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.

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.”

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? 

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.

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.  

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.