Mission ConneXion Postscript

It’s Tuesday. It was an exhausting weekend. But it was a very good weekend.

Along with the two days of hobnobbing with missionaries and other mission organizations, we got to spend time with friends and family too. While at the mission conference, we saw some friends who are probably headed to another part of the South Pacific, then up to Seattle for a couple of days to visit Andrea’s mom and my oldest son, and drop in on my best friend, then back down to Portland for dinner with my brother and his family as we sped back south. We were all pretty wiped out this morning, but it was well worth it.

We got to interact with a fairly sizable number of other mission organizations and hear what they’re doing in all parts of the world. The boys even got into the act; they got to do a Treasure Hunt through the exhibits, and each won a prize. We got to hear missionaries who’ve “been there” speaking on their ministries, their trials, their joys, what worked and what didn’t. We were validated, in that we met hundreds of people who have survived the Partnership Development process and been able to see God at work in the far flung places they’ve been sent. We got to laugh with them and cry with them. We heard gut-wrenching stories, some of them with happy endings. We got recharged.

On Sunday, we went to the Seattle Open Door Church. The pastor has invited us to come up the second week of March and share with the congregation the vision that God has given us for ministry in Thailand. That same weekend, a wonderful woman who lives in the same building as my mother-in-law has plans to host a brunch with her friends and contacts to help us raise money for our Survey Trip. And when we got home to check email, we received word that one of Andrea’s cousins has pledged a large sum towards the Survey Trip in the name of her parents.

At every stop, people have asked us what this year holds for us. We have shared that we have two New Year’s Resolutions. The first is that we make a Survey Trip in May. That’s the time that our Thailand Team has suggested, it’s when they will have time to take us around to see all that they are doing and all that they want to do. The second is to be “in country” by the beginning of the New Year. The first six months will be Language Learning; that timeline will get us through our language courses at the best time for the team to take us on.

It was a good weekend. It was an encouraging weekend. We came away energized, but exhausted. You can help us keep that momentum going.

Mission ConneXion Northwest

Tomorrow we’re heading north. We’ll be a couple days in Portland at the Mission ConneXion conference. It’s the better part of two days worth of seminars and networking. There will be a roomful of presenters at booths telling people about their mission organizations and encouraging people to become involved in missions. Pioneers will be represented there; they will have a booth set up, and some of our friends from our pre-field training will be going.

We’re going for a few reasons. The first is the available seminars. Presenters from various mission backgrounds and organizations, and all parts of the world will be speaking on a variety of mission issues. We’re hoping to gain some strategies and insights on the issue of human trafficking, on how to better go about raising funding and developing partners, and why overseas ministry is still relevant in our modern world. Secondly, we are looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. But third, and maybe most importantly, we need to be encouraged. We need to meet with people who are having or have had the same struggles that we’re having. We need to be able to talk and laugh and vent and cry with people who have the same heart for the people of another culture in another part of the world.

This is a challenging time for us. We have the call of God and the overwhelming desire to be in service overseas, but we don’t have the means to get there. We’re ready and we’re willing, but we’re still not able. So we’ll do the next best thing.

Please continue to hold us on your prayers as we continue to prepare for the next chapter.