Life right now...

For those of you who are wondering what our lives are looking like right now, I thought I'd post a little summary. :) Thomas has one month of school left, then he graduates with his bachelor's degree in English Linguistics!! He is so excited, he can hardly believe it. I think it's kind of strange for him to envision life without college classes. He's really looking forward to this new phase of life that is on the horizon. He is also the Assistant Pastor of Worship & Arts at Grace Community Church. This makes him in charge of the music portion of our contemporary service, The Venue. He is loving this new position. He feels like he is getting to really use his gifts & talents here. He is still working with the youth group, leading worship occasionally on a Wednesday night here & there, and he also helps lead the senior guy discipleship group. I am still working full-time at ASU, and will continue to do so until we are ready for our next leg of training (which is 5 weeks in Colorado). So, I'll be working here till June or so of next year. I moved up with my youth group girls when they graduated from the preteen ministry into jr. high, and I have accumulated three new co-leaders! They are all so wonderful and different. I truely believe we are a perfect mix for the students since we each bring something different to the table but still work really well together. I have also been assisting with worship in Student Ministries and hope to continue developing in this area of ministry. I sing back-up vocals, but have also been helping recruit students and assisting with some vocal training for other back-up vocals. I tried to take a Polish Class 3 nights a week, but have decided it was just too much right now. Since I dropped it, I feel freed up to focus more on ministry and even rest a little more. :) We are working on writing our official JV Support Letter and hope to have that out within the month. Once we have it done we will post it on the blog as well. Thank you all for taking the time to read our blog and please let us know how we can be praying for you!!! In His Love, Thomas & Steph

JV Orientation

Most of you know that we have been accepted by Josiah Venture to work in Poland. We just returned from our orientation in Chicago. It was such an awesome time! We were one of two couples heading out to Poland, and there were also two going to Czech Republic and one to Croatia. It was so cool to see how different we all were and how we will all bring something different to the teams in Eastern Europe. We are all on similar journeys. All of us have seen the hand of God gently guiding us toward ministry in our prospective countries. We all can see how He has gone before us to prepare us for this next step. I am amazed by His providence. I am encouraged to hear of the different struggles and paths we have taken to get to this place. For me, it was so great to be surrounded by people who share a similar vision and heart for the youth of Eastern Europe! I loved having that common bond. The vision of Josiah Venture is to see a movement of God among the youth of Eastern Europe that finds its home in the local church and transforms society. All of us are being transformed by a movement of this Almighty, loving God in our own lives. Thank you Jesus, for never giving up on us and using our lives to transform others! I was reminded, once again, that we have joined the right organization-we love their vision, their mission, their model of ministry, their desire to dream big with bold faith, and their humility in relying completely on all He is to make it all come together! Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I know I am not the best writer, but I want to share my heart with all of you and I pray you feel encouraged by what He is showing me. Love in our Awesome Savior, Steph Washington