Our First 100 Days

It’s hard to believe we’ve already been here for 100 days! God has been so good to us during this time. Just the other day, Mary Ann and I were reflecting on everything that has been accomplished since we arrived on November 14th—it’s truly amazing.

Here are some of the ways God has been at work during this time:

We hit the ground running with our realtor and wholeheartedly believe that God led us to the apartment where He wants us to live and to serve the people in our building and neighborhood. He directed us to Algés, just outside of Lisbon, and we are so grateful.
Since we only brought suitcases with the bare essentials, we had to start furnishing our apartment from scratch. I made way too many trips to IKEA, and who knew finding bedding could be so complicated in a new country.
Christmas provided a wonderful opportunity to meet our neighbors and share a little bit of Jesus’ love with them. Mary Ann made her homemade peanut butter fudge, and it seemed to be a hit!

The holiday season was extra special because all four of our sons were able to come and spend time with us. It was a joy not only to be with them but also to show them around the country where God has called us to serve. Andrew is staying with us until March 11, much to his mama’s delight!

We love serving alongside the Booth family in Montijo. The church family has been extremely gracious and welcoming. During the service, they set aside time for us to share our testimonies and then prayed over us.

Navigating life in a new country has been an adventure—especially when it comes to accomplishing tasks that I have done many times, like buying a car. The process took three weeks and was quite different from what we were used to in the U.S., but God gave us the patience we needed and allowed us to build some great relationships along the way.

We started learning Portuguese! 🤯🤯🤯 As I’ve mentioned in another post, we are incredibly thankful that God led us to Matilde. She has an amazing testimony, a deep love for Jesus and missionaries, and years of experience teaching Portuguese to missionaries. God is certainly stretching her abilities with us—ha ha!

Our number one goal in coming to Portugal was simply to love and serve people. God has already opened doors for us to do that. Mary Ann has a weekly coffee gathering with several ladies in our area. We’ve been able to spend time in many of our neighbors’ homes—at least the ones who speak English! We’ve also begun encouraging and discipling newer believers at the church in Montijo.

What better way to finish our first 100 days than by hosting our first visit from friends? Moving away from the life we've known for the past 24 years is a strange feeling. While we have thoroughly enjoyed this new chapter and trust 100% in God's leading, I can't put into words how much it meant to our hearts to be encouraged by our friends and to share our new life with them.

All in all, we are so thankful for what God has done in these first 100 days, and we are excited for many more to come. As I’ve said many times, He was so faithful during our deputation, and perhaps the greatest lesson we learned was that He is in control and has us exactly where He wants us.

Thank you for your love and prayers! Please continue to pray as we learn the language and that God will continue to work in hearts and use us to reach people here in Portugal.

Billy and Mary

For a printable version, click here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m9UnYB-ld9NdAKQUkOjCoZmdFj0OvxIU/view?usp=sharing

October - December 2024 Update