Wells of Living Water

CAM International becomes Camino Global

2012-02-09T12:49:00.000-08:00

Since C.I. Scofield founded Central American Mission (CAM) in 1890, Latin America has literally been changed by its influence and the gospel. And 122 years later, CAM International has a worldwide outreach. Their mission is to to produce and empower committed followers of Jesus Christ in Spanish-speaking areas to reach the world. Their mission involves every aspect of the Great Commission to send, go, preach, disciple, train, and multiply. They have a unique approach to worldwide missions by using Spanish-speakers, who are already adept to third-world cultures and conditions, to get into areas that typical anglo-North Americans cannot.

With new opportunities to reach unreached cultures both in closed countries and tribal areas of Latin America, CAM saw the need to incorporate a new name to reflect this change. Camino Global, which means "global journey" or "worldwide path", is CAM's new name as of 2012. In the coming months they will be presenting their new logo and materials.

We are excited about this change and welcome the new name, knowing that it may open doors that otherwise may not have been with the old name. Our focus on Honduras is not only for those people. Our focus ties into Camino Global's larger picture of sending Spanish-speakers into hard to reach places around the world such as Albania, Turkey, Philippines and beyond. The Garifuna people are an obvious step of Camino Global's focus to use Spanish-speakers to touch the world for Christ.

If you support us financially, you may see new materials as the new logo and brand is developed. Know that our mission has not changed, only its face so that it might advance the gospel even more. If you have any questions about any of this or would like more info about Camino Global's worldwide mission, please let us know. Thank you!

Support Update!

2012-01-25T15:16:00.000-08:00

In the past few weeks we have seen an increase in our support from 75% to 79%. Praise God! Every little bit counts and makes a difference in the lives of others. We are so thankful for those who support us financially. They are the ones who are making it possible for the Gospel to be shared to a people who have never heard it and who have never seen it lived out in front of them. Those who give sacrificially to us, whatever amount it might be (from $1/month to $300/month!), make a huge impact for eternity.

This journey into the mission field has stretched our faith and grown us in ways we never thought possible. But this is just God's way of preparing us for what is to come. However, the support we receive is not about our growth, but about what God will do through the power of his Holy Spirit in Honduras! He is sending us there through those who support us. Our supporters are a VITAL part of the Great Commission! He is preparing hearts TODAY to hear exactly what they need to hear when we arrive there, to build relationships with them, and to share the incredible message of HOPE that we have for them. We are excited to get there and begin this process of seeing lives changed forever and to have the privilege to share Jesus with everyone we encounter!

For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:13-15)

Please pray about becoming part of our team and consider supporting us on a monthly basis. Any amount matters – it is ultimately between you and God. Is He prompting you to be a part of what He has called us to? We would love for you to join us as partners in the Gospel, the Good News! You will see the resources God has blessed you with multiplied for HIS GLORY! Once we get to around 90% of our support we can begin making travel plans and other plans to prepare to go to Honduras. If the LORD is leading you to partner with us, please click here to give online or see our Support page for other options. Thank you!

We would love to answer any questions you might have. Please let us know by emailing us (cwells@caminternational.org) or calling us (503-877-3701).

Prayer Update

2012-01-12T20:26:00.000-08:00

Please read our latest Prayer Update. Thank you for praying!

Click here: http://eepurl.com/ig2mE

New Year Resolutions

2011-12-28T22:13:00.000-08:00

In the coming months, we will be traveling around the Northwest visiting various churches and families to share what the Lord is doing through us and in Honduras. We ask that you would please pray for us as we plot out our representation plan. We plan to head throughout Oregon, Idaho, Washington and then back to Oregon. We have approximately 25% of our monthly support to raise and also ask that you would pray for this to come in as the Lord provides according to His will.

Thank you for your ongoing prayer and support and we pray your new year is a blessed one!

Hope Has Come!

2011-12-28T21:59:00.000-08:00

The Messiah was born:

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
-Luke 2:10-12

Grace was revealed:

For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people... while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.
-Titus 2:11,13

Hope was given:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
-Romans 15:13

We're praying you are filled with awe and wonder this Christmas of the love God has for you and has given in the form of his one and only Son.

Merry Christmas!
Corey, Kirsten, Gavin & Garret

View Christmas card in new window

Post-Training & Travels

2011-11-20T14:01:00.001-08:00

Our family at CIT for the past 11 weeks.

After 11 amazing weeks in Union Mills, NC at the Center for Intercultural Training (CIT), we have arrived back in Oregon to prepare ourselves to leave for Honduras in the coming months. This training has been invaluable (read previous blog post about what we learned) and we will be able to put it to work right away in Honduras as we begin learning the languages, culture, and how to integrate our family into ministry there.

Some fun we had with a Phineas & Ferb birthday party.

During our time at CIT, we wrote a research paper on Honduras and the Garifuna people. This project has helped us to understand the Honduran and Garifuna people on a deeper level and has stirred our hearts on a more intimate level for them. They so desperately need the Good News of Jesus and something to hope in. And we all know it is not a temporal hope, but one that can transform lives both here and in the life to come. We are so thankful for these past months of training and to the Lord for deepening our love for the people He has called us to and deepening our understanding of them.

The Lord blessed us with great weather for the drive home.
Pictured is Mt. Shasta on a gas stop in the Siskiyou mountains.

A question we keep hearing is, "when do you plan on leaving?" This is a great question, and one we wish we knew the exact answer to! But part of this journey to full-time missions abroad is that of trusting deeply on the Lord to provide ALL that we need. We rely on Him to draw others to this ministry to be senders, prayer warriors and to encourage us.
We need to be at 100% of our monthly and one-time support in order to be released to the field.

We are currently at 71% of our monthly support and 52% of our one-time support to move our family and belongings and to get setup in Honduras. Please pray that the remainder of our support would be raised as the Lord wills. If you are not already a financial partner, please ask the Lord if He would have you be a part of our team. If you are not able to partner with us on a monthly basis, please consider giving a year-end gift. Also if your church may be willing to partner with us in some way please let us know. Email cwells@caminternational.org if you have any questions or prayer request... we want to pray for you too!

And lastly, during this season we just want to emphasize our thankfulness to you for giving sacrificially, for praying when prompted, and for being there with a supporting word or helping hand just when we needed it. We truly appreciate your encouragement and blessings. We would not be going to Honduras were it not for your partnership, so thank you so very much for what you are doing for the Kingdom!

Family, Friends & Training

2011-11-07T18:51:00.000-08:00

Enjoying the "Harvest Fair" in a nearby town.

Wow, we can't believe that our time here at CIT in North Carolina is almost over! We've experienced and learned so much since we've been here and have made friendships that will be with us for the rest of our lives. We will so miss our new friends but know that the Lord will be using them all over the world making an impact upon lives in places like Spain, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Romania, Tajikistan, Pakistan, India, Thailand, Bolivia, and right here in Union Mills, NC.

We have gone through 5 weeks of intercultural training covering a multitude of topics, 2 weeks of language acquisition which will help us learn any new language, 2 weeks of team dynamics training, and have just headed into a week of interpersonal skills and communication. Next week will be our final week here and will focus on church planting. Through all of this training, the facilitators at CIT have been very intentional about meeting each missionary at the heart level and dive deep into who we are at the core of our being to make sure we are firmly planted on the Gospel. Not only have we received world-class training from some of the best teachers available, we have received discipleship from them as well. They are all well-educated missionaries with extensive experience on the field who have experienced the ups and downs of life as a missionary. They have been able to impart much wisdom, understanding and experience into us. We have grown to love them dearly and we are very grateful for their service to the Lord through CIT.

Along with all of this training for us, our boys have been getting similar training. As we go through a module, at the end of each day we are given a slip of paper with questions to ask our boys. These go right along with what we learn during that day, but on a level they understand and are engaged in. It has been awesome to see the growth in both of them and to see the Holy Spirit move in their lives.

It is bitter-sweet to think about leaving here, but we know that this time was for a season and purpose to make us more effective on the field. We are excited about the next phase of our ministry as we head back to Oregon to let more people know about what God is calling us to in Honduras. We need a little more support to come in before we are released to the field (about 18% more), but know that God's resources are unlimited. We know He has called us to this and will provide for us as we need in His timing. Our goal is to be fully funded by the beginning of the new year so we can move to Honduras to begin ministry, Lord willing of course! We are so grateful to those who have believed in what God has called us to, how He has equipped us, and for the prayers of those who intercede for us. We could not do what we are doing without your prayers and support. Thank you!

Daily we lift up those who pray for and support our ministry and we love doing it! Please let us know how we can pray for you as well.

For His purposes and glory,
Corey, Kirsten, Gavin & Garret

We've made it to pre-field training!

2011-09-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

We arrived in North Carolina last Sunday after a week of traveling across the U.S. We are so excited to be here and look forward to what we will learn here in the next 3 months. We're living in a small 2 bedroom apartment (about 750 sq. Ft.), but feels quite spacious after living in the 500 sq. ft. cabin. CIT (Center for Intercultural Training) is situated in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains in a very rural area and small town of Union Mills, NC. The campus is a collection of brick buildings within 10 acres or so. There's a dormitory, apartment complex (where we're living), admin building with our main classroom, cafeteria, and student center. There is also a pool which has been a blessing with the humidity and heat! Today we plan on resting and just spending time with our new friends.

The next few weeks will be intense as we research and prepare our 15 page paper on the Garifuna people. Gavin and Garret are learning along with us about new cultures and about how to work as a team. While we are in our class, they are in their class which is structured similar to ours, just more fun. :) Please pray that the Lord would continue to open our hearts to learn what He has for us while we're here. Also we have about 19% of our monthly support and 40% of our one-time support still to raise. Please pray the Lord would raise up those He wants involved to help take the Gospel to Honduras!

If you'd like to talk to us, we're still reachable by cell phone and Skype. We'd love to hear from you!

Cell:
Kirsten - 503-999-3135
Corey - 503-991-4469
Skype: ckwells

Headed to training!

2011-08-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

We've been approved today to attend our pre-field training in North Carolina! We're really excited about this as it is really the beginning to our new career as full-time missionaries. We will be leaving on Aug. 28, the last Sunday of the month and driving across the country for 7 days. Our trip there will consist of visiting the home office of CAM International in Dallas, TX and visiting a few sights and family. It will be a LOT of driving, so we ask you to pray for the Lord to go before us and for our truck (Mitsubishi Montero) to run good. We recently had a tune up done on it and it appears to be running well.

Training will last until mid-November. After training we will be visiting another church on our way back to Salem and hopefully be back by Thanksgiving to spend time with family. Lord willing, we will be fully funded by the time we return and we will be headed to Honduras sometime around the first of the new year!

Our address at the training center is:
CIT
c/o Corey & Kirsten Wells
P.O. Box 250
Union Mills, NC 28167

Thank you for your prayers, support and encouragement!

Prayer Update

2011-07-05T17:06:00.000-07:00

"O'Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever." –Psalm 31:12b

It has been some time since our last prayer update, so we've got a lot to give praises for and lots to pray for! But first we want to emphasize our thanks to the Lord for what He has done and for who He is. The Psalm above describes our feelings of how He has been meeting our needs and teaching us something new every day. We will give thanks forever for His mercy, forgiveness, provision, and never ending love! So first, the praise:

Praise for a great garage sale! Through it, the Lord brought in $2,500 over Memorial Day weekend to go toward getting us to Honduras!

Praise for a Spirit-filled Mission's Dessert Banquet on June 2nd! God did a mighty work that night and provided over $18,000 over a two year period.

Praise God that He has continued to be our Provider and has gotten us to 65% monthly and 42% one time in support.

Praise for what we are learning through this whole process of support raising. It has not been easy, but we rest in God's peace and presence and thank Him for it.

Pray for continued training and perseverance. This time of raising support has been a great time of learning and training, more than we could have ever anticipated. We feel that we are being more and more prepared to minister in Honduras. Pray we would press on and run our race to win it!

With "training" comes testing, so with the above praise please pray for unity through the Holy Spirit within our family. We have realized that is where the enemy will strike first in order to divide us.

Pray for opportunities to share what God is doing (churches, church groups, and with individuals). We don't have a "built-in" church network within our mission organization, so we ask that you pray that doors would open to speak to other churches and groups about our ministry. We are excited about getting to Honduras to begin our ministry there, but need to have more people involved prayerfully and financially. We know that sharing with others in what we are experiencing stretches their faith as well and are honored and humbled by the fact that God is using us in this way.

Pray specifically that God would raise up the rest of our support team. We need 15 more people at $30/month to get to our 75% goal by mid-August and get us to pre-field training in North Carolina which begins Sept. 5th (52 people at $30/month to get us to Honduras!). If we miss this window of training, we will need to wait until February for the next training. This 3-month training is required by CAM and will help prepare us even more for being on the field. Also, Corey's current full-time employment with Corban University will end Aug. 31 (or sooner if the Lord provides 75% of our support). Being at 75% of our support is required in order to attend training and begin full-time ministry with CAM. If you know of anyone who might be interested in being a "sender" and may be led to join us financially, they can donate online by clicking here or by visiting our website: www.ckwells.com (please forward this email to them). We trust God to provide in great ways!

Pray for wisdom and discernment for our next steps. We want to follow the Lord and do His will, not lead and do our will (Psalm 127:1; Psalm 115:1). Pray we would be sensitive to the Spirit's leading.

Last but not least, please pray for the hearts of those we will cross paths with here and in Honduras. This is the focus of our entire ministry, calling and commissioning (Mt. 28:19-20). Pray for those we will minister to here in our daily walk, in churches we speak in, Sunday Schools at Salem Evangelical, and for Hondurans and Garifuna who we will meet in the future. Pray they would be receptive to the Spirit's leading and prompting and that they would step out in faith to receive Jesus and/or to renew their relationship with Him.

We ask all these things according to His will. We thank you for your prayers and support!

"My God will meet all our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." –Phil. 4:19

Corey & Kirsten

P.S.- This prayer update was sent out to all of our prayer supporters. If you would like to be part of our regular prayer team, please email us and let us know! cwells@caminternational.org Or fill out the form at the bottom of our Newsletter page.

Pre-field Intercultural Training

2011-06-16T12:05:00.000-07:00

So when are we going to Honduras?

That's the million dollar question! We'd like to know the answer to this as well, but for now we wait on the Lord's timing. But just so you know what we are planning (Lord willing), here's the scoop:

The Center for Intercultural Training (CIT) is a training center for missionaries located in the foothills of North Carolina. This training is required for us to take and will help us transition into Honduras in many ways and be more effective in our ministry in the long term. The training takes place every 3 months through the spring, summer and fall seasons. The next training opportunity is this coming September. Our mission organization, CAM, requires that we be at least 75% funded (both one-time and monthly) prior to attending this training. The training lasts for 3 months, so if we go in September we will return to Oregon towards the end of November. CAM also requires that we are 100% funded prior to being released to the mission field. If we are not at 100% when we return we will continue our support raising until we are. If we ARE 100% funded, we will probably be leaving for Honduras around the first of the new year.

What if we are not at 75% of our support by September? We wait until February to attend the next available training. We were hoping we would reach 75% by June as we need only 20 partners at $40/mo. to get there (or 32 at $25/mo - however you do the math). But again, it's the LORD's timing! We are grateful for another 3 months to learn what God has to teach us. We consider this time our pre-training training! God is good and His timing is PERFECT and we are at peace with that fact.

There is one little fact that is important to share: Corey will be laid-off from his job as of August 31, so being at 75% by then is at a critical point! The reasons CAM requires us to be at 75% of our support is two-fold — we will not only go to training, but will begin using the monthly support and be considered "full-time" missionaries.

We wanted to share this information as this seems to be the most asked question — understandably so! If you feel that the Lord is leading you to be a part of what He has called us to and would like to get us to Honduras sooner than later, we invite you to partner with us. Remember, only 20 partners at $40/mo. will get us going!

Thank you for your prayers and enabling us to take the Gospel to unreached people of Honduras!!

The fruit of the Spirit's not a watermelon...

2011-06-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

So we were perusing our blog/site and realized we had not posted an update here about our status since our fundraiser dessert on June 2. We had been praying about and anticipating going to our intercultural training the first week of June, as long as our support levels were at least 75%. We received eight new monthly partners and over $1,000 in one-time gifts. Praise God! We are now up to about 63%. We didn't quite make it to 75%, but we know it's the Lord's will that we didn't! Apparently He has more to teach us here in Salem, Oregon.

One of those lessons that is obvious to us is learning to wait with joy. We don't mean "happy" joy (although that's not bad), but the kind of joy that can only come from the Holy Spirit. Joy that can be expressed even in the midst of extreme trial, similar to what the apostle Paul experienced while in prison and under persecution. It's the kind of joy that gives peace, knowing that the Lord is in control.

Being "out of control" is what we're learning to enjoy the most about this whole process of getting to the mission field. What we mean by that is we can see the Lord doing a great work in us, individually and as a family unit. But with this comes testing, and testing is usually difficult and painful at first. Similar to how gold and silver is refined by exposing it to extreme heat to burn off the impurities, testing from the Lord refines us to be more like Him and to show in word and actions the "fruit" of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control).

The last few weeks for us as a family has been a great test. We are all learning together and realizing that we are a powerful force as a family, but that we have a lot to learn from the Lord and each other. We also have realized that God's plan for us is unfolding before our very eyes. There is a spiritual war going on that we cannot see, but we can say this confidently: it is real. There is a force that does not want us being used to change lives for eternity, and we don't mean "us" as in the Wells family. We mean every Christian. Every person who claims to follow Christ and throws off everything that can entangle them and keep them from doing what God has called them to.

We have counted the cost and are willing to endure some pain in order to be refined into who God wants all of us to be. A Psalm I (Corey) have been praying lately is something we should all pray so that God might use us in a greater way:

Search me O'God and know my heart,
Test me and know my anxious thoughts,
See if there is any offensive way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
-Psalm 139:23-24

So what's next?
Over the summer we will be in Salem. Lord willing, we will go to intercultural training in September in North Carolina. We plan to do a road trip to NC and stop by CAM's home office in Dallas, TX along the way and see a few relatives and sights (like the Creation Museum!). During the summer we plan to visit a few other churches and be involved in our church evangelism/outreach projects. And of course enjoy the last summer in Oregon for a long time.

We thank God for those of you who have partnered with us in prayer and financially. Your prayers and gifts will make an eternal impact. Please let us know how we can pray for you! cwells@caminternational.org / 503-877-3701 / Facebook: Corey / Kirsten.

Be our guests!

2011-05-31T15:07:00.000-07:00

Click here to download flyer

Click here to RSVP for this FREE event!

Join us this weekend!

2011-05-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

Going to the Pacific City / Lincoln City area for Memorial Day weekend? Stop by and help support our ministry to Honduras! It's on the way to Pacific City from the mid-Valley, just 5 miles east of Hwy. 101 from Pacific City. Click here for directions.

Thank you!

Upcoming Fundraisers

2011-05-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

Please join us for these upcoming fundraisers! Please pray for a good turnout and that God would work in the hearts of others to be part of what He is calling us to. Also pray we would be used by Him to bring Him glory and challenge others to know Him better.

Huge Garage Sale: Memorial Day weekend, May 27 & 28, 8am - 5pm

Will be held at Corey's parent's house at 46250 Little Nestucca River Rd. on the way to Pacific City (click here for directions/map). There has been a TON of stuff donated so this will be a BIG garage sale. We're selling our 20 ft. Prowler trailer, 2000 Saturn LW2 Wagon, and practically everything else that was in our house that we have not given away or sold yet! We'll have a table setup to learn more about our ministry and hot dogs and soda for those who are hungry. It's a big event!! We would love to see you so please come by! Download a flyer here to print off and post at your church or hand to a friend. Thank you!

Mission Possible Fundraiser Dessert, June 2, 6:45pm - 9pm
Join us for an evening of FREE dessert and to learn about what God is doing through regular people just like you! (yes, we are regular people :-) This event is hosted by our church, Salem Evangelical, and will benefit our ministry and 2 other families being sent out into the mission field by our church. It will be a good time had by all! We would love to see you there. For more info and to RSVP, visit the event website: secmissions.blogspot.com.

Training, training, training...

2011-04-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

Well last night marked the end of the 15 week Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course I (Corey) have been taking up in Tigard. I am happy to be done with this and happy to be done with the weekly homework. But in a way I am sad it is over. I have learned SO MUCH from this course. As part of the course work, I wrote a 10 page report on reaching an unreached people group. Of course, I chose the Garifuna people, the people group we will be with in Honduras. It was very eye opening. Most of all, it was a lot of ground work and research done that we will not have to do later. It will give us a spring board to launch from into our ministry there to them. As is any training, it is a good, solid foundation built on biblical truths, centuries of experience (literally), and new insight gained from missionaries that gives us something to build on that will last.

So the homework is over for now. But, Lord willing, in just 5 more weeks we will start training as a family at the Center for Intercultural Training (CIT) in North Carolina. The classes are scheduled to begin June 6, and we are REGISTERED! This is a huge step of faith as we need to be at least 75% funded for our monthly support before we attend this training. We are currently just over 50%, but we have a God who can do this! If it is God's will that we are not at 75% by this time, we will wait until the first week of September when the next round of training begins. Pray with us that the Lord of the harvest would send us sooner than later! But ultimately pray that HIS will is done. And if God is leading you to be a part of this ministry, you can contribute a monthly gift to get us closer to our short term goal! Click here to give online or visit our Support page for other options. We're currently at 57% of our monthly support. Praise God and thank you!

Praising God for what He is doing!

2011-03-27T16:24:00.000-07:00

We recently finished our March newsletter. Please download it, print it, and read it here!

We are excited about what God is doing and we have been blessed to share about what He is doing in our lives over the past few weeks. Last week we attended the NW Regional Conference of IFCA (association of independent churches) and met some incredible people with hearts to see the Gospel taken around the world. They have a solid focus on church planting which is the byproduct and result of all missions efforts. We're excited about the partnerships we made and future partnerships that will come as the result of the connections made through this conference.

We are still hopeful that we will be at 75% of our monthly support by June so we can go to intercultural training. God is able! This also means that I (Corey) will go onto "salary" with CAM and begin full-time ministry as a missionary (I am currently employed full-time at Corban University). But of course we are fine with not being there by then knowing it is God's will if we are not. If we are not at 75% by June, our next training opportunity begins in September.

A few important questions
We recently have had people interested in supporting us ask a few important questions. One was this: "When should we begin support?" The quick answer is, "As soon as you are able." Once someone begins giving, this increases our support percentage and puts us that much closer to being full-time and able to go to our training.

Another question is this: "If you still work full-time outside the mission, where does my monthly support go?" Prior to going full-time with the mission, all monthly support goes to our one-time support account. In addition to our monthly support, we need to raise one-time funds to pay for training, language school, airfare, visas, immunizations, import taxes, home setup (furniture, dishes, etc.) and several other items related to moving a family to a foreign country. As our monthly support comes in it builds up this one-time account so we don't have to raise as much of that amount once we go full-time.

Thank You!
It is you who give and pray who are making it possible for us to minister full-time in Honduras. We are very grateful for those of you who have been led to give monthly or one-time. If the Lord is leading you to be a part of our team financially, we thank you and the Lord and ask that you visit our Support page for options in partnering with us. If you are led to pray, we would love to hear from you that you are committing to do so and would like to include you on periodic prayer requests.

If you have questions about this ministry or would like to just chat, connect with us via email, Facebook, or phone (503-877-3701). Thank you!

Getting closer!

2011-02-18T11:17:00.000-08:00

Since our last post here, a LOT has happened! It is hard to believe is has only been just over a month, but the Lord has done amazing things! To start off, in January we were so blessed by our church to be the "Missionaries of the Month". Our pastor made a pointed effort to get us in front of people and to be sure that our plans and progress to full-time missions was communicated to the masses. Our prayer cards were given to at least 600 people and we received several new financial supporters as well as over 100 prayer partners! Praise God! We are so excited about this because we KNOW what prayer can do. To have a prayer team like this is an answer to our prayers because we know we need them! We were given many opportunities to be in front of both small and large groups and are so thankful for that. God is lifting up faithful supporters to get us to Honduras and keep us there!

The cabin before completion/move-in

Also, about two weeks ago we moved again. Three months in our apartment and now we're out on a farm in NW Salem living in a quaint little cabin. It is incredible to see God work! This transition to the cabin will not only help us to raise our support more quickly by saving on rent and other expenses, but is helping us to transition to a farm setting (which is similar to where we will be in Honduras) and to smaller living quarters. At first I (Corey) wasn't sure how it would work out in such a small space (about 600 sq.ft.) with two busy little boys. But in the past few weeks I have realized that we, as a family, have grown closer and there are fewer distractions living in the country outside the city (plus the fact we have not had internet access in our cabin and need to drive up the road to check email and to post on this blog!). The family who owns the cabin and property live just up the hill and have two boys near our boys ages as well. Our boys spend a lot of time together with their new "brothers" exploring the country, collecting salamanders, playing "war" and just being boys. It has been an incredible blessing to us!

Thank you to those of you who continue to lift us up in prayer and to our financial supporters. We are so blessed by you and thank God for you! We are approaching 40% of our needed monthly support. This is a miracle considering we were below 30% at the end of December. If God is so leading you and you are not part of our team yet, we ask that you would pray about and consider becoming a partner with us. We want to make God's glory known among the people of Honduras and it takes a team to do it!

In Christ we stand,
Corey, Kirsten, Gavin & Garret

PS - we're sending out our newsletter soon - if you would like to receive it and are not on our mailing list, please sign up by filling out your name and email on our Newsletter page.

Prayer Update

2010-12-31T08:46:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for your continued prayers and financial support! We are so thankful for those of you who are involved in what we are being called to. We wanted to give you a prayer update for the coming month and for the near future.

Month of January:

I (Corey) will be going through my first interview for commissioning through the Evangelical Church Missions Board on January 14th. This is the first stage to several that will take place over the next 6 months. Once through the commissioning interviews and testing, I will be officially commissioned by the Evangelical Church this coming summer. Please pray the Lord's will to be done through this, for spiritual growth for myself and for God to be glorified through it.
Over the last few months we have been amazed at how God has worked. He has rented our home and brought up people around us to support us in prayer and financially. We have been focused on spending quality time with friends and family as we anticipate being in Honduras by September 2011. We have turned a corner so to speak, and are in full deputation mode representing our ministry. Please pray for us in January as we will be sharing our ministry with more people, classes at church, in other churches, and as we look to the next 6 months of deputation/raising support.

Next 6 months:

Our goal for raising up our prayer team and for being fully funded is 6 to 8 months (from today). We're currently at 30% of our needed monthly support. We are planning to go to North Carolina the first week of June for intercultural training at the Center for Intercultural Training (CIT). We will spend 9 weeks there learning about culture in Honduras and how to transition to living there long term. But we need to be near fully funded prior to leaving for training. Please pray that we will be fully funded and have a solid prayer team prior to June.
We plan to have a dinner/dessert in the next few months to share about our ministry. Please pray all the details would come together for this and that it would be put on others' hearts to be involved in this event. If you would like to help with this, please email us at cwells@caminternational.org or call us at 503-877-3701.
We have been offered a place to live short term possibly until we leave for training in June that will allow us to raise support more quickly. It is a smaller place than our current apartment, but has space to roam outside. Please pray that we would be able to move in the next month or two and details would be worked out.

Again, thank you for your prayers and support! You are part of this ministry and we thank God for you! (and have a Happy New Year!)

In Christ,
Corey, Kirsten, Gavin & Garret

December / Christmas Newsletter

2010-12-20T01:53:00.000-08:00

Our latest newsletter is now available online here.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support! Have a wonderful Christ-filled Christmas.

~ Corey, Kirsten, Gavin & Garret

God working through us?

2010-12-02T16:47:00.000-08:00

When I stop and think about what God has called us to, to go to a strange country with a different language and culture, I sometimes wonder "why us?" That thought is quickly answered as I think back to how God has shaped both Kirsten and I and our boys. He has placed this deep desire in us for others to know the Lord and to encourage and build up others. I have a difficult time writing about it as I don't want to appear to be gloating, but I want God to be known for what he is doing. He is good!

The weekend before Thanksgiving we were truly blessed as Kirsten and I both felt a leading to visit a small church that we presented at in October. Calvary Community Church near Albany is a wonderful small church with that small town feel. Mostly farmers, these people are filled with love. I was impressed by the depth and faith of the Sunday School teacher and at how God had obviously called this church to something deeper -- a deeper faith and trust of our Lord. During the service, Pastor Gary taught us about humbleness. He wanted his flock to realize the blessings they have and to humbly come before the Lord in thankfulness. He then used us as an example of how we should be obedient and give in order to receive blessing. He pointed out that we had just moved out of our house and got rid of at least half of what we owned and that the rest would be sold or given away when we leave for Honduras. Everything. Gone. THAT was humbling for us, to hear a pastor I highly respect, use us as an example of obedience and humbleness.

After that service, I thought a long time about how this little church was being stretched to step outside their comfort zone and how God was using US to do this! God has placed us in their midst to give them an avenue to fulfill the call He has placed on THEIR lives and hearts! That is amazing to think about, that our presence there and our obedience to go fulltime to Honduras is allowing these people to act in obedience and do what God has called them to do.

We have only been in our "deputation" or "representation" stage for a few months, but I have learned some great lessons that I never thought would come from this. God wants us to be used to draw other Christians closer to Him. It's difficult for me to think that He would use us in this way, but it is honoring and we are humbled by it.

Please continue to pray for our journey to Honduras, pray for those we present to that we will be used to fulfill God's call on their lives and that we would remember to continually humble ourselves before the Lord.

In His mighty grip,
Corey

God's Goodness

2010-11-09T15:39:00.000-08:00

This past week has been an incredible ride for the Wells family. For me personally (Corey) I have seen His direct answer to our prayers. While I can't describe the awe I feel towards my Savior, I can say this: HE IS GOOD.

Since we have returned from Honduras just over a month ago, we have been overwhelmed by how great God is and how He meets our needs so specifically. This past week we moved out of our house into an apartment. Both Kirsten and I had been praying about what we should do with our house and the best way to begin the process to get to Honduras. One of our obstacles, if not the biggest, was our house. We want to be free of any sort of debt when we go to Honduras full-time, but selling our house this time of year and in this economy was not panning out like we had hoped. We began praying that God would provide a family to rent our house who would treat it as their own, thinking the first of the year would be ideal to do so. Not only did He rent our home, but he brought about a family in a matter of days! We had about two days (that's optimistic) to pack an entire house and move it to an apartment. Over half of what we owned either went to Goodwill or to storage. That would make most people anxious, and honestly, I was at first. But then I began to see God's fingerprints all over this. The incredible details that He was taking care of, not only for us but for the family moving into our home, was and still is overwhelming!

In the two days we had to search for an apartment we did not find much. Most landlords were saying there would be an apartment available Dec. 1st. On Wednesday, Kirsten was working in Keizer (Eye Care Physicians & Surgeons) and went for a walk during her lunch hour. The medical complex there surrounds a lake with a path around it. She noticed an apartment complex right there on the lake and decided just to check it out. They had one apartment open that day! It still had not been cleaned yet but would be ready on Thursday, the day we needed to move. She quickly called me and I went to look at it with her. The next day we moved in! Only in God's timing can that happen!

Then this morning I was getting ready for work and was watching the geese and ducks fly around the lake. I was reminded again of the Lord's words to me that He would provide for me and my family, moreso than He provides for the birds (Matt. 6:26). It was a comforting thought and an overwhelming peace came over me. We want to give God glory for all He has done and continues to do through us. We are thoroughly amazed at His love and faithfulness to us and how He is using us to encourage and build up the body of believers.

To Him be the glory!

Honduras post trip blues... uh, report!

2010-10-04T11:36:00.001-07:00

Why the blues? This trip was so confirming and obvious to us that the Lord went before us to prepare our travels, team and experiences that we didn't want to leave! We arrived in Honduras after an uneventful flight (just 12 short hours!) on Sept. 15th and was greeted by our team leader at the airport. After a 2 hour drive south into the heart of the mountains of Siguatepeque, Honduras, we arrived at the seminary campus we would stay at for most of the trip. We met our team and had some rest before dinner together that night.

The next day we spent the day with our team going into the downtown area to experience the Thursday market and to see some of the town. Hondurans are friendly people and always have a smile when talked to so it made it easier to approach the various fruit and vegetable booths. Siguatepeque is a relatively small city of around 70,000 (compared to our home city of Salem, OR) and is very mild in temperature ranging from the low 70s on the coolest days to the low 90s on the hottest days. The rainy season, which ends in October usually, keeps the country very green and lush. Pine trees are more common in the mountains than palm trees. All-in-all, it's a very beautiful, mountainous area.

On Friday, Sept. 17, we all decided as a team to visit a nearby mountain village where a previous CAM team had put in a cement floor and roof over the home of a single mother of 6 children. Before we went, we did a craft project with our boys and the other missionary kids on campus to make a mobile to hang inside the village home.

The drive up the mountain road was rough, but made it to the top where this little adobe house looked over the valley below. The kids came running out when they saw us drive up and were really excited to see us. We went into their home and presented them with the mobile and ball. Their smiles are permanently on our hearts! Their mother was not home as she was working in town (about a 45 minute walk) making tortillas and would return in the afternoon. The oldest girl, probably 12 years old, acted as the mother and cared for her 5 younger siblings while their mom was away. It was a sad situation, but it was a joy for us to bring smiles to their faces. We then played soccer with them in the field nearby with their new ball and bought each of them a soda at the "pulpuria" (store) next to the field.

On Sunday, Sept. 19th, we went to our team leaders church in Sigutepeque. This church was very involved in missions, which is uncommon in Central America. This particular Sunday had a missions focus and one of our team members preached the message (in Spanish) on Acts 1:8. It was a great message of what we could understand.

Monday we packed up our things for a four day trip to the north coast of Honduras. We piled in our team leader's minivan and about 1.5 hours into our trip the van broke a timing belt and the engine seized. We pulled off on the side of the road and looked for the closest shade. By this time and in this area it was much hotter than in the mountains so we sat up on the embankment under some trees. We heard kids behind us and noticed there was a public school. When the kids saw us they all came running to see the "gringos" (as they call Americans in Honduras). We had a captive audience so took advantage of it and sang Jesus Loves Me to them using sign language as well. They loved it! We eventually were invited onto the playground behind the fence where there was lots of shade and lots of fun, energetic kids! Our boys loved the break from the car and played with the other kids while we talked with them all in our broken Spanish. They thought we were pretty funny! What could be looked at as a broken car and spoiled plans, turned into an opportunity to share the love and hope of Christ with kids we would have never met if we hadn't broken down.

About an hour after our divine appointment, our pastor friend from Tela arrived to tow us to town a half hour away. While our team leader went with a tow truck from Tela to San Pedro Sula, we were blessed with time on the beach as a family and our first experience of the Caribbean Sea. We then took a walk in the downtown Tela area looking at all the shops and experiencing Honduran beach culture (which is different than that of the mountainous region).

The next day, Sept. 14, we went to meet Hector and his family in La Ceiba, about an hour drive from Tela. Hector planted a church here and we went to encourage him and minister to those in his neighborhood and church (which is actually his home too). We walked down his street and went by all the homes greeting people as we walked. One woman invited us in to read from the Word and pray for her. Her father, who was in the next room, had just returned from the hospital having his leg amputated from gain green. He had drank too much and had inflicted wounds that caused the amputation (he is a diabetic). We and the others prayed over him and he chose to give his life to Christ! It is sad that for some they need to be on their back (literally) to see the Lord. In this case, the result was eternal rejoicing! After visiting and praying for a few other households we went to Hectors house for a wonderful meal of fried chicken, frijoles, scrambled eggs, goat cheese, corn tortillas and fried plantain for dessert (typical Honduran meal). That night we had a church service there at the house and a cute little Garifuna girl named Dariela befriended Corey (see photo).

On Wednesday, we went to visit Hospital Loma De Luz in Belfate, about an hour or so east of La Ceiba. Fellow missionaries Brad and Trish Ward from New Hope Evangelical in Bend, OR, and resident missionaries at the hospital, met us there to give us a tour as our hosts for the day. They showed us the grounds and also the children's home that was established here to care for abandoned children that were brought to the hospital by desperate mothers. Most of these abandoned children were left to die. They are now getting medical help and a Christ-centered education at the children's home.

After visiting the hospital it had been a full day, so we headed back to La Ceiba. There we had dinner with our team and the pastors from Tela and La Ceiba who we traveled with. It was a great time to refresh and get to know each other better. On Thursday, Sept. 23rd, we headed towards San Pedro Sula to pick up a small van to replace the rental we had from our breakdown. It was cheaper for us to rent a van WITH a driver so the driver went everywhere we went and was always a part of our ministry. We got to know him over these few days and found that he had lived in NY city for a time to raise money to start his own van taxi service in San Pedro. He had fallen away from the Lord over the years and at the end of the trip told us he was recommitting his life to the Lord! When saying goodbye to him, he told our team leader that if we ever need a driver in San Pedro or around the area to let him know and we'd only have to pay him for gas. The Lord used a broken down car to to bring this guy back into a relationship with Him! Praise God!

The next few days we spent back in Siguatepeque at the seminary campus doing odds and ends jobs to help. Kirsten and I were able to get our hands dirty and planted about 40 plants at the main entrance of the seminary grounds. We're excited to see what it looks like when we return! Like these plants we pray that the seeds we planted with those we met on our journeys here will bear fruit. The last few days of our trip we spent with our team and headed back to the north coast. It was a great time getting to know each other, praying with one another and fellowshipping together. One of the days we visited a "state park" which was actually just the jungle that was restricted to the public (small entrance fee). We ventured into a bamboo forest where we came to a mountain river and stayed most of the day there eating picnic style. It was beautiful!

The next day, Sept. 29th, we spent the day at the beach and exploring the town of Tela. Our future ministry here will eventually be on the north coast in either Tela or La Ceiba (or both) so we wanted to familiarize ourselves. That night we spent time as a team and had training from staff from the CAM home office. Afterward we spent the rest of the night playing strategy games :) We were so blessed by this trip as individuals and as a family. The Lord prepared our hearts and those that we ministered to. He moved and we followed. It was an incredible time and we are excited about what the future holds in Honduras for us. We really did not want to come home and felt like we fit so well, but we know the Lord has more to teach us and for others to be more involved in this ministry.

We would love to meet with anyone who wants to know more about our future ministry and what the Lord is doing in Honduras. Would you please pray about being a part of it? Contact us if you would like to know more (503-371-0053 or ckwells1@gmail.com). We'd love to host you for dinner or dessert or ?? Who knows, maybe you will be taking a trip to Honduras someday to minister along side us, short term, long term... who knows but the Lord?! We are asking for your prayers as we seek to be ready for whenever the Lord provides the funds for us to GO!

Blessings,
The Wells Family

Leaving for Honduras!

2010-09-14T11:31:00.001-07:00

Tonight we leave for Honduras at 11:59 pm. Nice RED-EYE flight, but at least the boys will sleep :) We will be there just over 2 weeks returning on Sept. 30.

We are excited in many ways about this trip. Here is a general outline of our schedule:

First 5 days: stay at seminary campus in Siguatepeque, fellowship with the rest of the team, see the local town and market, minister and serve in nearby villages, and help out on the campus in whatever ways we can be used.
Next 5 days: travel to the north coast of Honduras and stay near La Ceiba (pray we will be able to stay at the mission hospital there and use their "missions home" as this will lower our in country costs as well as be able to experience life at the missions hospital). During these days we plan to meet church leaders who have been working in and around La Ceiba and share our vision, plan with them and fellowship. We also plan to visit the Garifuna people who live primarily on the beaches.
Next 2-3 days: we will return to the seminary campus and along the way picking up the director of mobilization and field ministries director of CAM International's home office from Dallas, TX. It's exciting for us to be able to plan with them and the rest of our team for these few days and share the ministry vision with the home office.
Final 3 days: as a group (main team and home office staff) we will travel to Tela to have a time of fellowship, planning and refueling. We look forward to this time as well as we will be able to bond in a more personal way with our team members.

Please pray about this schedule, for travel safety, for the Holy Spirit to go before us, for us to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading and to act in obedience on that leading. Pray for those God has already planned to cross our path to share the Gospel with and to share God's love with, both in words and actions of service. We will be updating this blog periodically throughout our trip. If you would like to read more frequent updates and see photos prior to our posting on this blog, please visit our Facebook pages (links in right column) or click here: www.facebook.com/wellshonduras

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Gearing up for Honduras!

2010-08-31T11:33:00.000-07:00

We are gearing up for our trip to Honduras on Sept. 14-30. We praise God for the provisions he has given us for this trip to pay for our tickets. We are still in need of about $1,800 to completely pay for our tickets. There are also some extra costs we will need to incur while we are in Honduras for transportation and necessities that total about $300. Thank you all for praying, and if God moves you to give, thank you for that as well! He is able and is SO good!

Please continue to pray for us and for this trip. Here are specific prayer requests:

All funds to be provided to cover cost of trip
Our hearts to be prepared for what we will experience while there
For safe travel to and from and within the country
For good weather (Honduras has been experiencing very heavy rains and flooding lately)
For God to be honored in everything we say and do
Opportunities to share the hope that we have in Jesus
For a great bonding time with our team
For understanding of our future ministry and contacts and connections to be made while there
For our team at the seminary in Siguatepeque: a building collapsed due to the rain (no one was injured). This sets back plans for housing at the seminary and uses up valuable resources (materials, money to buy them, and time invested). Read more here.

We will be using Facebook to update everyone on our trip with posts and photos. Please become our Facebook "friends" by clicking on the links in the right column of this site. Thank you for your continued prayers and support! To God be the glory (Ps. 115:1)!

New website

2010-07-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

We have a new website that goes deeper into our future ministry and the steps it will take to get there. Learn more at www.ckwells.com. We will continue to use this blog and Facebook as a way to keep friends, family and supporters updated as to what we are doing even once we leave for Honduras. The new website will be an on-going work in progress and will change content once in Honduras so we can show more of our ministry there with photos, videos, etc. We hope you enjoy it! Let us know what you think about it or if you'd like to hear more about another part of our ministry. Thank you!

September Honduras trip

2010-07-15T09:44:00.000-07:00

Lord willing, we as a family, will be visiting Honduras in September. This trip will be our first trip to see the ministry area that we will eventually be involved with and meet other team members who we have only spoken to over the phone. Some of the future team members we met in Dallas for our orientation will be there as well, so it will be a great time to reconnect and minister together.

Here are some of the things we will be involved in while we are there:

Stay at the "compound" (which is actually a seminary and grounds with living quarters and meeting halls) in Siguatepeque.
Meet the rest of our team, fellowship, travel and minister together.
Visit current team ministry areas located throughout Honduras.
Travel to La Ceiba and Tela on the north coast to meet pastors and other church and ministry leaders.
Visit the Garifuna people along the northern coast.
Attend a 2-3 day retreat with the entire team at the end of our trip. Several people from CAM Dallas will be there and this time will be a part of our on-going training.
Lots of other stuff in-between, such as meeting up with other missionaries we have connected with in past trips to be an encouragement and plan future ministry together.

Overall, this should be a very good trip that will familiarize us with the current and future ministries in which we may be involved.

We need your help! As most of you know we are beginning our support raising process to be on the ground in Honduras full-time toward the end of next summer. This "pre-trip" is not part of our overall fund-raising, but is a separate process as we do not want to delay our getting to the field full-time.

Would you consider supporting us financially for this trip? Would you consider praying for us? We know that without prayer, nothing will happen. Prayer moves the hand of God. If we don't ask the LORD to provide it WILL NOT HAPPEN! So ultimately we are asking that you pray for us and pray that the resources would be provided for us to go. If you feel led after praying, please help us prepare to "go" full-time. Any amount helps. Help us to share Christ's love. Help us to be the hands and feet of Jesus!

If you would like to give to this trip, please write out check to Salem Evangelical Church, note that it is for Corey & Kirsten Wells (please not on the check), and drop it by the church. You can also send it to our home address (located on this page in the right column). If you are led to pray, please let us know! We would like to include you on future prayer concerns we will have (and we WILL have them!). Thank you to all who pray and support us in so many ways. To God be the glory! (Psalm 115:1)

Corey, Kirsten, Gavin & Garret

What's next for the Wells?

2010-06-29T12:32:00.000-07:00

We've returned from orientation with CAM International and are pumped about what God is doing! We were officially appointed as missionaries with CAM last week and will be headed to Honduras full-time. We're now looking forward to the next year or so of support raising! It looks like a mountain in front of us but our God can MOVE mountains. Please pray with us as we seek to raise prayer warriors and those who feel led to be a part financially of what God is doing in us and through us.

Here's a brief outline of our next steps:

Raise prayer supporters and financial supporters.
Visit Honduras in September to meet the existing team and see future ministry.
At 80% of needed funding, we will attend an intercultural training school in North Carolina for 9 weeks.
After training and 100% funding, we will attend language school in Honduras.
After language school we go full speed into our future ministry!

Here's a brief outline of our future ministry:

Support the Honduran church through encouragement, discipleship, mentoring, and intercultural training.
Alongside the Honduran church, live near, love, serve, and share Jesus with the Garifuna tribal people of northern Honduras.
Establish a missionary training center in La Ceiba, Honduras for training up Hondurans called to missions using the Garifuna tribe for intercultural training.
Send Honduran missionaries around the world to make disciples for Jesus Christ.
Use a "business as missions" model in La Ceiba using surfing, diving, and other tourist centered activities to share Jesus' love. Income from these businesses would help support the local national church.

Thank you again for your prayers and joining us on this journey for Jesus!

When God makes it rain, it pours

2010-05-17T09:15:00.000-07:00

Wow. We are in total amazement at what God has been doing. Since we have submitted our applications to CAM we have seen Him working. It is the obedience to move forward, the faith to trust Him with all that we have, are, and will be. He will meet our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. It is difficult for us to even express in words how great our God is.

Well, last week we received confirmation from CAM that our applications were accepted and they want us to attend orientation at their headquarters in Dallas, TX. We were anticipating going in November and between now and then going back down to Honduras to explore and see the ministry there. But God is greater than our plans. He knows the plans He has for us and will make them known only if we are willing to hear Him and obey. Instead of November, CAM asked if we could attend their June orientation. Wow! That's one month away! Of course this brought excitement, anticipation, and concern all at once. My personal concern was "is this God's will?" What about seeing the actual ministry in Honduras? We have talked about it with the missionaries and leadership there, but will it truly fit with our gifting? We got to work asking those people who have been close to us and our supporters if this might be a possibility. The answer was a simple "yes!" Our transportation to Dallas has been provided for by one of these wonderful people. We are so grateful! The Lord was and is clearly saying to us that HE will be glorified and HE will fulfill what HE has planned for our lives, ONLY if we are willing to obey and do what HE asks of us. We cannot look at all that has happened over the past year and ask Jesus to give us another sign as the unbelieving did! His answers to our prayers and grace is sufficient and His timing is perfect.

So the next step for us will be to attend orientation from June 20-25 in Dallas, TX, and Lord willing, upon official acceptance by CAM (at the end of orientation) we will begin raising support. When the Lord allows, hopefully in the next few months, we will plan a "field trip" to Honduras to see the ministry there, make contacts, and begin to work out details of our future ministry there. Our hope and desire is to be on the mission field in June of 2011. That's optimistic, but God is able--all things are possible with Him.

In the meantime though, Jerusalem (Salem) is in need of a Savior, so we will continue our ministry here and establish new ones giving GLORY TO THE FATHER through it all. Pray and praise with us! Thank you for your prayers for they move the hand of GOD!

A clear call

2010-04-26T14:57:00.000-07:00

I (Corey) have not posted here in some time. Seems to be the theme here. The reason is simply that not a lot has been going on. We've been in this waiting period, seeking the Lord, praying, listening... But it seems now that we have a clearer direction of where the Lord is moving in our lives with our call to missions.

Two weeks ago today, we had a conference call with CAM International and their mobilization director. It was a standard interview type call where we answered basic questions about our call to missions, ministry involvement, etc. that a mission organization might ask. This was mainly to determine if we appeared to be a good fit with the organization and ministry. I think that the call went very well and it was fun to connect with them on a more personal level. However, after the call I started to doubt all that had been happening. I can now contribute this to the spiritual battle that was going on, but at the time I didn't sense it.

The next day I was at work and wasn't feeling very good (typical spring cold plus allergies). So I packed up early at work and headed for home in the early afternoon to rest. On my drive home I felt a strong impression that I should go and be with God and pray. So, as I had done before, I drove south to the Ankeny Wildlife Reserve to be away from the noise and distraction of traffic, people and every day life. I pulled out onto this viewpoint overlooking the reserve. Down below this grassy hill was the entire mid-Willamette Valley complete with ponds, wetlands and towering Cottonwood trees. The wind was lightly blowing and it was a beautiful spring day. As I was sitting there I was heavily burdened so I began to pray. I was asking God about the journey he had brought me and my family through. I was questioning in my mind why.

To be transparent, I was in doubt. I was feeling overwhelmed with the task that stood before us. A new direction in life, fundraising and support, training, moving to another country, learning another language and culture. It all seemed like so much. It was then that I heard the geese. As I looked up I heard and saw tens of thousands of geese filling the air going every which way. I sat there dumbfounded at the incredible scene I was watching, of the beautiful snow capped mountains in the distance, the pools of water, fields of green and wind brushing through the leaves of the Cottonwoods. It was then that Matthew 6:26 came to my mind, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" It hit me hard and I felt the presence of the Lord there with me. He was saying, "Why are you doubting me? Why are you not trusting me? Have faith! I will provide for your every need." As I bowed my head again to call out to him, just as quickly as I heard and saw the geese flying about (remember, tens of thousands), it was quiet and still. God was speaking loudly to me in such a still small voice. Then he said, "you will glorify me through this."

Wow. That was my reaction. How can I do anything else but to glorify him and do as he asks?! Since then we have submitted our official application with CAM. We now wait for them to check references and process the application. Candidate orientation is in November. Between now and then, Lord willing, we will go on a field visit to Honduras to explore the ministry there. After November orientation, Lord willing, we will begin to raise support.

A daunting task? Yes! Impossible? NO! For with God, all things are possible (Luke 1:37). HE will receive glory. HE will get credit for raising funds for us to go. HE will get honor for what he does through us. HE will receive glory! Yes, going is obedience to him. Doing the ministry he's called us to is important as it's about his people. But bringing glory to Him -- that is what it's all about.

Praise Him with us! And thank you for your continued prayers for us!

New opportunity

2010-03-02T14:29:00.000-08:00

Well it's been quite a long time since we have posted anything, mainly because we've just been waiting on the Lord. Not that He is slow but we have been learning that He must go before us, then we follow! The experiences in Honduras with Teen Missions have opened our eyes to the need in that country. Many people I have talked to would say that Honduras is not in need, but I completely disagree. As the country develops, other problems seem to arise. This is typical with a third-world country that progresses into an emerging country, very similar to what is happening currently in India. They have to deal with the problems that come with materialism, capitalism (yes, PROBLEMS with capitalism) and others that were not present before.

Although our plans to go to Honduras under Teen Missions to work with the Chicas family seemed ideal, we are seeing a much more specific plan unfold before us. Shortly after we returned from Honduras in January, we attended Missions Connexion NW, a regional conference for those seeking ministry and missions opportunities and to hear some great speakers. There were around 100 or so agencies represented, including colleges (my own Corban College), Christian camps, and of course mission groups and agencies.

While there we met up with a co-worker of mine who is also a part-time representative for CAM International. I did not know he was part of this organization so we got to talking about it as we didn't know anything about it. Come to find out, CAM's area of ministry is specific to Central America and Mexico. They have been doing mission work there for over 100 years. We shared with him about our trip to Honduras and how we felt the Lord was telling us to wait, and he asked if we would be open to him looking into possibilities in Honduras through CAM. Of course we said it was fine, not thinking much of it. When we reconnected about 2 weeks later, he told me about an opportunity in Honduras of a specific people group that has been close to my heart since we first considered Honduras as an area of ministry back in August this last summer.

At this point, we have been pursuing these obvious connections and have seen the Lord working in amazing ways. We will continue meeting CAM missionaries and representatives over the course of the next few weeks to start the initial process of application and discovery of ministry areas.

It is very exciting to both of us as we feel very confident in the organization of CAM, in the specific area of ministry that "happen" to be exactly what was put on my heart for some time, and in the timing of all of this. We will know more about the specifics of the ministry once we discuss more with CAM, but are moving ahead with anticipation. We don't want to get "too excited" about this and just let the Lord do His thing, so are just taking it one step at a time. If doors continue to open then praise the Lord! If they close, then praise the Lord! Either way, we just want to be in His will and listening closely. Please continue to pray for us and thank you for being a part of our journey!

Waiting...

2010-01-20T12:51:00.000-08:00

It is difficult to wait. Both Kirsten and I are leaders at heart and love to take charge. That is sometimes a rubbing point in our marriage, but we recognize that and do what we can to avoid conflict. It is also a rubbing point in our marriage with God. He is ultimately leading us and we want to be walking with Him, not in front, not behind, but WITH Him. Since our return from Honduras we have realized many things. We saw all that the teens in Honduras were going through, what Teen Missions calls "Boot Camp." Let me tell you it looked hard. Well, we're going through our own personal boot camp right now. God is teaching us and training us up in righteousness. It is a difficult road to travel, narrow with steep embankments on both sides. But it is straight. As long as we keep looking forward and upward we will not stumble and fall.

God has told us through this past trip and also through our daily study of the Word and through prayer that we must wait. Waiting on Him to show us EXACTLY what He has planned for us. It is an incredible feeling to know that there IS something greater than what we have planned. It is an anticipation that is similar to that of when I was a child waiting for Christmas day to finally arrive. I knew it was coming and I knew there may be a gift under that tree that I have always wanted! But God's plans are greater than ours. I am SO thankful for that, that He knows us so well that He has something specific for each one of us to accomplish.

So for now we wait, but press on to run the race God has put before us, and to run with endurance, running to win. The Lord has directed us to help Teen Missions Honduras with awareness, funding and prayer and to not go there full-time (at least for now). For now we will do this until the Holy Spirit prompts us to take another step in a different direction. Praying through the adventure...

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." -Galatians 6:9

Christmas in the air

2009-12-08T16:57:00.000-08:00

The title of this entry is a little deceiving... We will be taking off from Portland International airport at 11:50pm on Christmas day so we will be in the air a whole 10 minutes of Christmas. 10 hours later we will be in Honduras! It is confirmed that we are going and will be taking the whole family. Please pray with us for protection, God's will to be done, and for the Lord to show us exactly what He wants us to know, do, see, say and experience.

Next Step: Family goes to Honduras!

2009-11-17T15:51:00.000-08:00

Our next step in our journey into missions abroad, Lord willing, will be to travel to Honduras as a family and experience the ministry of Teen Missions International. After Christmas Teen Missions Honduras will begin their Boot Camp which is a month long training for teens seeking to go into missions and/or ministry. It is physically and mentally challenging with obstacle courses through the jungle, living in tents for the entire time with all the bugs, snakes and other creatures (did I say in the jungle?), and spiritually challenging as these teens seek God's will for their lives. We want our whole family to experience this training period and also want to serve the directors there, Chico and Kathy Chicas, by helping them administer and by taking video of the whole process in order to promote the camp to supporters and churches. This will be a great time of fellowship as well as we get to know the Chicas better and let our families "mesh".

We are praying that we will be able to buy tickets sometime in the next few weeks as the longer we wait the more it will cost us (most expensive time of year to buy tickets). But our God is bigger than circumstances and we believe that if this is God's will (which we believe it is) then He will provide for us as we currently do not have the funds to purchase the tickets.

The other thing is that it seems the closer we get to knowing God's will for us, the more we become a target of Satan himself. Now to a mature Christian this would seem obvious, but sometimes he shoots his fiery arrows at places in our armor that we may not have known was not protected. And of course when that happens we get injured. So we are praying through trials and periods of doubt and fear that were direct wounds inflicted by the deceiver himself. But our God is greater and has already defeated him on the cross of Calvary! So we praise Him who is greater within us and press on towards the goal.

Please continue to pray with us that the Lord will provide the resources for the plane tickets and that He protect us reminding us daily to put on the WHOLE armor of God.

Week of praise!

2009-11-08T21:37:00.000-08:00

This week has been one of those weeks I have to write about to show the incredible God that we have. It all started Monday when my boss emailed me (a very long email) about some time off I had asked for. The time off was for an orientation training period that we are planning to attend in Florida at Teen Missions headquarters. But this week and a half time falls right in the middle of a production period for a big project that I work on three times a year. It so happens that this training falls only in November and March, and I had already gave up the November training to work on this project. My boss was adamant that he did not think it was wise for me to take the time off in March and he was against it. So i responded by asking to have a meeting with him to discuss it. We had scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon.

So the first thing I did was email my Sunday School group to ask for prayer. This was something I did not want to go into without the covering of prayer. I was at the point where I was willing to resign my position if I had no choice. This was a matter of obedience to the Lord as I feel without a doubt in my mind that the Lord is telling us to keep stepping forward with Teen Missions. Well Wednesday came around and my boss was out of town and unexpectedly was not coming back for our meeting. So we decided to meet Thursday afternoon instead. In our meeting I felt the Spirit prompt me to ask if the schedule (for the project) was set in stone. I asked this and my boss continued to tell me that if I could get the majority of the project done before I left then I could get the time off (that's my shortened version). Praise God!

But I had also been praying about telling my boss about my call to missions (I had not done this yet because in all honesty I was afraid of his reaction). So my boss then said "I got a reference this morning." Huh? (that's exactly what I said) He repeated it and I said that was the other thing I wanted to talk about. Apparently he had received a reference from Teen Missions earlier that morning as we filled out an application about a month prior. I did not expect them to send my current employer (boss nonetheless) a reference! I went on and explained what the Lord was doing in our lives over the past few years and that we are stepping out in faith and trying to be obedient to where we feel the Lord is calling. He then told me that he went to lunch with the president of the college (for a planned luncheon) and they discussed this. The president shared a story with him about a missionary he knew that used to be an employee. This story softened my boss' heart to prepare him for our meeting.

WOW. What an incredible God we have! He knows the plans He has for us, plans to prosper and to not harm us. (Jeremiah 29:11) Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us... (Ephesians 3:20)

The second praise is that since we have had this confirmation that we should proceed with going to the orientation, we need to go to Honduras in December to experience "Boot Camp" and help the Chicas as a family. But since Boot Camp falls the week after Christmas, the plane ticket are of course the most expensive of any time of the year. We visited my parents this weekend and told them what we were planning and my dad said he would give us his airline miles which would help a lot. At church today we shared this as a prayer request and after class we were told that we could use the airline miles of a friends of ours in the class. They just happen to be from the same credit card milage plan as my dad's.

We praise God for what is happening here. His people are coming together in faith and moving His hand by praying for us. It's incredible. Thank you, thank you, thank you for being part of this journey!

Discerning God's Will

2009-10-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

When I look back at the past year and think about where the Lord has led my family I am amazed. A year ago I would have never thought we would be considering serving as missionaries in Honduras. It just wasn't in the "cross hairs" so-to-speak. I recall now, however, looking back and remembering circumstances and those heavy feelings I get when I know the Spirit of the Lord is trying to tell me something. It is awesome, truly awe-some, to know the voice of God whether that be in a whisper, shout, prayer, thought, person, the Word, or in any other form. Understanding when the Lord is leading and prodding is the greatest satisfaction that I have because of my desire to serve Him fully. I don't want to follow my own ways or do something that I feel might make more sense. I have experienced that lie and self-centered thought and know God has greater plans (Jer. 29:11).

The main purpose for this post is to act as an encouragement (hopefully) and a reminder to myself and Kirsten. We had our sights set on India, serving with another couple and doing certain things, that we thought was God's will for us. But in hindsight, we were blinded by comfort. India comfortable? Well, yes and no depending on your perspective. India is by far the most uncomfortable place I have ever been, physically, emotionally, spiritually - in every way. We were ready to go there and do the Lord's work. Comfortable in that we were leaning on our own understanding and other people, not completely on the Lord. But the Lord knows us SO much more than we know ourselves. He had been crossing our paths for some time with Latin America and specifically Honduras. He was preparing our hearts in more ways than we could have imagined and is still doing so.

The Lord has been teaching me that to understand His perfect will, we need to be able to "hear" His "voice." Doing this is different for every person. But in most cases, the Lord uses the same methods with each person so we begin to see a pattern. Being in the Word daily, praying constantly, studying the Bible, and seeking Him earnestly is all part of this.

Just this morning I was reading in Acts 16 about Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke and how they were headed to Macedonia, yet they didn't realize this was where the Lord was leading them in the beginning of their journey. They attempted to go to Asia, but the Holy Spirit had told them not to. They then attempted to go into Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not let them go. Luke (the author of Acts) does not go into detail about why they could not go to these places, just that the Holy Spirit would not let them. That night Paul had a vision (or dream most likely) about a man in Macedonia who was pleading with Paul to come there and help them. In verse 10 it says they decided to leave for Macedonia at once.

We can relate to this as we have been to Asia and Bithynia (hypothetically) and the Lord has told us we are not to go there. This is not out of fear for the unknown, but of the known - fear of the Lord. We both want to do what God is CALLING us to, not because it sounds good or it is logical in our limited vision. We have heard God's voice in so many ways (by prayer, through people, by His Word, through other writings) and are confident we are being called to Honduras. Doors are opening as we step through them in faith and trust our future to the One who has already mapped it out. Praise Him!

Teen Missions update

2009-10-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

I got off the phone not long ago with Teen Missions founder and director Bob Bland. The reason for my call to him was to inquire whether or not a missionary supported under another organization could serve alongside Teen Missions staff. The answer was no, and for good reasons I thought. So I proceeded to ask about the possibility of serving with a specific Teen Missions group such as in Honduras. From what I had heard through the grapevine, is that those wanting to serve with Teen Missions did so with the understanding that they would be placed where there was the greatest need, not necessarily where they felt called to serve or to a people group they felt called to. But in my conversation with Bob, he clearly stated that if the Lord is calling someone to serve a particular area, people, or TMI staff then they would arrange for that to happen. Praise God! This is confirmation to what I felt in Honduras to help the Chicas and the ministry Teen Missions is doing there.

There are several benefits I see to us serving with TMI. The first is that our training would really be "on-the-job" so to speak. With the required 2 week training at the TMI headquarters in Florida, the rest of the training would be at the actual base in Honduras. There of course would be a transition to a new life in missions. And my thought is that we would not take on much until we felt somewhat settled (a few weeks?). So my prayer is that, if it is God's will, we would transition to work with Teen Missions within the next 6-8 months. Training in Florida takes place in March. Please pray with us as we seek the Lord's direction in our lives and continue to take steps of faith in obedience to His call.

Que honda en Honduras?

2009-10-05T17:02:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Honduras on a quick 3 day exploratory trip. I went down with Lee Gabriel and Rick Olsen from my church to look into building supplies and details about building a house for the Chicas, a family sent out by our church to serve with Teen Missions Intl. This was also a step of faith for me as Kirsten and I are seeking God's purpose and will for our lives. This trip proved to be very revealing and fruitful. The Lord was obviously with us.

The cabin I stayed in while at the camp was very rustic. Lee and Rick's cabins were more finished with tile floors and Rick's even had a TV and mini-fridge. I can now see the reason why the Lord wanted me to stay in the rustic cabin with bare cement floors, spiders and ants. It was to get over the comforts and to focus on the needs. I realize that I don't need the comforts and that my purpose for being there was not to be comfortable. Yet, after killing my nightly 5-6 large spiders before bed (so they didn't drop on me in the middle of the night), I slept so soundly that I laid my head down and opened my eyes and it was time to get up.

The ministry there in Honduras is incredible. They are training teenagers to be missionaries through their self-sustaining camp. Lives are being changed through a handful of students who have discovered the Lord's call upon their lives. But the Chicas, Chico and Kathy, are the only staff running the camp. The students do help in many ways such as working the fields, preparing meals, and maintaining the grounds for example. But Chico and Kathy truly need help to move beyond mere existence. At this point they live hand to mouth and cannot pay certain bills so they just do without certain things (like running water). They need someone that can bring in another income source, plan beyond one month and just help with day-to-day operations that are put on hold because of needing to tend to the students and vital operations of the camp. It simply is too much for only two people to do.

The ministry (the act of ministry, not the facilities) is flourishing. There are people being brought into the Kingdom every week through the students and the Chicas. Relationships have already been established and the Chicas are trusted in the community and local villages. But where do Kirsten and I fit in? The Lord told me in so many ways that He has prepared me to help the Chicas and this ministry. Whether that is longterm or short, I do not know. All I know is God is tugging at my heart strings and is asking, "will you go?" My answer of course is 'yes'. Kirsten and I are now planning a trip, either before our church trip or with our church to go together with the boys and experience it as a family. I pray the Lord will continue to reveal His perfect will to us as we obediently follow. Thank you Jesus for showing us the way!

Honduras exploration trip

2009-09-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

Last time I posted I mentioned the possibility of going to Honduras with my church missions director to explore a possible open door. Well since then, I have received confirmation that I indeed will be going. Next week, on Tuesday, Sept. 29, I will be flying down with two other guys to visit the Chicas in Honduras. It is a short trip, only four days, but enough to get a feel of the work they are doing there and to sense God's call.

I was encouraged this past weekend when talking with Pastor Jim at my church. After having the doors closed for now on India, I have been more cautious about where the Lord is leading and have been seeking Him deeper so to know His will. Inside, I am extremely excited about the possibilities that serving in Honduras might bring, specifically with the Chicas. But I notice that I have been overly cautious as I don't want to be disappointed. I shared this with Jim and he said something very simple but profound. He said that the church wants to get us onto the field as it is evident the Lord has called us. He went on to say that they want to present opportunities to us so that we can push on the door, and if it opens, then to walk through. Simple, isn't it? Almost too simple. But I got to thinking about this the past few days. What is our faith like? Is it complex? Not really. It is simple. It is the simple belief that God will do this and that according to His perfect plan.

There is no tangible way to measure faith, except for the belief that it will happen (whatever "it" may be). I am believing that whatever God has purposed for me and my family that it WILL come to pass because I am following God's will and the Lord's purpose for my life. It may not be where I expect or when I expect, but that is ok.

Sometimes our expectations line up with God's, but more often than not, His by FAR exceeds ours. As was revealed to me on my mission trip to India in 2007, the Lord can and will do far more than we can ever hope or imagine, despite our shortcomings and doubts. It just takes faith to trust Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, to send, to equip, and to empower to do the work He has enabled us to do.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Serving the least of these

2009-08-29T06:56:00.001-07:00

Recently I have felt the LORD prompting me to reach out to the "least of these" in our community. Through prayer and God's Word I was led to our food box ministry through our church. I have helped fill the boxes to be given out but, I feel that we need to supply physical as well as spiritual food for these people. They come from low to no income homes full of abuse of all kinds. They are Hopeless... I wondered how I could help them. "Pray with them, talk with them, give them Jesus" I was told by the Spirit.

The Food box ministry is the last two Thursdays of every month, we give out food that has been donated to the church and also through Oregon's food bank. We see people from all walks of life, a definite mission field.

Before I went the first time to be with the people and pray with them, I asked the LORD to bring people about who needed prayer or encouragement. Sure, enough, God is faithful. I arrived to the church and was told immediately that there was someone who was there and was asking for prayer specifically. What a confirmation to what God had in mind for me through this ministry.

After talking with and praying over this woman and her child I was led across the room to another table. The table had three women sitting around it. Two of which were believers in Christ and one whom was very confused about her beliefs. Of course I knew which the LORD had led me to. I began talking with the women about their faith and the churches they attended, one was my church, so I felt that the LORD had given me an ally to help out with the other lady. The lady, whose name I won't use, had been to church in the past, and was now investigating the Jehovah's Witness church. I asked her why she would choose that church over another and she couldn't tell me, she had no idea Who Jesus is, or what she believed from the Bible. Of course, I opened my Bible to John 1:1 and began to tell her Who Jesus Christ is and what He'd done for her. After talking with her for a long while I encouraged her to read John on her own to see first, if what I told her were Truth and second, to learn for herself about Who Christ is.

I prayed for her and her family over the past two weeks. As I arrived at the church last Thursday I was hoping to see her again, sure enough there she was! I was excited to see what God had done in the two weeks since I'd talked with her. I was so excited to hear her say that she knew I had been praying for her because she had felt "drawn" to our church the week before. I encouraged her to come with me this coming Sun. and told her I would wait at the front door to meet her so she'd know someone there. Well, the story doesn't end there. God had another job that needed done that day... As I was sitting there talking with this lady, a man came up and sat down with us at the table. I could sense the LORD prompting me to reach out to him as well. I began to ask him about his faith. Immediately I saw the wall go up and the defenses come out. This was going to be a major battle I could tell. We sat and talked for about an hour and a half. In that time period the man got up three times to walk away and kept coming back. At one time he told me he didn't want to hear anything about God and he is choosing Satan, because God hadn't done anything for him! WOW! This hurt my Spirit so much tears cam to my eyes, this man had been so hurt by this world that he was knowingly choosing Satan, the very one who had hurt him. He told me he already lived in Hell every day of his life and he was not good enough for Heaven. God could not forgive him, he had done too many wrongs. This is actually the first time I've had someone come right out and say that to me.

God was amazing to watch as he spoke through myself and this other lady, watching this man open up and tell of the ugliness that had happened to him, the "other" lifestyle that he is involved with currently. And, wouldn't you know, the lady had experienced the same exact things and was able to witness to God's Goodness in releasing her from them. She is now asking for prayer to stop smoking. After the first hour and I think the third time this man came back to our table the lady says "wanna come to church with me, I don't want to go alone since I don't know anybody" I was floored. God used me to reach out and talk with this lady, then, He connected the two of them with their pasts and current struggles all in order to get this man and woman back to church together since there was no one else for either of them to go with! Blown away? Yes, God is amazing, He cares and uses us in ways we'll never figure out. I was just an avenue to connect these two through opening up myself and God's Word to them. I will be waiting at the front door to our church at 11 am Sunday, praying the LORD would speak to them in a way that will keep them coming back for more of Him.

Delayed obedience is disobedience

2009-08-27T15:51:00.000-07:00

Since Kirsten and I have returned from India, we have had some interesting things develop. Before I go into them I need to give some history. In December of last year our church, Salem Evangelical, announced that there would be a mission trip to Honduras in March of 2009 during spring break. Both Kirsten and I felt that there was something to this (when you get that "feeling" or prompting from the Holy Spirit). So we attended the first team meeting for the trip. But falling back on my worldly reason, I convinced Kirsten that it would put too much strain on our finances if we went to Honduras as well as India only 2 months later (we had been planning on India for nearly a year prior). So we stopped attending the team meetings and focused our attention on India. I was not following where God was apparently leading.

Well March rolled around and that little "feeling" rose up inside me (and Kirsten) again. It was made obvious to me that I had been disobedient to God's calling. The week before spring break we got our IRS tax refund back. It just happen to be more than enough to have paid for our trip to Honduras with some left over. Later that week both of our cars broke down and we ended up having to spend all of our refund on our cars. Bummer. We were counting on using the refund to finance part of our India trip! So here we were with enough money to have gone on the trip to Honduras, but instead did not go, drove our cars all week, they broke down and then had to pay to fix them. If we would have been in Honduras none of that would have happened!

But God is faithful. With $1,650 to raise in the last week before our May India trip, the God of miracles provided $1,700 - the day before we left! We were in the overflow, both financially and spiritually. That provision from the Lord reminds me of when Jesus said, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38) Here we were, giving of ourselves in every way to serve Him and the Lord poured it into our laps. Even though I was disobedient to Him, it was past. I repented of it, received forgiveness and the Lord blessed me yet again.

Fast forward to today... Since returning from India, it was made obvious by the Lord that the doors were closing on us going to India long-term. The doors had also closed on the ministry we went to India with as their focus is primarily India. But the "call" has been confirmed and stronger than ever. So where to go from here? Who to go with? Until recently, yesterday in fact, this seemed blurry. But the Lord had put a desire and prompting yet again on my heart for a Spanish culture. So in obedience (I learned my lesson) I started looking at various organizations that served in Latin America. There are many. So this just added to the blurriness. A few had specific roles that I would fit into, but not any that felt right. Until yesterday.

My church missions director, Lee, and I met last night after a training course that my church puts on for volunteers every August. We were discussing missions organizations, and Honduras came up again. He mentioned something about a missionary couple who already serves there that is supported by my church. But they are needing help. That raised my interest. This couple is Chico and Kathy Chicas. They were introduced to Kirsten and I when we first started attending Salem Evangelical in the summer of 2007. They had gone out just months before and are supported by the Sunday school group we are involved with. So since that introduction we have since felt prompted to pray for them. Lee then went to tell me about the details of what they do there in Honduras. It's as if it was tailor made for Kirsten and I! It puts chills up my spine just thinking about all of the details that fit together so perfectly.

So prayerfully, I will consider going with Lee to Honduras this fall for a pre-trip to a short term trip to Honduras planned for February 2010. We are expectant of what the Lord will do through us and for us and are excited to be a part of His plans.

Confirmation of the "call"

2009-08-10T14:46:00.000-07:00

This past week was an interesting one. While I was working all week, Kirsten and the boys spent the week at Winema Christian Camp at a yearly camp/conference that we attend called Week of Missions. Missionaries from around the world come and share great messages, testimonies and miracles of God with those who attend. Our boys have fun in their classes learning new things about Jesus and of course playing. The water slides make it especially fun for them. But for me, it becomes a time of reflection on what God is doing in my life. This year I attended the opening and closing sessions and it greatly impacted me. During the week however, I had to work so I had a lot of time to myself. And this time turned into an amazing time as I reached a new level of committment to my Lord.

It is amazing to me how God speaks to us. I cannot fully explain how amazing he is! And I so want others to know, but as the Bible says, when you are not of the Spirit, things of the Spirit will seem like foolishness. This I have come to realize as I talk to friends. I feel like I am in another world sometimes, and in a way, I am. For me (as Paul so elequantly put it in Philippians 1:21), to live is Christ, and to die is gain. These words have new meaning for me lately. In the past few years several people in my life have passed on. This has got me thinking about my own life and what I am doing. Am I doing what the Lord has made me to do? In all honesty, I don't think I am. Yes, I work for a Christian college and am serving the Lord in this way, but this is not the end! I want to be obedient to the Spirit's leading and to take those steps of faith that God calls us to every day. EVERY DAY!

Yes, I want to live as though I am not alive, as though Christ is who is living through me. That is what we are all called to as Christians. Those who do not live that way are simply being disobedient to what the Lord has commanded us. Judgemental? In fact, yes. We are called to be judgemental. How in the world can we stand up for what we believe in if we are not?

Simply put, I heard the voice of the Lord telling me this last week to live fully for him. Not just my job - my life. And my specific "calling?" He has called me to go out into the world and make disciples. Not just here where I am at, but to go. Will I be obedient to this? Am I willing to lay everything (my house, all my possessions, my agenda, my money, my family) at his feet and follow where he leads? I want to see others come into a deep, personal relationship with Christ, one of obedience to him. I want to be used by him for HIS glory, not my own. Why? He died on the cross for me. There is no other reason.

A new blog for a new beginning

2009-08-03T23:47:00.001-07:00

This new blog is to record the journey that we have been called to as
missionaries. We hope that what we write and share here will be an
encouragement to others to follow the Lord Jesus with all that they
can give. It is also a place where we want to keep our friends and
family updated on what is happening with what the Lord has called us
to. Our Mission Call.