An MK in the Making...

MK = Missionary Kid.

Since we plan to head to Papua New Guinea to be missionaries, Sophie and Brielle will be MKs. As a result, they will have different experiences than their peers in the USA, and sometimes these differences will be obvious. Sophie showed her first signs of being an MK during our time on vacation with Ben's family this past week at Gull Lake. Sophie went to a class for kids her age in the mornings, and her Aunt Becca got to be one of her teachers! One day when we picked Sophie up, Becca told us that they did a pretend ride on the wooden train. She said she had all the kids hop on the train, and then she said, "Ok we arrived! Where are we?" She said most kids would say things like, "McDonalds!" or "Chuck E Cheese!" But not Sophie. She shouted, "Papua New Guinea!" haha!

Later in the week she got on the train, so we turned the video camera on to see if we asked her again if she would say the same thing... and she did! 

Packing: On the Move Again

We are packing! Getting ready to move into our 6th home since getting married 5 years ago! We are ready, and we are pretty efficient packers, but I admit that I always get overwhelmed at the start of packing. It's just a daunting task, and it's hard to decide which things you can do without for several weeks. 

We have to be out of our apartment by the end of July. Then we'll have some time with family, including going on vacation with the Miller family, before heading to MTC on August 10. 

Thankfully Sophie is so good about it! When I started packing, she saw me put her lion in a box and went to take it out. I told her we had to leave it in there if she wanted us to move it to our new house. She put him right back and has since been helping me by packing her toys while I pack other things! It's so refreshing that she has a good attitude about us packing her stuff up.

Please pray for us as we pack, live on the go for a couple of weeks, move, and transition.

Money Matters: Seventy Percent

It's true. Money matters. When we're looking for people to "partner" with us in order to be missionaries to an unreached people group, we're not ONLY looking for those who give financially. We NEED people who will pray for us, advocate for us, communicate with us, host us, and care for us in countless other ways. But we never want to minimize the importance of those who give to us financially. We absolutely could not live among an unreached people group without those who partner with us financially.

Some people have been confused as to whether we are needing financial partners now. The answer is YES! We will need help financially in order to study the 3 semesters at the Missionary Training Center. The reason for this is because the staff at the MTC advise against working during our time there. On top of our classes and homework, we will have to be involved in a ministry and Ben will have to work around the MTC campus in the afternoon. Ben plans to work on summer break, but in order to gain the most out of our training, he won't work during the school year. 

Ben and I have crunched all of the numbers, and right now it looks like we'll need around $11,500 per semester. This includes the cost of attending the MTC (which is right around $7000), plus all of our living expenses (food, toiletries, insurance, travel). We'll need $1918 for each month. We've added up all of the one-time gifts and monthly supporters we have thus far (THANK YOU!), and we are at 70% for our first semester!! This means we need $564 more for each month or a total of $3384 for the first semester.

If you're interested in giving, you can learn how to do so here. If you're reading this and are unable to give financially to us, we'd appreciate your prayers that God will provide for us and raise up people who can and desire to financially partner with us. Thank you!

	First Semester Needs
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Called to Play it Safe

(This is a third and final post on thoughts I have after reading "A Holy Ambition" by John Piper. The other posts are here and here.)

"The price is suffering, and the volatility in the world today against the church is not decreasing. It is increasing, especially among the groups that need the gospel" (Piper 120).

Suffering. Ah, suffering. Let's be honest. When I think about being a missionary, I don't think about suffering much. I mean, I think about the kind of suffering that involves giving up: American comforts, owning a home of my own, living close to family, owning a pet dog, attending my home church, having access to grocery stores and restaurants and Auntie Anne pretzels. Yes, I think of that type of suffering often. And I don't want to minimize how hard all of those things will be to give up... to leave for years at a time. But that type of suffering is only a fraction of the type of suffering that Jesus went through. That Paul went through. That many missionaries and many native believers in foreign countries are going through this very minute as their bodies are brutally beaten for the gospel.

Piper talks about Americanism...
"It's the absorption of a consumer, comfort, ease culture that is permeating the church. And it creates little ministries and churches in which safe, secure, nice things are done for each other. And little safe excursions are made to help save some others" (122).
... and this mentality has certainly seeped into my mind. I like safe, little ministries. I like safety. I like serving God while feeling safe. The best of both worlds, right?

But Piper (and ultimately the Lord) reminds my heart that suffering is necessary, though I try to deny it. "...suffering is the means and not just the price." Suffering is the means to get the gospel to the nations.

Maybe I won't have to suffer in any ways more brutal than the ways I listed in the first paragraph. But I must be willing. We all must be willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel. If we really believe it, why would we not be willing?

John Piper wrote a paragraph that really caught my attention. He says, "Paul's self-understanding of his mission is that there is one thing lacking in the sufferings of Jesus. The love offering of Christ is to be presented in person through missionaries to the people for whom he died. And Paul says, 'I do this in my sufferings. In my sufferings I complete what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ. [Col. 1:24]' Which means that Christ intends for the Great Commission to be a presentation to the nations of the sufferings of his cross through the sufferings of his people. That's the way it will be finished. If you sign up for the Great Commission, that's what you sign up for" (124)

Am I ready to sign up? To be honest... I'm not sure. But I have signed up. So I trust that God will help me in my weakness.

"Jesus died in our place so that we might escape the wrath of God, not the wrath of man... Don't ever elevate safety in missions to the point where you assume that if one of our missionaries is killed we have made a mistake" (Piper 136).

So, no... I wasn't really called to play it safe. I wish I was sometimes. But when I read the Bible, I just can't find any justification for living a life where I play it safe.

The Missionary Sender

Picture from Justin Bullington

(This is a second post on thoughts I have after reading "A Holy Ambition" by John Piper. The first post is here.)

As John Piper puts it, "There are only three kinds of people: goers, senders, and the disobedient" (168).  I heard this quote a couple of years ago, and it's always caused me to pause and think. Of course, Ben and I plan to be "goers," but while we have been in the early parts of training, we have been working. We might not have much, but we've still had enough to be senders. And later on down the road, we may be senders as well. So this post challenges me just as much as I hope it will challenge you.

This past year we have been incredibly blessed by the body of Christ. I have seen what a dynamic giver looks like on several occasions, and I am more confident than I ever was before that God intends for some people to stay put and send. And the people who are obedient to this calling and recognize it as an actual calling by God are really darn good at this calling. I feel, so, so blessed by these people and praise God that he has called them to be senders.

I do think all people must be open to going... but God will not call everyone to go... for good reason! "In God's eyes both the goers and the senders are crucial. There are no first and second class Christians in God's hierarchy of values. Together the goers and senders are 'fellow-workers with the truth' (3 John 8)" (Piper 168).

Some people can't go (usually because of health), but many people can and just aren't called. Just like I'm not sure why God calls certain people to go, I'm also not sure why he calls certain people to stay and send. I know some people who are extremely business savvy and have had businesses making the big bucks, but God has called them to go. Why not have them stay and send with all of the money they bring in? I guess because it's not about the money. God doesn't need rich people to get the gospel to the nations. Some of the best givers are those who have little. On the other hand, I know some people who have awesome gifts and talents who I think God could use incredibly on the mission field, yet he calls them to stay. And I wonder why. I guess it's because God doesn't need the most gifted and talented people as missionaries to get the gospel to the nations. Sometimes ordinary people have the greatest ministries. Basically... God knows what he's doing, and he certainly does it different than how I would. Good thing I'm not God.
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"To send in a manner worthy of God is to so recognize the supreme importance of proclaiming the name of God in word and deed among the nations that we will do whatever we can to support those who go out for the sake of the name -- spiritually, practically, emotionally, financially" (Piper 166).  (3 John 6-8)

"Conviction #10- We are called to a wartime lifestyle for the sake of going and sending. To send in a manner worthy of God and to go for the sake of the name, we must constantly fight the deception that we are living in peace time when we think that the luxury of self-indulgence is the only power that can break the boredom. O may God open our eyes to what is at stake in the war raging between heaven and hell.
  The spirit of the great missionary, Paul, must grip us more and more. 'I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ' (Philippians 3:8).
  In wartime everything changes. The luxury liner, Queen Mary, became a troop carrier, and instead of bunks three high they were stacked seven high. Resources are allocated differently in wartime. And we are in a war far more devastating than World War II.
  A wartime lifestyle presents itself not as a legalistic burden, but as a joyful acknowledgment that our resources aren't entrusted to us for our own private pleasure but for the greater pleasure of stewarding them for the advancement of the kingdom of God (Acts 20:35; Matthew 6:33)" (Piper 166-167).
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That second quote really gets to me because it doesn't just apply to those who are sending but also to those who are going, and to be honest, there are some pretty comfortable missionary positions these days. It could be pretty easy to live a luxurious lifestyle even as a missionary. I have to fight against desires, wants, and materialism just as much as anyone else

With this post, I want to express how ENCOURAGED I am by those who have been called to send and have embraced this calling. I want to express how CHALLENGED I have been to recognize what a difficult position being a sender is. Ben and I have talked before about how we have the easier position in some ways. By going, we don't have all of the pleasures at our fingertips, so we have less to say no to. We understand how difficult it is to live in America as a Christian. The materialism and luxuries and opportunities and gadgets and distractions are constantly knocking at your door. We understand. And because we understand, we are even more grateful to see people give up these luxuries in order to expand the reach of the gospel.

If you're reading this and you're not a "goer," I want to give some practical exhortations. I hesitated on whether I wanted to do this, but I think for some of you this may be helpful since you may not be sure where to start. These aren't necessarily in any order.

1. Make sure you're open to going. This doesn't mean he will call you to go, but allow him to work in your life in this area if you're currently closed to the idea.
2. Pray about how you can help get the gospel to the nations.
3. Become familiar with the missionaries your church sends. If you're in a small group, maybe you can "adopt" one. Or maybe you personally can "adopt" one.
4. Pray about how you can give of your finances to further the kingdom of God.
5. Pray for missionaries whom you know.
6. Encourage missionaries in other ways... email, snail mail, care package, hosting when they're home, etc.
7. If you have kids, help your kids to encourage missionary kids and to have an understanding of world missions.

Seriously, we are so thankful for the missionary sender. Without such a person, we would not be able to be a missionary goer. God uses the body of Christ in incredible ways, and we're glad he designed it to function together rather than separate.

A Messy Paintbrush

One thing I have really enjoyed about this year off from training is the time I've had to read good, quality reading material... books of my own choosing. I really enjoy John Piper sermons and books. Regardless of whether you agree with his doctrine or not, I think it's hard to deny the fact that he loves the Lord intensely. Whenever I read or hear him, I am challenged in my faith. The book I just finished is called "A Holy Ambition" and it is a collection of sermons on missions by John Piper.

While I enjoyed the book as a whole and was challenged and encouraged in many areas, there were 3 areas that especially stuck out to me: the people God sends, the position of a sender, and suffering as a missionary. I'd like to do a blog post on each of these, but I'll start with the people God sends:
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I'm a perfectionist. I'm also a people pleaser. Combine these two, and I hate, hate, hate for anyone to see my imperfections, even myself. Frankly, I just try to do all the right things so that everyone can like me... including God. I could write a whole chapter on how this has affected my life and my relationship with God and about how God has changed me and worked in me through this, but I'll just suffice to say that while I know that I can never be good enough for God (Jesus' blood is the only thing that makes me worthy of his love and forgiveness), I like to think I can be. And there are many times in my life that I have felt satisfied that I am doing all of the right things to be good enough.

How ironic then that being a missionary is what has made my heart truly begin to grasp how imperfect I am. I can't tell you how many times I talk to others about what we're doing or spend time preparing a presentation on our future plans and just feel overwhelmed at my imperfections.

Being a missionary is humbling. It's humbling to know that our lives are on display for all to see. It's humbling to know that others will be giving up their hard-earned money to support us (and it's humbling to ask for money). It's humbling to know that because of this, others will have expectations of us. It's humbling to not own a home and to move around so often. It's humbling to share that God has called us to be among those who go.

And I often wonder why us? I don't really know the answer to this, except that God has given us the ability to do so and the desire to do so, so we will.

Below are the quotes from John Piper's sermon collection that really encouraged me in this area:

"The brushes he uses are messy, ordinary people who have seen the unsearchable riches of Christ and are willing, and often eager, to take these riches to the nations. The brushes are broken, sinning, ordinary missionaries" (Piper 93).

"God intends to use ordinary, messy, small paint brushes on the canvas of the history of missions because every minute stroke of his brush matters" (Piper 93).

"No missionary feels sufficient. But 2 Corinthians 3:5 says, 'Our sufficiency is from God.'" (Piper 102).

"There are no perfect missionaries. Help me [Lord]. To love you more than money. To be real and sincere. To speak your word. To fear no man. To get all I need from Christ" (Piper 104).

Blog Makeover

That's right... I decided it was time to give our blog a change... for several reasons:
1. A change every now and then is always nice
2. To make our information and what we're planning to do easier to access
3. To make it look more professional

So, with that said, here are the changes you can look for:

1. New colors and a new layout - yay! This is mostly just for fun and for ease of the eyes.

2. We've added more pages to help our blog to stay more organized and to give you a better idea of what we are up to or how you can partner with us for our missions work. Click on any of the page links at the top of this blog page, and you can read through them. We'll periodically update these pages, particularly the "prayer needs" one, so feel free to check back on them from time to time.

To the right of this post, you'll see what looks just like the screenshot above. ^

3. We've added a "search this blog" button-- just incase you want to. Or incase we want to :)

4. We've added a way for you to subscribe to our newsletter, via our blog. We'll most likely send this newsletter out 1-3 times a year, so we won't spam your email box too crazily. 

5. We've added a "Follow this Blog by Email" button. You enter your email address and then you'll get an email everytime we write an update. I write blog updates anywhere between 1-6 times a month, usually, so beware that signing up for this will fill up your inbox a little more. We've added this button by special request of one of our mothers though, so we know at least she will like it. :)

In other news, we just sent out a new newsletter and prayer card! There are still some in the mail and on their way (and a couple that I misplaced that will go out on monday), but hopefully many of you have received them by now! If you have not received a newsletter from us and would like one, please let me know, and we'd be happy to get you added to our Newsletter List and send you a copy. For now, we have enjoyed sending out copies by snail mail. It certainly takes more time... and more money... but I loved that it gave me the opportunity to pray over every name individually that was receiving a copy. (Below is just a screenshot of our newsletter, so you won't be able to actually read it unless you can squint really small.)

If there are any other ways we can make our blog easier to navigate or our information more available to you, please comment and let us know!