Just a Teensy Update

 Hi friends. It's been... a while.

Here's a super quick rundown in case you haven't seen me on any other type of social media over the last seven years:

2018

A very weird year, but eventually I began dating my now-husband Ney. 
(I had met him in Cambodia 5 years before - see if you can spot him in this post ;) - hint: I referred to him as the "mission youth pastor")

2019

Married my husband in Walla Walla before we moved out to Berrien Springs, Michigan for him to return to school at Andrews University.

2020

Had our first baby (during a pandemic).

2021

Moved to Montana for my husband's first pastoral position. We left some amazing friends back in Michigan!

2022

Had our second baby (to put it very short!).

2023

Moved to my husband's second pastoral position. Also, we took a trip to Cambodia and Thailand for the first time since before we got together. Ney hadn't been back to Asia since he had originally left seven years before! I hadn't been there in about six years. And the kids had never met their Cambodian family. We loved our trip and already miss the warm weather and the beauty of the Southeast Asian culture.

2024

Lots has already happened, but one of my biggest bucket list items finally came true: I saw a terrific aurora borealis (northern lights) show right off my back porch!! It was incredible and I hear it was the best in 20 years so I'm very glad I was able to see it. Additionally, this summer, Ney will finally be sworn in as a US citizen. We will finally all use the same passports, which is so exciting and reassuring. I have a feeling we'll do a bit more international travel once that happens!

---

And here we are. Life is very different from what it was ten years ago in Cambodia! I miss those days and we still hope to someday return to Southeast Asia. But for now, God has stationed us in Montana and we are (still) learning to connect with the people here.

Ney, while busy with his pastor's work and of course his family, is busy working on his doctorate in Intercultural Studies from Andrews University. I am also working on school as I never finished it when I was younger - I'm doing a BA in Graphic Design and Media Arts through Southern New Hampshire University. (Totally recommend it.) I'm also working on the side, though it's hard to fit much onto my already busy plate.

Our kids are still little but they are growing up so fast. They love hanging out with their friends at and outside of church.

Lately I dropped social media because, ugh. It's so annoying and I was due to do that a long time ago. I do miss people though so I'm going to try and share here occasionally just for fun.

If you are still following blogs (who does anymore?) I'd love to hear from you. Drop a comment below to let me know what you are up to!

Hooftrek

A couple of my good friends from Wat Preah Yesu have dreamed a big dream and acted on it... and God has blessed abundantly.

Kathleen, Khzak, and the grade 9 class.

Meet Hooftrek - a project I'm excited about!

In a nutshell, Hooftrek is a horsemanship program for young people, to help them gain confidence and learn more about themselves and their Father in heaven. There are lots of teenagers at the school and orphanage at Wat Preah Yesu, many of which who need this training experience to guide them through their troubles. It's an awesome opportunity!

Leang riding Khzak

This morning I heard a neat Hooftrek story...

One of my previous students, Leang, is one of the brightest and most diligent kids in his class. He's also one of the quietest. He generally keeps to himself and goes about his business. I've seen him grin a few times, but it's definitely a rare occasion.

According to Ely and Kathleen, Leang has already been spending a lot of time with the horses, learning how to lead, feed, and bathe them (it helps that he lives right next door). Yesterday, while the girls were working with Khzak on their school holiday, Leang came over to visit. He has watched them work the horses before, and has been getting braver when handling them. So Ely and Kathleen took some time and taught Leang how to lunge the horses.

Later that evening, they let Leang be led around on Khzak. The horse was calm and well-behaved, and the hardest part was getting Leang off the horse!

Can you tell?! ;)

Just look at that smile!

There are more details and plenty of neat stories about how God has provided, at the Hooftrek blog over here.

And now it's easier than ever to offer financial support for the program - straight through Jesus for Asia! Click here to head over there. Scroll down the list (about nine down) and find "Hooftrek."

Keep praying for their ministry, that God will continue to lead, provide classroom teachers to fill in for Kathleen and Ely, and guide many young people closer to Him.

The journey begins

And... I'm on my way. It's already been nearly three weeks since I left home and returned to Walla Walla. Home is here, too, but I left a part of my heart behind me. I'm loving the new experiences and spending so much time with my family, but I will never ever forget the family I have in Inchy. Leaving home is easier said than done!

Forever family (Photo: Schane Johnson)

Love these people! (Photo: Schane Johnson)

My first week at home, I got to live with a bunch of guys. My mom wasn't home yet from a trip to Colorado, so I got to relieve the bachelors of KP duty and cleaning the house. They constructed a room for me in the family room out of bookcases and my dresser and bed, and after I got around to putting all of my unneeded earthly possessions in another corner, it turned out to be quite cozy. I have the best view in the house, too!

My mom finally returned, and so we all enjoy having our family back together again. She and I have been spending some time outside in the garden, planting and weeding and setting up hoses and sprinklers. The garden out back is actually made up of eight large plots, and four we share with other families. It's neat to get to know more people just through having them in our back yard on occasion!

I've already been quite involved with the youth group here. There are so many youth here (it's a multi-college town, after all!) and it is special to spend more time getting to know each of them rather than just the general hi-and-bye that happened when I used to come for a weekend visit. Since my family lives in town, people drop by quite often and so life is never boring!

Last weekend was the Pathfinder Fair - which was basically in my backyard. Very cool! I was gone all day Sabbath but on Sunday I headed over to the academy and got to see several of the old-timer directors and district coordinators. The kids are all different, but it's so special to me to see those dedicated leaders still all about kids. It's their life, and they aren't stopping anytime soon. They have such a huge influence and impact in those kids' lives. It made me remember just how much I love Pathfinders! My main goal of visiting was to watch the drill teams do their performance, so I joined the crowd. Drilling and marching is one of my very favorite parts of Pathfinders and I used to call commands for a few teams way back when. And... certain people in this conference know that, hehe. So, when they turned up short on judges, they spotted me and asked me to judge. Yay! I got to have an eagle eye on those kids' performance, and I really enjoyed it. Many teams did quite well!

As for mission plans, those are coming together well. Last week I got my ticket to Cambodia! It definitely seems more final now. I will be leaving on Sunday, August 25. This week, I was also officially accepted into AFM's missionary training program, and so I'm looking forward to that! That will begin July 15 and go until August 10. Things are happening and I am excited to see what God has in store!

Day-to-day life is different for sure. I've gone running in the mornings with Joey several times and have walked 4-5 miles a couple times now in the evenings. The road by our house is so beautiful out towards the wheat fields! I've also worked in the garden, helped my grandpa prepare his family history book for publishing, practiced my violin, and done some long-distance proofreading for YD. Life is simple and yet there's still plenty that goes on!

Here are a few pictures of recent happenings:

Balloon stampede - the balloons took off behind our house!

Kenny headed out to the Pathfinder Fair on Sabbath morning

Little onions, part of a bigger onion plant!

Sunshine on an evening walk

Kenny's babies (my charges while he's gone camping)!

It's over

Camp came... and went.

Registration...

Child Evangelism class

RC Airplanes class

Digital Photography class

Firebuilding class

Health Evangelism class

A few spare minutes...

Unit sharing - each person shares from their devotions 

Line call

Second week campfire

Fishers of Men unit

One of those who caught the fire :)

Sabbath afternoon outreach - Health Evangelism class

Listening...

Even though I was sequestered away up in my little office on the hill for most of camp, I had a few special opportunities to spend time with campers during the space of two weeks. Choir practice afforded me a spot next to a camper who made a very special decision by the end of the week (see her counselor's post here).  Two nights as a relief counselor put me in the youngest girls' unit one night and the oldest unit the next - very different!  One Friday afternoon I spent some time with the RC Airplanes class. With each wedge into the camp experience, I was able to spend quality time with individuals who were willing to talk and share their heart. It was so special!

Only three nights ago, I sat on a log bench and listened to teen after teen share how much Christ meant to them, how they had been changed because of camp, and how they were going to live their lives differently than before. More than one made a public 100% commitment to Christ - and I could tell they were serious.

Just imagine how quickly God's work could get done with consecrated young people like these sharing with everyone they know! Life is tough, and there are obstacles to overcome. But with God's strength, these youth can go anywhere and do anything for Him! I can't wait to see the way He leads their lives. :)

"With such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Saviour might be carried to the whole world! How soon might the end come—the end of suffering and sorrow and sin!"*

*Education, page 272

Photos by Jonathan Hill.

Rocks = hearts

On my way back up to my creekside office from Earth Lodge, I often stop at the rock garden, which records campers and counselors from years gone by at Young Disciple Youth Bible Camp. It's a lot of fun to examine the jumbled array of faded names, years, and creativity. Each one prompts a memory of the person it represents.

Photo: Heidi Reinecke

Photo: Heidi Reinecke

But when I walked by the other day, a different realization hit me. As I looked over the rocks, it dawned on me...

These represent hearts.

Each rock stands for one young person whose life has been influenced in some way or another by the camp(s) they attended.

It's not just a few rocks, either. There's a whole pile. Think about it: a minimum of 60 campers per week (usually many more than that). Multiply that by the number of camps held at YD since moving to Washington in 1999 (at least 24 if not more). It adds up!

These campers have left their mark at YD, but YD has left its mark on their hearts. And they will never be the same. God spoke to them at camp, and whether they listened or not, they were pointed toward the goal of establishing a living relationship with Jesus. It's our prayer that they will follow after that goal!

In just five days, counselors will arrive to begin orientation, to learn how to reach the hearts of their campers and draw them to Jesus. Pray that they will be able to consecrate their minds and hearts to God so He can use them to change lives.

Pray for the campers. Pray that their hearts will be touched by the words, the actions, the sights, the sounds, the messages of YD Camp. Pray that they won't pass up the opportunity to learn how to live a true, happy, and fulfilled Christian life.

Just pretty rocks? Not at all. They're so much more. And I want to be a part of the influence for eternity!

Won't you pray?

Young Disciple Youth Bible Camp: July 11-29, 2012

Purpose

I wave my little blue keychain across the keypad to deactivate the alarm. Beep! I step inside the office. A stream of sunshine greets me through the window. Setting my bags on the cabinet next to my desk, I slide my notebook out of its case and snap it into the dock. Power on…

So begins my day.

Every so often, I shiver with excitement as I realize a simple fact: I love my job.

It's an amazing combination of creative graphic design and spiritual encouragement for young people. To the casual observer, it might seem like a regular job, but it's not. Not at all. My work has purpose. I don't work for the sake of climbing any corporate ladder, or enticing people through design to buy needless products. I work for a much higher goal:

Inspiring young people to follow Jesus.

Suddenly, I’m no longer sitting in my chair. I’m kneeling by my bed, agonizing—a frustrated 15-year-old at the end of her rope. A longing inside me burns for something that will satisfy my heart, and change me. Nothing is working. I don’t know what to do.

Then I remember. I reach into my bedside drawer, underneath my Bible, and pull out a purple-tinted magazine. I open it to the middle, the Bible lesson. The title: Conversion and Righteousness by Faith. Could this possibly hold what I’m looking for?

And so began my study of the Young Disciple Bible lessons. Each one encouraged me to dig deeper in the Word, and strengthen my connection with Jesus. On the days I spent time studying in the morning, I actually had peace throughout my day.

The memory fades. I lean back in my chair and smile at the sunshine. I smile at the ways God reached me, and I long to be the means to reach other young people who are searching in the same way. The work I do, the work I love, is this means. God not only fills my desire for purpose, but inspires young people to serve Him. Isn't He amazing?

His dreams

Wow. Talk about inspiration to get out and tell people about Jesus! My friend Sammy showed this video at our church evangelism training class and it re-motivated me to my true purpose in life.

Something I learned while at AFCOE: Once you've learned the principles of evangelism, you can't just go back to your regular job and say that it was a great and awesome experience. You become accountable to use what you learned for the rest of your life. Your calling in life is soul winning. 

You might be a mechanic, a nurse, a designer, a student, a lawyer, a writer, a cashier, an IT, or any number of things, but that is only your way to earn money and survive. Your actual occupation is to be a soul winner.

Don't make the mistake of following your own dreams when God's are so much more grand than you could ever imagine. He has a special work for you to do, even if simply at home, and He will give you the courage and energy to do it. Be prepared for a life of ultimate adventure!

Lord, send me anywhere, only go with me.

Lay any burden on me, only sustain me.

Sever every tie, save the tie that binds me to Thy heart.

Discovery of the year

Hello to the new year! Somehow I sense that this year is just going to be the very best ever. I have been inspired and changed by GYC, and I want to carry its principles home with me. I want to work more than ever for God's service. I want my church to be revived. I want prayer to be a huge part of my life. I want to do all I can to reach souls for Jesus. But there's something different than I've had before. Something that's somehow been overlooked, even though it's stood right in front of me for as long as I have known. A requirement that precedes all priorities and desires to do right:

I must constantly be in contact with Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit's power.

Last year I tried to do all I could to be of service to God. But that's just what happened--it was all that I could do, which isn't worth anything at all! By the end of last year (2011), I was so tired out from everything I was trying to do that I just couldn't grow any more. But I've made the above discovery that was an obvious one. A "duh" moment...

There is NO WAY that I can do any of the things God wants me to do without His strength, and without being filled with His Holy Spirit. I've been a fool to even attempt those things!

This year, 2012, I want to rethink my plans. Over the past week, I have been evaluating the last year and deciding what needs to change. But even now, I'm not so sure that those plans are what God would have me do every day. I pray that as I decide on my goals and aims, the Lord will shape me to be more like Him.

I want to reach my home town. I want to do my utmost best at work. I want my church to experience true revival. I want to entrust my future to my Creator.

And how is this to be done?

Only through the divine strength of the Holy Spirit. Through quality time spent before His throne, in prayer and study of His Word.

A happy new year to you!

Morning Manna

Just thought I'd tell you about one of my little personal ministries, inside of my work at YD. It's an e-mail sharing group where young people (and some older ones too!) give tidbits of what they've learned in their devotional time. It's really encouraging to see what everyone has shared! If you'd like more information, e-mail me at morningmanna@youngdisciple.com. I'll be happy to tell you more! :-)