Our Family

Our Family
A man's heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps. Ps. 16:9

Thursday, October 9, 2014

The Latest News about Bill's Eye

Exactly six months ago today, Bill had a surgery to reattach a detached retina.  At the time, the doctor told us that his recovery would be long, seeing as Bill had waited 6 weeks before getting treatment.  Well, the doctor was right.  It IS taking a long time to recover.  Not just healing time, but multiple procedures later, we are still in the waiting game, to see if his eyesight will return fully.

Yesterday Bill had yet another surgery, where the doctor used a blade to scrape off some scar tissue at the back of the eye, as well as put in an air bubble, to help the retina reattach to the eyeball.  At his follow-up appointment today, the doctor said that everything is looking good, and healing could take up to 12 weeks. Bill is once again on a positioning regimen; however many hours he is up, he has to be down.   He doesn't need to be completely face down like before, he can be on his right side this time around.  He has four different drops for his eye, four times a day, including an antibiotic and a steroid.

After training with New Tribes Mission, we had ENVISIONED taking a trip to talk with people and in churches, sharing the VISION God has given us for tribal ministry. Needless to say, our Ministry and Partnership Development time has not gone at all how we thought or hoped.  At times we have felt quite frustrated, at other times, we've been able to rest in God's perfect timing for us.

Our frustrations have come when we look at numbers, and don't SEE an increase in support.  A lack of increase means we can't go to Paraguay according to our timetable.  Resting in God's sovereignty comes when we SEE that He has continually provided for these surgeries (we don't have enough support yet to get health insurance), as well as providing for our daily needs.  We have also SEEN a small but steady increase in prayer partners, for which we are very grateful.

Our desire to go to Paraguay to work among a tribal people group has not diminished. In fact, for Bill especially, losing his eyesight for a while has increased in him, a desire to have people's eyes opened to the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ, even more.  He also has come to see his temporary blindness as a weakness that he can boast in, knowing that God's strength has been made perfect in that weakness.

We are still praying for God to work in people's hearts to partner with us. We can't go to Paraguay alone, nor would we want to.  Will you pray, and ask God how He might want you to partner with us?

"Felt weakness deepens our dependence on Christ for strength each day. The weaker we feel, the harder we lean. And the harder we lean, the stronger we grow spiritually."  J.I Packer


Wednesday, July 16, 2014

An Update (Part 2)

While Bill was recovering from eye surgery in Florida...

(Bill post-op)

(Bill recuperating from surgery.  He spent MANY hours in this position.)

...the kids and I continued our life as usual.  That included school, church and extra curricular activities.

After training for a few months, they all participated in the Academy's field day. Ethan had just sliced his toe open receiving 6 stitches, so his participation was very limited.  


Eli throwing the discus.  He got second place.


Liam in the triple jump.


Ethan doing the softball throw, the only event he was able to participate in.


Simon working on his high jump.


Bronia perfecting her javelin throw.

While some of the events were not our kids' favorites, they all did their best to participate, and we had a good day.  Although they sure did miss having dad there to cheer them on.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Saying Goodbye

During our time in Canada, our kids have made some deep and lasting friendships with other TCKs (third-culture kids), as well as some church kids.  Learning to say good-bye is a hard but necessary part of being an MK/TCK.  Having friends over to our place, or being invited for one last dinner at a friends house are important parts of saying goodbye.

Ethan with his friend Jared, whose dad is a missionary pilot, and they go back to New Guinea this month. 

Bronia with her friend Amberly, who is the sister to... 

...Drew, who is a good friend of Simon's. 

Liam snapping towels with friends Jaden and Byron, after doing the dishes...

...which came after an impromptu pizza party with some of our kids' friends.

Our kids also had quite a few classes with Holly Dyck, an MK Care & Ed. coordinator (Missionary Kid Care & Education), learning about transitions, and how to do it well. 
   (Vern and Holly Dyck raised their 5 kids in South America, and are now      sharing their knowledge, love and care, for MKs with other missionary parents.)


(Check out her blog post about transitions for MKs here)

We are so grateful for the friendships our children made, and that they were given tools to be able to say good-bye, and leave a place well.  God loves our kids more than we do, and even though life for MKs/TCKs is one of many moves, transitions, and difficulties, we as parents can rest in His sovereign plan for our kids' lives, knowing that our decisions for their lives is all part of who they will become as adults.



Friday, June 27, 2014

An Update (Part 1)

It's been too long since I wrote an update.  I think most of our readers keep up with us on facebook, but for those who don't, I'll try to recap the last few weeks.

As many of you know, on March 31st, Bill found out that an eye problem he had was actually a detached retina.  After a couple of consultations, prayer and counsel, we decided that the best course of action was for him to fly back down to Florida to have the reattachment surgery.  Bill is not a Canadian nor a permanent resident of Canada and didn't qualify for OHIP (Ontario's health care) like the kids and I do.  Knowing there is a great eye care facility near our home town in Florida, as well as being offered a place to recuperate (dear friends from church) helped make the decision easier

The part of that decision that was most difficult, was knowing that our family would be apart for about 3 months.  I know many families who have been separated before, including Bill's brother in the army, who served for a year in South Korea, leaving behind a wife and 2 daughters.  But we had not had to do it, and it seemed like a daunting prospect.  But again, with counsel from trusted people as well as prayer, we decided that I (Debby) would stay in Canada while the kids finished out the school year, and Bill would go to Florida for surgery and after-care.

Shortly after he left, the rest of us were faced with many challenges without him.  The week after he left we all started to get the flu, with me getting a lung infection, and Eli fluid in the ears.  No throwing up though, for which I was SUPER grateful.  Many told us they were praying for us, and different people brought us meals and goodies.  What love we felt from our NTM (New Tribes Mission) community.

                           (some of us at the hospital getting checked out)

The other thing that was at times hard was the seemingly never-ending winter.  For this Floridian family, it was a bit much to take at times.


But during all this, our family felt God's presence in a very real way.  As we gathered daily for our family prayer time, we were strengthened by the Holy Spirit.  We enjoyed the comfort He provided through His word, and grew closer as a family, despite being separated from Bill.  Our faith has grown, and because of that, how can we not be thankful for the times of hardship?  It means God is continuing to work on us, molding us into the image of His Son, Jesus.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Sharing in Comfort

Sometimes I think we forget how much we do in our own strength. In our self-sufficient society, it’s so easy to forget.

We don’t think twice about driving to the grocery store to get groceries and make meals, or the fact that we’re even driving and get to fill our car up with gas. Many places around the world don’t have that luxury.

Something else we try to be self-sufficient in is comfort. Whether it’s giving comfort to someone who has experienced a loss, or trying to comfort our own selves, we tend to do it our own way, often with poor or embarrassing results.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Do you notice in the previous passage who is REALLY doing the comforting for us believers? It’s God. He often uses other believers to do it, but ultimately it’s HIM comforting us. And what is the purpose of that comfort? It’s not so we can feel better about ourselves (although that’s a wonderful by-product). It’s specifically so we can comfort others who are “in any affliction”.

Suffering and death is a part of life we like to gloss over and sanitize in the West. It’s the reason why funeral homes exist. We don’t want to deal with dead bodies. But in remote tribal areas, such amenities are not available. Tribal people deal with and bury their own dead. There is no home to send the body to. There are no nice clothes to pick out, or makeup to put on so it looks like they’re sleeping. No, they deal with death in very real and sometimes harsh ways. As non-believers (yet), they don’t have the God of all comfort, comforting them.

When missionaries serve in a tribal context, death is one of the hardest realities they deal with. But as they have been comforted through Christ, so can they in turn offer true comfort to the hurting ones left behind, opening a door to share the Gospel. Years later, when a tiny church has been born, and the first believer dies, what a difference there is as they now rejoice in a believer’s home-going. As they were comforted, they can now comfort the hurting. The truth of 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 now resonates with them,

“When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Is HE Worth It?

Our family is in the stage of ministry, where we are doing our initial support-raising, for our first term in Paraguay.  My husband is American, and I’m Canadian.  Our children are dual citizens, and we chose to do our training in Canada.  Now, as we’re getting ready to do a fairly big ministry partnership development trip, we have a lot of paperwork to do.  Times two.  Everything we do for the US, we have to do for Canada.  That includes 2 tax-returns each year, two sets of ID for each of the kids, keeping track of bank accounts in both countries, and a host of other things.  Now, we’ll have to add a third country to the list.  Visa’s, shots, country ID’s, international drivers’ licenses, not to mention finding a place to live and EVERYTHING that goes along with that.

Today I was feeling quite overwhelmed with all we have to get done in order to serve in another country.  I’ll be honest, for a moment I thought, why are we doing all this?  This is so much paperwork and money.  Is it really worth it?  And I realized that that question goes right to where my heart is.  Focused on me.  I want to be comfortable. I want my own way.  I don’t want to have to do things that are hard.  For a split second I thought, what if we just went back to Florida, served in our church and community there, and we’ll be good?

But GOD.  Right after the selfish thought came another one, and another one.  “Did you think this would be easy?  Did you think I wasn’t aware of all you would have to do to take my Name to the ends of the earth?“  In His quiet, gentle way, God reminded me once again why we are doing what we’re doing.  We’re not simply raising money so we can take our family to another country and have a great experience, although it will be.  We’re not going to learn another language because we thought it’d look good on our kids’ college applications, although it probably will.  We’re not moving to a third-world country so we can make ourselves look good by serving some of the poorest of the poor.

No, we’re going because God is calling us to proclaim His name among the nations, just like He calls ALL Christians to do.  So why go to another country, instead of doing that calling in North America?  Because we want to proclaim the Gospel where it is not easily accessible.  There is so much available for people to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.  From radio, TV, internet, books, conferences, the list is almost endless.  But in much of the rest of the world?  Not so much.  So what about the places in the world where Christians are not only a tiny minority, some have NO Christians to even proclaim the good news.  Romans 10:13-15 speaks to this dilemma.  “for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”


So, we will go.  We will do the hard things, the mundane things, the required things, in order to take the Gospel to those who have never heard.  Jesus IS worth it.  We will join God in the Impossible.  Will you? 

Friday, February 28, 2014

Something Happened on the Way to West Africa

When my husband and I entered NTM’s Mission Training Centre, we were headed to West Africa.  I had wanted to minister there since I was a little girl.  Bill (my husband) and I had visited four years earlier, thoroughly enjoying our time, and left feeling, "Yes, we could see ourselves serving here."

Fast forward four years, and we’re in training for full-time tribal missions work.  One day, in chapel, a missionary shared about their ministry in Paraguay, South America, a field where NTM has worked for almost 70 years.  After chapel, my husband tells me, “I can really see us working in Paraguay.”  I say, “Paraguay?  You mean Paraguay?  Like, Paraguay?”  Needless to say, I did not see this coming.  I wanted to go to West Africa.  Period.

In Romans, we’re given a tiny glimpse of a desire of the Apostle Paul.  In chapter 15:24, he says, almost in passing, that as he goes to Spain, he hoped to visit with the saints in Rome.  He wanted to go to Spain and preach the Gospel.  But he never got there.

In II Samuel chapter 7, we see that King David’s desire is to build a temple for God.  Even Nathan, God’s prophet, says to go for it, that God was with him.  That night though, God reveals that no, David would not be the one to build the temple.  A descendant of his would in fact build it.  And later, David explains to Solomon that he wanted to build the temple, but God told him no, because he had shed much blood.

Going to West Africa to preach the Gospel.  Building a temple for God.  Going to Spain to preach the Gospel.  These are all good things to desire to do.  But even good things may not be the best thing, or the right thing to do.  So then what? 

When plans go awry, what then?  When medical issues arise and you can’t go to serve where you thought you were going, what then?  When your husband says Paraguay, and NOT West Africa, what then?  I believe there are three things that should happen in any believer’s life when things don’t go according to how we planned them.

PRAY.  It may seem redundant, but our first response to any crisis, whether big or small, is to pray.  Praying aligns are hearts and attitudes with God’s, and we come away from prayer hopefully more clear-headed.

PURSUE.  Pursue God.  Not the dream, or destination or desire.  When we pursue God above all else, many desires, dreams, and even destinations often get realized. 

PREPARE. When you’ve prayed and pursued God, prepare yourself.  God has incredible things in store for those who diligently seek HIM.  No place of service, or dream job can compare with knowing God.  Paul and David both understood this.  In Philippians, Paul talks about having LEARNED to be content in whatever circumstances he is in.  All throughout the Psalms, David talks about taking refuge in God alone, learning to be content with what God has for him, even though he didn’t get to do what his heart desired.

As for me?  After praying about going to Paraguay, like my husband asked me to, I pursued God, wanting to go where HE wanted us to go.  And we are now preparing to go to Paraguay.  And I’m content with that.


Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Yay!! We've Graduated. Now What??

Just last month,  Bill and I were privileged to graduate from New Tribes Mission Canada's Missionary Training Centre.  We have worked hard, and by God's grace, passed the course.

So, now what?  Many of you have asked what is next for us.  Hopefully this post will answer many of your questions.

First, we fully recognize that even though we have made plans as a family, we understand, and hope you do too, that God is in control, and our plans could easily change.  We have learned to hold our plans with an open hand, and trust that He will and lead and guide us according to His will and good pleasure.  We are confident in Him, not in the plans we've made.  With that said, we'd like to share with you the plans we've made:)

We've just finished going through orientation to join New Tribes Mission of Canada, while at the same time, taking a course called Tech Tips, learning how to live "off the grid" so to speak.  Water filtration, solar panels, AC & DC power and more, are things we need to know about to live in a remote tribal area.  It was a tiring but good two weeks.

This past Monday we officially started our internship program.  While a full job description hasn't been finalized, we are involved in a few areas already.  Bill is involved in the afternoon work program, helping to bridge a gap between the Mission Training Staff and students, and developing a leadership manual for future student leaders.  He is part of a team that will be working on it.  He also continues to build relationships with the current students as well as staff.  Something else that is actually not a part of his internship, is an opportunity to teach an adult Sunday School class for 8 weeks at the church we attend in Markdale.  He is grateful for any opportunity he has to teach.

I am working on a few things as well.  First I'm home more, which means I'll be taking on more homemaking work so Bronia can focus on her school work. Have I mentioned what a blessing she has been and is?   Now she'll have me around again to be more involved.  This week I'm starting to tutor a new student in some phonetics, as well as starting to write some blog posts for "Join The Impossible" (JTI), a blog for the missions training centre here.  Also, both of us are beginning to work more on pursuing partners to join us in the ministry we feel God has called us to.

We plan to be here for another 4 months, and then hope to make a fairly substantial trip during the summer.  There is much to do between now and then, but we will endeavor to keep you updated with details, as we ourselves know them.