Mission Safari Newsletter, August 2004

Dear Friends,

Exhausted! That is how I would describe our family after this tremendously challenging month of Pre-Field Training in Belgium. We arrived back in the U.S. on Saturday evening around 4 p.m. We "landed" in our hotel room in Atlanta worn out - it didn't take long to fall asleep. We are still trying to adjust to Eastern Time; Sam and Ben have started Sunday and Monday at around 5:00 am.

The month in Belgium was exhausting physically and emotionally. Dorm life with 20 other families, 10 p.m. sunsets, and jam-packed days added to the fatigue. Throw in a quick trip to Nairobi for Marti, and a second Trans-Atlantic round trip for me in the middle of the month and you can understand why we have circles under our eyes.

Emotionally, Belgium was no picnic either. The culture fatigue of a new European city after a year of support raising was difficult at times. Thrown right into the mix of this month was the pain of another miscarriage for Marti. At times it really seemed too much.

But please don't feel "sorry" for us.

The month did have its highlights. The kids had a blast with a bunch of other missionary kids (now known as Third Culture Kids). They also learned a lot about themselves. We also got to enjoy some of the neat things about Europe - the history, the outdoor cafes, the beautiful architecture, and the cooler summer weather.

We also learned quite a bit. We learned to "celebrate failure". We realized through the difficulities of the month that we can not do this sort of thing in our own strength. We tried - and failed. I learned a lot about humility and my weaknesses as I had to ask forgiveness over and over this month as a father and a husband. We failed quite a bit. But we learned to rejoice that God still uses sinners to complete His plans.

We also learned about the need for community in our lives. When we found out that Marti was pregnant again, we were tempted to keep it to ourselves. But we didn't. And our new friends rejoiced with us. And when Marti miscarried, we mourned with our friends. We experienced a tangible expression of God's love for us. As our colleagues surrounded us with prayer, hugs, tears, and gifts, we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that our God loved us.

So, we ask you to rejoice with us - for our fatigue, failures, struggles, and exhaustion. We serve an awesome God!

Praises

1. God answered all our prayers for travel mercies. We did not miss any flights or lose any luggage.
2. The kids learned a lot in TCK school and are very excited and proud to be going to the mission field.
3. More support has come in - we are close to 95% of our needed support.
4. God revealed Himself to us during our pain of another miscarriage.

Petitions

1. Pray for the rest of our support to come in this month so we can set a departure date.
2. Pray for good family time as we go to Illinois and Indiana this week to say "good bye" to our extended families.
3. Pray for all the logisitical details to come together as we make arrangements to ship our stuff to Kenya.
4. Pray that the details for our rental property in Kenya will come together.
5. Pray that we will "recover" quickly from our jet-lag!

Blessings to you in the name of our Awesome and Loving Father,

Tim

Comments

[Andrew]

Rest assured of our prayers!

[Joe]

Thanks for posting your newsletters online! Praying for you buddy...