Hello Everyone!
We are so blessed to know all of you. Everyone has been so positive and encouraging of us during this pause in our ministry with Mission Aviation Fellowship. Right now we're really seeking the Lord to see where He would have us be: Oregon, Washington or ? We are praying for wisdom and direction on what jobs to apply for and which to continue to pursue. We'd love it if you could join with us in prayer for God's wisdom and provision during this time. We're praying for interviews and job opportunities too.
Lately Jenna has been having issues sleeping again and a few days ago she had some fever. She's had a cold for a while and some stomach issues, although we're thinking now that the teething monster has reared it's ugly head again;. It's hard to tell because we can't exactly reach into her mouth like when she was younger, the girl bites and she bites hard! But after last nights escapade that cost us all but close to three hours of sleep, We're assuming that's the case. We'd love it if you could pray with us for healing for little Jenna, for wisdom for us as parents on how to help her, and maybe, if the Lord allows, for us to get more than three hours of sleep tonight!
Thanks again for all your support. We really do appreciate each and every one of you. If you have any questions for us about our journey with MAF and what the future might hold, please feel free. We love you all!
Humbly in Christ,
The Reeds
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
A Change in Direction (February Newsletter)
We are writing today to tell you about a change in direction in our ministry with Mission Aviation Fellowship. When we started building our ministry support team, we thought we were ready, but it has become apparent that we need to step back from the process. We have struggled with distractions as well as working together as a couple from home. After careful consideration, MAF has decided, and we agree, that Kristine and I need to take some actions to better prepare before continuing. We have prayed about this and still feel very called to serve in missions. Although we hope to resume our ministry with MAF in the future, Friday, March 9, will be our last day with MAF.
In the meantime, we will be working toward developing the tools we will need to be successful in both our marriage and our ministry. Communication, as a couple, has proven challenging at times and has had a huge impact on how effective we have been working together. The issues we experience could certainly be detrimental to our ministry overseas. In our time away from MAF, we will seek marriage counseling with the primary goal to strengthen our communication skills. We thank the Lord for this opportunity now, rather than having to deal with the problem after moving to Indonesia.
We will also seek to eliminate some distractions. As many of you know, we still own a home in Salem that we've been remodeling for a very long time. This has interfered with our ministry as we work from home. It has been difficult to keep focus when we see all the little things that need our attention. One of our first goals is to prepare our house to be sold or rented, depending on the current market.
We desire that all of our current prayer and financial partners stay with us through this period. Ongoing monthly support will not be needed until we return to MAF, but if you do with to continue supporting the life-changing ministries of MAF, we would encourage you to do so by visiting: http://maf.org/.
We will also continue to update both our blog, http://reednewsletter.blogspot.com/ and our Facebook group, "Taking off with the Reeds" with our progress and current prayer requests. If you have any questions, please call us at 503-949-1714 or send us an e-mail at ericandkristinereed@gmail.com.
The support of the MAF staff we have been working with has been very encouraging, and we are thankful and blessed by this opportunity to better prepare for a successful, long-term ministry overseas. We thank God for the support we have had from every one of our ministry partners. Thank you for partnering with us!
Humbly in Christ,
Eric, Kristine and Jenna Reed
In the meantime, we will be working toward developing the tools we will need to be successful in both our marriage and our ministry. Communication, as a couple, has proven challenging at times and has had a huge impact on how effective we have been working together. The issues we experience could certainly be detrimental to our ministry overseas. In our time away from MAF, we will seek marriage counseling with the primary goal to strengthen our communication skills. We thank the Lord for this opportunity now, rather than having to deal with the problem after moving to Indonesia.
We will also seek to eliminate some distractions. As many of you know, we still own a home in Salem that we've been remodeling for a very long time. This has interfered with our ministry as we work from home. It has been difficult to keep focus when we see all the little things that need our attention. One of our first goals is to prepare our house to be sold or rented, depending on the current market.
We desire that all of our current prayer and financial partners stay with us through this period. Ongoing monthly support will not be needed until we return to MAF, but if you do with to continue supporting the life-changing ministries of MAF, we would encourage you to do so by visiting: http://maf.org/.
We will also continue to update both our blog, http://reednewsletter.blogspot.com/ and our Facebook group, "Taking off with the Reeds" with our progress and current prayer requests. If you have any questions, please call us at 503-949-1714 or send us an e-mail at ericandkristinereed@gmail.com.
The support of the MAF staff we have been working with has been very encouraging, and we are thankful and blessed by this opportunity to better prepare for a successful, long-term ministry overseas. We thank God for the support we have had from every one of our ministry partners. Thank you for partnering with us!
Humbly in Christ,
Eric, Kristine and Jenna Reed
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Though we are many, we are one body (Posted by Kristine)
I love meeting new people and learning about their lives. I think I really can't get enough of it. It's such a joy to sit down with someone and hear about their lives, their world from their perspective. Throughout this process we've gotten to meet many new friends and it's been wonderful.
Anyone that really knows me, knows I love checking out different churches. I love seeing how others worship, how they choose to do ministry, whether there is an outreach ministry, hear what songs they sing and hear how the pastor/reverend/bishop...etc teaches. In the past few months we've had the opportunity to worship with quite a few different churches. Let me just say that I love it! We did a Google search the other day to check out different churches in the area and so many came up! To think, on Sunday (or Saturday for some) there are many people traveling to go to these churches to worship. Many many people I've never met, nor might ever meet, but would love to meet. All these people believe in the same Lord, pray to the same Lord and worship the same Lord.
When I think of how many local churches, I think of how many national churches there are and international believers that are meeting and lifting their voices and prayers to God. It really reaffirms to me the belief that the "church" is not composed of bricks or wood or stone, but people. Everyone who believes in God and believes that the Lord Jesus died for our sins is a part of the church. Amazing eh? So even though we are in different locations, we are one.
One of my favorite passages of scripture talks about this very thing. It's found in 1 Corinthians 12:14-20 and if you've heard us speak, you've heard this verse. I'll post it below for others to read:
1 Corinthians 12:14-20
"For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, 'Because I am not a hand, I am not part of the body,' it is not for this reason and less a part of the body. And if the ear says,'Because I am not an eye, I am not part of the body,' it is not for this reason any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now, there are many members, but one body.
All the members, all the people around the world that believe in God are a part of this body. From China, to Canada, to Russia to Indonesia, to Kenya....etc. God has a plan and a purpose for each one of us. Seriously... if you are a believer in Christ, He's got a plan for YOU! Are you listening to where He's leading? Or are you content focusing on your own goals and needs?
There are many many ways to serve the Lord. It could be: through living out your faith at work, serving in a local rescue mission, going on a mission trip, doing homeless ministry, doing elderly ministry. if God has blessed you abundantly with finances it could mean that you become a part of a ministry by helping it to keep going. God has a role for each of us. I want to encourage you to spend some time in prayer this week seeking where God would be leading you to serve. You can think about what you like to do and seek out a ministry that does that. A very good first step if you are unsure is to start getting involved in your local church. Try out different ministries and pray that God will reveal the one He has for you. You'll definitely be blessed. :)
In Christ,
Kristine
Anyone that really knows me, knows I love checking out different churches. I love seeing how others worship, how they choose to do ministry, whether there is an outreach ministry, hear what songs they sing and hear how the pastor/reverend/bishop...etc teaches. In the past few months we've had the opportunity to worship with quite a few different churches. Let me just say that I love it! We did a Google search the other day to check out different churches in the area and so many came up! To think, on Sunday (or Saturday for some) there are many people traveling to go to these churches to worship. Many many people I've never met, nor might ever meet, but would love to meet. All these people believe in the same Lord, pray to the same Lord and worship the same Lord.
When I think of how many local churches, I think of how many national churches there are and international believers that are meeting and lifting their voices and prayers to God. It really reaffirms to me the belief that the "church" is not composed of bricks or wood or stone, but people. Everyone who believes in God and believes that the Lord Jesus died for our sins is a part of the church. Amazing eh? So even though we are in different locations, we are one.
One of my favorite passages of scripture talks about this very thing. It's found in 1 Corinthians 12:14-20 and if you've heard us speak, you've heard this verse. I'll post it below for others to read:
1 Corinthians 12:14-20
"For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, 'Because I am not a hand, I am not part of the body,' it is not for this reason and less a part of the body. And if the ear says,'Because I am not an eye, I am not part of the body,' it is not for this reason any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now, there are many members, but one body.
All the members, all the people around the world that believe in God are a part of this body. From China, to Canada, to Russia to Indonesia, to Kenya....etc. God has a plan and a purpose for each one of us. Seriously... if you are a believer in Christ, He's got a plan for YOU! Are you listening to where He's leading? Or are you content focusing on your own goals and needs?
There are many many ways to serve the Lord. It could be: through living out your faith at work, serving in a local rescue mission, going on a mission trip, doing homeless ministry, doing elderly ministry. if God has blessed you abundantly with finances it could mean that you become a part of a ministry by helping it to keep going. God has a role for each of us. I want to encourage you to spend some time in prayer this week seeking where God would be leading you to serve. You can think about what you like to do and seek out a ministry that does that. A very good first step if you are unsure is to start getting involved in your local church. Try out different ministries and pray that God will reveal the one He has for you. You'll definitely be blessed. :)
In Christ,
Kristine
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Welcome Wednesday!
Welcome to Taking off with the Reeds!
This blog is home to Eric, Kristine and Jennavieve Reed. We are new missionaries with Mission Aviation Fellowship assigned as a Pilot/Information Technology family to Indonesia. Mission Aviation Fellowship's mission is to share the love of Jesus Christ through aviation and technology so that isolated people may be physically and spiritually transformed. We are not in Indonesia yet, but are in the support raising portion of our ministry. We are looking for people who want to join us as prayer and financial partners in ministry. Is that person you? Do you know someone who might be interested? If so, let us know! We'd love to have you on our team. Just e-mail us at: ereed@maf.org for more information.
In the meantime, we'd love for you to check out our blog! There are several tabs above you can click on to learn more about us and Mission Aviation Fellowship. If you want you can check out our MAF website at https://maf.org/reed
Two of the main locations Mission Aviation Fellowship flies out of in Indonesia are Papua and Kalimantan. (Click on the names of the locations for more information about what MAF does there.) In 2010. MAF had the privileged to fly in bibles and missionaries for the dedication of the new translation of the bible into the Kimyal language. It was a joyous occasion because this was the first time the Kimyal had the gospel in their own language. This translation took many years to complete. From the beginning MAF was there flying missionaries, supplies and tools in and out of the location to enable the effort to continue. It's still continuing today translating the old testament.
You can check out the 5 minute video here:
We'd love to have you join our team! Follow our page via Google Friend Connect, Email and Networked Blogs on Facebook. We also have a Facebook Group called Taking off with the Reeds we'd love for you to join as well!
We hope to check out your blogs as well! May God bless you and keep you safe!
In Christ,
The Reeds
Monday, January 16, 2012
Obstacles abound, but we press on!
 |
| A steep runway in Kalimantan, Indonesia |
Lately we've had a string of things fail on us: We got rear ended by a semi-truck at a stoplight in town. We are safe, our car's bumper needs to be replaced though. We are slated to get that taken care of next week. Our car's touch screen went out and had to be replaced. Soon after we replaced this, our 12v battery went out in the car as well. (Thank the Lord the car died at a gas station VERY close to our home.) We've replaced it and now it's working well. But it's interesting that our car would be such a target. The very thing that helps us get to meetings and destinations to share our ministry with Mission Aviation Fellowship.
We just replaced the battery and now our furnace in the house is starting to fail and we'll likely need to replace this. Coming into the winter months, replacing this is definitely a must. Our kitchen sink is also in need of replacement, but we're holding out as long as we can. We're kinda waiting on pins and needles to see what else starts to fail around the house. It's been our goal to finish up projects on the house by the end of February so we can sell our house. Lately it's been one delay after another. We may need to ask for help to get everything finished. We'll see though!
There have been other obstacles we faced and are still facing, but are are pressing on. We know God's called us to this ministry. It's amazing to see how the unique gifts He's given both of us fit so well with missionary aviation. Right now we're working on sharing the ministry of Mission Aviation Fellowship as many people as we can so that they may join with us in ministry.
Do you know someone who might want to hear about MAF? A friend, relative, teacher...etc? If so, we'd love to speak with them to share our hearts and get to know them. We are looking for many people to join our team, we cannot do this ministry by ourselves. In fact, without others joining our team financially and through prayer, we will not make it to Indonesia. We'd love for you to prayerfully consider partnering with us in ministry. There are many ways to partner. We invite you to click on the tabs above on our blog (Partner through prayer, partner through giving and other ways to partner) and pray about whether God is calling you to join our team.
Thank you again for your prayers and support. We are very blessed to have such friends and family interested in our family's life and our ministry.
Blessings,
The Reeds
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