Learning through the Crisis

These last few weeks have been challenging for many of us. Most are us experiencing this level of extended uncertainty for the first time in our lives. For those that have gone through a difficult season of life before, these feelings are an unwelcome friend that has returned. Here in Austria, we are a little over a week into the process of being in some sort of stage of "lock down." In the face of all of this difficulty, I wanted to share a few things that I've been learning and processing. I don't mean to say that I have mastered any of these things, but I see how the Lord is working in my heart through these uncertain times. I don't want to waste this time. It is valuable to examine our hearts and see where God wants to strengthen our trust in Him.

A Focus on Prayer:
We believe prayer is essential to the Christian life. It is our lifeline. It is a chance to share our troubles and struggles with the almighty God. As we confess the things we know to be true, our hearts are strengthened. We pull our gaze away from our anxieties and fears and fix them on the unchanging truth of the Word made flesh.

For us, this has taken the form of a daily prayer meeting with folks from our church. I (Nate) was looking for a way to encourage people in our church and also frankly feeling disconnected and struggling with a lot of anxious emotions. So we started a Zoom prayer meeting once a day. The first week we looked at a few different Psalms and heard David's words about distress and anxiety. This week has been focused on 1. Corinthians 15 and the resurrection as the foundation of our faith. It was really wonderful to connect and pray for one another where we were at.

We want to continue a focus on prayer in our church plant. We believe wholeheartedly that when God's people pray, He moves. Based on this, we want to be people of prayer. We want to cry out to God in our distress and carry this focus beyond these times.

Meeting God through Song:
Music has a special place in my heart. I can strum a few chords on the guitar in a worship band, and I also listen to a fair amount of music as I work and for fun. As I've been processing the stress and uncertainty of the last few weeks, I've had some powerful moments of connecting with God through song. There is something about a well-crafted piece of poetry that cuts through and delivers its medicine right to the heart.

A few days ago, I was on the bicycle trainer in the basement (which itself has been a huge gift). The song from Andrew Peterson called "His Heart Beats" came on my mix and I found it so moving.

He took one breath
and put death to death
Where is your sting, O grave?
How grave is your defeat
I know, I know his heart beats

These words put so much in perspective for me. We need these moments. We need to refocus our vision. I need to look to Christ and his victory as my only hope. Which brings me to my final thought...

Our only Hope - The Gospel:
I have been consistently reminded through this time that our hope lies squarely and singularly by one thing. The gospel itself. Our hope is not in a test or a drug, a vaccine or a government. Our riches and our homes cannot protect us. A virus doesn't care how many hit movies you've made or if you're a big-time pop star. We only have one hope. Just over a week ago, I preached to an almost entirely empty church and a webcam for our church's first ever live stream. I quoted the first question in the Heidelberg Catechism:

Q. What is your only comfort in life and death?
A. That I am not my own,
           but belong with body and soul,
           both in life and in death,
           to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.

The answer goes on, but this central theme is not to be overlooked. In body and soul, in life and death, as Christians we belong to Christ. He is our comfort and our safe harbor. We have a place to bring our anxiety. We have a place for our worry. The resurrected Christ is our hope.

Video Update

It's been awhile since we did one of these! Here's a video update of what's been going on recently and how you can be praying for our ministry going into the fall. Thanks!

Visas and Health Insurance

The last few months have been a journey, and we thought we give you guys an update. (We apologize for the long blogging hiatus...) I'll do my best to keep the story compact, because I feel like it could get away from me.

Recently, I had heard from some other field leaders and workers here that visas were becoming more complicated. There were questions about health insurance and coverage and needing to provide additional documentation. We knew of people still waiting on their visa renewal applications to be processed, and it seemed like we could also face these challenges. We took a "we'll see" sort of attitude because living in the "land of worry and what-ifs" is not a great place to be.

Last fall, we had our first new worker come to Austria since we have arrived. We were so excited to have her here and get her settled in. She started German classes, found an apartment (something needed for her visa) and started to figure out cross-cultural life. We started to get an idea that things could get complicated when she received a letter asking for more documents. One of the issues mentioned in this letter was about health insurance. Bureaucracy is a regular part of life here, and so gathering documents and submitting them has become a normal part of our life. First, we made sure we were reading the documents correctly, because legal German is a whole other language. After that, we gathered the necessary documents and brought them back to the office.

In the meantime, we also were facing a visa renewal. We now live half a mile from the Vienna city limits, which places us in a different province. We went to drop off our documents at a local office and received similar questions about our health insurance coverage and the need for more documents. We submitted everything and waited for a response from the office. 

Better is the End

Today in my (Nate) Bible reading I finished up Ecclesiastes. Solomon's words rang true in my heart as I read, "Better is the end of a thing than its beginning." Today we closed the first chapter of our interns' summer here with us in Austria. This afternoon they got on a train with one of our former interns and her sister and headed to the Salzburg area to start the second half of their ministry.

These times are always bittersweet. We know that God has been working in their hearts. It is fun to see their understanding of the culture grow and to see how their questions change as they learn and experience more and more. We are blessed and honored to be able to build into these gals and serve them through their time here. 

As we sent them off, we prayed for the students that were going to be in their cabins, that they would continue to seek them out, that they would work hard to build relationships with their campers despite low language confidence and busy schedules. We prayed that they would have energy and push through when times are challenging. 

We are excited to go and visit them after their first full week of camp. We know that this will be a great debrief time to process with them the things they are learning.

Will you pray with us and for them in this season of ministry? Thanks for lifting them up!

Our First Prayer Meeting

Church planting can be an undefined, uncertain ministry. Each day is different and the way God works to plant each new church is also different. Many questions arise at every stage...What does each day look like? How should we start? How do we take tangible steps, while also relying on God? How do we remain culturally relevant, while also "pushing the envelope" and taking risks? When do we ask people to join the team and when do we communicate more indirectly, as is common in this culture? I've found there are more and more questions, as we move further along in the journey.

So far, we have relocated to our target geographic area and started making intentional connections with Christians in this area. We are attending a local church and serving there, with the hopes that we will soon have a team of believers ready to step out and join us. In the fall, we hope to start a bible study of people who want to reach out local area.

Two weeks ago, we took another important step and started hosting prayer evenings for this church planting project. We invited local pastors, Christians nearby who have expressed interest in the church plant, those from our former church who want to pray for us, other missionaries, and anyone else who we thought might want to pray. We did not ask people to commit to joining the church planting team - these evenings will primarily be about praying for this new church plant and for our efforts to reach this region. We know God works through prayer, and we also believe He will use these times of prayer to start forming a team of people who will join us.

We were so encouraged by all of those who attended our first prayer evening! There were about 13 people in attendance (including us) and it was a diverse group of people - potential team members, local pastors and church leaders and others who want to pray for this area. We took time to pray in segment for the region, the project, and the team. Nate also gave a devotional at the start and took time to explain some of the reason why we are targeting this region of Vienna.

We are excited for this start and will be hosting a prayer evening every 3 - 4 weeks to build momentum. Please pray with us for this church planting project - for God to work through us, for people to be reached and for a thriving, gospel-preaching community to be established!

A Long Term Focus

There are parts of life that are easier to assent to intellectually than they are to experience. Simple statements with a great deal of meaning behind them, like "early parenthood is hard" or "moving is usually stressful" are true by themselves, but fail to encapsulate the difficulty of the actual experience. The simple question "how?" unlocks so much of what is hidden behind one of these statement. For example, if you ask the question "How is early parenting hard?" one way you can simply answer that question is with one word: SLEEP.

The same has been true for us with church planting. We came to Austria with some very key values and things we didn't want to be. We value partnership and submission to national churches and leadership. We are not the solo rogues out on the end doing whatever we want to do. We are not the people that come in with money and say that it is "our way or the highway" just because we can fund our own work. We also value team and want to see a church planting effort here in Austria that is not just German and American missionaries running the show, but is truly a partnership, a cooperation between churches across borders and continents. Additionally, we know that we have to have a long-term focus in this culture. Austria is a history-focused culture (compared to American forward thinking - When's the next iPhone coming out?). So we know that we have to maintain a long-term focus.

It is this last statement, this "long-term focus", that we have started to realize is different to pay lip service to versus actually living it out. We have started to ask the question, "what does it mean to have a long-term focus?" or simply "how?". We are realizing it is easier to say it than it is to be in the middle of it. We are living this out and experiencing it in an existential way, which is far more complicated than simply saying that it is true. We know it objectively, but the subjective experience is different and difficult.

The short answer to the "how" question is: "slower". Slower than it would probably go in the States. Slower because relationships take time. This doesn't mean that things are on pause, but simply that we aren't starting tomorrow or the next day. We know that this process will take time and we accept that. We live in this tension of wanting things to move faster but knowing that there are no short cuts. We know that if it is worth doing, it is worth doing deliberately and in God's timing and not our own.

This leads the second answer which is, it may be slower, but it is also in God's timing. We have seen God on the move and we are continuing to pray that he will reveal himself and his timing. We know that our desire to "get things moving" can move us outside of God's timing. Our desire is not to run out ahead of God.

Ultimately, we continue to seek God and work towards the church planting project, but we recognize that it will happen in His timing and at His pace. It can be hard to wait, but we eagerly await God's work and are excited for how He will move in our community. The church here was founded as a prayer movement, and we want to see another generation of young people encounter God in prayer and in His word.

Renewal Conference

 To many people, the words "renewal" and "conference" may seem contradictory. Conferences are typically filled with busy schedules, lots of people, breakout sessions and very little down time. Not too many conference experiences are restful or rejuvenating. So going into a week called "renewal conference" might lead someone to be skeptical. We are thankful, however, that WorldVenture (our missions organization), keeps true to its word and takes the conference name seriously. 

Last week, we gathered with WorldVenture home office staff, regional staff (recruiters from different regions of the U.S.), board members and missionaries for a week of worship, prayer, teaching, learning and networking. The entire first two days were dedicated to just prayer and worship, allowing us to spend time praying for our world, our staff, our missionaries, people groups throughout the globe and many specific needs. We also each had the opportunity to experience an hour long "prayer labyrinth", where you walk a path in a room, listening to an audio track that guides you through a prayer exercise.  These first two days were very renewing.

 The second three days, we were blessed to hear the challenging and engaging words of Ryan Paulson (pastor of a local church). His message on worry and anxiety really hit home for me, and I really felt the Holy spirit speaking through him to me about releasing my worry. We also got to hear from WorldVenture leadership and attend breakout sessions about medical coverage, finances and other helpful topics. At every meal, we sat down with different staff and missionaries. These impromptu conversations were always great, as we compared cultures, swapped language learning stories and discussed thoughts on how to challenge the next generation to consider missions.

Childcare was provided for kids under 5, so Ellie was in good hands all week. I was quite nervous about this going in and the first day was a bit rough for her...but each day was better and better. It was such a gift for us to be able to attend all the sessions and to know she was having fun while we were doing that.

We came away from the Renewal Conference truly renewed!

We're in!

We made it, and we're in! Last weekend, our church officially relocated to our new location in the Meidling district of Vienna, and we have already celebrated two Sundays there. We are so thankful for the new space! It has already been a blessing to us as a congregation to meet there, with more open space, cleaner classrooms and room to grow. We look forward to the space being a blessing for many others soon.

Click below to see this month's update video about the new building, the relocation and how you can be praying this month for us and our church!

What is love?

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:11,12 (NIV) 

This time of year, everything is red or pink and heart-shaped. All the magazine covers tell us “5 Tips to Win Back Your Man’s Heart” or “Take Her on the Date of a Lifetime.” Love is everywhere, or at least packaged definitions of love are everywhere. "If you really loved him, you’d buy him that expensive watch", says that magazine ad. Others say, "if you really loved her, she’d open a little felt box of diamonds on a ski vacation!" 

 And while the bible can’t tell you if you can pull that dress off for your big date tonight, it does answer the burning question behind all of this steamy advice: what is love? In the 1 John passage above, the question is answered for us. When Jesus died on the cross for the sins of His enemies, He gave us the best example of what love truly is: sacrifice. I may know how to love my wife, even when I screw up, but how do I love others with the sacrificial love Christ showed on the cross? 

 E.M. Bounds was a pastor around the time of the Civil War. He wrote a lot about prayer. He said this:
“Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still. He will never talk well and with real success to men for God who has not learned well how to talk to God for men.” 

Spending time in prayer for those around us is a wonderful way to show the love of Christ. We know that when God’s people pray, God moves powerfully among them. There are also many small decisions we can make in a day to show love to those around us. We can leave work early to have a family game night or send someone an encouraging email. When we sacrifice our most precious resources for other, like time and attention, we show others how important they are to us and to God.

Monday Morning Puritans

I have really come to love the Puritan prayers in the book, the Valley of Vision. So often they express hopes and desires that I have in such thoughtful and constructive ways. They are balanced in a way that I think my prayer life and personal thought life rarely is. There is never too much "hell fire and brimstone", but there is an acute awareness of our own sinfulness, and the grace that is never far off. I'd like to share one of these prayers this morning.

Desires

O Thou That Hearest Prayer,

Teach me to pray.

I confess in religious exercises that the language of my lips and the feelings of my heart have not always agreed,

that I have frequently taken carelessly upon my tongue a name never pronounced above without reverence and humility,

that I have often desired things which would have injured me,

that I have depreciated some of my chief mercies,

that I have erred both on the side of my hopes and of my fears, 

that I am unfit to choose for myself,

for it is not in me to direct my steps.

Let thy Spirit help my infirmities,

for I know not what to pray for as I ought.

Let him produce in me wise desires by which I may ask right things,

then I shall know thou hearest me.

May I never be importunate* for temporal blessings,

but always refer them to thy fatherly goodness,

for thou knowest what I need before I ask;

May I never think I prosper unless my soul prospers,

or that I am rich unless rich toward thee,

or that I am wise unless wise unto salvation.

May I seek first thy kingdom and its righteousness.

May I value things in relation to eternity.

May my spiritual welfare be my chief solicitude**.

May I be poor, afflicted, despised and have thy blessing,

rather than be successful in enterprise,

or have more than my heart can wish,

or be admired by my fellow-men,

if thereby these things make me forget thee.

May I regard the world as dreams, lies, vanities, vexations of the spirit, and desire to depart from it.

And may I seek my happiness in thy favour, image, presence, service.

* importunate means to obnoxiously ask

** solicitude here means concern

There are so many things to grab ahold of here, but I really love the prayer of confession at the beginning. I think coming out of a Sunday service experience, it is good and right for us to confess our unbelief and the contradictions that we live with internally. Confessing those to God and to each other is a valuable way to press in to God.

The other section that I really love is towards the end and it talks about our connection to God. The writer asks that he be poor, afflicted and despised with God's blessing, rather than admired and rich and thereby forgetting God. It is easy to get caught up in trying to please other people, or trying to gain their admiration. Our main goal and focus should be nearness and closeness to God. May we continue to seek that.

Our Final Commissioning

Nate talks about European mayonaise during our commissioning!

Last Sunday, we were commissioned at Parkview Community Church, our home. It's been really special for us to be commissioned at 3 churches these last few months - at my home church in CT, Nate's home church in MN and now our sending church. We really feel blessed and supported and loved as we go out.

Nate and I found Parkview back in early 2008, at the suggestion of our WorldVenture recruiter, Phil. He had attended Parkview when he lived in the Wheaton area and knew the church had a welcoming community, solid biblical teaching, an outreach focus and a heart for missions. All of that turned out to be true. Since coming to Parkview 4 years ago, we had the opportunity to perform in Children's ministry skits, sing on the worship team, join a small group, help facilitate bible discussions for new believers, and lead a men's morning bible study (that was Nate, of course). I was baptized at Parkview as a believer in early 2009, having previously been baptized as an infant. We were married at Parkview, we are members there, and now we are being sent out from there. It has a really special place in our hearts.

Chuck prays for us

This past Sunday, we sang on the worship team for the last time - very bittersweet! Then Pastor Chuck Howard, who oversees Parkview's missions efforts, invited us back up on stage. He allowed us to share a bit about the needs in Austria and then he encouraged us with the Great Commission, reminding us that we go out with Christ's authority and that Christ will be with us. He then prayed for us. It was really wonderful to get to share a bit of who we are with the church and to know that they will faithfully pray for us and support us on this journey.

Thank you, Parkview, for welcoming us in 4 years ago and walking with us through this journey!

30 Days of a Wonderful God

Here we are with our 30 Days of Prayer behind us. It was really wonderful to hear how everyone joined in and connected with God through this period of time. I can’t believe how quickly it went. God provided so much for us! We are happy to be fully funded and looking forward to what God will do when we arrive in Austria.

These last 30 Days truly were a vision of how God works in the world. It wasn’t flashy, we didn’t see any spectacular sky writing, and we didn't have a magically enthralling experience. There was no booming voice from heaven. But we saw Him active in so many small ways. We saw him move in the hearts of others to lead them towards himself. We saw the people of God coming together in prayer and seeking Him in community. And sometimes those small leadings included us and our needs.

All this was ultimately done for God’s glory and not our own. I was reminded that God is not focused on my happiness, but He does know how to give good gifts to His children. His heart is good, and He provides for our needs. I was consistently reminded that I need to learn to say no to things that aren’t inherently bad but can become idols that draw on my time with God. And I was reminded that prayer is a constant posture of life, not an action I start and stop.

So now it’s your turn. For those of you that participated in the 30 Days of Prayer, what did God teach you? What did you learn?

Thanks to everyone that participated.

The Seeds of Movement

A while ago, Bethany and I spent some time away on a spiritual retreat. We were so blessed to have some focused time on prayer and hearing from the Lord. We sang together, read scripture, and enjoyed the time of communion with Christ amidst all of the craziness of this adventure.

A friend in Connecticut lent us their vacation home that was near the campus of Williams College in Massachusetts.  Because I am from the Midwest, this was my first exposure to this area of Mass. I had never heard of Williams College, which is the top liberal arts college in the country.

As we wandered across the campus of this prestigious school, we stumbled upon this monument commemorating a prayer meeting in 1806 . After reading it, I remembered the stories from my missions classes and realized we were standing near a piece of missions history.

In 1806, five men met in a meadow near Williams College to pray about and discuss the need for missionaries to travel to other lands and preach the gospel to those that had never heard it. In the middle of their discussion, a thunderstorm popped up and so they all hid under a haystack to continue their talking and prayer. They began a group called the Haystack prayer group that a few years later began the first American missions sending board.

Our first thought through all this was just how amazing it was to be in the place that has shaped so much of American missions. This was the beginning place for so many changed lives. This is where men and women stepped out in faith to follow where God led. 

We also loved being in this place, because it reinforces the need for prayer. We know from history how many Christian movements have started in prayer and yet the church doesn't spend nearly enough time on our knees together before God seeking direction and the movement of his Spirit. We pray that God would continue to birth movements of his people out of prayer and seeking his name.

The First Half

Wow! It is hard to believe that we are halfway into our 30 Days of Prayer. It has been so good to see God already on the move in our lives and in this process of preparation. Right now we have 89 people that have committed to taking the journey with us! That is so amazing! What a blessing it is to have so many people walking with us in prayer.

We have also seen God move as He has brought so many new people into our lives. We have had quite a few "Out of Nowhere" moments as we have seen God provide.

So here is the update: After 15 days, God has brought us to 96.6% of our funding goal! We started at 92%, so we are blown away with how God has provided already.

The other wonderful thing about this is we aren't finished yet. We still have 15 more days of prayer to go. So if you want to join in and pray with us for the remainder of these 30 days, we'd love to have you! Just fill out this form and we'll send you the last half our 30 Days of Prayer emails!

Our First Commissioning

Sorry for the blogging hiatus! We've been traveling a lot this month and it's been tough to keep up with the blog. But we are trying to get back into a rhythm!

This week, we are back in Connecticut with my family and yesterday, we had the special opportunity of being commissioned by my home church in Easton. My youth pastor from growing up, Rev. Cary Slater, still works at the church and it was really great that he was there to commission us. (By the way, in the photo to the left you see a wilderness backdrop...this is not normal for the church :)  Their VBS program is this week.)

We started with sharing with the congregation a little bit about our ministry and how they can specifically be praying for us in the coming months. Then Cary invited anyone from the congregation who was a part of my discipleship growing up, like Sunday school teachers and youth group leaders, to come to the front to lay hands on us and pray over us. It was very powerful for me to see the great group of people surrounding us who were lifting us up and who have shepherded me in so many ways. God has used many people along our journey to help prepare us for the mission field!

At the end, Nate and I lit a candle and carried it out of the sanctuary, symbolizing being a shining light and sharing Christ's light in Austria. The commissioning ended with singing "Send Me" with the congregation. I'm so thankful we were able to be sent out by Covenant, and we feel very supported by them. After church, we hosted an open house and lunch at my parents' house to celebrate. It was a great day, and we'll miss all of these wonderful people here!

30 Days of Prayer

In just a few weeks, we are kicking off a special month. August 1 - 30 will be 30 Days of Prayer for our ministry and departure for Austria. As we get close to our departure goal, we are ready to come boldly before the throne of God and ask Him to work mightily and to open the doors for us to get to Austria in early October.

All of our prayer team members will receive 1 email a day for 30 days, containing specific prayer requests and updates on progress towards departure. If you would like to also receive these emails, you can complete the form at the bottom to join in the effort!

Right now, we are at almost 90% of our support goal and we must reach 100% (with monthly, quarterly and annual commitments) in order to depart. We are praying that we reach this goal by September 1st, giving us 1 month to purchase tickets, ship items and prepare to leave.

Why do we need to depart in early October? Getting on a plane the first week of October will enable us to jump into language learning full-time early enough to pass a crucial language competency exam in December. We will need at least two months of language learning in order to pass the test, so arriving in October is important. Passing this exam is required by our visa application, which we will hand in January 2nd.

Would you join us in prayer? Please be praying for our departure and that God would work in people's hearts to join our support team. Please pray for shipping and departure details to come together. But most of all, pray that God would be working in our hearts and preparing us spiritually, mentally and emotionally for the transition ahead.

We are eagerly anticipating how God will work during these 30 Days of Prayer!

Good gifts?

I have been reading the book Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. This book has been on my reading list for years now, and I kept putting it off. Honestly, I thought to myself, "I think I have pretty healthy boundaries in my life. I'm sure it's an interesting book...but I don't really need to read it." Truly a naive thought. But I kept hearing about the book left and right, with recommendations from friends or quotes/references to it. So I finally caved in! And God has been blessing my time as I've been reading it.

One quote from the book recently stood out to me:

"God loves to give gifts to his children, but he is a wise parent. He wants to make sure his gifts are right for us. To know what to ask for, we have to be in touch with who we really are and what are our real motives. If we are wanting something to feed our pride or to enhance our ego, I doubt that God is interested in giving it to us. But if it would be good for us, he's very interested."

Wow. This really cuts to the core in its honesty and clarity, and it leads me to reexamine my prayers and requests to God. Am I truly examining my heart and motives when I ask God to intervene? Do I trust that God is my 'wise parent' and that He knows what's best, rather than what I think is good for me? Am I expectantly awaiting God's good gifts? These are hard questions and examining them has revealed my many shortcomings!

When we began our journey to Austria, we knew it would be a long and hard road getting there. But we told ourselves and others that God would use this time to mold and shape us, helping us grow into the people He wants us to be when we arrive. That's a great thought, right? But sometimes it's easier to say it than to believe it deeply. It's one thing to ask God to challenge you because you know you will grow...but it's another to welcome challenge when you're in the thick of it. And there have been some low points in the journey where I didn't necessarily want to be "molded and shaped" anymore.

The Boundaries quote has brought me back to focusing on trusting God's provision and plan as our loving Father, no matter what hardship lies ahead. It brings me back to a healthy examination of my requests to God. It reminds me that God knows best.

What does this quote lead you to dwell on in your relationship with God?

A Prayer Suitcase

The class with Bethany and me. And of course, they have
their prayer suitcases packed and ready to go.

On Sunday, Bethany and I taught the children's church at Covenant Church of Easton, which is the church that she grew up in. It was fun to remind the kids that we were once exactly in their shoes and that God has exciting things for their lives. We had a great time with these kids.


When we asked the boys and girls if they knew what language the people in Austria spoke, one little boy's hand shot up. He said he knew what language they spoke and that it was German. We were pretty impressed at this little guy! Some adults aren't 100% sure about the answer to that question. He also said that he knew how to speak German, which was equally impressive and would right now put him ahead of us! So we proceeded to ask him in front of the class how you say 'Good morning' in German...and his reply made all of the adults in the room crack up laughing. To say 'good morning' in German, he merely said, 'Good morning' in English but with a German/Swedish-Chef accent. It was a pretty spectacular moment.


At the end of our time with the kids, Bethany did a craft project that was really great. We knew that the children wouldn't be able to come visit us anytime soon to see the ministry that God is doing in Austria. So because they couldn't pack their real suitcases, Bethany had them pack a prayer suitcase instead for the times when they would pray for us. They put in it everything that they would need to pray for us: an Austrian flag, our picture cut out from our prayer card, a few prayer requests written out to remember, our theme verse, and then any decorations that the kids wanted to add.  Some added a flag pole for the flag or drawings of mountains.


The more I thought about this, the more I was intrigued by this concept. Somehow we think that spending time in prayer and how to prepare for prayer, because it is a spiritual activity, is totally different than other activities and requires few tools or time or preparation. But are we wrong in our thinking?


If I want to go rock climbing, I have a mental list of things I need to pack: my shoes, my harness, rope, and other pieces of gear. Nothing is worse than getting to a climb and realizing I forgot something that will make the day either miserable or unsafe. Have you ever tried to spend an entire day outside without a water bottle? You get thirsty pretty quick.


So when it comes to prayer, I am beginning to think about what I would need to pack to spend more time in prayer. Like many other parts of my life, planning and preparation are a growth area for me. Like any relationship, this is something that both grows organically and requires you to be intentional. 


So here is the question: 
What do you put in your prayer suitcase?
How do you organize and prepare for your times of prayer?

Joining Forces with the A-Team

One important way that we communicate with our friends, family and supporters is with a monthly email newsletter. We spend a lot of time thinking about and writing our monthly update, and we pray each month about how it will impact, engage and move in the hearts of its readers. If you're not already on our mailing list, I would encourage you to sign up using the form on the right!

This month's update gives a great overview of our recent visit to Colorado. I thought it would be fun to post it here. Enjoy!


Dear friends & family,

We are back in Connecticut after a productive trip to Colorado last month. It was exhausting, wonderful, encouraging, and a great time of learning and growth. We processed so much information in such a short period of time, we feel as though we are still working through some of it! We also spent time with friends, some we have known since the beginning of our missions journey and some brand new.  Click here to see a video of our time in Colorado.

Here is a brief overview of what we did and how God was working through our trip!

TRAINING
During our first four days in Denver, we attended a final workshop with WorldVenture staff called “Pre-departure Training”.  We explored some of the major transitional issues that we’ll face as we leave one culture and head to another, addressing issues like learning how to mourn and properly say goodbye to people, places and seasons of life. It was another stage of realization that our huge life transition is quickly approaching, and it provided some helpful tools to process.

 

SYMPOSIUM
Over the following weekend, we attended the Missions Symposium 2012 at Denver Seminary (click the link to access conference materials).  These sessions were very valuable, and though we didn’t attend some of the sessions due to illness, we plan to spend more time processing through them. We heard from Christopher J.H. Wright, author of the well-known missions text The Mission of God; we are very excited to read his book and fully digest his thoughts on missions!

RENEWAL CONFERENCE
The second week was spent at the WorldVenture Annual Renewal Conference, which kicked off with a two-day prayer summit. It was a valuable time of corporate prayer for the missionaries, the leadership of WorldVenture, and God’s direction in all of our lives. We also had some "family business" time, where we discussed issues our organization is facing and new opportunities ahead. More than anything, this conference reaffirmed our love and commitment to this great group of WorldVenture men and women!

At Renewal Conference, we spent time with fellow appointees, men and women who are at a similar point in their preparation process.  It is always encouraging to spend time with people who understand the challenges and joys of heading to the mission field. We are consistently blessed by their support and friendship.

THE A-TEAM
Sadly, we did not see Mr. T and his infamous “A-Team” during our Colorado visit. But we got something even better...we got to spend time with our Austria team, the real A-Team!  All but two families from Vienna were in town for the week, and Bethany used her organizational skills to coordinate a dinner at a local German restaurant (which our team members were quick to point out is different from Austrian food!).  It was fun to see many of our team members in one place, as well as to meet some former Austria team members.  What a wonderful legacy of ministry we are stepping into!  

Thank you for your continued prayers, as well as your generous support that opened the door for us to attend Pre-departure Training and this conference. Have a great month!


Blessings,
Nate & Bethany Johnson

We're Here!

I apologize for the lack of blog posts this past week. Nate was up in New Hampshire on his annual ice climbing trip, while I was working at an event in San Diego. We meet up in Denver today at WorldVenture headquarters for two weeks, and we're excited we are finally here!

Our first week at WorldVenture...we will be going through Pre-Departure Training (thanks to the prayers and support of so many who helped us reach 60%!). These 3 days are focused on preparing for departure. Part of the training is about the logistical side, discussing things like visas, shipping containers, departure requirements, and the like. But another very important part is the emotional and spiritual side. During this training, we will meet with staff and counselors to begin talking about saying goodbye and going through the major transition of moving to Austria.

This training comes at the perfect time for us. We are just beginning to do things or see people "for the last time" and the goodbyes are slowly ramping up. We have been focusing for the last year on building our team of financial and prayer supporters, but now we must shift our focus to also include how to emotionally, spiritually and mentally prepare for the stress, sadness and adjustment that a cross-cultural move can create. We are looking forward to what we will learn this week about culture shock, maintaining connections to home, and saying goodbye well.

This weekend... we will attend two days of a Missions Symposium at Denver Seminary. This is a first time event and we look forward to hearing from experienced and charismatic speakers who are well-known in the missions community. We will also get to meet and network with many other missionaries and missions support staff, learning from them and building new relationships.

 
Next week in Colorado...we will attend WorldVenture's Renewal Conference. This week-long event is a time for WorldVenture missionaries and staff to come together for worship, prayer and updates. We will spend time sharing and hearing from the field and home office, praying for one another, and seeking the Lord's guidance in our lives, ministry and direction as an organization. Nate and I are especially excited to spend time with several Austria team members at this conference, whom we haven't seen since our Vision Trip last April!

Please pray... for 2 weeks of blessing, encouragement, learning and growth. Please pray that the Lord would protect us from feeling overwhelmed, stressed or fearful of the transitions ahead, but that instead, these 2 weeks would excite us about the journey He has laid out for us and the team that surrounds us at WorldVenture.

Thank you for your prayers!