Summer Recap, Fall Goals, and Winter in the USA!

Hi friends, below you'll find our fall 2014 email newsletter. Whereas our blog tends to feature tiny snippets of life, the newsletters aim to communicate a broader overview as well as prayer concerns.

If you would like to receive our newsletter in email just let me know.
Thanks for taking such good care of us!  - Drew & Rach

Three Seasons in One Email but first... Would you please sponsor us as we Walk to Defeat ALS? Rachel's Uncle Joe was diagnosed with ALS in 2012. In his honor, we are raising funds for research and services to families coping with ALS. On September 20th we'll be walking in Changsha while the big event is underway in St. Paul, MN. It means so much that we can do this small thing to express support to our family. We need a few more donors to help reach our goal. Please consider donating here. (You can choose to sponsor Drew, Rachel, Titus or Michael) Learn why we so strongly believe in this cause here.  Your help is greatly appreciated! Summer recap: A few things ended up beautifully Jonathon (former foster son) is perfectly happy and dearly loved in North Carolina Annual Youth Camp at Chinese church was the best yet Hong Kong beach vacation bonded our family closer together Gathering with couples, families and women for worship and Bible study grew our faith and friendships Worked many full days at Butterfly Children's Hospice Fall goals: How you can pray for us 1. Marriage and Family Drew handles a demanding work schedule plus thesis-writing, and we find ourselves working harder to cut out husband and wife connection time. Our propensity to fill up the schedule beyond what God calls us to do must end! Titus and Mike are settled in Chinese preschool/K and English homeschool efforts are finally gaining momentum. This year we are watching for if-when-how we can buy an apartment in Changsha. 2. Youth at Chinese church Seeking more teachers to increase depth in connections with students. Dreaming of how to grow the quality of our hour together on Sunday mornings. 3. Butterfly Children's Hospice Drew advises on the current website and social media rebuilding project to increase communication and donations for the hospice. I (Rach) coach the nannies to increase quality of care for the children. Cross-cultural and cross-generational, it's intimidating, so I keep reminding myself that God has called and gifted me for this role. 4. Music and Fear In recent years we have gradually grown out of anxious inhibitions in music. We lead worship at our international fellowship with bonafide rockstar Noah, Youth at Chinese church, and performances here and there. I've written a handful of worship songs and I'm determined to attempt a live home recording this fall; with trepidation I ask for your prayers. God is calling me, but I am still afraid mostly of failure, and of just sounding bad. 5. Neighbors Most of our ministry is connecting with neighbors, coworkers and friends after the pattern of Jesus. If you wanna know the deets, and pray with us... Min & Yabei -- Drew's colleagues, young in faith, engaged; felt need for marriage help Jiang Bo & Zhang Qin and two young kids -- first-generation Christians figuring out how to do family life; felt need for counsel with other Christian families Auntie Wang -- our hired helper remaining faithful to an unfaithful husband; felt need for encouragement Zeng Ting -- we met years ago in a Book study, spiritually imbalanced marriage, infertility; felt need for intimate Christian friendship Yafei & family -- next-door neighbors with two little boys; felt need for spiritual meaning, babysitters, and advice and support for niece with Down Syndrome Wang Zhao, Li Ci & Liu Jia (Lydia) -- adult orphans; felt need for family Gao Jie -- we were yogamates, our boys were classmates; not sure of her felt need but we are drawn to each other Yang Cong & Weifeng and two young kids -- neighbors, honestly very anxious restless people; felt need for peace Winter: See you in the USA Four years since we all had a decent visit to the US. So here we come, mid-November though mid-January. Drew will continue working full-time and remotely from the US. Thankful and excited describe us perfectly. How about you? It would make our day to hear back from you. What's on your mind? Where are you working? What are your kids and grandkids into? What good news do you have to share? What challenges are you facing?  Thanks for staying in touch and keeping us in prayer. Again, thank you so much if you are able to contribute to the Walk to Defeat ALS. Drew & Rachel Titus and Mike

Please consider sponsoring us as we raise funds in the Walk to Defeat ALS in honor of Uncle Joe and his family. You can donate here. Get funky! Our music buddy's new blues-funk-jazz infused EP is yours free. Rachel dug out her best sass for background vox on "Watch for The Dawn".