Tis the season for job hunting...

Yes...tis the season...to be hunting for a job! This is around the time that school's get more money for extra helpers, stores start to hire seasonal help and other work places begin to wonder if an extra body would help them get their work done faster.

I (Kristine) have tried to be extra diligent in applying for jobs. This past week I think I had three interviews and one orientation (first stage before interview). One of the jobs was for an educational assistant, one for a bank, one for a tutoring service and an orientation for an online English language job. It's funny how everyone happens at once sometimes for the good and bad in our life. Do I know if anything is to come from these interviews? I don't. All I can do is pray and hope that God has something special out there for me picked out and that I find it. :)

As I was thinking about this and about various things that have happened the past couple of months I started thinking more about prayer. In the past when bad things happened I'd get angry and upset at God for not having things go my way. When really I should have been praying and hoping for things to go HIS way. Today I stumbled upon this devotional on the Elisabeth Elliott site. It talks about how sometimes God's answer is NO, to bless us with something we couldn't have even imagined. I encourage you to take time out to read it.

Love,
Kristine

Title: Lost and Found

Author: Elisabeth Elliot

Here is a little story about a simple answer to prayer. Lars was away. I had to take the car to the repairman's house. Li Zeng, our live-in student, followed me in his car to bring me home. Directions to the house had been ambiguous, and Gloucester, Massachusetts gets the prize for town-easiest-to-get-lost-in. I prayed that I might not get lost--Li had to get to class, the repairman had to leave at 7:15.

I got lost, made a quick turn without checking to see that Li was still with me. He wasn't. "Lord, Li will be late for class, the man will leave in a few minutes--what shall I do?" It's a long story, but after a phone call I found the house, left the car, declined the man's kind offer to take me home because I wanted to find Li so he would not miss his class. How was I to find him? "Lord, help me." I stood at an intersection and prayed that he would come along--an absurd request in a place like Gloucester.

He'd been on a one-way street which would take him far out around the shore drive, with no reason to happen upon the intersection where I stood. Within five minutes there he was! God teaches us to ask so that He may answer our prayers. This reminds us of the source of our blessings. The answer to my prayer not to get lost was No--in order that I might be specially blessed in the way I was found.

Remember how the Lord brought Israel out (of Egypt) in order to bring them in (to Canaan)? He got me lost that He might get me found! Let's never forget that some of His greatest mercies are His refusals. He says no in order that He may, in some way we cannot imagine, say yes. All His ways with us are merciful. His meaning is always love.

New Job Interviews for Kristine

Hello! We just wanted to keep this as updated as possible to help you continue to be informed. Kristine has two job interviews for next week that we'd love for you to join with us in praying for:

1) Monday at 5:30pm she has an interview to be an instructional assistant for Yoskikai Elementary in Salem. It's a 5 hour a day position. Which would be perfect.

2) Wednesday at 7:00 AM she has an interview/orientation with Berlitz Language Services online teacher position. This is a part-time position.

So pray for wisdom and for confidence and clarity in her speech as she goes through these interviews. Pray for the interviewers to see her true qualities despite any nervousness she may have. We'll let you know how it goes.

Blessings,
Eric and Kristine Reed

Mid-October Update

Things are going good overall. Believe it or not the fall weather is welcoming when you have a lot of work to do. Although it does make it harder to paint the house! :) Here's a small update:

Eric is going to his classes twice a week and likes them. He actually finds that a lot of the content from the one class is repeated in the other, so that makes it a little easier for him which is a blessing!

Kristine has an orientation for the Berlitz Language School to be an online virtual classroom English language teacher next week. After the orientation they do more formal interviews, then decide whether to hire her or not. It's an interesting process and Kristine is excited to check it out. This job would be part-time, so it would work around another work schedule.

She is still looking for another part-time type job or full-time depending on how this job goes. She's applied to a few banks and for a health care call center type job. Depending on if she can get her subbing badge from WESD, she might start subbing there again...that is if there are any open sub jobs! There are a ton of new teachers out there and old teachers without a job that are subbing as well.

We are still working on our New Testament Survey class. With everything that's happened the past couple of months it's been hard to focus on the class, but we need to complete it before January. :D So if you could keep us in your thoughts and prayers that would be great! :)

April-October Newsletter

Dear Family and Friends,
It’s been quite a while since we last wrote you and much has happened since. To remind you, we are actively working towards finishing the requirements to become missionaries with MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship). Currently we are involved in an organization called Servant Wings based in Vancouver,WA. Servant Wings exists to help pilot candidates get the training they need to join a mission’s organization. Here’s a rundown of what you’ve missed the past couple of months.


MAF Brigade Air Camp
In early July we had the wonderful opportunity to help out at a MAF Brigade Air Camp for students interested in becoming mission aviators. This camp was held in Idaho and had a pretty good turn out of students. There were even three girls who decided to come! Eric helped Ralph Dawson (MAF pilot) with taking students up to fly as part of their first experience with flight training. Kristine had the opportunity to come and help Valerie Dawson in the kitchen as well as be the girl’s counselor. It was a great experience and gave Eric the desire to pursue a flight instructor rating.



Visiting Friends in Hawaii
The week after we were in Idaho, we were blessed to be able to visit our dear friends Alex and Lael in Oahu, Hawaii. Alex is stationed there with the Navy, so they were gracious to offer us to stay in their home and borrow their car. We loved visiting with our friends and seeing God’s creation. We went with them to see the Big Island of Hawaii as well. There we saw the famous Kilauea volcano, went exploring in lava tubes and saw some pretty amazing waterfalls.


Loss of our little one
We were debating about whether to share this part of our life with you, but feel since you are now a part of our ministry team we should. Late June Kristine found out she was pregnant. Most of you know that Kristine has dreamed about this day for a very long time and has even gathered some baby items ahead of time. We were very excited about the pregnancy and Kristine was careful to make sure she did everything right. Unfortunately at 8 weeks and 4 days we lost our little one. It’s heartbreaking, but we take some comfort in knowing that the baby is now in heaven with our creator. In a few months when Kristine is fully healed physically we plan on trying again. We are still going through the emotions of the loss and probably will be for some time. We feel blessed to have supportive family and friends like you to share in our triumphs and tragedies.

Kristine Update
Kristine completed a year with the Northwest Regional ESD’s autism program as an educational assistant in Beaverton. Because we are no longer looking to move to the Hillsboro area, she decided to pursue other employment closer to home. Currently she is signed up to substitute for a few different districts and is looking for full-time employment. This winter she is working on completing her New Testament Survey Correspondence course by December.



Eric Update
Last June Eric earned his instrument rating through instruction with Servant Wings. Now he has his commercial license and instrument rating praise God! The next rating goal he has is to complete the CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) training by the start of next summer. He also has decided to train and apply to MAF as a Pilot/IT (Informational Technology) candidate instead of a Pilot/Mechanic. We’ve been thinking and praying about this change for a while and really feel this is a better fit for him given his knowledge of computers and software engineering degree. We are working with MAF to make sure that Eric takes the right courses to help prepare him to be an IT person on the mission field. This fall Eric started his first two IT night courses at PCC Sylvania. He goes there two nights a week and works full time for Garmin during the day. It’s a lot to tackle, but by the grace of God he’ll be able to focus and complete the needed courses. He plans on taking one or two courses every quarter until he has what he needs to be ready to apply to MAF.


Training Update
As you’ve read on the previous page we are continuing on in our training. Many of your have
asked for specific details regarding what we need to be ready for MAF and tangible ways that
you can join with us in ministry.

Prayer Partners
The first way that you can join with us in our journey is through prayer. We’ve seen time and
time again the power of prayer. Matthew 18:20 states, “For where two or three are gathered together in MY name, I am there in their midst.” As we near the end of our training, it’s more and more important to have powerful prayer partners. This stage is where the enemy likes to discourage us and create roadblocks because he knows we are close to applying to MAF. So please join with us in praying for strength, wisdom, clarity and funding to be able to complete our training.


Last Few Requirements
MAF requires pilot candidates to have their commercial license and instrument rating. They also
require pilots to have a minimum of 400 flight hours experience and 50 hours experience in a
high performance plane. Eric has 650 flight hours, unfortunately at this time he only has 30 hoursof high performance time. That means he still needs 20 more hours in a high performance plane.MAF also suggests that pilots have a certified flight instructor rating, something Eric hasn’tearned yet and hopes to complete by Summer 2010 if possible. The expected cost for this training will be around $5000.

Opportunity to Help
Servant Wings has a Cessna 206 plane that he can rent for $141 an hour. This plane is a high
performance plane and will help him complete his high performance requirement. As you can
imagine, the costs associated with obtaining flight hours and training add up quickly. Would you
be interested in joining us as ministry partners by donating financially towards Eric’s goal of
completing his flight requirements for MAF? You can donate directly to us or if you want a tax
receipt you can give through Servant Wings.

Ministry Partnership
We’d love to talk with you personally about partnering with us in our ministry. We encourage
you to check out the Servant Wings website: http://www.servantwings.org and the MAF website:www.maf.org. There you can learn more about the ministries we are serving in and hope to serve in. You can also check out our website http://www.reednewsletter.blogspot.com for periodicupdates between letters. We cannot accomplish this goal without your help and prayers. Thank you for reading our letter, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Blessings,
Eric and Kristine Reed