Big news in the Cottrell household: I graduated from EBC
this weekend! It was wonderfully surreal receiving my diploma and being prayed
over by our amazing staff. Yvonne almost made me cry when she prayed over me,
and I definitely had my fair share of tears hearing prayers of fellow graduates
and reflecting on these past 3 years. God has been so good to me as He has
molded me and made me more and more like Him through my time at EBC. I am so
thankful! I’ve included a few highlight pictures from the day at the bottom of the post.
In other news, we received an update from Encompass, the
mission organization we are partnering with, concerning purchasing our flight
tickets for Argentina. The system Encompass goes by for ticket purchasing is
that missionary’s need 80% of funding before they purchase our flight. For us,
that 80% is $4,800. Originally, we had hoped to reach that number by the end of
June, beginning of July. However, as of late, flights to Argentina during the
month of August are becoming less and less available, which leads to the
possibility of ticket prices rising anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to
an additional $2,000. In hopes of avoiding such an extreme price increase, we
are now aiming for purchasing the flights by the beginning of June. If you are
thinking, isn’t that a week away? You are right! And it is definitely much
sooner than we anticipated needing that 80%! I fully believed God could provide
for us the funds within a month, but a week is a bit more of a challenge for me.
I have been meditating on and praying through two Scriptures
that are a great source of encouragement and hope for me since we learned of
the new goal:
Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope
without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”
Mark 10:27 “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘with man it is
impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.’”
These are the two truths I am clinging to right now: that I
can hold fast to God because He is faithful, and because He does the
impossible!
We wanted to share with you this financial update to let you
know what is currently an urgent need for us. We want to avoid any additional
expenses related to airfare, and would ask those of you who were interested in
supporting us to please make your donations as soon as you are able to! We are
so thankful for your generosity and desire to partner with us as we pursue the
possibilities of long-term ministry in Argentina! You can either mail in a
check written out to Encompass World Partners to this address:
Encompass World Partners P.O. Box 80065 City of Industry, CA
91716
OR you can go to the Encompass website, encompassworldpartners.org,
and go to “Give” or “Give Now” to
make a donation via credit or debit card. That will bring you to a page where
you can choose “Give to a Missionary”, type in our names since we are not
long-term through Encompass just yet, and enter in a donation amount. The site
should walk you through the rest easily!
We hope you will join us in praying, as we trust God with
our needs related to ticket purchases now! We are waiting on Him and excited to
see how He will provide!
Blessings,
Ali
Thankful for all God has done during my time at EBC, including bringing this wonderful man into my life!
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