No turning back :)

This is really happening! God is already blessing us financially, and we are so excited (and nervous :)). Here is a copy of our prayer letter that we sent out. And we will keep you all updated through this blog & facebook with pictures and posting after the summer! We need lots of prayers as we begin to prepare our hearts and minds for this trip. Thanks so much for all your support!

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. We wanted to write all of you with an update on our journey to go overseas. After going to orientation with Pioneers and getting accepted into their organization in August, we thought that we would be going overseas by the end of 2011. Well, here we are, still in South Carolina. There have been some doors shut in the process of getting overseas for long term, but there is light at the end of the tunnel!
We have an opportunity to spend the summer in Croatia with Pioneers, through their summer program called The Edge. Croatia is between central and eastern Europe and lies along side the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Many of the Croatian people would probably claim to be Christians, but it is more of a status symbol and closely tied with their ethnicity. Some might even say, “I’m a Christian, but I don’t believe in God.” Pioneers’ goal over there is to introduce them to a real relationship with Jesus Christ.
While we are in Croatia, Guy will get to be involved in baseball camps that they put on for the children and youth. They use these camps as a witnessing tool and are able to share the gospel through the sport of baseball. The women that are working over there have many different ministries that I can get involved in. One lady works with young children and runs an internet café. Others have a music ministry and disciple Croatian women. We will basically be living with the missionaries that live over there and minister to these people day in and day out, so we will just plug in and help in whatever way we can. We are excited to see what all they are doing and how the gospel is being shared to the Croatian people.
We would like for you to partner with us on this journey. First of all through prayer, please pray for safe travel, for God to soften hearts of the Croatian people, and for boldness as we minister to these people. Secondly, we need financial supporters. We need to raise $5,000, which we know that God will provide. If we can get 100 people to give $50 then we will have met our goal. If you would like to partner with us on this journey, please fill out the response slip and send it in the included envelope.
We are so excited about this trip, how God is going to change us and the Croatian people. We look forward to letting you all know how God is working in Croatia.

Sincerely,
Guy and Holly Howard

WHAT NOW?

After a long week of orientation in Orlando, we actually came back more discouraged than encouraged. We were so ready to be sent off into the unknown world of another country, that I guess we did not realize all of the preparation that we would need to do.
We have since considered maybe doing a 10 week summer trip to Croatia. So that we can just put our feet in the water, instead of jumping head first into something that we know nothing about. Our other option is taking a 10 day vision tour next month in order to then in turn come back and raise financial support to go long term (2 years).
At this moment, we are just begging God to close doors that He wants closed and swing the doors He would have us to take WIDE OPEN. Please pray for guidance as we make these huge decisions. Pray that we will continue to seek God's will and not our own. Pray that Satan does not deter us from God's Plan.

It's almost here!!!

5 days til we are in Orlando for our orientation with Pioneers! We are so excited to see what God is going to show us. We are hoping to get so many questions answered from the organization and from God. Praying that God will show us exactly where He wants us to go and what exactly He wants us to be involved in.

Once we find out the answer to these questions we will then know exactly how much money we will need to raise and will begin our support raising process. Praying for amazing things to happen here so that we can go overseas by the end of the year! So be looking for letters in the mail, and begin to pray and ask God if He wants you to be a part of this journey with us!

Pray for safe travel down to Orlando and that we will have open minds and hearts to what God is going to teach us! Thanks for all your support already, can't wait to update you all on what God does in Orlando!

Thought of the Day...

"The cost of nondiscipleship is profoundly greater for us than the cost of discipleship. For when we abandon the trinkets of this world and respond to the radical invitation of Jesus, we discover the treasure of knowing and experiencing Him." -from "Radical" by David Platt

Are you willing to abandon everything and follow Him?

Mark 10:21
"Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go and sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.""

Although scary on this side of eternity, I bet the treasure that God has for us in heaven, if we are willing to live this way, will be far greater than anything we can imagine.

Revelation = Responsibility

God really convicted me today in church, that he has given me a calling in life but I just keep putting it off. Guy and I have both been called to go overseas and tell people how God can change their lives, but yet we are still here. We are trying to get Guys loans paid off before we go, but that won't happen for another year. But what has really been set on my heart today is that if God has given us this calling, that he will provide. He doesn't want us to wait til we are comfortable going. The revelation that God gave me about going overseas was the clearest revelation that I have ever gotten from God, but yet the one I'm so nervous and hesitant about following. Perry said in church today that if God has given you a revelation, but yet you do not obey the calling that your relationship with Jesus will not move to the next level. I am so ready for my relationship to move to the next level. I'm so ready to follow God's calling on my life, no matter what the cost.

My prayer is that we will be obedient to God's calling and that a way will be provided for us to start our overseas journey right after our orientation in August. Please continue to pray that God will continue to burn this fire within us. Also that we will be obedient and willing to go and do whatever God has for us, WHENEVER it may be.

Has God called you to do something in your life that you don't think that you are capable of doing? Or that you think will be extremely uncomfortable? It may be something small or something huge, but I encourage you today to take that leap of faith.

Lessons Learned and Next Steps :)

We've been married for 8 months now. It's been alot of fun but very difficult at the same time. I now believe that marriage is God's way of showing you how selfish you are and therefore teaches you that you have to become selfless and truly rely on Him. He is the only one that will ALWAYS be there. He is the only one that WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN. Your mate on the other hand can't always be there and will let you down. Forgivness when they do has probably been the hardest thing for me to learn so far. So we are learning day after day how to compromise, forgive, and love each other through the trials of every day life.
On the note of our journey to get overseas, which we definately still feel God calling us to do. We met with a girl from Pioneers last week while she was in the area. She was a great encouragement to us to continue to trust God to provide the way. We are planning to go to orientation in August in Orlando in order to get more details. We will be there for a week, and will learn more about the teams that are already serving and which teams our personalities and passions fit best with. Also, we will figure out more details about finances and more of a clear picture of what we need to be doing in order to make it happen :). We are so excited about this next step in our life.
Please continue to pray that God will open doors. Pray that we will not be held back by our earthly desires and that nothing will get in the way of us making it to orientation in August. Also pray that God will open a door for me to find a new job so that maybe we can get our debt paid off sooner. Thank you for your prayers and support!

August 6, 2010

Well, right now we're supposed to be in Orlando with Pioneers going through our orientation. Unfortunately, we are still in SC. This summer has been so busy, Holly and I never prepared for it. With the wedding and school and work, we have been overwhelmed. We are incredibly bummed out that our next step is being delayed, but our focus is still on going from "called" to "on the field" (wherever that may be). We ask that you will please pray for us, that everything works out according to God's will, and we get overseas as soon as possible. Thanks