Happy New Year
Happy New Year Friends! Our greeting may be a little late but we still hope it’s a good start to this year for you. We’re writing you from a cold and snowy Michigan. It’s been a very mild winter here so far but we’ve had enough snow for sufficient sledding and snow angel making. The girls have gotten used to wearing snowpants and heavy boots everytime we go outside and Abby likes the taste of the snow. We have had a wonderful month here in the north enjoying Holiday baking, family gatherings, sledding parties, ping pong competitions, connecting with friends, ice fishing and the joys of a cozy family Christmas. Tim decided to get a real “Up North” experience and bought a bow hunting license. So for 2 weeks...
We Made It!
Better late than never, right? We figured that we should send out a quick update letting everybody know that we did make it to FL on time and without a hitch. Instead of our bags arriving late, they actually got to Jax before we did. I finally found them stacked in a corner of the baggage claim office. As I write, it’s already been one week that we have been State side. Jet lag seems to have run it’s course and we are really enjoying the fall like weather here in Jax. Wed Dec 7th we are planning to drive to MI and are really looking forward to spending some time with our family in MI. The body of Christ has been so generous to share with us as we set up and resettle in to life here in America. We were able to fellowship with Christian...
Heading to the States
Dear friends, In one week we will be boarding a plane and heading back to the States! The last time we connected with many of you was 2008. So much has happened between when we were home last and now. We are looking forward to connecting with you over the next 6 months. We typically refer to this time as Home Assignment. It is a time to connect again with friends and family, to fellowship together, and be refreshed in the Lord. One of our specific goals is to build up a strong team of prayer partners that will stand (kneel) with us over the next three years. You will be hearing more about this from us in the days and months to come. Our current plan is to arrive in Jacksonville FL on the evening of November 28th. After a week or two in Jax we will...
Praise the Lord
Dear Partnering Friends, Rain has come to the tropics and jungles around our little home. We had a couple months of dry weather which allowed us to enjoy more outdoor things like campfires and road trips that didn’t have to include layers of rain suits and ponchos. But the heat and humidity that came without reprieve was a challenge. Other than seasonal weather we have also had a season of good health for each one of us. We’re very thankful for no colds or malaria for a few months here and just recently have had to deal with the lovely fungus infections of ringworm. 3 of the 4 of us have it but thankfully were able to get the cream needed to start getting rid of it! It’s been a busy couple of months since our last trip out to town in August. ...
Literacy Efforts
Dear friends, We are into count down mode as we look at the next three months of ministry here in the tribe. At the beginning of December we will head to the States to begin a 6 month home assignment/furlough time. We look forward to connecting with many of you and are still in the stage of making plans and getting tickets. We will plan to be in Jacksonville for the majority of our time after a Christmas month in Michigan with my family. If there are ways we can be a blessing to your family when we are in the States we would like to do that. Right when we got back to the village after our time in town, we had ten days together with a fellow missionary who oversees the literacy efforts here on the field. The goal of all our literacy efforts is that...
Big Hearted
“God be gracious to you, my son!” These are the loving words of Joseph to his younger brother Benjamin after being separated for about 15 years. Joseph still cloaked in his Egyptian disguise greets Benjamin with these gentle and kind words, “God be gracious to you my son.” After reviewing this section with my translation helper and a friend of his who had joined us that day, I could tell there was definitely something wrong. My translation attempted to take the term “gracious” and describe it with a phrase about God’s nature or His perspective directed towards Benjamin. The nature of the term gracious is of course incorporating God’s unmerited favor or pity turned in our direction. There is no one word...
The Unpredictability of Life
You never know what a day might bring. Do you believe that? Of course you do, you have all had those days when, you know the neighborhood kids are calling for you at 5 in the morning asking if you are awake yet or not, you get asked to come and help someone who was attacked by jungle wasps and are going into allergic shock, or just before dark you have a 6 foot cobra crawl under your house. Well maybe you have not had those exact things happen to you but each of us are faced with circumstances that we never imagined would be before us the night prior. The real question I think is when faced with the reality of the unpredictability of life, how do we respond? Since our last update in May we have had lots of activity here in the village. Among other things...
The Ullums
Serving the church in Indonesia in partnership with New Tribes Mission.