Fall Update 2021 — Full Hearts and a Break in the Calendar
“Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers…” (Hebrews 13:1-2)
Blessings
Winter has arrived, and we wanted to take a minute to tell you how things have gone for us this fall. I am humbled and astonished when I think about how God has moved local churches to partner with us and bless us this past quarter. We’ve been shown great hospitality by churches—some who support us and some who do not. While our summer travels took us all across the Midwest regions, this fall kept us mostly in the South. God has protected us from sickness or accidents while on the road and safety in the skies. I flew out to Seattle to visit family for my grandfather’s funeral this October. Two weeks later in November, I flew down to central Florida for a regional preaching conference at one of our partnering churches. Sierah was able to rest at home during both of these trips. Our favorite trip this year took us north to the Chicago area where one of our dear supporting churches was celebrating their 50th annual missions conference. On the last night of the conference, the church donated money towards many of our needs including tuition for seminary and Sierah’s CCEF classes, a pricey Logos Bible software package, items from our baby registry, and more. And they were not the only church to bless us over and above their monthly commitment to us! We are humbled to be so blessed.
Birthdays and Baby
Speaking of baby, Sierah and I both celebrated our birthdays already this fall and are eagerly awaiting our baby’s arrival. No, little one is not with us just yet. But the midwives tell us she is progressing steadily and healthily, and she could be here any day (the due date is tomorrow). These next few weeks will be full of big changes and adjustments!
Break from the Road
Our last scheduled meeting this year was already few weeks ago! The plan was to come off the road at the end of November to prepare for baby’s arrival and a few other things. We needed to get settled into our temporary living situation in Louisville, to spend time with our church family, and get prepared to hit the deputation road again in February. December has not been as restful of a month as we has imagined; but God has been good. Our home church purchased and renovated a residency to eventually house some of our Christian school’s faculty. But they are allowing us to stay there for the next few weeks while we are off the road. (We just finished setting up the nursery in the renovated house today.) January looks to be a month of adjustments, seminary classes, and getting our 2022 schedule sorted out.
Year-End Support Level
I didn’t want to end the letter without updating you on how our fund-raising has progressed. Our goal was to be at 50% by the end of this year, and we are at 48.5% as of this week—with more commitments promised beginning the first week of January. After a twelve months of raising support, we are grateful and humbled to see how the Lord has provided these partnerships for us.
Year-End Prayer Requests
– Healthy delivery of baby, due any day now!
– Fully booked calendar for 2022.
– 100% support raised by this time next year.
Grace and peace,
Joe and Sierah Pliska