That’s a great question. And it’s one we’ve been hearing quite frequently. Here’s the answer we’ve been giving: We don’t know.

Truly, it’s with complete surrender and freedom that we can make that statement.

Fortunately, there is a general outline of things that need to take place in a certain order prior to departure. The following will help you know how to pray for us. In fact, as you’re reading this, will you please be lifting up our family for wisdom and provision?

1. Pre-Equip Online Training – Right Now – This is a 6 week preparation course for Equip in Orlando. Not only have we been connecting with fellow trainees who will be with us in Orlando, but we’ve also begun the early stages of preparing to live and thrive in another culture. There is a lot of reading and studying so this will be time consuming. We started this past week.
2. Rebekah Starts Classes – Early September 2013 – Rebekah has to take some college classes in order to be admitted into GIAL, which is where we need to take classes for our assignment.
3. Equip OnSite – Mid-October 2013 – Our entire family will spend two weeks in Orlando for this training event. We will dig deeper into the logistics of our assignment in addition to preparing all of us to live in a different culture. We’ve been blessed by the amount of attention Wycliffe puts on our spiritual development, as well, and know we’ll continue that too. The staff in charge of our children are very impressive. They’ll take over schooling with Evie and Abel, as well as help prepare them for the big changes coming. There’s another group that will pray for and love on the younger ones.
4. Partnership Development Focus Time – beginning November 2013 – Immediately after Equip we will begin focusing on building our prayer and financial partnership team. This will be an ongoing process our entire career, but it’s one that we can honestly say we’re looking forward to. We can not start classes at GIAL until we have 50% of our support established.
5. Begin Training – ??? – as mentioned above, this could vary. The Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics is where we will train with much more specificity and depth for our assignment in PNG. They run on bimesters that begin in January and July. It will take us both 1-2 bimesters to complete required coursework.
6. Set Departure Date – when GIAL training is complete, 100% support and prayer team established – we’ll buy the plane tickets and begin packing.
7. Commissioning Service – this will happen just prior to leaving, probably.
8. Departure – somebody pass the tissue and check the mosquito nets for stowaway grandparents.