I Hate Money and Other Random Things

Okay, I hate money. That is the truth. Money is stupid. Not to mention the love of it is the root of all evil...etc., etc. I could blather on and on about why and how much I hate money. I could color my commentary with many descriptive expletives. But I will spare you that and suffice it to say I hate money. A lot. Actually, hate is probably a lame word, I despise money and I loathe money. There, that's it.

I have been asking God to show me why my blood pressure rises and my hands start to shake when I think about money and I believe He has given me a bit of an answer. I think it's because money seems to have taken a bit of centre stage in our world. I know that shocks none of you. I know I have not just given anyone a revelation.

But I wonder, as believers, if we have been oblivious to how the enemy is using the power of money against us? No actually, that is a lie. I don't wonder, I know. The liar has been convincing us that money has more power than it really does and maddeningly, we've replaced the power of God with the power of money. We have forgotten WHO the Master of the money really is. It is not the enemy, it is God. He controls everything in this world, including money and the people who have it.

So, is there a point to this tirade. Well no, not really except that I just want to get that off my chest and yes, absolutely, because I think right now the enemy has a foothold in a situation he has no right to and he is using money to control it.

We in North America say this, "Well, God doesn't just pour money into our hands because He wants us to have faith in Him and ask Him for provision." Again, venting here, I am sick of hearing that. Call me young (and thank you if you do) and impertinent or even idealistic or naive or whatever. At this point I am so freaking tired of money that I don't care what anybody calls me for saying this.

Do any of you have children? Besides providing them with food and clothing, do you have any other responsibilities toward them? Like their spiritual well being perhaps? I don't know if you've just cruised through parenthood, but I have not. Being a Mom has been the most brutal job I have ever had because I am completely inadequate to accomplish any part of it.

So, what do I have to do? I have to ask my Heavenly Father for provision. Provision of wisdom, provision of love, provision of patience (because some days, that is just not the immediate feeling I have toward my children), and on and on it goes. I could have the biggest bank balance in all the history of mankind and I would still have to go EVERY DAY to God and ask Him for those things. And EVERY DAY through the power of Jesus and His Holy Spirit, God will provide those things for me.

Therefore the question is: Does God need to provide us with money and material things to show us He is aware of our every need? NO HE DOES NOT. Let me repeat that, NO HE DOES NOT. In fact, it probably insults the expletive out Him when we use that as a measure of His goodness to us.

I am pretty sure scripture (Matthew 6) says;

³¹ “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ ³² These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. ³³ Seek the Kingdom of God^[d] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. ³⁴ “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

There are many more such declarations in His word and you and I both know that.

Has anyone ever heard of Dubai? In Dubai, there are people with so much money that they just make islands. I am serious, they just walk around during the day and go, "I am bored, I want to make some more money to add to my gazillions of dollars, so I am going to make some islands and charge ridiculous amounts of money for people to stay or live on those islands." And I just happened to catch a TV show the other day that was dedicated to expounding the virtues of the newest 'gravity defying' monster skyscraper tower thing that was getting built in, you guessed it, Dubai. Bazillions of more dollars going toward something completely useless.

Guess what, I hate what goes in with money in Dubai.

But here's the thing. For years we have gone, "Oh well, that is just how the world works. People in Dubai have quatrillions of dollars to do whatever they want with and us pious little Christians are just going to scrape and grovel and barely make ends meet, etc., etc."

I hate scraping and grovelling.

We are the sons and daughters of the MOST HIGH GOD people! If you don't believe me, check this out: Children of God - Third Day. The Most High God is in charge of aaaaalllll that money in Dubai and everywhere else in the world. The people who think they are in charge of it are foolish. We need to believe that, and we need to start asking Him to transfer it out of the hands of the enemy, into the hands of His heirs.

Now, I can hear all the objections already. Money corrupts, people don't have enough self control to be able to cope with the pressure more money would cause...yada, yada, yada. And those would be correct statements if we were not the SONS and DAUGHTERS of the MOST HIGH GOD. We trust ungodly banks, investment companies and the stock market with the money, but we don't trust Jesus to give us the power to deal with it ourselves??? Is anyone else feeling itchy from the wool over our eyes???

We would still have to be dependent on Him every morning. Please God, give me wisdom on how to handle your money, please God give me self control to avoid wasting it, please God give me joy as I am sowing into Your Kingdom with it. He would still have to provide.

He says, "Go ahead, test me in this." Money is the one area we are allowed to test God in. And when I read that passage, I don't see this: "I will raise the window of heaven just a crack for you and sprinkle out a little wee blessing so that you can give a small portion away and keep the rest, which will be just enough for you to be content." It will be a blessing SO GREAT that WE WON'T HAVE ENOUGH ROOM TO TAKE IT IN. And so what will we have to do with it? That's right, give it away.

So that is the war. What is the current battle that has gotten me riled up this time? Well, it is this family. The Snells are a family from Ontario who have been called to Brazil, with the Xingu Mission. And if I understand correctly (and I hope I do, or I will come out of this looking rather foolish), the only thing keeping them from heading down there is funding. Man, I cannot believe how I much hate to type that.

Actually yes, I can, since after all that is the title of this blog.

So am I just going to rant and rave and vent about it? Well, as good as that feels, it would be selfish. What I am really going to do is ask all of you to help the Snells conquer this last hurdle. They are going to Brazil to raise up a new generation of believers to further the gospel. That excites me because that means we will be that much nearer to closing this chapter of human history and getting on with our real lives in our real home.

Am I going to ask you to give them money or send them encouraging words? Nope, although if you feel led to do that, by all means, go to their site and do it. I am going to ask you to pray with me. And then watch what God does.

Warning: This prayer is not for the faint hearted so if you don't mean it, don't pray it.

Father God. Unfortunately we are a people easily deceived. We are sorry Lord that we've allowed ourselves to be duped here and we state that in the precious name of Your Son, the liar has no power in this area of our lives anymore. We thank you though Lord that when we repent of our blindness, You are quick to forgive us. We ask that from now on Lord, you help us to be quick to believe in Your goodness and Your desire to see Your Kingdom furthered unto the ends of the earth. Help us not to worry about tomorrow or doubt that You will provide our every earthly need if we but believe that You will. Help us to be hardcore seekers of Your Kingdom. We come humbly but boldly before Your throne now Lord and ask for all of us, but particularly for the Snells Lord, for You to open up the windows of heaven. We don't know how you are going to do it Lord, but we trust that if You choose to send them a cheque directly from the hand of someone in Dubai, You can do it and You will do it. For all of us Lord, that are in circumstances that are going to require money Lord, we ask you to search our hearts. We are not lacking because you do not want to give, we are lacking because something within us is not open to receiving. So, correct us oh Lord, discipline us, mold us, refine us, amaze us. Here we stand Father God, we are testing You. In the precious name of Your Son Jesus. Amen.

There, take that satan. Maybe its you I hate after all.

Oh, by the way...

We were blessed yesterday by a visit from Rick and Deanna Bergen. We showed them around our place, chatted and took them to our church. They were very informative and very encouraging and by they time they headed off, the fire for Brazil had been rekindled.

During our conversation, Rick pointed out an excellent observation he had made. I haven't been blogging. Normally I would have just shrugged to myself and thought, "Nope, I haven't been blogging. Haven't really felt like it, truth be told." But then he provided me with another stunning revelation, something along these lines, "No one knows what is going on with you if you don't tell them." He didn't really put it that way, but during our conversation, the light bulb went on. I think the fact that my mother had called a couple days previously and asked, "Are you still alive down there?" and commented on the fact that when people ask her questions like, "So, do Koos and Aubrey still have all four kids?" she just has to shrug her shoulders and say, "I dunno. I never hear from them," should have been the first indication. Or maybe Bonnie's email entitled, "Long time no hear???" but no, it took one more nudge for me to get with the program.

I guess I am quite surprised to learn that people don't automatically know what is going on with us from my vague Facebook statuses. Come on people, can't you figure out from all the Lord of the Rings quotations what we are doing?

Well, apparently not. Or maybe you just think we are watching Lord of the Rings or something like that. So here, against my otherwise lazy nature and taking time from my Facebook Scrabble playing, is an update.

We are still in Duncan. And I think that is probably part of the problem. We really like it here. The town is great (except for the Trans Canada highway, I still have issues with that), the church is amazing and the people outstanding, we have family here who delight in spoiling our children, other family and friends come to visit. The kids are already asking to go back to school and Caitlind has pledged to make Duncan her home forever. We love Boys Road.

Danger, danger. We are getting comfy, maybe losing sight of why we came here in the first place. Time flies when you are having fun.

I guess it is time to refocus. Take an inventory. So here it is.

Since arriving in Duncan late in September 2010, the kids and I made a huge transition from homeschooling to DCS. It was emotional for all of us, but the kids pulled through with style and grace. DCS was very good to us.

Koos knocked down his Perspectives course in grand fashion, receiving 100% on his final assignment. I finished my TESOL and TEYL courses with distinction (although I still have to figure out how to get a practicum done).

Koos, Caitlind and I all attended Life's Healing Choices at the church. I attended the Voices of Change - Leadercast Conference and a seminar called "Daughter You're Amazing" at the church, we were part of small life group that met every second week for the winter season. Koos completed a training course called "Soul Journey".

Koos and Delaena are learning to play guitar. Delaena has written two songs. Brooke continued with her piano lessons and performed at her first recital. Koos, Brooke and Calahn performed "Trading My Sorrows" at the DCS talent show and Delaena performed a dance entitled "Dance Your Shoes Off" with some of her classmates.

We attended Family Camp weekend at Camp Qwanoes and that led to an opportunity to volunteer with the camp during the exact week a representative from a Christian Brazilian youth organization will be there. We are pretty excited about the timing of that, considering the crazy twists and turns the process of applying to the camp took. It was almost as if God stalled and maneuvered until we had no choice but to attend that week. If anything more comes of that, I will be sure to blog about it. Really.

Caitlind was baptized. Brooke was baptized.

New Life's work on Boys Road is going to be featured across Canada as part of the Global Leadership Summit at the end of September. The film crew was filming during Brooke's baptism also, there were 10 other people who were baptized in the river at the same time she was.

So there, that is a bit of what we've been up to. We also almost prematurely killed our cat, thinking she was going crazy, but then finding out she had fleas and we got a puppy. Who also had fleas. We learned that there are fleas on Vancouver Island.

Mostly though, what we think this first year has been about is meeting some more members of 'the team'. When this Brazil thing comes to pass, we are going to need a lot of support. When we stop and think about it, we have been blessed abundantly with supportive people through our entire walk. Edmonton, Fairview, Hay River and now here in Duncan. God truly is amazing in the way He can orchestrate such small details over such a large world.

We are sure each and every person we have met and are going to meet will have the opportunity to play a part in this story that appears to be unfolding. We look forward to it with much anticipation.

And I hereby promise to keep everyone in the loop. Really.

Yes. Please....loiter.

Until this very moment, I had not realized how much standing around God has asked His people to do. I would imagine He does it for a couple of reasons. One, because when we run around like chickens with our heads cut off, we tend to be more in His way than of any use to Him. Two, because then He gets to show off. When we are just standing there and something incredibly cool happens, there can be no doubt what so ever that it was He that pulled off the victory.

Before we came down here, I was pretty much consumed with doubt (surprise, surprise). We were stepping out into the unknown, letting go of all 'the security' of our North American life. So, when we asked God for confirmation (again) He reminded us of a passage that Randy had spoken about.

2 Chronicles 20:13-17 says (mostly), "Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the LORD. And [Jahaziel] said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with you.”"

Now, admittedly, we had no Ammonites or Moabites or inhabitants of Mount Seir breathing down our necks, but we did have finances, lack of 'education', emotional baggage and the fact that we didn't even have a place to live, skittering around on the fringes of the little kingdom we had built for ourselves. Scary, scary monsters. And all God had to say was, 'stand still'. So, we stood. And He did His thing. And then we drove, through the mountains (which is another blog entirely) and we arrived and we have settled.

Okay, so, you think that would be enough to make us realize that He has everything under control. Nope, not at all. The inhabitants of Mount Seir returned. "You are running out of money. You have not earned a doctorate in anything since you've been here. You are beginning to look really lazy. You are not speaking fluent Portuguese. This whole thing is a scam and you are not going to make it until 2012. Get BUSY." So, we listened to the Ammonites and we ran around looking at houses, applying for jobs and just generally being stressed out and miserable. The Moabites had made their move and we were panicking. Guess what, we didn't buy a house and none of our job applications were accepted. Are you shocked? Well, we were. "We are very busy being busy here, God. Aren't you going to help us out?" I think He probably laughed. And then, He put a scripture on Koos' heart.

1 Samuel 12:14-18 says, "If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God—good! But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers. “Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes! Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call upon the LORD to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the LORD when you asked for a king.” Then Samuel called upon the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel."

Okay, so we didn't ask for a king, and so far, (thank you God) He hasn't sent any thunder or rain to remind us how ridiculous we are (unless you count the storms inside of us He allowed to build up as we were frantically running about). We had however, asked for security and safety the way we see it. A good solid job for when the cash runs out, some benefits, a dental plan, a lovely little bungalow to return to from Brazil. Oops. We are now clearly aware that that is not how this whole thing is going to be shaking out. Our plans are definitely not His plans.

So, we are going to stand still. Even to the last three cents. It is quite difficult to stand still and let's face it, we here in North America particularly stink at it. Standing still is not part of our natural giftedness. We are gifted in many things, but standing still is NOT one of them. We have devised many, many weapons and kung fu moves of our own to deal with all those 'ites'. And not many of them involve just loitering around waiting for God to 'deal'. You get my point, right?

Well God gets that too, so I pointed out to Him that if I didn't have an alternative, I might just start running around again. And seeing that He understands my spastic tendencies, He said, "Alright then, if you are unable to completely stand still, I will allow you to DANCE!" "To DANCE, God?" "To DANCE."

Well now, this should be interesting....

All over the world....

...all over the world. Your Spirit is moving all over the world...You're touching the nations. You're bringing Your love. Your Spirit is moving all over the world. Divisions are falling. You're making us one. Your Spirit is moving all over the world. Terry Butler

So we go to pick up the kids from school and Delaena's teacher approaches me. "Make sure you ask Delaena for the book I gave her. I just felt like I was supposed to give it to you." It turns out to be a double volume by Stormie Omartian. "Stormie" and "Just Enough Light for the Step I'm On". And it turns out to be just what I needed, just when I needed it. "Just Enough Light..." especially has been speaking to me.

When Koos heard the original call to head for Brazil, we hadn't really expected an 'in between'. Straight from the frozen North to the Amazon jungle as far as we were concerned. When this whole Duncan thing came up, we both kind of squirmed and wormed and tried to talk our way out of it, but alas, the squirming, worming and bargaining with God were to no avail. Here we are in Duncan.

So then, we reasoned. "Well gee, thanks God. It was so good of You to allow us to gradually adjust to the new climate we are going to be living in. From frozen North to Canadian rain forest, then to Amazon jungle seems reasonable. We'll go along with that." For a while, anyway. "Probably about six months should do it here in Duncan, hey Lord?"

We've been in Duncan now for almost seven months and don't honestly seem any closer to figuring out when we will be in Brazil than when we first got here. Summer 2012 seems plausible, so that's the answer we've been giving. But to be honest, neither of us feels that is absolutely, concretely, the final answer. Darn it.

So, what is the logical thing to do when things aren't going the way you were expecting? Freak out. Exactly. Or at least until the grade 2/3 teacher hands you a book that basically tells you to stop freaking out just because things aren't going the way you were expecting. That pretty much sums up "Just Enough Light..."

We have been blessed to be introduced to an individual who lives near the 'broken park' that we hang out at each Sunday. He is filled with compassion for his neighbors. He decided to invite the entire community to an Easter bash on his property. He also invited Kidztown. He showed up at the 'broken park', (which incidentally isn't so broken anymore, since this same individual has taken it upon himself to fix it up for the kids and make it more accessible for the Kidztown van and trailer, he had pity on the guys who had to push it through the mud on the really wet days!) in a customized - airbrushed - lowered - chrome - to - the - hilt- souped up Peterbilt attached to a low boy filled with straw bales. And on piled the children! We arrived at the destination, with much air horn fanfare. The place was fantastic. And our new friend gave an amazing 'pep talk' to everyone there about how it is time we all started working together toward unity, "it doesn't matter what color we are, we could be pink or purple" and then he told everyone what we are up to down at the 'broken park' every Sunday.

I personally kind of stood there not quite sure what to think the whole time. There had to have been at least 100 people there. It got worse when two of the pastors from our church came up to both Koos and me and asked if we'd ever dreamed we'd be part of a breakthrough like this when we left Hay River. Apparently they have been praying long and hard for something like this to happen and we walked smack into the middle of it. No, actually, we'd dreamed we'd be smack in the middle of Brazil when we left Hay River, so what exactly is going on here?

Well, according to Stormie, I apparently shouldn't be concerned with what exactly is going on here, but rather I should just embrace the situation and go with it. My head tells me many conflicting things, "Don't get involved with these kids, you are going to fall in love with them and then have to leave." "If you choose this, Brazil is history before it even began." Shut up head. My heart tells me to listen to Stormie. And so, slowly but quietly, I think there is a change happening.

I came home from the Easter extravaganza and out of instinct, I checked out Rick's blog. He usually posts something new on the weekends. And sure enough there was a blog about some Brazilian kids who had had their first ever Easter hunt this year and his words describing that almost matched exactly the words our friend had given in his pep talk when he commented that this would be the first Easter egg hunt a lot of the kids here in Duncan would have had. Then I checked out a picture of the creature that a local had packed across Rick's property not too long ago (see link below) and it struck me that that wasn't so different from the whitetail deer carcass that had been suspended from someone's deck across from the 'broken park' a couple of weekends ago (next time I'll try get a picture!).

People are the same, and the Spirit is the same, all over the world, and they need to be introduced to one another. So for now, even though we don't understand it, and whether or not it seems to fit into the plans we had formulated, we are going to do our best to facilitate some of those introductions right here, in Duncan, in the Light that is shining on the step we happen to be on.

https://picasaweb.google.com/ritchard.bergen/CoolPhotos
https://picasaweb.google.com/ritchard.bergen/EasterEggHunt

I Haven't Forgotten How to Blog - Really...

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Hebrews 11:8

So, nine months since the last time I blogged. Pretty pathetic. Long enough to have had another baby, but THANK GOODNESS I don't have THAT to report!! In my own defense, I have about three drafts started on here that I just never got around to finishing. Now however, in my attempt to do anything but the TESOL course I am supposed to be doing (who invented grammar anyway?), I have decided to attend to my long neglected blog.

Just shortly before our house in Hay River sold, I had borrowed a book from the library to distract myself from the craziness of putting the kids in school for the first time, wondering if we were going to move or not move and what the heck we were even doing considering this crazy Brazil thing anyway. In the front cover of the book was the Hebrews scripture I have typed out in red above.

Basically, I took it as God saying that if the father of our faith could just pack up and go without having a clue, what was I bellyaching about? So that is the attitude I took. I don't have to know everything (or in this case anything), I just have to obey and go.

So, we obeyed and went and here we are. And has He blessed us beyond anything we could imagine? ABSOLUTELY. This week especially, has been a 'moving forward week'. It started with a phone call from Delaena's teacher asking if we would like to explain what our family is planning to do in Brazil and how we got here, etc. What an amazing blessing and opportunity to share at the school! So this Friday, we are going to give the fabulous staff and students of Duncan Christian School a bit of an idea of what we are about. We dug out the video we had made of Koos' trip to Brazil in the summer of 2009 and then realized that we hadn't even posted it on here for people to see. So, only a couple years too late, here it is at the bottom of the page!

So that was Sunday, and here's how Tuesday has gone...

When we first started attending New Life, we got wind of a ministry they are doing on one of the local Cowichan reservations. Something in our spirits got excited about that, so we started attending as a family. We go spend a couple of hours each Sunday afternoon at the 'broken' park. So named by Kael. We hang out with the kids who live in the area and play games, put on puppet shows, etc. Up until this point, we've just been there to support the team. Well, today, since the lady who runs the team has other commitments beginning in April, we and another couple were asked if we'd like to help lead the team! What an unbelievable opportunity! Everyone is so excited, especially since our Pastor is very open to us using some of the ideas that the kids and I had been given back in Hay River in our homeschooling days! We just really feel that this is a major piece of the puzzle that has clicked into place for our time here in Duncan.

Here are a few shots of what happens down at the broken park. He truly is a God full of blessings and surprises!

Two Kinds of Crazy

Hello All,

Just a few cute videos to show what my kids have been up to while I am trying to sort and pack. When Calahn, who wasn't party to this event, watched the video she said, "Mom, those guys are just two kinds of crazy." I am not sure where she got that saying, but it seemed appropriate. I would have to include myself in 'those guys' since I asked them to do it again so I could video.

Anyway, as mentioned, I am still sorting and packing. The latest news, as most of you know, is that the church in Duncan has decided to work with us. We now just have to wait for the house to sell.

Here's a link to the church's site and a link to the lead Pastor's site. The lead Pastor happens to be one of my favorite Christian authors.

http://www.newlifechurch.bc.ca/

http://markbuchanan.net/

Butterflies and a Frozen Oak

Psalm 37:23 The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.

How do I (Aubrey) know this for sure? God the Father has taken the time to prove it to me. The last few years I have struggled even more than usual in the winter. Emotionally and physically. Paying outrageous fuel bills, taking half an hour to dress kids to go out and play for ten minutes, sore muscles and headaches. The dark, the cold and the snow. God knew we only had a couple more winters to make it through, so to help, He blessed us with butterflies and a frozen oak.

Last year two gorgeous butterflies lived in a 'butterfly house' in our kitchen window until well after Christmas. We found one on our boot rack in October and the other in a friend's heated shop. It cheered me up to watch them stretch in the sunshine coming through the window or to uncurl their amazing 'proboscises' to slurp up brown sugar water. They were oblivious to the -35C temperatures, (not including the windchill). The winter didn't seem as long with them part of our everyday life.
We have an oak tree in our front yard, which technically is not supposed to be there. Oaks aren't known to do very well in the north. Apparently ours isn't aware of that, as it has grown a fair amount since we've been here. It just makes the best of the situation it is in. It would always make me sad though, to look out the window in the winter and see it bare, it just reminded me of how dead everything seems all winter. So, because my God delights in the details of my life, He sent a rain and then a hard freeze this winter that locked the leaves onto the tree! I look out the window now and instead of a dead bare thing, I see a tree who doesn't know a) it isn't supposed to be living up here and b) it most certainly isn't supposed to have leaves in the winter!! They even stay on in the bitter winds!A good question to ask here is, "What on earth am I doing in Hay River, NT?" I don't like cold, snow or dark. Well, God brought us here to grow us up in Him and get us ready for the next stage in our lives. Which seems to be Brazil, where there is no snow and very limited cold! I have to admit, I've been a bit like the oak. I was quite surprised when Koos finally got up the nerve to tell me God had asked us to head to a different continent. "What do you mean, I'm not supposed to be in Canada for my whole life?" and oblivious like the butterflies, "You mean, this wasn't just another place to live? God was actually doing something in us here?"

While I am excited to enjoy the change in elements, we have friends and family here and in Alberta we will miss dearly. But if God has taught me anything through the butterflies and the oak, it is that if we accept the fact that He has ordered this step in our lives, He will continue to delight in the details, even if we have no real clue as to what's going on!

So here are the facts of our situation: our house is for sale, we've purchased a cargo trailer to use to take stuff to BC and probably serve as a storage unit while we are in Brazil. We've been officially accepted by Xtreme Mercy for training and are allowed to give presentations and explain what we will be doing in Brazil. We are not sure of the timeline in BC. To get into Brazil on a 'religious purposes' visa, a person has to have completed Bible school or be ordained with a church. We are probably going to go the ordination route, as it is a shorter process. It involves working with a church, fulfulling the requirements of their denomination to become ordained and then having the approval of the church board to do so. As it looks right now, this will take about a year. We will also need some time to learn Portuguese before we go!!

Xtreme Mercy is also able to take donations on our behalf and hold them in trust for us until we need them. The most pressing financial need right now is the "outgoing expense", which will include plane tickets for the six of us. If anyone feels led to donate, here is a link to the Xtreme Mercy (Xingu Mission) site so you can check out what they are all about: http://www.xingu.org/index.html. Any donations are tax deductible and if something crazy happens and we never make it down there, the funds will go to a general fund to help wherever the need is greatest. We will be working with the Bergens (see international missionaries) in the Maraba region. For interest's sake, here is the most recent video from the Maraba region of youth testimonies from a retreat they held earlier this year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlCReNHp3lE.

So, thanks for reading. I will do my best to keep everyone updated as more of the details are revealed to us. If anyone is on Facebook, I have also posted some 'Farewell to Hay River' pictures as a tribute to the good times we had in the snow.

God bless and may you give Him the opportunity to show you how He delights in the details of your life, too.