Moving forward

The Lord is faithful. We can't say it enough times. We've seen His faithfulness and goodness so much over this Summer. And it's been a crazy one! Here are a few things we give Him glory for these past few months:

We had a rollover car accident on the turnpike and came out alive! Praise Jesus

We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary!



Ellie turned 8 and started 2nd grade!



Adela turned 3 and started ballet and preschool! (whaa??!)



Mary and the girls got to spend the Summer enjoying some sweet moments with Grandma Ruthie before she went to be with Jesus on Sept 10th. So thankful for the hope that we have in Jesus! We look forward to seeing her again :)



Daniel became a US Citizen! It was a really meaningful experience to get to be a part of the Oath Ceremony in Oklahoma City with friends and family. Mamadela even got to come!

We sold and packed up most everything and put our house on the market.

We're living with Mary's momma until our departure date. 

And some of the most exciting news....we have a departure date! We purchased tickets for Friday, December 2nd. One month from now! These next few weeks will be full of spending time with friends and family and last minute packing.

We would like to have a get together before we leave, so stayed tuned for more info.

Here are some needs and prayer requests that we have:

*House to sell: It would be ideal for our house to sell or be under contract before we leave. We can sign paperwork before we leave if there's a contract.  If there's no contract before we leave, the paperwork can be mailed back and forth, still doable but a little bit more complicated. Either way, though, we won't have to be here for closing, so that's good! However, the sooner the house sells, the sooner we can stop paying mortgage payments and basic utilities...

*Start-up funds for now and when we arrive in Lima: We will need to make a deposit and buy furnishings for an apartment as well as set up utilities. The approximate cost will be around $2000. If you would like to give toward our start up fund, check out the info at the bottom of the blog or contact us at losherolds@gmail.com or 918-712-0560 (call or text).

*Partners: We are asking the Lord to send people who would like to partner with us financially and in prayer. We have an approximate budget of $2000 a month. Right now we have a little under the half way mark in pledges. If you are interested in supporting us financially, check out the info at the bottom of our blog or contact us. Also, we would love to journey with a group of people in prayer so we are setting up an email/message group. If you are interested in joining our prayer team, please email Mary at losherolds@gmail.com.

*School for the girls: One of the things we have been praying for since the day we knew we were moving was schooling for our girls. There is a wonderful English school not far from the neighborhood we'll be living in that we are seriously considering for Ellie and one day for Adela.  It runs close to the United States' school schedule, so Ellie would be right on track for her second semester of second grade. Since we are missionaries, the school would give us half off of the tuition. And if Mary were to work at the school, the discount would be greater. However, they are not hiring until the next school year.  So, the tuition for one semester after the missionary discount would be close to $200 more a month than we had budgeted. Please pray for wisdom as we decide where Ellie will go to school and also provision to pay for the semester (Feb-June). Also, please pray for clarity and wisdom as we decide if this is a job that the Lord wants Mary to apply for.


Thank you to all who have already so generously given toward our move and mission and have been covering us in prayer! We love you dearly and are thankful for the blessings that you are in our lives.

Blessings,
The Herolds

Spring Update

Spring is finally here! What a beautiful reminder of God's faithfulness in bringing new life from death, redemption from sin, healing from pain. Praise you Jesus. We're so thankful for the sacrifice You made so we could have life, join God's family, and love on those that you've placed around us!

The Lord provided and we made it to Dallas to apply for the girls' Peruvian passports and citizenship. It was an easy trip, full of fun with visits to the Dallas Zoo and American Girl doll store. Overall, it was a good time of rest and a little jolt out of our daily routine. Next we are starting the process for Daniel to apply for US citizenship. God has also provided the $680 needed for the application. We will mail in the paperwork in the next couple of weeks. They say it is a 5-7 month process, but could also be handled in a matter of months. So pray that everything will go smoothly and the return will be as soon as possible.

Recently, we had the privilege of meeting with the Missions Cluster from Believers Church. They are a group of leaders from our church family who carry grace and a heart for all things missions (outreach, international missions, etc.). They prayed over us, encouraged us to continue thinking and planning a little deeper, advised us in the area of gathering prayer and financial support, and commissioned us in the vision God placed in our hearts to love on the people of Lima. It's a beautiful feeling to know that we're being covered in prayer and sent out by our family.

Please continue to pray for our brothers and sisters that are already in Lima. They are doing all of the administrative leg work necessary to plant a church community, plus getting to know their neighbors and the community that they are now a part of. We've "Facetimed" several times with them and they've shared some things that God is doing in San Borja, relationships being made, needs of the community being made known. Right now they are looking for a physical location for the church family to meet. Pray for guidance and wisdom as they continue their search. Please pray for their safety in the city as well.

As we continue to advance in the moving process, we've compiled a list of current needs, set up costs for the move, and prayer requests. If you are able to help with any of these things now (prayer, funds, etc), please connect with us (losherolds@gmail.com or by Facebook) or follow the instructions at the bottom of the blog to send financial support through Believers Church. Our hearts are deeply moved by the generosity already shown us. Thank you to those who have already given.

Current needs:

• A loving home for our dog Pete. He is a one year old black lab, good with kids, full of energy and love.
• A realtor or advice about selling our home. We've been advised that Spring is the time to get it on the market but are feeling discouraged because there are several things that need to be done to it (new furnace, exterior paint, front and back porch repairs) that we don't have the funds or the know-how to get done. So, referrals, advice, volunteer handy-man...anything would be helpful :)

Set up/Pre-move costs:

• Necessaries for Trip (luggage, airport fees, paperwork, etc): around $1000
• Airline tickets: around $3000
• First month's rent + deposit: around $1000 ($500+$500)
• Set up utilities: $600

If you're interested in hearing more of our story, we'd love to meet with you or chat over the phone. Please don't hesitate to connect with us.

Blessings!
The Herolds

"Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ." Philippians 1:27

Dear friends and family,

We hope this new year finds you well! Just wanted to update you all on recent events happening in the Herold household...we’re moving to Peru this year! :)

Here’s a brief backstory:

We met in Lima, Peru in 2005 when Mary studied abroad and stayed with a host family. This family invited me (Daniel) to be a follower of Jesus the year before and were very involved in my life. They are very dear to us as spiritual parents even now, 9 years later. We were married in August of 2006 and returned to the states the next year with the hope of returning to live in Lima one day.

We had planned to return to Peru after a short time in the States but God wanted us to grow a little more. In these past years, we have been a part of Believers Church in Tulsa. While journeying with our church family and through life’s circumstances, He has been guiding and forming us, teaching us about who we are in Christ, and how He wants us to live out the gospel here on earth. We’ve been talking with the Lord for a while about when/if He wants us to return to Peru and what He wants us to do there. We kept hearing, “Wait,” and never had a clear sense of direction.

In 2013, we were connected to New Life Community Church (NLCC), in Chicago through a friend of ours. NLCC is a large church body that meets in 20 different locations all over Chicago. They equip and send out leaders to plant church communities in the neighborhoods. So those who lead and serve in each community live in the neighborhood where the church building is located. At a NLCC church planting conference we attended, they shared their vision to plant church communities with the same model in 10 large cities all over the world and had invited people from several different countries, one of which was Peru, to join in the conference. We felt an immediate connection with the three other Peruvian/American couples that weekend. Over these past two years, we’ve kept in touch with these brothers and sisters in hopes of one day joining them in Peru. They will officially be launching Nueva Vida Lima (New Life Lima) in April of this year in the district of San Borja. Right now they are meeting together in homes in prayer and are building relationships within the community. Please keep them in your prayers.

This past year, they asked our family to join the team in Lima. After much prayer and conversations, we sense that this opportunity is what God has been asking us to wait for and that He is now giving us the “green light” to move our family on mission to Lima, Peru this year. We will start out serving in the area of music and in any other way that we can. Mary and I also want to use photography and teaching as ways of serving the community. We have hope that one day we will be sent out from San Borja to plant a community in my old neighborhood in the district of San Juan de Lurigancho.

Lately, we’ve also felt a heart tug to pray for the “unreached people groups” in Peru, those who have not heard the name of Jesus or do not know the freedom that comes with being adopted into God’s family. As God clarifies His vision for us and places desires in our hearts, we will keep you posted.

So as we prepare to move our family, please keep praying for us. We've listed some specific prayer requests at the bottom of our blog. We would love to hear from you. If you have questions, comments, encouragements, want to get together with us or want to partner with us in prayer or financial support, you can find our contact information also at the bottom of the blog. Down there you will also find a video made by New Life Community Church in Chicago talking about their church community planting model and their vision for planting communities in Lima.

Bless you all!

The Herolds