9 (yes nine) more suitcases!

We are at 89% of our support pledged. Excited.
Awed.
Blessed.
(And trying to figure out what to pack.)

Taking Myself out of the Picture

“If only I could take me out of support raising and have someone else do it for me!”

  If only you knew how many times we have thought this and said this.  But then we are chastised by God - through his words in scripture, friends, and fellow missionaries - that WE aren't raising the support for the work God has called us to do. HE is raising up supporters for us, just as HE has raised up people to serve him.

   Although most fellow missionaries we have known and met throughout the years are very humble and self-effacing in this area, they have a tendency to fall headlong into the trap of the enemy: feeling and acting, as though support raising is both all about themselves and totally up to themselves. Satan wants us to feel like beggars who think everyone is running the other way when they see us. He wants us to forget that God has already promised to take care of those He has called into full-time kingdom work.

In reality, very little of the whole process of support raising is about us, the missionaries. 

Success is certainly more dependent on God than on ourselves. 

Thus we can take heart in the biblical promise found in 1 Thessalonians 5:24,

 “God, who calls you, is faithful; he will do this.” 

And also in Philippians 2:13, 

"For it is God who works in you, to will and to work for his good pleasure.

  God has called Sandy and I to work in Lethbridge, Alberta with the Blackfoot people in the city and on the reserve just outside of town. As we have shared with many of you, the need is great. Discouragement, loneliness, addictions, single-parent homes, families who don't know what a family of God looks like, people who don't like white folks. 

It is our privilege to invite you into the joy of making disciples among the nations, to see what God is doing to push back the lostness in this world, to be part of the God-sized endeavor, and advance his kingdom in the hearts and lives of those he has called us to serve.  

Even though God has called us to “climb down into the darkness” for the ministry, he is calling many of you to “hold the ropes” to fulfill the Great Commission. Thank you once again to those who have done so. We invite others of you to join us. 

 **** Many of these thoughts and words are from an article we recently read by Mike Riggins of  Support Raising Solutions which we recently read and which convicted us.

Suitcase Challenge

   I love our 1946 house. I love that we had a place to stay for a whole year while we built our support team. I love that Julie, our youngest daughter, is going to stay in the house while we spend several years in Canada.




 One of my favorite features of the house is the attic.

 We have never had an attic in any of our homes.

  When we first moved in we debated about figuring out how to add an extra room to the house in the attic. I envisioned a playroom for the grandkids, a sewing room for me, a romantic bedroom, but, unfortunately, the downstairs floor plan does not allow for adding a staircase anywhere...so the attic is the storage place for our extra earthly goods and boxes of memories. (Oh, yes, and the Christmas stuff)





  Yesterday I went up into the attic to scope out the suitcase situation.  Yes, we are getting close enough with our support to think about packing suitcases.
   This is what we have so far.....about 15 bags, boxes, duffle bags, and real suitcases. - and five garbage cans...

(from the Farm - held chicken feed etc...)

I don't think that will be enough, but it is a start. 

So I thought, hey let's turn that pile of suitcases into our last challenge - the challenge to get us packing those suitcases, and boxes, and the U-Haul and get to Lethbridge in June!!

We have 83.1% of our monthly support raised at this time - each of the last 2 challenges we had for ourselves (and you) helped move us about 15% closer to our totals each time!

14.7% of our monthly support!!
(not all totals are in yet!!)

12.6% of our monthly support!!
(not all totals are in yet)

One more group of 15 new monthly supporters should get us there!!!!!

Here is our tentative timeline for the next few months:

April - Continue building our support team - having many of you over for dinner, lunch or coffee. Babysit grandkids.

May - Start packing up the stuff we ARE NOT taking with us to Canada - bring to Christ Presbyterian Church in Sweetwater's garage sale for Missions!!  One more visit to Florida.

June - Vacation with our kids and grandkids, trip to Cherokee NC to volunteer as associate staff, pack suitcases for Belgium and boxes for Canada.

July - Spend the month in Belgium for training in - Cultural Interpretation,Language Acquisition, Church Planting, Evangelism Techniques, Spiritual Health, Team Dynamics, Conflict Management, and Real Life Application.

Arrive in Canada....TBD - we hope in June, but maybe August!! Pray for us in these last few months that we continue to rely on God's plan and timing.

NOTE:  We have added a new section to our blog - PRAYER CORNER.  We will update that daily and weekly as we have prayers and praises and as we share the prayers and praises of our supporters. Be sure to check it often.

more than Short Term Missions

Scenario - Cherokee, North Carolina - summer Missions opportunity:


You are the project leader on the Cherokee Indian Reservation. One of your teams has been placed in a day program for Indian children to do a Backyard Bible Club. The relationship with this particular program has in the past been strained. The group seems to be getting along very well with the children and the staff seem to be especially open.

In order to show appreciation to the group, the day program staff invites a local legend teller to come in and share some of the Cherokee legends. One of the legends, which is the children's favorite, is especially scary. After the legend teller leaves, one of the adult leaders  of the church group comments to one of the day program staff that it was a shame that the legend teller couldn't have told stories that were true and not so scary.

The scenario above was a real one that had occurred in the past. Howard and I were challenged as part of our training last weekend to think about how we would respond in that situation and encourage both the adult leader and the staff at the Cherokee program in a loving, Christ-like manner.







On Palm Sunday weekend Howard and I joined fellow volunteers at Goose Creek Campground in Cherokee, North Carolina for a time of learning how to serve others better as they experience a short-term mission trip.  Mission to the World needs Associate Staff to make these weeks happen, and in January we signed up for this program as we weren't sure what our summer plans would be - we didn't know that we are only 17% away from having our total funds for our work in Lethbridge raised.  
















As part of our work in Lethbridge, Alberta, we will be welcoming teams of volunteers from the U.S. and elsewhere to join us as we reach out to the Blackfoot people in and around the city.  To prepare ourselves we signed up to serve this summer as Associate Staff in Cherokee, N.C. where there is an established volunteer program in place. This training program was excellent and taught us so many things we will need to know here in the U.S. and in Canada. 

The purpose of MTW's Short-term, One & Two Week Missions Program is to provide one-to-week missions experiences for individuals and church groups in order to strengthen the church of Jesus Christ, expand the kingdom of God, and cultivate the next generation of missionaries.

100% of long-term missionaries 

have experienced a Short-Term trip!

Mission to the World sends over 5000 people annually all over the world to experience 1 week to 1 year long short-term mission trips - you can find out more about how you could be involved by checking out the MTW site: Get Involved  

Next year Lethbridge will be one of the places you can come and experience!

 The take-away from our weekend of training was:

PFTL*

(people first - task last)

All mission trips are about relationships not about the bricks and mortar project being done.

Relationships between fellow workers, relationships with the people, and personal relationships with our Savior will all be grown - the accomplishing of a project is a side benefit.

Howard and I are looking forward to working for a week in June in Cherokee with those who will be coming to Show Jesus to the people in Cherokee, and then taking what we have learned with us first to Belgium during the month of July for our Cross Cultural and Relationship training, and then on to our new home in Lethbridge later this summer.

Philippians 2:13 - Trust in the Lord - he will give me what SHOULD BE in my heart - He will give us THE WILL and the ability to do what is needed. 

Show People how much 

God Loves Them!

Thanks for your prayers for us as we travel and learn.

God has added 15 more!

Since we began challenging ourselves to Be Bold and Courageous in 2015, God has provided 30 new monthly support partners for our work in Lethbridge, Alberta.

We hope to pack our suitcases in June.

We are at 82.5% of our support and need only a few more friends to join us to be fully funded for the next 3 years.

Thank you!

March...More than just throwing Whipped Cream...

Lest you think we are just throwing around said whipped cream concoctions...here is a run-down of what we've been doing lately...(settle in, it's a longer read than usual)







On Monday nights this month Howard and I spent the evenings with the kids from Brainerd High School here in Chattanooga as part of the CRU ministry led by our friend Jill Finley who is on staff with them.
We are getting to know these high-schoolers who are like teenagers everywhere and hoping to SHOW THEM JESUS.







We spent Thursday the 5th with our Sweetwater Small Group friends - catching up on what we were all up to and hearing how we have survived the winter so far. We shared a meal and great discussion and much prayer.  (more about that here.)

We took our photo for the official church directory of Covenant Presbyterian Church, Chattanooga on Monday the 19th - there was too much double chin stuff going on for our liking...so no photo for you - but it will be in the directory.

On Tuesdays the 3rd and the 17th, Sandy spent the morning watching kids at Covenant PCA while their mothers attended a Mother's Encouragement Group held at the church.  My mother always taught me that it was important to give younger mother's a break when my kids were grown.  It has been good to meet new people, kids and adults!

          

Howard has had the opportunity to help at the church we are attending after their custodian retired at the end of last year. He has been fixing toilets, building shelves, and cleaning as needed until the new person starts.  This past Sunday's crisis was a sewer back-up which caused all the bathrooms on the main floor to flood - right before 2 wedding showers...guess how he spent his afternoon.

On Thursday the 12th we took a short road-trip down to MTW offices and met with Rohan Crown and Jack Beall at Starbucks - where Sandy completely embarressed herself by answering the Barista's question of what kind of milk in her iced coffee with a puzzled "cow milk?"....sigh....it was only the 2nd time I have been to Starbucks. Steep learning curve.

We spent that afternoon visiting with new missionaries at the offices - there are two more families who will be working with the Native America/First Nations people in the US and in Canada.  We look forward to getting to know them and their work.

In the evening we joined Rohan at Chestnut Mountain Presbyterian Church and visited with friends there, David &Bethany and Dee & Katie.  We got to see Rohan in action as he shared with the folks there who support him and his family in their work at Amazing Grace Community Church, and we met Emily's parents!

Saturday the 14th found us traveling down to Atlanta again - this time to share memories and catch up with long-time friends and fellow missionaries from Nigeria Dan & Lois Verhoef. We had a great time and they took us for lunch to the city of Senoia - which, for those who don't know ( and we didn't either), is the city where they shoot the Walking Dead TV series.

The evening of Saturday the 14th we were again at Chestnut Mountain to visit with Rohan and hear the mission speaker at the churches Mission Conference. We were challenged by Dee Hammond to take a Kool Whip pie to raise support for the Amazing Kids ministry in Lethbridge.

Kool Whip for Kool Kids


Then back home to Chattanooga for the BIG BIRTHDAY PARTY!

Sunday afternoon it was a beautiful day and we washed our filthy vehicles before heading over to our daughter Becky's house for Julie's birthday.


We haven't spent a birthday with our daughter Julie in over 5 years because she has been in Honduras teaching - so we through a big bash with lots of cake on Sunday, March 15th.

The week of the 16th found us:
- buying a new TV because our free one finally gave up the ghost after 3 years (yes, Howard and Julie were having fun with the box - once a kids always a kid...

- volunteering at church quite a bit and bringing meals to friends who had babies
-attending Bible studies
- attending CRU
 - GOING TO SEE THE CINDERELLA MOVIE!! with all of the Vander Griend girls!

- finished up the week with a Ladies Spring retreat on Saturday - we were challenged to
Be Intentional in our living of the Christian life.  It was very good and it was great to spend time with just the girls. (Thanks Howard for watching some of the grands).
- Howard and I completed our Kool Whip for Kool Kids challenge (see previous post for the highlights)


Sunday the 22nd Howard and I helped serve lunch to the Covenant College choir who sang at our worship service that morning and then had some friends over for dinner to share more about our work with the Blackfoot people.

We will end this week with a trip to Cherokee, N.C. for training to be associate staff this summer for a week in with people who volunteer for a week with MTW's short-term ministry among the Cherokee Native Americans.

We will end the month up with having more people over for dinner who have recently become monthly supporters and then looking forward to celebrating the Resurrection of our Savior! in the month of April.

Hope you had a busy month too!