After attending bible college, pastoring a church, then graduating seminary, people told Joel there was no way he needed more training before going to the field. But he is one year into the program and yesterday he told us:
"...now I can't imagine going to the mission field without this training!"
We agree!
In our last blog post we mentioned that Jacklyn has not been feeling well. Unfortunately, she has continued to feel poorly through our travels and our time settling here. But it is for an exciting reason – Jacklyn's pregnant! A sweet new family member will be arriving in March 2016! Until then, we are praying and trusting the Lord in His perfect timing. Please pray with us that we will walk faithfully through this time and cling to Him even tighter on the harder days.
The Lord has definitely been stretching us since we left Spokane. There have been many bumps along the way in our settling process here, some big and others small. Trying to settle and adjust to a totally new life in the midst of the morning sickness has most definitely been the hardest. And we really miss Spokane and Faith Bible Church! But God is so good! And he has been strengthening our marriage and drawing us closer to Himself through it all. The people here have also been a huge encouragement to us. People who hardly know us have been bringing us meals, doing our dishes, and loving on us in so many practical ways. It has been overwhelming and a beautiful lesson to us of the love of Christ coming out in His people.
Every morning we go to classes together and the boys go to the NTM childcare next door. It has been sweet to watch them settle and make new friends. They, particularly Frankie, are beginning to understand a little better that this will be home for a while and it is great to see them adjusting well. Frankie is loving his preschool class! It’s fun to hear him break out into a new song he learned in class or share stories from the day.
The campus here is right off the Lake of the Ozarks. Pretty much everything on campus is within walking distance so we really only load up in the van once or twice a week. It is lovely to get a little fresh air on our brief walk to class each morning.
A little Missouri trivia for you: The Lake of the Ozarks has more shoreline than the entire state of California!
We were able to make it down to enjoy our beach a couple times before the lake began to cool down. The boys loved the water!
"...now I can't imagine going to the mission field without this training!"
We agree!
In our last blog post we mentioned that Jacklyn has not been feeling well. Unfortunately, she has continued to feel poorly through our travels and our time settling here. But it is for an exciting reason – Jacklyn's pregnant! A sweet new family member will be arriving in March 2016! Until then, we are praying and trusting the Lord in His perfect timing. Please pray with us that we will walk faithfully through this time and cling to Him even tighter on the harder days.
The Lord has definitely been stretching us since we left Spokane. There have been many bumps along the way in our settling process here, some big and others small. Trying to settle and adjust to a totally new life in the midst of the morning sickness has most definitely been the hardest. And we really miss Spokane and Faith Bible Church! But God is so good! And he has been strengthening our marriage and drawing us closer to Himself through it all. The people here have also been a huge encouragement to us. People who hardly know us have been bringing us meals, doing our dishes, and loving on us in so many practical ways. It has been overwhelming and a beautiful lesson to us of the love of Christ coming out in His people.
Every morning we go to classes together and the boys go to the NTM childcare next door. It has been sweet to watch them settle and make new friends. They, particularly Frankie, are beginning to understand a little better that this will be home for a while and it is great to see them adjusting well. Frankie is loving his preschool class! It’s fun to hear him break out into a new song he learned in class or share stories from the day.
The campus here is right off the Lake of the Ozarks. Pretty much everything on campus is within walking distance so we really only load up in the van once or twice a week. It is lovely to get a little fresh air on our brief walk to class each morning.
A little Missouri trivia for you: The Lake of the Ozarks has more shoreline than the entire state of California!
We were able to make it down to enjoy our beach a couple times before the lake began to cool down. The boys loved the water!
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Introductory classes included topics like the history and values of NTM, the history and culture of the area (for the purpose of building community relationships), NTM's doctrine, practical ministries in the area, and different learning styles.
Worldview class is now in full swing and we have been challenged in analyzing core worldview assumptions both in our culture as well as other cultures around the world. This is huge! Without first understanding their worldview, you cannot clearly communicate the gospel or protect against syncretism and other conflicting truths.
May we shout out a huge "thank you!" to those of you who have been praying for us? If only we could adequately express how much your prayers are an encouragement! We can’t do this without you and we sure feel God working through your prayers. Thank you for investing your time to pray for our family!
Worldview class is now in full swing and we have been challenged in analyzing core worldview assumptions both in our culture as well as other cultures around the world. This is huge! Without first understanding their worldview, you cannot clearly communicate the gospel or protect against syncretism and other conflicting truths.
- Please pray we can stay focused and absorb the class material well.
- Pray for health - community is tight here and germs spread fast. When our kids are even a little sick, one of us must stay home from class.
- Pray for wisdom as we choose a couple who will mentor us and play a big role in our acceptance as members to NTM at the end of the school year.
- Please pray that we will walk faithfully through this pregnancy and cling to the Lord even tighter on the harder days.
May we shout out a huge "thank you!" to those of you who have been praying for us? If only we could adequately express how much your prayers are an encouragement! We can’t do this without you and we sure feel God working through your prayers. Thank you for investing your time to pray for our family!
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