Wow, What a journey the Lord has us on right now!  It's been awesome to join Him on this journey and we look forward to what He has in store for us in the coming months and years.

We have been learning "everything you always wanted to know about Rob and Jackie Passer".  What makes us tick, what happens when we are not able to use our strengths and what happens when our strengths are used in ways that can possibly be hurtful to others.  We've learned that Rob is an introvert and I am an extrovert...like we needed a personality test to tell us that!  We have learned why I like to talk and why Rob spends more time listening and soaking it all in.  And I am learning to listen better and that it's hard to listen if your mouth never closes...

We are learning that everybody on this earth is uniquely made by God to have the strengths, personality traits and gifts to fulfill a need for Kingdom purposes.  And that our lifetime of experience has brought us to the place that God has us today.  It's truly amazing and humbling to know that before time began, God hand-picked every one of our traits. That He took the time to WANT to mold me into the woman I am today and Rob into the man that he is today.  And I see now why we have walked through so many difficult times and hurts.  It's hard to help someone else through a crisis if we have never been through a crisis ourselves.

I have found that I am already in a transition period.  No, we are not moving right away but the transition has already started. The first part of April, Rob and I went to Haiti with a team from our church and it occurred to us that it would be the last short term trip we take for quite some time and possibly the last short term trip we take with Maple Grove E Free.  I have transitioned out of the Missions Leadership Team at MGEFC and have turned it over to capable hands that God has prepared for such a time as this.  This ministry has been a part of my life since 2004 and while it's difficult to not be a part of it anymore I know that God had me there as a training for what is to come.  Brad is a Junior in High School now and we have visited 2 college campuses, he has taken his ACT test and we will be dropping him off this summer at Stanford University in California for a Summer High School College program for 8 weeks.  My baby isn't a baby anymore!

On May 6 we will be traveling to Phoenix, AZ for a "Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills" workshop.  We are looking forward to going to learn what God wants us to learn about ourselves, how to read others and how to help others in difficult situations.  We then come home and will be telling ReachGlobal about everything the Lord has taught us over the last months since the REV.  We look forward to hopefully raising support this summer and over the next year and we can't wait to tell everyone about our ministry and what God has called us to do in times of crisis both domestically and internationally.

Please pray for the next few months as we travel to Phoenix for the workshop, hopefully go through orientation with ReachGlobal in June, get Brad to Stanford for the summer and then traveling around the United States talking to friends and family about our ministry.

We covet and appreciate your prayers!

In Him Always!

Jackie

Our journey to the Field

We want to send out an update to our wonderful journey as we prepare for our ministry. To those who may not have heard Jackie and I have been working on the application process to become missionaries with the Evangelical Free Church of America, ReachGlobal. Where we will be working with Crisis Response. This last week we where invited to the Readiness Event which is part of the training and interviewing process. This was a very long week which was held at the main offices in Bloomington MN. It was very informational and we learned so much about ourselves, each other and the organization. We are encouraged as they focus mainly on team health and personal health.
This is the kind of organization we want to be involved with.
Well we have learned that since we are going to be working with many, many volunteers which means many, many personalities, they would like to prepare us for that. As we will be the face of ReachGlobal, we would like them to have the best experience of their life. To do that we need to be able to communicate to all those different personalities. So we will be doing some training on the Strengths Finder, DISC and the Myers Briggs which are personality assessments. Along with those we will be attending the Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills (SYIS) Workshop in Phenix AZ in May. We are very excited as we continue our growth in the Lord, to see the work He has been doing in us as He is preparing us for great things in His plan to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Thank you for all your prayers and continue praying for us as we go through the process to our acceptance in to ReachGlobal.

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Last day In Haiti

Haiti Update

Sunday In Haiti

Work progressing nicely in Haiti!

It seems that everything just takes longer in Haiti because materials are difficult to get and everything is done by hand.  The days get long but we are accomplishing so much in our short time here.  But we sure are glad that tomorrow is Sunday and we can take the day off from the work.

We set some water lines in a bathroom into concrete walls which involved sawing and jack hammering. Now we are filling the walls and putting a smooth coat on. We will have that done tonight, Saturday.

Then we need to install the tub and the tile floor and the tile inside tub and shower also.

We also took down the corner out by the road.  The block wall got hit by a vehicle and laid the blocks up. Now we have to pour a corner post with concrete.

Of course all the concrete needs to be mixed by hand. So everything take longer and is harder.

Please pray for a restful Sunday and a productive week next week.  Pray that the time our time here is glorifying to God and that we can be of service in whatever way we are needed.

God calls, we listen

Just a short note for tonight.  Rob and Paul Lundquist are leaving for Haiti on Tuesday, Dec 6 for 11 days to help with some construction and plumbing projects at the mission house, build desks for Maxo's school and spend time at at least one orphanage that we have grown to love.  We will be posting pictures and prayer requests over the next couple weeks.

Please be in prayer for Rob and Paul as they travel to Port au Prince, Haiti.  For physical, emotional and spiritual safety.  For solidified partnerships and for productive work.  Pray for conversations with people while they travel, while they are in Haiti and as they sit around the dinner table at night and talk about how they saw God work that day.

Thank you to everyone for joining us in prayer!

The Passer's