Yet another Christmas Blessing

Wow, when it rains it pours!  This evening we went to my parents' house for supper along with my sister and her three kids.  My brother-in-law was going to join us but I was told he was tied up at a work meeting and he wouldn't be there until after supper.  My parents just got home on Sunday from visiting my brother and sister-in-law and niece in California, so it was really nice to see them again. 

A little while into supper, my brother-in-law, Lukas showed up, but right after saying hello, he went back outside.  I didn't even notice anything, until the doorbell rang and when I looked into the porch, he was gone.  I assumed that he had run back outside simply to ring the doorbell to bug everyone, so I didn't think anything of it.  The doorbell continued ringing and then the door opened and in walked my brother, sister-in-law and niece from California.  I was stunned!  What an amazing Christmas surprise.  It turns out that this was a Christmas present from Nicole and Lukas so that our entire family could be together again before Steve and the kids and I leave for the Philippines.

This will definitely be a wonderful Christmas to remember!

Merry Christmas,

Kerri

Our wonderful Christmas surprise

God's Amazing Blessings

This weekend has been an amazing time of experiencing God's blessings for our family in very tangible ways.  On Saturday we were given 50lbs of beef which had been donated by a local cattle rancher; on Sunday we were given an unexpected donation towards us moving to the Philippines; and this morning we had the Cochrane fire department show up unexpectedly and deliver presents for our whole family along with the largest Christmas food hamper we have ever seen.  I didn't know if I should laugh or cry when the fire department came, so I laughed at first and then spent a good amount of time this afternoon crying tears of joy.  Along with the presents for us, there was an additional present that came with a note saying that it was a gift for us to bless another family with.  We chose to give it to some wonderful friends and when their children saw it they wanted to open it right away.  It was a model train set  and it turns out that it was the exact one that the son had seen in a store a few months earlier and was wanting to buy.  What an amazing blessing for their family, and the credit can only go to God.

We have no idea where these Christmas gifts and food came from or why our family was the recipient of them, but I don't think we really want to know - it's simply a wonderful reminder of how much God loves us and blesses us even when we least expect it.  All I can say is thank you God.

Below are some pictures from this morning!

Blessings,

Kerri

Receiving the presents and food from the Cochrane Fire Department

Thank you to the Cochrane Fire Department for delivering the gifts!

Monthly Donations

I've had a few people express interest in setting up a monthly ongoing donation.  I have set up a new button on our blog to enable you to do so should you choose.  Just enter the amount you would like to donate in the box and click on the "Automatic Billing" button.  Again, all donations are done through PayPal, so the transactions are secure and you can choose several methods for billing.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Done classes!

This may be a bit premature, as this week is actually the last week of classes, then final, then I have to wait for my marks, but as far as I'm concerned, I"M DONE MY CLASSES!

At the end of this semester I will have all of the classroom requirements for my degree finished.  Next semester will be just my Field Education; basically a ministry internship.  I will be doing this at Rockyview, and I am quite excited about it.

It seems hard to believe that the end is in sight.  The past two years have been great ones.  Much has happened, some of it good, some of it not quite so good, some of it downright miserable, but through it all we have seen God leading and shaping us, preparing us for whatever He has in mind for us in the future.  In many ways the past two years have flown by, and in other ways it seems like we've been here FOREVER!

For now, we will still be in Cochrane, until June when we will hopefully head over to the Philippines...

Fundraiser Dinner Update

We had our fundraiser dinner on Saturday evening, and it was a great time.  It was such an encouragement to have about 100 people who were interested in coming out to support us and to learn more about what we are doing.  It was great to be able to visit with friends and family, and to be able to reconnect with people we haven't  seen in many years, and to meet some people we've never met before!

It was also a great chance to show everyone what we are doing, but more importantly, to explain why we are doing it.  Kerri did a great job with her first major public speaking event, and wasn't even as nervous as she thought she'd be!

Thank you to everyone who came out to the dinner.  Thank you as well to all those who helped out in so many ways, with the food preparation and serving, powerpoint and music, setup and clean up, photography, donations for the silent auction, and in so many other ways.  We couldn't have pulled it off without your help!

For those who were unable to make it out to the dinner, thank you too for your support.  We will be having more events in the future, so don't feel bad about not being able to be there!

The next event which we have planned is a benefit concert in late January.  We have several musician friends who will be performing, and it should be a great night of music and fun.  It looks like it will be taking place on Saturday, January 29 at Rockyview Alliance Church in Calgary.  We will post more details soon...

Fundraiser Dinner

Here are the details for our upcoming fundraiser dinner:

Date: November 27

Time: 4:30-8:30

Location: Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary

200 Seminary View, Cochrane, AB

Cost: $15/person or $40/family

Food: A fusion of Filipino and other Asian cuisine

In addition to eating there will be a presentation by Kerri and myself regarding where we are going, what we are doing, and why we are doing it. There will also be opportunities to support us in other ways, including a silent auction.

If you would like to come please let us know either through Facebook or by email (skoishi78@gmail.com). That way we will have an idea of how many to expect.

Hope to see you there!

More Details

Wow. Three posts in three days. I hope you aren't getting tired of hearing from us.

I figured I would fill in some of the details which Kerri didn't mention. Yes, we are going to the Philippines. We are hoping to leave Canada in June of 2011, taking only suitcases, and relocating halfway around the world.

Yes, our kids are coming with us. I know it seems crazy to take them from all the benefits of a childhood in Canada to go to a largely developing country where we know no one and will have to learn a new culture. But what an experience for them.

Kerri will be in classes and the clinic lots. Something like 40-60 hours a week. That will be her life for 2 1/2 years.

I will be Mr. Mom. Due to the visa regulations to enter the country, Kerri and I will both be entering under a missionary visa. That means that I will not be able to have a job. My role will be to stay home with the kids, to homeschool them, and to do all the household stuff that Kerri has done so well for the last 12 years. I will have to learn to grocery shop in a new culture, how to cook with new ingredients, and generally how to adapt to this phase of our lives. I am really looking forward to the challenge.

With that being said, because I will not be working, we will be largely dependent on raising funds before we go and on ongoing support while we are there. The financial requirements are estimated to be between $50,000-75,000 for the 2 1/2 years we will be there. This seems like a huge amount to have to come up with in a short amount of time, but we trust that God will provide as He has in the past. Currently Kerri and I are both working (Kerri having just gotten a new job) to provide for the need, but we will be unable to finance it all ourselves.

That is where we would love for you to partner with us. We are planning several fundraiser events in the next 8 months, the first being a dinner on November 27. We would love to see you come out, not just to support us financially, but to have the opportunity for Kerri and I to be able to share more about this passion and desire which God has placed on our hearts. For more details, feel free to email us at skoishi78@gmail.com, or for those of you we have connected with on Facebook, watch for a Facebook event invitation coming soon.

There will be several more events in the New Year as well. You may have also noticed that we have added a "Donate" button to our blog. This is a Paypal based setup, where should you choose to you can make a donation towards Kerri's training and our living expenses. Currently it is a one-time donation, but I am working on setting up the opportunity for ongoing monthly giving.

(One thing to note: because these donations are being used for Kerri to go to school and for us to live, we are unable to issue income tax receipts. Hopefully in the future we will be able to set up a charitable organization and offer receipts, but for now our situation does not fit the criteria.)

If we are unable to bank a sufficient amount before the spring we may have to postpone our plans to go for one year, during which we will both work and save up as much as we can to go, but we are moving ahead in faith that God will provide for us to go this coming year.

We would also appreciate your prayers. As much as we need the finances in place, we need your prayers even more. This will be a time of huge stress for all of us. We will be leaving behind everything and everyone we know. This will affect all of us, including the kids. There are a lot of unknowns which we will face. It will be exciting, fun, and a wonderful experience, but it will also be sad, hard, and at times downright depressing. There will be many good things which come out of it, and many not-so-good things as well. We will make new friends, but will miss all of our friends and family. We need your prayers.

Thank you in advance for your support, both emotionally, spiritually, and financially. We can't do this without you.