Next Up – Outfitting

Unbelievably we are in the last month of our missionary training at The Master’s Mission (TMM). The time has flown and we are finishing up our last assignments and classes. The year has been a rollercoaster of emotions and hard work and these last few weeks are no different. We’re excited to move forward towards the mission field and to be home for a season with our family and church family; we are so sad to leave the friends we’ve made here and this unique environment. (The mice and mold will not be missed.)

So, what’s next? As TMM graduates, we qualify to apply to their board to be sent through them as TMM missionaries, which is our plan. We have been told we have the staff’s recommendation and so are likely to get a positive vote from the board as well. We are also in communication with our pastor/elders, and the missionaries we are interested in working with, and are hoping have more details to share with you next month about the specifics of the ministry we’ll join. If we go to the field as TMM missionaries, our first term is 4-years with a one-year furlough assignment at the end. After that we can do 2-year terms, with 5-6 month furlough assignments.

Meanwhile, it is easy to be overwhelmed with the next tasks before us, if we forget that everything is in God’s hands and we can rely on Him for strength for each day’s work. After graduation we’ll start the “outfitting” stage. This means preparing all the things that need done before leaving for a 4-year term on the field and waiting for God to bring in the financial support we’ll need before we can go. Here’s a short list of some of the work in front of us: Go through all our belongings, sorting what we will store, take or give away; Acquiring supplies needed for a 4 year term; Itemized inventory of storage for future use; Itemized inventory with monetary value of what we’re taking for customs and insurance purposes; Get all paperwork in order, from personal (wills, POA’s, visas, other country requirements) to shipping (export declaration, bill of lading, pro forma invoices, letters of donation, packing lists, import permits/licenses, insurance – I don’t even know what some of that means!); Build and pack wooden crates for shipping, Pack crates into shipping container. Whew!

Once we accomplish these tasks and have the funds needed to get us there and support us on the field, we will be headed out. We’ve been told, on average, it takes a minimum of 18 months to get all these things in order. We’re hoping to get through them much sooner and mentally have an approximate goal of 6-9 months, possibly somewhere around April. Obviously, how fast we get there is up to God, that’s just our hope. (A lot of it will depend on whether Lance will need to work while we’re preparing to go, which will determine how much time we have to focus on these jobs. My brain was definitely not designed to figure out all that shipping stuff as quickly as Lance could figure it out!) We know that God will provide as will glorify Him the most, so we’re waiting to see how it will play out and we’ll let you know when we do! If nothing else, we are so excited to finally be getting ready to go! 

Thank you for all your continued prayers as we prepare to go and move ever closer to the mission field,

– Ruth, for our family.

Psalm 138
1 I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the gods.
2 I will bow down toward Your holy temple
And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.
3 On the day I called, You answered me;
You made me bold with strength in my soul.
4 All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O Lord,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth.
5 And they will sing of the ways of the Lord,
For great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For though the Lord is exalted,
Yet He regards the lowly,
But the haughty He knows from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
8 The Lord will accomplish what concerns me;
Your lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

Mountain Laurel or “shell flowers” as the boys called them, cover the mountain.