Our President, Greg Pruett recently blogged about 2014, and you can read it here. We really like how his heart comes through as he reports exciting news. There are lots of numbers in the post, but these numbers either represent or closely relate to Dear People Made in the Image of God. How marvelous are God’s Works!
(http://pioneerbible.org/blog/what-god-did-2014)
OK, so we haven’t blogged in a long time. The good news is most of you keep up with us in other ways too, so the silence didn’t worry anyone . . . right?
Something has happened since June! Well, OK, lots happened. We’ll recap the last half of 2014 and the beginning of this year.
We’ve been studying, speaking, meeting, and traveling quite a bit. God has been prompting people to partner with us in prayer and finances, and we have made lots of progress toward having enough monthly partnerships to move. However, we still need monthly partners so it’s not too late to partner with us!
In other news, we’ve finished two courses and are working on finishing two more. Another big accomplishment was mailing in a very thick stack of immigration paper work. We are getting closer!
Where have we been? We’ve been based out of Oklahoma City, but we have traveled to North Carolina, Southern California, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Idaho and Jamaica (family vacation–thanks Mom and Dad!).
We have enjoyed quite a bit of time with my side of the family and have had the privilege of being with Jordan’s side of the family too. It was great having her parents and sister visit us. Other highlights were Jordan’s grandpa’s 90th birthday, spending Christmas with my side of the family, and being with our new niece (picture) and her parents.
What are we doing now?
Getting ready for a trip to Washington and British Columbia, and a move to Dallas in February (among lots of other things). And yes, stay tuned, because we are drafting several more blog posts.
We are so thankful for all you who pray for us on a regular basis. We pray for you too, so keep us posted!
As Ryan already mentioned, our time in North Carolina has truly been wonderful. Several themes of the past couple months come to mind: rest, family, transition, preparation. But one which continues to surprise us is hospitality. Seriously, every time we experience it, hospitality takes us off guard in the best kind of way. And, as I’ll hopefully make clear, I don’t mean hospitality in the simple sense of entertaining guests, opening your house to strangers, conversations over tea, and the like, though this is included. I hope to convey to you our experiences with the kind of hospitality that is characteristic of God’s family.
We felt it literally as soon as we arrived at our new home. We barely had time to unload our packed Civic before my sister and my parents paraded into our house with hugs, loud and joyful welcomes, groceries, and a Christmas tree. And then there is this house, our temporary home for our time here, which was freely given to us by a family whom we had not even met, but who were more than willing to loan out this adorable little house in the woods. Every day we are reminded of their hospitality. Then, a couple weeks ago, we were invited to speak at a conference at a local church, who stood and clapped to welcome the guest missionaries, who cheerfully and humbly thanked us simply for coming to share about our work.
Other experiences have been sporadic and equally surprising. We have had family members, friends, and people we barely know doing whatever they can think of to move us along in this journey we’ve begun to serve the Bible-less.
Perhaps it is because we have transitioned to a kind of life that is unusually dependent on people’s kindness and generosity, and so are even more aware of God’s goodness in our lives, but we rejoice in the hospitality of His people. The people of God have opened up to us, made room for us, and blessed us with kindness and generosity. May we practice the kind of hospitality we have experienced, the kind that makes space for others to live and to be at peace, the kind that joyfully and generously welcomes the stranger, the kind that embraces those who are different from us and liberates fearful hearts.
Ryan & Jordan 