Working Afternoons

Part of the training that we are required to participate in is that each student works 4 days a week on campus doing a variety of things such as cleaning, maintenance, office work and so on.

Mitch has been helping on the 'project team' lately.  He has been doing a variety of odd jobs around the campus that have included wood stacking, dump runs, landscaping, and building renovations.  This is a wonderful tool that the Missionary Training Centre has incorporated into our training in order to give each student a tangible way of working and serving with each other.  It also is a huge blessing and asset to the facility here having a group of people to help with the work load.

I have been assigned to work in the office for the duration of my pregnancy and have been helping out in the graphic design department.  I have been shadowing the person that has been doing that up to this point, and today I got to work on my first project by myself.  I got to create an updated prayer card for us!

We will be printing these off soon and hope to have them available over Christmas break.   

Being able to serve in the afternoons has taught us a lot about what it is like to serve with willing and joyful hearts, and we are thankful for the wonderful opportunity to learn from others as we serve along side them.

Thank you to those who have partnered with us in order to be here!  We appreciate your time spent in prayer and the willingness to give your hard earned finances towards our training.  God is working through your gifts!

A Door of Hope

"Therefore I am now going to allure her;

I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.

There I will give her back her vineyards, 

And will make the valley of Achor a door of hope."
Hosea 2:14

   A few years ago Mitch and I began what has proven to be the toughest thing we have each gone through up to this point in our lives.  We have experienced joy, fear, loss, sorrow, grief, and so much more. It has been a journey that we have both traveled together, yet also separately.  We have grown both individually through it and also as a couple.  It has brought us to a point in our lives that has made us the people that we are today.  We have sought after God and He has been our hope, joy, peace, comfort, strength, and so much more through all of it.  He is our Rock.

  All of this began with what most people experience as a joyfully wonderful time in their lives!  But for us, it has seemed to be quite different.  In April of 2011 we lost our first child.  Words cannot express the difficulty encompassed then, because I was unaware that I was even expecting.  We grieved, attempted to seek answers, but ultimately we were both left with that horrible statistic of at least '1 in 3' pregnancies end this way.  We were told how 'normal' it was.

  Time went on, and we went back to life as 'normal' as we could.  I often struggled with the 'if' game.  I would see a pregnant women and my mind would wander into thinking 'if' I were still pregnant that would be me,  or I'd see a baby and think about that baby that we had lost.  Someone I knew was expecting the same time as I was, and still to this day when I see a picture of her little girl I think about our child.  Psalm 127:3 says "Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward for him."  Mitch and I both believe this to be true and long to have children of our own, and it was horrible to have lost a child!

  One year later, in June of 2012 we were overjoyed to find out that we were expecting our 2nd child!  This joy was mingled with many other emotions as well.  We both told ourselves that we had already been a part of that nasty '1 in 3' statistic, so that this time would be different.  We decided not to tell many people until I got further along, just in case.  We were so excited!  I was making sure I was doing everything right.  This time we would get to see and hold our baby full term!  This time I would make sure I did nothing wrong and that this baby would be ok.  We were trusting God to bless us, and we believed that this child would be that blessing.  The first miscarriage happened quite slow, over a 5 day time span.  So I kinda knew what to expect if something were to go wrong, but we just knew nothing would.  When I was 6 weeks along I was struck deep within when I felt one of 'those' cramps again.  One of those cramps that I had felt once before.  They just came our of nowhere, and after I arrived at the hospital to get checked I knew something was not ok.  I knew that feeling, I had felt it before, and as I sat there in the ER doubled over in pain, I just knew.  They sent me home on bed rest.  They said to come back if things changed, and it wasnt long before we were back.  Our second child was gone.  I was admitted to the hospital for the night, and upon arriving back at home the next day the pain set in deep.  We thought "we were already part of that '1 in 3', how could this happen again?!"  Even with this being our 2nd baby that we lost, the Doctor's still were saying that it was within the 'normal' ranges.  They said it wouldn't be until our 3rd loss that they would start to see why.

That just didn't make any sense!

To say that the next 9 months were hard is the biggest understatement one could speak.  I can honestly say I walked through a dessert place.  I, for the first time in my life, felt distant from God.  Not because I didn't believe He was with me, but because I just couldn't feel His love.  I struggled with feeling broken, like I was unable to do what God made a women to do.  I clung to Truth, the Word.  I clung to the fact  that God was with me, because His Word said so and His Word is Truth.  Each day was difficult, each day I had to choose to trust Him, to rest in Him.  Mitch walked his own road of struggle.  Seeing me go through this dessert place, feeling the need to be strong for me and help me through it.  He was, and he did...it just was taking time.  As the months passed, my daily struggle turned to a weekly one, then a monthly...God was teaching us both so much through this time.

   The biggest thing I learned was that I am not in control.  I had such pride in my ability to 'grow' a perfect child!  I did everything I could and yet it still didn't work out.   I learned from Job when he said in an act of worship to God in  "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away, may the name of the LORD be praised."Job 1:2.   He is the giver and the taker of life!  In Psalm 139:13 David says to God the "You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mothers womb.".  It was not in my power to make a child!  That is the Lords job, and I reached a point where I had to give that up to God and trust Him to do what is only His job to do.

   I decided that if I wanted answers I would seek them out.  I began asking questions, and I began to get some answers.  This past summer we spent most of the summer in Idaho with family and friends there.  We, for the 3rd time, experiences a pregnancy loss, very early on, but it was still a loss.   I was blessed to be connected with a friend of a family member, who just so happened to be an OBGYN.  I was able to talk to her and she gave me some  answers that I had been searching for.  She prescribed me a medication that she said should help me with the problems I was having, and said to take it if I suspected I was pregnant again.

   The time came for us to go back to Ontario so we could start up school.  I had that medication just in case, but we were not going to continue to try for more children until we could get connected with a doctor here.  We were just going to take some time...

   It was a couple weeks into classes that we found out a big surprise, and that surprise is that I am expecting for the 4th time!  I started taking the medication that I was prescribed by the Doctor friend in Idaho, and I began taking things one day at a time.  Mitch and I were excited, but very cautious.  Pregnancy had turned into a very sensitive subject, that was associated with joy mixed with great sorrow and pain.   We just wanted to make it to the 8 week ultrasound.  That day came, and went with a beautiful picture of our little 'bean', healthy heart beat and all!

      In the midst of all the joy we were hit with the reality of the frailty of life.  As the weeks passed, we came to know of many friends who lost babies in the womb.  With each discovery all of the pain and sorrow flooded back!  We both have had to choose to take each day at a time, and to trust Him to do His will.  We have had to choose against fear and live in faith, and that no matter what happened God would have His best for us come to pass.
The weeks passed, and today brought our 13 week ultrasound!  We got to see our babies heart just beating away full force, it wiggle around and even stretched and summersaulted in the womb too!  We are thankful that God has given us today, regardless of what happens in the future.  Today was a blessing and we are so thankful to have seen our baby in this way!

"Therefore I am now going to allure her;

I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.

There I will give her back her vineyards, 

And will make the valley of Achor a door of hope."

God has used this verse to speak to me through this season in my life.  He drew me into the dessert to teach me things, precious things.  He spoke tenderly to me there, and I trusted that in His timing He would give me back my vineyard, that the 'Valley of trouble' would become a door of hope.  Today I have hope.  

Mitch and I both trust God regardless.  God is good, and today He has given us a precious gift.  We trust Him to take care of the rest...  :)  

Snowfall

As the snow falls I am reminded of so many things.  God has always spoken to me through His creation.  There is just something about it that speaks to my soul.  As I sit here peering out of the window and the big beautiful snowflakes falling from the sky, I cant help but reflect on from where God has brought us.  

Here we are.  At the training.  It seemed for so long like this time would never come, and here we are.  God knew the whole time!  Just as he knew that today would bring this first snow of the year.  The fact that we are here right now, this very day is not a surprise to God, just like todays snowfall isn't a surprise to Him!  I didn't see the snowfall coming.  I was shocked as I went out to our entryways to get my shoes and saw the winter wonderland outside!  I couldn't believe it!  This is so similar to the point in life that God has brought us to right now...

I chose to believe that God would bring us here in His timing, but I didn't believe Him in my heart!  Just like I knew the snow would yet again fall, but I didn't expect God to bring it so soon. And the joy that I have that we have snow in October isn't always something I have felt before.  I enjoy the snow and winter time, but I often grow weary at the length of these upcoming cold months most of the time.  But this year I find to be quite different.  We are in Ontario.  We are here.  The fact that it is snowing in October is refreshing!  We are in Ontario, of course it is snowing in October.  The snow this early is just another reminder of God providing for us in His timing!

We have been studying through Exodus in our 'Roots' class, and I have been struck by the historical example of Israel leaving Egypt and moving into the dessert.  I find that I am just like them!  As I look back in the recent (and even not so recent past) I see how God has provided abundantly for us, and yet as I face a bit of uncertainty today my first instinct is to cry out to God and question His power and ability to provide for me, just as the nation of Israel did when they cried out in Exodus 16 for food and water.  Yet, even in their unbelief, as they attacked God and His goodness, God was gracious towards them.  He, in spite of their unbelief, provided miraculously for them.  I choose to believe that He will do the same for us.  He is faithful. 

I am abundantly thankful for the beauty that the snow brings!  I am thankful for how God is teaching me through it, and I am so thankful for what He is teaching me.  God is good.  God is faithful, and God is the ultimate provider and for that I am thankful.  

Working as a Team

We just started a class on Team Work.  It has been great so far!  We have been put into groups that are to act as our 'team'.  We are working as if we are going into the tribe together.  We have been going through a document that helps to answer a lot of questions regarding how we will work together as a team and how we would handle different situations.  Questions like: what are your teams expectations of field leadership?  What will you do if you have an issue with a co-workers, or what steps will you take to resolve the conflict?  What is your opinion on having national coworkers (co-workers that are native to the country you are serving in)? Ect...
Its great to start to think about establishing a team and beginning the process of working together with one!  We have so much to learn and its so much fun to begin this process!  :)

Mitch and I have been reminded every single day why we are here.  It is, at times, difficult not to feel completely overwhelmed by the task at hand.  We are not capable of doing all this!  But in those moments of fear we are reminded that He is our strength.  He is the one that will do it.  He will give us exactly what we need in each moment that we need it!  We are just willing vessels to be used.

As we move forward in our classes we are being made more aware of our need for Him.  God has been stretching us both so much, and we would really appreciate your prayers!  He is showing us more of our hearts as well as our attitudes that we need to grow in and we are seeking God to work in our lives in those areas.  :)  It is great to see God working, but it always stings a bit...

 

Pizza, Swimming and Global Perspectives

We are well into our way of our first set of classes.  We have been able to have lots of our classmates over to apartment as we get to know them.  Two night ago we had a big pizza get together!  We all brought things to contribute and made several pizza's from scratch.  What a sweet time of fellowship it was. :)

Us in our classroom.

One of the responsibilities that we have here is to be part of the Afternoon Work Program (AWP) 4 days a week.  All of the students are split into one of two teams: the cleaning team or the project team, and these teams rotate each month to give each student some variety.  Mitch is on the cleaning team this month, and I am on the project team.  The cleaning teams clean everything on campus, not only of the Missionary Training Centre campus but also the NTMC head office.  The projects teams work on building, landscaping, and any other maintenance needs that we can help with.

the sunrise over the lake on campus

The fall weather is slowly creeping in here, but the last couple of days we have had very hot and very humid weather reappear!  Yesterday after we all finished our AWP most of our classmates and us went for a very refreshing swim in the lake!  It was so fun!  A lot of the youth, either staff or students kids, were swimming with us too!  

Today, and for the next two days, we will be attending the Global Perspectives seminar here.  NTM reps from all over the country have come and we all get to gather together and learn about what it means to be globally focused.  Some of the topics discussed today were: women in ministry (a very different view-point than normally discussed), how to choose a field and we had a time of prayer which centred around praying for more labourers to join with us!  What a sweet time of prayer that was!

We greatly enjoy seeing what God is doing in the world around us, and we look forward to the next two days to hear more about what God is doing... :)

3 Pictures

Our home for the next 18 months,

Learning how to do this...

So that even they can know Him.

"But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."

Exodus 9:16

Am I Prepared???

     I sit in the laundry room, listening to Matt Redman's "10,000 Reasons" album.  Singing along to the songs in worship, and in awe of my Lord.  It is often through music that I reflect on the big and important things in my life.  As I sit here, I cant help but me in utter amazement as to where I am.  I am finally here!  In Durham Ontario, at the missionary training centre and we begin classes tomorrow.  Wow!

     Matt Redman sings "You are faithful, God you are faithful!  You are!", and I am reminded just how true that is.  It is by no power or ability of our own that we are where we are today.  We tried for 4 years to get here, and we just couldn't.  It wasn't until we gave it up that God gave it to us, in His perfect timing.  Saying that He has been faithful to provide for us is the biggest understatement!  We are humbled and encouraged by those who have given to us so far, and to see how God has provided for us the very things we have needed in the time we have needed them is amazing.

I cant help but stand in awe...   

     I have been reflecting on where I am at, and what God has brought me through up to this point in my life.  I want to take every opportunity here to grow and learn.  I have so much to learn, and this is an amazing environment to help me in that.  Am I prepared for this?  I believe God has been preparing us both for a very long time to be here.  I love looking back and seeing the trials we've faced, and to see how God has used them to grow us both in different ways.  He is faithful. 

 I simply pray that I will learn, in every avenue I can... 

Retreating and Impending Travel

Mitch and I returned from the senior high retreat last friday.  It was an amazing week filled with wonderful fellowship, spiritual rejuvination and tons of time enjoying Gods beautiful creation in northern Montana!
The first day we were there we went river rafting on the Flathead river (the river that A River Runs Through It was filmed on).

We also spend part of a day cliff jumping at a nearby lake.  It was such a beautiful day, and the water was the perfect temperature!

Tatum (one of the other leaders) & I swimming after jumping off the cliff

On the third day that we were there we spent the day in Glacier National park.  It reminded me so much of Alaska in some ways, and had a beauty all its own in another way.  We had moutnain goats come right up to us as we were hiking, and even got to have a snow ball fight on the last day of July!

Overlooking Glacier National Park

A mountain top meadow in the park

A little ground squirrel having a snack

A momma and baby Mountain Goat 

a lone goat

mountain top pond

It was a hot day, but what a beautiful view!!!

Mountain wildflowers along the trail

As the month of August has come we are reminded of our time left here.  We have been so blessed by our time spent here so far and we cannot believe that it is winding down.  We are helping with our church's VBS this week, and next week we hope to spend most of it with friend and family before we head back to Boise in preparation to fly back to Ontario.  We will be back in Durham two weeks from today!  It is SO crazy how the time has flown by!  We greatly look forward to the rest of our time here, and we cannot wait to return to Ontario so we can begin our training.

We are waiting on news from our church here as to in what way they will be willing to partner with us as we train, and then serve with NTM.  Please join with us in praying as we wait for a response from the elder team.  We are thankful to be a part of the body of Christ here, and are blessed by their willingness to partner with us. :)

Meetings & Montana

     Mitch and I have the opportunity to be leaders for our church's senior high camp!  The camp is located near Whitefish Montana.  We will be participating in white water rafting, cliff jumping, and touring Glacier Bay National Park.  We are really excited to be able to go!  Mitch and I have never been to Montana and we are thankful for the chance to be there for the next week.  :)

     Earlier this week we met with the missions team from our church here.  It was a wonderful time of encouragement and sharing.  We were able to share about our training with them, and discussed the church's ability to partner with us.  It was amazing to see how God has orchestrated the timing, yet again, for us to be able to move towards with our training through the partnership of others!  Please be praying as the missions team will  be sending forth a proposal to be reviewed by the elders team regarding the church's partnership with us.

    Within the last couple of week we have had numerous opportunities to get together with friends new and old.  It has been wonderful to reconnect with everyone!  After we get back from camp we will have roughly 2 weeks left here in Idaho before we go back to Ontario to begin our training.  We are So excited! :)

House Sitters

Mitch and I have been in Idaho Falls for about a week and a half now.  We were able to spend lots of time with my aunt and her family, it was great to catch up with them!  Fishing has become a new favourite sport for them, and we had lots of fun going along with them.

The view from our fishing spot (notice the beaver damn)

Mitch & I giving it a shot

The family fishing it up a bit too!

We also were able to celebrate my cousin Hailey's 13th birthday with her!  We had a volleyball party at a local park and had some other friends and family over to celebrate with.

My aunt and I at my cousins birthday party

Mitch & I with the birthday girl! :)

Mitch with our youngest cousin :)

One of our goals while being here was to be a flexible as possible as we re-connect with our friends and family.  As we have begun to re-connect we have been given several opportunities to house sit, so we have gratefully accepted the offers.  :)  It is exciting to see God provide for us, while providing for those who are seeking people to look after their homes while they are away at the same time.  Its pretty awesome how He has it all planned out, and just provides exactly what we need in the time that we need it. :)

The cost

   The cost of going.  

     This has been on my mind a lot lately.  The price that we are choosing to pay in order to pursue taking Gods Word to the nations...It is a price we are most certainly willing to pay, but I am beginning to feel the depth of the cost.  

     Last week we met our niece for the first time.  The picture below was taken as we were leaving to go to the other side of the state for the rest of the summer.  

A 'Goodbye' picture with our adorable niece 

     We will be able to spend some more time with her and my brother and sister in law before we fly back to Ontario, which we are very excited about!  Man, I really love this picture!  It is such a sweet thing to have a niece, and I LOVE her so much!  Every time I look at this picture I am reminded of the cost of going.  
     I would like to ask for your prayers...as we spend time with those we love we again realize the sting of leaving them behind as we move forward.  For the sake of taking Gods freeing Word to those who do not have it, we go.  

Travels

Here is a picture post!  I figured I would post pictures to explain and show what we have been up to in the last couple of weeks.  :)

Mitch and I had the chance to go to Newfoundland to visit some friends there.  It was so pretty and we really enjoyed spending time with our friends, and seeing the sites we have never seen before.

having a bbq on the beach

a little lake behind one of the banks in town

Mitch looking off over Saint Johns

The most eastern point of North America.  The next land is Europe!

An old armoury

Next we traveled to Ontario.  We packed up everything and set out to travel to where we will be living over the next 2 years while we study linguistics.  We arrived in Durham (the town of the training center) and had a few days to relax and unpack before we headed west to Idaho.  One of the evenings we spent out on the lake fishing for some bass.

We next jumped on a plane and flew from Toronto to Boise Idaho.  My brother and his wife live there and they have our niece who we have not had the chance to meet before now.  We will be in Boise for a few days and then we will be going to western Idaho to visit the rest of my family.  :)

 playing in the morning

 having some fun with the blocks

 So far we have had a great time!  We are so blessed to be able to travel a bit and catch up with friends and family before we start our training in August.  We are looking forward to the rest of our time in Idaho and so thankful for this gift we have been given!!!

807 Pounds

  Boxes.  Boxes and then more boxes.  Packing, weighing, writing with a sharpie, taping, recording the weight and the boxes contents, then setting that box aside and moving on to the next one.  That is what I did today.  I went through all of our boxes that hold all of our personal belongings in them.  I removed more items that we dont really need so we can hopefully sell them this weekend in our yard sale.  After I finished that task I added up the weight...807 lbs.  807 pounds of clothing, and household items.

   At first I was kind of taken aback at that number.  I expected it to be much less than that!  I got rid of 4 boxes of stuff, most of which was the heavy things like glass cooking wear, and books with lots of clothes and other miscellaneous things to go along with them.  I got to thinking, when we graduate in a year and a half, we are going to have to whittle this down a whole lot more!  I was reminded of a friend of mine who, upon graduating and leaving to begin her deputation, said that all of her families belongings were in their 4 suite cases!  If each one of those suit cases were at their max capacity , they are looking at around 200 lbs of stuff.  We have a ways to go before then I guess!

  Thinking about being that mobile, or really have the bare minimum for the sake of being able to travel, seems like it would be both freeing & yet at the same time very uncomfortable!  We are coming from a culture that has the mentality of 'he who has the most of the nicest things in the ends wins', and choosing to pursue this life of cross-cultural ministry challenges us to live a life contrary to that.  Being willing and able to give up our 'stuff' time and time again is, at times, uncomfortable but it is more than worth it!  I would rather live a long life with very little means if it makes it possible for me to reach those who live with very little means, including the Bible.  

  My prayer today is that God will help me to look past the 807 pounds of stuff sitting in storage, and see the faces of those who dont yet know Him.  I pray that I will find joy in Him, not in the things that I have, and I pray that whether I have much, or very little I will find my peace and fulfillment in Him! 

    

Laying on of Hands

  This past Tuesday at youth group we were blessed beyond words by the youth and leaders there!  Mitch and I both lead a small group with the youth.  Last week was our last youth group to volunteer.  I am one of those people who really find goodbye's to be awkward.  I have moved a lot, and have had to say goodbye to many, many people.  I also am one who really hates to cry in front of others.  So over the years I have come to the point where I just go on auto pilot when it comes time to move again.  I struggle with this about myself.  I truly care about and will miss those we are leaving!  I really am sad that I wont see them again soon, but I just dont like tapping into my emotions out of fear of crying.  I find myself in the midst of this again...
  The girls in my small group bought me a bouquet of flowers!  I was so blessed by their love and generosity!  We took lost of pictures and had a wonderful time together.  It was truly a blessing to have been able to get to know them, and to be able to learn from them and to invest in their lives the amount that I did. :)
  One of the things that they did for Mitch and I was pray for us.  This wasn't an average prayer though.  The entire youth group came up and laid their hands on us!  They, as a body of believers, prayed for Mitch and I as we leave and move forward in ministry.  What a blessing that was!  This Sunday the entire church is going to do the same in order to commission us before we leave.  It warms our hearts to have the support of our church family here.
  We fly out this coming Wednesday to visit some friends in Newfoundland.  We are very excited to visit 'The Rock' as they like to call it.  We have never been and are really looking forward to visiting this part of Atlantic Canada.
  As we leave this place, we will be returning to an old place.  A place that we have had to say 'goodbye' at before.  This is the part that I like about saying goodbye!  Its when you get to return and see them again that makes the goodbye sweet!  As much as I dont like saying goodbye I love it when you are filled with joy upon reuniting with them!
  We are having to say goodbye to so many here in Nova Scotia right now, but we greatly look forward to when we get to come back and see everyone again, just like we are getting ready to do to our friends and family in Idaho!

So rather than focusing on the sadness of departing from those we love, lets focus on the joy of the reunion instead!!  That is my goal in this season in my life.  To choose joy.

Change is not always bad, it brings with it newness of life, and opportunities for us to grow and learn. :)  So I  thank God for the change, and I trust that He will grow me through this season he has brought me to!

Prayers

I wanted to post quickly to ask for prayer!  A Proposal went through our church here regarding the church's support and partnering with us.  The missions team, & leadership team approved an amount and it will go to the congregation May 22 for voting.  Please pray that everything will go smoothly with that!
We have been overwhelmed with Gods amazing provision lately.  We have really been challenged in our faith to trust the Creator of the universe for our every need...and He has proven Himself to be more than faithful!  We are so blessed by the body if Christ, and we are enthused to see the Lord continue to work in our lives. 


May 23rd, 2013
An update to this post is that it was approved!  The church approved an amount that will cover half of our training costs while we are in Durham.  Our church has the desire to support global missions and has chosen to do so by supporting New Tribes through us! God is truly Jehovah Jireh!  He is paving the way for us to move forward with our training, so that we will!

Moving out!

Its moving week for us!  Our home is no longer out home...It is an empty shell of what was once our house.  Our dogs are gone-with their new owners.  We have boxes and furniture waiting to be sold around and lots of dust that needs to be cleaned up.

Saying goodbye to Xerxes

One last picture before we took Sampson to his new home

As much as I really do not enjoy this phase in moving, it brings great joy in my heart this time.  Why? you might ask.  Because it means that we are moving on with our training to be missionaries!  As much as my heart has been saddened this week with no longer being a 'dog owner', I know it is for a great cause.  As much as I dont care for the transition phase of moving- I am, for the first time in my life entering a very long phase of transitioning where I dont know when the end will be.  We will be living with family & friends until the end of August beginning in just a couple of days.  We will be in school for 3 semesters and then will be in another phase of transition as we prepare to begin our ministry with NTM.  Its very exciting for us as it happens but is a whole new world that we are stepping into, one that is requiring us to rely on the Lord for our every provision!
We are SO blessed to share that God has provided our air plane tickets from Toronto to Boise Idaho this summer!  We are shocked and amazed at the Body of Christ's willingness to come along side us and join us in support of our desire to train and serve with New Tribes.

We are preparing to have a big yard sale on June 1st as a fund raiser.  If anyone has any items that they would like to donate to the sale, we will use the funds to go towards our travel expenses this summer, and our cost of living as we transition into school.  We still need to purchase our tickets to Newfoundland and are hoping to do that this week.  We plan to visit some friends and a church there from June 19th-24th.  It is so amazing to see God work out the details as we follow His guidance and leading in our lives.
We, again, want to thank every one of you who have shown us support through the years and continue to right now!  We should have an account set up with NTM this week.  Once that happens people will be able to search our name under the 'give' option on their site and donate to either our tuition or living costs while we are at school.  If you would like more information on how you can get involved, or would like to know details on any prayer requests that we might have, please email us and we can share with you about that: mitchamandachaplin@gmail.com

The Opening of Doors!!!

As of yesterday we were officially accepted to attend the MTC in Ontario this coming fall!!!  And within the last 24 hours many amazing things has happened!
I have been in communication with the admissions department of NTM Canada and have been able to get many of the details worked out.  We also have sold some of our big items of furniture, AND...God has provided for our Newfoundland and Idaho visits air fair to be paid for!
This whole thing has been such a huge step of faith, more like a leap, and it is so encouraging to see God opening up the doors for us to walk through!

We are very excited to keep moving forward, one step at a time.  I am so excited to see God work and to rest in Him daily as we pursue this goal of being part of giving His word to those who don't have it.  He really is Jehovah Jireh...my Lord who Provides, and I LOVE HIM.

Preparing...

8 places in 4 1/2 years

     That would be 8 different homes lived in,  in the 4 1/2 years we have been married.  That would be a an average of 5 1/2 months in each place since we said 'I Do'.  Jackson MI, Ammon ID, Idaho Falls ID, Middle Stewiacke NS, 3 different places in Truro NS, and now...Durham ON.  

     We are entering yet another season in our life!  A brand new season that is bringing with it many new and exciting things!  We are awaiting approval for our missionary training right now.  Once we are approved (hopefully within a week) we will plan to move again.  That will include selling most of our physical possessions-again, arranging airline tickets and a moving-trailer rental, some auto repairs to prepare one of our cars for selling and the other for the move to Ontario, and the one thing we have never done before - preparing to quite working.  

     The thought of us stopping a 'normal' job brings many emotions with it!  I, for one, am kind of a control freak.  I clearly understand that about myself, and the thought of quitting my job and trusting the Lord's provision to meet my every day needs is both exciting, but also very nerve wrecking!!!  I know God is Jehovah Jireh-The LORD who Provides.  It is one of my favourite names of my Lord.  I love it how Jesus explained his provision in Matthew chapter 6:

 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? "

      I am very excited to see how God will  provide our food, drink, clothing and so much more!  We are transitioning into a phase of living by the support of others.  One might ask why on earth we are doing this...  Well, there are roughly 2,000 language groups in this world that do not have His Word in their language, totalling around 200 million people!!!  When Mitch and I heard that our minds were blown away!  Our thought was, "why are there still so many?!  And why aren't more people going if there are still that many out there who haven't heard, or couldn't have heard because they don't have a Bible in their language?".   Our natural response was to make the decision to GO.  We knew that we would do whatever it takes to 'GO and make disciples', as long as we were physically able to, we would work towards that goal.  

Remember these faces.  They are brothers in Christ!

     We know that not everyone can  pack up their stuff and move to the outer most parts of this world, but they can still be Jesus' 'hands and feet' to the nations by partnering with those, through support, that can physically go.  That is part of this new chapter in our life!  One that is new and unfamiliar to us.  We are beginning to build a team that shares our heart for the nations.  A team that is passionate about seeing the great commission fulfilled!

Bible teaching in a tribe in Papua New Guinea

Will you join with us in the mission of taking God's Word to those who do not have it, being Christ's hands and feet right along side of us?  If you have more than one copy of an English Bible in your home or on your phone, and you value that priceless gift for what it is...
will you pray for us as we prepare to GO?  Will you give? 
 Will you  go???

Let the Meetings Begin!

     So, we officially had our first 'meeting' with our church!  Our monthly missions ministry team meeting was last night and I presented out goals and plans to the team!  It was so encouraging to be able to share our hearts passion and desire with them, and to see their faces light up just talking about taking God's Word to those who don't have it!  What an honour to serve with a group of people who are passionate about the great commission!
     We were encouraged last night at the meeting to visit all of our church's small groups, Sunday school classes, and house church's to present the same information to everyone in the church that we can!  We are SO excited to be able to share with people about the need that so many people have in this world!  We have a binder that has a list of all of the language groups that don't have the Bible in their language and we are looking forward to being able to share that with everyone as a visual reference of the reality so many people face!
    We are still in the process of applying to the MTC.  There is lots to get turned in to complete the application process.  We are still waiting for some of our references to be submitted  our police checks to come back, and our physicals to get done.  Its exciting to be able to check things off of the 'to do' list one by one!
     Will you join with us in prayer?  We are praying to the One Who Sees (El Roi-Genesis 16)!  He does indeed hear our prayers, and we are excited to rest in Him as we move forward in the journey.  We are praying for people to join with us in serving our Lord in this great commission; people who will partner with us and play a vital role in seeing the people of this world come to know the Saviour that created them and that loves them!  Prayer is a beautiful gift, and we came come to Him in prayer with all our thoughts, concerns and desires.  Will you join with us in praying? In giving? In serving?  In...going???

  

Moving Forward!

I cant believe that yet another month has flown on by!  It seems that time is going by at lightning speed!  Mitch and I have been busy beginning to prepare for attending school this fall at the Missionary Training Centre!  It seems that the doors do indeed keep opening in that direction for us.

One of our big concerns was finding good homes for our 2 dogs, and it appears that we have a great family interested in our big dog Xerxes, and Mitch's brother is willing to take our pug Sampson. :)
We are in the midst of filling out and handing out all of the paperwork and applications required to apply to school.  Once we finish those and get them approved we can move forward even more in our plans to attend this fall.

The first step we will have is finding out what our needs will be while we attend school (how much it will cost to live on campus per month).  We will be having to join in partnership with friends and family  to support us through our training.  We are so excited to be one step closer to playing a tangible roll in taking the Word of God to those who have never been able to have it before!

Once we begin that process we will plan a trip back to Idaho to visit our home church there, Christ Community Church.  We really have missed all the wonderful friends we have there and cant wait to spend some time with them again before we start our classes this fall!
And...with going to school brings on another big move!  We will be selling most of our stuff, only taking the necessities with us, and doing all the fun things that we need to do in order to move to another province.

I'd like to challenge you to join with us in praying for those who don't have God's Word!  Pray for brothers and sisters in Christ to be willing to GO and preach the Good News of Christ!  Its that saving Good News that gives us hope and an amazing relationship with our Creator!  Please pray that God will give Mitch and I wisdom as we move forward, and that He will raise up partners to come along side us in the goal of taking His Word to the outermost parts of this world!!!

Blizzards and Applications

Xerxes loves playing in the snow!

Sampson really does hate the cold!

     A blizzard?  Yes!  We are having one!  I always have loved crazy weather.  I am not sure why, but I always think of it as an adventure.  :)  Whether it was 3 feet of snow in 24 hours in Alaska, crazy rain with flooding ocean waters and huge red wood trees blowing over in Oregon, tornado's and lake effect snowfall in Michigan, and now hurricanes and blizzards in Nova Scotia, I just seem to love it all!

     Along with crazy weather, this year so far has brought lots of other fun things!  Mitch was able to go to a young adults retreat in January call The Well.  It was in New Brunswick, and was located an hour outside of Muncton.  I had to work that weekend, but Mitch had a great time of fellowship, got to know some new friends, and really had time to rest in the Lord and be challenged by the Spirit. :)

     We are still blessed to be helping out with the youth at our church.  Mitch and one of the other guy small group leaders planned a guys night at our place last weekend.  They had a blast!!  It was a game night, and there was every kind of game you could think of going on all at the same time!  007 on the PlayStation, Mario Kart on the Wii, various card games, Risk, and so much more!  about 15 youth came and stayed the night.  I had to work a night shift that night doing inventory at work, so it worked out great because that made it possible for it truly to be a guys only night.

    We are also VERY excited to update that we are en-route to the Missionary Training Centre !!  We are in the process of applying right now.  Lord willing we will be attending fall of 2013.  We have lots to do before then, but are very excited to go!  It has been 4 years since we graduated from the Bible Institute and we have been longing to attend the MTC since then.  God has taught us SO much in those 4 years.  He as matured as a couple as well as individually and we are excited to begin the process of moving forward in our training to be career missionaries!  The unreached people groups of this world weigh heavy on our hearts every day, and we long so desperately for them to come to know their Saviour and Creator!  We are overwhelmed with joy to be a small part of that mission.  We are trusting the Lord in directing us, and know He will guide us along in His perfect timing.

Where we will be moving

     We are in the process of applying to the MTC right now.  For those who aren't familiar with that, it is the Missionary Training Centre with New Tribes Mission.  It is located in Durham Ontario Canada.  It is the final part of the training with New Tribes Mission that we need before we will, Lord willing, go overseas to serve Him in reaching the people groups of this world that do not have Gods Word in their own language.  It is this Word that directs our life, gives us hope, and has transformed our lives in every possible way!  It is what allowed us to know our Creator, Saviour, and allows us to have a loving relationship with Him!  There are roughly 2,000 language groups in this world that don't this life-giving gift, and we want to help bring that number down!  That is what we are passionate about, and that is why we want to do what we want to do. :)

Faces of this world

     As we begin to prepare there is lots for us to get done.  We have to finish our applications.  We then will need to build our team.  Yes, Mitch and I are the ones physically going, but it will take a large team of people who are passionate about the unreached peoples of this world to come along side us and join with us in this ministry!  Prayer is the most vital tool we have, other than the Word itself, and we need people praying with us and for us, that God will do His work through this ministry.  Along with prayer we will need people join with us financially.  Once we are accepted to the MTC we are considered New Tribes Missionaries and in order for us to finish our training and start our over-seas ministry we will need to raise the monthly support to keep the ministry going.  We love seeing how God raises up His people to join with one another to accomplish His will!  Just like the Audio Adrenaline song "Hands a Feet" so wonderfully put it, we are His hands and feet in this world!

Faces of this world

     Please join with us in praying!  We are praying for our hearts to be prepared for what is to come.  We are praying for wisdom, and that He will raise up a team of believers to come along side us in this ministry!  Ask the Lord if He has a place for you in this, reaching the unreached.  Being a part of taking His Word to those who dont have it.  A part in giving the gift of eternal life to those who have no hope, and a part in giving the most priceless gift anyone could give-the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!

     We are so blessed by everyone God has placed in our lives!  We are excited to see how God works out the details of His ministry.  He is truly Jehovah Jireh, and He always provides!