Update on our plans for Israel

If you've been sitting around lately wondering, "I wonder whatever happened to Robbie and Lauren's plans to move to Israel?" than this blog post is for you!  As many of you know, Israel has been on the horizon for us for quite a while. 

Lauren and I in Jerusalem (winter of 2010)

It's been over 2 years now since we were there, but we still want to go back.  We had been starting up the process of going with a certain mission agency and thought that things were moving ahead when God totally slammed the door on those plans.  To make a long story short, we were rejected by that agency because the missionaries in Israel that are with that agency, must extend an invitation to us to come to Israel, in order for us to be sent by that agency.  The missionaries could not extend an invitation to us because they were experiencing "growing pains" in their ministry, and could not take on any more people.  Thus, we were back to square one.  We're going through the missionary prep program at College Church in Wheaton, and still have a desire to serve the Lord full time.  We believe that at some point, we will end up in Israel, but at this point, we have surrendered our plans to the Lord and are willing to be used by Him, anywhere He should choose.  For now, that means serving Him right here in the suburbs of Chicago, working at LeaderTreks.

Lauren and I will be in Pawley's Island, SC this summer, leading mission trips for youth groups from all over America. 

We were able to visit our site a couple of weeks ago and are very excited about our summer there.  It is known as a vacation spot because of the beautiful beaches and nice golf courses, but there are some really poor neighborhoods on the main land, and that is where we'll be spending the majority of our time.  If you'd like to read more about where we'll be and what we'll be doing, click here. 

If you live in South Carolina and would like to come out at some point to see what we're doing, we'd love to see you.  Please feel free to get in contact with Lauren or myself and let us know!