Christopher & Evelyn

Missing Roach (a little bit)

chris_jones — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:23:17 +0000

So I saw this little film today, and thought i would post it quickly. It makes me miss the Hazen’s a bit. Almost a month through the summer, and there are a lot of people that I miss. I am LOVING the time we get to spend with family and friends though. So far, this has been a fabulous break.

Even though My name is in the credits for this promo piece for a staff couple at the Training Center, I really have to give Weston Dilworth the credit for the time (HOURS I am sure) he has put into this. I hope those Hazens will be able to continue to serve as they have these last few years. Thanks again to Weston for Posting this on trusty old YouTube.

I post this to communicate the stories of some of the people we sit under here in training. So many of our teachers at the training center have stories like that- who would have thought that some of the coolest people on planet earth could be found in the Ozarks of Missouri? It has been a privilege to sit under such amazing training, and Evelyn and I look forward to going back at the end of our summer break.

Safe and Sound

chris_jones — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:59:09 +0000

As some of our friends and family may know, we have been praying for a new vehicle for some time now. We have enjoyed our years with the our blue Dodge Caravan, but the time came that we didn’t know if she would be able to keep up with our traveling lifestyle.

This spring, God provided the opportunity to purchase a more reliable vehicle! After looking for the right combination of affordability and reliability, we found our ‘99 gold Saturn Station wagon! It is not an automatic…. so this Mrs. Jones has to learn how to drive manual! Look out world! I have only conquered one hill since- so needless to say, I am slow learning. It’s easy to say at the moment, but it is true that God is Jehovah Jireh: The Lord that Provides. After a good cleaning and the official Apple sticker in place on the back window we took her the ultimate test: The 2009 Jones Summer Road-Trip.

Over the span of a week and half, we stayed with family in Oklahoma, drove through Texas, NewMexico, ran out of gas in the desert of Arizona, spent precious time with friends in Southern California, and had the privilege of taking the wedding pictures for our friends (now) Hartzels! We are enjoying our time here in Livermore, California, before heading out to Winona Lake, Indiana to spend time with our friends and Church Family at Christ’s Covenant Church for the rest of our break. Please be in prayer for us, as we start the rest of our Road Trip on July 6th!

Going tribal (one of these days).

chris_jones — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:30:11 +0000

So all of our training here in Roach, MO is for one purpose– preparing us for our ministry overseas. I have to be completely honest. This training does exactly that. I have not yet been to the field, but I can be so sure about this because of the staff here. These people have been there, done that, and are pouring into the lives of missionary candidates here at “The Center.” I cannot begin to describe to you all of what they provide and how they provide it, but I am pretty sure that this is the best training you could possibly receive for this profession we are going into.

Everything from practically managing your time in a foreign environment where time vampires lurk around every corner, to setting up solar panels and water filtration, finding a spring for fresh water, how to bury your poop- to things like how to maintain your relationships in a healthy way with your coworkers when you are thousands of miles from anyone in the jungle, and they are the only ones you know how to talk with– but you hate their guts. It has been a privilege to train here, and I would like to thank all those who are making it possible through finances and prayer for the teachers, staff, and experience you are employing to reach the ends of the earth through his servants and missionary candidates here in Roach, MO.

Above are some pictures of class, and our water filtration lab. I help a lot of people with their computers pretty regularly… it is an honor to possess the skills to help these people who, like us, are sold out to seeing unreached tribal people touched with knowledge of God.

I guess I write all of this because occasionally, I just am humbled at this huge thing we are all a part of- it is so easy to forget and make ourselves the center of our attention. LAME.

FotoFest 2009

chris_jones — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:20:03 +0000

This is FotoFest 2009! We had a fun evening here at the school wherethe student body could enter photographs to be voted in four different categories. Nature/scenery, People, Open/Creative, and Slideshow. I entered in all the print categories, and won 1st and 2nd place in the scenery and people categories respectively. Evie entered a slideshow she had made of some baby pictures she had taken. The whole night was fun and relaxed and there were some VERY good photos featured at the event. Below is some footage of the evening and our entries that took the cake, and above are the printed photos we entered.

Marriage Rocks.

chris_jones — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:26:47 +0000

So we went to Oklahoma this weekend… and had an absolute blast. A cousin of Evie’s was tying the knot, and we were delighted to see the family, and witness this beautiful event. Mr and Mrs Pat and Lisa Trompeter were beautiful, and the food was great. The wedding and reception were both in Oklahoma City, only 1/2 hour drive from the home of Evie’s parents in Norman. We stayed there in Evie’s Childhood home, the place we were married, and enjoyed relaxing with family and dogs.

Weekend Oklahoma trips are always a bit stressful for me… driving seems a chore and stressful – but seeing the family is always worth it. I had to purchase clothing for the event, as I own very little in the way of formal clothing. A shirt and slacks from Express were in order! Shopping at the mall in Norman is always a blast.

All in all, it was quite a relaxing weekend! In OKC, I also had my iPod replaced (it was giving me weird screen issues) at the Apple store there, so Evie and I could enjoy an audio version of C.S. Lewis’s “Mere Christianity”… which was almost exactly the length of our car ride. Audio books are the bomb.

You can see the rest of the pictures I took of the wedding on flickr if you are interested!

We have been extremely blessed.

chris_jones — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:45:47 +0000

Recently, we have had to rework our site… we apologize to those of you who are looking for certain things from our old rendition… all of our photos have been moved to hosting on Flickr, and all videos will be hosted elsewhere for faster and more reliable playback.

Hope you guys enjoy this video!

Some (Happy) Holidays

chris_jones — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:24:43 +0000

What a rare blessing it has been to see both our families within a month! First we spent Thanksgiving in California with the Jones clan and then off to Oklahoma for time with the Shaw clan. It was filled with surprises of seeing “long lost” family members (Scott Shaw, I am still mad at you;) and much needed relaxing. It is so very strange to come “home” and see change going on in the place we grew up. Chris is better at change than I, but God is of course helping me through that.

After a 15 hour drive Christopher and I kicked off the 2009 year with the Christs Covenant Church youth group Winona Lake, Indiana. Feels good to be back and we are looking forward to sharing with others our ministry and catching up with our friends here!

fṇɛtɪks

chris_jones — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 01:36:50 +0000

Ah, phonetics. One of the more interesting classes we have here at the MTC. To explain the symbols in the title of the post a little bit, I spelled “phonetics” phonetically. Starting with the “f”, then the syllabic “n”, a front open mid vowel (as in “red”), the “t”, a front open high vowel (as in “lid”), the “k” (spelled in english with a “c” here) and lastly, the “s”. There are tons of interesting little things like that we are learning… we have some sound bytes for you of some interesting utterances!

In the following, the words “hour” and “mister” are contrasted several times in Korean. Pretty interesting, huh? Can you tell the difference?

[audio:http://chrisandevie.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/korean_hour-vs-mister.mp3]

Not to pick on Korean or anything, but the same is done here with “arm” and “foot”!

[audio:http://chrisandevie.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/korean_arm-vs-foot.mp3]

Differences can often be subtle and difficult to pick up, and consider also that there may need to be different letters in a native alphabet for some of these subtle variations… Pretty intense stuff!

Here is a little video that we found a fun and intriguing reason to study phonetics and how to write what you are hearing… notice all the strange clicking and “tsk” sounds? We are learning to actually write those sounds in way that can be read and understood by others who know the phonetic alphabet.

There are so many subtleties and nuances in speech that we overlook so often… one example in english being the word “mama” – when you say it quickly in normal speech, the “a”s make different vowel sounds… you are saying what would be spelled in english… “mah-muh”, right?

This last clip is composed of some recordings of class from my computer. I have to apologize for the sound quality, but you can hear what we basically do for a few hours every day! We here hit briefly on nasalized vowels, voiceless vowels (try making vowel sounds without moving your vocal chords – Hint: whisper!). The chanting is kinda weird at first, but we all get used to it… walking down the hallway of the phonetics building with classrooms of people chanting is really interesting!

[audio:http://chrisandevie.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/class.mp3]

The cool fun and weird stuff you can do with the “speech apparatus” God has given each of us can go on and on… but a pretty nifty little trick can be seen →here on YouTube. If you decide to check it out, just prepare to be amazed.

Holding the Ropes

chris_jones — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 21:04:41 +0000

Praying for missionaries already in service either stateside or overseas is a huge part of the experience here in Missouri. “Hold the Ropes” (or HTR) is a ministry of the students here in training that takes place every day during the long break between classes. I feel myself at times disenchanted at the thought of praying for others when I am not careful… It is so much easier to pray for people I already know! I need to constantly humble myself before the Lord, asking Him for His love to sow through us – It is the only way we ever really love anybody!

In my reading of Colossians 1:9-12, I am humbled at the mindset of Paul.

“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please Him in all respects bearing fruit in every good work inceasing in the knowledge of God; strengthene with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualifified us to share in the inheritance of the saints of Light. For He rescued us from the domain of the saints in Light.”

I guess I have a lot to learn, huh?

Finishing Well

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0000

I have 3 weeks left at school and want to be a good steward of my time. Missionary Training Center

Well, Adjusted

chris_jones — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:23:00 +0000

It has been a while since “A Day in the Life,” and a lot has happened since. I could write al about it, but pictures are worth thousands more words, and easier/more fun to process. We have pictures up from our super fun camping trip with some premium MTC buds, as well as just some fun photography stuff. I must say, I got some pretty beautiful shots of the campus here – Steam rolling off the lake on the morning walk to class. Gorgeous. Hope you enjoy. I enjoy taking the shots!

We have been recently challenged to change our thinking a bit about how we think about our finances. We have come upon trying financial times, but are absolutely thrilled to see how God continues to provide for us. Thank you all who have prayed for us and shared with us – We are partners in ministry, and could not be here without your loving sacrificial support.

A Day in the Life.

chris_jones — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:36:06 +0000

Just a cheesy little video we did. Did this just to get a video up… I am sure you all started thinking that we don’t actually do videos. You were wrong, though. Seriously. It is lacking a bit in the content department, but it was fun to do, and shows off the campus a bit. I hope it whets everyone’s appetite, so that people will come and visit us out here in Missouri!

This will be replaced by the video, if it isn’t, I am having issues.

var so = new SWFObject(”http://www.chrisandevie.com/assets/player.swf”,”mpl”,”460″,”306″,”9″,”#FFFFFF”);
so.addParam(”allowfullscreen”,”true”);
so.addParam(”allowscriptaccess”,”always”);
so.addParam(”flashvars”,”file=http://www.chrisandevie.com/wp-content/uploads/dayinthelife.flv”);
so.write(”video”);

From Far Off.

chris_jones — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:07:07 +0000

The faint rustle of tree branches and summer green leaves is heard from in the warmth of the sunroom, and immediately the air becomes heavy with anticipation. Muscles visibly tense in readiness, and in seconds, red bodies form a mound at the base of the door; unintelligible whines and helplessly pathetic squeals crescendo, “Hurry, please help us! Please Hurry!” they seem to say. As if for their life, they beg, reeking of panic and wet fur. The door opens a crack and the three labradors squeeze through the narrow between the door and the jam. No thanks is heard, only anxious and excited barks: feeble attempts to conjure an effective command, “Come down and play with us, Mr. Squirrel!”

Moses, Heidi and Gwendolyn are Evies’s siblings/dogs, Red labs that are treated like royalty. It was a pleasure to be able to spend the late holiday weekend with them (and other assorted family members) in Oklahoma. It has been too long since we were last able to visit, and our new home (only five hours northeast) makes long weekend trips much more feasible. Evie’s younger sister was kind enough to share her birthday, and the InLaws were gracious in providing fine Supper and Desserts for all of the guests who celebrated with us.
I have to apologize for such a delay in posting… acclamation has taken a bit longer than anticipated. However, we are learning to enjoy the new routine and are adapting quite well. The “leisure” time finds itself filled quickly, as you can see from our photos on the website, and it is absolutely beautiful here right now. The weather has cooled off a bit recently, and has been enjoyable nearly every day since our arrival here (save a few days of rain).
We are so blessed to be here, and are seeing God at work in our hearts and lives, as well as our minds in class. Each student couple is assigned a staff couple for required weekly mentorship. Intended to ensure spiritual development and capacity for the intended ministry, the relationship we have built with “our” couple has already been incredibly enriching for our marriage and personal lives.

We are, for the most part, settled, and would encourage anyone willing to make the trip to come and visit us! We think classes would be exciting for just about anyone to sit in on, and when we aren’t reading or working on campus, there is plenty to do on this gorgeous campus. Maybe we’ll see you soon!

Settling in.

chris_jones — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:00:28 +0000

So we have pretty much settled in, it has been a long time since we have felt this relaxed. I don’t know if we have ever really made a place a home like this. It was quite a bit of work, but well worth it. We wil get some video up soon, to show off the apartment, and share a bit of our school experience.
School starts tomorrow, and we would appreciate any prayer you could spare… we are very excited, and a bit nervous about schoolwork again. Meeting a lot of new people, our homemade firepit seems to be a hit. You can catch pictures of the day’s highlights here… fishing, wood-splitting, skink-catching and turtle eating (we did end up eating that turtle in the picture… tastes like chicken) fun!
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. We have been blessed to not have to think much about finances lately. we are looking pretty set for the next six weeks. Please pray for our continued financial need, as it is never completely gone, only slightly postponed.

(A)live! From Missouri.

chris_jones — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 08:10:43 +0000

So we are finally here. The Lord has provided for us in more ways than we can shake a stick at. The generosity of our good friends in Winona Lake has brought us to tears. Thank you everyone who is praying for us; and those of you who have given to our ministry… Thank You very much.
So far, we have managed to meet tons of new people, and hook up with quite a few old friends from bible school… we are only a day-and-a-half here! It is a great privilege to be here among these people and moving in the same direction with them. God has blessed us immensely with the opportunity to be here, and we could never be here without the support of those on the home front, giving and praying. We are humbled.
Here are the rest of the before/during/after road trip pictures. My awesome wife did some killer driving for pretty close to half the trip.

Before we left for our fateful trip, however, we attended the wedding of a childhood friend. We drove out to Kokomo, IN for the festivities, and enjoyed an elegant ceremony, and great company! See the rest of the pictures here.

Last, but not least (it is way past my bedtime, and I need to go to sleep!) here are the rest of the pictures from today… a tiring day of painting the apartment. This strange practice is described by the certain females as “nesting.” Hopefully, it is not meant to prepare a place for the rearing of young.

Anniversary Celebration

chris_jones — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:41:01 +0000

We went to Indianapolis to enjoy some much needed time alone together, the live music of Wilco and ↑ this wierd dude’s band. We also enjoyed a bit of shopping, and the Bodies exhibit out there in Indy. It was all awesome. We had a blessed blast. Click on the picture for the rest of the photos.

Highlights from Housesitting

chris_jones — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:37:01 +0000

So we have been housesitting for quite a while, and aside from holding the house on the ground with our combined body-weight, we have taken pretty good care of plants and domesticated canines. No pictures yet from our current location, but at the previous location, Evie took a few pictures of me on Joel Squiers’s hog. His MoPed has been a huge answer to prayer since our black Geo died from a few missing teeth. That was a bummer. Anyways, enjoy the rest of the pictures.

Party at the Potter's

chris_jones — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:29:34 +0000

Thank you Potter’s for having us for lunch… We all enjoyed a realSIMPLE menu… Plank Grilled Salmon, Grilled Zucchini and Peaches (grilled fruit is the bomb!) and some amazing desserts with plenty of company! Unfortunately, this was the last time we would be able to hang out with some of these people (until we come back to Indiana to visit, of course!). A bittersweet chill session this was. So fun though. Surreal.

Soon, we will be driving away… hopefully pulling a trailer of junk behind us, every 60 seconds moving a minute closer to ministering to tribal people (hopefully). Time is really flying. Tomorrow, we will wake up to crying kids and dirty daipers!

Enjoy the pictures… I love taking pictures of food.

Party at the Potter's

chris_jones — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:29:34 +0000

Enjoy the pictures… I love taking pictures of food.

Party at the Potter's

chris_jones — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:29:34 +0000

Enjoy the pictures… I love taking pictures of food.

One Step Closer

chris_jones — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:10:45 +0000

So today, we did a lot of moving. we are staying busy housesitting at a couple different palaces, and moved all of our stuff from one of our places to our good friends’ garage. Thank you so much McLaurin’s! We are very appreciative of the storage space for the time being! So that has been a lot of work, but we have managed the time to take a little bike ride! enjoy the pictures here. There may be more of that to come in the days ahead! some dirt-bike action, possibly! Pictures of Evie on the dirt-bike would be priceless. Special thanks go out to Matt Gustafson for letting me ride his Moto, and my ridiculously awesome (and beautiful) photographer.

Providential Provision.

chris_jones — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:34:45 +0000

Some older pictures that I have not put up yet, from back in June, our Missions Emphasis Presentation. Evie and I were very nervous, but we recieved a lot of positive feedback from it. Unfortunately, these two pictures are all I have of the event- from facebook (thanks Potters and Shaffers!).

Anyways, I just wanted to post a praise and a prayer request – Earlier this week, I called ahead to Missouri and inquired about our financial sitch… And I am blessed to be able to tell you that things are going very well for us! Each semester’s fees come pretty close to $3700, and there is $2500 on our account currently!

Thank you all for your support and prayers. This wonderful news brought Evelyn and I near tears. We are so humbled and privelaged to have the supportive friends and family that we do. We are praying that friends and family will pray about partnering with us financially as well as prayerfully… Our financial needs will become quite a bit more prominent as we will soon be without consistent income from work. We are trusting God to provide.

Love.

Those pictures…

chris_jones — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:05:29 +0000

So I finally got around to getting those photographs up… sorry it has been so long… Nice to see Aaron&Natalie (and Vitali) up again. Anyways… Enjoy the Pictures. Here is the “old picture” album, and here is the New Guinea album from Evie’s trip in 2004.

Crazy days.

chris_jones — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:49:50 +0000

The last few days have been relatively calm… but there were a few around July twentieth that were absolutely nuts. Moving from our apartment into the house of some friends (we are house-sitting for them) was a ton of work, but we got it all pretty much done in one long day. Evie got a ton of cleaning done the next day, and her hard work has been quite humbling… That girl can clean (that’s all she does at work!). So I also “enjoyed” one of the craziest third shifts on my very last shift at Lifeline… A very difficult situation with one of the clients worked with. It felt very good to leave that day, and it feels very good right now not to have much begging for immediate attention. I can spend time talking with my wife (which is something that happens too seldom these days!), and studying the Bible. The fruits of some of my most recent studying is available to view here. It is an outline of Genealogy through the Pentateuch… Nearly every name mentioned is attached with a genealogy that can be tracked, and the outline I came up with I am very proud of. Enjoy!

So we are preparing to move soon, and we may have to move 2 more times before we get to leave on August 12. We have been blessed with house-sitting jobs through our leave date… and are very thankful for places to sleep. When we get out there, we’ll have an apartment all ready for us, Thank you Dave Meyers for scoping it out ahead of us, and sending us pictures! We’ll post more when we get there, I am sure. I do have to apologize, though, for not posting the ones I promised in the last post, with the move… the hard drive they are on has been packed up… I may get them on the next post, but won’t promise anything!

Have a little downtime.

chris_jones — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:43:25 +0000

So I put in my two-week’s notice in here at Lifeline (I am at work as I write this). I am doing my last Monday night third (hopefully for the rest of my life). Usually, on third shift, I get my work done in the first few hours, and then just chill between regular bed checks. Don’t usually have internet… my lucky night tonight. Usually have time to watch movies, play video games, occasional reading (when I am tired, reading puts me to sleep so I can’t really do too much of that) and prayer. Being alone at night is pretty difficult! It is sometimes really hard to stay awake.

We are getting closer to having newsletters going out… My apologies for it taking so long… It is a bit of a process organizing everything digitally and automating the whole newsletter publishing process. I have a feeling that all of that stuff will get worked out here as soon as I get more time (when my jobs go offline). It is really crazy, only a few more weeks until launch. We will be off to Missouri. The transition into unemployment is a pretty big deal for me, and it signifies a huge leap of faith for us, as we step into a more complete reliance on God for financial stability (or will it be survivable instability?). We will have a couple weeks to prepare for our move, and to brainstorm how we are going to pack out vehicle!

Well, my work is not yet completely done… still have a big ol’ inventory to do… better get to it, It needs to be faxed by 5am. Have a bunch of older pictures to post… probably will do that when I get home in the morning. Sweet dreams.

Independence Day. Yay.

chris_jones — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:32:57 +0000

The fourth of July is always a great time to drink canned beer, have roman candle wars, light illegal mexican fireworks, and get DUI’s. We didn’t do any of those things this year, but we still had a great time. How, you ask? Steak, friends, live music, and sweet fireworks on Winona Lake. The last few years we have spent with Jon Potter on independence day, and this was no different. Jon manned the grill, and everyone brought meat and assorted american salad dishes. Pasta, potato… um, is there any other american salad dishes? Well, anyways… It was a great time, and fireworks on Winona Lake are always amazing. They set up boats out there on the lake, and that is where they are all done from. GREAT view from the park right across the street, only about 300 yards away. The whole community was chilling in the park during the firework show, and there was actually two shows going on simultaneously (on the same lake!). Freworks are hard to take pictures of, but I did try… Check out all of our pictures of the events of the day here. MasterWorks is a full traveling orchestra, and they played a live show out in the park for the public. Great group… not our favorite kind of music… but quite enjoyable. They threw in some Show Tunes to please the crowd… but Evie and I could both tell that they were very well practiced.

It is crazy how close our move date is approching. Hopefully, we will be able to return to Winona Lake for the same holiday next year, continuing the tradition we have seemed to start with the Potter family! Our move to Missouri (August 12!!) will really only require us to be in Missouri for the school year, the summers to come will be reserved for spending time with our church families before we actually go overseas. I am already looking forward to next year’s Fireworks on Winona Lake! July 21 will be my last day working at Lifeline, and July 20 is our last day in our current apartment! The last rent has been paid, and soon we will be on a crazy housesitting spree eagerly awaiting departure. We’re both a bit nervous as we are still curious to see how God will provide financially for this coming year, but we are excited because we are pretty sure that He will, and these are the next big steps on the God’s path for us. Very exciting stuff.

Strawberry Fields Forever

chris_jones — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:55:35 +0000

A while back, I had the pleasure of going strawberry picking with some great friends of mine! This was a first for me, and I went intending to enjoy a good time and picking tons of strawberries (for future canning!). It was so great to chat with the ladies, and laugh at the kids throwing strawberries everywhere. Our friend Robyn’s little girl, Abby, was basically bathed in pink by the end of the picking! The entire time, I was imagining the possibility of actually doing this very thing with women of a tribal group some day. Chatting, working in gardens, laughing at the children, and just building relationships (and my understanding of their language). And all this so they may someday learn of the perfect Creator and His Son, Christ (whom they can have an amazing relationship with!). I love that we have a God who created relationships – because that is really, for me, what makes life worth living. First with Him and then with the beautifully diverse world! Check out the rest of the fun pictures in our archive (click “Photos” up at the top or here).

Now, Months Later…

chris_jones — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:30:56 +0000

Things are going well in this Jones household. Things seem to generally be winding down at the moment, however, quite a bit has happened in the eons since we last updated our blog here. Our sincerest apologies to those of you who actually do read us regularly… We regretfully miss the opportunity to share with you what is happening in our world.
Most notably among the barrage of storms we have navigated these last few months, June 8, was the first time that Chris&Evie shared their ministry publicly for the congregation. We were very nervous and anxious about the presentation we were asked to give, but so grateful to God for providing us with such an amazing opportunity. We are so grateful for the friends and church family that came to support us… We were more encouraged than anyone will really ever know.
We have set a move date… August 12 will be our last day living in Winona Lake for a bit… Roach Missouri or Bust! We have already been rid of all of all of the bulky furniture we own… And one of our cars as well. Our hope is that we will be able to get everything we own into our van, and down to Missouri in one fell swoop! But alas, we have been recently mourning the loss of a member of our little family… Our black Geo Prizm. She served us well for a year, before her timing belt did lose some teeth, and resulted in her imminent death. It was a sad day, to be certain, and it has made our days a tad less convenient. Things are going well though without her… A borrowed MoPed has already filled the gap left by our dearly departed (thank you very much Joel Squiers!).
So those are the highlights, thank you all for your encouragement, we appreciate it more than you will ever know!

Please pray with us.

chris_jones — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:53:49 +0000

For the last year and a half (since I withdrew from Grace College/Seminary), Evelyn and I have been diligently chipping away at the shackles of our debt. Our near-$12,000 handicap has been almost completely eliminated (we plan to completely nix it with our tax return and “Economic Stimulus Package”).
During this difficult season of our life and marriage, we have made amazing relationships and have cleared a cozy spot in our hearts for the whole Indiana Experience. As we come back from what has been home to me for so long (California) I am reminded that we are living where we are living for a very directed reason. Our passion is completely unreached people groups and we are here paying off our debt for no purpose strictly of our own. We need to be free of this in order to serve in the capacity we have been called to. God has brought us here and we have faith He will not leave us high and dry -but we believe he requires us to work down the path he has for us as he has resigned from dragging us strictly of his own will. While He is faithful to provide means and sustenance, he has asked us to be about his business.
We believe that the next steps on our path are real partnership with Christ’s Covenant Church in God’s vision for discipleship of the completely unreached, and more acute training via the New Tribes Missions Training Center in the areas of Linguistics and Cultural Anthropology.
So we are asking for prayer. We pray daily for wisdom and direction with our finances and relationships, and we as that you do the same. As we proceed to pay off our debt, we look ahead toward the next stop on the roadmap -Partnership. We meet regularly with the missions Pastor at CCC, and as we sift through the doctrinal differences and look for more practical ones, we are certainly feeling some anxiety and a general stretch of mind and emotion. We would very much like to share our vision with CCC more clearly, and ask that you would pray for direction in this (as we brainstorm through the possibility of some sort of vision trip in the future). We would also very much appreciate prayer for our hearts- that we might be patient with God as we eagerly anticipate the Missions Training Center. We very much want to be there, and our frustration with waiting on God to provide is unwarranted. Our lives are not our own, and this frustration is the desire of our flesh to be the God of our time.
Thank you so much for your thoughts, your love and your humbling willingness to pray.

So we went on vacation.

chris_jones — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:51:27 +0000

I should have posted this quite a while ago!
We have been in California for the last two weeks, and it has been an amazing break from the norm in IN. Wow. The batteries are completely recharged. Hopefully the weather has turned for the better in IN (I am in the airport waiting for our flight to Chicago as I write this); We forgot how nice the weather was in CA, and now realize how much of an effect sunlight has on mood! It has been a great time to unwind with family and friends.
We have tons of pictures of the trip, visit the gallery to check them all out… click on the pictures above to take you there, or just head on out to the gallery by clicking the “photos” link up at the top of the page.
Some highlights of our trip were a four day Baja Cruise and a San Francisco trip. We visited San Francisco for some low-priced Dim-Sum (all you can eat for $5.99!), 1$ stink bombs, and the rest of the chinatown deals! We all had a blast and (most of us) really dug the sesame balls (chinese donuts)! On the cruise, we visited the SanDiego zoo, Catalina, and the shopping district of Ensenada Mexico. It was a great time with the whole family since the summer after we were married. All of the Jones brothers were in the same state for the first time in too long, and enjoying their company was a great time. The youngest (Kyle) now works at Peet’s Coffee & Tea, and seems to enjoy it and is doing fabulous as a Junior in High School as well. Andrew is dating a pretty sweet chick while going to school full time for Biblical Greek (at Multnomah Bible College in Portland, OR). The ‘rents are up to the same old… just doing the work and school daily grind stuff.
We spent a considerable amount of time with some friends from bible school ( Jag and Abby Dunn). Some great times with old friends, we are sad to leave them behind us in cozy California, but everyone needs to get back to real life unfortunately. Our time with these old classmates was very encouraging as we talked quite a bit about the how and why of Church partnership and support. This couple is in nearly the same position as us -VERY excited and determined to be overseas… but without the means required to get there. Developing a support base is very time consuming and can often be deeply discouraging; Our fellowship with this couple helped put things into perspective a bit better, and took the edge off of the loneliness we often feel. We are not the only ones who are going through this process of waiting and prayerfully seeking provision for the path ahead.

So I have got a ton of pictures to add.

chris_jones — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:46:08 +0000

Finally, I got around to getting all our pictures up. From our Easter-Eve cookout at the house (That’s Dad on the Amazing Tri-Tip Action! Beer and Hickory Smoky Goodness!). On Easter Morning, Mom threw together an Easter Egg Hunt, and we went nuts for 3 minutes locating all of the eggs. Pretty crazy times. Thanks for looking at the pictures

From Livermore, CA.

chris_jones — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 21:20:05 +0000

We made it to California safe and sound… thank you for all of your prayers… We are looking forward to reconnecting with friends from out here, and spending quality time with Family. We recently enjoyed walking the Dog, and just enjoying the nice weather out here… We will get some more great pictures today of some family time, We will keep you posted!

Reflections on a Life in Missions

chris_jones — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:52:04 +0000

When Chris and I think seriously about involvement in cross-cultural missions, we often neglect the sacrifice it actually entails. Are we personally willing to subject our marriage to strains of jungle life, exposing our future children to health dangers they probably would not face here in the states, deal with loneliness and time away from our families -and even the possiblilty of losing one another? We only have one life to live here on this crazy earth, and how we invest the time God has given us is of great importance. All these thoughts can be unnerving at times, and the closer we get to our leave date the more we realize the reality of relying on God. Naturally, I am not a big fan of this. This last Thursday I had the privilege of hearing Gracia Burnham speak. What a treat! For 17 years her husband She and her Husband Martin served with New Tribes Mission as doing aviation in the Philippines. On their 18th wedding anniversary they were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf group (a militant Muslim group). In the following months some of the hostages died, but most were set free. From November 21 the Burnhams remained captive. For the next 376 days they faced near starvation, constant gun battles, and seeking our God who seemed to have deserted them. June 7, 2002 in a gun battle between the Philippine government and the Abu Sayyaf ,Martin was killed and Gracia sent home to their 3 children in the States.The story reached national news (CNN, Larry King etc.). Gracia Burnham travels and speaks internationally, and wrote a book detailing the gripping story of her and Martin’s experience. In The Presence Of My Enemies is a must read! I read it a summer in Papua New Guinea and considered our future life in missions. Ms. Burnham’s optimism despite her circumstances is inspiring. In our church culture today, we too often expect God to “bless” us with all we desire. Regardless, “The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. (Deutertonomy 31:1 NASB)” Gracia’s visit was emotional and has encouraged me to be even more involved in missions. Enjoy the few pictures of Ms. Burnham’s visit.

Free At Last.

chris_jones — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 04:46:45 +0000

So, Friday was the last day at CTSi for me (pretty much). I am happy enough to be getting a boatload of free time -but wish I could still keep my hands wet in that sort of work. While not exactly “my cup of tea,” I learned so much about functioning in a more corporate environment. I have come out of the experience with new appreciation for the reality that time is money here in America (and makes me want to leave all the more). Admittedly, I have depressed myself a little bit with all the work, and possibly could have handled it all a bit better. I learn every day of more immaturities I need to weed from my personality -a daunting task that we all must undertake.
My break with CTSi was on good terms, and for that I am very thankful.
Much of my free time is already eaten up with other things now, small group, my other job, wife, taxes… It never ends. Sometimes, I think I miss boredom. At the group home (where I work), So often the guys complain of boredom and nothing to do -how I wish they knew how nice that actually is. There would be a bit less complaining.
I want to fill many hours with some photography as well- very excited to pick up the (now trusty) D40 and shoot stuff.
Vacation is coming too, good time to hang with family, and build some better relationships with friends we haven’t seen in a while, and churches we haven’t been to in a while!
Many great things to look forward to (and tons of sweet pictures to take).

The Winey Shower.

chris_jones — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 17:37:18 +0000

Saturday, several of the ladies from our small group attended a shower for Stephanie Winey. I was very thankful to be able to spend time with my small group girls. As (maybe someday) future mothers, it was an entertaining time of question and answers and sharing everbody’s excitement to see baby Audrey when she finally decides to come! Hope you like the pictures of the fun and games we enjoyed together!

Cooking With Ed!

chris_jones — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 17:18:00 +0000

A good friend and member of our Small Group (Ed Sena) has enjoyed a relationship with Caleb France, founder and co-owner of Cerulean Restaurant and Sushi lounge here in Winona Lake. For months, we have all anticipated a “Cooking with Ed” night, where we would be taught the fine art of cuisine in the kitchen of Cerulean after hours… Finally, after much waiting and several delays -It finally happened. I think I speak for everyone involved when I say it was an absolute blast!
Very special thanks to Caleb (the Chef and instructor) for his patience and generosity, and to Ed for being so kind as to spearhead coordinating this extraordinary event. This was such a fun and memorable event to enjoy with our lil’ small group!
Unfortunately, Christopher could not attend (Work… What else?). Hopefully in the future, he will be able to attend more events like this -his last day at his computer job is Friday, and we are so excited to be able to invest more time into things like church and small group relationships!

Let there be light (at the end of the tunnel).

chris_jones — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:33:52 +0000

And there was, and it was good.
I put in 30 days notice at CTSi. My days there are coming to a close, and 76 hour work weeks will hopefully end soon. February 15, 2008 will mark a day in history that I stop working 7 days a week.
I realize it has been a while since my last post, but never fear -the grind will ease and I am excited to get to know my wife again, post regularly here, and take up my camera to shoot shoot shoot.

Christmas Come and Go.

chris_jones — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 23:43:57 +0000

So, Christmas is already over… Sad days. I posted some pictures of our killer Christmas tree, as well as some pictures of our snowy home. Indiana can be a drag.

Merry Christmas!

Dreaming of a warm Christmas.

chris_jones — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 03:24:33 +0000

It’s times like these that you really want to leave the mid-west. Observe.
For all of my five years out here in various parts of the mid-west it has snowed at least a little bit every thanksgiving. Each year, I stoop into a deep depression until the snow stops -in mid April. I ask the spirits of the original American settlers… “Why did you ever stop HERE?” -And no reply comes (thankfully). It is a curious thing though. I suppose they never knew better weather, or maybe it was warmer 200 years ago… I am sure they were not from California.
The disgusting weather has it’s beautiful moments, but don’t let them fool you, it is certainly not worth living out here to enjoy those ever-fleeting moments that are just too few and far between. Unless I am actually witnessing one of those moments, I need to constantly remind myself that I am not here for the weather. I have realized, however (in only the last few days), that I have been judging a bit harshly. You see, I have not owned a proper winter coat in all my five years here. Our most recent purchases to date have been these fine new coats from H&M -and they make ALL the difference. I no longer dread going outside, and am amazed that I can stand still for more than a second, and not completely freeze! I guess I assumed that I would get cold anyways, and just run out in my T-Shirt or sweater, start the car, and book it back into the house. Now I realize… there is a better way to live out here. So if you ever move to the mid-west from anywhere warmer… remember to purchase a nice winter coat, It is a worthwhile investment.
Recently, on my never-ending quest to get organized, I stumbled upon a sweet new-ish webservice. Mint is a Refreshing way to manage your money, and is actually pretty groundbreaking, I think. I have added all of my bank accounts (which is the groundbreaking part), and Mint downloads my transactions from my banks every night, and displays transaction reports, charts and graphs my spending, and even suggests ways to save. Mint sends statements via email, and alerts me when certain conditions (that I set manually) are met (i.e. balances go below $x.xx, or a transaction more than $x.xx was processed).

Facebook is cool.

chris_jones — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 05:46:51 +0000

Facebook is pretty neat-o. As kind of a noob, it is definitely different than… MySpace…. yes. MySpace. I said it.
The aplications and classifieds stuff is pretty nifty. no kidding. Check it out.

Eternally catching up…

chris_jones — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 04:04:40 +0000

Hopefully not. I am really into this “GTD” action… that is “Getting Things Done” in english. I am reading a pretty sweet book on the subject -thank you Aaron- and It is gettimg me to organize and categorize all those to do lists that i have in my head. The prioritization is tough because it is so relative most of the time… but no system will ever fix all of your problems for you I guess. So anyways… If you are kinda waiting on a phone call or something from us… rest assured, you are on my tidy list in OMNI Focus, and ou will be getting that soon -hopefully. Just crossed off my to do list are some photo uploads I have been putting off. It is actually quite a process you know… I love photography, and shoot tons of pics, and then have to go through them all, pick the ones I like the best, resize them, Upload them, and then optimize the database and add any captions to the photos and albums. Well, it is not as complicated as it sounds, but maybe as geeky. I enjoy it. I got up some older pictures from a kickin little costume party we enjoyed at the Stangland’s. I was Jesus… Yes. My hero. I should have been Silver Surfer, but that would have been a lot of aluminum foil to look like a leftover with a skateboard, because I bet spraypaint in such quantities really would turn me into a silver surfer… flying through space.
Oh well, enjoy the pictures.

The Tryptophan Funk.

chris_jones — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 23:23:27 +0000

Evie and I had a blast over thanksgiving. Andrew (my Brother) came out from Portland, and just left yesterday. Overall, a great relaxing break from the norm. It was so fun and encouraging to spend time with my brother, who has grown up so much since the last time I spent much “quality” time with him. We all enjoyed some killer Turkey Dinner with the Potter’s and Andrew and I were so messed up on turkey chemicals and incessant work schedules… that we zonked and missed pie. Check it out. Some pretty funny pictures of some premium zonk-age. What a shame. We were out on somebody else’s couch for four friggin hours. unbelievable. It was a seriously powerful food coma to keep me from missing pie, and I am probably lucky I came out of it!

The turkey was pretty amazing, and we made biscuits, Mashed Potatoes, and Asparagus casserole to compliment Jon Potter’s Culinary Masterpiece done in the popular roasted large-poultry medium. We enjoyed other such artworks as marinated Mozzarella cheese, and sausage stuffing… AMAZING! The classic corn bake was great and traditional turkey gravy and cranberry sauce topped it all off. Immediately following thanksgiving dinner, Christmas and Black Friday deals flooded the airwaves during NBC’s Network Premiere of “The Incredibles” as I slept.

Black Friday. Wow. Another cultural anomaly akin to the thanksgiving gluttony? No way. Good deals is what that is. 99$ Color Laser Printers, and 17$ 4Gb Flash Drives…
Who could ask for more, right? I could… how about having those deals available at like, 1:00pm? Seriously people! I walked into Staples at 10:02a, and missed all of those fabulous deals. Every last one of them. Their loss, right? I don’t think so. Its all the result of the tryptophan funk.

More fun with Andrew.

chris_jones — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 04:21:45 +0000

We did more than just Turkey with Andrew.. we thoroughly enjoyed a restful weekend complete with fine dining, good discussion, old friends and homework! Observe.

A little Japanese – Mediterranean fusion cuisine…

And a lot of little Japanese (Filipino really, but who can tell?)… What more could you ask for?

Missouri Loves Company.

chris_jones — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 03:57:51 +0000

It’s official. Roach, MO or Bust. RoachMO.We are sooo excited about living in a town called Roach. We have just returned from a little trip out there. After our arduous 11 hour journey, we rolled onto the Missionary Training Center’s Campus just as excited to get out of the stinkin’ car as we were to see the family and friends.
Needless to say, we had an awesome trip. I think the photos can attest to that. How can just enough family and friends be a bad thing?
I think it is safe to say that we both Got more than we expected to out of the trip. Absolutely amazing. We are SO encouraged, and have tasted a bit of what it is going to be like to be in training for a huge purpose, and be part of our ministry in really tangible way [at last!].
We were not so excited about hunkering down into the working gig again. Getting to work was especially hard after we got back. We were both tired from the traveling.
So back to workin it.

Some Fall Scenery.

chris_jones — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 17:19:39 +0000

Back from California

chris_jones — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 23:55:50 +0000

So I went to California, yup… to California. Craziness, huh? We had some cash on a southwest Gift Card, and it was super last minute, but things just kinda fell into place, and work allowed me the week off -I was just SO blessed to have been able to take a break from the norm. Wow.
My batteries have been recharged from the restful week, and am pretty lit up about work and church and getting back to life again. I didn’t get out to see all of you Californians that I would have liked to… But I did not have as much time as I would have liked, either. Evie didn’t come -couldn’t get the time off work, but she was probably more disappointed that she couldn’t hang out with my mom than she was about missing me for a week!
My days there consisted mostly of going to the gym, walking the dog, and relaxing with friends and family. I have a bunch of pictures of the trip, and was really excited to have been able to see both of my killer brothers, and get to know one of them quite a bit better (It has been about 18 months!!). Kyle, a junior in High School now, has always been the baby brother, and now he drives, works, and does all of this other stuff -he is a pretty awesome dude. I am really excited to see my family again -with my wife next time, I hope. We are planning to go on a Spring Break excursion for about 10 or so days in April while Andrew (my other brother) will be back from Multnomah (Portland) for his break as well. A lot to look foward to. Hopefully during that trip, we’ll be able to see everyone, and make a trip out to southern California as well!
Another exciting event even closer on the horizon -We will be heading out to Missouri for a visit to the New Tribes Mission Training Center! We are eagerly looking forward to this trip, as we will be seeing where, hopefully, we will begin the next phase of our lives! We have pretty much finished up our applications, and are looking forward to getting accepted, and nailing down the details a bit further. On this upcoming trip, we are planning on touring the campus, maybe sitting in on some classes, and visiting with students who are in the midst of training for full time ministry. We are planning the twelve hour drive for a monday, and are going to stay there until wednesday, to get back to work on thursday. It will be a lot of driving, but worth every minute. We are excited to show you where we are headed, and share with you our desire to train for tribal church planting with NTM. We are really looking forward to getting some video up again, and this wil be a prime opportunity for it!
So check out the california pictures! there are a few albums in there… and granadahigh.com has some cool pictures of Kyle as spider-man in his homecoming skit -totally amazing.

A Women's Retreat

chris_jones — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 04:05:46 +0000

This past weekend I attended the women’s retreat with our church, Christ’s Covenant Church. If nothing else, it was a great 24 hours of meeting new people and spending some quality time with great friends! I roomed with Rachel, Tirza, and Eileen, and I feel so lucky to be able to call these women my friends! We have had such genuine conversations about “real stuff” -and through them I have better realized how friendships are such a special gift from our Creator! I am so thankful for the little moments where we can slow down and just enjoy these relationships and fun company! So, I would always recommend any “retreat” you could take. Always a good time.

A Women's Retreat

chris_jones — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 04:05:46 +0000

A Women's Retreat

chris_jones — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 04:05:46 +0000

In a Snap.

chris_jones — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 21:22:01 +0000

Titles are such a neat thing, when you really think about it. Kind of a stupid thing too, I suppose. A summation of your whole body of work in one single phrase. In mathematics, remember the mean, median, and mode? Craziness. Naming your work based on the center word, or sentence, or the most common word or phrase would be pretty meaningless.The title for this post is kind of a blend of both mean and mode, I suppose… There was a cold snap, and we snapped pictures, and I summed it all up in the time it takes to do a really long snap of your figurative tmekeeping fingers. I guess snap can figuratively be the way what I write here sums up what I actully write about, as well. Anyways, enough crappy writing philosophy, right? Words that are both verbs and nouns can be packed with meaning when they need to be (i.e. titles).
So there WAS a bit of a cold snap here in Winona Lake lately, and it has been really nice because all of the mosquitos have seemingly died off (knock on wood). The humidity is down, and there is a beautiful morning fog that rolls off the warm lakes in the crisp mornings. I am sad that I have not been able to capture the beauty of this phenomenon in all of the celluloid alternative glory I could have mustered. Maybe soon.
Evelyn and I are working to pay off the debt, which we have down to about $6,400.00 (we want to pay it off in a snap). Whe does about 25 hours per week, while I am putting in an average of 74. A lot of work, but we are doing great with the encouragement from friends, family, and our community here in Winona Lake. We have been realizing how much of a blessing this phase of our lives has been for us. It is unbelievable sometimes when we look back on what we hae done, and what we are doing with our lives. We can hardly believe we have been married more than two years now.
So when we don’t work, we do make time to play, whether it is Chicago trips, or just watching movies together -after some amazing Subway sandwiches (collectively, our favorite restaurant) or something. We have made an unbelievable number of friends in the 390-something days we have lived here in Indiana. Great friends we will enjoy keeping in touch with for the rest of our lives. It seems like only yesterday (a snap ago), that we rolled into Indiana, and were convinced we would be here for several years. As young and inexperienced at life as we are, I think there is still room for us to be shocked at how quickly and vastly things in life can change. The metaphoric and cliche curveballs get slung around by life, and we all have to be able to react in a snap.
So take a look at some of the pictures I have snapped recently (and just a disclaimer… Evie is really not that vain, I just love taking pictures of her), we have a couple with some of our firends in our rare moments of “play-time,” those hours few and far between where we get to hang out with the people we have come to really enjoy.

24.

chris_jones — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 19:59:09 +0000

Evie’s 24th birthday. That is what September 2nd was. so, on the third, when we had some time off work, we went to Chicago. Very fun. See the pictures… there are only a few. I took some pictures of where I work, our new car, and some of the sights to see in Chicago. Beautiful city. Clean, pretty, and they have an Apple Store. ‘Nuff said, right? Who couldn’t use more Apple? Thanks for checking in, and take a look at the pics if you like. We’ll be getting a Video out soon enough. I know it has been a while, we have a bunch of footage, and tons of ideas too. Compiling video is a big job though.

Some fun Pictures!

chris_jones — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 22:30:21 +0000

I know, I know… I just posted yesterday! I am really on a roll here! I kinda got off a bit early today… hit a bit of a brick wall at work, and was just too frustrated to stick around.
So I had a couple of free hours… I worked on some application stuff, ran some errands, and took some photos. Very nice photos I might add. Go ahead and check them out, and lemme know if you want to hire me, or whatever. I got some killer shots of some good firends of ours’ dog (Leila) -she is a blue mastiff, and really hard to get a bad picture of. I had a lot of fun tweaking colors a little bit on some of the pictures. I don’t think I overdid any of them really… but I am open to some criticism there. Such a beautiful dog, though. Wow.
We occasionally get to play with her or feed her dinner as her neglectful parents just leave her for hours on end while they go to work. Pretty raw deal.
Well, lemme know how you like those pics, and don’t get used to hearing from me so often -I can’t seem to find the time I would like to write more.

Debt-Terminator vs. Determinator!

chris_jones — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 03:29:17 +0000

I really try to see how cheesy I can make my titles. Seriously.
If the title doesn’t say it all… Well it doesn’t. I am determined to terminate the debt. It is going down slowly but surely. We are actually doing quite a bit better than I had originally planned. We are both thoroughly stoked about that, but it is really taking its toll. We are tired.
We have been, lately in our free time, filling out applications and stuff for church and school… we ar getting plugged into this missions thing in a big way, and things like that are what keep us going, and encouraged. We officially became members of Christ’s Covenant Church here in Winona Lake, and that experience has been very encouraging and exciting as we are taking bigger steps towards getting involved there. God keeps dropping little nips of satisfaction and accomplishment as we trudge along.
Thank you all for your prayers. We have needed them as we dealt with some crazy weekends lately. Picking up friends from the airport in Chicago, and camping with my boys at LifeLine, and some web development for the other company I work for… The site will be going live soon, and a lot of last minute tweaks and color shifts and stuff have to get done beforehand.
It is really nice to see some old friends back at school, all working hard too. Some had better summers than others, and most are all excited to be back at Grace to learn or something. But while some people are coming back, other people are leaving. The Spangles are off to Seattle soon (the Spangles are some friends from church) and we have been praying for and thinking about them as we know how sucky moving can be.
But other than that, the infamous daily grind has swallowed just about everything else!

School is Starting up again, and we have been here for one year!

chris_jones — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 00:13:52 +0000

It is hard to believe, but we have been in Winona Lake for a whole year, And there is A LOT to look back on. I would have never thought that I would be here in a year -and not going to school. Life has a funny, funny way, of sneaking up on you when you think everything’s okay… Whatever.

After a year here, all we have to show is more money, more debt, more credit hours on the transcript (of course they ARE accredited), and more focus in life. Not too bad, eh? We are in a time right now of serious testing, but the refined focus we now have on our lives is worth it all. We thought we knew what we wanted to do with life, and we have not been able to quite peg what it is that has changed us so much in this last year, but it doesn’t matter. We are just going to surf the waves as they come, knowing that there will be no brick walls to stop us.

We have made invaluable friendships that will no doubt be needed when we serve on the field (God willing) -all the prayer and encouragement of friends is really what keeps missionaries on the field.
As one of the hardest years of our lives, we are pressing on, and very thankful for every day we have spent here in Winona Lake.

Now, we are working on getting letters out to those of you who requested them, keeping our pictures up to date, and paying off our school debt. We are immersed in the partnership development process as well, with our supporting churches from here and California, Our Applications for the New Tribes Mission Training Center are going out as soon as we can get some physicals out of the way, and then get together some references and the cash for application fees.

So we are busy busy! Well, that is the lang and short of it.
Signing off.

The Newness of Life

chris_jones — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 05:44:44 +0000

And site layouts. I have been trying to figure out whether I just like new stuff all of the time… or if I really am making improvements, and making the site work and communicate better. It is definitely prettier. More AJAX goodness than ever before (for those of you who care), and easier gallery updates.
All that means more pictures and stuff for you to check out, a prettier way for you to check it out, and less checking out for us to update our site.
We have been pretty serious lately about developing better relationships with people and churches, and really wanted to nail down a set of standards for us to communicate by. We are going to be getting out regular newsletters and possibly media to all those who are interested (drop us a line via the “contact” link if you are), and our new web-site is a huge step in streamlining our communications (we hope).
Please interact!
Love.

Video-Podcast 14

chris_jones — Tue, 29 May 2007 16:30:54 +0000

So we had a bit of a memorial Day grill out at our Good friend’s house. Michael McKay and his family were very kind for hosting this killer party… We all just goofed off, and ate food, and had an all around killer time. The video shows some clips of that, and we also got some pictures up, so give em a look!
We are settling into our apartment quite nicely… never fast enough for Evie, but it is slowly coming together. It is a process, and we don’t have a lot of time at home to just throw into cleaning, and beautifying stuff.

Click To Play

The Clint Dawg Experience.

chris_jones — Tue, 29 May 2007 03:28:14 +0000

Hey all, i am just chillin here with my good chum Clint Dawg.
I am showing how our website works… i am going to make him one probably.
Check him out in premium linkage. He has some blogs and he is all about kickin it with super cool peeps (He is single, ladies! Check him out!).

Staples. Suckiness.

chris_jones — Thu, 24 May 2007 19:43:29 +0000

So yeah… I am “working” right now.

This supreme drag of a job is so draining! the crazy schedule, the crappy pay… man. Retail veterans are warriors, man. Seriously. How could you do this for more than a year at a time? i don’t get it.

What is kinda cool, is that they just got wireless internet here, and that is what i am on right now. The computers here all have wireless, and i can totally just check my mail, or fire up a blog entry… I am even thinking of using some of the stuff here to get pictures up of while i am working.

It will be my little morale booster project frome here in prison. Everyone has to find one of those… like roadkill bingo. Not really fun- but you gotta do it cause there is nothing else to do.

Well, i gotta get back to busting butt.

Christopher Jones- Signing off.

Getting things into gear.

chris_jones — Sat, 19 May 2007 01:57:20 +0000

So we are here, in Winona Lake, and we are working. I am now at Staples, and I just recently snagged a part time gig fixing/setting up Macintosh Computers for a local company our here… Creative Tech Solutions.
I will likely be doing webstuff for them in the future as well, so i am very excited about where this job could go in the next year. Evie and I are really dead set on taking care of our debt this year, so we can enroll in Fall ‘08 in the MTC- Missouri (New Tribes Mission). We really want to get out there, but are not permitted to enroll with our debt. We are, however, really excited about getting into our new apartment, as it is a tangible way the we can really see our dollars moving us in that direction. We plan to live entirely off of Evie’s salary at Bath and Body Works, and Pipe all of the money I make at whatever jobs I am working into the Debt fund. Our Cheaper place really helps us make this possible, and we are really excited to see how practical our plan is, and how the bills start stacking up here in the next month. Please be thinking of our job and financial situations, as each of us are just working our tails off in hopes to make all of this happen as planned. There are always kinks, but God is really here, helping us along every step of the way.
The last week has been really swell with the move, we had a bit of a vacation too, going to a Married’s retreat, and just hanging out with a killer group of young married couples. After we got back, we had a ton of help moving, and got everything done in about 3 hours. Thanks to EVERYONE who has helped us, we really appreciate it. Busy, but swell.
We have some pictures of some of this stuff in the gallery… so Check em out! I have been slacking lately, in getting posts and pictures up, but it is just really difficult to take a few hours toput up all this stuff!
Thanks so much for tuning in.

Video-Podcast 13

chris_jones — Sat, 19 May 2007 01:36:15 +0000

So, we did this a while back, when we got a new apartment (first moved into Winona Lake in August), Wanted to do some before and after photos of our junk in a relatively new “home”… and last time we never did an after blip. we will probably not get one in this time either… but here is our before blip.

Click To Play

Sweet video.

chris_jones — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 17:29:07 +0000

So yeah, i have a “stupid stuff on the internet” category because i see a lot of stupid stuff on the internet- but there is some coolness too.
A really rad music video from an interesting band i happened to stumble across… thought because i was bored, i would share with you. Making a video like this would be a pretty sweet project… but acquiring little kids to take their clothes off and flex infront of my camera skills would probably not go over too well. This just goes to show you, that for nearly every idiot parent out there, there is a pretty sweet music video.

The Daily Grind

chris_jones — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 04:19:44 +0000

So i am officially an adult now. Several weeks of the daily grind have matured me. For those of you who are already quite familiar with this awful and ugly phenomenon- You understand exactly where i am at- for those of you who think you may have experienced said phenomenon, you haven’t. You will know when it happens, and it will change your life forever. There is no housewarming party and fine gifts to welcome you into this dreadful state of being, just cold harsh reality. painful. It is something i would wish upon no man, and certainly not upon my future children- but lo, there is light at the end of the dark tunnel. retirement, right? well, whatever.
So, a website is really no good without consistent updates… and i realize that, and apologize profusely for the neglect. I was really whacked off of my axis with this whole work thing. Retail is a supreme drag. ’nuff said.
Officially, i am now a resident “easy tech” at staples. I seldom actually fix broken computers, which wouldn’t be so bad… but they have me doing a ton of other stuff too. Ahh, retail. Squeeze every living ounce of life out of you, and then ask you to smile and greet all the customers as well. whatever. Gotta do what you gotta do. Some prospective web jobs and other opportunities on the horizon, hopefully- but more on those as it becomes clearer even to me.
Some exciting other things in our news, though- things that i CAN tell you about… we signed a lease on a little apartment across the street from campus… we will get video of that as soon as possible (you may be able to see it in the background as we were flying kites in the video!!!). The dude in the apartment now will be moving out May 7th, and after a thorough cleaning, we will be moving right in. Like i said, the place is little (maybe a bit of an overstatement), and we will definitely have to downsize- but all we need is a place to sleep while we work our butts off for a year or so.
Hopefully our debt will be paid off here by then… $10,000 dollars in one year will be a challenge, but i think we can do it if i get a couple web jobs, and with our new $325/month rent.
So the weather is getting gorgeous, and we are enjoying every second that we can. flying kites, barbecues, frisbee golf, anything to get us outside is awesome. We want to get some camping and fishing in before the nice weather ends. We are both on Claritin religiously, and it has seemed to work thus far… hopefully that keeps up as well- the days are too gorgeous not to be out enjoying, and allergies are the fastest way to get stuck inside watching television and eating comfort food.
We did our taxes in the nick of time, and e-filed them… and i highly recommend H&R Block’s tax-cut program. It is super easy and user-friendly. Not that our taxes are very difficult, we filed near $13,000 this year, a new high for us. All goes on one form… EZ. lol.
Lastly, we are soon going to be mailing newsletters to those who want one… email us with address and everything if you want one… or download it in *.pdf format below.
Well, i think that is all! We love you guys, and appreciate your attention. Got some good pictures coming down the pipe. Mostly photography stuff, but a few of that office party from the video.
Love.

Download/View Newsletter.[about 8mb]

Video-Podcast 12

chris_jones — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 03:40:03 +0000

Click To Play

thanks to the last olympian for his gorgeous unrefined version of shoreline (You are awesome johnny).

It’s April, No Foolin’!

chris_jones — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 02:20:52 +0000

Yes… And everybody knows that with April comes taxes- and for us poor people comes tax-refunds!
So yeah. Busy with the taxes, i am sure you all know the drill, hunting down W-2’s, and boring forms to fill out.
Since I last posted (I apologize for the slight lapse there, by the way!), I acquired a job at our friendly neighborhood Staples, as the Resident technician. Basically i do upgrades for software and hardware on machines running M$ garbage, try to sell service plans, and upgrades while i am at it. The same old training and safety videos are thankfully over, but i am still learning the ropes, and getting the feel for the atmosphere at this particular retail venue.
Aside from the job, we are taking a look at an apartment here on Thursday- right down the street from where we live. We are pretty stoked, cause it is right across the street from campus, and we will be able to stay in tight with all of the friends we have made here. The place (i hear) is super tiny, but i am stoked about it, because we have a ton of space in our current place as it stands. We like tiny and simple.
So yeah… overall, things are good… Just chilling out here. We have recently been visited by a certain Lyndsey Gress, a good friend of ours, who had a bit of a hand in hooking up Evie and I. We enjoyed some live music, and barbeque over the weekend just down the street from our home, and had some great fun catching up on each other’s lives.
We Put some pictures of the weekend up… Some random, some of friends, some of A picnic Evie and I had this evening.
See those here.
I think we are going to start posting all of our pictures chronologically in the album… and doing some separate albums of fun highlights and stuff. Please help us work out the kinks in our organization and site setup… it will be a work in progress for a while!
Love.

Another Killer 50 Minutes.

chris_jones — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 18:28:46 +0000

Well ,It has been quite eventful lately… staying very busy doing all sorts of fun things in the Jones household out here.
I just got a job at Staples, doing computer repair and stuff over there… And Evie is managing at Bath and Body Works still.
Some Good stuff.
I got some pictures from Roger Peugh from the germany trip, so those will be up soon enough, and most recently… I have added another 50 minute video for getting to know us better (see it here).

Video-Podcast 11

chris_jones — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 22:31:35 +0000

This is the last of the Germany footage, i need a new camera to take longer clips (rather, a mem stick bigger than 64 meg!)

Click To Play

Sweet Home Indiana.

chris_jones — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 15:24:05 +0000

So I am home, and happy to be there.
My wife welcomes me home to gorgeous Indiana, where the weather is turning for the better, and I am getting ready right now to go for a walk outside with my wife, without a sweater!
It is super nice out here, the weather rocks, and i am super stoked for spring- and allergy medicine!
I think we are going to purchase some today, with our grocery shopping (after our walk).
So i stuck up some pictures… and the links are below…
Concentration camp Museum and Berlin- Here

I will get some video up soon, but i have errands to run, and work to find!
Love.

Kool Köln.

chris_jones — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 09:39:22 +0000

So, yes… I am STILL here in Germany, missing my friends, family, and especially, my wife (doesn’t technically count as family- she is something quite a bit more than that).
I think i have eaten more food in 7 days than i would in 14 in the states, these Germans, man… feed you very well. Screw atkins though… everything is served on, in or at the very least, with… bread. Carbs. Those wonderful little slightly complex sugars. Wow. It is good though.
So, one of the most amazing things I have ever seen heard and touched (that is not human) is the Köln Cathedral. Wow. In only a word, i have summed it up. The largest and most ornate building on the planet in 1880, still likely holds the title for ornate. This thing is Huge, man, absolutely wondrous.
–some wikipedia-ness on Cologne Cathedral- Here.
–some of my photographic work out there in Cologne- Here.

Well, i am now with a family here in Bonn, Which used to be the capital of Germany (before Berlin). This place is very cool, lots of older rich houses of previous government officials.
Kinda cool.

So, I will check back in later… I absolutely love my cologne pictures, though. These ones, i DID go through, so you should dig all of the ones that i put up!
Love.

ps-(Köln=Cologne) in German

See More of Germany!

chris_jones — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 19:09:13 +0000

So, the first day of fun… I got to go shopping in Germany. I didn’t take any pictures of inside stores or anything, but i did take pictures of the shopping mall-ness. Pretty typical inside of the stores i suppose, a bit more crowded than american stores, but still exceptionlly nice and genuinely-germanly clean.
There are some even cooler churches i have yet to get pictures of, and i am truly sad. but whatev. i have some killer pictures as it stands, and i think they get germaany’s overall attitude across. it is very nice here, and very expensive too, i am learning. Such is life. Well, check out the Germany Album for the pics, i would write more, but i don’t have anything really to write about.
Love.
ps- that multi-touch-screen thing is pretty trippy, eh? I dug it.

The future of the web.

chris_jones — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 07:25:41 +0000

Cameron Moll is this uber Geek web-designer role-model type person that i have happened to stumble across on the web, who hass quite a killer blog thing, and a lot of other sweet things Web, just check him out in premium linkage (which may soon look familiar to you!)
Anyways, Just thought i would post this really geeky video (even though i am in Germany, I still Geek out when i am bored…) .
SWEETNESS.

Video-Podcast 10

chris_jones — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 22:39:52 +0000

Click To Play

Sorry to finally disappoint, with pretty generic footage, and boring monologue, but there is not really a way to spice this up on the road except some good old mewithoutYou. Very Nice, indeed. These fellas have been keeping me good company, and have never let me down before… just really always dug listening to these fellas. This is “shadow am i” on the newest album, “brother, Sister.”

Video-Podcast 9

chris_jones — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 20:50:49 +0000

Click To Play

Video-Podcast 8

chris_jones — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 21:30:32 +0000

Click To Play

Danke Schön.

chris_jones — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 19:45:23 +0000

-means thank you beautiful(ly) (literally), and used as “thank you very much”.
Near the extent of the German I know- but i am picking it up quite nicely (says Roger!).

So I had an absolute BLAST last night (i wish you were here, Evie) hanging out with some german youth… not to be confused with hitler youth… VERY different. Here in germany, there is pretty much a castle in every “county” and i went to see the one here in Schaffenberg. Beautiful. It was super dark, so no pictures… The family we are staying with here for these 2 nights, are very nice. The 3 kids (Raphael, Jenny, and Dolly [Dorothy]) know a bit of english, and we have some fun conversations about all sorts of things. I am really getting the feel for what it would be like to live here in Germany… the way the people here live. Very fun, but tiring. constantly trying to decode the german mumbles is a lot of work! Once you learn where to separate one word from another, things get a bit easier- then you only have to learn the words!
Things are going well- this church is our second station, and things are just great. I just got back from driving on the autobahn… 180 km per hour! heck yes! So great. Yes ladies, i was careful.
I am going to a new friend’s house tonight for tea… nobody watches tv or movies here (at home… they got out to the theater sometimes…) they just drink Kaffe, Tee, or talk (or all three, with a fair bit of chocolate mixed in there somewhere!). I am at Church for the third time today, and going two more times tomorrow… These people are crazy! everyone has been at every service so far… and even the teenagers from the youth group i went to last night… seem to dig it. They see it as more of a privelage than americans would. Not surprising.
These people are all very hospitable and friendly. nearly all of them know simple english, and i have felt very welcomed. This friend who invited me to tee at his “flat” is a few months married, 21, and named Georg (He took me out in his audi and let me go 180km/h). His wife Olga is 23, and they are both very nice. they totally want to do missions or something with the rest of their life. He repairs LCD’s for work… and she is pregnant. It is VERY rare for people so young to be married out here, but they dig it and have the support of their families. They met at a concert he was playing at, and 9 months later, they tied the knot the german way- and i will try to get them in some video. They really want to go to new tribes, but are intimidated with learning anything in english (and the price). School here is about 500euro per semester (that is the high end/$1.32 buys one euro) and so 500 per month for new tribes is pretty expensive if they cannot work at the same time. The whole system seems to work better here (school/work)… The way they divide everything up is cool, college (university), and the rest of the school system- nearly everyone is in an apprenticeship at a place they plan to work.
Well, that is all for now… I just LOST the internet connection, and won’t be able to post this right away, but as soon as i get a hot spot, i am going to post!

See Germany!

chris_jones — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:19:31 +0000

Check out the pictures in the album!… leaving NOW… cant put in the link.
Bye!
~
~
Alright…. I am back!
here is the link!
Love!

Video-Podcast 7

chris_jones — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 14:27:43 +0000

Fixed it… enjoy!!

Click To Play

Thank God Almighty, I’m Here at Last

chris_jones — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 14:25:35 +0000

Right now, i am in one of the only Christian schools (elementary through High school, although the seniors are about 20 years old- the German school system is a bit different.). This is the sixth hour of Lecturing I have audited, and Roger is pooped, man.People here really like americans, i find, and quite a few on campus here have said they know people in Papua New Guinea!
It is pretty exciting, to hear Roger give 3 messages in a row, saying the same thing each time. It is doing wonders for my language acquisition… which isn’t particularly going well, but I am still in my first 24 hours in Germany! I am getting very many words he is speaking, and it is very exciting. I am a bit nervous to say any words around people, however, a bit wary of messing up their language.
The students look very american, and seem pretty stoked to hear roger talk on moral purity. So many here know english… but i find myself carefully choosing my words when i speak to anyone- almost stuttering (i want to use words they understand! I think i need to be less careful… it makes me hunch over in thought, think ing of words to use, and maybe they think that is kind of wierd. a stuttering, loud and huched over american who doesn’t talk like even a normal american! ). I am finding it very difficult to see what they are thinking when talking with them… it seems a bit easier with americans.
Well, over and out… I am going to resume paying attention to Roger, and learning this language- maybe i will crack it in two weeks ( i am kidding).
Hope things are going well on your end… I will keep you all as posted as possible. I have, right now, a video and a blog entry to put on the website, as soon as i find a free wireless connection,
I love you all!

Here at last, here at last…

chris_jones — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 14:24:43 +0000

So, i am here, in germany… Finally. It was a long enough plane ride… 7 or so hours, and I have had many new experiences already. The plane we flew overseas in was not actually a Jumbo-Jet, But i was the largest plane i had ever set foot in! There was a video screen for everyone, and a pretty decent selection of whatever movies you could want to watch. I ended up watching “Head of State,” starring Robin Williams, and (don’t laugh, I was sleep deprived and delirious…) the better half of “The Little Mermaid,” because it was really the only one on their list I forgot the most of. I would recommend the first to any Robin Williams fan (of his more recent stuff), pretty typical boring jokes and stuff, but a god flick for a long plane ride, i suppose! The latter, i only made half way through, before i started to choke on my own vomit. I can appreciate some Disney Musical fantasy every once in a while, but let’s be serious. I just sat around for a while on the plane, before the best airplane food i have ever had in my life landed right in front of me! wow. I ate well. Roger Peugh (the professor/tour-guide of my trip) and I had some good conversation about his speech topics over the next few days… but i was not really able to sleep too well (at all) on the plane.
It is 5.24 AM eastern time as i write this… without sleep, i am dragging a bit, but this is awesome. Germany is spic and span, compared to america…. they measure the centimeters between the streetlights here! Unbelievable. The homes are all pretty old, but very well kept. Nearly every automobile on the road is new (and german!) and it feels like driving through miles of planned community! It is kinda wet out here, but te weather is much warmer than out in Indiana. About 53 degrees (and we are a few hundred miles further north!)- the jet stream keeps most of Europe from turning into an ice block.
Upon arriving in the airport, and then making our way to our first stop (for a nice ‘first-class’ german breakfast at a friend of Rogers’), I hear snippets of unintelligible language coming from all directions! it is unreal. Jibber-jabber, how can anyone understand this stuff!? While some of the words stick… by the time i realize i caught them, they are already sentences ahead. Practice and time, I suppose! We rented this tiny car, a Mazda Micra (all the cars here are tiny, unless you are rich- Gas is 6.00 a gallon!), and at the checkout desk, watching the woman to gestures, and talk this gibberish was so hilarious! I almost laughed… German is quite funny sounding, when you can’t understand it. I was thinking about how I cannot really listen to or hear music in english, without automatically translating and comprehending it…. there is no way i can break down english into just sounds- divorcing them from their meaning. I am just too ingrained with vocabulary and words and meaning- but in germany, listening to phone conversations, and ordering food- all i am hearing is the sounds… there is nothing going on in the brain, telling me what they mean!!! (very confusing!)
But this trip has already been an adventure. My stomach is now digesting quite a delicacy- Raw Hamburger Meat. Called Tar-Tar, this super-clean, super-lean, super-RAW steak is chopped up with ferocity, and formed into a cheese-ball looking log of pink meat (with onions on it of course! Raw meat without onions? I don’t think so!). So I was just really floored by the hospitality of this lady… really a sweet lady- Roger says she only gets to eat that once a friggin year! WOW! I got treated, boy. The breakfast was practically all bread with various sauces, meats, cheeses, and tar-tar for spread. Very good- all of it.
Love you all, hope i will be able to post this much, and this often, enjoy this while it lasts, and thank you all for your generous thoughts and support!

Video-Podcast 6

chris_jones — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 15:15:22 +0000

Just snippets before the trip….

Click To Play

Frankfurt or Bust.

chris_jones — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 18:00:31 +0000

So I am leaving for Germany tomorrow with Dr. Roger Peugh. I am unbelievably stoked. Never having been overseas, it is going to be an exciting time.
Evelyn is going to be alone here in Winona Lake for the two weeks I am gone, but she has a great new job to keep her occupied! Hopefully, she will have some fun with some of the locals, we chill with often, and stay busy enough that she wont miss me too much… I hope I stay busy enough not to miss her too much either! this will be our longest stint apart since we were married 1 year and 8 months ago… Almost 2 whole years married- WOW! It has been the greatest couple months of my life, albeit the hardest.
So if the site visitors haven’t noticed… the site has a new look and some exciting new functionality. More integration with the gallery, and some interesting javascript effects- I am really excited to have this done for the gemany trip- I want to take a ton of sweet pictures to share with all you guys, and maybe even some video and stuff.
Well, I would like some feedback on the functionality of the site, as well… would any of you like an additional rss feed for photos? would any of you use it? Lemme know what you think, and what we can do to make it easier to keep up with us!
As for podcast-6, well, maybe i will get it done on the plane, or maybe i will sleep. It is in progress on the computer right now, and i am vehemently sorry for the huge delay. I guess once a week wont happen, huh?
I am very interested to see how things go while in germany…. supposedly there is ample connectivity… i want to post every day, and get pictures, and video up of what i am doing… but we will just have to see, won’t we?
Well i am packing it up right now, getting ready to go to work, so I will catch you all on the flip side…. in Frankfurt.
Later on!

St. Valentines Day.

chris_jones — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 20:13:30 +0000

Happy Valentines Day.

Hope you all enjoy your companionship, and show your significant other how much as well.

They appreciate that.

Another dreary monday.

chris_jones — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 02:29:57 +0000

So cold out here. It has actually warmed up to a balmy 30 degrees today, and everyone seems to be thankful. Tomorrow we are going back under for 8 inches of snow. Supposedly there will be 2 more this season.
How unfortunate.
Well, I am surviving, but you wouldn’t know by how often I update now would you?
Well, i have not been doing too much of note either.
I AM working on podcast 6- long time coming, sorry about the delay- but it is a lot harder to get those videos out when you don’t have spare time on your hands. I get sick of grabbing video off of my digital camera- it only takes 2 minutes of footage on my wimpy 64 meg memory card- then I have to suck it off, and get two more minutes.
And then the sound doesn’t work sometimes. I think Its iMovie. Has problems in the final render of the videos (can’t figure it out!).
Been pretty bored lately… Worked on getting the iMac running xampp (making it a web server) but my “ISP” kinda got pissed at the inconvenience I imposed, and keeps changing the password to the wireless router we are sharing! WTF!
Ah Well. Such is Life.
We are in the process of doing a lot of things right now… I am looking for some solid employment, Evie is waiting on a final phone interview for a management position at Bath and Body Works, and I hopefully landed a temporary web site job doing a local Chocolatier’s web presence. This lady is pretty cool- makes all her own truffles, and chocolates in her own shop! “Weckmuller Fine Chocolates.” I will tell you all more about that as i get word. There is an “art expo” at church on Saturday, and I submitted a piece (maybe two) to be in the show… and was planning on another… but i have not finished it yet. I am very VERY stoked on this upcoming piece though… it is turning out VERY well. It is going to be one of the biggest ones I have ever done. I will most definitely post it when i finish it.
I would like to get some video of the expo… and show you all the pieces i entered that way. Look for it in the next podcast!
In more disappointing news… I have been playing video games lately. I know, i know. BELIEVE ME, i am just as disgusted with myself, as you are with me. But the game i am playing is admittedly a good one, and by all accounts is a classic, so you can’t be too disgusted. Like sitting on a couch, letting your metabolism screech to a halt while you do absolutely nothing for two and a half hours… watching braveheart. A justifiable “waste” of time, right?
Similarly, i have been playing HALO. Yes… a first person shooter of legendary reputation. I beat the single player game on (sigh) easy… and practice online (not too often), and now i am tackling the “Legendary” difficulty.
They don’t call it “Legendary” for no reason. It sucks. It is so hard… it is absolutely ridiculous. I am not very good anyways… but still… insanely hard.
So when i am not begging for job opportunities, or browsing classifieds, or doing web sites… I pretty much do necessary sustainance activities (eating, drinking, sleeping, defecating, getting food, etc.), work out, and play halo.
I have been roasting some coffee on occasion as part of the aforementioned sustainance activities (that’s right Dan_Shack!) and have been roasting coffee a bit lighter than the usual “espresso” or “Vienna” roast previously used… and let me say -coffee is really neat stuff. I made it through the Sumatra I acquired from Dan_Shack, roasted it all super dark, and made mostly espresso out of it. I have since acquired a french press, and ave been doin it to it somewhat faithfully with the same dark roast on the Ethiopian Sidamo. Good stuff- definitely coffee… But then my wife goes and messes things up… she roasts some yellow bourbon (messing with my system! i was working on the sidamo!) and to make things worse… she roasts it a bit light. GOSH!
Well, I am glad she did. I can taste coffee now. Really taste it! Before… it was all kinda… whatever… now- It is coffee. I can really tell what is going on in that little bean a bit better. the lighter roasts really distinguish the flavors of the bean… and i have been doing a bit of reading on this phenomenon, and am learning quite a bit! Fun stuff.
We recently acquired a new piece of furniture as well. Good ol Jon Potter donated a sofa chair thingie to our cause… Previously owned by Chris and Julie Fennell, this little piece of new tribes history found its most recent resting place in our home, under our reading light thingie. Yup.
So much other stuff has happened too… but i should really just write when it happens, because writing it all after it happens is more work, and less fun to read anyways.
Well, thats all for now.
Love.

Video-Podcast 5

chris_jones — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 02:38:10 +0000

Well hello there, ladies and gentlemen…
Before you enjoy this week’s uber entertaining podcastness, I would like to apologize in advance for the negligible entertainment value of my handiwork here these last 2 weeks.
I am none too proud of this entry, however, It should be a bit neat-o to get on the inside of our latest jobs.
Working at both Bath & Body Works, and the Green-Banana (together!), we are scraping by out here in the bitter midwest, and facing life’s great challenges -and the cold- together.

Click To Play

Despite the video’s limited perspective on our lives of late, the reason no video got out last week was because so much HAS been going on.
Earlier on, in podcast 3, our life out here, as we knew it, turned around, nearly 180 degrees.
We were ready to move out to California, and just ditch the midwest for good.
In our last podcast, we were stoked about a church out in california possibly supporting us, and taking us in- So we could survive and develop relationships out there, to do the whole missions action when all of our debt had been paid off.
Well, here we are again. Another curve ball- only this one curved the wrong way, and hit us in the butt, so now we get to take a free base. (For those of you who didn’t quite get the analogy there, some good thing have kinda happened, even though they kinda hurt a bit.)
Well, to start things off, Evelyn has been offered a more stable and monetarily compensating job as a manager at Bath & Body works. She is currently in the interview process, and our fingers are crossed, as we hope she gets it.
Cornerstone, in California (the church), has not really responded yet. It has been two weeks, and we haven’t heard a peep from them.
Time is getting tight, and we can’t really afford to do much of ANYTHING right now. Moving, and a van, and trailer… all these thigs were going to break us trying to get to California.
We are considering (quite seriously) not going.
We are enrolling in a mission’s training/mentorship program with a church out here (we’ll get some video of that out… hopefully next week), they are very interested in what we want to do overseas, and are seriously considering getting behind us financially.
I got a web design job, giving a facelift to a church’s web-presence out here- and it will keep our heads well above water for the next couple months, while I may be able to find more consistent work (there are some very exciting, and secret prospective opportunities on the horizon right now!).
So all that said, we are seriously thinking about a stay here in Indiana- indefinitely.
That’s all I know about my life right now.
Love.

Every monday? Yeah right.

chris_jones — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 02:19:56 +0000

So we said every Monday, we’d like to get a video out… Well, I would LIKE to get a video out, but it didn’t happen this week yet.

I am a bit angry with myself.

Just not enough footage to get something somewhat entertaining together.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

I have plans for some footage tomorrow, We sincerely apologize to our loyal viewers for not having anything entertaining for you to spend your valuable time on.

Love.

Video-Podcast 4

chris_jones — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 21:22:33 +0000

So it is Monday again! we are on a roll getting these out every week, eh?
Thanks for tuning in… We wil keep putting them up if you keep watching!

Click To Play

Here are the links from the video:
-Cornerstone, in Simi Valley, CA
-Birthday Party Pictures

…And I think I should probably thank the musicians who so graciously provided the soundtrack…

Hellogoodbye’s “Here” on the “Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!” Album.

The tat was fake.

chris_jones — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 22:38:42 +0000

Yeah… Just a fake tattoo. Just kidding about it. I got it out of a vending machine, and its gone now.

I have another one, but I am not going to waste the time putting pictures of it online.

Today is my birthday. I am 22 yrs of age.

We are having a shindig at the house… just chilling out. gonna eat some dessert. My fave.

Glenn Francis took Evie and me out to lunch today- it was super. I totally dig chillin with that villain. He is the coolest old dude out there in indiana.

Ill get some pics of the partay up tomorrow probably. i am really stoked. We got a Bodum French press the other night, coutesy Jon Potter- all the rage. Greg Francis comes back from frisco tonight, too. Goodness- too cool!

Good stuff all over the place. we have truly been blessed. Hardcore.

Love.

staying busy.

chris_jones — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 21:33:46 +0000

So i am sick.

I have a killer cold. Colds SUCK. I officially hate them. I have not been sick in quite a while, and must say I was enjoying it thoroughly. Well, that is how it goes.

I have been taking it pretty easy, uploading a ton of pictures to the new gallery. I hit some snags with the newest version of the gallery program I am running- not sure if they are bugs or ignorance. Either one would likely be a pain to fix. Whatev.

I am such a nerd, i know… but i tuned in for all of Steve Jobs’s keynote on a few frequently updated blogs…. dudes in the macworld conference with blackberrys uploading pictures every minute or so…. pretty geeky. kinda like watching the radio on the internet. the geekshow.

Exciting new stuff though. apple officially changed its name to Apple, Inc.- as opposed to the previous Apple COMPUTER, Inc. Wow.

The release of the iPhone in June is a bit less of a surprise almost, the rumormill on that thing could have ground grain for all of starving africa 12.65 times over. the all-in-wonder device will reincarate the spirit of apples old skool “newton”- which was pretty tiz-ight back in the day.

Fun stuff, though. fun fun fun.

I will likely never get one (checkout apple.com to see what i am talking about)- Nor do I want one. Apple has announced partnership with cingular (big surprise, right?), so buy some apple and cingular stock, money says the iphone will sell more macs, and help cingular shareholders out a bit as well.

I still think there is a market for a super slim, barebones black-and-white-LCD with killer battery life, and uber good reception! I say perfect the phone thing before you slap a crappy camera on there to sell more models! whatev. does anyone know the difference between a big mac, and a big n’tasty? probably a few of ya out there, but its just marketing. who gives a rip which one you get, if they both do the job? size and price are the only options on the menu in my book.

but just bitter rambling, if you couldn’t tell.

Cingular and Apple both do a bit of over-charging. gotta keep those ceo’s fat and happy, though. 5-600$ for the new phone- Jobs says because they are averaging the price of the blackberries and the ipod together. The iPhone is the new widescreen ipod thing too.

As much as i dig apple-ness, they have a bit of a rotting core, if i do say so myself. I was all stoked a while back on the underdog success, “Humanity is breaking free from microsoft’s iron grip! Let freedom ring!”… Although it will look prettier and run smoother on OSXI and Aqua, the future is still going to be run by a monopolizing superpower- and it will be a fruit from calfornia.

Apple is no open-source beacon of freedom, but a prettier dictatorship than microsofts, disguising itself at present as an amalgamation of “all-things good and communist” of the open-source comunity, and the familiar friendly face of a democratic republic.

Oh well.

I got a new tattoo.

Video-Podcast 3

chris_jones — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 02:34:41 +0000

Apologies for the lack of a clever soundtrack. Too much going on to really spend a ton of time editing these last weeks.
I wanted to make a point of releasing a new podcast every friday at the start- but i will be moving all new videos to mondays… so i can edit on the weekend all of the week’s footage.
Thanks to all of you people who tune in regularly. We love you (you know who you are!) and we really appreciate your support.

Click To Play

New Face, Same Name.

chris_jones — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 20:20:57 +0000

Same dew, new view.

What do you think?

The list of cheezy change taglines could go on and on- but I will spare you. Thank me later.

Have not updated in a while… New video on the way soon.

We have a lot to “unpack”- thinking through some things as some major changes are coming down the pipe.

Sorry about the photo gallery- I moved to a brand new version of the program i am running in the back end. Looks a ton cleaner, better functionality (the navigation is a bit more straightforward), but the old gallery didn’t migrate well, so i started fresh and have been busy uploading pictures 12 at a time.

The links in previous posts to photographs or albums in the gallery WILL NOT work anymore. I apologize.

It was time for some early spring cleaning.

The weather out here is great though, much like spring. Maybe i can get away with blaming it on my confused nature instincts. Like those birds that freeze to death in the winter because they forgot to fly south- only this is a bit healthier than that would be, a mite more productive as well.

Keep your eyeballs peeled for that video, and lemme know what you think of the new view.

-love.

Merry Day-After-Christmas!

chris_jones — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 03:50:44 +0000

Hey, what is up? we got some killer pictures of our fun times in OK, we’re now assasins…. we totally hit the target at like 20 yds.- it was tight. anyone interested should totally shoot guns if they ever get the chance. we shot .22’s, and the glock .40 caliber. Special thanks to Paul, out there… Mississipi Paul rocks the Casbaugh. He’s in some of the pictures- along with Scott Shaw, and Brandy (Bill Shaw’s future wife, probably). Anyways… Click here .

Video-Podcast 2

chris_jones — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 03:39:21 +0000

Click To Play

Well, Merry Christmas, and have a good new-year too. We are having fun in OK, and will get some more good footage for next year’s first video.
-Love you.

Video-Podcast 1

chris_jones — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 03:07:39 +0000

Okay, so I am having a bit of tough luck right now… Bunch of internet stuff, and confusing rss feed garbage. anyways. I am having problems getting subsequent episodes in the itunes store right now… but soon! Thank you for your patience!

Click To Play

Our first video podcast… we are taking things week by week, just keeping you all posted.

Done- pretty much.

chris_jones — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 06:03:02 +0000

Well, I am right now working on the last of my work for the semester. I have a paper to finish, and a quiz to do tomorrow (I have to know all of the countries of Asia, Europe, and Africa, and if I miss 7- I fail). Then… it’s over. No more school for a few weeks! Wow, it has been so crazy- a really long haul. I can’t believe the first semester is already over… but I am so ready. Get some r&r in, and do it again! I am planning on taking 18 credits next semester, as opposed to the 15 this semester, but I have a few art classes in the mix, and I am getting some credits for my trip to Germany (see my Germany post).
A few new things in the mix, though… I am switching my hosting to blip.tv for my podcast, maybe that will help the sound problem with iTunes… I am putting a firm foot forward to be more grammatically correct, and capitalization concious (did I spell that rite?) in my posts… why not? The next podcast is in the works… Its going to be killer, get more of the people in our lives on there, and maybe some scripted interviews and a soundtrack if I get really bored. And finally… I have all of the notable papers I have written this semester online now… in the {indie papers}, most recently added are the killer ones I had to do just recently, on censorship, for Ethics, and the Route of the Exodus, for Archaeology. Please check them out if you are interested! I am going through, and at the bottom of the papers, I am going to tag them with the semester and the grade I got on them… just for kicks, if anyone is interested- like this {Fa_06:86%}. Looks pretty “tech,” but legible, right?
Anyways, back to work, I suppose.
Love.

iTunes now?

chris_jones — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 00:04:19 +0000

Yeah… we are on itunes… click the subscribe link to get the podcast delivered dtraight to your ‘Pod. But look for sound in the next few… Google is currently hosting my podcast… but not for long. No sound! Anyways… a few days, and i will have it hosted through blip.tv. i can only have 10 at a time live, but that is alright… nobody wants to watch me ramble on their ipod that badly.

Anyways… Evie rang the salvation army bell in columbia city today, and i walked to the library to get some air, and finish up some homework. I took some pictures on the way… see a bit of Winona Lake here .

AND… If you wanna see some classic christmas CHEEZ, click here.

Decembrrrr.

chris_jones — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 22:14:01 +0000

Thanks for checking in. We have some cool new-ish stuff going on… phone updating, and itunes podcast coming soon! look for the itunes subscribe link soon, we will have that up as soon as we can. until then… Love you all!

Down here…
Thanksgiving pictures!
The wedding book.

and something more, i didn’t mention it in the video…

i am going to put my drawings up in “the sketchbook” album in the photo gallery.

see it here.

Theologica

chris_jones — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 20:08:58 +0000

So among other things in life, I write a bit of poetry. While nothing excessively complex, purposely ordered and chosen words can be injected with feelings and emotion, communicating a passion or frustration, nearly any strong emotion. So her is my latest, I thought I would share… I hope i don’t sound too depressedly suicidal or anything.

Piper- Panic. Ryrie- Rebel.

MacArthur- Macabre. Millard Erickson- Killer of Abram’s Son.

Alva J. McClain- Living life in pain. Charles Spurgeon- Dirty Surgeon, Swallowed Urchin.

Dwight L. Moody- Die there Brooding. Theologians I am loathing.

Teaching others to talk, too fat to walk. Building walls with bricks of books, dividing.

Masons carving tombstones for this cemetary (seminary).

The dead church ends up here, severed from its head and life by denomination.

So yeah. That’s it.

Springtime for Hitler and Germany?

chris_jones — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 19:58:01 +0000

Maybe not for Hitler, but for Germany! (I am not being disrespectful in mentioning Hitler, only citing the musical “The Producers,” which is a killer flick you should all watch if you dig musicals!) Regardless, I have recently been offered the opportunity of a lifetime. Dr. Roger Peugh is a teacher of mine, and has experience as a missionary doing church planting in Germany. He served on the field of Germany for nearly twenty years, and has since left a fully functioning church. He goes back occasionally to teach and encourage, physically maintaining the beautiful relationships he has formed overseas. Dr. Peugh has honored me with the privelage and opportunity to accompany him on his trip, for which I am very grateful. I will be leaving on 28 Feb 2007, and returning 12 Mar 2007. Knowing Evelyn and my plans for the future, he has invited me in hopes that I could benefit from the experience of exposure to a foreign culture. I will spend my eleven days in Germany learning as much of the language as I can, and cataloguing culture- trying to understand how people living and immersed in the German culture think. I would very much like to take as many pictures as possible, even video if possible, to share the experience with My friends and family. I will keep you posted on this exciting subject, as I get more information. I would appreciate your prayers for the trip, and all of my preparations for it.

So, not that anything could really top that exciting news, I finished a killer paper that had been looming over my head for weeks- last night. It was due today, but I was really happy with the way it turned out, proud enough of my work to post it…Click here to read it, however, be warned as the content is somewhat explicit. The paper was about the shallowness of the empty sexuality and free-love thing the beats had going in the forties and fifties. I analyzed the character of Salvatore Paradise in Jack Kerouac’s classic On the Road. A pretty killer book, if obscene. I choked up at the end of it both times that I read it over the last month, but you just would have to read it to know why.

Halloween Party 2006

chris_jones — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 15:21:03 +0000

We had a little get-together we would like to call a halloween party… Just having some good cheap fun!

You can see the pictures from last night here.

Thanks for checking in.

chris_jones — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 18:54:15 +0000

We have added an update to the “about us” page. Please check it out. It is a message that, over the past several years, we have been pretty moved over. The whole thing is about an hour long, and we would really like you to see the whole thing if you get an hour, and you really want to know what we are about. Not a pretty message, and not something i am always excited to hear, but necessary and very humbling. We hate emotional videos, and music, and all that stuff that attempts to stir us to some agenda- marketing. Church is no place for crap like that- it should be honest. If you get emotionally moved or feel like you are getting marketed to, turn it off, think about what is being said, but come back to it. Check this out. we have, and have been moved my it. It appropriately needs to be in the “about us” page, because this is a defining part of us.

Please Read: What should we do? Are you as frustrated as we are?

chris_jones — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 18:42:29 +0000

I am sitting in class right now, thinking about things. I am really asking myself some questions here. Why am I here? What am I doing with this? All this time, and money I am spending to be here, it isn’t even mine… what the heck? Cervantes- I was hit with a quote today. A bit long, but here goes. “I have lived nearly 50 years and I have seen life as it is pain, man’s hunger… cruelty beyond belief. I have heard the surging from taverns and the moans from bundles of filth on the streets. I have been a soldier and seen my comrades fall in battle… or die more slowly under the lash in Africa. I have held them in my arms at the final moment. These were men who saw life as it is, yet they died despairing. No glory, no gallant last words… Only their eyes filled with confession, whimpering the question, ‘Why?’ I don’t think they asked why they were dying, but why they had lived.”
So I sit in class. I go through the motions, my heart is not in it. I listen to people who write books to throw into the pile of them already there in the library. Good fuel for fire, but more people read blogs and magazines. I learn about how to write scholarly papers- for articles to be lost somewhere in some periodical section of some library for some student to quote (maybe, possibly read) in some paper they really don’t want to do. But I have the letters behind my name, right? I have what those letters behind my name say of me- or do I. Accreditation is some golden gleam and dream of grandeur until you hop that fence into those greener pastures of painted scenery- orange sunsets behind violet mountains of stereotypical bliss- we all want it. We all want to live the good life, those white picket fences, those European cars, those plasma screen TV’s- keeping up with those damned Joneses down the suburban primarily white street miles from need and needed conviction. Stay inundated, go to ultra-hip mega-churches without a challenge (thus a message), punch your ticket (your timecard), and work for all of those things that all of those other people already have. Turn the creativity and the originality off- I am not that kind of person. Lets just follow the world into its materialistic slumber, your drunken sleep of bliss without need for love. Without the burden of the needy.
I am well read, I am well educated (in comparison), and I am not clinically insane. I don’t want to work my entire life in slavery to my debts, to my mortgage, to my education, to my European car. I will not make a six digit salary- ever. I will not own a house, and plan a retirement in upscale suburbia. I will not live a life of opulence disguised as a membership of the lower-middle-class-American club. I will not leave my children any money when I die. I will not give them all they want and need, so they can teach their kids that, they too are entitled to happiness and lethargy. Because the truth is, that they are not. I will stop the cycle. I will spank my kids. I will be a parent before a friend, and a leader of my household. I will not be the typified American weakling of a man, husband, father, employee. My hands will be tough with the work of my years, not soft with the callouses of the keypad.
I am disgusted.
Am I so different? Do we not all see the inadequacy of inundation? The insatiable hunger of humanity for everything or nothing?
Are these things all so bad?
I will never retire. I will work until the day that I fall dead. I will die. I will not groan along the surface of this planet forever. I will groan along the surface of this planet. I have no illusions of grandeur, no hopes of fame or publication, only expectations of pain and suffering, and hardship- but I am happy here because it is truth. I am not lying, not deceiving my own self, not pretending to be something I am not.
Bradley says- “I want to have love, and give love- and not just that romantic kind either.” What kind of society can’t understand this? Where I can’t make funny faces at little boys in restaurants, or hug beautiful little girls on the playground because I am a child pornographer, and a catholic priest, and a sex offender. We need reform. What is the church today? A monument? Something we look at and remember fondly things of the past on a regular basis? Or is it a movement? Something I can give life and death to, dedicate myself to, and work for.

My affluence is at stake here. I report 11,000 dollars on my tax return, and all that is at stake is my affluence. Laughable. Who am I in the grand scheme of things? I will not make change happen in America! I can’t afford such things. People who end up making marks on this country are at somewhere like Stanford right now, quoting someone like me in their paper they don’t really want to do. Earning a degree they really don’t want to get. They are weak people who will sleep around in some oval office somewhere someday in a big white house that I paid for, while their lethargic country is entertained by it all, and elects movie stars as politicians.
“Give unto Ceasar what is Ceasar’s. ” He says. How many of YOU really say anything? If he didn’t have a place to rest his head, neither should I get one. [Question] How much does one of those cost? [Answer] Your Life and eternity.

The american dream, capitalism: I am not American, I am human. I am more than any mere American- but I am still nothing. And I could go on and on. Just think.