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!

 

Christmas

Merry Christmas! 

Wow! Another Christmas has come and gone! We were able to spend it with Mitch's family.  I always enjoy going little his parents house.  They live out in the country and its always so refreshing to go out and get out of town. 

We have so much to be thankful for.  We are thankful for Jesus! He came as a baby so he could die as a sacrificial lamb.  It is becuase of this that we are eternally grateful.  We have peace and joy in our hearts because of the hope we have through Christ!

We are excited to see what 2013 will bring.  We are hoping to go the school this fall at the Missionary Training Center in Ontario still and are working towards that still. 

It appears that the trip to India that Mitch was hoping to go on will be heading out this fall, the same time we hope to attend the MTC, so we are thinking Mitch will not be going on that trip.  We are still very excited for those going on that trip and we just know that God will orchistrate the right people to go.  :). His timing and plan is perfect, we just have to focus on Him and trust Him to take care of the rest.