Hello Dear Friends,                                     Spring 2005

I have spent the last 8 weeks mulling over what to write to you.  Now the time is right to express where we are and what we have been through since I traveled to Germany in March.  We want you first to know how grateful we are that you have been patient with us regarding our communication.

Hannah and I traveled to Mannheim, Germany March 7-22 to look for a place to live believing we needed 2-3 months in advance to find a house.  What we learned was that housing could be obtained much faster but was much less available.  We spent 14 days watching the papers for houses that would meet our needs with only 2 coming available.  I was able to apply for one of those but was not chosen as the recipient.  I was informed of this after I returned to Baltimore. God's Providence

We were far from excited about the prospects of moving to Mannheim this May.  More like discouraged and regrouping could have described us.  We spent the next 3 weeks praying and deciding what to do.  We had a little over 50% of our support committed and were without a place to go in Germany.  Jim's Grandmother had listed her house for sale but did not have a contract after 4 months.  The airline tickets would increase in price from $550 to over $1200 by the end of May which caused us to decide that we could not make the move to Germany until the Fall of 2005.  Again, we could not use our funds at the mission for living expenses so I needed to work full time to provide for our needs.  The day we decided to stay until the Fall, Jim's Grandmother called with a solid offer to purchase her house.

The sale of her home put into motion the events that would move us out of our quarters and move her into them.  We had until May 16th to be finished and escrow would close.  Again, we began to scramble to complete all of the work on her home as required by the contract and then to complete all of the work on our home before she would move in.  To date, Theresa is almost finished all of the packing with the exception of those irreplaceable pictures that need acute attention.  I have managed to move everything out of our home into (2) 20 foot containers, paint the entire place, and move my Grandmother into her new home. 

There was the termite repair work on her home I needed to complete, the painting of her old residence, the replacement of the entire electrical service to upgrade it for the buyers, and the general chaos that comes with moving that we experienced times 2.  Theresa had 4 children running every which way and an infant to care for as well as homeschooling the 2 oldest children through the entire last 4 weeks as she packed the entire house for moving to Germany.  I finished my last home improvement job on April 20th which freed me to begin my work at home.  Along with all of this, I had to find a shipper for our things, airline tickets, and a house in Germany. 

We went from the discouragement of not reaching our goals in March to a tornado of deadlines that has been crushing us for over a month.  Finally, we are at the precipice of our journey.  We have packed our containers which will sit at Jim's parents house until the end of June.  We will see the close of the escrow for Grandmother's house which happens May 16th.  On May 18th, we will depart for the West Coast to visit all of our friends and many supporters for the last time before we leave for Germany.

Our schedule is to leave Baltimore on 5/18 to visit the West Coast then return to Baltimore on 6/17 from the upper Midwest.  We will pack (1) 40 foot container to be shipped to Mannheim Germany on 6/27.  We will then depart from Philadelphia on 6/28 for Germany to fulfill a life and ministry that we have been called to since November of 1999.  We are encouraged but nervous.  We do not yet have a house to rent in Mannheim nor do we have the full funding we have desired.  Please begin to pray for our house in Mannheim that God is preparing.  Pray that we would be able to bear the waiting before we find it.  We are going to Germany believing this is our time.  We will be completely debt free for the first time since the early 1980's.  If it wasn't a car or a house that we were paying on, then it was school loans and a business that shackled us.  Now we will not owe anyone but the debt of love for which we hope to repay mightily.

If you have watched us these last 6 years wondering if we would reach the goal or fade like so many others, we hope this will be the answer to your prayers for us and the beginning of new interest in what the Lord is doing through the Byron family in Mannheim, Germany.  If you have waited to become a financial supporter, then now is the time to begin financially standing with us.  Our commitment to this work has reached a resolve like none other in our lives. 

We hope to see you before we depart.  We pray for God's richest blessing on your lives and that He uses you to reach the world you are influencing today.

Much Love,

All of the Byrons

James, Theresa, Hannah, Josiah, Sarah, Micah, Noah