What's happened to those Fletchers???

I cannot believe that I have not updated this blog since December! I sincerely apologize, and I thank all of you who have prayed for us even when you didn't know our specific needs. I know that you are all praying for us, because we could not make it one day without all the prayer support. We pray blessings on you all for continually praying for us.


I am not going to do a lengthy, in-depth update for the past 6 months (I hear cheers...). I'll give a brief summary and then share what's going on with us right now. So, since our last update, we...

• celebrated Doyle's birthday
• celebrated a wonderful Christmas (mainly by talking about next Christmas being in Texas!)
• celebrated Tristyn's 13th birthday (2 teenagers in the house now...pray for us!)
• had a volunteer team from Union University
• Doyle completed his spring semester seminary course
• welcomed 2 new families serving in Krakow
• had our first baptism service with Compass International Fellowship
• had a spring egg hunt outreach
• celebrated Falyn's 15th birthday
• travelled to Ukraine and back in one day for visa renewal (this was so crazy you all wouldn't believe it)
• helped do a VBS program for Polish children
• had about 80 Polish lessons (but it only seemed like 75)
• celebrated Daegan's 11th birthday
• welcomed 4 volunteer summer interns to work with us here in Krakow
• had a volunteer team from Pioneer Baptist Church
• celebrated that Tristyn and Daegan have finished school for the year
• bought airline tickets to come back to Texas for stateside!

Now for the present...

We have many doctor appointments for all of us the next few weeks as we prepare to go back to Texas (kids and needles, need I say more?)

On Monday, Doyle will be seeing the doctor once again for his elbow. He has gone much longer this time, but it is painful. Please pray for him.

On Tuesday, Falyn will (much to her delight) be getting her braces off. She has endured so many different, painful procedures, and she is so excited to finally be finished before returning to the States. It's hard to believe that she will have been prepped for braces, received braces, and will have them removed without anyone from America ever seeing her with them. Seems like so long. Falyn is almost finished with school. This has been her toughest year ever! She must finish by Wednesday, and she still has quite a bit to do. She is working very hard, so please pray for her to complete her work quickly and finish well.

Tristyn has finished 7th grade and is enjoying his free time now. As a wonderful answer to prayer, God did provide a special friend for Tristyn here in Krakow. In April, we welcomed a new family that has a son a year younger than Tristyn. Their son is identical to Tristyn is so many ways that it kind of scares us and his parents a little. This was such an unexpected answer to prayer, and we are so thankful to God for always hearing our needs.

Daegan is ecstatic that school is over. I really worked the boys hard this year also. We had so many interruptions last year with all the travels and the move, so I didn't give them many breaks this year. Daegan loves being outside in the nice Krakow weather but sure does miss those Texas bugs.

On Friday, we will leave to go to Greece for a week for our annual mission conference. We are excited about seeing old friends from Russia, being spiritual refreshed, and seeing a beach for the first time in almost 4 years. And since our organization is occupying the entire resort, we won't have to see any Speedos or topless sunbathers. At least, I don't think we will see any? This will be Tristyn's first year in the youth program there. Please pray for our travels to and from Greece and for Falyn, Tristyn, and Daegan to be spiritually refreshed through their programs.

We return from Greece on the 27th, and then we leave for the States on July 5th. It has been over 3 1/2 years since we left the States, and we are so incredibly excited about our return. We miss our families, our church family, and all of our friends so much! We still have so many preparations to complete before our return. We have a "things to do" list everyday between now and then. Also, we will be bringing our little dog, Trixie, back with us. Please pray for all our preparations to go well between now and then.

As you may or may not know, the total giving for the IMB Lottie Moon Offering last year was significantly down, probably due to the poor economy in the States right now. The final total was somewhere around 30 million dollars short of the goal. This has had a huge impact on missions. The IMB has had to make some very difficult decisions. Some of those decisions include a restriction of new missionaries sent to the field for now. Also, the short-term missionaries (journeymen and ISC/Masters) now serving will be limited on renewing their terms. Personally, we have also seen a very big drop in the funds that are provided to us to help with personal expenses (food, clothes, etc...). Since January, we are in the midst of a decrease of 60% in these funds. However, please know that we also realize that every person reading this can probably say the same thing about their grocery money. Please pray that though the economy is troubled now, people will still contribute generously to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for 2009. 100% of these funds go for direct support of missionaries. Please share this need with all of your churches!

Thank you all, once again, for always remembering our family in your prayers. We truly survive through prayer! We are so excited about seeing you all very soon.