January and February 2012

So the last couple of months have been filled with lots of things! I really dislike getting so behind on the blog, but we were moving and were without internet for a while.

January 2012 started off great! We had lots of quality time with family during the holidays and we loved every second. It is always refreshing to get home and settled in. We were gone for a couple of weeks so I had LOADS of laundry to catch up. I also decided it was time to SHED another layer for Belgium. It is a new year and the kids have outgrown clothes and toys so it was time to donate some things. The grandparents love to spoil our children so we needed to make room for new toys and narrow down to the toys we will actually bring with us. We plan to dedicate one luggage bag to toys when we move. We want them to be comfortable since it will be a big adjustment and they are still very young. We have also been told toys are expensive in Belgium.

January 18th Jackson turned 1 year old! What a blessing he has been to each of us in the past year. God is so good. We are so thankful for his little life. He is now able to walk/run, climb up and down the stairs, he says Momma, Da Da, Bre or Bry Bry, Bye Bye, No No, Cookie, bubble and several more. He is becoming our little mockingbird. He nods his head Yes and No. LOVES to dance and giggle and turn in circles. He really likes Thomas the Train, Yo Gabba Gabba, Mickey Mouse, and Little Einsteins. He enjoys knocking down the houses and castles his sister makes with the blocks. They are definitely developing the "sibling" relationship which is precious MOST of the time. :) Below are some pictures from his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday party.




He has changed so much since we brought him home from the hospital


After his birthday it was not long and he got pretty sick for a couple of weeks. He had a stomach bug followed up with pneumonia. We spent one scary evening in the ER. It was his first ER trip. We are so thankful God carried us through that. It was tough seeing him so miserable and the sleep deprivation begins to get to you after a little while. So glad he is back to normal. He had to take lots of breathing treatments, steroids, and antibiotics.



February 2012 we were so excited to be able to enjoy Romance and Roses that Lifepoint hosts each year. It is a night of Romance and fun with your spouse and friends. The food is always so yummy, music is great, and most importantly they help you remember what a Godly marriage looks like and work to hold us accountable to that. Below is a picture of part of our team that is still in the States! LOVE them dearly. It was such a fun night. Special thank you to my wonderful Aunt(Gigi) for watching the kiddos so we could have a night away.

We had originally planned or thought we would be leaving for Belgium in the spring of 2012. Our church has asked that we wait until Fall to actually depart. At first it sort of knocks the wind out of your sails a bit and then you realize who is in control. God is in complete control and as we have said throughout this whole process we trust his timing and we know his plan is perfect. We will be there on the exact day he has planned for us to arrive. We also trust our church leadership completely. They are wonderful to us. We also still need more funding before we can officially depart to Belgium so this gives us ample time to get all of our ducks in a row. If you are interested in becoming a monthly partner please contact us or the information is located on the right side of the blog at the top.

Since we received news that we would be in the States a little longer than planned we needed to come up with a game plan and try to figure out where we would live for the next 6 months or so. We needed a place where we did not have to sign a lease and preferably some place furnished since we have literally gotten rid of ALL of our furniture. God again opened the perfect door at the perfect time. We found out at the beginning of February that we were able to move into a completely furnished missionary house that was available in Murfreesboro, TN. We were so thankful for this provision. So we spent a couple of weeks getting settled in and got internet installed yesterday. The kids love it here and Tennessee weather has been beautiful so we have been getting out and walking and spending time at a Park that is nearby. Our teammates already in Belgium have said to walk as much as possible to prepare for life in Belgium since we will not have a vehicle there. We will depend solely on public transportation which is wonderful in Europe.





With every passing day we see God's fingerprints all over this whole process(which will be 3 years in May). We understand why we are still here and we know God is using this time to train us and prepare us for the time we will spend overseas. We have grown closer in our walk with HIM and feel a closeness to him that only comes from being totally reliant on him to guide us and provide for us. It is a closeness that I never want lose. While moving overseas may not be what he has called everyone to, I do urge you to really seek God and see what he has for your family. Saying YES to his plan can be a little bit uncomfortable at first, but once you start to see all of the ways he is working the peace you feel far surpasses those uncomfortable moments. I LOVE our savior so much. I would not trade one day of this journey. I am so thankful for a church that pushed us outside of our comfort zone to a place that is so much better.

Psalm 130:5-6
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,

He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Luke 10:27

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
more than watchmen for the morning

Adoptions are FINAL!!

We have not blogged a lot in the past year. What a whirlwind it has been! Who knew when God led us down the path to move to Belgium he would also answer our prayers of having a family with not one, but two precious children. Bryanna is now 2 years old(28 months) and Jackson is 9 months old. We were able to finalize both of their adoptions on July 22nd! What an awesome day of celebration and praise that was. A day we will forever celebrate and remember how blessed we are. Who could have known that we would move overseas and take two little cutie pies with us. :) Now that the whole legal process is behind us here are some pictures from this past year.

I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. 1 Samuel 1:27


This is the first weekend we kept Bryanna in our home. She was 13 months old!


Mommy meeting and holding Jackson for the first time. He was 6lbs and 1oz(So tiny and precious)


2 Became 4


This is Mother's Day 2011. We were able to dedicate both of children at Lifepoint Church on Mother's Day. What an awesome way to spend my first one.


Brother and Sister


Adoption Day! Judge Corlew was wonderful.


GO TITANS!! SEPT 11


Love our little family!

Currently in Belgium

Cassi and I are currently in Belgium. We flew in to Brussels leaving Saturday and arriving Sunday, March 21. We have had some long days, long walks, confusing conversations in French, good food, fellowship with others, and so much more. The details will come in the near future once we return to the US; land of the free appendectomy now, I presume. :) Sorry I was not there for that vote. It did make national news though. Even this morning, Tuesday, it was still on the French news stations. At least I got to miss most of the media blitz on it though.

There is a great deal of low hanging fruit here. We just need people to harvest it. We need weak people. Very, very weak people. If you are with me, then you understand why.

Peace, au revoir, a biento, ciao!

So much has been happening

So much has been going on as of late. There is no way I will remember it all. Cassi and I are both enrolled in classes. I am finishing my last 3 hours of my degree. Cassi is finishing up a class on New Testament. We have a roommate again. Lauren was a bridesmaid in our wedding. She has been helping around the house. We have needed to change some doorknobs, paint, clean, etc. It has been a huge chore.

We are in French classes every week at church with a sweet teacher Marie-Claire. Claire moved to Bellbuckle, TN 32 years ago from France. She is a great teacher. French is HARD. Our ears are not used to hearing all the sounds. We also meet with the Belgium team every week. This week they are at our house. We are studying what other faiths believe including other denominations.

I have a new job. I am not playing music full-time anymore. I work at Dell as a sales rep. Some of you know that I used to do this. It has been a blessing so far. It was necessary to increase our income now to continue to pay down debt. Dell is a integral part of our Belgium plan right now. Cassi is still working at Bethel, only now they are Bethel University, not Bethel College. The school continues to grow.

Cassi and I head to Brussels, Belgium in one month. We are going to connect with some missionaries and friends there. This will be my first trip there, and Cassi's second trip. This week long trip with other Lifepoint Belgium team members will be invaluable. This trip includes a meeting with a church staff over there. That will be exciting.

Next week we are meeting with our financial planner again. This will be a "nuts and bolts" type meeting. It will help to decide when we actually head to Brussels. We should have a written plan for our debt plan.

Cassi had her first meeting with a reproductive endocrinologist last week. The doctor was very encouraging. We start some testing and possible surgeries soon.

We are still raising support for our move. LifePoint's research says that we need to raise $4900 per month to live there. It is pretty expensive to live there. That is a lot of money. This has made us trust God so much more. We cannot do all of this ourselves. We are forced to rely on Him. That is a cool place to be.

You Got-ta Know Your Roll

This past weekend Cassi and I were out with the Daniel Doss Band. It was great having Cassi out on this weekend. It was a youth rally for Providence Baptist Church in Pageland, SC. She helped us out first off by cooking some biscuits and making sure there was coffee for our 5 am departure from the Nashville area. Our guitar player had to leave an hour earlier to be here by 5 am. Yuck! Daniel had an hour drive to Chicago for a 6:40 am flight. Needless to say this was an EARLY morning for all of us.

The youth pastor, Brandon Smith, saw us on tour with Avalon and Michael English last year. He loved the DDB CD and thought we would be a good fit for what he wanted the event to be. The night had a local worship band named Fading Doubt. It was a four piece band led by 2 female voices and rounded out with a guitar player and a drummer. My initial reaction was that of surprise that you could have a band without a bass player. :-) Actually, the guitar player did a great job of setting his pedals to compensate for the lack of a bass player. The band was pretty good and reminded me of Evanescence. Very cool female harmonies.

After Fading Doubt, we went on to do a 40 minute praise set. This youth group was a little more familiar with our originals since Brandon was such a fan. We did a few covers also. Lately, we have been starting our set with Here I Am to Worship instead of a song that is up and in your face. It is such a cool way to set the tone for the evening. We started as a worship band and have tried to stay true to those roots.

Next, a very dynamic speaker came up. His name is Matt Pitt. His back story is pretty amazing. Six years ago this weekend he almost died from a drug overdose. That helped to trigger his transformation from a drug dealer to sold out Christ follower. His website will do a much better job of selling his story.

I will say this, I learned quite a lot about the importance of knowing your audience and message delivery. This was the first speaker I had experienced that had his own DJ. When I say speaker, it was only by title. It was more like a screamer. The DJs music was so loud that it was hard to understand about 40% of what Matt had to say. There were also slick videos that went along with the message with cool sound effects. Parts of the message were emotionally charged and, unfortunately, came across as contrived. This is not to say that Matt Pitt is not genuine, or that any part of his message was wrong. I do feel that he believes everything he said. He comes from a ministry that has up to 7,000 participants a week and is high energy. For him, this kind of presentation would be par for the course. It seemed out of place in rural South Carolina.

This along with some technical difficulties made me realize that what ever you bring to a service needs to be able to stand on its own merits and not be so heavily leveraged on presentation. When Cassi, I, and the rest of the team are in Belgium, we will not have the ability to present a message or service in such a slick manner. We need to make sure that we bring the Truth the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. I have nothing wrong with bringing your best, but you need to know your audience. Belgians are typically reserved. We need to minister to them in a way that they can "get it".

Pray for us that we can connect in a real way with with the people of Brussels.

Peace

Life In the Fast Lane!!!

Hello Everyone,
Sorry it has once again been a while, but our life has been in the fast lane since I have returned from Belgium. Bryan was out on the road with Casting Crowns, and I have been swamped trying to catch up at work, help my mom move, and I am still working toward my degree. We had a family reunion last weekend which was lots of fun and Bryan is on the road with Jacobs Road this weekend.

In the midst of normal everyday life we are constantly praying, preparing, and having weekly small group meetings with Team Belgium. I have recently started a new devotional book by Beth Moore called Voices of the Faithful, and I am loving it. It is so inspirational and starts my day off right with some words of encouragement, scripture, and prayer. It is written by 300 IMB missionaries who are currently working in the field. Since we are all called to be missionaries I would recommend it to anyone even if your mission field is not overseas. In the evenings I have been reading a book called Sister Freaks by Rebecca St.James which is about women who risked it all for God. I guess you can tell what is on my mind. The truth is I am taking the advice we received from the missionaries while we were in Belgium. One thing we heard from all of the missionaries was to know how to feed yourself, and I don’t mean food I mean spiritually. When you are in an area where Christians are literally nonexistent it can be easy to get knocked down. By keeping ourselves in the word and uplifted we will be focused and ready for the constant challenges we will be facing daily. Sometimes it can be hard in the US to stay immersed in the word, but in the US we have our church(LifePoint), Christian friends, Christian radio, and tons of Christian organizations to be a part of. We have resources and support all around us. When we are an ocean away from everyone and everything we know I want be as ready as I can be so that nothing will distract me from the work I will be there (Belgium) to do. My husband constantly says you are what you eat and he is referring to spirituality as well. It really does make sense if you know how to feed yourself then you maintain a strong relationship with our Father. When I feel closest to God no other feeling can compare. I am so blessed to have grown up in an area where I can join with others and worship our Perfect God. I can’t wait to get to Belgium to share the good news. I can’t wait to start a church where hopefully everyone will feel free to worship and get involved and build that personal relationship with God and eachother that I know so many are longing for and just do not have the resources or the knowledge on how to start it.

I also want to thank ALL of our ministry partners. Without you this would not be happening. So thank you, thank you, and thank you! If you are or are not joining us in this ministry please know when we move to Belgium our door will always be open. You will always be welcome to come and visit and get your hands dirty with some of the mission work we will be doing there. The financial support is huge, but if Belgium is tugging at your heart you are welcome to get on the ground once we get there and help out. I also want to say a special thanks to our friends Keith and Kerri who gave us Rosetta Stone French Version, a book on Belgium, and a heating blanket that will work overseas. Since Kerri just moved back from Luxemburg she is an amazing resource. We have so many friends that are stepping up to help in many ways so just know how much we appreciate you.

As we continue to prepare we are looking at apartments online to figure out budgets, getting our house on the market, paying off debt, getting prepared spiritually, raising support, learning French, and much more. I ask that you pray for us and the rest of our team during this intense time. It is very exciting and we are trusting God to get us there. We have an amazing Team that God has put in place. Everyone brings something different to the table, and including children we have 19 people going and one more college student who will be joining us a few months after we get there for a total of 20. I am so happy to be going with such an awesome group of adults and children.

Please remember that even though so many view Belgium and Europe as a country with everything it is one of the hardest mission fields out there. There aren't as many physical needs to be met in Belgium as in some countries, but the spritual need there is endless! We have been told this by many. People are so closed off from one another that they are a tough country to get through to. Please pray for God to start working and preparing their hearts now. Please pray for the missionaries who are currently serving in Belgium. We thank all of you for your support!

Belgium Mission Trip Update#1

I am so sorry I am just now getting the chance to post a blog. We have had limited access to the internet because the wireless isn’t free unless we are at a café that has it. We have been incredibly busy and it has been amazing journey thus far. It definitely involves a huge amount of walking which is nice but tiring. We have literally fallen asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow which is another reason I am just now blogging.

Although it is so beautiful here you can definitely tell something is missing. While on public transportation (Tram, Train, or Bus) no one makes eye contact. Everyone is quiet and very guarded. Lots of people have IPODs with Earphones or are staring at their phones as a barrier. We have had a chance to speak with a couple of people none of which are true Belgian, but do live here. We Were lucky enough to have a great conversation with one lady and she told us that she believes Belgians are so guarded due to being used as a battle ground in past years. She said that most conversations are very general on the surface conversations. They typically do not invite you into their homes unless you are family or a very close friend. She said it may be a couple of years before it would be appropriate to have a conversation with a Belgian about politics or religion. We have been trying to communicate and observe as many people as we possibly can.

We landed in Brussels around 8:00am (Belgium time) after flying for nearly 9 hours. We were all exhausted, but really wanted to have a productive day. We needed to keep ourselves busy to stay awake and get acclimated to the time difference. They are seven hours ahead of us(Central Standard time). We checked into our hotel, grabbed breakfast, and started our day. We mainly just got our bearings and attended a church service. We have been using a method that consists of prayer walking, observing and connecting. We are trying to use every minute of daylight to get as much done as possible. No doubt the scenery is beautiful in some areas and you can’t help but snap a picture we have a much bigger mission in and on our minds constantly. Although we would love to spend many hours doing only mission work while we are on this trip, the fact is we also have to make time to see different areas and scout out potential areas we may need to live. We want to be in the area we feel we could really have good opportunities to connect with and meet many people and share God’s word. We want to be in his will 100 percent!

On Monday we were able to visit an area called Stockel. It was very much a suburban feel and family friendly. It was a nicer area of Brussels. We walked around most of the city and were able to view an apartment. Tuesday we went to an area called Gribaumont which personally I loved. There were a couple of great parks where meeting people would be easy. They have walking trails, exercise equipment; skate park areas with concrete hills, and lots of shady sitting areas for reading. People have dogs everywhere in Brussels. It is not uncommon to see dogs walking through the mall or any building. Lots of people are at the parks walking dogs or playing with their children. There are lots of bike riders as well. Any of these would be a great way to make friends. They have lots of mom and pop owned shops which a nice change. Wednesday we will be traveling to Namur to do more research and mission work.

I cannot tell you how thankful and blessed I am to be on this trip. I will admit when I first started feeling like God was leading us towards Brussels I thought of the glamour and beauty of this place and most importantly a huge population of people that do not have a personal relationship with our Father. They are walking through life not even realizing they have a savior who is ready to step up to bat for them and do amazing work in their lives if they will just let him in. Through speaking with the British lady that I mentioned earlier we learned that a lot of people claim Catholicism through status not practice. Meaning they baptize their children because it is the popular thing to do for your friends and family not out of love and obedience.
Many people cannot fathom why we would do such a thing as to move to a foreign country with all of the beautiful historic art, rich chocolate, diamonds, and lace. The truth is they have many things, but God is not one of them. The British lady also said something that really touched me and made my desire to be here even stronger. She said that although has lived in Belgium for a while and although she was married to a Belgian, life here can be lonely. Everyone is so guarded that they are not only missing out on a relationship with God they are missing out on relationships with eachother. Our job as Christians is to love, to encourage, and to be missionaries (in your area or an area you may be called to). Most Belgians do not even acknowledge others presence. It is sad to think in such a beautiful area full of people there are many people who are walking around sad and lonely. There is so much I want to share from this trip already. I will try to post again in the next day or so depending on how busy we are and what access to internet we have. If you have questions please feel free to email me or post them on here. We are trying to learn ourselves. Please pray for Team Belgium as we continue this trip that God will use us as his hands and feet and show us his ultimate plans. We are praying for everyone at home as well. We miss you and we love you all.

Cassi

Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all of the earth.
Isaiah 12:5

Belgium Trip update: breakfast and such

I talked with Cassi a few times today. We Skype'd at our small group today, so we got to see each other too. The entire team is exhausted. Cassi had a waffle for breakfast and pizza for lunch/dinner. They are most likely sleeping right now and will be up around 9 am Brussels time. That is 2 am central. This is one of many little chocolate shops around their hotel and surrounding area. Godiva is Belgian.

34,000 feet and steady

Cassi and the team going to Belgium are currently cruising at 34,000 feet above the Atlantic ocean. They have been on this leg of the flight for 5 hours and 36 minutes. Cassi snapped a few photos of the team as they loaded the plane. Unfortunately there are none of her, but here is the team. Jordan, the girl in the bottom picture, is going to be Cassi's roomate this trip.

Peace

Belgium Update #6: Introducing...

Today the Belgium and Thailand teams were brought up in front of the church for a formal introduction. The two teams took up the front of the stage. There are quite a few of us being sent. Once the video is up of this service you can see the introductions here. There is 1 song and some baptisms. We are directly after the baptisms.

The purpose of the introductions was to let the church who is going overseas to represent LifePoint. It was also to explain that we are vocational missionaries and need support in many ways including funding. It is estimated that a married couple like Cassi and I will need to raise $4900 per month to survive. It is very expensive. Our Bangkok, Thailand counterparts will need about $1500 per month to survive. As you can see, it is very expensive to live in Brussels.

Cassi and I are very thankful of those who have already stepped up to make a commitment to partner with our ministry. For those who received a letter from us already. Please pray about your role in this. For those who have not yet been contacted, you are free to contact us if we don't get to you soon enough or at all. We have a lot on our plate and are trying to keep all the things going that we need to.

Today was another baby step. How many are left? 1500? 2000? Who knows. We keep plugging away though.

We had some great conversations with some people today who are wanting to make more of a commitment to reaching out with their faith. That is exciting! I can't really go in to much detail, but "stuff is stirring".

Peace

Brussels update #5: Introductions and cleaning

This Sunday our pastor, Pat Hood, is introducing the families that were placed on the Belgium and Thailand teams. I think there are 10-12 families total. This will be a chance for LifePoint to see who is going overseas to start the first international campuses for LifePoint. This is a week to show your support for these families if you are a "Life-er". Just another step in the process.

Cassi and I and getting our house ready to put on the market. We have some interest already and are pursuing that. We have been doing the typical cleaning and such that it takes to get a house ready to show. I guess we are about 35% there. It is so much work. Cassi's family is coming in this weekend to help get the house ready. They are going to help clean the baseboards, floors, walls, concrete, etc. That is a huge help!

It is getting closer. One week at a time.

Peace

Why Belgium?

In the country of Belgium 90 percent of Belgians claim Catholicism, but almost none regularly attend any kind of religious service. In fact, less than 1 percent of the people in Belgium are practicing Christians. LESS THAN 1%. The Muslim faith is the fastest growing faith in Europe. If you have watched the news recently you probably have seen European politicians begging America to not go down the same roads they did. They see us making the same mistakes. In a trip Bryan made to England and Greece in 2005, he noticed very different fashion styles. Over the next 2 years those styles crept in to pop culture in America. What happens in Europe does not stay in Europe. It eventually gets shipped to America. This goes for fashion, politics, and religion. This post-Christian society needs to hear of God’s love so that cultural and religious exports to America are once again biblically based.

Brussels, Belgium is the heart of the European Union. People are constantly coming and going in Brussels. We NEED to reach these people to help turn Europe around. They need to understand what a personal relationship with a real God looks like.This mission cannot be accomplished alone by us and the four other families that are being sent. It will take a host of families stateside to make this possible. If you feel like God is tugging at you to join in this ministry please contact us. Several friends have joined already and we thank you guys so much! We will keep you all regularly updated.

We had our second small group meeting yesterday and I cannot fully express how excited I am about the team God has assembled for us to work with during this mission. It is truly a group of Christ followers driven to make God famous in Europe.

I want to ask all of you reading this to pray for us in the coming weeks. I and 6 other Team members will be flying to Brussels, Belgium later this month. Please pray for God to guide our steps while we are there and please pray that the Belgian people will have open hearts and minds. This is mainly a vision trip to scout out possible areas to plant the church, meet with and possibly witness to some college students, look at potential places for us to live, and plan plan plan.

When we first started feeling like God was calling us to the country of Belgium I could not wrap my brain around it all. With everyday that passes the urge to get over there and start working for Him is more overwhelming. I now know why God is assembling this team he is making it clear to us the need for Christianity in all of Europe. This is something we are very passionate about! If you have any questions please feel free to ask. We have had about a million questions ourselves since starting this process in early May. If we cannot answer them we will get the answer. I am attaching a video that shows part of the importance of having a presence and sharing God's word to a lost country. They deserve to feel the love a church family can provide, and we are stepping up to the plate. Please take a few minutes and watch the video. It blew my mind.

Au revior.

Cassi Wolski

Brussels Update 4: Find a partner

Today was great. Our first small group meeting with Team Brussels happened today. Twenty of us convened at the Goen's. Our pastor, Pat Hood, stopped by to give the LifePoint vision. You know, "straight from the horse's mouth." We had our first worship session with the Ebensberger's at the helm. Fittingly, our first song was How Great is Our God sung in French.

Also, we now have been given the green light to start finding our ministry partners. The team is pretty much firmed up and we are to be contacting people to partner with us to make this mission a reality. Cassi and I have already heard from a handful of you that want to partner with us. We want to thank you so much for that. We will be contacting you soon to work out the details of what that looks like.

Our first official ministry partners are Jon and Joy Wolski. Jon works as a web developer for a national ministry and had some great ideas in our brainstorm meeting tonight. They are going to help us integrate the technology part of what we do. It is said that the number one reason that ministry partners quit giving support is for lack of information on what is going on in the ministry. We talked about ways to keep people plugged in and to have transparency on what we are doing. We will be trying out new ideas to implement soon. We will also probably go to a dedicated domain for the mission work. This particular blog will most likely have a new URL in the near future.

Cassi's next blog will be on why we are going to Belgium specifically and what needs to be accomplished there.

Things are happening. Hop on board and hang on.

Peace.

P.S. I hijacked the picture from Women of Grace. They own it, not me.

Brussels Update #3

Cassi and I are still plugging away at our list of things to do. She is leaving for Belgium in less than a month from now. She will be gone for 9 days on a trip to see where we are going to be and some of what to expect.

We have had to get some pictures done for a prayer card through our church. We have been coming up with strategies on how to get our debts paid. We are looking at ideas that include golf scrambles, yard sales, concerts, and a few other ideas. Cassi is the one that has most of the ideas right now. We have some support raising that we are starting. We are contacting potential sponsors in this journey. As missionaries it takes quite a bit of support from home to make it happen. If you feel like you would like to see if there is a way to help us along the way feel free to contact us.

There are many areas that we need help. We are not just looking for someone to open up a wallet to help us. We need strategic partners to help with things from the web, to stuffing envelopes, to donating items for a yard sale, to sponsors, to prayer partners. If you have a skill that you feel you would like to invest in an international church plant let us know.

Next week Cassi and I meet with a financial advisor to come up with a plan of how to attack this debt. Be praying for us to have the resources needed and the wisdom to find a solution.

This week we start meeting in our small group. This Sunday is the first meeting of many where we are going to really get to know our ministry partners that are going over seas with us. This is very exciting for Cassi and me.

Peace

5 Out of 6 Ain't Bad, Or is it?

I have not been doing much of a "normal" life over the last month and a half. It has been the busiest season I have had in a LONG while. That is good in the fact it means I am working. I will be writing a series about my time on the road with artists such as Buddy Jewel, Avalon, Michael English, Daniel Doss Band, and Casting Crowns.

Five of the last six weeks I have been traveling the country. I have seen some of the most beautiful scenes in nature and on earth. My job allows me to see THE most breath taking thing on earth week after week. The Mona Lisa, Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, et. all pale in comparison. I am in front of thousands of people who 1.) recognize who created them, 2.) recognize their position in relation to Him, and 3.) return the ONLY thing they have back to Him in the form of praise. Have you ever really watched people worship? It is truly amazing. Maybe just to me and that is why God chose me to "stand and deliver" on stage.

Cassi has been busy holding down the full-time job and the house while I have been gone. This is the first Saturday we have had together in 6 weeks. We are going to Morton's Steak House tonight on someone else's dime. That is the best way to go!

We both are happy I am home now for at least a few weeks. The Casting Crowns shows are coming up soon. Pray for Chris and his wife that these last few months go smooth. I have already been called up and put on notice once for a slight scare.

Look here in the future for more Belgium updates and road reports.

Peace

Two Heads are Better than One

Most of you all who read this blog are expecting to hear from my sweet husband Bryan. Incase you don't know who I am, I am Cassi Wolski, his better half. Just kidding! Since we have started the process of becoming vocational missionaries in a church planting team with our church (LifePoint Church) we have decided to share this blog to keep our friends updated. We will let you know which one of us is doing the posting to keep the confusion to a minimum. :)

During the process one of the things the church has asked us to participate in is a Strengths Finder test. We were given a book "Strengths Finder 2.0" by Tom Rath. It is pretty neat to learn your strengths and focus on improving those areas rather than focusing on your weaknesses. Here are the results. I look forward to blogging more in the future.

Bryan Wolski
Connectedness - People who are especially talented in the Connectedness theme have faith in the links between all things. They believe there are few coincidences and that almost every event has a reason.

Positivity - People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.

Belief - People who are especially talented in the Belief theme have certain core values that are unchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose for their life.

Developer - People who are especially talented in the Developer theme recognize and cultivate the potential in others. They spot the signs of each small improvement and derive satisfaction from these improvements.

Includer - People who are especially talented in the Includer theme are accepting of others. They show awareness of those who feel left out, and make an effort to include them.

Cassi Wolski

Includer - People who are especially talented in the Includer theme are accepting of others. They show awareness of those who feel left out, and make an effort to include them.

Responsibility - People who are especially talented in the Responsibility theme take psychological ownership of what they say they will do. They are committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.

Positivity - People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.

Woo - People who are especially talented in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person.

Communication - People who are especially talented in the Communication theme generally find it easy to put their thoughts into words. They are good conversationalists and presenters.

Brussels Update 2: The Money Obstacle

The process of actually going over seas to be a full-time missionary has many steps. These steps are actually hurdles, and if you can't get over them, you can't go, essentially. The next immediate step for Cassi and me is a financial planning one and has 2 main parts.

One is raising support just as any missionary would have to do. Brussels is about the same cost of living as Manhattan, so it is very expensive. We have a meeting on June 13 to start this process and come up with a plan. There will be much more on this as it comes.

The second part is getting out of debt. This is the actual next step that Cassi and I are working on a plan. We have been in contact with a financial planner and will be setting up an initial meeting shortly. If you could see our financial picture you will realize what a literal miracle it will be for us to be debt free by 2011. I have been a professional musician for some time and that has a way of damaging your finances. :-)

For us and others who are or have struggled financially there are some great things in our manual (Bible). I keep 2 passages bookmarked with a dollar bill as a reminder.

Psalm 50:10-11
10"For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. 11"I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. 12 If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains."

Haggai 2:7-8
7 'I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD of hosts. 8 'The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,' declares the LORD of hosts.

Wow God owns everything? Everything is His? He can allocate it where He wants then. Now you have to believe that if God ordains something he has the power to orchestrate it too. There is hope! Don't let money keep you from your saying "YES" to a calling.

Peace

SayNow has something to say

Hey people. The Daniel Doss Band has a cool service called SayNow. It is a way for fans to call us and leave a message. You can also hear what we have to tell you and what others are saying. It is a cool way to keep up with us and us to stay in touch with you.

Check it out and leave a message for us via the phone at (615) 823-7658, or you can go to the URL and listen to DDB and fans. That URL is http://www.saynow.com/danieldossband.

Peace