So. I'm getting married and leaving the country--and this August, no less! I figured you all would like an update!
Aaron and I plan to get married in late August and move to Townsville, Australia directly after the wedding. We'll be working as full time missionaries for the YWAM base there for the foreseeable future. This is the same base Aaron and I met at and the same city in which Aaron spent much of his adolescence and young adulthood.
While there, we will be working with the youth of the city, the underprivileged people groups in the city and in the surrounding areas, and the people of Papua New Guinea. The base we will be working at full time centers their ministry around all of these topics, but places special emphasis on reaching out to the people in Papua New Guinea and providing them with biblical teaching, community service, and health, dental, and vision care. You can read more about it at www.ywamtownsville.org, if you'd like! Aaron and I will be returning to the base once again with the goal of spreading the gospel and love of Jesus throughout unreached people groups, whether that is in the nation of Papua New Guinea, the small city of Townsville, or elsewhere! We don't plan on working with Papua on-shore just yet--we'll be working to help the cause from the site in Townsville for now. This being said, we will keep you updated if we get a chance to minister on-shore!
After we arrive at the YWAM Townsville base and begin working again, we plan to hash out our next step in ministry as a married couple. We may stay at Townsville to staff indefinitely, we may move to the YWAM Whitsundays base, or we may do something yet different. We are not sure what the Lord has for us beyond this next step. We plan to take this next year in stride, along with the blessings it's sure to bring: being in a familiar town, having mutual friends nearby, and especially living nearby Aaron's family. This will allow him a chance to reunite and me a chance to get to know my in-laws and new sister. I grow more and more thankful for this opportunity the more I think on it! The Lord is so good.
This transition will not be easy for me--I will dearly miss my family, church, and surrounding community. However, this is where the Lord is directing my life at the moment. It's been a roller coaster of life-altering events leading up to this, but, through it all, I have come down to this truth: the Lord truly has His firm hand over my life and I feel it, consistently, gloriously, and relentlessly.
This is all supremely exciting and I look forward to seeing many of you soon (Aaron and I will be home in late July! If you would like to get together with one or both of us, email us! We would be delighted to catch up over coffee!). Lastly, I should let you all know now, even just two months before we leave: we are looking to begin fundraising throughout our communities again. I want to clarify: as we cannot take many belongings overseas with us, we will also be asking for financial wedding gifts in lieu of the classic "newlywed house stuff". Those financial gifts could go towards any number of things (including newlywed house stuff!), as would be expected. However, financial gifts given before the wedding and towards our "mission fund" will be used purely for costs directly relating to our mission's work.
For that fund, we are looking to raise $3,000 to cover the cost of living for our first three months in Townsville, September - December, 2016. We are praying that we will receive funds and/or commitments in that amount prior to our wedding day. This would include one time donations, commitments to one-time donations, and commitments to monthly support. I know this is a lot to tackle in two months, especially alongside a wedding and a cross-continental move, but we are trusting the Lord to provide. We're also looking for commitments for prayer support--prayer support is truly just as important as financial support, so if you'd like to commit to that, we'd love it if you would contact one of us directly.
How to send us your support
If you'd like to support us via check, you can make it out to Anna Winters and mail it to my parents home in Mechanicsburg, PA. If you don't know their mailing address, you can email Kim Winters here and she will send it to you. If you would like to speak with either Aaron or myself about our mission work, needs, etc., my email address is here and Aaron's is here. We would genuinely love to talk with any and all of you and continue building solid relationships.
Well, I believe that's all for now. I want to thank so many of you already for being so supportive and loving and kind since the announcement! I couldn't have imagined a more encouraging response. I love you each dearly, and please contact me, even if you'd just like to chat! Thank you so much!
Blessings, Anna (and Aaron!)
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