5 Minute Monthly: Christmas Edition

Merry Christmas everyone!! We are well into the month of December, which means that Christmas is fast approaching and with it comes so much busyness and preparation. Winter has officially arrived in Hayward, Wisconsin. There is a blanket of snow on the ground, temperatures are in the negatives and we are grateful for it. It is a blessing to get a taste of North woods winter before we head to the milder yet much wetter weather of England.

It has been a whirlwind of a time for our little family as the prospect of leaving approaches and the list of things to do grows ever longer. We have had a few curve balls thrown our way as we prepare to go, which has added to the chaos and kept us relying on God. So let's jump in to what's been happening in our lives and how it intertwines with our future ministry.

Life Happenings

The month of November and the beginning of December was a time full of joy and sadness. These emotions were in a constant rotation and many times mingling into one indescribable feeling of hope and loss. I am realizing these emotions are inevitable when you are preparing for something you've waited for so long yet leaving a behind relationships that mean so much.

This month we felt the joy of wonderful family time as we gathered with my side for a fun-filled Thanksgiving. Yet sadness lingered because this was the last Thanksgiving with all the family for a while. There was happiness in celebrating our anniversary. Tyler and I spent our actual anniversary date with Josiah in Saint Paul, MN. We got biometrics for our visas done and went Christmas shopping at the Mall of America. A week later, we took a sweet and simple trip (just the two of us) to the North Shore and spent a couple days in a cabin near Lake Superior. This was a time of processing for us as we discussed the reality of saying goodbye and how our lives would soon drastically change. There were tears for sure but also a sense of peace that we were right where God wanted us and with that came joy and excitement for the future.

Another thing that brings us great joy mingled with a whole bunch of other emotions is that we are expecting our second baby!! We are so excited for this gift and are looking forward to our UK born baby who will be coming May of 2025. As you can imagine, along with the excitement comes a whole bunch of unknown as we have never done this 'birthing a baby overseas' thing before. It is crazy, its an adventure and it is simply another exercise in trusting God. I am confident he will take care of us and give us what we need to face this next exciting challenge.

The final thing that brought us an intertwining of sadness and joy was our goodbye event in Hayward. We got to see lots of our supporters, catch them up on what we are doing and express how thankful we are for them. It was a time of good conversation and fellowship. I feel blessed to be surrounded by such a strong and caring group of individuals and it is overwhelming to know that we have so many more people behind us all over the US and even abroad. For all reading this who love, care and support us in so many different ways - thank you. It truly means the world to us.

Ministry Update

We are so close to leaving and it is starting to feel real. Next time you all receive an update from us we will (Lord willing) be in the UK. There are many things on our minds at this time and we imagine there are probably a few questions on yours. I just wanted to take some time to try and answer some of the things that are frequently asked.

Do we have our visas? - YES! We have our visas in hand! Even little Josiah has a visa.

Do we have our tickets? - No. This is a complicated question, but to put it simply, we need to be at 100% funded before we buy our tickets. We are currently at 92%. We are in contact with a few potential supporters and praying that the Lord will provide what we need. If you have considered supporting us or typically give some in year-end giving, we would really appreciate your help! Every dollar truly counts. However, if in the event that we don't reach 100% quite on time, we are still fully sure that we will be in England in early January.

Do we have an apartment in the UK? - No. To apply for an apartment you must first have a bank account in the UK but to have a bank account you must have a UK address. This a bit of a catch 22 but to get around it we will be most likely be renting an airbnb for the first few weeks of living there then work on getting an apartment after going through the steps.

What is our leave date? - Since we don't have our tickets yet we are not positive but we are looking at flying out of JFK in New York on the 7th or 8th of January. However we are leaving Wisconsin on December 18th to celebrate Christmas in Pennsylvania and visit some friends. Also my brother will be getting married in Maryland on January 4th so we will be attending a wedding right before we head out. It will be a crazy time!

Where will we be living and working in the UK? - as of right now we will be in the city of Southampton working with Christ Church Southampton but there may be a chance we could be working with a church plant of Christ Church about 30min away. That, however, is still in the works and we should have more details on that later.

You may have more questions; so do we, but we are learning to constantly give our worries and doubts to the Lord. It is not always easy and we are not very good at it so we are thankful for a God of consistency who never fails us.

Pray with Us

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog! If you would like to start supporting us or give a one-time donation to help us reach 100% you can give at our website - https://www.converge.org/global-worker/tyler-aleah-mann

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year and we are looking forward to sending you our next update from the UK!