oh, the places you'll go

This post is meant to share where in the world we're thinking of going as missionaries, but first I want to share this amazing idea I heard recently on the Today Show.

So you know the Dr. Seuss book, Oh, the Places You'll Go? Apparently it's a popular high school graduation present, but there's a dad who got a copy of it when his daughter was in kindergarten, and had her teachers and coaches sign it every year for 13 years. How awesome is that?! So I knew that I wanted to do that for Ellie and Hazel. Nick thinks it would be awesome even if it was just in a journal or something, but the Elementary teacher that I am, really LOVES the idea of putting it in a Dr. Seuss book! Now, considering we're probably going to spend most of our children's childhood in another country, that book will look much different. My dream is that other missionaries that we live with, nationals that we spend time with, and other people that will have a huge influence on our girls' lives will be in that book. Not just their teachers throughout school. What an amazing thing that will be!

Anyways, we met with the world missions pastor at Second Pres recently, and since we have no real direction on where we'll go as missionaries, he gave us some practical advice. We know that we are committed to going to an unreached people group, which means there are no churches, no access to the gospel. This also most likely means that it will be a Muslim people group. So here are some places that have been in the conversation so far...

• Libya has been mentioned. Because of everything that has happened in Libya with the civil war last year, it seems like it could be a great time to get into the country. Apparently the people are very open to outsiders right now. However, there is currently no mission effort in Libya yet, so we would be the first. And to be honest, it scares us to go to a place where no one has been before us, but we're still open to it.
• Bihar, India is also on the list. We know another couple that is going there later this year to work with some other couples that are already there. So potentially, we could go join this group for a couple years, learn the language and culture, learn from the other missionaries. And then build a team of our own to specifically work with Muslims. We really like how that sounds, except for the months of 120 degree heat...We both hate the heat! Plus, we were also asked by WO people this week specifically if we were still interested in India...so they might have some ideas that we don't yet know about! :)
• And SE Asia...We had a couple conversations with a couple who lives there, working with Tibetan Buddhists.They have expressed some interest in at least getting to know us better. And they'll be in Memphis next month, so it would be interesting to get to hear more about what they're doing.

making steps

Yesterday, we felt much more official in this whole world missions thing. We got the phone call to schedule our first interview with World Outreach, our denomination's world missions department. We are planning on flying to Michigan to interview on September 5! It now feels real. It's not just something we're talking about anymore! It's something we're doing!

So last month at General Assembly, we heard about the TOAG program, which means Teaching Ordinary Apprentices to Go. It is an intense 9-10 month program where you learn how to live in community with other believers as you all learn how to witness to the Muslim community. During this program, you will start a house church, which will teach you how to do church planting efforts...which all sounds like a great idea before we actually go overseas to try to do this, in a different culture, speaking a new language! Tonight, we met with the couple that is leading the TOAG program starting in Memphis next month, and it sounded pretty awesome. So we're thinking about doing this in preparation for becoming missionaries.

Still no word on where we might go long term. There are a few countries in the conversation, but no real specifics. Please help us pray for a clear direction! :)

ketchup

So I regret that I have neglected blogging in the last year, so here's a little "catching up." Here are some highlights from the last year.

• Late August 2011, we started looking for a house, which we never thought would happen in a million years. October 4, we closed on our first house! With a 19 month old and a 4 months old, we were dying to have our own space, and a back yard for Ellie to run around in.
• Early 2012, we met with our pastor again about getting our world missions team at church up and running. We kept feeling the call to go somewhere else and do international missions, but our church was not engaged in much of anything when it comes to world missions. So we  began doing research about how our church could partner with a missionary overseas.
• February-ish, we receive an email from World Outreach, the EPC's wing of world missions, asking for more information about us. Apparently, someone we had met along the way, Jim Murphy (pastor to world missionaries with the EPC), had spread the word that we were interested in going overseas.
• March 22, Ellie turned 2! She's such a big girl! It's ridiculous. She continues to amaze us every day. She is currently wearing a "backpack" because she broke her clavicle while falling down a flight of stairs a couple weeks ago at the Grandparents house in Missouri. She is pretty tough though. We didn't even know if was broken until we took her to the doctor 3 days later.
• In June, we spent 2 amazing weeks on vacation in the Carolinas with my Aunt Lois. It was the first vacation we'd had since our honeymoon, which was 5 years ago! Aunt Lois spoiled us with a care-free couple weeks, while she fell in love with the girls, and I think they fell in love with her!
• June 16, we celebrated 5 years of marriage!
• Later in June, we went to General Assembly with our church in Baton Rouge, where we met missionaries and spent some time with World Outreach leaders, trying to figure out where in the world we want to spend the rest of our lives, or at least the next decade or so!
• June 27, Hazel turns 1! Holy cow! We officially have 2 toddlers. Hazel was one year and 2 weeks old when she finally decided to start walking! I think it was 3-4 days ago that she finally built up enough confidence to let go and walk on her own. She's following Ellie around the house now, and Ellie couldn't be more proud of her little sister! It's adorable!!
• July, we finally get all of our paperwork in this weekend, so we can make steps toward going on the mission field. In case you're wondering, here's a probable timeline for us...First interview this fall sometime. Second interview early 2013, then we will start raising support, provided that we have decided on where we are going! :) Another post to come about what we're thinking as far as places to go.
• Later this year, in October, we plan to ride the Katy Trail, all 237 miles of it! We have been talking about doing this for a couple years  now, but since we're possibly leaving the country in a year or so, we figured that we better'd do it now, or it might be a while before it ever happens! So we're riding our bikes more, and hope to ride the Katy Trail (a rails to trails path in Missouri, basically from St Louis to Kansas City) during Fall Break this year.

So that's our life right now! I will try to blog more often, especially about our progress with world missions! Our lives are soon to change drastically...