When It Rains it Pours (or SNOWS!)

With less than three weeks to go before graduation, it's getting a little hectic around here.  We just wanted to update you on what has gone on this past week, as many exciting things happened.

We graduate on the 12th of December, and as we have all been IN school, we saw that if possible, we didn't want to take our boys OUT of school, mid-way through the year.  We asked permission to stay in student housing for the remainder of the school year, and this past week we got permission to do so until the end of May.  Along with staying here, Bill had final meetings this week and was accepted to participate in an internship program with the Missionary Training Center (MTC).  While his job description isn't finalized, some of his duties will include working with the Afternoon Work Program (AWP), some teaching opportunities, and just learning from the training staff.  He is looking forward to all of it.

Also this week, Bill sent our letter of intent to the Paraguay field.  This is the first step in the process of actually getting to Paraguay.  After years of praying and waiting, we can hardly believe that we are at this stage.  AND, along with everything else, we handed in our application to join New Tribes Mission of Canada.

WHEW!!  That is just alot going on all at once.  When it rains it pours ( or rather it snows!) I guess.  As much as we have enjoyed the training and living here, we are looking forward to the next chapter that God has for us.  We would greatly appreciate your prayers as we get ready for another transition.

What happens when we fight??

So, Bill and I had an argument.  In class.  Quietly:)  What about, you ask?

We are learning a computer program that is part of our Culture and Language Acquisition (CLA) practicum, and he was irritating me.  Telling me where to move my curser and what to click.  Telling me what to do and how to do it.  I hate that.  So I tell him, quietly of course, (we are in class after all) to stop telling me what to do.  Then he tells me that I was doing the same thing to him earlier.  Is he sure??  

What have I learned so far in this class?  That Bill and I have a long way to go in how we communicate, and that God will use a culture and language acquisition practicum to mold us more into the image of his Son, Jesus.

The purpose of the CLA class is not to fluently learn a language, although we will learn the basics.  The main purpose of the class is to learn HOW to learn a new language and culture, and how to use a computer program that will assist us in doing that.  When we get to our field of service, we will be thrust into a foreign culture and language, and will need a system to store all the nouns, verbs, adjectives, and simple phrases we will be learning.  The computer program will store words, pictures, and audio for us, so we can review over and over again what we're learning.  Some challenges with this program?  The program is not the challenge.

Our (MY) flesh is the challenge.  Simply put, I don't want Bill to help me.  I don't want him telling me what to do.  I don't want to humble myself and ask for help when I run into a road block.  After all, didn't I just tell him I DIDN'T want his help?  Do you see where this is going? 

How does taking this course now, prepare me for future ministry?  Oh, it is revealing so much of my heart.  If you thought for one second that missionaries were better or more mature Christians than non-missionaries, let me put that to rest right now.  We all have flesh.  We all don't want to be told what to do.  We all don't want to humble ourselves and ask for help.  We all NEED Jesus every second of our life.  

Again, how will taking this course prepare me for future ministry?  Besides knowing how to learn a language from scratch, it will prepare me by showing me my desperate need for Jesus.  I cannot humbly learn a new language, apart from Him.  I cannot love my husband well, apart from Him.  I cannot go to Paraguay with our five kids, apart from Him.   I cannot share His love, APART from Him. "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."  John 15:4,5

Training to be a missionary isn't just for future ministry.  It's for here.  Now.  I still need to learn humility.  I still need the discipline to do homework and overcome challenges of learning new computer programs, loving my husband and children, running a home, and being a member of community.  And all these things I'm learning NOW are preparing me for ministry NOW and THEN.

Here our class is learning the computer program that will assist us in learning a new language and culture.

Last Semester Already?!?

This is what our classes look like, in our last semester here at the training centre.

Biblical Foundations
* Phase 4: (62 hrs)  Phase 4 begins to walk through the epistles, seeking to understand what our position in Christ is, and what a walk with God looks like.

Church Planting
* Literacy: (8hrs)  Helps the missionary candidate understand the essential role of a literacy program in the growth and development of the church.
* Curriculum Development: (25hrs) Introduces the missionary candidates to important guidelines for implementing a Foundational Bible Teaching program in a cross-culturual setting among an unreached people group.
* Semantics and Translation: (16hrs)  Introduces us to meaning based translation principles along with the translation guidelines.  We will get some of the procedures and processes of translation through lectures in class and then we will be able to practice these in teams with a Bible passage.

Missional Lifestyle
* Culture and Language Acquisition Practicum: (74hrs) During this practicum we will apply basic techniques of culture and language acquisition (CLA).  Through real language learning situations we will learn basic CLA methods and put them into practice  This will include basic culture investigation techniques.  Through this time we will reach a beginning level of communication in a new language.

Complementary Courses
* Personal Safety: (40hrs)  Increases the missionary candidates awareness of the risks affecting missionaries today, and provides practical tools for avoiding and facing those risks in a biblical manner.
* Families in Ministry: (5hrs)  This course is designed to expand on the 2nd semester Families in Ministry course.  Topics include cultural influences on parenting, making transitions and dealing with unexpected interruptions as they relate to educational planning and parenting overseas.
* Global Perspectives: (12hrs)  New Tribes Mission Canada (NTMC) is closely connected with several other sending and ministry organizations all over the world.  In this class students are brought up to date on trends, activities and changes within our many global partner organizations.

Does all of that seem like enough?  How can you pray for us?  Pray that we end the semester and our training time here well.  We have learned just enough to know we have much to learn, but we have a good start.  We are so grateful for the training program here, and look forward to when we can put into practice on the field, what we have learned here.
 

Why do I want to be "UnWired"

DAY 2 Challenge - Figure out why I want to be "unwired".

I didn't really need to dig too deep to figure out the why, of wanting to be "unwired".  I think God's been slowly bringing me to this place.  So, here is my "WHY".

I want the discipline to NOT get sucked in to the computer.  I want to know my children intimately.  I want to not disappoint Bill because I'm always on the computer.  I want to do better here at the missions training centre, learning all I can.  I want to want God more than the computer.

Where do I start?

So, about the computer...

I have been known to maybe, be slightly addicted.  Like so many, jumping on for a few minutes turns quickly into an hour, usually ignoring everything that goes on around me.  Things have been better in the last year, as Bill and I have been here in missions training, but I still feel like the computer sucks me in.  Like it controls me, instead of me controlling it.  And frankly, I'm missing time with the kids.  Our oldest is already 16 1/2, our youngest 9, which means that Lord-willing, we have between 4 and 10 years left before they all go off and do what God is calling them to do. That's not a lot of time.  Also consider the fact that in a short while, we will be in another country, crazy-buzy with missions work, and time will only continue to fly by.

So, I'm starting a challenge.  It's a 14-day challenge to "really live the life we've been given.  We’re choosing to be intentional, to be free, to enjoy life, and to not let the Internet master us. We know that our lives matter, our time matters, and the souls in our care need us present and fully alive. And really, don’t we want to live full and engage in the life all around us? I don’t want to regret my life, and I know I will never look back and say, “I’m glad I spent all that time online.” - See more at: http://sarahmae.com/2013/08/the-unwired-mom-14-day-challenge-begins-today/#sthash.jaTb0Igj.Jf6nxtBx.dpuf

I'm already struggling with the challenge.  We've been away from home now for a year, training for missions, and the computer has been our lifeline so-to-speak. It's how we know what's going on back home in Florida, it's how we skype and see loved ones, it's how we let people know how to pray for us as we prepare for the mission field, it's how we know how to pray for those we've left. 

How will I do this?  How will I not get sucked in to the computer?  I can only say that Christ's sustaining power is greater than the power of the internet.  Only He can move in me to want HIM more, and the computer less.  ONLY by His power.

Actually, this comes at a perfect time really.  School begins for the kids and Bill and I in 18 days.  Frankly, I have a lot to do before then.  I'm excited to see what God is going to do in me.  I hope to be an example as well, as I see some of our kids getting sucked in to the computer, instead of going out and living.  YIKES!!  I think I'll do this with them.  Day 1's challenge is "Stronger with a Friend".  My kids are my friends, and we'll be a stronger family when we're not addicted to the computer, don't you think?  I DO!!

SHOW THEM GRACE

Our dearest friends in Florida recently became parents for the first time through adoption.  Their daughter is 8, and their son is 5.  The kids have both been physically and emotionally abused,   are the products of severe neglect, malnutrition, abandonment, and have serious issues with eating, or not wanting to. And yes, they will starve themselves if not forced to ingest calories.

Our friends thought they knew children.  They thought they would know how to parent.  They thought they would be praised at restaurants and stores for how well behaved their kids are.  Instead, they get told that if they can't control their kids in a store, they should leave them at home.  People move to other tables in restaurants so they won't be close to this family.  The parents have been humbled and broken.

And my heart breaks.  It breaks for them, watching them as they struggle and fight everyday to JUST GET THEIR KIDS TO EAT.  My heart breaks that as they try to discipline one of them, nothing gets through.  No remorse, no change of behaviour, no desire to do better.  My heart breaks that they feel so alone. And my heart breaks that I've been SO JUDGMENTAL.

How many times have you and I been in a store or restaurant, and seen that mom with unruly kids, thinking, "they should discipline more."  But what we are REALLY thinking is that they should just spank more.  But what if after you spank, the child turns to you and tells you they like it, what then? If they have been physically abused, is it really the best option?  I'm not saying I have the answers, and our friends would say they don't either.

What I'm asking, PLEADING us to do is as a body of believers, come alongside parents, especially parents of young children.  Those who have gone before, who have older kids, who have some wisdom, PLEASE come alongside GENTLY and offer HELP.  Pray for them.  Offer to bring a meal, to babysit, SOMETHING.  Insist on it.  Don't offer parenting advice unless asked.  You don't know their kids like they do. You probably don't know the things they struggle with on a daily basis.

Our friends' daughter was struggling AGAIN one day to eat, as she does every day.  Her mom had told her that she couldn't go to VBS that evening until she finished her food.  The struggle went on.  Back and forth.  Between mother and child.  Finally, in frustration, the daughter turns to her mom and pleads, "Can you just show me grace?  I know I don't deserve to go to VBS, but can you please let me go?"  GRACE she already understands.  Show them GRACE!  Show families' that are struggling, GRACE.  It's what we who are saved have been shown.  We just often seem to forget.

Oh, and if you see this precious family,

Show them GRACE, love on them, and pray for them. (and bring them a meal:)

Jungle Camp Recap (part 1)

Since SO many of you have been asking for pictures, I thought I'd throw out a post with just pictures for now.  We are officially on a break, and headed to my parents for the weekend, coming back on Monday.  So until I do an ACTUAL post, hope these whet your appetite. 

All our food, ready to be transported from here...

...to here. 

 Organizing our pantry.

 The boys learned quickly what their jungle camp job would be.  Getting, cutting, and stacking wood for our wood stove.

They didn't particularly like it, but, no wood, no food. 

Bronia's little bedroom. 

The first night in the house, we heard a crash, and this is what it was.  Our pantry shelf giving way.  Thankfully no food was lost, but this just goes to prove that I (Debby) should not be building anything! 

Our first morning, Father's Day breakfast.  Eggs baked in the oven, and coffee. 

Enjoying our Father's Day lunch as a family, around our dining room table.  Taco salad with a jar of ground beef I had canned, and some fresh lettuce from our greenhouse garden.

Stay tuned for part 2!

Building Day...?

So, our time for building is quickly coming to a close.  This will most likely be our last blog post, because when we move up, we will not have access to email, facebook, telephone (landline or cell), or any other modern means of instant communication. We will be off the grid.  However, we CAN get letter and cards, and hope you will send us a little note of encouragement.  Our address is:

PO Box 707

Durham, ON

N0G 1R0

CANADA

 Here is what we've accomplished since I last wrote.

Bill stapling up screen for our windows. 

Eli making a little stool to go with the table he built. 

The boys sitting at the table on benches and the stool Eli made, inside the boys' bunkhouse.

On Tuesday, Bill, Simon, and Liam, along with our other classmates and staff, went on a 102km, 3-day men's canoe trip, along the Saugeen River. Not surprising, no one brought a camera, but here is a picture of them before they embarked on their adventure.

Meanwhile, I was left with Bronia, Eli, and Ethan to do some more building, and here is some of what we got done.

We put up black plastic for our walls.  We had lots of help from the other ladies left at camp. Also, our chimney got put up, which you can see at the back left corner of the house.

 I made a pot of espresso on our stove top...

...which Bronia and I enjoyed.  Mmmmm, delicious! 

We finished making the benches for our dining room/living room area.  (You can see the boys' bunk house off in the distance)

Also, Bronia and I made our counter tops, which are now ready to be used!

Today is our last full day to build, because tomorrow we move in, whether or not our house is ready.  We still have our (Bill & Debby) bed to build, as well as Bronia's, the table and front door to make, and a host of other little things to do.  We so appreciate your prayers and encouragement.  Please keep it coming!

Day 5

Are we done yet??

No, but we keep plugging along.  We have started to build things inside now, and so the pictures are looking less dramatic.  But again, progress is being made.  Can't ask for much more than that.

 Bronia cutting notches in the wood, which will eventually become a bench.

 Made our first counter tops and lower shelving.

To the left is the stove, then a counter with lower shelving, and then my sink.  The sink will be hooked to a gravity-fed hose, and we will have running water.

Black plastic is up on 3 of the 4 sides of the boys' bunk house.  It's almost done:) 

 Ethan at work doing the never-ending job of cutting firewood.

 Look at what God gave us to look at tonight on our walk home.

Day 4

So, I was just too tired and sore last night to post a blog.  It is getting hard, I'm not gonna lie. We are at the point where we have to decide what the priorities are, and concentrate on those.  With that, we got our "appliances' in yesterday.

Before you can actually set your stove in the cradle, you have to fill it with 3-4 inches of dirt on the bottom, then set it in, then fill in 3 sides also with dirt.

Then starts the clay work.  You need to spread clay on the inside of the oven, as well as all around it, to make sure the heat from the stove stays IN the stove.  So, this has been the kids' favorite job so far, creating the "clay station".  They got the clay ready, and Bill and I started the job of "claying" the stove.

Bill spreading clay on the inside of the stove...

...while I begin to encase the outside with clay.

After you are finished with a layer of clay, you start a fire, which will then dry and bake the clay onto the stove.  Here is Bronia attending the fire, making sure it doesn't get too big and dry the clay too fast, and also to make sure it doesn't go out.

Next is our fridge.  We have dug a hole in the ground, then placed two metal cans in the hole, then filled the hole with wet dirt.  Trust me, it's cold.  We'll get a thermometer, and see how cold it gets.

Lastly, we made the frame, and have set our sink in.

So, we may not have walls, but I can feed my family!  I know my priorities:)

Building...Day 3

So today was probably the hardest building day so far, just in terms of keeping us all motivated and busy with enough jobs to do.  Having a larger work force is not always the easiest or quickest way of doing things.  But it is what God has given us, and though tasks may take longer than we would like, we are VERY much aware that we are teaching our children some valuable lessons and life skills.  Yes, jungle camp is a required practicum for training centre, but there is more to it than that.

You see, Bill had an injury at work several years ago, and even with physical therapy and MANY chiropractic visits, he is not the same.  We're not sure he will ever be the same.  He has some very real physical limitations that he didn't have just a few short years ago.  So what does that mean?  It means he must let go of his pride, recognize where his limitations are, and work within them.  It means he must hone his communication skills so we know exactly what he needs done where.  It means that the rest of us need to do the tasks he can't do, and not complain about them.  We have a lot to learn as a family, and God has given us a new situation where we get to rely on Him in a new and deeper way.  We trust you're praying with us:)

With that said, here is what we got done today.

The boys building their bed frame.

 The finished product.  Didn't they do a good job?!?

 Starting work on the cradle that will hold our oven/hot water heater.

 Lashing poles together for the stove cradle.

The building of the cradle is mostly done.  A few more poles to add, then we will begin the process of encasing this sucker in clay!

Thank you for your prayers so far.  We think building week is going well, and that we are making good progress.

Building Our House...Day 2

Well, today was more tiring than yesterday, but I think that's normal.  We are building two houses, as we are limited to a 16' x 20' house, and felt like that would not be big enough for our family. So we are building a regular house, with the kitchen, dining/living room, shower, master bedroom and another smaller room for Bronia.  Then we're building basically a bunkhouse for the boys, with beds, shower, and a table for those crazy game nights!

So, today we built the bunkhouse and got the plastic roofs on both houses, although the plastic is only fastened on 2 of the 4 sides right now.  Also, we had a little birthday party for Ethan as well.  Another productive day though, and we are that good kind of tired where you sleep all night long:)

 The building site for the boys' bunk house.

 Still needing to cut posts, so looks like mom needs to get that job done.

 Filling in the post hole with rocks and dirt, then pacing it down.

 Rafters are all up!

 Attaching the plastic to the cross beams of the boys' bunk house.

 The boy's bunk house, with the plastic attached on 2 of the 4 sides.

 Ethan happy to have a break from building, and enjoys ice cream with his friends.

A little play time, which quickly came to an end, and it was back to work for Ethan and I!

Jungle Camp Building Day 1

Well, we survived day 1 of building week.  We weren't really sure what to expect, nor did we know how much we would or should get done.  After working a 12-hour day, we think we did pretty good.

 Eli & Bronia digging the holes for the posts.

 Simon cutting a post.

SUCCESS!! 

 Liam putting in posts.

 Someone brought a snack:)

 Bronia & Simon starting to duct tape the rafters to the cross-beam.

Our house with all the posts and rafters in place.