I am so excited to be writing you from Kathmandu Nepal. Finally, after two years of training and anticipation we are here.
I could write a book about the plane ride over, but I will spare you most of the excitement. Needless to say, I was terrified for most of the trip but we made it. The kids and I had very few meltdowns on the way over. I have to say that it was not as bad as I had expected.
You can imagine how tired we were after traveling for 48 hours. We all had jet lag and when we finally crashed in our new home I felt so tired that I dont think I could have made it another 30 minutes. The kids had another plan for us. They too were exhausted, cranky, and in need of a long nights sleep. The problem came when their internal alarm clocks prevented them from sleeping. They kept us up all night.
The next day I had hoped to unpack. That plan was thrown out when the UMN requested that we "stop by." We made arrangements to stop by and several hours later made it back home. The problem is that I need to learn how to do my job in the next two weeks because the guy that I am replacing is leaving. I have so much work to do that I have no idea how I will get it done.
Our flat is quickly becoming home. We have the second floor of a small concrete house. It has two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a kitchen. We usually have running water and electricity. Our neighbors are great and they are fascinated with the tall white people moving in next door. Some have brought us cookies, others have shown off their flowers in the garden that we share with them, and others just watch from a distance.
Everyone at headquarters is very friendly. They are anxious to see how we can help. It seems that my name has caused many of them to form a preconceived idea of what to expect. "His name is Jon Wayne and apparently he knows alot about guns." I can only imagine their dissapointment when they expect to see some huge cowboy and get me instead.
My job is very exciting. I sat on the edge of my chair with sweaty palms yesterday as the guy that I will be replacing told me about what they would expect of me. I will be traveling around to the different work sites, training the personnel on how to respond to several different kinds of threats. The travel is the exciting part. ..............."You will have to ride a helicopter from the nearest road to get back to the work site or else you will have to walk for days."................... "This work site has no white people and only three people there speak english. You will have to fly on the scariest plane ride that I have ever been on to get back to it."..To name only a few comments from our conversation.
I could keep writing for days but I better not. Kody, Luke, and Shawna have been asleep for over 14 hours and I have to go to work. Please pray for our continued safety and join us in thanks for God not sending us alone. He has been with us every step of the way.
What is a commissioning service and why do we have one? Was one of the first questions I asked John Kennedy from Interserve on Friday night.
John drove 10 hours from Philidelphia to speak at our commissioning service Sunday. John is the personnel director for Interserve, the member body that hired us and trained us over the last year. John was one of the first people I spoke with when I shared my vision of what God called us to do several years ago. He is responsible for training us, preparing us, and keeping us healthy as we enter the mission field. He has become a trusted friend and brother over the last few years.
"A commissioning service is a time when your home church publicly recognizes that they are supporting your call into the mission field," John said.
I think John was pleasantly suprised when he discovered how the ROCC commissions a member of their body. The Spirit moved in a way that cannot be mistaken as anything less than a touch from the hand of God. The worship was so wonderful that we often found ourselves unable to speak, completely broken by the love of our Heavenly Father. The service concluded with a time of prayer that was blessed with the presence of God. We will never forget our commissioning service and the love expressed by those holding us up in prayer.
We do not enter the mission field alone. Our Heavenly Father promises never to send us out alone. He is always with us and He has given us a wonderful family of believers that are sharing in the journey with us. The ROCC did not "send us out," they are going with us.
Last night Shawna was so moved by the love of our friends that she stayed up all night praying and crying. Saying "Goodbye" is going to be so hard. We are going to miss everyone so much.
Does God visit garage sales????? I have no idea if He does or not. I know if I owned the entire universe that I would probably not waste my time at a garage sale, but last weekend was a different story.
It all started when Susan Fidler had this idea..... If the Cronans are going to sell all their stuff to raise some support, then why not have a church wide yard sale? It was a brilliant idea. Chris Carpenter and a host of friends from the ROCC showed up to help with raising our support. They worked tirelessly all night the night before the sale and all day on the day of the sale.
We sat down and figured out just how much it would take to get us to Nepal. Then we trimmed off all the fat and looked at how much we needed. Then we eliminated even more and came up with the final figure....... We needed about $6800 to finalize our plans to go. If we could just come up with that then I think we will have enough to pay for plane tickets, shipping, initial set up, etc..
On Friday night before the sale several of us stayed up sharing with each other. We were all exhausted but the Spirit of God was there so we just let him have our time. We concluded with a final prayer, that God would allow us to raise the last of our outgoing expenses. It actually seems quite impossible to raise that much from a garage sale. I mean old vaccums, broken toasters, and retro clothes can only bring in so much money, but why not give it a shot. This is God's thing anyways and He can raise the support any way that He wants to.
It was a long day but God held off the rain and provided a small army of volunteers to help with the sale. I will never be able to show everyone how much I appreciate their help. At the end of the day the final figure came in.........We raised $6900! I could'nt believe it. God really is in the details. God may not visit every garage sale, but He decided to visit this one.
God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for our food.........
At least that was what I was taught as a child. Now I am exploring a different side of God. God is not safe?
My family and I attended Missions Training International in June and July as we prepare to head overseas on our first long term missions assignment. We sat on the edge of our seat as our instructor, a former police officer from California, read a letter from a former MTI student. The letter detailed the horrifying chain of events that occurred after they were kidnapped by a rebel group that demanded a ransom for their release. The gravity of our decision to follow God to Nepal began to sink in as I thought about how this family was sitting in the same chair that I was sitting in just a few years ago.
Our families have reacted to our decision with mixed emotion. Some are simply angry at us for placing their grandchildren in such an environment. Some are supportive, but they comfort themselves by saying, "Well I guess if God has really called you to serve in Nepal, then He will not allow anything bad to happen." Is this true? Does God protect his followers who are in His Will? If this is true then all of His disciples must have fallen out of His Will. If this is true then the thousands of Christians who have been martyred throughout the centuries must have mistakenly stepped out of God's will.
The truth is that, "God is not safe, but He is faithful." Following God will never be safe and to judge the sincerity of anyones call by the safety of their journey is simply not scriptural. Was Jesus Christ out of the Father's Will because He was crucified? Of course not. Historically, Christians have always been persecuted for their faith. The comfort in this is that God will never leave us. He will walk with us through the "Valley of the shadow of death." Is this not what we are all searching for anyways? To walk daily with the Father. He calls us on a journey. The road is not safe. It is not always fun. We sometimes get sick. We miss our friends and family, but we are never alone. I think we are so fortunate. God has shared his burden for the people of Nepal with us and we will never be the same. What a wonderful priveledge.