No news is good news?

There are a couple of ways to take the title when a person says those words. In this instance, I will disagree! A couple of weeks ago, when we were scheduled to get our innoculations, Valerie decided she didn't want to get any. So, she decided to pull the "I'm pregnant" card! Can you believe it? I would have held her hand, given her a lollipop, ice cream, but she wouldn't settle for any of that.

We had the first appointment on Friday and confirmed our thoughts. We'll have the ultrasound on Wednesday. But, as it stands right now, we're expecting an April baby. The children are all very excited! The girls are pulling for a girl and the boys for a boy.

Valerie has felt somewhat sick most days. She did have four days in a row with little to no nausea. We're hoping that she will fair this week as it's supposed to be a long one. We have contingency training in which we'll be given preparation on how to handle the "hot" situations.

I'm looking forward to this time. We have been very blessed with the preparation given to us during our time. The leadership does a wonderful job providing sound biblical/doctrinal preparation with practical application...this week being a good example of such training.

I didn't include a picture of Andrew last time. This picture was taken while preparing for his bath. He loves playing on the playground (ground rubber for ground covering-That's what's smeared all over his face.) and in the sandbox. We usually dump about 1/2 a cup of sand out of his clothing afterwards.

Please pr*y for:

Valerie's pregnancy

Collier Child "Cinco"

The Word of G*d to be hidden in our hearts so that we are prepared in and out of season. (Our new family Psalm is Psalm 127.)

G*d's preparation of our people group....fertile soil!

A few little things...

Life has certainly been rolling by. A typical day for us begins with the children waking up between 6:30 and 7am. About 7:15 to 7:25am, we head out the door for the cafeteria to have breakfast in the cafeteria. At 8am, we head back to our "quad" (actually should be called a tri as we only have three apartments because we have bigger families) for small group worship. At 8:45am, we head out the door to take the children to school. The boys are on one side of campus and the girls are on the other, but it works out well as most everything is in a line for us. Most families aren't that fortunate.

VJ and I are in class from 9am until noon. Sessions usually involve learning about persecution, definition of the church, spiritual worship. The sessions are led by amazing people so it's usuallly quite an experience! We have lunch in the cafeteria from noon until 1pm. (It's nice to have lunch with just adults.) After lunch, we typically have two more hours of sessions similar to the morning sessions. Then we pick up the children. (That's always a great time because they are so excited to see us!) We'll play on the playground (We have a great playground just outside of our quad.) for a while, have the girls practice violin for a short time, and then head to dinner around 5pm.

After dinner, it's usually more playground (pg) before heading in for baths. (They always need a good scrubbing after the pg as the surface is recycling rubber with a sandbox, too.) Then we'll read a book or two before a Bible story and bedtime takes place around 8pm.

This week Elizabeth got BJ Bear, the girls' class "pet". She got to take him home for a couple of days and do everything with him. Abby was line leader and is currently preparing for her class play starring in the lead role as food police, patroling the eating habits of others!

Shorty...

I just have a second before walking to dinner, but it'll be something. So far some of the fun things we've enjoyed are: sharing the G*spel, meeting new friends, going fishing, going into Short Pump to eat pizza, "Skyping" family, getting inoculations, classes, meals in the cafeteria, and more. I've tried a couple of times to insert video, but so far, no luck. I'll keep trying. I'll have more soon!

Love,

Rick (and family)

We're here!

Today was the second full day of classes. The children enjoyed their classes; their teachers are wonderful! Valerie and I have enjoyed our classes. They have really taught us quite a bit in a short time, but a lot of it is still preliminary information, learning about processes of campus and the like. Valerie is on the pr*yer walking team, while I'm on the Audio/Visual team. (It was the last team available as our flights and initial class kept us from signing up as quickly as most everyone else.) I really don't know that I'll be much of a benefit at first, but I'll work diligently to learn. We have the biggest "quad", measuring quantitatively; we have 17 in three rooms (11 children among three families!). The schedule has been an awesome blessing to our family. The chaos of preparation was extremely difficult on the children, but everyone is really settling in very nicely. The children have all enjoyed the many playgrounds around, especially the one (and everyone agrees, the nicest) closest to our quad, only about fifty yards away. The cafeteria is really the only stressful time as it gets pretty noisy in there with so many people. I think they said around 346. Sometimes it's difficult for the kids to focus and they don't always enjoy the food (although Valerie and I do-It's been great!).

Please pr*y for Abby. She's had a few very sad times.

Please pr*y for us to have the stamina to get everything done. There are many assignments and it's tough to find the balance between preparation and family time.

Please pr*y for our parents; they were beginning to have a very difficult time before we left.

Here today...gone tomorrow!

Tomorrow morning, at 7:45 (CDT), we'll fly out for Richmond, VA. We're expected some chaos at first, what with travelling with four youngins, with luggage enough for two months. We're praying for an injury-free trip (unintentional and otherwise). All those people who are flying are flying in tomorrow. So, it should be fun see quite a few people all at once. There are supposed to be approx 100 adults and 200 children (scary odds, huh?). We're very excited to get our packet and find out a little more about what we'll be doing.

Please pr*y for patience. I truly don't mean that in a joking sense. This will be a stressful time for many.

Please also pr*y for the whole family to process emotions effectively. (Almost impossible to do if we're not patient...)

Thanks so much for your pr*yer support!!!

Love,

The Colliers

Changes, more changes

Today, when we travel down to take family pictures with my mom, we will pack up the last few things in the back of the Suburban. We'll clean Friday before closing and be done. We've got the "truck" sold and the car. We just have the appliances to sell, now. We are excited about meeting new friends and preparing to spend the next two months with them.

Tomorrow, we'll travel to Omaha to the zoo. We had promised the children we would take one last trip before we leave.

Right now, we're trying to wrap up everything before leaving, including the "homework" assignments we need to complete before our training. Valerie and I have a good balance, right now. She's packing while I extra time with the kids to make sure that Valerie can focus on the packing.

We found out Tuesday morning, from my supervisor, that we'll be serving in a different location than we have been planning for the past year. We'll still be working in S. Asia, but now in a different country.

Finally!!!!!

We now have 10 days left! We fly out July 28th for Richmond, VA. God has provided a buyer, just in time. Everything has gone wonderfully!!!! We hope our home is a great home for these first-time home owners! The few items to address have been taken care of. Our friends have bought our Yukon. We just have a few more things to move out. Right now, we're in transition, staying mainly at Valerie's parents house. We've recently spoken with the man who will be my boss. Interesting to speak with someone in realtime half a world away. Please pr*y for us as we have begun to shed in our immediate and extended families. Please pr*y that we'll know exactly what to pack and that we'll keep in under the weight limit. Please pr*y for our children. They are still doing well with all of these activities, but eventually they will tire of it.

Love,

Rick