Here's a quick update on where we are at in the whole missions process. :)
Kristine just got a temporary teaching job with a local private Christian school. This job is teaching 5-7 grade students math and history. It's a small school, and all five kids (two fifth graders, two sixth graders and one seventh) are in the same room. She is not sure how long this job will last as it's for a person who has to have surgery. It's only a couple of hours a day, but she feels this will be great experience to use later on the mission field either with our own kids, with the mission or national kids. She still has a dream of helping somehow with an orphanage and helping those children become more educated and adoptable/find good homes.
Kristine also got another job. This is working at Sylvan Learning Center. Yes, we mentioned before that she turned down this job initially. She wasn't quite sure about the three hours a week thing. But, with the other job being two hours a day in the middle of the day, she felt adding this job would be good experience too. Right now she is just training, but hopefully sometime she will start going out to the schools and tutoring children in math. Yes....math seems to be the subject God wants her to teach everyone this year! She's boldy stepping out and doing it, even though she's kinda afraid to! But this is what following God is in this instance, going out and trusting that since you've been equipped with the education that God is going to allow you to REMEMBER that education and build bonds and relationships for that education to be put into action.
Eric has started two new IT courses at PCC. They are proving to be a little more difficult, but he's able to finish them. We've been pretty busy the past couple of weeks, so he's had to find time to finish his homework in the midst of meetings and gatherings. He's still working full-time at Garmin AT too.
We both started BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) class on Monday night. We are excited to finally have a good way to start a daily devotional habit. This is something we've wanted for a long time. This will be excellent practice for us for the future when we are out on the field and have to study the bible for ourselves with no extra groups other than other missionaries or nationals.
So all these things are also things to pray about! We'd love for you to join us in prayer that we be able to continue to trust in God throughout this process. We hope to complete all the requirements to apply to MAF by January 2011. This means finishing up a bible credit each, Eric needs 10 more flight hours in a high performance plane, tech evals and a few other things.
It's amazing to know that we are less than a year away from applying. Before this seemed like a distant dream, and not it's becoming more and more real. We are following MAF blogs and reading about what they are doing in other countries. We can envision ourselves there doing the same thing. We think about what we would do if we had a sudden disaster where we were at or how we'd serve the Lord no matter what. It's actually encouraging to think about.
We pray that as this year goes along that God can continue this vision in us and that we can share it with all of you. Because honestly, if the Lord allows us to go out into missionary service....yes we are the ones on the field, but you are vitally important in this vision. It's you who are the arms reach out for us the hands to do the work. Without your prayers and support, the work on the field could not be done. Lives would be lost. People would NOT know about the Lord. So please, keep following and sharing in our vision...maybe God will allow you to see how it can become yours as well. :)
Blessings,
Eric and Kristine Reed
