Friday, October 12, 2012

Friends all over...

With beautiful inside-and-out teenager, Stephanie, from a supporting church

One of my favorite parts of traveling on furlough is not the good food, not the great shopping, and not the pretty hotels, homes, and missions apartments we stay in {though I love, love, love those things!}.  I mostly feel a really special joy when we visit a church and someone walks up to me, introduces themselves, and lets me know that they...

know us

pray for us

read our prayer letters and/or this blog

know what God is doing in our ministry

There is just something special about knowing you are loved by someone else.  It is humbling.  Truly, truly humbling.

We really are not anyone important.  But, we get to do a BIG work for a worthy Savior and it just blesses our hearts to know when individuals are equally excited about that work.
The Weiss family drove 2 1/2 hours to see us!

So, if I have had an opportunity to meet you since we have been traveling because you have been brave enough to come by and introduce yourself, I truly thank you. To friends we have already known and been able to see again, thank you for loving us and welcoming us "home" with loving arms.  It just really warms our hearts.  We have had friends drive several hours just to see us, and we just feel supremely blessed.

Friendship truly is a treasured gift from God.  And how blessed we are to enjoy friendships all over this big, wide world!

In the video included below you can see one of the many things we enjoy doing as we travel: singing as a family for our Savior.  We are not mega talented by any means, but we do love singing {in Russian these days} to the churches we visit.  Though he is not pictured, hubby (the one with all the talent!) is playing the piano and singing tenor. Click here to watch the video if you are reading this post in your inbox or through a reader and cannot see the video embedded below.
In my next blog post, I look forward to sharing hubby's new book with you, and we'll be having a giveaway so that some of you can have it sent to you as a gift from us!  Be sure to check back soon so that you don't miss it!

16 comments:

  1. I cant wait to see you in person again Mrs Jolene! Praying for you and your family

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    1. Thanks, Taumika! :-) I hope we get to see you too!

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  2. Fantastic! Loved listening to the family sing! Miss you guys!!!! Wish you were back for the couples conference next week.

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  3. Love the video

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  4. So enjoyed the singing in Russian. We enjoy singing in Croatian where we are ministering as well. We probably couldn't remember the English words if we tried! LOL. Looking forward to our furlough in 24 days. (:

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  5. Not "important"?! Just think, you get to go where God called you and not us, and we get to be there with you in prayer, seeing the pictures, reading the blog. You get to tell people about us and how much we love them and pray for them, too. Yep - our missionaries do have those beautiful feet and are important to those who send and those who receive. We love your service to our Lord.

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  6. Jolene,
    Thank you for sharing this video. What a blessing to know you are there ministering to the people in Ukraine (our son's birth country). Our 7 weeks in Ukraine was a tremendous blessing to us, we grew to love the people in the town of Torez where we stayed. Looking forward to more videos and updates. May our Lord richly bless your time "home" in America.
    Love in Christ,
    Misty Risse
    http://family-risse.blogspot.com

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  7. Great video! I loved it! You are very talented. :-)

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  8. So glad you are enjoying furlough! I totally agree with you about meeting people for the first time who have seen your prayer card or read your letters and are so faithful to pray for you! It is very humbling! Great video too!

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  9. Awwww!!! Tears came to my eyes as I watched you sing! I can't wait to see you!

    I am praying for your safety as you travel. I love you.

    Anna

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  10. Dearest Jolene

    I love you and enjoyed your blog. I told Anna, "They practised that song every morning after devotions right outside my bedroom door." Precious memories.

    Mom
    Nahum 1:7

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  11. I agree 100% that it's the most fun - and humbling! - to meet people who "know" you through your prayer letters and/or blog, and to know that they pray for you and keep up with what's going on in your life!

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  12. Such a beautiful song, Jolene! Thank you for sharing! What a blessing to see so many people you love, all over the globe. Such a sweet reminder of the celebration of friendship in Heaven, with our Creator! *Hugs*

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  13. Hi, Mrs. Sloan!

    I enjoyed this post and just wanted to say it was an honor for ME to meet you and your family last month at Pastors' Conference in Santa Clara! It is so nice to say I actually "know" you now...not just from your blog postings! You are such an encouragement and inspiration to me!

    Praying for you and your family as you travel! I will be looking forward to your updates, and sharing them with my kiddos at church!

    God bless,
    Cassidy

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  14. Hi, Just wanted to let you know I still enjoy reading your updates and pray for your family. In my Sunday school class a little girl prays every time that "the man who owns Ukraine" will let you stay. :) Hope your family had a nice Christmas!

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  15. That was great! Beautiful :) :) :)

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Thank you for your encouraging comments! "As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." Proverbs 25:25