fish (and other provisions)

"FISH!"  Cali shrieked for joy.  "Mama I saw some FISH!!!!"  She leaped off the couch and came tumbling over to the stove where I was trying to get dinner cooking, and she began to pull on my leg.  "Fishies, fishies, I saw fishies!"

"Fish?" I asked absent-mindedly.  "What are you talking about Cali?"  I was sure there were no fish in our livingroom.  But I glanced toward the door and saw four crappies and one white bass dangling just outside the window on a stringer.  Next I saw Jevon's face, also peering in the window.  He laughed when I spied him, and he flung open the door with an air of triumph.  I quickly changed the menu for the evening to fresh crappie fillets.

Fish from the lake is just one avenue of God's provision for our table these days.  When we left Wisconsin, we promised you stories of how God would provide for us while we were here in school.  The hard part is deciding which stories to tell you...since we see His provision for us in so many different ways.  Occasionally God has provided through a surprise check from a friend or in our mailbox.  Once our apartment was "broken into" by someone (we don't know who), someone who left groceries piled on our kitchen table, and in the fridge. 
During the peak of harvest season, local people donated lots of produce to the school here and we had even more abundance of fresh vegetables than we would have had if we had stayed in Wisconsin tending our own garden and yard. 
A fellow student even found wild watercress growing down on the creek this summer, and showed me how to harvest and cook it.

Oh, and did I mention that the bait with which Jevon caught those crappies and white bass last night was a surprise gift from a local "hill-Billy" Christian who has befriended us?

God's complete provision for our first semester school fees through savings, and through you who have given financially for our training, is amazing to us, too.

SOOO...God's bountiful provision is one thing we are always thankful for.  We are so glad that He has made it possible for us to be here at the missionary training center, pressing forward toward the goal of reaching tribal people groups with the Truth of God. 
If you have a spare moment this week...send us an e-mail and tell us something you are thanking God for right now.  We'd love to hear it.  We are praying for you...

Love,
Danica for the Rich family

For fun: Pictures

 

Check out Cali and Karina’s bathtub!  They love it.  Every Sunday morning we fill up the rubbermaid with warm water.  Beats trying to fit Cali in the kitchen sink.  :)

 

Check out their little machine, too!  What could be more fun than a yellow plastic four-wheeler?

Karina’s 1st Birthday

  

Yay!  Cupcakes!

 

Karina tried but couldn’t quite get the candle blown out.  So we let Cali do it for her.  But we lit another candle the next day…and the next…and on the third day (and last leftover cupcake) Karina blew out the candle all by herself.

Who do you suppose got messier…Cali or Karina?

 

We gave Karina a little birthday dress and a rubber ducky.  Our neighbors “Aunt” Julie and Lisa, gave her a little toy guinea pig.  Which, by the way, looks strangely real at a glance when its half hidden under the kitchen table.

By the way, if you are a detail person wondering why Karina’s clothes keep changing in all the pictures, its partly because of frosting getting all over her dress, and partly because this all did not happen on the same day.  :)

Here is the last birthday picture: Karina inspecting the present she got in the mail from Grandma Studtmann.  (thanks for picking a quiet toy!  She plays with it while she’s in class with me.)

Field Fair 2009

On Thursday and Friday, twelve NTM workers appeared at MTC from far corners of the earth. Their purpose was to share with us the vision of their respective fields and the types of jobs they need people to fill. This exciting event, known as "Field Fair", is held once every semester to inform students and help students decide what field to serve on.

We enjoyed listening to and interacting with representatives from each field. Jevon had several opportunities to speak with the representatives from Brazil. Because Brazil is such a large country (the size of the continental United States plus Texas two more times), NTM considers it two fields: east and west. (Jevon grew up in the west, in the Amazon region.) We were sobered to hear that if 30 "units" (husband/wife teams or teams of 2 singles) went immediately to the field of West Brazil, that would only fill the needs of existing NTM works in order to finish the job well. Many more are needed to reach the 90 indigenous people groups in Brazil that have yet to hear God's Message in their own language.

As we consider these statistics, we are all the more determined to stay on course toward Brazil, unless God redirects us. While many students here hope to pioneer new works, it seems right to Jevon and I to make ourselves available to join an existing work in order to see that the that indigenous churches are brought to maturity. Our vision is to see these mature, indigenous churches teaching and leading their own people, as well as reaching out to neighboring, unreached people groups. We still would like to join Jevon's parents in West Brazil, but are totally open if NTM leadership feels it would be more strategic to place us elsewhere.

We are glad that you have sent us here to be trained, and we look forward to partnering together with you to reach the corners of the earth.

Love,

Jevon and Danica

Happy Birthday Uncle Amos

in honor of your birthday, Amos, here's a few pictures of your adoring Truffles and Karina. Since I couldn't bring them over to be with you on your birthday. At least you can see them...

here's Cali; beautiful as ever. posing by the creek here on campus.

"cold cold water"

hey, hey, look who's walkin'.

she is so pleased with her new balancing skills.

Happy Birthday from us. We love you.

a weekly "tidbit" from our life

Hello. We just wanted to touch base with you and let you know that we are thinking of you. Classes are good, and we are all well. God is teaching us so much about working together as a couple, and its great.

We spent this Saturday doing homework, running to town for groceries, and getting some stuff done around the house. In the evening we walked across the "road" (gravel) to have a barbecue with Neil and Tone Hess in their backyard. They are our staff advisers. After dark, Neil hung a bedsheet on the side of their house and projected a PowerPoint presentation up there for three of us students couples. He and Tone (pronounced "Tona") showed us pictures and talked about the work they did in Greenland before they came here to help train us. What a blessing we have, to learn from their experience and godly wisdom!

We hope you've enjoyed hearing this weekly tidbit; we've enjoyed hearing tidbits of your life too.
Thank you for your prayers and e-mails.

Love,
Jevon and Danica (and the little girls)

Dear friend,

HI!  We have had a crazy week; we're starting to figure out how to balance classes and family life but its still a challenge.  I say we are starting to figure it out - ha!  It may take the rest of the semester to get it down pat.  :)

Classes are good - instructive and practical stuff that is intended to change us.  A teacher gave us some wise words: "you take the person that you are now with you to the field".  That's why we are expected to put our training into practice in our lives NOW - whether it be a new way of thinking that challenges our worldview, practical tools for time management, ability to work in a team, or skills for effective teaching.  We start putting it to good use now so that it becomes part of who we are.

That's the school news.  The family news is that Karina took her first two unassisted steps today (Saturday).  YAY!  There's no turning back now; she's going to be off and running asap.  We have Monday off for Labor Day - which also happens to be a Brazilian holiday called Sete de Setembro.  So we are going to drive two hours to Branson, MO and spend Sunday and Monday reuniting with alot of Jevon's high school friends - all MK's from Brazil.  That should be fun.

We hope you have a refreshing weekend, also.  Thank you for the part you have in putting us here through this training.  We are happy to be here and want to learn all we can.  Pray that we will have teachable hearts at all times.
Love from the Rich family,
Jevon, Danica, Cali, and Karina

Current Studies

Okay guys: how many of you are wondering, “so what ARE they studying there at MTC, anyways?”  “We know that the trip went well, and what the campus looks like, and we know that Cali was sick but now she’s better, but WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT, ANYWAYS?”   Well this update is for you.  We are so excited to give you a peek at our studies.  We’ll just stick with our current training, and tell you about future classes…in the future.  That’s logical, isn’t it?

This Week’s Classes:

NTM History – We are hearing about the guys who started NTM and the organization’s history, but that’s not an end in itself.  As we study the history we are being taught the NTM Core Values…and how the core values came to be the core values of NTM.  As we learn about the love and resolve of the men who started NTM back in 1942, our own hearts are challenged to be more concerned with the things that God is concerned with, and more resolved in our obedience to Him.

Worldview Analysis – This is another very important class that will teach us to understand people better so that we can more effectively serve them.  The way a person views life affects how they think, understand, communicate, and live.  It is essential to understand this and be able to get to the bottom of it if we are going to evangelize, teach, or disciple. 

We also need to have our own ways of thinking challenged.  For example, it’s easy to think that our way of cooking oatmeal or mowing the lawn is the RIGHT way of cooking oatmeal or mowing the lawn.  When we are presenting God’s Truth, we need to be careful not to confuse our preferences with God’s principles.

Learning Styles – We are learning about ourselves and each other, how we think, how we learn, how we function.  The point?  To learn practical tools for working together as a team, and to learn to honor one another’s needs and recognize each other’s strengths.

 

Other Homework:

Some of the classes coming up have lots of pre-course work that we need to complete before the class begins.  So we are already learning alot before we even get lectured on the subject.  This week we are doing lots of reading for:

Partnership Development – Biblical thinking and practical skills for partnering with people financially.  How to gain financial partners and how to treat your financial partners right.  Looking to the Scriptures for godly attitudes and godly principles in fundraising.  (This class sounded intimidating before we began the study…but now that we are reading the book we are so happy and thankful for the training we are receiving in this area.)

Effective Communication – Because as missionaries it is essential that we be able to communicate the Truth clearly and effectively.

 

Other Stuff that Continues Throughout the Semester:

Chapel - meets twice a week for worship, and various speakers such as visiting missionaries or people from the community.  It’s a refreshing time together.

Outreach - because we don’t just get off the plane in some foreign country and suddenly begin to minister to people.  Ministry is NOW.  Students here put in at least 2 hours a week to community outreach.  Jevon will be mentoring guys at a place called Lighthouse.  It is a Christian home for guys who are trying to get back on their feet in life, many of them recovering addicts, recovering alcoholics, or fresh out of jail.  He will be working with a team of guys from here, but each of them will be mentoring an individual one on one.  His first time going to the Lighthouse will be Thursday.

e-LINC  - NTM likes making up nifty acronyms.  This one stands for:

Equipping through Listening, Interacting, Nurturing and Communicating.  We have a staff couple who will be our staff advisors during our time here, and they will be meeting with us once a week.  Our first “official” meeting with them will be Tuesday.  The training here at MTC is not just classroom stuff, it is also relational and discipleship orientated. 

Prayer Emphasis – We break up in small groups for ten or fifteen minutes each morning to pray for local outreach ministries and for various missionaries all over the world.  We also are each assigned a missionary to partner with in prayer throughout our training, and we will be e-mailing those missionaries and praying for them together at home.

Campus Ministry – also known as work detail.   All the guys and singles here spend 7.5  hours a week contributing to the needs of the campus, whether that be fixing people’s computer problems or sweeping and mopping hallways.  Jevon’s campus ministry is grounds maintenance, so he mows grass, picks up big rocks (there are lots of rocks here), smooths gravel roads, and other similar jobs.  He likes that job just fine.  All the mommies here stay home and cut rags…the working of a campus requires a continual supply of rags.  So why spend all the money buying rags, when somebody can just cut up old clothes?  That’s what Danica does…as she has time throughout the week. 

JEVON’S COMMENTS:

God is teaching me right now that to not love the world is not enough. We must choose to love God. Do I get life from a cup of coffee or do I get pumped because Jesus is my life and I can be with Him right now? Pray for me that I will consistently drink from the River of Life.

I’m really enjoying the teachers’ challenges to live NOW, serve NOW, love one another NOW, speak the Word NOW, seek out the lost NOW. We were called to this from before time began!

DANICA’S COMMENTS:

I would tell you what my favorite class is right now, but they are ALL GOOD! 

My biggest prayer request right now is for a quiet heart and thoughts focused on God.

CALI’S COMMENTS: (her summary of class today) “I had to sit on a blanket because we were all done swinging.  I got a balloon.  I like my balloon.”

Thinking of You Sunday (and making a tour for you)

Well, it’s Sunday.  We woke up this morning and thought “I want to go to Salem,”  but alas, Salam was 10 hours away.  It was sad.  But we put our girls in the car and drove to a new church, and listened to a pastor whose name I don’t know preach about how Daniel lived with firm, unwavering conviction but spoke to unbelieving authorities with wisdom and tact.  It was good.  And good to worship with God’s saints…to sing praise songs to the same Lord with complete strangers…

…very good, but we sure do miss you all.

Some of you wanted pictures of our apartment, and the campus…well this is not a complete virtual tour but we did get enough pictures tonight to at least give you an idea of where we are living.  Sorry if some of them are a little fuzzy; our battery was dying.  There are even some video clips.  Each video clip had to be 30 seconds or less because that is all our camera does.  (that’s why there are so many separate ones).  Well, enjoy.

Some video clips of our apartment, outside and inside:

And here are a few still shots of various places on campus:

Those are the shops and the garage…carpentry, plumbing, car repair, etc.

Um, and that’s where we take our trash (in case you were wondering…)

This a picture of the old apartments taken from below the bottom row (we are at the top row of the old apartments, on the other side).

Now, continuing down the gravel road, we come to

 

The childcare building, where Cali will be during morning classes.

The toddler room.  (She thinks its really neat and has been talking about it constantly).

And this is the row of pagers…we get to take one with us so they can page us if Cali needs us.  See, Jevon is pointing at ours.

 

The nifty playground where Cali gets to play while we are in class.

Looking across from the childcare building, you can see more housing and this open field, and some signs. 

Next, the Administration building (seen below), with a lot of offices and places of importance.  Our classroom is also in the upper level of this building.  Chapel will be held twice a week there, too.

Up that flight of stairs is the library, and at ground level is the bookstore.

This building by the lakeside is called the Lakeside Center (who’d have guessed that name?)  The upper level is used as a classroom, and doubles as a dining hall for “Refresher Course” for missionaries on furlough.  The lower level is the Tech Center, where solar equipment is built for missionaries and where missionaries-in-training (like us) take classes on missionary technology.

In the picture below, you can sort of see across on other side of the lake, where more staff housing, the guest house, and the MK education center are located.   The MK education center is a base for ministry to missionary children and their parents, offering them nurture, support, consultations, resources, etc.  They also offer elective classes to missionaries in training (that’s us) to help prepare us for the unique challenges of homeschooling in an isolated, tribal setting.

The guest facility (which is very nice, by the way) is where you might stay if you come visit us.  :)  Unless you prefer to crash in our apartment.  There are also RV hook-ups.

It is beautiful here, on the Lake of the Ozarks.

 

We like to go walking, and invariably we end up stopping to talk to staff or fellow students along the way.  Tonight, we bumped into some friends who went to boarding school with Jevon in Brazil, way back in the day.

And then we couldn’t resist letting the kids go in the water…it WAS really hot and sticky, and the water looked so inviting.

Staff and students enjoy picnics on “the Point”…a mini peninsula that sticks out into the lake by the swimming beach.

Well you know, missionary life can be hard sometimes…but THIS is a picnic.  :)

Oh, and one more stop as we are on our way home…we’ll show you the Food Pantry…just for fun.  Panera Bread donates their day-old bread on Sunday nights, for staff and students to use.  There is also a garden here at MTC, and the gardeners share the produce with everyone.  Right now we are eating as much cantelope as our hearts desire.

Well, okay, so the bread didn’t come yet.  We’ll try again later.

We hope you enjoyed your tour, ladies and gentlemen.  Come again soon.

Until then…may the Lord keep our hearts united in spirit and purpose, even while we are apart.

That last Sunday at Salem with you all was so special; we couldn't be sad while we were still with you because our hearts were so full of the love we share with you all. But we sure miss you now that we are away...

Thank you Chris Kleven for the beautiful cake, and the meaningful words on it.

Oops, how did that picture get posted on here?... okay, next....

Saturday morning, the trailor loaded! (Thank you Mr. Dorwin for the use of your trailor!) We were on the road before 9:30...only a little later than we planned. The trip was pretty uneventful...as some of you were praying that it would be. Thank you, God.


The girls did pretty well in the car...

...well, some of the time anyways.



other times, they weren't so happy. But in the end everybody was okay.

and we had some good R & R at the hotel Saturday night.

here's a picture of our faithful trailor driver and Abby eating supper. :)

We arrived at our new home Sunday evening, and as you can see Cali and Kiki were delighted to try out their new beds.

(That's Kiki's newest funny face.)

Isaac and Truffles took a little break after all the hustle and bustle of unpacking the trailor.

and then we took your advice Mr. Sabelko...

As soon as all our stuff was in the apartment, we went and jumped in the lake. (It is hot here in Missouri.)

Well we hope you have enjoyed the pictures. It is Monday night now as we write this, and we have been busy unpacking, finding out where stuff is on campus, and that sort of thing. We are still living in a heap of totes and boxes...but it is gradually looking more and more like home. And we don't know people here yet...but we are meeting a few of the staff and fellow students. And classes haven't started yet...but we are excited for them...

So we'll talk to you later and tell you what life for missionaries-in-training at MTC is like when we find out...

We feel just a little bit lonely and a little bit like fish out of water, but we are just so thankful that God is our God and that we are together following Him!

until next time...don't forget us, and we are thinking of you and praying for you too, friends!