Road Trip Update!
We are making lots of progress on our road trip preparations. It’s amazing to see people going out of their way for our visit. We are so excited to see what the Lord is going to do on this journey! We, of course, hope He blows us away with encouragement!
I was on the phone with a friend (and road trip hostee) this morning and she was excited to hear more details to know how to pray better for us. So, I thought perhaps some of you might want to know the same thing…here are some prayer points that we think might be useful:
- For good health: I have a slight cold right now, but otherwise we are healthy. Taking two young children on an 8000 mile car ride is one thing, doing it when one or more of us are sick would be a whole different adventure. Let’s hope not!
- For a safe journey: Our little car is in excellent condition, but it is winter and cars do break regardless of age or condition. A broken car would really put a damper on the trip…and probably mess with our fragile timetable!
- For the Lord to open doors: we want to spread the message about what we’ll be doing in the DR Congo, not get your money and run, but really to build relationships with people that want to help! The term “ministry partnership” really sums it up quite nicely. We want to meet people and get to know the friends we’re seeing better!
- For encouragement: This process of ministry partnership is hard. It’s hard to ask people to put their hard-pressed time, energy, and money half a world away toward what we’re doing in the DRC. It’s hard to be “that friend” and it’s hard to get rejected, no matter how good the reason and how soft the let down. It’s not that we expect more from people, but in many ways we feel badly for even asking. It may sound silly, because we know it’s our job to be doing this – it’s what we believe the Lord has for us – but Matthew and I don’t like asking things of others without directly repaying them. A relationship with our partners is about all we can offer, and hopefully the blessing of our ministry is repayment enough. I can tell you, though, that this process, as hard as it is, is rewarding. What an uplifting moment when we see someone write that they are praying for us! What a blessing to open our email account and see a note of a new donation! What encouragement on this process of planning our road trip when someone says “Stay at our place! We’ll have dinner ready for you!” We know that not everyone can offer that, but when someone does, it is a great joy. However, our greatest joy is in the Lord and His provision. Please pray that we will remember this simple truth and focus on the encouragement He gives us through others.
- For success: Is this obvious? Yep! We want this road trip to be the final touch on our months of deputation! Is that too much to ask? Not of our great God!
Road Trippin’
What have we been up to? No good, of course! No, really, we’ve been in way over our heads in planning mode. We are planning an epic road trip!
We are excited to announced our Congo or Bust 2012 Lind Family Road Trip! It will be a month-long whirlwind of seeing as many people as possible, sharing our ministry, raising support, and just generally getting the word out there about what we’re going to be doing in the DRC. We feel the Lord is leading us to people around the Lower 48, not just here in Western Washington, who want to support us, so we want to go to them. We are so excited for this trip and have been very focused on getting the logistics together.
We will be leaving next Friday, the 13th, headed east. Some of our planned stops will be in Milwaukee, Chicago, northeast Kentucky, DC, St. Louis, Tulsa, and Houston, making other smaller stops along the way. If you look at a map, you can see the circle we’ll be making in the middle of the country. While we are still in planning mode and can’t say anything with certainty, we hope to be presenting at churches each Sunday we are gone, and meeting with other small groups and families during the week.
Some may have reservations, and we fully recognize those as legitimate! Is the cost to drive across the country worth only the possibility for support? To that we say: yes! We know the Lord is ultimately in control over us and our support. Prayer and financial support are both needed, but we hope that by showing up and staying very committed on this trip, we can convey that we are ready to head over to the Congo – send us! Another concern is that it is the middle of winter. Of course it is! What better time to catch people at home and in the middle of their routines? Plus, after living in the land of winter for five years, we know a thing or two about driving in heavy snow and cold. As our sweet son would say, “I got this.” (Again, though, we trust in the Lord’s sovereignty!) And, lastly, aren’t you supposed to be leaving soon? Well, we had HOPED to be leaving at the end of January, but support has been slower coming in than we’ve liked. We can go when we are at 100%. Our ideal is that once we get home from this road trip, we’ll be fully supported and need to hurry and pack with no time to rest! We’ll plan for that and adjust as necessary.
But, if you’re on board with us, perhaps you’d like to know how you can help. Maybe you live on our current route of travel, or want to know if we’ll be driving through your home town? Please, send us an email and we’ll let you know. Better yet, perhaps we can try and get together. We can tell that some stops will be tight on time, but there’s always room for more! We may need a place to stay, or maybe you know someone that might be interested in hearing more about our ministry? Perhaps you’d like to help with the cost of gas and traveling? We’d greatly appreciate any help you might be able to give! Just send us an email (mlind@maf.org) and we’ll get back to you quickly!
Lastly, we are excited that we will be blogging daily (hopefully) during our journey. We would encourage you to stop by here regularly to see where we’ve landed, who we’ve talked with, and pray for us and them, that they might want to partner with us on our journey to the DRC!
Eternal Hope
Nine years ago this morning, while on Christmas break during senior year, I received a phone call from our class’s head advisor. He told me that one of my classmates had been killed in a car accident the night before.
Our class only had 89 students. Half of the student body lived on campus. The bond that was created by such a small school in close quarters was strong. Justin’s death was felt very deeply. The teacher, Mr. Allen, added that Justin’s parents wanted to wait until after the break to hold his funeral, because they wanted everyone at the school to be able to attend. They also knew that Justin would want his class to be a part of his final goodbye. As class president, I was asked to help plan the service. Justin and I were neighbors and had been at school together for three and a half years. I considered him a friend, but I knew others were closer. I did not feel that I could best represent the class by myself. I called my vice president, Kevin, and told him the news and asked if he would assist. A few nights later we gathered with Justin’s family, the pastor, and the school’s principal. I was very grateful to have Kevin there with me…I felt so lost. Would anyone at 18 know how to plan a funeral for a peer? However, in planning a celebration of Justin’s short life and talking about what he was all about, there was hope. An eternal hope. Justin had been raised as a Christian, attended a Christian school, and had made his faith personal when he was baptized while in high school. We knew where Justin was headed after his life ended – and we knew we could see him again. While there was tragedy in the loss, there was hope in life with Christ.
In the DR Congo, life is fragile. Death is assumed. They don’t even have words in their language to describe into the future, because they don’t believe it to be possible. How much more hope would the Congolese have if they knew Christ? And how can we affect that? MAF shows Christ every day by flying goods and services out to isolated places that would otherwise go unreached. It’s not just preachers and evangelistic materials, but medical services, technology, and subsistence! The more time a pilot can spend flying, the more people that can be reached. So, the sooner Matthew can get there (with the rest of us to help), the sooner the MAF pilots can put him to work and return to full-time flying. The message and actions of Christ can reach more people more quickly. And when death occurs, there is a greater possibility for hope and peace in what comes after.
Justin was a great friend to those around him and passionate about life. Anyone at our school during my junior year can agree that it was because of Justin our class won spirit week (does anyone remember the boom box?). Remembering Justin’s exuberance and being able to bring some of that to the people of Congo is what our life is about right now. We had wanted to be leaving right now, but due to set backs and a lack of funding, we are having to wait. We trust it is in the Lord’s time – but we still need partners to support us. Please consider us as you plan for 2012 and your giving. Please consider what it might mean for the individuals and families in the DRC. When the unexpected happens, can they have that hope in the Life Everlasting?
Just a picture for today…
Read this article to see what’s going on with the DRCongo election results. They were supposed to be announced today, but have now been delayed 48 hours. According to the other MAF families in Kinshasa, the country’s capital city, there is still peace, but that could end at any moment. Matthew and I would love to hurry and get there and pitch in! We are getting closer to our support-raising goal, but could you help us get there a little faster?
Concert and Reunion
Our concert on Friday night went very well. David played an amazing set and we were blessed by the outpouring of support from all in attendance. Many were very generous toward our ministry and we can be praying that others will continue their support through on-going monthly gifts.
Post concert photo-op with David Harsh
Last Monday we were encouraged by a mini reunion with two other MAF families that we met during our training in July. It was fun to get together, compliment the children on their growth, and commiserate with one another on the hardships of support raising.
Amelia, Callie, Jenna, Blake, and Levi
Callie and Blake belong to the Scheers and Jenna belongs to the Reeds, all of whom are going to be serving in Indonesia. Blake and Levi were best buds at training and fell right back into friendship after just a few minutes. It’s so fun to see them together!
Event Reminder
If you are in the Pacific Northwest, please remember that THIS Friday (the 18th) at 7pm in Kent is our big benefit concert, featuring David Harsh! Check out our website for more details. We are very excited for this evening of fun, music, and sharing. We hope you can make it. Live too far away and want to join in spirit? Watch some David Harsh clips on YouTube, watch some MAF videos on their newly updated website, then click over to our profile and show your financial support. Even $20 per month can make a big impact and get us to Kinshasa sooner!
Ads on our Blog
We’ve just been informed that ads are appearing at the bottom of each of our posts and that they may be offensive. We apologize for this and are working to correct it. If you use WordPress and know how we can fix this, please leave a comment or send us an email. Thanks!
Amelia’s Baptism
Yesterday was Amelia’s baptism. As was pointed out in our pastor’s homily, our little family has a history of combining our life events with church holidays. Matthew & I were married on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter, Levi was baptized the day after Christmas, and yesterday was Reformation Day. What’s next? We’ll just have to wait and see…
Save the Date!
Please save the date if you are in western Washington: we are having a benefit concert! Everyone is invited to this free event to encourage us, learn more about our ministry, and enjoy some excellent music by David Harsh. If you haven’t heard David Harsh, I especially want to encourage you to attend – you will be so glad you did! The concert will be held on Friday, November 18th, at 7pm at Riverview Community Church in Kent, WA.
Also, perhaps you’ve noticed our new family photo? The lovely picture was taken by Matthew’s sister, Jennifer, on the waterfront in Tacoma, with the Narrow’s Bridge in the background. This will be our new prayer card picture, since our family has expanded since our first one was taken. If you’re interested in getting a new card for yourself, please send us an email and we will be happy to send you one when they arrive.
The Lind Family 