It's final!

great news! The guy renting out the place sent me some pictures yesterday and everything looks awesome. All I have to do now is talk to the landlady about payments and it's mine! Praise God. Please pray for Travis to find a place to stay. He has a lead but nothing official yet. Love you guys,
Abby

praise God I think I got a house!

Today I talked to a lady that saw my add on craigs list. She said that her daughters ex-boyfriend was trying to rent his basement out and needed someone asap. She gave me his number and email address. This afternoon I caaled him and left a message a couple hours later he called back and said I was the first person that he's talked to and he hadn't evan put it in craig's list yet. He said It was a nice, furnished basement with a kitchen, a small living area, and two bedrooms! It would only be 450.00 per month. He said he has a yard and does allow pets. He said he will be moving out end of april but May 18th was fine and he would hold it for me. The lease ends in september so I could either keep it after that or find somewhere else. It's also a good location for buses! Praise God for anwsered prayers! Love you guys
Abby

Thank You, God!

We now have buyers for both mobile homes! Full price on both and both are to great people that it seems apparent that God sent. He is even good to us in the details.
v

Interview

I was very pleased with the interview. We talked on the phone for 1 1/2 hours! I spoke to Lance, who just happens to be a christian....he told me after I was obviously dancing around an explanation of our ministry in Apartment Life, he said..."oh, and don't worry about your words, I am a christian, I understand." It was great. He goes to the E Free church in SC. He said that he would let me know in the next couple of weeks. Thank you so much for your prayers, may the Lord's will be done.

Small change

My interview time has changed to Tuesday @ 2:00. Just FYI. :) Thank you for your encouraging responses.
Lara

In need of your prayers...

Hey everyone,

I just got an e-mail from Penn State regarding a "community ambassador" position that I submitted my resume for. They would like to do a phone interview with me on monday at 1:00 (our time). The position is basically an RA position for a married and graduate on-campus apartment. I think the position would be a great fit for me, and the reimbursment makes our rent $500.00 per month for a 3 bedroom, including utilities...which is impossible to find anywhere else. The big catch is that I would be required to take 12 hours of classes, which would make it very hard for Jeremy to work full time, seeing that one of us needs to be with the babies. Anyway, my prayer is that only God's will would be done, whatever that is, and more specifically, that God would open a door (if they chose me for the position) for them to make an exception to the rule and allow me to only attend 6 hours of classes per semester. Who knows...I just know that if God wants it, and we all beg Him for it...it will be powerful! What an opportunity it would be to actually live on-campus! Lord, do your thang!

Love you all.
Lara

Estella!

Prayer Request

I need your guys prayers. My very good friend Jenna in Alaska has a brother named Tye who had some problems as a little kid had to have a heart transplant and now has pacemaker. I don't know how it all went down but she emailed me a quick note the other day asking for prayers saying her brother passed out and they had to rush him to the hospital where his heart stopped but they were able to get him back.
Now he won't wake up, he was unresponsive yesterday, but she just emailed me and said that today he was opening his eyes and focusing on things. The doctors say he has brain damage.
I am just really asking for prayers for this little guy. Jenna is the only christian in her family, but she was telling me how her brother had a tingling for Jesus and was asking all sorts of questions and wanting to go to church with her. I just want to ask for Tye, Jenna and her family to be in your prayers.
Have a great week.
Katie

# 7 is Estella Fisher Berry

The name has been declared!

INTRODUCING....# 7

Meet our new granddaughter, I will call her #7, since she is yet unnamed (important decisions sometimes take time). She is healthy and came into the world weighing 7lbs. 7oz., the smallest of the King clan so far. She is, as expected, precious. We are blessed. Beth is doing fine. We are in Austin trying to be helpful. Kay is being helpful; I am trying to stay out of the way.

Love you guys!

v

WOOOHOOO TOO!

Thank you Jesus! I just got my letter of acceptance to Penn State! I am so excited! I will start the second phase of my college career next fall, I will be majoring in Organizational Leadership. I pray that God will use me in great ways on the campus. Pray for me that I can clear the cob webs from this rusty old brain of mine! :)

Thou Shall not Envy

I sure like this Cinnamin Bagel...goes good with my latte at Panera Bread. I know you want some. It won't be long now. God willing, in four months we will all be here settling in, finding new routines and ruts and favorite haunts to frequent. This may be mine...at least one of them.

I got a campus tour from Buzz Roberts, a campus minister. He and his wife, Betty are eager for us to get here. I bought their lunch because they were once robbed in San Antonio while on a visit there.

Vince Smith, pastor of the SC Christian Church said they would have a crew to help us unload when we get here. We will save some of their muscle for the Baum's arrival...or does the military muscle do that for you?

I was just visiting with Henry Mullinger at the next table. He is a graduate of PSU and a big Nittany Lion fan...has had season tickets since he graduated...in 1941! Had to miss a few games to go fly planes during WW2. He absolutely loves it here. He and his wife are about to go watch the musical Hairspray on campus tonight. He was confident that we will find housing with no problem.

Could you guys send my wife on up, then bring our furniture along when you come? I think I want to just stay.

Breathe Deep.
vic

Choosing the Right Verb

Matthew 6:25-34

Worry is satan's verb. It is what he says we must do. Jesus said "no, don't do it." It is a lie. Worry implies that we have control over the future and if we just fret intensly enough, we can insure good outcome. Jesus said it will not do anything for your future.

I will tell you what it will do: It will take away your trust. It will tie up your emotions so that you cannot love effectively. It will destroy your health. It will make you short tempered with people. You will hurt people in an attempt to make the anxiety stop. Even Frued claimed that neurosis came from crazy attempts to make anxiety stop.

Jesus said that we have a verb. It is "seek." We are not worriers, we are seekers. We do not lay in our beds and fret about what could be, should be, what should have been. We charge to the adventure in a grand search. HE said we are searching for two things as our first priority: 1. The Kingdom- His kingdom...his reign on the earth. We are looking for it.
2. Righteousness- again it is His righteousness. We don't have any. But we look for His.
This is how we are to occupy our time.
No need for worry...no time for worry. And amazingly, when we look for the things we need the most (his kingdom and righteousness), he gives us a bonus: food, clothing, JOBS, HOUSING.

Do you believe it?
vic

WOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Hola,
I just got my acceptance letter from Penn State Altoona!!! And praise Jesus, I also got the accepted into the 2 year nursing program. I am so thankful and so happy.
Hope all is well in Abilene, State College and Boerne.
Thank you all for your prayers. Know that you are in mine!
Katie

So many questions...and few answers. As we all get closer to our move dates (and the Baums will be right behind the Shipps and Kings, thank God), our emotions quicken and satan and his minions intensify their activity. He raises more questions and our temptation is to try to answer them...and as quickly as possible. BUT...answers are not necessary. What is necessary is this:

• Know the call. God has called us...he has called us to SC...he has called us to move this spring/summer. God provided this verse this morning. I have never seen it before (was it added?) "...for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable." He does not change his mind. The only variable is our hearing clearly.
• Know the mission. Look at Romans 10:9-15. God asks us to send and preach. People respond by hearing, believing, and calling on him. That's it. We can do this...living in wealth or poverty. Joy will be ours either way.
• Know the Word of Christ. A couple of verses later (17) Paul says that faith is established by hearing "through the Word of Christ." That is what we will preach/teach/share/demonstrate. That is all.
• Trust Him to provide. You know the passage: "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you..." Don't forget the righteousness part. We want to be holy. He will make us that way, if we want it.

By the way, thank you Abby for your great insight on the last entry.

I love you each...right down to Toby and Fifi (or whatever the Baum's poof dog is called). "God had arranged the parts in the body, everyone of them, just as he wanted them to be."

vic/dad/papa

Miracle Report

Wow, what a day.
First, I spread some of Richard's resume's around and though I was just dropping them off, people seemed happy to recieve them. Pray that he will get a response.

God did some great things:

• I now expect an interview for a temporary counseling position for this summer at PSU
• Nittany Christian School is showing interest in Jeremy as a Bible teacher
• I got a lead for Lara on a possible part time job that pays well.
• I saw Grace Prep High School and talked to Kay's future boss, and all looks good.
• The Saint coffee shop will be hiring Baristas this summer (Katie)
• I spoke to a man about Alice's skills who may be looking for an assistant.

Thank God for moving in these things. Pray that he will start to open doors for housing for us all.

WARNING: Kay and I were talking tonight and as we are putting thoughts together, it seems apparent that all of us are getting serious attack from Satan. Sunday was a hard day for both of us, though we didn't put that together until tonight. I felt like I was in a battle for several hours sunday afternoon. I know that the Baum's are getting hit also.

Remember guys...we are not playing defense. We are RUNNING TO THE BATTLE. Let's be agressive. We need to PRAY HARD. Consider fasting and praying through a meal time. Though I don't fully know what God has in mind for us in SC, I think it is very significant and that Hell has been stirred. Let's lean hard into the vision and ask God to embolden us and equip us to stand firm.

HE WILL DO IT.

vic

SNOW!

I woke up to about 2 inches of new snow covering the scenery. Each window of the apt. is a different and beautiful view.

Pray with me today: I am asking the Lord to show me a miracle today on two things...real estate and employment...for someone in our team. Big one or small one, (if there is such a distinction in heaven) it doesn't matter. Is this arrogant of me? I think He wants to show them, if I am ready to see.

It is all about HIM.

Great things ahead!
vic

Today's Miracles...

I am already getting to see God's hand moving and unfolding his plan for us.
#1. The leadership conference today with Reggie McNeal at Calvary was great. Right on target.
#2. The first guy I met is an IT (computer dude) at PSU. He now has one of Richard's resumes.
#3. The second person was a woman that was in line in front of me at lunch. She is an academic counselor at PSU. She talked me through how to check out the possibility of me getting a job doing that. There is a temp summer job doing that that I can apply for...little pay but open's the door to other possibilities. And...she just happens to counsel within the Nursing dept. and remembered talking to a young lady from Texas in December with her tall, bald, military dad. Diane Jankura! She goes to Calvary Baptist! (realize that she works among a sea of non-faith professors)

I am going to a service at Calvary tonight and to the Christian Church tomorrow morning.

I will try to do more real estate stuff on Monday.
I love you all!
vic

Tomlin, Wolf, and Giglio.

I is cold and beautiful this morning in SC. Snow is still on the ground and the skies are clear. Craig and I went to Quaker Steak and Lube for dinner last night and then to a Chris Tomlin Concert. Louie Giglio also spoke a powerful message. There were probably about 4500 people there. Half were college age.

The wolfman is about to go back to York and I am going to a conference going on at Calvary. Dan invited me last night and it sounded good. Should be able to meet some folks.

We discovered that they are opening another Starbucks near campus, but on the other end of College Ave from the current one. Supposed to have two levels...and get this. It opens the end of May. Anyone need a job?

Great stuff! I am humbled to be here.

I love you all and am grateful that God has called each of you to be part of this adventure.

vic

I am in PA!

I am writing this blog from Craig Wolf's office at the YMCA in York, PA. The flight went great and it was good to see snow, though it is melting fast. They had a severe ice storm here, about 8 inches of it a week ago and have not yet gotten dug out. Hard to find a place to park on the street. It is about 50 degrees now, however. May also get to see our old friends the Minariks tonight. They may drive up from Baltimore...however, Bill had a head on car wreck yesterday. He is fine, but very sore today.
I love you all and am excited to see what the Lord shows me in SC when I get there tomorrow. Craig is going to follow me up in his car and stay a night with me.
vic

A Picture of You

Hey Team - Would you each send me a picture of yourself so that I can have a visual of you when I pray for SC and the team? Blessings to you all. Please send the pictures to my email - jws04a@acu.edu

Greetings from Way South

Hello to the team from El Salvador. I am having a good trip and am grateful to get to go one more time. Sonia and Rafael are doing well and have shown much interest in our pa adventure. I am praying for all of you and asking God to give us a surge of faith and courage. We are getting close to the target. Remember our pledge to pray for one another.
I love youns,
v

thanks for the great weekend!

Thank all of you for a great and blessed weekend! I really felt like God was speaking to me the whole time. Travis also wanted me to thank yall. He really enjoyed meeting the team and getting to know everyone better! He's very excited about the trip and will be praying for all of us. Thank you so much dad, jeremy, and Richard for your inspired words of incouregment! I can't wait for all of us to get out there and reach some people! Have a great week!
Abby

Great Weekend & Taking A Little Flak

I just want to thank all of you for a great weekend. It won't be long and well be meeting regularly, perhaps like the first church.

Well, it didn't take long before Jeremy's prophetic statement about being attacked came true. Katie, got hit with a couple of things this morning. One concerning a scholarship, which meant Alice and I would have to cover it if Katie lost it--$500. Our Lord cares for us though and now both issues have resolutions in sight. She seemed anxious and flustered until we remembered what Jeremy said.

Nothing but a little "flak" from the enemy.

God Bless you all!!!
Richard

F-Burg Retreat

Hey Team, I am excited about this weekend. Start praying that God will do great things among us. Let's have our hearts open and our minds set to be bold. We are breathing deep and saturating our little body with the rich oxygen of God's love and faith...his Spirit.

Remember to be thinking and praying about the following:

1. Why is God calling you (personally) to go to SC, PA…at least as far as you know right now?
2. What is appealing to you about this adventure?

Breathe deep, lock arms, run to the battle...

vic

Grill

Jeremy & Lara,

Do you know if there is a grill at the B & B and if it is gas or charcoal???

Booked our Flight!

Hey Team,
Just wanted to let you all know that I just finished booking the flight for Hayden, Keaton & I to leave our life in the south and start our new adventure in the Northeast! We are flying from DFW to Baltimore on May 17 at 7:55 a.m.....I can officially start my minute by minute count down! :) Okay, maybe just by the hour for a couple more months! Yahooooo!
Lara

SO BIG!

Parker lost his first tooth!

PRAY!

This is bigger than us...no doubt about it. If it succeeds God will have to get the credit. Plus, he gets to define success. Pray for:

• The spiritual development and preparation of each team member
• Open doors to begin developing in SC right now.
• Jobs for all.
• Housing for all.
• Peaceful trust that God will provide jobs and housing for all.
• Name, logo, webpage development
• Our faithfulness to our current assignments...Stay focused! Jesus could return before we even get there.
• The retreat coming up.
• Open, honest, commtted, family relationship among all on the team
• For me to be an assertive and sensitive leader.
• Two additional families and one single man who are praying seriously about going with us.
• Jeremy's fear of bears.
• Jeremy's fear of the cold. (not the colts)
• Jeremy's fear of Lara if he says too much about the bears or the cold.

What else? Add to the list...

Number 7 is on the way!

Our quiver is full and we are grateful!

Ice Angel in Texas

It is definately time to move North!

Market Days!

Well, we did it! Our realtor came over today and we will put our house on the market mid-March. We will be painting, decluttering, and replacing our carpet. I think we should have a party and give everyone a paint brush when they come through the door :)
Richard will be gone quite a bit over the next month when so much needs to be done so please pray that we can get the necessary work completed.

IT IS FINISHED!

Well, at least the first draft. No, I am not quoting Jesus here, I am celebrating the completion of the first draft of the book I have been working on since last May! Wooohoooo! What an amazing process. What an education I got doing it. It was like taking about three college level courses. Surely the hard part is behind me. (he said naivly)

But, here is the deal: it may not even be print worthy. We will see. If not, it will have been a great ride, and I am thankful for it. If so, well, I have about three more ideas cooking.

Pray for me on this...I have no idea if I can write well...but I know I can finish a book.

It is editing time.
vic

The Barbarian Shipps

The most radical demonstration of faith is to be obedient to the next thing God tells you to do.

One of the beautiful things about following God is that it is simple. We don't have all the answers to satisfy the world's questions, but we have the answers we need for this moment. We don't have the strength we need for the future, but He has supplied the power for right now.

I honor you, Jeremy and Lara, for being obedient. God said, "stay home this weekend," I don't know why and you don't know why, though by the end of the weekend you may know. There may be revealed a very dramatic reason why...or maybe not. Either way, you were obedient. You waited and listened and obeyed, regardless of what you wanted. You could have found a way...stretched yourself...taken the matter into your own hands, but you trusted God by faith. It was no small thing. If everyone did what you did, every time, you would not live in Abilene, but in Eden.

Was it hard for you to make this choice...maybe. But it was not complicated or difficult to figure out. It was simple. And it was barbaric.

Beyond your gifts and abilities...this is why you are a part of this adventure.

As the Waters cover the Sea

God spoke through Habakkuk the summary message of scripture...and our purpose for moving to State College: "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord." That may sound a bit religious to you, but it is, in truth, what we are about. I believe this move to be strategic in positioning us to contribute effectively to the cause of this verse. May we be alert to the movement of the Spirit as he uses us toward this glory.

It is a crisp 23 degrees in SC this morning. It is finally acting like winter...a good thing, I believe. Ask me in 5 years if I still believe that. As I expected, now that we are on this side of the new year, the slide is down hill to the time to move. Things are starting to accelerate. Buckle up, it is going to be an exciting ride.

Be praying about the retreat Feb. 2-3. The lodge and barn are all set. I talked to Ruben, the owner last night. Pray for him...on Jan 16 he goes in for surgery. They will take a bone from his hip and put it in his foot. (that would make for some interesting annalogies.) Pretty major. Ruben respects our team and has been amazingly generous to us.

God has chosen you for this mission. (and maybe some others that are praying about it) May we never forget it.

vic

Change to New Version

Hey Everyone,
You may have noticed that when you sign in to your username to post a blog it asks if you would like to switch to the new version of Google Blog - you will each need to do this. I have switched our Blog to this new version and it said that you won't be able to post to Mission Imprint unless you switch also. It is quick and easy. Go for it! See you on the other side. :)
Lara

Details

I am amazed at the way that the Lord cares about the details of our lives. Here is my precious boy all sick with the flu on his new UNICYCLE! He was so excited. A thousand thanks to the Baums...the Lord definately used you. I pray that this is a lesson with last with him forever.

Prayers for my Mom

Hello everyone - I am writing to ask for your prayers for my mom. She has had some pain for sometime in her abdomen and last night she went to the hospital and the doctors are running some tests and are talking of surgery. I will let you know more information as I do. Thank you, Jeremy