NTM

I was ‘back home’ in Arizona for the last 2 weeks of February. It’s so nice to have several homes- Venezuela, Arizona, North Carolina and more… temporal ones of course! I have to say that my Mom has always done a very good job of making every place we’ve moved feel like home. One of my reasons for going to Arizona was to share at my home church’s missionary conference along with one couple just retiring from Bolivia and another couple working with the Punjabi people in California. It was a real encouragement for me to see two retired couples still faithfully serving the Lord. They have so much wisdom and experience for someone such as me just starting out! Much thanks to one of these missionary couples and their connection with a church about 25 minutes away, I was able to share at that church the next Sunday. A friend volunteered to accompany me to this church of which I was also thankful for as it is the wild west you know! Both churches were a real blessing to me and I felt someone must have been praying for me especially during my speaking engagements – thank you!
Not long ago, I was reading a book that spoke about sin being a crutch and how it can taint our view of the Lord. Sometimes our view of Him can be so skewed. Of course the fact that He is God and we are finite, means that there will always be a gap in our understanding of Him. I thank the Lord that as we seek Him, He allows us  to see His character more and more so that we might gain a clearer understanding of who He is. The depth of my need for Him seems greater and greater as I know Him better and as I know myself better. This great need for Him will never change, but I don’t want it to because it creates a hunger to know Him more and to spend more time with Him. Pray that His passion is my passion and that His will and desires are mine as well!
Have you heard of the missionary to China by the name of J. O. Fraser…..the hearts of the people that he went to reach were prepared years in advance through prayer. I don’t know which people group I will one day be privileged to take part in sharing the good news with, but I know that it isn’t too early to start praying that their hearts begin to soften. At the same time, there are unsaved immediately around me and I’m sure around you that need softened hearts as well.

I’m so thankful for my sister, Sarah, that she has always been so kind as to open up her house as a place for me to stay wherever she is at! North Carolina was new to me as of this past summer, so in coming back from Missouri, I’ve now re-familiarized myself to the area. Two of my prayer requests in coming to North Carolina were a job and a church. I am very grateful that these have been answered, that I have found both.
I cherish times spent with family and although we are all spread out, we usually manage to get together at least once a year. My parents as well as my brother and family were able to make it out to North Carolina for about a week in mid-January. It’s nice that we live so close to the airport as we had to make several trips there and back that week! Liam, although not quite walking or talking yet, proved to be adorable. He is entertained by everything he can get his hands on and is such a fun little guy. We enjoyed taking them around a bit as this is a new area for them, but too bad they couldn’t stay longer!
My good friends, Motoi and Billy, are just 18 minutes away or so and that has been so nice! I love hanging out with them when our schedules permit. Motoi and I started doing a Bible study together that I’ve enjoyed. It is so good and necessary for me I think to have someone to read and pray with. They have been here for a couple of years so it’s nice to have someone that knows the area well.
This may be simple to you, but these days the Lord has been teaching me about an obedient heart. I have my own ideas at times and I don’t always feel like being obedient, but sometimes obedience is necessary without these. I can obey Him partly and I can offer Him other things, but a heart that is right won’t do that. I need to fully obey Him, wherever He has and proceeds to lead – something to pray about! I appreciate you, thanks!!

This church was recommended to me by a friend as I was looking for a smaller church – a church where I could get to know people and help out in some way.  An Awana program as well as a Spanish service were two areas of interest to me at this church.  I’ve only just begun to attend but I do plan to make this my church for now, unless the Lord directs otherwise.  Pray for wisdom as I seek to get involved here in some way.  Thanks, the Lord surely has been good to me!

Greetings, hope to find you all doing well! Where have these last couple of months gone? This past semester of school has kept me very busy! The semester started with 10 weeks of learning a foreign language (Indonesian) and culture (Dobu culture of PNG) taught by missionaries dressed in tribal attire. We also experienced a 2 week period of ‘simple living,’ which meant no TV, minimal use of the phone, computer and electricity in general. Also during this 2 week time we cooked from scratch. This was followed by a translation class among a few others, and currently we are in literacy class. Classes finish the 19th of December and I’m very thankful for this specialized training I’ve had, what a privilege to have learned so much, yet sometimes in retrospect it seems like I’m just more aware of what I don’t know.
In my last prayer letter I mentioned that I was attending a Spanish church in the area and have had the opportunity to help out with the youth. I do continue to attend this Church, much of my weekends are spent with that congregation. The previous pastor and wife (Orel and Gladys), had to return to Mexico due to problems they had in renewing their visa. Also this summer, there arose issues with the English church that had accommodated the Spanish church, resulting in the need for the Spanish church to change locations. The Lord has definitely been working in this Spanish church these past few months, providing a new pastor as well as a new location. Also this semester, 3 new individuals from the school are helping out in this Hispanic ministry. Two of them are guys who are now teaching the youth. The church is blessed to have this added help as well as more male leadership.
The Lord has also been teaching and growing me outside of class. How neat that God knows each of us individually! He knows the different things that we need to grow in and He nudges us in these areas that will spur us on to further growth. It is probably more difficult for Him to see us go through hard times than it is to go through them ourselves, but the fact that He allows them is because He loves us so much! Psalm 91: 1 reminds me of my need to always depend on Him, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” It is a great thing to be able to rest like this under His wings.
The Lord just recently brought me to a point in my life where I was able to say to Him, “Lord, if you think I can make it single on the field, then I will go.” A few days later, I seriously considered what my good friend Jenna mentioned a couple of months prior, and that is working together on the field. We each decided separately that this was the direction God was leading us; our next step was to decide which country to serve in. Jenna’s top two choices were Indonesia and Paraguay and mine were Thailand and Cambodia, so we together considered all four countries. A week or so later Jenna honestly told me that considering her personality, she would not be well suited for Cambodia, as NTM has just recently entered the country and the work there is much like a pioneering work. Shortly after that we attended a Paraguayan meal held on campus by a few fellow students headed to Paraguay. I told Jenna the following day, that considering her top two countries I would choose Paraguay and considering my top two countries I would choose Cambodia. I was already aware of her thoughts on Cambodia, so it was kind of like, well, Paraguay must be it!! We have both contacted the field of Paraguay and have been welcomed aboard there. I’m very thankful and excited for the Lord’s faithfulness in guiding me! With the goal of arriving in Mexico in January of 2010 for a 9 month period of further learning Spanish, my next step will be partnership development. I will probably be doing some traveling this coming year, first to North Carolina to spend some time with Sarah (my sister) and then the rest of the family will be joining us in mid-January. I do also hope to spend some extended amounts of time in both Arizona and the Ohio/Indiana area and maybe some other areas. Thanks so much for your prayers and for your faithfulness in supporting me!