The Barber Family

Victory!!

2012-02-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

One of the things that some of you who have been to Africa will know is that Africa has Rats. Even though we live in a very beautiful compound we still see probably 3 rats a day running around. Karina even saw one at the kitchen door once and since then we have made sure to keep the kitchen door closed. Well I don't like rats and neither does Karina so the other day I was talking to my neighbor about the rats and he asked me if I knew how to make a snare, well it's been a long time since I have made a snare but hey I had some wire so why not try it and VICTORY!!! we have killed our first rat! hopefully not our last. Now me and my neighbor are both on a mission to rid our compound of as many rats as we can. So more snares went up tonight.

I would share a picture of this victory but most of you probably wont want to see a picture of a dead rat so for now you will have to use your imagination. Or if you really want to see my boy scout snare just send me an e-mail.

Rob

First Weeks of Work

2012-01-27T03:49:00.000-08:00

Well it has been a few weeks since we landed here in Madagascar and I (Rob) thought that I would write a bit about what has been happening at the hanger. Since our arrival I have set up my office and basically been bound to my desk ever since sorting out paperwork and other jobs that have been left for "Rob." :)

I don't mind this, I knew before I arrived that there would be a lot of things waiting for my attention once I set up shop. It is also a good way for me to get my feet under this new role and learn all the details about running a maintenance shop. Over the next few months there will be lots of changes that are going to happen, manuals that need to be revised, a new maintenance inspection program needs to be incorporated, as well as all the details involving the arrival of another aircraft, a Cessna 182 SMA diesel. Some of the things that have to be worked out is all the spare parts that need to be ordered and shipped, all the special tooling required for another aircraft, and all the paperwork involved with exporting an aircraft from USA and importing an aircraft into Madagascar. We don't want it to arrive here and find out that we needed some special tool/part and be stuck waiting for that tool/part when the aircraft should be out flying and serving the people.

I am really enjoying being back "working" again at the thing I love to do and am really excited to be a part of the team here.

It will be a busy few months as we move forward with all the challenges but I know that the Lord is with us and will help us. It's a wonderfully comforting feeling knowing that you are where God wants you to be. My prayer for everyone is that you be where God wants you to be and feel the comfort that He provides.

Attempting "Normal-ness"

2012-01-19T03:37:00.000-08:00

In the heat of all of the cultural differences and lifestyle changes we are experiencing, we are attempting to return to a 'normal' routine. Rob is finding his way around the MAF Hangar and office, and I have returned to my role as stay-at-home mom without daddy's immense helping hand. I am happy to see him begin to get back into what he loves and what God has called our family here to do, but there is some adjusting that's happening. Being January, and not summer holidays as it sort of feels like here, I decided we should start our school routine as soon as possible. It seems to me that when school work is happening, it helps to give the day some structure and we have goals that we're trying to reach. Getting back into this normal routine has helped us feel like we are kind of adjusting.

Faith enjoys doing school, for the most part, so returning to this routine has been fairly seamless.

Other things we are enjoying as of late:

Lychees

Fresh Avocados

Finding Friends like These

New Additions

2012-01-08T02:39:00.000-08:00

So 4 little tortoises were brought to our compound yesterday. Two of them found a home at our house, and the other two with our neighbors!

Shopping & Making Friends

2012-01-06T03:20:00.000-08:00

The kids are really enjoying our new outdoor lifestyle. It's only because of the intermittent rains that they come indoors. The first couple of days here, I found Wesley putting on his shoes or sandals as soon as he got out of bed!

We have been able to explore some of the things immediately surrounding our compound. There is a bit of an open market with fruit and vegetable stands about 5 minutes away from our place. This was a cultural experience! Rob and I, accompanied by our very capable neighbors, have each been taken to different stores as we search for things that we didn't bring with us. One of our first larger purchases was a washing machine, and from the sounds of it that was quite the experience itself. The way Rob explained it to me it sounded like the purchase required about 10 signatures witnessed by several other people and paperwork. As well, most appliances are tested at the store once they are purchased to ensure they work. I suppose if they worked at the store, theoretically they should work at home and there should be no need for any returns. I'd imagine returning anything would be next to impossible.

Faith is already over at a "friend's" house this afternoon, and she is becoming pretty attached to our next door neighbor's son. After six months without friends, I am happy to see her make friends so easily and enjoy being with other people.

The rainy season has started I think, which means as soon as the laundry is hung, it starts to rain on it. :)

A couple of pictures of the children playing in the backyard.

Happy New Year - Bring on the Change!

2012-01-05T10:15:00.000-08:00

So we havearrived at our country of assignment, after a year and a half of knowing wewould be coming Madagascar. It is a bit surreal that we are actually here. AndI must admit when we made our final descent to Antananarivo airport I shed afew tears amazed that we actually made it halfway around the globe with 4little children in tow! They did amazingly—Only by God’s grace. They didn’tstart complaining until we were in the airport in Tana when the humidity andthe exhaustion hit them.

For thoseof you interested in the details of our trip – read on. For the rest, picturesare at the bottom! From the beginningnow, we left Quebec City on Friday afternoon. I was taken with the girls to thebus depot where I took a charter bus to Montreal. Rob drove the MAF van, thatwe have been borrowing since the summer, with all of our gear and the boys. Wetook the bus because there was no way we would all be able to fit! We allarrived at our hotel around supper time. The girls and I took quite the detourhowever, because the charter bus dropped us off at Trudeau airport and we weresupposed to get a hotel shuttle bus from there. I didn’t realize there weremultiple Comfort Inns nearby, and the one I called, well, their shuttle bus wasout of service for about 30 minutes because of a medical emergency for apassenger. So we had the choice of hiring a taxi, or standing outside (withoutshelter) in -20 degree weather and it was snowing heavily. So decided to take ataxi, plus the hotel offered to foot the bill because their shuttle was goingto be down for a bit. The girls were already quite tired of traveling by this point.Joyanne was saying “Mommy, I have to pee, mommy I have to pee!” Over and overagain, I was feeling overwhelmed by the airport and unfamiliarity ofeverything, plus doing this minor transfer solo. Poor Joyanne was ignored, andI even had to say, “Look, it’s ok, you have a pull-up on. If you have to go,just go.” L Badmommy. And Faith was very cold apparently, and unimpressed by getting snowedon. Our taxi driver was also unimpressed by me, because the hotel I asked himto take me to, (I found out en route after phoning Rob and verifying the hotel)that it was the wrong hotel. Rather than graciously driving me around and beingglad I was charging more km’s to his meter, he was very upset with my apparentineptitude. After doing a circle or two around, we finally got dropped off atthe wrong hotel, and had the shuttle bus pick us up from there to take us tothe correct hotel!

Enough ofthat. Day 2 of the travel we had to check out of our hotel by noon. Because wehad so much stuff in the van, and we couldn’t all fit, a MAF advocate was niceenough to come and help us get from the hotel to the airport. Once at theairport, Air France wouldn’t let us check in because we were too early. Ourflight wasn’t leaving until 7:55pm, and it was only 1:00. So, we waited andwaited, had lunch, broke a glass bottle of Calvin’s and spilled formula allover the floor (by accident). The MAF advocate was so great, he even rearrangedhis day to be able to stay longer than expected to help us check in all of ourluggage: 9 Rubbermaid totes, 1 small toolbox and a suitcase! The wait on theother side of security didn’t feel quite so long. Finally we were aboard ourfirst flight to Paris, a 5.5 hour flight from Montreal. The kids were amazingon this flight. After they served dinner both Wesley and Joyanne fell asleep,and Faith slept toward the end as well. It was unfortunate though that she wokeup as we were making our descent, so being groggy and a bit airsick from somewind outside, she managed to throw up twice. Once landed, everybody stood upanxious to leave the aircraft. And all of the sudden I heard Wesley, who was inthe middle section with Rob and Joyanne (I was on the side with the other 2children), begin to scream! I saw Rob lift him up and he was holding his mouthwhich was bleeding! Rob quickly cleared a pathway to the back of the aircraftwhere they gave Wesley some ice. I guess he fell on his seat, also excited tobe leaving the plane. I felt terrible for Faith now, who had just finishedthrowing up, yet insisted on bringing her airsickness bag with her out of theplane—because now she had to run around Paris airport with us, pulling her own suitcase. Keep in mind that ourbodies thought it was 3am by this point. I didn’t hear barely a complaint fromthe kids during our runaround Paris airport. We had a 2 hour layover, butbetween taking a bus to the next terminal, going through security again, andtaking a second bus to the aircraft, we literally made it to the airplane asthey were boarding. This was the long-haul flight. 11 Hours. Joyanne fellasleep on take-off and stayed asleep for about 6 hours! Wesley was quick tofollow. Calvin didn’t go as easily however, and Faith refused to sleep untilthe final hour of the flight! Silly girl, but fortunately she didn’t have anyneed for the barf bag again. She slept through this descent. Through thisflight both Rob and mine voices were going. I couldn’t do much more than whisperat him across the isle. It was terrible, but kind of funny at the same time.

Wow,Madagascar. My first impression as we came to the open door of the aircraft,“Wow, the air is warm! Yay! Wow, look at all of the flying things! (Bugs) Wow,listen to all of the different sounds!”

We made itthrough customs without incident. The kids were getting very anxious to havethe trip over by this time. They were in their flannel jammies, and feeling fartoo warm for comfort. Faith wanted her clothes off, and I refused! Joyanne andWesley were sweating like crazy, and Calvin was ready to go “Home.”

We arrivedhome to our beds ready and waiting. It was like Christmas for the kids.Suddenly when we arrived there, they had a burst of energy and startedscreaming for joy and running around the almost empty house! Wes spotted agecko in the back yard, and I spotted my first cockroach on the wall in thegirls’ room. The cockroach was quickly killed by my brave neighbour Jocelyn.Thank you Jocelyn. I only wish our voices weren’t gone so we were able to talkwithout me straining so much. But as I get more rest, my voice is getting backto normal.

Letting thedust settle now..... we are adapting to the new time zone fairly well I think.Our wonderful other MAF families are cooking dinner for us this first week. Robhas been out shopping, and we both went to the hangar to see where he willwork.

Thank youso much for the abundance of prayers. We know that it’s only by God’s grace wemade it here without too much excitement, and we trust it’s only by Hisstrength that we will continue on this journey here.

Québec

2011-12-25T15:03:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas today and the best part about Christmas is celebrating the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We celebrated this together at our home and at our church here in Québec. We also said our goodbyes to everyone because this was our last Sunday here. We have had a wonderful time here and have been pleasantly surprised by the warmth of the people and the willingness of everyone we have met to help us out with our limited French vocabulary.

I put together this short video from clips of our last 6 months here.

Québec from Rob Barber on Vimeo.

Merry Christmas everyone!
Our next post will be from Madagascar!

Gingerbread Houses and Packing? Again!

2011-12-21T12:10:00.000-08:00

This year we decided to make gingerbread house fronts! The kids really enjoyed decorating their own houses without fear of them collapsing. Although, I'm pretty sure Joyanne and Wesley each ate more candy than actually made it onto their cookie house.

We are also entering the "packing" stage once again. It will be nice to settle for awhile once we arrive in Africa. However, there's something refreshing about purging and cleaning out areas of the home. It's so easy to accumulate things that we don't use anymore. Different plans have been made and changed and made and changed about getting our family and belongings to Montreal Airport, and I think we have the plan basically down pat now. Not only must we clear our own personal effects out of our apartment, but the appliances and furniture which were provided for us must also go to new homes. We are happy to pass along some of the larger items to somebody connected with our church. But we still need to sort out where the fridge and stove will go. Then there's the question of making do without beds and major appliances and for how long? Not only that, but we cannot fit our entire family in the van with all of our bags that will accompany us to Africa. Without boring you with details, unless of course I get asked about it :), I will just say that a plan has been drawn up, and I believe we will make it to Montreal with our things in tow, and the apartment will be empty upon our departure! Even if it means eating take-out or at restaurants for a day or so before we leave.

The days are ticking by quickly! It's hard to believe we only have 2 more French sessions with our amazing tutor. I have really enjoyed getting to know her over the past few months. I have promised her an email in July demonstrating how my French has advanced. I pray it will!

A few more things to get sorted out before we go: (in list format, since we are experts at "lists" these days)

Administer the children's final dose of Dukoral (vaccine against Cholera)
Move the fridge and stove
Sort what we take to Africa
Sort what we give away
Sort what to throw away
Purchase some sticker books for the airplane (Joyanne LOVES stickers)
Purchase headphones for the children
Stay on top of Laundry
Pack our Carry-Ons
Organize Calvin's food for travel
Organize clothing for our overnight in Montreal
Organize clothing for travel the next day
Deposit any Canadian cash/cheques we have
Give back borrowed items (school books, Christmas decorations, furniture...)
Make a trip to the thrift shop
Mail our internet modem back to Bell
Print out airline tickets BEFORE we do something with the printer that we aren't taking
Charge batteries in any electronics we are taking on the airplane

I'm sure some other things will come up or come to my mind in the next few days here. Probably when I'm lying in bed trying to fall asleep. :)

Things are surprisingly relaxed around here. We are listening to a lot of Third Day Christmas, and spending much time watching the snow outside. It's really strange for us to see this much snow so close to Christmas. We learned that in Québec City, we have a 90% chance of experiencing a white Christmas. That's amazing for us BCers who spent our lives in the lower mainland/Vancouver Island area. Usually our snow doesn't arrive until mid-January or February. Christmas Day is usually gray with a bit of rainy drizzle. It has been lovely to see the bright white here! And our tutor is convinced Québec is experiencing an extremely mild November/December due to us being here. The temperatures have barely dipped below -12, which is apparently unusual. I haven't minded the mildness, let me tell you! We have managed to avoid buying boots for our entire family, and we are still surviving on light jackets with many many sweaters or shirts underneath.

Happy Christmas to all. Blessings to you during this holiday season - remembering Christ's birth and what He has done for us, and continues to do for us each day.

Merci Seigneur, pour Ton amour pour nous et ton fils qui est venu comme un bébé. Tu es Roi!

Merry Christmas - December Newsletter!

2011-12-07T10:02:00.001-08:00

We celebrated an early Christmas this year with Karina's parents. They came out last week for a week-long visit, and we had a great time seeing Old Quebec and showing them some of our favorite spots. We also cooked a turkey dinner and opened a few Christmas gifts with the kids and then surprised the kids with a late evening drive through Old Quebec in their pj's. We are so thankful to have had this time with them, and watching them leave to return to BC this morning was difficult. However, God has continued to give us peace about this move, and we anxious to begin a new chapter!

Below is a link to our December family newsletter.

December Newsletter

Winter in the Old City

2011-12-03T05:58:00.001-08:00

We have been blessed with a series of visitors in the month of November and now into December. (First my sister, then my friend, and now my parents!) Taking them down to the Old City has been a real treat, even though we've had to bundle up like crazy in an attempt to stay warm!! More pictures to come....

Departure

2011-10-29T05:16:00.000-07:00

In about 9 short weeks we will be boarding a plane to Paris and then on to Tana, Lord willing. We are very excited to be starting this part of our missions journey. In some ways it feels like the journey hasn't begun, but the Lord has been teaching us many things in these past couple of years since following His lead to serving with MAF in Africa. We are anticipating many more lessons and changes and challenges, but also joys and memorable experiences shared together as a family.

Still Here

2011-10-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

Photo taken from Telegraph.co.uk

Just a quick update. Yes, we are still in Quebec City plodding our way through French language school. We just said goodbye to Rob's mom yesterday. She was visiting us for a couple of weeks and also had the chance to see a bit of Eastern Canada with another friend. It was a great visit! The only downside was that we had to say good bye again. :(

Our October newsletter should be in the mail shortly!

We are also thinking about how differently we will celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas here. It is the first year for our family to be alone during the holidays. Usually holidays are marked with family gatherings...cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and great-grandparents. This year, it is just our little family. Yes, we realize it is something we must get used to, and will probably come to enjoy more and more as our children grow and we develop our own special ways of celebrating. We also know that in Tana, there is a small missionary community in the same situation. I would expect there is some sense of community during holiday celebrations? Anyhow, for now, perhaps it is a chance to reflect on the significance of the season without the distractions of outward celebrations.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Enchantment in the Old City

2011-09-17T17:41:00.000-07:00

Sunday Morning at Church

2011-09-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it feels as though we are already in a foreign country as we are living in Quebec City right now. If you want to talk about things relating to adjusting to a different culture, I think overcoming a language barrier is somewhere near the top of the list! Or maybe I think that now because it's all I really know about entering a new culture. On Sunday morning we busily ready ourselves for church as many of you are probably doing. We comfortably communicate with each other and gather what we will need to keep the children busy. We think about our church family back home, and are reminded once again, we won't be seeing them this morning.

Upon arrival at the small Alliance church we attend in Quebec City, we are greeted with many smiling faces and "Bonjour!" At times even a question about something... "What did they ask?" We think to ourselves. Quickly, we are reminded we don't understand hardly anything, and it will be a long morning of trying to piece together a very large puzzle. We have a few pieces, but many are still missing. Our brains are about to get a major "work-out.!" Some of the worship songs we recognize based on the tunes. And after quickly glancing around, we realize they are in mid-prayer. Shhhhh Kids! The worship service is a mixture of order and spontaneity. I'm positive I would appreciate it 100% more if I understood exactly what everyone was getting so excited or emotional over. However - I quickly remind myself, wait a minute. I serve the same God they do. Jesus, whom they are worshiping saved all of us. They are excited about that! I don't have to understand every word.

After two hours of catching perhaps 5% of the words, our minds are worn out. We drive home and ask each other about the service, if it isn't completely jumbled in our minds by this time. Again we're reminded that the only way we will be able to get through is by God's grace. Often we feel as though we will never understand what people are saying. And then there are few glimmers of hope. A few, "ah ha!" moments where a concept finally makes sense. Thank you Jesus for helping us to understand!

Reflecting On Our Journey

2011-09-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

I find myself reflecting on our journey to where we are now. Albeit, we aren't even in our assigned country yet, I am realizing what is happening is about more than simply arriving. Not to mention, when we do arrive in Madagascar, there will be a host of other things to adjust to and realize and learn! The journey will continue even after.

As much as we can become distracted by the journey and lose sight of the destination sometimes, perhaps it is important to reflect on our path and remember to thank God for what He has already done, and what He is doing!

In 2008, shortly after the birth of our first son we sensed a change was coming. Having no idea what that change was, we began searching. When God laid it on our hearts in the beginning of 2009 to see about serving with MAF, the passion for this ministry began to blossom. Neither of us ever saw ourselves serving overseas. As well, that seemed to be the farthest thing from our minds! Why would we ever want to leave life-long friendships, a wonderful church family, and our own extended family? Not to mention the life that we had begun to build together in our first couple of years married. Sometimes God's plans are very different from our own. Now almost 3 years later, we are even more convinced that this is what God should have our family do. We have seen Him provide a huge number of team members for this ministry. We have seen Him bring together people to help us prepare to leave. He has been our faithful Father providing to us strength for each part of this journey, none too soon either--just as we need day by day. We praise Him for His provision. And we are promised in His Word to us that He is the same yesterday today and forever! As we delight to walk in His will, we are also convinced that He will teach us and mold us and use us for His glory.

Applying for service with MAF in 2009

"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth." The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Ps 46:10-11

Nehemiah's Steadfastness

2011-08-26T17:35:00.000-07:00

We have been listening to a new series about Nehemiah from Heritage Bible Church in Boise, ID. We visited this church when we were in Nampa in 2009, undergoing evaluations at the MAF US headquarters, and really liked the Bible teaching there. Being able to access solid Bible teaching online is a great resource for us as the church we are attending currently is all in French. So, we're not understanding a whole lot on Sunday mornings so far! :) Anyhow, we didn't realize how fitting this series would be for us at this time, but it's evidence of God working and giving us messages right when we need them. The pastor talks about how Nehemiah is steadfast and perseveres to see the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem completed. Even though several obstacles come along his journey, he continues on--knowing that he must obey God and do His will. Satan isn't going to attack us with challenges and obstacles when we aren't involved in what God wants us to be doing. Why should difficulties surprise us when we are doing His will? The apostle Paul reminds the Ephesians, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Eph. 6:12.

Wow, French is a difficult language! We have completed our first month of French school, and it has been tough. There have been challenges during this first month that we didn't really anticipate, which we won't get into too much on here, but we are certain that God is using each one to draw us to Himself. I am also convinced that even if we weren't in Quebec City away from our hometown and close friends and family learning another language, on our way to Africa, God would still desire to mold us into the children He would have us be for His use and glory. There are difficulties and challenges in every season, everywhere. If there weren't, we wouldn't need God.

We are so very thankful for each one of you praying for us. Please continue to pray that we would each have the steadfastness of Nehemiah! It means so much to us.

Steep Learning Curve

2011-08-07T12:40:00.000-07:00

Language school has officially started last Monday, and to say that we are now completely overwhelmed might be an understatement! Questions and statements like, "How are we ever going to learn what we need to know in 6 months?" "What did we sign up for?" "This is so weird!" "This doesn't make sense," are being verbalized between us a lot lately.
Our daily schedule basically runs like this:
8:00am Karina leaves with Calvin to French Class
10:15am Karina returns and Rob leaves for French Class (Karina attempts to school Faith and occupy the others)
12:30pm Rob returns, children are eating lunch (hopefully)
1:00pm Joyanne, Wesley are napping, Faith is having Q.T., Calvin is having lunch.
2:00pm Karina and Faith continue Kindergarten
3:30pm Joyanne and Wesley usually emerge from naptime
3:30-4:30pm French homework comes out, Calvin also wants to eat
5:00pm Start making dinner
5:30/6:00pm Eat Dinner
Bathtime/TV Time
7:00pm Quiet Reading time
7:30pm Kids bedtime
8:00pm French homework comes out again
10:30/11:00pm Bedtime for us

Before we moved here, I was wondering what it felt like to be illiterate... as I don't really remember what I felt like before I knew how to read. What was that environment like? Well, I know too well now. God is taking us down a very humbling path and we are finding ourselves frustrated at times. Very frustrated. This time of learning a new language is turning into a lot more than simply learning French. Perhaps learning French is the easy part of this six months? I'm not sure.

Poisson

2011-08-04T17:42:00.000-07:00

One of few things we have acquired since being here over the past three weeks are three little goldfish. Faith had asked about getting some before we left Mission and daddy said perhaps when we were settled in Quebec City.

Voila, poisson!

Church at Home

2011-07-31T08:37:00.000-07:00

Daddy took the other two children to church today and mommy stayed home with Joyanne and Calvin. Calvin had immunizations on Thursday and is still pretty fussy from them. Despite staying home, we still got dressed up, listened to Hide Em In Your Heart by Steve Green and listened to a sermon online from Mission Bible Church (our hometown church).

We hope your family had a nice Sunday and spent time in God's presence in fellowship with other believers today.

Trip to the Old City

2011-07-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

Today we ventured down to the Old City of Quebec once again. Last Saturday, we neglected to take our camera. It was nice and breezy next to the St. Lawrence. A beautiful reprieve from the heat in our apartment!

First Week Away

2011-07-21T12:22:00.000-07:00

Our first week in Quebec City has been an adjustment. It seems as though we had to travel across Canada to experience summer. Folks we said good-bye to in the Lower Mainland in BC are still waiting for summer to arrive. Not in Quebec City however! Since arriving, the temperatures have been 20+ with the humidity making it feel anywhere from 30 to 35 degrees. Being sticky, and feeling as though we're breathing within a sauna is becoming more normal. Trying to keep clothes on the kids is our new challenge :)

Our formal language studies don't begin until August 1st, so until then we are familiarizing ourselves with the city and taking advantage of this spare time to set up our apartment.

Thank you for all who prayed for us during our travels. We arrived safe and sound, despite our flight to Toronto being cancelled. It was a mad dash in Abbotsford, which made for a swift good-bye to Rob's mom. But the children did so well on the flight across Canada, and two parents managed 4 kids under 5 years just fine.

Finishing Up

2011-07-08T07:56:00.000-07:00

Since returning from the island, we have been BUSY! Our crates are full, and we are counting down the short days until Wednesday when we fly to Quebec City to begin French training.

We sorted through everything we own and managed to put everything into categories. I can't believe how much stuff we got rid of. In a way, it felt good to simplify our life here. But at one point I started to panic a little! We will be starting from scratch basically, when we come home. We really didn't want to store too much furniture and things for others to be responsible for.

We found ourselves putting things into four categories

Thrift or give away
Throw Away
Store
Pack (for Quebec, or for Africa)

Our house was emptied quick! And in all of that activity, two realtors came through. No offers yet, however.

More Goodbyes

2011-06-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

Our visit on the island is now over. It was difficult to say goodbye to my family, but we are confident of their prayer and support. Many things will be different when we visit them again. Such as, my littlest sister will likely be driving, and my mom will have graduated another son from high school.

I was excited to witness my sister's baptism during our visit, and I prayer her desire to follow the Lord with her life increases each day.

Even though many miles will separate us, I know we will stay in touch via the internet. My children are already extremely familiar with Skype and email. I have a few ideas of making their internet 'visits' special, and I'm looking forward to nurturing the unique relationship we will have across the ocean.

During our visit, we had the privilege of two open houses! And we were astounded at the numbers of people who came out to encourage us and say goodbye. God used each person to remind us of the calling He has laid on our hearts, and during a difficult farewell, we are confident that we are right in the middle of His will. Thanks to all who came out to see our family. It really meant a lot to us! :)

----Karina

Commissioning Service at Departure Bay Baptist

2011-06-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today, Karina and I had the privilege of being commissioned into service and prayed for at Karina's parents church, Departure Bay Baptist. We had two wonderful people pray for us and are honored to know that this church and others are here back at home upholding us in prayer. It will be almost 3 years before we get to see these friends again and although we are excited to go and ready for this next step, we are sad to be saying goodbye to everyone we know.

I just can't say thank you enough, to everyone who is continuing to pray for us during this time. You all are a part of this ministry and without you all, we wouldn't be able to go and do what God has called us to do.

Time is Coming Close

2011-06-08T08:50:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we boarded the BC Ferries for our last trip to the Island before our journey abroad begins. As much as we tend to complain about the ferry ride over (the line-ups, the cost...) I don't doubt we will miss it! As Rob and I were driving toward the ferry terminal on Saturday morning, we couldn't help marvel at the snow topped mountains we saw in the distance, and then the beautiful ocean scene as we approached the bay. God's beauty will greet us in Quebec City and Madagascar, but I think we have taken for granted the landscape surrounding us all of these years in beautiful British Columbia! I am happy we get to come back to such beauty.

Yesterday, we attended my younger brother's convocation. He just graduated with a Natural Resources Protection Degree at the Island University. I am so proud of him and excited to see him already working and gaining experience in a field he loves. This is a person who also appreciates the creation around him--spending many hours climbing mountains, and trekking through forested trails. Attending this special milestone, however, reminds me how many special events we may miss while we are in Africa--weddings, baby births, etc.

A Common Scene Around Here

2011-05-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

As we get closer and closer to leaving, it seems more and more needs to be researched, or emails need to be written to have questions answered.

Here's Daddy, pouring through the MAF staff handbook, with the laptop nearby, and a child asking for something - of course :)

Box Day

2011-05-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

Fellow "Sonlighters" will be familiar with this term Box Day. It's the day the new homeschool curriculum arrives for the upcoming year! (Or in our case--years!)
We experienced Box Day this week, and it really was like Christmas morning. It was incredible to see Faith and Wesley, and even Joyanne, get excited over all of their new books. I think my mom was equally thrilled to be a part of unpacking this beginning into our homeschool venture. During my parents' visit to meet Calvin, my mom worked hard at separating the curriculum. Some to send on to Madagascar right away, and some to take to Quebec City.

As well as organizing school work for the upcoming 2.5 years, we are also mentally adding up things to get rid of, things to give away, and things we need to buy. At present, it hasn't been very physically demanding, good thing--as I've been recovering from Calvin's birth. However, it has been taking up a lot of mind space lately. One thing is certain, as we've been kind of going through things we are letting go of, and thinking of what we really need to take, to us the value of what we own has been decreasing. We actually don't need that much, and what we have here in Canada is nice and convenient, but not really necessary. I am learning some lessons on where I've been storing my treasure, and I've been sadly surprised at times, and challenged at others.

Welcome Calvin

2011-05-19T18:05:00.000-07:00

Our family is very excited to introduce Calvin Richard! He was born on Monday, May 16th at 9:48am weighing 7 pounds 1 ounce and 20.5 inches long!

His siblings are thrilled to have him home now, and we are praising God for his safe arrival.

A Sunny Day in May

2011-05-03T17:34:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, we had the privilege of having a very warm day, and we took advantage of it by spending a few hours at a local park. Now the gray weather has returned, and we wait for another sunny day...

However, we are excited about the fact that our monthly support goal level has reached 90% ! This is amazing and only possible because God has moved many hearts to support this ministry. In the beginning of the whole process of fund-raising, the thought of reaching 100% was overwhelming to say the least. These last 8 months haven't been without challenges and struggles, but we're learning that God often uses hard things to teach us. It's the hard things that usually get our attention, cause us to think, and hopefully bring about change.

Please continue to lift our family up in prayer, as the next few weeks are going to bring hard things--however exciting! We are anticipating the birth of our 4th baby in two short weeks, as well, Rob continues to plan out what we are going to ship and how and when. Since our house has been listed for sale, we have had only one showing. Please pray that God brings a buyer.

Until next time...

Easter

2011-04-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

This year we made Resurrection Eggs (mostly for Faith, because she was old enough to understand) and they were a big hit with all three of the kids. We took turns opening one egg each day leading up to Easter Monday. Faith says her favorite egg was the empty one, signifying the empty tomb.

Happy Easter

Legal in Madagascar

2011-04-25T14:12:00.000-07:00

We have been notified by our future co-missionaries in Madagascar that Rob now holds a valid Madagascar aircraft maintenance license!

He also successfully completed the PT6 endorsement course in Wichita, Kansas a couple of weeks ago, and we are all excited that he has returned home safely.

So what's next for our family? In three (short) weeks we are anticipating the arrival of our fourth baby! Our house has been listed for sale, and Rob is finishing up little details here and there to hopefully make it more saleable. We are also investigating shipping options for some of our belongings.

Our accommodation in Quebec City has also been confirmed--the lease for our apartment has been signed, so that begins on July 1st; however we are not due to start language study until August 1.

Once again, thank you for your prayers and support! We are so thankful for each and every one of you.

Preparations & Changes

2011-04-05T09:25:00.000-07:00

We had a Realtor in last week for a market assessment. Rob is frantically trying to finish up loose ends on the house, hopefully making it more sale-able. We are being blessed with many helping hands from our church family. People are making time to come over and spend a few hours doing things like, painting baseboards, general painting, tiling and grouting, and siding (outside in the pouring rain!). As well, he is preparing to leave on Sunday for a week long engine course in Wichita, Kansas.

As my tummy continues to grow, my comfort level continues to decrease, and my capacity to be somewhat emotionally stable (haha) SEVERELY decreases, we have officially entered what moms of young children call "survival mode". When we are not in the heat of a difficult situation, it is a little easier for me to step back and recognize God's hand as He prepares us for tougher circumstances. (Which I firmly believe don't just come upon missionaries!) Again, I am reminded what He wants from me. My heart; my absolute dependence, and my obedience. As our pastor said from the pulpit a couple of weeks ago (and I cannot quote), life brings suffering. It's pretty simple. Not easy; yet simple. I am just experiencing life right now.

Isaiah 50:10 Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.

Have you been experiencing life lately?

April News

2011-04-01T14:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a digital copy of our April Newsletter! For optimum viewing quality, you may want to hit "Full Screen" at the bottom of the scroll window, or even better, download the .pdf to view on your personal computer.

Barbers - April 2011 Newsletter

"I'm Going to Miss You"

2011-03-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

"I'm going to miss you," were the words my almost-five-year-old daughter said to a good friend who babysat her one evening over the weekend. She was being tucked into bed, they said a prayer together and then she said "I'm going to miss you." Our good friend asked her to clarify, and Faith explained, "When we move to Madagascar, I'm going to miss you."

I am very thankful we were made aware of this because it has been easy to think that our preparations and plans have gone on fairly 'unnoticed' by our young children. My, how mistaken we've been. Faith is far more perceptive and understanding then we give her credit for, and now I am stepping back and thinking about how my other two "babies" might be affected by this ongoing transition stage. I have liked to believe it is just their normal. How would they know any different? But children pick up on stresses and anxious feelings parents and adults are feeling. They know something is 'up.' And for my 5 year old, she understands in very plain language that Grandma and Grandpa and Oma and her aunties and uncles and friends from church and neighbors will not be nearby when we move. She understands that Skype is a way people who live far away from each other communicate.

Because of this, my sensitivity level toward them is increasing. As we move through this adjustment period (which will likely last a couple of years), please pray for wisdom for us as parents. To know how to help prepare them, to know how to comfort them, to know how to help them be excited to learn new things, to know new people. Please pray for grace for us toward them, as our children likely act out their own anxiety with extra disobedience and frustration. Not that we would condone bad behavior, or make excuses for it, but that we would know how to effectively train them up in the knowledge of God and the strength He promises to give us as we take on new challenges in each season of life.

Lord, Why Us?

2011-02-17T14:03:00.000-08:00

Often when we meet with individuals and share a bit of our testimony, we mention that overseas missions was never part of our original plans when we were first married. In fact, it's probably safe to say that we were hesitant to apply with MAF because even though it felt like that was what God wanted us to do, we weren't fully convinced yet that we wanted to! Oh how we hold so strongly to something for fear that God would ask us to do something we wouldn't want to do. But the truth of the matter is that when we surrender our plans and expectations, God will change the desires of our hearts so that we will want to follow His leading. So now more than ever we are truly excited about following Him to Madagascar, even though we know the journey won't be an easy one.

This process of sharing the ministry with individuals and inviting them to join our team through MAF has been awesome training grounds for the field, I think. It has given us the opportunity to watch God's hand work out things that are really out of our control. As He continues to bring the funds in, we are stepping back and saying, "Really Lord? What did we ever do that you want us to join you in this work?" I can only go back to the very reason He sent His Son to die for us---He is a gracious God, and it really has nothing to do with us in the first place. It is all for His glory and everything He does is for Him!

Back in Canada

2011-02-15T15:06:00.000-08:00

After two weeks away in the UK from January 29 to February 12, Rob and I have safely returned to Canadian soil.

It was very exciting to meet staff members in the UK as well as build relationships with three other MAF families heading to different bases in the African region. This was my (Karina) first trip to the UK, actually this was the farthest I've ever been away from home. I will report that I wouldn't want to travel on a plane that far any more pregnant than I was! The kids had a good time with my family on the island. They bonded well and I'm pretty sure Rob and I missed them more than they missed us! However, they were very excited to see us return home.

MAF rented time at Ashburnham Place in a small town called Battle in the southern part of the UK. Ashburnham Place is a Christian Retreat Center and much of it is run by volunteer teens from around the world.

Even though the training course was intense and we felt we were at "information overload" by the end, it was a great time of refreshing and re-grouping. As difficult as it was to leave the kids behind, it was a special time to away be together.

Thank you to all who were praying for their adjustment to having us gone, and safety and health. The Lord was gracious to answer all of our prayers!

In London: which we toured a bit on our day off.

London Tower

St. Paul's Cathedral

Inside of the Natural History Museum in London

This was a framed timeline of the Vicars that served at Ashburnham church.

Inside of the church on Ashburnham Place - date built 1667

Straight ahead is the kitchen and dining rooms, and on either side are the accommodations we stayed in.

Another picture of the church

We enjoyed a really nice walk on the one sunny day we experienced :)

The main building at Ashburnham Place

Battle

City center of Battle

Kimyal

2011-01-24T16:11:00.000-08:00

I have a challenge to all our readers out there. I found a video the other day that really moved me and I would like to share it with all of you, but first the challenge.

Go around your house and count the number of different translations you have of the Bible. For most of us this number will probably be around 5-10 different translations. Seeing this video has again reminded me of the blessings that we so often take for granted living in this country. To see the joy, and excitement the Kimyal people have when they receive their first translation is a reminder of how precious God's Word is!

This is just one of the reasons MAF exists. You will notice that it is an MAF plane that brings the Bibles into the Kimyal people, but more than that it has been an MAF plane that has supported the work of the translators for years so that the Bible was able to be translated into their language. I have been asked in the past if we will be doing any "real" missionary work once we reach Madagascar?

The answer is YES! By using the skills that God has given me I will be one “gear” in the gear train. I will be supporting hundreds of missionaries from many different organizations through the service that MAF provides. But just as I will be only one “gear” and the translators another “gear” don’t think that the gear train is finished.

You too can be "gears"!! We would not be able to go and provide the service that MAF provides without partners (gears) back here at home being real missionaries and financially supporting us through MAF. We are all part of God's team.

So if after watching this video you too are moved by the joy of the Kimyal people in receiving their first Bible translation. I would ask that you go before our Lord and pray about whether He wants you to be a "gear" in our team.

Rob

Kimyal New Testament launch in Indonesia from United Bible Societies on Vimeo.

Happenings - Short Stay in Our Home

2011-01-20T11:45:00.000-08:00

We have been home from the island for a week now. It has been a very event-filled month! Not with events we had first planned on however... Our plans of visiting people on the island and a speaking engagement had to be canceled because of illness and/or being snowed in. It just wasn't in the Lord's plans for us to make those plans this time I suppose.

We are home for a short stay until we take off again for a few weeks. After dropping our children off at my family's house, Rob and I will fly out to England to the MAF UK base for training. When we return 2 weeks later, we will stay on the island and try to see those individuals we weren't able to see over the Christmas and New Year holiday, and we will likely be able to reschedule that speaking engagement that was canceled.

As we prepare for our time away again, we are writing our February newsletter to send out and also preparing our To-Do's for when we return.

If the Lord lays our family on your heart this week, please especially pray for health as we seem to be under significant attack right now. After ALL of us succumbing to a stomach flu a couple of weeks ago, two of our children have been down with something again this week. We are praying for good health as we prepare to leave them with Grandparents and for us as we travel. Interestingly, I have been in the book of James this week and the Lord has so faithfully reminded me to count every trial as joy. I would definitely count our ill-health as a trial right now and it has been difficult to not become discouraged. But I know that God is faithful.

Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-04T13:25:00.000-08:00

We are still enjoying our busy time on the island. This weekend we will head up to Quadra Island Bible Church where we are looking forward to presenting our ministry with Mission Aviation Fellowship.

As we look ahead in 2011, the busyness of life is not going to slow down! Some of the things we are planning for:
February - Karina & Rob are off to the MAF office in Ashford, England for a 2 week training session.
May - The baby will arrive
July - Begin our journey East to Quebec City
August - French Language Training begins

As the Lord leads you, please keep us in your prayers as we make plans. We know that our plans ultimately rest in His timing and many things God will put together for us.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-30T15:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas day came and went in a blur of activity! We spent the morning with Rob's side of the family, and then headed to my parents' house in the evening. The island is our home until January 11th and we will spend it visiting, visiting, and visiting some more! It is very busy, but we are so encouraged by people's enthusiasm and we pray that we are a blessing and encouragement for each of their families as well.

8 of 10 Grandchildren (18 month old twins from Zambia are missing). No Joyanne does not look happy, does she! Everybody else is anticipating opening gifts as they patiently watched Uncle Matt bring them all into the living room.

Faith enjoys watching Toy Story 1 & 2, and was pretty excited to have her own "Jessie" now. We will treasure this Christmas as we shared the excitement of giving gifts with most of the cousins! We can only imagine when we may get the chance to do that again.

Wesley took time to occupy himself with a new coloring book. Officially, I believe this is the first time my energetic 2.5 year old has stopped to seriously try coloring!

A Fun Family Day

2010-12-14T16:24:00.000-08:00

The commuter train in our town had a special on this December. Bring a new toy and ride the train for free! So we thought the kids would appreciate this experience. Plus, we were ready to do something fun as family. While we were downtown for the afternoon, we visited Science World. I thought it might be too old for our kids, but they loved it! I think if we'd (us parents) had the energy they would have gone and played with everything again.

My brother was over visiting, so he came along which worked out perfectly! Not only did we really enjoy his company, but having a pair of arms for each child was a must! I think Rob and I could have done it alone, it just would have been slower and I don't think we would have enjoyed it as much :) This way we were each able to follow a child around and we didn't have to worry so much where the other were.

Faith and Wesley spent many minutes trying to talk to each other into the whisper dishes (I think they're called).

Because Joyanne is walking now, she has discovered a new sense of freedom! She was toodling around the whole place and was taking it all in.

Faith tried out many of the experiments.

The kids sat through an entire balloon show and Faith was picked as a volunteer at one point. She was pretty excited to be able to go "on stage."

Joyanne playing with some very 'dirty' building blocks. Oh well, immune-building, right? :)

We had such a fun day. We were exhausted by the end of it, but so glad we took the time to go.

Christmas Cookies

2010-12-13T08:43:00.000-08:00

The other evening we spent decorating snowmen and christmas trees with icing and sprinkles. I think the kids had more fun eating the sprinkles than decorating!

It's Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Christmas

2010-12-04T09:00:00.000-08:00

Our house is beginning to feel Christmasy! We put up our tree last week and we have hung the decorations. Watching my four year old get excited about these decorations has been fun this year. It has also caused me to wonder, "Should I try and pack a smallish box of ornaments to take with us?" "Do we really have to leave this kind of stuff behind? Or get rid of it altogether?" It has also caused me to think that Christmas tradition and the holiday season should have everything to do with our Creator and Lord, and very little do with material symbols, much less material symbols of commercialism that our culture has so grossly overwhelmed us with! So I have been pondering ways in which we will create traditions and special times for Christmas without the "norm" that Rob and I were raised with (which were nice and healthy and God-focused, I'll note.)
However, I was thinking that our children may grow up with memories of Mango smells and tropical seasonal African flowers around Christmas time rather than my childhood memories of cinnamon spice potpourri and the pine scent from a real Christmas tree in our home. And even though mandarin oranges seem to be available year-round now, I still can't help think of Christmas when I go to peel one. I have a feeling my children won't share that nostalgia. Is that weird?
These thoughts are really trivial at the end of the day, in comparison with things of true importance: the birth of Christ, the message of hope He brings, His love and grace and forgiveness! But they are thoughts I've had through this process nonetheless.

Merry Christmas!
We hope you enjoy our holiday newsletter due to arrive in your homes any day now. If you are interested in receiving one, please email us for us a copy!

Colds Be Gone - Christmas Come

2010-11-29T14:50:00.000-08:00

For the most part, the children are bouncing around the house once again. The noses continue to run, and the coughs are being very stubborn, but the kids seem to be on the mend. Emotions don't seem to be running quite so high as of late. However, I believe I am finally succumbing to this cold. It has tried to take me down a couple of times over the last few weeks, without success, but the sore throat is definitely the real thing this time!

On a higher note, we have pulled out our Christmas decorations. I was surprised at my sudden sentiment! Perhaps I have been putting off feeling certain things through this process of readying for the mission field, but now as Christmas is approaching quickly, certain things will inevitably be felt. Like, spending our last Christmas in this house for a very long time; decorating it for the last time, perhaps even seeing these silly decorations for the last time! Faith has been opening those boxes of decorations over the last couple of days, very anxious to get them up. It has been so cute to watch her enthusiasm over it. I think this is the first Christmas she has been so excited to pull these sorts of things out, which is neat for me, because it helps me reflect on my own childhood nostalgia.

We are also getting our Christmas newsletter ready to mail out! Please send us an e-mail if you'd like to receive one.

Are you decorating for Christmas yet?

It's """""Cold""""" and Flu Season

2010-11-22T15:48:00.000-08:00

The temperature over the last few days has averaged -5(C), and it has been blowing like crazy out there! Over the weekend we thought we would lose our power it was so windy out. Snow has fallen on the hills in our town, but we haven't seen much of it as we live on the flats or flood-plain. It's just plain COLD!

With this cold weather, we have also welcomed flu season. Not happily, but inevitably. The kids have been battling awful coughs and runny noses. As each one takes their turn being up during multiple times during the night, our energy level is waning. On the brighter side, it is just coughing and snot we are dealing with, rather than puke buckets and running children to the bathroom.

Rob continues to fit in the projects around the house, and we are still happy with the heat!

Nous apprendre le francais, s'il vous plait

2010-11-18T20:16:00.000-08:00

Neither Rob or I took French very seriously when both of our mothers attempted to teach us when we were being homeschooled. Now we wish we'd had!

The French lessons are unofficially starting in our house now. My mom let us borrow the French course she used on me in Grade 8 or 9 (I think), and friends of ours from church also let us borrow the Rosetta Stone French computer course. They both look terrific and we are actually enjoying these preliminary lessons in language.

Faith watched half a dozen episodes of Caillou in French this morning. I asked her what they were about and she said, "I don't know!" However, she kept asking me to put more on. I'm thinking it was simply an excuse to watch more television. It's funny to hear her and Wesley try and mimick French words they are hearing us listen to. Come to think of it, it's probably even funnier listening to Rob and me try to say them!

Updating Site

2010-11-17T09:11:00.000-08:00

All the new changes to our site are now finished. Feel free to browse the new tabs and check out all the new pages we have added. There is lots of information about us, MAF, and Madagascar in them.

Updating Site

2010-11-12T15:23:00.000-08:00

Please bear with us as we are making changes and additions to this website. We would love to have you return and check out the pages listed above.

Home Sweet Home

2010-11-02T07:32:00.000-07:00

We have been home for nearly a week now and it feels fantastic! It has been nice to visit with family and friends, but there's something special about being home.

We have managed to welcome to the cooler Autumn weather with the (near) completion of our heating system! It is up and running officially, though not as efficient as it will be in the coming weeks. It is amazing to have warm wood floors in our house. After experiencing 5 winters in this house with little heat, we are enjoying the warmth now. I can feel good about Joyanne crawling around on the floor and not freezing her hands and knees off! Also, guests no longer have to pack their slippers and winter socks when they visit our house!

Rob's Bear

2010-10-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

Rob and my brother went hunting for a day on the island. After seeing nothing all day long, ready to pack it in for the day, they spotted this bear.
I was pretty impressed with my mother's flexibility and openness as the hide was kept in her deep freeze, the head in their garage, and the meat carefully butchered on their back patio and then coiled into many many sausages in her kitchen.... good thing the sausage turned out! After we all took turns tasting the meat, it passed the test. It is good. We now have 48 pounds of bear meat to eat until we leave for Madagascar.

Canucks & Play Time

2010-10-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

Rob and I are not at all hockey fans, but hockey is unavoidable when we visit my parents house, and especially my younger brother Kurtis! When the game came on Sunday evening, he quickly pulled a little Canucks Jersey onto Wesley who thought that was great!

Island Bound

2010-10-17T15:48:00.000-07:00

Currently, we are on Vancouver Island. We arrived last night with a fairly full schedule ahead of us!

This morning we had the privilege of sharing at Nanoose Evangelical Free Church. We were touched by the warmth there and felt welcomed into their fellowship immediately.

October 21: We will be sharing at Wakasiah Gospel Chapel
October 24: We will be sharing at Departure Bay Baptist Church

As well as these formal planned services, we are looking forward to visiting individuals and family while we are here.

We would love the chance to visit with you personally while we are here! Please contact us.

Please continue to pray for strength. This time of deputation service is proving to challenge and strengthen us, as a family and a couple. We appreciate your prayer support!

To London & Back in 4 Days

2010-09-28T12:13:00.000-07:00

Rob had the privilege of traveling to London last Sunday to meet with some of the MAF staff at the UK Headquarters for Operations for the Africa region. Truly a whirlwind trip! He left Sunday evening and arrived home on Thursday afternoon. On Tuesday however there was time to see a few of London's sights. For not ever traveling across the Atlantic, he couldn't go to London without trying to see something. The purpose for this trip was to interview and evaluate Rob for the position of Chief Engineer in Madagascar. We are very pleased to announce that MAF has accepted Rob for this position and our family is now officially Madagascar bound!!!

This is a little section of town in Ashford, UK--about a half hour train ride south of London. The UK operations office is located here in Ashford.

A church in Ashford

Big Ben, in London of course. It was very nice that it was sunny during the only day that Rob had to see some sights!

The Eye

Rob remarked how narrow their streets were.

London Bridge

City Hall in London

Buckingham Palace

Green Park

The British Royal Museum

Outside of the British Royal Museum

The Rosetta Stone, which Rob seemed pretty excited to see.

This is a chair made of gun parts. This is part of an Africa display and all the guns used were traded in by the locals for tools.

And a tree sculpted from gun parts as well.

Playing At Oma's Again

2010-09-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

We are back and forth between our house and Oma's again. She has gone on a round-world tour and is now in Zambia visiting her daughter and son-in-law and has met her newest twin granddaughters.

Meanwhile, we are here enjoying her house once again.

Fall Is Here

2010-09-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

September has arrived and the crisp air is sending us a signal that Fall will be upon us shortly! It has been a fantastic summer; we have done much and learned even more.

"Good-bye Summer, until next year ..."

AWANA

2010-09-15T15:03:00.000-07:00

Tonight Faith goes to Awana! I am pretty happy for this opportunity. I grew up going to Awana and have some very nice memories of the program. For those of you who may not have heard of Awana, it is a kids club that focuses on Scripture memory to develop spiritually strong children and youth who faithfully follow Jesus Christ.

Each week more than 1 million kids ages 2 to 18 participate in Awana. Over 12,000 churches in the U.S. and more than 8,000 internationally run Awana programs that change young lives through biblical truth.

Why AWANA? The name is based on 2 Timothy 2:15
Approved
Workman
Are
Not
Ashamed

I'm looking forward to a great year with Faith there, and who knows, maybe we'll start our own club in Madagascar when we get there!

One Day at a Time

2010-09-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Has a day ever gone by where your mind just won't rest. Everything you have going on, or jobs you need to prepare for are swirling around in your head crippling you from actually doing anything productive. In fact, this feeling of being overwhelmed is causing you to lash out in anger and resentment to people you actually love dearly!? This week I had one of those days that I felt everything going on in my life needed to be sorted out now! There was no rational thinking, it was total and complete worry, I abandoned all senses and went into full reaction mode I like to call it. Simply reacting to life's situations without self control, just the way I feel like reacting at any given moment.

As you can imagine, this is pretty dangerous and damaging behavior! Especially to those you love the most, those living within the four walls of your own home. I won't go into gruesome detail of all the stupidity that took place, all of the actions and words I wish could be taken back and buried someplace. But I will mention that on the phone yesterday I found myself saying the most absurd thing! When asked how Rob and I were doing, personally, I responded cheerfully and very matter-of-factly with something like, "Rob and I try and remind each other that we need to live moment by moment, day by day. Things become far too overwhelming if we try and focus on everything all at once." Now, I don't think anything is wrong with that statement, however, I am convinced that it was the Holy Spirit talking through me, at me. This is what we pray for, how we wish we conducted everyday life, but it certainly wasn't our reality at that moment.

Please pray for us right now. We feel like we are doing a balancing act right now, and need to keep trusting that God is ultimately in control, wanting us to lean fully on Him!

The Island

2010-09-09T19:58:00.000-07:00

Last week was spent on Vancouver Island. It was a wonderful time, full of visiting wonderful people!

Because I spent the first 20 years of my life in Nanaimo, I was blessed to form some deep lasting friendships over those years. Returning to my hometown and seeing people I literally 'grew-up' with was so encouraging to me. I am very thankful for those relationships and recognize that it is a rare thing! How many individuals still visit and spend time with those they knew in their childhood and teen years? It encouraged me, also, to see how they were seeking to follow what God wants for their lives.

As we left Nanaimo, I could only hope that the people we spent time with last week were also encouraged and blessed by our visit.

Visitors

2010-08-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

This week has been busy with visitors! Hosting these two fellow MAF families this week was so much fun! We met the Doles (first picture) and the Eadies (second picture) diuring our candidacy training in Ontario in May. Both families are on the road visiting family and friends, sharing about their ministry with MAF. When we parted in Ontario, we didn't know if we would have the chance to visit again, so having this opportunity was very special. As we said good-bye to each one, it was difficult not to wonder when we would meet again.

Our prayers are with you Doles and Eadies!

Madagascar, Africa

2010-08-20T23:24:00.000-07:00

As of now, we are pursuing Madagascar as a possible assignment! There are a few more tests and interviews to undergo before anything is finalized, but for now, the research into this peculiar country has begun.

Did you know

Madagascar was renamed as Democratic Republic of Madagascar in 1975 and finally given the name ‘Republic of Madagascar’ in 1993.
The official languages of the country are Malagasy, French and English.
The capital of Madagascar is Antananarivo, while its currency is Malagasy Ariary.
Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world. Its coastline is as long as 4828 km.
Mountains are situated in the center of the island, the highest being Maromokotro, which is as high as 2876m.
Madagascar has a narrow coastal plain. It is the world's largest producer and exporter of vanilla.
The majority of the people in the country have indigenous beliefs with regard to religion. This follows a relationship between the living and the dead.
Madagascar boasts of unique flora and fauna, majority of which is not found anywhere else in the world.
The country is also referred to as the Red Island, due to the red color of its soil.
As much as 5% land of the country is under cultivation. Crops including coffee, vanilla, sugarcane, cloves, cocoa, rice, cassava (tapioca), beans, bananas and peanuts are grown here.
Nearly half of the land of Madagascar is covered with forest.
Due to soil erosion and deforestation, many of the plants and animals found in the island have been categorized as endangered species.
There are a lot of variations in the climatic conditions of the entire island. While the east coast receives monsoon, the climate is wetter in the northern part of the country and the southern tip is covered with cactus-like plants, which give a semi-deserted look to the portion.

Abbotsford Airshow

2010-08-12T14:10:00.001-07:00

Rob and I will be at the Airshow on Sunday afternoon. If you're in the area, come by and see us at the MAF booth there! We would love to chat with you and will try to answer questions you may have about the ministry.

Hope to see you there!

God's Promises; God's Work

2010-08-11T07:07:00.000-07:00

"I lift my eyes up, to the mountains, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, Maker of heaven, creator of the earth!" Ps. 121:1-2

"He will not let your foot slip--he who watches over you will not slumber." Ps. 121:3

"Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Ps. 124.8

I love the Psalms. I find myself reading them over and over again, realizing these sorts of promises again and again. Which causes me to wonder, if I read them so often, and if they bring me comfort and strength, why do I still struggle with worry and lack of joy? Why do I still grumble at circumstances, and fret over unknowns or seemingly huge tasks?

I feel like a true Israelite today. Or maybe the disciple, Peter.

Praise God for His mercies are new every morning, and no matter how many times I lose sight of His promises, or am unfaithful in doing His work, HE is faithful, and pours out love and grace and mercy, calling us back again and again. We have been reading through the Gospel of John, and this morning, John 6. Jesus reminds the disciples in two spots here that it is the Father's work! Salvation only comes through the Father, and nobody can come to the Father without first the Father drawing him. And then later in the chapter Jesus reminds them, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." These are humbling words! Truly, we are His disciples purely on the basis of the Father's work. It really has nothing to do with us and what we could ever do, except for the fact that He first loved us and sent His Son for us.

More "Before" and "After"

2010-07-31T13:24:00.000-07:00

Our Living Room Before and After

We removed the gas fireplace and moved the front door. This has made our living room so much more functional!

Probably the biggest improvement, is the stairwell!! I can't believe none of our children have been seriously hurt on this set of stairs in the past 4 years.

More of the stairs! We feel rather silly saying this, but most every time we walk up or down them, it seems to come out of our mouths! "Man, I love these stairs."

"Before" The playroom, looking past the stairwell, into the office, and through to the master bedroom.

After, nicely painted, you can see the skylight on the left, and the post for the banister on the stairwell on the right. The playcenter isn't staying there, it is just serving as a barrier for now so no children fall down the balcony!

"Before" Looking from the stairwell toward the playroom and through to the kids' rooms.

"After" You can see the other skylight on the right and the little hallway leading to the kids rooms. Cedar paneling will cover the half walls there on either side and we'll have access to those spaces for storage.

"Before" Looking downstairs. Eeeeek!

"After" Beautiful clean, carpeted. The electrical panel will get covered, and railings and a banister is coming as well.

These are pictures of our master bedroom.

Hallway to walk in closet and ensuite which are not finished.

This is the office. Previously Faith's old room.

We love our stairs :)

Thank You Lord!

2010-07-28T08:03:00.000-07:00

We have been waiting a long time to see the mini excavator sold! Praise the Lord because He has graciously answered this prayer for us.

Picture This

2010-07-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

These are some shots we took as we were building the front deck on the
house. As well, it shows the cedar trees that were in the front yard we had
taken down two summers ago. As much as we loved the privacy, those trees (an
overgrown hedge) really kept us from meeting our neighbors and talking to
people as they walked by. We have met so many individuals in our
neighborhood since taking them down!

Do You Not Know? Have You Not Heard?

2010-07-21T21:33:00.000-07:00

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth,

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31

Carpet Coming!

2010-07-20T15:41:00.000-07:00

We have ordered the carpet for our upstairs. This means we will probably be home and sleeping in our own beds by the end of next week. Very exciting!!

I hope to post pictures of the inside soon, but for now imagine painted walls, freshly stained banister on our new staircase is being stained and assembled, and I have tried picking away at the post-drywall mess! We were a lot smarter this time and papered the flooring downstairs, so I've only swept and mopped it about 4 times, instead of a dozen like last time!

Please stay tuned for interior pictures.

Holiday to the Island

2010-07-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

We spent time over on the island this weekend with my family. It was very relaxing and nice to visit with family members we hadn't seen in a while!

It was so relaxing in fact, that I had time to just take pictures and play with the camera, for fun!

Rob keeps busy all the time ... even on holidays!

Nonetheless, there was definitely time for family time!

Feeling refreshed, we are back home now, making one final push on the renovations before August arrives!

Time for "Before & After"

2010-07-06T07:26:00.000-07:00

Rob and I bought paint for the inside of the house last night! This is another milestone. It means there's no more demolishing, no more adding. We are truly FINISHING!

We thought it was about time for a before and after photo of the front of our little house.

Here we had been living in the house for about two years already. We had already laid hard wood throughout, relocated our bathroom and landry room, gutted and rebuilt the kitchen, gutted and drywalled the living room. By this time, we were definitely anxious to make the oustide of the house look better!!

After lifting it three feet, removing about 15 cedar trees in the front yard, building two bedrooms upstairs on the left side, a garage and master bedroom ensuite on the right side, building a beautiful new cedar deck on the front, redoing the entire roof, digging for a new septic system in the back, and relandscaping the front, planting grass seed and building new planter boxes in the front, this is it! Phew. Oh and did I mention we had three babies while we were doing all this? :) God is good, all the time!

Breakfast at Oma's

2010-07-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

Renovations on the house continue, so we remain at Oma's house. Our time here has been pretty good actually. Now, if our summer weather would ever arrive, it would be fantastic! We are experiencing typical South Fraser Valley weather I think. We were teased in February and March with unusually warm Spring weather, and now we eagerly wait for summer to arrive. It has been gray and dull for days!! Which is making us all feel rather gray and dull.

This is our house all lit up. Just a little bit more siding to go as the dry-wallers finish up inside. Seeing it lit up last night was a big milestone for us. Similar to mowing our front lawn for the first time after Rob seeded it in March.

Celebrating Six Years

2010-06-19T20:25:00.000-07:00

Six years ago I married my best friend.

I love you.

Thank you for committing to experiencing life with me.

To laugh with me, and cry with me.

To love me with Christlike love.

May our lives be used for His glory!

Prayer for the Excavator

2010-06-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken in the Fall shortly after we had about 15 huge cedar trees removed from our front yard. This mini excavator has served us well and now, according to our original plan, we have it up for sale!

Please pray that God sends a buyer for it.

Daily Bread

2010-06-09T07:47:00.000-07:00

"Give us each day our daily bread." Luke 11:3

Verse that reminds me that God is the provider of all we have. He provides us with our daily needs. And He also measures out what we can handle each day. It is not for us to worry about tomorrow, or the next week or month. Each day is ordained for that day's activity.

In Transit - A New Normal

2010-06-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

Joyanne has graduated to the highchair. Before, she sat in a little rocker near the floor, but she has entered a squealing stage and prefers to be up where she can see action!

We have entered week 2 of being out of our house while renovations happen. It has dawned on us that this is a preview of our future! Parenting "in transit," if you want to call it. To say, "We'll deal with that issue when we're home and in our normal routine," won't suffice, as previously thought. This is how life is going to be. We are going to have to learn to deal with issues as they arise. Things aren't going to be as they were. (Haha, did I just say "easy"?)

We pray our children will learn to be even more adaptable and resilient, and that God will lavish grace on us as we stumble through this high calling we refer to as "parenting." And that we will lavish the grace we have received onto our children and each other too!

Oma's House

2010-06-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

Temporary sleeping situation in the "Playroom" at Oma's House

A Snapshot of Renos

2010-06-01T09:58:00.000-07:00

The life of renos continues. But we have temporarily moved out of our house now so that Rob can finish up some pretty major indoor things: fixing our stars, relocating the front door to where the fireplace is, fixing the hole in the ceiling in the living room, dry-walling the new bedrooms upstairs, and putting carpet in upstairs as well.

After a couple of hours of shifting furniture, rolling up carpet, and packing clothes we were out of there! Rob's mom is so gracious in allowing us to move in with her. We appreciate her so much.

It is very exciting for me to think that when we move back in we will probably be moving into our new master bedroom with a bathroom! The kids will be moved into their new rooms, we will have a playroom, a coat closet, and a new place for a computer. Seeing this project come to its end also means that we will be spending more time focused on MAF!

Look Out

2010-05-27T08:06:00.000-07:00

Our very first newsletter will be sent out in the next couple of weeks. We would love to get an electronic copy onto your computers or in your mail boxes. Let us know if you would like to receive one!

Onward

2010-03-11T20:59:00.000-08:00

We have received our formal invitation to candidacy training in Guelph, Ontario at the end of April. Upon completion of the two-week training period in Guelph, we will start working full-time with Mission Aviation Fellowship.

As exciting as this step is for us, we are definitely nervous and anxious to see God's hand work out the details. I am sure I can't even begin to imagine the list of details and events that He will orchestrate. This is only the beginning of learning to trust Him more and more each day. Thinking about all of the unknowns ahead is overwhelming! We can rest though, knowing that He goes before us preparing the way.

Big Busy Birthday

2010-02-22T20:58:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I turned good old 27! Busyness around our house continues, and because it has been such gorgeous weather for February, the BIG renovations definitely continue! Rob is working on the other section of the addition, which will be the garage/workshop and master bedroom and bathroom above it. I am able to picture it a bit better now! Trying to envision a new building or renovation is almost impossible for me, but now things are coming together in my mind. It will be so nice when it is all done.

My son woke up feeling lousy on my birthday, which we didn't realize until after giving him milk to drink... fortunately, he gives a lot of warning so I we made it to the toilet just in time! So, we spent the day on the deck enjoying the sun, and lounging around the living room together, watching the Winter Olympic games on tv. Besides the illness, Faith spent the entire day outside, away from her brother, in the sunshine playing in the gravel. She loves it out there.

As well, this weekend Mission Aviation Fellowship sent us our official invitation to candidacy training in April. We are very excited about this step, but I have to admit a little numb to what this all means. It's difficult to picture the changes that will take place over the next months and year. I suppose that's why I'm being reminded to Trust. It's all I can do! Trust in Him who supplies all the strength I need and usually not a minute too soon. I want so much to know what things will look like in a month or year from now. But what purpose would that serve me? I do not need to know.

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Last Bit of Paperwork Now In

2010-02-10T20:57:00.000-08:00

We are happy to have now submitted the final bit if paperwork to MAF Canada for our application. Karina is now three months post-cesarean and was able to complete her physical exam and have the needed tests done.

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Haiti

2010-01-15T20:57:00.000-08:00

Since the disaster in Haiti on Tuesday, it has been difficult to bury fears about going overseas! Of course, we are no less susceptible to natural disasters right here, but somehow the thought of being in a foreign country, a very poor country, and away from family makes it a little scarier sounding.

We have been following a blog by an MAF family from Chilliwack assigned in Haiti for a while now. It was through blog, early Wednesday morning, that I first heard about what was happening there.

http://mafkrul.blogspot.com

http://picasaweb.google.ca/jwkrul/LifeInHaiti2010

A Meeting Is Ahead

2010-01-07T20:56:00.000-08:00

We are excited to be able to meet people from the Canadian Mission Aviation Fellowship Headquarters this weekend. Their headquarters are located in Guelph, Ontario, so we have been communicating with them via email and phone for the past 11 months. Has it really been 11 months since we initially sent in our application? Wow. This meeting is exciting for us because we hope to find answers to some of our pressing questions in these early stages of this adventure. Many of them are logistical and would not change our minds about continuing with MAF, but we are still curious to know certain things. It would definitely help us to plan a few details over the next couple of months here at home, and help us to anticipate the next steps with MAF. Up until now, the application process has been fairly straight forward; filling out paperwork, having interviews and assessments. I have a feeling the next steps will require more faith. :)

Goodbye

2010-01-04T20:55:00.000-08:00

Today we are saying good bye to our dog. We found him another home due to our possible future plans with Mission Aviation Fellowship and the fact that we will likely be too busy to properly care for him as we travel to support raise, receive additional training, and finish renovating our house to sell.

Pencil Plans

2009-10-29T20:54:00.000-07:00

Our application with MAF has been put on pause for now because the only thing they are waiting for is my medical clearance. We will wait until the baby has been born and I've had my six week discharge appointment with the midwife before I undergo all of the medical tests. Once these tests have been completed, our application will be officially finished. A feat the Lord has allowed us to finish in 9 or 10 months.

I call this post "Pencil Plans" because we have made certain plans and keep in the backs of our minds that all can change or at least slightly change as the Lord leads. One must find balance between making plans for the future and at the same time completely surrending them to God. I'm reminded of the verses in Psalms and Proverbs:

"Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."

Psalm 37:5-6

"Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."

Proverbs 16:3

As the Lord is seemingly leading us toward ministry with MAF, Rob and I have appreciated some words from a close friend. This is not super profound or amazingly deep insight, but practical and no-nonsense! In talking about finding out God's will for our lives and how can we know what path He's leading us down our friend simply said, (and I paraphrase), all you can do is start down a path that you feel He's leading you toward. He'll close the door if He needs to.

There is so much freedom when keeping this in mind. As we are in the Word, praying, and talking with our close friends and family things are confirmed to us. We can make plans, and know that God is ultimately orchestrating every detail. He is ultimately in charge of where we end up. We just have to be obedient! (just) :)

So our "pencil" plans for the next few months are something like this:

October 30: Rob's last day at his current place of employment - Paternity benefits to start when baby arrives.

November: Finish Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course

November - May: Work like crazy to finish the majority (or all) of the projects around our house to make it saleable.

January: Meet MAF representatives at Missions Fest 2010

April: (Pending acceptance with MAF) Candidacy Training with MAF

If you feel led, please pray that we continually commit these plans to the Lord, and that He would clearly lead us and give us the strength to be obedient to the mission He has called us to, whether it continue to be here, or someplace else.

Back Home and Back to Normal

2009-08-21T20:52:00.000-07:00

Our drive home from Idaho was a lot better than I had anticipated. Even though the kids were very tired, and I was equally anxious to get home, they did so well on the drive back. We stopped overnight at the halfway point in a state campground.

Our church camp-out was the very next day, so instead of spending any time at home, we decided to go straight to the camp-out; afterall, we were already packed! It wasn't until we were there, that I realized how exhausted I actually was. We had a nice visit with friends and family, but it feels great to be back at home now.

I am so thankful we were able to go to the MAF Headquarters as a family. It gave me the wonderful opportunity to meet and talk to some people already involved with MAF: some farther along in the application, and even some back on a furlough. This really helped me think about some things I hadn't considered yet, or perhaps hadn't allowed myself to think about as we possibly take this step onto the overseas mission field. I am also so thankful that I had a chance to see how their ministry works at the base level. Their people are so thoughtful and organized and really have a heart for God's work. I could also tell that they have set up the pre-field training in such a way to make the transition from here to there as seamless as possible.

After Rob's technical evaluation and our psychological evaluation, we had a chance to meet informally with the recruitment/candidacy committee. It seems we have been unofficially invited back as candidates. They were very positive about what they were able to discover about our family and excited to see how God has been working in our lives so far.

So that's that. Now back to normal life as it is. I eagerly anticipate the birth of our third baby in early November. I can't wait to meet him or her!

Rob has taken extra weeks off work this month to finish some major projects around the house.

And more and more, we are both sensing detachment from this place. Some may call it nesting on my part, but I have been going through my house in a fury getting rid of clutter that I had previously been somewhat attached to, unwilling to part with things. I have decided that the more things I have, the more time I have to invest in cleaning them. So, since returning from Idaho and camping, we have been simplifying around here. And it feels wonderful. It's so freeing!

I have still been working on the 30 Day Biblical Womanhood Challenge. But it is taking some extra days with all of these holidays. What a blessing this teaching has been in my life this summer.

What has God been teaching you this summer?

Having Too Much Fun!

2009-08-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

Day Number 8 at MAF continues similar to how the weekend was. As much fun as it has been for Faith to have little friends to play with at the apartments, it has its own challenges that are in full force now!

There are two other families with younger children here and both of their parents are in full time training right now with homework to do in the evenings. This means that their children have been looked after by childcare provided by MAF onsite for the past few weeks. I think they're going on week number five here with full time childcare, and we can all tell it's beginning to take its toll. I'm really not looking forward to this stage if we get there. It was hard enough for me to leave my two for the whole day last Wednesday. I can't imagine a few weeks! Faith is tiring of this routine, and it seems that sharing toys is becoming more and more difficult for everyone.

I'm wondering if being completely exhausted will make the 11 hour drive home easier or horrible. Time will tell....

Summer Travels

2009-08-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

We have been at the MAF base in Nampa, Idaho now for an entire week working on the Technical Evaluation and Psychological Evaluation. We have been so blessed and challenged throughout this past week. Only two more days left here and we will start our treck home back to our families and friends.

I am not going to write about all we've thought and felt and talked about over this past week. But I will mention that Rob and I are experiencing God's peace in this experience and anxiously wait to find out what He has in mind for our family next, whether it be with this ministry or somewhere else.

The Journey Continues

2009-07-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

So our application journey with Mission Aviation Fellowship continues. Our references were extremely efficient and helpful in returning their answers to MAF quickly! We are so thankful and appreciative of godly, close, and caring friendships. We are unnofficially officially onto the next step in the process which includes three different types of evaluations: technical, psychological, and medical. Once those have been completed, everything is reviewed again, I believe, and then we move onto candidacy if the Lord directs.

We are planning to complete the technical and psychological evaluations during the first two weeks of August. So our family will be taking a little road trip and spending some time at the MAF base in the US. Even though Rob is really the only one who needs to go down for the technical evaluation, I am excited to take the family and experience this part together. It turns out they were able to arrange to have both of our psychological tests done during the trip down for the technical evaluation.

I really sense God preparing our hearts as we continue to move forward in this direction. Despite always feeling as though we would raise our family here, where we are, I now am feeling more and more detached. In fact, at times I have felt I am not even living in "my" house with "my" things. I don't know if this makes any sense. But it is starting to become more and more difficult envisioning the future right here in the town we live in now. It is so strange, because I have always been such a stationary person. I have never had the desire to move around, or even leave familiarity. When I moved away from the town I grew up in, many people were surprised; however, I think I surprised myself most of all. What was I doing? I had always said I would never move away! Not too long after that, I met my future husband, we were married, and now our third child is on the way and we are thinking we are perfectly willing to move anywhere in the world God sends us. How did I go from being such a home-body to some sort of adventurer?

I can only give credit where it's due, and that's to Christ. Nothing in and of myself has the ability to make such adjustments in thinking and attitude. I am thrilled (sometimes terrified) to see how God is going to continue to mold and shape Rob and me wherever we end up, and that includes remaining right where we are if that is His will for our family.

Step 4

2009-06-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

God continues to lead Rob and I toward serving with Mission Aviation Fellowship. We are beginning Step 4 in the application process now: a longer written application with 6 personal references each.

This written application is basically a repeat of the formal interview. As we go through this process of answering questions and evaluating things, I appreciate the timeframe that MAF sets for it. Even though I feel as though we have answered many of these questions already, I am glad we have opportunities to go over them again and again and recognize how God is working in our lives and thought processes in regard to the mission field.

Moving Along

2009-05-13T16:09:00.000-07:00

We had our first formal interview with MAF this morning over SKYPE. The Canadian base is located in Ontario and they usually like to do the interviews in person or else by webcam. Because neither they nor we were not here nor there we opted for the webcam interview and it went very well. I can see how it would have been nicer and more personable to be in person, but I think the webcam was definitely superior to a phone call. The interview was 2 and 1/2 hours long! Which surprised me at first when I read the email and it said what they usually estimated for time. It went by surprisingly quickly, and because of all the things we talked about, and only briefly, it didn't take long to fill 2 and 1/2 hours. The interview went very well. Both Rob and I feel like this is actually moving along now. Even though we are still in early stages of this process, we were given the feeling that unless something comes in our lives to stop this from happening MAF saw no reason at this point to not continue with the process and with this direction. The application process ends with a 2 week training period in Ontario at the MAF headquarters and they do 2 of these training sessions per year: the first being in May, next week actually, and the second in October. Because I am due with our third child in early November we probably will not consider going this Fall. This gives us more time to finish up renovations on our house, take a couple of Bible courses, and also continue thinking and praying about this. This means if we continue on and end up attending the training, it wouldn't be until May of 2010, after such time Rob would quit his job and we would start raising support full time. Lord willing, we may be on the field as early as February or May of 2011.

Having the interview, and discussing different aspects of our backgrounds and how God has led us together as a couple and where He seems to be leading us now, has really brought a sense of reality to this idea. If this makes any sense, before it kind of felt like we were just talking about the idea and perhaps trying to get a sense of what other people we trusted thought about it. Now it feels more real, as though it's something God is really leading us in. Now we are being faced with the question, if God keeps opening doors are we going to be obedient and walk through them?

The Beginning

2009-04-23T16:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought I'd write a post about the beginning of a new journey my family is on. As I have probably never mentioned before, my husband is an aircraft maintenance engineer. He is extremely mechanical and technical, and he isn't afraid of trying to fix basically anything! Over our married life I have had to learn to share him with others because it doesn't take long for people to learn that he probably knows something about the problem their having with their vehicle or something.

Recently, he has been feeling prompted to do something different with his life. This is not some early mid-life crisis or anything. I firmly believe that he has been re-evaluating our family's purpose for God and perhaps wanting to give God more opportunity to lead and direct where we go as a family. Knowing this, I have been in prayer asking God to show us where He wants us to look. Where is He opening doors for us? Through this time, I have found myself being willing to go and do things I never would have said I was willing to do several years ago.

As a teenager, I remember going to Missions Fest a few times with my youth group. The youth rallies would host a speaker who would encourage everyone to be willing to go wherever God leads them in life. Being overseas missionaries, most of them encouraged being open to serving overseas of course. At the time, I remember feeling badly because I couldn't honestly say to God that I was willing to go wherever He led me. I remember asking Him not to lead me anywhere I didn't want to go! I also remember telling God that I wasn't willing to serve overseas as a missionary. Going to Missions Fest felt like a guilt trip for me every time I went. I was resistant... and I knew it. I even remember coming home and ranting to my parents about how I felt the people there expected EVERYONE to go abroad! How dare they tell me that!

Well.... here I am nearly 10 years later, married, two small children, one expected to be born in the Fall, and we are applying for overseas mission work. As I was praying for God to give our family direction, especially my husband (Rob), Mission Aviation Fellowship came into my mind, and I started looking at their website. Rob was at work that day. When he came home I still had the website up and I asked him if he'd considered MAF. Their mission is this: Sharing the love of Jesus Christ through aviation and technology so that isolated people may be physically and spiritually transformed. They have a fleet of light aircraft to serve developing countries in the areas of evangelism and church nurture, community development, medical assistance, and disaster response. Rob was surprised and also encouraged to see me considering this option and being open to it as he had been thinking about it as well. When he was younger his father had talked to him about this organization and was very excited to see him interested in aviation, but Rob hadn't been ready to consider mission work at that time.

So, since that time we have been praying for God to open doors if we're supposed to go this route. If God wants us serving in this way, He will make a way for us. At this time, all we know is we have to be willing and ready to do what He calls us to do! Talk about a change in attitude from those early teen days at Missions Fest. I find myself feeling excited about this possibility. I feel at this time, God is numbing MANY fears and anxieties that could stop me from being willing; moving away from close family and friends, tropical disease, natural disasters, language barriers, travel, cross-culture shock... the list goes on. I know those things exist, but it's okay. It's weird.

The application process is a long one. Which I am thankful for. There is no way we'll be sent away on a whim of emotion or without knowing for certain that is where God wants us to be.

So.... this is the beginning, I'm excited to see where God leads us. And if it's not overseas, I'm excited to see how God uses our family in our community where we are right now. We are all missionaries in our own towns, in our jobs, at our schools, and in our neighborhoods.