On our “About” page, we posted a video a while back… some of you may have seen “Awayo” – Very well done. Please check it out it you have not already. You will be moved. Recently, NTMfilms has released something of a follow-up which has also been very encouraging to our hearts. The following is the testimony of another Moi believer like Awayo named Degamee. It is a pretty amazing testimony to the worldview shift that happens at the introduction of Christ.

This just gets me so excited to actually get involved, and get my hands dirty. I want to GO NOW! but at the same time, the recent graduation has scared me a bit… Are we really ready? Are we that close? As if in answer, I got this in an email recently…

“…So, I was wondering what your plans are in 2010, and when it would be best… Are you going to be back any time? When are you starting support raising?”

I caught myself as I was responding- WOW. Things are really happening quickly. 2011 is already on the schedule, and we have lots of plans between now and the launch date! We have some semblance of a schedule UNTIL WE LEAVE! I found myself thinking that this is really kinda scary.

As many of you already know, we have been planning for this for a long time. It feels a bit like I did before I got married. I had been looking forward to that day so much, thought about it so often – I was taken aback that I was really standing there at the altar… with HER. WOW.

So I responded with this-

…We are officially NTM members now, and so we are now officially raising support. I am doing some “graduate” course work in linguistics, which is why we are not immediately planning on leaving – Basically I am doing the linguistics semester – otherwise training is DONE.

We are in California now, and will be here til the 12Jan. we fly to Oklahoma on 12Jan, and I start class on 17Jan. The semester ends in May, and we plan on driving to California, as my brother gets married 05Jun, and we will likely drive back to Indiana towards the beginning of July (likely soon after the 4th) as we did last summer.

My linguistics practicum culminates in a linguistic and grammatical analysis of a foreign language. The coursework requires close to 40 hours with a foreign language speaker, and even more time to do the documentation work. We will be going to Oklahoma in August of 2010 so that I can do my project on Cherokee, and Evelyn can spend time with her family in OK while I work my tail off.

When that is said and done, it will be likely September/October of 2010, and we will be kicking support raising into an even higher gear. 8-9 mos should be enough… we are praying so. We will likely be splitting our time during this period between California, Missouri, Indiana, Oklahoma, and that graduation in Michigan. We will need to make sure our support level/paperworks/immunizations/etc. is up to snuff before we leave in June/July of 2011. We want to see my brother graduate from bible school (Jackson NTBI) in May/June 2011 before we scoot for 4 years…

There they are. Our plans, and even prospective launch months. Crazy, I know. We are going to need a miracle to do this – and TONS of prayer. Wouldn’t have it any other way.

We have already met a ton of new friends, caught up a bit with some old ones as well. We GRADUATED from the NewTribes Missionary Training Program, which is very exciting… I am now ordained clergy, and our tax status has officially changed as of 01Jan. More paperwork=awesomeness.

We are so thankful for the love and the support of our families and friends!

This summer was an amazing time for us to reconnect with friends and family. Our time spent with family has been an especially huge blessing as we realize that time to be with them is only more limited as we quickly approach 2011 and NewGuinea.

Oklahoma.
It was great to see Evie’s family- We were able to attend the college graduation of her sister from OU (Congrats to her!), and see the rest of the family as they came to watch Lauren walk the stage as well.

California.
From Oklahoma, our trek to Southern California was a long one. 24 hours of driving later, it was nice to say our goodbyes to some good friends of ours who are now serving overseas in Southern Asia. It was so nice to see our friends and family in the LA area, and visit Cornerstone in SimiValley- a home church for me through HighSchool. We had the privilege of photographing the Hartzel’s wedding in SantaMaria (they are classmates of ours headed to Indonesia) before heading north to Livermore (east of SanFrancisco) to visit with my family and home church, Cornerstone. It was a blessing to be back among the great friends and family we have among that body of believers in Livermore. We were able to share our ministry with the young adult ministry there, where we made several great new friends. It has been a privilege to get more involved with Sunset Community Church- where we were blessed with the opportunity to share our ministry with the youth and adult congregations. Overall, our time in California was a huge blessing and encouragement, and we look forward to returning for the holidays this year!

Indiana.
The long stretch of Interstate 80 between Sacramento and Chicago is long and straight and FLAT- But that rough drive was rewarded with the blessing of more encouragement from the friends and family of our sending church- Christ’s Covenant Church in WinonaLake, Indiana. During our years between Bible School and Missionary Training, this body of believers has loved on us more than we could ever say. Our time among these faithful brothers and sister in Christ is ALWAYS rewarding, and between evenings spend in the company of friends and camping trips with small group members, WinonaLake has become another home to us.

Missouri.
Back at the MTC here in Roach, Misery… Our semester kicked off with a really intense course that we are thankful is over. We learned a lot from our “Culture and Language Acquisition Practicum” – but this part of the training has been some of the most intense stuff we have encountered yet. We have spent our days here in Roach learning how to document foreign language, and catalog culture for reference when translating the bible and lesson plans for tribal people. This term so far has been difficult, but encouraging as it is slowly hitting home- We are actually going to do this tribal church planting thing. Heavy.

As some of our friends and family may know, we have been praying for a new vehicle for some time now. We have enjoyed our years with the our blue Dodge Caravan, but the time came that we didn’t know if she would be able to keep up with our traveling lifestyle.

This spring, God provided the opportunity to purchase a more reliable vehicle! After looking for the right combination of affordability and reliability, we found our ‘99 gold Saturn Station wagon! It is not an automatic…. so this Mrs. Jones has to learn how to drive manual! Look out world! I have only conquered one hill since- so needless to say, I am slow learning. It’s easy to say at the moment, but it is true that God is Jehovah Jireh: The Lord that Provides. After a good cleaning and the official Apple sticker in place on the back window we took her the ultimate test: The 2009 Jones Summer Road-Trip.

Over the span of a week and half, we stayed with family in Oklahoma, drove through Texas, NewMexico, ran out of gas in the desert of Arizona, spent precious time with friends in Southern California, and had the privilege of taking the wedding pictures for our friends (now) Hartzels! We are enjoying our time here in Livermore, California, before heading out to Winona Lake, Indiana to spend time with our friends and Church Family at Christ’s Covenant Church for the rest of our break. Please be in prayer for us, as we start the rest of our Road Trip on July 6th!

Praying for missionaries already in service either stateside or overseas is a huge part of the experience here in Missouri. “Hold the Ropes” (or HTR) is a ministry of the students here in training that takes place every day during the long break between classes. I feel myself at times disenchanted at the thought of praying for others when I am not careful… It is so much easier to pray for people I already know! I need to constantly humble myself before the Lord, asking Him for His love to sow through us – It is the only way we ever really love anybody!

In my reading of Colossians 1:9-12, I am humbled at the mindset of Paul.

“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please Him in all respects bearing fruit in every good work inceasing in the knowledge of God; strengthene with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualifified us to share in the inheritance of the saints of Light. For He rescued us from the domain of the saints in Light.”

I guess I have a lot to learn, huh?

It has been a while since “A Day in the Life,” and a lot has happened since. I could write al about it, but pictures are worth thousands more words, and easier/more fun to process. We have pictures up from our super fun camping trip with some premium MTC buds, as well as just some fun photography stuff. I must say, I got some pretty beautiful shots of the campus here – Steam rolling off the lake on the morning walk to class. Gorgeous. Hope you enjoy. I enjoy taking the shots!

We have been recently challenged to change our thinking a bit about how we think about our finances. We have come upon trying financial times, but are absolutely thrilled to see how God continues to provide for us. Thank you all who have prayed for us and shared with us – We are partners in ministry, and could not be here without your loving sacrificial support.

Some older pictures that I have not put up yet, from back in June, our Missions Emphasis Presentation. Evie and I were very nervous, but we recieved a lot of positive feedback from it. Unfortunately, these two pictures are all I have of the event- from facebook (thanks Potters and Shaffers!).

Anyways, I just wanted to post a praise and a prayer request – Earlier this week, I called ahead to Missouri and inquired about our financial sitch… And I am blessed to be able to tell you that things are going very well for us! Each semester’s fees come pretty close to $3700, and there is $2500 on our account currently!

Thank you all for your support and prayers. This wonderful news brought Evelyn and I near tears. We are so humbled and privelaged to have the supportive friends and family that we do. We are praying that friends and family will pray about partnering with us financially as well as prayerfully… Our financial needs will become quite a bit more prominent as we will soon be without consistent income from work. We are trusting God to provide.

Love.