From Strength to Strength

"Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.  As they pass through the valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion." (Psalms 84:5-7)

We recently met with someone from our home church in Washington who shared how these verses in Psalm 84 resonate with him still as he reflects over how God led him through several trials in his life. It's always a joy to stand at the top of a mountain, or great triumph in life, and consider carefully each step that got us there.  As our friend pointed out, the word "to" in the phrase "strength to strength" is no small word.  God takes us down into the valleys and stretches us there before we rise to our next strength.  The valley can bring us to a breaking point and lead us to our knees, where we fully realize our need for God to see us through the journey.  Erin and I found this to be a good focus for us as we continue following the Lord's direction into a foreign mission field.  We know that the Lord is our ever-present help, and will keep us growing in strength through each phase of our pre-field journey as well as our day-to-day lives overseas.  Our prayer is to keep this focus, and remember that God is in the business of totally changing lives.  We know He will strengthen us to rest in His unwavering faithfulness, but we also pray for Him to use our lives to awaken others into following Him.

We rejoice in our current triumph as we reflect on how the Lord has led us over the past year in developing a team of prayer and financial ministry partners for His work in Haiti through MAF. Thank you so much for responding to the Lord's call to join us in our ministry!  We look forward to sharing each step with all of you and would not be in any place of strength without you.  We are excited to share this journey together and hope we can pray for and encourage one another as we find our strength growing together in the Lord.

Our recent time in the NW has been filled with activity and blessing.  We have visited with a lot of close friends and continue to find God leading new people into sharing in our ministry.  It has been a lot of fun to get back into the saddle of flying my Dad's small airplane around familiar places where I grew up.  We took a short family trip up to a small grass strip up in the mountains together.  The kids loved the flight, and we all enjoyed playing with the thousands upon thousands of frogs in the lake nearby!

The kids also had a fun opportunity to share a week at "Club W" at our home church here (similar to vacation bible school).  We were blessed to be the missionaries of focus for all the kids, and were amazed by how much the kids and their parents gifted us for our vehicle fund.  It was especially fun for us to see how well Sammy did throughout the week.  In the past, he has been very cautious to participate in children's church or Sunday school.  Sammy loved Club W, and it was very encouraging for us to see him establish some confidence and excitement for all the fun activities and see it in a new light!  Elsie also graduated Kindergarten and has begun first grade already!  Erin and I are very proud of her, and have seen a lot of development in her learning over the past year.  We chose to continue her schooling with a short break because we will have a bigger break as we begin language training in Haiti.  Sammy is beginning pre-school and is doing well so far.  Please pray for Erin and I as we lead them through this transition and continue their learning in our home.  It is a real joy to watch them learn and understand more of the world around them!

Our 4th of July was a bit of a cultural experience in downtown Portland to watch the fireworks from their newest bridge over the Willamette river.  The kids enjoyed riding the MAX lightrail to get downtown, and loved the fireworks (once they started).  Elsie has recently been learning our national anthem and got a lot of compliments after singing it to herself (loudly) on the way to the fireworks on the MAX.  We are so proud of both our big kids!

Isaiah is continuing to expand his vocabulary, and is getting bigger all the time.  His latest accomplishment has been sleeping a little more regularly through the night, which we pray will continue!  He is at a very fun and active age, and we are enjoying watching all the kids interact and grow in their relationships together as we make memories as a family.

The rest of our July is pretty full of meeting with churches and friends to share our ministry.  August 15th will mark the beginning of our maintenance and flight training over at MAF headquarters near Boise, ID.  That training will take us to the end of October, then we will be heading back to North Dakota to finish packing up our belongings and making final preparations for traveling to Haiti in December.

Erin and I hope you and your families are finding great opportunities to make memories of your own, and thank you again for sharing this exciting journey together!

Back in the NW and loving it!

We picked a good time to come back to the NW!  Our road trip was filled with adventure and great fellowship with friends and family.  Erin and I are so grateful for all your prayers for our family throughout our travels and hope you are enjoying your Spring as much as we are!

To give you an idea of the contrast we experienced during our drive out, here is a picture of what our view out of the hotel in Dickinson, ND at the end of April:




Driving was intense at times through construction zones and being in close proximity to semi trucks, but we soon found comfort as we gazed across the unfading beauty of eastern Montana.  As I mentioned in our recent May prayer letter, we shared a fun day of hiking up to the "M" on Mt. Sentinel in Missoula, MT.  There were eleven switchbacks and 1 3/4 miles of vertical incline to manage, but our little ones surprised us with their perseverance and determination to make it all the way to the top without asking to be carried...except for Isaiah, who fell asleep!




We also had a great visit with Erin's cousin who is a Pastor at a church in Spokane, WA.  The kids loved playing with the chicks and cows, and we really felt blessed with some extra time in fellowship with their wonderful family.  After sharing our weekend together, we headed to Palouse Falls, which is SW of Spokane on the way to the Columbia Gorge.  It was such a great feeling to open our windows to the 80 degrees that met us on the trail to the falls and throughout our drive through the Gorge!

We are staying at a house in the Columbia Gorge that is owned by another missionary family at our church in Washougal, WA.  We feel so blessed to have space for our family to breathe and establish a better day-to-day routine for our children.  Our hope is to spend this next month connecting in deeper relationships with our home church as we draw nearer to completing our ministry team.  We are so very grateful for your prayer and encouragement, and hope your adventures are blessed with the presence of our Great God who is faithful and near through all our ups and downs.

May you and yours be blessed with abundant life in Christ!

One Stylish driver

Wildflowers everywhere

Homemade pizzas...yum!

Another Tractor lover

Hay Bales!

Palouse falls, WA

View near our house in the Gorge on Columbia River

Nearby lake within walking distance

Hamilton mountain trail down the road

Our picnic spot on Hamilton Mt. trail

Pool/waterfall on the trail

Eager to return

"The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.  He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel.  All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God." (Psalms 98:2-3)

Where do I begin... Erin and I had an awesome time in Haiti and are so thankful for all your thoughts and prayers!  One of the surprising opportunities we had during the trip was to fly out to Jeremie on the west side of Haiti to visit one of MAF's ministry partners called Haiti Bible Mission.

MAF delivers HBM staff and short-term teams back and forth between Port-au-Prince and Jeremie throughout the year so they can avoid costly and dangerous travel by road and remain focused on the people they serve.  We were able to play with children at the school they staff, and visit one of their local church plants.  It was encouraging to hear how God is bearing fruit in their ministry and see the impact they are having in their community first-hand.  This is just one of the many partners who use MAF to extend the love of Jesus Christ throughout Haiti!

Jeremie is the most likely location for language training when we first arrive in Haiti, and this trip allowed us to make a lot of preparations for when we return with the children toward the end of the year.

Throughout the rest of our week, we were able to get a lot of questions answered regarding potential housing and school options, and how we can best prepare for our future ministry.  It was a real blessing to spend some preliminary time getting to know our other MAF staff families who are currently serving in Haiti and hear how the Lord is moving in their midst.  Erin and I are eager to return and join the rest of the team!  Here are some pictures of our future home:

We feel greatly encouraged by the Lord's steadfast provision and shepherding hand preparing us along the way.  Just before our trip, we received word that we have reached 100% of our outgoing need!  Our ongoing monthly need continues to steadily increase at 71%, and we trust that God will abundantly supply in the months ahead.  Thank you for all your generosity and prayerful support! A special thank you to all who helped watch over our wonderful children while we were away.

Upcoming visit to Haiti

Erin and I are excited to share that we will have an opportunity at the end of February to make a short trip to Haiti!  During the trip, we hope to spend some quality time with the rest of the MAF families who currently serve there, take a look at some of the potential housing and school options for our children, and survey all we can as we prepare for our future ministry.  We look forward to our next blog update with lots of new pictures and likely some funny stories...stay tuned!

We want to express our deepest thanks to all who continue to generously give and pray for the needs of our family and ministry!  You may recall that we had a goal of being at 50% of both our ongoing and outgoing financial needs by January 1st.  We are amazed and humbled by God's provision and answer to prayer, and found ourselves at 54% of our monthly (ongoing) need, and 81% of our outgoing as the new year began!  Rejoice with us, as we see God leading us increasingly closer to our final training and preparation for Haiti!

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

Elsie just celebrated her sixth birthday and had a great time with friends and family.  On New years day, we headed up to the local sled hill to have some quality Daddy/daughter time together.  Because she is growing up and all, she wanted to go by herself...and loved it!  It is hard to believe our little girl is already six and doing kindergarten.  These are precious years that need to be soaked up and celebrated before they get away from us.

Speaking of growing up fast, Isaiah is about to celebrate his first birthday in February!  He is showing more of his personality these days and yes...getting into EVERYTHING!  He started walking regularly just before Christmas and has developed an entertaining style of keeping his arms outstretched like Franken-baby to keep his balance.  Check out this short video to see for yourself:

  

Sammy found himself on the couch just after Christmas with sickness.  Outside of that, we have had some time to get out and enjoy the snow together and he was able to test out the new Tractor/snowblower with Papa in really, REALLY cold weather.  We feel for some reason like we need to embrace the snow while we still can!

We are eager to share another update shortly after returning from our visit to Haiti. Looking forward to all the Lord has planned for us in 2016, and pray that you and your families will find His joy and blessing as you follow Him!  Thank you again for your prayer and financial support!

All this is Yours

"But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand." (1 Chronicles 29:14)

Erin and I have been greatly encouraged to feel the Lord strengthening us and abundantly supplying our need as we continue building our ministry team to serve in Haiti with MAF! This excerpt from 1 Chronicles shows King David's response to God after witnessing the tremendous provision from every corner of Israel in preparation to build the temple. His reaction and insight continues to echo in our hearts as we consider how the Lord has been building our ministry team these past four months. As people rally together and give back to God, the reaction should be a great sense of expectation and joy. "The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly." (1 Chronicles 29:9) David was rejoicing greatly, but so were the masses of people as they saw their leaders giving abundantly to the Lord. That sense of belonging and expectation in the Lord is noticed by the watching world, and leads many to put their trust in the Lord!

As we find ourselves full of thanksgiving and joy for all of you who continue to pray for us regularly and give financially, our hope is that you would also be full of expectation and joy for what God has done, is doing, and is about to do to share His love in places where it is not known!







Our hope is to be at 50% of our support targets by January 1st, and one of those targets has already been surpassed! We continue to place our need in the Lord's hand - trusting that He will supply our need in His perfect timing. Along with our financial need, we remember that God is preparing us in other ways as we progress toward our ministry in Haiti. It has been such a blessing for us to spend time building relationships, connect with family and friends, and share in the joy and expectation of what lies ahead! Here are some pictures of our kiddos and their recent adventures.

Thank you again for all your encouragement, prayer, and financial support! Have a very joy-filled Christmas and New Year!