In Training

Recently I have been a little concerned that we as a family haven’t had any formal training for the mission field. Though we have spent quite a bit of time in Kenya and have learned so much about missions over the last 5 years, it is still highly recommended to do a formal training before moving to a foreign mission field. Some go to Mexico or other extreme places to try to simulate a foreign environment. We looked into a program in Mexico, but as it turned out we were in Africa with the women’s team.

As I have been contemplating the fact of no formal training and trying not to worry, the Lord graciously showed me something wonderful during a devotional the other morning. He reminded me of our path the last six months. He reminded me that we lived with two families in a communal living environment for three months. Then we moved to Michigan where we’ve lived with family for weeks and again did communal living. In each communal environment we have learned a lot about people, communication, boundaries, team work and fellowship. He also showed me that being in Michigan is like being in a different culture. I realized that we have had to do a lot of adjusting. We have had to adjust to extreme weather changes, the loss of easy transportation as we no longer have a car, challenges like not being able to go outside for a walk when we want to and a little stress at times when all the family is together and decisions have to be made or changed. There has been a lot of “gunk” that has been coming up in me; as well as some realizations about my character. (Things that I am grateful to see but am desperately throwing before the Lord.)

The Lord used all of these things to gently show me that we have been in and are in training. I believe God is using all of these environments and situations to train us for what is to come. He knew what kind of training we would need and He is faithful to see us through it. I am grateful for the refining because we want to bring Him the most glory and honor as we transition into our new culture. I also have to mention a fabulous book we have been going through called Cross-Cultural Connections - Stepping Out and Fitting In Around the World. It is a great book to help prepare one for a different culture. We could definitely use prayer as we complete each section of our training and enter the next. How faithful our Lord is!
Peg for The P3

The Chronicles of the P3

We are enjoying a season of "the land between" as we have left our former home (the Central Coast) and are heading to our new home (the country of Kenya). Often these seasons of limbo can be filled with stress and difficulty, but God has truly blessed our time with family. We have been so enjoying staying with Matt's (my) brother and sister-in-law and KG has thoroughly been enjoying her cousin Alexa.

The other night we were winding down the days activities by relaxing and watching "Prince Caspian" the 2nd movie in the "Chronicles of Narnia" based on C.S. Lewis' popular children's books. One scene in particular left me thinking... it was the scene when Lucy finally meets up with Aslan (the Jesus figure) who is a lion in the story, and when she sees him, she is so overjoyed that she can hardly hold it together. She runs with all her might and embraces him and loves on him. (It had been quite some time since she had actually had contact with him). Their conversation that ensued was one of both intimate and dificult issues, but also tender love and joyful extasy. So why do I bring up this scene? It brought me to a place of saying, I want my relationship with Jesus to reflect what I saw in Lucy and Aslan's relationship. That night as I got on my knees by the bed-side, my request to Jesus was that my walk with Him would reflect that intimacy and joy that I saw in Lucy's expression as she ran to Aslan and embraced him.

As we head into a busy season of celebrating the Holidays (and preparing for the mission field) I need this kind of reminder, not even daily, but throughout the day. I suppose we all do, and hence my reason for sharing this story here. I thank the Lord that we can come boldly into His throne room of Grace!
- Matt (for the P3)

Fun Photos

We are enjoying our time in the snow!

In the Winter Wonder Land

We were blessed with easy check in's at the airports, smooth travels, a good girl overall, strength for a long day, and a smiling family waiting for us at the airport. It was a wild experience landing in Michigan and when the doors opened the attendant gasped as she realized we all had to walk outside into the snow. As I stepped off the plane in my flip flops, I knew we were not even close to California anymore. :) After a comfortable ride into Grand Rapids and beautiful views of the snow, we turned down the magical, movie like street where Matt's brother and wife live. It was magical as everything was covered with snow, snow was falling from the sky and "Away in a Manger" played in the car. It was truly a Winter Wonder Land. (Some people in the car cried a little...you would think there would be no tears left!) We are relaxing in our new temporary but beautiful home. Amy, (our sister-in-law) is an interior designer so just imagine a beautiful Christmas home from a magazine.It's as if we have stepped into a beautiful magazine. To be with family is so sweet especially as we recover from all the emotions of goodbyes and stress of packing. We will update our blog with fun adventures. As for now we will continue to relax and enjoy this Christmas season. Thank you for all of you who are praying. We are so grateful!

We're Off!

We were so blessed with such a beautiful farewell at Shoreline this last Sunday and felt so incredibly loved on! What an amazing body of Christ! Thank you to all of you who made it so special! Peg is pretty wiped out and trying to fight to stay well but Kenya Grace and Matt and are doing great! Today we spent some time with Peg's parents relaxing and re-organizing and head out for LAX at 6am. Peg's sister and nephew will be taking us and we will soak up our last moments with them. We will spend the day flying and arrive in Michigan between 8 and 11 pm their time. Michigan is 3 hours ahead of time. We look forward to spending time with Matt's family and celebrating Christmas together! :) The travel part of the journey has officially begun. Mungu Akubariki! (God bless you!) We will keep you posted!
The P3

Last Days on The Central Coast

Well, the adventure continues as we prepare to leave for our new home in Kenya. We are loving our living experience with the Jenison family and will be so sad to leave! Kenya Grace absloutley loves her friend Brody and wakes up asking for him as well as the other members of the household. We have been enjoying our mini travels to Lompoc, and Porterville and other nearby churches. Every time we share about where God is leading us and all that He is doing it stirs our hearts for what is ahead. There is still so much to do before we leave the Central Coast December 7th but we are determined to enjoy every moment we have with friends and every opportunity we have to enjoy the beauty of the Central Coast. For those of you who know about my dad's heart attack, he is doing so well, regaining strength everyday and currently walking 2 miles a day. Praise the Lord. Mom is doing well and a little more rested after she and dad came up for a visit. Matt's parents are back in CA for a visit and we got to all spend time together! It's been such a blessing. They were also all able to be here for our church Farewell party. The party was a huge blessing and we felt so loved by so many people. Please keep praying for us and stay tuned! :) Blessings in the name of Jesus Christ! Peg for The P3