Trust in Transition

Dear friends and family,

Here is an update from us Rauwolfs. We’d love to reconnect and hear from you as well! There’s a lot of ground to cover - you may want to settle in with a hot drink!

First, we are thankful: for your love, prayers and generosity that has kept us afloat through both calm and stormy seas. We couldn’t have made it without you! We found ourselves shipwrecked this year, but thanks to God (working through you and others) the desert island became an oasis - full of life and treasures - not only for us, but those around us as well. We have been so blessed in this land and so amazed to see how far Josiah has come - he is a joy beyond measure! Even so, our sails and nets, mast and rudder are a bit banged up and in need of repair. It has been a hard season. The difficulties of having a micro-preemie, and living in an emergency situation in a degree of isolation have taken a toll on us spiritually, physically, emotionally and mentally. We'd really appreciate your prayers! We’ve found it difficult to move past the trauma of the last year and into a new season while living in the shadow of the hospitals where Josiah had spent so much time.

After a year of much intensity (punctuated with regular Josiah prayer updates on Facebook), we needed to ‘unplug’ a bit - so (once Josiah was well enough to leave the city), a year to the day of our arrival via ambulance to Dublin, we packed up our car and said goodbye to those at the Coombe Hospital and the neighborhood we had come to know as ‘Hospitalville,’ and drove north to spend the summer reconnecting with friends and YWAM co-workers in Rostrevor.  It was just before Josiah turned 1 and just in time for a very special and memorable birthday celebration with dear friends at An Cuan (The Harbour) - the YWAM centre we had helped to pioneer. What a day!

1-Year BIRTHDAY celebration for Josiah Caleb Rauwolf!

The lovely Jones family whom we got to house-sit for

Friends graciously opened their doors to us in the area and we were able to housesit for much of the summer, which allowed us a place for the residual adrenaline to dissipate and to be in closer proximity to YWAM Rostrevor and friends and fellowship - with ministry opportunities as well. One of the highlights was getting to play some of our songs and share Josiah’s testimony with 200 people at a local music festival. We continue to be in awe of the number of lives The Lord has reached through Josiah. We are so honored to be his parents!

Worship time at YWAM Rostrevor

Another highlight of the summer was when Mariette Louw, a seasoned leader in YWAM (and a spiritual powerhouse), came all the way by ferry and car from Scotland just to spend a few days praying with, ministering to and debriefing us. While Josiah (and we) have survived the ‘battlefield’ and have known and felt the strong arms of our Shepherd and dwelt under the shadow of His great wings, we have not altogether escaped the ‘shell-shock’ of such an experience. We (along with many other parents with experience in the NICU) have come out of this time with some PTSD symptoms and have needed some outside input. Our time with Mariette was better, went deeper and brought more healing than we could’ve possibly imagined. Not only did she debrief the past season with Josiah, but she debriefed our years in ministry and with YWAM - as well as providing some guidance for the future - which couldn’t have come at a better time.

Mariette - a Godsend!

Perhaps you are wondering what’s next for us. There are a few details we are certain of that we are excited to share with you and appreciate your prayers for: first, we are hoping to return to the USA next May (2015)! Josiah’s doctor expects him to be able to fly by then and we are anxious to be surrounded by family and friends (most have not yet met - and held - our dear Josiah) for the first time in 2 1/2 years.

Until then, it’s important that we are in a place where Josiah’s needs are met and we see to our own physical/mental/spiritual health as well. For legal and medical reasons, we can’t remain in Northern Ireland. After much prayer and leading, the Lord has lit up a path for us to a house near Westport, County Mayo - in the West of Ireland - not far from where a number of friends live and some of my (Joey’s) ancestors are from and some distant cousins still live. Tomorrow (September 17), we will leave Rostrevor and drive to our new place, where for the next 6 months we will be in the shadow of Croagh Patrick - the mountain where, 1500 years ago, Saint Patrick fasted and prayed for 40 days and nights for the people of Ireland. We hope to carry on in the place and spirit of his prayers. First and foremost, our desire is that the Lord’s purposes be done in us and through us. Please pray for a safe journey and smooth transition to what may be the last place we live in Ireland. We are excited and expectant and want to make our time count.

Enjoying some rays at Tollymore Forest Park

To fully embrace the next season, we have decided - through much counsel and confirmation - to shift our position from YWAM Ireland staff to being YWAM associates living in Ireland, technically on sabbatical. Our calling and the means of reaching this land have shifted with the situation and surroundings we’ve found ourselves in: through Josiah, The Lord is doing something broader and farther reaching than we’d anticipated or currently understand.

While we and so many were fighting for our “non-viable” 23 weeker’s life in Dublin, around the corner the politicians were forcing Ireland’s first bill to legalize abortion through Parliament. Josiah is a great witness to the beautiful miracle of Life in this land. He has touched so many lives in the medical community of Ireland, let alone through social media, where his story has reached thousands around the world. Perhaps he’s accomplished more in the spirit and the natural just by being alive and smiling than thousands marching with placards in a pro-Life rally through the center of Dublin...God knows.

Good Little King Josiah

New adventures

The twenty-third Psalm has always been special to us, but especially so since Josiah was born at twenty-three weeks gestation. We would pray those power-filled words over him in his incubator day and night. Lately, the third verse has been standing apart: “He restores my soul...” We know The Lord is leading us into a season of soul-restoration, and we want to allow Him the space and time. Our friend Mariette (from South Africa) shared a story that really made sense to us: when going on long journeys, the early Afrikaner settlers of South Africa would use the indigenous people as servants to carry them through the jungles. Every so often, the servants would stop in their tracks, set their ‘loads’ down, and sit. Nothing or no one could make them get back up. “What are you doing?” Their masters would shout. “We have outrun our souls,” they’d reply. “We'll wait here 'til they catch up!"

Josiah continues to thrive and has been accepted to an early intervention program, where he will receive the physical and occupational therapy he needs, as well as speech and language therapy - and regular visits to the audiologist for new hearing aid moulds and help from the visiting teacher for the hard of hearing. While he’s almost 15 months old, they’d like for his development to be around his ‘corrected’ age of 11 months. He’s currently a bright, happy boy at about a 5 month old’s development and can still use a lot of prayer and help along the way. Our days and weeks are quite full just seeing to his needs, but we are reveling in the joy of simple (perhaps still not normal?) parenthood - something that has come on slowly and was hard to attain to for so long - which is why we’re so thankful!

"Thanks for praying for me!"

Last but not least, a week after we get settled in County Mayo, we will be driving to the Crumlin Hospital in Dublin. Josiah will be having another operation on September 30th. Please remember him and us in your prayers again. He has undescended testes, and to protect his future chances of fertility, it’s important that they are brought down soon. The surgeon may only bring one down and wait until March to bring down the other. He may need to insert a camera into his abdomen to find one of them. We are praying that this more invasive procedure won’t be required and that Josiah will have a quick and easy recovery. Although it's considered a minor operation, the thought of passing through those doors again and our Josiah going under general anesthesia and being opened up once more is extremely difficult for us to bare. We will be leaning hard into the Comforter for this one.

Thank you once more for your prayers and encouraging support. Please let us know how you and your family are doing and how we can pray for you. We look forward to seeing each other once again and sharing the many, mighty good things our Lord has done.

The grace and peace of Jesus be yours.

Love and Hugs,

Joey, Christy and Josiah Rauwolf