Greetings Friends and Family,

Well, here we are now in summer enjoying warm, long days. We should be spending lots of time outside listening to outdoor concerts (usually free in Chicago area) and eating BBQ at the beach. I say we should because Kirk and I have been spending our days going to home buying seminars and open houses. We are on the hunt for a condo in Roger's Park.

As we talked about in our last entry, our church community has really become home to us. Consequently we feel called to move even closer to the church (as if two miles wasn't close enough - but in this community it's not!). Truthfully, we know that in order to do the type of ministry we feel called to do in the Rogers Park neigbourhood, we must relocate to that neighbourhood! Our community affirmed our discernment of this process this past weekend. It might seem like an easy decision - but as Kirk has continued a bumpy adjustment to the US culture. Commiting more time and investment in the US is difficult for him, eventhough we feel God's call strongly to minister to this community. I am sure Abraham did not want to leave his land to the one God called him to, but he did it anyway. We are ready to follow God's call to truly be in Roger's Park.

From left to right:  Elissa, Katherine, Amanda, Kirk, Sarah and Jeremy

All of us members of the same cell group had the joy of joining the church on Easter Sunday together. Jeremy also was baptized and did not freeze as he passed through the cold waters of Lake Michigan, Praise God!

Yesterday, Kirk and I had a wonderful celebration of our Risen Lord with our church. My Mom and Bob came up from downstate to be with us as we joined our beloved Living Water Community Church. Nearly in tears, Kirk and I shared with the congregation how meaningful this community has been for us, how it has helped fulfill our vows that my people would be come Kirk's people.

In the celebration we torn down the black veils uncovering joyous, colorful banners and decorated the empty cross with bright cloth, palms and flowers. Just as God tore the veil and rolled away the stone to reveal the joyous Risen Christ. In joining this church, God has washed away a dark part of our lives, as Kirk's first months in the U.S. (over a year ago) were filled with deep loneliness. Now, we are filled with the light of God shining through our community to us and to our neighborhood.

This Lenten season, as I walked through a retreat focused on emptying and filling, I emptied myself of fears and disappointments. Before I asked to be filled, God asked me to abide in the emptiness of the cross and the tomb. Emptiness is not always bad and fullness is not always good. We must be aware of what we have been emptied of and what we are filled with. Now Kirk and I are filled with joy and the light of God. We are so grateful to be a part of this community and are blessed to be called to abide in this joy for awhile. 

Perhaps it is the instinct of hibernation or that I really am learning God's lesson of rest, but lately I have been very happy to spend time in my warm home praying, resting, reading, sorting through memories and just being. Amen.

Kirk and I are at a wonderfully restful place right now. We have discerned that we are to stay the course here in Chicago for a while, until God says otherwise. We will continue to serve and become more involved in our Living Water community. I have enjoyed helping friends clean a condo soon to go on the market, driving a new mother to the dr's while watching her newborn, starting up the after-school program again and enjoying meals with members in our community over the last few weeks.

So what about Fuller? California is still in the picture, but we just don't know when. I researched all the Chicago area seminaries and inter-cultural programs and felt that if I pursued my degree here it would feel less than what Fuller offers. So as usual...we plan and God laughs.  We know God will take us to Fuller at the right time.

Happy New Year to you!

We have entered 2007 on the heels of our return to Trinidad, the first time home for Kirk since our wedding vows. We had a wonderful time spending quality "liming" with family and friends, but Kirk found out quickly he can never really go "home" again. Many changes have passed since he left, not just the floors in his own house turning from carpet to tile and laminate, but the extreme inflation increases in the prices of most everything from food to houses.  We were struck by the increased influence by the U.S., which has saddened us because it draws Trinis away from their unique culture. Kirk will get some photos up soon from our trip.

Now we begin a new year together...a year full of unknowns. I am trying to seek where exactly that star in the sky is pointing for my seminary education, again.  It seems we were in this place last year, but I have grown since then and have a better sense of perhaps what God might want me to equipt myself for. Kirk and I both sense God growing in us a vision for returning to Trinidad to serve him there. Our vision of ministry is being opened to beyond church work. Both of us dream of changing the world - making it more like God's reign, but we are still a bit foggy on what that will look like. So we live one day at a time, surrendering our dreams to God, serving in the community he has planted us in.  

Blessings from our warm and cozy apartment in Evanston, Illinois. We pray you have seen the great blessings
of our Lord Jesus in your lives over the past year. We have followed God's star this year which has led us to a
new apartment, a new job, a new community of faith and the joys and sorrows that accompany the seasons of
change.

2006 began with many challenges. Kirk was still unable to work due to government limitations, but as soon as
he got his work permit in late February, God blessed him with a software programming position in Evanston.
Sarah's job became difficult for the last six months of her service, as she filled an interim position of co-principal.
Now on a personal “sabbatical,” Sarah is relieved from such responsibility and continues to pray for CMLC.

As we settled into our first year of marriage, it was very apparent that the church Sarah had been attending was
not a fit for both of us. The culture shock of a suburban church was very hard on Kirk. After a period of spiritual
drought, God's star led us to be refreshed at the Living Water Community Church (LWCC) on the last weekend
of July. We have been there ever since. Located on the north-side of Chicago in the diverse neighborhood of
Rogers Park, LWCC seeks to shine their light as an agent of positive change in the community. Kirk and I jumped
in with both feet – joining a small group the first week, both helping with the Jr. High After-school program
on Wednesdays and sharing meals with multiple new friends upon our move to the area. Many friends from
our church have commented on how we fit in so well, it just seems like we have always been here. Kirk, who
doubted he could feel at home in the US, has found a home in this community.