Partner Profile - Shannon Barber

Imagine this...raising an infant boy, working a job, and still finding time to partner with us in ministry. Shannon Barber is.

After attending high school with Lindsey at Trinity Christian Academy in Addison, TX, Shannon and Lindsey have continued to stay in touch over the years. Shannon recently came over to visit us and let us hold her little (well, maybe not very little) baby boy.

She asked Lindsey if there was anything she could do to help us out like something administrative that she could do from home for example. We mentioned to Shannon that she could help us out big time by folding our brochures and paperclipping a prayer card to each one. Shannon literally spent hours doing hundreds and hundreds of these.

Then she told us that she was done in less than a couple weeks. This past week she brought them by and gave us a huge box full will everything done. We also got to hold her little son Noah.

If you'd like to partner with us in ministry by serving, praying, or giving, let us know by visiting our partner page.

Thanks Shannon for your service and your prayers. It means more than you know.

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Gas Prices: It's all about perspective!

In DALLAS, the gas prices are around $3.73.




While we were in IOWA, the gas prices were about $3.48.
While in INDIANA, we paid $3.75 for gas.



In CHICAGO, we have been paying between $4.19 and $4.35...sometimes more!



When we get to URUGUAY, gas prices are about $6.20/gallon*.
In SPAIN it is around $8.15/gallon.
(*The unit of measure for gas is actually liters, but this is the converted rate.)

Looking at just the cost of gas can give you a good picture of the sort of standard of living that we will be introduced to in Uruguay and Spain. The value of the dollar, plus the problems with gas contributes to this increase in gas prices. Right now, the exchange rate in Spain is about 1Euro = $1.51. Because of this exchange rate, the monthly amount of support that we are raising is $8,024.19. The currency rate is one of the many challenges that we will face as we serve in ministry in both Uruguay and Spain. One thing's for sure...we won't take the $3.73 gas in Dallas for granted :)

Last Days and First Days - Part I

Friday was a pretty significant day for Brad and I as well as our family.

Brad's Last Day - A couple months ago Brad notified his boss at CAM that we were going to apply to become missionaries with CAM. This meant that Brad would soon be resigning his position at CAM to begin our ministry of partnership development before leaving for the mission field. Well all of that became a reality this summer when we accepted as new missionaries and then a few weeks ago when Brad turned in his official resignation. Finally on August 29th, Brad worked his last day at CAM International's Dallas Headquarters.


As much as it was a bit of an emotional day to be leaving a place that we had come to love, it was an exciting day to see God moving us forward as a couple towards what He has in store for us in the future. It is mind boggling how much God has done in our lives and in the lives of others to confirm his direction for our lives. From some close friends of ours who have five kids sending us a handwritten letter of encouragement from each member of the family, to some family friends taking us out to dinner and donating an old laptop to us for Brad to use, to a friend of ours allowing us to serve them by walking them through the issue of deciding about infant or believer's baptism, we've seen God at work each step of the way.

Enjoy the video of my last day on the job!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYW2xfcECY8



Bill's Last Day - On Friday August 29, my father Bill Bridges finished his last day of work for Bank of America after 37 years of work. Imagine beginning your career at 22 and finishing it with the same company (after a few name changes) just before turning the big 60. We are proud of Brad's dad and encouraged by his example to us of a loving father willing to work hard to provide for his family.



We found out that Sidney and Wesley along with their families all went and celebrated Bill's last day with the bank of Friday. Also many of Bill's current or previous boss's as well as others that he had trained or worked with came to visit him from various locations North Carolina. Imagine leaving an imprint on your organization or field in general big enough to; A. work there for 37 years, B. have old and current bosses come visit, and C. finish your career as the top performing Bank of America branch in NC. AWESOME!

Next (Last and First Days - Part II)

Moving Out...Moving On

Done! No more packing, cleaning, organizing. Our stuff is in about 25 boxes + our bed. That is all we own, period. Enjoy the video.

Candidate Orientation - Day 4

Today we had the opportunity to start the day by sharing our testimony to all the CAM staff and the new candidates. It was fun to share a little about ourselves, the montage we shared at our wedding, and then share about our future ministry.

After that we had some time to go over each of our myers-briggs personality profiles so that each of us could understand ourselves a little better as well as the rest of the team. As we expected, Brad is an extrovert and Lindsey is an introvert in terms of preference. There's much more to be shared but let's just say that we were amazed to learn so much about ourselves, our marriage, and also about those around us with whom we will be serving.

In the afternoon we went to the Arboretum here in Dallas with all the candidates (among which is our Spain team)where there are some amazingly beautiful flowers, places to take walks, water fountains, sculptures, and more. For all of us it was nice to get some time away from "meetings and interviews" and just enjoy some fellowship as a team. Check out the pictures.

Finally after dinner today we all came back and watched two Nooma (see Nooma.com) and then watched National Treasure II as well with Jeff and Linda Arnold.

Extreme Cold

Have you ever experienced an 83 degree temperature change in one day? Today I did. It was 80 degrees in Dallas today and by the time I got to Moody in Chicago today it was -3 degrees! -3 degrees!

It was a wonderful day in Dallas with perfect weather to go out to a park and have a picnic with Lindsey or play sports. Now here in Chicago (where I'll be until Friday) it is freeeeeezing cold. It is so cold that your fingers start to get numb after just a couple minutes. Let's just say that I will be spending lots of time inside this week rather than outside.

Brad

Rain...Lots of Rain.

It was incredible today to see the rain pour down at CAM in Dallas, TX. My coworkers and I just decided to take a break from work for about five minutes and proceed to ooh and ahh about the rain. It really is easy to take rain for granted especially when it is coming down all the time. But it is during the times that we don't have it that we realize how thankful we should be.

My father shared with me in the fall about how NC and other states were experiencing extreme droughts that were making life very difficult for full-time farmers.

Enjoy the video. Be thankful. Rain.