The Waiting Room

I have never been fond of waiting rooms....especially when it comes to going to the doctor. Because of my health history with cancer, and other things, I have spent my fair share of time in these prison-like rooms, waiting for my name to be called. Sometimes it comes quickly, if I'm lucky, but many times in the past, it has often been after way too much time has passed. It is something that is out of my control, and it often leads to frustration. In those situations, I don't always respond with gratitude, or thankfulness naturally; but I have been learning more and more about how God likes to use these times in our lives for our growth.

As you know, we have been funded since March, and we are still waiting on my work permit to come through before we can leave. We never saw this coming, and we certainly weren't planning on still being here waiting this long. I have to admit, at times we do get frustrated and discouraged, but there have also been times of growth and gratitude for the time He has given us right now. 

Waiting can be a good thing.....it teaches us dependence on God, and it often helps grow us spiritually. Our natural human response is to get frustrated, but God can turn that frustration into peace if we let Him. A verse that Stephanie has written down above our kitchen sink is, Philippians 4:11b, "for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Also in verse 12b, Paul again says, "I have learned the secret to being content in any and every situation." So obviously contentment isn't a natural human response, but the key word there is, "learned." It can be learned! If you think of what Paul went through in his missionary life - beatings, prison, shipwrecks, and horrible persecution; he was still content and praising God! So how can I be impatient and frustrated, when what we are going through right now is so much less difficult than those things? Well, it may not be easy, but contentment with the situation you are facing can be practiced and learned. After all God is in control and His timing, His strength, His provision, His plan, and His grace are perfect, timely, and sufficient! 

Last week we had the opportunity to be a part of the Iowa Holiness Camp Meeting in Oskaloosa. We were the missionary speakers there last summer, and we all loved it so much that we decided to go back again this year since we had the time. One of the main takeaways from this great week of teaching, was growing more in understanding of the Holy Spirit. After all, why did Jesus tell His disciples to wait until the Holy Spirit came upon them before going out into the world with the gospel? Well in one great analogy, it would be like trying to push your car under your own strength to get to where you wanted to go. You need the power of the engine, if you want to get where you are going. That is the same with the Holy Spirit, it is the power that can sustain us, and we desperately need to be filled with it! Did you know that the Hebrew word for Holy Spirit, can be translated in 6 different ways in our English language? Here are the six ways: The Helper; The Counselor; The Comforter; The Teacher; The Encourager; and The Advocate. I don't know about you, but I need all six!

So what do the last two paragraphs have in common, you might ask? Well you may have been wondering after the former paragraph; how do I go about "learning" to be content in all situations? The latter paragraph I hope, should point you to the One who can do that! No matter what we are going through, whether it is uncertainty, frustration, loss, the unknown, or the next step to take in life, we have someone who is there to help us, counsel us, comfort us, teach us, encourage us, and advocate for us on our behalf, if we surrender our lives completely to Christ. It is only then, by emptying ourselves of ourselves, that the power of the Holy Spirit can fill us, and help us overcome!

Maybe you have been a Christ follower for years, but have never totally surrendered your life completely over to Christ? I know I was in this boat for the first several years of my walk with Christ. I wanted Christ, but I still wanted things my way, with my plans, my control, on my terms. I wanted the best of both worlds, but it wasn't until I completely surrendered my life to Christ that I started truly growing in my walk with Him. Galatians 2:20 puts it very simply: "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." If we truly want to call ourselves disciples of Christ and take up our cross and follow Him, let us make sure we have nailed ourselves to the cross first, so that the Holy Spirit can fill us with power! 

As always let us know if you have any questions, or prayer requests. I hope you will be encouraged and uplifted as we have been, by what God has been revealing to us lately. We will be right here with you in the waiting room! 

Momentum

It has been too long since we last updated our blog! Obviously once we get to Kenya we will have more to blog about, but I do want to take the time to update you on our progress in the last 4 months. It has been truly amazing to see how God has provided in so many ways. He has been continually reminding us that He is in control and is faithful to us if we trust in Him. We have jumped nearly 30% in last few months and should now be over 80% of our support. We are still hoping to leave towards the end of March. Please join us in praying that the remaining portion of our support comes in by then!

Late September and Early October we completed a four week training program at Mission Training International in Palmer Lake, Colorado. They train missionaries from many different organizations going all over the world to many different places. We learned so much and made so many new friends. The kids had their own training program as well, and also made many new friends. I was amazed at how many young families God is calling into missions.

                                                   (Mission Training International)

                                                  (Our missionary family from MTI)

After the Colorado training it was nice to be home, helping my father out with harvest one last time. It was a bittersweet time for me, as I will dearly miss helping my Dad out on the farm. It will be a hard adjustment for him, too, as we have worked closely together for many years. Harvest has always been my favorite time of the year in Iowa. One way to be praying for us is to pray that God will provide help and strength for not only our family, but for the family that we are leaving behind as well.

(Harvest on the farm)

It was great to spend the month of December back at our home church, celebrating the Christmas season with those closest to us. The kids participated in our annual Christmas program, and we also visited Steph's family in Kansas City for a few days. It was nice to enjoy these Christmas traditions with our families, as next year will look very different!

Since the new year has begun, we have begun traveling and sharing again with churches and small groups pretty much every weekend. We made a quick trip to Texas to visit some family/supporters we don't get to see very often, and were able to share with a small group from their church. We loved Texas in January and even got to sneak in a trip to the Dallas zoo! After that we shared at a couple of local churches, and we now find ourselves out in the Michigan and Indiana area visiting family and gearing up for a week of orientation training at our headquarters in Marion, Indiana.

Until we leave for Kenya, our schedule has and will continue to be very busy. When we get back from our eastern trip, we have to start packing, getting immunizations, and saying more goodbyes as we prepare to leave. With all of this busyness though, we don't want to lose sight of what God has in store for us and what He lays on our hearts while we are still in the States. Busyness of any kind, whether it is good or bad, can still keep us from maintaining our relationship with Christ. Sometimes we just have to stop, "be still", and listen to what He wants to tell us. It reminds me of how He spoke to Elijah, not through all of the things he thought, but through the silence. Also whenever Jesus became overburdened by the crowds and busyness of his ministry, what did he do? He withdrew to lonely quiet places, and that was where he could talk directly to His father and hear His voice. I hope we can make time for the stillness that we need, amidst all the busyness that has to take place. I want to make this a challenge and priority for myself, and our family. I hope you will try it as well!

                                                         (The kids got their passports!)

Placement

As promised by Stephanie in our last post, I want to give an update on our placement change that took place earlier this year. Some of you may have heard of this in person, but I want to go into a bit more detail on exactly where we will be in Kenya and what we will be doing there.

As most of you know we had first thought that we would be placed out in rural Kenya working with the Maasai people. Due to some changes with bridges being washed out, and the desire of our field leadership to have us be closer to other WGM missionaries for our first term, they decided that this was not a good option for our first term. While this change left us in some uncertainty for a period of time, it was ultimately God's perfect timing that prevailed. Sometimes waiting on God isn't easy, since we often think we should get an answer when we think we need it.

After a couple of months of not really knowing where we would be, we got the answer that we were waiting for. Like God often works, it turns out that His plan is always better than ours! We got an email from our field leaders about a meeting they had had with the Africa Gospel Church leadership. They were talking with them about my background in agriculture and the burden that God had placed on our hearts. The AGC leaders then excitedly told them that just that morning they had met with their local missionaries and discussed their need for more help with agriculture. They told them they would pray about it and see how they could find help. Then later that day when they talked with our field directors, they realized how this was an answer to prayer. Our directors then asked them to write up a letter explaining what they envision us doing and how strategic this would be.

It was so rewarding and confirming to read this letter from the indigenous church, and see how everything they were praying about and envisioning matched perfectly with what God had placed on our hearts. Instead of working with just one people group I will have the opportunity to work with 8-10 different people groups within Kenya. I will be working more centrally in training and demonstration at the new Bethany Training Center outside of Nakuru, and then also traveling out to the different areas and people groups of Kenya to help with problems faced in each area. AGC sees agriculture as a stepping stone to bringing the gospel to the areas where they are trying to reach. Poverty caused by disease, raids, and climate change has left many dependent on relief and handouts, which is not sustainable. The local people, and even the AGC missionaries have found themselves in a helpless situation lacking expertise in this area. I hope to be able to provide a more sustainable way for the local missionaries to provide for their families so that they can do the work God has called them to do as well.

As you can imagine it was so neat to see how God aligned the needs and burdens of the local people with the burdens and calling that He has placed on our lives. Supporting the local church and local missionaries is sometimes an overlooked but very important role in missions. They often times have a better chance of reaching their own people for Christ because they face less barriers like language, culture, and preconceived opinions of white people. Also the fact that we will now be living close to the AGC Baby Center, which helps orphans, is awesome too! Stephanie has always had a great burden for orphans and hopes to be able to help out with that ministry as well.

In everything we will do in Kenya we want to come with the attitude of a servant. After all that is the model Christ has set before us with His time on earth. We aren't going to westernize people or impose our way of doing things as best. In fact the first 2 years I believe will be more of a learning experience for us than anything. I want to learn from them first, before I can help them, so that together we can accomplish the task that He has given us. This task is found on our prayer cards:

Acts 20:24  However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

Always Amazed

I know it's been some time since we've shared anything, the last two months have flown by. God has been providing so many sharing opportunities for us! It's hard to know where to begin in sharing all that He has been revealing and teaching us in the last few months.

May was an extremely busy month as far as speaking engagements go. There were so many encouraging times for our family as we were able to share what God has placed on our hearts. Each church and the Michiana Men With Vision group were so encouraging and welcoming. It has been such a privilege to share our journey with so many!

In June we attended our first camp as a missionary family, it was the Iowa Holiness Campmeeting in University Park, IA. I will admit that I was nervous going into this camp, I had no idea what to expect since this was our first campmeeting. All I can say is that it was an amazing time! I was blown away by the Sovereignty of God and how He knows what we need before we need it. He knew we would need this camp and the people that were there before we even had a clue. For Andy and I it was such an amazing week of spiritual refreshment and just being with so many amazing fellow believers. For our children, especially our oldest, Carson, it was a week of learning that HMA (Homeland Ministry Assignment) can be fun. Our entire family needed this week, and our God being who He is provided that for us. I am continually blown away at His care for each one of His children! He never ceases to amaze me and remind me of who He is and how much of a privilege it is to be able to serve Him!

Thank you to all that take the time to stay tuned into what God is doing in our family, it truly is a blessing and honor to be able to share with you! We would love to know what God has been teaching you or ways that we can be praying for you, please feel free to contact us with specific ways we can be sharing life with you.

Stay tuned for an update from Andy with more information on where we will officially be in Kenya and how God has been opening amazing doors.

-Stephanie
                                              (some pictures of our time at IHA Camp)

                                            Shayla enjoying her time at IHA Camp

                                                        Carson hard at work coloring                                     

                                                Jackson showing off his coloring sheet                                   
                 

                                        They brought horses in on the last day of camp for the kids
                                                   Aubrey wouldn't ride without Mom :)

 

 

Shayla also wanted Daddy to ride with her :)

Fear vs. Faith

As I was reading my perspectives lesson today, I came across a great point that one of the authors made.  "Fear is the opposite of faith." It got me thinking, that it really is a very true analysis of the relationship of the two. If I want to call myself a disciple of Christ, fear is not an option. I have been thinking a lot about that lately as we have been speaking at different churches and groups. One question we get asked a lot, is about the safety and security of the country in which we are going to serve. Concerns that we hear a lot usually deal with disease, violence, our kids safety, and overall risk of being a Christian witness in a country where there is a Muslim presence in some areas. While I know people are truly concerned for our well-being, it does make me wonder sometimes if we are letting fear triumph over faith. Before we made the life changing decision to go into full time missions, fear was definitely a factor and can still be something that comes up now and then as we still face unknowns. But we have to keep coming back to faith, because that is what sustains us. Faith should drive us into doing things that may not always be safe or comfortable. The disciples when filled with the Holy Spirit could not help but risk their very lives because of their passion to spread the gospel. They faced persecution, and most of them even death for the sake of their Savior. This kind of sold out faith should not just be something we think about when it comes to the early church in the book of Acts, but it should give us the model that Christ intended us to use as the way of spreading our faith today. I count it a privilege to serve Christ in this way and I hope that I will always let faith outweigh my fears.

-Andy

Update

As of today we have 37% of our monthly need met. You can't even begin to know how excited this makes us! God has been moving in amazing ways and people have been responding to His prompting and partnering with us. It's a very humbling feeling and we have been blown away by all the love and support we have received.

You want to know another awesome fact? We have 40 families that have committed to praying for us specifically. This is HUGE! Knowing that we have such an amazing team committed to praying for us, and our ministry, is so incredibly awesome and humbling. It makes the tough days easier and makes us want to keep on doing what we've been called to do, all the while knowing we are not in this alone. None of this would be possible without prayer.

So, this is a BIG thank you, to all that have made this possible! Because of you, we are that much closer to Africa and doing what God has laid on our hearts.

We are still looking for churches and groups to share with. If you know of any that would be interested in having us come and share, please let us know. We have enjoyed the times of sharing that we have been given already and are looking forward to more.

Again, THANK YOU! We love and appreciate you all so much!!


-Stephanie

Looking Back

As I reflect back on 2013 and look ahead to this year, I really can't believe how much difference a year makes. To think that we would be in the position we are in right now, on a totally different course than I ever imagined, is quite unreal. 2013 for us was really the year of "the cliff", the cliff being full time missions. We may have flirted within distance of this cliff before, but never really considered walking up to the edge and jumping off. Well, God had a different plan than us, and it was ultimately Him that pushed us over the edge. I think of how many people in the Bible that God "pushed" into doing something that they never thought they were capable of doing. It seems that all throughout scripture He uses ordinary people to accomplish great things. I believe the God that existed 2000 years ago is still the same One in control today, and He wants to use each and every one of us to be Christ to others. That will look different for every Christ follower, but we have to be willing to be used by Him.

For me the hardest part of this journey that we are on, is just remembering why we are here and what we are supposed to be doing. This culture has engrained in us an idea that tells us that life is all about what we can accomplish ourselves, how much money we can make, how nice of retirement we can save up for, etc. I don't recall those things in the Bible as being important to God, and I would rather spend my time accumulating heavenly treasure since eternal life will be much, much longer than this one. All that He asks is that we take up our cross and follow Him. I really like Chris Tomlin's song "I will follow." It gives me a picture of what following Christ really means by putting me in His footprints. "Where you go I'll go, where you stay I'll stay, when you move I'll move, I will follow you. Who you love I'll love, who you serve I'll serve, If this life I lose, I will follow you." My goal for 2014 is simply just to strive to live that out more in my own life, because HE is worth the cost and deserves nothing less!

-Andy