Hi praying friends,

A couple of weeks ago we had a planning meeting to set the schedule for the short-term team that is arriving today. Before we get to the point of having the planning meeting, we already have invested hours in communicating with the team, communicating with partners, arranging lodging, and thinking through all of the behind-the-scenes details.

Since that meeting, we have purchased supplies, fine-tuned lots of details, prayed for the team, and walked through some schedule rearrangements with partners.

Last night, I got a message - "Flights are all jumbled up now. Looking at new flights so we can arrive on same day as scheduled." That was just before 9:00 PM. At 3:50 AM it was "We are in Minneapolis and depart in 45m for Amsterdam." I will find out later today just exactly how roundabout their trip was, but that meant our team went to work early this morning, replanning the arriving team's schedule for today, meal plans, etc.

We say it a lot, but one of the biggest skills we have had to learn as international workers is flexibility - and today we are practicing it again! Pray for the team arriving, they have had a long, long day of travel and plans changing. And pray for us - that we can receive them well!

Let me whet your appetite a little for our new space! Here are two renderings from our architecht of our new gallery space. The gallery will be 750 square feet - with almost 100 feet of wall space for us to exhibit art. It will also give us space to have small concerts and other events!

For a point of reference - this is what the building looked like (through the window) before we rented it:

So - we will be starting our fundraising campaign in the next couple of weeks! Can you start praying for this?

If God puts specific people on your heart, you can direct them to this link: The Arboretum. Or, of course, you can always put them in touch with me!

Some extra prayer requests:

1. Our new teammates have started language school! Pray for them as they dive into German.
2. We had our registration appointments, and now have been able to send that paperwork to the visa office. Please pray for our case-worker as he works through our visa application.
3. Pray for the visa application process for our interns - it has been increasingly tricky!
4. Personally, pray for us as we continue to reenter our community and work. There have been a lot of extra stressors, so it feels like we are working hard just to keep our head above water.

Thanks for praying! How can we pray for you?

Blessings,

mike