NTM

Well, we’ve been in NH almost 3 months and I have had enough snow and cold!  This past week the temperature was from the low teens to thirty below.  That is cold.  Today we are having another big (6+ inches) snow storm.  It’s quite enough.  I’ve had enough shoveling!

We spent yesterday (Saturday, January 17th) at West Paris Baptist Church in West Paris, Maine, for a 40th anniversary party for Alice’s parents, John and Mary Jane Ames.  Their anniversary is actually in May, but having the party now, while the Tignor’s (Alice’s sister’s family) and we are in the area, seemed like the best idea.  The Tignor’s are missionary’s to Ecuador with Baptist Bible Fellowship and home on furlough.  It was wonderful that Mary Jane is healthy enough to enjoy the party and fellowship with the ~130 people who came to the party.  It was a good time for all.  Thank you for praying for Alice’s mom as she is doing well enough for us to return to Florida.

We are planning to begin our return on January 27th and, depending on weather, arrive the evening of the 29th.  Please pray for good weather during this time, and continue to pray for Mary Jane as she still has revovering to do and needs help around the house.  She and John also need rides as they do not have a car, and we are encouraging them not to buy one.

Again thanks for your prayers.

First of all, thanks for your love, support, and encouragement over the past year.  There were many good times this past year and some difficult ones as well.  Many times I wonder how people who do not know the Lord get through the difficulties that come up in everyday lives.

We are about one and a half year’s into our 4 year Associate commitment to NTM, and, to be honest, it seems like more should have been accomplished.  It has been awesome to see how God has met our needs through His people.  We are still well below our recommended support level, yet have not really had to dip into our savings.  We still plan to try to do some partnership development in Florida, and were just getting ready to start when we had to return to New Hampshire to help out Alice’s parents.  So continue to pray for wisdom and desire to contact churches and individuals in Florida when we return home.  We still desire to remain with NTM after our 4 year commitment, but will definitely need to improve our financial support for this to happen.  I am finally learning how to network and now need to learn how to take advantage of my personal and professional networks to get to that goal.

Alice’s mother is doing well enough, that we still plan to return to Florida the last week in January.  It will be nice to get back and will certainly increase my productivity as it is much easier to focus at the office than at home.

My goal for the year is to complete the Gravity project and to accomplish that I will need to improve my web development skills.

Thanks again for your support and happy new year!

Nov. 3

We are on the road, heading north to New Hampshire, our place of service for the next few months.

Alice’s mom, who suffered a brain aneurysm on Sept. 18, is still in a rehab hospital but will likely be transferred to a nursing/rehab facility near her home this week.

Our family will be staying nearby to be near Alice’s dad, who is quite frail and forgetful, and to get the house ready for Mom’s eventual return, Lord willing.  There is much work to be done.  Alice begs your prayers for God’s wisdom in making decisions.  Psalm 119 says "Your Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light unto my path," and "The entrance of Thy Word giveth light."

Jack will continue serving with NTM Computer Services while we are in NH, by remote access.  God has also provided some outside work for him, to help meet expenses.

We are so blessed by how God is showing His love for us through His people during this time of uncertainty.  We are grateful for your prayers and support!

Please also pray for strength, health and wisdom for our tribal missionaries and support missionaries, and that tribal people will respond with faith and gratitude as they hear what God has done for them.

Mom’s Away

As you are aware Alice has been in New Hampshire for almost 3 weeks (when all is said and done she will have been away for 22 days).  This trip was necessitated by the aneurysm and subsequent car accident suffered by her mom, Mary Jane Ames, on September 18th.  Alice has been busy making decisions about the care of her mom and dad, John Ames. 

Dad’s in Charge

Meanwhile the children and I have had to survive this time on our own.  Emphasis on survive!  I have had the opportunity to really learn about being a single parent and will be glad when it it over!  Those of you who know me, know that I don’t exhibit the energy needed to keep everything going all the time, so I am exhausted. 

Alice’s Mom, Mary Jane Ames, suffered a brain aneurysm on Sept.18 and is now in ICU and unresponsive.

We would like to ask prayer at this time for our family, as Alice has flown to New Hampshire to be with her parents.

Our specific requests are:

1. That God will be glorified through this situation

2. That He will give wisdom for decisions regarding care for both Mom and Dad, who at 78 has early-stage Alzheimer’s

3. That He would allow Mom to wake up soon, either here or in Heaven

4. For Jack and the children, holding down the fort in Florida, and also Alice’s sister Lois’ husband Chris and their children

There is much to be thankful for also! We praise God for:

1. The wonderful care and help of our families and our church family, especially for Dad Ames

2. That Alice’s sister, Lois,  a missionary in Ecuador, just "happened" to be home on furlough and able to be here also.

3. For the excellent care that Mom is receiving

4. An inexpensive hostel where Alice and Lois can stay near the hospital 

We are so thankful for God’s peace, knowing that we and our parents are in His care, and the promise that if we ask for wisdom, He will give it.

We have started a blog at www.maryjaneames.blogspot.com to post regular updates on Mom’s condition.

Alice’s Mom, Mary Jane Ames, suffered a brain aneurysm on Sept.18 and is now in ICU and unresponsive.

We would like to ask prayer at this time for our family, as Alice has flown to New Hampshire to be with her parents. 

Our specific requests are:

1. That God will be glorified through this situation

2. That He will give wisdom for decisions regarding care for both Mom and Dad, who at 78 has early-stage Alzheimer’s

3. That He would allow Mom to wake up soon, either here or in Heaven

4. For Jack and the children, holding down the fort in Florida, and also Alice’s sister Lois’ husband Chris and their children

There is much to be thankful for also!  We praise God for:

1. The wonderful care and help of our families and our church family

2. That Alice’s sister, Lois, who is a missionary in Ecuador, just "happened" to be home on furlough and able to be here also.

3. For the excellent care that Mom is receiving

4. An inexpensive hostel where Alice and Lois can stay to be near Mom

We are so thankful for God’s peace, knowing that we and our parents are in His care, and the promise that if we ask for wisdom, He will give it.

We have started a blog at www.maryjaneames.blogspot.com to post regular updates on Mom’s condition.

The days since our last update have been very eventful. First and foremost was Amy Howry’s stepping suddenly from this world into glorious life with our Savior at age 23. We know He had a reason for taking her Home, but our hearts are broken for her husband Derrick, the youth pastor/assistant pastor at our sending church.

Derrick’s parents are Pastor Jon and Tammy, who loved her like their own daughter and will miss her so much. Our prayers are and will continue to be with our NH church family, where we longed to be at this time.

In the midst of our sadness, we were given a day at Disney through the loving generosity of friends. It seemed callous to go there while we were mourning Amy’s loss, but it was the last available Saturday for several months, and the children had been looking forward to it. So we visited the Magic Kingdom, though our thoughts and prayers were 1,800 miles away.  The day was made more special by our awareness of how short life is, and how we need to love each other while we have the opportunity.  Pictures are at http://www.picasaweb.google.com/acorbett30/DisneyWorld.
Monday Sept. 1 was my first day at Trademark Equestrian Center. Many of you know my lifelong love of horses. An opportunity has come to care for them and ride them regularly, as on Monday mornings I do barn chores in exchange for riding lessons. Please pray I will have opportunities to share God’s love there.

Jack is still developing NTM’s new personnel system at work. In addition, he has put together a presentation for his Orlando Professional Association of SQL Server (OPASS) meeting on Tuesday Sept. 9. They are publishing another of his articles on their website as well.

There is still a lot of flooding in central Florida, as the 24" of rain from Tropical Storm Fay s-l-o-w-l-y departs to the ocean. Our parking lot is still partially covered, and Seminole Blvd., the street between our building and Lake Monroe, is a canal. It’s funny to watch ducks swimming down the street.  Not so funny is the alligators that have had to be removed from the park next door!

We enjoyed fellowship with our co-workers at the annual HQ Labor Day picnic. Again, our hearts were in NH, as that evening was Amy’s visiting hours. We were able to share the situation with a number of folks and gather additional prayer support for the funeral service the next day.

Our building hosted a number of law enforcement officers last week, as the Sanford P.D. held three afternoons of training meetings here. The children enjoyed meeting the officers when we got home from school and they were on break.

Our God remains faithful, and it is a privilege to serve Him. We are so grateful for the opportunity to help plant tribal churches, and for your vital support in prayer and giving.  We look forward to the day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father!

Tropical Storm Fay is bearing down on us, due here tomorrow. They are saying it will probably strengthen into our first hurricane.

Our family Disaster Readiness Kit so far has one item, but it is pretty nifty–a flashlight/radio with a solar panel and hand crank that can also charge your cell phone!! Oh yes, and 6 gallons of drinking water. (You’re supposed to have a gallon per person per day for two weeks. That would be, um, 70 gallons.) This morning I plan to fill the van with gas and get some cash from the ATM . . . we have enough food for about a week . . . so we’ll see how it goes.

Our NTM main building was built in 1925, so as our pastor’s son said yesterday, if it was going to come down in a hurricane, it would have by now. We are about as far inland as you can be in Florida, which helps too.

Jack is wishing he weren’t on security duty this week. Fay could cause that to be more "interesting" than usual!
We know God is in control, and are thankful to be safe in His hand. Thank you for praying for us, and for the work of NTM to reach EVERY tribe with the good news!!

Danielle is now a Young Marine!  She has been talking about it all summer, since we saw them marching in the Memorial Day parade.  We visited the unit meeting on Saturday and took the plunge to sign her up.

She is excited about learning physical fitness, color guard, wilderness survival, First Aid, and lots of other neat things. She has to exercise regularly, eat right, keep her room clean (woo hoo!!), and practice saying "Yes sir" and "Yes Ma’am", so it will be a habit when she is with her unit, the Orlando Devil Dogs. Our only concern is potential time conflicts with other activities. Basic Training is every Saturday from Sept. 6 to Oct. 11, then unit meetings will be two Saturdays a month.

I spent the day Saturday visiting with other parents and helping the adult leaders make lunch, clean up etc. Since most of our time is spent with other Christians, It is neat to have the opportunity to build friendships with people who may not be, and share Christ with them. The leaders are a great group of vets and their spouses who are volunteering their time with the kids. They emphasize safety also, which is comforting. 

Please pray that our family will be a good testimony in this new venture, and that God will use it to help Danielle in the areas of self-discipline and respect.