God's way is.....HUH?!

(I will not begin with lame excuses or apologies for not writing more. We moved in on September 11th, 2008 and are still working to get settled, but enjoying it. )

Well, yesterday was "Decision Day 2008" for the citizens of the USA. Time to elect a new President. Apparently there were more people who turned out to vote this year than at any time prior, and the percentage of registered voters was higher than virtually any time this century. Apparently some people felt a sense of urgency in the air!

My parents went to vote in our little country polling place and had to wait an hour and a half to get to the voting booth. That was another first. In the past...well...you'd have to get into a deep conversation with the staff in order to have a reason to stay so long. It wouldn't be so odd to get in a deep conversation with the staff because they were always friends and/or relationships....remember I said "rural" and I meant "RURAL"! :-) Some friends in Florida said they had to wait over two hours to vote. Apparently Florida, embarassed about the "hanging chads" of a certain prior election, Florida now has ballots that you fill in and put into a scanner to be electronically read. If you can't figure out how to use a punch ballot, surely you won't be able to run a scanner! hehehe That seemed to be the issue causing such a long wait for my friends. People couldn't get the scanner to accept their ballots.

(As for us rednecks in Virginia...well...how much can you mess up a touchscreen? I'll have to admit that while I was there, they had a slight fiasco when somebody walked away without pushing the "enter" button to tally their vote...)

At any rate...I was headed down the road yesterday and next door to a polling place, I saw the sign at the top of this post. "Gods way is americas way!" I am not quite sure what the message means, but I am assuming it had something to do with the author's preferred candidate. ...hmm...which candidate DIDN'T have God on his side? I thought they both tried to drag him into their camp... Hmm....maybe time will tell. It usually does.

Sorry...I've been absent!

Well, Rodney scolded me for not giving more updates on our house, but I've been working on the details trying to get it FINISHED and that has taken all my discretionary time. We are almost there, and I'll give a more up-to-date report soon. I wanted to give you an update in preparation for that forthcoming update, so you can be more in the loop when I make it more current...

How much can you accomplish in 3 days? The following photos are a few of the HUNDREDS that my kids took over the 3-day span that they represent.

DAY 1

First of all, you need to know that the basement was already dug and the basement walls were set a couple of weeks in advance. Secondly, you need to know that the house itself arrived in two pieces on two trucks, and the pieces were "set" with a crane.






The halves were set on the basement walls under Brenda's watchful eye.








These guys did a GREAT job of making sure it was all right and in place properly. They certainly wouldn't settle for "almost". They made sure it was right before they let the crane driver set it down and call it "done".

DAY 2

Early on the second day, there were about 8 guys running around on the roof like ants! They quickly attached three dormers (small roof section with a window attached) and got ready to raise the roof.







Once the dormers were attached, it was time to raise the roof! At this point, Evan was quite excited, and yelled, "NOW it looks like a Cape Cod!" He had been waiting for this moment!









In this photo, the roofing crew is bracing the roof up. The horizontal boards you see here are nailed into place and they become the basis for the interior walls in the kids' bedrooms.











We are nearly there now! Both sides are raised, but I think there are still some leaky spots in the roof. :-0




At the end of Day 2, it is looking a lot more like a house! It is amazing how much can be done in a couple of days. On Day 3, they finished the roof, and some other aspects to make it fully weatherproof.







The job isn't yet done, but you are now much more up to date on this whole process. I will bring your up to the most recent progress in my next update, but suffice it to say that we are just a couple of weeks from our final inspection and having the "right" to move in! We are getting excited!

"Do they deliver houses where you are??"

Well, I wrote somewhere that it was only two weeks until our house would be delivered. Ahem...that was a MONTH ago! Hmmm....

Anyway, I was in town today (town is about 30 minutes away) and came back by our property. Guess what I saw?! You can see it here too!! There is a crane there, sitting ready to set our basement walls, and we are STARTING to get excited again.

Several people had the sense that I was confusing houses and pizza! "Greg, they deliver PIZZA. They build houses!" Yeah, I know. It sounds wierd, but if you haven't ever read about modular homes, you should have a look on the net and see the benefits of building a modular home. I HOPE that maybe I can post pictures tomorrow, of a completed set of basement walls and MAYBE the outside of our house...if they deliver (yes deliver) the house tomorrow! WooHoo! Starting to get excited! :-)

He's ba~~~~ack.....

OK...so that's is a quote that many may not remember. It comes from a 70's horror movie. ....AHEM....."You had to be there..."

No, seriously, I wanted to preface what I am about to write by saying that we have been really busy with a MAJOR international move, and resettling, so I have been "out of the loop" for quite a while. Here is an update that we sent by e-mail last night, that will fill in some of the blanks. Wanna know more? Ask!

...and I quote:

Greetings!
We wanted to take some time and share with you some of what we have been thinking of late, and where we are at this stage in our journey. Please take a minute to read this and stay in touch with where we are. The theme for this update will be "TRANSITIONS..."

All of our belongings were packed into a 20 ft. container in Perth and shipped to Norfolk. Here, the kids are saying goodbye to their stuff!









We visited Sydney and friends in the area a couple of weeks before we left Australia. Here we are seen standing near the Opera House, with the Harbour Bridge in the background.






After Sydney, we drove to Melbourne (via Canberra -- can't leave Oz without visiting the War Memorial and Parliament House, can we?) In Melbourne, visited the Pioneers of Australia office and also caught up with a number of good friends there.



Once back in Perth, we stayed with some good friends for the few days before our flight from Oz, via KL, to Japan, then the US. Here, I am in Perth at Douglas and Ming Ming's, and Douglas and I are having a "chat". (Not REALLY, of course!)





On the way back to the USA, we stopped in Japan for a few days. Here Brenda catches up with a very good friend in Shimonoseki after many years. Our daughters also made a special connection!





Once we got to Virginia, the kids were ready to see some SNOW! Thankfully, there was a LITTLE...













Erika is good friends with the camera...(Like her camo jacket she bought at a discount store in Japan?)

TRANSITIONS

GEOGRAPHICAL TRANSITION

Our transition out of Australia, and back to the U.S. for a season has been an interesting time for us. We knew that a transition back "home" is always something that cross-cultural workers struggle with. However, we had not realized how complex this move would be. God has blessed, and we have managed well, but it hasn't all been easy. We would appreciated your prayers as we continue to "re-learn" how to live in America.

A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

Part of our desire for this phase is to build a house that will add another layer of stability for our family. Specialists say that "Missionary Kids" (and other TCKs if you know that phrase) succeed much better in later life if they have enjoyed the stability of knowing where their "roots" are, and have a place that they can consider "home" even as they live on another part of the globe. Since our kids (and their parents, of course) are getting older, and we have always been renters, we have decided - after prayer and consideration - to "take the plunge" and build a house. This has been a significant challenge as we are trying to do as much as possible ourselves, and save money. This does not signal our intention to live in the U.S.A. for the long term. Rather, it is a part of our strategy to build a plan for our future, and to consider the needs of our children at this stage. We would love to think that God will allow us to return to service on a foreign field in the near future, and this is just an interim assignment. At this stage we cannot discern His longer term plan. Please pray for the myriad details surrounding this important construction project. (UPDATE! I got a call today, 4 April, saying that the house will be delivered on the 23rd!!)

A NEW ROLE FOR GREG

After the family is well settled, and we have visited most of our churches, Greg will, Lord willing, be taking on a new role with Pioneers. He has been asked to join the Church Partnerships Team. In his new role, he will be able to work from Virginia, and will see a long-time desire fulfilled. He has long wished he could encourage and impact a wider circle of churches in their involvement in the Great Commission. His new role on the Church Partnerships Team will give him a much wider circle of churches that he will be able to assist and encourage in their work for the sake of the Gospel around the world. He will be connecting by e-mail, phone and in person with many churches who are partnering with Pioneers in sending and supporting missionaries. The idea is that churches will be challenged and encouraged to take an increasingly active role in their partnership with Pioneers for the sake of the harvest. Please pray for wisdom as Greg approaches this, yet another transition.

THANK YOU

We would like to take this opportunity to, once again, say "THANK YOU!" to all of you who faithfully pray and those who also faithfully give financially to see this work go forward. Without your partnership, we could not do the work that we do. As we approach a new role, we will continue to seek God's provision for our daily needs. He is faithful! While there have been times when our pledged support was well below what we needed to meet our requirements, we have never lacked what was required each month. At times, we have been astounded by unexpected gifts that have arrived "out of the blue" to fill a gap. Please pray with us that God will continue to supply our financial needs so that we can continue to do the work that He has called us to do.

If you are a financial donor, you may continue to send your gifts to Pioneers and they will go to our account. If you are NOT a financial supporter, and would like to do so, you can send gifts to: Pioneers, 10123 William Carey Dr., Orlando, FL 32832. Attach a note to your gift specifying that it is for Greg & Brenda Fletcher, and it will get to the right place. After your first gift, you should receive a remittance slip each month to send with your gift.

If you have any questions about our transitions, please write and let us know. Please know that we would also like to hear how things are progressing in your life. Please take a moment to jot us a note. We'd LOVE to hear from you!

CONTACT DETAILS

We will be making contact with all of our churches in the coming days, if we haven't already. If you would like us to visit your church, small group or your family, let us know, and we'll do our best to make it so!

Address:

Greg & Brenda Fletcher
9513 Lawyers Rd.
Spotsylvania, VA 22553

Phone:

Greg's cell - 540 845 5577
Brenda's cell - 540 850 9939

We look forward to hearing from you!

Blessings,

Greg Fletcher, for the family