What’s Next for the Tolberts – thetolbertfamily.com

The goodbyes don’t get any easier.

Yesterday, we said goodbye to teachers, trainers, and new fellow missionaries as we left the International Learning Center. A total of 126 adults and 45 children are scattering around the world to bring the good news of the gospel to the nations.

We will cherish our last four and a half weeks of training here at the IMB’s training center. We have made new friendships, shared tearful struggles, laughed over card games, and worshiped in multiple languages. Each day brought new challenges and information as our training could cover everything from church planting in the book of Acts to submitting expense reports to conflict resolution to having a victorious faith in the midst of persecution.

The girls have also had their own training and hopefully this week we can send out some pictures of their time and their thoughts as well. Here are some of the more memorable times of our training:

Hearing stories of suffering and Christ’s sufficiency from missionaries who have been on the field for a long time (including Nik Ripken)
Sitting in seminars and counting the cost of faithfulness to the missionary calling alongside colleagues who are going to volatile and dangerous places
Spending significant time each day working through Scripture as a group; it was a blessing to see how much of our training revolved around the Word of God
Sharing with fellow new missionaries and listening to the wisdom of veteran missionaries over countless meals.

We are now at Luke’s parents’ house spending the next week doing some final checklist items as we get ready for our departure on September 18. Please pray for us as we spend the next week packing and saying goodbyes to family (a prayer list is included below).

Anna Kate sharing our prayer request with the rest of the trainees as we begin our training.

Patty and the girls praying in the ILC prayer chapel before we left.

Our name tags hanging next to our front door.

The eating area, bulletin board, and one of the bedrooms in our apartment.

Prayer Requests

Pray for the people of Latvia and specifically for the people of Ādaži.
Pray for the believers at the church plant in Ādaži who have been helping us with many of the details of our move.
Pray for us and our families as we say goodbye in the coming weeks.
Pray for logistics as we get ready to travel with ten suitcases, four violins, six carry-ons, and some car seats.
Pray for our first week in country as we stay for a few nights in a hotel, purchase needed items for our new flat (apartment), and start to get settled.