We have updated our website quite extensively in the last few weeks. Since our membership with NewTribes Mission became official, there were some wording issues, and technical stuff that we needed to tweak, but there have been some exciting things happening. Of note, NTM can officially issue Tax Deductible receipts for financial gifts made them on our behalf. This is exciting news, as now we feel a bit more “legitimate” as missionaries! Click on the “give” link in the sidebar of our site to find more information should you be interested in giving, or need to make some adjustments to how you give! We are excited as we step closer to our ministry on the field!

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.

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