We made it!

We arrived on Monday evening after a long day of travel. The girls did so well! There were a few stressful moments, but overall, the day went great. All the girls enjoyed the plane, loved looking out the windows, and couldn’t wait for the snack cart to come down the aisle. What an answer to prayer that they did so well on the flights.

I have to brag on Tyler as he handled absolutely every last bit of the logistics that got us here. He was so on top of it and prepared for every possible hiccup. I could not have done it without him!

(Tyler here, I also have to brag on Rachel for taking such great care of the girls, most of the packing, and all of the organizing that allowed me to focus on the details of flights, paperwork, and immigration. I could not have done it without you!)

We arrived in Mexico City and immediately took the two hour drive to Puebla with the Allens, our great friends from ILC. They will be with us for this year of language, then head to their country when we move to Guatemala next October. The girls love them and immediately remembered them from “camp” (what the girls call ILC). So excited to finally begin this adventure with them.

Our house is very nice! It is the first two-story home I have ever lived in and we have a lot of space for the girls to spread out and play. We feel so grateful for the neighborhood and surrounding community, too! Just a few houses down from us is a neighborhood playground and it is a huge space for the girls to run and play! I know we will spend many evenings out there playing after the girls get out of school.

Speaking of school, a huge worry of ours was how the girls would adapt to their new school. They will all attend a preschool/kindergarten that teaches in both Spanish and English. We visited the school on Wednesday to meet the teachers and complete all the enrollment paperwork. While we were in the office registering the girls, they were invited into their classrooms to get a feel for their teachers and classmates. You guys, the Lord is so good! The office had a monitor displaying each classroom, and we were able to watch the girls slowly warm up to their new environment. It was a huge blessing for my momma’s heart! The girls were excited to return on Thursday for their first official day of School.

After we dropped the girls off at school on Thursday, Tyler and I went to take our placement tests and enroll in the language school we will begin next Monday. One of the options on the test was no sé, meaning I do not know. Even though I took Spanish in 8th, 9th, and 10th grade, I could only answer one question with something other than no sé. We have so much to learn this year, and are so excited to get started!

Saturday, we had a chance to explore the area around our neighborhood. We walked out our guard gate and found so many shops that we will be able to frequent this year. We will not have a car for the first few months until we learn enough language to take the drivers test in Spanish, so having places where we can walk to is a must! Tyler and I both felt so good after seeing we aren’t dependent on a Taxi or Uber to get groceries each week. We greeted people on the street with the little bit of Spanish we know and they would respond with way more than we could understand. Then we would try, in very poor Spanish, to tell them that we are here to learn the language and that we look forward to having more conversations with them soon. Each day this year, one of our responsibilities is to walk a “language route,” where we will practice the new Spanish we have learned that day in school with a few people. I can imagine the workers on this street will see a lot of us as we ask them to help us practice.

Thank you so much for praying for us this week. We have had some rough moments, and some really good moments too. The prayers you have prayed have helped carry us through all the adjustments and nervousness we have faced. As the girls continue in school next week and we start our classes, please continue to pray for us as we find good routines and rhythms. Today (Sunday), we will visit our host church for the first time and we couldn’t be more excited to jump into this community and start making friends. Please pray we find a few families with children who we could be friends with and who could help us learn more about this amazing culture and language. 

With Love,
Tyler & Rachel

Thank you so much for praying!

This past Monday, we spent several patient hours at the Mexican Consulate in Raleigh, North Carolina as we completed the final step in our Visa process. After handing over a large folder of applications and documentation, three of us were issued our Visas on Monday, and then two of us were issued our Visas on Tuesday. It’s official, we have approval to enter the country. Praise the Lord!

Our time at the consulate was a small baby step into the culture we will soon be fully immersed in. The girls did exceptionally well in this new environment. Even though every word spoken and sign posted was in Spanish, they didn’t skip a beat. They greeted everyone with a smile, found new friends to play with while we waited, and were incredibly patient as we got our “permission to move to Mexico.”

Just as exciting, we got our flights booked this morning! We will fly out early in the morning on Monday, October 2nd and arrive in Mexico City by lunchtime! Crazy that something we’ve been praying and planning for over the course of months will only take a few hours to accomplish. We are so excited to have our tickets booked and the date on the calendar! 

Please continue praying for the girls during this time of transition. We are talking about the move a lot and doing our best to prepare their little hearts for what all of this means. Monday will be their first flight ever and we are hopeful they will enjoy it! Pray that we will be able to pack everything we need and that Tyler and I can keep level heads while we do so.

With Love,
Tyler & Rachel

After seven wonderful weeks of intentional training at the International Learning Center, we have just returned home to begin our final preparations for deployment to the field. We have been immersed in this transformative program since July 31st and have absolutely loved every moment of it!

A few of the reasons this has been such a special time for us are:

• The friendships we have made. Imagine 109 adults and 37 energetic kids coming together as one big, unified family. At the beginning of our time at ILC, we were told that friendships would be made that would last a lifetime. Now, on the other side, we can confirm that this is absolutely true. We are so thankful for the friends that have walked alongside us through this time of many transitions.

• The experiences we have had. The daily rituals and routines have helped prepare us for what’s next. Little things like dorm living and house church, to bigger things like sending the girls to “preschool” every day to experience a taste of what language school will be like (our girls will go to a national preschool while we are studying the language), all painted a picture for us of what our international life will be like. Add to this list a few days of safety and security training, and time in the community practicing evangelism and discipleship, and we are ready and excited to hit the field.

• The lessons we have learned. Every single day, we received high quality instruction from experts around the world. We have soaked up teachings on the missionary task, the dynamics of teamwork, spiritual rhythms, and the importance of abiding in Jesus. These lessons, both big and small, have collectively equipped us with the skills, insights, and resilience needed to navigate the challenges and opportunities that await us.

So, what’s next? To live in Mexico for our year of language and culture study, each of us must apply for Mexican Visas. We have all the necessary paperwork and applications ready to go, and our appointments are scheduled for Monday, September 25th at 8:30am EST. Please pray that this appointment goes smoothly and that we can respond to their questions clearly and succinctly.

This week, we’re feverishly packing our lives into twelve suitcases. Please pray for us to remain focused and patient with each other during this process. Also, pray that the girls kindly stay out of our way and don’t mix up our piles as we sort through everything and do our best to keep it all straight.

We appreciate your involvement in our journey and your prayers for our family as we approach our deployment to the field.

With Love,
Tyler & Rachel

Thank you so much for checking out our blog and (hopefully) subscribing to receive email notifications each time we post. Rachel and I are about to embark on a brand new adventure and we would be honored to have you join us as prayer partners and encouragers along the way.

Take a look around (way more information and content will be added soon) and feel free to drop a comment on this post to let us know you were here. We plan to use this platform as a consistent mode of mass communication from this point forward, and will be posting about all the ups, downs, excitement, and challenges of a life on mission as a family of five. So subscribe to receive email notifications and join in all the fun!

Not sure who we are or what we’re doing? Check out this video to learn more about our upcoming move to Mexico and Guatemala.

Thanks for partnering with us as we faithfully share the gospel in hope of one day seeing a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, knowing and worshipping our Lord Jesus Christ.

With Love,
Tyler & Rachel