Year End Thankfulness

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!" (Psalm 100:4)

I love the end of the year ... it's such a wonderful time to look back and thank God for all He has done! Despite day-to-day trials and tribulations, the end of the year provides us with an opportunity to rise above our complaints and worries and allow thankfulness to fill our hearts.

2014 was a year rich in blessings! For as much as we "loved to hate" support-raising some days ... God has done truly AMAZING, unfathomable things through strangers, friends, congregations, and family members! He has moved us to the brink of tears, caused us to fall to our knees in thanksgiving, and surprised us time after time!

So we would like to finish this year by thanking God, and thanking you all at the same time!

• We are so thankful for each person (or group) who gives to our MAF ministry on a monthly/annual basis ... even when it "hurts" a little--we appreciate the sacrifice and the cheerfulness you still bring! 
• We are thankful for every person who gave to our work this holiday season in lieu of material gifts--we are in awe of your charity and incredible example to others.
• We are thankful for strangers, people we only know by name or Facebook, who pray for us and give, only bound by our common love of Christ!
• We are deeply thankful for our families who, despite being the ones who really have the most to lose (who wants their new grandchild to move to Africa right away?), give as much as they can and stand behind us 100%.
• We are thankful for faithful churches, loving church members, dedicated missions committees, and the persevering pray warriors who lift our ministry up to God!
• We are thankful for every enthusiastic friend who has joined us for our "Cleared for Landing" campaign ... you might say we are circling the airport, seatbelt signs are on, tray tables are stowed, and we are just waiting for clearance! We are at 99% of our MAF ministry support!
• And last, but not least ... we are thankful for each other and little Baby Boers. Nothing compares to the anticipation of meeting our young one ... and growing our family by one. We are blessed to have each other!

Thank you to every one of you ... whether you were an avid blog reader, Facebook post liker, prayer warrior, faithful friend, welcoming host, or generous giver--you have made 2014 a year to remember!

Thank you, and God bless you in this new year! Love,

Marcel, Kelly, and Bebê Boers

Update on our Cleared for Landing Campaign

Wow! GOD IS GOOD.

We are speechless in praise before God ... except to say, "Thank you. You are GOOD!"

We are now only 250 miles from reaching our monthly MAF ministry support goals. YES ... you read that right ... $250/month. Last week, we were $900/month short ... and between verbal, email, phone, and mail commitments, we are now only 250 miles (or $250/month) short from being "Cleared for Landing!"

Thank you to all the wonderful people who jumped aboard ... some strangers, some new supporters, and some existing supporters ... YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME. Know that you are literally being the hands and feet of Jesus to us ... and we cannot FULLY express our gratitude.

Yet, there is still room for more to join our campaign! Will you jump on board too? Will you become a frequent flyer for $10/month or $120 annually? God bless you as you consider the options!

Cleared for Landing!

"Cleared for landing!" The words we can't wait to hear! And we're only 13% away from the finish line ... or should we say RUNWAY! So let's do this ... we need your help!

We're looking for "FREQUENT FLYERS" to join our team. We did some number crunching ... between here (London, ON) and Lubango, Angola, there are approx. 7,200 miles ... the same amount it takes to support us on a monthly basis! Really?! We're not making that number up ... that's truly a God-ordained number! And we calculated ... we're only 900 miles away from landing ... or $900 short of our monthly ministry support goal!

So ... that's where our FREQUENT FLYERS come in. We need people to commit to ONLY $10/month (or $120 annually) ... help buy us 10 miles closer! It's not much ... in fact, we're convinced almost anyone can do that ... and it's not too little! Every mile closer, every dollar pledged, makes a difference.

So can you help us get to Angola? Can you commit to as little as 10 miles--that's $10/month--for our first term (the next four years)? We're hoping and praying you can! Go ahead, become a FREQUENT FLYER and donate now! https://mafc.org/missionarypages/boers/

David Livingstone's Challenge

It has been a delight and exhausting challenge to study "Desiring God" by John Piper. And this week, there was a statement from the study that I think will challenge us for the rest of our careers to serve God in Angola, with great joy. It was made by a "famous" missionary of the 1800s, David Livingstone, who spent much of his time in Africa. Interestingly enough, he said this quote on DECEMBER 4th ... in 1857 (yesterday, 157 years ago):

For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office. People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. . . . Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word in such a view, and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.

How does someone, with no Internet, Skype, ice cream, cell phone, air conditioning, or any modern amenity (no matter how simple ... I mean, not even peanut butter!) say "I never made a sacrifice?"
Truly, his words were founded on God's truth, spoken by none other than Jesus:

Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30)

 

Almost there!

Great news! We are ALMOST there ... almost where you ask? We're almost at 100% of our MAF ministry support! We are at 87% of our ongoing support! If this were school, that would be an "A"!!! But unlike school, we HAVE to reach 100% ... or an A+. The good news is ... this isn't an individual project, or an essay, or *gulp* dare I say ... an EXAM ...

... It's an open-book, group project! 

So will you join us and help us get our A+?

Will you crack a book (the Bible) and pray for us?

Will you join our group of already amazing supporters, and help us complete this project?

"And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father." Colossians 3:17

Scripture through this past year ...

Just a few weeks ago, we celebrated our one year anniversary of working with MAF. Last November, after running my first ever half-marathon, we packed up our bags for a week of training in Guelph, that culminated with an offer of employment to officially begin our work as "pre-field missionaries" with MAF. At the time, if you would have told me that one year later, we'd still be here in Canada, still be seeking and waiting on 15% more of our ongoing MAF ministry support, and we'd still be "pre-field" ... well I don't know what I would have thought. But through this year, if there's one thing I've learned, it's that God's timing is perfect, and He is totally faithful. But He doesn't always work according to "Kelly's Schedule."

Therefore, I'd like to take this blog post to share a few verses that have meant a lot over the past year(ish) in our journey towards Angola.

Proverbs 16:9--"People may make plans in their minds, but the Lord decides what they will do."
Over and over, this verse has rang true in my life. Not only is it a reminder that God is ultimately in charge, but it is an encouragement--when life is not working out my way, it doesn't not mean it is out of God's control. In fact, we can totally trust Him with the timing and steps of our lives! God knows when we'll move overseas, when our visas will arrive, when we will meet people and circumstances that will radically influence our lives!

Ephesians 2:10--"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
Written on the back of our prayer cards, this verse is a constant source of encouragement. We are made by God ... for good works ... which God has already planned for us! He knows our future, and it's an exciting place!

Micah 6:8--"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
A verse that continues to convict me when my priorities get out of line--life is simple: act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.

James 1:27--"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
The verse that led up to MAF in the first place. A verse that we couldn't get out of our minds ... and convicted us to ask, "How can we love and serve orphans and widows (and others in need) with our skills and abilities?"

Colossians 1:15-20
Though it has very little to do with our MAF journey, in some ways, these verses have everything to do with our journey--because they are all about Christ. Reflecting on the past year of morning quiet times and Sundays at church, I can think of no single passage of scripture that I treasure more in all the Bible than these verses about the supremacy of Christ. Christ is the reason for everything we do--with MAF, but also life in general.

The one thing we wanted to read before we leave ... and how it is ruining us.

In August, our life group (small group Bible study) leaders asked us if we had any specific studies we wanted to do before we leave the country. Marcel and I kind of looked at each other and shrugged ... we said, "We'll think about it."

Truthfully, we didn't do a ton of research. But at our church, certain names and books get used a lot, and we thought, "Hey, neither of us has studied 'Desiring God' by John Piper ... and we've heard good things. Let's do that."

So here we are ... studying John Piper's classic series, "Desiring God". And by God's grace, it was definitely the right study we needed.

It is NOT easy to digest. I wouldn't call it a book for the faint-hearted. It is taking everything I've ever known about what it means to be a Christian, what it means to love others and love God, what it means to have joy ... and cranks it up a notch.

But the study two weeks ago... that was the kicker. John Piper, who is already SUCH a COMPELLING speaker, broke down this verse: Philippians 1:21, "For to live is Christ and to die is gain."

I've never had an easy time with this verse. I was highly motivated to come to Christ when I was younger because I was scared to die. And if I'm honest, I'm still a little scared. Yet, Paul says, to die is far better ...

So I prayed about it, talked to God about it, thought about it. And of course, I know it is true. What could be better than eternal rest from our toils and a life of pure, fulfilled joy in Christ's presence? Those brief moments before death are nothing compared to what comes after. And nothing compared to the glory God will get out of a life lived with overflowing joy in Him, that comes to an end with an excitement to meet Him and fullfill that joy. Oh man ... this is the prayer for my life as we move in to long-term missions ... "God, may I always find my joy in you. And may it overflow in such abundance to the people around me."

So ... if you want a good book, it's not about missions per se, but it's definitely a must-read. Be warned: it might (it SHOULD) ruin you ... in a good way. It should ruin your apathy, it should ruin your lukewarm relationship with God.  In the meantime, I recommend reading some of John Piper's stuff on the Desiring God website: www.desiringgod.org.

--Kelly

One year!

Wow! Today marks the one year anniversary of working for Mission Aviation Fellowship! So what are we doing to celebrate?

1. Thanking God... for every opportunity He's brought our way, for every stranger who has become a friend, for every friend that has become a partner in finances and prayer, and for every word of encouragement that's been spoken into our lives!

One year ago we got our MAF employee badges. Nov. 11 was our first, employed day of work!

2. Working hard. On what? Well, a typical MAF-focused day might involve practicing Portuguese for our weekly lessons with Maura, updating our activity tracker and spreadsheets, answering emails, writing and delivering thank you cards, taking a walk to get fresh air and pray, modifying PowerPoint slides for upcoming presentations, calling churches or individuals, writing a blog post, or preparing our upcoming newsletter. Sometimes, it might involve serving some of our dear friends and partners in a practical way--like helping them drywall their basement, meeting up for lunch and a chat, or helping them move. And sometimes, it might just involve getting our own life in order for the big move in May(ish) and the upcoming new addition to our family!

Sometimes, work isn't too hard. Like this amazing church potluck after one of our Sunday morning presentations!

3. Looking forward to the future. Seriously ... it is so exciting! And too easily, we get focused on the here and now, which quite frankly, is not exactly how I pictured my life one year ago. Honestly, I thought we'd be almost on our way by now! But God persistently reminds me to persistent, to be expectant, and to trust Him. To be happy with now, and be excited for the future. He is bringing us on the adventure of a lifetime, and He is faithful! We can't wait to meet our future MAF Angola coworkers in the flesh, and develop life long friendships. We can't wait to meet the people we are going to serve, and see how God will use our skills and abilities to love on our community! We can't wait to raise little baby Boersie to love God, love people, and speak both English and Portuguese! We can't wait to see the sights and hear the sounds of Angola! The future is always good in God's hands.

My heart longs to see what "good works" God has prepared for us in Angola, and what amazing people we will meet.

"Undiscovered beauty" (to the average world tourist/traveller)!

Yes, we will drive this road ...

Near Lubango, where we will be living, you better believe it will be one of the first places we visit!

4. Counting our blessings! We are almost done this journey of support-raising. In fact, we are 83% finished! That could mean as little as 20 more monthly or annual supporters ... how wonderful. And then we begin full-time language study! Muito bem!

Life!

New Life

"You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed."
--Psalm 139:16

What incredible words! This truth has taken on a whole new meaning over the last few months--especially in light of all God has planned for our future!

Late August, we found out we are expecting a child! This was such exciting news ... but also, kind of confusing. We couldn't believe God's timing ... it seemed so off! We were supposed to leave in January for Portugal to study full-time language studies in preparation to leave for Angola in May. And when was little baby Boersie due? April, of all times!

But when you look to God's word, there is no shadow of a doubt that God knows what He is doing. He is sovereign over every moment in time, and nothing in life is out of His divine control. Already, every day of my life, Marcel's life, and little baby Boersie's life is known by God. And this continues to be a great source of encouragement to us!

So although we are no longer going to study Portuguese in Portugal, we have been overwhelmed by the ways God has provided for us to stay in Canada until little Boersie is born. He has provided us with an amazing tutor, Maura, to teach us Portuguese only five minutes from our house. He has provided us amazing free health care in our own language ... and the comfort of living for a few more months in our own home, close to family and friends. He has given me (Kelly) good health and strength through the past several months. He has given us extra time to finish up our support-raising (because we just might need it!), and He has given us a great deal of excitement and joy as we wait upon this new life to come in to the world!!

So ... friends, we hope you will all join us in anticipating the birth of our first child ... gender to be a surprise (known only to God, and maybe the docs), due April 3! We can't wait to meet you little baby Boersie ... you are loved already, most importantly by the Creator himself!

Our first sight of little baby Boersie!

Get it? There's a bun in the oven!

Brief Update on Support-Raising

Thank you to everyone who came out for our Dessert & Silent Auction on October 24! It was a great success, a fun night for us, and a wonderful opportunity for us to gather together, celebrate, and raise some more funds towards our ongoing ministry support! Through the live dessert auction and the silent auction, we raised approximately $4800 dollars! Thank you God for your mercy on this event! This made a nice dent in our long-term ministry support--the portion of our support that is normally covered in monthly or annual donations. This is the money that keeps us going--covering our salaries, living needs, and emergencies--while we are in the field. We are happy to say that we are now over 80% in our ongoing support ... but still in desperate need of prayer and funds to complete our fundraising by the end of 2015!

Great turnout, and lots of love and dessert!

The Next Few Months ...

This month, we have a few speaking engagements lined up, including an informal "Co-pilot Coffee" at our house Thurs. Nov. 20 or Wed. Nov. 26, where we are welcoming anyone who has not heard what we will be doing with MAF to join us.

We hope to be finished our support-raising by the end of 2014 so that we can focus on full-time Portuguese language studies from January until April, when our little baby is due!

We are still looking for opportunities to travel, meet new people, and share our ministry. Please pray for more opportunities and get in contact if you know of any!

Please continue to pray for Marcel's visa process, as this is another thing we are waiting for. Lord-willing, it will come at an ideal time for Marcel to head over to Angola and receive some training before baby Boersie is due, and that there will be no complications!

When the going is slow, the thankful keep going!

Thanksgiving couldn't have come at a better time this year. It has come after a couple months of slow going ... "trudging" even ... as we wait, pray, and trust that God will help us reach our last 25% of our monthly funds.

As it feels in the moment like God's mercy is running out on us ... a thankful heart will help us to see just how great His mercy is!

We are thankful for the way He has already provided us with 75% of our monthly funding ... even that seemed impossible 11 months ago! And that all of the 75% has come from amazing individuals giving what they can!

We are thankful for friends and family who keep us encouraged and pray for us!

We are thankful for our Portuguese tutor Maura, who tutors us once a week in Portuguese, and who is willing to teach us "full-time" when we are done support-raising!

We are thankful for the random connections we have made whether people or churches, and how they have loved us and cared for us!

We are thankful for MAF and the way God already does amazing work around the world through their ministry!

We are thankful for the staff and unpaid workers of MAF who have led us on this life-changing journey.

We are thankful that even if our dessert and silent auction don't go as planned ... we will still enjoy dessert! ;)

And mostly ... we are thankful for such a big, LOVING God, whose word promises us: "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good deeds, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10) His faithful promises keep us going, along with a thankful heart for all He has done and all that He is. He loves us, He leads us, He rescues us, and He breathes life into us. We cannot see the road ahead of us. (Will we raise all the money we need before the end of the year? Will studying portuguese be difficult and trying? When will we move to Angola? Who does God need us to meet and share our story with?) But He will lead us onward.

"What about Ebola?"

Many people have been asking us, "What about Ebola?" Yes, it's definitely on our mind--but not in a worrisome way, and Lord-willing, it will not cross borders into Angola or it will be largely taken care of by May, our estimated departure month. However, Ebola has become a problem in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where MAF staff currently serve. Thankfully, God has uniquely placed MAF in a role to help serve doctors and patients of Ebola through the transportation of medical supplies and personnel to the remote areas affected. For more information, see MAF UK's two news updates: September 4--MAF Delivers Ebola Relief in the DRC and the October 3rd update.

Let's keep praying for the doctors, patients, and MAF staff dealing with the Ebola outbreak! We feel honoured to be serving with an organization that can play a role in helping out our African brothers and sisters, and we look forward to how God will use MAF staff as they continue to help!

Marcel and Kelly

Dessert AND Silent Auction

Wow! We have been so overwhelmed by the response of friends and family to make desserts for our upcoming dessert auction! Thank you to everyone who has offered their extraordinary talents towards the event coming ... soon! OCTOBER 24TH, 7 PM, West London Alliance Church (750 Wonderland Rd. N.)!

Silent auction!

Well, good news--we are adding in another element to make this a fun night out for friends, family, coworkers, neighbours--whoever you might be or bring! A SILENT AUCTION! Yes, after some thought and discussion, we decided a silent auction would be the perfect element to add on to the night--especially if you'd like to get in some early Christmas shopping or don't have an avid sweet tooth.

So here's the dealio--we need help in two areas. If you can arrange something for the silent auction--maybe it's some sports memorabilia, a donation from your business or spouse's business, a gift basket, one of those Christmas gifts you never ended up using but someone else would love (as long as it's in new condition), a work of art, a collection of handmade objects--we would love to have it! Please let us know!

But I would say our biggest area of need is people to join us for the event! Where we stand now, at 75% of our monthly MAF ministry funds, is crucial--but we've kind of hit a plateau, and after some discussion, we've determined the plateau is due to the fact that we need to expand our circle of contacts! So we're looking to you--friends, partners, and family--to help us expand our circle. Bring some of your girlfriends, your grandparents, your coworkers, or your neighbours out to the auction, and enjoy a classy, fun night out! We would love to see tons of people come out for a good cause.

Matthew 25:40--The reason we serve.

Finally, I think it's been a while since I've given this last part due justice. In the midst of fundraising, one of the key things that keeps us motivated is realizing WHY we are fundraising. It's not just so we can travel the world and do something we love doing. We seek and need support for the important work we will be doing through MAF in Angola. Every dollar donated monthly or one-time allows Marcel to help keep the three planes in Angola flying. Those planes are "life links" to so many people whose ministry, well-being, or hope depend on them. Sometimes, those planes are helping missionaries directly planting churches in unreached people groups. Sometimes, those planes deliver Bibles for the first time in a tribal language.Sometimes, they provide emergency food and nutrition in the midst of a terrible famine. Sometimes, they are saving a teenage girl whose pregnancy has taken a sudden turn for the worse. Sometimes, they are delivering a team of surgeons who have dedicated a week, two weeks, or many weeks out of their successful careers to serve long days in rural clinics, treating people who know only limited health care. ALWAYS, they are paving the way to the future--a future without minefields in rural Angola, a future for children who don't yet know Jesus, a future for the small-scale farmer, whose goods get delivered to market in the big city, a future for the "least of these" in Angola and around the world.

Turning Off Auto-Pilot and Turning on Contentment

I've noticed a theme in my life every September--I wrestle with contentment. It's at "back to school" time each year that I suddenly feel gaping holes in my heart that just long to be filled--a desire to teach, a desire to have a full-time job, a desire to be in Africa now, not later.

Thankfully, I'm able to name my struggle--it's a struggle with contentment, because it allows me to battle it. I only had to look back to a blog I wrote a year ago to find the exact same struggle, with some amazing words of encouragement right from the Bible:

"6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 

11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses." 1 Timothy 6:6-12

Ahh, yes, wonderful words of life. Words I need to hear, as it seems like our "uphill climb to Angola" is taking much longer than I hoped for, as we are running thin on new contacts, as I face dissatisfaction with job details or daily routines in life. The reality is, we will never find contentment or satisfaction in the fleeting things of earth, but to always keep a heavenly mindset--setting our hearts on godliness--is a massive task that takes much prayer and much focus. It takes us "turning off" auto-pilot and deliberately lifting up our struggles to God, coming to Him in thankfulness despite our feelings, and trusting Him despite our limited, human understanding.

So, if you are reading this, please pray specifically for me (Kelly) to keep my focus on God, and not on the things of this world. Likewise, I know some of you struggle with the same thing, so I will lift you up in prayer. Hopefully we will both turn off the auto-pilot (letting life control us, and instead, letting God walk us purposefully through life) and turn on contentment found only in Him.

Help us reach our last 30%!

Hey there friends!

It's not my favourite thing to post about our financial needs, but this past week Marcel and I were discussing this little reality--we start language studies in January! That's in 4 months! *Gulp!*

That's four months to get everything in order for visas, passports, immunizations, etc., AND raise our last 30% of our monthly funds.

To give you an idea, and also to help us remember how many people have already loved us and supported us, let's put this into some concrete numbers. Since last November, we raised over $35,000 in one-time funds for our MAF ministry (which are already going to good use with all the visa work we have to do!). But even bigger and more shocking than that is the fact that we currently have over 70 supporters who support us at approximately $5000/month! WOAH!!! That just makes my heart leap for joy and praise God!

But we still have approx. $2200/month that we need to raise for our MAF work ... in just under 4 months.

We're looking for about 40 more supporters, in four months. We hope to do this via presentations (see the side bar for our upcoming presentations), one-on-one meetings, our YUMMY DESSERT AUCTION, and LOTS, AND LOTS, AND LOTS of prayer!

Thank you to everyone who prayed through August with us, continues to pray for us, and those who continue to advocate on our behalf as we look for more opportunities. We are so very thankful!

And stay tuned ... our Sept/Oct newsletter is coming out soon!

Help us get to this special place--the hangar in Lubango, Angola!

Learning more about Angola every day!

It's been CRAZ-AY around here this past week! We've been busy getting everything together for our visas (think: passport photos, documents, meetings with our lawyer, vaccinations, doctor's appointments, etc.) and at the same time, getting opportunities to Skype with MAF staff in Angola! We had the opportunity to Skype with Tim Huebner, an MAF staff that has worked on and off in Angola for short term stints, and then Brent Mudde, the programme manager there. And we've learned a lot (and I'm sure it's just the tip of the iceberg!) about Angola, so we want to share some of the things we've learned!

Portuguese: As we've share before, the official working language in Angola is Portuguese. But we didn't realize how prevalent it would be--apparently there's very little English spoken at all in Angola! Even church will be in Portuguese!

Climate/Geography: There is a dry and a rainy season. There are many beautiful places to hike in Lubango (the city we'll be in) as it is surrounded by mountains/plateaus and looks BEAUTIFUL! The climate sounds relatively mild (by African standards), hot during the rainy season and cooler during the dry season.

Beautiful views near Lubango!

MAF Work: Marcel is going to be the main aircraft maintenance engineer when we get there! Woah! That's a big deal! Thankfully, he'll have an amazing national staff member helping him who has been there for over 25 years. The MAF Angola program flies a lot with Christian doctors, and they would like to expand the program to do more work around the country! I didn't realize this, but Angola is almost twice the size of Texas--so the airplane plays an important role in reaching isolated, poor, and needy people!

The caravan, at work in Angola! (Cool clouds!)

Lifestyle: It looks like we'll be living downtown, in an apartment, at least to start our time in MAF. Our apartment would be in the same fourplex as the MAF office, another MAF couple, and a doctor. It sounds like a lot of things are a bit more expensive in Angola--for example, a new car would be upwards of $40,000 and used cars are expensive and very hard to come by! Other things may be cheaper, like malaria medication! :) Such is the paradox of impoverished African countries--some things are dirt cheap, and others are so much more expensive!

Lubango, where we'll live!

Well, there's a brief update of some things we learned this week! Hope to keep you in the loop as we learn more ... and hopefully, one day you'll want to come and visit us! Tchau! (Portuguese for "Bye!")

August Blessings!

We just returned from a week away at WIRED Junior High Camp, and boy, do we have great news to share! August has been a month of great blessing!

First, we felt so blessed to be away at WIRED, a camp our church runs for the junior high kids of West London and Bolton. It was a blast--highlights included a colour run for the kids, jumping in the river, canoeing, night games, a hay ride, square dancing, and one of my favourite parts--an exotic animal show! But by far, the coolest thing for us was when we got to share with the junior highs about our future in the missions field. So many of them encouraged us, and I know they will be following our journey and praying for us when we're overseas! It's crazy to think that when we get back, some of them will be in high school ... and some of the senior high counsellors will be in university, college, or married!

When we got back from WIRED, we had a small family vacation to Toronto with my (Kelly's) side of the family. It was super fun and a great chance to hang out with the family on a dinner cruise of Toronto Islands and a visit to the aquarium.

Fun and games aside, it has also been a great month of blessing for our work! First, we have met a lovely couple from our church who is willing and excited to teach us some portuguese! This will be a huge help to us in preparation for Angola, since we may not get as much time as some couples in language school. And any practice helps ... especially conversational portuguese!

Marcel also got a pleasant surprise in the mail when we returned home from WIRED--he officially has his M1 maintenance license! This is a massive answer to prayer, as Marcel needs this license to work for MAF on their smaller aircraft (different from the large aircraft he worked on here in London). We are praising God for Marcel's license ... one of the biggest hurdles we had along this path to Angola.

Finally, we had the opportunity to present at Stoney Creek Baptist Church on Sunday. We were so nervous, as the congregation had to approve us as "non-member supported missionaries" in a vote. But it all went well, and we met many lovely people at the church with a real heart for missions!

Thanks to all of you who are praying through August with us! We are so thankful! Let's keep it going!

The family in Toronto! Note: it's hard to see in this pic, but we dressed 80s
because the theme was an 80s Dinner/Dance cruise. Apparently, we were the only ones!

Toronto is meant to be viewed from the water!

I believe I followed this pic with "We can move to Angola, because
I conquered my fear of this bird!"

Marcel makes friends wherever he goes!

Praying Through August with Us!

Today is the 8th of August. Literally, I don't know where the first 8 days of August went. Summer is passing too fast! (As it always does in Canada!)

We want to invite you to pray through August with us. Why?

1) August was originally the month we wanted to aim to have all of our MAF ministry funds raised by. This was a totally crazy goal, but I (Kelly) function better with these sorts of goals (Marcel on the other hand is the realist). Anyway ... since it seems unlikely we will have all the money raised by the end of the month, at least we can celebrate August in another way ... through daily prayer! And who knows ... maybe God will do something crazy still!

2) We desperately need prayer for a lot of pressing matters. Now that we know we are going to Angola, and we know that MAF would like us to leave for language training in Portugal in early JANUARY ... time suddenly seems of the essence. There are important things to get done, including visas, licensing, and preparations that have the potential to drive us nuts ... if we try to do it on our own without God's help!

3) It will help make August last longer! Hahaha ... in all seriousness, I actually kind of mean it. Slowing down each day to take some time in prayer does seem to help slow down the passing of time, allows one to count their blessings and find a brief moment of refuge with God. And ... if you get to the end of the month and find you literally cannot remember anything that happened in August ... at least you will have done one awesome and meaningful thing!

So whether you join us here and there, once a week, or every day, will you join us in praying through August ... #AugustPrayforAngola?

Thanks! We're eternally grateful!

Kelly & Marcel

MAF Angola

Back from the North and BLESSED!

Hello! We are back from Northern Ontario and we have so much to share about our adventures and our big news about our future location!!

First of all ... I guess we should share the good news ... we're going to Angola!!!!! (Lord-willing, barring any unusual circumstances!)

I say barring any unusual circumstances because we are only in the beginning process of applying for visas. This can take upwards of a year! And in that time, a lot could change, as is often the case with missions work and moving overseas!

But in the meantime, I'm going to get very excited about Angola and all the cool things we can look forward to ... especially all the cool work God is already doing in Angola! MAF serves some interesting and exciting ministries in Angola--including a flying doctor service, a de-mining organization (yes, as in de-mining active mine fields!), and other Christian and secular groups! I've done my fair share of scoping around the Internet about Angola, and it looks like such a beautiful country with incredibly beautiful people! However, after years (27 years to be exact) of civil war ... it is a country that is only just now beginning to rebuild and stand on it's own two feet. Check out this video below to learn a little more about Angola ... and maybe it will make you want to visit us while we're there!

So what does this mean for us over the next few months? It means working like crazy to get everything together to move by January. Yes ... January! Again, Lord-willing, we would move to Portugal in January for a few brief months of language school before we move to Angola in March/April ... because at that point, they'll be desperately needing an aircraft maintenance engineer!

Wow ... wait? Did we just say language school in Portugal? Yes, as Portuguese is the official language of Angola. We're saying goodbye to speaking English all the time and "Oi!" to Portuguese! 

Now ... I'm going to move on and share a little bit about our Northern road trip, but if you have tons of questions, don't worry, so do we! We'll be blogging now much more frequently on Angola specifically, so stay tuned for more updates on that front.

Revisiting the North

We returned from Northern Ontario a few days ago after a week travelling around. Time flew by! We had the opportunity to visit many relatives and friends ... including Marcel's aunts, uncles, and cousins in Grand Rapids, Massey, and Manitoulin Island. It was my first time to Grand Rapids, so Uncle Ted kindly took us sailing for the afternoon! Visiting with relatives, knowing that we may not see them again before we move, was SO special. Many of them have stood behind us in prayer and financial support, and it meant the world to hang out with them!

We also had the fantastic opportunity to go up and join the crew of St. Joseph Island for their Vacation Bible School week at All Tribes Camp! We were the "featured missionaries" for the week, meaning kids brought in coins each day for our MAF ministry! It was both humbling and encouraging to see such young kids wanting to learn about Jesus, share their money with our MAF ministry fund, and have a blast at camp. Our favourite part of the week was probably the "water fight of death"--an hour and a half of getting pelted with sponges and water guns on a not-so-warm day ... so we like to think we earned our coins on that day! :) Special thanks to the whole amazing staff (they were incredible!) and Marney and Jonathan for organizing everything!

No visit to St. Joseph Island is ever complete without seeing Pam and Joe Hawdon ... who were two before we left, and are now three as of Tuesday morning! It was a blessing to see them and Marsena Henderson (and family, and boyfriend, Scott), some of our favourite people in the world! 

Here are a few highlights of the trip:

Sailing with Uncle Ted.

Hours of entertainment by Carter ... but Ben doesn't seem impressed!

Red-necking it with Ben and Rick! 

Building a fort with Jordan and Joe.  

Exploring Kicking Mule Ranch and playing with the kittens.

Spending time with Aunt Willie and Uncle Rick, and attending Mindemoya Missionary Church.

A chilly trip back on the Chi-Cheemaun!

Prayer Requests

With the discovery that we are going to Angola, the craziness of summer and the upcoming busy fall season, we have lots of prayer requests! We hope you'll take some time and pray with us or for us! Thanks to so many of you who already do pray for us on a regular basis!

1. Pray for learning: MAF has decided that before we go, we must audit three courses with Prairie Bible College via online/distance learning. This is an awesome opportunity to learn more about what we believe, but it is also likely to be a source of stress and busyness along with other elements of our job.
2. Pray for funding: We are almost at 70% of our monthly ministry support, but we would still appreciate your prayers for the remaining 30% as we anticipate this may be the difficult to come by!
3. Pray for Marcel’s maintenance license: We are awaiting confirmation that Marcel has completed all the necessary logbook work to apply for his M1 maintenance license. Marcel already has an M2 license for larger aircraft, but in order to sign off the smaller aircraft of MAF, he must have an M1 license. Please pray for success in this venture, and God’s continued hand of mercy as we may run in to other difficulties associated with licensing in future months.
4. Pray for visas: The visa process for Angola can take upwards of a year, so please pray for smooth sailing as we apply for visas. Pray that the process will be quick and painless!

This cool MAF couple ...

Hello! Last week we had the awesome opportunity to sit down with a totally awesome couple: Phil and Merilee Henderson! They are missionaries with MAF in Chad but they're home so that Merilee can have a child. And guess what? They live 5 minutes away from us!

We felt so blessed to meet up with them and learn about their life in Chad. They shared with us the ups and downs of life in a very hard country to live in ... life is expensive over there, there is little to do, extremely expensive and slow internet, it's hot, and so far from home. But they showed a real joy and passion for the work of MAF in Chad, and they were so welcoming and humble!

Thanks guys for meeting up with us! We can't wait to join you as missionaries out in the field, perhaps in Chad ... or somewhere else in Africa!

Stories from the Field: Life-saving work in South Sudan

Once again, I would like to share about some of the amazing work MAF does around the world, and one of the amazing organizations MAF partners with. This story comes from South Sudan, a country we feel a particular heart for because of two awesome people--Chris & Karyn Ball, who are serving there with MAF! It is also a particularly meaningful country to me, Kelly, after I read an INCREDIBLE book by Emmanuel Jal, called War Child. Please, if you get a chance, read this book. It will forever change you.

In South Sudan, MAF and an organization called Tearfund have an ongoing relationship, with MAF helping Tearfund overcome impossibly difficult travel situations to minister to the poorest of people there. This particular story happened back in May. MAF pilots were able to fly over 1800 kg of "Plumpy Sup", a nutritional supplement that has worked miracles in helping malnourished babies and infants.

For the full written story, click here. Otherwise, Pilot Ryan Unger made a brief video that highlights some of the work Tearfund was doing that day in May. Pray for thire continued work in South Sudan as there is still much unrest and violence in the country, an impending famine, and a great need for MAF's lifesaving flights. For more prayer points, check out MAF UK's Pray for South Sudan.

I NEED to write this

While sipping my coffee this morning, an overwhelming sense of urgnecy presented itself and I realized, there is something I NEED to blog about. It came about from this line:

"Good for you for wanting to move overseas and help people."

We've heard this a LOT. And fair enough ... what else are people going to naturally want to say when we explain our big plan with MAF?

But guys ... it's not about us.

It's not about "building up good karma" or "just tryin' to be good people" or "trying to change the world."

I'll be honest ... of my own accord, I do not want to go overseas and help people. I want to make money, have a nice house, raise some kids, take lots of fun vacations and travel, and never be bothered by other people's issues.

But all that changed (and changes) with Jesus.

Those of you who have known us longer than a half hour know that we are Christians, but man ... I don't think I've explained it totally right.

Being a follower of Christ literally changes everything. It's not about going to church (though that's nice, and fairly important). It's not about praying or reading your Bible (though those are two of the most important things I do). And it's definitely more than being a good person who follows the ten commandments.

Let me quote Jesus to help explain what it's really about, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10)

It's about LIFE. It's about life being meaningless until we met Christ. The gospel boiled down is this ... God is good and just. He loves us and created us in His image. He gave us the freedom of choice to follow Him, but we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Isn't this true? Even the best of us, who tries to be the best human being we can be, falls short of ultimate perfection. We try to earn God's favour by doing good things, but God is infinitely good and Holy ... and well, it doesn't take a genius to see that we humans make mistakes ... we fall short.

But God has a simple, beautiful, life-changing solution. "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous of the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit." (1 Peter 3:18). He sent His perfect Son Jesus, fully man but also fully God, to die on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. It's mind-blowing to grasp, but Jesus made the ultimate exchange ... his life, for our life. "Yet God, with undeserved kinds, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty of our sins." (Romans 3:24)

We are made right with God by believing and placing our faith in Jesus. We are freed from the guilt of our sins ... we are free to live and breathe with a new, lasting, eternal, peaceful life. We have purpose in this life on earth (to love God and love others) and the knowledge that we have ETERNAL life beyond our short few years here on earth.

And this is what motivates us to want to serve with MAF. It's not of our own accord. It's because Jesus loved us first, and now we want to serve and love others (1 John 4:19). 

It's not us trying to earn God's favour or even earn YOUR favour. It springs out of this great joy and peace in our hearts. It comes from a new heart that Christ has given us ... a heart for Him and a heart for people.

Phew. That was a lot to write for 8:30 am in the morning, the day after Canada Day. But it's off my chest and I'm glad. Because Jesus changes everything.

P.S. Lecrae (just one of my fav music artist ever) says it so, so well. Seriously, listen. It's so good.

Our God-Possible Goal

I've invented a new word to describe our current fundraising goal: GOD-possible.

It basically means us surrendering to the fact that we cannot raise all the money we need to raise, in the time we want to raise it, without God working big time.

So ... I'm putting it out there into the blogosphere: our God-possible goal is to have the last 45% of our monthly ministry support (around $3,300) raised by August. Ouch ... that sounds like a lot of work and a lot of ... impossible-ness.

But, it's out there now, so I guess I'm asking you ... if you pray, please start praying about this. Pray big! We know that God's timing is perfect, and that He already knows when we'll raise all our money and where we'll go. But because I need big goals to be motivated, and because we believe God can do incredible things, pray big. Pray for God to do the impossible.

Thanks, blog readers and prayer partners. So, so appreciative.

Kelly :)

30 Presentations Later... What We're Learning

It's hard to believe--Monday was our 30TH time presenting to a group about our future ventures with MAF. Wow! Time flies! What have we learned over the past few months?

1. Never trust technology (especially technology in churches). Always bring both laptops, all cords, and a USB to every presentation. Oh ... and like a million different versions of your presentation ...
2. After about 25 presentations, some of Marcel's jokes STILL make me laugh ... even though I know they're coming! I'm learning just how funny and amazing my husband can be!
3. We are always surprised by the massive outpouring of love, encouragement, and enthusiasm people have after we talk! Honestly, we have learned that people can be incredibly giving and loving.
4. We are always learning something about ourselves. Seriously, when we say our testimony over and over again, we start to notice some of the tiny, miraculous ways God has worked in the past to prepare us for the future. We notice seemingly "coincidental" happenings (like Marcel visiting an MAF base in Haiti, or meeting our awesome friend Joel Knapp at Urbana missions conference) that forever changed our lives. We see the ways God has prepared us from a young age for the mission field. We see how God used things like 4-H, homeschool, supply teaching, and airports. We reflect on some of the people who have forever changed our lives. We rejoice in the things we sometimes had to learn the hard way, or some of the values our parents instilled in us--even if we didn't like it at the time. 
5. We've learned to work together. This might be the most valuable thing we've learned ... and are still learning! It's not easy working with your spouse day in and day out, but we've learned a few things. We've learned to find our outlets--hockey, fitness, fixing airplanes, supply teaching. We've learned that Marcel's strengths tend to be my weaknesses, and vice-versa. We balance each other out fairly well. We've learned to trust each other (definitely easier said than done) and to learn from our mistakes. And through it all ... we've learned to pray.

So, although that's not an exhaustive list of what we've learned, that pretty much sums up some of the important things. Working for MAF has already been an amazing experience ... and we're not even overseas yet! Happy weekend, enjoy the weather!

Working together ... it's like riding a tandem bicycle. Throwback to 2010 when we were still dating!

"He who has called you will be faithful!"

This past weekend at Women's Retreat, I had the opportunity to open up in a rare moment of vulnerability. I had the chance to share about something that I had felt heavy on my heart for some time ... but had failed to acknowledge until, at 12:30 am, while fitful and sleepless, I had no choice but to acknowledge it.

You see, for some time now, I have been struggling with this feeling of inadequacy. Questions like "Why would God chose me to be a missionary?" and "How will God ever use me?" have been circling around in my head, as I look back at my own track record and think, "Am I even qualified to be a missionary?"

Here is what I know to be true about my life:

• I have failed to follow God many times in obedience.
• I have not always found the words to say to share about the wonderful saving grace of Jesus with some of my closest friends, family members, or even random strangers.
• I continue to struggle with reluctance--reluctance to speak about Jesus, reluctance to open up my life to someone who might need more help that I am willing to offer, reluctant to serve God in tough situations.
• I have not always been aware or attuned to how God wants to use me in different situations.
• I have purposely "shut out" God's voice when it's been inconvenient.

But, as I lay in bed on Friday night, God's magnificent voice spoke to me and spoke these more important, more eternal truths in to my life. He then reaffirmed many of them the next day in Shelley's talk:

• God has never failed me, never given up on me, and He will never leave me.
• God's forgiveness is complete--when Christ died on the cross, it was to cover all of my sins ... the ones I have committed and will commit.
• God is in the process of sanctifying me--every day, I will mess up many times, but God is growing me, teaching me, disciplining me to make me more and more like Jesus.
• God is with me. This was the big one. Isaiah 41: 10, 13 says, "Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. For I hold you by your right hand--I the Lord your God. And I say to you, 'Don't be afraid. I am here to help you.'" 
• And finally, God has a plan. A plan to use me to bring Him glory. It may not be my plan, but it will be the best plan.

God is with me. I was greatly encouraged by Shelley's illustration from Isaiah 41, that God is holding my right hand with His right hand. It's not us walking side by side--rather, it's more like a beautiful dance. God dancing with me through life, taking the lead--if I let Him.

I want to end in a word of encouragement. Do you feel inadequate? Do you feel struggle with the same questions I did, but maybe in a different area of life? Don't let your past--your track record--be the main voice leading your life. God is in the business of using broken, messed up people to do amazing things. He's in the business of redeeming track records. Talk to Him and trust Him daily.

"God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful!" 1 Thes. 5:24

Trail riding at Teen Ranch for WLA Women's Retreat 2014!

The ladies hoisting me up on the giant swing at retreat. 

I came in like a wrecking ball!

Teen Ranch where we stayed. What an amazing place!

Here comes the sun!

May has been a month of many blessings. It has been a somewhat restful month since we haven't had as many presentations. It was a well needed rest as we prepare for a crazy June and July and we recovered from an insane April. That being said, presentations, dessert nights, airshows, and meeting up with friends as we discuss support raising has become the new normal.

As we head in to June, we look forward to all that God has prepared for us and look back on what He has done for us. Some of the highlights of the past few weeks include:

• Two young girls from Sunday school set up a "lemonade" stand in their front yard to raise money for our mission work. They sold cranberry juice and made a whole $3.75 to contribute towards our mission efforts! These two girls are an incredible witness to us and to the faith that can move mountains! We were humbled by their heart for building God's kingdom.
• Several kids took part in our MAF May Challenge and we are still waiting to see the full results of how much money they raised! Their enthusiasm was contagious and we were excited to partner with our Sunday school in this effort.
• On May 31st, we had the opportunity to set up a booth at the Waterloo Aviation Fun Day. This was a long but fun day exploring different aspects of aviation and sharing with a different crowd than we usually do about our future work with MAF. We even got to take a ride in a helicopter!
• About a week ago, we hit the 100% goal in our one-time, outgoing funds! That means in only six months we raised $35,000 thanks to people like you! We feel incredibly blessed and just give God all the glory for making this happen!
• We ended the month of May off with a bang as we hosted our biggest and most successful dessert night at our home church of West London Alliance. We were praying for 60 to 80 people to come and we had over 60 people show up to listen, learn and enjoy some delicious desserts with us! That same morning we had the opportunity to present during the morning service at our church, and between the services and the dessert night we raised almost 10% of our monthly support (in one day!) with more anticipated to come in over the coming weeks! That brings us extremely close to 50% of our monthly support raised ... Definitely a glass half-full! Thank you to the many people who came out, gave, prayed, or help prepare food for the night!

Now as we head in to the summer, we are excited by all the activities that are planned or yet to be planned. We have church presentations and weddings, camping and road trips, air shows and soccer games, retreats and charity golf tournaments. If you don't see us for several weeks at a time you know why... we're gearing up for a busy, busy summer! That being said, we would love to meet up and share conversation, encouragement and fellowship over frozen yogurt, an iced coffee, or a good old-fashioned backyard barbecue! 

Here's to a fabulous May and the start of an amazing summer! We thank God for each and everyone of you and pray His blessings on your summer!