.

Praise and Prayers

God has been rallying our team together! We are over 65% and rising! Please keep praying that we keep this forward momentum in our monthly partnership. Traditionally December is a slow month for gaining new support, but we are praying for God to exceed our expectations in abundance. There are so many parts to this last phase before we go that are contingent on when we reach 100% of our support.

We ask you to pray that we reach 100% of our monthly support by the end of January. That God would stir up the hearts of those He has already chosen ahead of time to do this mission, to rise up and join our team.

Please pray that we continue to lean in towards our Father with eyes wide open. Eyes to see His goodness, His provision, His heart.

Pray for wisdom beyond what we possess as we open up our hands again with our trajectory. It has been brought to our attention the need for regional managers in PNG, and that our family could be a very good fit for that position. If that is the case we would still be going to PNG in May, just not to the main center of Ukarumpa. Our lives would look radically different depending on what job we end up with. Pray for wisdom for our family and that God would make it resoundingly clear where He wants us.

Please pray that our hearts will overflow with Christ's joy and that our bodies would would be shielded with good health this season!

We cherish you, thank you for praying for us! How can we be praying better for you? Let us know!

John and Kristi Craig

 

September 2014

Thanks for all of your prayers over this last month, it has been quite eventful which can be great and stressful at the same time; but God has been faithful! I hope that you all have had a blessed and safe Summer too.

Please email us any praise and/or prayer requests you might have... we would love to hear from you! Really!!!!!

Praise!

God answered and we have exceeded the 50% milestone for our monthly ministry budget which means that we can officially go to our upcoming ICC training at JAARS!

God blessed our 2 week circuit of the eastern US.  Betty White (our van) did great for all 3,126 miles.  Even though the kids didn't really sleep at all, they did great traveling.  We picked up a few more monthly partners and maybe a church! We stayed healthy! Not to mention all of the educational opportunities which you might have seen via the blog :)

We received all of our passports!

Please Pray

For the balance of our ministry budget. Right now we are 47% away from being released for service overseas.  God has done some incredible things so far and I know that He will complete this, but understanding His timing is always a challenge.  We pray that September will be a month of abundance so that we can turn our focus to the ICC training in October and then to the last logistics like visas, work permits, and shots (ouch!).  We are praying to reach 100% of our ministry budget by the end of Sept. Without a complete partnership team we cannot move to Papua New Guinea.

We are knee deep in boxes and bins at the moment as we just moved to JAARS in Waxhaw, NC. Please pray for clarity in the confusion over what to store, what to ship, what to give away, and what to throw away.

For all these transitions! That we don't go crazy but rely on God instead through all these changes.

For John as he trains 2 people to take his place at his current job.  And again, for faith and wisdom as we discern when is the right time to step away from full-time employment with his job.

Thank you all! Without your prayers and support we couldn't to this!
Much love,

John and Kristi Craig

August 2014

Thank you so much for your prayers this past month! They have been felt over and over. We are so blessed to have so many people like you willing to come to the Lord on our behalf. Thank you for walking with us, doing life with us, and serving along side us!

Please email us any praise and/or prayer requests you might have... we would love to hear from you!

Praise!

God has provided a replacement for John at work. He will be able to start some training right away. This is a huge weight off of John's shoulders!

God has doubled our partnership team in this past month!

We have been so blessed by the gifts of time so many of you have given us! July was packed full of wonderful memories and joy with our loved ones!

Please Pray

August is Crazy!!! We will be on the road for the first half of August. Pray for safety, flexibility, good health, and joyful hearts as we travel! Pray for the productivity of this partnership trip. May people be moved by the Spirit to partner with us in what God has called us to in Papua New Guinea.  Pray that God surprises us along the way with new relationships that we didn't expect!

After our trip we will have only 2 weeks till we move to JAARS in Waxhaw, NC! We need a SUPER dose of wisdom and endurance as we pack some things for village life, some things for our 3 month Pacific Orientation Course, and the rest of our stuff that is given away or stored with family, whew!  Pray too for the kids as we are transitioning. We are moving 45 mins away, but that can feel like a 100 miles when we have been blessed to have such dear friends so close for such a long time.

We are stepping out in faith for God's timing through these transitions.  There is a delicate and unknown balance between when we can go full-time with Wycliffe (meaning John stepping away from his job) and our move out to Waxhaw in preparation for PNG (translation: we don't have the resources yet, but we believe that God will make a way!).  Please pray that God will continue to move in people's hearts to act now and partner with our Wycliffe ministry on a monthly basis. We are praying to reach 100% of our ministry budget by the end of Sept. Without a complete partnership team we cannot move to Papua New Guinea.

Thank you all! Without your prayers and support we couldn't to this!
Much love,

John and Kristi Craig
 

July 2014

Wow, this year (and summer) is flying by! This time last year was when we really started submitting to the idea that God was calling our family to go into full time missions!

Please email us any praise and or prayer requests you might have... we would love to hear from you!


Praises!!!!

  • God has grown Millie by leaps and bounds! She has made it on the growth chart and is in the 10th percentile. Millie is now a whopping 23 lbs! Her beloved Dr gave her a glowing report... its always good when you can see your Dr is really pleased with the progress your kids are making :)
  • Kids are doing so well as we sort through all our things, picking and choosing what we will take with us. It is a gift to see their generous hearts in action.
  • Nori finally lost her front teeth. She is so tickled. Its been a little bitter sweet for us to see her pass another stepping stone in growing up.
  • We joined the YMCA (for the first time ever) to help us prepare for those mile ocean swims, and long jungle hikes. It has really been fun to just go swim and hang out with the kiddos too! Plus a bonus is we will be able spend some summer fun with our Y friends... so if you are a Y member let us know we would love to meet up with you sometime:)


Please Pray

  • There is still no good option for a replacement for John at work. Pray that God would move just the right person in place and soon, so that John will have time to train them well.
  • Partners! This is big. Without a partnership team we cannot move forward. We did not reach the required 50% in our partnership to attend the July training. So thankful God provided an October training option not offered before. If we make it to the Oct training we can still leave in January for PNG if we are at 100%. Please pray that God will move in people's hearts to act now and join our Wycliffe team.
  • We are stepping out in faith and moving to JAARS in Sept. There is so much to do in these next two months. We need an extra dose of wisdom and endurance! What to take and give away, what school supplies to buy, when to go on some partnership development trips etc etc etc. Pray God will direct us in making the right choices even when we might not know why!
  • Pray that our Home church would choose to partner with us! Its hard to think of going into the field without them fully supporting us back home. They are making a decision this month!

Thank you all! Without your prayers and support we couldn't do this!

John and Kristi Craig