Marcel and Kelly Boers: Significance, Baseball, Easter, and Prayer/Praise

It's been a busy stretch of life. Day in and day out of work, play with kids, sleep, repeat. The missionary life is so exciting, right?

And yet ... there are little, daily treasures ... mercies ... that God has left for us along the way.

Significance
A recent blog post by a friend left Marcel speechless. In the midst of a difficult week--one plane problem after another, parts stuck in customs, too many flights and not enough hours in the day ... our friend Dr. Tim reminded us of the beauty and foolishness of our work in Angola. How our work is not without curse (ie. the original curse), but we have a loving, victorious God and a network of Jesus-loving, big-hearted people who care about our work! (That's YOU, in case you are wondering!)

Read the blog here: https://kubackisinangola.com/2018/03/29/tragedy-jesus-body-much-sweat-beauty/

Baseball
Okay, so y'all may know that I don't really like sports. I've never been very good at them. But ... at our tiny school of 25 kids, I've discovered a beautiful, unifying thing ... baseball.

Let me explain ... in a school of 25 kids, somehow us teachers have to work magic ... P.E. magic, that is. We have to teach P.E. from K-Gr. 12 ... at the same time. Talk about scaffolding and individualizing!

But these past few weeks ... amidst bullying problems, lack of motivation, personal issues ... baseball has been the one time of week where ALL the kids seem to get along and be happy. And ENCOURAGE one another! Who knew? And the crazy thing is that none of them knew how to play baseball 6 weeks ago!

So maybe, just maybe, I am thankful to God for sport and the power it has to unify.

Easter
Easter weekend (and the following week of vacation from school!) brought rest to our family. And a chance to recharge.

See, in case you didn't know, church isn't exactly a guaranteed place to get fed and relax on the mission field. Maybe, in some locations or some weeks it is, but for many missionaries, it isn't. It's the one place where language, culture, cranky children, hot weather and spiritual warfare collide on a weekly basis. (Can I get an amen from anyone out there? Or maybe just from parents whose church doesn't have a Sunday school program for toddlers?)

Anyway, this past weekend, we purposely set aside an afternoon to study from a David Platt Secret Church study called "The Cross and Suffering" and it was a beautiful chance to be challenged and fed in our own language.There were wayyyyy too many good points to cover in one blog post, but I highly recommend the study to anyone who really wants to understand a biblical view of suffering! I'll add the link, but one big take away that I got is that true gospel sees suffering as a means to treasure God more deeply. Say what!? Yes, God would use even suffering to draw us close to Him--He will do whatever it takes, He wants first priority, all of us, a relationship so deep and wide and sanctified ...

Romans 8:28-29, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."

Anyway, if you are struggling with the Biblical purpose behind suffering (Why is there suffering? What is God's purpose in it? How does the Bible treat suffering of all types?), I highly recommend this comprehensive study (inc. a manual and videos) by David Platt: http://radical.net/secret_church/secret-church-12-the-cross-and-suffering/

Praise and Prayer
I'd like to end offering some prayer and praise for our ministry and life, as I know that (PRAISE GOD!) so many of you lift us up in prayer throughout the year, and this just comforts us so much! Thank you wonderful people!!!!

Praise God this week for Ethan--he will be turning 3 years old on April 5!
Praise God as well for the wonderful Tias (Aunties, or Nannies) who have been watching Ethan and Avro over the past few weeks/months and really been such a blessing to us and my work at the school.
Praise God that MAF's airplane parts that were held in bond in customs were finally released ... many weeks later, but still, in Marcel's hands now!
Praise God that the other teacher, Mrs. Helena, is back from Namibia with a new, healthy baby boy and will return to teach at the school soon!
Pray for Avro's visa to get approved (he's currently on a 30-day visa that gets renewed every month, but he needs his year visa).
Pray for the school and how I, Kelly, along with the other teachers, can continue to support, challenge, and bless the students not just academically, but spiritually (feeling very challenged by this lately--how can I be more than just a teacher, but also a disciple maker?)
Pray for many flights in the month ahead ... for safety, fruitfulness, and of course, the ongoing CHALLENGE of maintaining those three, finicky airplanes!!

Much love and blessings ...

Kelly

Other wonderful, small (and big) mercies over the last few weeks ...