Baby news, report from Portland, and plans for next year

Dear friends,

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving. Rhiannon and I spent our Thanksgiving in Albuquerque with my sister-in-law’s family. It was strange being away from our family in St. Louis, but we still had a good time. Rhiannon and I played Scattergories with Cody and Jasmin (my brother in law and his wife). I lost. (Side note: If you ever need an ego boost, challenge me to a game of Scattergories. I’ve never won!)

I was in Portland Oregon earlier in the month participating in the Innovative Evangelism Conference. The conference takes place every three years and is organized by the Next Generation Alliance, a sub-ministry of the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association. This year I got to teach a workshop, which was a neat experience. After the first workshop that I taught, a lady came up to me and said, “You teaching the Mary/Martha story must have been by Divine Providence. My husband and I are going to India next month to teach in some villages. This is the exact story they need to hear!”

One exciting development that’s come about as a result of the conference is the following week; Tim Robnett (the director of the Next Generation Alliance) invited me to go to Ukraine with him next year to preach a series of evangelistic meetings. What makes this exciting is that Tim’s call confirmed something that had already been dropped into my spirit during the conference. Perhaps the Holy Spirit is up to something?

So as it looks right now, Rhiannon and I’s schedule for the next few months are as follows. On December 15th we go to Albuquerque to spend the last month of Rhiannon’s pregnancy. The baby is due on January 14th (If he’s not arrived by then, the doctors are going to induce labor). In February, I’ll be teaching two Simply the Story workshops in Farmington, New Mexico (where we’re living right now). Towards the beginning of March, we’ll be going to Ethiopia to pick up the child we are adopting (In case you’re wondering, no we won’t be taking our birth child with us to Ethiopia). Then on the last week of April, I’ll be going to Ukraine to preach the gospel. As for the rest of the year….well…I’ll keep you informed.

That’s the rough draft. Of course, many things are still up in the air and can change based on the health of our birth child (whose name will be Christian David Taylor) and the logistics of the adoption.

Thank you for your patience and support during this time of transition.

While there is still time,

Aaron