Updates Updates

Things are moving...maybe slower than we would like, but I think both of us can see the Lord's purpose in it as things come together. Already it has been a wonderful and exciting journey, learning more about Chile and what help they need, how we can be Christ to people and serve and love on them, and what it means to be "missionaries." I think that the Lord is teaching us so much through experiences and trials we have gone through even in the past few months. There is always more to learn about marriage, and being unified in the Spirit!

At this point we are still waiting to hear back from the church in Tome. Our pastors sent them a letter requesting a bit more information about what their expectations are of us, how we can come alongside them, and letting them know that our home church of Riversgate is behind us in prayer and support. This was exciting to send down there, but it does take awhile for mail to travel to Chile, so now we must be patient. :)

I recently received an email from Alejandra, our initial contact in Tome. Her and her husband actually left Chile shortly after the earthquake, and will now be going to seminary in the United States. Exciting for them, but it does make our trip a little different now that we don't have them to be our "go to" people. We are praying about someone in the church in Tome to kind of step in as mentor and guide for us, a person who is involved and knows the church well enough to be able to help us get integrated, as well as just be someone we can meet with weekly/bi-monthly to check-in and pray with.

Our tentative leave date is still late-August, but like all things this is very open and flexible. It is hard to not be down there right now, as winter is setting in and people are really in need of housing. The Lord's timing is much better than our own, however, and I'm sure we will get down there just in time for whatever He has planned for us. Just another reason to be praying for the people of Chile, and all that they have ahead of them in terms of reconstruction. If you are interested in donating toward materials for the reconstruction of Tome and Dichato, a nearby town, go to the 2010 for 88 website.

Thanks for your prayers for us and our brothers and sisters in Chile, we are excited for all that the Lord has in store, and how He wants to pour out His love on the Chilean people!

- Missy

Welcome!

Greetings! Thanks for stopping by our blog to check out what is going on in the life of the Reid family. The Lord has really done some great things during our first year of marriage, and it has been by His grace and plan for us that we have had this amazing opportunity to serve abroad in Chile.

Starting at the beginning, both Jordan and I knew we desired to travel and serve/live/work abroad in some form or another. After getting married last August, we began really praying about what that would look like and where the Lord was leading us. After waiting on Him and reading up about all of the opportunities out there, we began to look into moving to Spain. After a few months of research and working to connect ourselves with people or a business, it simply seemed “against the grain,” as if we were trying to pursue something instead of simply sitting before God and really listening.

In February, I (Missy) got the opportunity to lead a group of Capstone students down to Chile for a month long missionary trip. Jeff and Brian, the Capstone founder and missions coordinator, respectively, had decided that they were unable to go and a leadership spot needed filling 3 weeks prior to leaving.

The Capstone team's mission to Chile is in itself a story in which we can now, in hindsight, see just how great God's plans are. Brian and Jeff had looked into possible mission sites all over the world, and had settled on Chile because of the lack of missionaries that visited the country. The mission dates were also a piece of this miraculous journey that would eventually lead us to where we are now. The team was set to leave January 30^th from Portland, arriving in Chile the 31^st of January, and though it had been arranged that they would fly home February 28^th, Jeff changed the return flight at the last minute to the 27^th.

The mission trip was eye-opening, we visited three towns during the four weeks we were there and made some wonderful relationships in the different communities. Throughout the trip I spoke with our trip facilitators about the possibility of Jordan and I moving down to the town of Tome, Chile, and working. Both Jordan and I felt a strong pull to pursue living in Tome, and were looking forward to seeing what would happen next. After the earthquake, which hit only 4 hours after our flight left Santiago, plans changed in that our hearts were still desiring to travel to Chile, but this time in a different capacity. The team could not believe how protected we were in leaving Chile, especially when we thought back to how the date was changed last minute. Jordan and I felt as though coming alongside the church and the community and provide encouragement as well as practical support to Tome and the nearby town of Dichato would be a great opportunity to share God's love with people and help out.

So here we are, still following the Lord's leading as the call has become more and more defined. We are planning on spending one year in Tome, Chile while we help them in reconstruction, provide English classes, create outreach and ministry opportunities, as well as offer media work. We are excited to have this blog as an outlet to keep our friends and family posted with all the new and exciting steps we have ahead of us, as well as ask for your prayers! We will be leaving in late August, and are just in the beginning stages of asking for financial support to fund our time in Tome. Our home church, Riversgate, is going to be sending us to the Covenant church, Amigos de la Mision, of Tome. We cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for this period of preparation, as we have already learned since opening this door in March. Thank you in advance for your prayers of protection, preparation, and peace of the Lord. We are so thankful for all of the support we have already found in friends and family, especially because this is just the beginning!

Missy