Today was the end of the cross-cultural training aspect of our summer training. Next week we will have a few days of training will all the Campus Crusade staff before we head home. So that means that, as of today, we’re graduates of Crusade’s Cross-Cultural ministry training!

We were also informed today that we have been accepted as students to the National and Capodostrian University of Athens, into their Modern Greek department! This is a big step toward our obtaining a visa, so it’s a big deal. Get your #2 pencils ready!

Please pray for our final steps in obtaining a visa to Greece. We are getting close, but Greece is a notoriously hard country within which to obtain a visa. We need God to provide a way for us to be in the country long-term without issues. Thanks for praying!

On Tuesday morning, we received the news up in Colorado that our friend Dan Reiter, a student Paul met with for several years was killed in a car accident early Tuesday morning.

Dan had just graduated from Texas State, and was preparing to spend a year working with urban youth. Dan lived his life loving God and loving others. I feel privileged to have worked with him, and Catherine and I will miss his friendship greatly.

Catherine and I are very sad about the loss of our friend, but we are also comforted by the fact that Dan is more fully alive now, in the presence of his Savior, than he ever was here on earth. While we grieve at the pain of loss, we rejoice in the faithful promise of eternal life in Christ.

This afternoon we flew to Houston from Colorado for the funeral, which will be held Friday morning. Please keep us and Dan’s family in your prayers during this time.

No, not to Greece. Not yet, at least.

Right now we’re in beautiful Denton, TX for a few days visiting with family and friends. Sunday, we’re heading to Ft. Collins, CO for two months of cross-cultural ministry training with 40 other staff, to be capped off with Campus Crusade’s semi-annual staff conference.

We’ll be sure to keep you updated on our training in the weeks to come!  We’re excited to see what we’ll learn and how we’ll grow.  We hope to leave this training in July feeling better equipped to begin a ministry in Greece.

With us in Colorado will be Jeremy and Julie Apel, who will be working with us next year in Athens.  We can’t wait to see them!