P.S. to below blog

Just wanted you to know that I had a wonderful, restful sleep last night and now I'm sitting at Starbucks with fast speed internet! Doesn't get much better than that. Coffee & computer...that's all it takes to make me happy. Life is sweet.

The mother of all trips

I'm in the Vienna airport on my way home to be with my mom (who's very ill) for 2 weeks. I have a super fast internet connection here so I'll take advantage and post some pictures and comments here. I left my home at 9AM with a taxi driver who went at top speed for 3 hours through the mountains. He didn't like his seatbelt so just put it on when we came to police checkpoints (which was at least 20 times). He'd then take it off and let it beep for a full minute before it stopped. He also had a car that beeped loudly at 120 km per hour. Much of the trip the car was beeping because we were often going more than 120. It was scary to say the least! He was supposed to take me into town for lunch and then to the airport but I told him to take me straight to the airport, even though I was 4 hours early. I arrived in Vienna and had booked a hotel on-line. I asked the tourist desk where this hotel was and she pointed me in the right direction. I got on a bus and went 1/2 hour, then was to look for the underground train. I walked for 1/2 hour looking for the train and everyone gave me different directions. I finally found a young man who was going to the same place I was going so he said to follow him. When I got off the train he pointed me in the direction he thought the hotel was. I got out on the street in a busy city and had NO idea what to do. I nabbed some random man and asked him and he said to follow him. He "happened" to live right next to the hotel! We walked for 15 minutes and came to an obscure small hotel that I never would have found on my own. By now my feet were blistered and my back hurting since I'd been carrying my heavy computer bag on my shoulder all the way. I found a cute little Italian restaurant and had some pizza and then fell into bed. A truly exhausting day!

Thank you!!

As you can see in the pictures below, we have a beautiful house and car and are so thankful for both. If it wasn't for all of you, we wouldn't have anything! Thank you so much.

our new (used) Nissan Pathfinder

our big red house

Update - July 2008

Dear friends,

Most of you have access to the web and thus have been able to keep up with our happenings over the past couple weeks. We've been here for a little over a week and it seems like at least a month! We have accomplished much and are beginning to feel like we're home. I say that even as I type this letter with the sweat running down my back and no electricity at all. This is the biggest challenge of living in this place; the lack of electricity and the extreme heat. We were able to find a large house the day after we arrived and are slowing furnishing it. It is a perfect set-up for guests and short-term teams. We live downstairs and upstairs are three guest rooms with a large sitting area. So come along for a visit. There are certain months of the year that we understand are very pleasant, mainly spring and fall. The winters and summers are brutal. We have also purchased a Nissan 4X4 which will be great when traveling these mountains. We've begun to pick up a bit of this language and I am enjoying it a lot. I was worried that at our age we might not be able to learn too much but it's coming. We forgot what it was like to not understand a thing that's going on and the frustration of trying to communicate. There are very few here who speak English. We've met several important people in the government and have been warmly welcomed everywhere we've been. Pray that we'll be able to find a suitable building for our language center.

When we left the States on June 17^th my mother (Nancy Pierce) was in the hospital in Pittsburg suffering from pulmonary emboli (blood clots in the lungs) and a tumor on the pituitary gland. Our family encouraged me to go ahead and get on the plane as she was stabilized and getting good care. Since then she has had all kinds of setbacks and complications and is really suffering. My sister Debbi has been there with my dad through the past couple of weeks but now has to leave. My family has decided that the only solution is for me to fly home for 2 weeks to help with her care; it is a lot for my dad to handle alone. So I have a ticket to fly to Pittsburg on Friday, the 28^th of June and return on July 12^th. Please pray urgently that my mother will come out of this crisis and get back on her feet; she has suffered terribly through this ordeal. Pray for strength for my dad also. You can imagine the strain of sitting all day long in a hospital watching your loved one suffer. Thank you for remembering me as I travel in the coming days. Darrell will be here alone; he has many projects in this house that will keep him busy for the next 2 weeks. We know that God's timing is perfect; we are at peace even in the midst of this storm. He does all things well. Just pray.

If you'd like to help out with any financial needs, please send your gift to:

The Alliance

P.O. Box 35000

Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3500

Forever grateful for YOU,

Darrell & Cheryl

Thankful

It's been a wild few days as we've moved into our new home. As many times as I've done this, I always forget what's involved! And in this country a lot more is involved than anywhere else I've lived. The electrician has been working for two days to hook up our generator to the house, hook up air conditioners in every room and numerous plugs and lights that are broken. Now we have 3 colored lightbulbs in the kitchen window to tell us where the electricity is coming from. This morning when the electric came on at 7AM (it had been off since 3), we sat down for breakfast at our new kitchen table, music playing, fan blowing overhead and we were overcome with how good our life is. SO much to be thankful for. We had a meeting with a very influential person yesterday, we've been welcomed warmly by everyone, found a beautiful house in one day, bought a car (sight unseen from a friend in another city - a Nissan 4X4) we go for our residence permits tomorrow & hope to get 6 months or a year. In spite of the heat, lack of electricity and ferocious dust, we are beginning to feel at home in this place; we're picking up some words in the language and will soon venture out in our car alone. The driving is crazy but no crazier than other places we've been, just don't know where we're going yet! Today I wish I had a video of me trying to get into a taxi holding a carton of 30 eggs, my computer on my shoulder and maneuvering a grocery cart piled high with stuff, going down a steep ramp. It was a sight to behold. Hopefully we'll have internet in our home in a few days. I'm going through withdrawal. I come to this smoky cafe once a day.

Finally here

We have arrived in our new country and are slowly getting settled. Things do not move very quickly or efficiently here! Fortunately we have experienced some of the same things other places we've lived so it's not a total shock. The electricity comes from 3 sources: the government, the local neighborhood supplier and your personal generator. Everyone's lives are controlled by the electricity, wondering how many amps they can run in the house . (depends on the source) Last night after having slept for only 4 hours, we woke up in a pool of sweat and couldn't sleep the rest of the night. The electricity finally came around 7:30AM. The water is also a huge problem as there's very little of it and has to be rationed. We've tried to get to a reliable internet cafe and have finally found one. Although it's packed with people and very smoky we are enjoying uninterrupted electricity and the opportunity to get caught up on our e-mails. We found a very large house (needs lots of work) and are anxious to move in there maybe Sunday. It is bright red on the outside so easy to point people to. The people here love bright colors. We'll live on the bottom floor and make the top floor into guest quarters. The best thing is that it has a well which is a goldmine here we're told. We should have no problem with water ever. We even have a small lawn in the front yard which is partly green. Things are more expensive than we were told and we're finding we really have to be careful; the money is going fast! Thanks to everyone who gave to help set up our house; it's such a blessing. There is also a phone line in our house and we will be able to get DSL so that will be a bonus also. It is good to be here finally and although life is a bit challenging right now, I'm sure we'll find ways to make things more comfortable once we get into our own house. We're staying in a "hotel" right now and you might call it a 1/2* hotel?? It's pretty rough:) Thanks for hanging with us.

Last-minute details

My niece's wedding in Pittsburg was beautiful. The road trip was fun with our kids. Of course we were all sad that my mom was hospitalized the day before the wedding and not able to attend. The bride showed up in her hospital room afterward which was a big surprise and helped her to feel a part of things. Now reality is all around us; in 48 hours we'll be boarding the plane for our new destination. No matter how organized you think you are, when the last hours are upon you there seems to be a myriad of things that need to be done! Getting our 6 suitcases to all weigh 50 lbs is a challenge. Cancel insurance, cancel cell phones, pay bills, change address, confirm airline tickets, get international driver's licenses, write thank-you's...these are just a few of the things on our "to do" list. But in the end, everything always gets done. We are experts at this by now. Next entry will be from K-country. Stay tuned...

Mom and Dad Pierce

Our family

Rachel and Josh Ellison

Update - June 2008

Dear friends,

Wedding news

May 31^st was a beautiful sunny day in Chicagoland! It was the wedding day of our daughter, Rachel. Family and friends gathered for the occasion and it was truly a wonderful celebration. The above photo is of our three kids. We praise God for our new son-in-law, Josh Ellison. Nathan was able to fly in for 3 days from his overseas post and Glenn was the photographer for the wedding. My brother John was a huge help in setting up the reception and my sisters and parents gave him a helping hand. Some of Rachel's childhood friends from the Middle East were also present and they added an Arab flavor with the traditional Arab dance (debkeh) which everyone joined in with. All in all it was a fun, relaxing wedding and all the work that went into planning it was well worth it. Now it is a rush to the finish as we finish packing and saying our good-byes here on this side of the ocean; that part never gets easier.

Departure

This will be the last time we write to you from the USA. On June 17^th we will fly from Chicago to Iraq, via Vienna. We covet your prayers as we embark on this new adventure. Life promises to be challenging in our new place of ministry and we will count on you, our faithful partners, to stand with us. We have set up a website where you can follow what's happening in our lives and ask questions/make comments... The address is: ww.phoeniciekonnection.blogspot.com No, you have not been misspelling our name all these years; that's my son's creative mind at work:) (and it makes it more difficult to “find” us)

Opportunities for financial partnership

We have enjoyed getting to many of your churches during the last 6 months and sharing what God is doing in the Middle East. You have been so supportive and we return once again with the strong sense that we belong to a wonderful family of partners and friends. Thank you to those who have given faithfully to our support over the past 25 years. As you may know, the GCF has suffered recently for several reasons, one being the falling value of the dollar overseas. Field budgets have had to be cut and ministry opportunities put on hold. Please consider how you might be involved in seeing this crisis come to an end. Send your gift to the C&MA address below.

As we begin in a new country, we will rely heavily on our Work Funds for different ministry needs & projects. You can give to this need by marking your gift for our Work . Soon after we hit the ground, we hope to rent or buy a building for a community center where we'll teach English and have a coffee shop/student center, etc. We'd love to be able to purchase a building so that we can renovate it to suit our specific needs like we did in the last place we were. If you'd like to give a gift to this project, please refer to account #1-47200-45-59-09012. You can contact us about bringing a team out to help do manual labor and/or teach English at the center. We count on your partnership to help make this center a success! Thank you so much for your sacrifice as we work together to see the Kingdom expanded in the Middle East. We look forward to reporting great things to you very soon.

Send gifts to: The C&MA P.O. Box 35000, Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3500

Under His Care,

Darrell & Cheryl