Proverbs 19:23 Fear of the Lord leads to life, bringing security and protection from harm.

FEAR….What is it?
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge and wisdom.
Fear implies respect, awe, and sometimes terror.
Fear of the Lord leads people towards humility and away from pride.
Fear  acknowledges that everything including knowledge and wisdom comes from total dependence on God.

Total dependence on God is against our natural instinct.  Even as a young child we are taught to become independent, "I can do this all by myself".   Realizing God is in control and not ourselves is hard.

There have been a few days of fear for us over these past few months.
Fear that we are not good enough to serve as missionaries, fear of failure, fear of relying on others to supply our income, fear of family separation, fear of the unknowns.
Satan knows our weak spots and tries to come in and steal our joy and replace it with fear.
We must continually, in the big things and small, hold to the verse,  "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" Philippians 4:13

Fear also challenges us to stretch ourselves beyond our comfort zones and do what He asks us to do because we know He will give us what we need.  Fear can make us grow.
We have seen God work in amazing ways!  And we are so thankful for family and friends that give us the support and courage to walk the path marked out for us!    Wherever God is asking you to go or whatever He is asking you to do, we pray this for you.  "For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you." Isaiah 41:13

Many of you came to our Fundraiser and heard our testimony.  Thank you for sharing this special night with us.  Thank you to the many who have invested in our lives through teaching us, ministering to us, and being a godly inspiration and example for us to follow!!  We are grateful for the parts you have played in our lives!

We look forward to the next year and all that lies ahead.  We hope to be moving soon to our new home in Uganda and joining our team there.  Our team leaders sent us a video to share at the fundraiser.  It highlights where we will live and work.  It gives you a taste of what our Ugandan life will look like.     It makes us laugh and makes us cry and makes our hearts ache each time we see it.
To see for yourself check out this link: https://vimeo.com/83927286

Thought we would share a picture of our whole family taken at Christmas. It was happy and sad at the same time knowing it is our last one together for a few years.   We can honestly say we will not miss the snow.

Where did the time go?

Where did the time go?  2013 has been filled with many life changes: selling our home, a short-term mission trip to Uganda, College Graduation, losing Loved ones, buying and renovating a small home, leaving jobs we loved, and answering God's call to a life in Uganda.  This past year has not been an easy one.  We have experienced so many different challenges and emotions yet, we have an inner  PEACE and JOY knowing God has been leading us each step of the way.

The business of life has a way of distracting us from the important things we should be focused on during this time of the year.  We are reminded each Christmas as we read the story of the birth of Our Savior, JESUS, of the JOY and the inner PEACE that Mary, mother of Jesus, experienced.
Luke 1:1-2:51
She received an extraordinary message through God's angel Gabriel that she would give birth to God's Son, the Savior of the World.  In simple faith, she humbly submitted to God's will.  Mary responded, "I am the Lord's servant.  May everything you said about me come true" (Luke 1:38)
For all Christians, she is a model of complete humility and obedient submission to God's will.
We know this next year will be filled with many joys and challenges but, we pray we will remember to live each day with a humble and obedient faith like Mary.

Today was Bruce's last day of work at Northern.  Leaving his job of 18 years was not an easy decision.  With this final change came many emotions and realizations.  This next chapter of our lives will be far different than anything we have experienced before, but we are confident that through our joys, fears and challenges, God will watch over us and guide us.

Each day is a step closer to our move to Africa.  We continue to be amazed at the people God has placed in our lives and how He is working in their hearts to help us help the poorest of the poor.  Many have joined us with  their financial and prayer support.  And we Thank You!  What God has called us to do is impossible to do by ourselves.  Jesus said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26.   We still need more to join our team of prayer warriors and financial supporters.  We need more monthly supporters that can help by giving what they can, whether it is $25 a month or $200 a month.  Any gifts to help us in this work is greatly appreciated! We ask that you, Please, Prayerfully Consider what you can do in joining our support team.

Our prayer needs

We will be at 100% of our financial needs by January 31

Our Going Away / Fundraiser on January 18th is a success and  that many family & friends attend

Our travel papers and plans get set and organized

We would walk in humble obedience each day with Joy & Peace

Merry Christmas & Blessings to All!

His Faithfulness

We continue to be reminded that God is faithful!
1Thes. 5:24 God will make this happen, for He who calls you is faithful.

We have had a busy month of moving, packing, unpacking, sorting and organizing for this journey to Africa.  Amidst all the craziness we continue to meet with individuals telling our story and raising support.  We (mostly me, Janine), start to doubt we will ever be able to reach our goals with support.  We are so used to relying on our strengths and our own works to take care of ourselves financially.  Relying on others does not come naturally.

Raising support surely has its ups and downs.

On one of our down days, thinking 'this support raising task is just to big, we aren't seeing any results, commitments are not coming in, etc'.... in this moment of discouragement we decided to pray. God quickly responded to our plea!  Not even 10 minutes later, a friend contacted us asking if they could support us.  Imagine that!  We had not met with them or asked for their support.  Amazing!!  Why did we ever doubt?!  Why didn't we pray earlier?  God say's all we need to do is ask. He has been so faithful over and over again!
We know God will supply all our needs and that He will go before us, we just need to be patient and continue to walk in obedience.

We are at about 30% of our support.  Bruce is going to a 4 day work week starting the month of November and will be done working December 20th.

Thank you, family and friends, for your love and support, and for making a difference in these little lives with us!! 

Africa Preparations

This is all so new to us.   Learning to set up a blog.  Ugg.  So frustrating!  But as with all
things new, they soon become things you know.

Having lunch at school

We are preparing for our move to Uganda as missionaries.  We will be working in the small rural village of Naigobya, sharing God's love and helping them become self-sustaining.  We are currently meeting with individuals and churches raising our support.  We love to share our story! If you would like us to share with you, we would be happy to! Email us!

The organization we are with is Every Child Ministries.  We added a link for ECM and
The Afayo Project that we will be  working with.

Here are a few pictures of the children of the Village that stole our hearts!

Learning to Color

Bruce telling stories at an Assembly