Hogar, dulce hogar

Three weeks since I posted! yikes! I guess we were a little busy :)

I didn't really know what to expect on our first visit back to Oregon. I knew it was going to be strange to be back in our "home", and it not be our home. And it was. We have no house there. Our jobs aren't there. Our belongings aren't there. We have changed our whole lives, while everyone in Oregon is still doing what they do. We felt out of the "loop". I realized that God had done this in our hearts to bless us. He has made me very happy here, in order that I can serve Him here with Joy. I also realized what it must be like to be the one staying..... Our families are there, and we are not, and it is very tough for them to see us for two weeks, then not see us for 6 months.

We did a lot of explaining. We tried to get people excited about MBS, and about Tres Cruces. We really just want everyone back home to get a chance to come here and see first-hand what is going on with us. *hint hint*

I also realized how much I LOVE having the Students here (I got to see the three of them who are from Oregon-- whom I hadn't seen in almost a month!). I can't wait for those kids to get back here!...... and I realized how much I miss Memorie, and how much my kids miss their girls. It is very quiet, and often lonley here with only us. It is much easier to bear day-to-day with friends on the other side of our wall.

We had a lot of meetings, and we had a lot of very good visits with dear friends and family. We tried to stretch ourselves as far as we could.

But I still came home feeling like I missed people. I didn't get enough time with some of you-- which is why you have to come see me. *hint hint*

Overall- we had a very good trip. It was good to see all of you who we got a chance to see! And thank you to the Millers, and Wilsons for planning a wedding during that week, so that we could see a lot of people at once :-D (even though Jem knows that she is one of those people who I didn't get to see enough of).

I also did some shooting while I was there. I had a Senior Shoot with Miki:

I did a Family Shoot with the Ballengers:

And I did a baby shoot with Grace and Hayden, and Hayden's Big Brother Breaden:

We got home on Tuesday the 14th, and were welcomed by Luis, and the dogs (who thought we had left them forever) and the warm Mexico sunshine :)

Now we are preparing for a team. They will be here on Monday, and they will be here through Christmas, and leave on New Years Day. My Mom will be with them-- and my kids are not the least bit excited..... ha! ;-) (Taiah cleaned her room!!! She MUST be excited!).

So I will go now, and put some sheets on some beds, and some towels in the bathrooms.

Here is a little peek at what Oregon had to offer us. (A very beautiful {cold!! but beautiful} place to be...... for a short time :-D)

Words

I put this post off for a whole day. I just don't seem to have words this week.

I didn't really know what it was.

I have had a burden of prayer for a couple of people.

In a matter of 24 hours, I found out why.

Our friends in Uganda are dealing with serious illnesses this week, and in the middle of two teams! The enemy wants to put a damper on the spreading of The Gospel- and he is doing his best. But our God is awesome, and it is HE who reigns- in heaven, and on earth.
We are praying for you Zane!

Our Friend from the North, who I mentioned a few weeks back, has been taken from his home
and put in custody. Once again- the enemy trying to stop the furthering of The Gospel.

This is serious stuff friends.

The Word of God is the beginning of faith. The Message of God's sacrifice for our salvation, in HIS own words. That is a powerful thing!
Just stop and think about the power that God's words have:
They spoke the world into being ~ Gen. chapter 1
They gave Man dominion over the earth ~ Gen. chapter 2
They cursed Man for his transgressions ~ Gen. chapter 3
They gave Moses the Law ~ Exodus chapter 20
They declared Jesus to be God ~ Mat. 3:17
Jesus tells us that ALL of His words, were God's ~ John 14:24
Therefore: every word Jesus spoke on this earth, was a direct word from God.
And His words forgave our transgressions, and conquered death ~ John 19:30
And they will offer me living water in the End ~ Rev. 21:6

Now, in Matthew 4, we see that Satan knows the Word of God.
If you were him, wouldn't you want to keep people from hearing it??
He knows the ending!

He gave us His Word.

Be IN it.

KNOW it.

SHARE it.
We are His feet.
Let's keep the Word moving.

Where are the weeks going?

It is a little difficult to explain how strange it feels (as an Oregonian), that THIS is November. It is sunny and warm every day. We haven't had rain in a month. Last week it was in the 90's. This week it has been in the 80's.

Mexico obviously doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, so there is no precursor to Christmas. It took me completely off guard to see Christmas decorations out in the stores.

(Side note: Mexico is in a different world when it comes to Christmas propaganda!! There are hardly any bins of decorations, no one has trees, there are a couple of tree farm lots, but they are $50 or more...and we hardly hear mention of any of it!)



SO! Since the year is moving on around us, and we are here in the quiet seclusion of our own little ranch.... we are crafting and plugging along at school!

I have been crocheting some things for gifts, and will be sewing some others.

Taiah has been pushing through her books.... she would rather get her work done before lunch, so she gets started right after breakfast, instead of our scheduled start time of 10:00am. She has been learning about Uganda, and the animals of the Safari Plains (Summer- I promise she will be typing out her letter to Eryn soon! She has it written already ;)

She has also been working a lot on her spelling. We got a spelling workbook on Amazon- and I hate it. So I have been using some of the suggestions that my friend Esther gave me, and keeping it easy for her. LOTS of repetition!

Asa L-O-V-E-S starfall.com

We have been fans for a long time, but he is able to navigate the site himself now, and thinks it is great! Check out the letter "Z" ..... it is his fave ;-)

The students are doing great! We have been getting regular updates from them, and we are getting so anxious to see them all!!

Apparently the food in Tabasco is better than the food in Bangladesh ;)


We had a spur of the moment visit from Ryan's Uncle and Cousin from Spring Valley this week! That was awesome!! We LOVE having people here, and it was good to see them and get to visit up at their house for a while before we all came down here. We are going to go back up to their place for Thanksgiving next week too! I only wish I could figure out a way to sneak Luis up there too ;) so he could experience an American Thanksgiving dinner! But he will have to talk his mama into making him dinner instead :)

Tomorrow is the Baja 1000 off-road race. It is pretty much the biggest Off-Road race in this hemisphere. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baja_1000. We aren't excited a bit. And we definitely didn't spend ALL day yesterday 4-wheeling through the Mexican desert tracking the race route and finding a good spot to watch it........ that would be silly.......
Photos to come :-D

8 days 'til Thanksgiving!

13 days 'til Oregon!!

Woo Hoo!!!!

><> Shae

Going, Going, ........ Gone

Everyone is gone. Spread throughout the world- sharing the Gospel. This is the work that they have been preparing for. They have been working non-stop for two months to be equipped to take these trips. The anticipation of hearing their stories is almost unbearable! I am SO anxious to see them all again-- and they have not even been gone a week :)
Nate and Chris made it safely to Bangladesh. They have limited internet- so we haven't heard too much from them.
The rest of the bunch left Saturday for Comalcalco, Tabasco, MX. (outside of Villahermosa)
I haven't heard from any of them, so I assume that they have yet to find internet.

We walked up to the kitchen yesterday.
No one was there.
So we went into town and had $0.84 fish tacos.
They were delish.

When we got home, no one was here.

Three more weeks and we're leavin' for Oregon!!


"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah"
Psalm 46:10-11

One more Update!

I forgot to mention that ALL of the expenses for the Students' trips came in- and they ALL get to participate! Praise God! One month ago, there were only 2 or 3 who knew for sure that they could go. Thank you for your gracious donations!!! And Thank you Lord for providing for us, and stretching our surplus!!

November?

The sun is shining, and it is 81 degrees outside. Doesn't feel like any November that I have ever experienced. I am LOVING every minute of it. We have been here for 16 weeks! Can you believe it?!
The semester is winding down, and so is the year! In 5 days, we will have an empty Ranch with the exception of our family. We have had close to 100 different people visit us since July.
What-A-Blessing!
I don't think that Google allows enough storage for me to list the ways that the Lord has blessed us since then! This adventure has been over and above anything we could have ever expected- and the year isn't even over yet!
Our Students will be leaving for Villahermosa, Mexico on Saturday. They will be ministering to over 100 Mexican Pastors there. Pray for their safety, health, and obedience. Nate and Chris will leave Thursday for Bangladesh. They will be ministering there for two weeks, and then they go on to Uganda for a visit with the McCourneys for two weeks. They have a LOT of traveling to do this month, and will need your prayers for safety, health, rest, and sensitivity to the Spirit! Also pray for Memorie and the girls, as they are in Oregon, missing Nate, and will no doubt be struggling with worry while he is overseas. Also pray for our Students as they go home. You can't imagine how difficult it will be for them to go back to "normal" life at home.
I am so excited to hear about how these two trips go, and what all happens while they are all gone! But I am overwhelmingly sad that our friends will be leaving here, and some may not return next semester. We don't know who will be staying here in January, but we know that the Lord will send them, and it will be a blessed semester as well!
I am also SO VERY excited to go visit in Oregon at the end of the month!!! We will leave here on November 30th, and be in Oregon for two weeks. The kids are so excited that they could explode. They are going to make a countdown chain today :) They miss their Moog and Gump like no one's business! (they haven't gotten to skype with them at all), and they can't stop talking about all of the people that they are going to stay overnight with ;). I miss RCF like crazy. I underestimated the impact that moving away from my church would have on me. I can't wait to see everyone, to sit in on Phil's teaching (in person- and not just over the net ;), and Dorie better remember to schedule me for the Coffee Shop- cause I am in dire need of some serious Espresso construction AND consumption!
As far as happenings updates:
David shaved Austin's head.

That's right. Bald Austin. Very, ummm, different.

Ryan shaved Asa's head. :-( Boo Hoo..... no more blonde locks. But he loves it- and he is Brothers with Austin ;),

so what else would you expect.
Samson ate his first animal: a Jackrabbit that Nate shot. He loved it. He became carnivorous, and will hopefully start to hunt the rabbits himself (pesky buggers!)

!!!FELIZ CUMPLIANOS!! to our niece Katherine!!! She turned 5 yesterday!! We are sorry we had to miss your Peter Pan Party, Katie- but we will see you in 28 days!!!
Well.... new pics are up, and I am off to read in the sun :-D

http://picasaweb.google.com/home

Bendiciones! ><> Shae

New Friends, and a New View

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