July 2011 Newsletter

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Pics with friends Summer 2011

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Montana flooding 2011

Here's some pics of Montana in it's flooding time - end of May, beginning of June.  Sorry, the Smilebox intro is REALLY REALLY long and I couldn't make it go faster or be shorter.  So bear it, and you'll see some pretty scenery and the flooding pics after it.

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Water treatment plant fun

So just before I left for Vanuatu, Brenda threw the Richards and I a fun little supporters party from our sending church (Grace Bible in Miles City). Here's some of the group that was able to make it to that. Love and miss you guys!

Friends visiting and final church goodbyes

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Grace Bible hosted sending off services for us for our last Sunday in the States. That evening we drove out to Coalwood country church to spend one last service with them as well. Here are pictures from those churches.

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July 08 newsletter

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Fellowship with friends

Buffalo, Montana, the home of the free and the brave... as well as some of my dear friends from Bible school. Ryan and Jessica and their five lovely children - Abe, Hannah, Joel, Faith, and Jared - allowed me to come visit for a few days. We had lots of fun playing together, talking, laughing, and fellowshipping. Jessica taught me about making meals in a pressure cooker, which is something I'll probably be doing in Vanuatu to save on meager (solar) electricity in the bush. She's also an amazing "from scratch" cook so she's been helpful with recipes, home remedies, and simple living tips. I've joked that God has a sense of humor in sending someone like me, who's never lived that way, to a remote area to minister rather than her. He uses the weak things of the world to confound the wise, that's for sure! And, I get to learn all kinds of new things from great resources and friends who do know about all these areas in which I soon need to soon be an expert.

Garage Sale

Ahh, the beauty of getting rid of our own junk... or my case, useful items that aren't so useful in another country. :) We had a garage sale the middle of June to once again weed out some items that we won't be taking to Vanuatu. I was able to unpack all my boxes I brought to Montana (when I moved here last June), go back through them and repack everything I'm keeping for sure in tupperware tubs. Everything I'll be bringing to Vanuatu long-term is being stored here in town for the next two years. Not using my stuff the last year gave me a bit more detachment so I was able to part with more, which was nice! Houghton and Gretchen used the opportunity to fully move out of the home they've rented in Miles City and sell almost everything in their backyard. They stayed a week or so at my parents' and now are staying with Houghton's parents in Terry, Montana until we leave for Vanuatu next month. We hope to use the sale money to buy tools for use in building our bush houses in Vanuatu several years from now.

Vacation Bible School

Coalwood is a tiny country church about 60 miles from my hometown of Miles City, Montana. I've been privileged, along with my sister's family, to attend several of their evening services when I'm in town. Houghton preaches out there once a month, if we are in town. Every summer, they put on a week-long Vacation Bible School for kids in the surrounding area at a little country school. The women who put it on develop curriculum, songs, activities, and such. One of the areas of emphasis is missions so this year I got to go share with the kids. We talked about translating the Bible from an unwritten language and about learning language in general. I did a demonstration in Bislama, acting out parts of Genesis 3 for the kids to guess the content. I'm so blessed for the opportunity to encourage the next generation to be involved in God's work around the world.

Team time with the Kenner's

"Just passing through" seems to be our mantra and our teammates', the Kenner's, mantra this last year! The Kenner family (Jim, Tania, Grace and Josh) is from Forsyth, which is a little town about half an hour from my hometown of Miles City. Because of that, we've been able to see them a few times here and there when we are in Montana. However, several months ago they quit their jobs, sold their house and most of their stuff, and hit the road full-time for deputation. They spent a month or so out in Washington, then on their way out to Ohio, Texas, and Georgia, (those are all on the same way, right??) :) they stopped through Montana and we got to spend several hours catching up. We hung out and chatted and Houghton taught Josh a few stick-fighting moves in the yard while we got eaten by mosquitoes. Great times... hopefully a preview of the times we'll have together in a few short months in Vanuatu! The Kenner's and the Jones' (the family we visited in May in Michigan) hope to join us in Vanuatu the end of September, Lord-willing.

June newsletter

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December small groups

December is here and churches were difficult to schedule with for the month so we went to plan "B," small groups. Indeed it should have been plan "A!" We have a few more home groups to schedule from our home church but we are already going to several a week and they are so much more fun than full church presentations. Not only do we get to stay in one spot for longer than a few days (here in Miles City, MT), we get to know people at our sending church better and build deeper relationships here. Also, the time is more informal and relational and we get to answer more basic questions about missions and give better understanding about the kind of "home team" we are hoping to have backing us and how people can be involved that way. Keep checking back as I'll continue to add pictures as we go along of the different home groups we share at in the coming weeks. Nothing beats a cup of tea, a Vanuatu video, time to chat, and dessert with other Christians!

Buffalo and FSB

Buffalo, Montana the town isn't much to see, but the people are friendly and down-to-earth. Most Montanan's we told we were going to Buffalo had to ask where it was. Well, here's why - visually. :)The old church, however, is still open and draws around 50 people every Sunday! Not bad for a ghost town! The highlight though (other than meeting some of the other Buffalo families) was getting to stay with my friends Ryan and Jessica and getting to know their 5 kids better. I attended Bible school with Ryan and Jessica and she and I share a birthday; hers just one year after mine. Abe, Hannah, Joel, Faith, and new little Jared are sweet, fun kids that I really enjoyed hanging out with. Jesiah and Gwen had fun playing with everyone. Jessica cooked us amazing from-scratch meals (and even shared her recipes - thanks, Jessica!). I got to attempt to teach Abe a bit about piano. He was a quick study but I'm not sure I was such a great teacher. Hopefully he keeps his interest in it up at least!

After church and lunch, we drove "home" to Miles City, stayed the night, and drove Monday to LaGrange, WY back to Frontier School of the Bible. We got there just in time to put up our display and run to chapel for the introduction of all the missionaries for Missions Conference. What an amazing opportunity to be able to participate in! The week was jam-packed from early morning to late night with formal and informal times to share with students. I was asked to teach the Sr. girls class on the topic of singleness. I had some breakout sessions to share that same topic with other girls and some breakout times and informal times to talk about missions and the work in Vanuatu.

I also got to hang out with a dorm group for their weekly (late!) night devotions and shared about God's leading in my life toward missions. Thanks for the invite, girls! Here's that group to the right - Courtney, Emma, Raquel, Karissa, Janelle, Lelia, Torie, Larissa in back and Chantel and Rachel in front.

Another fun opportunity was with some of the juniors who were required to interview some of the missionaries for a missions class project. Here is one of those groups - Chandra, Sarah, and Cara.

Geneva, Rebeca, and Larissa, invited me to the (one) cafe for milkshakes one afternoon so we wore our coats, shivered, and drank some amazing milkshakes. Larissa and Rebeca are really seriously pursuing missions so it was fun to hang out with them several hours over the course of the week and hear about places they've served and their passion for the lost around the world.

So many other girls I could name - I was so edified by you and blessed by your devotion to Christ, your humble service to Him, and your love for the nations and desire that "every tribe and language and people and nation" (Rev. 5:9) would know Him. Thanks for the honor of having fellowship with you and being able to share with you.

It was also awesome to hear from other missionaries there - all other than us were reps with their organization, not full-time overseas missionaries, but they had much experience and knowledge to share with us. Neil Anderson of Wycliffe, who was a translator for 30 years in Papua New Guinea (and is still consulting on the translation work with the people group there) was the main speaker in daily chapels. What incredible, inspiring stories of God working through him and his team and the tribe as they lived among the people and sought to translate in a culturally appropriate way with scriptural metaphors and such in the heart language of the people. One especially memorable story Neil told was of their translation of John 3:16. After working for weeks to find the correct word for "love," the verse was translated and read to the people. Their response was to stroke their throats and say "we are dying of the deliciousness of these words." Wow, when have I ever responded so passionately to that same Gospel? It was also fun to talk when there was time with Gary and Judy Anderson (no relation to Neil), who are reps with Wycliffe. My parents are long-time friends with the Andersons so I grew up hearing stories of their work in Indonesia. Pictured here are all the missionary reps as well as Will and Shanna, (far left) who are staff at FSB and did a fantastic job of organizing the conference. Houghton isn't pictured here but most of the others are.

I also got to enjoy a full week with my friends John and Andrea and their kids Michael, Trevor, and Ella. They housed me as a stranger back in September when we presented at LaGrange Bible Church and in chapel at FSB. This time I got to come back as a friend! I enjoyed getting to know them better and to have a bit of time with the kids playing Pictionary. Thanks for the fun and the fellowship, guys! :)

Thanks for your prayers as we have been on deputation. It is rather amazing with all the travel we've done that we haven't had any accidents or hit any (living) deer. On the way back from FSB, I did hit an enormous already dead deer but I was able to at least straddle it and so only scraped the bottom of my car. Thankfully, although some things are bent, it seems to be fine otherwise. We had to avoid other dead and living deer on that same road later, but got home safe and sound (I just have a really smelly car now). I won't include any pictures of that... :)

Thanksgiving was a nice time to avoid all work and not turn on the computer! My parents, Houghton, Gretchen and the kids, and Houghton's mom and I all hung out at my parents', ate yummy food, and us girls played some games. Pretty amazing to think of the length of the list of what I have to be thankful for - wow.

Another nice thing is that my grandparents came to visit last night so we enjoyed a bit of time with them. We'll spend Christmas at their place in South Dakota for a few days, Lord-willing .

We spent this last Sunday at Grace Bible, our home sending church and went out to Coalwood again Sunday night. Starting this week, we are spending the next month sharing at small group Bible studies from Grace Bible, Lord-willing. We are excited for the opportunity to have more informal time and to be able to better get to know people from our home church. Having a church of 500 (that I've been away from for the most part for 10 or so years) means there are loads of people I've never met. We are blessed to be in one place for longer than a few days too!

Out in the Wilderness

The end of October I got to visit one of my alma mater's, Montana Wilderness School of the Bible. Joe, who with his wife Bev and their family was on staff there when I was a student from 97-98, now pastors a church in Fort Benton just NE of Great Falls, MT. Community Bible Church there welcomed us in to present about Vanuatu and God's leading on Sunday morning. Joe and Bev let us stay in their lovely home and Bev fed us an incredible meal after church. We also enjoyed fellowshiping with Greg and Cheryl from their church over the meal. Here are Cheryl and Greg on the left and Bev and Joe on the right. Emily, Joe & Bev's daughter, also lives in Fort Benton so we got to see her and meet her husband Peter at church, which was fun.

After lunch, we zipped through Great Falls and on to where Montana Wilderness School of the Bible (MWSB http://www.mwsb.com/) is nestled, well, in the wilderness, an hour or so from Helena and an hour or so from Great Falls! At MWSB, we met a "new" (to me anyway, they've been there 4 years now) staff family, Kevin and Pat. Kevin and Pat housed the Richards and I stayed with John and Terry, who are the directors of the school and who were hugely impactful in my life especially when I attended there. Here are Terry and John to the right. We spoke for evening chapel to the students and had several hours after chapel to further interact with students (and some of the staff) who had questions about missions or our testimonies, about Vanuatu, and about discerning God's will and making decisions. What an awesome time to be able to encourage college students to pray about and pursue missions! I really enjoyed the girls I got to talk to and new relationships grown from that time. I'm praying for you girls for wisdom as you seek to glorify God with your lives and in the steps taken after Bible school! I had some nice times to catch up with John and Terry and to get to know some of the other staff as well. I talked briefly with Adam, son of Joe & Bev, and his wife Brooke for a bit at MWSB as well as they are on staff there now.

The scenery there was, as always, incredible and it was as always, hard to leave a place that has been over the years such a haven of rest and growth and of encouraging fellowship. God has truly blessed me in allowing me to have a relationship with MWSB and the staff, students, and alumni from there.

The only stinky thing about the whole weekend was that Gretchen and Gweny weren't able to come. A day before we were to leave, Gweny started running high fevers and not doing well. Gretchen and Houghton decided to have her stay back with Gweny to give her a chance to get well. Houghton, Jesiah and I traveled without them then. Jesiah enjoyed playing with toys at Bev's house, seeing Aaron again (who we visited in Ronan in August but he's now going to school in Great Falls so we got to stop in and see him twice on the trip, as well as to run in to his mom and brother who were visiting), and playing with the great boy toys at Kevin and Pat's. Kevin and Pat had 3 boys (of their 7 kids) home when we were there and they were fantastic entertainers for Jesiah. Here are Pat & Kevin, Rob, Ben, and Josh (and Jesiah behind the nurf gun on Ben's lap). He was VERY sad to leave there. :)

This last weekend we were in western North Dakota presenting at our first church in that state. Pastor Dave and his wife Renee were out of town so asked Houghton to fill the pulpit and we were able to share about Vanuatu there. We met some incredible people and aside from the insane wind gusts threatening to blow us off the road on the way home, were blessed at Beach Evangelical Church. Houghton's parents had us over to celebrate his and his dad's birthdays after we drove back so we got some great grub and came the rest of the way home late Sunday night. Houghton turned 28 Saturday.

Friday we leave for Buffalo, MT to visit with my friends Jessica and Ryan, who graduated with me from MWSB. They have 5 kids now so I'm excited to meet the newest, Jared and better get to know the other 4. After presenting in the church in Buffalo, we'll head down to Frontier School of the Bible again to present during their missions conference for the week.