July 2011 Prayer Letter

Written by Karl Dahlfred on .

DOWNLOAD PDF - JULY 2011 DAHLFREDS PRAYER LETTER

 

Dear Friends & Family,

 

Praise the Lord! We have bought our home and are living in it. It has been rough at times getting here, but the Lord has accomplished it. Getting settled has also been difficult, but we are slowly getting there by God’s grace. Of course, keeping the home while serving the Lord as missionaries overseas will be a challenge. So, we know that we are dependent on God every step of the way. Please continue to pray for us over this matter.

We had written earlier that there would be risks to owning a home while we are overseas but we believe that it will be a good investment and will serve to control rent in our latter years.  If we were to retire in the United States in thirty years time, it would be good to not to have to pay rent at that time, especially as some people are less likely to keep supporting retired missionaries who are no longer “on the front lines”.   Out of necessity, some missionaries live in dozens of different homes over the course of their lifetime.  We hope that owning this home will add stability to our family’s life as we come back to it time and again when we are in the U.S.

We were not sure if we were going to get the house ‘til the very end. The underwriter kept asking for this document and that document, dragging out escrow three weeks beyond the promised closing date. We had given up at one point, but God somehow made it happen. We finally got the keys!

Next came getting it ready for moving in. We had to get flooring for the kitchen and the back add-on which did not have flooring yet. We also had to paint over the extremely dark blue, purple, and green walls so as to make it renter-friendly. With Karl at school most days, and Sun with two young children, we did not have a lot of time to prepare the house for the work it needed. Three people from Grace Presbyterian Church came over one day to help remove some old linoleum and some ancient wall paper. That was a big help! The painter we hired said the wall colors were the darkest he’s ever seen in a house. We also found some basic beige carpet at an affordable price to replace the dark green carpet that had lots of pet stains and odor.

We are still using bedsheets as curtains in our bedroom, and one room has no covering at all.  But we are slowly getting there. The other day, Sun re-screened the back screen door. She tore the new screen at two places in the process, but it’s hard to tell. The dryer we had gotten for free broke down, but thanks to Craigslist and $20, we now have a working replacement. Now we are trying to get our thresholds in place to keep the bugs out. There’s plenty to do, so please pray for wisdom as we make decisions about what to do and when, given the limited time and resources that God has given us.

Throughout this whole process, we have always prayed for God’s will to be done. He has given us a home, but he may take it away just as well. We want to commit this home to him, knowing that there is nothing that we have that has not been given us. Please pray for us to be good stewards in every aspect of our life.

Thank you for your prayers and support during this time. It’s been frustrating and exhausting many times, but we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. God is good to us and will see us through to the very end.

Karl finished the first semester with A’s and B’s. Praise the Lord! Please continue to pray for Karl because he needs to finish the first draft of his Th.M thesis by the beginning of September. This summer will continue to be a period of intensive study period for him.

by Christ’s grace,
Karl & Sun Dahlfred


PRAYER POINTS

  • Wisdom as we try to make house renter-friendly for when we return to Thailand
  • Karl to persevere in Th.M studies
  • For God to be glorified in preaching & sharing on missions in churches


PRAISES

  • We have a house to call home in the US.
  • Opportunities to speak & preach in churches
  • Karl successfully completed his first semester

CALENDAR

7/23-7/29   OMF debrief & training in Denver, CO
8/7             Karl preach at Christ Presbyterian Church, Temecula, CA
8/14           Karl speak at Zionsville Prebyterian Church, Indiana




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