Mission Trip

Dear friends and family,

Can you envision a land where people of the modern world still practice ancient farming techniques using hand and horse; where families spend their summers living in the high mountains in tents, herding sheep and yaks? We want to share with you a challenging ministry opportunity God has presented to us. During June 24-July 10, we will be going to Central Asia with a small team from Biltmore Baptist Church.

Our trip will focus on the people of Kyrgyzstan, the second poorest country in Central Asia. The purpose of our trip will be:

-To train and equip local believers in computers and in teaching computer skills in order to give them a way to reach out to the primarily Muslim community/country.
-To go out into nearby villages to do hands-on teaching of computer skills such as Microsoft programs, email and web.
-To open doors to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a people group who is still considered “unreached”.
-To participate in exploration to lay foundation for future work in remote areas.

We are excited about the opportunity and experiences that lie ahead. We hope you see the value in what we will accomplish. As you can imagine, a trip like this requires financial support froma number of people. We need to raise $3,600 by mid-April and a total of $5,400 ($2,700 for each of us) by the dates of the trip. If you can support us financially, we would be very grateful. We also need your prayer support. Prayer is the fuel that will allow us to be successful as we follow God's leading in ministry. Without prayer, nothing will happen.

If you would like to be part of this mission through financial support, please send the attached document and a check to Biltmore Baptist Church, 35 Clayton Rd, Arden, NC 28704. Please make your check payable to Biltmore Baptist Church and include a note that says "Zoller: Central Asia". Do not write our names on the check. All contributions are tax deductible.

While money is important, we have a great need for your prayer support. Since prayer is so important to the success of this mission, we would like to know if we can count on you in that area. Enclosed is a bookmark that you can put in your Bible, on your bathroom mirror, on the fridge, or anywhere else you will see it at least once a day. Please pray daily for our involvement in this trip and for the people we will
be reaching out to in Kyrgyzstan.

Click the picture to see the bookmark and to print it out. :)

Locks of Love

A year or two ago, I was introduced to a wonderful ministry called Locks of Love. It's an organization that accepts donated hair to make wigs for children who have lost their hair. It's a tragedy that children of any age have to go through a serious illness, but to have their appearance completely altered by losing their hair can really affect their self esteem.

I decided last summer that I was going to grow my hair out to donate. It's been a challenge for me because I haven't had long hair in quite a while and usually when it starts to get an inch past my shoulders, it gets in my way to the point that I will cut it myself in a fit of frustration. But last summer I made a commitment that there were children out there who needed my hair and I vowed not to cut it until it was ready for donation.

Today was the day that I went to get it chopped off! It's amazing to me that something as simple as growing hair can be used to bring such joy to someone else. I know I will never meet the child who gets my hair, but I hope and pray for that child that it will bring them hope and a sense of normalcy. For more information about Locks of Love, please check out their website! www.locksoflove.org

Amber

Perks

So there are definitely perks that come with home ownership -- deductions on taxes, ability to make an investment, being able to paint or change things to our liking...

But another perk to home ownership that we have personally discovered is that we got a unit facing Lake Julian in Arden. Which means that we have an excellent view of the fireworks display from our bedroom windows.

And that is just awesome.

Happy 4th of July everyone!!

This is home...

Closing on the condo was quick and painless (no hand cramps or anything)! We are still in the process of unpacking boxes, but we took some pictures so you can get a general idea about what it looks like. Click here to see the pictures.

It's About Time

We've had a bunch of crazy real estate ventures this year. Lucky for you, we haven't posted about every single one of them or you would have nearly a dozen posts to read. Ha.

We finally found a condo we like and could afford and that all of the paperwork/bank/realtor/seller stuff all worked out on.

We are closing on it Friday, May 16th at 9 am. We hope to be all moved in that weekend and out of our apartment.Hooray! We're finally done house-hunting for a while!!!

Looking for the perfect casa

So we didn't end up getting the house from the previous post. We considered putting in an offer on the house across the street, but decided against that as well. We've talked about just renting for another year since the kind of house we're looking for is just right outside our price range but will hopefully be more doable soon.

Searching for a house is so stressful and time consuming, we look forward to the break.

House # 2? 3? 4?... we've lost count

Ah, the joys of house hunting. Since the real estate market is in disarray, it's actually been a wonderful advantage to us. It seems there are many homes on the market and not a lot of competition. Unfortunately, it's been hard to find a home that's 1. big enough 2. in good enough shape to live in and 3. in our price range. We've found three prospective houses in the past several months. We did not put an offer on the first one, but we did put an offer on the second one but did not go through with the purchase. Which brings us to house #3 (we think).

It's a newer modular home in Hendersonville right next to an apple orchard. It's in a little cal-de-sac that is still being developed and a few more homes will be added to it in the next few years. It's also elevated on a small hill, so it has one of the best views in the neighborhood. So we put in an offer on it and now we're waiting to see if the seller will accept the offer or counter. But MAYBE we'll own a house very soon. :) Yay.