Waiting to dream again

The wind is rustling the leaves outside with an occasional peeper chirping away and inside the only sounds are that of the ceiling fan as it whirls above my head and the birds singing Jesse to sleep. Dan is at work. The house is still, the perfect time to write.

These last few weeks have been a blur...  a lot of emotions, and wondering and sleeping and being too awake for midnight (jet lag is real) too much packing, and too many goodbyes, and not enough time.

We signed up for our DTS with high hopes and a lot of dreams.  Over the summer we learned, cried and got a little beat up (not by anyone :) ) Then we were excited to go to the unknown, to go to Mongolia. So few people have visited, the church is only 21 years old. It was exciting.  Then miscommunication met flustered expectations which turned into disappointment and confusion.  Which all turned into an early goodbye, and putting a slew of dreams in a heap to be sorted latter.

Now each day holds quiet questions as we eat, work, write, and be a family. Even the idea of dreaming is painful, yet I long for it. There are things inside that want to become realities but they have to wait, wait for the questions to be silenced and the unhindered laughter to return.

Ever morning we wake up is fresher, every night of sleep is more restful, the tears have slowed their flow, and sometimes laughter catches us off guard.

Tomorrow we'll play in the blow up pool, and eat way too much lemon bread, and when the sun is setting we'll go on an evening stroll to find fall colors and it will be a good day.

                                     

 

(a little note and it's forward we sent to friends and I felt like sharing it)

Hello :)

Hope this finds you well on this hot summer evening. It's been a while sine we have sent you a little update. So pour yourself something cool and refreshing. Find a comfy spot with a breeze and enjoy reading this little letter. Dan wrote it and he did a remarkable job.

Have a nice read.

Anna

p.s.Guys since writing the letter our teammate became a Christian!!! :) God has been wooing her and yesterday we all felt like it was going to be the day. She is such a sweetheart and so much fun, I'm so excited now she gets to live life with God.

ahhhh so excited .... :)

Whats been happening in Salem…

We are quickly approaching our sixth week here at the YWAM campus in Salem Oregon. We have been in an amazing Discipleship Training School with an emphasis on reaching the unreached of Mongolia as we prepare  for our outreach to the Mongol people in September. We are a total of six students (this includes Jesse). One student recently gave his life to Jesus and was baptized August 5th! It has been amazing to see God move through us and around us this past 6 weeks. 

              A highlight and a challenge of ours has been working weekly with a branch of YWAM called Gospel Guy. In essence, this is modern day street Evangelism. The twist is that we stand outside on a street corner, not yelling at people but with a sign that has one question on it. The question varies each week. Our questions so far have been, “Who do you think Jesus is?” And “What  do you think happens when you die?” The questions begin a conversation that has a tendency to go deeper into what people truly believe. We are grateful that we are able to plant seeds in the lives of so many here in Salem. 

Our team getting read to climb Smith Rock

As we look ahead to Mongolia we know that we will be working with a local Mongol church in the town of Erdenet. Our team will be helping the local body of believers as well as evangelizing the unreached people in the area. Mongolia is very strategic place to bring the Gospel. Mongols are known for their nomadic way of life and when they receive the Gospel they’re response is to go and tell others. We are excited to join in what God is already doing and co-laboring with Him and the Mongol people to bring Jesus to those who have not had a chance to hear what He has done for them. 

*It is encouraging to know that so many of you are praying for us and believe in what God is up to. * 

We are still in the process of raising support for our outreach. At the moment we are about $3,000 short of what is needed to make outreach happen (or you could say Jesse, Anna and Dan each are $1,000 short).  We want to thank you for all that you have given already and ask if you feel led to give more please feel free to send it our way:) Or if you may know of someone who might want to jump on board with what God is doing in Mongolia please send them our contact and giving information. 

If you are interested in supporting the Abbott family financially, the best way to do this is to go to 

http://www.ywamsalem.org/ways-to-give/   

click on the donate tab on the top, 

scroll down to donate now, 

and fill in the appropriate information. 

At this point we will be unable to set up recurring monthly donations or give tax deductions until our staff process is complete. If you would like to donate monthly you will need to do so manually.

You can also write a check out to YWAM and mail it to:
YWAM Salem
ATTN: Accounting
7085 Battle Creek Rd SE
Salem, OR 97317 

Please do not write our names on the check or they will not be able to cash them. You could put our name on a sticky note or on a piece of paper in the envelope:) 

If you have any further questions please feel free to email us at ywamabbotts@gmail.com. We would love to get together with you!  

Blessings,  

The Abbotts (Dan, Anna, and Jesse)

1st s'more every

Jesse and Recky our teammate from PNG

Jesse loves loves loves it here at YWAM Salem. There is tons of outside to run through and more than enough rocks to throw.  Jesse has loved getting to know the YWAM staff just as much as they have enjoyed him :) 

31 is a great age

Yesterday was Dan's Birthday. I have known him for four years now. Not long, but long enough to have favorite memories. 

It was a very cold October,  the rain was falling steadily from the sky. In our mitten hands were cups of coco and coffee mixed. We were sitting on a vacant porch. It was just us no one else in sight, Jesse was still unseeable inside my quiet womb. 

 Dan was the speaker at a youth retreat and in between sessions we would come to this stoop to talk out what had happened and plan the next talk. It was exciting we were seeing people let God invade their lives.  God had given us a prayer for each student there and now we were seeing it all take shape in a beautiful way.  

Those talks on the stoop, watching together God bring life, is a favorite memory. 

Winter Well Wishes and Wonderland

Portland Winters had never really seemed cold to me before. However just returning from days of sunny 70's  has made Portland seem akin to the Arctic.  

We landed in Dalles Texas Monday December 14th and were able to spend Christmas with Dan's parents and brother.  Jesse enjoyed his house full of admirers. Others delights were chasing the kitten and sucking on the leather couches.  The new year met us back in Portland as we we celebrated birthdays, Christmas and an ice storm. 

Being with family has been like wrapped in a comforter on a cold winter day. But it officially feels odd not being in Israel.  There are friendships we want to deepen, people we ache with, laughter we want to share,  and it is so much harder through a computer screen 10 timezones away. 

We learned a lot about ourselves, our teaching styles, strengths, and how to pack a diaper bag for a 20 hour travel day.  We really enjoy working/serving with people in small and large groups and are praying about how we can do this as a family in the future.  We have some ideas brewing but you will have to just wait with us to see what happens next :)  

Thank you for standing beside us over the past few months, we feel blessed, and know there is a group of Christians in the heart of Israel that feel blessed too. 

peace, joy, and love from the Abbotts :) 

Soaking up the moments as we turn westward

Wrote this letter the week after Thanksgiving, sent it to friends and am finally posting it here. 

Less than two weeks from now we will be packing our bags and saying good byes. It's hard to believe we have been here for ten weeks already. We feel like we are in the swing of things, that we are finding our rhythm and now, time is almost up.

Almost up, but not quiet yet, we still have 13 days 39 meals, 312 more hours to continue to serve here, be it preaching, teaching children's church, driving someone home or just being available.

Jesse has loved our time in Israel, he has fallen in love with water (bath time is every day's highlight), food (avocados are where it's at) and his hair is growing like a Crissy doll. He crawls all day long and only takes a break to stand and try to climb on anything and everything.

Thanksgiving was this last week. It has always been a favorite and the Abbotts decided to celebrate. We bought half a pumpkin at our local market (a shook), baked it into a pie and had friends over to eat dinner. Ten weeks ago theses people were total strangers and now they are friends and Thanksgiving dinner would be incomplete without them there. Friends that are (like ourselves) on a spiritual journey, and for now at least we are pilgrims together (but not thanksgiving pilgrims more like "on a pilgrimage" pilgrims wink emoticon .

Also we have FINALLY visited Jerusalem. The city is unbelievably old (and this is coming from a girl who grew up around castle ruins). Layers of ancient city upon ancient city. History and faith mingled amongst countless stones holding everything together.

A highlight for me was visiting the Wailing Wall. It is the only wall of the temple (the house of God) left. People come to pray, to be close to God and beseech him. Prayers are written on tiny pieces of paper, rolled and left, left for God to read. The woman have a private section and as I was there praying I couldn't help but notice all the tears around me, so many woman my same age pourin
g out their hearts in soundless tears believing that God is a god who hears, who cares, who restores and gives life. How I wished I could go from one person to the next and join them, bring them with me, not to the wall, but into the throne room of God. But that day I was a guest in their heartache, and it was a sacred place to be.

Our next update will be written stateside. Believe me when I say we are grateful for your prayers andsupport as we went on this God adventure. Let's talk sometime over coffee and we'll share with you more stories of what we've seen and what God is up too.

Much love,
Anna, Dan and Jesse too!

(Our friends took us to see Jerusalem. Behind us, right above my head are Jews praying at the Western Wall. Top Left is the Dome of the Rock