tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15748131352774499272023-11-16T02:46:46.524-08:00Not Home Yet A journey in Faith, Hope, and LoveThe Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574813135277449927.post-28614757834612403602014-08-02T20:28:00.001-07:002014-08-02T20:30:04.466-07:00Why I Love the Church<div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-hvik9UqYKSc7bMcZ1r5hY7qGc_tbhgPVbYF_mRzzduo0QlOMYZfdAInczzoYUx9ccNNpmu_xzM5x5Kzg_om7eAFtRl7GOUtOJ3Bsp_libqdDMh5jIn3LOWuhKcbzzBgojXnh4Kx3qnfB/s640/blogger-image-1806295469.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-hvik9UqYKSc7bMcZ1r5hY7qGc_tbhgPVbYF_mRzzduo0QlOMYZfdAInczzoYUx9ccNNpmu_xzM5x5Kzg_om7eAFtRl7GOUtOJ3Bsp_libqdDMh5jIn3LOWuhKcbzzBgojXnh4Kx3qnfB/s640/blogger-image-1806295469.jpg"></a></div><br></div><br></div><div>I know that there are a lot of critical things to say about the church these days (and throughout the ages), but today I want to focus on one of the many reasons I love the church and am so thankful to be a part of a church body.</div><div><br></div><div>Jesus is trying to break some faulty beliefs in my life. For a lot of my life, instruction or commands in The Bible came across to me as another things I needed to do to please God. No matter how many times I heard from wonderful pastors that these commands are <i>for me</i>, it just didn't click.</div><div><br></div><div>Until more recently, when I am starting to see the grace in His commands.</div><div><br></div><div>"And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near." Hebrews 10:25</div><div><br></div><div>In these past few weeks I have seen why this instruction in his Word is so important for us.</div><div><br></div><div>Some of our best friends were in the hospital this week with their 4 year old son with cancer. It has broken my heart to be thousands of miles away and not be able to offer hugs and meals.</div><div><br></div><div>But I have watched God's beautiful church (the people, not the building) surround our friends, love on them, offer them words of encouragement, pray for them, and one of my dear mentors started a meal train to get food to their family so they can focus on the important things as their son goes through treatment. <i>Beautiful</i>.</div><div><br></div><div>Early this morning a wonderful woman and mother in our church here in Ibarra left this world and went to be with Jesus. I heard the team of young missionaries we live with get up early and head out to be with the family. They are just now starting to trickle in at 9:30 pm with red eyes and full hearts after a day of helping the family put together the funeral in 12 hours. <i>Beautiful</i>.</div><div><br></div><div>Over and over again Kurtis and I have been surrounded with love and support in all the ups and downs in life, including the adoption of our son to our move to a new country. <i>Beautiful</i>.</div><div><br></div><div>I have many people in my life that I care for that do not have this blessing. They are not a part of a church family that can offer love, encouragement, and hold them up when they don't feel they can go on. This breaks my heart.</div><div><br></div><div>I am thankful for God's beautiful church and the way it can be tangible Jesus here on earth. I am going to bed tonight knowing that my dear friends know they are cared for, a grieving family has seen God's love through His' people, and feeling the prayers and sacrifice of so many who many who give so that we can be here in Ecuador. </div><div><br></div><div>We are so blessed to be a part of the church and I am ever more grateful for gifts in God's Word.</div><div><br></div><div>"Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near." (Hebrews 10:23-25 NLT)</div>The Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574813135277449927.post-35743905432775377872014-07-07T13:46:00.000-07:002014-07-07T13:46:21.759-07:00Longing for Home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Holidays are hard away from family. What surprised me is that this 4th of July was one of the hardest so far! It may be due to the fact that we just had my mom, Kurtis' sister, and Kurtis parents come to visit us over the past month, and they were all back at home in the states, and we were here. Don't get me wrong, I love Ecuador. It is a beautiful place with lovely people, but I don't think it will ever truly be home.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">But in truth, neither is Arizona. I read a passage from CS Lewis recently where he talked about our longing for home and our constant desire to fulfill that here on earth. We go through great effort to create special moments, but they never quite live up to what we hoped for. We remember times with our family in the past and it brings back warm feelings of home, but when we try to recreate those moments or create new moments, they are never perfect, they never quite feel like home to us. The reason being is that we were not created for earth. Our real home, our real longing is for heaven.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Philippians 3:20 says, "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ."</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">This really resonated with me on our last trip back to the states. We were so excited to be with friends and family, but in the midst of our joy, there was still pain and struggle. We still had work to do, time constraints that kept us from seeing so many people we wanted to, there was still brokenness in families, and our best friends found out the day before we got home that their son Moses had cancer. We were so thankful that The Lord allowed us to be home with our loved ones, but honestly, I am thankful that it isn't really home and that my heart longs for my real home in heaven with Jesus, where there will be no more tears, no more pain, no more cancer!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I had a very strange experience last night while I slept. I am not sure if it was a dream or was real, but I was dying. I could feel my heart failing me. I could feel my spirit separating from my body and I was whispering to Kurtis "I love you" over and over. The thing that surprised me though, was that I wasn't scared. I was excited! I felt ready to finally be with Jesus in my home that I was created for.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Obviously, The Lord did not take me to heaven last night, but it was a reminder to me that I need to keep living with eyes that are focused on Him, my true home, and do my best to do His work with the time he has given me in this foreign land.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">C.S Lewis (excerpt from Mere Christianity)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same."</span></span>The Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574813135277449927.post-41621332414394405922014-02-13T12:39:00.002-08:002014-02-19T11:24:11.227-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We were so confused! </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We had just gotten word from our supervisor and the CEO of our organization that the Manta church plant (our group) had been canceled or delayed for at least a year.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">There just wasn't the amount of young missionaries necessary to form a whole team.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We had sold our things, raised a lot of money, and moved our family down to Ecuador to help plant this church and in one conversation we realized this may not be why the Lord brought us here. “Why Lord? We know your plans are good; this one just doesn’t make sense yet. We’ll trust you and wait for your answer.” </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">In the midst of it all, God gave us a peace that there was a specific purpose in this change. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">This all happened right before Christmas. We went through the next month with little idea of what we would be doing in the coming months/years; trying to brainstorm ways we could be useful for Extreme Missions and Christ’s kingdom. Some possible options on our plate were to help with another church plant already in process, or travel home for an extended time to wait for the next opportunity to plant a church with Extreme. Flexibility has definitely been the word of the year for us!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">On Saturday, January 18th, we got a Skype call from our Supervisor. He asked us if we would be willing to jump in as the Cluster Coordinators of a team that has just recently started their work in Ibarra, Ecuador. Due to health reasons, the current Cluster Coordinator family needed to relocate so their team was suddenly in need of a support family.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The former Cluster Coordinators are dear friends of ours, so the news was difficult to receive. We were grieved for them, and yet had peace about filling their position, with great desire to honor the work they put in before us. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We needed the Lord to confirm it for us, and He did in a beautiful way. Throughout his young life, Malachi has had a love/hate relationship with prayer. He loves it when it extends his awake time before bed. He hates to take it seriously, and he never likes to pray out loud. This time, Kurtis asked him just to pray for our family in his heart, and he shocked us with this one: “Jesus, please help Mommy and Daddy and Kai Kai know what to do. Aaaaamen!” </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">And we did know what to do. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">It all started making sense now. This is why the Manta team didn’t come together. The amazing thing is, there are 4 people on the Ibarra team that were originally scheduled to be on our team in Manta, so we had already started developing relationships and praying for them. Even crazier is that most of the others were with us in language school or studying ministry on the same campus during our time there. So we already had this amazing base of relationships with this team before we ever knew we would be working with them! How cool is that?!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We packed up all our belongings (with the help of friends who showed up at just the right time without us asking) and in 2 days moved to Ibarra, Ecuador on Monday, January 20th. We were welcomed by our new team with a beautiful lunch they had prepared, flowers, and many welcoming hugs. It was overwhelming. This team is the one who was experiencing a difficult time, but still they chose to bless us with their welcome. What a special day!</span><br />
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Pastor, Pastora and some of our amazing team fixing us lunch on our first day</div>
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A very warm welcome!</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We are now the Cluster Coordinators (or Support Family) for 6 amazing young missionaries, with four more coming in May. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">These missionaries have a great passion for the Lord and have a true desire to share His love with the people of Ibarra.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We have learned a lot from them in a short few weeks and we are excited to grow alongside them as we seek to follow the Lord’s call together.</span><br />
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From left to right: David, Chase, Priscila, Pastora (Astrid), Jared (Pastor & Pastora's son), Rebecca, Abigail (you may recognize her from our first newsletter), Pastor (Yoan), Michaela, & the Strunks</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We are also working alongside a Pastor and his family, who are incredible examples of what it means to follow Christ and who we are fortunate to consider friends. Another blessing in this is that Kurtis became good friends with Pastor Yoan while we were studying language at the seminary. Yoan was one of our language professors. He and Kurtis bonded through Jesus and playing basketball, and somehow a lack of a common language did not seem to matter. We are very excited to support this family in ministry over the next two years!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">In case you are wondering, Ibarra is a beautiful, small city surrounded by mountains and an active volcano called Imbarbura! The weather is a bit warmer than Quito, but not bad at all, especially compared to the beautiful oven we lived in for the past 15 years in Arizona. Ibarra has beautiful lakes and very kind people. We are looking forward to getting to know the city and the people better and can’t wait to show any visitors around! Hint, hint…. ;)</span><br />
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A local park with a view of the volcano</div>
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Malachi thinks it is pretty cool here ;)</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I will write again soon to fill you in on all we </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">will be doing here.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">It is such an honor to be doing the Lord’s work with this team in Ibarra!</span></div>
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The Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574813135277449927.post-29454289507031634772014-01-04T20:11:00.001-08:002014-01-04T20:12:26.553-08:00The Holidays Abroad // Part 1<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The holidays are always the hardest time to be away from family, whether you are a few states or a few thousand miles away.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">As we faced the upcoming holidays here in Ecuador, we received some very good news.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We had visitors on the way!</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">What a blessing to have family near on our first holidays away from home (really in all of our lives)!</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Yes, we have been super spoiled!</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It started with a visit from Kurtis’ sister, Kristina. She showed up the day before Thanksgiving with suitcases packed with treats from The States! She even traveled with a cooked turkey breast and a homemade apple pie! (Unfortunately, the turkey didn’t make it through customs, but thankfully the delicious pie did)!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kurt's sister, Kristina (or "Aunti Na" as we like to call her) and Malachi, exploring the equator together.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Malachi loves to watch "Happy Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown" and </span>because<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> of this he is SURE that Thanksgiving meal consists of popcorn, jelly beans, and toast! Well, Auntie Na came through and brought us Jelly </span>Belly's<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> from home! We were all pretty excited for him to enjoy them, but felt so bad when the first Jelly Belly he popped in his mouth was a ho cinnamon one. Boy was he surprised! I am sure it is not what he imagined when he was thinking about jelly beans! He quickly got over it, though, and enjoyed the rest of the bowl with us.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our best "Charlie Brown" faces. He's kind of a grumpy dude!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Thanksgiving day I looked up "Thanksgiving meals made with Chicken" since we were short some turkey and found a great recipe that did end up tasting quite Thanksgiving-ish. We enjoyed the day, Skyped with family, and thought much about all we have to be thankful for. It all came together great and it felt like home! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Auntie Na's famous zucchini stuffing and traditional green beans :) Yay for big suitcases!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We even got to set up the Christmas tree while Kris was in town!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A little sibling rivalry</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can't set up the tree without some delicious hot chocolate!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Kris was still in town, we had the privilege of spending a really big Quito holiday with our neighbors. The 6th of December is Quito's birthday and we found out that birthdays are a really big deal around here! There were fiestas in the streets a whole week before the actual day; people in party busses, celebrating the birth of their town. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the night of December 5th, our neighbors took us through Quito to see all the fun. We visited the beautiful historic center of Quito. There were people everywhere! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was fun to witness all the excitement. </span></div>
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Exploring the city</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We ended the night with a late dinner (11pm) in a beautiful restaurant at the top of a local landmark hill. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We enjoyed delicious empanadas, potato soup, and even tried hot chocolate with cheese. Yep, you read that right. Cheese! I'll just say I prefer to stick with marshmallows :) It was a beautiful night and we are so thankful that Kristina got to be a part of it with us</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">On the 6th of December, we were treated to a personal parade in our own little neighborhood! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Birthday, Quito!</span></div>
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The Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574813135277449927.post-18872705943476398422013-11-25T18:21:00.001-08:002013-11-25T18:23:18.013-08:00This is not about Ceviche...<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I</span>n a few short hours I will be venturing in to the kitchen to make a traditional Ecuadorian soup called Ceviche. For those of you that know me, this may come as a bit of a surprise. For one, I have never been much of a cook, although I do believe God is changing that in me. I have really been enjoying sharing the responsibility of cooking with our roommates and will soon be the main cook for 14 people almost daily. The other reason this might surprise you is that I am not a very adventurous eater, especially when it comes to seafood (cheviche is made with shrimp…), but I really enjoy this soup and have been a little more open to seafood lately. Good thing because we are moving to the coast in 6 months.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This blog post really isn’t about seafood or cooking, though. One too many surprises? :) It is actually about friendships. Kurtis and I have been blessed over the years with many wonderful friends. God has always placed people in our lives that we can laugh and cry with and we are so very thankful. In the decision to move to Ecuador, leaving our friends was one of the hardest parts. We miss you all so much.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But… God is so faithful. We have moved in across the street from probably the nicest family in all of Ecuador :) Our friendship began because our boys are close in age and really enjoy each other, but it just so happens that us parents really enjoy each other also (even with the language barrier). Hey, if the kids can do it so can we!</span></span><br />
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Doesn't Malachi just seem to fit right in :)<br />
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Boys will be boys</div>
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Giddy up</div>
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Friends<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHlMOQyLLu_YUo3Ti2RhIVcm1B7BPPB4jhFVv5szB-5Bz-5hlOw3TNwTiRhBxE9z76sZiGCvQqXltnseOCjosYJqBXgeUyOy02GkXDbgh1Yj3dwSW9TLiqbhdnmo2wXhrzKrbdH6NzaVI5/s1600/IMG_2947.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our neighbors have blessed us by bringing us many traditional foods to try, letting us practice (and at times slaughter) their language, they have welcomed us in to their home on traditional holidays with their extended family, and have supported us through this time of huge transition!</span></span><br />
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Enjoying a traditional Ecuadorian dessert made by our neighbor</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">A few weeks ago, my friend (and neighbor) Elizabeth invited me over and taught me how to make some wonderful traditional food so that I can have some meals under my belt when I am cooking for a team that will be 1/2 Ecuadorian. We made Ceviche (as mentioned above), Fritada (a traditional pork meal), tortillas de papas (fried mashed potatoes with cheese in the middle), fried plantains, and a sweet dessert with </span>tomate de arbol<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">After spending the morning watching/helping a pro, rapidly writing notes (</span>admittedly with mixed spanish and english depending on the facil-ness of the word) and<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> stumbling over my verb usage, Kurtis and Malachi joined us and we all shared lunch together. It was a beautiful time and a day I will not forget. And everything was really delicious (muy rico)!!!</span></span><br />
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Lunch time!</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am so thankful I serve a God who cares about the little (or big) things, like our need to be relational and the importance of friends. Thank you, Lord for providing in each moment.</span></span><br />
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Our neighbor Elizabeth and her daughter Emalia </div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In less than a month we will be leaving our current house to move in to the home where we will be staying with our team while they are in language school and seminary classes. Thankfully, we are still close enough that we will be able to visit our neighbors, but we will soon be moving far away. It will be hard to say goodbye to such sweet friends, but we are trusting that the Lord will provide just what we need in the next place we live and I pray that we can be that kind of neighbor to someone else no matter where we live. We have learned so much from them!</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are so thankful for Pablo, Elizabeth, Emalia, and Andres!</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>The Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574813135277449927.post-11264342953631444562013-09-28T11:39:00.002-07:002013-09-28T11:39:55.810-07:00A Day in the Life of The Strunks<br />
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A view from the Basilica in the historic area of Quito</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">We have been in Quito over a month and we would love to share with you what life looks like for us now... </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
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Nazarene Theological Seminary where we attend our language classes</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Monday through Friday Kurtis and I wake up around 6:30am (4:30am for our Phoenix peeps) and get ready for language school. We are attending classes at the nearby Nazarene Theological Seminary. The Seminary campus is about a 15 minute walk from where we live and we walk most days. Quito is very hilly, so this started out as a pretty big challenge, but it is getting a bit easier and I am thankful for the time of forced exercise, and for some moments with Kurtis. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We are in a class with 5 other students who are at a beginning to intermediate level in Spanish. Our “Professora” speaks very little english, so we are doing our best to keep up! We started class a couple weeks late due to the issues we had with our Visas, so we have had a lot of catching up to do. We have about 1 month of language school down, and we are finally feeling like some parts of it are starting to click (at least in understanding. Speaking it is a whole </span>other<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> story)!</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While we are in class, Malachi spends time with one of our wonderful roommates, Angela. He has a lot of fun with her! They color, read books, and go to the park that is in our neighborhood. We live in a gated community in Quito that is nice and peaceful. Thankfully, we live on a street that is not a thru-street, so Malachi spends a lot of time outside playing with us! We love being outside! Its beautiful here. <br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When class lets out around noon, Kurtis and I make the walk back home. We get home in time to eat lunch with the kiddo :)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span>Our awesome roommates: Angela, Trevor, and Kindra</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can find a lot of the same foods here as in the States. We shop at a big store called MegaMaxi which is comparable to a Super Walmart. There are a few interesting food items we have experienced her so far: we drink milk out of a bag, avocados and bananas are cheap and delicious, and there are many delicious fruits here. Most interesting and surprisingly delicious fruit: Granadilla (also known as “snot fruit”). It's gross to look at but yummy to the tastebuds!</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After lunch it is time for Malachi’s nap. This is Kurt and my time to get work done, do devotions or rest. Our brains are pretty full after studying a different language all morning! Once nap time is over, the rest of the afternoon is spent having fun with Malachi at home or at the nearby park.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Malachi has made a great friend across the street named Andres. He is 4 and they have a blast riding tricycles around the neighborhood. We get to spend quite a bit of time with his family while they play, which is a great opportunity for us to practice our spanish!</span></span><br />
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Having fun at the playground in our neighborhood</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For dinner, we take turns making meals with our roommates. Our roommates are all great cooks! We have enjoyed yummy foods from Peru, Ecuador, and the U.S. We really enjoy dinnertime with our roommates. It is a great time to sit together and learn more about each other. We are very thankful for their humor and willingness to teach us during this time.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once Malachi goes to bed for the night, the homework begins for us. Some nights we have just a few things to do, other nights, we feel a bit overloaded; but we get as much done as we can. We are anxious to be able to communicate with the people here. Pretty soon, our roommates are going to start speaking only Spanish. That will be a challenge, but will be really good for us!</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the weekends we enjoy time as a family. Next weekend we are headed to Ambato, Ecuador to spend time with another cluster coordinator family and their team of young missionaries. We are excited to see a team in action!</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We will be in language school for about 3 months and then in mid-January we will welcome our team to Ecuador! We ask that you pray for our team as The Lord gathers and prepares them for this ministry. If you know anyone who has a call to missions, please let us know if you think they might be interested in ministering in Ecuador. We would love to talk with them!</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span>Our trip to The Basilica in Quito</div>
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The Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574813135277449927.post-78492902669538045302013-08-23T07:54:00.000-07:002013-08-23T09:48:13.351-07:00Snapshots and Tidbits<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: large;">(Or at least
that was my intention when I started writing. Maybe we should re-title it, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">"Almost Every Detail From Our Trip Thus Far")</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Thursday, August 22nd</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We arrived in Quito late last night, and after a very windy
ride to our new home for the next few months, we settled in for a good night’s
rest. Today we have just been
taking it easy and trying to get things somewhat organized. I have a feeling that we will just
start to feel settled when we will head to the next place!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We wanted to share just a few of the happenings from the
past couple days:</span></div>
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We met our family at Garcias for lunch before we headed to the airport on
Tuesday. This worked out
wonderfully! We got a whole side-room to ourselves and we really loved the time with our family!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Precious moments with our amazing family</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">At the airport we were informed that we would need to pick
up our checked luggage in Houston for our layover. (I had called the airline earlier and was told they would
keep it for us overnight since we were on a long layover). It was a little stressful trying to
figure out how we were going to handle 6 large checked bags, 3 carryon
suitcases (all too large for Malachi to help), 3 extra-stuffed personal items,
a car seat and a 3 year old! But
with no choice, we had to make it work, and God provided.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Both of our dads prayed over us before we left and our youth pastor from our teen years, Kevin McGinnis (also part of our extended family) prayed over and anointed us.
Very special moments for us all!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Goodbyes were said and we tearfully trekked through the
crazy world of airport security.
It was an extra blessing to have Kristina and Donny, Kurtis' sister and brother-in-law (both
flight attendants), come along with us to help us manage it all. We also enjoyed getting to be with
family a little bit longer.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYtd9qVGtmwVLrnA_dLvVO7LkXV7vK8EcJMWsEtBjgG65XULAJ3wrEPKvoyn9ZRalqNHFzHoS8Dn3X2JSSkhPR8dOBDFS6P6RxHmqCgOj5NdTGhaN7xg2mHY1XEhftQNsOBqSbHkNXyV3S/s1600/IMG_2460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;">Malachi did a GREAT job on our flight to Houston. Thankfully it was a short flight!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Staying entertained</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After tracking down all our luggage (we were relieved it at least made it that far), we waited about an hour for our shuttle to the
hotel. Although we were tired and
hungry, we both had an understanding that this was just a little preparation for what we could experience in a new culture.
So we embraced it as much as possible and entertained the little guy as best we
could. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We rested well at the hotel and then had to check out by
1pm, so we slept in, swam a little, packed up and headed back to the airport
on the final part of our trek.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We got to the airport about 5 hours before our flight. I have to admit, I was a little
frustrated we had to go so early, but it ended up being a good thing. We had time to put important Ecuador
contact info in all of our luggage, Malachi and Kurtis got to go on a fun tram
ride for free, and we were able to sit down and eat some of the best airport food I
think we've ever had! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Getting all of our bags labeled with S.A. contact info</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiabZ5jgimJ_cD8F9GBT1cezvaddL4xxR7beI5pkGLSdhNgGmbKqMsQjLiAN7v_N4vD31FvwcflH5NzAYyNNvRylpn0Po8FTPJynG1sd683xxbbqTPcsO2jkU5pbfMJtbirp1ncFESwm-Ki/s1600/IMG_2492.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiabZ5jgimJ_cD8F9GBT1cezvaddL4xxR7beI5pkGLSdhNgGmbKqMsQjLiAN7v_N4vD31FvwcflH5NzAYyNNvRylpn0Po8FTPJynG1sd683xxbbqTPcsO2jkU5pbfMJtbirp1ncFESwm-Ki/s320/IMG_2492.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Kurt & Kai Kai enjoying the tram</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Although
our large amount of luggage was hard to manage, God always provided a cart (or
2), or a person to help us any time we needed it<span style="font-family: Wingdings;">!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuXdzRTGOtLcaQyd-Nyxom7rCoR7sNK2UnKawypCp2vDydPvawwaRM9ZqBjDBlu2Xgpc3gxsJUB6iXjEww0wq6I6EluAUDYYZiQiEqOh01ocd_OVz_QrrMb6p8h-Rkmm2HuY8c4_gaH2Td/s1600/IMG_2496.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuXdzRTGOtLcaQyd-Nyxom7rCoR7sNK2UnKawypCp2vDydPvawwaRM9ZqBjDBlu2Xgpc3gxsJUB6iXjEww0wq6I6EluAUDYYZiQiEqOh01ocd_OVz_QrrMb6p8h-Rkmm2HuY8c4_gaH2Td/s320/IMG_2496.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A sweet moment</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We boarded our flight knowing that we had a 5 ½ hour journey ahead and we were a little nervous about how that would go with the little
one. He once again did great,
which was impressive because he was exhausted and in rare form by the time we
got off the plane. We needed all the patience we could muster as we stood in
line after line to get through immigration and customs. The poor kid was just done by then!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Two of the missionaries that we are staying with from
Extreme met us at the airport.
Definitely a welcomed sight!
They handled finding two taxis for us and joined us on the hour long
twisty-turvey ride home. Malachi
and I were quite a pair in the back seat... </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Malachi doesn’t get carsick like I do, but we have found that when we
mix exhaustion with a vehicle, things can get messy. So I sat there,
holding out a wet wipe incase he couldn’t keep it down, while at the same time
trying to keep my cookies. Sorry
if that is too much info, but I’m glad to say we both made it with all cookies
intact! Malachi fell asleep and
the last 15 minutes of the ride was a breeze. (I am learning I need to always
keep an extra bag with me, just in case).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We are living in a room with a bathroom attached in a
home being rented by one of the missionaries of Extreme. This home is where they hold a 40 day
retreat for young adults with a desire to seek our God’s will. We are so thankful for a nice place to stay with people who can help us get accustomed to life in Ecuador! We didn’t do much unpacking last night,
just crawled in to bed and we all slept like babies!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This morning we woke to cheerful laughing from two kids of
another Extreme family. They are hanging out here while their
parents go on a much needed vacation. We are thankful God provided some friends for Malachi to play with as he gets
settled in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here are two favorite quotes from our travels so far:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">*As we were taking off from Houston:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Emily
heard Malachi say enthusiastically (with a pacifier in his mouth): “Mommy, we are going to die!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Emily:
“What?” </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Removing the pacifier from his mouth, Malachi said: “We are high in the sky!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Emily: "Oh!", with a huge sigh of relief. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Boy the difference a pacifier can make!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">*Kurtis’ favorite quote from the trip: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Emily: (Sternly during final
landing) Put that pacifier in your mouth! Your ears are going to hurt if you don’t suck on it, so suck
your paci now!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">*Just now Malachi walked over to the OPEN window in our room
and said: “Ahhh, what a beautiful
day!” (Guess he appreciates being
out of the heat as much as we do)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We are taking about a week and ½ to get settled and then Kurtis
and I will start language school.
Looking forward to getting familiar with the beautiful city of Quito!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Much love to you all!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6KNZY1WktjbutdJMQES5hPF000jCyCN2LjLInsKpbjq25-gNiqrYEAPNxfbHzImYs5z4DPmgsWQ4IiIhNwwHhy9-vOm_cG2d34_fL8Fb2Mc8_JV4xjY_8kNkYxSx7zia9BSWYe90LX-c/s1600/IMG_2511.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi6KNZY1WktjbutdJMQES5hPF000jCyCN2LjLInsKpbjq25-gNiqrYEAPNxfbHzImYs5z4DPmgsWQ4IiIhNwwHhy9-vOm_cG2d34_fL8Fb2Mc8_JV4xjY_8kNkYxSx7zia9BSWYe90LX-c/s320/IMG_2511.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A view of the city from our new home</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->The Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574813135277449927.post-36836722597599563482013-07-25T22:04:00.001-07:002013-07-25T22:04:37.235-07:00The Countdown<span style="font-size: large;">Every day as I look at my calendar, my heart skips a little beat. Some of it is from excitement for where God is taking us and what he wants to do in us, and some of it is total panic! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">God willing, 9 days from now, we will be boarding a plane to start the actual travel part of this journey! We will be flying first to Houston, staying the night with a 21 hour layover (chosen on purpose for the kiddo's sake), and then we will head to Quito, Ecuador. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">God has provided in some amazing ways to help us get to this point! Thank you to each of you for your prayers, encouraging words, and financial support. I can not even express how much God has used you to encourage us! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It was a year ago this month that we were in Kenya learning about what it means to be a missionary and learning about this intriguing opportunity in South America with Extreme Nazarene. Before we left for Africa, I NEVER would have imagined we would be here today.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This past year has definitely been a journey as we have made a practice of parting with our things that we once thought so important. The surprising part is that it hasn't been as hard as I expected. The things I felt so attached to at the time are now just things. (That isn't true with everything, and the special things we have kept. Don't worry Grandmas out there, we still have lots of stuff for Malachi to look back on and enjoy someday) ;)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Our time has been a bit of a roller coaster. Some days have been overfilled with things we need to accomplish. We created a wall calendar and I love pulling each sticky note "to-do" off as we get things done. There are other days we have intentionally stopped to take time to rest and spend time with family and friends. We are so very thankful for these moments!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">As you probably would assume, our emotions have been the biggest roller coaster. There are moments we feel total confidence that this is where God has us and other times when we wonder what we are getting ourselves in to! There are days when we are so excited to get out there and share the gospel with people, and days where we wonder why we're going to Ecuador to do it! We realize we are not adequate for the job the Lord has given us, so we are trusting Him to use us in our weaknesses, in spite of ourselves, so that God gets all the glory!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We would really appreciate your prayers as we face this next week and 1/2. We are experiencing some nervousness as we anticipate all that is to come before we leave and the transition to a new culture. We will miss our family and friends dearly and we are trusting God for his grace in each moment!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>The Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574813135277449927.post-84684848553095941302013-07-03T21:45:00.001-07:002013-07-03T22:15:25.561-07:00Catching Up<br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One month from today our plan is to board an airplane and start a new journey in Ecuador. ONE MONTH!</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sorry it has been so long since I have updated this blog. Some of it has been because of busyness. Some of it is due to writer’s block. I just haven’t been sure what to write. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a lot of things to write about over the past couple months, but when I’ve sat down to do it, the words just wouldn’t come out.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let me get everyone caught up:</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In March and April, Kurtis and I both finished up our jobs. I said goodbye to all my friends at Helen’s Hope Chest/Mesa United way, and our church did a beautiful “send off” service for us at the end of April (based on the original date we were supposed to leave for Ecuador). I admit that we questioned God some on the timing of it all, since we learned that we wouldn’t be leaving until August. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We moved out of our home of 9 years and got it rented out. Turning it into a rental became doable when we refinanced. Praise the Lord! Even though we sold most of our furniture before we moved out, it was amazing how many boxes we still had to pack up!!! Our parents really helped us through this process and are both storing some of our things for us while we are away.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A wonderful missionary family from our church offered us a home to stay in, free of charge, during the months we are in transition! This has been a huge blessing! Although we have been very busy preparing to leave the country, this home has been a place of rest and retreat for us. If you want to learn about this family’s ministry to pastors around the world, you can check that out here: <a href="http://www.ctenc.ca/wilfmeeds/" target="_blank">The Meeds</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kurtis and I have been spending most of our days working on things like Visa paperwork, applying for the spanish school in Quito, getting caught up on vaccines, writing and sending out newsletters and thank-you’s, and sorting through/selling most of our things. In the meantime, we have an incredible little one who loves having both of his parents home and wants to play, all the time! :) It is a balancing act for sure!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Speaking of that little one, he turned 3 this month! We have had a ton of fun celebrating the day of his birth!</span></div>
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Waiting for a delicious breakfast with the Pescherines</div>
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Riding the Verde Canyon Railroad with the fam. Malachi loved being on a REAL train!</div>
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Spending some time in California and sharing a birthday cake with Grandpa!</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We have been so blessed and thankful to see the funds for our ministry coming in. The task seemed so daunting when we first heard what we needed to raise. I remember saying early on, that although we were overwhelmed by the amount, we were kind of glad it was so big because God would have to get the glory if we raised enough to go. We are at over 80%!!! (There are still times when I think that I can chalk that up to effort, but I am reminded that it is God who calls and I am so thankful that our friends and family have been part of this journey with us!)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because we reached 80%, we were able to buy our plane tickets! There are not flights out of Phoenix straight to Ecuador. We either needed to fly out of a place like Houston or Miami. As I searched for flights, I was hopeful for one with a long layover for Malachi’s sake and I believe the Lord led me to just the right one. We have a 21 hour layover in Houston. Enough time to get a good night’s sleep and some rest before we head to Quito.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We have also had the blessing of spending quality time with family and friends. This has been the most precious thing for us and we are trying to eat up every minute of it! Here are just a few pictures from recent days. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM1FDfxdsDQnCGnpf5Bm0cHqcv4KD5fkVnPibmazy65Ig3PDn51fa6UVDP1zu3_VPX88BkiPrf7Tk7XJZ05uFwqvxAJBV1bFUhEdwCt0tM529iEVVCrPLLA6VuYekEk1IM6eIZzl-d1A2p/s1024/Final+Collage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM1FDfxdsDQnCGnpf5Bm0cHqcv4KD5fkVnPibmazy65Ig3PDn51fa6UVDP1zu3_VPX88BkiPrf7Tk7XJZ05uFwqvxAJBV1bFUhEdwCt0tM529iEVVCrPLLA6VuYekEk1IM6eIZzl-d1A2p/s320/Final+Collage.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thank you for all your prayers over these past couple months and thank you for being patient with us as we process all that is to come. This month is going to be full of last minute preparations along with a lot of “See you later”’s. We are excited for what is to come and grieving what we are already starting to miss. We are thankful we serve a God who can carry us through it all!</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In Christ,</span></span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
Emily</span></span><br />
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The Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574813135277449927.post-82733485475840854912013-04-05T14:01:00.002-07:002013-04-06T09:33:32.519-07:00Rest<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">God has led me to a passage in Isaiah three times in the past two days!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The third one was kind of comical, like “Okay, God. I’m listening.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Isaiah 30:15</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span class="text"><sup>15 </sup>This is what the Sovereign </span><span class="small-caps"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span></span><span class="text">, the Holy One of Israel, says:</span></span></div>
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<span class="text"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">“In repentance and rest is your salvation,</span></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">in quietness and trust is your strength,</span></span></b><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">but you would have none of it".</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I am working on reading through the whole Bible (not in a year, just eventually) and right now I am in Isaiah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I came across this verse the other day and it really stood out to me, because my life does not reflect this right now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was getting all worked up about many things and was NOT finding rest in Christ.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">The next time I ran in to it was later that evening, I was reading a book called “Firsthand” by Ryan & Josh Shook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is about going through a faith crisis and coming out with a faith in Christ that is all your own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This book literally showed up at our doorstep… okay, the churches doorstep with Kurtis’ name on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have really been enjoying it. and then came across this passage again about rest, quietness, and trust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><em>Seems like such an odd concept when I have SO MUCH to accomplish.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Starting this week, I am officially a “stay at home mom”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been enjoying sleeping in a little and have had some great times with family and friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <em>*Let me say that sleeping in and hanging out with friends and family does not characterize being a stay at home mom! This was just the first week.</em> </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"> I have been thinking a lot about how early morning is really the only time I have for some alone time in the Lord's presence, so this morning I decided to try to get up early (6:30am is early when your kid sleeps till 8:00)!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I opened up the devotional <u>Jesus Calling</u>, and today’s was about spending time in the Lord’s presence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then guess how it finished:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“My spirit within you is more than sufficient to handle whatever this day may bring<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">. <em>In quietness (spending time with me) and confident trust (relying on my sufficiency) is your strength”</em></b><em>. Isaiah 30:15</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">There it was again!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time I had a chuckle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He obviously wants to get a point across! Forgive me, Lord, for trying to accomplish this myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Help me to rest in you!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Deployment Update:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> While we will be wrapping up at Mesa 1st at the end of this month, </span>our departure date has been delayed by about 3 months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were supposed to leave at the end of April.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>THAT’S THIS MONTH!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I can’t even imagine what life would be like right now if we needed to move in 24 days)! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, the date has been moved to August 1<sup>st</sup>, 2013.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are excited to have a few more months to get so many things done and this will also hopefully allow us some moments of rest as we prepare for about 10 months of training and 2 years of missionary work in Ecuador.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
The Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574813135277449927.post-26682796992717684572013-03-28T21:43:00.000-07:002013-03-28T21:43:09.025-07:00Wrapping Up A Chapter<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdN5WapsEFZiPXF9n0UWmXFloeBcEodFjytF6DHVMqRswyoE92HE1yXnLvJXadlzhWcirH0ZU-VOOMSpySiL9R-8TnJObZaarIBOU4LRC25SOB-UsqD7eBNkVGihPtpnMav-PURHA96qbS/s1600/HHC+Presentation+075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdN5WapsEFZiPXF9n0UWmXFloeBcEodFjytF6DHVMqRswyoE92HE1yXnLvJXadlzhWcirH0ZU-VOOMSpySiL9R-8TnJObZaarIBOU4LRC25SOB-UsqD7eBNkVGihPtpnMav-PURHA96qbS/s320/HHC+Presentation+075.jpg" usa="true" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">These past few days have been full of hugs and encouraging words, and my heart is full.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the past 2 ½ years I have had the privilege of working for Mesa United Way as the Site Manager of an amazing program called Helen’s Hope Chest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today I turned in my keys and said my goodbyes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Helen’s is a place like no other, where foster families come to shop for clothing and basic need items for the kids they care for (free of charge).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is an amazing place and God has blessed me with the opportunity to learn and grow and lead there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have had the privilege of working alongside wonderful volunteers and staff and many of my friends have found ways to get involved through donations and volunteering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am so very thankful!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you are not familiar with Helen’s and live in the Phoenix/Mesa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>area, you will have to stop by. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And If your stopping by, you might as well clean out your kids’/teens’ closets and bring the best clothing to share with kids most in need.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> (</span>Had to get that plug in there)!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can visit the website </span></span><a href="http://www.mesaunitedway.org/helens-hope-chest-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">here</span></a> <span style="font-size: large;">or visit the facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Helens-Hope-Chest/159162500771090?fref=ts" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Working for Helen’s has given me more of a heart for children in foster care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> My heart is broken for all that these children face daily, but I find hope in a God who "places the lonely in families". (Psalm 68:6)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I am so thankful that God has been showing me his heart for these precious children and I know He is sharing that passion with others too! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has been beautiful to watch churches all over our community step up and take the charge to care for the orphan!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">I don’t know how God wants our family to be involved in foster care in the future, but I do know that this time at Helen's has been no accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am excited to see one day what God has in store.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Thank you, Mesa United Way, for this amazing opportunity!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My life has been forever changed!</span></div>
The Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574813135277449927.post-50549424733719971502013-01-24T11:57:00.000-08:002013-01-24T12:20:56.548-08:00Flexibility<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: large;">How flexible are we? I think we are about to find out! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Something that we have heard from every missionary we have spoken to, or
read a book from, is the importance of flexibility. Not the physical kind of flexibility (which is good, because
I have never been able to do the splits); but the emotional kind of
flexibility. Plans change, flights
are delayed, crates don’t show up for months (I am amazed with your patience,
Gary and Michaela!). You can learn about our friends adventures in Haiti <a href="http://www.krulls.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">here</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, that being said, here are our plans for the next couple months:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">January – April:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">*Potty Train Malachi (It was highly recommended that we head to Ecuador
diaper free)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">*Sell almost everything we own<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">*Rent out our house<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">*Wrap up everything in the states that goes along with moving out of the
country<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">*Raise more money than we can wrap our minds around (I am actually
excited about this, because if we raise the money, we KNOW IT IS GOD!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">*Get together with friends and loved ones <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">*Say many tearful “See you laters”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">April 30: Head to Quito
Ecuador <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">May – June: Spend 2 months in language training on the campus of the South
America Nazarene Theological Seminary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">July – August: Spend 2 months “shadowing” a family that has already been
doing Cluster Coordinator job that Kurtis and I will be doing. We are excited to have the opportunity
to learn what worked and what didn’t work for them. Plus, they have kids, so Malachi will have some playmates!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">September: Attend 1 more month of language school and meet the 40/40’s
(college age young adults that we will be spending the next 2 years with). Spend lots of time getting to know the
40/40’s and travel to Manta, Ecuador to pick out a home for us to live in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">October: Attend “40 Days in the Desert” retreat in Ecuador. This is a spiritual retreat that
focuses on discipleship, prayer, fasting, and evangelism; considered a boot
camp for the rest of our time in Ecuador.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">November: Spend 3 weeks in Cali, Columbia being trained on discipleship
and church planting at the largest Nazarene church in the world. They are serious about discipleship and
we believe this training will be invaluable!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">November 2013 – November 2015: Move to Manta, Ecuador with 10 young
adults to start ministry there.
Set up a household from scratch.
Enroll Malachi in preschool.
Start meeting people around us and trust the Lord to help us figure out
how to reach that city for Jesus! <i>More details to come on what exactly we will
be doing with our time in Manta.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, there you have it! I’m
not even sure that I have everything in the right order, but I believe the
timeline is pretty close. We know
that all of this is in the Lord’s hands, and plans may change at any minute,
but I thought you might like a general overview of what we will be doing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Are you interested in partnering with us? Check out the link below to find out how you can be a part
of our support team! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.extremenazarene.org/strunk" target="_blank">Support Kurtis, Emily, & Malachi in Ecuador</a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->The Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574813135277449927.post-38306505177756511762013-01-19T20:22:00.000-08:002013-01-19T20:22:02.581-08:00Facing Outhouses
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">I was reading a book today given to me by Malachi's
birth family as a birthday gift. <u>The Outhouse at the End of the Earth</u>,
by Sherry Day, is the story of a missionary family who served for many years in
a little village in Papua New Guinea. The story is written by a woman who
was somewhat reluctant to go in to missions and found herself building mud
ovens in the jungle. The story has definitely resonated with my heart
(and also made me thankful that we are moving to a pretty modern city in
Ecuador!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">A chapter that I read today told the story of this
outhouse that was located on a steep hill that Sherry and her family had to use
as their restroom. Sherry started to loath this bathroom as she would
find new bugs, snakes, and lizards in it every time she visited. As she
was trying to become acclimated to this new village and culture she became so
focused on how much she despised this outhouse that she wasn’t able to
appreciate the beauty all around her in this village and the wonderful people.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">She remembered reading a story about Corrie Ten
Boom's time in a concentration camp and how she and her sister stayed in
barracks that were horribly infested with fleas. Instead of letting the
fleas overwhelm her, Corrie's sister started thanking God for the fleas. When
Corrie asked her how she could be thankful for the fleas, her sister reminded
her of 1st Thessalonians 5:16-17 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">"</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">Rejoice always, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">pray
continually, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">give thanks in all circumstances; for this is
God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">So, they chose to thank Him. Corrie and her
sister cautiously held Bible studies in their barracks and had so many people
attend they had to start another Bible study! The amazing part was that
the guards never bothered them or tried to stop the meetings. Corrie
later found out that no guards were willing to go near their barracks because
the fleas were so bad! Something that seemed so miserable was actually
grace from a very loving Father.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">As Sherry thought on this, she started to thank God
for the outhouse and asked Him to show her some blessing in it. As soon
as she was able to pray that, her perspective changed. She was able to
take the focus off of herself and put it back where it belonged; on her gracious
Savior and on the beautiful people He had placed around her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">He even brought blessing through it. One day
she made a trip to the outhouse and found a hen had just laid a fresh egg.
She was so excited about this little gift from God, as she was really
missing familiar food. The people in the village noticed her change of
attitude and excitement and the children started to bring her about 4 fresh
eggs every week. Suddenly, she had a whole new menu of things she
could prepare and enjoy because of this little egg found in the dreaded
outhouse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">This really convicted me today. Am I praising
God for my outhouses? Not nearly enough! I know that our family
will face many difficult times in the future. The transition to a new culture and a new way of life will
not be easy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">No matter where we live, we are all facing some
pretty rough outhouses that are blurring our vision of a faithful <i>God who uses all things for the good of
those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. (Romans 8:28)<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">My prayer is that I will be a person who can praise
God for the difficulties in life, realizing that He has allowed them for a
reason. He’s got a lot of work to
do on me!</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->The Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574813135277449927.post-13643870753746735962013-01-07T14:57:00.003-08:002013-01-07T14:58:36.882-08:00Our Journey in to Cross Cultural Missions: Part 4 (of 4) <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kurtis has brought up doing Missions work a few times in our
almost ten years of marriage. Each
time he mentioned it, my heart jumped (from fear, not excitement). Me, in a different country? No way! Missionaries get killed all the time, you know!? Am I really willing to lay down my life
for my faith? Is God REALLY calling me to do that? I think he might just be okay with my comfortable life.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Plus – I tried learning a different language in high
school. It didn’t go so well.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">By the way, I can only handle normal foods. They eat bugs in other countries!!!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So when Kurtis told me that he learned about an opportunity
that might be interesting, part of me was scared to death and the other part of
me was anxious to go. I know I
just said that the other times Kurtis had brought up missions, I turned him
down right away, but God really has been working on me; opening my heart up to what His plans
are instead of mine. Giving me a desire to live a life of complete
abandon. I have had this desire
for most of my life; just wasn’t always willing to fully let go.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The last day in Africa we stopped by a mall to do some last
minute shopping and use up a few hours before we headed to the airport. I approached my new friend, Rachel
there and asked her to fill me in on this opportunity that Kurtis brought up
the night before.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rachel works for an organization called Extreme
Nazarene. They are a church
planting organization that has been focusing its efforts on South America. This organization takes very seriously
the call to “Go into all the world and make disciples”. They are starting in South America and
hope to take what they have created with the Lord’s leading and share the
gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible all around the world.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The way they go about doing this is what really resonated
with our hearts:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">They take 40 young adults (18-30 years old) from the United
States, and 40 from South America and put them into groups of 10. Each group of 10 is assigned to a
town/city in South America and their mission is to go out in to the community,
share the hope of Christ with those they meet, build relationships with them,
study God’s word with them, and in doing this; make disciples of Christ. Through this effort, a church building
will be built for these people to attend, grow, learn, and disciple
others. It is a beautiful plan
that has had a lot of success. People are hungry for the Lord; they just need
someone to tell them about Him. “Beautiful are the feet of those who bring good
news!” Romans 10:15</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">With each group of ten, there is what is called a Cluster
Coordinator Couple. This is a
couple or a family that will live with the 40/40’s (group of 10) and be there
to support them, disciple them; encourage them, pray for them, and live life
with them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As I listened to Rachel talk about the position in South
America (Cluster Coordinator Family), my heart raced. Every new aspect of what she said seemed to match what was
so strongly on Kurtis’ heart and mine.
We could live in community (living in a house with 10 young adults may
be an understatement of community J)
and truly live life with people as we would have the beautiful opportunity to
seek after Christ with a group of people who truly desire to know Him. We would have the chance to do all of
this in a different culture, where I believe Kurtis’ relational skill will
thrive!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, although God did not speak audibly to tell us to go to
Manta, Ecuador; He definitely spoke and our hearts desire is to follow, with
everything we are.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So after many prayers, quite moments, and tears; we applied
for the Cluster Coordinator Position in Manta, Ecuador and we were
accepted! Lord willing, our family
will be selling most of what we have, and will be moving to a new home for 2 ½
years, beginning April 30<sup>th</sup> 2013!</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->The Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574813135277449927.post-18884889088283843592013-01-05T19:33:00.001-08:002013-01-05T19:33:15.275-08:00Our Journey into Cross Cultural Missions: Part 3 - Africa
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This past year we learned of an opportunity to take some of
our students to Africa on a Missions Training trip. I can’t really describe it, but we knew we were supposed to
go. The day Kurtis called to see
if we could go as sponsors, the leader of the trip said that he had just sent
out an email looking for sponsors. What wonderful timing! :)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We decided to apply and we were accepted as sponsors. There were many times we questioned
whether or not it was the right thing for us to both go and leave our son at
home, but each time we faced that question, we felt an overwhelming sense that
we were doing the right thing, so we continued down that road with a mix of
excitement and fear. What if
something happened to Malachi while we were away, or what if something happened
to us? Could this really be the
best thing for him?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
The conclusion we came to: Following God’s will for our family is the very BEST
we can give Malachi, no matter what happens. We want Malachi, and any of our other children down
the road, to know that we have given everything to Christ and trust Him with
each moment. (We are so in
need of God’s grace on this parenting business!)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Funds were not matching up with the cost of the trip and it
was iffy whether I (Emily) was going to be able to go. We decided that I would only go if all
of our students and Kurtis were fully paid for, as I did not want any of our 3
teens to miss out on the trip. At
the last minute, we got a call from a friend of ours in a different country and
he told us that God had told him to give a pretty large sum of money for the
trip. God is good! (I have to admit I was a little concerned
about why God wanted us in Africa so bad that he would talk to someone on the
other side of the world to get us there…)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We had a great time in Africa. We spent a lot of time in missionary training (which was interesting
because I don’t think either of us were really considering full time
cross-cultural mission work at this point). I did have some fears that God might be calling us to Africa
(as I made reference to in my first point) and in my journey I spent a lot of
time committing myself to the Lord’s will and asking Him to keep us at
home. Guess I wasn’t <i>really</i> ready to follow His will at that
point.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We loved the people of Kenya, but when the trip started to
come to a close we didn’t feel any specific call to go back. One desire we did have was to help
other people in the states connect with the larger world. We found that getting out of our own
culture gave us a chance to really rely on Christ and understand more what it
means to find our joy in him.
There were many we met who had very little but had such joy. It was very convicting.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On our last night in Africa, as Kurtis and I crawled under
our mosquito net, he mentioned to me that he had learned about an opportunity
in South America that I thought might be interesting…</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->The Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574813135277449927.post-91576112782294307732013-01-03T17:55:00.000-08:002013-01-03T17:55:42.693-08:00Our Journey in to Cross Cultural Missions: Part 2 (of 4)
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“I want you to move your little family to a town called
Manta, Ecuador”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is not as much a straight quote from God as a desire/passion
He has laid on our hearts. I find
it amusing (and amazing) how he got us to this place. Let us give you a little background:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have highlighted below some of the main desires that have
been growing in our hearts over the past couple years. We believe God placed them there and
they are what led us to a decision to move to South America.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">*Living in community: A few years back our hearts were opened
up and broken for the needs of those hurting around us. I (Emily) took on a job at a
place that cares for the material needs of children in foster care, and the foster
care world was opened up to us; thousands of children with no place to call
home. We have a friend who moved to the Ukraine to start an orphanage for kids
living on the street, and our hearts broke for the children there. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Over the years, as we have watched teens grow through our church’s
youth group, we have become frustrated with the minimal spiritual growth we
have seen from teens whose parents aren’t Christians. We have noticed that teens that have Christian parents pouring
into their lives, tend to fair much better after high school and seem to seek
the Lord more in their adult lives, than students who came into and graduated
from the youth ministry without Christian parents. The 2 hours we have with them a week never feels like
enough.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Both of these things have given us a passion for living in
community with people. We believe
that if we could find ways to really journey through life with people, like
Jesus did with his disciples, it could have a much bigger impact for God’s
kingdom; and it would change us as much as anyone else. We have thought about doing foster care
or moving to Ukraine to be house parents for kids, but neither of these ideas have
come to fruition. We have found
living life in community in a society of closed garage doors, to be very
difficult. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">*Authentic Discipleship:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Discipleship is a big word these days. Most churches are talking about
it. The problem that we have
experienced in our attempts at discipleship is that it tends to become a
program where we who are in attendance get the idea we are disciples of Christ just
because we attend. Consequently,
we easily compartmentalize our faith into the church building “box”. We find in the Word that being a
disciple of Christ means we pick up our cross and follow Christ, wherever He
leads; no matter the sacrifice. In
our “Its all about ME” culture, we are finding it hard to break out of that
mold. We desire discipleship that
is radical because it is not about us and what we want; It is all about Christ
and His kingdom. We desire to see
hearts transformed by Christ!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">*Living simply:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">God has also opened our eyes to the excess in our lives and
in our culture. We have so much
stuff and we expect it to fulfill us, but it never does because God created us
to be filled by Him and nothing else. We read an article a few years ago about parents in
the Horn of Africa having to leave children to die on the side of the road so
that they could save the rest of their children as they searched for food and
water in the midst of a drought.
Since reading that, we have had a strong desire to simplify our lives so
we could be freed up to be a blessing to others. (To be honest, the idea of parting with our material things
has definitely been easier to dream about, than to put into practice. I tend to find a reason I need most of
my stuff; even if it is quite a stretch). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">*Learning from other cultures:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We are pretty sure Kurtis was meant for another culture. While we live in a very time-driven,
productivity-valuing society, Kurtis' inner clock and desire for
relationship seems to match most other cultures outside of the United States. We have gained an appreciation for
other world-cultures and have had a strong desire to learn from them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">*Sharing our hope in Christ to a broken world:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We have found it pretty easy to share our faith with the
teens at our church. Of course, it is what they expect. Taking our faith outside of the church
walls and verbally sharing what Christ has done in our lives with others has been more of a struggle,
especially for me (Emily). I tend
to avoid conflict and definitely don’t want to offend people, so I have gotten
in the bad habit of staying pretty quiet about what I believe. Not that I won’t share when asked, but
I have struggled with being the one to bring Jesus up in conversations. God has placed urgency on both Kurtis
and my heart to share his truth with people, both in the states and wherever he
takes us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is out of all of this that we decided to take a trip to
Africa this past summer. That story is next…</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->The Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574813135277449927.post-64826115823667040822013-01-01T20:51:00.000-08:002013-01-01T20:51:26.929-08:00Our Journey into Cross Cultural Missions: Part 1 (of 4)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We remember growing up in church and often hearing people say “God might call you to Africa” and it was said with a lot of fear. It seemed to be the dreaded thing; that God would call us out of our own culture to go into the "scary" world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I find it interesting that one of our greatest fears as Christians goes directly against God‘s call to his disciples to “...go and make disciples of all nations...” (Matthew 27:19).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kurtis and I have been sensing a strong call to move outside of our culture and comfort for quite some time now. We have been at our current church, which we love, for almost 10 years. It has been an amazing place of peace and grace for us as we have been growing in our role as ministers. It is Kurtis’ first place of full-time ministry and is also the church where Kurtis grew up. (In fact, his office is the same one his Dad worked out of when he was Music Pastor at Mesa First).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our families both live within 45 minutes of our home and we are surrounded by wonderful friends.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Talk about comfort zone!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yet, our hearts have been longing to live a life that we read about in ACTS, and we believe we need to step out of our "normal" to live this out. We believe that following Christ is a way of life where people step out, take risks, and love sacrificially and wholly. Where people live life together and carry each other’s burdens. We believe that this kind of life is possible; we have read about it and have seen it in people around us; which has only made our hearts desire it more. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The call from the Lord that I referenced earlier has been around for a while, but I think that we have been in a bit of denial. "Couldn’t you use us in our comfort zone, Jesus? We believe you put us here."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The answer we received is one we never would have guessed:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“I want you to move your little family to a town called Manta, Ecuador” </span><br />
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The Strunkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02297221328410682541noreply@blogger.com0