Still Waiting...

Last October,  we received the green light to go to Paraguay, due to our reaching 75% of needed support. We had written our supporters that we would be leaving for Paraguay this March.  Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, that date has now been pushed back. Shortly after reaching that 75%, we had a series of meetings with some NTM Paraguay leadership (who is in the US on home assignment), our pastor, and a language consultant, also from Paraguay.  Among the items that were discussed was my (Debby's) status as a green card holder.  The reason for this discussion is that my legal status in the US has quite a bit of bearing on moving overseas.  Because of holding a green card, I have to apply for a visa to leave the US for an extended period of time (which we knew). What we didn't know was that it would restrict our comings and goings.  I would only be allowed to leave for up to two years, then return to the US and have to stay in the US again for at least six months.  Then I'd have to do that process all over again, to go back to Paraguay.  Not to mention that that visa is $680, which I would have to pay each time. Our leadership strongly encouraged me to go for my American citizenship.  After talking it through with leadership, our pastor, and trusted counsel, we decided that I should do that.  So in November, we met with an immigration lawyer to see what was required, and in December I filled out and submitted the paperwork.  About three weeks ago I was fingerprinted for my FBI background check, and the process is rolling along, but this is the latest delay for us. We did ask for my application to be expedited, but have yet to hear whether they will do that or not. In the meantime, I'm studying for my civics test coming up at the interview, and gathering even more paperwork together to prove yet again that my marriage is legit, and that we have lived and shared a life together since we got married.

Once again, we have had to lay down our timetable before the Lord, and wait on His timing for us to get to Paraguay.  We did not anticipate all these delays, but they don't come as a surprise to God.  Bill and I have discussed these delays numerous times, and have asked each other if this is still what we're supposed to do.  We both have not be given freedom to pursue something else, nor has leadership in Paraguay suggested we go in a different direction.  On the contrary, they are very much awaiting our arrival and are just as eager as we are to get there. We have a few items we'd love you to remember in prayer. - That Homeland Security would expedite my application - That I would commit to studying the civics questions for the test - That we would reach 100% support before we leave, as well as raise the needed set-up funds We are so grateful for all of you who pray and give.  This process to get to Paraguay has certainly stretched and challenged us in ways we were not anticipating.  Thank you for coming alongside.

Looking To Christ

One question we're getting these days is "where are we in the process of getting to Paraguay?"  It can seem to many like this step of raising support is taking quite a while. We are excited to report that God has really been moving on people's hearts to want to be a part of our team, and we are at about 65% of our needed budget.  We have also started some paperwork that the country of Paraguay requires us to have, including fingerprints and background checks from the governing authorities.

As we have shared with people where we are in the process, one question we often get about our future ministry in Paraguay is, "What exactly will you be DOING when you get there?"  At times I cringe when I hear the question, because the answer truthfully is, we won't really be DOING anything.  We'll BE.  Well what does that mean?

As with every Christian, God is shaping and molding us into the image of His son Jesus. Sanctification, or the working of God in our lives, is for every believer.  So how does Christ's life and example on earth shape us as missionaries?  Jesus himself WAS the first missionary.  He left his home in Heaven, and came to earth, a foreign place.  He had to learn how to walk, talk, work and look like any other Jewish man would have in that day and age. And yet there was something "other" about Him.  Of course we know that He was sinless and perfectly walked on this earth, fully man and fully God.

Our "job", or what we will DO in Paraguay will be almost like that.  We will leave our home in North America and go to Paraguay, a foreign place.  We will need to learn how to talk, work, and look like a Paraguayan.  Although there will be something "other" about us too.  We are not sinless like Jesus was, but we are saved unto eternal life, to forever live with Jesus in Heaven, having our sins forgiven by the one who knew no sin.  We won't walk perfectly on this earth, but we will walk forgiven

So, looking to Jesus as our example, our first two years at least, are spent in full time language study, attending a local church, and building relationships with people.  This is a process that NTM calls Culture and Language Acquisition, or CLA.  Jesus spent 30 years doing CLA before he started his earthly ministry.  It would be quite foolish and arrogant of us to think that we could just jump into full-time ministry without knowing the language and culture first. With humility, we desire to learn as much as we can from the Paraguayans, so that in time we can clearly and effectively communicate the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. We want to BE like Christ, not just simply DO. And BEING is a job worth DOING well. 

                           What CLA in Paraguay could look like.  

Bronia's Food Diary (Bronia's Life in England part 2)

One of the things I have enjoyed is tasting new foods. Here is just a small sample of what I've tried.

A favourite for me is enjoying a typical English tea.

This is a typical English breakfast, which is similar to an American one, but they include baked beans with their eggs, sausage, bacon, tomato, and roasted potatoes.

And of course I had to try Fish 'n Chips.

This Steak Pie was delicious. I have fallen in love with the meat pies and tea.

This is another typical English meal.  Yorkshire Pudding, roast beef, roasted potatoes and vegetables.

And it wouldn't be complete if I didn't try a few desserts.

                                           Raspberry pie with custard

                                               Lemon pie with custard

This is the store where I do most of my shopping, Tesco.  These escalators are magnetized, so you can take your cart to the different levels without rolling down.

After years of cooking for my family, I am learning to shop for just one person, so I have to be careful that I don't buy too much. I do love to shop for food though, choosing my own menu plan and then making the food. I don't eat out often, and I make my own dinners in the communal kitchen I share with other volunteers. Often it's simple and reminds me of home, like this Greek Salad.

Bronia's Life in England (Part 1)

Bronia has been serving in England for over three months.  Half her time there is already up. I asked her to write a description of what her days entail. I thought some of you might be interested to see what her life looks like in England.

From Monday to Friday I get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, do my face and hair, listen to music and read my Bible. 

(This is a picture of my room. My bed is immediately to the right, where you can see a pillow in the corner)

I go to the nursery at 8 so we (all the nursery workers) can have devotions together. Then my work day starts by filling up the water pitcher and baby bottles. The kids arrive around 8:25. My job at the nursery is to always make sure the doors are locked when the parents leave. When Miriam (the head nursery volunteer) is teaching, I try to make sure the kids are paying attention, and at snack time make sure the children have drinks. 

                                                   (The toddler room)

From now on, every Thursday and Friday I lead an activity and the Bible story time.  

We go outside for about an hour and if the weather is really nice we can go outside for longer. But if it's not nice we just stay inside. The kids' parents come around 12:20, and my morning is done. 

At around 1:00 I have lunch in the dining room with the students.  North Cotes College includes a one-year Bible School, a one-year cross-cultural training course (what my parents did in Canada), and a one-year Applied Linguistics course, so there are many students for me to get to know.

In the afternoon I work in the Guesthouse. My job there varies a little, depending on whether people are coming or going. Sometimes I make sure the bedrooms are ready for guest, or that the bathrooms are clean. I vacuum the hallways and do the laundry. My favourite job there is to do the rooms. I start working in the guest house at 2:15 and end around 5:15.

In the evenings my time is my own.  Sometimes I watch a movie with some of the people here or maybe play a game. Every Monday at 7:30 all the volunteers go to miss Mandy's house for some fellowship time together. She is the volunteer coordinator, and the one who takes care of me here :) 

And then sometimes I will just take time for myself and go on a walk. The campus is beautiful and right now it's spring so there are beautiful blossoms everywhere. 

The ocean is right by the campus, and the weather here is interesting. One day it will be perfectly sunny with a light wind. The next few days will be rainy and cold. In the evening and morning sometimes you can see your breath. It is flat like Florida and the grass is thick and green.

Everybody here is great. They are friendly and like to include you in things so I'm slowly making friends. 

An Open Letter To Our Daughter

Our 19-yr-old daughter Bronia leaves for a six-month volunteering opportunity in England, in 11 days. My breath leaves me sometimes when I think about it.  Here are some of my thoughts about her leaving.

Dear Bronia,

It’s here. The time has come.  Even though you’ve said for years you would stay home until you married, inside your dad and I knew that sooner or later, an opportunity would come along for you that would take you away from us.  And here you are, moving to the UK for an exciting adventure.

First, you should know that your dad and I are so happy and excited about this opportunity for you. It suits you to a “T”. When we left home as teens, we didn’t think twice (or even once for that matter) of what was going on back home, or how our parents were handling our departure.  We just left, excited about the future.  And that’s as it should be.  We can see God’s hand in orchestrating this, and we’re thrilled to see you taking this step.

Leaving and “finding yourself” is what becoming an adult is all about.  But make no mistake.  You won’t “find yourself” in England any more than you would if you had stayed home with us.  “Finding yourself” is so much more than a singular experience or trip abroad or a moment in time.  While God can use those big moments, it’s really in the day to day submitting thankfully to His will where we truly find ourselves. We find our true selves only in HIM.

We “find ourselves” when we look for opportunities to use our giftings, talents, and desires to serve the Lord. Sometimes those opportunities pay us, but often real opportunities to serve, lack funding. And that’s OK. We know WHO will be taking care of this endeavor.

We are proud of you. So proud. We are proud that you are choosing to do something that is way beyond your comfort zone. You are choosing to trust God for your future, and that immediate future is taking you to England, away from your family, your church, your culture, and everything that is familiar to you.

Be brave. Be fierce. Be strong. Choose love, not fear.

As much as we would want to shield you from difficulties, we know we can’t.  And that’s a good thing.  Because if we could make all your paths straight and smooth, we would be short-changing all that God does in the midst of struggles. And we don’t want to get in the way of what God wants to do in your life. We want Him to do what HE does best.  Mold you into the image of His glorious Son, Jesus.

So, your brothers say you’ll find a husband in England. Others say you’ll find yourself. We pray that you’ll find God faithful.  Because we have.  And He is glorious.

When Obeying God, Hurts Your Kids

I have known very few families, if any, going to the mission field with a bunch of teenagers. I'm sure it's been done before, I just don't know of any personally. So in a sense, Bill and I don't really know what preparing our teens to make the move overseas should look like. No books I know of, address this.

Teens are at a critical time in their life, as anyone with a teen will tell you. Knowing their identity, or finding it, is a big part of a teens' life. Shoot, it's a big part of an adults' life! And asking someone who is not sure of who they are to go to another country sounds like a recipe for disaster. Or so it seems lately.

You see, our decision to move to another country will profoundly affect our kids for the rest of their lives. It will cause some suffering. We're already seeing that, as some of our kids have experienced not having any friends for a season, or the friends they do have live thousands of miles away. It hurts them. Our obedience to the Lord is hurting our kids in some way. And that makes me sad.

So what's the solution? Not go? Be disobedient? To us the answer is of course "no", but continue on the journey that God has for us. But what about our kids? What do we do with their hurts and longings and heartaches? Take them to Jesus, and teach them to suffer well. As we adults know, life is full of hurt and pain. One of the best things we can do for our kids is teach them to suffer well. If they are believers, constantly remind them of who they are in Christ, pray for and over them, and endeavor to show unconditional love. Teach them they can know joy within their suffering, and that God knows and hears their hearts' cries. And don't be afraid to cry with them. Don't be embarrassed to cry real hard tears with them.

We are leaving everything we know behind, to follow and obey God, by making disciples in another country. And that hurts our kids. But God loves them so much more than I ever could, and I must trust that He knew exactly what He was calling our family to at this stage in our lives. The same thing He calls us to at any stage of life. Himself.

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30

Summer Lessons Learned

We have just completed four months of traveling throughout the USA and Canada. This trip has been multi-purpose, although sharing about tribal missions and inviting people to partner with us as we prepare for Paraguay has been the focus.  During this time, we have learned a few things that we'd like to share. They're here, in no particular order.

1. We are not special. I (Debby) had this idea, that when people knew we were raising support to go overseas to do missions work, they'd all jump at the chance to support us. How prideful! We are not more special than other Christians, just because we're going to Paraguay as missionaries. We feel we are being obedient, but we're not more special.

2. We are not in control. I know this one seems obvious, but we've learned it in a new and deeper way. We have shared about tribal missions many, many times this past year. But we can't make people give. Only God can do that. Only He can move in peoples' hearts to want to partner with us in this. And this naturally leads to the next point.

3. Freedom. Because we can't control peoples' responses, we are free to really share our passion for tribal missions. We don't have to worry about saying the exact right things, or making sure we're communicating as flawlessly as possible. The truth is, neither Bill nor I consider ourselves great communicators, and that's OK. Our support raising is not based on how well we communicate our passion, even though we strive to do it well. Our support coming in is based on God moving in the hearts of people to see the work that needs to be done, and prompting them to join us in the work. There is freedom in that.

The reality is, there are still over 2000 people groups who have never heard of Christ's finished work on the cross. People whom Jesus loves and died to save. Romans 10:14 "How then will they call on him whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?"

Now let us ask you? What is your part reaching the unreached? How are you involved in seeing the unreached come to Christ? Are you a sender? Are you a goer? Are you both? Or are you being disobedient?