Way too long!

Wow! I feel I must apologize for amount of time that has passes since the last update. I must admit that I am a little bit embarrassed to see that almost an entire year has passed. All I can say is that I can try to do better.

We have been fairly busy this last year. I will try to summarize our last year in as few words as possible just to bring everyone up to speed:

• August 2010 - arrive back in Indonesia after a 3 month mid-term break
• August 2010 - School starts and Paul is busy coaching volleyball
• November 2010 - Teacher conference in Korea. Paul got to attend for 1 week
• December 2010 - Christmas! Major rainstorm on Christmas Eve. That is something that I have never experienced before.
• January & February - Birthday season! Stephan (7), Grayson (3), Karen (still 29), Darryl (9), and Elleah (5)
• March 2011 - Outdoor Education. Paul helped with 2 week high school field trip. That is a long time to be away from home!
• May 2011 - School is out!

This year has been a year of learning. I, Paul, am learning how to lead spiritually in the home. I am learning how to pray. I am learning how to be a godly husband. As soon as I write this, Romans 3 pops into my mind, "... there is no one righteous, not even one!" Regardless of how good someone looks or how many good deeds they accomplish or how many years they serve God as a missionary overseas they are still as sinful as someone who has never heard of Christ. Never forget that we are all in need of a Savior. May that savior be Jesus Christ!

Happy Easter from our home to yours!

Paul

Back in Canada

Hello everyone,

Well we are back in Canada and have survived the extremely long flight! The kids are no longer jet lagged, but unfortunately they are still trying to adjust to the colder weather here.

Just today Darryl asked me what all the little bumps were on his legs. He was covered in goose bumps from being cold! It just made me realize that my kids truly are getting different experiences overseas.

THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS

I recently listened to a sermon out of Luke 15 - the prodigal son. This is a passage that I have read and heard preached many times in my life and I have always thought that it is a great passage, but I have never heard it explained the way this pastor explained it.

The basic premise of the three stories, as I have always understood, have been about the celebration that happens when someone that was lost is now found. For me, the focus has always been on the fact that God celebrates when sinners repent. I thought that Jesus told three stories in order to reiterate this fact, but I believe that there is more to this section.

The passage starts out with the pharisees and teachers of the law criticizing Jesus for eating with tax collectors and notorious sinners. Basically, he was hanging around with "bad" people. Jesus, knowing the hearts of the people criticizing him, addresses the main issue without there even being a question. The main issue is: How does God deal with bad people?

According to Luke 15, there are 4 types of bad people. We see this by the types of stories that Jesus tells. The first story is about a sheep/person, that is bad because they are careless and wander away. Jesus says that he will search for that person and carry them back to him.

The second type of bad person is the irresponsible person - someone who loses their most precious belongings. Jesus says that he will look for them until they are found.

The third type of bad person is the one who is willfully rebellious, like the son that told his dad that he was tired of waiting for him to die. This type of bad person is rude, disrespectful, and does things to hurt themselves and others. The story shows that nobody follows and tries to find this person, like in the other stories. Sometimes people need to realize things for themselves. When that person finally does come home, there is no rejection, the father is waiting with open arms!

The fourth type of bad person is reserved for those who already know Christ. This special type of bad person is the christian who has been good his/her whole lives and were responsible and didn't wander away. This type of bad person is the self-righteous person who judges the one who was lost and begrudges those who get a party. It's like the movie "Family Man" where the father is shopping and doesn't get anything all day and finally asks, "where are my Mary Janes?"

I am not sure if you can rate these bad people as best or worst, but it seems to me, and scripture kinds of slants this way also, that the last kind of "bad person" is the worst kind. In fact, Jesus doesn't even finish the story because He wants us to realize that the whole story is about us, the fourth type of person. The story isn't finished because He wants us to realize that we can change the way we respond to those other "bad people".

For me, this story has always been about how much God wants the lost to be saved. Now I realize that there is much more to this story - it is about how the saved respond to the newly saved.

I want to encourage you to re-read this story with new eyes and some new insight. Maybe you will feel Christ speaking to you as as I did.

Blessings,

Paul



Blessings,

Paul

The Links of an Unbreakable Chain

One of the struggles that I, Karen, have living here in Indonesia is the role I play as an individual. God has a way of keeping us humble and in doing so Satan can make my daily tasks feel mundane and purposeless as a wife/mom. As I am home with my children, changing diapers and cleaning up after lunch when it looks like a rice bomb went off in my kitchen, I am reminded that even though I want the glory of a 'job well done', all of the the glory goes to God. So as I go through the routine of my daily tasks and give to my children, husband and others around me, God taps me on the shoulder and says...."here my child, this is what you are part of, this is My purpose for your life". I look at the smiles on my kids faces, sit down to check email, and I see this note from a pilot that lives just a couple of doors down from us. This note brought joy to my heart and in turn should bring joy to yours. When there are missionaries living in the jungle, they cannot get there without the help of MAF. The pilots flying the planes cannot do their jobs and the missionaries in the jungle cannot do their jobs unless someone is teaching their children. Their children are not taught unless there is teachers living here in Indonesia, and the teachers could not be living here unless, you, our supporters, were not praying and donating to this ministry. We are all links in a chain, and by following God's purpose for our lives and by working together to further His kingdom we are blessed with joy by seeing victories such as this.
May God bless you all as we are all on His team and part of His everlasting chain.
Samuel was starving and unable to get proper nutrition from his mother who was lacking a basic diet to produce milk for her baby. Missionaries living in the village of Tumdungbon, where there is no airstrip, asked MAF to drop a box of formula to try and help this baby. Just a few weeks after the successful airdrop, Samuel's health had improved drastically and he has put on lot of weight. In the following pictures you can barely recognize him. Praise be to God!