Friday, October 24, 2014

Accepted with MAF!

We successfully completed our technical evaluation and have been welcomed back to MAF for the next phase of our journey!  Our two weeks at MAF's headquarters in Nampa, ID has been confirming and made us feel supported and encouraged for where God has been directing us for some time. We had great opportunities for fellowship with other missionaries who were back from the field, receiving training, or in-process toward the field.  Elsie and Sammy enjoyed playing with the other kiddos, and had a lot of fun catching up with some old friends from Washington who live in Boise now.  We have been very blessed during our travel and throughout the process these past two weeks. We are especially thankful for all those who have prayed for us over the years as we have responded to God's leading and invitation into this ministry.

We are excited to engage in this next phase of our process, which will involve inviting many others to become part of our team to share the love of Jesus throughout the world.  Specifically, the next step for us with MAF will be to return to Nampa, ID for training in ministry partnership in July of 2015. At that time, we will know our country assignment and receive the specific training for the road ahead.  MAF has two times of the year in which they conduct what they call "candidacy" training. We chose the July time slot because we are expecting a new baby in February, which would be right in the middle of the January candidacy training classes.  July seemed like a better option for us and our family.  I will continue to work as a mechanic at UND Aerospace while remaining proficient in my flying skills.  Erin will continue to work as a nurse while managing our home and homeschooling Elsie.

Thank you again for all your support and encouragement!  We are looking forward to the road ahead, and know we wouldn't be here without prayer and faithful friends/family behind us.

God bless you all in Christ!

Friday, October 17, 2014

Green light for maintenance!

We haven't had a lot of time this past week to provide updates for everyone, but thank you so much for your continued prayer and support.  We got a thumbs up on the first week's portion of the interview, which was a technical evaluation of my maintenance skills!  This next week will involve more testing and evaluation of my flight skills.  Continued prayer for safe flying and good performance during this upcoming week's evaluation process would be greatly appreciated.  We have been very blessed to visit with a lot of other MAF families who are here in various stages of their ministry.  We have made a lot of new friends, and continue to see God working powerfully through MAF's ministry and partner organizations around the world.  

Our trip out here was full of adventure as well!  We had some great family time, and got to go on our first official road trip together.  We are so grateful for how God's loving hands continue to guide us and protect us each step of the way through this stage of our lives.  Here are some great pictures of our trip!  God bless all of you and your families, and thank you again for your support!


The shirt says it all...



 We went caving at Craters of the moon national park.  It was pretty amazing!





We even get to enjoy quality time with special visitors!  Elsie and Sammy love their Papa's and Grandma's!




Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Love that surpasses knowledge

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Eph 3:17b-19)

It's kind of hard to believe that the time has come for us to interview with Mission Aviation Fellowship these next couple weeks!  It has been a bit of a process since we first heard God tugging on our hearts to consider this ministry opportunity.  God has been faithful to us at every corner through this journey, and we have been continuing to see His hand in our lives in the here and now as we continue to follow His lead.  This interview consists of several interviews for both Erin and I, but it is mostly focused on my technical skills in both flying and maintenance.

As I have been spending time reviewing all the technical training I've received over the course of the last 10 years or so, I found it beautiful that in the midst of my study, God confronted me with this verse.  At the heart of any ministry, or cause for Christ, is Jesus Himself, and His Holy Sovereign work for us.  The gospel leads back to the cross, where any of us could really spend forever just trying to grasp what exactly is going on.  This is a love that surpasses knowledge!  It is unimaginable to us, and far from intellect altogether.  It was Paul's prayer that the church would have power to "grasp" it -which has to mean more of an anchoring of ourselves on it rather than a complete understanding of it.  But as often as we can return to that posture of reflecting on the cross of Christ, and continue to ponder and receive that love that is freely given there to all who believe, He promises to fill us abundantly from the inside out.  And so, I find myself fixing my eyes on Jesus - knowing that He has His eyes fixed on me.  When all is said and done, the goal in all of this is to follow Jesus' lead in His effort to reach those who have never spent time at the foot of the cross "grasping it."

Thank you to all who have prayed for us and encouraged us throughout this process!  We ask you to continue to lift us up especially over these next two weeks.  We will be traveling with the kids a long way for the interview, and will need prayer to arrive healthy, rested, and ready for the interview process.  We also are asking for prayer for our kids as they travel a long way from normal comforts in small, five-point car seats.

May God bless you and your families richly!