Harvesting Assets

Website Has Moved

2008-02-18T20:25:00.005-07:00

This weekend, we decided our blog needed to be revamped. Thus, our site has moved. If you aren't redirected to the new site in a few seconds, then please click here.

In Our Prayers...

2008-02-15T09:24:00.003-07:00

Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers go out to the students, faculty, and Crusade Staff at Northern Illinois. We are praying with you and for you in the wake of yesterday's tragedy. May God comfort and guide you through this difficult time...

January Update

2008-02-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to let you know that our January newsletter is finished. You can access the pdf file of it online by clicking here. Thanks so much for praying for us this past month!

This is Our God

2008-02-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

"No one is like you, O Lord;
you are great,
and your name is mighty in power.
Who should not revere you,
O King of the nations?
This is your due.
Among all the wise men of the nations
and in all their kingdoms,
there is none like you."
Jeremiah 10:6-7

Where do they come up with this stuff?

2008-02-04T10:32:00.000-07:00

I think one of the hardest parts of my job is trying to understand the various religious beliefs that exist in the world today. In sharing the Gospel, it always seems helpful to me to understand where the other person is coming from with the belief system they hold. Understanding their beliefs usually makes communicating the truth of the Bible easier. You can show them where their beliefs are inconsistent with each other and the Word.

Let me tell you, there are some pretty wacky ideas out there when it comes to religion. For the last year and a half, Jenn and I have been working on answering students' emails from Everystudent.com. Wow, we've been exposed to some very strange and inconsistent beliefs! I often find myself just shaking my head and wondering how in the world people believe this stuff. From Mormonism to Christian Science to New Age to Universalism to works based religions...It's so sad to see the truth of the Bible twisted in different theologies.

Lately, I've been working with a Jehovah's Witness student via email on Everystudent. Sadly, it's been another case where scripture has been twisted to come up with inconsistent theology. Over the last week, we've had 23 emails fly back and forth between us. Our main topic? The divinity of Jesus and the Trinity. (One of the main tenets of Jehovah Witnesses is that there is no Trinity and that Jesus was merely a man, nothing more. Yeah, I know...strange.)

As we've been emailing each other back and forth for the past few days, it's been extremely hard and frustrating to see how the student's use of scripture has been twisted in his mind to say what he wants it to say. It's even more frustrating when I share scriptures with him that support Christ's deity, and he takes them an twists them to mean something else.

Sometimes it's hard to love people when they have different beliefs than you. The one thing that God keeps hammering in my mind over this past year though is that I need to love the person behind the twisted theology and hate Satan for twisting the scriptures. Satan's the one that comes up with these wacky ideas. I don't know how many times I've had to take a step back from a heated theological email, remember who is behind the false theology, and simply ask God to give me love for the person behind the twisted beliefs...

So for now, I guess it's back to emailing my new Jehovah's Witness correspondence buddy. Pray that I would do it in love and that God would open his eyes to the clear truth of the Bible.

And The Name Is...

2008-02-02T21:12:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. After weeks and weeks of thinking, researching, and discussing various names, Jenn and I finally concluded the hunt for our little one's name tonight at 10:11 PM. We've come up with two full names...one for a boy and one for a girl. I must admit, I really like the way the names sound and the meanings behind them. I think they work really well. I'm excited to see which one God picks when we find out if our little baby is a girl or boy on delivery day!

Well, what are the names? It's quite simple. They're __________ and __________ .

HaHa, you actually thought we would say? :-) NOPE, you'll have to wait until the big day! We've made everything else a surprise. Of course we have to make this one too! I know, I know...you probably don't like us by now. Sorry! :-)

From the Kitchen...

2008-02-02T17:27:00.000-07:00

I was sitting here working away on the computer this afternoon, when all of the sudden I heard a noise from the kitchen...

Jenn: "Oh man!"
Me: (thinking something bad had happened) "What's wrong? Are you alright?"
Jenn: (disgustedly) "Yeah. I just got peanut butter on my belly. For the last few weeks whenever I cook, I always get stuff on my belly. I'm going to have stains on all my shirts by the time I'm done with this..."

Yup, there's some adjustments that come with having a pregnant belly. We're learning them in the Pester household. :-)

Left With Uneasiness

2008-01-30T09:27:00.000-07:00

Have you ever read a book that just left you with a feeling of uneasiness? Right now I'm undergoing that feeling and trying to process everything I've just read...

A few months ago while Jenn and I were in South Dakota, a good friend of mine suggested some books for me to read that challenge the way we look at modern Christianity. One of them was Shane Claiborne's "The Irresistible Revolution."

So for the past month or so, I've been plunging through the book. Let me tell you, it has been quite an emotional roller coaster ride! At times, I've been totally engaged and intrigued by the realities exposed in the book. At other times, I've been totally irate at the rather loose theology used in the book. (Ask Jenn, we've had MANY discussions about all this lately in our household!)

The book centers around a very radical way of living out Christianity, and discusses many aspects of the world and church...poverty, apathy, war, money, community, mega churches...you name it. I feel drawn to the radicalness of what is said. The discussions on interdependent communities, reinstitution of Jubilee, and peaceful ways of living especially hit home with me and have challenged me.

Yet there is just something that leaves me feeling unsettled with the book. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I don't like the uneasiness feeling I'm left with. Guess I'll have to keep thinking about it and processing it over the few days...

Hearing the Heartbeat

2008-01-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm pretty excited about this post. A couple of days ago, Jennifer and I went to Babies r Us with a few dollars left we had from Christmas gifts. While we were there, we found a pretty cool little gizmo that allows you to hear your baby's heartbeat while still in the womb. For the last two days, Jenn and I have been moving this stethoscope gizmo around her tummy seeing if we can hear our little one's heartbeat. Sure enough, we've heard it loud and clear! (Our little one has quite the ticker we're finding out!)

Anyways, the cool part about this gizmo is that we can output the audio sound we're hearing to the computer and record it into an MP3. So for all of you out there that want to hear a glimpse Baby Pester's heartbeat, turn up your speakers (with the bass pretty high), sit back, and click here. It should open up the mp3 with whatever media device you use to play music on your computer. Enjoy!!!

The Local Park n' Pray

2008-01-24T08:23:00.001-07:00

One of the things I never realized when Jenn and I joined staff with Campus Crusade is the vast amount of time that we would be spending praying in the car. Over the last year and a half of raising support, it seems like we've spent hundreds of hours praying in the car. I know, I know. It sounds kind of strange. Normally you think of praying in your bedroom or at a pew or something, but hear me out on it.

You see, the majority of the support appointments we've had so far have been in Jennifer's hometown of Lindale which is about 30 minutes or so from our apartment in Tyler. Rather than pray at our apartment and then drive to each appointment, we started the custom of getting to Lindale a little early, stopping by the church parking lot to pray, and then going to our appointment.

Needless to say, the First Baptist parking lot has kind of become our local "Park n' Pray" area in Lindale. This last week alone, we've visited the parking lot numerous times to pray before an appointment. It's kind of strange, but I think I'm actually going to miss our times praying in the parking lot when we get to full support. It's been absolutely amazing to pray and ask God for big things before the appointments we've had and then watch him work just a few minutes later.

I wonder if most staff have a prayer place like this when they raise their support. Or even better yet, I wonder if the apostles did when they first took the Gospel out to the world...hmm...something to think about...

Our Car's Transformation

2008-01-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. Our car can now be considered a "family car." Yup, we've made the parenting jump to a car seat. Entering our 25th week yesterday, we decided it was time to starting preparing for our little one and get the car seat we've been researching for the past few months. So with Christmas money in hand (and a very giggly and happy Jennifer I might add), off we went to the store. We found the SnugRide we wanted and have spent the last few minutes putting it in the backseat of our car. Yeah for Latch!!! Yup, our "family car" will never be the same again...and that's absolutely wonderful!

Brrrrr...

2008-01-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

You know, there's nothing quite like a nice hot shower in the morning. It's gets you going and is a nice, gentle way to ease into the day.

Yesterday, I was excited when I woke up. Jenn and I were scheduled to speak in a Sunday school class at our church (which by the way went really well), and I was really looking forward to our time there. I fumbled out of bed and walked into the bathroom ready for a nice hot shower...

As I stepped in the tub and turned on the facet though, only sharp freezing ice cold water shot out. Instead of the nice gentle waking up sensation I was expecting, I received an adrenaline-filled, wide-awake shock to my system. Yup, you guessed it...our water heater went out. Not fun at all!!!

Our apartment complex is going to be working on it soon. You know, you'll never guess how much of a blessing hot water is until you're without it. It's definitely a lesson I'm learning the past couple days! For now, I guess it might be cold showers for the Pester household...

We've Got Momentum!

2008-01-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

Let me just start this by saying GOD IS THE MASTER OF BREAKTHROUGHS!!!

If y'all have been reading our blog and monthly newsletters for the past few months, you know that Jenn and I have been having a really hard time at raising support lately. Ever since we found out that we were pregnant, it has been incredibly difficult for us to press on in support raising to get to Idaho. We simply just couldn't find believers to share our ministry with. It had felt like we had hit a impenetrable brick wall. Our momentum was minimal at best...most of the time it was nonexistent.

That being said, God has absolutely blew open the doors of momentum the past four days for us. It seems like everywhere we turn He has something new for us. He's opening doors left and right for us to speak at churches and Sunday school classes in the Tyler area. We've gone from having almost nobody to share our ministry with to an abundance of believers we can now try and share our heart for ministry with. It has been simply incredible watching the Lord work these past few days. All we can do is hold on to the momentum and see where he takes us! It's incredible!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers these past few months. God is listening to them and is on the move in our support. Hopefully, we'll get to Idaho sometime soon this spring or early summer. We'll keep you updated on what happens in the next few weeks...THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!!

Addin' the Inches

2008-01-11T15:51:00.001-07:00

Baby Pester has been having a growth spurt here lately in the Pester household. Each day, Jenn's tummy gets a little bit bigger. In the last few days especially, the inches have started to add up around Baby Pester. (I think it must be all the exercise the baby is getting. Jenn keeps telling me she can feel some pretty big kicks & punches in there!) Only 114 days to go until the due date! (I wonder how big her tummy will be by then!)

DWC in Pictures

2008-01-07T15:31:00.000-07:00

After six days with around 800 college students, we're back home in Tyler now and are tired...let me rephrase that, REALLY tired! The conference was wonderful. It's so exciting to think about all that God did the last few days. Here are some photos from the conference and some snipits of what happened...(click on any of the pictures for a larger view)

Downtown Dallas from the hotelThe theme of the conference: Convinced. What would it look like if I were convinced God truly loved me? What would my walk be like?Students wave their school flags before a Main Session meeting. Talk about your school spirit. There were a lot of school songs sung and cheers yelled during the conference!Roderick Barnes teaches from the Word during a Main Session about being Convinced. During the Main Sessions and Seminars, there where a few students who came to know the Lord...I'm not sure of the exact number, but how exciting!!!Addison Road leads worship time during a Main Session.The Day of Outreach. Students assemble school supply packets and Gospel bead bracelets to hand out to schoolchildren in West Dallas (the 11th poorest community in our nation). Overall during the day, the Gospel message was shared 400 times as students and staff went door-to-door all over Dallas. By the end of the day, 25 people had entered into a personal relationship with Christ! Praise God!Another shot of the school supply packet assembly line. It was so fun to see the children's faces as we handed the packets to them!Dave Broadwell, a staff member who served at Virginia Tech during the shootings last spring, leads a devotional time for the students. He lead us through Psalm 23, which was an instrumental scripture for the staff team and students to rely upon when the tragedy struck Virginia Tech.Jennifer and I's main staging ground for helping out at the conference...the Bookstore/Coffee Shop. Yup, college kids love their Starbucks! Each night, the Bookstore and Coffee Shop would be open until 1 am for the students to hang out, play games, and purchase materials for ministry and personal growth. It was really fun to be a part of during the conference! Another shot of the Bookstore...After a few days of sitting through seminars and talks, men need activity. Our solution? DODGEBALL! Yup, you've got it...hundreds of guys packed in a small hotel conference room hurling balls at each other. It was a blast! Yes, the staff even got in on the action. Let's just say we were the "shirtless Gideons" of the conference...Us and a good friend from Texas A&M. Most of the time during DWC, we helped out with the A&M group that attended. It was great to make new friends among the students and staff there and hear how God is shaping each of their hearts. We even had a wonderful game of Settlers of Catan with them. Yup, I'm pretty sure knowledge of that game is becoming a staple basic ministry skill :-)

The conference was wonderful. It rejuvenated our hearts as well as moved in incredible ways on the hearts of the students. It was amazing to see their excitement during each of the main session talks, especially when our president, Steve Douglas, told them the big picture of what God is doing in the world today. I know there will be more harvesters in the mission field as a result of this conference...I could see it in the students eyes. It's an incredible site to behold.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers these past few days for the event. You were a pivotal part in its success. Thank you so much for lifting up the students in prayer!

Quick Update on DWC

2008-01-03T09:24:00.000-07:00

Hello from a hotel lobby in Dallas! We're a little sleep deprived but yet underway and going on day 2 of Conference. The 750+ students from all over the Red River Region arrived yesterday and last night had their first meeting where our speaker explained the theme of the conference..."Convinced".

"What if I really believed? How would my life be different if I was truly persuaded that God loved me? That the almighty creator of the universe loved little me? That knowing Christ alone makes me acceptable to God? That I am called as a minister of the Gospel...now, not just when, or, if I get it all together? What would it be like to live secure in God's love, able to freely demonstrate it to those around me? What if I believed in my heart that Biblical truth could absolutely change my life from the inside out? How would my life change if I was convinced?"

These are just a few of the questions students are facing at the conference. I think that God is already starting to move on some of their hearts... :-) Thank you for the prayers!

I'll keep you posted with more info as I can and try to get some pictures up here of the events surrounding the days.

As a side note, have you ever wondered what it's like to be stuck in an elevator for awhile? Jenn and I had that happen yesterday. Yup, for 25 minutes or so, we had the joy of riding the elevator roller coaster without the door being able to open. Yes, the adventures are beginning here in Dallas. I wonder what today holds...

Christmas Tradition Continued...

2007-12-31T16:47:00.000-07:00

One of the things I like about Christmas time is Christmas cards. Call me sentimental and sappy, but I really like seeing photos and reading letters from friends and family. What can I say? I enjoy hearing about what's going on in other people's lives...

Growing up, my family had a unique tradition associated with Christmas cards. My mom would always tape the cards we received to the back of a door. That way you could see all the cards you received at once instead of trying to find an empty table to set them all on or dig through them in a stack.

For some reason, the tradition has kind of stuck with me. Last year, Jennifer and I received just enough cards to cover the backside of our front door. This year, we've already covered the door and have moved to the wall right beside it...

It's fun to get Christmas Cards. Thank you to all who sent them to us. You're keeping the tradition going!

December Update

2007-12-31T15:50:00.000-07:00

Our December newsletter is finished. You can view it online by clicking here or by clicking the link in Newsletter section of the sidebar. We hope you enjoy it. Thank you for your prayers! Happy 2008!!!

Christmas Paper

2007-12-26T08:40:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy and hectic week in the Pester household. The last few days have been filled with such strange and weird events, that it certainly doesn't feel like the "traditional" Christmas I'm familiar with. Yup, I'm pretty sure that our circumstances would have made a great "What Did You Do on Christmas Break?" paper in grade school. Here's some of the highlights of the past few days...

Travel SIX HOURS in a car with a caged up and rather perturbed Himalayan cat. (My ears are still recovering from the meowing...)
Spend hours playing with two little nephews whose favorite phrase is "Uncle Jaisen." (Yes, I now know more about the Power Rangers and swords than I would like to...)
Become violently sick on Christmas Eve and as a result have a Christmas Eve dinner of Gatorade and Chicken Noodle Soup. (Yummy...but not what I'm expecting.)
Help stop a forest fire from starting on Christmas Day. (The burn pile got a little out of control at Jenn's Grandparents. Grab your shovels and rakes!)
Watch one of the best movies I've seen in awhile. (If you haven't seen Facing the Giants, watch it!)
Wake up several times the night after Christmas being violently sick again. (Guess I pushed it too much on grandma's food the day before...)

Yup, it's been and interesting but yet memorable Christmas for us. We hope you had a very wonderful (and maybe not so interesting) Christmas celebration!

Footprints in Everystudent

2007-12-17T11:35:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Jennifer and I get flack about our involvement with Everystudent.com. There's a lot of people who are skeptical of doing ministry over the internet, and to a certain extent I can understand, especially since it's such a new arena for evangelism.

However, the fact of the matter is that we are becoming a very media-based society. We need to find ways to reach the highly tech-educated society we live in with the Gospel message. The means of delivering the message may change, but the message doesn't. Christ is mankind's savior and reconnection to God.

Are people really that serious though about checking out religious information online?

For the last 30 minutes, I have watched the "footprints" of people who have visited the Everystudent.com website. I've been able to see what website or what web search brought them to Everystudent.com. (It's all part of the new instant messaging features we mentioned in our October newsletter.) You'd be amazed to see how many people are searching for spiritual answers online...

Here are just a few of the phrases people typed in search engines to get to Everystudent.com...

From Yahoo: "Proof of Jesus Life", "How do we know that Jesus really existed?", "Judaism & Jesus"
From Google: "How to Pray", "Is there a God?", "Best Christmas Gift Ever", "How can I have my prayer answered by God?", "Fear of Death", "God & Holy Trinity", "What is the Holy Spirit?", "How do I pray and get instant results?", "Was God Real?", "Does God exist?", "How do we have complete trust in God?"

Yes, people are seeking spiritual answers online! For now, while we're raising our initial support, this is the arena that God has us in to reach people with the Gospel. While we're eager and ready to get to Idaho, there is still a huge need that we're helping out with by God's grace online. Please pray for all those we talk with on the Everystudent.com website. Pray that God would soften their hearts to respond to the Gospel message.

Deep Theological Car Ride...

2007-12-17T11:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday on our way back from church, Jennifer and I were just about to pull into our apartment complex when we saw what quite possibly could be one of the ugliest dogs we've ever beheld. It was small, raggedy, and looked like a wet rat. After looking the dog for a few moments, the following conversation occurred...

Me: Boy, that's a pretty ugly dog.
Jenn: (looking at me very seriously) Do you think dogs stink because of sin in the world?
Me: Huh?
Jenn: I mean honestly, did God actually design and intend for dogs to smell so bad or was it a result of the fall?
Me: I dunno.
Jenn: (smiles after a few moments of thinking) You know, cats don't smell...

Yes, our car rides can be full of deep theological thoughts... :-)

The God that Comforts...

2007-12-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

It's been around four hours since my last post, and let me tell you, God has been on the move in our house tonight. If you've read my last post, you'll know how discouraged Jenn and I felt after receiving the difficult letter in the mail. Four hours ago was probably one of the lowest times we've both had. Our hearts felt absolutely decimated...

Since then however, God has stepped in. Our God is an awesome Comforter, and He's shown us that tonight. With our hearts down and doubting, He stepped in and brought two new supporters onto our team. He didn't have to do that tonight, but He orchestrated it so that He could reaffirm to our hearts our calling. He also moved in other conversations we had tonight. We've talked with a couple of staff tonight that have been a huge encouragement to us and have spoken truth to our hearts.

Our hearts feel comforted and not quite so overwhelmed now. Slowly, we're starting to smile again and take joy in all of this. Let me tell you, it's amazing to see God be the ultimate Comforter that brings peace to our hearts!

Difficult Mail

2007-12-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

I feel like my heart was just ripped out of me, thrown to the ground, jumped on repeatedly, ground into the dirt like a cigarette butt, and then picked up and given to me like nothing happened.

Why is this you ask? Amidst the wonderful Christmas cards today in the mailbox, there was a letter from a friend of ours that caused this pain. It is by far the most direct criticism and pointed assault and on our ministry we've received to date (and we've received some pretty hard letters in the past). The tone was very harsh and aggressive. It's message was an attack on our calling. Instead of being encouraged, this letter has ripped not only mine but also my wife's heart to shreds tonight.

The way I feel loved is through words of affirmation. Sometimes it's difficult to keep going getting mail like this that just degrades everything you've been putting your heart into for the last few months. Words can build up, but they can also tear down. Tonight as of right now, I feel like we're going to be doing a lot of rebuilding in our household.

Baby Pester (aka "Wiggly") is Growing!!!

2007-12-10T10:09:00.000-07:00

Jennifer and I got to see our baby again today! We went in this morning and had an ultrasound of Jenn's growing tummy. Sure enough, the baby was moving all around again just like the last sonogram we had! Even the nurse that performed the ultrasound called the baby wiggly. So the nickname has kind of stuck. Baby Pester is being referred to as Wiggly in the Pester household now. :-)

Here's some of the photos from the ultrasound. Little Wiggly sure has grown since the last time we saw him/her! (No, we didn't find out today...we're leaving that as a surprise!) We're 19 weeks and 1 day today...The cool thing is, we have even more pictures from the ultrasound. They were able to burn us a CD of photos from it! I must admit, it's pretty amazing to see your baby moving around on the little black screen. :-)

YWAM

2007-12-10T06:33:00.000-07:00

"The world was not worthy of them..." Hebrews 11:38

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those we know with YWAM. You take the light of the Gospel to very dark places and serve the Lord courageously with boldness. Our prayers are with you today and your families in Colorado.

November Update

2007-12-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick post to let you know that we just finished our newsletter for November. If you're too anxious to wait for it in the mail, you can check out the pdf file of it online by clicking here. Thank you so much for your prayers this past month!

The Belly is Starting to Grow

2007-12-06T07:25:00.000-07:00

Week 18 here we come!

Coincidence? I Think Not...

2007-12-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's just simply amazing to see the way God orchestrates things...

Last night, Jennifer and I finished up the evangelism training we've been undergoing for the last several weeks at our church. It was a great night of God speaking to my heart. Our pastor spoke on the importance of prayer and basic follow up in evangelism. What hit me the most though was his comment on how we still need to be persistent in relationships even if someone does not come to Christ after we've shared the Gospel with them.

As I sat there listening, I had a fleeting though of Todd (you'll recognize his name if you've read our newsletters this summer and early fall). Things had just kind of ended with him after I shared the Gospel. I hadn't heard from him in a couple of months and had moved on and started working with other students on Everystudent.com. I thought it was kind of strange that he was coming to the forefront of my mind...

Well this morning God showed me why. As I opened up my inbox to check my email, guess who had sent me a message. Yup, even though it was light and simple in subject, it looks like he wants to start talking with me again.

So it looks like maybe God is orchestrating something. I really don't know what He has in store with the situation, but honestly I'm kind of excited seeing it play out in front of me. It's always fun to see God's little surprises! Please be praying. I guess it's back to emailing for Todd and I...

Learning the ABC's of the EOB

2007-11-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

It sounds simple...the Explanation of Benefits form. You'd think it would be a clear, easy to read document that tells you straightforward the details of your health insurance.

Today I've learned otherwise. Codes, coverages, deductibles, percentages...AAAHHH!!! I'm almost convinced you have to be a rocket scientist to understand these things...and I graduated with a degree in accounting! I can't imagine what this is like for someone who hates numbers!

You know, there are a lot of good things about pregnancy. Seeing your wife's belly start to grow, hearing the baby's heartbeat at the doctor's office, thinking how God will use our child in the future, checking out all the cool gizmos for baby products...all these things are wonderful. The Explanation of Benefits form? Simply Evil. Pure Evil.

Guess it's time to get some coffee, Tylenol, and a calculator. Pray for me as I try to decode this monstrous beast form...

Dallas Winter Conference

2007-11-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

One of the amazing things that Jennifer and I get to do each year around Christmas with Campus Crusade is help out with an annual Winter Conference for students. These conferences are incredible times for students on Christmas break. It's a chance for them to gather with around 800 other believers from other schools for nearly a week to worship, listen to some amazing speakers, do outreaches, and to be challenged deeply in their walk with the Lord.

Normally Jenn and I would be helping with the Winter Conference for the Greater Northwest region of the US. This year however, since we're still raising our initial support and living in Texas, we'll be helping out with the Dallas Winter Conference from Jan. 2nd through the 7th. The theme for the conference is "Convinced." I can't wait to be around all the students from the Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas that will be there. I'm sure that God will move in some pretty incredible ways! I can't wait to see how!

Please be praying even now for all the students that will be attending the conference. There are always a lot of barriers that can keep students from coming to the conference. Pray that God would shatter those barriers and begin preparing their hearts for the conference.

If you want more info on the conference or are just interested in it, you can check out the website for it by clicking here. Thank you so much for praying!

We Have Our First Tree!

2007-11-26T16:57:00.000-07:00

The Pester household is a little brighter tonight. Why? Because God decided to get us a Christmas tree today! Through a series of events, we ended up receiving a six foot pre-lit tree for free this afternoon. How cool is that?!

Last Christmas Jenn and I had some ornaments, but didn't go out and get a tree. (The budget was a little tight.) So this is the first tree we have together as a married couple. Sure it kind of looks like something Charlie Brown from Peanuts might own, but we're pretty excited about it! We've even got the Christmas music going today with it! :-) The Christmas season is a really cool time for family...especially our growing one this year!

New Movement at NIC

2007-11-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

This past week, our team leader on campus emailed me a pretty exciting story of what God is doing in Northern Idaho with Campus Crusade. Rather than repeating all of the details myself, I figured I'd just give you the link to the article from North Idaho College's Sentinel Paper so you can read it firsthand. If you're interested in hearing about what God's doing, click here for the article. I hope it encourages you like it did me!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T07:28:00.000-07:00

We hope you have a wonderful turkey day! Thank you so much for being a blessing in our lives!

Doing Research

2007-11-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

My head hurts. It's a painful feeling...one that I haven't felt since college accounting classes. Yup, I'm pretty sure my brain is going to burst because of all the information I've crammed into it.

What have I been doing? I'm researching different baby products for our little one on the way. Overall, it's been good understanding the various things (and costs) our little one will need. (There's some pretty cool gizmos out there I'll admit.) But oh my, there is so much there! It feels like I'm traversing the deep unknown jungles of new parenthood...

Graco, Baby Bjorn, Maclaren, Ergo. Car seats, pack n plays, carriers, strollers. Consumer reports, safety ratings, Latch. AAAHHH!!! I think my brain is overloaded.

I need some Tylenol.

"The Three of You"

2007-11-18T11:41:00.001-07:00

Yesterday evening Jennifer and I attended a friend's wedding here in Tyler. Of course it went wonderful. The bride and groom will have a solid marriage based on Christ. I'm sure of it after seeing their hearts for the Lord yesterday.

The most incredible part of the evening though was seeing my wife's face after talking with an elderly woman at the reception. We had just finished going through the buffet line and were looking for a place to sit amongst the crowded tables. Finally, we saw an open spot and rushed over to see if it was saved for anyone. Jen leaned in real politely towards the elderly woman next to the open seats...

Jenn: Excuse me, are you saving these seats for anyone?
Elderly Woman: Oh, heavens no. We have plenty of room here for the three of you. When are you expecting dear?

At that point I think my wife's smile beamed ear-to-ear just as much as the bride in the room. Even on the walk back to the car, she was smiling and giggling about how someone had noticed she was pregnant. Let me tell you, it's a pretty amazing thing to see your pregnant wife so happy! It does wonders for your own heart to see her joy. It was a good night for "the three of us."

Baby Effects on Support

2007-11-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

This week, we've gotten some questions about how our baby affects our monthly support goal in getting to campus. As you probably guessed, having a child brings more expenses to our household. A few weeks ago, our support coach helped us to re-evaluate our goal in light of our latest addition. Based on Crusade's support formulas, our monthly goal needs to increase because of our little one (dang the cost of diapers and insurance!).

Rather than give you all the details here in this post, I've made a pdf file that explains the number side of the our support goal increase. You can find the link to it in the sidebar under the "Support Raising Progress" section. It's called "Baby Effects on Monthly Support." Hopefully it will answer any questions you may have, but if you have any other concerns or questions, please shoot me an email at Jaisen.Pester@uscm.org and I'll get back to you with answers!

Bottom line is it looks like we may be raising support for a little while longer. Our ministry leaders don't want us to report to campus under funded with a newborn on the way. So please keep us in your prayers pretty intensely these next few weeks as we seek wisdom from the Lord in how to go about raising this increased support need. Thank you so much already for all of your prayers!

Ministries Working Together

2007-11-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

For the past few months, I've been thinking a lot about what exactly ministry will look like for me when we get to campus in Idaho. One of the thoughts that keeps reoccurring in my head is the constant daily battle and struggle college guys face with purity. So over the past few weeks, I've been thinking through ways to help men deal with the temptations they face. I really want the guys I'm ministering to in the future to have solid victory in this area. The temptations are something the enemy uses to hinder our walks with the Lord. I want to combat those temptations with the guys I'm leading, so lately I've been on the search for tools...

I think I've found something that will work well with the guys I'm leading in Bible study. I've been toying around with the idea of having them all on Covenant Eyes. (If you haven't heard of Covenant Eyes before, it's like the Rolls Royce of Internet accountability programs. It tracks all the details of where you've been online and sends them each week to your accountability partner in a pretty detailed report.) I'm thinking this will be a pretty good way of having everything out in the open with the guys I'm ministering to. Having them all on Covenant Eyes should bring light on the subject of purity and allow us to deal with the issues as men together. I'm pretty excited about seeing them have victory in this...

At our staff conference last summer, I got to talking with some guys from Covenant Eyes. They've come up with a pretty sweet way that we can work together as ministries that benefits us both. If your a guy and interested in hearing about it, shoot me an email at Jaisen.Pester@uscm.org and I'll fill you in on the details. If you are curious and want to know more about Covenant Eyes, click on the photo in this post. It will take you to their website.

Honestly, I just can't wait to get on campus and start working with the guys in the dorm. Keep praying that the Lord would be preparing Jenn and I as we process through practical ways of reaching students and discipling them on campus.

New Life in Idaho!

2007-11-15T19:37:00.000-07:00

I received an email today from our team leader in Idaho that had some pretty exciting news in it. I figured I'd share it with you so you too could rejoice about what God did last night in the small town of Moscow, Idaho.

About a week or so ago, our team in Idaho found out that Andre Kole wanted to put on a show in Moscow. (If you haven't heard of Andre Kole, he's a staff member with Campus Crusade whose ministry focuses around illusions. Basically, he works through "magic shows" to share the Gospel with the audience in attendance. You can check out his website here if you're curious.)

Anyways, the team only had a few days to prepare for the show. They got promotional materials late last week and were only able to begin selling tickets on Tuesday. They prayed for big things to happen though and that God would really show up and work through the show.

Well He did. The Nuart Theater was sold out last night with around 450 people in attendance. The show went well. The most exciting part though is that of the 450 people there, 66 indicated decisions for Christ! Pretty cool huh! Praise God.

It's so cool to see God moving and bringing people into a relationship with Himself. Our team in Idaho is now working through follow up with our new brothers and sisters in Christ these next few days. Please, please, please keep them in your prayers!

I absolutely love hearing about how God moves on people's hearts!

Finding Strength in Weakness

2007-11-13T09:23:00.001-07:00

Lately God has been teaching me a pretty tough lesson. It's one that is definitely stretching and has also been really painful at times. It's been hard in application, but when it is applied is simply incredible. Even though it's difficult, I know this lesson is absolutely essential in my relationship with God and for being effective in ministry. What is it you ask? Simply put, it's that God works and is often glorified through our weaknesses.

What? Working in weakness? I know it sounds kind of counter intuitive. Weaknesses are looked upon as the plague in our society it seems. Let someone actually know that you fail or can't do something? Come on. Society says no way. So we try to protect our weaknesses from exposure and build up our lives masking our faults from others. We give up intimacy in our relationships because we don't want to seem weak. We certainly have to protect that fragile little ego of ours don't we?

Weakness is pitiful in society's eyes. It seems we idolize only those that show extreme strength. Those that pull themselves up by their bootstraps and rely on their own fortitude to overcome obstacles are the ones we call heroes. Look at our blockbuster movies...Braveheart, Gladiator, the Patriot...all movies that have strong heroes with huge fortitude and no weakness it seems. A weak hero? Come on. Put that mask back on before someone sees you and sees you may not be strong.

Where am I going with this? Here's the personal part. Here's where I bear open my heart. You see, my pride has often blinded me to the extent of my weaknesses. I've always been one to think I'm good enough, that I'm strong. I've always tended to gravitate toward those things that make me seem stronger in society's eyes, especially academic success. I've always thought that I have the fortitude to conquer anything on my own before me. If I just muster enough strength from deep within I could do anything right? That's what I thought. I mean it worked for Wallace, Maximus, and Benjamin Martin right? Yet even after repeated failures in my life in different situations, I still didn't get it. I just didn't want to own up to the fact that I have weaknesses...

These last few weeks, God has shown me repeatedly my weaknesses. He's taken away the pride for a moment and allowed me to see the extent and pervasiveness of them. I now realize how utterly weak and paralyzed I am with fear. I am desperately weak in self control. I am weak in action because I worry of others' opinion of me. I'm weak in love because I have a temper and complacency. It's been a week full of brokenness, as I ultimately realize that I just don't have enough fortitude within to muster to overcome these areas of my life.

So where does that leave me now? As I've turned to scripture, I now am truly starting to understand how God is glorified in our weakness. He is the only source powerful enough to give us the strength to overcome the weaknesses in our life. He wants all the credit in His workings. What better way for Him to get the credit then to work out of our completely weakened states? It's a testimony of His power. Without Him, we can do nothing.

It doesn't matter how weak you are, God's strength is sufficient. Look at Israel with a small weak army conquering huge armies or Paul who even though at times came trembling to people led many to Christ. God likes to show off in our weakness.

So now I've become more aware of the situations I face each day where my weaknesses are evident. Rather than ducking tail and running, I've began to just stop and start praying about it. I don't know how many times in the last few days I've prayed something along the lines of "Lord, I know I'm weak at this. I can't do it at all myself. You have the strength I need to get through this. Work in my weakness here..."

Sometimes there's victory. Sometimes even after I pray, I still duck away and hide to cover up my weakness once again. The times of victory have increased though and have been simply incredible. I really feel like God is using them to stretch and grow the faith muscle (as I like to call it) in me. It's brought new depth to my relationship with the Lord. That's for sure.

In our weakness, He is shown strong. Gosh, that has been such a huge revolutionary concept in my spiritual life right now. I pray the same for you. May He be glorified through your exposed weaknesses as well.

Sunny Saturday

2007-11-11T16:00:00.000-07:00

Well after our trip to the infamous Babies R Us, we decided to go out and enjoy the sunshine yesterday. After going for a walk in the park and watching some little guy football (which by the way makes me want to be a coach...), we decided to once again go play a round of our new hobby...disc golf.

Overall, I'm really liking the game. I was skeptical of it at first this summer when I went out with our staff team and played for the first time, but now I'm starting to actually enjoy it. It's nice to get out and enjoy the sunny fall Texas weather without the humidity. Plus, I hear it's a good idea to get a pregnant lady walking :-)

Slowly, I think we're both improving. My goal is to get to at least a decent level of play so that I can take the Idaho guys I'm going to be working with out and play. It should be a good way to bond, discuss things, and do some discipleship.

For now we're still learning a lot of the basics and having a lot of fun with it. Look out though in a few years...with some practice, we'll be incredible! (we hope...)

Parenting 101: A Lesson Learned...

2007-11-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

Today I found out an important lesson in parenting. It's something that I should have already known if I had actually just logically thought it out. But no, I had to undergo the full first-hand experience of it today to truly understand the lesson.

What did I learn? Quite simply, DON'T GO TO TOYS R US ON A SATURDAY!

It started this morning when we were feeling adventurous. The Toys R Us in Tyler has just opened a Babies R Us section of their store. We've been talking about going down there and seeing first hand all the things we've been reading about that we need for our little one on the way. We got in the car and headed over to the store this morning...

Well an hour later or so, I'm pretty sure that Jenn and I felt a little overwhelmed. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's pretty cool to see guys dressed up as Spiderman and the Cat and the Hat in the store. It was just too jammed packed with people and a little overwhelming for two novices to the parenting world.

We did get to look around though and see some pretty cool gizmos for our little baby on the way. I'm actually pretty amazed at the whole car seat/stroller/carrier combo thing they have going on. I'll have to look into that some more I think...

As for now though, when we go back to the store, we are going on a weekday!

Interesting Prayer Conversation...

2007-11-08T20:39:00.001-07:00

We had some giggles tonight in the Pester house. It's pretty funny sometimes how as humans we mishear and misunderstand conversations...

(The scene: Jenn and I are praying before making some support phone calls...)
Me: Father God, thanks for really shaping my heart lately...
(Giggles start coming from Jennifer. Pretty soon she's laughing deeply out loud.)
Me: What are you laughing about? This is serious!
Jennifer: Did you just thank God for shaving you?
Me: (shaking head) No, I said shaping not shaving. You think I'm praying some sort of wilderness prayer? Seriously, "thank you God for shaving me"???...
(At this point we both start laughing...)

Yeah, I know we're a strange couple. Tonight's lesson? Be thankful that God shapes and not shaves you.

Rendezvous With an Ugly Cat...

2007-11-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

I think we may have a new frequent visitor to our front door. The problem is though, I think it's absolutely one of the most ugliest cats I've ever seen.

It all started on our trip to the front office of our apartment complex to check our mail. As we were walking up the street, I noticed a cat on the other side of the bushes. Now you have to realize that both Jenn and I are suckers for cats. Being the naive people we are, I bent down and got the cat to come over to us. We petted it a few times and thought that was that. We were wrong...

The ugly cat (which by the way we noticed was pregnant) followed us all the way to the mail box and then back to our apartment. It cried the whole way there and back wanting attention from us. Yes, our softy hearts finally caved as we reached home. Yes, we petted her some more. And yes, we decided to give her a little food because we felt sorry for her...(I know, I know...that's a mistake.)

Now as a result, we have a momma cat that is laying on our front steps acting like she found a new home...hmm, maybe this wasn't such a good idea...

Turning 25 Twice...

2007-11-04T11:34:00.000-07:00

Today is kind of a unique day for me. It's definitely not a normal day at all. Yup it's kind of odd...Today I've turned 25 years-old twice!

Now before you think I've gone crazy in my older age, let me explain. I was born at 1:53AM on November 4. With the daylight savings change happening at 2:00 AM last night, I got to celebrate my birthday once then have the time change and have it celebrated once again. So I got to turn 25 years-old twice. Pretty cool huh? To top it all off, I get an extra hour today on my birthday to celebrate. Overall, I think it's a pretty cool thing. (Although I feel bad for the person in the spring that gets an hour less on their birthday because of the time change...)

So it's a day of celebration in the Pester house. Twenty-five years and going! :-)

Hearing A Heartbeat

2007-11-01T10:37:00.000-07:00

We had a doctor's appointment yesterday for our baby. Everything is going healthy and normal. We're 13 and a half weeks along now...welcome to the second trimester. Hurray!

The coolest part of visiting the doctor though was getting to hear our little one's heartbeat for the first time. It sounded kind of swishy at first, but after the doc found a good position with the high-tech stethoscope thingy, we got to hear the steady fast beating for a few moments. It was a pretty cool experience!

I think our doctor may have nicknamed our kid "Wiggly" though. Every time he would get a solid spot for checking the heartbeat, our little one would move around on him. I guess our little one is finicky about going to the doctor. Hmm...I wonder who he/she gets that from???

October Update

2007-10-31T11:00:00.000-07:00

Our October newsletter is finished. You can check it out online in pdf form by clicking here. This month, there are two pretty interesting articles from our work on Everystudent.com in it. We hope you check it out! Thank you for your prayers this past month!

The Start of Cravings? Hmm...

2007-10-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

Last night we had to make an emergency run to Brookshires to get and I quote "the most gooiest brownies they have." I'm wondering, is this the start of the pregnancy cravings I've heard about or is this just a Jenniferism for getting chocolate. Hmm...

Anyways, I think we did a number on the brownies even it it wasn't a craving. Oh and of course we had to get some ice cream as well. What can I say? It just goes well with brownies. Hmm...Maybe this craving thing could work out well for me if I keep getting yummy things out of it...

A Two Dash Day

2007-10-29T10:34:00.000-07:00

It's not something that you want to see on both of your cars at the same time. In fact, you really don't want to see it on your car at all. Yup, it's the wonderful Check Engine light, and today we've got it glowing on both of our vehicles.

I remember hearing at our staff training that more than likely we would face automobile problems during our time raising support. Most staff do. These past couple months, it sure seems like we've had our fair share!

I think I'm beginning to become AutoZone's favorite customer. For a store that I never went in much in the past, I sure have spent my fair time in there recently. I think the clerks are starting to know me by name...

Well, the code scanner shows we've got a oxygen sensor out in Jenn's car and an EVAP malfunction in mine. It looks like I'll be continuing to learn about the emissions systems in our cars the next week or so. Please keep us (and our cars) in your prayers the next few weeks.

Everystudent & Instant Messaging

2007-10-26T13:38:00.000-07:00

You know, it always amazes me how many people have been duped into believing that good morality is the judging factor on salvation. "Live a life where the good outweighs the bad and you'll go to heaven"...UGG! I wish I didn't hear that so much! If you've actually dug into the Bible even the smallest bit, you'll see how blatant of a lie that is. It's sad that grace is such as foreign concept to so many people.

Today I had a pretty long conversation with a student online via Everystudent.com's new instant messaging feature. (Side note - if you haven't seen the feature yet, it's pretty cool. It allows us to talk to students in real time over the net instead of emailing back and forth. I'm hoping it catches on with students. It works pretty smoothly.)

Anyways, the student I talked with today had the same views on morality and salvation. Even after working him through the logical arguments of how morality fails in judgment and how it is only through grace that we are saved, he still couldn't walk away from the entrenched notion in his mind that somehow he had to be good enough to earn his salvation. He liked the idea of grace, but just couldn't get it through his head that that was all that was needed to be right with God. Ugg, sometimes it gets so frustrating!

Why do we as humans latch onto the idea of morality for salvation so much? I think it has to do with something rooted in our pride. We don't want to think that there is absolutely nothing we can do to merit salvation. In a world where you work for everything and independence is commonplace, dependence on grace so absurd. Our pride wants to earn it's way to heaven and not rely on anyone else to get us there. How unbiblical and scary that notion is! I really hate the way Satan twists things and tells lies in order to stoke people's pride and get them to believe in wrong things and false doctrine.

It's truly amazing though when someone actually has the blinders fall off their eyes and they actually see grace for the first time. I've seen it in others. I've been through it myself as a college freshmen. It's truly an incredible working of God. It's what honestly keeps me going in telling others the truth of the Gospel even when it gets absolutely frustrating. You never know who God will take the blinders off...

Two Ways to Live

2007-10-22T16:56:00.000-07:00

For the last few Sunday nights, Jenn and I (along with a small group of around 5 other couples) have been listening to a couple of Australian guys talk. No, we're not learning to play rugby or setting off on an adventure into the outback. It's all part of the evangelism training program our church is doing right now to practically equip our congregation to be able to effectively share the Gospel with those they know. The material we're using is called "Two Ways to Live", and if you haven't ever seen it, I highly recommend it. (You can see it on this website.) It was developed by a couple of Australian guys, and through our pastor, it's made its way to our church in Lindale.

Overall, I really like the way the message is shown using Two Ways to Live. The diagrams and verses used are really well thought out. Don't get me wrong, I still love the staple Campus Crusade 4 Spiritual Laws Knowing God Personally booklet, but I do think that Two Ways to Live could come in very useful on campus. It's another tool in the evangelism toolbox for Jenn and me. I can't wait to finish up the training and get out there with it on campus. I'll probably try it at UT Tyler or TJC here soon...be praying that God will set up the divine appointments with those who need to hear about Christ!

An interesting side note...Have you ever heard the Gospel presented in an Australian accent using the words ogre, bloke, and shove-off? Yeah you guessed it...the videos have been fun to watch in the class...

Remembering Passion While Dealing With Adversity

2007-10-18T10:18:00.000-07:00

Sitting on the porch with a scribbled-in notebook in front of me just a few minutes ago , God decided show me something. I never realized how much my heart desperately needed it until now...

For the last couple weeks, I've felt my heart slowly hardening in my walk with the Lord. I've really just felt overwhelmed with life. There has just been so much to deal with lately. We've had numerous automotive and computer problems (which you've probably read about). We've learned we have a new little one on the way, which brings all sorts of transitions and adjustments with it. We've also hit probably the biggest roadblock we've had so far with support raising. I had hopped our recent trip north would have finished out our monthly support. Instead, it wasn't nearly as fruitful as I had hoped, and in addition, we've had our monthly goal increased by our coach because of the baby on the way. With literally only a handful of people to talk to left in Texas, the consistent thought on my mind has been "Wow, how is this going to happen God, especially now with the increase we have in monthly support to raise?"

All of this mixed together has brought about a subtle hardening of my heart and has allowed a creeping doubt to settle into my mind about our calling as missionaries. "Is this really where you want us to be God?" has become the subtle attitude I've picked up the last few weeks. I know it sounds ugly, but I'm being transparent and honest with you. This is where my heart has been at. With the news of our baby, I've felt like I'm at a crossroads. Do I continue to lead our family down the road of support raising in the midst of what seems to be insurmountable odds or do I dismiss our calling and just go get a regular 9 to 5 job that will comfortably provide for our growing family? It's a testing ground I know...it's where the rubber meets the road...

Today during my quiet time, God reminded me of His calling on my life. I went out on the back porch with my old journals. (I like writing out my thoughts and prayers during my quiet times with God.) I wasn't expecting much. My times with Him have been pretty dry lately. What I read in my journals though brought tears to my eyes and stirred up my heart once again. I'd like to share one part of an old entry with with you...maybe you'll understand a little bit more of what my heart needed to be reminded of...

This entry is from roughly two years ago during my last fall retreat as a student. I had already sensed God calling me to work with Crusade from the amazing summer he had led me on before in Orlando, where I not only met Jenn but also learned about leaving worldly success behind and working for the Kingdom. During the retreat, God challenged me with some huge questions, many of them which still resonate deeply within my heart. He was bringing me to a decision point where there was no middle ground to stand on...

"Would you go if called? Would you go all in? Would you suffer questions, comments, and persecutions from family who doesn't understand? Would you give up professional success? What are you holding back? How can you serve the Kingdom the most? Would you join staff with Crusade? Would you pursue reckless abandonment for Christ? He has called you, bought you, and has pursued and captivated your heart. Will you help to reach others? Will you be a man...a man of God? Will you Jaisen? Will you? Will you reach others and be a servant of Christ? Will you loose your life to ultimately gain it? Will you? Will you? The world needs to hear about Christ. Will you face your ultimate fear and raise support in order to reach others with the Gospel?"

Some pretty intense questions...my response at the time after praying about these questions?

"Okay, so here it is. Here is where I draw the line. Here is where I totally commit to you. Father, I desire staff and will pursue it. I want to be your Peter. I want to follow hard after you, to seek you with my whole life. That is my desire my King. As you told him to feed your sheep, so will I. I want to be on the front line serving you my King. Let me be a harvester for the Kingdom of Light. I want abundant life. I will go to whichever campus you are leading me. Make the next step in this path clear to me..."

As I sat on the back porch today, those words penetrated my semi-hardened heart. Sometimes it's incredible to have God remind you of things He has brought you through in the past. As I sat there praying about it, I knew that this spot we are in right now is right where He wants us. We are still called to take the Gospel to students. No seemingly insurmountable odds will change that. The God we serve can create the world with his voice, part seas, walk on water, and raise the dead to life. Surely, he can raise the remainder of our support. He owns everything. We'll see full support someday...it will be in His timing though.

My rejuvenated heart is excited about reporting to campus. I can't wait to be used by God to reach a young freshman guy living in the dorms with the good news of Christ. I can almost picture the day in my mind. It's an absolutely incredible thing to think about. It stirs up passion in my heart...I can't wait!

So for now I press on with a rekindled fire in my heart. I don't know how full support will happen, but I'm confident in my God to get us there. Thank you for your prayers.

What's in a Name?

2007-10-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

It's starting. This past week, baby stuff has started making its way into the Pester household. (Let's just say we have some very excited grandparents!) With little baby clothes around the house, the realization has tangibly hit Jenn and I that we have the responsibility of naming our little one. It's kind of a big thing if you think about it. I mean, look at scripture. How many times have you been reading along in your quiet time and come across a passage where the person's name has significant meaning? I'm realizing that this naming thing is kind of a big deal...

Since we're planning on not finding out whether our little one is a boy or girl until the delivery, Jenn and I have to pull double duty on this naming deal. Over the last few weeks, we've been thinking and processing through names (mostly biblical ones). So far, we don't have any solid ones, but we have run across some that just won't work. Here's our discoveries...

If we have a little girl, we can't name her Esther. Esther Pester. Yeah, it just doesn't work with the rhyming. Recess times probably wouldn't be that much fun for her. Although it could be worse. Add in a middle name of Lester or something...

If we have a little boy, Peter and Paul are out the window. Actually, any names that start in P just won't work. I don't see good things happening with the initials and a little group of boys...

The search continues for us. It looks like we'll be looking through name books for awhile. :-)

September Update

2007-10-09T16:56:00.000-07:00

We just finished our monthly update for September. It's got some pretty big news in it. (Although if you have been reading our posts on here lately, you already know what it is!) We also have a story from Idaho and an update on Todd in this month's newsletter. You can access the pdf file by clicking here. We hope you enjoy reading it! Thank you so much for all of your prayers this past month!

Enough!!!

2007-10-07T20:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm convinced that ever since Jennifer and I found out that we're having a baby, that all of our electronic equipment decided to go on revolt at once and make me freak out about having repair bills. Two weeks ago, my hard drive fried in the computer. Our pontiac also decided to have a dead battery, blinker problems, and a belt replacement. To top it off, our honda decided that the air conditioner would go on the fritz and wear one tire extremely thin. I thought after fixing all the problems, we were out of the clearing...little did I know.

Tonight, we had an evangelism training time at the church in Lindale. It was wonderful. We both were eager to put stuff we had learned into practice soon. All of the sudden though on the drive home (when we were just about to our apartment), the steering when hard, the battery and oil pressure warning lights came on, and I could feel the engine loosing power. As quickly as I could, I pulled off to the side of the road into a driveway that just happened to be for a construction site. We got out the flashlight and popped the hood. Two hours later (after a couple visits from the security guard) we finally got the car loaded on to Jenn's grandparent's trailer. I still don't know what is wrong with it...

So tomorrow, instead of finishing out our newsletter like I had planned, I'm going to be working on the car with Jenn's dad. I'm beginning to think that either there is some crazy warfare right now going on with us trying to discourage us from ministry with a child or that I should just not touch electronics. Either way it's extremely frustrating...

Pray for us. It's been a roller coaster last couple of weeks...

First Glimpses of New Life

2007-10-03T10:55:00.000-07:00

Today was a pretty incredible day that I'll remember for some time. Jenn and I went in this morning to see the doctor for the first time. While we were there, we were able to see the first glimpses of our new little baby on the way. It's a pretty incredible experience watching a little black screen come to life with pictures of your baby. I think my favorite part was seeing the baby move its little tiny arms and feet. :-) According to the doctor, everything looks good. Mom and baby are healthy. From the measurements he took today, he thinks our due date will be around May 4th. How exciting!!!

The Hunt for a Nausea-Free October

2007-10-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

So apparently, the first trimester and nausea go hand-in-hand. That's the lesson I've been learning these last few weeks as Jenn and I continue down the path to becoming parents. They call it "morning sickness." Hmm....whoever named it that hasn't been around our house lately. It's been more of a "24-hour sickness" if you ask me.

We've been on a hunt the last week trying to figure out something that will calm Jenn's nausea. Crackers, ginger ale, peppermints, baked potatoes...we've tried everything that has been suggested to us. Yesterday, we even went on a search for some sort of candy sucker called "Preggie Pops" that are apparently formulated to calm nausea associated with pregnancy. We tried Walgreens, CVS, and even Toys-R-Us (we heard that you could find them there), but we had no luck...

So the hunt continues here in the Pester household for something to calm the nausea. Yes indeed, the hunt for a nausea-free October is in full force. Be praying that we find something soon!

2 Little Pink Lines That Will Change Your Life...

2007-09-21T07:07:00.000-07:00

As you might have guessed from the tittle of this post, there are definitely some changes happening in the Pester family right now. Yup, you read that right. Come next spring (we think around the end of April), there is going to be another little member of the Pester household. Yup, it looks like I'll be learning how to be a dad. How incredibly exciting!!!

We found out right before returning back home to Texas, but didn't want to post anything on here until our family found out (we had some special surprise ways of telling them!). We think that we're somewhere in between 7 and 9 weeks right now, but we're not totally sure. I'm sure we'll be finding out more when we visit the doctor for the first time soon. I hear that it may even be a possibility to hear a heartbeat by our first visit (in about a week and a half). How cool is that?

It's pretty crazy to think that in only a few months Jennifer and I will step into the world of parenting. I'm not quite sure anyone is ready for it. It seems kind of scary, but at the same time I have this absolutely huge excitement that keeps growing inside of me. What an amazing blessing from the Lord!

In the last week, I think I've crammed more information about babies into my head than I knew was possible. All the way home from South Dakota in the car, we would switch off reading from a big baby book we got from Focus on the Family. There is so much I never knew about all if this! It's overwhelming at times, but at the same time the more I read, the more excited I become!

As I open up my Bible this morning, it is pretty incredible to read through Psalm 139. It gives me a greater appreciation for what is going on inside my wife's body right now...

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." ~Psalm 139:13-16

It's pretty incredible and amazing. What a blessing this unexpected expectancy is! Please be praying for all three of us these next few months. Pray for a healthy mother and baby throughout this whole process, and pray for Jenn and I as we learn more about this little one on the way!

And it Continues...

2007-09-19T11:42:00.000-07:00

Remember that jet engine noise I mentioned in my last post that came from my computer? Remember how I thought I had fixed the problem? Haha. Well, the hits just keep coming this week in the Pester house. After a morning of fighting with the machine again, I did some diagnostics on the system and found out my hard drive has kicked the bucket. Yup, looks like along with everything else, I now will be replacing a hard drive. (at least we have most of our data backed up!!!) Yup, it's been a crazy and weird week here...

Arrived at 1220 with Some Craziness...

2007-09-18T08:27:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it back to Tyler. Let me tell you, it was quite an adventure getting back home. It also has been pretty crazy for us since we've arrived...

Do you ever have a couple of days where it just seems like everything you touch falls apart? It's been like that for me lately. It seems like everything I'm around stops working. It's so frustrating!!!

It all started on the trip back. Now I have to admit that Jenn's car has quite a few miles on it, but honestly, after traipsing across the country this past month with it, I thought we were in the clear driving through Dallas on Sunday afternoon with only 100 miles or so left to home. I should have known better. Next thing I know, we have a puddle of water starting in our passenger seat and an air conditioner that is making all sorts of crazy sounds. Sure, just when we need to start using the air conditioner more driving into the south, it decides to go out. Okay, it's just a car. It can be fixed. Rolling down the windows, we made it back to Tyler.

Getting home, we realized we needed to make a run to Walmart. Walking out to the parking lot, we decided to take my car instead of Jenn's because it had air conditioning. Not thinking about it, we drove over the short trip to Walmart, parked the car, and went in to do some shopping.

Now you have to realize that when you let a car sit for about a month, bad things happen with the battery. Usually, a smart person would let it charge back up the first time you had the car up and going. It's not a smart idea to just drive it two blocks and turn it off. Am I a smart person? Yeah...you know where I'm going with this. Next thing I knew, we were asking the Walmart security guard to give us a jump start. Too bad that they aren't allowed to have jumper cables though! So we started off back home walking...

After a few minutes of walking back in the dark, we arrived at our house. We put our bags in the house and hopped into the un-air conditioned car on our way back to Walmart. Surely it couldn't be that hard to jump the car could it? Half an hour later, we were still in the parking lot of Walmart with a dead car. It wouldn't jump at all. Figures. So we decided to try it again in the morning when it was more light outside.

The next morning, we still couldn't get it to go. Good thing we were by a Walmart I guess. It made it a whole lot easier to get a new battery and change it out. I never imagined that I would ever change a battery in the parking lot of Walmart...

From there, I took my car into get some work on it. There was a recall on the blinker a while back that I never had done. After months of having my blinker act crazy, (and an inspection due soon) I figured it was time to have it done. So I took it in and waited. Sure enough, there was more. Yup, turns out that I need a new drive belt on the car. After looking at it myself, I'm pretty sure their right. It's cracked and bad looking. Looks like I have a project this week to do with Jenn's dad. Time to dive under the hood again!

Thinking that this was all that could be possible for the day, I went home and sat down in front of the computer. I just wanted to check my email. I reached down and pressed the on switch. Next thing I knew, it sounded like a jet engine was coming through our apartment! Apparently, the Dell model I have has fan troubles. Go figure, it had to pick today to act up with a hyper speed insane fan and not boot up. After some work, I finally got it to boot up and quiet down...at least for now. Who knows if it will stay that way!

I'm kind of wondering what will come next. I'm afraid to touch anything electronic or mechanical that has moving parts. When it rains, it pours right? Yeah, we made it back to Texas, but wow...what a couple of crazy days!

Back to Texas...

2007-09-14T12:20:00.000-07:00

After a month of living out of our suitcases and raising support on the road, it's time to pack our bags once again and hit the road. Our destination this time? Home sweet home. Yup, tomorrow morning we're leaving Sioux Falls and headed back to our apartment in Tyler.

Our time here in Sioux Falls has been great. We've been able to meet some wonderful people, share our hearts for ministry with them, and ask them to be a part of what God's calling us to do in Idaho. The divine appointments God has lined up for us with believers while we've been on the road have been absolutely amazing. It's also been really nice to reconnect with some truly incredible old friends as we've traveled.

It's been a strange trip for us. We were both hoping and praying for a huge breakthrough in our monthly support on this trip that would finish off our goal and allow us to report to campus. So far, that hasn't happened. The big breakthrough hasn't come yet, and it's been kind of frustrating wondering what God is up to on our support.

At the same time though, God has showed us some incredible things and stretched us in ways that we didn't expect going on this trip. Seeing another missionary couple from my hometown church...reconnecting with family after 9 months of being apart...seeing old friends and having the privilege of seeing how God is using them now in ministry...taking active steps of faith where you rely on God to come through in certain situations...these are just a few of the things He has allowed us to be a part of while traveling this past month.

I've been reminded of the importance of prayer these past few weeks. Without it, we're powerless. I know it in my head, but sadly I don't always practice it as much as I should. When you're taking steps of faith where you need God to come through, it's absolutely dumb not to cover the situation in prayer. Sometimes I'm good at this. Other times, I'm pretty pathetic. God has shown me through this trip that I need to be more disciplined in taking all the uncertain situations I'm facing and emotions I'm undergoing to Him. It's been a good but sometimes difficult reminder to face...

Thanks so much for your prayers on this trip. Be praying for us this weekend as we travel. More importantly, be praying for that big breakthrough in monthly support we were hoping for. Pray earnestly that it would happen in Texas soon!

Sioux Falls Update

2007-09-10T15:15:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much for all of your prayers this past weekend as Jennifer and I spoke at Asbury United Methodist Church in Sioux Falls, SD. Our time there went well. We were able to share our hearts and vision for ministry with all those who attended the evening service yesterday. Now we're in the process of following up with those who attended the service to see if they would like to be a part of our prayer team or monthly support team. Please pray that God would continue to move here in Sioux Falls so that we can get closer to reaching our support goals and reporting to the U of Idaho!

August Update

2007-09-06T15:04:00.000-07:00

Our August newsletter is complete. You can view it online in pdf form by clicking here or clicking on the "August '07" link on the sidebar. We hope you enjoy this month's update. It's got an exciting story from the first few weeks of the fall semester at the U of Idaho as well as an update on Todd (from our last couple of newsletters). Thank you so much for all of your prayers this past month!

Some Thoughts on Prayer...

2007-09-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

I found these quotes in a book I'm reading and thought I would share them with you:

"The great people of the earth today are the people who pray. I do not mean those who talk about prayer, nor those who say they believe in prayer; but I mean those people who take time and pray. These are the people today who are doing the most for God; in winning souls; in solving problems; in awakening churches; in keeping the old earth sweet awhile longer." - S.D Gordon

"Prayer is a war time walk-talkie and we don't understand why it doesn't work when you use it as a domestic intercom to ring the maid for another pillow." - John Piper

"Whenever God is ready to do something new with His people, He always sets them to praying." - J. Edwin Orr

Let us be a people of prayer.

Monthly Goal Explanation

2007-09-03T18:02:00.000-07:00

As you know, Jenn and I are currently raising support to get to the U of Idaho for ministry. During this time, we've talked in our posts and on support appointments about percents. "We're currently at _____ percent" or "Once we get to 100% on our monthly goal we'll be able to report to campus..." Recently, we've had a few people ask us about the numbers behind the percents. I got to thinking about it and decided it would be a great idea for Jenn and I to post an explanation of our monthly support goal with numbers for y'all to read. That way you'll be able to understand our monthly need more thoroughly and will be able to join with us in prayer more specifically while asking the Lord that He would finish out our monthly support goal soon. So, if you want to check our the explanation, click here to open up the pdf file we've created or click on the "View Monthly Goal Explanation" link on our sidebar. Please, please, please let us know if you have any questions about any of it! Thank you so much for all of your prayers!!!

The Disappointment of Defeat...

2007-09-03T17:39:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I posted about the Alma Mater football showdown that was happening in the Pester household. My Bobcats vs. Jenn's Aggies...it had never happened before. It was bound to be a great game. I wanted the Bobcats to win so bad! Well...Yup, that's pretty much all I have to say about that. You win this time Aggieland, but don't count the blue and gold out just quite yet for the rest of the season...Go Cats Go!!!

Labor Day?

2007-09-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

If I'm not mistaken, labor day is a time for rest and relaxation. It's a time to stick your feet up and enjoy a day off from work. It's a time where physical exertion is to be kept to a minimal. That's what you would think...that's not the case with the Pesters however.

Today was a day of concrete. Today I became "Jackhammer Jaisen" as my parents, Jenn, and I started on a "Saturday project." It all started with a tree root and a storm that had broken and pushed up a big section of sidewalk in front of my parents house. It looked like a pretty dangerous hazard. (Although I'm sure all of the neighborhood kids loved the it for their bike jumps!) Anyways, today we decided we would tackle the bump and start the grounds for getting a new sidewalk laid.

So we went to the local hardware store and rented a jackhammer. Getting back home, we started it up, and from then on were committed on the project. It broke up fairly easily with most of the sections breaking up into manageable pieces. The hard part though was loading all of the old cement into the pickup and hauling it to the dump grounds. In all, I think we had six pickup loads full of cement!!! And yes, our muscles are entirely too sore right now...

But in all it was an adventure and looks good now. My parents have to decide what to do with the root still, but at least the huge bump in the sidewalk is taken care of for now. Labor Day...hmm, maybe that means we'll be put to labor...hmm :-)

The Alma Mater Showdown...

2007-08-30T08:25:00.000-07:00

Something we never thought would occur is happening this weekend. Something that may bring a slight competitive division to the Pester household. Something that to the rest of the world probably looks like just another silly game, but to us is rather exciting. Yes you've probably guessed...College Station beware because the MSU Bobcats are coming to town!!!

Last year Jenn and I joked around about what would happen if our two alma maters ever faced off against each other in football. Would either of us flip flop from bleeding maroon and white or the blue and gold? With the teams being in different conferences, we never actually thought it would happen. Little did we know...

This Saturday, my Bobcats will take on Jenn's Aggies. Now I know MSU is a long shot. Big 12 football and Kyle Field can be quite intimidating. The J-train for the Aggies will probably run over the Bobcat's defensive line. But, do you remember the Colorado game last fall? Oh yeah, the bigger they are the harder they fall...

Yes "there's a spirit" running inside of me, but this weekend its not the Spirit of Aggieland or the 12th Man. This weekend its all about the Blue and Gold. Go Cats Go!!!

A Gideon Lesson...

2007-08-29T08:38:00.000-07:00

The Lord said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce to the people, 'Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.'" So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. - Judges 7:2-3

Sometimes it's hard for me to relate to stories in the Old Testament. I don't go out and fight battles for promised land. I don't do temple sacrifices or flee from an Egyptian army. This morning was different though. This morning, I felt God tugging on my heart as I read the story of Gideon.

You see, God tells Gideon to go defeat the Mideanites. He even confirms the command with a few pretty cool signs. So what does Gideon do? He goes and gathers up as many men as he can in Israel to fight. By the time he's ready to go to battle, he has 22,000 men ready to go. It seems like a pretty logical battle plan to me. It's not the way God wants it though...

No, God is in the business of bringing glory to Himself (which I think is pretty cool). He doesn't want Israel taking all the credit. He wants them to rely on Him. So what does He do? He whittles down Gideon's force from first 22,000 to 10,000 and from there to only 300 men. Yup, you read that right. Three hundred men to go against the whole Mideon army. In the world's perspective, this is like committing military suicide...

Yet with these 300 men God routs Mideon, and in doing so brings glory to Himself as well as teach the Israelites to trust Him. It's pretty cool how it all works out...

Where am I going with this? Well, God showed me a tie in this story to our current support raising situation.

You see, for the last few weeks, Jennifer and I have been working off of an extremely small list of believers to get a hold of to share our ministry with and ask for support. It's been nerve wracking as I look at all the people we've talked to so far and then see the small handful of contacts we have left with still 29% of our monthly support to raise. I look at the stats of what's happened with the hundreds of people we've talked to thus far to get to 71% and think, "There's no way that we can get 29% from this small of a group. Are you sure about this God?"

I'm sure that's the way Gideon felt when God left him with 300 men. "Wow God, um...300 men. Are you sure about this?" Yet God came through and conquered the Mideonites.

God has called Jennifer and I to this ministry. I have no doubt about it at all. There have been way to many confirmations to believe otherwise. I think He's just bringing us through a time where He's showing us that He is the ultimate one that raises our support. It's not about us. It's all about His glory. This handful of believers that we still have to get in contact with has got to lead somehow to 100%. Like Gideon, all we can do is step out and trust the Lord in this situation. In poker terms, we have to "go all in" on this situation and totally rely on the Lord to work.

Is it scary putting it all on the line like this? Yeah, at times it can be. I'll admit that I get freaked out at times. Honestly though, if there's one thing that I've learned so far on this ministry adventure it's that Jenn and I can totally rely on the Lord. He may not do things like we desire, but in the end it's always done in a way that accomplishes the task while stretching and deepening our trust in Him. This is just another one of those situations...

So I guess, like Gideon, it's time for me to head to battle. The 29% obstacle will be conquered. It's so amazing to have the Lord on your side...

Life's Journey

2007-08-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Jennifer and I had the privilege of speaking at Life's Journey Christian Fellowship Church in Colstrip, MT. Once again (as with the other small churches we've spoken at), we were welcomed with open arms to the church body. We had such a wonderful time sharing our vision with the people who God placed in our path during the service!

I think possibly my favorite aspect of speaking at the church though was seeing their focus on community. After each service, the church body joins together for a fellowship meal. Barbecued hot dogs, chicken wings, chips, salad, and amazing Christian brothers and sisters. How cool of a combination is that? Talk about building a sense of community among the body. I like it the idea...(and I like the brownies that were there as well...maybe too much in fact...) Hmm...maybe a fellowship workout session is also needed... :-)

Anyways, Jenn and I are trying to line up other churches to speak at while we're in the North. We'll see what God has in store for us over the next few days. We're hoping to share our vision with as many people as we can so that we can get closer to reaching our full support goal. Please be praying that God would lead us to those that he wants us to meet while we are up here. Thank you so much for all of your continued prayers!!!

Drinking Vanuatu Coffee in Rosebud, MT...

2007-08-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

Last night, I did something I never imagined would happen. I sat and drank Vanuatu coffee just outside of the small town of Rosebud, MT. It's not everyday that you drink South Pacific island coffee in the ranch lands of Eastern Montana. How does something like this happen you might ask? God's orchestration. Let me fill you in on the details :-)

On Sunday, Jennifer and I attended my hometown church in Forsyth...Grace Bible Church. Walking in the doors, we surprised a lot of people who didn't know we were in town. However, the biggest surprise was reserved for us. As we got to talking and catching up with everyone, we found out that a young couple in the church had just recently felt the Lord's calling to head into foreign missions. They were in the process of preparing to head to the islands of Vanuatu to do ministry.

Now there's a certain bond I think that forms between missionaries. Jenn and I wanted to hear more of their story (we always get excited hearing about God's callings and how He's working...I think it's one of the perks of our job...). So we called up the young couple, and the next thing we knew, we were sitting in their home last night drinking Vanuatu coffee and sharing with each other the incredible adventures God has us both traveling. It was a pretty amazing time of hearing their hearts for the people of Vanuatu and sharing our hearts for students at the U of Idaho.

It's exciting having another missionary couple coming out of Grace Bible Church. The Lord is definitely at work in the roughly 60 people congregation. Two missionary couples sent out in two years...that's pretty much unheard of in our small town. I'm excited to see what God has in store in the years to come with the church and what happens in Idaho and Vanuatu. God's plans are pretty amazing!!!

Enjoying Small Town Festivities...

2007-08-20T07:58:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's nice to be in small towns. They have a certain feel to them that draws you in and welcomes you. Maybe its the smiles; maybe its the people. All I know is that it feels good to be back home. Jenn and I have really enjoyed the first few days we've had here in Forsyth. It's been great to be back around family and friends.

Now with any small town, you know that there is going to be some quirky festivities. Jenn and I found this out last week as we undertook two activities with my family...glow ball golf and homemade ice cream making.

On Friday night, we teed up after the sun went down for my dad's annual Knight's of Columbus annual Glow-Ball Tournament in Forsyth. Now I've golfed before (I played on our high school team a few years ago), but this was something totally different than anything I've ever done. Try hitting a glowing golf ball in total darkness not knowing where the ground is and barely knowing where the flagpole is located. It's tough!!! There were plenty of wiffs and flying lights going everywhere in our group that night . Let's just say that Jenn's first golfing experience was quite an adventure!!! Amidst the moonlight and golf carts driving around in the dark, somehow we managed to finish at least a few holes...

On Saturday, we had another adventure. We drove out to Colstrip and surprised my aunt with a visit. She was pretty happy to see us. After talking and viewing some old pictures of past family outings, we decided it was time once again to make some family homemade ice cream. We grabbed the car keys and went to the store for supplies. Cream, sugar, vanilla, rock salt...before you knew it we had quite the mixture going. Then came the hard part. After mixing all the ingredients together, someone had to crank and stir the container in a tub of ice to freeze the mixture. Yup, I received the honor. After twenty minutes of turning the crank (and my arm about ready to fall off), we were finished. The mixture had hardened, and as we opened the container and spooned the ice cream into our mouths, it tasted absolutely delicious! All the hard work was definitely worth it. Homemade ice cream is good good!!!

Who knows what adventure is coming up next here in Eastern Montana. So far though, I've really enjoyed the ones that have come up along the way! (Although after writing this, I wish we had some more of that ice cream left...it was so good!)

Surprise Surprise...

2007-08-16T07:58:00.000-07:00

There is nothing better than totally surprising a loved one. Two days ago, Jennifer and I had that opportunity...

Support raising in the South has slowed for us the last few weeks. Even with the last few busy weekends we've had speaking to different groups, it has still slowed significantly from what we were hoping for after returning from Colorado. Quite simply, we're running out of people to talk to there. So, Jenn and I started looking back north to see what opportunities God might have in store for us in continuing to get to 100%. We didn't have to look too far. He had already lined up at least one church for us to speak at with the possibility of quite a few more in the works. After thinking it through and praying about it, we decided it was best to head north once again. On Monday morning we hopped in our car, seat belted in, and set off across West Texas towards Montana.

Now to put this in perspective, it's been roughly nine and a half months since I've seen my family. I think its the longest we've been apart. The last few months, they have moved from gently dropping hints that they miss us on the phone to outright declarations of how much they miss us. Needless to say, we didn't tell them we were coming...

Tuesday night, Jenn and I pulled into the driveway. As we quietly made our way to the front door and rang the door bell, I heard my dad making his way to the door. All of the sudden we both heard, "WHAT?!?! JAISEN'S HERE!" With that, the door flung open and a plethora of hugs ensued. Their smiles were soooo huge!!! I love it when surprises work out as planned...

So now we are in Forsyth, MT for the next few weeks. It will be good to catch up with my family as well as see what God has in store for us here in the town for support. We raised some support here last October, but it doesn't seem like God is finished here yet. I'm eager to see what He does!

So please keep us in your prayers these next few weeks as we are in the north. We want to get to campus soon and are hoping that God will use this trip to finish out a big chunk (if not all) of the support we have left to raise. Thank you so much for all of your prayers!!!

A Rainbow Handshake...

2007-08-08T13:13:00.000-07:00

During the course of a regular newsletter printing, Jenn and I usually go through a few ink cartridges. Besides the stamp, ink is one of the larger expenses to get our newsletter out each month.

Well being the numbers people that we are, we figured that this month we would try something new to see if we could cut the costs a little. So we headed to the store and found a refill kit for our color ink cartridge. Sounds simple right? Just refill your old cartridge with new ink. How hard could that be?

Today we tried the refill kit. Today our hands look like they've been hit by a rainbow bomb.

We overfilled the cartridges, and that led to all sorts of problems. Whether it was ink dripping out or a deep blue tint to everything we printed with the refilled cartridge, after today's experience, I don't think we'll try the refill system again.

Word to the wise for today: Unless you want to have a rainbow handshake for the next two weeks, don't buy refill kits for ink cartridges.

July Update

2007-08-08T08:55:00.000-07:00

Our July newsletter is printing away right now, but for all of you tech savvy readers out there, you can view it online by clicking here or clicking on the July '07 link in our Newsletter section on the left.

This month's update focuses on our time in Colorado at CSU. We hope you enjoy reading it! Thanks so much for praying for us!

Two Busy Sundays...

2007-08-06T12:38:00.000-07:00

The last two Sundays have been really busy for Jenn and I. God has certainly kept us on our toes lately!

Last week, we were on the road for 12 hours for a small group luncheon in San Antonio. Although the day was long, (with a lot of coffee and energy drinks while we were driving) our time in San Antonio went really well. We were able to share our hearts and ministry vision with new friends as we ate lunch. It was definitely a blessed time.

Yesterday, we drove north two hours to speak at the First Baptist Church of Cason, Texas during their evening service. I've decided I absolutely love speaking at small country churches. So far, we've spoken at four different country churches, and each time they have always been so welcoming and excited about what we're doing. The same was true last night. I love the bond that believers share in seeing the Great Commission furthered!

God continues each day to get us closer to 100% of our goal. Yesterday, there was much rejoicing in our house as we reached the 70% mark! Only a little further to go before we'll be able to report to campus!!!

Between Colorado, San Antonio, and Cason it seems like we've been on the road a lot lately. I wonder where God will take us next as we press on. Hopefully to it's Idaho soon! Thank you so much for praying for us!!!

Staff Conference Wrap Up

2007-07-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

Sitting here with a cup of coffee and the hum of fans in the background, I'm realizing one thing...even with the humidity, it's good to be back home to our apartment. Our time at CSU wrapped up yesterday, and Jennifer and I spent the day riding bus and plane traveling back to our apartment in Texas.

Sometimes an extended time traveling back home can be a blessing. It gives you time to sit, reflect, and ponder about all that has transpired during a trip. Yesterday was that way for me. As I sat buckled in the plane and later seat belted in the car, I thought about all the things that we had undergone at Staff Conference.

Here's some of what I learned...

The Power of Story. The theme of "story" was very prevalent in all of the talks and seminars at the conference. Whether it's God's master redemptive story or our own personal testimonies, narrative story is a powerful form of evangelism that can be used with today's postmodern students.

My Own Story. The conference took me to new depths in my walk with the Lord as it surfaced some of the hurts I've suppressed over the years in my own story. I experienced a greater appreciation for God's love and comfort as certain verses penetrated my heart during reflective times of the conference. As past wounds were opened, there was indeed many tears, but yet a healing process has begun that is incredible.

Worship. If you ever get the chance to worship with 5,000 missionaries do it. Trust me, it's incredible. You won't be disappointed.

Campus Strategy. It was wonderful to sit down and hear from our campus director how we are indeed going to reach every student at the U of Idaho with the Gospel. God is piecing together some wonderful things for the campus. We're so excited to get to full support and get on campus!!!

God Likes to Show Off. We visited Rocky Mountain National Park on one of our afternoons off, and it was incredible. Standing on the top of mountain peaks always brings of sense of God saying, "Be still and know that I am God." I love seeing God's creation...

I'm Horrible at Disc Golf. Yeah, I know it's a strange revelation, but yes it's true. The men from our campus team went disc golfing one night, and I found out how horrible at the sport I am. Whether it was climbing trees to get the disc down or trying to fish it out of the lake, let's just say that my first time disc golfing didn't go so well. I'll need to practice up before we report to campus. I hear the Washington State staff team likes to compete against the Idaho staff team...

Fellowship Importance. It was incredible to be able to reconnect with others who understand what it feels like to raise support. It was a refreshing time for both Jenn and I to be able to see so many of our staff friends.

Overall, the conference was a wonderful time. It gave us both clearer vision of where Campus Crusade is heading in the future while at the same time ministering to our hearts in deep ways. I'm excited we were able to attend. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support to get us there!

CSU Update

2007-07-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a week of seminars, talks, training, and (most importantly) some intense connection times with God here in Fort Collins for Jennifer and I the last week...

Besides hearing from our leadership, learning about emerging evangelism techniques, and hearing about where the different ministries within Campus Crusade are heading, I think my favorite part of our time in Colorado so far has been the intense times I've had with God here. For the last two days, we've really dug into the Word in some intense ways during our morning group sessions, and I've really felt God teaching me a lot about my own life. He's taking me to places in my own life that need healing in a deep way. I've realized there are some pretty deep wounds that need to be healed with the truth of God's Word. Psalm 27 keeps ringing in my ears every time I sit down and pray. It's been a deeply refreshing and healing time for my heart...

I've also absolutely loved the worship at our conference. Worshipping with Lord with so many other missionaries is simply amazing. It's been simply incredible to let down my walls and really worship God with fellow Staff. There are times when you can almost tangibly feel the Spirit in the room. Simply put...it's Awesome!

Besides all the seminars and talks, we have also had some fun as a Crusade staff family. A few nights ago, we had a "county fair" on campus. Jenn had never been to the fair before, so it was a wonderful time for her as we rode rides and ate corn dogs and cotton candy! (I think the cotton candy was everyone's favorite part!) Boy, my legs and stomach felt quezzy after riding the rides though...

It's been great to connect with our team from Idaho while we've been here as well. We sat down with our director for coffee a couple mornings ago and really begain to dig into the planning of how exactly our team is looking at reaching every student on the campus of the U of I. Listening to how God is moving on campus makes we want to reach full support so bad!!! It certainly seems like God is piecing our team together this year to make it possible to reach every student!

One side note on our conference though: You can not believe the number of books we're getting to read. It seems like after each main session we attend, another book is given away free to us. I love the fact that so many people and publishers are so eager to equip us as missionaries! Although, I think we'll need another suitcase just for our books by the time our conference is over!!!

Okay, it's dinner time in the cafeteria. I'll keep you posted as things develop here in Fort Collins.

CSU: Day #2...Where Our Hearts are Stirred & Sunburn Runs Rampant

2007-07-15T21:55:00.000-07:00

Today was a day of sunburn for Jennifer and I on the campus of CSU. Not having a vehicle here for Staff Conference, we laced up our tennis shoes and hit the sidewalks of Fort Collins totally oblivious to the sun that was beating down on us. Between walking to church and down to the mall, I think we walked somewhere around 9 miles today. Although we really enjoyed the service this morning and being able to enjoy the outdoors this afternoon, as I sit down to write tonight, we both look like bright red lobsters just out of the pot...

Even with the sunburn and exhaustion from the heat, this evening was something special. All the campus missionaries gathered together tonight for a time of worship and to hear a message from our National Campus Director. It was something my eyes needed to see and my heart desperately needed. Joining together with so many campus missionaries in worship is incredible. Listening to our director speak of where God is moving in our ministry stirred my heart once again. As Jenn and I sat praying together in the arena, I couldn't stop the tears rolling down my face as I sensed God's presence in the room. I feel like God has something specific He wants me to hear during this time. My heart craves it and I'm eager to see what it is. Those intimate times with God where He speaks to my heart are the most precious things in my life. They are extremely raw and intense, but they are the most life-giving times in my existence. I can't wait to see what's in store...

Okay, so now for the the interesting weird part of the day that may sound random, but I thought you might enjoy it. Now I know fishing is popular, but have you ever seen one of these before? It's a live bait vending machine. Yes, you read that right. A vending machine for live bait. We came across it on our trip to the mall. Weird huh? The strange things you see in life...

There will be more to come on CSU...as for now, we need aloe vera and sleep.

Arrived in Fort Collins...

2007-07-14T18:36:00.000-07:00

Today has been a long day.

It started at 2:45AM this morning when the alarm clock burst to life in the darkness of our apartment. By 3:00 we were out the door and in the car on our way to the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport. A couple of hours (and a few oldies on the radio) later, we arrived at the airport, got checked in, and were boarding our 6:50 flight to Denver.

I've never been one for flying. Strapping myself into a heavy metal object barreling down the runway with jet engines on it and absolutely no personal control over the matter just doesn't sit well with me. But luckily Jenn calmed me down as we took off into the sky. The flight went well from there...it was wonderful to see the mountains again when we arrived in Colorado!

A bus and van ride later and we were on the campus of CSU by 10:00. After getting checked in, registered, and finding a bite to eat, we finally crashed hard in our dorm room out of exhaustion. Yes, it's been a long day...

My first impressions of CSU and our Staff Conference? Well, the dorm we are staying in is kind of run-down, but let me tell you...they have an amazing security system. We have scan cards that give us access to different parts of the building, and you even have to punch in a code to use the bathroom! It feels like we are in some sort of top secret CIA building with certain access points...of course, we had to go around and test them all out today! :-)

It was good to see a few familiar faces today. I'm looking forward to seeing more and meeting other Staff as the conference progresses. Tomorrow night is our first session. We'll be hearing from the Campus Ministry's Director. I can't wait for it to begin!

But for now, with the little sleep we've gotten, I think I hear my pillow calling to me...

We'll keep you updated on all that happens here at CSU! :-)

On Our Way to Colorado...

2007-07-13T12:42:00.000-07:00

All our bags are packed and we're ready to go...Tomorrow morning, we're on our way to Colorado!

Every two years, all US Campus Crusade Missionaries gather in Fort Collins, Colorado for our US Staff Conference. During the two weeks we are there, we stay in the dorms of Colorado State University and have multiple sessions and seminars to hear where the ministry is headed and to teach us how to become more effective ministers of the Gospel on campus. From what I hear, it is a very refreshing time for Crusade Staff. We will be able to hear Crusade's Leadership speak as well as be able to gather together in worship and prayer. I can't wait to worship with 4,000 or so other Staff...I'm sure it will be incredible! We will also hear from some great speakers and musicians...(I heard rumors that Donald Miller and Chris Tomlin will be there...)

Jenn and I are really looking forward to our time at CSU. It has been quite a few months since we've been around other Crusade Staff. It will be refreshing for us to be back around other staff who know what it's like to go through support raising. We're also really looking forward to hearing all of the stories of how God is moving on campuses across the US. It should be a great time!

Please pray for us tomorrow as we travel. We're leaving really early in the morning to get to Dallas for our flight. Pray for good weather as we drive to Dallas and as we fly to Denver. I heard it was supposed to rain...ugh.

We'll keep you updated with everything that happens at CSU! Thanks for your prayers!!!

June Newsletter

2007-06-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

"I Wish I Could Go Back to Being Brainwashed..." Yup, you read that right. It's the title of one of our articles this month. Everystudent.com ministry gets pretty intense as I answer a student's difficult emails. Interested? Click here for this month's ministry update. Don't forget to check out the summer project updates as well. We hope you enjoy this month's newsletter. Thank you so much for praying for us!

When Believers Pray...

2007-06-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, we sent the 134 members of our email prayer team a request asking for prayer. Our hope was to rally prayer support behind us as we press forward in asking the Lord to complete our support raising process by August 20th, the first day of the fall semester at the U of Idaho.

There is amazing power in prayer. When God's people decide to join together in praying, the results can be incredible. Over the last two weeks, we've seen God once again on the move in our monthly support goal.

For all the visual people out there like me, let me show you what I mean. Here's a picture of our monthly support raising process. You can see the trend before and after the email we sent out to our prayer warriors. It's amazing to see God answer prayers and bring steeper lines!

Thank you so much prayer warriors! Please continue to pray for August 20th. There is no way we could reach the day on our own efforts, but with God all things are possible!

San Antonio & the Alamo

2007-06-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

For the last few days, our support raising adventure has taken us to San Antonio. Although the drive was long, our time in the city went really well. We were able to share our hearts and vision for ministry with more people and ask them to join with us in all that God has in store for the U of Idaho.

While we where there, we took a side trip to visit the Alamo and downtown San Antonio. Being from the North, I always envisioned the Alamo to be this grand military fort out in the middle of the desert where the Texans valiantly fought. I pictured cactus and sagebrush in my mind along with numerous cannons and high fortified walls.

What I found was quite different. There was no desert. The "fort" is in the middle of downtown. Forget cactus and sagebrush. Instead, there's manicured grass and skyscrapers bordering it. Mighty fortified walls? Not so much. I'm impressed by the history surrounding it, but overall, I was quite disappointed with what I found...two thumbs down.

Now, the Riverwalk and the Market Square on the other hand were quite enjoyable. We strolled the pathway in the afternoon and enjoyed all the sights and smells of the restaurants along the river. In the Market Square, we became immersed in the Mexican culture. I've discovered I love the smell of fresh corn tortillas. We even were able to see a mariachi band! Of course, we had to get a picture with a sombrero...

We may be back in San Antonio later this summer. We're hoping and praying that God would open the door for us to share our hearts with more people and churches in the city. We look forward to seeing what he does!

Prayer: 8/20/2007

2007-06-14T06:26:00.000-07:00

August 20th. It's the first day of classes for the fall semester at the University of Idaho. It's a pivotal time in dorm ministry as we try to reach out to incoming freshman who are stepping foot onto campus for the first time. Outreaches and relationship forming these first few weeks pave the way for us to share the Gospel and lead students closer to Christ.

We want to be on campus in Idaho by then.

With our ministry, we have to reach 100% of our support goals before we can report to campus. This support raising process we've been going through has been long and difficult, and although God has taught us many faith-stretching things through our time in it, our hearts are ready and eager to be on campus.

There are roughly 10 weeks between now and August 20th. We need prayer warriors who will be praying for us to get to campus by then. Will you join with us in prayer, seeking Him, and asking Him to move in incredible ways to complete our monthly goal by August 20th?

We know God knows the exact hour and day we will step foot on campus. It may be before August 20th. It may be after. God has a sovereign plan in all of this. We're hoping and praying that it is before the start of the fall semester though. Please join with us in prayer. There is so much power in believers united together in prayer!

I added on a few links in our support raising section that should give you a better picture of what our support raising process has been like thus far. Check them out if you want...they're the "view graphs" links.

August 20th. We've got a long way in support to go, but we're hoping and praying for it.

Answered Prayers

2007-06-04T10:57:00.000-07:00

First of all, THANK YOU FOR PRAYING THIS PAST WEEKEND!!! We had an absolute wonderful weekend. Thank you so much to all of our prayer warriors who lifted our needs up to the Lord these past few days!

Last night, Jennifer and I had an absolutely amazing time watching God work as we spoke at Little Hope Baptist Church outside of Mena, Arkansas. Our time there was truly a blessing as we were able to meet many fellow believers who have a huge heart for God's work. We asked you to pray that God would touch their hearts and connect them to our ministry. Yesterday evening, He answered our prayers. It is always simply incredible to watch God move and to see Him work on people's hearts to excite them about what He is doing in the world to further His Kingdom. We are so excited to have more fellow believers involved in what God is calling us to do at the U of Idaho!

On top of the wonderful time we had at Little Hope Church, we were also blessed this weekend having a little rest and relaxation camping out at Petit Jean State Park. We were able to enjoy around 10 miles of God's creation hiking in the park...(although our feet and muscles are extremely sore because of it!). Even with a small rainstorm, we had an excellent time connecting with each other and God this weekend. Here's some pictures from our hiking excursions...

Petit Jean State Park near Mather Lodge

Starting the Cedar Falls Trail...

Cedar Falls

Natural Bridge on Seven Hollows Trail

We're in the Bear Cave...

Doing Some Rock Climbing Around the Bear Cave

Thank you again for being prayer warriors for us. Your prayers mean so much to us!!!

An Arkansas Weekend

2007-05-31T14:16:00.000-07:00

With a full tank of gas, the car all packed up, and a map in our hands, we're hitting the road this weekend bound for the hill country of Arkansas.

Our trip has two purposes. For the first couple of days, Jennifer and I will be camping out at Petit Jean State Park taking a mini-vacation to celebrate our one year anniversary. We'll be able to do some hiking, see waterfalls, relax, and connect with God and each other. (Oh yeah, and cook smores of course!)

On Sunday we'll be back to raising support. On our way back to Tyler, we'll be stopping at Little Hope Church just outside of Mena, AR to speak at the evening service and share with the congregation about our ministry and all God is doing today on college campuses. We hope that this time goes well and that God really uses it to connect others' hearts to our ministry!

We need your prayers this weekend. Please be praying for the following things!

Pray that we would have a relaxing few days camping and that God would really use the time to rejuvenate us for the rest of our initial support raising. We really want to connect with the Lord in a deep way this weekend!
Pray that God would guide us as we prepare for our talk at Little Hope Church on Sunday. Pray that God would speak through us to touch the hearts of others and get them involved in what He is doing on campus!
Pray for our safety as we travel.

Thank you so much for your prayers. We'll keep you updated on all that happens this weekend!

Kings & Excel

2007-05-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, I posted about how I was undergoing a study on the Kings of Israel and Judah. Overall, it has been great; God has really taught me a lot through the different kings He used in the past to lead His people. Digging into 1 & 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles however, I found that there was just a ton of information that was hard for me to keep track of...He was the son of who now? Which king ruled opposite to him in the Divided Kingdom? What was the name of that prophet that spoke to him?...You get the point.

So, being the organizational-minded person I am, I developed a spreadsheet to track the different facts about the various kings listed. Now I know I'm not a Bible scholar and that this listing isn't fully complete (there is a lot of history in other books I didn't cover), but I thought I would share my Excel spreadsheet with you. Who knows, maybe it will help you organize it all a little better as well! You can download the Excel file by clicking here. (As I study the prophets of the Old Testament, I will probably updating the file with the additional facts that I discover.)

Download the file and check it out if you want. Hopefully, you'll enjoy reading about the kings as much as I have!

A Wonderful First Year!

2007-05-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Jennifer and I celebrate our first wedding anniversary together. Yup, that's right...it's already been a year. I can't believe time has flown by so fast!!!

We've had an absolute wonderful first year together. It's been amazing to look back and see how God has brought us closer together and stretched us as a married couple this past year. We've learned so much about faith and love as we've been able to work together in our marriage and ministry. God has truly blessed us this past year!

Here are some interesting things we learned the first year of marriage:

Long walks are always best with deep conversation and a Sonic slush in your hand.
Take every opportunity to go to the park and watch/feed the squirrels.
Eventually, your body will get used to having another person sleep right next to you and you'll get a good night sleep again.
Gilmore Girls and Survivor. After a year together, we've come to appreciate each other's favorite TV shows. (Yes, I'll admit to watching Gilmore Girls...although, I get frustrated at Luke a lot while watching it!)
Sunday morning drives to Lindale for church aren't complete unless you laugh along with Jungle Jams Friends on the radio.
Never underestimate the power and necessity of praying together each day.
Support Raising - It's one of the most challenging and yet rewarding tasks you can undergo as a married couple. Your faith grows and is challenged in intense ways as you deal with the stresses, joys, and tears of doing ministry together!

Those are just a few of the tidbits we've picked up this first year. :-)

Thank you so much for all of your prayers this past year. We truly appreciate them! For those of you who weren't able to see our wedding last year, here's a short clip from the best part of it. Enjoy!!!

May Newsletter

2007-05-22T13:19:00.000-07:00

Want to see what some crazy college students from the Northwest are doing this summer? Check out our newsletter this month (by clicking here) to see how God is using students from the Northwest to reach Lake Tahoe, Alaska, Japan, Costa Rica...the World! We hope you enjoy it!

The Leadership of Kings

2007-05-18T05:52:00.000-07:00

What does it take to be a Godly leader?

This question has been at the forefront of my mind the last few weeks and has been the intense focus of my quiet times with God recently. As I've mentioned before in previous posts, God has seemed to place a huge desire on my heart lately to learn about leadership. My heart simply craves the authentic manhood associated with Godly leadership. I want to be a Godly leader.

Seeking to learn more about what God really desires in leadership, I turned a few days ago to Chronicles and Kings in the Old Testament...the history books of the Kings of Judah and Israel. What better place to learn about leadership than from the nearly 40 men God had placed in leadership roles over His people? Call it a "Leadership Report Card" if you will, as each King's actions are recorded and judged as either Good or Evil in the eyes of the Lord.

Overwhelmingly, God has shown me time and time again as I've read that the Kings that are judged as being "Good" have one characteristic in common. They all genuinely humbled themselves before God. When they put God first, sought after Him with their whole heart, honored Him in their worship, and were obedient to the things He said to do, He blessed them and listened to the deep prayers of their heart. When they let the kingly power get to their heads, let their heart become calloused, and turned their back on the Lord to do things in their own power, they almost always failed.

Godly leadership stems from a humble heart that realizes it can't lead without God. It's that simple.

Look at Christ, the King of Kings. His life on earth is a picture of humbleness and obedience to God. (check out Philippians 2)

For the last week or so, I've tried keeping better tabs on my heart in regards to humbleness. I've been praying for God to really cultivate a heart of humbleness inside of me. So far, it's been a pretty amazing thing to really experience true humility with Him. I've had glimpses of it in the past, but now I want it to be consistent in my life, especially since I want to become a Godly leader in both marriage and ministry.

Slowly, I'm learning to apply what God has been teaching me in the situations He places before me each day. It's been stretching, yet amazingly rewarding. Please pray for me as God continues to shape my heart in this area!

When God Heals...

2007-05-11T07:49:00.000-07:00

One of the things I absolutely love about my job is that I get to see God work in some pretty incredible ways. Whether its through His provision, watching Him work in someone's heart, seeing His Gospel penetrate lives, or some other incredible thing He's done, it always amazes me to see God's creativity in bringing about His plan for a situation.

That being said, I saw something truly amazing yesterday that can only be attributed to God.

For the past few days, Jennifer's grandpa (Bob) has been in the hospital here in Tyler. The doctors brought him in at the beginning of the week get fluids in him through an IV to help pass the kidney stones they thought had developed in his kidneys. After further testing on two different machines however, 3 different doctors determined that he wasn't experiencing kidney stones but rather a tumor.

Yesterday, he went into surgery to have the tumor cleaned out and analyzed to see if it was cancerous. When the surgeon opened him up though, he found absolutely no traces of the tumor! The day before it was there. The doctors all were absolutely confident of its existence and had seen it with their own eyes in the tests. Now it was gone! When Bob woke up, the surgeon simply told him, "Yes indeed, we have a very big God!"

As believers, we read in the Bible all the times Jesus healed people as he was doing his ministry on earth. It's exciting to see the same thing happen today, especially watching God heal a person you know!

Never underestimate our God or the power of coming to Him in prayer. It is absolutely amazing to see what He can do!

What's in a Name?...For Us, 25% so Far

2007-05-06T15:33:00.000-07:00

Sitting down this weekend to fill out our weekly support raising update for our support coach, I noticed something pretty incredible that God has done with our support thus far.

Initially, when Jennifer and I began raising support last August, we started meeting with people we already knew to tell them about what God has called us to on campus. It was exciting at the start of our support raising to tell those we already knew how God had moved in our lives to bring us together and call us to ministry!

Each time we met with someone, we asked them if there any other believers they knew who might be encouraged by hearing our story and calling into ministry. As a result, over the last nine months, we've moved from a place where we knew each person prior to meeting with them to a spot where now each support appointment we go on is a new opportunity to meet believers we've never met before.

This "networking" place has been a faith stretcher for us as we've continued to have to rely on God time and time again to open up new avenues for us to keep raising support. God likes to keep us on our toes! Each time we just about run out of people to talk to, He opens up a bunch of more believers for us to get in contact with. Let me tell you, we have met some incredible believers and churches through the doors God has opened up for us!!!

Anyways, back to the weekly support update. As I was filling in the support we received this week, I noticed that roughly 25% of the current 57% monthly support we are now at is from individuals we did not know before setting off in August to raise support. It's pretty amazing to see God work time and time again to provide for us. Getting us in contact with that many believers has truly been a blessing to us!

Please pray the God would continue to open up new doors for us to speak with believers in the area. We're at another point right now where God has us on our toes...we don't have that many believers left to talk to. Praise God for His faithfulness thus far, and pray that He would mightily open up some new doors for us to finish out the remaining 43% of our monthly support soon!

Another Episode of Backyard Mechanics...

2007-05-05T17:38:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had the feeling that everyone is staring at you and pointing when you drive your car by them?

Now normally when I say this, you probably envision a ghetto car that barely runs, puffs blue smoke into the air, and has an ear deafening squeaky belt. Let me just tell you though, it happened to Jennifer and I this morning with the Grand Am God has blessed us with.

Driving around Tyler this morning doing errands, we were met by an ear-splitting, metallic grinding sound emanating from our vehicle whenever I slowed down. Now, I'm no mechanic (I only took shop in middle school for one year), but hearing the sound and watching people's faces as we drove by made me realize something was desperately wrong with our car.

Arriving home, I figured it would be appropriate to turn to the Internet to do a little studying before tearing into the car's break system. Thirty minutes later after reading numerous articles on HowStuffWorks.com, I emerged from the apartment a little naive but eager to put my new found brake knowledge into practice.

What ensued over the next few hours might as well be labeled organized chaos. The jack was raised, the lug nuts flew, and a couple trips to Autozone and Walmart occurred. It felt good getting dirty though, and even better when Jennifer's dad arrived a few hours later to give us a few pointers and mechanic tricks on brakes. Disk breaks, calipers, pads, piston, brake lines and fluid...it was an exciting learning adventure for me. After a few hours and hands blackened by grease, our brake job was complete. Yes, I know what you're thinking...THEY WORK!!!

Word of wisdom for the day. Check your break pads often! The brake pad on the left is new. The one on the right came off our car today. Any Questions? I think you can see why the awful metallic noise was occurring!!!

After a hard day's work, we rewarded ourselves by taking a walk at sunset and getting Sonic slushes. I think it made it all worth it!!!

Feelings and Faith

2007-04-28T09:38:00.000-07:00

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love and of self-discipline." ~2 Timothy 1:7

I've had a week full of instruction, massive internal turmoil, obedience, and extreme freedom. Yes indeed, this week has had some major faith stretching and growth for me.

During the course of our typical support raising week, Jennifer and I have to make a lot of phone calls. With each call, we try and line up times to go and meet with people to share with them our ministry. These phone calls are the most intense and in my mind most scariest aspect of raising support. Imagine calling someone you most likely don't know and asking them to meet with you to talk about financial giving. Feel that pit in your stomach...yup, that's what we go through.

Normally we call at night. This means I get the whole day to think about the fearful calls and allow my emotions to take over. By the time I sit down at the computer with the phone in my hand to dial, I'm usually scared out of my mind. Letting my feelings take over, I then try to rationalize my way out of making the call. It's an ugly thing to witness...where my flesh rears its head quite often.

Jenn has been a warrior in these calls. Honestly, she makes the majority of them. But lately, I've felt God telling me to step up in leadership and take on more of the calls. As a man, I need to be on the front line calling for our support raising. It's that simple.

This week has been a major breakthrough for me in busting through the fear associated with calling. Things started out like usual for me this week. Every time I would pick up the phone, I felt the familiar paralyzing fear creeping into my heart. But about halfway through the week, God broke in and revealed something very basic to me...It's all about faith, not feelings.

So with phone in my hand, I'm beginning to learn what it means to set the feelings aside and step out in faith trusting God to work. My prayers have consistently been...Father, I know you don't cause fear, so I'm setting it aside and doing this in faith. Give me strength in this call. God's consistently answered my prayers this week. It's been amazing to see the freedom that the simple concept has brought in my walk with him the last few days.

Now I'm by no means a phone calling machine yet, but I know now that with prayer, setting my fears aside, and stepping out in faith, I can grow in my trust of God each time I make a call. My fears are dissipating punching that green send button on my phone and are being replace by amazing spiritual freedom. Praise God! :-) God continues to stretch us as we prepare to get to Idaho!

April Newsletter

2007-04-20T18:35:00.000-07:00

Right now, I'm pretty sure our printer hates me. It despises me every month around newsletter time...we put it through quite the workout each month!

Our April newsletter is finished. You can view it online by clicking here. Hopefully, you are encouraged by the stories we share! We also sent out an insert this month asking for prayer for Virginia Tech. You can view the insert by clicking here.

Thank you for all your prayers this past month!

You Are In Our Prayers...

2007-04-17T07:39:00.000-07:00

"Today our nation grieves with those who have lost loved ones at Virginia Tech. We hold the victims in our hearts. We lift them up in our prayers and we ask a loving God to comfort those who are suffering today." - George W. Bush

Please continue to pray for the students, parents, professors, and administration affected by yesterday's mass shooting at the Virginia Tech campus. In addition, please pray for the 5 full-time staff couples Campus Crusade has on the campus. Pray that God would give them comfort and wisdom to be able to minister to the grieving students and community during these next few days of shock and emotion.

Read firsthand how one Crusade Staff Member is dealing with the situation: http://campuscrusadeforchrist.com/virginiatech/

Yes indeed, today we are all Hokies as we unite in prayer...

To read an article we share with students entittled "Where is God in the Midst of Tragedy?" during times like this, please Click Here.

They think they can become Gods....WHAT?!?

2007-04-13T06:41:00.000-07:00

Taking the Gospel to people often involves getting in their shoes and examining their belief system before you can relate to them the good news of Christ in an effective manner. Knowing that there is definitely a Mormon influence in Idaho, I figured it would be important for me to get to know at least the basics of the Mormon faith, so that sometime in the future when I'm sitting down with a Mormon student to share the Gospel, I won't sound like an uneducated jerk trying shove my beliefs upon him.

With that in mind, the last few weeks I have set out on a quest to examine the doctrines of the Latter Day Saints. Now normally when I thought of Mormons before, I thought of the nice commercials they have on TV promoting family values or how it was a little odd that they had the Book of Mormon in addition to the Bible. Honestly, I didn't know much about their faith or doctrines. Boy, was I in for a surprise.

Apparently, Mormons believe that we are all on a journey to become gods ourselves. Before we were born, we existed as "spirit bodies" that were the direct offspring of our current God (Elohim). Birth into the world allows these "spirit bodies" the ability to become more like god through a process of good works. We have no memory of being "spirit bodies" before birth, but view our time on earth as a trial to see if we can be good enough to achieve "godhead" once we die. In their mind, Jesus opened the way for a general resurrection for all mankind. Individual "salvation" or "godhead" is determined by how closely you adhere to the laws of God. If you adhere perfectly, you achieve "godhead" when you die and go off to another planet to rule with your wife and make more "spirit bodies." If you don't adhere perfectly, then you either go to one of the other levels of heaven (there's three) or to perdition (hell).

If you go to a Bible believing church, right about now you are probably saying, "HUH...what the heck is all that nonsense." Yup, that was my initial response as well. I haven't even begun to say anything about temple practices, authority of the president of the church, or the many different books they teach from...

It's sad and heart wrenching to see the lies people believe about God and Christ. It makes me realize all the more why God tells us to diligently study the Bible and to take the good news of Christ to others. My heart goes out to the many people who have been duped into the Mormon belief system. Living in the false doctrines and contradictions their church teaches, they will never know the freedom in Christ believers have. Rather than shun or distance ourselves from Mormons (or lost people in general), as believers we need to take the life-changing message of the true Gospel to them. Any other response is a discredit to our Savior.

My eyes have been opened to what the Mormon faith teaches and it makes me that much more eager to get onto campus and share the true Gospel of Christ with lost students.

U of Idaho Update

2007-04-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

A lot of things have been happening at the U of Idaho the last few weeks, so I thought I would take a moment to update you on what's going on at campus.

The most shocking event happened 9 days ago. A young, 21-year-old Idaho student was found shot dead in his apartment. The Moscow police currently have a suspect in custody, and believe there may be connected homicides in other cities. Click here to visit the Argonaut, the campus' newspaper, for more on the incident.

Needless to say, this has stirred up the campus this past week. However, God is moving through the tragedy. On Tuesday, a memorial service will be held for the student. During that time, the Gospel message will be clearly presented by a local pastor in the community. Pray that God would use this time to penetrate the campus with the truth of the Gospel.

In other campus news, the Steel House (a residence hall for women on campus) will be closing in May do to the extremely high maintenance repairs the building is in desperate need of. Jennifer and I are still trying to figure out how this closure might affect dorm ministry on campus in the future...

The most exciting news on campus happened a few weeks ago at Prime Time. Ralph, our campus director, had the opportunity to share the Gospel message with a young woman on the basketball team after the weekly meeting. Like many students in the Northwest, she had never heard of a personal relationship with Christ and had a relatively "blank spiritual background." Later that week after letting the Gospel message sink in, she prayed and asked Christ into her life. Now, she is undergoing follow up with our team and is learning the basics of the Christian faith. Praise God for how he moves on students' hearts to bring them into a relationship with Himself!!!

Thank you for all of your prayers toward the campus. More news to come as we hear it...

Spiritual Boot Camp

2007-04-09T07:01:00.000-07:00

Some days support raising is extremely difficult for me. Being a "numbers" person with an accounting background, during the course of a typical week I usually end up analyzing the detailed numbers behind our support progress. I look at our computer program for tracking our support and come up with statements like: If all the people we sent newsletters to supported us $30 a month right now, we would be in Idaho, or so far we've had 142 people/couples that have flat out turned us down on even hearing about our ministry, or we've talked to about 140 people/couples face-to-face and are about half way...do we need another 140 before we're done???

Yup, you've guessed it. By this time after focusing on all the negatives, you might as well book me a first class seat on the pity party cruise liner. (I think their first destination is either Fear Cove, Panic Bay or Doubt Island.)

It's about that time that God or Jennifer (or sometimes both) knock some sense into my head and tell me I'm listening to lies. I remember the solidarity of our call, and as I begin to analyze the positive numbers, I'm reminded of the faithfulness we've already seen in God providing for our needs.

But I still tend to get frustrated with where we are in support.

I read an article the other day entitled, "If the harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few, then why is it taking me so long to raise my support?" It reminded me that we are in a "spiritual boot camp" right now. Support raising isn't only about gaining our funding...it's about preparing us to be ministers of the Gospel on campus. That includes some stretching sanctification situations that we must undergo during this process.

For me, this stretching sanctification process has been pretty painful. Some days, I just want to dive under the bed or hide around the corner from challenges God is putting before me to grow. Once I realize He's doing it for my own good though (and with a lot of encouragement from my wife), I usually step into them with at least some confidence.

Lately, leadership has been God's focus for me. Honestly, I've been a follower most of my life. God's been putting me in situations where I have to lead...both in marriage and ministry. Call it a crash course in Manhood and Ministry if you will. I wish I was learning faster, but in the end I know God is molding characteristics into me that I'll need on campus.

So for now the support and sanctification process continues. Thank you for your continued prayers. They keep us going!

The Greater Northwest

2007-04-03T20:36:00.000-07:00

This video captures the heart and vision of Campus Crusade in the Greater Northwest. Jennifer and I have been sharing it with people as we continue raising support to get to Idaho. I thought I would share it with you. I hope it encourages you and gives you a glimpse of how God is moving on campuses in the Northwest!