Thanks and and Update

Thank you for all your prayers and input over the last year as we were looking into full-time Bible translation missions.  You probably know that our desire to go to the mission field predates even our marriage.  For many years we knew we needed to put this goal down as we became strong as a family.  Since mid-2011 we have been seriously considering being missionaries overseas.  There have been many things to explore, investigate and pray about – more than we ever dreamed possible.  This journey has been longer than we anticipated, but we have learned much along the way.  God has been faithful to guide us past certain opportunities that sounded ideal, but proved otherwise after missionaries gave insight and other issues were brought to light.  We have seen God’s hand slow or stop our journey  through delayed or lost emails when we were looking in the ‘wrong’ direction.  Another example of God’s providence in our path happened during a brief family vacation, when we met people on an evening walk.  They invited us to their church, where the Lord had such encouragement for us and also some helpful guidance.  What a sweet Lord we serve!

No news is big news January 2012

Our apologies for leaving our blog unattended for so long!  In January , we decided to move into our rental 'garage apartment.'   Our apartment was not renting out as usual - very few responses.  We wanted to save money on our expenses and with the house not selling, thought perhaps a rent-to-buy option might work out well for us.  After showing it to a half-dozen people and families, we started moving slowly. Then a family came and gave a deposit.  Our moving pace quickened as we had a 1 week time to be mostly out of the house.
   Approaching the move weekend, Samantha had a thought of concern about moving large items that she shouldn't do that if she was pregnant.  She then confirmed that she was and is still pregnant!
With help of friends, the old house got totally cleaned (Thanks Candace!), and everything out of the upstairs two floors.  About 3 days after getting into our new apartment home, Samantha's nausea morning sickness began (as has been our pattern) and she was confined to bed and couch for over 2 months!
    Our church family ladies gave of their time and food and came to our house to take care of the children, cleaning, and providing many meals.
Our fourth child, now 17 weeks along, is a blessing we're thankful for.  We had thoughts of having our 4th child before leaving the country.  Our baby is due September 22nd.  We plan to not get an ultrasound exam to know more about our baby before the birth.

Regarding our desire to leave the country, we are submitting our desire and timing to God, and considering our steps from where we are to going into training.
the timing may change, but this seems to be some necessary steps.

Continued Bible training for Jeff; possibly more for Samantha as well
Skill training - Jeff will be in training for ESOL - Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages May-June (4 evenings) - this can be helpful in ministry or job overseas.
*Join an agency and attend their candidate school.

   We are considering Pioneers International.   We've talked with the recruiter, and a wonderfully helpful missionary at home after many years in Indonesia, who is returning.  We are going to contact a few other families to hear how the agency works with families.

They have candidate schools in Orlando in July or December that we could attend.  Do we try to go quickly so we go before the baby is born?   Wait til December and go with a 2-month-old? wait til much later?    the only real hindrances to going in July are the need for someone to care for our children, and the financial cost of the school/room/board (and child helper).

Please pray for discernment of God's will and timing.  While we'd be happy to wait, we also believe we should start sharing our vision with others and making a widening circle of partners.  The agency we join is somewhat foundational to our mission, and the partners that will join us should know the agency we partner with.

Thanks for your reading interest and prayers!
Jeff & Samantha Young

Psalm 96

 

Here we are - the Young Family!
Psalm 96
A Song of Praise to God Coming in Judgment
1 Oh, sing to the LORD a new song!
Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing to the LORD, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
3 Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples.

4 For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the LORD made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

7 Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
Give to the LORD glory and strength.
8 Give to the LORD the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
9 Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth.

10 Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved;
He shall judge the peoples righteously.”

11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice
13 before the LORD.
For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth.

Not Too Hard

 

We recently listened to a panel discussion on the greatest needs in world evangelization. One of the men (I cannot remember his name) purposely added to the scripture to make a point. “Does the Bible say, ‘Go into all the world and preach the Gospel except to the Muss-slims?’ ”  [Note, we will not write their name correctly so as not to be searchable with that word.  We may refer to turban-covered ones as cousins, being that they are descended from Abraham.]
 He was trying to point out how we, ourselves included, often see their world as “too hard” to reach. This challenged our thinking. Is not salvation a work of the Holy Spirit?

 One of our favorite preachers, Paul Washer, shared that when he preaches in places that are hostile to the Gospel, he goes in with the frame of mind that he is going to rescue his brothers and sisters. That is what some are according to Ephesians 1:3-6,
 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself,
according to the good pleasure of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. "

Let us not see the evangelism of anyone “too hard” as the work of salvation belongs to God alone. “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

Visit with the Hare Family

 

 

We were able to host and visit with the Hare family (a mid-point for them between home and a church they were speaking at). They are with the agency called World Team, and are currently raising funds to start a Bible translation for a people group in Camaroon. They also adopted their children from Ethiopia - four, four and under! What a joy! We are able to hear their testimony of how God has led them to this point and encourage each other in the Lord. You can learn more about their family and even how to support them at Haretranslation.blogspot.com

Looking into Different Missions Agencies

Recently we have been looking into different missions agencies. There are tons! We desire to translate the Bible, so that narrows our search to less, but still the task of finding one that is a good fit for our family has not been an obvious choice. But in all our searching we have been re-educated about the need in world missions. Sometimes the task seems too large, but then again, the Bible declares, "Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales; look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. " (Isaiah 40:15)  One missionary agencyh website stated the following: "Where to begin?... Would you consider the UNENGAGED? Hundreds of Muslim people groups are unreached. But did you know that there are roughly 247 Muslim people groups with a population over 100,000 that currently don't have a single person trying to plant the gospel among them; they're unengaged. People are needed to form new teams and do the difficult task of pioneering into new areas, so that these groups might have their first witness to Christ." We are praying that the Lord would direct our path and maybe send us to one of these "unengaged" peoples. We shall see! What a journey to be on!