God is faithful

It's always exciting to see God answer prayer.  This is especially true when the prayer is answered in agreement with what we want!  (let's be honest... God always answers prayer, just not always with the answer WE want....) Erin and I have been blessed with just such a week.  Keep praying, and thank God for his faithfulness - he is indeed at work. 

We end this week with our jeep sold and financial support starting to come in.  We knew God would sell the jeep in his time, and we are thankful it was sooner instead of later.  The boys were a little sad to see it go, and so was I!  (the man came to pick it up while I was finishing my lunch break, so I was able to meet the new owner and then get busy back at work. 
Next, we find out that several friends are going to help us financially.  This too is an answer to prayer.  We still need support, but it is encouraging to see how God is preparing the way for our life overseas.  We also received news from others that they would be our prayer partners.  It's neat to see how God moves in the hearts of his people.  Thanks for your prayers and support!  Let us know how we can pray specifically for you too!

Last night was our first good-bye dinner with a dear family.  When I taught at Wingate (6 years ago), I was able to meet with my friend and we would pray for our school and our families.  It was the start of a friendship that continues today.  Well, we met to just catch up and talk last night, and it was a fun time.  They asked about our mission work, and it was good to be able to share what God was doing and teaching each of us.  The only sad thing was saying goodbye.  Perhaps we will see them again before we leave the area, but we wanted to at least have one last meal together.  As the days draw closer to our leaving, we realize how little time we have left to meet with our friends. 

We are in exciting times.  Things are moving quickly to an end here in this area, and our new journey will soon start.  It is so comforting to know that the majority of the relationships we have here will continue on through eternity.  

Praise God!

Yea! We sold the jeep yesterday! This was an answer to prayer. We were starting to wonder if anyone in this state had any extra cash to spend on a "big, red toy";) Thank you to those who have been praying for us. God is good!

Praise God!

We were able to talk to our church family today about our financial needs, and they have graciously decided to support us! They decided to commit to $125 a month, plus additional support as people give. This is our first “official” support! For those of you that are not familiar with our area, this is a big answer to prayer. Most of the churches on the reservation are so small; they do not pay pastors, let alone support missionaries. Our church has always had a budget, and over the years, missions have become more of a focus. Our pastor gets a small salary, and our church supports six missionaries. (We are number six.  ) Thank you church family! Thank you Lord for your provision! Praise God our immunizations in Farmington are complete! The boys did pretty well considering this was their first visit to the doctor to get shots! The boys still need a TB test, and Jace still gets his four year checkup shots at the end of the month. We have all been pretty healthy despite all the travel to various doctor appointments. (We drove 5,000 miles last month!) This week was the second time the Thrifty Nickel ad for the jeep circulated. Yesterday, we received a call from a rancher that is interested in the jeep. He said he would like to come out this week to take a look at it. Pray that we get it sold! I am starting to remember some of my readings from Asian history. I have learned about the ancient Indus Valley civilization, the nomads from the Asian Steppe, and about the first Chinese dynasties. Don’t ask me about specific dates, but my studies are going well. Please continue to pray for me as I read through my first book. I have much to learn before I can even start to build a class plan. As I learn about Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and other belief systems, it is fun to think of the possibilities for instructing students about the Creator and author of history. Pray for me as I work with BAIS to figure out how best to implement the class. Exciting stuff! (-if you love history!) All our prayer letters have been sent off. If you didn’t get one, let us know your address and we will send you one! Pray for us as we try to meet with particular families to discuss God’s work in more detail. If you want more details about our needs, click on the Join the Team page at the top of the blog, or shoot us an email. (feel free to call too) We would love to share more specifics. Lastly, we will have our first big moving sale in Crownpoint on May 12th. We don’t have a lot of free weekends to do this, so pray that the sale is successful and that we don’t have to have another one! If we do need to sell stuff again, it will have to be on June 2nd. That’s the latest for now. Thanks so much for your support. God moves through the prayers of his people. Thanks for praying with and for us. God bless! -mekj

Quick update

Hello everyone!  Here's the latest -

We have sent out most of our prayer cards and letters.   You should be receiving them by the end of the week hopefully!  If you didn't get one for some reason, please let us know.   We have a few more letters to send off, but most of you should have our mugshot soon!  Put it somewhere where you'll remember to pray for us!  Thanks!

This past Saturday we went to the forest and said our good-byes to our favorite spots.  We visited the old waterfall and mining area, and then went to the Aspen grove where our initials are in the tree.  There was even some snow to play in, so we had a good snowball fight as well!  It was kinda sad, but we needed to see at least a few of the places one last time before we leave. 

We still have not sold the jeep.  We placed an add in the Thrifty Nickel, and we got one call on it, but nothing firm yet.  Please continue to pray for it to sell.  We figure the jeep pays for the plane tickets! 

I am reading two books on Asian history.  They are a little confusing since it's all new to me, but they seem pretty good.  Pray for me as I read and learn the material.  I need to have good recall and then be able to put together a workable plan for the tenth grade class.  Pray that God would lead as I pick out details to teach and how to use the history class as a tool to inform students about THE author of history.

My email account was hacked!  I hope my problem didn't end up infecting you!  We are up and running again, but it makes you rethink your passwords to everything. 

This Sunday we have a chance to talk with our church about our specific financial needs.  We have taken the approach that we need to be specific about our monetary needs, but then let God do the rest.  We are praying for God to lead those he wants to give.  Pray that folks would be sensitive and obedient to the Lord’s leading.  (this applies to our church as well as to individuals everywhere...) God will provide for our needs; His promises are true.

Well, I better go read some more.  Good night and God bless!  -mekj

Our house

Here's a few pictures of the house we will be renting...
It's the house on the end, with the park right next to it!  God is good!