A New Direction...  & Discovering A Calling

The patience of a runner waiting at the starting line in that infinite space of time between ready, set…&…GO, is a little like what we have felt as God’s way of working change in our lives and the latest change in our ministry has been no different.  When we wrote to you in August we shared a little bit of the struggle we had been going through with the radio ministry in Alaska.  We understood that change was coming, but neither of us expected God to change so much for us so quickly.

Starting the beginning of September we were blessed to spend a little over a month getting some counseling and guidance as we worked through all that happened over the last year.  Through a directed Bible study on God’s will and the application of what we learned to  our family and ministry it was clear that He was releasing and redirecting to a new calling.  It was a hard decision to make and we have grieved as we’ve let go of 17+ years serving the Northern Light Network (NLN) in Alaska.

Although it was hard to admit that our call with the NLN was closed, it was harder still to comprehd and discover where God was leading us next, hence the great pause as we drew a deep breath before the word….GO!  In the midst of gaining closure, we had a request to help out a radio station that broadcasts to the Navajo Nation in Tse Bonito, NM.  We were already in California and a work trip to help a friend and former manager was a recommended part of our prescription after counseling.   We also used this as a vision trip to see if this might be a possible opportunity for God’s leading. 

One of the phrases that has resounded through our minds over the past 3 months is “the NEED is not the CALL”.  We saw that there was certainly a need for engineering assistance and technical advice which match Scott’s skills, but there are many places that might meet those criteria.  So, we continued a process of discovering God’s direction by applying with Western Indian Ministries (WIM) – a mission reaching out to the Navajo Nation that has three radio stations in New Mexico and Arizona.

The day before Thanksgiving, we were officially invited to work with the broadcasting division of WIM to assist in the engineering needs of the stations.  SEND International has agreed to help us in this process by allowing us to be “on loan” to Western Indian for the next year, so our support will continue to go through the SEND home office in Farmington, MI.

As we begin this new ministry, our desire is to hear comments and advice from our faithful partners that have prayed for and supported what God has called us to do.  As we seek His confirmation of a new calling will you please pray for us in this exciting journey of discovery?

As this letter is being mailed, Scott is traveling to Petersburg to pack up and move our household to New Mexico; we should be settled in by mid-December.  We will send out new contact information as soon as we have it established.  Our email will remain the same.  For more info on WIM go to:  westernindian.org on the internet.

 

Our Growing Family

One constant through all the changes is the continued growth and change in our kids.  No matter where we are or what’s happening in our lives, the joy of watching them grow remains.  Matthew is in second grade now and continues to do well with his school work in spite of the changing schedule due to travel.  He is enjoying our time here in Arizona with his cousins and is looking forward to living near his friend Aaron once we are settled in New Mexico.  Lydia is so excited to finally be 6 years old and losing her baby teeth just like the other big kids.  She loves doing school, especially math, and her reading is really progressing.   Kara continues to excel in her school work as well and it is a challenge keeping this gifted little girl from getting bored.   Caleb’s curiosity continues to be a challenge to keep up with; especially now that he has his two year old cousin-in-crime to play with.  His favorite thing to do right now is vacuum, which Mommy is more than willing to let him help with.  Sarabeth is looking forward to the end of this pregnancy and having her mobility back.  It has been a good healthy pregnancy overall and we were blessed in finding doctors along our travels.  When not dealing with all the paperwork for changing ministries Scott has been kept busy fixing computers for other missionaries as well as upgrading his own.  His hay fever has gone into overtime here in Arizona so we have been looking for some natural remedies to that.