Tag: Kraybill

Hello Prayer Partners,

Praise the Lord!  Celebrate with us as you hear what God has done!

Good News #1:

Last Monday, we had our visa appointment at the Italian Consulate in Miami, where we submitted our paperwork for our visa to enter Italy.  They said it could be several weeks before we heard back from them with the results.  Then suddenly, last Friday, we received our passports back in the mail. Upon looking inside, we discovered that we received our 1-year visa with multiple entries, and it only took them three days!

Good News #2:

Today, we learned that our team leader received a verbal agreement on a two-bedroom apartment that he found for us.   It is on the 5^th floor of an apartment building near the city of Bologna.  This apartment is 10 minutes from the International airport, has easy access to public transportation, and is within 10 minutes walking distance of the language school we hope to attend. God has been incredibly gracious in not only providing this apartment before our arrival but giving us three things we didn’t think we would have in Italy: a dishwasher, a bathtub, and kitchen cabinets.

Next Steps #1:

We have purchased our plane tickets and will be flying from Orlando to Italy on January 11.  We’re starting to get excited as our long-awaited move to Italy is becoming a reality.  We look forward to being closer to North Africa so that we can better serve our members living there.

Next Steps #2:

We are so grateful for the Lord’s provision over the past 21 years for our financial support needs for our family.  As we prepare to relocate overseas, we continue to raise funds to cover the cost of our plane tickets, visa costs, household setup, and language school.

If you feel the Lord is leading you to help with these expenses, you can click on the link to our Relocation Fund:

 https://usgiving.aimint.org/project/138220-016

Thank you for your prayers and partnership with us.

Rod & Lori Kraybill

Dear Prayer Partners,

We appreciate each of you and your partnership with us in the Gospel.  God is at work in North Africa.  His name is being proclaimed, people are coming to know and worship Him, and His church is being planted.

We are praising God in His provision for us as we’ve brought our requests before Him.  He continues to be faithful in providing abundantly for us.  Thank you for joining us in praising and lifting our prayers before God.

Praises:

• Anissa passed her Occupation Therapy Assistant national exam, accepted a job here in Clermont, and found a place to live all in one week.  She worked hard studying for her exam, so it was a relief to get the news that she had passed.  We knew God would provide a job and housing for her, but it was amazing to see how it played out.  She will be working at a pediatric clinic, where she did one of her clinical’s and hoped to get a position.  She will be starting her job on November 15 after taking a trip to see some of her high school friends.
• Bologna:  Did you ever wonder where bologna comes from?  It comes from a city in Northern Italy and tastes very different there than it does here in the States.  Last week, we heard the good news that AIM has decided to place the Northern Region Office in the suburbs of Bologna. We’re thrilled to know where we will be moving to in January.  There are many reasons why this area was chosen, some of those reasons are accessibility to an international airport, many immigrants from North Africa living there, and two churches ready to help us get settled and welcome us into their congregations.

Prayer requests:

• Continue to pray for the gospel work that is being done in North Africa.  Pray for bold proclamation from our gospel workers, open ears and hearts to those they’re reaching, and for boldness and endurance through suffering for our brothers and sisters in these countries.
• We will be applying for our visa to Italy at the Italian Consulate in Miami on November 8.  Pray that we would get all of the papers that we need for our visa by our appointment date. Pray that we would have favor in getting our visa for Italy.  We hope to leave for Italy sometime in the first two weeks of January.
• Pray for our team leaders who have just arrived in Italy.  They also need to get their visa so that they can stay in Italy.  They are preparing the way in many areas for themselves, us, and those to come.  Pray especially for them as they look for their own and our housing.  There are a lot of hurdles to cross when it comes to finding rental properties.
• Pray for Anissa as she begins her job in mid-November and moves in with her housemate.  Pray for strength and wisdom for Autumn as she continues to teach and work with her six students; each day is a challenge.  Pray for Alanna as she prepares for an event for Gospel worker children the first part of November whose parents will soon be working with AIM.

As we were reminded at our church on Sunday, let us be people who are not quarrelsome but who speak gently to those who oppose the Gospel. (2 Timothy 2:23-25)

Rod and Lori

Greetings from Florida, where it’s hot and sunny, and Covid is running rampant.  This email is long overdue, so we apologize for not writing sooner. A lot has been happening in our lives in the last 3+ months since we last sent out an update.

We thoroughly enjoyed celebrating Autumn and Anissa’s graduation in April and having them live with us for most of the summer.  Although we thought we would have moved to Italy by now, being in the States allowed us to go to our niece’s wedding in Pennsylvania and be here for Lori’s family’s reunion.  What a joy to be a part of these celebrations!  There are pictures below if you make it to the end of this email.

We’re not going to lie; being “in-between” and in transition isn’t always easy.  Moving from house to house (3x this year), answering “we don’t know” when asked when we’re moving to Italy, can get old, but we are so thankful for each provision and seeing how God has worked through each situation. Our Northern Region team leader is currently on his second trip to Italy, scouting out locations for our office.  We would appreciate your prayers for wisdom and direction as this decision will be made soon.  With this in mind and with the support of our leaders, we’ve decided to wait until January to move to Italy.  This will give us some stability and the opportunity to support Anissa after she finishes her clinical and starts looking for a job and finding a place to live.

We continue to work remotely for the Northern Region, helping new workers get to North Africa and equipping them to serve well where they have been called.  We’ve attached a prayer guide that was made by our office to pray for the workers and work being done in North Africa.  We’ve copied an excerpt below.

Stretching from western Senegal to the eastern Horn region of Somalia, are a people
who predominantly follow Islam. They do not “know Him” (the Christ) in His fullness.

Paul asked these four worthy questions of his readers in Rome,
“How shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10.14-15)
~ Ask Him for the north region’s people groups to come to know Him in His fullness & glory.
~ Ask Him to call, direct, & send His workers to clear, plant, water, & harvest in His fields.

The pandemic has challenged workers to adapt to travel restrictions & changes in each of their localities.
It has required prayer, boldness and flexibility. They have had to modify their businesses and ‘sharing methods’.
They have had to steadfastly lean into His wisdom and favor for all sorts of helps.
They are showing unmovable patience through uncertainties.
They are walking forward by faith, asserting their labor is not in vain.
They are praising despite unexpected, sorrowful, even traumatic conditions and events.
They are trusting His faithfulness.
They are seeing many searchers come with questions & also wanting to read from the good news!
~ Thank Him for each of these graces He has enabled them with!

Each one of our girls is in transition and would appreciate your prayers; please pray for:

~Alanna as she has moved to the member care department of AIM and continues to work with missionary kids.

~Autumn as she has accepted a teaching job at a learning center for students with disabilities in Bartow, FL.

~Anissa as she lives in Orlando and finishes her second clinical in a rehab department of a hospital.

We’re thankful for each of you!

Rod & Lori

–Happy to celebrate our girls’ college grads–

Autumn, Lori, Rod, Alana, Anissa

–The Kraybill cousins with their significant others at Ali and Josh’s wedding–

–First time in 7 years that Lori’s family has all been together–

NR prayer guide (1)

From the AIM Newsletter: 

Alanna Kraybill is now a part of the Member Care Department as the Third Culture Kid Care Coordinator. While she still works with the Candidate Department running the pre-field TCK programs and as a resource for appointees, she is also a resource for parents and TCKs on the field and during Home Assignments. She has been trained through TCK Training and is available to debrief children and teenagers when you visit the Peachtree City office. She will also be leading the children and teens program at the Waypoint Retreats.