A Family Affair

How does your family feel about this journey?

This seems like an appropriate question given the prayer request for the week. We've been incredibly blessed to have support from both sides of our family. They've prayed for us, given to us and showered us with love and support. We've got to spend a good bit of time with them over the last month or so.

God has blessed us with a family that believes in the Gospel and the need to take it to the ends of the earth. We pray that those in our family that don't understand fully will be ministered to by our step of faith. Will you pray along with us that this would happen?

We've also spent a good bit of time realizing the sacrifice that our family is making as we head out for parts yet uknown. We will miss birthdays and holidays. We won't be able to come home for a weekend just to visit. Our nieces and nephews will get taller and do all kinds of things that we will miss out on. That's tough stuff.

We've been struck over and over again by the blessing that we are missionaries in the technological age. So many of those that have gone before us into foreign lands have not had the benefits of email, skype or even a reliable snail mail system. It's an amazing blessing to be 21st century missionaries and have access to ways of connecting even in a country with no consistent electricity. What does that mean? Grandma has to learn to email. Yep, we are dragging even the oldest members of the family into the information age kicking and screaming!

God sees this sacrifice and will sustain them and grow them through this process. What a joy to know that through our obedience God is growing not only us but also our friends and family. AWESOME!

Do you want to stay connected to the Hoovers? Send us your email address to receive email newsletters and subscribe to this blog to get our writings tucked in your reader every single day!

This weeks Prayer Need: Pray for our family. The reality of our leaving is beginning to become real and they need as much prayer as we do. It has really occurred to us lately that this is a huge sacrifice for them. Pray that we will be able to surround them with love and provide little things, i.e; emails, skype dates, letters, that will encourage them and keep them connected to us even though we are far away. Pray that our time with them in the remaining weeks would be sweet and a real blessing for all of us.