Roots

This is Mike, here to introduce something Kristi wrote. I appreciate her so much, and am so blessed by how God is working in her life. We have been through so much change over the past year after transitioning out of full-time church ministry, selling our home in California, saying goodbye to family and friends, moving to Wisconsin, and entering a 4-year missionary training program. After reading (with permission) a journal entry of hers this week, I asked permission to transcribe it and share it on our blog. She didn’t originally intend anyone to read it, so it lacks the pretense and polish that can often accompany writing. What struck me was her honesty about the struggles she faces, and her faith as she looks to the Lord in the midst of it all. I hope it’s an encouragement to you.

Kristi ~ December 7, 2010

I have been thinking lately about belonging, security, routine, and roots, and have been missing those feelings. Memories of spending time with our family in our own home, playing in the yard, doing yard work, and swimming in the kiddie pool on the hot summer days are consuming my thoughts. I hope I am not ripping security from my kids, and that they are adjusting well.

My roots seemingly have been cut from where I felt comfortable. It’s not that I feel too uncomfortable here, in fact I have enjoyed being here a lot. It just dawns on me sometimes that my little family of four left everything that was safe and predictable, and now live without a job in Wisconsin. We got rid of well over half of our belongings, and are still always trying to get rid of more. Here we are trying to live a balanced life of raising our kids while going to Bible school, and I feel lost [misplaced]. It seems so silly to even say that I feel lost. I have learned so much here and have really tried to stay away from being attached to material or earthly possessions. I have been looking at eternity and realize that this is what we were made for. Still, I don’t want to mess up our kids, and one day hear them say, we moved so much, my parents made me get rid of stuff all the time, I had to change schools in the middle of school years, leave friends behind, watch friends move on, and I hated it! How can we establish roots in such a fast paced, unpredictable, different life style?? Maybe our roots aren’t going to be attached to one city as the kids are growing up, or one house, or one steady group of friends, but rather to Christ and our position in Him. A tree has roots, and unlike the roots of a tree that don’t actually grow towards anything, or in any particular direction, my roots, and that of my family’s, are to grow toward Christ and attach themselves to [Him] the giver of life. I need to learn how to do this better. In order to avoid root disease there needs to be a healthy, vigorous environment around the tree. I can apply a lot to my life using this analogy.

I want my kids to know and love God and learn to put their trust in Him and be secure in Him. The examples they see through my actions will help them grow. What is ‘normal’ will change from time to time in the life we are leading, and it may not always be fun or easy. I hope as a family we can unite together and create a new normal, with our security firmly planted in the Lord, while establishing a home full of love and commitment, and enjoying our relationships both near and far. The saying ‘Home is Where the Heart Is’ can mean something. As best I can as a Mom, I will help my kids look to the Lord as they go through struggles. The truth is, from what I can see, they have been adjusting very well. I just really want to be aware of the subtle things, and not be too busy to notice them. Oh, and it’s probably okay to be a little homesick. ~ Kristi

2nd Semester!

We are blessed with beautiful sunsets almost every night at NTBI. I took this photo tonight from the 4th floor of the guys dorm, sitting in the windowsill. It was one of those perfect moments where everything just feels right for a minute, and time stands still.

As we get ready for classes to start tomorrow, we can't help but reflect on all that has happened in the past year. It's overwhelming to consider the many things God has taught us, the way He has provided for us, and the blessing that our time here has been. That doesn't mean it's been perfect. Life is never perfect, in fact, it can be messy. But learning to walk with the Lord through the struggles of life is an adventure worth living!

This summer our family enjoyed a road trip back to our home state of California! Round trip, we drove through 15 states, slept in 19 different beds, endured 10 thunderstorms, 1 tornado watch, 1 hailstorm, and we left a broken down car in Colorado! Thanks to the many friends and family who blessed us with hospitality, prayer, and generosity!

These are some of my bros getting ready to go on a hike at Devil's Lake. We were on a student leadership campout designed to both train us with leadership principles, and bond us together as a team. My role in student leadership will be to oversee the worship teams on campus. This is so similar to what I did during my last 2 years at HDC, it's all coming back to me! Many of the staff and faculty, including the president, went on the campout. I can't tell you what an encouragement it is to see the heartbeat of the staff as they interact with the students here. They truly care about training and descipling young (and not as young) students, and they are not afraid to dive right in and grow, worship, struggle, laugh, and cry with us.

This semester I (Mike) will be taking 19 credits, and Kristi will be taking 12 credits and auditing several classes. Our classes will include Hermeneutics 2, life of Christ, Bible Basis of Missions, Theology, Anthropology, Hamartiology, Christology, 1Corinthians, Prophets, Acts, Job, and Living Biblical Greek.

I have decided not to work this semester. I truly believe I would not learn and grow as deeply as I need to if I did. This is not just about a grade, this is about being equipped to potentially serve the Lord in a tribal setting where people have been literally enslaved by sin, superstition, and demonic forces for generations. This is no joke, and I believe I need to put my all into the training. That said, we are trusting the Lord to continue providing for us like He has done faithfully so far.

Please continue to pray for us. More than anything, that we would be transformed by God's Word. Without an incredible work of the Lord in our own hearts and lives, we will fail at the task set before us. Thank you all for the love and encouragement you have shown us through our first semester! We look forward to all God has in store for you and for us in the year to come!

Mike

Stranded In Denver

We've always wanted to spend some time in the Rocky Mountains, so we were all looking forward to the camping trip we planned as we passed through Colorado on the way to California. What we never expected was that we'd spend all 4 days of our time in Denver stranded at a hotel with a broken down car.

I must admit that there were times of discouragement and self-pity as we struggled through the hassles that come from being stuck in a city where you don't know anyone. I have not worked since November 2009, so our budget is set up to barely scrape by as we go through missionary training. But overall, we were trusting that the Lord would provide for us. The Lord did provide, and we were blessed with a new car! Here's the story...

Our car started acting up the day before we arrived in Denver. We took it to 2 mechanics, and both times the symptoms were not apparent while the mechanics looked at it. The next day, we arrived in Denver and knew the problem was getting worse. We got a hotel and found a mechanic the next day. We found out later that we needed a new transmission. Our 1989 Mazda MPV, with its complicated 4WD transmission, was too expensive to fix. We were stuck!

I visited a used car lot, and was discouraged to find nothing in our price range. I told the salesman, who was not a believer, about God's provision in the past. I explained that it would be hard to buy a car from him, knowing that at any moment God might provide a far better option. I don't think he was too convinced.

That night, a friend called and said, "some family members, who live in Denver, are selling their '96 Corolla, and we just bought it for you!" I called the car salesman the next day and said, "guess what, God just provided us with a better option!" I don't think he was too thrilled.

We were so thankful and amazed! God had provided us with a good car, and had done so through good friends! We were hoping all of our luggage and camping gear that barely fit in our van would fit in the Corolla.

Kristi and I installed a roof-rack, and assembled an inexpensive car-top carrier from Sears. The blacktop was hot, hot, hot, so we had to lay blankets down while we worked.

The other guests at the hotel we were staying at were curious about all the mess we had made in the parking lot. It looked like we were trying to have a garage sale!

Done! We were able to fit most of our things in the car, and there was a dumpster nearby for the few things that wouldn't make it. We thought about shipping those things home, but it was too expensive, so we cut our losses, rejoiced in the gain of a new car, and got back on the road in a jiffy!

Epic Road-trip Part 1: Wisconsin To Iowa

It rained the whole first day of our trip. It was a little stressful knowing that we were planning to camp that night. We discussed the possibility of sleeping in the car or getting a hotel room, but were hopeful the rain would clear.

This place claims to be the worlds largest truck-stop. I'm pretty sure they are right. It is only a little smaller than "The Mall of Victor Valley!" Well...I'm exaggerating.

We saw this sign and thought..."that looks like a good place to camp." A few miles down the road we saw a sign for the same place that said "private campground, members only." I decided to proceed thinking, "what exactly does "private" and "member" mean?" I assumed it meant that passers by were welcome to join their secret club for the evening.

The owners let us stay for the night even though that wasn't the policy. We set our tent up in the rain and it rained off and on till about midnight. The tent kept us warm and dry, and Kristi read a chapter in "My Side of the Mountain" before turning the lights out.

I stepped out at about midnight to see what the weather was up to. All the clouds had cleared! There is not much light pollution in the middle of Iowa, so the stars were beautiful.

While I was outside, I ran into this firefly that I named "Phil". I brought him back to the tent to show Kristi and the kids (yes I woke them up at midnight to show them a firefly) and he flew around the tent. He landed on the window, and I snapped the picture above to the left. Then he landed on my camera lens so I took this splendid closeup of his backside. I hope this picture gets glowing feedback ;)

We enjoyed a bowl of Cheerios (product placement) before setting off for Nebraska. Despite the rain, we had a great night and really enjoyed our stay at Koch's Meadow Lake Campground.

Snapshot Of Our First Semester

It’s 11:00pm, and I’m sitting on the back lawn of our school. The night is perfect. There’s no wind, no noise, and the weather couldn’t be better. Most of the students have gone home for the summer.

It’s been nearly 6 months since we left our family, friends, home, and job in California. The 4 of us are adjusting to all the changes fairly well, and we are surprisingly comfortable in our 600 sq ft  1 bedroom apartment. Still, we can’t believe we’re here.

If the Lord, indeed, directs us to enter into tribal ministry, life will keep getting crazier. After these 2 years in Wisconsin, we’ll likely raise partial support, then transfer to the Missionary Training Center in Missouri or Canada for a year and a half, then spend a year raising full support, then a year overseas learning a trade language, then 3-5 years learning the tribal language.

One thing we are learning is that it’s really hard to know how the Lord will direct a family once they makes steps towards tribal church planting. Much like the way churches need a whole team of people working together to support the ministry of the senior pastor, dozens of “support” missionaries are needed for every missionary in a tribe. Through the many testimonies we have heard, we are coming to understand that working as a support missionary is also very demanding, and requires a lot of sacrifice. It can be especially challenging for missionaries in these roles to raise support, because many people don’t understand or value the role they play. The truth is, without missionaries who are doctors, accountants, supply buyers, warehouse workers, pilots, mechanics, teachers, construction workers, etc…, tribal church planting and Bible translation would grind to a halt.

The staff and teachers here have been amazing, and we are so blessed to learn from them. They are dedicated to the study and teaching of God’s Word, to the life change that happens in the students, and to the world change that ensues as graduates go out with the desire to reach every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. As we discuss Bible application and the struggles of living a life fully devoted to the Lord, they display great humility and transparency, openly sharing their life experiences with us.

This semester, our courses started by helping us to understand where the Bible came from and how we should view it. We explored what inspiration really means, and the history of how each book was compiled, brought together in the Canon, and translated into the modern English versions we have today. We also studied principles of biblical interpretation, evangelism in a postmodern world, the first 5 books of the Bible, OT history, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs.

This has been a great experience so far, and we are blessed to be here. Please pray for us this summer. We have a long drive out to California, many places to be, and many people to see. It will be exhausting. Please pray that our desire for God’s Word would not wane during our time off, and that we will continue to look to the Lord in the midst of life and it’s challenges.

Thanks for all the help and encouragement this year!

Mike Day

Jesse Talks Theology

At lunch, Jesse started talking about what he is learning in his pre-school class. As soon as he started talking, I grabbed my computer and began typing. This is, pretty much, word for word thoughts from my five year old son.

Dad: Jesse, what have you been learning in class buddy?

Jesse: Well, I learned that when we get to heaven, we need to get a lamb and a knife, hold the lambs head, and cut it's throat to take our sin.

Dad: Really? Wasn’t that a long time ago…and we don’t have to do that anymore because Jesus Died, remember?

Jesse: Oh yeah…When we were not even born, God made a plan that people in…like a different state…like California, or Alaska, or Illinois are supposed to take a lamb and a knife, the lamb has the man's sin, and the man needs to kill the lamb. But we don’t need to do that anymore because Jesus is the most perfect lamb.

Dad: Good job, so what else did you learn?

Jesse: When Satan was in heaven he thought, "I don't want to do this job anymore," and that's how he turned into a snake.

Dad: Is that it?

Jesse: Satan was once God’s angel, and his name was Lucifer. Lucifer was supposed to do this special job thingy, and he decided, I don’t want to do this job anymore, and he also decided “I want to be like God” and so he told other angels, Jesus’ angels, that they should be on his side. So…God made a lake of fire. Since they are bad, God made a place for them that is bad…And I also learned that, once Jesus and God…Jesus and God are kinda like one person because they are the same…Jesus sent fire writing with His pointer finger on both of these, like, stones, and we can never take a pencil and try to erase it because God never changes…right?

Classic! Love this!

Mike

March 2010 (Sorry It's Been A While)

We have been so busy, we can barely keep up with our blog anymore, but we'll get it. We hope you are all doing well. This is an excerpt from our March newsletter...

It’s hard to believe we have been here for almost 3 months. There are moments when we step back and can’t believe we are here. We are learning so much, and feel so blessed with the privilege of immersing ourselves in God’s Word every day. 

I (Mike) am enjoying classes and am encouraged to find out I am a much better student at 35 than at 16...I don’t know why, but I think it has to do with listening in class and actually doing my homework.!?

I have had many ministry opportunities including an interview with 2 Buddhist monks, conversations with people at the mall and coffee shop, visits to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, and playing in the chapel worship bands. (*This is not in the newsletter...One thing I'm praying for is to have more boldness, and a natural ability to talk with strangers and just share Christ in a way that doesn't come off rude or socially awkward.) 

Kristi is doing really well in school. I am really proud of her, and have gotten a better understanding of the challenges and hard work that go into being a mom. She is getting used to me being around her all day, and in time, might discover what a blessing that is! Just Kidding! We are really enjoying studying together.

Thanks for praying for us, and please stay in touch. 

~Mike