The Lindians: An Update
I really have no excuse for not blogging lately. Sorry. Maybe three sick kiddos is a good excuse?
We finished our two week Ministry Partnership Seminar and enjoyed those two weeks getting to know our newest MAF missionary families, as well as being reenergized to raise the last part of our ministry support.
Last week, Matthew began his last three weeks of training (no wife required to attend!). This time, he’s auditing the yearly seminars for the Chief Pilots, Chiefs of Maintenance and Instructor Pilots. Since Matthew is not a pilot or mechanic, this purpose is to get to know more of the ins-and-outs of being a program manager. Plus, it’s a neat time to get to know some of the other people from MAF bases from all over the world.
IP Training
Photo by Nick Frey
Added later…Matthew’s afternoon was up in the air in one of these. Poor guy.
I have enjoyed the time being at home again and trying to get the sickness away from the little ones. They cannot catch a break! Even poor Axel has had a little cough and runny nose. Levi and Amelia have been through more boxes of tissues than I ever thought possible.
We are pleased to have Nick Frey staying with us for these three weeks of training. It’s been especially great to have his help as Matthew demolishes and rebuilds the upstairs bathroom in the house. It was a half bath, and soon it will be a full bath, which meant installing plumbing, wiring, ventilation, and, of course, a tub/shower, new sink, new floor (the original hardwood already had damage and mold), new wall…you know, a little work here and there. But oh the investment of adding a whole bath! Plus, it’ll be the first time in our whole marriage that we will have an en suite bathroom. Weird.
Levi is now reading, though words over five letters tend to be a bit challenging. This is really exciting, at just 4.5 years old, but I’ve realized it doesn’t come without new challenges. Like how he wants to read EVERYTHING. ALL. THE. TIME. Ah well, reading is awesome.
Amelia is still two. I think that about sums it up, if you get my drift. Pray for us.
Axel is growing like crazy and is pretty much the easiest baby of all time. He is so chill about life, yet so alert and interactive. He’s doing well, though I wish he would sleep for a longer stretch, he still keeps it simple by waking, eating, and going back to sleep on his own…three times a night, sometimes. He’s cute, though.
Meanwhile, we are looking ahead to an upcoming MP trip back over to Washington to expand our ministry support team. If you are there and would like to get together, meet Axel, and catch up, we’d love to see you – shoot us an email!
Please continue to pray for us (have you been receiving our weekly updates?) and please pray about whether you are called to join our ministry team. We’re currently at 65% monthly support!
Oh, and soon, if we have your mailing address on file, you should be getting a new prayer card featuring THIS adorable photo! I love it!
Adorable
Grafted In
Over the past week and a half, we have enjoyed each interesting day of Ministry Partnership (MP) training. Though we haven’t run across anything brand new (which is actually a good sign, we think), we are refreshed about this process, or really, this ministry.
You see, we are being refreshed in that MP is a ministry. We are ministering to those around us, whether they feel led to support our ministry, through prayer or finances, or not. I am not always able to see our ministry’s impact, through myself, or the sharing of our lives in Africa, so sometimes I don’t feel like I’m being effective, but I’m sure God is still using me, even when I’m being a bit of a blob.
I wish I’ve had time each day to write the things we’ve learned – mostly about the way we think about the MP process. I wish I had a blog post for each *aha* moment. I wish I could take the space to write about how I feel I’ve failed to properly thank or involve those who have supported us for the past three years (THANK YOU!!). I really really wish I could delve into how God works in the lives of those who follow the call to support missionaries, such as us. I mean, I could, but training is full time and with three sick kids and two sick adults, our time is precious and my memory is terrible.
So, I’ll leave you with this: THANK YOU to anyone who has ever prayed for us, for our ministry, or given to us in any way (stuff, money, time). We hope that God has richly blessed you in unexpected ways because you gave, because I know that we cannot repay you directly, nor would that be the expectation.
If you’re still on the fence about supporting our ministry, we would encourage you to pray about it. Where do you invest your finances and resources? Is God calling you to something different? Is this ministry part of that?
Meanwhile, in class, we are getting to know three amazing couples (plus one neat lady who is auditing the class to learn more for her own organization). Practicing what we will be sharing with individuals, churches and the like, we are hearing each other’s stories and sharing our hopes and fears about this process. Matthew and I are learning through these sweet families.
The Naces, Vanas, and Bells – yes, all four families in the class have four-letter last names. It’s kind of awesome.
Tonight, we were privileged to have all of them over for dinner. It was a great night – and with nine adults, five kids and two babies under our roof, it was more than lively! Please pray for these families as they embark on their MP journey (I realize that sounds a little cliche…tough). Can you guess which family is going with BOTH husband and wife as MAF pilots, which has a published children’s book on amazon, and which ones are the newlyweds?
Next week begins the last module (which is really three modules in one) of training for Matthew. I am done at the end of the week. Then, once we have raised 100% of our ministry partnership, we look at language school and Africa once again. Whoa.
*Grafted In, the title of this blog, is from one of the couple’s prepared remarks for their church presentation – they called themselves grafted in to the MAF family. But it could also apply to those who are grafted in to our ministry as part of our team.
MP Training
Today we began two weeks of Ministry Partnership training. While it may seem a little late (it is!), it’s just how it is. MP training is two weeks where the wise, experienced MP department at MAF HQ teaches the new missionaries, just accepted the week before, how to build a ministry team of prayer and financial partners, and how to keep those relationships strong. Obviously, we are not new, but as short term staff, we weren’t required to take this course and have had unavoidable plans for each subsequent time the course was offered. The timing now is good, though, because we’re ready for some fresh encouragement as we try to seek out who God has planned to support the last 40-ish% of our required monthly amount we need to raise to head back over to Africa.
Today we especially focused on the Biblical nature of raising support, as well as the practical aspects of meetings to share about our ministry with folks, like the basics of public speaking and what to share. The next two weeks will include lots of practice at sharing and other more housekeeping things that new missionary staff of MAF will need to know.
A lot of it, on paper, is review for us. But, to be in this two-week seminar with others who are new and have new things to share is important! And we are excited to be some of the first field staff to meet the fresh meat! (Hmmm, that’s probably not politically correct, huh?) Sadly, the other three couples are not assigned to DRC, though.
Today, while we were practicing parts of what we’ll be sharing and recording ourselves, we took this photo. Can’t you feel the enthusiasm? Axel?!
An Amazing Gift
As missionaries, we are sometimes given things. Obviously, people pray for us and commit to that. We NEED those prayers and would be stuck without them. Then, other people are called to support us financially. The reasons and whys and Biblical backing of this is a whole post unto itself, so I’ll leave it at that. Well, I’ll add that those people are awesome.
In addition to these things, though, sometimes people give us other stuff. Obviously there have been countless people who have housed and fed us. There was one family we spent a weekend with this summer who insisted, tongue-in-cheek, that God would strike them if they let missionaries pay for anything. We tried to help, but they wouldn’t let us. Even if it was MY birthday! Ha!
Then, there was another family that, after us gushing about their amazing Dyson rechargeable vacuum and how it would be PERFECT for Congo because it swept hard floors and didn’t need to be plugged in and it was so light…they went out and bought us one. Uh. Maz. Ing.
But, on Matthew’s trip to Washington, we were completely blown away by our newest treasure to take to Africa. Matthew’s dinner host for the evening insisted that one of the greatest things missionaries can do is take good pictures. And, while publicly taking pictures (in the city) is somewhere between taboo and illegal, there are still plenty of opportunities for photography. Pictures help all of YOU experience this with us, and, as our TEAM that sends and supports us, this is critical. And our point and shoot has been doing a decent job. Decent. Good enough. But, before sending Matthew home for the evening, he pulled out this…and GAVE. IT. TO. US.
Canon EOS Rebel T4i
(plus a whole camera backpack full of the necessary accessories)
Matthew and I had both wished and dreamed for a better camera, but it was filed away with Things-That-We-Really-Want-But-Can’t-Afford, like LASIK for my poor blind eyes and an IKEA shopping spree before packing…but none of that is absolutely required and we were/are quite content. But to be gifted in such an amazing way, well…we are AMAZED. And grateful for this awesome couple and their support.
Why do I share? Because hopefully our photos will get more awesome and help you to experience the beauty that is Congo!!! God loves this place and we hope to capture some of the joy that He has put there! With a better camera, my rudimentary photography skills will be just a little less noticed…and may God be glorified in those photos!
And now, to figure out how to use it…or at least turn it on.
Those 10 Days
I really am not trying to be overly dramatic, because I know there are lots of people who have done more for longer, but ten days with the three kiddos by myself was quite an adventure. I’d like to publicly thank our church here in Idaho, for being so super supportive. If I had needed anything at all, more than what I did, they offered to me. It was awesome. Fellowship meal the first Sunday Matthew was gone? Easy breezy thanks to someone to hang out with the kids while I got their food, someone else put Axel to sleep, someone followed me through line should my litany of plates become too much, and someone else SAT with us and our brand of crazy. And that’s just an example. We had playdates, a few lunches at fast food places known for their indoor play equipment, our first trip to the mall with three kids (and no stroller), our first week at BSF, and some other really cool stuff.
One highlight was going to a friend’s dairy. With about 1000 cows, it was no little dairy and the kids had a BLAST riding in the farm truck (it was cold and muddy, so no walking) and seeing all the cows, including some that had been born that morning.
We also just hung around home, counting down the days until Daddy came home with star stickers. They both helped me cook more so than usual and we cooed over Axel and his natural charm. Tough life, huh?
But, it definitely kept me busy and Axel’s only semi-rough time of day is just after the older two go to bed, so I had very little time to accomplish anything other than the basics. It was still a fun time to spend a bit of extra focus on the kiddos so they didn’t miss their Daddy too much.
Now he’s home, so we’re back to to the grind. However, we got a bunch of things done this week with regard to helping find ministry partners so we can return to DR Congo. We really do hope to leave within a few months, but God’s timing is not our own… We are excited to say we have three new monthly partners this month, and we are nearing 60% supported on a monthly basis! We are praising God for those folks who have come on board!
Next week we begin two weeks of training in this very topic. We haven’t been able to attend the two week Ministry Partnership seminar, a requirement for career MAF staff, until now and we are looking forward to meeting a few fresh MAFers – including one couple assigned to Africa (country unknown still)! We hope we can be a blessing to this class and learn some new things. Please be praying not only for the training to go well, but for Levi and Amelia as they have someone coming over (a person they very much like and already know) every day from 7:30-5 – it’s a life change, even if it’s temporary, for a two- and four-year-old. Axel will be coming with us to class, since he’s still portable.
And now, enjoy a few pictures from Matthew’s time away…
This is technically before Matthew left, but it was our first chance to play in the snow
Empty hampers are awesome toys!
We Linds are not football people, but lets just pretend he’s cheering for his parents’ hometown team (Seahawks)!
Gorgeous sunset from the front door
Levi and all of the cows who just gave birth
She LOVED the cows and wanted to go IN the pens with them…ha
At a family fun place with friends, I see only a teenager with a rebel boyfriend…do you SEE that look???
Levi gave Axel his truck and wanted to take a picture…
10DOP – Day 10: Our Needs
Thank you so much for praying with us these last ten days. Not only did you sustain us in prayer, but you sustained me while Matthew has been gone these last ten days to Washington to find more people to support our ministry. Home alone with the three kiddos has not been the easiest time, but knowing we were being prayed for certainly helped! (It was, of course, not wise to announce to the world that we were home “alone” during all this time…)
Today’s prayer focus is on just that – our family’s needs. We want to ask that you prayer for our future team and that they are being prepared for us to join them. Please also pray for our future home, wherever it may be and whatever it looks like, we pray that it will be a perfect fit for our family and our ministry. Finally, we ask that you pray for our needs for more support. After the last training in done at the end of February, our return to the field (with a stop over for language training for a few months) is dependant on raising 100% of our needed financial support and knowing we have the ongoing prayer support to sustain us. Please pray that these needs will be met swiftly!
Thank you!
10DOP – Day 9: The Congolese People
We love the people of Congo. Some of them were harder to love than others, but all in all, that is the main reason we wanted to be sure our one year there was not our last.
Today we want to focus our prayers on the lives of those living in a dark place. Pray that they will be open to hearing the Gospel if they haven’t yet. Pray for the Christians in Congo, that they will continue to seek and grow in their love of Christ.
10DOP – Day 8: The Airplanes
The airplanes get a lot of attention at MAF, but they’re more than just what we do. They are a vehicle, in more than the common sense of the word. They are an excuse to operate in a closed country. They are a start of a relationship with the local authorities. They are a life saving instrument in an emergency. They are a really cool thing to a group of kids in an isolated village (or any kid anywhere, big or small)!
Pray that the airplanes will be safely operational, of course, but also pray that they will continue to be the vehicle for so many opportunities to minister about the love of Christ!
10DOP – Day 7: Our Team in DRC
MAF operates three bases in DRC. We don’t know which one will be our home yet, so we want to pray for all three locations today: Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Bunia. Each location operates a little differently, because each place has such different needs. Please pray that the MAF staff, both missionaries and national workers, will continue to be safe and healthy. We ask the Lord to provide clear guidance for how he wants to use MAF in each of these cities and that there are lots of good opportunities to minister – and that the team seizes each of them!
10DOP – Day 6: DRC
The Democratic Republic of Congo is a hurting nation that needs so much prayer. I could go on and on about the specific needs of the country, but today we would choose to focus on the heart of the people of the nation. Without a heart change, there will not be national change.
Also, please pray for peace and for the government. As corrupt as it can be, those people need Christ and the hope He brings too! We also pray for the adoptions that have recently been suspended, that the government will make the decision that best serves the children.
The Lind Family 