Debra & Emmaus - November 2008

Today is a very special day! It’s a day to recognize the mothers in our lives, their hard work, their devotion and their love. That is especially true in our family. One of Debra’s characteristics that I have truly loved since Canaan was born over six years ago is her incredible devotion and love towards her children. That is one of the reasons why her sickness and health issues were so difficult while in West Africa, she just didn’t have the physical ability to be the mom she so desparately wanted to be to our two boys. It’s been incredibly exciting to watch her since we returned to Canada. As her health has improved, I’ve been able to witness again a renewed sense of motherhood, it’s been fun to see! Emmaus has clung to her like glue since we got back, and I think that Debra is alright with that :) Our two boys are incredibly blessed to have Debra as their mother!

Thank you Debra for the unstoppable, incredible love you show our boys. You are an example of godly love for them, always pointing them towards our Saviour. I’m sure that our boys will grow up to be devoted loving husbands, thanks in no small part to your role in their lives! I love you Debra Lynn!

Not the best but not too bad and we are all in it and looking at the camera. We have truly come a long way since our boys were babies!

Here is a picture we took of the boys just after this picture was taken:

They are so hilarious!

Luckily we should be out of jacket weather now. The weather has been bouncing around like crazy! Hot one day then rainy and cold the next and so on. But I think its going to start getting nice and warm!

Why are we doing this? For two reasons. It’s most definitely cheaper to send out emails and if the majority of people prefer receiving our updates via email we can be better stewards of the money God has entrusted us with by making this transition. Secondly, we will be able to send more timely and frequent updates via email.

How can you help? Please, even if you already receive our newsletters, take the time to head on over to our newsletter sign up page and fill it out, indicating your preference for paper or email newsletters.

We appreciate you taking the time to do this, it helps us be better stewards of the support you have all sent towards our ministry and also keep you better updated.

I have also grown to love our time every morning that we call ‘Hold the Ropes’. All of the office staff get together to pray for missionaries who have sent in prayer requests or newsletters. It’s also fun when supporters of NTM missionaries send their own prayer requests into our office and we have the chance to pray for them as well.

This morning I had a chance to share with students in the NTM training program our story and how God has been working in our lives over the last year. I was excited to talk to them about following God where He leads and then trusting Him with the results, definitely something He has been teaching us lately and something very applicable to this group of students who will soon be heading out all over the world to share God’s Word.

Did you know that every day NTM publishes a few articles highlighting certain works around the world? I’ve been reading them and then sharing them on NTM’s twitter feed. Reading them every day has increased my awareness of what God is doing through NTM and encouraged me greatly! I encourage you to check it out here.

Be sure to check out some of the things I’ve been working on lately for NTM:

• NTM’s website: www.ntm.org
• NTM on Twitter
• NTM on Instagram (@newtribes)

When we first arrived in Canada I felt much better, right away! Although from all the traveling I came down with a nasty sinus infection within a couple days. So it was hard to know for sure how I was really feeling and reacting to my new environment. After that was gone I started to really notice a big difference. I can think clearly. I can get up in the morning before 10am. I sleep through the night. I can breath. I can play with my kids. I have enough energy and mental capacity to train and disciple my kids. I can cook well balanced healthy meals. I can go for walks with my family. I can play with my kids. I can be a wife to my husband. I am so happy. I am so happy. I finally feel like I am fulfilling my role as a wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend again. It is so fulfilling. I am so thankful to God. He has truly taken us through trial and I have grown so much through it. But I am now healed. I am so happy!

I decided to take a picture of myself a couple days before leaving Dakar so I could see if my appearance changed at all. I then took another photo the day after arriving in Canada. Then I took another photo 7 weeks after arriving in Canada. Take a look and see the difference for yourself. =)

In Dakar.

The day after arriving in Canada… still very jet lagged.

Taken 7 weeks after arriving in Canada, just after going for a 3 hour hike with the love of my life! =)

What do you think? Can you see the difference that I see?

Jeremiah 17:14

Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.

In about a week Debra will be flying down to California for about a week. This was definitely a blessing as we didn’t have the money for any of us to go down but a friend offered his air miles to Debra! We are very thankful that she will get a trip down to see her family and most importantly our new nephew Mac.

This weekend Debra and I decided to celebrate our eighth anniversary a few days early (the actual day is April 3). The boys went to my parent’s house for the weekend which was a huge blessing! We went for a hike, getting in some geocaching of course! I think that this is our third anniversary in a row during which we’ve done some geocaching. God blessed us with a day of beautiful weather, it was the perfect temperature for a hike. It was fun to think about the years gone by and to see how God worked to bring us to where we are right now. It sure hasn’t all been easy, but we know that it was the best plan possible for our lives, because God was guiding! We are excited to see how He continues to guide in the year to come.

We look forward to getting back into sharing more regularly on our blog about our ministry in family now that we are starting to feel a little more settled, so stay tuned!

Around 10:30 am we went back to the airport to try and figure out what would happen next. No one seemed to know. We were eventually given new boarding passes and around 4pm we took off for Lisbon. In Lisbon, we arrived about 20 mins after our connecting flight was supposed to have taken off! We hurriedly went through customs and security and went to the gate noted on our boarding pass, only to find it empty. It looked a little too empty and after consulting an information screen we realized that our gate had been reassigned. Well, somehow we made it. We were the last ones on the shuttle to the plane. The boys slept all the way to Madrid, we really were not sure what was going to happen next. 

In Madrid we found that none of our luggage hade made it onto our last plane. It took a couple of hours to file a claim before trying to find a place to rest for a while. We had purchased a hotel room for the night but we arrived too late to go to it. Another problem was that we had planned on changing into warmer clothes in Madrid, but, it was all missing! It looked like we’d be flying to Canada with shorts and flip-flops and Debra in a skirt. 

We made our way to checkin and then tried to get some sleep while waiting for checkin agents to arrive at 4:30 am. The poor boys were freezing! The checkin area was not well heated and the boys’ shorts were not cutting it. We were very thankful when agents showed up and we were able to get to our gate which felt a little warmer. Our flight from Madrid to Brussels was short and before long we were running through another airport to make another connection. We were very late getting to our boarding gate but luckily so were many other people. It sure felt good to sit down on our last flight! It was the longest at 8 hours, but it went well. The boys did a great job! They were exhausted but were always ready to board another plane. 

Since our bags were missing, getting out of the Toronto airport was a breeze. Our family brought some clothes for Deb and the boys to change into and before long we were driving to my parent’s home. Before moving up to our temporary apartment at NTMC, we are going to wait for our bags at my parent’s. Supposedly the bags have been located and flown to Toronto, now we are just waiting for the home delivery. We thought that they would have arrived yesterday but nothing yet. 

It is still strange to be here! We are excited to see what God will do in our future here in Canada but we need your prayers and encouragement as we adapt and wrestle with the inevitable culture shock that we are already beginning to feel. 

Feel free to write us if you have any questions! We will update soon once we have more details on what is next.