We Made It!!!!!

We had a great day. We got loaded up and had an ON TIME DEPARTURE.  That is an amazing feat. We had a very good trip.  Safe travels the whole way and no major traffic issues on 95. We stopped for lunch at Chipotle. YUM. Adam found this sign and we were very sad because it didn't allow for handicap people. Adam was distressed. (This was a loading ramp and not intended for handicapped access. Chipotle is in no way violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.)

As you can imagine, we haven't had any dull moments yet. We arrived around 5 pm at the hotel. We got situated and had dinner and then had an orientation meeting with the team from Impact Church. We got to meet 4 members of their team and it was great. We loved getting to see their heart and mission for Northern Virginia. Impact is a very mission-minded church and is very strategic in how they reach people. 

They shared some of what the culture is like around here.

-Fairfax County is one of the wealthiest counties in the entire United States.

-Only 2% of the population goes to church in DC. Let that sink in. That means 98% of people don't go to church. 

-A lot of people are very closed to the gospel. 

-There is a ton of diversity within the county. There are large populations of both Chinese and Indian in the area. 

We were able to go over our schedule for the week and then we prayed together as a group. The sweetest part of the night was when the prayer time was over,  Anya was upset because she wanted to pray. So we let her pray and she prayed  beautiful prayer and said "help us as we go out and love people and tell them about Jesus."  I had to fight back tears. Wow. Amazing that kids so young can grasp that. And I couldn't help but silently pray "Lord, may we all have faith like a child."

God has us placed right where He wants us. We only traveled for a few hours, but the nations are at our doorstep. Tomorrow we are scheduled to prayer walking in the morning and pass out invitations to Impact Church in the afternoon. 

Here are some specific ways you can pray for us:

-Pray for strength. 

-Pray for boldness and that we will share the good news of Jesus.

-Pray for those who will hear the gospel tomorrow. 

-Pray for safely for our team. 

-Pray that we reach our goal of inviting 1,000 people to Impact Church this week. 

Thanks for the prayers and we will keep you updated.

Blessings, Matt & Ashley