Paul's Missionary Journeys

I have been reading a book detailing the journeys of Paul from his conversion experience through the end of his ministry.  As a missionary with a young, developing ministry it is encouraging to see the way that his ministry developed and grew in complexity over the course of several years.  It is so easy to get caught up in the story when reading Acts and think that he did all of his work in a short amount of time.  When we read the accounts of Pauls missionary journeys in the various books of the New Testament you recognize the enormity of the task Paul was given, but you do not recognize the time that was required to complete this task.  He spent several years preparing, and then several more years during his missionary journeys.  Between his journeys, he spent several years planning/praying/growing. 

Paul was a rabbi that was very well trained in Old Testament theology and he also had a profound understanding of the people groups in the different regions in Asia Minor and Europe, be it Jews, Gentiles, Romans, or others.  He recognized that there were culturally relevant ways that each group would have to be taught to acurately understand the message he was bringing to them.  Studying the different strategies he used and why he used them has helped me tremendously to prepare the work in Honduras.  You see we live among three distinctly different people groups, the Miskito Indians, the Ladino's, and the Garifuna, a African tribal culture.  Paul recognized cultural issues with each group he came into contact with and used those issues to teach the message of Christ.  We too have to learn the cultural issues that are a hinderance/door to sharing the gospel with the individual groups we work amongst.  Please pray for us to recognize these barriers and doorways so that we may better teach the gospel in our region of the world. 

The task at hand here is truly enormous, but the reward is even greater.  We recognize that the time required to effectively reach the Rio Platano Biosphere Region is a long commitment, but with your prayers and Paul's church planting manual-The Bible, we know that no matter the size of the task, it is possible.

"I can do all things through Christ who strenghtens me" Phillipians 4:13

Ryan

Seasons are changing

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven...

Ecclesiastes 3:1

We have been so blessed with 6 months of beautiful weather.   The seasons are changing and I am finding more of God's beauty as the rain refreshes the jungles.   It seems like things are coming alive in front of our eyes.   It is such an amazing experience.   The colors are so vivid and the wild life so prevelaint that you can't help, but be in awe of God's creation.

The people here have so many fears related to animals, rain, and the land.   It breaks my heart that they are living in fear of something that is so magnificantly created.

God saw all that he had made, 

and it was very good.   

Genesis 1:31

Even the Christians we work with, when asked will admitt to still being in bondage to these fears and falsehoods.   They have not truly found their freedom in Christ.  My heart breaks for these people.   I pray that their eyes will be opened and their hearts opened to the truth!

As the season changes here and rainy season begins to settle in the lagoon in front of our house at times turns a bright red/orange color.   We have heard so many reasons for this that are so far from the truth.   The children are terrified of it.   They fear birdhouses because they could house a dwarf that steals the children.   Owls are feared as well.   It is so sad to live in a fear based culture where they can not enjoy the pleasant things that God has given us.

Please join me in praying for these people held in a bondange that only true faith in Christ can save them from.   Pray that those that already have the knowledge of Christ will come to completly understand what a relationship with Christ means. 

  

The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?  

The Lord is the defense of my life. Whom shall I dread?

When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh,

My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.

Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear;

Though war arise against me, In spite of this I shall be confident.

One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

To behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.

For in the day of trouble, He will hide me in His tabernacle;

In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;

He will lift me up on a rock.

And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,

And I will offer in His tent sacrafices with shouts of joy;

I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, And be gracious to me and answer me.

When You said "Seek My face," my heart said to You 

"Your face, O Lord, I shall seek." ...

Psalms 27: 1-8

God At Work

I have been wanting to give everyone an update on how things are going and I struggle finding the time to get on here and write when I can focus.  You see, my laptop is dead right now.  It has to get shipped back to the states for warranty repairs.  Another one is being shipped to me right now, but until that happens I can only use the computer when the generator is on, 2 hours during daylight hours, of which 1 1/2 I am teaching.  Today it is raining so I filled the generator up so we could update everyone on life.  Today, I am going to tell a story about how God works.

Our first trip out we were riding in the truck about to get on the beach for the final 1 hour ride to Palacios when we came across a broken down truck.  There are about 15 trucks (Toyota Hilux, Nissan Frontiers, etc.) that drive back and forth everyday from the city to Batalla, the village across the lagoon from Palacios.  The truck drivers are all like family to one another even though they compete for business daily.  One of our regular drivers, Palulo, pulls over to check on the broken down truck and we all get out to stretch after 8 hours.  Walker is watching the guys pull the back end out from under this truck to do a major repair (one that would take 2 weeks and thousands of $$$$ in the states) on this dirt "road" and a guy notices his Texas hat and asks in English where he is from.  Now, we are in the middle of Honduras a long way from nowhere and there are not a lot of people that speak English.  Walker and I talk to him for a while and find out he lived in NC and worked for a long time in Spring Hill, TN.  We thought that was cool, and figured we would never see the guy again.

Fast forward 2 1/2 months and it was time for me to go to town for groceries.  I am at the truck stop in Batalla, waiting to ride in with our driver and I recognize him standing beside me.  I begin to talk to him in broken Spanish and he replied in English.  My driver didn't have a full truck that day and was only going to take me so he told me to ride with Noel, my new friend.  I bring my Bible and storying tracks with me everywhere I go b/c you have a lot of free time in a truck for 9 hours with no one to communicate.  This trip was different!  I had the opportunity to witness to Noel the entire trip.  He had such a desire to learn more about Jesus and what it meant to follow Him.  He grew up Catholic but told me he became Christian while in NC.  He was deported for driving without ID shortly after, leaving his American wife and daughter behind.  He mentioned since his arrival back in Honduras, he has not found a church in the city he lives that felt like his church in the states.  I talked to him about the house church planting model.  I spent the last 3 hours of our ride explaining everything to him, showing him the story model, and teaching him how to implement it in his own network of friends.  I was teaching him, thinking that I would be able to get him my Spanish training notes the next day in Palacios, and he told me he prefers to read the Bible and comprehends at a higher level what he reads in English.  WOW!!!!  I had the entire kit with me and I left it with him to begin teaching a house church in Tocoa.  There was no doubt in my mind that God crossed our paths that first day out with His greater good in mind.  Who would think that the first person I taught in Honduras would speak English fluently and would have lived and worked 10 miles from my "home" in the states?

Please pray for the continued growth of Noel and that he will be a light for those around him in Tocoa and his family both in Honduras and the States.

And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region...Acts 14:49

God Bless,

Ryan

Updates

Wow.  It has been a really long time since we have been on here.   We have had computer problems and have been very busy.   Sometimes we need to just take a moment and catch up on things.   There have been a lot of things going on in our family as well as our ministry.   I am going to try and just hit the highlights of it all so as not to bore you all. 

Ministry

This month we had a missionary teacher return home 6 months earlier than anticipated.   This was dificult on us all and it really brought the struggles of ministry to the surface for many of us here.   With her return to the states the mission school here was without a teacher for 6 kinder students.   After much prayer and discussion Ryan has stepped into this role as he completes his language studies.   Ryan will work at the school in the morning and continue language training in the afternoon.   He will spend the evenings and weekends working in the community and other villages.    Ryan is also working with another missionary teaching him Bible storytelling so that he can teach the people he is working with.   Ryan is also teaching this same missionary T4T (training on mentoring) so that the local pastors can be trained in this and begin outreach in their own community.   Ryan continues to mentor a local youth and continues to teach him bible stories.   Ryan spent sevarl days in May on the river and in a local village doing minstry work.   During June and July he will have the opportunity to go to a village 25 hours away up the river.   Part of this will be a research opportunity for an unreached people group.   This is a group we hope to work with in the future.

Natalie has been able to start a bible study with another missionary wife here.   She is working in the communtiy building relationships in hopes of starting a bible study with the ladies.   Ryan and Natalie also believe that one of these families would be a great host for a house church.   Praying that God opens more doors and opens the hearts of the people.

Walker has started working with a youth group in a Spanish bible study.   He is being challenged now to translate scripture from Spanish to English.  So that he can better understand biblical Spanish.

Family:

We celebrated two birthdays in May.   Walker and Mari-Madeline continue to go to the local school here.  Walker loves it and and is so excited to go.  Mari-Madeline loves school, but does not like being away from home.   We have been praying about what she will do.  Her teacher is amazing and so patient, I had to go get MM from school one day and as we were leaving her teacher encouraged her just to stay for a short period of time each day. 

Lorelai stays with mom most of the day.   Amazing enough her Spanish is probably better that Walker's.  Mari-Madeline has begun to correct Ryan and I in our pronnunciations.   She has also had to help Ryan with translating.    The kids have so many friends here and this is truly their home for now.   I am not sure that they will ever be at home in the States again.   Life is so simple here and so uncomplicated.   They value relationships and time with family over anything else. 

 Natalie and the kids made thier first trip to the city since February.  While we all had fun, the hustle and bustle of the city was overwhelming and we were all excited to come home.   We had to make a quick return trip to the city with Mari-Madeline.   She was very sick and her malaria test were negative, but the local clinic did not know how to treat her.   So we packed up and made the 9 hour trip, by boat and truck back to the city.   Just as we were taking her to the hospital we met a doctor from the states who is a missionary at a clinic there.   He was able to tell us what labwork to have done and how treat her.   What a blessing from God that was. 

While in the city we also met another missionary couple that was able to connect us with a a network of missionaries that have a yearly conference and yearly kids camp in Honduras!   How amazing is that.   We are so excited about this.  Gods blessing are so simple yet so amazing all at the same time.   He knows just what we need! 

We are still working as a family on building relationships and learning abour our neighbors.   We live among three different people groups and each group functions very different.   One group the men are the leaders of the family and function more similar to us, another group the women are the leaders and are very aggresive about their postition in the family, and yet another it seems that both man and women are in charge.   It is also not uncommon for the men to leave the family and go for months and even years looking for work.   We saw one such family this past week.  The wife and kids had gone to the city and were visiting dad and the morning the family was returning was the same we were coming home.   It was so difficult to see the father and children in tears, because they know it may be 6 months before they see each other again.

We are so happy here and pray that we can be blessing to these people.   We pray that God can use us reach these people.
 
1 Peter 4:11
Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength wich God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen.

Some changes and an update

Okay, I (Natalie) have mostly been posting here, but Ryan and I have decided that we both want to contribute.   So, we are going to start each post with our name, so you will know who is writing.   This is going to be fun.

So, I am going to start by being honest, what's new?   Things are rough!   Yes, I knew this was coming and no, I was still not ready for it.   Ryan and I were fussy with each other and had to regroup today and get on the same page.   It has been several of days that have just been crazy weird and wild.   We had a family lunch with my parents and brother scheduled, but it had to be rescheduled and now they have the flu :(.   We had family coming in for Ryan's ordination service, but got snow instead and everything was rescheduled.   We packed our bags and were quickly overweight...onto plan b.  We sold our vehicles and had nothing to drive, Mari-Madeline had some weird virus.   You see what I mean, just a crazy week.   As, I sit here looking at it all, I can also see God at work.

Blessings during this all, I got to see a friends baby for the first time...what a gift from God.   A friend volunteered to drive us to Atlanta so we can fly out.   We sold our cars, and everything else we needed to sell.   We got to see one last snow.  More of Ryan's family is able to come to his ordination service.  We are learning what is really important when we pack.  We have our health.   This week I have learned to accept help from friends.   I am learning to let God be in control all the time!

So, even though it was a rough week, God was always there.  

We will be leaving Columbia on Tuesday February 15 and heading to Atlanta, we will overnight there and fly out early the next morning.  We have a layover in Florida and will get to Honduras just after lunch.   We will travel the rest of that day and overnight in a city.  On Thursday we finish our travel and get to our new home.

I will try and upload some pictures and update in Honduras.

Honduras Palacios to Ciriboya and Limon

A very short video that show how we will travel part of the way to our village. The beach will end and then we will go by boat.

Ahh, moving pains

No, not sore muscles, but pains of the heart.   We are so excited to move, but at the same time it does hurt to see your life changing.   The change is for the good, but still it hurts.   Today Ryan and his friend are removing the last of the items from our house.  After today we will have our mattresses, a tv, and a few items that Ryan's dad is keeping for us.   Laundry baskets will become our new dresser drawers and the kids plastic picnic table our dinning room table.   I will admit I am hiding in my room.   LOL!   I had to go make all the decisions about the items to be moved and then I retreated to my room.  I am not avoiding the move, but I am not actively involved. 

The tears have started to flow the past few days.   We are not heartless just because we are moving to another country to do God's work.   It is not any easier to leave friends and family just because we are Christians, we are still humans.   The one thing we do have is the peace that only God can give us and that is enough.  God is enough!  This past weekend we were able to see some of Ryan's family and tell them good bye or see you later and it was hard, but as we drove back to Tennessee we agreed we are ready to move.  You see we were at peace as we waved to them through the van windows, we felt God wrapping His arms around us and encouraging us all the way.  

Walker asked me today for our digital camera so he could begin making his memory album.  He has a list of people he wants pictures of and I am pretty sure 2 of the chickens are on that list also.  So, if you see Walker with a camera, just smile and say "CHEESE" because you are moving to Honduras with him.   This is going to be a fun activity for him and will give him something to do as we finish out these last few weeks here in the states.

The girls have been using more Spanish these days and are ready to be re-united with their loveys in Honduras.   They are so ready to see their new home.   Lorelai has a dear friend I want you all to pray for.  Her name is Meghan.  Meghan is Lorelai's age and they are good friends, Meghan wants to be a missionary also.  Please pray for her and her family as they follow God's will for their lives.
Mari-Madeline is just so loving and easy going.  She has been battling allergies for a few weeks so pray she feels better soon.

Thank you for all of your prayers.  Please continue to pray for our families and friends during this time of change. 

Encouragement and Prayers

Emotions are a part of moving and making changes, and so far we have had our fare share of them. For the most part we are all excited, but we have our moments when we are weary and tired. We recently started a study on the book of Philippians and to read the encouraging words that Paul sent during his time in prison is just humbling. I mean we are living a life of luxury compared to that of Paul during his imprisonment, yet he was able to send words of encouragement and joy to the church. If he can do that, then we can do anything God calls us to do.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,

always offering prayer with joy in

my every prayer for you all...

Philippians 1:3-4

We have several prayer partners that are dealing with illnesses or other things and we just want to encourage you and to let you know that we are praying for you as well. You are a part of our family and we want to lift you up in prayer. We want to encourage you to communicate with us via email or comments or even a phone call if you have something you would like us to pray about. Yes, we are busy moving and yes, we will be far away, but we are never too busy or too far away to pray for those we love.

We still have our moving date set for February. We have a date we would like to leave by, but we are still waiting on paperwork. We are enjoying our last days here in the states as bitter sweet as they may be. We have begun our goodbyes and see you laters. Today we learned that some people we know would like to come do a mission trip where we will be living and that was like a hug for my heart. God truly listens to each and every concern, fear and worry and has taken care of these for us. I have asked for so much comfort and He has provided it all.

We will update you as soon as we know our moving dates. Please continue to pray for our paperwork and travel. Please, join us in praying for our families also. As hard as this is for us it is even harder for our parents and siblings. I know God will be with them, pray they have peace and comfort as they too begin to say their goodbyes to their children and grand children.

The countdown begins

I am so excited. It seems like just a few days ago I was fearful and weary, but God has taken those things from me and replaced them with excitement and peace. God is good like that. We have been so blessed and humbled by the love and support of everyone. God has been doing some amazing things in our family and I just want to share some of it with you.

Each child has had their own moment of frustration and fear of the upcoming move. Each one's has manifested in a way unique to the child. A few weeks ago Mari-Madeline was upset and Walker was comforting her and this was all he said "Mar, we have to trust mom and dad, because dad knows what God wants for our family." This settled her and she was fine after that. I was brought to tears and felt God wrapping me in His arms and saying I have taken care of it all, trust me. I fully trust God and to see my son trusting us and God just takes my breath away.

We got to spend a wonderful few hours with another couple that will be living with us in Honduras. Ryan and Chuck got to spend some guy time talking and Katie and I got to spend girl time talking. God has taken care of the details of personalities and friendship. We love Chuck and Katie and could not be more blessed than to be working with them in the field. Chuck and Katie volunteered to come to Tennessee and get all our things for the shipping crate; again this is God's provision alone.

Something that I will never be able to fully put into words is how humbled I am by all of our partners. We have had so many people join our prayer team and our financial team. God alone is in control of this and I am so grateful that our partners are with us. It is such a blessing to know that someone is praying for your family and ministry daily. We also could not be fulfilling our call to international missions without our financial partners. Thank you to all of you. We are at 31% of our monthly budget and have almost all of our one-time expenses covered.

I know this was long and thank you for reading it. God is good.....

God is our Manna

These last few days and even weeks have been a constant battle on a spiritual level. We have faced so many new challenges and obstacles and it seems that each time the devil is there quickly encouraging defeat and surrender. It is during those times that we see it creeping into our lives and creating problems. We must focus daily on the Lord and stay in His word. We are doing something that God called us to do and God will see us through.

We are trying to be as frugal as possible, but at the same time it has been a necessary evil to buy things we will need to live in the jungles. We have prayed over every item and sometimes have spent weeks waiting for it to go on sale or find it in a discount store.

Today I was reminded of the following scripture when we were given a blessing by someone who had nothing to give, but selflessly gave anyway. This lady is herself facing many challenges, but wants to share God's blessings to her with us. God is our manna. He is enough. We have been and will continually be tested and no, we will not always gracefully handle the challenges, but as long as we are seeking God's will for our life we will be blessed.

Deuteronomy 8:2-4 (ESV)
You shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years

How amazing is that? God is truly amazing. We are so humbled by the blessings he is allowing us so that we can spread the gospel.

God's Clock

Time seems to be moving so quickly these days. It seems as if God has sped up our clock. This is very exciting, but at the same time can be stressful if we allow it. I find myself pulling closer to God during these moments. I know He has a plan and if we listen to Him and obey Him it will work out for His glory.

We are almost through packing. All of our things we are taking will need to be in Mississippi before January 17th. They will then make their way in a large shipping container to our new home in Honduras. To me this kinda says, okay, this is permanent, we are moving! Exciting and frightening all at the same time.

We need prayers for the rest of the things we must finish here in the States. We are having to get a lot of documents "authenticated" for the Honduran government. This is a time consuming and confusing process. We also are working with the Honduras Consulate in Chicago to obtain our residency papers. Please pray that all of this will be taken care of in a very timely manner and that there will be few obstacles in the way.

Thank you for your prayers and partnership in our journey.