Leaving next week!!

We have been negligent in sending out prayer requests for the past few weeks, so we would like to make up for that now. Over the next few days, we will be making our final preparations to move to Germany. Thad just received a call from Orlando saying that we have approval to book our plane tickets; we are looking at leaving early morning on December 13th, which is next Wednesday.

Here are some prayer requests:

Customs Clearance of our belongings/low warehouse costs for storing – Alas, our shipping company was quite efficient, and our container is now sitting (awaiting Customs clearance) on a dock (or possibly in a warehouse) in Bremerhaven, Germany…which is on the North Sea. Customs will not clear our belongings until we have sent our German residency permit (which we will not have until we arrive). Pray that the costs incurred with regard to storing our container will be minimal.

Move into our apartment soon – pray for the approval of the Workman family’s French visas. We are moving into their apartment, but they can not leave until they have their new visas. The process has taken longer than they expected and each time they talk with the French Government, they are told it will just be another week or two. Since it is a desire for the Workman family as well as ourselves, pray for us to be settled into our apartment soon (we would love to be in before Christmas). We will send out our new address as soon as we move in.

Last bit of monthly support – we need $130 to be at 95% and $500 to be at full support.

Remaining one-time needs – we need $4892 in one-time (this amount is for an increase in health insurance, purchasing our kitchen*, and the remaining need for buying our car). A praise we have not yet shared is that we have a car lined up for us already…it is a 2001 Ford Mondeo** (I know, move to Germany and buy a Ford!!), and from the photos we have seen and details we have been told, we really like it!

Energy for details – once we arrive in Kandern, we will have a ton of things to take care of (residency permit, bank account, car insurance, driver’s licenses, customs clearance for our container, and the list goes on), so pray for energy to complete everything and for smoothness in each process.

Saying Good-bye – the time to is leave finally here, and of course we have mixed feelings of excitement, nervousness, and sadness. Please keep us in your prayers as we say good-bye to family and friends.

Thank you so much for praying.

Love in Christ,
Thad and Jana

*A strange phenomenon when renting an apartment in Germany is that the kitchen is not included. You either have to install the entire thing (everything, including the kitchen sink!!) or purchase the existing kitchen from the previous tenants. The apartment we are renting has an existing kitchen which we are purchasing for €2,000 (which converts to just under $2,600).

**Here is a photo of the car that is waiting for us in Germany!