I finally got a picture of Jason with most of his guys together. These are all but 2 of the students he has worked with since the start of the school year in July. The day before Thanksgiving marked the end of the semester. Due to the winter weather conditions here in Spokane, the flight program flips their school year to have a winter break instead of a summer break.

Jason will continue to work at school throughout the winter break getting guys caught up when the weather permits. He and the other flight instructors will start to receive training for flying the Kodiak airplane (read about it here). We are also hoping to start to work on raising our support level this winter. So we plan on staying busy!

I have to say that the students in the flight program are pretty amazing. They definitely get a chance to stretch their faith while in school. Many of the guys are married and several of them have kids. A normal schedule is a 9 hour school day, which doesn't include those special 5 am flights in the summer or the recent night flights. Most of them juggle some kind of employment outside of school while balancing their families and most often some kind of ministry through church, etc. It boggles my mind how some of them make it through.

There was a small commissioning on the last day of school for some of the seniors that are headed out on an internship over the winter break. In order to graduate, the students must do a 6-8 week internship with a missions flight organization. One of Jason's students it planning on going to Bolivia for 2 months. He and his wife have had to work through lots of decisions including whether or not she should accompany him (she is staying here in Spokane) and how they would be able to cover the cost not only of the trip, but of his time away from work. It is amazing to see the work these guys put and the sacrifices they make to finish the program. Keep them in your prayers!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thankful for so many things.

Thankful for each other
Thankful for our kids
Thankful for a faithful God that is always showing us his love
Thankful for being here, now
Thankful for all of you

family photo

This picture was taken at Hayden Lake,ID last month. We were able to go for a day to the Moody student and staff retreat. Moody has a satellite campus here in Spokane, so there are actually quite a few students, more than just the flight guys.

It was a great time to get away for the day and it was a fun time for me to meet some more of Jason's student's. We're really enjoyed having some of Jason's guys and their families over for dinner and the chance to get to know them better.

School Girl

We have a big girl in our house now. Mirielle started preschool at the beginning of September and she loves it!

She was pretty excited about going. I was pretty excited about her going. I think we were both ready for her to start school.

Mirielle is our social butterfly. She loved the Philippines because she (almost always) loved all of the attention she got. Wherever we went she ended up with an entourage following her around stores and restaurants. She was friendly to start with but I think her early years in the PI drew out the extrovert in her all the more.

She makes friends at the McDonalds' play land or in the airport or at the grocery store. This girl is always looking for a friend. Always looking for someone to talk to!

Preschool has been such a wonderful thing for her. She loves the new friends she has made and seems to be learning lots these days. She even surprised me the other day by writing her name out all by herself (I thought that was pretty impressive considering the length of her name!).

The first day of school was easy. We loaded up her backpack with some snacks, took a few pictures and when we got her into the classroom she recognized one of the girls from church, ran over to join her playing at the doll house, posed for one more picture and then released me and never looked back. Later that day she told me, "Mom, I didn't even miss you!" What a girl!

Totally Two

happy birthday to you
happy birthday to you
happy birthday dear Kellan
happy birthday to you!

Kellan turned 2 years old on the 9th. It seemed like it was about time for him to be 2. Every time I would check him in to nursery at church the last few weeks, it just didn't seem right to write down his age as 1.

He is still our big bruiser. 10 pounds at birth and he hasn't given up much of his size since then. So glad I'm not where I was 2 years ago! He is running at full speed these days and is all boy.


I love this little man like crazy. I can't get enough of him in the mornings because he will let me sit and snuggle him on the couch for a long time while we watch cartoons together. Love that! Don't think that I will ever be ready to give that up.

Kellan is our sweet sensitive guy with his own little bull headed twist. We love watching him grow and can't wait to see more of his character develop this year. We're still waiting for more words to come out of his mouth to discover what is rolling around in that head of his. He is getting more of a chance to talk for himself now that his big sister is in preschool :-)

We love you Kellan!

Fall is Here!

This time of year takes some serious restraint on my part. I think fall might be my favorite time of year. I love the falling leaves and the cool air, but anything that has to do with pumpkin calls my name.

I love pumpkins on the steps to our front door, I LOVE pumpkin spice candles that make my house smell like I am baking a pumpkin pie (which is my favorite!) but I can hardly resist those pumpkin spice lattes!! And since they are seasonal, I feel occasionally obligated to indulge before they are gone until next year. :-)

I'd like some legos and a gun to go with that!

We love living here in Spokane. We've heard many people refer to Spokane as being the "biggest small town" around. It is, however, that small town feel that sometimes strikes us big city kids as a bit peculiar.

Yesterday we went to look for a present for Kellan's birthday next week. We went to one of the bigger hobby stores in town that we heard has great prices on toys. This 'hole in the wall' store did in fact have some good deals but shopping at the store wasn't exactly like a trip to Target or ToysRUs.

What surprised this city girl is that you enter the store through the gun department which smack dab in the front of the store. I guess I can see how the store doesn't want to drag serious hunters through aisles of toys, however, it was kind of weird walking into the store to be greeted by a wall lined with boxes of bullets in our pursuit of Thomas the Train.

Maybe that is typical of most hobby shops and I just don't know it since I usually buy most everything at Target. Sometimes though it is things like that that leave me feeling like a foreigner even around here!

What happens when you blink

We opened our dishwasher the other day to find this:



You may be thinking, "What in the world is that??"

Which is exactly what we were thinking.

We couldn't figure out what would cause such a horrible mess until we found....

the wrapper of one of those gigantic little kids crayons (you know that kind that are 3 times the size of a regular crayon?).

Yeah, fun.

Let just say that it took a lot of work to get that out of the dishwasher.

I guess when you have little kids around, crayons in the dishwasher is the kind of thing that can happen when you take the time to blink!

Kailee saves the day

Jason needed to build some hours in the Cessna 206 that he will be instructing in once the semester starts at Moody, so the family got to go along on one of his flights.

Mirielle was so excited about going flying that she was up first thing in the morning ready to go. We packed up all of our stuff and headed out to the airport. Jason preflighted the airplane and we got Kellan and I strapped into the middle row of seats first.

Things were going really well until we tried strapping Mirielle into the front seat. She was not excited about sitting in the front up by all of the controls. My super cool and calm husband explained how she needed to sit up in front to balance out the plane and that Kellan was too little to sit up in front and how she was just right and could watch him fly, etc. etc. The pep talk didn't seem to help much as she still was convinced that she needed to sit next to mom.

Since our first attempt didn't work so well, Jason took Mirielle back inside the building to get some seat cushions so that she could get a better view out the front window, thinking that might help calm her down. They came back talking about the pictures they saw in the office of the first mission aviation pilot, who happened to be a woman. We thought it would be a go until we tried strapping her in, which resulted in more tears.

On to idea 3. Next we tried putting her in the back row and pushing my seat back so that I was sitting in between her and Kellan. She wasn't too thrilled about that idea either....

So after more than 30 minutes of trying to convince her that she would be okay and have fun once we got in the air, we finally gave up. Defeated, we packed up and put the plane away. In between packing up and getting ready to leave, Jason discovered that one of his coworkers had brought his teenage daughter, Kailee, with him to work. She was more than happy to accompany us along on a flight and was able to sit in the back next to Mirielle. Kailee saves the day as you can see her presence made for all smiles in the back seats!

We enjoyed the ride around town and even got to see our house from the air. The scenery certainly was different than the last airplane ride we took into the tribe. Fields instead of coral reefs! We were so thankful that it turned out to be another fun family adventure (and we discovered a new babysitter that lives close to our house!).

A Perfect Day

We went exploring this weekend. A neighbor had told us about a farm area just outside of town that sold pick your own fruit so we decided to go check it out. It ended up being the PERFECT day! The weather here is still beautiful and with a breeze and clouds rolling through the bright blue sky, it was the perfect temperature to be outside for the day. It was a beautiful drive through the country up onto a bluff to the fruit farms.

Strawberries are in season now, so we picked our way through the fields until we were covered in red and our stomachs and our basket were full of delicious strawberries. It was a fun family activity for all four of us. The best part was that we had all of that fun for 95 cents a pound!

After strawberry picking, we still had some room in our stomachs for a little lunch. We drove our way around the bluff to another farm that had a restaurant. We had hamburgers and Jason and I enjoyed a piece of pie and a cup of coffee while the kids were busy working on their giant suckers. FUN!

Check out our photos

We Made It!

After 4 days of driving, we finally made it to Spokane! It was a LONG trip with lots of miles, a billion gallons of gas and way too much fast food.

Jason's parents were able to help us drive which was a huge help. They took the kids in our CRV while Jason and I drove the UHaul towing a car ( actually I just scanned for radio stations and passed snacks). The trip was mostly uneventful except for a blowout just outside of Butte.


We have slowly been unpacking our boxes. Jason was able to return to the Philippines in January to ship some boxes of our things home. Most of our stuff made it home in one piece, however most everything has evidence of the Philippines in it or on it - and boy does it stink. The process of opening and emptying out boxes is stinky enough to almost make me gag! All of our things were wrapped in clothes, towels, sheets, etc. and has taken at least 2 cycles through the wash to start to get the smell out of the fabric. So it has gone a little on the slow side.

Another thing we have been busy doing is fixing up our fixer upper. One of the first things we did was pull up the carpet. The house smelled like dogs and smoke so getting rid of the nasty carpet was a huge help.



We were re-reminded of the previous presence of dogs when we moved the stove and found this lovely surprise! Now that really made me want to GAG!



On a much nicer note!! We are enjoying spring here. We pulled into town right when all of the tulips were in bloom. We even had a few out in front of our house. We love having a nice big grassy yard and a beautiful Hawthorn tree which is in full bloom right now. The tree looks like it has a million tiny rosebuds on it. Beautiful!

I'm still waiting to put away our cold weather clothes. It is a cold and rainy day today and was only 43 degrees when I checked the temp this morning. I can't believe that it is almost June and it is still this cold. Welcome to the Northwest!!

So much for a family photo!

Working with tools is without a doubt one of Kellan's favorite activities and he loves to work along side of his dad. Kellan has a set of play tools, but after discovering real tools, the plastic ones are not anywhere near good enough. He recently had lots of tool time while Jason replaced the engine mounts in one of our cars. Unfortunately this was the result:




Three stitches to the middle of the forehead due to a fall while holding a wrench.







While Jason was taking Kellan to the doctor to get stitched up, out walks Mirielle looking like this:

She decided that she was too hot to have bangs so she cut them off and threw them away in the garbage. Thankfully she didn't decide that she was too hot to have the ponytails that she was wearing that day. What do you do with a girl like that??

I guess this means that I will postpone my goal of sending out a new picture prayer card in our upcoming newsletter!

Easter

What it's all about

Saviour He can move the mountains

My God is mighty to save

He is mighty to save

Forever author of salvation

He rose and conquered the grave

Jesus conquered the grave…

("Mighty to Save", Mighty to Save, Hillsong)

Below is a letter from our coworkers in the Philippines. After years of time in the tribe, Ray and Chris have begun teaching the Word of God for the first time this month!

We wanted to share their story with you because this is what it is all about. The Word is going out to those who have never had the chance to hear! Thank you to all of you that pray for us and support us and know that you are part of the team taking the Gospel to dark places!

As we celebrated Easter, I couldn’t get out of my mind the faces in these pictures. I was so overwhelmed with the fact that I so easily take the sacrifice of the cross for granted and even I forget that there are thousands who have never even had the chance to hear about our amazing Savior.

Please continue to pray for Ray and Chris and their coworkers Danny and Philippa as they send forth the good news.

Hi to all our co-workers.

Firstly, we just want to say a big thanks for all your prayers for us over the last days. We have really sensed that there were many prayers being offered up for us. It was amazing to have such a peaceful day, even though it was pretty full on. The week before our teaching was a pretty difficult one, and at times was almost overwhelming. But as we moved into this last week, there was a real calm and peace. We know that there were many praying all over the world, so we are so thankful to God and give Him all the glory.

As many of you know, we are teaching three groups, each twice a week. We have bought a bunch of chairs, and are using three of the peoples houses in the area, that are a bit better and larger than most of the others. We had a good attendance yesterday with most coming that said they would. We taught in three different places and in all, we estimate just over 100 people came. It is a difficult time of the year as many are fishing all night for squid, and come back pretty tired. We are very excited to see how the Lord will work everything out, and trust Him to continue to bring the people back for the following lessons.

The first lesson was about who God is, his attributes and creation. The next couple of lessons will be about the fall of man, and the angels, and we will also deal with the spirit world e.g., where do the spirits come from?

We are really thrilled at the way it all went yesterday, so once again, thanks for the big part you all played in this in holding us up in prayer.

Things to pray for.

1/ That the people would keep coming, especially the men.

2/ That the people would have a clear understanding of the truth.

3/ We will be sending through some photos of some key people that we would ask you to pray for. These people hold more influence in the area than most, so we would ask you to pray that they would remain interested, and ultimately come to know Christ.

Let us all praise God for what He is doing.

Recently at church we have been going through a financial stewardship series. It has been such a challenging series for us as we’re transitioning into a stateside ministry which will be a big financial adjustment for our family. Every week there was something in the teaching that was a new challenge and conviction for me to TRUST in our mighty God! Throughout our journey, He has always been faithful to provide for our needs and we are so THANKFUL!

One of the most amazing things about being a missionary is watching God provide for our needs in amazing ways. In the last few weeks, we have been OVERWHELMED by the way the Lord uses His body to provide for our needs.

Two weeks ago we were given a car by a couple at our church whom we had never even met before. AMAZING! Yesterday we received a call from some friends to tell us that they had some brand new kitchen appliances that they were giving to us to take up to our new fixer upper house! AMAZING!

We are always overwhelmed by the goodness of God as He works through all of you! Whether a new car or an encouraging word we are so thankful your involvement in our lives.

Never Thought

I never thought I would be adding a picture of this to our blog. Our very own house!

In March we were given the go ahead by NTMA to move up to Spokane to serve as representatives at Moody Aviation. The next week we were able to fly up to Spokane to look for housing. We were hoping to buy a house so that we could avoid moving into an apartment short term until we could find a house. My new goal is no more living with boxes!!

After looking at what felt like a million houses, we finally put an offer in on a house. Unfortunately, our offer made the owners decide that they really didn't want to sell their house. After more house hunting, God led us to this house. It is a bit of a fixer upper, but it is in a great neighborhood and much less than the first house we were looking at. We are mostly glad that this means no more moving for a while. We are so excited!!

Dear Praying Friends,

It has been so long since we’ve written. So much has happened over the last few months since our return to the States in November. Writing out our lives in a letter often times just doesn’t seem adequate. We wish we could sit down over a cup of coffee and share the joy and the tears of the last few months with each of you. God has been so good to our family and has given us these months for an amazing time of healing, restoration and redirection.

Healing and Restoration
We were very blessed to be able to attend a one week intensive at a counseling practice here in Phoenix. They were able to break up our one week so that we did three days in January and then finished up our last 2 days in mid February. This really was an ‘intensive’ process as the days were between 8 and 13 hours long. Those days were exhausting but totally life changing.

We can’t say enough about all of the things that God taught us about ourselves, our marriage, our family, our ministry and most of all about Himself during those days. This is where the cup of coffee and the long visit would come in! There were so many incredible things we learned that we wish we could sit down and share face to face. Thank you to all of you who helped in proving for us financially, in prayer and even in baby sitting so that we could go through the sessions!! After feeling upside down for so long, I (Jen) feel like I’ve finally been turned right side up!

At every turn we are reminded in our lives and on our journey that we serve a beautiful, mysterious God. Mysterious being the key word! While sometimes we wish that we could understand the paths He takes us down and understand some of the whens and whys, we know and celebrate that He does all things well! While we will never understand all of the ups and downs that God placed along our way the last few years, we feel like this time of healing and restoration had brought us to a point where we can truly be thankful for the journey that He is taking us on.


Redirection
One of the verses that God laid on our hearts before we left the Philippines was Jeremiah 29:11.

“For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

Coming home was certainly a detour in our plans, but our detour home was just the beginning of what the Lord had in store for us. By coming home the Lord put us in a place not only where He could restore us, but also a place where he could redirect us.

One of the things we decided over the last few months was to pursue a ministry that would be a better fit for our family at this time in our lives. It has really been amazing to see how parts of a new plan have fallen together and how the Lord is confirming over and over again that this is the next step for us. While our hearts break to step out of our ministry in the Philippines, we feel like God has opened a new door for us. We truly feel like it is a plan that gives us a hope and a future!


The Ministry of Multiplication
We are excited to be stepping out in faith and heading up to Spokane, Washington as New Tribes Mission Aviation representatives to join with the staff of Moody Bible Aviation in training new missionary pilots. This ministry will allow Jason to use his skills as a flight instructor while we as a family will be able to share the vision of NTM with new pilots. We are excited about this change in directions and feel that it will be a great fit for our family!

We will be spending some time in McNeal, AZ with NTMA getting a “big picture” of the current needs and future direction of the organization. We will be moving at the end of April and Jason will start teaching this summer after some orientation with the Moody flight program.

Please be praying for:

Please be praying for our family as we are in a time of transition and packing over the next few weeks. Pray especially for our kids. We told Mirielle the other day that one day soon we were going to be moving into a new house and she looked at us very seriously and said, “But we already have a new house!”

Please be praying for our move to Spokane in April. We are in the process of packing up the things that we left here in the States and trying to track down some of our stuff that we gave away. We are grateful that for this move we are able to rent a U-Haul instead of dealing with a shipping container. This should be our last move for a long time!!!

Please pray that God would be preparing our hearts for our new ministry. We are excited to be working with Moody preparing students for ministry and having the opportunity to share the vision of New Tribes and the awesome privilege of getting the gospel to those who have never heard!

Thankfully this will be our last move in a long time! We are really looking forward to getting settled down after 5 years. Please pray as we adjust financially to living in the States and set up house for one last time. We are anticipating not being able to find a house for $250 a month like we did in the Philippines!  Please pray for wisdom as we look for a new house in Spokane, find reliable transportation, buy furniture, etc.

Most importantly, we want to thank all of you for teaming with us through all of the ups and downs of the last few years! It has been amazing for us to watch the Lord provide for our needs as he works through the hearts of those around us. Thank you for your faithfulness to our ministry and your vision as we work together to spread the gospel to those who have never heard.