Abi Update

I love my Daddy and Mommy. Daddy took me down the slide at the play-place, and we matched on Saint Patrick’s Day. I love it when Mommy lets me cook with her. In the picture, I’m making cookies for Daddy.

April Prayer

Camp. We are still in need of two more guy cabin leaders. Please pray for guys who will be a good fit for the program, who love Jesus and are excited about working with junior high students. Also, pray I will have wisdom as I design curriculum for the Cabin Leaders.

Seminary. Pray that things will fall into place with regard to housing and job while we are in Louisville. Also, since we will be at camp this summer, a lot of our packing and getting ready to move will take place before the middle of May. Pray we will be patient and wise.

Anna Grace. Only two more weeks till her due date. The reality is that Anna Grace could come tomorrow, and she will undoubtedly be here by the next time you receive a letter from us. Pray that Anna would be a happy and healthy baby. Pray for us as the season of sleeplessness and crying children will be upon us soon. It will no doubt be a big adjustment for us from one child to two. Pray for a patient grace in the midst of stress. Finally, pray that Abigail will learn quickly how to be a big sister. Pray she won’t be too jealous of the attention Anna receives, and that she will learn to nurture from her mom.

Pictures and Words

A picture is worth a thousand words, goes the not-so-old adage. This month has been quite busy.

A trip to Louisville. At the beginning of the month, I took abrief trip to Louisville where we will be moving in the fall. I had hoped to get some things figured out for jobs, housing, and a church. There is still work to do, but the trip went very well.

South Field burning. Each year, we try to burn the dead grass at Youthfront Camp South in the early spring. Our hope is that burning will help control the tick population, in addition to eliminatingthe possibility of uncontrolled grass fires. It’s always a quite enjoyable, adrenaline producing event. This year Topher (my brother and co-worker) brought my nephew Cameron along for the adventure.

Head-quarters projects. To help resolve my support shortfall, I’ve been taking on about 10 hours/week of Youthfront Headquarters maintenance responsibilities. I wish I could show you the list of projects completed since I started taking on these responsibilities. Everything from replacing furnace filters, to oiling the boiler pump every month, to organizing tool rooms, to re-wiring a kitchen grease pit pump (what a mess!), to setting up phone lines, to clearing unused offices, to finding a lost vehicle...

Summer Staff preparation. This month, I’ve been working on putting together curriculum for the cabin leaders for the summer. Also, we’ve continued to do interviews in our search for summer staff. This past week, we had two guys decide not to come, which means we are in need of a couple guy cabin leaders for this summer. If you know anyone, point them towards the website (youthfront.com).

Engage Parent Event. This past weekend, was the Engage parent event featuring Marv Penner, who is an internationally known speaker for youth ministry. It was a wonderful event. I don’t think we could have been more pleased. We had at least a couple hundred parents come, and many of them stayed long after the event was over asking questions and talking to Dr. Penner.

A seminary course. I’m currently taking a seminary course from Southern Seminary where I will be attending in the fall. The name of the course is “Personal Evangelism.” It has provided a lot of opportunity for me to wrestle with the nature of the gospel and the practical implications for evangelism. I’ve especially enjoyed discussing the topic with some of the people on staff here at Youthfront.

Baby Coming! We are only a couple of weeks (or days) away from our new baby arriving! At a recent sonogram, we discovered that she is in the perfect position for birth; head-down and facing toward the back. We also have discovered that she likes to stick her bottom toward the sky, and curl her knees under her.

In Youthfront News. This month, I was in the Youthfront News to commemorate five years working for Youthfront (actually 6 years).

Cabin 16 painting. Yesterday, I spent most of the day painting the inside of the new Cabin 16 at Youthfront Camp West. The new cabin will be ready for this summer. It looks really good.

Going West and East

Over the last couple months, there have been some significant changes in our plan for the next year. I would like to tell you about them.

At the end of our first semester with Youthfront Mission Institute in 2008, we discovered some really important things about ourselves and our ministry.

First, I loved working with college students. I found that their intellectual ability, their availability, and their passion were so motivating and enjoyable for me that I could not see myself doing anything else. Not to mention, God seems to grant the most fruit in my ministry when I work with college students.

Second, the 24/7 ministry context we experienced for six months at YMI made us realize that such an all-consuming ministry was not sustainable for us as a family. Too much depended on me as director, and the seclusion kept us from the primary means by which we experience God’s encouragement, namely the local church.

Third, I discovered a desire to help people grow in the context of their everyday lives: doing their jobs, going to school, finding their spouses, raising their kids, reaching out to their friends, caring for their poor and elderly, and so on. There is tremendous value to seasons of rest and recovery. However, my desire is to help them maintain their faith and grow when they’re not at YMI or camp.

In addition to these discoveries, for the last few months it seems God has been transitioning us away from Youthfront. Through a series of events which includes the addition of a couple full-time YMI staff, God has made us willing to leave knowing the ministry we launched is not dependent on our involvement.

For these reasons (and a few others), Amanda and I have begun to transition our ministry.

This fall, we will move to Louisville, KY for about a year where I will complete my Masters of Divinity. Then, I will pursue a position which allows me to do ministry on or near a college campus. A particular city is not yet clear, but the opportunity to be daily equipping college students to reach and disciple people is very exciting to me.

Between now and September, I will be primarily doing three things.

First, I will be helping to pass-on YMI to different leaders. I will be mainly in a service role to help this next year of YMI run smoothly.

Second, because I will have more time in the spring and summer, we have decided to work one more summer at Youthfront Camp. Youthfront Camp West needed a Cabin Leader Supervisor, so I volunteered. As the cabin leader supervisor, I am responsible for hiring roughly 18 college students as cabin leaders, develop and lead the summer curriculum, and shepherd this small group of people for the summer.

Third, I will be trying to close the shortfall in my support account by taking on some Youthfront building maintenance duties and by raising a little more financial support.

If you have questions, I would be happy to talk with you. Feel free to email or call me.

Also, be sure to take a look at our prayer requests, and think about us as you spend time with God. We are, as always, desperately dependent on his care and guidance.

February Prayer Requests

Camp. This summer, I will be the Cabin Leader Supervisor at Youthfront Camp West. Pray as I begin building relationships with our future summer-staff and plan the summer curriculum. Also, I only have five spots left to fill. Pray for wisdom in the selection process.

Seminary. As we said in our letter, in the fall we will move to Louisville where I will finish my seminary education. We’ve discovered that I can go solid for about a year and be quite close to finished. Pray for us as we put together the details of our move and transition.

Family. The last few months, since Christmas break have been quite refreshing for us. The pace has slowed, and our habits have been healthier. Every year Amanda and I are married, we better understand and love each other. Pray that we will continue to grow as husband/wife, and father/mother.

Anna Grace. Amanda is just a few weeks from her due date (April 15th). Pray that the baby would remain healthy and growing. Pray that she will be a happy baby (this is especially important since we will be at camp this summer).

Abi Update

The last couple months I’ve done a lot of traveling. I visited some of Daddy and Mommy’s friends in Minneapolis, spent five days at Grandpa and Grandma’s, and was in a wedding in Ames, Iowa. I love to dance! At the wedding, I spent hours on the dance-floor.