travelmonkey4christ

Have you ever gone on a missions trip? What were those experiences like to you? What do you like the most about the countries you've gone to? About traveling to new cultures and places? About their stories, language, music, art? What do you think of when you go to these places then you come home? When you have a quiet moment to reflect, what does just the wash of these experiences over you seem like? Do you ever have surreal moments when you are in a country - a village - or a marketplace and you feel suddenly connected to a part of yourself that you didn't know before?

This month of October the "September" newsletter finally got published! (If you are not on the mailing list and want to see it, click on the website link on this page "Carpenter's Cross Ministries". It should be there soon.) Also the editing just got finished for the first audio kid's podcast from Sue and Larry. Larry is Carolyn's worm puppet that helps (?) Sue teach the kids "Words of Wisdom" from the Bible with lots of humor! Parents will be able to get a free download each week of a scripture memory verse skit with Sue and Larry. They can then use them as a fun learning tool for their kids and utilize the podcasts as an added resource for family devotions. Before Carolyn left, we recorded 10 episodes. I will keep you posted with info for downloading these podcasts.

OK, all those of you who been waiting for updates… In September my sister DeAnn (Levi jacket) and her husband John came to Seattle to celebrate her birthday and have a mini vacation. John was then flying back to Boise, and DeAnn staying to help me with the Onecho Family Camp in Eastern Washington mid September. While they were here, Rosemary, from Carolyn's church CityLife in Melbourne, flew in for a quick visit (pictured above multi-tasking a call to her office in Australia during a tour of the locks). Carolyn and I are under the covering of the Missions Department in Carolyn’s home church when they send us at different times of the year to work with nationals in designated target countries under the category of "Intergenerational Missionaries". In January we will be heading to Thailand, then to Cambodia in February. Rosemary is the person to whom we report. Among Rosemary's many responsibilities in Missions, is pastoral oversight for us. I have been teasing he...

At the camp we did in a large tent on top of Miracle Mountain in Grangeville, our last session was about the "Spirit of a Goose". The term "silly goose" in our culture is definitely not complementary. No one wants to be called a silly goose! But God has some lessons He wants us to learn from the goose - for instance the "V" shape of their flight formation. By locking just to the back and side of the lead goose, the second geese behind can get extra lift. The third geese in line get even more lift, and so on. This results in geese being able to fly 40% faster and 70% farther as a group than they can as individuals. Backing the leader helps Vision to be accomplished! The second thing we learn is that this formation, although more efficient, really puts a strain on the lead goose. That's why they rotate the formation, as the lead goose tires the next one behind takes over. This way they don't kill their leader! What a great idea. The entire ...

The Kids At New Hope Family Camp really enjoyed singing "You're There" and worshipping the Lord.

We've just completed two camps, very similar in nature. The first "Mountain Kids Camp" was in Idaho City, Idaho. About 38 kids were at that camp - each with their own special needs. It was a day camp with morning and afternoon sessions and activities. The children left each night at 5 p.m. and returned the following morning for the next day's adventure. On the last day when we gave them an opportunity to share, many remarked how much they liked the way everyone got along and cared for each other. The second camp was the "Royal Family Kids Camp" with 43 kids in McCall, Idaho. Though the children come with a variety of behavioral problems, medications and emotional hurts it was a week of incredible PEACE. The kids felt it and the staff remarked the same. This picture is the cast that performed each day a skit called "The Pirates of Payette" along with the camp directors Tom and Margaret Turco. Captain Smiley converts all the pirates with the ...

I am back in Seattle. It's catch up time. The result of travel...overseas for three months, off to speak at a Women's Retreat in Washington and then a 9hr drive to be with family in Boise Idaho for two weeks. I was now preparing for summer ministry. Suddenly I saw the Max Lucado flip calendar in my living room and wondered what the message was for the 26th of May - the day I lost my cousin. It was now June 1st but the calendar was still set to May 2nd, the day I flew back from Australia to the U.S. This is what May 26th said: "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and he saves those whose spirits have been crushed." Psalm 34:18 "Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us." Romans 15:4 These are not just Sunday school stories. Not romantic fables... They are historical moments in which a real God met real pain so we could answer the question, "Where is God when I hurt?"... The God who spoke still speaks... The God who cam...

The weekend after Mother's Day, my cousin Jeanette passed away. She was like a big sister to me. Our families vacationed each summer together growing up. She was a vibrant bubble of joy and her laugh still echos in our hearts. I remember one winter when the youth group went tubing in the mountains (climbing up a long hill and sliding down). We didn't have enough truck inner tubes for everyone to use so we took turns. I was all bundled up in a snowmobile jumpsuit. It was the slickness of the jumpsuit that gave me the idea that maybe the suit was slick enough to slide downhill without a tube. I told Jeanette "Why don't I lay down and you can ride me down the hill?" She asked if I was sure she wouldn't be too heavy and I assured her it would be fine. I layed on my back and she sat on my stomach. We pushed off and started to slide quickly downhill. It was working great! However I forgot one thing - moguls, or as non-skiers know them, bumps. The first one we...

This is about three coats. When I think of coats I think of Joseph. His father loved him and gave him a special coat – a garment that was so ornate you could see Joseph coming from a distance. The second coat he received was from Potiphar as a slave. We know this only because when Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of adultery, her supposed proof was the coat she tore from him as he fled the room. Pharaoh himself gave Joseph’s third coat to him after Joseph told him the interpretation to the dreams. The first coat represented a person’s natural family foundation. Like Joseph, it can be a reminder of both blessings and hurts. But this coat has to be laid down to move to the next season of life. Laying down this coat moves us beyond focus on self. It is letting go of what we were in the eyes of family and friends to be where we are in the present to minister to others. The second coat was his move into service. This coat will teach you humility and faithfulness. It can be ...

This photo is my illustration of Psalm 139:10. God says he has us in His right Hand! Just a few verses above that He states that He hems us in behind- and before- and lays His hand upon us. Pretty good positioning!!

Sue writes: LCD screen & speaker built into the toilet hand dryers with advertising. - Only in Australia!

Happy Easter, Love R a i n b o w

The “White Queen” stands guard over the Airy’s Inlet. I received a multi-media text message from Sue with her latest update. In the most recent message Sue writes: Two hours South of Melbourne is Airy’s Inlet. We are taking a three day break before the next Ministry Marathon, which begins next week before the schools break for their next holiday. -Sue We hope that Sue and Carolyn get some much needed rest. I was reading Carolyn's blog and her March 17th Post speaks of their support for the Children in Crisis in Cambodia organization. They are selling woven cotton bracelets which come complete with photo card and brief history of kids being helped through this program. Each bracelet sells for $1 USA or $2 Australian. We will be providing a way to support this effort on their web site www.carpenters-cross.org in the very near future. In the mean time, be sure to let them know if you want to purchase a bracelet or help in any way. You can email them at cambodia-outreach@carpenters-...

I received a text from Sue today, updating us on the work Carolyn and she are doing. Sue and Carolyn worked in an outreach to 250 Cambodian Street kids today. They prayed with the children for sponsors who can contribute towards a total budget of $11,000. This money would feed these children both spiritually and physically for a year. We join Sue and Carolyn in praying that God would provide for these children and make himself know to them.

As Sue wrote in her last post, she’s traveled to Australia to begin her missionary work there. Sue’s first text message has just come in and in it she writes, Friends Graeme & Angela Jones surprised us with a weekend get away at the Chestnut Hill Inn. Pictured are their famous Chestnut Pancakes .

Wrap your mind around this, I’m sitting in my living room working on my computer in Federal Way – out my sliding glass doors my little garden has 4” of snow (refer to Seattle Christmas blog entry), icy roads, school closures and Monday I fly out to Melbourne, Australia (presently upper 90’s F!!!). I’m only there a few days and head to Cambodia (sweat capital of Asia). Life is never boring. I remember one autumn day a few years back, I was camping on a mountain ridge with my dad. We were deer hunting and it was soooooo cold! At sunrise we got up to a skiff of snow on the ground and huddled around a fire eating breakfast before heading out. I remember thinking “This time next week I’ll be speaking to kids at a campground on an extinct volcano in Hawaii and it’ll be in the 80’s.” Weird, huh? It’s funny looking at the future thru the eyes of the present. Sometimes I can look at a child and see them as an adult. And I think, “Those same mannerisms, moods, likes and dislikes are all the...

NEW BEGINNINGS! Ready - Set - Go... 1. Anyone Can Start Over Acts 10:15 Peter gets reprogramed from religious tradition. God's plan is for whoever He chooses. You may be shocked at who God chooses / Others may be shocked that He chooses you! 2. It's Never Too Late Acts Ch 8&9 There is something about what you've been through God will use. There are no lost experiences with God - He invented recycle. God allowed Paul to super charge the persecution against the church, then brought him into Christianity and Paul found himself skiing in front of the avalanche he himself started! The persecution scattered the Church (Acts Ch 11). Sending believers to Phoenicia / Cyrus / Antioch. Greeks were saved in great numbers. What super Apostle did that? Barnabus? Not yet there! Paul? No, Barnabus brought him later. Who did this mighty miracle? Just "some of them". You know, like you. You're part of the "some of them". Are you important? Well, because ...

Backyard surprise - 6 inches of snow and my boots are in Boise!