We've moved...
Posted by Jesse and Sarah Dempsen , Saturday, November 5, 2011 5:47 PM
...our blog:
|
0
comments
What does your average day look like?
4 days ago
SPLICE, week one
Posted by Sarah , Saturday, October 22, 2011 8:31 PM
What an amazing adventure this month has been! God has been so good to us.
For those of you who can't keep up with our life and where are and where we're headed (don't worry, we can't either!), here's a little list:
We moved all of our belongings except 3 suitcases and a few carry-on sized bags into storage on October 4 and drove to Spokane, where we spent the next week participating in Foothills Community Church's missions conference. It would be an understatement to say that we were so blessed and encouraged by this time there!
Then back to Seattle on October 14, where we enjoyed a day and a half with my family. Then on October 16, we got our two girls on a plane (a serious feat of trusting in God!) and flew to Colorado. We had been generously given two guest tickets from a pilot friend, which meant we were flying standby. I was anxious, but we got right on the first flight of the morning and were in Denver by 11 am mountain time! We spent the night in Denver before driving down to Palmer Lake, which is outside of Colorado Springs, for our three week missions training at MTI (Missions Training International). The training we are participating in is called SPLICE (an acronym for the different areas covered: Spiritual, Personal, Lifestyle, Interpersonal, Cultural, and Endurance/Enjoyment).
It is hard to describe just what we are doing at SPLICE but I should really make an effort. We spend the mornings and afternoons in training, under teachers who have significant experience in cross-cultural missions and/or missionary care. The insight they are blessed with is amazing and I can't imagine going on the field without this specific preparation. It is a holistic approach to teaching and has a strong emphasis on community building - in part to develop close relationships with like-minded Christians going to many places in the world - and in part to help us put into practice things we are learning about ourselves, communication, bearing up under stress, conflict management, and more.
It is a great joy to spend so much time with these new friends who are preparing to move around the world in service of our great King. There are people here going to so many different countries but we all have the same goal and same mission. Thank you, Lord, for the many gifts you have given your children to minister to so many places in the world!
Pennies Pennies Pennies!
Posted by Sarah , Wednesday, July 27, 2011 2:19 PM
I have attended the same church, (First EPC), for most of my life. As I grew up, I attended VBS there every summer starting at age 5, and then helped as a teacher throughout junior high and high school! I haven't been able to be a part of it for the past 10 years, since I have always had to work, but it was surreal to be asked to be the VBS missionaries this year! Jesse and I had such fun going from class to class sharing about our ministry, the needs on the Rez, and being blessed by the interest, prayers, and questions of the children. It is so refreshing to share with kids, who have such a simple and uncomplicated interest about the people we love so well. Adelaide got to be part of VBS in the 2-year-old room (even though she's not yet two - she had so much fun with the other kids!) and Amelia spent the week happily snuggled up to me or Jesse...
Every year, toward the end of the week, there is a huge penny drive and all the money that comes in goes to the missionaries of the week. I remember the penny drive as a huge highlight of my childhood, since the winning class gets an ice cream party on Friday! It was really amazing to be on the other side as an adult and see the pennies come pouring in. We were blessed with almost $600 from the drive and whatever else came in as offering the rest of the week. The Lord has truly blessed us through the wonderful adults and children at our church, and He is clearly providing the funds for us to be able to go to our training, SPLICE, in Colorado in October!
Last but definitely not least, we are so excited to have had some sponsors step forward who are interested in sponsoring kids for the after-school program we will be starting, Lord willing, this fall or early winter! We continue to move forward with our plans to move and trust that He will provide the last bit of money we need along with housing. Everything we see, read, and hear lately seems to be pushing us to step out in faith, to rest in His promises, to remember that He has brought us this far and will continue to do the work He has started- and we are getting EXCITED! As it stands today, we have reached 84% of our monthly income in pledges, meaning we are only waiting on the Lord to provide about $900 before we are at 100% of our budgeted needs! Friends, the time is near that we will be able to move on the field and get our feet on the ground! Praise the Lord!
Stories from the Team Week June 19-24
Posted by Jesse , Monday, June 27, 2011 1:55 PM
I had the privilege of spending a few days out on the Rez this past week with teams from Faith Bible Church in Seattle and Faith Presbyterian Church in Tacoma. It's amazing how much the place is becoming a part of me; even though we've yet to live there, going there feels in many ways like coming home.
A story:
I met a little four-year-old named Jake at kid's club on Friday. It was his first time there. We played cars under a tree, making roads in the dirt with him and a couple other friends. Then we went to the table where a team member was making balloon animals and got a balloon sword, which of course Jake spent much of the rest of our time there slashing me to pieces with, and giggling like crazy as I pretended to be hurt.
But the highlight was storytime. We sat down under the shade of the tree in the field at Totus Park, Jake in my lap, and listened to Joshua tell the story of Jesus entertaining children to the chagrin of his disciples. Upon hearing the proclamation that "Jesus loves children," Jake grew incredulous. "What! Me too?" he asked me.
"Yeah, Jake, Jesus loves you, too."
"Why?!?" he asked in disbelief.
"Jesus loves all children, Jake. He wants to be friends with all of them."
He seemed satisfied with this, and went back to listening to the story. I, however, was moved to reflect on the wonder Jake expressed when hearing, presumably for the first time, of the love of Jesus. We don't often think too much about the "why" anymore, and forget that it's truly incredible, nearly unbelievable news to hear that God loves us despite so many reasons not to.
And it makes me all the more anxious to be there, sharing the gospel with more kids like Jake, and seeing the wonder on their faces as they hear about the unconditional love He offers them.
And an observation:
At the end of the team week, a number of the youth and adults from the community who had worked alongside the team all week shared their thoughts about the impact working with the team had had on them and ways they'd seen God moving that week. And two things struck me during that time. The first was how amazing it was to see so many kids and adults whose lives have been changed through the influence of Sacred Road. And the second was how miraculous it all is: not only are these people whose lives are changed, but whose eternities are changed permanently. These are people who have moved from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of the Beloved Son. And it's even more miraculous when considering all the cultural, historical, and social hurdles and roadblocks put up between them and the salavation they need. To see such a thriving core of young people who are so clearly impacted by their relationships with the Sacred Road people is, for lack of a better word, amazing. And I can't wait to be a part of it.
Why An After-School Program?
Posted by Jesse , Monday, May 9, 2011 2:16 PM
Why the focus on education? Not because we believe it's a solution to all the problems in the community, but because a) it's a need that's felt deeply by the Yakama people, and b) because it gives an opportunity to love kids and share the gospel with them. It's a discipleship thing.
Over half the population of the Yakama tribe is under the age of 18, meaning that the next generation of Yakamas outnumbers all other generations combined. They are indeed "the future," and as that generation goes, so goes the people. That's a large part of why Sacred Road focuses so heavily on children's ministry, and why they've had the vision for an after-school program. The importance of teaching kids learning skills and a love of knowledge in a Christian context is incalculable.
We're called to love our neighbors. And while this command does have ties to the Great Commission's command to go into every nation, they are not one in the same. Loving our neighbors is not limited to preaching the gospel to them, though preaching the gospel cannot ever be excluded from genuine love. Conversely, preaching the gospel to someone is not necessarily a loving act in and of itself. Preaching the gospel should come from a motivation to love the person being preached to, because love looks out for the interest of the other regardless of whether the person receives the word given or not.
In that case, education is a means of love. A child knows they're falling behind and struggling in school. They don't like the feeling of failure; they want to do better. It is therefore an act of love for us to meet that need and instruct them, helping them to understand and succeed. And in doing so, we can also preach the gospel, having earned the right to be heard by way of the love we've shown. In this way it doesn't matter whether we've "won a convert" or not: we have loved our neighbor by helping them and sharing with them the means for a life abundant, without requiring anything in return.
But I'm waxing philosophical again. Here's the scoop: the plan for when we get on the Rez is to start small with a handful or two of kids, meeting a couple times a week to have time to do some homework, and to practice reading and learning skills. It'll be a time where we practice teaching kids how to love learning and discovery. More than that, though, it'll be a time of relationship building, of reassuring kids that they are loved, not only by us, but ultimately by their Creator.
I'm excited, especially feeling like the dream's approaching a reality as we pull closer to our total support level. I hope that, when our feet are on the ground there, we'll be able to report back stories of the challenges and success we'll have in this endeavor. It's getting closer, praise God!
Amelia Kay
Posted by Jesse and Sarah Dempsen , Monday, May 2, 2011 10:50 AM
Our family grows to four now.
Jericho
Posted by Jesse , Tuesday, March 15, 2011 9:59 AM
Why, in the case of the fall of Jericho, did God instructed the Israelites to march around the walls for seven days before they came down? Was there some sort of correlation between the marching and trumpet-blowing which caused the walls' foundations to be weakened? If so, why did He instruct them to only do it once a day for seven days? And why seven times on the last day? Was it some secret combination to unlock the foundations, or was there a greater purpose?
While I wouldn't discount entirely a link between the act and the subsequent falling of the walls, I think the principle behind it is the greater point here. God, through Joshua, is asking the Israelites to trust Him. There was no reason for them to think that circling the city once a day for a week would do anything to bring the walls down. There was no reason why they shouldn't have attempted a traditional siege and starved the residents out. But God told them He would give them into their hands, provided they followed His directions. And while His directions didn't make any sense to them, they followed His commands, and He gave them the victory.
This month I've been thinking a lot about Jericho. In some ways I see what we're doing in raising support as the same kind of obedience, circling the walls simply because that's what God has told us we're supposed to do right now. As hard as we might try to knock the wall down on our own, it has to be done in God's timing. We can't do it on our own. God often puts us through things that don't make any sense to us and require us to trust Him. This is a time where we're learning that He works in His ways, and they're always better and always on time.
And lately we've gotten the sense that we're in the victory lap, that's it's the seventh day, and we're making our seven circles around the walls. We've seen cracks forming - doors opening to churches, new supporters pledging, and small, everyday miracles - that have shown us that God is moving still. He's called us to this battle and has given us our orders; we can only obey and trust that He will carry out His promises.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)