40 days and a kidney stone?

40 Days.

We invited you to pray. Keep us busy.  Help us share our story.

Ever had a kidney stone?  I haven't, but now Chris has.  I've never seen him in pain like this, or had him ask to go to the doctor - much less the ER!

Why? We've had to cancel our schedule since Monday.  But, as a wise friend just reminded me, when we are weak, HE is strong.  We can not do this on our own.  We are frail and weak.  We are hurting and sinful.  We need our savior, our redeemer, our friend.  And we need you.  We need your prayers.

This battle is not against flesh and blood (and kidney stones and stomach bugs), but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm. (Eph. 6:12)

Why are we planning to go to Cameroon?  It's not a holiday or a thrill seeking time.  This is a work we have been called to - a work we feel God has lead us to do - glorifying Him through Arts, helping music and Art to be used for His purposes; using the talents, skill, and education he has blessed us with for Him; and sharing this work with you so you can pray and join in the work with us.

We can't do it alone.  Will you pray for us?  Will you write and email encouraging words?  Will you partner financially with us?  Will you invite us to share with your small group, Bible study, friends, or family?

Continue to pray for Chris - and we'll keep you updated....

40 days: Day 2 - Hanging out at JAARS

Today we have something of a free day, although we've spent a bit of time working on some things such as pre-requisite reading for the off-road driving course tomorrow.  But, today after lunch, there was a fun little event that happened.

A brand new aircraft arrived at JAARS today.  Yesterday, it left the factory in Idaho where it was built, and arrived in North Carolina at around 1:30pm today.  About 80-100 folks showed up to see the plane arrive.

The story of this aircraft is pretty cool.  It is a Quest Kodiak, an aircraft designed for short takeoff and landing on less-than-perfect runways.  There is a two-year waiting list for these aircraft.  When an order was cancelled by a customer several weeks ago, JAARS was offered the aircraft by the manufacturer if the money could be raised in less than two weeks.  Amazingly, hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised and the aircraft, destined for Papua-New Guinea, is expected to be in use in the South Pacific by this summer.  You can read the whole story in all of its detail here.

Another cool story about this aircraft is who will fly it.  We know a pilot or two in PNG, but we're very attached to a pilot who will, Lord willing, be flying for JAARS (likely in PNG) in the near future.

Matt Stoker, while he was a student at Liberty University, became a friend of our family.  He was a part of a small group that met in our home, had some meals with us, and is one of our kids' favorite people.  Matt recently has gone through the application and evaluation process with Wycliffe and JAARS and will be going through training and partnership development over the next 20 or so months.  We are very excited for Matt and were happy to be at the airstrip today and see his chariot arrive!

Matt, about to give his mom a ride on his motorcycle.

Enjoy the pics from the arrival today.

40 Days: It Begins

Thanks to our friend Russell Darnell for all of the recent cool pictures!

40 Days.  It's kind of a thematic device used throughout the Bible for periods of time used for refinement.  Jesus was tempted for 40 days in the desert (not that Jesus needed refinement...).  It rained on Noah and his family for 40 days.  The western world widely observes the Lenten season of 40 days of spiritual preparation for Easter.  In some cultures, people wait 40 days before they bring a newborn outside of the home.  And there are many more...

So in the great tradition of 40 day refinements, we decided to do one of our own.  And we've produced a video to introduce it:

So, to elaborate of some of what is in the video, our 40 days is meant to be a time for us to do two primary things.

First, we want to focus with prayer and fasting.  Prayer is essential.  Is fasting outmoded?  How do the two connect?  What is fasting anyway, and why does it appear in the Bible?  One of the best explanations of it that I've ever heard is from Michael Oh, a missionary with Mission to the World in Japan.  I heard him give this presentation a few years ago and it is enlightening.  He addresses it in the context of cross-cultural missions, but in the process defines the general purpose of fasting quite well.

Our second point in this 40 days is to make a concerted effort to finish our partnership development.  We are at 85% of our monthly commitments and can see the end.  We want to make this 40 day period like that point in a race where you pick up the pace with a final sprint, making sure that you gave it your all and left nothing on the table.  We want to spend these 40 days working very hard, presenting more, and finishing our time in the States with a flourish.

With all of that said, here's what we've been up to so far.  Yesterday, day 1, we had a Skype meeting in the morning, wrote and sent lots of e-mail, and then headed down to Waxhaw, North Carolina to the JAARS Center.  If you want to know what JAARS is, check out their site or our blog post about JAARS from last summer.

At JAARS, we're doing an off-road driver training course on Friday.  On Saturday, we'll head to Cross Hill, SC and speak at Liberty Springs Presbyterian Church on Sunday morning.  After the Sunday morning service, we'll drive over to Hampstead, NC and visit Grace EPC Sunday evening.  On Monday, we'll head back toward Virginia.  Prayer for all of these events is welcome!

R is for Ready and Waiting....

Ready.  And waiting...

About 19 months ago, we crafted a "pre-field plan" that was a basic timetable of our leaving for the field.  It had entries for December, 2012 (complete studies at GIAL - DONE!) and January, 2013.  The January entry was "Depart for Language Study in France."  Well, it's February and we haven't left yet. So why are we still in Lynchburg?

We have no doubts that we are called to do this work of ethnomusicology and arts in Cameroon.
We are here, practically speaking, because we are lacking 15% of our monthly support, and we need some special gifts for one-time costs overseas.  But God owns 'the cattle on a thousand hills' - everything is His!  Knowing that God will abundantly supply when necessary, we believe we are still here for other purposes.

Lori's dad is very sick.  He has kidney failure, dementia, and is very weak.  But because we are here, we are able to help him and Lori's mom.  What a blessing!  Please pray for the Rundles in this difficult time.

Because we are here, we are able to continue to be the ambassadors for the Bibleless.  We get to share our story of how God called us, ordinary people, do to an extraordinary thing.  We get to spend time with friends and family that we would not have had time to see and encourage otherwise.

This friendly horse decided to join us in a picture as we were doing some video shooting this week.

We are beginning a 40 day push beginning Sunday, February 10, to share our story with as many people as possible, to complete our prayer and financial support, and to get the word out about what God is doing with arts in missions.  At the end of the 40 days, Friday March 22, our home church, Redeemer Presbyterian, is sponsoring a "Talent Unmasked" event to help raise the final needed amount for ourselves and for our good friends, the Grants, who will be leaving soon to serve in Spain.

The Grant family: Jamie & Rachael with Amelia, Anna, Andrew, and Abigail

Please consider praying and fasting for our family and Cameroon during the 40 days.  Also consider hosting a small get-together or dessert night with a few friends for us to share our story.  We're confident that we'll be set to go soon if we're faithful to what lies right in front of us - serving our family and being ambassadors for the bibleless in the here and now.

We are READY.  Help us go!