27 days!!!

until we fly out to meet the ship!!
but who's counting, anyway?!!! :)

Training Days

We have been home for two weeks now after six and a half weeks of training and a total of 6,500 miles behind the wheel! Our adventure began with a road trip across the mid-west to our destination of Lindale, Texas--home of Mercy Ships international headquarters. We took the opportunity to see some family and friends along the way, highlighted by celebrating our fourth wedding anniversary at the majestic Grand Canyon! The first three weeks were spent in classes, followed by a week of basic safety training. We then spent our final two and a half weeks in outreach in the Dominican Republic.

Classroom training
The first week covered faith foundations, focusing on the character of God, prayer, and spiritual warfare. The second week focused on us, highlighting interpersonal development and communication, and living in community. The last week emphasized the world around us. We discussed worldview, cultural transformation, and working with the poor and needy.
This portion of our training was unique and invaluable. We come back with new friendships made, personal and spiritual growth, and many fun memories! We gained a greater and more intimate understanding of who our God is, and a deeper understanding of who we are and our potential. We learned Biblical & Kingdom principles to live by and how they look and apply in all facets of life, and our cultural worldview was challenged and expanded. It truly was a time of evaluation of the heart and rest of the spirit. We come back refreshed and encouraged!
We will soon arrive in Africa with a greater understanding of the God we serve, the organization we serve under, and of her people to whom we look forward to serving.

Safety training

We spent the majority of this week in the classroom learning fire safety, water/sea survival, and first aid/CPR. The last part of the week was spent in practical training and testing. This was necessary in order to meet the maritime requirements of the ship. A few highlights include wearing fire suits/gear, fighting real fires, swimming in immersion suits, and jumping out of a raft. At the end of the week we received certificates of completion.

The Dominican Republic (D.R.)

Our team ministered to a very impoverished community of Haitian refugees near Puerto Plata. They are a people who fled to the D.R for work in the sugar cane fields. About five years ago the sugar cane industry collapsed, leaving the people of this community without work. No work results in little money for food. We helped the people build cages to breed rabbits for food. We also spent time with the people and children, developing relationship and giving love. There was also a great need for basic medical attention and first aid. Most of the children were barefoot, so there were many walking/running around with open wounds.

As the only nurse on the team, Hannah administered nursing care as needed. It was like an instant clinic many times to clean and dress common wounds.

The story of Rosa: I was eagerly informed upon my arrival of a lady needing medical attention. I was told she had an infected wound that had not been treated because of lack of money. She expressed giving up hope and the desire to die. Three years ago she got a mosquito bite on her leg that had become infected and eaten its way to the bone. She was unable to walk on that leg and had become homebound for the last three years. She could not afford to see the doctor for treatment. Rosa is only 28 years old. When I saw her, the musculature had returned but had risk of decaying without treatment. I had the unique opportunity to go to her house every day to give wound care and pray with her. She saw improvement and soon smiled more and more over our time together. I count it such a privilege to have had the opportunity to impact her life and give her love with my nursing skills. Before we left, Mercy Ships gave her some money for follow-up treatment. She was so pleased with the gift and the progress in her wound, that she expressed wanting to see the doctor every day now! The best part was seeing hope restored in her life!
We come back from the Dominican Republic with a greater understanding of life beyond our personal experiences and the borders of our country. We have experienced another culture with a deeper appreciation. We will soon arrive to Africa more sensitive to its culture, and with a passion to share with them the One who can ultimately heal, provide, and restore!

Off to outreach

We are done with our classroom training!!! We leave in a just a few short hours to the Dominican Republic for 2.5 weeks in outreach!! We will be working on projects with the local people and loving on them; developing relationship. (We will be north in Puerto Plata).

Please pray for our safety, health, and impact on others. We want to show them Jesus through our love. When we get back I will post pictures of our training from these last few weeks and the outreach :)

-h

heroes of the faith

We are so excited to share that we are fully supported for the next two years in our service with Mercy Ships!!

"I believe some of the heaviest crowns in Heaven will be worn by hardworking men and women who denied themselves the benefits that society said they deserved, in order to help finance the Great Commission. After all, we can get our reward from men now or from God later (Matthew 6:19-20). Missionaries usually get more recognition than the faithful Christians who support them.

We shouldn't show preference for any one role in our commission. We should hold everyone in high esteem who is fulfilling God's plan for his or her life and working to fulfill Christ's commission. We should point such individuals out to our children so that our children will grow up wanting to be like them. We must not forget that to reach the world with God's Word, it will take a combination of going and sending (Romans 10:14-15). Both actions are vitally important, and people in both capacities can be heroes of the faith."

Excerpt from The Great Omission by Steve Saint

We are so thankful for each one of you who are making our ministry possible by sending us with your finances and your prayers!! We need and rely on both! You are our heroes...true heroes of the faith!!

rejoicing!!

Two reasons:

1. We have renters for our house!!

2. We filled our gas tank for just under $40!! :)

Three words:

Praise the Lord!!

update

Wow, the time here is going by fast!! We've been here two weeks already! I thought we should let you know what we've been up to the last couple weeks. We just completed two of four weeks in classroom training (we are halfway done). We are in class from 8am to about 3 or 4pm depending on the day. The first week we focused on the character of God, prayer, and spiritual warfare. This last week was focused on ourselves and personal development, and learning to live in community. I am looking forward to this next week when we will learn about world view and cultural transformation, and working with the poor and needy. Several national leaders of Mercy Ships will be joining our class this next week too. We are able to get out on the weekends and enjoy activities off base with others. We've had a couple movie nights, BBQ, and a trip to the zoo.

We are also being stretched and challenged personally and sprititually. It is a very refreshing time of evaluation of the heart and rest of the spirit. Not to mention how wonderful and spoiled I am because I am not cooking or cleaning:) The food here is delicious by the way and we have met some of the neatest people! We are really enjoying the time together and experiencing all this with each other.

Tim and I find "the South" a cultural experience in itself :) So we came up with 12 things we thought were funny and unique to Texas that I will leave with you on this next post! :)

-h

you know you're in Texas when...

1. your legs and feet are covered with mosquito bites and fire ant bites

2. meat is served at lunch and dinner every day

3. you are referred to as "y'all"

4. you are passed by a pick-up truck that has a cow bell hanging off the back.

5. the texas state flag is flying at the same level as the American flag (and its ok).

6. there is Texan pride among the people, like its a separate country.

7. the country roads don't have names, just a bunch of numbers.

8. it's October and air-conditioning is still a must.

9. everybody greets you (literally)

10. there are churches specifically for cowboys ("the cowboy church").

11. its not what you know, but who you know.

12. you see the sun every day for at least two weeks (this is a big deal when you live in Portland, OR) :) :)

roadtrip Day 4 & 5

From Arizona we drove to New Mexico where we got to spend the night with some old friends from our Life group! They moved to New Mexico two years ago. We had fun catchin' up and laughing! Thanks Andrew and Jess!!

The following day we drove about 13 hours to our destination of Tyler/Lindale Texas!! We were sure glad to see the Texas state sign! :)

roadtrip Day 3 & 4--Happy Anniversary!!

While in Arizona we spent a day and a half at the Grand Canyon where we celebrated our 4-year wedding anniversary!! It was so majestic! These are just a few of the several we took, the pictures don't give it justice...

roadtrip Day 2

The next day we only drove 7 hours :) to Arizona through California's desert

Once in Arizona we drove to Williams, a small town outside of the Grand Canyon on Route 66 where we ate dinner and stayed the night.

roadtrip Day 1

We began our first day with the longest part of the trip, about 15 hours, to Simi Valley California where we stayed the night with Aunt Susanne and Uncle Irwin. Our time with them was sweetly special as we hadn't seen them since our wedding four years ago! We were so blessed by them and their generous hearts!! Thanks Aunt Susanne and Uncle Irwin!! We love you!!

Tim wearing the hat Uncle Irwin gave him :)
This photo is for you Dad A! :)

We miss you Kelly, Crystal, Grace, Faith, Luke, & baby Hope!!

...it's just not quite the same here without you!!

(it's too quiet and the pool is so empty :) )

We send our love & prayers for you as God is growing your family!!

we made it!

we arrived safely here in east texas friday night after 5 days of driving and over 2000 miles! :) i'll post pics of our roadtrip later this week when i have more time...

we've had orientation all weekend and tomorrow we start a full day of classes. the next four weeks will be pretty packed full! we are excited to finally be here and experience all that God has in store for us over the next several weeks! it is a smaller group this time with only 14 of us--one is from austria, one from norway, and a few from canada. the mix brings a range of life exprience and background and spiritual maturity--we are eager to learn from others. it is beautiful here and even green (east texas is green unlike the rest of the state :) ). it is not as hot as we remember it from last year in august. our room and classroom are air conditioned.

we have only been here a couple days, but we both continue to feel so at peace here, at peace with what we are pursuing, and this time in our lives. i can't articulate it other than that it feels so right. we don't know what lies ahead, but we know we are where the Lord wants us and trust that He will carry us through and provide. we serve a sovereign God!

we send our love from texas!
t&h

we're off, y'all! :)

The time has come!

We leave tonight headed for Texas for our training!! we will be gone a total of 8 weeks. we are driving so will not have internet access for about a week. the base has internet though, so we will be able to post regular updates during our time away. please pray for our safety, spiritual growth and wisdom during our training, that we will continue to seek God's desires and not our own, and that we will make the most out of the next eight weeks.

Thank you so much for your prayers!!

t& h

the bIG mOvE!!

Finally done!...we've spent the last few weeks packing and boxing up everything we own and hauling it to storage! Its been quite the project that's taken a couple hours here and there over the last month. And we seriously couldn't have done it without the help of our in-town family! Mom Z helped me box our whole kitchen and all our breakables, Dad Z helped us borrow a trailer and haul loads over to storage, and big sis helped me clean the house!! Family is the best! Tim has spent hours at our house finishing up and getting it ready for renters. Applications are in the works, so please pray that God will bring just the right people soon!

my hubby's green thumb

This summer we've been enjoying our first and very own vegetable garden! It's something Tim has wanted to do for a long time. I'm so impressed! He's had a lot of fun tending to it, watching it grow and produce. And of course, we love eating the yummy fresh veggies! The cucumbers have grown quickly and we can't seem to pick them fast enough. We are still waiting on the corn cobs. I guess our renters will get to enjoy them :)

Here are a few pics from our garden:

embraced

We just returned home from our weekend in Bend. We spent lots of needed and valuable time relaxing, resting, and catching up with family. The highlight of the weekend, though, was the time spent with our church family. On sunday we had the opportunity to be their speaker and present our ministry to the whole congregation! Despite our feelings of inadequacy, God gave us the words to say and it all came together. They embraced us. We left overwhelmed by their excitement for us! We could see it...and we could genuinely feel their love. I don't know how to explain the experience, other than it felt like we were admist God's family in the way He has always intended it to be. This church lives out their call to love...to embrace others like He does. We went expecting to challenge them; we left with a lesson in love and generosity.

surviving

I came across this video the other night...created by a past Mercy Ships volunteer. It potrays Liberia's people--beautiful and so full of life--and yet in such desperate need of hope after years of devastating war. I was so touched; and being that it pertains to our future ministry, I wanted to post it to share. It's about 4 minutes long, but so worth the time...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02pqoNxc_ak

-h

missing her...

My twin, my bestest friend, moved to Colorado over 3 1/2 months ago...need I say any more?!!

I love you Nomo!! Can't wait until we can be together again...my heart misses you!

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace."
Numbers 6:22-26

berry sweet :)

We have blackberries in our backyard!! They have really only showed up this year...they are growing from the open field behind our backyard--up and over the fence! I was so excited when I discovered them. I love berries, and blackberries are among my favorite. We also enjoy berry picking each summer, so it was pretty convenient this year :) Some of my fondest childhood memories are berry picking with my dad and sisters. I do, realize, though that blackberries have a tendency to "take over." So, perhaps when we come back in a couple of years I won't be so pleased to find them...everywhere! :) But for now, we're enjoying them...last night I picked the berries and made fresh blackberry cobbler for the first time, served beneath a scoop of vanilla icecream. And this morning we enjoyed our oatmeal topped with berries! Yum!!

-h

camping with Mom & Dad Z!!

WE MISSED YOU MAREA, NOMO,& JASON!!
It just wasn't the same without the whole fam...!! :)