SO much to catch up on!!!
Phil and Susie were her on Tuesday the 12th, through Saturday the 16th. SO awesome to get to show them what has been going on here! Susie hadn’t been here in years. In fact-- there are twice as many buildings here now as there were the last time she was here :-)
Phil taught the students Wednesday- Friday, so Mem and I got to visit a lot with Susie. It is SUCH an encouragement to have people here from home! You guys have no idea how much it blesses us! More than anything, we want you all to feel like this is YOUR base, and you are all welcome here anytime, and we hope that you all come- at some point- to see first-hand what goes on here.
We took Phil and Susie back up to San Diego to get their car on Saturday. They had left their car at the home of an old friend of mine (and theirs), Ira! It was SO awesome to see her, and meet her husband and her boys, and see her incredibly cute pregnant belly (a little girl this time!) and her amazing home! We hope to be able to visit with JK and Ira again soon! Plus- they sent us home with a baby banana tree!!! And a dragon fruit plant!! SO awesome! After visiting with the Shea’s ;) for a while, we got to go spend a gift we were given: TICKETS TO SEA WORLD! We had a blast- and the kids were stoked, and we enjoyed just being off base for a while. Thank you SO much!!! (You know who you are ;-D)
Whew! That was a full week in itself-- but little did we know at the time, what was to come!
We hurried to get the base together for the next wave of guests who arrived on Tuesday night (the 19th). Mem, the students, and I got together beds and accommodations for 40 people, while the guys left for the States early Tuesday to run errands, then meet up with the three groups of people coming from different directions so they could guide everyone in. ~ might I add, that it rained so hard, from 6:00am to sometime Wednesday morning, that we had a river running through our ranch, a lake out front, and a moat around the triplex!! It wiped out our driveway, and flooded our 5th wheel. We couldn’t dry any laundry, so we made do with what we had clean. Plus, the students had slept in tents on Monday night, to make room for guests, and their blankets got soaked, and so we had to run them through the ONE dryer that we have here so that they would have dry bedding. THEN we had to move some sleeping plans around, so we could fit all the kids back indoors so they would be dry. It all worked out- piece’a cake, and there was plenty of room :).
Ryan met up with the RCF van and brought it over, then Nate and Danny met up with both, the group from Phoenix, and the group who flew in. The RCF team came in--in the POURING rain-- at 5:30, and Nate and Danny came through later, guiding the other vans. They had car trouble in Tecate, and it took them a few extra hours to get here, but by midnight, we had 46 people on base! My idea of fun!
I could go on for hours and pages about everything that happened this week. It was amazing, and eye-opening. We experienced a taste of WHY it is that we are here, and it was an answer to prayers for many of us. We heard the testimony of a man from a country in Africa. Most of us have never even heard of this little country, but there are 3 million people there who are going to hell. The citizens are required to practice Islam, and they are a nearly 100% Muslim Nation. There is a new underground church of over 1,200 Christians spread around the nation. It is highly illegal, and not at all accepted for the Christians to profess their faith, own a bible, or speak of Jesus. They worship in secret, they pray in secret, and some of the leaders live in secret. Our Friend lives in secret. His family is often in hiding. His dear friend, and mentor, who was the first known Christian in this country, was brutally beaten to death this year. Our friend was thrown in prison, and beaten too. His back was fractured, and he believes that Jesus himself , or an angel of God stepped into that prison and took the beating for him- otherwise he would be dead. Still- he spends all of his energy seeking to save the souls of his lost countrymen.
We also met a man named Billy Graham Paulose-- the son of Moses Paulose, whom some of you know. He has a thriving ministry in India. He himself has been beaten, stoned, and had human feces thrown on him for the sake of the Gospel. He is an energetic evangelist, who is amazingly joyful and hilarious! Even though he lives in an area of extreme poverty, immorality, and Hinduism. He sees his friends beaten, burned and murdered for their faith. Yet he is daily seeking to further the Gospel in India!
We saw the deep faith, and love for our God in the lives of our Romanian brothers too! The Romanian church (which is, btw, ALL over the world- including the US!) is full of passionate believers. These 12 guys came from Arizona, and Texas, and Oregon to see what this MBS school is all about. They are all involved in the furthering of the Kingdom in Europe, Asia, and Africa. They were so excited to see that we are training up people to go out and bring the Gospel to these places. They have seen the need first-hand!
~Also, if you ever meet a Romanian: expect to be invited to stay the night, to be fed, and to be sent away with food!!! These guys know hospitality!! And their wives and Mamas can BAKE!! I’m telling’ you!~
The sun came out for the rest of the conference, and it has been fairly warm this weekend. We didn’t exactly get to greet them with warm Mexican sunshine- but that’s OK ;-)
our foreign almost froze to death I think, considering that they are from the Sahara desert, and India, but they survived. And this is my PSA for you to ALL go to listen to them speak while they are in Roseburg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is not a suggestion-- it is a COMMAND!! Your life will be changed!! I mean it!!
Our friend from Africa will be at RCF on Wednesday night. GO!!!!!
You will have a new perspective of missions-- I promise!!
The Lord opened my eyes to the magnitude of the MBS training going on here, and it’s importance. This place is making a difference, and God is using us to help do it! This is just the beginning of the HUGE things that are going to go on concerning our ranch. This is a BIG deal guys!! GET INVOLVED!! However God is calling you!! We have the system set up here to reach millions with the Word of God! If you have any questions, or are still confused about what exactly is going on here-- email me! If you are interested in spending some time here-- Email me!! If you are interested in the school--Email me-- If you want to support a missionary--email me!! If you want to know what you can do -- EMAIL ME!! And go Wednesday night to RCF and listen to Our Friend speak. Thank you for reading my ramblings! And thank you for waiting two weeks for an update! And THANK YOU for your prayers always!! Pray for Our Friends as they are in the States. Pray for their families as they are back home! And pray for the church in Africa, as they are ALWAYS in danger, and there is persecution going on daily!!!
Praise God that we had an awesome week and everything went well. Praise God that everyone made it home safely. And praise God that our students are all fired up!! Pray for them as they will all leave in two- three weeks to go to Tabasco, Mexico (where over 100 Mexican pastors are expected to come for training!!), or Bangladesh (East of India-- almost 90% Islamic!!).
Lots of new pictures up: http://picasaweb.google.com/steffensenfaminmexico/ConferenceWeek#
Until next week!!
><> Shae
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
When I was in high school, my teachers were frustrated with me. Their job was to prepare me for "life". To encourage me to plan for my future. College mainly.
But I just wanted to be a mom. A wife. A homemaker. After all, I was already engaged when I was 17.
Turns out- I'm not really very good at it.
I am much better at capturing nostalgia in a photograph than teaching a 4 year old why he should obey me.
I can make a killer cup of Java. But I fail everyday at teaching my 8 year old why she should be respectful.
I can turn a piece of fabric into any of a thousand different functional little articles. But at the end of the day,
I am pretty sure I have not done a single thing to properly train up my children.
That is where God's grace comforts me. He just paves the way for us, and asks us to be obedient in the way we go, IN FAITH!
I know that He called me to this job. HE will equip me. I WILL see fruit of my labor! I have seen it for the past 8 years..... It just doesn't show up overnight. I know that.
If I stop and think about His parenting is going.... then my picture isn't so very different!
What a bunch of disobedient, disrespectful, unfaithful kids He has!! And He is perfect at it!
God uses earthly pictures to represent spiritual truths..... and this one is a biggie!
Just like marriage-- our parenting is a picture of our relationship with Him. He lovingly corrects, and redirects- until one day, after much disobedience, He has to outright discipline! I don't know about you, but in my life, He has had to do some serious disciplining at times!
Again,
and again
and again
and again..........
Jude 1:21 "keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."
Thank the Lord that we have HIS mercies!!
1Cr 10:31 " Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
Col 3:17 " And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. "
Col 3:23 "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,"
Psa 127:3-4 " Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We had a big week on the Ranch! We had RAIN!!!
On Wednesday, we had a minor malfunction with our pump at the well. A valve broke and so the well water was being pumped into the creek bed instead
of the pila for who-knows-how-long. We only found this out when we had used all of the water that was in the pila already :) So Ryan did what he does
and got it fixed. We turned the pump back on at 10:00pm Wednesday night.
From 2:00am Thursday morning, until the next morning, we had constant rolling thunder, intermittent lightning, and off and on pouring rain.
It was QUITE a show! The kids were loving it! It was 80 degrees out and pouring fat drops of warm rain. AND THEN-
The loudest clap of thunder with simultaneous lightning right in front of my face! The bolt hit a transformer on a power pole
at the edge of our neighbors property- maybe 200 yards from my porch! So we- of course- lost power :)
So we had had a good 9 hours of water pumping into the well, and figured that the power guys would most likely be DAYS before they got all the way out here
to fix it. So we went on water conservation mode (5 minutes showers, no laundry washing, if its yellow..... you get the idea).
We went to the market and got ice for all of the refrigerators, and some groceries. We saw a group of guys on the road pointing flashlights at various power lines, and
Luis was able to tell them where it had hit, and by the time Mem and I got back with the groceries, our half of the
compound had the power back on! After only 5 hours! And a few hours later, the power on the east end came back on too.
So we had ourselves a little scare, but the Lord had mercy on us :). We were beginning to think we might actually learn what "roughing it" actually means ;)
We buy our drinking water, so we would have been fine in that department, but we would have ran out of washing water, and gone without lights, fans, a phone, or internet for a while.
Praise the Lord we have had fairly mild weather the rest of the week :)
Nate left for Acapulco for a week on Sunday, so the past few days have been work days for the students. They are helping get the base ready for the next couple weeks
full of guests, and for this weekend when Pastor phil and Susie get here :-D YAY! SO excited to see them! They are also helping Ryan get our front yards ready to plant
some grass! I can't wait to have grass! A little piece of home, and a barrier for the massive amounts of dust and dirt that get tracked into ours houses!
Taiah, Asa and I have been plugging away at school. Asa is very interested in school this year- which I didn't think would be the case until he was much older. He is learning
the rest of his letters and numbers by sight, and sound. Taiah is doing her work most days without a huge fight ;) We are going to start our study on Uganda soon, and
she is very excited about that. She has also been learning Spanish- and she seems to be picking it up quickly, and teaching it to Asa.
If you didn't get a chance to see the video Nate put together, her is the link to it on YouTube...check it out! (and see if you can find me and Mem in it ;). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P4UCY4opOk
Also, NEW photos up! http://picasaweb.google.com/steffensenfaminmexico/FunInMX?feat=directlink
Hasta a Lunes! ><> Shae
But I just wanted to be a mom. A wife. A homemaker. After all, I was already engaged when I was 17.
Turns out- I'm not really very good at it.
I am much better at capturing nostalgia in a photograph than teaching a 4 year old why he should obey me.
I can make a killer cup of Java. But I fail everyday at teaching my 8 year old why she should be respectful.
I can turn a piece of fabric into any of a thousand different functional little articles. But at the end of the day,
I am pretty sure I have not done a single thing to properly train up my children.
That is where God's grace comforts me. He just paves the way for us, and asks us to be obedient in the way we go, IN FAITH!
I know that He called me to this job. HE will equip me. I WILL see fruit of my labor! I have seen it for the past 8 years..... It just doesn't show up overnight. I know that.
If I stop and think about His parenting is going.... then my picture isn't so very different!
What a bunch of disobedient, disrespectful, unfaithful kids He has!! And He is perfect at it!
God uses earthly pictures to represent spiritual truths..... and this one is a biggie!
Just like marriage-- our parenting is a picture of our relationship with Him. He lovingly corrects, and redirects- until one day, after much disobedience, He has to outright discipline! I don't know about you, but in my life, He has had to do some serious disciplining at times!
Again,
and again
and again
and again..........
Jude 1:21 "keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."
Thank the Lord that we have HIS mercies!!
1Cr 10:31 " Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
Col 3:17 " And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. "
Col 3:23 "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,"
Psa 127:3-4 " Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We had a big week on the Ranch! We had RAIN!!!
On Wednesday, we had a minor malfunction with our pump at the well. A valve broke and so the well water was being pumped into the creek bed instead
of the pila for who-knows-how-long. We only found this out when we had used all of the water that was in the pila already :) So Ryan did what he does
and got it fixed. We turned the pump back on at 10:00pm Wednesday night.
From 2:00am Thursday morning, until the next morning, we had constant rolling thunder, intermittent lightning, and off and on pouring rain.
It was QUITE a show! The kids were loving it! It was 80 degrees out and pouring fat drops of warm rain. AND THEN-
The loudest clap of thunder with simultaneous lightning right in front of my face! The bolt hit a transformer on a power pole
at the edge of our neighbors property- maybe 200 yards from my porch! So we- of course- lost power :)
So we had had a good 9 hours of water pumping into the well, and figured that the power guys would most likely be DAYS before they got all the way out here
to fix it. So we went on water conservation mode (5 minutes showers, no laundry washing, if its yellow..... you get the idea).
We went to the market and got ice for all of the refrigerators, and some groceries. We saw a group of guys on the road pointing flashlights at various power lines, and
Luis was able to tell them where it had hit, and by the time Mem and I got back with the groceries, our half of the
compound had the power back on! After only 5 hours! And a few hours later, the power on the east end came back on too.
So we had ourselves a little scare, but the Lord had mercy on us :). We were beginning to think we might actually learn what "roughing it" actually means ;)
We buy our drinking water, so we would have been fine in that department, but we would have ran out of washing water, and gone without lights, fans, a phone, or internet for a while.
Praise the Lord we have had fairly mild weather the rest of the week :)
Nate left for Acapulco for a week on Sunday, so the past few days have been work days for the students. They are helping get the base ready for the next couple weeks
full of guests, and for this weekend when Pastor phil and Susie get here :-D YAY! SO excited to see them! They are also helping Ryan get our front yards ready to plant
some grass! I can't wait to have grass! A little piece of home, and a barrier for the massive amounts of dust and dirt that get tracked into ours houses!
Taiah, Asa and I have been plugging away at school. Asa is very interested in school this year- which I didn't think would be the case until he was much older. He is learning
the rest of his letters and numbers by sight, and sound. Taiah is doing her work most days without a huge fight ;) We are going to start our study on Uganda soon, and
she is very excited about that. She has also been learning Spanish- and she seems to be picking it up quickly, and teaching it to Asa.
If you didn't get a chance to see the video Nate put together, her is the link to it on YouTube...check it out! (and see if you can find me and Mem in it ;). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P4UCY4opOk
Also, NEW photos up! http://picasaweb.google.com/steffensenfaminmexico/FunInMX?feat=directlink
Hasta a Lunes! ><> Shae
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)