Missions!

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.

John Piper-Let the nations be glad! www.desiringgod.org

House Update - Part 2

PRAISE THE LORD

Yesterday evening we accepted a contract on our house. We had to come down lower than we wanted to, but the buyer came up $22,000 - so we can't and won't complain.

The amazing part is that the buyers have set a closing date for June 12th which is just 4 days before our next mortgage payment is due. Thank you Lord.

Also thank you for praying with us on this matter. Please continue to pray that there will be nothing that gets in the way of this contract closing in two weeks.

Thanks

Michelle

House Update

We countered both offers we had, both countered back. Unfortunately they were both too low. We rejected one and countered back the other. They were suppose to respond by 9pm last night. Nothing has been heard from them. We can only assume they are dropping the contract.

I guess this is where our faith is tested. A little while ago we had dropped the price by a large amount believing this is what God had led us to do. We know that the house and land are now priced below market value and should be a great deal to anyone. We have probably had over 20 people look at the property in the last month which led to these two contracts. We were really hoping the contract we just countered would come through because it would have been a cash purchase which was to be closed the first week of June. It just made so much sense (to us) if the Lord would allow this contract to work. We were ready to praise Him and give Him the glory for the sale as it would be closed before we had to make another mortgage payment. It has not happened and we don't understand why.

But this is not a time for us to understand, instead we must trust in God and believe that what God's word says is true and take comfort in that.

Isaiah 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord.

We know that prayer works, so please continue to pray for the sale of our house and that we will have patience and peace as we wait for God's timing.

Thank you

Michelle

Sesame Place

Back in February we were given tickets for Sesame Place, which is just about 30 minutes from the WEC campus. The Park didn't open until May so we were able to use these tickets the day after we finished our training as a celebration and reward for the hard work everyone had done over the previous three months.


The kids were so excited and had looked forward to this day for a long time. So we were a little concerned when the weather forecast promised rain for that day. As there was no option of us going on a different day our prayer was that God would keep the rain away long enough for us to enjoy at least part of the day. The weather was incredible. It was overcast and cool (mid to upper 60's), but it did not rain. Thankfully because of the weather forecast the crowds were small so we did not have to worry about loosing a child in the crowd. Also the lines for the rides were extremely short. Most of the time there were no lines at all and we could walk onto any ride we chose.
I wish you could have seen Jeremiah's face when he saw Elmo. His jaw dropped and he just stared - it was any little kid's dream come true.

Elaina joined in the fun at the Elmo's World show when she was picked out of the audience to participate in the show. She had to pretend to be a fish - she did a great job.

The climbing nets were a lot of fun, although it was kind of challenging to keep up with the kids as Gary and I had to crawl around the tubes while some of the kids are still small enough to be able to walk through. Naomi got a little scared though as the ground looked (and was) so far away.

I think the consensus was that the favorite ride was the roller coaster as all except Deanna rode it. She would of ridden if she could - there was a minimum age of 3.

We had an excellent day playing and thoroughly enjoyed being able to spend the time together.

There are more pictures in the slide show or if you wish to view a larger version please click HERE.

Michelle

Van Trouble

Just 4 days after our 920 mile trip home our van broke down. Thankfully Gary was driving and was able to limp it home. We managed to get it to the mechanic on Tuesday and we were so grateful that it only cost $160 to fix. It could have been so much worse as the van is over 7 years old and has almost 140,000 miles on it.

Unfortunately, it meant we weren't able to get to church on Sunday, but it was wonderful to see how our church family offered help without us having to ask. One friend ran me to the grocery store, another helped us take the van in to be fixed, another took us back to the mechanic to pick it up. Someone lent us their spare vehicle and several others asked if we needed anything.

It certainly made me appreciate God allowing us to get home without any van trouble and reminded me how blessed we are to belong to such a wonderful church family.

Michelle

More than I asked for

As I had mentioned before we drove back to St Louis last Monday. We decided to drive straight through as we thought the kids would sleep for the last 6 hours of the journey. This would make the long drive easier on them (and easier on us too). Consequently we would be arriving home in the early hours of Tuesday morning and I knew I had no milk or cereal in the house. I didn't want to stop on the way home to purchase these as I thought the kids would wake up and be cranky. Also, I really didn't want to have to get up earlier than the kids Tuesday morning to go to the store before breakfast. So I selfishly asked God if He would somehow provide us with a gallon of milk and a box of cereal in the house ready for us when we returned.

WOW!!! God answered my prayer in a bigger way than I ever could have dreamed of. Upon entering the house we found not just a gallon of milk and a box of cereal, but the following:

3 gallons of milk
3 boxes of cereal
potatoes
onions
apples
oranges
bananas
strawberries
chicken
beef
soup
cheese
lunch meat
bread
margarine
mayo
mustard
macaroni and cheese
rice
toilet paper
paper towels
vegetables
and other things that I can't remember (or we've already eaten)

Thank you to the ladies in my Sunday School class for giving so much to us. Also, another friend had taped a gift card for a local grocery store to our door.

The blessings continued this week as on Wednesday evening we attended a spaghetti dinner at church and were sent home with some of the leftovers which lasted for 2 meals. Then on Sunday we received a phone call from a friend saying there was some chicken left over after a new members lunch at church - could we use some? We gratefully accepted and received enough chicken, baked beans, bread and potato salad to last at least 2 meals.

God is SO good for giving more than I had dared asked for and supplying us with enough to feed our family of 8 for a couple of weeks.

Michelle

House Contracts

Well, after 5 months on the market we have received 2 contracts in the last 24 hours on our home in Festus.

Before you get too excited, neither offer was acceptable. We have counter offered and hope to get a good response from at least one of them.

Please pray with us that the Lord's will be done and that if these aren't the right contracts that we would be patient as we wait for His timing on the sale of our house.

Michelle

Childcare Supplied

From the time we knew we would be attending Candidate Orientation at WEC we were asked to pray about the childcare situation because apart from one young man who spoke little English there was no one else who could help and he wasn't going to be able to take care of 8 children under 10 by himself. So while we prayed and waited the Lord was gracious to give me a peace about the situation.

As we left for WEC our problem still wasn't solved, and I was expecting to miss most classes in order to take care of the kids - this was fine with me because our children are my priority and I knew if God wanted me in a certain class He would make a way.

I was pleasantly surprised when, upon our arrival, we were informed the childcare situation had been resolved. Someone else had come forward and volunteered to help until April 15th. The people at WEC knew we home schooled and asked how much I wanted to be home with the kids and how often I wanted to be in class. I requested to be home on Mondays to keep the kids on track with school and the other mornings I would attend class.

With the situation resolved for the first 2 months we realized we would be learning lots for a while and then for the last month Gary and I would take turns staying home as we would be back to 1 childcare provider (who would take care of the other family's kids). Again, this was fine with us, but the Lord had different plans. At the beginning on April we heard of someone else that was coming to stay on 'The Hill' for a while and she might be able to help us with childcare. Well she did and helped take care of them during our last month. Altogether Gary and I only had to stay home with the kids for a couple of days due to lack of childcare. I was able to attend many more classes than I had dreamt of and learnt SO much.

So I want to give a big THANK YOU to those very special people who not only took good care of our kids, helped them with their school work, but also became friends to them (and us). Also THANK YOU to God who was (and continues to be) in control of all things - including providing us with the right people to take care of our children.

Michelle

So much to tell

So, we are finally back in St Louis. It is good to be home (at least for a while).

As we entered the house at 3:00am Tuesday morning the kids went to their bedrooms and rediscovered all the toys they had left over 3 months ago. They were so excited - it was like Christmas all over again. We persuaded them to go to bed and requested them to sleep in. Unfortunately, when the Lord saw fit to send a thunderstorm over us at 7:00am the kids were awakened and the day began!!

We have taken the last couple of days just to unwind, relax and catch up on sleep. It has been good not to have deadlines on books to read or any forms to fill in.

Now we have a little more time on our hands we will be able to update you on some of the things that happened at WEC and how the Lord provided for all our needs.

Stay posted over the next week or so as we tell of the goodness of our God.

Michelle

Thank you .....

for your prayers on our journey home. We left Fort Washington, PA at 9:30am and arrived back in St Louis at 3:00am.

It seemed an incredibly long road trip (especially the last 3 hours), but thanks to your prayers the van made it without any problems. What was more impressive was that the kids did so well on the journey. Only a few times were we asked "How much further?" and incredibly there was not one argument or fight during those 18 hours!!

Thanks again for your prayers.

Michelle

On the road again ...

Well, I really can't believe that today we head back to St Louis. On one hand the last 3 months have gone really quickly - on the other, it feels like forever since we first approached 'The Hill'.

We would really appreciate your prayers today as we travel. With just under 1,000 miles to drive, 6 kids and bad weather - it could be a long journey. Thank you.

We plan to leave here around 9am and arrive in St Louis approx 1-2am. Of course this includes a 2 hour stop at Hershey, PA for a quick tour of the chocolate factory (and free samples!!!).

So to our friends in St Louis, we'll see you at church on Wednesday and to our new friends here at WEC, thank you for everything and we will miss you.

Michelle

Daniel's Masterpiece

Tonight was our graduation ceremony at WEC (I will post more about that later). We let Daniel have control of the camera for a while - and this is what he captured. Beautiful!!!

Michelle

Kids' Graduation

Every Tuesday and Thursday mornings for the last 12 weeks Daniel, Elaina, Nicholas and Naomi have been attending MKiT (Missionary Kid in Training) and Young Peacemaker classes.


MKit was a class where they learnt about what life will be like as a missionary kid. They learnt many things including where they will be going, a little about the country, how to behave at airports and when going through passport control etc and how to work as a member of a team. They memorized bible verses including ones about God taking care of them where ever they may be and how God has plans for us. They also talked about what it is like to move and how God will help us settle in our new homes - among other things.

In Peacemaker class they learnt:-
What causes conflict and how to deal with it.
Choices and consequences for our actions.
How we shouldn't blame others for our own sins.
How to admit when we are wrong and ask for forgiveness.
How to change our choices and choose our words wisely.

So as you can see they have learnt a lot. Hopefully it will help them cope and deal with the changes that they will go through in the next few months.

Well, tonight was their graduation ceremony. We all had a lot of fun watching a couple of skits they performed as well as watching a slide show presentation of the things they have done over
the last 3 months. The kids worked hard and were well deserving of the celebration.

A huge thank you to Lee Hall and the rest of the team that invested so much into the lives of our children.

Michelle

Our Last Week

I can hardly believe we are about to enter into our last week of Candidate Orientation here at WEC. Please pray for us this week as we are all tired, suffering from colds and have a lot to accomplish, including a power point presentation, cleaning the apartment and packing. Thank you.

Can't wait to see you all soon.

Michelle

WEC International Festival

Gary spent most of his day in Africa, Nicholas was a poor abandoned street child, begging for pennies and the rest of us spent the day 'travelling' around the world. How - you may ask. Today was WEC's International Festival.

Many hours had been spent in preparation and it was well worth the time and effort. The purpose of the day was to raise awareness in the local community of the 7,000 people groups around the world who have not yet heard the Gospel of Christ.

God was gracious and apart from a few sprinkles early this morning, He kept the rain away and although it was overcast and cool, almost 1,000 people came to Camp Hill to experience and enjoy this festival.

There were several locations in which people could explore and learn. Gary was working on the 'trail team' where we could walk through the woods and find 'Central Asia', 'Africa', 'Amazon' and 'North Korea'. Gary was located in the 'Africa' area, along with the snakes!! He spent quite a bit of time with a Colombian Boa wrapped around his neck or a baby Ball python wrapped tightly around his hand (it was trying to keep warm). Gary even put it under his shirt to try and warm it up!!!! In another Africa area the girls enjoyed playing with the African instruments - especially the drums.

In the Amazon area Daniel and Jeremiah went fishing for piranha and then Daniel tried, many times to kill a 'tiger' with paintballs through a blow gun. Also in the Amazon area the kids got their faces painted and received headbands made with feathers.

There was a center stage with some wonderful entertainment which included Korean dancers, African dancers, rap group and others which I didn't get to see as we were too busy 'traveling'.

Our taste buds were treated and sometimes tested as we were able to experience food from Mexico, Amazon, a refugee camp, an Italian cafe and the American hot dogs, cookies and chips. Elaina was very brave as she ate little worms and small raw fish!! Deanna had her first taste of cotton candy (candy floss-UK). It was so amusing to watch her as I broke a piece off and tried to put it in her mouth. She had no idea it was food and she looked at me like I was crazy. Of course, once she had her first taste, she was more than eager to continue to eat.

Nicholas spent his day in torn, worn out clothes begging people for money. He was representing the hundreds of thousands of street children that have to beg or steal just to survive. He did a great job. Of course he was allowed to come out of character to eat his cotton candy and hot dog!

By the time the festival ended at 3pm we were all tired, especially Deanna who was so exhausted that she just sat down in the road and refused to move!

Thank you to all those who put so much time and effort into this event because a great time was had by many - especially the Northcutt family.

If you wish to see more pictures of the festival, including snakes and Elaina eating bugs then please click HERE.

Michelle