Lisbon!

We are in Lisbon, Portugal!!!  

We wanted to send out an update over the last 3 weeks but between the container, 

getting out of our house, and packing for Portugal, we were a bit overwhelmed!  

Two weeks prior to leaving, we worked on the container several days straight.
We were staging items, loading items, taking care of the chassis (the inspection sticker had expired), 

the numbers on the the top of the container had to be corrected (it didn't match the sides, front, and back),  

the Seaworthy certificate had not been signed, the documents had to be printed on

AGA letterhead instead of the shippers' letterhead, etc....  New problems arose daily.

However, the Lord is never surprised and He had already prepared a solution for each

problem and in ways we would have never guessed.  The biggest problem was making

all of the stuff fit!  We had been told by 3 men at the warehouse that there was no 

way all of it would fit.  Fortunately, God had other plans and He provided 3 very special

men who were able to do it.  It was the reverse of the Loaves & Fishes 

miracle!  

Please pray for the container to make it to port safely and then across the ocean.  Also

pray that all of the work done reviewing and preparing the inventory will be sufficient to

please the Angolan dispatcher when it arrives and there will be no more "surprises".

We were also amazingly busy getting out of our house.  No matter how much time you have,

things get done at the last minute.  April and I both were physically exhausted during this time

and were blessed by several wonderful friends who came in and helped with so many things.

We had people come and carry away trash, take things to friends who were working with
refugees, deliver items to others for us, carry many loads to my Mom's for storage, etc...

It was amazing!  Every time we realized that we had forgotten something or were missing

something, someone would say "I can take care of that".  God truly put the right people in

our path and we are extremely grateful!!

We didn't get to spend as much time with most of you as we would have liked during our final

days in Greensboro.  However, please know that we thought of you all and said many times,
"I wish we could see (fill in the blank with your name here)!"  April and I both said that we wish

we could have sat back and checked days off of the calendar counting down our time to Portugal.

But that is not the plan God had.  Fortunately, our friends here in Portugal understand what we

have been through (they experienced it as well) and they are have been most understanding and 

extremely helpful.  Our instructor also wants us to wait 2 weeks before we start classes

(April and I are hoping for 1 week, but we will see) so we can become acclimated to the city/culture.  

There are still things to work out here and back at home so maybe 2 weeks is good.  From what I 

understand, we will be quite busy with 2 hours of class, 3-4 hours of homework each day, 

and homeschooling Riley & McKenna.  So the calm before the storm might be a good idea.

The apartment here is very nice.  We are on the 3rd floor (which is the 4th physical floor since the

ground floor is the 0 floor) and there is another missionary family living on the 1st floor.  They 

served in Zambia and are here learning Portuguese because they have also been called to serve

in the southeastern part of Angola near the Zambian border.  It has been great to have them close

by to figure out day-to-day things.  Plus they have 5 children between the ages of 11 and 3 which 

are a blessing. 

Mark, Jana, and Carter (age 8) Faus are missionaries working with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF)

and will be serving in Angola.  Mark will be the new director of the CEML hospital where April will be 

working.  They have taken us under their wing and have shown us around, driven us to the store, 

brought us all the right forms to fill out, basically made our life MUCH easier.  God has truly gone before us!

There have been numerous blessings along the way but we still face many challenges.  Please continue 

to pray for our transition here.  Portugal is a beautiful place and experiencing new things is always fun.

However, when you realize that you are going to be living here and you are 14 or 11 years old, it can

be a bit of a challenge.  Please pray for RIley and McKenna especially during the transition.

Also, please pray that we have put in place all of the correct things to maintain things at home.  We still

have our house that is going on the market as soon as a few minor things are repaired.  We have been 

blessed to have people at home assisting with that.  We also have had to set up for online payments

many of our bills.  Pray that we haven't forgotten some things!  (I am sure we have)

Please pray for our ease of learning.  I am not gifted in language but trust that the Lord has called me to

this and that He has prepared the way.  

And also, please pray for our funding.  Even though we are only at 50% funding we knew that now was

the time to go.  The past 2 years of preparation have been tough at times on my children.  God gave us 

several signs as well as the advice of 3 other missionary friends that we needed to step out in faith and

make this first step.  We know that language training had to occur first and then return to the US, so we

made the move.  As we have said before, we are "trusting" the Lord not "testing" Him.  

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

So we are trusting in Him even though there are times when it doesn't make sense to us.  We are doing

our best to submit to Him and asking Him to make our paths straight.  Only through God's will is this all possible.

Thank you all for your love and prayers!

In Him,

Danny (for all the Halls)

Support Address

AGA Inc. 

25 Maple St

Addison, NY 14801-1009

(please put “Danny & April Hall” on the memo line)