The Flores Journey

We have officially begun the process of transition. Just another reminder that this venture is indeed, a reality! In a week, Claire will be flying to Vermont and Bryan will drive just a week later. We plan to be there with Claire's parents for 2 months and hopefully depart for Cape Town in January.

It's a bittersweet time for us as we say goodbyes to everyone we have spent the past years with. We will greatly miss our friends, family and church body! But as we move forward, sadness is not our tune... we are delighted to be moving into the season that God has ordained for us.

As far as support, we are still at about 10% of our monthly and 65% of our set up fund. We are praising God for the support that we have received and believing him for the rest. In the meantime, Bryan will find work in Vermont to help those numbers increase.

We are so blessed to have been able to live with Bryan's parents for the past month and now to be living with Claire's parents for the next couple months. Both of our families have been so generous in opening their homes to us.

As we walk forward in this journey, we ask for your continued prayers. Transition is never a completely smooth process, but please pray for us that it will be as smooth as possible, especially for 5 month old little Peyton.


Please continue to pray for us as we strive to be trustworthy with what we have been given by God. Even in only having a 5 month old, we are walking forward in this journey of parenting with hearts desires to do it to the best of our ability. We want to make decisions even now for Peyton that will set her up for a life of godliness even now. We also want to hold her with open hands and release her to the Lord knowing that He and only He can protect and sustain her. Pray that we will walk in wisdom even as we parent on the mission field. Thank you for your prayers and for being the body of Christ alongside us!

²"I will go before you and make the rough places smooth;
I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars.
³"I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden wealth of secret places,
So that you may know that it is I,
The LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
⁴"For the sake of Jacob My servant,
And Israel My chosen one,
I have also called you by your name;
I have given you a title of honor
Though you have not known Me.
⁵"I am the LORD, and there is no other;
Besides Me there is no God
I will gird you, though you have not known Me;
⁶That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is no one besides Me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other,
⁷The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing well-being and creating calamity;
I am the LORD who does all these"

We had reached a sort of an impass. It felt as though either we needed God to give us an obvious sign that we were to stay the course, or we had to give up. We had been support raising for a few months, working really hard at it--with no result. We felt defeated, disappointed and confused.

After several weeks of crying out to God for an answer, we gave up. Not that we gave up on God, but we gave up on being in control. We told Him that we couldn't do it anymore. That our support raising journey was completely in His hands. And then we sat back, and waited.

That same week at church a friend of ours handed us a check for a couple hundred dollars. It was a sign from God.

Bryan had a dream a couple months back about a truck bed full of apples. The back of the truck was opened, and a couple apples fell out. After those few apples, it didn't take long for the whole truck to dump out. He felt this was a prophetic dream about support raising.

After that first check, the ball kept rolling. We received monthly pledges that blew us away.

God has taken control. And it's a much better game plan than ours!

We are blessed to now be at 9% of our monthly support and 30% of our set-up fund. It may not seem like much, but to us it's monumental. It's God's assurance that this is indeed the path He has set out for us. And we anticipate the great things He will continue to do along the way.

In our previous post, we talked about beginning the process of fund raising. Well, here we are, a few months into the process and we can't help but feel discouraged. So far we have received only one time donations and one "pledge" to donate monthly. We realize that we haven't been doing this for that long, but still it's hard not to wonder if perhaps this isn't meant to be.

Don't think that we're giving up at the first sign of adversity, but it's hard not to wonder if perhaps this is God's way of showing us that South Africa is not His direction. That perhaps we heard wrong.

We still both feel a burning passion for the people of South Africa. We still feel at peace with our decision to move there. But each fund raising appointment we go to bears the same result. "No, we're sorry. We can't support you at this time." or "We can give a little bit, but just this once." Believe you me, we're not judging. We know the time in which we live. We realize there is economic crisis going on.

We have recently begun the tedious process of support raising. It's not easy, to humble yourself and ask other people for money. It goes against everything we've been taught, and every ounce of pride we hang onto... but it's something that, in this case, must be done for the advancing of Christ's kingdom.

The funny thing is, when someone asks us for support, we don't blink. We don't look at them and think they are a mooch, or lazy, etc. but for some reason when it comes to us being the ones asking, we immediately conclude that those are things people connect us to. We have had a couple of appointments thus far, and they've gone well. We haven't gotten any support out of them, but they were encouraging even just through the comments people made and affirmation we received.

At the end of the day, we just have to trust that if this is really what God has called us to do (which we know He has!) then He will provide. After all, we serve a God who owns "the cattle on a thousand hills" who could literally CREATE money for us if necessary.

Why do we fear when He is the One who goes before us and stands behind us?

But somehow, we still find ourselves doubting that our goal will ever be reached.

But God. I had a pastor when I was younger who would often repeat that phrase. "But God." "But God." He would always say that the most dismal Scripture verses were followed by that powerful, revolutionary phrase. "But God." No matter how much we doubt, or how dismal things appear, "BUT GOD." God will accomplish His will. God will advance His kingdom. God will send workers into the harvest. God will reach the people of Cape Town, South Africa.

He doesn't need our help. But He gives us the opportunity to become involved for our benefit and His glory.

Faith isn't always the easiest virtue to uphold, but it is certainly the most relaxing one.

As we continue in this fundraising process, we know that God will prove Himself faithful. Even when we are faithless.

Welcome to the Flores Family blog! Check here for updates about our journey to Cape Town, South Africa.