It's a YES! Jade's Going to Africa!!

The title says it all……….Jade’s going to Africa!  We received a “yes” today from her birth mom, Lacey, for her to move to Africa with us.  For those following along that may not know how big of a deal this is, let me share with you some background to our story.

When Josh and I were married, he already had two children, one of them being Jade.  Although she is “legally” my step-daughter I don’t refer to her as that because I received her into my life as my own daughter.  That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been bumps in the road, but God has used this situation in my life to teach me what it means to love unconditionally no matter the circumstance.  It hasn’t been easy raising a child when both parental sides have different living styles and beliefs.  However, the Lord has used our blended family situation to teach us about love, trust, unity and many other things.  When Jade was 7-years old she began living with us primarily, but it was a huge legal battle to make that happen.  God began speaking to Jade about missions shortly before we went to Africa 2 years ago.  God showed her she was going to feed the poor in Africa and Asia.  A year after getting back from Africa, Josh and I took a trip to Micronesia thinking we might possibly move there, but we didn’t get permission from Lacey to take Jade and Jade wasn’t even at peace about moving overseas at that time either.  This is when Josh and I began to think that maybe we wouldn’t be moving overseas until Jade graduated.

However, as you’ve read in previous posts, God’s been working on our hearts for roughly the past year to continue pursuing what He’s placed on our hearts to do no matter the cost.  Before applying for long-term missions with Iris Ministries, we spoke to Lacey about the direction God was leading our family.  At first she said Jade could go if she wanted and then she said she couldn’t.  She has pretty much refused to talk about it since then, even after Jade shared her heart with her in a personal letter that was mailed to her.  Jade has no doubt in her mind that she is to go with us, and God has given her the peace and strength she needs this time around to leave her other family behind.  We are so proud of the decisions she is making to follow the Lord with all of her heart no matter the cost!

This past week Josh tried calling Lacey to talk about Africa more, as we were needing to move forward with certain decisions, but we couldn’t get through to her as her service had been shut off.  I even tried texting her a few days later, in hopes her phone had been turned back on, to talk about Jade’s summer schedule but I never received a response.  Out of the blue this morning, Josh received a text from Lacey saying that she’ll be using a different number for now and that she can only text not speak.  She had no idea that we’d been trying to get ahold of her this week.  Josh told her that we’re making decisions about Africa and need to know what she thinks.  He asked if she got Jade’s letter.  Her response was, “Yeah, I am letting her go.”  Praise God, praise God!!  Talk about no struggle whatsoever!  God faithfully answered our prayers!  We weren’t even expecting an answer, just more conversation about it, so we are in complete awe of God’s goodness and preparing/speaking to hearts behind the scenes.  God has given us both the word “effortless” and that He is going to ask us to do things that may seem impossible but are quite effortless, in a sense, as He prepares the way.  We are thankful to Lacey for trusting us to take Jade and for her selfless act to release Jade in our care in the years to come, as we know the decision was not an easy one.  God wants you to face the “giants” in your life because He’s got something amazing planned on the other side!!

Bless you all as you begin to face those giants and move

the mountains in your own life with great faith!

Now Boarding Flight #0230 to Johannesburg - Sept 5th

About 1 year ago some dear friends of Josh’s parents felt led to donate $2,000 towards our missions.  It’s like they knew we’d be going before we even did, ha!  We’ve been holding onto those funds, not really knowing when the transition would take place to serve overseas, especially since we had a big hurdle to face – getting permission for Jade to go with us.  We talked many times about God’s timing and that if he wanted us to wait until Jade graduated from high school then we would.  Well, if you’ve been following along with us on our journey then you know by now that God’s timing for us is now – He is calling us to GO now!  Iris has found a temporary house for us to live in when we get there, and after we spend some time on the ground in “exploratory mode” we’ll seek the Lord for further direction on more permanent housing.  It’s become very real as we purchased our first set of 6 tickets from Seattle to Johannesburg this week on Wednesday, June 11^th!!  Some of you may have already seen our “leavin’ on a jet plane” video making this announcement.  We depart from Seattle on September 5^th, will arrive in Dubai on the 6^th and stay overnight, and then fly to Johannesburg on the 7^th.  Again, we want to thank everyone that has poured finances and prayers into making this possible.  You are sowing into God’s Kingdom and are just as much a part of this journey that He’s placed us on.

To be transparent, we purchased a ticket for Jade in faith without getting an official answer from her birth mom, Lacey, for her to go with us.  From the very beginning Josh and I have been at complete peace and confidence that God was going to get us over this hurdle (move the mountain like in Mark 11:23) without it having to be a struggle or fight (i.e. going to court).  Although we had different opinions at times, I never felt right about getting lawyers involved.  Ultimately, we became united in prayer and believed that God would work things out the way we were asking because our hearts were positioned towards Him and we put our complete faith and trust in Him.  Sometimes you have to take steps in faith, with wisdom and peace leading you, so that’s what we did.  Only time will tell…

NO COFFEE SHOP: Many of you know we were in discussion with some others about opening a local coffee shop.  We were nearing some final steps to moving forward.  However, the Lord continued to confirm some “internal checks” we were having, and we were all in agreement to lay this opportunity down.  Although we were excited about the vision and possibility and thought this might be one way the Lord would fund us while overseas, we knew it would not be wise to move forward without unity and peace.

HOMESCHOOLING: The Lord continues to pour out favor, wisdom and clear direction as we continue moving forward in our preparations.  While attending an event where homeschool parents sell their used curriculum, a friend whom I’d been in recent conversation with about curriculums, discovered a STEAL OF A DEAL at this event.  The very curriculum (only one package available) we were considering was on sale for $50, say what?!?!  With so many options, we weren’t certain which curriculum we wanted to go with.  I asked the Lord what to do, and I had peace to purchase it because I could just turn around and sell it (for double I’m told) if we discovered it wasn’t what we wanted.  And to think, I attended this event with the thought that I wasn’t going to buy anything yet.  This purchase will cover Bible/History/Science for all the kids.  Now all we need is Math/Reading/Language Arts/Spelling for Christian and Jade.  In addition, we were blessed with Reading/Math/Phonics curriculum for Gracie at NO COST!  We were expecting our total expenses to be around $1,500 for all the kids, but the Lord is blowing our minds with such favor and generosity from others!

We need roughly $2,100 more to purchase the last 2 sets of plane tickets.  After that we will need funds for visas, luggage and other necessities.

Thank you for covering this all in prayer.  We value, appreciate and love you all!

Keeping in Touch

Here are some ways in which we can all keep in touch while our family is serving overseas.

FACEBOOK: This will be our primary way of communicating.  If you have a Facebook account, you can "like" our page - Mason Family Missions - to receive all of our posts, updates, videos, pictures.

WEB SITE: If you do not have or want a Facebook account, you can visit our Web site at http://masonfamilymissions.blogspot.com/.  This is where we will post detailed events/updates taking place, prayer requests, contribution info, etc.

E-MAIL:  We can be reached via e-mail at joshandmindy@vineyardmeridian.com.  We would love to hear from all of you from time to time!

NEWSLETTER:  You can sign up for our newsletter by visiting our site http://masonfamilymissions.blogspot.com/ and entering your e-mail address in the "Follow by Email" box.  Upon submitting, you should receive a confirmation e-mail containing an activation link.  You will need to click on this link in order to activate your newsletter subscription.  If you do not receive this e-mail, please contact us via e-mail.

Thank you for following along on our journey!

How Are We Being Funded - You Ask??

Many have asked how we are going to be funded while in Africa.  Here’s our honest, transparent answer: WE DON’T KNOW!!  Living a life for/with the Lord is quite the adventure, and He has truly worked on our hearts when it comes to finances and trusting Him to provide - especially when He asks us to do something radical like this.  What kind of father would ask you to do something without providing you with the means to do it?  Not the Father we know and love!

On a more practical level, we aren’t going to just sit back and expect God to do a miracle for us, like grow money on trees!$!  When the Lord calls you to something, He expects you to do your part as well.  We are seeking Him in prayer and asking Him what our part looks like.  So far, this is what we know.

OUR BELONGINGS: We will be selling and/or giving all of our stuff away (except for personal belongings, of course).  Once we have a departure date in mind, we will get rid of our furniture, beds/dressers, dishes, appliances, home décor, toys, some clothes, vehicles, etc.  A family has already graciously offered to store our personal belongings at their place while we are away.  We will use the $ raised to go towards our travel/living expenses for Africa.  Our lease agreement for our rental home ends mid-August so we are also praying into what the Lord would have us do after that.  We can continue to pay month-to-month with a small $ increase or possibly live somewhere else.  Please pray for wisdom in that area.

GARAGE SALE: Currently, we plan to hold a garage sale in July to sell most of our smaller items.  Bigger items will probably be listed on Craigslist as well.  If you have any items you’d like to donate to our garage sale to help us raise funds, we’ll gladly take them off your hands!  Please call us, send us an e-mail/text or private message us on Facebook and we’ll discuss further.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY: An opportunity was presented to us about 8 months ago to partner with 4 others in opening a local coffee shop in the downtown Meridian area.  Josh is the business manager, and so long as God continues to open doors, Josh will manage the business (behind the scenes work) from overseas.  He will receive some income from that which will help partially fund us to live in Africa.  We don’t have a concrete answer yet on how much living expenses will be, but our guesstimate is around $1K/month.  This does not include additional expenses like visas, flights, etc.  Of course, our heart is to go with MORE THAN ENOUGH so that we can be a blessing to others and also pursue building new homes for abandoned teens across the world.  To build a basic home in Pemba, it costs around $20K.

We thank you for your prayers, support and any insight/wisdom you feel the Lord may be giving you on behalf of our family.  God is faithful, that’s all we know, and we’re excited to see how He’s going to provide this time around.  We’ve had people donate large amounts of money already, and we are truly grateful for their generous hearts!  Currently we have a little over $4,000 set aside for Africa.  Please visit our “Prayer” page for more specific prayer requests that we currently have.  We will continue to add to this list as the need arises.  Also, if you feel led to contribute financially, you can visit our “Contribute” page for more information on how to do so.

We are proud to say we are moving to Africa DEBT FREE!  A few years ago I told the Lord that I WOULD NOT move overseas with any debt hanging over our heads.  He has so faithfully honored that, but it took obedience on our part too.  He continues to teach us how to be wise stewards with His money, and I pray that we never stop learning.

Thank you for joining with us in prayer and declaring God’s faithfulness to provide!

It's Official - Mozambique Bound!

It’s official – on May 2, 2014 (exactly 6 weeks after sending in our application) we were accepted to serve as long-term missionaries with Iris Ministries in Pemba, Mozambique (Africa)!  We were thrilled to receive this news, although, it wasn’t without an attack from the enemy.  We’ll get back to that in a minute, but let’s just say the punk “aka Satan” wasn’t successful!

To go back in time, as many of you know we attended Harvest School of Missions in Pemba during the summer of 2012 with 4 of our children.  Prior to leaving, we had prophetic words spoken over us, one of which said that we would not be returning to the States.  At the end of the missions school, even after being offered the opportunity to stay and teach English, we knew that the Lord was calling us back to the States for a season – mainly to see our oldest son, Ethan, graduate high school (which he will be doing on May 29^th).  Way to go, Ethan!

Upon returning to Idaho 2 years ago, we’ve never fully adjusted to being back in the western culture.  There has been a constant tug on our hearts to serve overseas (just like the prophetic word mentioned), but we knew that we didn’t want to just go to go – we wanted the Lord to open the doors for us OR close them if He didn’t want us there.  We also wanted to be sent from our church (Vineyard Meridian) and have our Pastors’ blessings, of which we have received with great honor!  Our journey these past couple of years has been all about surrendering our lives to God and fulfilling His purposes in our lives.  Years ago we became unsatisfied with living a routine life of having good jobs, making $, entertaining ourselves, etc.  We began to reflect on our lives and what difference we were truly making in the Kingdom of God.  Yes, we served and “did good things”, but we felt like there was something more to life than what we were currently doing.  Were we living as the first disciples did?  Willing to give up our jobs, leave everything (family, stuff) behind to follow Jesus?  This was the common question we asked ourselves often.  It seemed impossible that we could live such a lifestyle, because the pursuit of $ is so prevalent in America and was our life for a long time, but our hearts were hungry for a change.  Lord, show us what this kind of life looks like!  This doesn’t mean we’re encouraging everyone to quit their jobs.  We’re simply adjusting our focus in life and following after what the Lord has placed on our hearts to do.  We haven’t a clue as to what we’re doing, honestly, but we trust Him to lead us on this amazing journey of faith with Him!

Some have asked us, “Why Africa?”  Our answer, “Because that’s where God is sending us in this season of our lives.  We didn’t choose it.  He did!  We just want to be obedient and follow His lead!”  Serving as missionaries overseas was not on our radar at all until we began going deeper with the Lord in prayer for His heart for our family.  I don’t remember my dreams often, but I do recall one I had when I was 16 years old.  All I remember was a bunch of houses, like bunkhouses, spread all across this land.  Almost 20 years later, we are beginning to live out this dream He gave me.  God also put overseas missions on Josh’s heart when he was younger, although he chose to walk a different path for many years.  Our heart is to eventually build homes for abandoned, troubled teens (those that tend to get overlooked).  No matter what walk of life they come from, we want to incorporate them into our family and love on and disciple them.  We don’t know exactly what this will look like, and we are trusting the Lord to reveal more to us, but this ultimately is the vision He has laid before us and we are excited to run after it!

During our first trip to Pemba, the Lord told us we needed to get ready to be mobile – one step was selling our home.  We prayed into His timing and on Gracie’s 4^th birthday last April we listed it for sale.  We had 5 showings on the first day, and 4 offers were submitted in less than 24 hours – now that’s acceleration!  We ended up signing on one of the offers and sold our home in August.  We have been renting since then.  We’ve served time on our church’s leadership team, which has been a growing and eye-opening time for us.  In November of 2013 the Lord made it clear to us that we needed to lay church ministry down (i.e. Youth, Ministry School & Children’s Ministry).  My time of serving on the leadership team is coming to an end at the end of this month.  It wasn’t until March 2014 that we made a step forward to apply as long-term missionaries with Iris.  What compelled us to move forward was a documentary that we showed at our church in January called “Compelled By Love.”  While watching the video, Josh kept hearing the words “follow-through.”  One of the questions God asked Josh was, “Are you really following through with what has been in your heart for so long?” After spending time with the Lord, Josh wrote a letter to me expressing his heart from that night.  I, too, was convicted and wanted to radically go after the dream God has placed on our hearts, but I never thought God would send us back to Africa.

Two days later after watching this documentary, the Lord gave me a picture of a globe and told me to spin it and point.  The Lord continually answers our prayers with, “Where do you want to go?”  God is so creative because this is exactly one of the ways in which He confirmed direction for us.  Before I get ahead of myself though, during one of the prophetic classes that was part of the School of Supernatural Ministry I was leading, our pastor asked us to close our eyes.  I didn’t know she was going to walk us through a picture of a sunset, so before she started I got a picture of fireworks.  When we did the exercise I thought the Lord was going to take me back to the fireworks, but I couldn’t even try to force it.  I immediately got a picture of a white soccer ball in a brownish/green field.  I could see my image from behind, but there was no one else surrounding me.  The field looked exactly like one we saw in Mozambique on the base.  As I stood looking towards the field, I asked God what I was supposed to do.  I wanted to see children playing, but that didn’t come to me.  I just saw a completely empty, open field.  He then spoke to me and said, “I want YOU to play!”  When I shared this with Josh later that afternoon (February 19^th) he said, “No way!”  Just the night prior the Lord had given Josh the SAME EXACT picture in his dreams, except the whole family was playing with kids on the soccer field.  He hadn’t shared this dream with me yet, so I had no idea.  The following Sunday we decided to get real creative and throw one at God. ;)  It was at this time that I shared with Josh the picture God gave me of the globe and to spin it and point – that’s where we’d go serve.  Josh suggested the idea of using the Google Earth app on our phones.  What a brilliant idea!  I remember saying out loud, “Okay Lord, if it lands on Africa you’ve got my attention!”  Of course, I was just playing around.  After many attempts of spinning in different directions, starting on different points of the earth, closing our eyes, etc., etc., my results ended up being 15 times on Africa, once in the water near Africa and once in Asia…..ummmm, what Lord?!?!  Josh had the same results – landing on Africa every single time he spun, except once he landed in the Indian Ocean near Africa.  Okay Lord, you’ve definitely got my attention now!  Exactly one month later after getting the picture of the spinning globe, the kids had a similar experience with a floor puzzle called “Children of the World”.  All of the kids were putting it together when Jade suggested they spin it (like we did on our phones) and see where they end up pointing to.  At first I told her no, that we didn’t need to do that for confirmation from the Lord, but then I changed my mind and decided to have some fun with it.  As each child closed their eyes, I spun the puzzle then asked them to point.  I made sure the puzzle landed in different directions each time so they couldn’t “cheat”.  I kid you not, EVERY kid ended up pointing right at Africa.  I have pictures to prove it!!  They got a big kick out of that!

So, to wrap up our first official newsletter for the next chapter in our lives, we want to end by sharing what we currently know about our next steps.  We have committed to serving for at least 2 years in Pemba, Mozambique.  After that, we’ll go wherever God sends us next – whether it’s to another country, to remain in Pemba or to head back to the States, we don’t know at this point.  Our primary role will be to mentor and disciple the teens that live on base, in addition to teaching English and some administrative duties.  Jade is excited to help in the Baby House, Christian can’t wait for more “big” brothers, Gracie wants to get involved in worship/art and Josiah says he wants to “give lots of kisses away!”  The kids are very excited to move and keep asking when it’s going to happen.  Good question.  September has been highlighted to us, but there are some things in question and that could delay our departure until possibly January so we shall wait to see what the Lord has in mind.

We know this journey won’t be without trials or challenges, but no journey is.  We experienced one on the very day we got accepted to serve with Iris.  The enemy tried stealing Josh’s job through false accusations, but we just laughed at the enemy and kept pushing on.  Our security is not found in jobs so the enemy’s attempts to fulfill part of John 10:10 didn’t work on us!  We choose LIFE to the fullest!!  You may also be wondering about our situation with Jade and whether or not she will be going with us.  Before applying, we asked all of the kids how they felt about the possibility of moving to Africa, and they were all excited.  This carried bigger implications for Jade because it would require her to leave her other family behind.  After having a personal conversation with Jade about this, she revealed to us that she wants to go with us 100%.  When she was 8 God gave her a vision of going to Africa/Asia and feeding the poor.  We’ve realized this isn’t just a dream of mine and Josh’s, but a dream for our entire family too.  The Lord continues to ask us, “Do you trust me?”  We trust Him with all our hearts.  We don’t know how things will play out with Jade, but we trust that He will work it all out for good.

The Lord is our provider, our shelter, our refuge, our strength, and with Him by our side all things are possible!  We don’t want to just say these words.  We want to put them to action!  Thank you all for your continued love, prayers and support.  We appreciate you all and will keep you posted on our progress.

Peace, love & joy with you always!

Blessings All Around

If you read my previous post titled “Miracles” then you know how God continually poured into our “wallets” so that we always had enough.  Not only did He provide the funds needed to purchase materials to help complete the church floor, but He went above and beyond that so that we could freely bless our Pohnpeian family with gifts and surprises!!  We had a budget set aside for eating expenses, but shortly after being there we knew that we were going to come in way below our budget, in turn enabling us to bless Every Home for Christ with a new guitar for worship and a sewing machine so the ladies can resume making skirts after not having a machine for 2 years.  There is always enough when He is your source!  I tell you what…. these people have been blessed with the most angelic, beautiful voices of worship I have heard in a long time.  Not just one but ALL of them!!  So, even though we wanted to bless them with a guitar to worship with, they ended up blessing us in return with their gift of music and passion for worship and praise.  They were always doing that……..blessing us, honoring us, and laying down their lives for us – just like Jesus!

On the evening of Wednesday, June 12, the team presented Every Home for Christ with their gifts and we celebrated God's goodness with a night of worship led by Christian and Jonas Jung.  Our friend, Anthony, tested out the new guitar too.  The presence of the Lord was so strong, and even when the power went out inside the church and it was completely dark, we continued to worship and dance and praise Him for how amazing and lovely He is!  In fact, the intensity and passion of our worship through song only grew stronger!  Here is a sample of how pure, beautiful and unadulterated our worship time was: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em6njq1haT0&feature=youtu.be.  At one point, not captured in this recording, I truly believe there were heavenly angels present because there was a distinct sound that I had never heard before.  Many were even overcome by a spirit of joy, uncontrollable laughter and giddiness for the Lord!  Psalm 146:2 talks about praising the Lord all your life; about singing praises to God as long as you live.  The ultimate purpose of our lives is to love and worship God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength – with everything we have and with everything that we are.  Worship is more than just singing songs to Him.  It is a way of living your life so that He can be glorified through you.  It is living a life that continually praises Him and declares His goodness.  It’s more than mere words or a set of religious doctrine.  It’s a lifestyle; a declaration of just how much you love something or someone, in this instance, God.  Through our trip to Micronesia, the Lord gave me a broader understanding of what it looks like to worship Him with my life.  My greatest desire when I pass from this earth is that people will know and say that I loved the Lord with all my heart, mind, soul and strength.  Nothing else compares to that!

I was so blessed to be able to Skype with my mom and kids on the morning of Thursday, June 13^th (Wednesday, June 12^th for them) for 45 minutes on and off.  Sometimes we’d lose our connection, but overall it went pretty smoothly.  Granted, their webcam wasn’t working right so they could only see us but not hear, and we couldn’t see nor hear them.  Josh and I had some fun doing silly dances for them and making funny faces.  In our spirits we could sense their laughter and hearts of joy, and that’s what was most important to us!  I would write short messages on a piece of paper and then scroll it across the webcam so they could read it.  Each child received a personal message so that they’d know how much mommy and daddy loved them, even thousands of miles away.  We were truly blessed by those that cared for our children while we were away.  My heart is full of gratitude for everyone’s willingness to “enlarge” their family with 4 additional kids.  We are also truly blessed to have some amazing kids that were troopers the entire time we were gone.  God really prepared and protected their hearts during our time away.  However, once they saw us at the airport, Christian came running through the doors to greet us!!  Okay, they may have missed us just a little, and we sure missed them too! :)

On the evening of the 13^th, we went on a crusade (outreach) to minister to whoever showed up.  We worshipped and danced with our Pohnpeian brothers and sisters – a dance they had been teaching us since the day we arrived.  They also performed a skit and shared a message about Jesus.  At the very beginning a 10-year old boy named Tyson had been carried over to where we were sitting.  We all noticed him at that point and knew that we needed to pray over him.  He was born blind with eyes completely shut, and he has never been able to see.  He also only walks when inside his house because he is familiar with his surroundings, but when outside he is carried.  He mentioned how “Christians” of other religions won’t pray healing over him because they don’t believe he can be healed, but we told him that God is a God that heals today.  As many of us prayed and declared healing over his eyes, he said that Jesus was with him when we came.  His eyes began to open and things started to take on new form, especially in his left eye.  He began to receive sight and was able to identify the color of someone’s shirt – white.  He could also see the lights that were streamed up above him.  Praise the Lord!  The healing process has begun and will continue until completion!!  Please join us in prayer and agreement that Tyson will receive His full sight!!  He gave His life to the Lord that night, so yes indeed, He has been given His spiritual sight and that’s the most important of all!!

We were honored and blessed, once again, by our Pohnpeian family with a delicious feast that they prepared for us on our last night there.  They roasted a pig in the ground, made some delicious marinades for sashimi and cucumbers, diced fresh fruit for a salad, and the list goes on and on.  They confirmed to us over and over and over again that we are royalty in the Lord’s family, and we are honored members at His banquet table!  They also prepared and sang a “until we see you again” song for us.  They knew it was not a good-bye because we will see them again!  We danced with them one last time – a great way to end the evening!  The following morning we took our family to Kepirohi Falls – some of whom had never been there before.  Many climbed to the top of the waterfall and enjoyed the gorgeous view below.  We even had some daredevils climb the slippery face of the waterfall, about 1/3 of the way up, and then jump.  It was a beautiful and joyful way to end our stay in Pohnpei at the Every Home for Christ base.  Until we see them again……..!

Dinner for 30 & Girls' Night

We had the honor and privilege of preparing a dinner for our Pohnpeian family (30+) on Tuesday, June 11^th.  The roasted dog was delicious….okay, okay, so we didn’t prepare dog, although occasionally they will eat dog here on the islands.  By God’s grace we didn’t have to experience that. We prepared macaroni noodles with spaghetti sauce, roasted/sliced potatoes and onions, bananas foster and Gatorade.  Our buddy, Marick, helped get the open fire going so we could cook in our gourmet, outdoor kitchen.  We formed a buffet line and were able to serve our amazing brothers and sisters for the first time since our arrival.  We are thankful for their humble hearts and being able to receive from us as well and let us serve them for the evening.  It doesn’t even compare to how much they have blessed us, but we simply wanted to bless them in return for how well they have accepted and treated us.

The dinner must have turned out rather well, as some guys ate 3-4 plates full!  We were able to do a little clean-up before they stopped us and told us to leave it there so they could take care of it.  We are the guests in their home and they simply wanted to take care of us.  How overwhelmed our hearts have been by their small and large acts of kindness and service!  They wouldn’t even let us wash our own laundry while here.  They would spend hours washing our clothes down in the river and then would hang it out to dry on the laundry lines.

The Lord put it on my heart to have a girls’ night in our home, so last Sunday, June 10^th, we gathered together and made jewelry – bracelets and necklaces, munched on popcorn and listened to music.  We had purchased some beads and string the other day at the store and thought it would be fun to “teach” them how to make jewelry.  This is how humble their hearts are…………  We had trouble tying off the jewelry and the string kept breaking.  They didn’t say anything or even complain about our lack of intelligence.  However, the next day some of the girls blessed us with bracelets that they had made on their own, beautifully tied off with very creative clasps, might I add!  All along they knew what they were doing, but they didn’t boast about it nor make us feel dumb for not knowing.  Haha, so in our attempts to teach them, they actually ended up teaching us!  These Pohpeians are gifted and talented in so many ways, and yet they appreciate who we are and don’t make us feel like we lack any.  They were very patient with us when we wanted to learn from them, and we have thoroughly enjoyed living with them and experiencing their culture.  We will relish the time we have spent with them and the wisdom, knowledge and revelation the Lord has blessed us with through our relationship with them.