School Has Begun

August 24th. My due date and the day school starts at NAU. We had staff meetings all last week and are now implementing strategies we felt like the Lord gave us. Curt has been and will continue to be on campus all week. The goal of this time is not just to meet students but we are praying that the Lord will lead us to specific students who catch the vision of reaching the unchurched among them using the outdoors. Curt has met several students already who have said, "This is awesome. It's exactly what I'm looking for. A way to reach out among my community in a way that people will want to come." It's been really exciting for him to see the Lord answer prayers in that respect.

Every Wednesday night for the next 3 weeks, we will hold a time where these students can come and eat and we will cast the vision of what we would love to see happen. Then they can chose if they want to be involved and to what extent. We will continue to be on campus for the next two weeks doing what Curt has been doing above. It seems a little tedious but it's been awesome to see who the Lord is bringing! So, pray with us for these things!

This Week

August 13th. The day we (moreso, Curt) have been waiting for. It's the day we officially begin on campus. Meetings will start and we will begin planning with our staff team for the year. Students are returning (how did summer already end??) and we are getting back into the mindset of being involved on campus.

We began homeschooling the girls about a month ago to try to get into the groove while Curt was home to help. It's been a good month and I feel like we have a better handle on what we're doing.

Our most exciting, recent news is the Lifelines' event we got to help out with yesterday (pics to come). We helped take out 24 students on a paintball trip. We took along Turi and Bitsu who helped out with cleaning equipment and such inbetween games and it was fun to see them involved with the students.

They played two different games and then took a break where they began processing different questions that were thrown out to them. For example, the first game was every man for himself. We asked things like, "What does it mean to be alone? How did you feel being out for only yourself as oppossed to the second game where you were on teams?" These lead to good discussion and eventually we talked about how you feel being isolated in life and how God can play a role in that area. We had seven students who indicated that they want to know more about God or talk with us more about spiritual things. It was fun to actually be a part of something we've been training about doing for awhile.

Pray for us as we start up this week. Also, pray for us as we feel it's time to begin the home group we've been praying about. Thanks!

Home Group

We have wanted to start a storying home group since we've moved back to the States. Well, we finally have. Granted it is just our family for now but we actually have other people interested in attending!

What has been so fun has been watching the girls loving the stories. That is A LOT of fun and I feel like I'm back on the field. I usually tell the story (we have done Creation, The Fall, Cain and Abel and Noah) and then I ask the girls if they can retell it. Sometimes they can right away and sometimes I have to tell it again. Usually Turi retells it in English and then Bitsu, with Turi's help, retells it in their native tongue. It is a lot of fun to watch the girls' interest and watch them learn the story. They love attending church.

Please pray for some people who have either expressed an interest in attending our home group, expressed an interest in spiritual things or we are getting to know pretty well.

Congrats, Curt!

Thank you for praying for Curt. He spent a very stressful week preparing for his climbing exam. It was 2 full days from 8-5 out on the rock. He was asked to do certain things and watched by the judge. Any mistakes that were made were noted. He was only allowed to make 3 minor mistakes. A 4th would mean failing. A major mistake (forgetting your helmet, doing a knot wrong) was an automatic fail. It was a very stressful time for him, as you can imagine. Day 2 was taking out a group of clients (just volunteers) and actually guiding the whole day, again being watched by a judge. He passed with only one mark against him for his inexperience. We were all praying for him like mad and are so glad that it's over!
This was a big "to-do" for the summer. Now Curt is licensed to take out anyone and can lead climbing groups with Lifelines. It's a big plus for the ministry.
Stuff starts up with school about mid-August so we will spend the rest of the summer starting homeschooling the girls and preparing for the baby. Hopefully, once August hits, we will be ready to roll!