Perspectives Class Fires Us Up

We have been taking a missions class since the beginning of the year called "Perspectives on the World Christian Movement."  It has been a great class and we have been learning a lot that will help us better serve God in Romania.  This week had the opportunity to share with the class about our upcoming ministry to the orphans in Romania.  We talked about the orphans there and the great needs that they have for love and to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  We shared how we will be working with them, how God has called us to this ministry, and where we are in our support raising journey.

To wrap up we shared prayer requests and then led an open prayer.  The response from the class was awesome, many people offered up heart felt prayers and we really felt God's presence in the room.  It was an incredible affirmation and encouragement to us to know that so many people are behind us and that God's Holy Spirit was at work in so many people's lives.  

Even our guest instructor, the founder of Mission India, prayed for us and the orphans.  He has a heart especially for the minority Gypsies in Romania, because India is where all of the Gypsies are from and he has worked with them there quite a bit.  The lesson he presented was very challenging and stretching, and it was very applicable to the ministry we'll be doing in Romania.

We left class very energetic and excited about the work that God has yet to do in our lives. We're excited to see how he provides for getting us from here to Romania and about the ministry He'll have us doing there.  We're praying that he'll use us to transform not only the orphans but all the Romanians that we interact with.  

Peeps Roasting Over An Open Fire

Last weekend we had some really nice weather.  We had our friend Mandy over for dinner and we decided it would be a perfect night for a bonfire.  We had a brush pile in our backyard that we had been wanting to get rid of anyway, and so we lit it up after dinner.  

This is the brushpile as it was being lit.  It was created when we cleared out the woods behind our house, and we had been throwing weeds and dead plants on it for around a year.  Needless to say it was really dry and it really took off.

The conditions were perfect for a rip roaring fire.  The wind was blowing directly away from the woods so we didn't have to worry about burning anything down.  The wind really whipped the flames up until it was so hot that we could stand no closer than 10 feet.

This is our friend Mandy, from Madison Wisconsin.  She brought lots of peeps and we figured since they are marshmallows that we should be able to roast them.  What a great idea!

This was about as close as Rebecca could get to the fire in order to roast her peeps.  Good thing we have long roasting forks.

Here's some peeps roasting away.  We were afraid that the sugar would burn, but it actually caramelized, creating a hard shell around the molten marshmallow.  We liked them so much and we decided that this was the creme brule of marshmallows.

Of course no fire would be complete without smores, so we tried peeps smores.  Yum!  It doesn't get any better than this!

Springtime

Spring is finally here!  It is so nice to see the sun for days instead of hours at a time.  It is great to be able to go outside and not have to bundle up.  After our record snowfall winter we've been more than ready for spring to come, and we're so exited to see the signs all around.  Flowers are starting to poke through the ground and trees are starting to bud out.  There's even a hint of green in the grass.

This week is also spring break for most of the schools around.  Last night we had a beach bash at church for kids who didn't go away for break.  There were games, contests, music, and flashing lights all around.  There was pizza, pop, candy, slushies, and popcorn to keep the kids full and hopped up on sugar. Kids could also get temporary tattoos and have their hair colored and styled. The most exciting thing for the kids was the raffle for the free iPod and Nintendo DS.  Everyone there had a blast and it was fun watching the kids enjoy themselves so much.  

The coolest thing about the event was that all of the proceeds will be donated to our mission to support us in Romania.  A LifeGroup from church came up with the idea and did all the planning and work, and they decided to support us!  A big thanks to all those who helped with this, what a great idea!

Spring is a time of new beginnings, and that is true of Mark's job situation now too.  Extol has been so slow and hurting for orders that the temporary layoff has now turned into permanent layoff.  Now we can only wait to see what God has in store for us next.  Somehow this must be part of His perfect plan, just like how He tells the flowers when to bloom, He will send us to Romania at just the right time.  We just continue to pray and try to be patient.

Fun Day At The Zoo

This was my third week being laid off and the weather was finally a little warmer so we decided it would be fun to go to the zoo.  We invited our friends Scott and Kayleen since Scott is also laid off, and our friend Jess.  So we headed out to the John Ball Zoo and had a great time.

Scott & Kayleen's son Sam liked the fish, someday he'll probably be catching them like his dad.  Sam had a ball seeing all the different animals.

This is Lexi, Scott & Kayleen's daughter.  She liked the monkeys and the penguins.

Precious enjoyed watching the wolverine and just about anything that moved.  She is Jess & Jonah's daughter.  Jonah was working so he couldn't make it to the zoo.

Pelicans.

We saw lions...

And tigers...

And bears, oh my!

An iguana just hanging out.

 This small alligator didn't even blink for the picture.

Colorful chameleon.

After the zoo we went to Scott & Kayleen's house and hung out the rest of the day.  We had black bean chili with rice and tortillas and Filipino beef for dinner.  Then we had a chocolate cake roll for dessert.  Even though it isn't good being laid off it was nice to be able to get out of the house and hang out with our friends.  Next we would like to go to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, we just need some free tickets :-)

The Great Up North

Each year around this time some of Rebecca's family goes to their cabin in the upper peninsula for a snowmobiling trip.  This year since I (Mark) wasn't working I got the chance to go too, and I really had a blast.  Rebecca's dad, uncle, cousin, and I left on Thursday morning.  We had lunch in Mackinaw city and then headed over the bridge.

The Mackinaw bridge as seen from St. Ignace in the UP.

The road that the cabin is on doesn't get plowed so we had to park the truck and ride the snowmobiles the rest of the way.  This is the one I drove the most, it's a classic, 1979 or so.  Even though it's so old it still hauls and I really enjoyed driving it.

This is the family cabin that we stayed in.  Throughout the weekend we shoveled all the snow off the roof.  

The cabin is one room with a loft and a few sets of bunk beds.  The cabin came with "Fred the Dead Deer Head", mounted above the fireplace.

This is the view from the cabin.  There is a creek down there which you can hardly see because the snow is so deep.  There was about 6 inches of fresh powder which made the scenery very beautiful.  We snowshoed and cross country skied through the forrest and it was great to be in such a wonderful setting.

We rode our snowmobiles to Tahquamenon Falls, which was really flowing due to recent rain and some thawing.  The ice all around was spectacular and it was a beautiful day out.  Notice the rainbow created from the sunshine reflecting in the mist from the falls.

This is me standing by a massive icicle.  We walked up to the falls as far as we could but we couldn't go behind them because there was too much ice.

There were lots of really cool ice formations all over around the falls.  On our way back to the cabin from the falls we rode our snowmobiles on the river, which was a little scary, but Dad said that there was probably 3 feet of ice on there so it was OK.  It still was a little nerve wracking especially because some of the snow on top was melting and forming puddles.

We saw some cattails in a beaver pond that we skied to.

On our way home on Monday we went through Hulbert, the nearest town to the cabin.  There were lots of deer there feeding, right in town.

This was a great vacation, lots of time to relax and also lots of fun activities.  The best part of it all was being in the wilderness and being able to appreciate God's great creation.

Cookbooks For Sale!

We are excited to announce that we are selling cookbooks as a fundraiser for our mission to the orphans in Romania.  Several of our friends from our original LifeGroup at church came up with the idea and are doing all the work and donating all the profit to us!  The recipes are being collected from members of our church and we will have a few of our favorites in there as well.

We are selling these cookbooks for only $12, what a great deal!  This will be a great addition to your cookbook collection, after all, can you really have too many cookbooks?  They also make great gifts, and they will be ready before Mothers Day!  The best part is that the profit goes to support our ministry and will help get us to Romania sooner.

To order please send your check (made out to Fair Haven Ministries) to our friend Angie Hordyk: 620 Broadview St, Grand Rapids, MI 49507.  Please include how many cookbooks you want, your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address.  Please have your orders in by March 22, which is less than two weeks away.  If you send your order out and don't think it will make it in time please e-mail us so we can make sure it gets put in.  The cookbooks will be ready just before Mothers Day, either for pickup at our church or we can send them to you or arrange for pickup.

Thanks in advance for your order, we are looking forward to seeing how God will use this fundraiser to support us as missionaries to the orphans in Romania.

The Open House

Last weekend was our first try at having an open house since we put our house up for sale.  You may recall that we are trying to sell our house so that we can go and be missionaries to orphans in Romania.  We spent most of the weekend cleaning up, straightening, and preparing for the open house.  We took our cats for a ride during the open house so that they wouldn't be a hindrance for potential buyers.  We lit some nice candles and cooked hot fruit salad to fill the house with wonderful smells.  

Unfortunately for us the weather was not good, it was cloudy and rainy, not the type of day that most people go looking at open houses.  So only one person ended up coming, and it was someone that our realtor invited.  It did sound like they liked our house and neighborhood, and they were here for 30-45 minutes, which is great.  They are waiting for their qualification from the bank, so they don't know how much they will be able to get.  We are praying that God will allow them to qualify for enough that they can buy our house, and that He increases their desire to do so.

We will have another open house in a couple weeks, and hopefully the weather will be better.  We are increasingly praying for this house to sell and ask for your prayers as well.  Thank you for covering this in prayer!

God Is Good, ALL The Time

This week we got some great and not so great news. Lets start with the great news because it is so really really great that we just can't even contain ourselves! Our Church will be providing our ministry with twice as much monthly support as we had originally anticipated, and that is a huge answer to prayer! We have been praying hard for God to provide our monthly funding and this is a big step ahead. Normally missionaries get a certain amount per year if they're with an independent organization, but they get twice as much if they are partnered with the Reformed Church of America's mission agency. We are working on partnering with the RCA but it is a long process and there's a lot to be worked out so we were only planning the base amount. This week, however, our pastor of mission and multiplication met with the Romania team and they decided to give us the full amount!

God has definitely been at work here, working in people's hearts to increase their passion for the ministry we will be doing. There are so many people from church behind us and supportive of our mission, it is just wonderful. We are so thankful for this extra support, to God and to our church and all those that were involved in this. It is yet another affirmation that this is what God wants us to do.

The not so great news is that Mark will be laid off again starting next week. Many other people at work are still laid off so much prayer is needed for all of us. The comforting thing in this is that we know that God is in control, and we know He is good all the time. We are learning more and more to depend on Him, through the mission preparations and the roller coaster of being laid off. We have hope that He will keep his promises and that He cares for us deeply. Isn't it great knowing that we don't have to worry about a thing because God has a greater plan than we know? We think it is, and we are clinging to that.