Peter and Rachel Bittle and family have now been back in Asia-Pacific for over a month. They are so grateful that the transition has been mostly smooth, and as a family, they feel settled.
They are trying to spend as much time as possible working on their language abilities, as they have become very rusty.
Rachel started the new school term at the beginning of August, a little ‘early’ in light of the fact that they plan to move soon. They are thankful that the kids have better attitudes towards learning. Naomi has really enjoyed her first weeks of home school and her enthusiasm seems to have rubbed off onto the other two.
At the end of October, they plan to make the move as a family to their future ministry location. Their responsibilities and roles will be broad, including supporting church planting teams in that area and assisting the local church. They need to build a house, and plan to live in the guesthouse until it is ready. Another family from USA, are joining them, arriving around Christmas time. They will form a team with a national couple who have been working there for the past five years.
These are only ‘their’ plans, and they are learning to be flexible and not to hold onto ‘their’ plans too tightly. Near the end of October, they plan to attend a regional fellowship conference in the city. They are excited about this because everyone who serves with the mission on the Island should be able to attend. This will be the first time in ten years that no one is on home assignment, or otherwise engaged, and the first time that Peter and Rachel are able to meet some of their co-workers face to face.
Rachel’s health remains pretty much the same. They are so thankful she remains symptom free. Recently she had another blood test and phone consultation, and praise the Lord, levels continue to improve.
Prayer Requests:
- For the kids. That they would make good friends and quickly feel settled in the new location.
- For the logistics of the move; that they would have a clear path ahead of them.
- For Rachel’s blood tests to continue to show better results.
- That the Word and the Spirit would awaken them all from distraction and seeming nonchalance.
- For the ability and confidence in language to communicate clearly to those around them.