Milkshakes

Well it's -18 C outside with about a foot of snow and Isaac ask's if I can make milkshakes? That actually sounds good right now even with the freezing temps outside. Unfortunately we are short the main ingredient will have to wait till we go shopping next time.

Talking Hands & Tomato Seeds

As I was preparing to share this Sunday morning a thought occurred to me. I will be honest I haven't found this stage of our ministry very easy, in fact at times it has been downright hard. But I keep in mind the end goal and why we are doing this ever before me to keep me pushing forward. Anyway, back to my thought, this Sunday I'm sharing on a couple of parables well not sure if I can call one a parable or not but it resembles a parable fairly closely as far as I can tell. They are the parable of the Talents found in Matt 25 and spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12. While looking over those two passages I found this passage in 1 Corinthians 12:14-26

"14 For in fact the body is not one member but many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be? 20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." 22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, 24 but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, 25 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it." (1Co 12:14-26 NKJV)

When I stumbled on to the above passage a crazy thought occurred to me, and a possible cause of some of my struggles, I think. God has gifted me with certain gifts particularly in the area of service that involves using my hands and the technical skills I have acquired. Which, I think I could see me as a hand or a part of the hand when thinking of how I fit into the body of Christ. The thing that I'm struggling with is that I find myself viewing myself as being a hand naturally and now I'm trying to do the work of the mouth. A "talking hand" not natural, however God can somehow still use a "talking hand". His power is shown in our weakness, as well as God's sense of humour! As He uses a pilot who doesn't like to talk much and loves hours of solitude, to speak and share His work done through MAF to large groups and individuals. I mean how backwards is that!! So for the time being this "hand" has become a "talking hand" which is not easy but so far it's been doable through God's in powering, and who knows, (other than of course God) maybe my finger tips may yet grow a set of lips. J

I'm a bit scatter brained in my thoughts these days, maybe the lack of sleep has something to do with that, anyway. Someone a while back impressed upon me what seemed to me to be a very profound thought. And so here it is, not directly connected to the above thought but connected in the sense as it brings me encouragement as well through tougher times. There will be times of seeding in our lives. And these times of seeding will not be pleasant. However I have found comfort in knowing that to be used of God we must die just as a tomato seed has to die before new life can happen. Not that I have found it easy but I'm trying not to stop the seed time in my life as it were and let God work and to do so I must die to myself before Christ can bring new life in me and Truly use me for His Glory. For those that don't know me very well please do not miss read this above line and think that I'm a suicidal this is not what I mean when I say I must die to myself. What I'm getting at is my desires, my thoughts, those kinds of things I must let go of so that I can be filled with Christ's desires and thoughts, as we find in John 3:30 NCV "He must become greater, and I must become less important". Thought I better add that last part so no one starts rumours that I'm unstable and ready to end it all. As this couldn't be further than the truth, I love who I am in Christ as He has made me full, not perfect yet but a work in progress. These, the ramblings of my mind, take it for what it's worth. Maybe someone that is struggling through life can find some encouragement that you are not alone and there is a God in heaven that loves us some much He was willing to die for us. And He offers freely to us the hope that passes all understanding.

Blessings from the "Talking Hands" J

Picture from our stay in SK

Family portrait on the banks of the North Saskatchewan

The snow a little deeper then Isaac was expecting. Boots full of snow and wet wet feet :(

Explaining to the kids about proper driving skills to avoid this from happening to their cars :) Not really but they did have a lot of questions on why and how these cars ended up buried in the dirt

Our Families First Geocache find

Jaclynn helping out in the kitchen with supper.

Pictures Taken By my Uncle & Aunt

Week 2

Well Week 1 back home has come and gone. Not an easy one either, Julie and I, mostly me found it just as hard adjusting back to being at home as the adjustment we made living on the road. Anyway I'm finally glad that I am home and looking forward to this week and the coming weeks here in Manitoba. We will be contacting as many of our MB friends as we can to fill our weeks here with visiting and sharing.

No Greater Love

Media Advisory

From Mission Aviation Fellowship of Canada

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 9, 2010

MAF Pilot Drowns in Indonesia Swimming Accident

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia – Benjamin Uskert, 30, a pilot serving with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), died Sunday, November 7, in a swimming accident at a beach near Banda Aceh on the Island of Sumatra in Indonesia.

Uskert drowned while he and another man were attempting to rescue two local teenagers who had ventured into deep water and were swept away from the shore. Uskert was pronounced dead at the scene and one of the teenagers was presumed dead after he could not be reached.

"We are deeply saddened by this tragedy," said Mark Outerbridge, president and chief executive officer of Mission Aviation Fellowship of Canada. "MAF friends throughout the world are mourning the loss of these lives. We're praying for Ben's wife, Katie, and their three-year-old son, Jeremiah, as well as the family of the young Indonesian man."

Memorial services will be held on Saturday, November 13, in Banda Aceh.

The Uskerts are from Indiana and joined MAF in 2008. They attended language school in Indonesia for nine months before beginning service with MAF's Sumatra program in December, 2009. Last Sunday, Ben and his family had been at the beach with a group from a local orphanage.

MAF has provided flights for relief and development agencies in Sumatra since 2004, when the organization played a key role in the recovery efforts following the deadly tsunami that devastated much of the province of Aceh, Indonesia.

Founded in 1945, MAF (www.mafc.org) is a Christian organization that provides transportation for disaster relief work and conducts emergency medical evacuations in more than 35 countries. MAF also provides telecommunications services such as satellite internet access, high-frequency radios, electronic mail and other wireless systems.

Today, about 50 Canadian pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers are among the 450 personnel who serve worldwide through MAF.

For more information, contact Claudia Van Riesen in Guelph, Ontario, at cvanriesen@mafc.org or 519.821.3914.

Video

Video from Kalimantan Indonesia Click here for the Video

More Pictures From Our Trip

The Morning after our Stay at Camp Little Red as a bit of a Family get away

Kids each got to take a turn at driving Grandpa's tractor while Cultivating Great Grandma's Garden

Ready for Take Off

Beautiful Full Moon Casting It's Light Over The Trees

Our Home For The First 6 Weeks While In AB

Julie learning to fish in the Trees :)

Julies First Canadian Fish (She did finally figure out that it's better fishing in the water rather then the trees)

Kids Working on a Bird House Apartment Complex (3 Stories High)

Beautiful Fall Colours over the Elkton Valley, AB

What a Trip !!!

Wow What an amazing trip. God provide continued safety as we covered 13786.5 Km's over the past 11 Weeks. During the 11 weeks God also showed Himself faithful in many other areas as well particularly in providing us with a host of places to stay, wonderful bunch of people to visit and some great meals. God showed us His Love over and over again through the generosity of His people. We will be settling back into home the next day or two, trusting that God will continue to guide and direct our lives as we share with those here in the Steinbach area. Thank you to all that gave of their time and resource these past couple months. And to those we were unable to see on this trip "sorry" we will be returning in the spring sometime planning to pick up were we left off and hopefully be able to see all those that we missed on this trip.

What an Awesome Weekend

Our family arrived in Waldheim, SK on Friday afternoon here at Greg's aunt and uncle's house. The children have adjusted to a new place very well and are having a good time. Especially, once they discovered a basement full of Lego's and two older cousins who will still sit down and play with them. Greg and I have had a busy last couple of days that started on Saturday for Greg with a men's breakfast and preparing for the Sunday service. Then Saturday evening we had the privilege of attending a concert by Potter's Clay. What a great evening of encouragement and great fellowship! Much to my great enjoyment they sang the song "Anchor Holds" during their concert and I will admit that I cried through the whole song. It reminded me of home and of hearing my dad sing the song and how it actually encouraged me to really leave home and head to bible college in Canada. Then today I had the opportunity to share with the children during there open session before Sunday school started. I really enjoyed this as working with children is defiantly my area of passion. After the morning service which Greg spoke at we had a wonderful time getting to know the people as we attended a Church potluck. It was a great time of meeting new people and making new friends! Thank you for all your prayers as we are travelling, trying to home school, sharing about MAF, and finding family time. We are having a blast serving God in this new role as missionaries and feel so blessed to be doing something that we both love and feel called to.

God Bless

Julie