Thanks Jeff for Updating the Photos! You rock! Hey guys, check out his link and picture of their new baby on the way too! I know the ultrasounds often look a lot alike, but I think this one has Jeffs eyebrows. By the way, we've named our wee one in the womb "bean" since it jumps ALOT and also since the kids have made a bean baby the size and weight of the growing one in my belly. Cute eh?
Well, by now you possibly have all successfully stuffed your faces with Christmas goodies and have tried to find space for all your new stuff. I hope that each of you are having a great Christmas and able to really cherish together time with those you love, the peace that God gives and the passion and purpose behind it all!
We enjoyed our Christmas with a relaxed start which was a nice change then the traditional stockings, readings, singing, and stuff. A great new friend named Cephas from Nigeria who is attending the local University came over for dinner. It was a pleasure to share the celebrations with him. He is a father of 3 and his wife and kids are currently living in Alabama while he studies here. Man, that must be tough! Anyway, Liam and Cephas successfully whipped our butts at Uno and created a Unoic bond. We missed being with our families, but enjoyed some phone calls from friends and family and even a quick web cam visit to the gang in NJ. Today we had guests stop in (Dave, Louise and Lilli) and they ended up hanging out for the day and helping us empty our dorm size frig. of our leftovers so now I have room for milk and OJ again. Im loving the gathering time that most people take time to do around this time of year. We have enjoyed some nice little visits with some neighbors as well.
AND.... SUPRISE OF ALL SUPRISES.... we actually had a WHITE CHRISTMAS here in SCOTLAND! Go figure! Most locals have been saying that they cant ever remember a white Christmas, ever, so we thank the Lord for the gift of a fresh blanket of snow that has lingered the last 3 days! YEHAA!!! Now, if only we had a sled... hmmm Marc said that he remembers in the hood some used to use cardboard and I remember in college we sometimes used cafeteria trays so I guess we will have to be creative! Any ideas?... let me know! More later, suddenly Im inspired to curl up with a hot mug of water (helps with the sore throat) and watch my favorite Christmas Movie that somehow I have not seen this year yet... White Christmas. "Vermont must be beautiful this time of year... all that snow!"
LOVE AND ... dont forget to buy the sauerkraut for new years, Julie
Sunday, December 05, 2004
Happy Birthday Kayleigh! "Now I am 6 I'm as clever as clever, so I think I'll be six now and forever" Christopher Robin
Hard to imagine its been 6 years since our little burst of sunshine came into our lives! Thank you Lord for Kayleigh!
In case you are wondering, Kayleigh was sick on her birthday (Dec. 1) and the few days following. She received a few packages in the mail that day from family and was even too ill to sit up and open them. (We decided to wait to open them until she was conscience.) NOW THAT'S SICK! We still had a little cake and sang to her, but had to wake her up to do that!
Today she was feeling much better except for a lingering cough now, but not too much to hold back a little party. She invited Lilli (from church) and Brittany (from school and Australia) for a little gathering. They had Kayleighs choice for lunch, had fun with cake, played dress up, went to the local village for a few jumps down the jumpy castle and slide that was so conveniently nearby to exert some energy, then home for a crafty ornament making session, some kereoki, some more dress up and wound down with a brief viewing of Home Alone... what else? All in all it was a nice wee gathering! (and very manageable with just 2 guests! :)
I must write more... I will let it at just b-day stuff for this post. Happy day to you all!
Hard to imagine its been 6 years since our little burst of sunshine came into our lives! Thank you Lord for Kayleigh!
In case you are wondering, Kayleigh was sick on her birthday (Dec. 1) and the few days following. She received a few packages in the mail that day from family and was even too ill to sit up and open them. (We decided to wait to open them until she was conscience.) NOW THAT'S SICK! We still had a little cake and sang to her, but had to wake her up to do that!
Today she was feeling much better except for a lingering cough now, but not too much to hold back a little party. She invited Lilli (from church) and Brittany (from school and Australia) for a little gathering. They had Kayleighs choice for lunch, had fun with cake, played dress up, went to the local village for a few jumps down the jumpy castle and slide that was so conveniently nearby to exert some energy, then home for a crafty ornament making session, some kereoki, some more dress up and wound down with a brief viewing of Home Alone... what else? All in all it was a nice wee gathering! (and very manageable with just 2 guests! :)
THANKS to everyone who helped make her birthday so special! We have received so many nice cards, and packages from family and an incredibly huge package from the Millers and our friends from Zion! We will have to post some pictures soon... as soon as we get them scanned in.
I must write more... I will let it at just b-day stuff for this post. Happy day to you all!
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Sorry for the delay in keeping you all in touch on this fine blogger site. Since our last update some interesting things have been happening. First of all we had a great time visiting the Canters for a couple of days down in West Kilbride. They're a great family from America working with YWAM Scotland in the National office. They're are great conversationalists (sounds like a political party or something) that we always end up talking with 'till the wee hours of the evening or morning. They also have three kids that Kayleigh and Liam just love to play with. Let's just say this family is a real blessing from God. Unfortunately Liam became ill with the flu at the end of our visit but after about five feverish days, he's beginning to act like himself again. Praise God for that!
Another unfortunate circumstance was that our IWT meeting which was scheduled for Ayr was cancelled because they had forgotten that day was Amistice day here in the UK. This is similar to our Veterans day, but there's more of a link to the church here. So, we'll have to reschedule that one hopefully some time soon.
On Friday we traveled back down to the Seamill Centre to give a presentation to the students that are presently doing a DTS. We also brought along Lance McKinney, the IWT national director for Spain. The objective in this meeting was to make them aware of the IWT ministry in case they might want to join along with us in some capacity. We'll see what happens.
The week ahead brings a YWAM orientation for two days back in West Kilbride and a follow up meeting for IWT in Kilmarnock. We'll update you on that later in the week.
I (Marc) have also been given the opportunity to help get the evening service at Stirling Baptist a little more together. I met with the senior pastor Alister Black, the other day and had a great conversation with him on a variety of subjects. Anyway, that looks like a great opportunity to become more involved in the church and he had some potentially great contacts for IWT as well. We've also been invited to sing a couple of songs and give a short message at the Motherwell Calvary Chapel next week for their prayer and praise for Scotland night. We are very excited about that opportunity as well, they're a great group of people down there.
Well, since I'm a bit tired after getting up really early this morning (3am) to take Frank and Becky to the airport, I'm going to sign off now. Hope you all are doing well and that you continue to breathe deep the breath of God.
See ya,
Marc
Another unfortunate circumstance was that our IWT meeting which was scheduled for Ayr was cancelled because they had forgotten that day was Amistice day here in the UK. This is similar to our Veterans day, but there's more of a link to the church here. So, we'll have to reschedule that one hopefully some time soon.
On Friday we traveled back down to the Seamill Centre to give a presentation to the students that are presently doing a DTS. We also brought along Lance McKinney, the IWT national director for Spain. The objective in this meeting was to make them aware of the IWT ministry in case they might want to join along with us in some capacity. We'll see what happens.
The week ahead brings a YWAM orientation for two days back in West Kilbride and a follow up meeting for IWT in Kilmarnock. We'll update you on that later in the week.
I (Marc) have also been given the opportunity to help get the evening service at Stirling Baptist a little more together. I met with the senior pastor Alister Black, the other day and had a great conversation with him on a variety of subjects. Anyway, that looks like a great opportunity to become more involved in the church and he had some potentially great contacts for IWT as well. We've also been invited to sing a couple of songs and give a short message at the Motherwell Calvary Chapel next week for their prayer and praise for Scotland night. We are very excited about that opportunity as well, they're a great group of people down there.
Well, since I'm a bit tired after getting up really early this morning (3am) to take Frank and Becky to the airport, I'm going to sign off now. Hope you all are doing well and that you continue to breathe deep the breath of God.
See ya,
Marc
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Greetings and salutations to all our blogger friends.
Well, what a week it has been with the election and everything. Many are thrilled with the outcome and and still many others are bitter. Whatever your stance remember that bitterness is bad for your health and that God's inerrant authoritative word calls us to pray diligently for our leaders that God has put into office. (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Tim. 2:1-6)
These are interesting times we live in for sure. It was definitely an election which has reverberated around the world. Here in Europe the media and government leaders are wondering if they will have to take stronger stances on moral issues to get elected.
In Britain instead of just two major parties like we have in America (apologies to my Libertarian friends), they have several parties but none of them has a platform with any stance on issues like abortion, marriage etc. Some of them are reconsidering this after what happened with the American election.
In Australia, government leaders have begun to voice strong opposition to abortion all of a sudden. One very high up official was quoted saying he would like to see abortion in Australia reduced to zero. This is excellent news on that front but we must continue to pray that the momentum would continue in this direction.
Remember also that ultimately it's the hearts and minds of people that need to change not just the outward appearance or policies. I think Jesus made it pretty clear in the sermon on the mount that it was not just the outward appearance of righteousness that is good but rather that our hearts should be motivated out of love. The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart!
Again, remember to pray for the president, his cabinet, the house and senate, judges and all governing authorities, that God would grant them wisdom and the courage to do what is right in the eyes of God, not man.
Pray also for the soldiers that are putting their lives on the line daily for those of us who benefit from their sacrifice in the comfort and warmth of our homes.
Pray also for those civilians caught in the crossfire that they would be protected supernaturally. Pray also for the terrorists and insurgents that they would have a change of heart, lay down their weapons and ultimately call Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior (Acts 4:12). The latter should be our greatest hope. Again, it's about the heart.
Well, I think that's enough to keep us all busy for a while, so let's get to it!
Bye for now,
Marc
Well, what a week it has been with the election and everything. Many are thrilled with the outcome and and still many others are bitter. Whatever your stance remember that bitterness is bad for your health and that God's inerrant authoritative word calls us to pray diligently for our leaders that God has put into office. (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Tim. 2:1-6)
These are interesting times we live in for sure. It was definitely an election which has reverberated around the world. Here in Europe the media and government leaders are wondering if they will have to take stronger stances on moral issues to get elected.
In Britain instead of just two major parties like we have in America (apologies to my Libertarian friends), they have several parties but none of them has a platform with any stance on issues like abortion, marriage etc. Some of them are reconsidering this after what happened with the American election.
In Australia, government leaders have begun to voice strong opposition to abortion all of a sudden. One very high up official was quoted saying he would like to see abortion in Australia reduced to zero. This is excellent news on that front but we must continue to pray that the momentum would continue in this direction.
Remember also that ultimately it's the hearts and minds of people that need to change not just the outward appearance or policies. I think Jesus made it pretty clear in the sermon on the mount that it was not just the outward appearance of righteousness that is good but rather that our hearts should be motivated out of love. The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart!
Again, remember to pray for the president, his cabinet, the house and senate, judges and all governing authorities, that God would grant them wisdom and the courage to do what is right in the eyes of God, not man.
Pray also for the soldiers that are putting their lives on the line daily for those of us who benefit from their sacrifice in the comfort and warmth of our homes.
Pray also for those civilians caught in the crossfire that they would be protected supernaturally. Pray also for the terrorists and insurgents that they would have a change of heart, lay down their weapons and ultimately call Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior (Acts 4:12). The latter should be our greatest hope. Again, it's about the heart.
Well, I think that's enough to keep us all busy for a while, so let's get to it!
Bye for now,
Marc
Friday, October 29, 2004
Greetings Blogheads!!!
It just occurred to me that we have neglected our responsibility to keep you all updated lately and for that we are deeply sorry. Anyway, enough of that.
On the IWT front, we've had a pretty good week making some contacts. Just yesterday, I contacted an American missionary down in Kilmarnock who pastors a Small but growing (kind of rare here in Scotland) Calvary Chapel church. He was very excited about the prospects of an outreach in Kilmarnock and across Scotland. He even gave me the contact info. for another pastor in Ayr who he thought would be interested as well. I know this may seem like a small victory but it's huge to us. So far we've been received by some of the church leadership here in shall we say a somewhat lukewarm fashion. Pray that we will find churches and leaders who have a burden for the lost, and a passion for evangelism.
Don't forget to Vote on tuesday!!! The whole world is watching America to see which way it's going to go. Some are calling this "The Worlds Election", and others, the "biggest" election in history. All the reason more to consult with our creator and His word for wisdom. I can't wait till it's over. ( I know you living in America hear it alot more than us, but its huge here too! And we are making sure we stay updated and informed.) I have never seen so much lying and media bias (New York Times, CBS News and others including the BBC) in my life. Pray that it will be a landslide victory, we need all those lawyers out there chasing ambulances not counting votes. Pray, Pray, Pray!!!!!!!!!
Well, that's all for now and Happy All Saints Day.
Marc
Well, its Holloween weekend... Ive never seen so many little witches and deamons dressed up in all my life, oh yeah, and there were about 7 spidermen in Liams play group. They take the "scarry" thing pretty seriously here. Its interesting to see how they "celebrate" this time of year and interesting to hear how other parents, especially the Christian ones choose to handle it. I prefer the "warm happies" of pumpkins, leaves, and Thanksgiving time myself! I can count my blessings, smell the wonderful aroma of a Pumpkin spice candle burning, give thanks and sleep in peace. :) Thankfully, Julie
It just occurred to me that we have neglected our responsibility to keep you all updated lately and for that we are deeply sorry. Anyway, enough of that.
On the IWT front, we've had a pretty good week making some contacts. Just yesterday, I contacted an American missionary down in Kilmarnock who pastors a Small but growing (kind of rare here in Scotland) Calvary Chapel church. He was very excited about the prospects of an outreach in Kilmarnock and across Scotland. He even gave me the contact info. for another pastor in Ayr who he thought would be interested as well. I know this may seem like a small victory but it's huge to us. So far we've been received by some of the church leadership here in shall we say a somewhat lukewarm fashion. Pray that we will find churches and leaders who have a burden for the lost, and a passion for evangelism.
Don't forget to Vote on tuesday!!! The whole world is watching America to see which way it's going to go. Some are calling this "The Worlds Election", and others, the "biggest" election in history. All the reason more to consult with our creator and His word for wisdom. I can't wait till it's over. ( I know you living in America hear it alot more than us, but its huge here too! And we are making sure we stay updated and informed.) I have never seen so much lying and media bias (New York Times, CBS News and others including the BBC) in my life. Pray that it will be a landslide victory, we need all those lawyers out there chasing ambulances not counting votes. Pray, Pray, Pray!!!!!!!!!
Well, that's all for now and Happy All Saints Day.
Marc
Well, its Holloween weekend... Ive never seen so many little witches and deamons dressed up in all my life, oh yeah, and there were about 7 spidermen in Liams play group. They take the "scarry" thing pretty seriously here. Its interesting to see how they "celebrate" this time of year and interesting to hear how other parents, especially the Christian ones choose to handle it. I prefer the "warm happies" of pumpkins, leaves, and Thanksgiving time myself! I can count my blessings, smell the wonderful aroma of a Pumpkin spice candle burning, give thanks and sleep in peace. :) Thankfully, Julie
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Political Update
I just found a great link while on the Harvest Christian Fellowship website. If you're still trying to figure out who you should vote for in the upcoming election, this is good stuff. It basically lays out the ethical issues and points to scripture for guidance. So if you're interested in being enlightened with the truth of God's word in regard to these issues, click HERE. It's definitely interesting stuff to ponder. Have a great day.
See ya.
I just found a great link while on the Harvest Christian Fellowship website. If you're still trying to figure out who you should vote for in the upcoming election, this is good stuff. It basically lays out the ethical issues and points to scripture for guidance. So if you're interested in being enlightened with the truth of God's word in regard to these issues, click HERE. It's definitely interesting stuff to ponder. Have a great day.
See ya.
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Well hello there once again all you blogger heads. Greetings and salutations!!!
Much has happened since our last update but I will keep this fairly brief because of time constraints.
The Millerites and our 'Neat' vacation.
We had a great time with our good friends the Millers from Pa. who came to visit us for a week. They arrived on the sixth while I (Marc) was with Frank at a presentation in Kilmarnock. When I returned the Millers were being escorted to the Wallace Monument by their personal tour guide, Liam. Apparently Liam did a great job because not too long after, they all returned to the house safe and sound but looking a bit weary from the flight. After exchanging greetings and presenting our guests with some haggis chips, I decided to give them a ride around the town of Stirling. Bobby who drifted off several times during the tour had understandably only a partial memory of our experience.
In the following days we visited the Stirling castle, Castle Campbell, climbed Dumyat and took in the Old Town Jail. We then after church Sunday morning headed up to the Island of Skye in what became known as the 'Vomit Comet'. We had a quite substantial percentage of our passengers request that the driver, 'pull over'. After the 'pull over', these passengers who have requested anonymity expressed how they felt so much better which we were all very excited to hear. Needless to say, we were driving on some pretty windy roads, some of which were single track for five hours. All that being said, it was worth it because the scenery was 'neat'. If you are ever visiting Scotland, I would make Skye a priority, it was 'really neat'!
While in Skye we drove on some more 'really neat' single track roads. Climbed a 'really neat' mountain and on the way down were entertained by Bobby chasing some 'really neat' rabbits. Tracy said she was having flashbacks of their first date. Interesting.
All in all we had a great time with the Millers and were sad to see them off at the airport. We quietly drove home trying to see through our tear clogged eyes and stopped of at Ikea to try to dull the sadness.
Many thanks to Bobby and Tracy for being such a blessing to us. We miss you and our vacation to Skye will be remembered as one of the all time greats.
To sum it up, it was 'neat'.
Much has happened since our last update but I will keep this fairly brief because of time constraints.
The Millerites and our 'Neat' vacation.
We had a great time with our good friends the Millers from Pa. who came to visit us for a week. They arrived on the sixth while I (Marc) was with Frank at a presentation in Kilmarnock. When I returned the Millers were being escorted to the Wallace Monument by their personal tour guide, Liam. Apparently Liam did a great job because not too long after, they all returned to the house safe and sound but looking a bit weary from the flight. After exchanging greetings and presenting our guests with some haggis chips, I decided to give them a ride around the town of Stirling. Bobby who drifted off several times during the tour had understandably only a partial memory of our experience.
In the following days we visited the Stirling castle, Castle Campbell, climbed Dumyat and took in the Old Town Jail. We then after church Sunday morning headed up to the Island of Skye in what became known as the 'Vomit Comet'. We had a quite substantial percentage of our passengers request that the driver, 'pull over'. After the 'pull over', these passengers who have requested anonymity expressed how they felt so much better which we were all very excited to hear. Needless to say, we were driving on some pretty windy roads, some of which were single track for five hours. All that being said, it was worth it because the scenery was 'neat'. If you are ever visiting Scotland, I would make Skye a priority, it was 'really neat'!
While in Skye we drove on some more 'really neat' single track roads. Climbed a 'really neat' mountain and on the way down were entertained by Bobby chasing some 'really neat' rabbits. Tracy said she was having flashbacks of their first date. Interesting.
All in all we had a great time with the Millers and were sad to see them off at the airport. We quietly drove home trying to see through our tear clogged eyes and stopped of at Ikea to try to dull the sadness.
Many thanks to Bobby and Tracy for being such a blessing to us. We miss you and our vacation to Skye will be remembered as one of the all time greats.
To sum it up, it was 'neat'.
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Our Wee One!
Yes, thanks for checking up on us and the baby! Our Latest Ultrasound scan was an experience! On Monday the technician spent about 15-20 min. with us (which is a long time for here and the NHS) trying to get some pics. of the newest Hamer. Let me tell you, this baby was not cooperating. It was actually funny because everytime she would go to snap a pic. the baby would completely turn around. She mentioned something to us about this one getting "into trouble" and to watch out, but I prefer to just take its actions as being a bit "shy". Only God knows! :) There should be some photos coming when Jeff gets a chance.
So all that to say, we may need to re-sched. the scan again. We will see. Thanks for praying. We are doing well.
I got a great report from Annette Gehman, our Missionary Support Team Coordinator saying that the latest MST clan gathering went well. Man, those guys are awesome! We really appreciate being part of this team and all the hard work that each one is doing! You guys rock!!! Should be a mailing coming out soon, so keep your eyes peeled and we appreciate the prayers!
Yes, thanks for checking up on us and the baby! Our Latest Ultrasound scan was an experience! On Monday the technician spent about 15-20 min. with us (which is a long time for here and the NHS) trying to get some pics. of the newest Hamer. Let me tell you, this baby was not cooperating. It was actually funny because everytime she would go to snap a pic. the baby would completely turn around. She mentioned something to us about this one getting "into trouble" and to watch out, but I prefer to just take its actions as being a bit "shy". Only God knows! :) There should be some photos coming when Jeff gets a chance.
So all that to say, we may need to re-sched. the scan again. We will see. Thanks for praying. We are doing well.
I got a great report from Annette Gehman, our Missionary Support Team Coordinator saying that the latest MST clan gathering went well. Man, those guys are awesome! We really appreciate being part of this team and all the hard work that each one is doing! You guys rock!!! Should be a mailing coming out soon, so keep your eyes peeled and we appreciate the prayers!
Friday, October 01, 2004
Its Julie this time. I don't really have too much to say right now, but wanted to give you a break from all this political talk. Its incredibly important, I know, but every now and then we need to chat about the strange fungus growing on the tree out front and why fish dont seem to mind swimming in dirty water and why pregnant bellies seem to grow so large and the baby is only a fraction of that weight! Hmmmmm!!!
Yes, Kayleigh is doing well in school, thanks for asking and thanks for praying!!! She actually got "Star pupil" of the week one week, which was quite an honor as only 4 kids out of the whole school are chosen each week during the assembly! We are so proud and she proudly wore the badge all week! She is writing and reading incredibly well but is challenged at the pace of the class. We all are challanged by the pace of life sometimes, so many of us can relate!
Liam has begun a playgroup in Bridge of Allen and really enjoys that. We just go about 4 hours a week and its a great way to meet other kids his age and also to pass the time when his sister is in school. He is really stoked that he has a coat and "brolly" (umbrella) hook with his name on.
I am enjoying the time that I get to know the other moms of the school as the culture here insists that you take your child to school and wait with them in their lines and watch them go in when the bell rings... then you wait outside the door for them to come out at the end of the day. Ive yet to see a real school bus. They walk (what a concept) for the most part. Well, this is a great oppertunity for me to reach out to the moms and get to know some new friends!
One new friend is actually originally from Philli! Go figure... Liam wore his Flyers shirt one day that got us talking. Another one is a devout Morman who we get aloung quite well so Im sure she will try to convert me and I will no doubt be praying for her to see Christs truths and be free! Another dear lady and I were chatting today and she made the comment that she said that her sister just moved to FL and noticed that it was neat that so many Americians seem to be "religious" and open to share their beliefs. She said that that is so unusual around here. We noticed! Well, that is a great opener if I ever heard one. There are many more, but Im excited about this great gathering and place to meet people and... there is no drinking involved! :)
Sleep well y'all! Love, Julie
Yes, Kayleigh is doing well in school, thanks for asking and thanks for praying!!! She actually got "Star pupil" of the week one week, which was quite an honor as only 4 kids out of the whole school are chosen each week during the assembly! We are so proud and she proudly wore the badge all week! She is writing and reading incredibly well but is challenged at the pace of the class. We all are challanged by the pace of life sometimes, so many of us can relate!
Liam has begun a playgroup in Bridge of Allen and really enjoys that. We just go about 4 hours a week and its a great way to meet other kids his age and also to pass the time when his sister is in school. He is really stoked that he has a coat and "brolly" (umbrella) hook with his name on.
I am enjoying the time that I get to know the other moms of the school as the culture here insists that you take your child to school and wait with them in their lines and watch them go in when the bell rings... then you wait outside the door for them to come out at the end of the day. Ive yet to see a real school bus. They walk (what a concept) for the most part. Well, this is a great oppertunity for me to reach out to the moms and get to know some new friends!
One new friend is actually originally from Philli! Go figure... Liam wore his Flyers shirt one day that got us talking. Another one is a devout Morman who we get aloung quite well so Im sure she will try to convert me and I will no doubt be praying for her to see Christs truths and be free! Another dear lady and I were chatting today and she made the comment that she said that her sister just moved to FL and noticed that it was neat that so many Americians seem to be "religious" and open to share their beliefs. She said that that is so unusual around here. We noticed! Well, that is a great opener if I ever heard one. There are many more, but Im excited about this great gathering and place to meet people and... there is no drinking involved! :)
Sleep well y'all! Love, Julie
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Hey, you all ready for the debate tonight? It's playing here at 2am live so I'm planning on staying up to watch it. Should be interesting. There's a good feature at foxnews.com which has an interactive platform page which states where the canidates stand on the different issues. One thing I didn't get from Kerry is his stance on the death penalty. He's against it except for terrorists. So, if someone rapes and murders 35 women that's considered less of a crime than a terrorist who murders even one person? Sounds like a statement from a career politician to me. Looks like the old fingers in the air to see which way the wind is blowing once again.
Did you know that the house and senate of the state of California have put on the Govenors desk a bill that if passed would prohibit the public reading (as in churches and other Christian functions) of certain scriptures that condemn homosexuality. Where's the freedom of speech there? This law is already in effect in other country's like Canada and Sweden. As a matter of fact, Impact World Tour has been banned from returning to Sweden because one of our evangelists read 1Corinthians 6:9-10 at one of the shows. They'll actually throw you in prison for that. This is the direction some would have America go. What the heck is going on? Is everybody losing their mind? It reminds me of Blaise Pascals famous words, "Truth is so obscure in these times and falsehood so established that unless you love the truth, you cannot know it." I'm afraid too many people have bought into the lie of postmodernity and do not even believe truth exists anymore. It does exist and so does he in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the father but by me." - John 14:6 How's that for an absolute objective statement. The thing is is that Jesus loves homosexuals as much as anybody, he just doesn't love their sin. He wants us all to turn from our sin, not try to justify it in some way. We all fall short in some way, but in order to enter into His grace we must first acknowledge this fact that we are sinners and turn from our old way of thinking and get in line with His thinking. We don't all change over night, but Jesus has a lot of loving patience for us if our heart is bent toward Him. I know because he has shown a lot of patience towards me. We are all a work in progress, but we have to take that step of faith to let Him do his work.
What the heck, here I am preaching again. Sorry, it just kind of happens.
Bye for now,
Marc
Did you know that the house and senate of the state of California have put on the Govenors desk a bill that if passed would prohibit the public reading (as in churches and other Christian functions) of certain scriptures that condemn homosexuality. Where's the freedom of speech there? This law is already in effect in other country's like Canada and Sweden. As a matter of fact, Impact World Tour has been banned from returning to Sweden because one of our evangelists read 1Corinthians 6:9-10 at one of the shows. They'll actually throw you in prison for that. This is the direction some would have America go. What the heck is going on? Is everybody losing their mind? It reminds me of Blaise Pascals famous words, "Truth is so obscure in these times and falsehood so established that unless you love the truth, you cannot know it." I'm afraid too many people have bought into the lie of postmodernity and do not even believe truth exists anymore. It does exist and so does he in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the father but by me." - John 14:6 How's that for an absolute objective statement. The thing is is that Jesus loves homosexuals as much as anybody, he just doesn't love their sin. He wants us all to turn from our sin, not try to justify it in some way. We all fall short in some way, but in order to enter into His grace we must first acknowledge this fact that we are sinners and turn from our old way of thinking and get in line with His thinking. We don't all change over night, but Jesus has a lot of loving patience for us if our heart is bent toward Him. I know because he has shown a lot of patience towards me. We are all a work in progress, but we have to take that step of faith to let Him do his work.
What the heck, here I am preaching again. Sorry, it just kind of happens.
Bye for now,
Marc
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Sorry the links to the party platforms didn't work. So much for making it easy. Just go to www.wallbuilders.com/ and scroll down 'till you see it listed and click on platform article. That's not too hard. Hope that works for ya. I would encourage you to explore around on the site and be open minded. You might be surprised by what you may learn.
Bye for now.
Bye for now.
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Ok, I'm pretty stoked right now as the Eagles are 3-0 after demonstrating to the previously undefeated Lions that they are not one of the elite teams as yet. This looks to be the Eagles year if they can stay relatively healthy. Another reason I am in this rather exuberant mood is that I just found out that there is a Calvary Chapel church plant right here in Stirling. I am a big fan of Calvary Chapel churches because of their emphasis on essential Christian doctrine and commitment to teaching and proclaiming the word. They're not perfect and certainly won't be when I darken their door, but they are going in the right direction. Calvary Chapel Stirling is a plant from Calvary Chapel Motherwell, Scotland. It started about a year ago so it is in the infancy stages and at the present, they only gather on wed. evenings. I am planning on checking it out in the next couple of weeks. Check out the web-sites highlighted above for more information.
Hey, everybody ready to vote? Election day is fast approaching and this is an important one. I'm not going to tell you who you should vote for (I'm trying my best to be diplomatic even though it hurts), but I think we should be responsible and not let the main stream media tell us in their own crafty way who to vote for either. Check out the platforms of both parties and see which one lines up with your world view. If you're a Christian, you should see which party platform lines up best with your BIBLICAL world view. I'll make it easy for you; just click on Party Platforms, and you're there just that easy. Be a responsible voterand do some research. A responsible voter is an informed voter or something like that. Don't buy into all the rhetoric and media spin. There's no such thing as objective reporting anymore (for the most part that is). Everyone has an agenda ie, CBS News with Dan Rather. Talk about the emperor not having any clothes. Dag, cover it up!
I think this country has been hi-jacked and I don't mean 4 years ago, I mean like 40 years ago when it began to steer way clear of it's Christian roots. Now we are having to fight for prayer in schools, Ten Commandments on public grounds, 'One Nation Under God' taken out of the Pledge, and on and on it goes. Enough rambling out of me, check out this web-site about Americas Christian heritage, it's been very enlightening to me. Wake up America or you'll end up as spiritually dead as Europe. They love their religion here but you know what Jesus had to say about religious people. He wasn't too politically correct either. He called them, 'white washed tombs' and 'brood of vipers' and other nice things. Jesus isn't into religion, he's into having a relationship with you. He is offering his free gift of salvation to all if you will just put your faith in him (that means surrendering your life to him). He died for all of us not just the really religious looking people.
What's the matter with me? I started out cheering on the Eagles and now I'm preaching.
'Till next time, check out the sites.
Marc
Hey, everybody ready to vote? Election day is fast approaching and this is an important one. I'm not going to tell you who you should vote for (I'm trying my best to be diplomatic even though it hurts), but I think we should be responsible and not let the main stream media tell us in their own crafty way who to vote for either. Check out the platforms of both parties and see which one lines up with your world view. If you're a Christian, you should see which party platform lines up best with your BIBLICAL world view. I'll make it easy for you; just click on Party Platforms, and you're there just that easy. Be a responsible voterand do some research. A responsible voter is an informed voter or something like that. Don't buy into all the rhetoric and media spin. There's no such thing as objective reporting anymore (for the most part that is). Everyone has an agenda ie, CBS News with Dan Rather. Talk about the emperor not having any clothes. Dag, cover it up!
I think this country has been hi-jacked and I don't mean 4 years ago, I mean like 40 years ago when it began to steer way clear of it's Christian roots. Now we are having to fight for prayer in schools, Ten Commandments on public grounds, 'One Nation Under God' taken out of the Pledge, and on and on it goes. Enough rambling out of me, check out this web-site about Americas Christian heritage, it's been very enlightening to me. Wake up America or you'll end up as spiritually dead as Europe. They love their religion here but you know what Jesus had to say about religious people. He wasn't too politically correct either. He called them, 'white washed tombs' and 'brood of vipers' and other nice things. Jesus isn't into religion, he's into having a relationship with you. He is offering his free gift of salvation to all if you will just put your faith in him (that means surrendering your life to him). He died for all of us not just the really religious looking people.
What's the matter with me? I started out cheering on the Eagles and now I'm preaching.
'Till next time, check out the sites.
Marc
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Hooooray!!!! We've got a web-site. Thanks to a lot of hard work by Frank our graphics genius, we now have a website. Of course I'm talking about an Impact World Tour web-site. We are in the early stages of developing our own Hamer family site. We'll let you know when it's up.
That's all for now.
That's all for now.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Just one more thing:
Fly Eagles fly, on the road to victory,
Fly Eagles fly, score a touchdown 1,2,3
Hit 'em low, hit'em high,
and watch our Eagles fly,
Fly Eagles fly,
On the road to victory.
E*A*G*L*E*S
Eagles 27 Minnesota 16
Fly Eagles fly, on the road to victory,
Fly Eagles fly, score a touchdown 1,2,3
Hit 'em low, hit'em high,
and watch our Eagles fly,
Fly Eagles fly,
On the road to victory.
E*A*G*L*E*S
Eagles 27 Minnesota 16
Greetings once again.
We had a great time hosting the Canters. They're a family of five from the states who are serving with YWAM Scotland in West Kilbride. They were speaking at Stirling Baptist this past weekend so we had them up for the weekend for some food, fun and fellowship. We all had a blast. Kayleigh and Liam got along great with their children (Haley and Josiah) and had fun playing with the wee one (Channing). The rest of us had a great time as well munching on Julie's great cooking and talking 'till the wee hours of the morning. We even had a great time hiking in the pouring rain up to Castle Cambell. Rain is not an obstacle here, just a variation.
Anyway, blessings to the Canters.
Yesterday Frank and I (Marc) had a meeting with the Church of Scotlands director of evangelism and missions. It was a chance to share with him about Impact World Tour and also hear about his ministry. He was a great guy and seemed genuinely interested in IWT. We'll see how this pans out in the future.
Thursday we have a meeting with another Christian leader in the Dunblane area and on Oct. 7th we have a very important meeting with the pastors of Kilmarnock, Scotland. Pray that they will catch the vision and want to jump on board. This could be a break through meeting. Right now we are looking at Spring of '06 for the first campaign. If things go well in this meeting, Kilmarnock could be the inaugural campaign.
We are also considering having a Discipleship Training School outreach here in November and December. Pray that we would have God's wisdom in this.
Thought of the day:
According to a recent Barna poll, only 4% of those in America who would identify themselves as Christians would refer to their faith in making decisions in their lives. What kind of Christianity is that? It's no wonder we pray that same prayer every year on the national day of prayer (2 Chron. 7:14) and nothing seems to change.
Here are some interesting articles to check out. I agree with them completely.
www.equip.org/free/cp1302.htm
www.str.org/free/commentaries/abortion/callinga.htm
www.harvest.org click on study (under media center) and then click message, "Christians In Civil Government". Great lesson on Americas Christian heritage.
We had a great time hosting the Canters. They're a family of five from the states who are serving with YWAM Scotland in West Kilbride. They were speaking at Stirling Baptist this past weekend so we had them up for the weekend for some food, fun and fellowship. We all had a blast. Kayleigh and Liam got along great with their children (Haley and Josiah) and had fun playing with the wee one (Channing). The rest of us had a great time as well munching on Julie's great cooking and talking 'till the wee hours of the morning. We even had a great time hiking in the pouring rain up to Castle Cambell. Rain is not an obstacle here, just a variation.
Anyway, blessings to the Canters.
Yesterday Frank and I (Marc) had a meeting with the Church of Scotlands director of evangelism and missions. It was a chance to share with him about Impact World Tour and also hear about his ministry. He was a great guy and seemed genuinely interested in IWT. We'll see how this pans out in the future.
Thursday we have a meeting with another Christian leader in the Dunblane area and on Oct. 7th we have a very important meeting with the pastors of Kilmarnock, Scotland. Pray that they will catch the vision and want to jump on board. This could be a break through meeting. Right now we are looking at Spring of '06 for the first campaign. If things go well in this meeting, Kilmarnock could be the inaugural campaign.
We are also considering having a Discipleship Training School outreach here in November and December. Pray that we would have God's wisdom in this.
Thought of the day:
According to a recent Barna poll, only 4% of those in America who would identify themselves as Christians would refer to their faith in making decisions in their lives. What kind of Christianity is that? It's no wonder we pray that same prayer every year on the national day of prayer (2 Chron. 7:14) and nothing seems to change.
Here are some interesting articles to check out. I agree with them completely.
www.equip.org/free/cp1302.htm
www.str.org/free/commentaries/abortion/callinga.htm
www.harvest.org click on study (under media center) and then click message, "Christians In Civil Government". Great lesson on Americas Christian heritage.
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
I had a great time with the XY men's group from Stirling Baptist Church this past weekend up in the highlands. They had asked me to be the speaker for the weekend and after I accepted I grew a bit nervous knowing that I would be the only American there surrounded by Scottish men in a very remote part of the world. I thought if I could just blend in a bit I would be ok. So, I decided to wear a plaid skirt on the first night and see how things would go from there. They loved my tartan and we all got along just splendidly. It was somewhat troubling though that they were a bit short on tea. I must say though the scones made up all too well for the afformetioned travesty...That was all a joke in case you couldn't figure that out.
These were Scottish men, not English women!
Seriously, the weekend went great and I was really blessed and encouraged by a lot of great men of faith. We had some great thought provoking discussions over the weekend. The main theme was "Hearing Gods voice" with a subtitle being "Who's in control?".
I think we've found one of the best churches in all of Scotland to be quite honest. Praise God, because we didn't have a clue where we were going to end up.
I have to say the greatest challenge of the weekend other than the mountain biking was being away from my beautiful wife and my pookermunker kids. We haven't spent that much time apart in at least six months, probably more. I am really blessed. Marc
These were Scottish men, not English women!
Seriously, the weekend went great and I was really blessed and encouraged by a lot of great men of faith. We had some great thought provoking discussions over the weekend. The main theme was "Hearing Gods voice" with a subtitle being "Who's in control?".
I think we've found one of the best churches in all of Scotland to be quite honest. Praise God, because we didn't have a clue where we were going to end up.
I have to say the greatest challenge of the weekend other than the mountain biking was being away from my beautiful wife and my pookermunker kids. We haven't spent that much time apart in at least six months, probably more. I am really blessed. Marc
Ok, this is not a new post from today, (actually from about a week ago) but I accidently deleted it... who knows how! So here it is again... I think (sorry Marc!)
Greetings once again from Haggis central. Just wanted to point y'all (I just learned yesterday that this was a Scottish expression in origin) to what I thought was a fascinating interview Bill O'reilly from Fox news had with Bono, the lead singer of the band 'U2' . I would say it was enlightening as a matter of fact in many ways. It was great to hear someone come on a show and talk about an issue in an intelligent manner instead of broadbrushing and name calling a particular party or group. So often we just hear the Republicans labeling the Democrats as tax and spend social liberals and the Democrats broadbrushing the Republicans as big money fat cat cigar smoking religious zealots, and nobody ever actually gets to the issues. I appreciated the fact that Bono right from the start of the interview makes his non-partisan position clear, and then moves on to the issue at hand. That issue being the aids crisis in Africa and why the press is not covering it. You can check out the interview by going to: www.foxnews.com , click on FNC TV, O'Reilly Factor and when O'Reilly Factor page comes up click Bono's face then click video. I think as Christians we should be educating ourselves to the horrible sufferings of so many around the world and pray to God for wisdom and ways in which we may be able to help. As a matter of fact, this is not optional, Jesus has commanded us to do this.
Check out this passage, it is very sobering, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come you who are blessed by my father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' -Matt. 25:31-40 Following this is one of the most sobering scriptures in all the bible. Check it out!!!
I would encourage us all to pray also for someone of Bono's stature to rise up and be a clear and passionate voice for the 1.4 million innocent human beings being killed annually in America under the guise of choice. If anyone deserves to live it's these little baby's which have yet to sin as opposed to the rest of us (Romans 3:23) . This is by far the greatest blight on our nation. We need to pray and do something to bring it to an end. Pray for our political as well as church leaders (2Chron. 7:14; James 3:1) that they will seek the WHOLE COUNCIL OF GOD, not just the parts that are convenient. God bless you all! Marc
(I also somehow deleted Frank and Beckys link, sorry Becky, thought I was cleaning out the old drafts... Ill get that address again.) Over and out!
Greetings once again from Haggis central. Just wanted to point y'all (I just learned yesterday that this was a Scottish expression in origin) to what I thought was a fascinating interview Bill O'reilly from Fox news had with Bono, the lead singer of the band 'U2' . I would say it was enlightening as a matter of fact in many ways. It was great to hear someone come on a show and talk about an issue in an intelligent manner instead of broadbrushing and name calling a particular party or group. So often we just hear the Republicans labeling the Democrats as tax and spend social liberals and the Democrats broadbrushing the Republicans as big money fat cat cigar smoking religious zealots, and nobody ever actually gets to the issues. I appreciated the fact that Bono right from the start of the interview makes his non-partisan position clear, and then moves on to the issue at hand. That issue being the aids crisis in Africa and why the press is not covering it. You can check out the interview by going to: www.foxnews.com , click on FNC TV, O'Reilly Factor and when O'Reilly Factor page comes up click Bono's face then click video. I think as Christians we should be educating ourselves to the horrible sufferings of so many around the world and pray to God for wisdom and ways in which we may be able to help. As a matter of fact, this is not optional, Jesus has commanded us to do this.
Check out this passage, it is very sobering, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come you who are blessed by my father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' -Matt. 25:31-40 Following this is one of the most sobering scriptures in all the bible. Check it out!!!
I would encourage us all to pray also for someone of Bono's stature to rise up and be a clear and passionate voice for the 1.4 million innocent human beings being killed annually in America under the guise of choice. If anyone deserves to live it's these little baby's which have yet to sin as opposed to the rest of us (Romans 3:23) . This is by far the greatest blight on our nation. We need to pray and do something to bring it to an end. Pray for our political as well as church leaders (2Chron. 7:14; James 3:1) that they will seek the WHOLE COUNCIL OF GOD, not just the parts that are convenient. God bless you all! Marc
(I also somehow deleted Frank and Beckys link, sorry Becky, thought I was cleaning out the old drafts... Ill get that address again.) Over and out!
I had a great time with the XY men's group from Stirling Baptist Church this past weekend up in the highlands. They had asked me to be the speaker for the weekend and after I accepted I grew a bit nervous knowing that I would be the only American there surrounded by Scottish men in a very remote part of the world. I thought if I could just blend in a bit I would be ok.
So, I decided to wear a plaid skirt on the first night and see how things would go from there. They loved my tartan and we all got along just splendidly. It was somewhat troubling though that they were a bit short on tea. I must say though the scones made up all too well for the afformetioned travesty...That was all a joke in case you couldn't figure that out.
These were Scottish men, not English women!
Seriously, the weekend went great and I was really blessed and encouraged by a lot of great men of faith. We had some great thought provoking discussions over the weekend. The main theme was "Hearing Gods voice" with a subtitle being "Who's in control?".
I think we've found one of the best churches in all of Scotland to be quite honest. Praise God, because we didn't have a clue where we were going to end up.
I have to say the greatest challenge of the weekend other than the mountain biking was being away from my beautiful wife and my pookermunker kids. We haven't spent that much time apart in at least six months, probably more. I am really blessed. Marc
So, I decided to wear a plaid skirt on the first night and see how things would go from there. They loved my tartan and we all got along just splendidly. It was somewhat troubling though that they were a bit short on tea. I must say though the scones made up all too well for the afformetioned travesty...That was all a joke in case you couldn't figure that out.
These were Scottish men, not English women!
Seriously, the weekend went great and I was really blessed and encouraged by a lot of great men of faith. We had some great thought provoking discussions over the weekend. The main theme was "Hearing Gods voice" with a subtitle being "Who's in control?".
I think we've found one of the best churches in all of Scotland to be quite honest. Praise God, because we didn't have a clue where we were going to end up.
I have to say the greatest challenge of the weekend other than the mountain biking was being away from my beautiful wife and my pookermunker kids. We haven't spent that much time apart in at least six months, probably more. I am really blessed. Marc
Saturday, September 04, 2004
I woke Kayleigh up on Wed. (my birthday) with a kiss and she said to me... "Mommy, ... it looks like you have more than 2 wrinkles on your forehead." What a way to say happy birthday! I love kids to bits and the way they are so free and open to share what they observe. Shes right, but I was making a funny face too!
Anyway, we spent the day with people that we did not know well in Edinburgh, but it was fun anyway! We were debriefing the YWAM Edinburgh Staff that had been organizing the Shine ministry for the Edinburgh Arts festival. HUGE job! The Shine ministry I mean! It was great to hear them share their experiences, challenges, leadership whoas, and celebrations as well and be a part of that! Its so cool that there are people willing to be such a light in such an incredible dark culture there!
Well, after our 7 hour or so debriefing, we quickly went home to relieve Becky (who so graciously picked up Kayleigh from school and "child minded" Liam as well). We were greeted with festivities at home! Packages, (some from the mail too... Thanks!!!) , home made banners, a cake from Frank, and a live finger puppet show by the Hamer kids. How cute! Becky even helped them make a theatre stage! How cool! ANYWAY... all in all it was a good day!
Ok, who doesn't love Sundays!?! A morning of worship with like minded believers in Christ... (one would hope) and then a day to kick back and do nothing or something... whatever you want! (Except for Church workers, I know this one is tricky and your day of rest must come another day.)
Anyway, I am looking forward to tomorrows post Church festivities... Its a Monty Pythons Holy Grail Festival at the Doune Castle where it was filmed! Should be a riot! Coconut shells and all! (Im sure that most of the attenders will be Americans as every British person that I have spoken of it with has wrinkled their nose at the thought of the film.) (And really we are going because for us its free and local... party on!)
Anyway, we spent the day with people that we did not know well in Edinburgh, but it was fun anyway! We were debriefing the YWAM Edinburgh Staff that had been organizing the Shine ministry for the Edinburgh Arts festival. HUGE job! The Shine ministry I mean! It was great to hear them share their experiences, challenges, leadership whoas, and celebrations as well and be a part of that! Its so cool that there are people willing to be such a light in such an incredible dark culture there!
Well, after our 7 hour or so debriefing, we quickly went home to relieve Becky (who so graciously picked up Kayleigh from school and "child minded" Liam as well). We were greeted with festivities at home! Packages, (some from the mail too... Thanks!!!) , home made banners, a cake from Frank, and a live finger puppet show by the Hamer kids. How cute! Becky even helped them make a theatre stage! How cool! ANYWAY... all in all it was a good day!
Ok, who doesn't love Sundays!?! A morning of worship with like minded believers in Christ... (one would hope) and then a day to kick back and do nothing or something... whatever you want! (Except for Church workers, I know this one is tricky and your day of rest must come another day.)
Anyway, I am looking forward to tomorrows post Church festivities... Its a Monty Pythons Holy Grail Festival at the Doune Castle where it was filmed! Should be a riot! Coconut shells and all! (Im sure that most of the attenders will be Americans as every British person that I have spoken of it with has wrinkled their nose at the thought of the film.) (And really we are going because for us its free and local... party on!)
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Happy Birthday Liam!!! As of Sunday 22 of August our little kerplunkter is now 4 years old!!! Yippee! He has been blessed with some great cards and awesome packages... yes the deliver guy knows where we are now... and some great friends and family! Thanks guys!
He is really getting into toys that toss things and things that fly through the air. Hmmmmm sounds like a boy! He is enjoying his new found time with mom or dad all by himself (when Kayleigh is at school) and he seems to be enjoying that! .... Although I will say that the 2 of them are playing soooo nicely together when they are together. I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder in some cases! Did you ever notice that I like to write inserting loads of ... well.... pauses... like this.....?! Does it drive you batty? I don't know why, but it just flows from my finger tips. Anyway... enough about .... that.... Happy 4th Birthday Liam Reed Hamer!
He is really getting into toys that toss things and things that fly through the air. Hmmmmm sounds like a boy! He is enjoying his new found time with mom or dad all by himself (when Kayleigh is at school) and he seems to be enjoying that! .... Although I will say that the 2 of them are playing soooo nicely together when they are together. I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder in some cases! Did you ever notice that I like to write inserting loads of ... well.... pauses... like this.....?! Does it drive you batty? I don't know why, but it just flows from my finger tips. Anyway... enough about .... that.... Happy 4th Birthday Liam Reed Hamer!
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Greetings once again from IWT headquarters here in Scotland. Just in case you are wondering what the weather is doing here, um..........it's raining. What a shock.
So are you all enjoying the Olympics? The reporting here is somewhat different than in the States. Pray that the UK wins something before the whole place slips into serious depression. Even the tv comentators sound desperate. I never thought I would say this but, I miss John Tesh and his sappy stories. Well, I don't miss him that much but I wouldn't mind a few tear jerking stories about the athletes from time to time. Bye the way, the kids have us all chanting USA USA USA.
The latest on IWT
At present we are continuing to make contacts and trying to bring churches, buisness leaders and individuals on board to make this thing happen. It looks like we will be giving a presentation to a group of church and buisness leaders from Stirling in the next couple of weeks. We've met many people from our home church here now, http://www.stirlingbaptist.org that are very excited about what God can do through IWT here in Scotland. Great to be a part of a healthy church that has vision for outreach! We are also working on our new promotional video that we will use for presentations, church kickoffs, and fundraisers. (Big, urgent project) The video will retain some of the meat of the New Zealand video but we will give it a distinctly Scottish flair. Needless to say we've been listening to a lot of bagpipe music lately and not all of it good. There is some great stuff out there though so it should end up being a stirring video.
We are currently still looking for office space that we can afford. Since we are very much in the infancy faze of this campaign, we don't have very much funding as yet so we would prefer free office space. I'm sure God will provide at just the right time and I must add, we haven't given up on the Sword Hotel. One of these days we might just see a for sale sign up there. Overall things tend to move somewhat slow here especially in working with the government. We have attained non-profit status which is great and we are currently going after charity statis as well. Pray that all these things will come together. We are expecting big things to happen here in Scotland.
On a more personal note, Kayleigh seems to be doing pretty good in her first two days of her educational carreer outside of home. We couldn't be more proud of her. Liam seems to be adjusting pretty well also, though he does miss playing with his big sister during the day. He's also looking forward to his big 4th birthday this Sunday. Julie is feeling a bit better little by little and we are all really excited about the new addition due to make his or her debut in early March.
Well that's about all for now, more in the not too distant future.
See ya.
So are you all enjoying the Olympics? The reporting here is somewhat different than in the States. Pray that the UK wins something before the whole place slips into serious depression. Even the tv comentators sound desperate. I never thought I would say this but, I miss John Tesh and his sappy stories. Well, I don't miss him that much but I wouldn't mind a few tear jerking stories about the athletes from time to time. Bye the way, the kids have us all chanting USA USA USA.
The latest on IWT
At present we are continuing to make contacts and trying to bring churches, buisness leaders and individuals on board to make this thing happen. It looks like we will be giving a presentation to a group of church and buisness leaders from Stirling in the next couple of weeks. We've met many people from our home church here now, http://www.stirlingbaptist.org that are very excited about what God can do through IWT here in Scotland. Great to be a part of a healthy church that has vision for outreach! We are also working on our new promotional video that we will use for presentations, church kickoffs, and fundraisers. (Big, urgent project) The video will retain some of the meat of the New Zealand video but we will give it a distinctly Scottish flair. Needless to say we've been listening to a lot of bagpipe music lately and not all of it good. There is some great stuff out there though so it should end up being a stirring video.
We are currently still looking for office space that we can afford. Since we are very much in the infancy faze of this campaign, we don't have very much funding as yet so we would prefer free office space. I'm sure God will provide at just the right time and I must add, we haven't given up on the Sword Hotel. One of these days we might just see a for sale sign up there. Overall things tend to move somewhat slow here especially in working with the government. We have attained non-profit status which is great and we are currently going after charity statis as well. Pray that all these things will come together. We are expecting big things to happen here in Scotland.
On a more personal note, Kayleigh seems to be doing pretty good in her first two days of her educational carreer outside of home. We couldn't be more proud of her. Liam seems to be adjusting pretty well also, though he does miss playing with his big sister during the day. He's also looking forward to his big 4th birthday this Sunday. Julie is feeling a bit better little by little and we are all really excited about the new addition due to make his or her debut in early March.
Well that's about all for now, more in the not too distant future.
See ya.
Monday, August 16, 2004
FOUND ...after 11 long weeks of search...
Something similar to saltine crackers!!! My prayers are answered! In a gourmet deli under the name "Italian Wafer" and in a black and gold box looking very posh. Guess the Saltine got all dressed up for the Scotts!
Tomorrow is the big day... please pray for confidence and peace for Kayleigh as she goes to school. I found out I can take her out for the lunch hour and I believe we will do lunch at the park or something to make the long first few days a little shorter. Cool! Gotta run.
Something similar to saltine crackers!!! My prayers are answered! In a gourmet deli under the name "Italian Wafer" and in a black and gold box looking very posh. Guess the Saltine got all dressed up for the Scotts!
Tomorrow is the big day... please pray for confidence and peace for Kayleigh as she goes to school. I found out I can take her out for the lunch hour and I believe we will do lunch at the park or something to make the long first few days a little shorter. Cool! Gotta run.
Saturday, August 14, 2004
OH, Yeah... thanks Emily for reminding me... YES!!!! Praise the Lord our container arrived and God answered the kids prayers that it would not fall out of the boat! Yippee! It was wonderful of Frank (on his birthday, I might add) and Becky come to help us unload! Huge thanks once again to all our amazing friends who helped pack up!!!
Having our guests come and living in this cute polly pocket house, as Marc calls it encouraged us to quickly unpack our boxes so it feels like home, (minus the family within a drive away). It is a wonderful thing to own a sofa and have dressers to put things into. We will not soon forget the suitcase and floor days! It was almost like Christmas for the kids unpacking all their toys and familiar things. Insert smile here!
Having our guests come and living in this cute polly pocket house, as Marc calls it encouraged us to quickly unpack our boxes so it feels like home, (minus the family within a drive away). It is a wonderful thing to own a sofa and have dressers to put things into. We will not soon forget the suitcase and floor days! It was almost like Christmas for the kids unpacking all their toys and familiar things. Insert smile here!
Heh! It was a B-E-autiful day today, we even saw blue skies and took a drive to Loch Lommond since it was a saturday and we could get away! Fabulous!
Wow, it has been another what seems like years since I wrote! ALOT has gone on in our lives so I guess thats our excuse! God is good all the time! Sometimes I get so stinken mad at the enemy for trying to give us speed bumps or, what seem like dead ends (I wont go into details), but then I remember that we are to expect it... keep the faith... exercise it when we dont "feel" and then miraculously God comes through and gives that peace that goes beyond our human minds comprehension! Its the scriptures that are sooooo comforting and prayers of friends and family and supporters! Thanks!
One exciting thing is that I have been soooo sick lately and struggeling with migraines and nausia, but for a good reason... WE ARE HAVING ANOTHER BABY!!! Ok, so not only will we have to find out how to get absentee ballets for voting in Nov., but to find out how to get dual citizenship for this little one! Its a riot to think how this will all play out. The kids dance and sing about every day with glee about another baby, which lifts my spirit especially when Im about to lose my stomach... they make us laugh. Just wish we would have packed the crib, bassinett, highchair, and all the other favorite goodies for a baby. Ahh well, Im sure our packers were thinking... that was enough! :) I think we will try to find out if its a boy or girl so we can have some clothes sent over if possible. Im hoping I wont pop out too fast so I can get some maternity stuff sent over with some visitors... hmmmm.... we will see! Its amazing to see that life starts and God already knows what our life goals will be, what our challenges will be, how our decisions will affect us etc. Its amazing and humbling to be a parent, what a privilege!
Funny, I just got an email from Rita, a friend that we met on our DTS in '96 here in Scotland, and she is due on the exact same day as me! She also suffers with amazing nausia and migraines so Im sure we will share whooahs and joys. Anyone else pregnant that Im unaware of??? Ill pray for you too! This one seems to be bringing out the best in me! Heh-heh! Marc is so patient and helpful!
We had some VISITORS lately from Pa and DC and that was AWESOME! I think they actually brought relief and sunshine to our home! It was wonderful to have Bonnie and Kristi Walls from Zion for 2 days, which was not long enough, but they really knew how to encourage and bless us with their presence! My 2nd cousin Deby Stoltzfus was here for a week and that was wonderful because she's so sweet and because I got to play tourist with her a bit and see some local attractions. Back to reality, ehh Deb?! :) THANKS guys for coming!!!!! I hope it was a blessing for you too!
OK... THIS ONES A BIG ONE... Kayleigh is starting school on Tuesday! We finally decided to send her to the local little town school of Bridge of Allen. (Which, I must say was not decided without sweat, tears and alot of prayer!!!) We feel confident that this is the best for her right now and if God leads us to homeschool or do something else at any time, we will be sensitive and act on that.
I mentioned to a friend in an email that I dont know if its the hormones or just the moment, but Its hitting me. She is going to be gone from me for 6 hours each day!!! I dont know if I can handle that! We went uniform shopping today and she couldnt be more thrilled! Im wondering how much this will change her. Thats the part that gets me. You know them sooooooo well and know practically their thoughts because you can anticipate most of their moves as you spend so much time with them. She will now come home with new ideas, new thoughts, new words that I was not there to experience her go through. I guess Im a bit protective too because they want to start her in Primary 2 (because of her age) and she has never even gone to school yet, this would be her year to start kindergarden, so I really dont want her thrill and desire for learning to be discouraged or frustrated in any way. I am assured that she will be fine and that this, of all the local schools, would be the best to work with her because the local University often sends children from other cultures there and they have staff to help and aid the children within the classroom. Wheew! As you think about it, please pray that she will have a wonderful experience, for Gods protection and rapid learning and setteling into this new adventure for her. Please pray also for good friends there for her. This will be important for her adjustment too! Im sure Im being an overprotective mom and she will be fine, but Ive learned that its never too much to request extra prayer. THANKS!
I guess I better go for now. I really do have more to write and just realized that I did not blog anything about IWT and whats going on here. I think I will leave this one personal and let Marc fill you in on IWT stuff in the next blog. I just got him to committ to blog in the next 2 days, so there you go.... something to look forward to... dont loose any sleep though! Love ya all! Love, Peace, Joy, and Send Saltines. Subliminal message sent to someone by one sick prego. :)
Wow, it has been another what seems like years since I wrote! ALOT has gone on in our lives so I guess thats our excuse! God is good all the time! Sometimes I get so stinken mad at the enemy for trying to give us speed bumps or, what seem like dead ends (I wont go into details), but then I remember that we are to expect it... keep the faith... exercise it when we dont "feel" and then miraculously God comes through and gives that peace that goes beyond our human minds comprehension! Its the scriptures that are sooooo comforting and prayers of friends and family and supporters! Thanks!
One exciting thing is that I have been soooo sick lately and struggeling with migraines and nausia, but for a good reason... WE ARE HAVING ANOTHER BABY!!! Ok, so not only will we have to find out how to get absentee ballets for voting in Nov., but to find out how to get dual citizenship for this little one! Its a riot to think how this will all play out. The kids dance and sing about every day with glee about another baby, which lifts my spirit especially when Im about to lose my stomach... they make us laugh. Just wish we would have packed the crib, bassinett, highchair, and all the other favorite goodies for a baby. Ahh well, Im sure our packers were thinking... that was enough! :) I think we will try to find out if its a boy or girl so we can have some clothes sent over if possible. Im hoping I wont pop out too fast so I can get some maternity stuff sent over with some visitors... hmmmm.... we will see! Its amazing to see that life starts and God already knows what our life goals will be, what our challenges will be, how our decisions will affect us etc. Its amazing and humbling to be a parent, what a privilege!
Funny, I just got an email from Rita, a friend that we met on our DTS in '96 here in Scotland, and she is due on the exact same day as me! She also suffers with amazing nausia and migraines so Im sure we will share whooahs and joys. Anyone else pregnant that Im unaware of??? Ill pray for you too! This one seems to be bringing out the best in me! Heh-heh! Marc is so patient and helpful!
We had some VISITORS lately from Pa and DC and that was AWESOME! I think they actually brought relief and sunshine to our home! It was wonderful to have Bonnie and Kristi Walls from Zion for 2 days, which was not long enough, but they really knew how to encourage and bless us with their presence! My 2nd cousin Deby Stoltzfus was here for a week and that was wonderful because she's so sweet and because I got to play tourist with her a bit and see some local attractions. Back to reality, ehh Deb?! :) THANKS guys for coming!!!!! I hope it was a blessing for you too!
OK... THIS ONES A BIG ONE... Kayleigh is starting school on Tuesday! We finally decided to send her to the local little town school of Bridge of Allen. (Which, I must say was not decided without sweat, tears and alot of prayer!!!) We feel confident that this is the best for her right now and if God leads us to homeschool or do something else at any time, we will be sensitive and act on that.
I mentioned to a friend in an email that I dont know if its the hormones or just the moment, but Its hitting me. She is going to be gone from me for 6 hours each day!!! I dont know if I can handle that! We went uniform shopping today and she couldnt be more thrilled! Im wondering how much this will change her. Thats the part that gets me. You know them sooooooo well and know practically their thoughts because you can anticipate most of their moves as you spend so much time with them. She will now come home with new ideas, new thoughts, new words that I was not there to experience her go through. I guess Im a bit protective too because they want to start her in Primary 2 (because of her age) and she has never even gone to school yet, this would be her year to start kindergarden, so I really dont want her thrill and desire for learning to be discouraged or frustrated in any way. I am assured that she will be fine and that this, of all the local schools, would be the best to work with her because the local University often sends children from other cultures there and they have staff to help and aid the children within the classroom. Wheew! As you think about it, please pray that she will have a wonderful experience, for Gods protection and rapid learning and setteling into this new adventure for her. Please pray also for good friends there for her. This will be important for her adjustment too! Im sure Im being an overprotective mom and she will be fine, but Ive learned that its never too much to request extra prayer. THANKS!
I guess I better go for now. I really do have more to write and just realized that I did not blog anything about IWT and whats going on here. I think I will leave this one personal and let Marc fill you in on IWT stuff in the next blog. I just got him to committ to blog in the next 2 days, so there you go.... something to look forward to... dont loose any sleep though! Love ya all! Love, Peace, Joy, and Send Saltines. Subliminal message sent to someone by one sick prego. :)
Friday, July 09, 2004
Hello all you weirdos from the planet blog. Sorry it's been a while since we've "blogged". Sounds a bit like some kind of stomach problem eh. Since we've just moved into our new happening Scottish pad, we were without internet service for a while, but that's all taken care of now so we don't feel totally isolated from the rest of the world anymore. Great to see the Phillies are in first place and not so great to see the dollar going further down the toilet. Lord help us.
Things are going pretty well here aside from the occasional bout of homesickness. We just spent a couple of days at a seminar on briefing and debriefing missionary's this week and were reminded that homesickness is a very common as well as normal part of our profession. Over all, the seminar was great and we can't wait to find our first victims, uhh I mean first dear brothers and sisters in missions to debrief. Seriously, it was incredible helpful and great to put on our student hats again!
As I mentioned before, we are living in our new home but are still awaiting our furniture and stuff to arrive. The good news is it has made it to the other side of the pond and it will be trucked here within the week. It will be great to sleep in our own bed for the first time in five months. By the way, many special thanks to all those who helped load our stuff on the truck, Gehmans, Eagers, Millers, Scott and the Zooks for hosting... you guys are awesome!!! Even if everything breaks, we still love you and appreciate your hours of labor! :)
We are also really excited, yehaa, hip-hip kazam :) to be hosting some friends and relatives at the end of the month and beginning of August. Hmmm, sounds like a potential debriefing situation could come out of that...we'll see.
The weather here has been Scottish, November year round with the occasional glimpse of May. One rare nice warm sunny day here I overheard someone say, "this is about as hot as I can take it, if it gets any hotter than this, I just stay inside". For the record, it was 72 with low humidity.
Well that's about all I have time to share at this particular time. We just wanted to let you know we aren't dead and if you need some briefing or debriefing, let us know.
See ya (Marc)
Things are going pretty well here aside from the occasional bout of homesickness. We just spent a couple of days at a seminar on briefing and debriefing missionary's this week and were reminded that homesickness is a very common as well as normal part of our profession. Over all, the seminar was great and we can't wait to find our first victims, uhh I mean first dear brothers and sisters in missions to debrief. Seriously, it was incredible helpful and great to put on our student hats again!
As I mentioned before, we are living in our new home but are still awaiting our furniture and stuff to arrive. The good news is it has made it to the other side of the pond and it will be trucked here within the week. It will be great to sleep in our own bed for the first time in five months. By the way, many special thanks to all those who helped load our stuff on the truck, Gehmans, Eagers, Millers, Scott and the Zooks for hosting... you guys are awesome!!! Even if everything breaks, we still love you and appreciate your hours of labor! :)
We are also really excited, yehaa, hip-hip kazam :) to be hosting some friends and relatives at the end of the month and beginning of August. Hmmm, sounds like a potential debriefing situation could come out of that...we'll see.
The weather here has been Scottish, November year round with the occasional glimpse of May. One rare nice warm sunny day here I overheard someone say, "this is about as hot as I can take it, if it gets any hotter than this, I just stay inside". For the record, it was 72 with low humidity.
Well that's about all I have time to share at this particular time. We just wanted to let you know we aren't dead and if you need some briefing or debriefing, let us know.
See ya (Marc)
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Hip, Hip Horay... We got a home today!
Thanks so much for praying! We finally signed today on a cute little cottage style house in Causewayhead which is just 3 min. from the city of Stirling. When I say sign, I mean sign. I think Marc actually signed more documents than we did when we bought our house! What a process! Anyway, we are so glad to have a place to call home for now.
It is in a good central location and in a good neighborhood. Amazing! We are excited about the fact that there are 3 bedrooms, however the rest of the house we will just say is "cozy". (thats cute for small) There is a small kitchen and a bathroom, of course, and a living room that will also hold our eating table. I dont think we will have room for our love seat so we will just have to cuddle on the sofa. Heh-Heh :) My friend Tracey reminded me that the smaller the house, the less there is to clean. Good point! Seriously, we are praising God... and just in the nic of time! Frank and Becky are coming home on Monday.
I mentioned something about a good central location. It was interesting to stand atop the William Wallace Monument the other day (a 2 min. walk to the house) and listen to the audio tour in the headphones. They said that this area has always been a very important part for controlling Scotland. It was said that whoever claimed the land here controlled all of Scotland. (It is interesting to look at the map and think about their trade and travel) Not that we are going to own all of Scotland or anything, but we both looked at each other and thought the same thing. We will pray from the mountain tops, through the towns, over the fields and hold Jesus' name like a banner over the area and just see what He wants to do. Who knows, maybe He will do something in that little area that would have an effect larger than we could even imagine! I think it was Hudson Taylor who said, "Expect great things from God, Attempt great things for God". Thats it, its every Christians calling to believe, listen, trust and obey. Its a privilege really! Maybe its something small but it struck our funny bone.
Tomorrow I will go and meet with the head master of the local school to see about registration for Kayleigh. We are hoping to get her in to the smaller Bridge of Allen School rather than the larger Stirling City one. We will see how all that plays out. Its car shopping then. Have our eyes on an old mini van we saw in a shoping centre parking lot, its a real beaut, but it just might work!!!
Ok, everytime I finally write in this blog, I end up writing way too long. Oh well, your still reading, are'nt you?! :) Thanks! Have a wonderful day!
~ Julie
Thanks so much for praying! We finally signed today on a cute little cottage style house in Causewayhead which is just 3 min. from the city of Stirling. When I say sign, I mean sign. I think Marc actually signed more documents than we did when we bought our house! What a process! Anyway, we are so glad to have a place to call home for now.
It is in a good central location and in a good neighborhood. Amazing! We are excited about the fact that there are 3 bedrooms, however the rest of the house we will just say is "cozy". (thats cute for small) There is a small kitchen and a bathroom, of course, and a living room that will also hold our eating table. I dont think we will have room for our love seat so we will just have to cuddle on the sofa. Heh-Heh :) My friend Tracey reminded me that the smaller the house, the less there is to clean. Good point! Seriously, we are praising God... and just in the nic of time! Frank and Becky are coming home on Monday.
I mentioned something about a good central location. It was interesting to stand atop the William Wallace Monument the other day (a 2 min. walk to the house) and listen to the audio tour in the headphones. They said that this area has always been a very important part for controlling Scotland. It was said that whoever claimed the land here controlled all of Scotland. (It is interesting to look at the map and think about their trade and travel) Not that we are going to own all of Scotland or anything, but we both looked at each other and thought the same thing. We will pray from the mountain tops, through the towns, over the fields and hold Jesus' name like a banner over the area and just see what He wants to do. Who knows, maybe He will do something in that little area that would have an effect larger than we could even imagine! I think it was Hudson Taylor who said, "Expect great things from God, Attempt great things for God". Thats it, its every Christians calling to believe, listen, trust and obey. Its a privilege really! Maybe its something small but it struck our funny bone.
Tomorrow I will go and meet with the head master of the local school to see about registration for Kayleigh. We are hoping to get her in to the smaller Bridge of Allen School rather than the larger Stirling City one. We will see how all that plays out. Its car shopping then. Have our eyes on an old mini van we saw in a shoping centre parking lot, its a real beaut, but it just might work!!!
Ok, everytime I finally write in this blog, I end up writing way too long. Oh well, your still reading, are'nt you?! :) Thanks! Have a wonderful day!
~ Julie
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Today was a real Scottish rainy day! It rained for 10 mins. dry for 10, rained for 10,well you get the picture. I got stuck inside the grocery store and as I was headed for the exit in the pouring rain, I remembered just to wait a few, it will probably clear, and it did.
Speaking of groceries... Its funny the things you miss. Its exciting to try new brands and find out how much you don't like them. Its funny that Scotland has loads of cheese selections and almost every single one of them is a cheddar variety! Most things come in small packages too! The chocolate chips bags are about 1/4 the size, a lot of things are packaged smaller than the monstrous portions we get in the states. (I miss Shady Maples bulk isle and produce and deli!) I still haven't found pancake mix yet. (I know mom, I can make pancakes from scratch but I don't have the recipe here yet.) No real vanilla, no snack crackers and no Root Beer to be found. But there sure is plenty of Nutella, Marmite, Veggiemite, Baked Beans, Funny Sausages, Blood Pudding, Meat Pies, Chips, and Custards! (All exciting in their own right! Its fun to explore and see what your stomach can handle. :)
I actually made Hummus for the first time, inspired by Karen Prasads love for Lisas hummus in New Zealand. It sure was exciting but a bit heavy on the Garlic. Whoops!
ON A MORE MEANINGFUL NOTE.....
We had an awesome time visiting with a family called the McMillans who live in Callander. What an amazing, God honoring, family! You may recall us mentioning something about meeting a stranger on a parkbench in centre city Stirling. (God Appointed!) Well, we went for dinner with him (Ian), his lovely wife Anne, their triplet girls and 1 son (young teens). What an enjoyable evening! We laughed a lot! They also had a Church House group that night that we stayed for. It was refreshing to be around them. Stay tuned for some cool connections that God allowed as a result of this meeting! Also some pretty cool blessings for us! (The kids said on the way home that they reminded them of their cousins!) God is at work and we were Glad to Meet Ian and his family!
Speaking of groceries... Its funny the things you miss. Its exciting to try new brands and find out how much you don't like them. Its funny that Scotland has loads of cheese selections and almost every single one of them is a cheddar variety! Most things come in small packages too! The chocolate chips bags are about 1/4 the size, a lot of things are packaged smaller than the monstrous portions we get in the states. (I miss Shady Maples bulk isle and produce and deli!) I still haven't found pancake mix yet. (I know mom, I can make pancakes from scratch but I don't have the recipe here yet.) No real vanilla, no snack crackers and no Root Beer to be found. But there sure is plenty of Nutella, Marmite, Veggiemite, Baked Beans, Funny Sausages, Blood Pudding, Meat Pies, Chips, and Custards! (All exciting in their own right! Its fun to explore and see what your stomach can handle. :)
I actually made Hummus for the first time, inspired by Karen Prasads love for Lisas hummus in New Zealand. It sure was exciting but a bit heavy on the Garlic. Whoops!
ON A MORE MEANINGFUL NOTE.....
We had an awesome time visiting with a family called the McMillans who live in Callander. What an amazing, God honoring, family! You may recall us mentioning something about meeting a stranger on a parkbench in centre city Stirling. (God Appointed!) Well, we went for dinner with him (Ian), his lovely wife Anne, their triplet girls and 1 son (young teens). What an enjoyable evening! We laughed a lot! They also had a Church House group that night that we stayed for. It was refreshing to be around them. Stay tuned for some cool connections that God allowed as a result of this meeting! Also some pretty cool blessings for us! (The kids said on the way home that they reminded them of their cousins!) God is at work and we were Glad to Meet Ian and his family!
Thursday, June 03, 2004
On our way to a play date yesterday (Julie and the kids)we were driving up the A9 and wouldn't you know... bump bump bump I got a flat tire in Frank and Beckys car! The kicker was that there was no place to pull over, I had no cell phone, no way to contact the people we were to meet, Marc couldn't rescue us even if I could call him because he had no car and the kids were teary eyed thinking they wouldn't get to play at Rebeccas house. Ugggg!
So, like the adventurous auto mechanic that I am, I decided to find the tools for a change. There was a spare, but I could not get the jack to work. (Yes, my hands were completely black and hair was frazzled already!) I was also afraid that it would bust into the rusty spots in the bottom of the car. So as I lay on the ground looking for a safe spot for the jack, I muttered something about how "friendly" these people were whizzing by on the highway and asked God for some help! I was failing miserably at my attempt. I was ready to beg for help.
wouldn't you know the next vehicle that I decided to flag down just happened to be labeled a licensed AA (equivalent of our AAA) Tire Repair man with his gadgets in his van and everything!!! (Now really, how often do you see one of them?) I told him he was sent by God and the kids and I agreed that he was our auto angel! What a riot! We drove away laughing!
So, like the adventurous auto mechanic that I am, I decided to find the tools for a change. There was a spare, but I could not get the jack to work. (Yes, my hands were completely black and hair was frazzled already!) I was also afraid that it would bust into the rusty spots in the bottom of the car. So as I lay on the ground looking for a safe spot for the jack, I muttered something about how "friendly" these people were whizzing by on the highway and asked God for some help! I was failing miserably at my attempt. I was ready to beg for help.
wouldn't you know the next vehicle that I decided to flag down just happened to be labeled a licensed AA (equivalent of our AAA) Tire Repair man with his gadgets in his van and everything!!! (Now really, how often do you see one of them?) I told him he was sent by God and the kids and I agreed that he was our auto angel! What a riot! We drove away laughing!
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
To say we are a little frustrated at this point would be like saying Abraham Lincoln was a little significant in the course of American history. Speaking of Abraham Lincoln, isn't he one of the presidents on Mt. Rushmore? So I guess you could say this frustration experience would rank high up there on the Mt. Rushmore catagory for frustration in our lives.
In case you are wondering what we are talking about. Oh just a little thing like finding a place to live. The refrigerator box is looking more and more like a real possibility. Just kidding for those of you that aren't familiar with my sense of humor. As it is right now, we put money down on a house last week and have been waiting for our reference check to go through. I (Marc) called yesterday to check on the progress and was told there is a snag because all of our income comes from the USA and therefore cannot be validated. This is a bit strange since we told them at the beginning that we are here on missionary visas and therefore by law, cannot earn income in the UK.
We made it very clear to them how we recieve our income and that they could have this verified through the Impact World Tour main office in Kansas City, Mo. We would later find out that they never even contacted the office. So, basically at this point our only options are to pay 7 1/2 months rent up front (which we can't do) or to have someone from the UK co-sign on the lease for us. Since we don't know anyone very well here, this is a little difficult. So at this point we've contacted the ywam national office and they are seeing what they can do. We will keep you up on the latest developments as they come in.
This whole thing though does put things in perspective. We do have a roof over our head, we do have plenty of food to eat, we do have warm beds to sleep in, we do have each other, we do do have the peace that transcends all understanding in Christ and we don't have to worry about someone killing us because of our faith in Christ. Many people around the world have none of that.
Over the weekend we visited a castle in the town of Doune. While we were there we were able to see the living quarters of kings and queens of Scotland during the early renaisance period. We came to realize that the average American or westerner for that matter, has a higher standard of living than Kings and Queens of not that long ago. So, this should serve as a reminder to all of us of what we do have, and none is more important than our relationship with Jesus Christ. Praise God! He will be glorified somehow through this whole thing.
This brings me back to Abraham Lincoln. Many of you I'm sure are familiar with his struggles early on in his poiltical career. He failed time after time in running for office only to get up every time to try again. Over the years he worked his way up to become one of the greatest, if not the greatest president in the history of our great country. What kept him going? Not his own might or power, but God's spirit. God had given him an eternal perspective which puts everything else in it's proper perspective.
Well I know that this started out as a bit of a rant, but I thought I would share what was happening with you all since some of you seemed a little confused by the whole thing. As Rick Warren so aptly put it in his book The Purpose Driven Life, " life is a test, a trust and a temporary assignment. That has been ringing in my ears all throughout the day. If you have the book, read chapter 5 and you'll know what I'm talking about. If you don't have it, get it and read it! We'll see how this test turns out.
God bless you all!
More later
In case you are wondering what we are talking about. Oh just a little thing like finding a place to live. The refrigerator box is looking more and more like a real possibility. Just kidding for those of you that aren't familiar with my sense of humor. As it is right now, we put money down on a house last week and have been waiting for our reference check to go through. I (Marc) called yesterday to check on the progress and was told there is a snag because all of our income comes from the USA and therefore cannot be validated. This is a bit strange since we told them at the beginning that we are here on missionary visas and therefore by law, cannot earn income in the UK.
We made it very clear to them how we recieve our income and that they could have this verified through the Impact World Tour main office in Kansas City, Mo. We would later find out that they never even contacted the office. So, basically at this point our only options are to pay 7 1/2 months rent up front (which we can't do) or to have someone from the UK co-sign on the lease for us. Since we don't know anyone very well here, this is a little difficult. So at this point we've contacted the ywam national office and they are seeing what they can do. We will keep you up on the latest developments as they come in.
This whole thing though does put things in perspective. We do have a roof over our head, we do have plenty of food to eat, we do have warm beds to sleep in, we do have each other, we do do have the peace that transcends all understanding in Christ and we don't have to worry about someone killing us because of our faith in Christ. Many people around the world have none of that.
Over the weekend we visited a castle in the town of Doune. While we were there we were able to see the living quarters of kings and queens of Scotland during the early renaisance period. We came to realize that the average American or westerner for that matter, has a higher standard of living than Kings and Queens of not that long ago. So, this should serve as a reminder to all of us of what we do have, and none is more important than our relationship with Jesus Christ. Praise God! He will be glorified somehow through this whole thing.
This brings me back to Abraham Lincoln. Many of you I'm sure are familiar with his struggles early on in his poiltical career. He failed time after time in running for office only to get up every time to try again. Over the years he worked his way up to become one of the greatest, if not the greatest president in the history of our great country. What kept him going? Not his own might or power, but God's spirit. God had given him an eternal perspective which puts everything else in it's proper perspective.
Well I know that this started out as a bit of a rant, but I thought I would share what was happening with you all since some of you seemed a little confused by the whole thing. As Rick Warren so aptly put it in his book The Purpose Driven Life, " life is a test, a trust and a temporary assignment. That has been ringing in my ears all throughout the day. If you have the book, read chapter 5 and you'll know what I'm talking about. If you don't have it, get it and read it! We'll see how this test turns out.
God bless you all!
More later
A beautiful day hiking the mountain ridges of the Ochil Mountains. The kids were amazing and seemed to love it! The sugar rushes from the rock candy helped too Im sure!
Still waiting, now not so patiently on the home situation. It seems as though things are not running as smoothly as planned for 2 Graham ave. and we would like to get the shippment from the states on its way on Sat. Ahhhh we will take a breath and see what God has up in His plans.
Liam is becoming quite a chatterbox... and you thought Kayleigh was a talker! Heh-Heh! They are eating up the workbooks that everyone sent and loving "school" time! Thanks to so many who thought of them and gave things to do for the kids!
Still waiting, now not so patiently on the home situation. It seems as though things are not running as smoothly as planned for 2 Graham ave. and we would like to get the shippment from the states on its way on Sat. Ahhhh we will take a breath and see what God has up in His plans.
Liam is becoming quite a chatterbox... and you thought Kayleigh was a talker! Heh-Heh! They are eating up the workbooks that everyone sent and loving "school" time! Thanks to so many who thought of them and gave things to do for the kids!
Friday, May 28, 2004
Hello again from the land of green hills, bagpipes and men in skirts. Sorry it has been a week since we've last written. It has been a busy week indeed as we have been chasing down houses, researching schools, attending YWAM meetings and just generally trying to get acclimated to the area.
As far as the house, it looks as though we may have found a place in the Stirling area. This isn't a definite as yet because our referenses must still pass the test, but it looks pretty good. The house is a detached cottage (which is amazing to find) in a part of Stirling called Causewayhead. The place is very small, but is in a good location for the kids and I believe a strategic location for the ministry.
Speaking of ministry, one of things that God has put on my (Marc) heart is to pray from the hilltops. The last couple of mornings I have been walking up to the top of the hill here in Clackmannon for excersise and to start my day in prayer. There are many hilltops and mountain tops here to climb so I will have much variety for excersize and prayer. One of the great things about the house we hope to get is that it is at the foot of the William Wallace monument hill. It was on this hilltop that Wallace watched as the English approached Stirling Bridge, where they (the english) would be defeated in the battle of Stirling bridge (1297 AD). This will prove to be not a place to bring glory to wars of long ago, but to live a life today as one that is passionate about the battle for the hearts, minds, and most importantly the souls of the people of Scotland. This battle though will not be won with swords, but with much prayer. (2 COR. 10:4-6; Zech.4:6)
PRAY FOR SCOTLAND!
More later.
As far as the house, it looks as though we may have found a place in the Stirling area. This isn't a definite as yet because our referenses must still pass the test, but it looks pretty good. The house is a detached cottage (which is amazing to find) in a part of Stirling called Causewayhead. The place is very small, but is in a good location for the kids and I believe a strategic location for the ministry.
Speaking of ministry, one of things that God has put on my (Marc) heart is to pray from the hilltops. The last couple of mornings I have been walking up to the top of the hill here in Clackmannon for excersise and to start my day in prayer. There are many hilltops and mountain tops here to climb so I will have much variety for excersize and prayer. One of the great things about the house we hope to get is that it is at the foot of the William Wallace monument hill. It was on this hilltop that Wallace watched as the English approached Stirling Bridge, where they (the english) would be defeated in the battle of Stirling bridge (1297 AD). This will prove to be not a place to bring glory to wars of long ago, but to live a life today as one that is passionate about the battle for the hearts, minds, and most importantly the souls of the people of Scotland. This battle though will not be won with swords, but with much prayer. (2 COR. 10:4-6; Zech.4:6)
PRAY FOR SCOTLAND!
More later.
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Many of you are wondering if we are keeping warm, yes, thank you for your concern re: our body temperature! We are quite warm and believe it or not have not seen a real rainfall since we have been here. They tell us that this month may be as warm as it gets depending on the summer and its hitting somewhere in the 70s. The warmth of my laptop keeps me warm too! Frank & Beckys flat is central heated with double glazed windows which is a luxury we are looking forward to in our new home.
Please keep praying for us in this. Its more complicated than you want to read about with refinancing our home in the process, but basically the rentals here are 1 bedroom and only occationally, very occationally 2 if you jump on it quick. I guess most landlords find it more profitable to split a house into 4 quarters and destroy any single home. We will find something, I know God has something in store, and maybe we will have to work with an office, play room, dining room and living room all in one room. (Again usually just about 12-14 feet long and 1/2 that wide) Please don't get me wrong, I am NOT complaining just trying to adjust to the culture... we are all used to the honkin big Americans Homes. Its all good! We are getting to learn our way around this way!
Had dinner with a wonderful family after church on Sunday. (Church, We'll tell you about that one next blog) The kids played on the Slip n slide in their yard, yes THEY have a yard big enough but that is rare in town. Liam got a little bike handed down and Kayleigh got a pair of rollerskates on sneakers handed down and we all got a wonderful dinner and new friends. I'd say we made out quite well! It really was an answer to prayer. The kids all practically cried when we left.
There are loads of opportunities to share why we are here since every time we open our mouths our thick twangy accent comes out and they are automatically interested in why we would leave the states and come here! Its nice though, they seem to be fond of Americans so that is a comfort. Every person clerks, tellers, attendants etc. have all gone out of their way to make us feel welcome. I feel like its something of a Truman Show at times.
I spoke with a very nice lady at the park who moved here from England and she still senses tension from the Scotts. They are a strong people here, amazingly unified in their culture and roots, a bit rough all around and maybe feeling a bit inferior in their worth. Maybe we are way off, but that's our observation so far. Its different living in a town vs living on a YWAM base as you can imagine. You have much more opportunity to observe and participate in the community. Speaking of, I think I will go participate in the community of my pillow and my mattress.
Please keep praying for us in this. Its more complicated than you want to read about with refinancing our home in the process, but basically the rentals here are 1 bedroom and only occationally, very occationally 2 if you jump on it quick. I guess most landlords find it more profitable to split a house into 4 quarters and destroy any single home. We will find something, I know God has something in store, and maybe we will have to work with an office, play room, dining room and living room all in one room. (Again usually just about 12-14 feet long and 1/2 that wide) Please don't get me wrong, I am NOT complaining just trying to adjust to the culture... we are all used to the honkin big Americans Homes. Its all good! We are getting to learn our way around this way!
Had dinner with a wonderful family after church on Sunday. (Church, We'll tell you about that one next blog) The kids played on the Slip n slide in their yard, yes THEY have a yard big enough but that is rare in town. Liam got a little bike handed down and Kayleigh got a pair of rollerskates on sneakers handed down and we all got a wonderful dinner and new friends. I'd say we made out quite well! It really was an answer to prayer. The kids all practically cried when we left.
There are loads of opportunities to share why we are here since every time we open our mouths our thick twangy accent comes out and they are automatically interested in why we would leave the states and come here! Its nice though, they seem to be fond of Americans so that is a comfort. Every person clerks, tellers, attendants etc. have all gone out of their way to make us feel welcome. I feel like its something of a Truman Show at times.
I spoke with a very nice lady at the park who moved here from England and she still senses tension from the Scotts. They are a strong people here, amazingly unified in their culture and roots, a bit rough all around and maybe feeling a bit inferior in their worth. Maybe we are way off, but that's our observation so far. Its different living in a town vs living on a YWAM base as you can imagine. You have much more opportunity to observe and participate in the community. Speaking of, I think I will go participate in the community of my pillow and my mattress.
Thursday, May 13, 2004
Hey All! Surprise, it's actually us up and running, alive and well! Well, at least alive. Seriously, we appreciate your prayers and appreciate Gods mercies as we travel, search and rove about the green hillsides of Scotland from town to town seeking a home. We are staying at Frank and Beckies while they are in the States. Its a small, but comfortable upper flat that is richly decorated by Ikea and Martha Stewart, I mean Frank & Becky. I am enjoying the well stocked kitchen and quiet warm house.
The kids and I found the Clackmannon playground yesterday and met a local mom that filled my mind with all kinds of recommendations for schools and nice towns to settle or "dodgy" towns to avoid. Please pray with us on this one. Its such a hard decision, there is a lot on the line and we just want to be at the RIGHT corner of the country and in the right neighborhood. This Sun. we are invited to a Christian family's home in the next town over that send their kids to a renowned private school just up in a town called Dollar. The kids do speak of home but seem to be happy here and especially like having us around and not both in the office:)
It was soooo good to be home and see many of you even if it was very briefly. Very refreshing, but not too restful. (Thats ok, we will have a bit of time here before we set up the office) It was wonderful! Man, I was so thankful to be back for grandma's funeral and to be able to make it to Gayle Richardsons Moms funeral as well. Sure are reminded of our fragile and quick lives here on earth and the blessing of family and friends. (The understatement of the year!)
I found this awesome "New Testament in Scots" in their house here. (Not Scots Gaelic, that's in the highlands) This interpretation lends a glimpse of the robustness of the sounds of the new Scots and lowlands of this country. The language is a bit challenging to understand although its English, mostly! Old Scots is a rich brew of a language and what it lacks in dignity it more than makes up for in vitality and color. So here's a taste for you to leave as a benediction authored by Jude.
~ Nou, Til Him at dow keep ye frae stoiterin an set ye sakeless an rejoicin forenent his glore, til the ae God, our Sauviour throu our Lord Jesus Christ, be glore an maijestie, maucht an authoritie, afore aa time, an nou, an for iver an ey!
Peace to you, Julie
The kids and I found the Clackmannon playground yesterday and met a local mom that filled my mind with all kinds of recommendations for schools and nice towns to settle or "dodgy" towns to avoid. Please pray with us on this one. Its such a hard decision, there is a lot on the line and we just want to be at the RIGHT corner of the country and in the right neighborhood. This Sun. we are invited to a Christian family's home in the next town over that send their kids to a renowned private school just up in a town called Dollar. The kids do speak of home but seem to be happy here and especially like having us around and not both in the office:)
It was soooo good to be home and see many of you even if it was very briefly. Very refreshing, but not too restful. (Thats ok, we will have a bit of time here before we set up the office) It was wonderful! Man, I was so thankful to be back for grandma's funeral and to be able to make it to Gayle Richardsons Moms funeral as well. Sure are reminded of our fragile and quick lives here on earth and the blessing of family and friends. (The understatement of the year!)
I found this awesome "New Testament in Scots" in their house here. (Not Scots Gaelic, that's in the highlands) This interpretation lends a glimpse of the robustness of the sounds of the new Scots and lowlands of this country. The language is a bit challenging to understand although its English, mostly! Old Scots is a rich brew of a language and what it lacks in dignity it more than makes up for in vitality and color. So here's a taste for you to leave as a benediction authored by Jude.
~ Nou, Til Him at dow keep ye frae stoiterin an set ye sakeless an rejoicin forenent his glore, til the ae God, our Sauviour throu our Lord Jesus Christ, be glore an maijestie, maucht an authoritie, afore aa time, an nou, an for iver an ey!
Peace to you, Julie
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Marc and Julie didn't have time to blog at all while they were in the states. The 11 days went by like a whirlwind I'm sure.
I just got this report from mom, so I thought i would post it.
------
Julie called today when they arrived at the Kremer's house where they will be staying until they find a house Kremer's will be gone until June 20 . So they are hopeing to have their own place by then.
Julie said that their flight was uneventful which is good. They did sleep some . Kayleigh and Liam slept more.
Scotland is just 5 hours ahead of us so that is not too complicated to figure out.
It will take a while to get the computer and e-mail going so do not expect to get email for a bit so says Julie.
The town that they are in is Clackmannan and she described it as a "playtown" the streets are tiny and narrow. And the houses are all close together. there is one of each thing as one pharmacy, one bank,one fish and chips, one night and day shop, etc.
They were tired and were getting ready for bed. It was 3:30 here but 8:30 there.
Thank you for praying for traveling mercies. The Lord is good.
Marc and Julie Hamer Phone until June 20
#011 44 1259 720 076
Temporary address: The Hamer's
%The Kremer''s
25 Castle St.
Clackmannan
FK 10 4EJ
Scotland UK
I just got this report from mom, so I thought i would post it.
------
Julie called today when they arrived at the Kremer's house where they will be staying until they find a house Kremer's will be gone until June 20 . So they are hopeing to have their own place by then.
Julie said that their flight was uneventful which is good. They did sleep some . Kayleigh and Liam slept more.
Scotland is just 5 hours ahead of us so that is not too complicated to figure out.
It will take a while to get the computer and e-mail going so do not expect to get email for a bit so says Julie.
The town that they are in is Clackmannan and she described it as a "playtown" the streets are tiny and narrow. And the houses are all close together. there is one of each thing as one pharmacy, one bank,one fish and chips, one night and day shop, etc.
They were tired and were getting ready for bed. It was 3:30 here but 8:30 there.
Thank you for praying for traveling mercies. The Lord is good.
Marc and Julie Hamer Phone until June 20
#011 44 1259 720 076
Temporary address: The Hamer's
%The Kremer''s
25 Castle St.
Clackmannan
FK 10 4EJ
Scotland UK
Saturday, May 01, 2004
Ok, so we managed to travel for 3-4 days and actually get out of Dunedin to see the amazing country of New Zealand! It was beautiful and more amazing the the post cards and Lord of the Rings epic, of course!
Sorry, we did'nt get the pics up yet! We did scan them in Dunedin, however could not send them throught the office for complicated reasons. Uggg. We'll try again at home.
We were shocked to get word in Dunedin that My Grandma (Julies moms mom) was suddenly ill and did get a chance to call and say goodbye just 3 hours or so before she went to be with Jesus! I was so sad not to be there and there for my mom, but God worked it out for us to go home just in time for the funeral and viewing and to be with the family! Hows that for a Sovereign God who knows our thoughts and desires and had this all planned out! Im so thankful!
The funeral was today and we were blessed with amazing Spring weather, the fellowship of friends and family and the amazing blessing of knowing the godly heritage that she gave! What an inheritance! "How beautiful heaven must be"... I can only imagine! Randy gave a great message on the freedom and security we can have in Christ and the hope of eternity if we trust in him. It was powerful! Jeff, Candi, Marc and I sang (at the request of mom) and it was fun, but we did goof a bit... it was a tricky song, but everyone seemed to enjoy it anyway.... "Christ is my hope / Be still my soul... the hour is hastening on, when we shall be forever with the Lord. When disapointment grief and fear are past, sorrow forgot, loves purest joy restored. Be still my soul when change and tears are past, all safe and blessed we shall meet at last! (Hope we'll meet you there one day too!)
Sorry, we did'nt get the pics up yet! We did scan them in Dunedin, however could not send them throught the office for complicated reasons. Uggg. We'll try again at home.
We were shocked to get word in Dunedin that My Grandma (Julies moms mom) was suddenly ill and did get a chance to call and say goodbye just 3 hours or so before she went to be with Jesus! I was so sad not to be there and there for my mom, but God worked it out for us to go home just in time for the funeral and viewing and to be with the family! Hows that for a Sovereign God who knows our thoughts and desires and had this all planned out! Im so thankful!
The funeral was today and we were blessed with amazing Spring weather, the fellowship of friends and family and the amazing blessing of knowing the godly heritage that she gave! What an inheritance! "How beautiful heaven must be"... I can only imagine! Randy gave a great message on the freedom and security we can have in Christ and the hope of eternity if we trust in him. It was powerful! Jeff, Candi, Marc and I sang (at the request of mom) and it was fun, but we did goof a bit... it was a tricky song, but everyone seemed to enjoy it anyway.... "Christ is my hope / Be still my soul... the hour is hastening on, when we shall be forever with the Lord. When disapointment grief and fear are past, sorrow forgot, loves purest joy restored. Be still my soul when change and tears are past, all safe and blessed we shall meet at last! (Hope we'll meet you there one day too!)
Ok, so we managed to travel for 3-4 days and actually get out of Dunedin to see the amazing country of New Zealand! It was beautiful and more amazing the the post cards and Lord of the Rings epic, of course!
Sorry, we did'nt get the pics up yet! We did scan them in Dunedin, however could not send them throught the office for complicated reasons. Uggg. We'll try again at home.
We were shocked to get word in Dunedin that My Grandma (Julies moms mom) was suddenly ill and did get a chance to call and say goodbye just 3 hours or so before she went to be with Jesus! I was so sad not to be there and there for my mom, but God worked it out for us to go home just in time for the funeral and viewing and to be with the family! Hows that for a Sovereign God who knows our thoughts and desires and had this all planned out! Im so thankful!
The funeral was today and we were blessed with amazing Spring weather, the fellowship of friends and family and the amazing blessing of knowing the godly heritage that she gave! What an inheritance! "How beautiful heaven must be"... I can only imagine! Randy gave a great message on the freedom and security we can have in Christ and the hope of eternity if we trust in him. It was powerful! Jeff, Candi, Marc and I sang (at the request of mom) and it was fun, but we did goof a bit... it was a tricky song, but everyone seemed to enjoy it anyway.... "Christ is my hope / Be still my soul... the hour is hastening on, when we shall be forever with the Lord. When disapointment grief and fear are past, sorrow forgot, loves purest joy restored. Be still my soul when change and tears are past, all safe and blessed we shall meet at last! (Hope we'll meet you there one day too!)
Sorry, we did'nt get the pics up yet! We did scan them in Dunedin, however could not send them throught the office for complicated reasons. Uggg. We'll try again at home.
We were shocked to get word in Dunedin that My Grandma (Julies moms mom) was suddenly ill and did get a chance to call and say goodbye just 3 hours or so before she went to be with Jesus! I was so sad not to be there and there for my mom, but God worked it out for us to go home just in time for the funeral and viewing and to be with the family! Hows that for a Sovereign God who knows our thoughts and desires and had this all planned out! Im so thankful!
The funeral was today and we were blessed with amazing Spring weather, the fellowship of friends and family and the amazing blessing of knowing the godly heritage that she gave! What an inheritance! "How beautiful heaven must be"... I can only imagine! Randy gave a great message on the freedom and security we can have in Christ and the hope of eternity if we trust in him. It was powerful! Jeff, Candi, Marc and I sang (at the request of mom) and it was fun, but we did goof a bit... it was a tricky song, but everyone seemed to enjoy it anyway.... "Christ is my hope / Be still my soul... the hour is hastening on, when we shall be forever with the Lord. When disapointment grief and fear are past, sorrow forgot, loves purest joy restored. Be still my soul when change and tears are past, all safe and blessed we shall meet at last! (Hope we'll meet you there one day too!)
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
I cant believe its a week since I last wrote in this blog! Im sooo not keeping up with Jeff! I guess if we had a regular computer in a heated room I may be a bit more inclined to go there. Anyway, when we settle in Scotland, I promise I'll do better. Speaking of heat, I dont think many Kiwis care for central heat. I think they think we are spoiled and wimpy or something. They are a hardy bunch! Bob P. told us that "many are thawed, but few are frozen"! Heh!
Today was quite a shopping day! (I did work in the office a bit too.) We had to run around buying gifts, (on quite a budget I might add) for all the executive committee members in Dunedin. It couldn't be all chocolates or rubber chickens, but something creative and special for each of them. (Frank & Beckys idea... a good one, but more work, but better in the end.) Anyway, its a challenge when you don't know the stores or the isles to find things in. I know this sounds so petty, there are just some things that we take for granted. Enough about shopping! Ugggg.
I should say something about Easter. Here in New Zealand they take 4 days off! I mean, nothing is open save a few restaurants and churches. On Good Friday we went to the cathedral for an evening Tennenbrea service. It had scripture mixed with a choir that sounded like angels as it echoed through the halls... no mics... just pure old school cathedral candlelit reverend kind of thing. It was absolutely amazing! Just thinking quietly and reverently what Jesus went through for us! The only down side was that Liam had swooshy pants on and everytime he moved it made noise and Kayleigh wanted an interpretation of the speaker which she couldn't hear or understand. Those of you who have sat in one of those services on wooden pews on marble floors surrounded by concrete walls and pillars know how sound travels. Heh!
Sat. we celebrated Marcs birthday at Speights for a surprise lunch with about 12 friends. (By the way that morning we received a fabulous care package from the Millers and Zion friends! It was amazing...Veggie tales video, candy, Easter craft kits, eggs for a hunt... and so much more. It sure was a lifter! We looooove packages!) It was a difficult eve. cuz' we found out mom was in the hospital again for HBP. Its so hard being far away at times like this! I have to remind myself to trust in our Sovereign God that I am in the right place and that He is protecting and comforting her. Hey, while Im thinking of it, would you pray for her for healing and peace. Thanks! She is home now, but still going through some tests. I just want to give her a hug!
Sunday was Easter and we tried another church. I couldn't believe that the pastor didn't even mention Christs resurrection! Its Easter Sunday for crying out loud!!! The worship leader mentioned it between songs, and maybe Im just a traditional girl, but I missed the Easter message! It seams that they don't celebrate it quite the same here. Its all low key. It bothered me at first but I had to check myself to see what I celebrate. Is it tradition or my Gods Resurrection?! I know its Jesus, but I bet He is pleased when we enjoy each other and our little traditions too! I bet He would kick back and share a peanut butter chocolate egg with us if He was here in the flesh. :)
Right, so my toes are tingling now and My finger tips are so cold I cant feel them. Im going to sit on our little plug in heater box and then quickly jump in bed. Nighty night!
BTW... HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFFEY WEFFEY!
Today was quite a shopping day! (I did work in the office a bit too.) We had to run around buying gifts, (on quite a budget I might add) for all the executive committee members in Dunedin. It couldn't be all chocolates or rubber chickens, but something creative and special for each of them. (Frank & Beckys idea... a good one, but more work, but better in the end.) Anyway, its a challenge when you don't know the stores or the isles to find things in. I know this sounds so petty, there are just some things that we take for granted. Enough about shopping! Ugggg.
I should say something about Easter. Here in New Zealand they take 4 days off! I mean, nothing is open save a few restaurants and churches. On Good Friday we went to the cathedral for an evening Tennenbrea service. It had scripture mixed with a choir that sounded like angels as it echoed through the halls... no mics... just pure old school cathedral candlelit reverend kind of thing. It was absolutely amazing! Just thinking quietly and reverently what Jesus went through for us! The only down side was that Liam had swooshy pants on and everytime he moved it made noise and Kayleigh wanted an interpretation of the speaker which she couldn't hear or understand. Those of you who have sat in one of those services on wooden pews on marble floors surrounded by concrete walls and pillars know how sound travels. Heh!
Sat. we celebrated Marcs birthday at Speights for a surprise lunch with about 12 friends. (By the way that morning we received a fabulous care package from the Millers and Zion friends! It was amazing...Veggie tales video, candy, Easter craft kits, eggs for a hunt... and so much more. It sure was a lifter! We looooove packages!) It was a difficult eve. cuz' we found out mom was in the hospital again for HBP. Its so hard being far away at times like this! I have to remind myself to trust in our Sovereign God that I am in the right place and that He is protecting and comforting her. Hey, while Im thinking of it, would you pray for her for healing and peace. Thanks! She is home now, but still going through some tests. I just want to give her a hug!
Sunday was Easter and we tried another church. I couldn't believe that the pastor didn't even mention Christs resurrection! Its Easter Sunday for crying out loud!!! The worship leader mentioned it between songs, and maybe Im just a traditional girl, but I missed the Easter message! It seams that they don't celebrate it quite the same here. Its all low key. It bothered me at first but I had to check myself to see what I celebrate. Is it tradition or my Gods Resurrection?! I know its Jesus, but I bet He is pleased when we enjoy each other and our little traditions too! I bet He would kick back and share a peanut butter chocolate egg with us if He was here in the flesh. :)
Right, so my toes are tingling now and My finger tips are so cold I cant feel them. Im going to sit on our little plug in heater box and then quickly jump in bed. Nighty night!
BTW... HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFFEY WEFFEY!
Monday, April 05, 2004
So, this past weekend was Impact World Tour in Dunedin! There is soooo much to share about the school assemblies, crazy running around catering to the teams, and so many cool stories, but I have to tell you, about the weather since I asked you to get involved..... it was amazing! A miricle!! Thanks for praying! We did keep the venue at Forbury Raceway Park despite the warnings and multiple problems.
We had a cold rain and harsh winds straight through 3 days prior to the first day of the event. (Actually mostly rain about 3 weeks before!) Thurs. morning in Dunedin it started to clear and it was still windy, BUT at the venue... it was perfectly calm and sunny! That night we could see the stars in the sky for the first time in a loooooooong time! (Even the southern cross, cool!) Everyone was amazed at Gods hand of protection around the place! I couldn’t stop looking up! Team Xtream was that night... breaking concrete flaming blocks with their heads (and even some afros heh-heh), blowing up hot water bottles, bending steel bars, rolling cars and all that stuff... oh, yeah and preaching the clear gospel message and even teaching on creation vs evolution! (The owner of the venue said that it was the largest crowd he’s seen in the place!)
The next day in the morning it poured again. The sound booth tent was flooded and equipment was covered. We were racing around trying to find alternative venues, but could not for the size of it. We could do the show in the rain if the equip. was already powered up, but it had to be turned off due to the horse race track. So we would decide by 4:00pm. 3:30 came and didn’t blue sky fly in overhead! Heh! It actually got hot out for a while! Warm enough to wear our new “IWT Crew” short sleeves shirts and warm enough to dry the equip. quickly to start it up! That night was the still and beautiful calm weather! Almost tropical enough for Island Breeze, the indigenous cultural night of island song and dancing. (Kayleigh loved the dancers, you can imagine!) This was an amazing production. Even better... still the stars were in the sky!!! We just kept praising God!!! You have to understand that if it rained at all during the evenings, most likely nobody would come out and all that work (years of it) would just have to be eaten. Yeah, I hear you... we are defiantly thinking indoor venues for Scotland!!!
The Last night Sat. was GX International. (The BMXers & Skaters & Bboys...) They took the stage with a bang! The crowd was cheering in amazement and listening to every breath of those stoked, totally sold out dudes and dudetts. The gospel was boldly preached in front of about 9,000 that night. (The venue has seating for 5,000 so you can imagine the crowd!) God was on the move!... and satan was not happy! The entire show was calm, but at the alter call that night, the winds kicked up out of no where after people started to come down. It started to rain. People still came up! It was packed!!! Some fights broke out, I started to get a headache(which has lingered even now) . It was soon pouring and was crazy for a while. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot... the stage, this thing is huge...began to cork screw that day too. Crazy! It was almost like a spiritual struggle manifesting in different forms. I know it sounds crazy, but I really believe it! God protected and still did great things that night!
We are just so blessed by so many people praying for us being involved and supporting this ministry! I just couldn’t get over how God held off the rains until it was over! I will have to get the numbers straight, but it was just under 1,000 people that responded to the alter call just in Dunedin over those 3 nights! It was an amazing sight seeing those people RUN to the front ready to make a change in their lives! It moved me to tears! Hearing the stories from the local links/ councelors was just amazing too! Stuff that went on the next day with their new friends, and all these people with new bibles and new questions. We expect to get some photos back soon to shoot out on this blog so check back in a couple days or so if you want some visuals. :)
I could write another 12 pages, but I guess Ill save some for the next newsletter and some for our next visit. Love you all so much! Thanks for reading!
It was all worth it! We have alot of clean up now and working on the data base and discipleship upkeep, making sure everyone is taken care of, letters, thankyous, closing down the office, and still some events to plan, like a city wide celebration and pastors prayer time.
We had a cold rain and harsh winds straight through 3 days prior to the first day of the event. (Actually mostly rain about 3 weeks before!) Thurs. morning in Dunedin it started to clear and it was still windy, BUT at the venue... it was perfectly calm and sunny! That night we could see the stars in the sky for the first time in a loooooooong time! (Even the southern cross, cool!) Everyone was amazed at Gods hand of protection around the place! I couldn’t stop looking up! Team Xtream was that night... breaking concrete flaming blocks with their heads (and even some afros heh-heh), blowing up hot water bottles, bending steel bars, rolling cars and all that stuff... oh, yeah and preaching the clear gospel message and even teaching on creation vs evolution! (The owner of the venue said that it was the largest crowd he’s seen in the place!)
The next day in the morning it poured again. The sound booth tent was flooded and equipment was covered. We were racing around trying to find alternative venues, but could not for the size of it. We could do the show in the rain if the equip. was already powered up, but it had to be turned off due to the horse race track. So we would decide by 4:00pm. 3:30 came and didn’t blue sky fly in overhead! Heh! It actually got hot out for a while! Warm enough to wear our new “IWT Crew” short sleeves shirts and warm enough to dry the equip. quickly to start it up! That night was the still and beautiful calm weather! Almost tropical enough for Island Breeze, the indigenous cultural night of island song and dancing. (Kayleigh loved the dancers, you can imagine!) This was an amazing production. Even better... still the stars were in the sky!!! We just kept praising God!!! You have to understand that if it rained at all during the evenings, most likely nobody would come out and all that work (years of it) would just have to be eaten. Yeah, I hear you... we are defiantly thinking indoor venues for Scotland!!!
The Last night Sat. was GX International. (The BMXers & Skaters & Bboys...) They took the stage with a bang! The crowd was cheering in amazement and listening to every breath of those stoked, totally sold out dudes and dudetts. The gospel was boldly preached in front of about 9,000 that night. (The venue has seating for 5,000 so you can imagine the crowd!) God was on the move!... and satan was not happy! The entire show was calm, but at the alter call that night, the winds kicked up out of no where after people started to come down. It started to rain. People still came up! It was packed!!! Some fights broke out, I started to get a headache(which has lingered even now) . It was soon pouring and was crazy for a while. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot... the stage, this thing is huge...began to cork screw that day too. Crazy! It was almost like a spiritual struggle manifesting in different forms. I know it sounds crazy, but I really believe it! God protected and still did great things that night!
We are just so blessed by so many people praying for us being involved and supporting this ministry! I just couldn’t get over how God held off the rains until it was over! I will have to get the numbers straight, but it was just under 1,000 people that responded to the alter call just in Dunedin over those 3 nights! It was an amazing sight seeing those people RUN to the front ready to make a change in their lives! It moved me to tears! Hearing the stories from the local links/ councelors was just amazing too! Stuff that went on the next day with their new friends, and all these people with new bibles and new questions. We expect to get some photos back soon to shoot out on this blog so check back in a couple days or so if you want some visuals. :)
I could write another 12 pages, but I guess Ill save some for the next newsletter and some for our next visit. Love you all so much! Thanks for reading!
It was all worth it! We have alot of clean up now and working on the data base and discipleship upkeep, making sure everyone is taken care of, letters, thankyous, closing down the office, and still some events to plan, like a city wide celebration and pastors prayer time.
Sunday, April 04, 2004
Here is a prayer update for the Hamers. Please pray!!! Love in Jesus, Betsy
***********************************************************
Thank you soooooo much for continuining to pray for this ministry and our
family! If ever the time to pray... its now! There is a mighty battle
going on...(computer probs., sched. changes etc.) but there is some very
encouraging news too!
1. Last night at ChristChurch there was the largest response yet in NZ for
1 night! About 1,000 responded and there was a recorded 945 decisions for
Christ! This highlights a bit of a concern for us. There is a desporate
need for more Christian Counselors and discipleship plans since there has
been such a response!
2. Please also pray for the Christians/ Volunteers to sense this as a
Celebration of Eternal measure and not a burden of extra things to do.
3. Continue to pray for our family. This week will be INCREDIBLY busy.
Please pray that the kids will be patient and understanding, for precious
family time, for good relationships to be established with the tour members.
***********************************************************
Thank you soooooo much for continuining to pray for this ministry and our
family! If ever the time to pray... its now! There is a mighty battle
going on...(computer probs., sched. changes etc.) but there is some very
encouraging news too!
1. Last night at ChristChurch there was the largest response yet in NZ for
1 night! About 1,000 responded and there was a recorded 945 decisions for
Christ! This highlights a bit of a concern for us. There is a desporate
need for more Christian Counselors and discipleship plans since there has
been such a response!
2. Please also pray for the Christians/ Volunteers to sense this as a
Celebration of Eternal measure and not a burden of extra things to do.
3. Continue to pray for our family. This week will be INCREDIBLY busy.
Please pray that the kids will be patient and understanding, for precious
family time, for good relationships to be established with the tour members.
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Hello everybody, Marc here with a quick update. This is the big week here in Dunedin. Things are happening at a break neck pace and we are hanging on the best we can. As of last night we thought we lost our venue due to high winds. So after scurrying around unsuccessfully for a day trying to find an alternative venue that would seat thousands of people we have decided to go for it and pray that the wind would subside and wouldn't you know it, the sky is completly clear and the winds have died down to a gentle breeze. Please continue to pray that we will have good weather all this week. We'll let you know what happens. God's blessings on you all.
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Today is a busy day. I’m working on some hospitality details, meal schedule changes for the 125+ evangelists coming next week, weekly Dunedin email update and welcome / information packs with maps, schedules, and misc. important info. for all the traveling team leaders and techies and staff w/ IWT. Its amazing all the little details that one might forget to think of. Good thing that Becky & Frank are around to direct us! Heh-heh. They have been so wonderful and have treated us well! We have eaten at their host home 3 times already and the kids really enjoy them too! Good thing because we will be spending tons of time with them in Scotland!
Speaking of hosting... we really enjoyed a meal and the company at some friends of our host family this evening. We are really appreciating the invitations out!!! (I really miss my kitchen.) Anyway, she made a traditional New Zealand/Australian dessert called pavlovia. It was delectable! Pretty much a baked egg white whipped thing with cream in it and fruit on the side! Yum! Their garden was beautiful too! Her Dahlias were as large as my hand and the most amazing vibrant colors! Ok, this morning was so chilly! I guess central heating is just not very popular in these parts. Its so cold today that 3 Albatross flew into KFC at the rotisserie and surrendered! Yeah, by the way... KFC is so popular here. There is either a Fish & Chip shop, Chinese Take-Away, or KFC on every block! No, we did’nt cave in yet! YET!
Oh, one last thing for today. Could you pray with us re: the weather for the tour. It seems like rain has been following the tour! The extended forcast looks cold and rainy for those days. God has done incredible thing in spite of the rains (ask us the stories when we are back), but it would be nice to have clear skies since its at an outdoor horse race track in this city. Must go get busy! Blessings on you today!... and hey, why not invite a new visitor or family into your home for a meal, get to know them and be a blessing, I’m sure you will be blessed too!...never know, maybe you will be entertaining Angels! :)
Speaking of hosting... we really enjoyed a meal and the company at some friends of our host family this evening. We are really appreciating the invitations out!!! (I really miss my kitchen.) Anyway, she made a traditional New Zealand/Australian dessert called pavlovia. It was delectable! Pretty much a baked egg white whipped thing with cream in it and fruit on the side! Yum! Their garden was beautiful too! Her Dahlias were as large as my hand and the most amazing vibrant colors! Ok, this morning was so chilly! I guess central heating is just not very popular in these parts. Its so cold today that 3 Albatross flew into KFC at the rotisserie and surrendered! Yeah, by the way... KFC is so popular here. There is either a Fish & Chip shop, Chinese Take-Away, or KFC on every block! No, we did’nt cave in yet! YET!
Oh, one last thing for today. Could you pray with us re: the weather for the tour. It seems like rain has been following the tour! The extended forcast looks cold and rainy for those days. God has done incredible thing in spite of the rains (ask us the stories when we are back), but it would be nice to have clear skies since its at an outdoor horse race track in this city. Must go get busy! Blessings on you today!... and hey, why not invite a new visitor or family into your home for a meal, get to know them and be a blessing, I’m sure you will be blessed too!...never know, maybe you will be entertaining Angels! :)
Monday, March 22, 2004
from an email...
Julie writes
The last 2 days we went to Christschurch for a road trip to meet with Mark Anderson (The founder of IWT!) It was great! He really shared the BIG Picture for what God is doing in NZ and really prompted the Kiwis to not wave their flag, but to humbly be active in sharing their faith and not to blow it... (what God is calling them to do!) We also got a short chance to hear some Irish music on St. Patties day! It was a long drive, but we had fun! We stayed again with the Clarks from the picture on the web site. They are soooo kind and invited us to come up a couple days before we leave so we can catch our breath before our flight! The tour is getting closer and things are really picking up! Must go just now.. they just called me to pray.
Julie
Julie writes
The last 2 days we went to Christschurch for a road trip to meet with Mark Anderson (The founder of IWT!) It was great! He really shared the BIG Picture for what God is doing in NZ and really prompted the Kiwis to not wave their flag, but to humbly be active in sharing their faith and not to blow it... (what God is calling them to do!) We also got a short chance to hear some Irish music on St. Patties day! It was a long drive, but we had fun! We stayed again with the Clarks from the picture on the web site. They are soooo kind and invited us to come up a couple days before we leave so we can catch our breath before our flight! The tour is getting closer and things are really picking up! Must go just now.. they just called me to pray.
Julie
Sunday, March 21, 2004
Greetings and salutations all you freaks! The sun is shining today finally. It is a rare thing to see around here so it is much appreciated. The locals say it has been unusually rainy around here as though they have to appologize for the weather. My research tells me that it isn't all that strange at all. It seems that there is a very strong prevailing wind that comes right up from Antartica which travels over the relatively warmer air of the south pacific and that combination causes more frequent rainy periods over the south island which is where we are. So, to be quite blunt about it, the locals are full of it. I (Marc) am very jealous that I missed all the snow back home last week. I do however have access to accu-weather via the internet which is almost like being there. If you want to know what the weather is doing here just go to accuweather.com and then click on (world forcasts) and follow the directions to New Zealand. I know there are a few other weather freaks out there like me, so give it a try.
Things are getting busy as we get closer to the tour arriving in Dunedin and everything is actually coming together pretty nicely. Please pray though for the city of Dunedin that the people here would be receptive to the gospel message and that true revival would happen here. The Lord has impressed on several peoples hearts that New Zealand is going to be transformed in a mighty way and will be an example to the whole western world as to what a Godly nation looks like. Keep your eyes tuned in to the news.
That's all for now, more tomarro.
Things are getting busy as we get closer to the tour arriving in Dunedin and everything is actually coming together pretty nicely. Please pray though for the city of Dunedin that the people here would be receptive to the gospel message and that true revival would happen here. The Lord has impressed on several peoples hearts that New Zealand is going to be transformed in a mighty way and will be an example to the whole western world as to what a Godly nation looks like. Keep your eyes tuned in to the news.
That's all for now, more tomarro.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
***
this was emailed to Candace, but I thought you might be interested in reading "a day in the life" Julie, I've tried to edit out anything you might not want to be public information.
***
Julie writes:
Right, so I'll try to answer some of your loaded questions. Yes, we have
adjusted to the time zone by now, its a relief! The kids are sleeping well
too.
A typical day we would drop the kids at the Kindi with hugs and kisses as
they run off with their new friends. We always start the office day by
looking at the white board and try to cross some things off our list of "to
do" and add some to it as well. We pray for quite some time with Frank and
Becky and occasionally others who are with YWAM and in Dunedin that day.
Then its off to our duties, possibly a couple mins. to check emails, Marc is
actively involved with "Arrangements" which is making sure that the venue is
ready. (Ramps are being built, hundreds of duct tape rolls, generators and
electrical stuff in place, ushers and security committed, trained and in
place... Its big)! I am actively involved in Hospitality, Weekly updates
submitted to locals and the greater IWT staff, and organizing stuff like
Table hosts for the fundraising banquets, Organizing the Pastors lunches
(we are trying to be a vehicle to bring them together to pray and encourage this to
go on after the tour). The hospitality stuff is just making sure that the
Local Hospitality coordinator is given the appropriate list of needs for
some IWT speakers and teams etc for Housing, transportation, meals, welcome
packets, doctor info... Etc. And then staying on her to make sure it gets
done.
At some point in the day we try to spend about 2 hours or so on training
with either Becky or a visiting speaker. We are working through the manual
for IWT coordinators which is so very detailed and intricate. Today we
familiarized ourselves on the data base, which at this point is
overwhelming, but will soon be our dear friend.
Marc is at the moment picking the kids up from Kindi. Its 12:30 lunch time.
We will probably spend a couple hours here with the kids yet then one of
us will take them home for naps and prepare dinner.
Evenings are usually just dinner and we get caught up in a lively
conversation with whoever is at home and watch the kids play with toys or
slide down the steps on the boogie board. One of us often has either an
Executive Meeting or some other meeting a couple times a week, but one is
always with the kids. We are also going through counselor training which is
a couple sessions long at multiple times that people are required to go
through to be a counselor at the proclamation time. We will eventually be
equipped to lead these.
Saturdays and Sundays are pretty much our days as a family and this past
weekend we had a quiet house since the family was gone.
There is loads to do living in a city, wish we had more time to goof
off, but am glad to be usefully, learning and know that it is temporary!
This is probably a bit more detailed than you were thinking, but as I
started, I tried to whittle it down and it just wasn't possible, hey, maybe
I'll send it to mom too! :) There really is a lot more to the organizational
aspect of this than one could imagine. There is so much more that we
realized! Its sooooo cool to see all the hands and hearts that believe in
this mission and have changed their lives and schedules to pour themselves
into making it happen as well. I would estimate that nearly 700-900 people
are involved just in set up in one city.. Then there are satellite locations
at each hub city and of course all the teams and staff that tour and then
the main office in Kansas city would total probably nearly 1,200 that have
shifted their lives and schedules as well, to focus on this one ministry!
Its huge and God is rewarding it! Its great to be a little ant in the whole
picture!
Anyway, must go now to get some materials out (tickets, banners etc.) to
some locals.
this was emailed to Candace, but I thought you might be interested in reading "a day in the life" Julie, I've tried to edit out anything you might not want to be public information.
***
Julie writes:
Right, so I'll try to answer some of your loaded questions. Yes, we have
adjusted to the time zone by now, its a relief! The kids are sleeping well
too.
A typical day we would drop the kids at the Kindi with hugs and kisses as
they run off with their new friends. We always start the office day by
looking at the white board and try to cross some things off our list of "to
do" and add some to it as well. We pray for quite some time with Frank and
Becky and occasionally others who are with YWAM and in Dunedin that day.
Then its off to our duties, possibly a couple mins. to check emails, Marc is
actively involved with "Arrangements" which is making sure that the venue is
ready. (Ramps are being built, hundreds of duct tape rolls, generators and
electrical stuff in place, ushers and security committed, trained and in
place... Its big)! I am actively involved in Hospitality, Weekly updates
submitted to locals and the greater IWT staff, and organizing stuff like
Table hosts for the fundraising banquets, Organizing the Pastors lunches
(we are trying to be a vehicle to bring them together to pray and encourage this to
go on after the tour). The hospitality stuff is just making sure that the
Local Hospitality coordinator is given the appropriate list of needs for
some IWT speakers and teams etc for Housing, transportation, meals, welcome
packets, doctor info... Etc. And then staying on her to make sure it gets
done.
At some point in the day we try to spend about 2 hours or so on training
with either Becky or a visiting speaker. We are working through the manual
for IWT coordinators which is so very detailed and intricate. Today we
familiarized ourselves on the data base, which at this point is
overwhelming, but will soon be our dear friend.
Marc is at the moment picking the kids up from Kindi. Its 12:30 lunch time.
We will probably spend a couple hours here with the kids yet then one of
us will take them home for naps and prepare dinner.
Evenings are usually just dinner and we get caught up in a lively
conversation with whoever is at home and watch the kids play with toys or
slide down the steps on the boogie board. One of us often has either an
Executive Meeting or some other meeting a couple times a week, but one is
always with the kids. We are also going through counselor training which is
a couple sessions long at multiple times that people are required to go
through to be a counselor at the proclamation time. We will eventually be
equipped to lead these.
Saturdays and Sundays are pretty much our days as a family and this past
weekend we had a quiet house since the family was gone.
There is loads to do living in a city, wish we had more time to goof
off, but am glad to be usefully, learning and know that it is temporary!
This is probably a bit more detailed than you were thinking, but as I
started, I tried to whittle it down and it just wasn't possible, hey, maybe
I'll send it to mom too! :) There really is a lot more to the organizational
aspect of this than one could imagine. There is so much more that we
realized! Its sooooo cool to see all the hands and hearts that believe in
this mission and have changed their lives and schedules to pour themselves
into making it happen as well. I would estimate that nearly 700-900 people
are involved just in set up in one city.. Then there are satellite locations
at each hub city and of course all the teams and staff that tour and then
the main office in Kansas city would total probably nearly 1,200 that have
shifted their lives and schedules as well, to focus on this one ministry!
Its huge and God is rewarding it! Its great to be a little ant in the whole
picture!
Anyway, must go now to get some materials out (tickets, banners etc.) to
some locals.
Sunday, March 14, 2004
Ok, Here it goes! I have been wanting to begin this blog for weeks now, but everything has held me back. There has been some kind of breakthrough so I am going to take advantage of it! I don’t feel like I should backtrack too much and spend time talking about packing the house, the plane trip or settling in New Zealand, that would take pages upon pages so we will just comment from here on out. My intentions in this blog site are to Journal brief snippets of random or related thinking a couple times a week (if possible) and also give updates on our mission for you to visit at your leisure. We hope and pray that it will keep you informed and involved, as much as you desire, in this ministry and in our lives.
Right, so... as I touched on before, it felt like we were in a cloud for the first week or so that we were in Dunedin. It seriously was like a depressing cloud almost of apathy, so contrary to the emotions and vision that brought us here! I don’t know if it was the jet/moving/packing lag, the feeling of closterphobia from the plastic completely covering our house windows (there is a painter working on the house..heh-heh...no it’s not Marc), or if it was some kind of spiritual oppression. Regardless of what it was, this past Thursday Marc and I finally had some good prayer time, the opening and unveiling of the windows began and I finally had a good night sleep. I praise God for your prayers! This morning in Church the pastor spoke on the passage in Exodus when Joshua and the army was fighting the Amelikites and as long as Moses held up his staff there was victory. You probably know that at one time Moses dropped his arms and quickly realized that he needed to have help holding them up in obedience to Gods leading. We totally sense our prayer partners holding us up when we are week. We are soooo thankful!
Hey, I did say this would be short, well it’s the first one, so please forgive me! :) This is an Amazing land! The untouched landscape just amazes us! Each corner we drive around is more amazing than the last! We hope to get a chance to explore a couple days after the tour. Right now Impact World Tour is just a bit north of us and is scheduled to be in Dunedin April 1, 2&3. We will try to update you bit by bit, but if your interested in the stats and testimonies of the people of New Zealand touched by God through IWT please visit www.iwt.nu/NZ/ . There have been amazing transformations of lives and cities and we are believing that for Dunedin too! Man, does it need some kind of radicle change! There is such opposition here! There have already been 2 IWT international leaders that stated Dunedin to be the most difficult city in New Zealand to “break through”. Boy is our work cut out for us and somehow we feel like this is a glimpse as to what will be before us in Scotland as well. Cool thing is, we know who wins in the end!
Ok, Marcs snoring so thats my cue to shut down the laptop and get some shut eye! Why is it that everyone denies that they snore? Yeah, and why do you only snore when you lay on your back and not on your side? Ahhh the marvels of the human body! Good night!
Right, so... as I touched on before, it felt like we were in a cloud for the first week or so that we were in Dunedin. It seriously was like a depressing cloud almost of apathy, so contrary to the emotions and vision that brought us here! I don’t know if it was the jet/moving/packing lag, the feeling of closterphobia from the plastic completely covering our house windows (there is a painter working on the house..heh-heh...no it’s not Marc), or if it was some kind of spiritual oppression. Regardless of what it was, this past Thursday Marc and I finally had some good prayer time, the opening and unveiling of the windows began and I finally had a good night sleep. I praise God for your prayers! This morning in Church the pastor spoke on the passage in Exodus when Joshua and the army was fighting the Amelikites and as long as Moses held up his staff there was victory. You probably know that at one time Moses dropped his arms and quickly realized that he needed to have help holding them up in obedience to Gods leading. We totally sense our prayer partners holding us up when we are week. We are soooo thankful!
Hey, I did say this would be short, well it’s the first one, so please forgive me! :) This is an Amazing land! The untouched landscape just amazes us! Each corner we drive around is more amazing than the last! We hope to get a chance to explore a couple days after the tour. Right now Impact World Tour is just a bit north of us and is scheduled to be in Dunedin April 1, 2&3. We will try to update you bit by bit, but if your interested in the stats and testimonies of the people of New Zealand touched by God through IWT please visit www.iwt.nu/NZ/ . There have been amazing transformations of lives and cities and we are believing that for Dunedin too! Man, does it need some kind of radicle change! There is such opposition here! There have already been 2 IWT international leaders that stated Dunedin to be the most difficult city in New Zealand to “break through”. Boy is our work cut out for us and somehow we feel like this is a glimpse as to what will be before us in Scotland as well. Cool thing is, we know who wins in the end!
Ok, Marcs snoring so thats my cue to shut down the laptop and get some shut eye! Why is it that everyone denies that they snore? Yeah, and why do you only snore when you lay on your back and not on your side? Ahhh the marvels of the human body! Good night!
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