Looking forward to the NMC

This weekend Elizabeth and I will be going to the National Missionaries Convention down in Atlanta, GA! I've not had the opportunity in the past to attend, so I'm super excited! From what I've heard, there will be thousands of people there, all focused on growing the Kingdom of God! I'm looking forward to hearing all about the great things happening all around the globe right now. For my part, seeing so many together all working towards this same goal has always been an encouragement to me.

Along with that, we'll also get to meet with some of our friends and co workers from PBT that we haven't seen since Dallas. It will be a great chance to catch up with friends and share a little bit about how our trip has been progressing. Also, while we are in Atlanta we are hoping to meet with some Churches there, and possibly find some more people who are willing to help us get to Papua New Guinea. Right now we have around a third of what we will need for our total trip cost, so it would be great to be able to find a Church that is willing to help us with our efforts.

A short update as to what we've been up to this last month.
We are in Virginia visiting with Churches around Norfolk who have been supportive of Elizabeth in the past.
We've also been meeting with individuals in the area, at least a few of whom have decided to help us out.
Along with meeting with supporters, we also have been using the time to get some things in order with preparing our upcoming wedding! And I have enjoyed getting to know Elizabeth's family a little better while we are here.

All in all, it has been a month spent sharing our mission with friends and family, and enjoying our time travelling together.

Until next time.

P.S. Text "follow @jacobxelizabeth" to 40404 or follow us on twitter to receive updates on our trip and what we are doing!

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Travels Begin

So as I sit and write this evening, I am sitting on a rather comfortable couch in a house in Virginia. Elizabeth and I have just finished our first week of our support trip across the States! I've mentioned in the last few posts that we would be traveling together to try to find those churches and individuals who would be willing to help us on our way to Papua New Guinea, whether that be through one time gifts geared specifically at our 2 month trip this spring, or through monthly gifts to help us in the long term. I've already been astonished at how eager many have been to help us get started up. Our upcoming exploratory trip will cost us 5000 each for Elizabeth and I, which includes all of our travel and living expenses for the 60 days we're spending in Papua New Guinea, as well as the plane tickets to get us there. In the last week, we have visited with two larger Churches, a house Church, and a mid-week Bible study, as well as passing time with friends along the route. And after just this first week the Church has already given us nearly a quarter of what we need!

I feel exceedingly blessed to be in a place where the Church is placing its trust in Elizabeth and I and I eagerly look forward to the day when we can hit the field and start providing Scripture for the people of PNG. I have known for 6 years now that I would become a missionary, and this is an amazingly exciting time for me because I am finally seeing that getting to the field in a more permanent manner is truly possible.

Thank you so much to each and every one of you who are praying for us in our travels. Thanks to each of you who have taken us into your home, and to each of you who have been so willing to help spread the word of what we are doing. It means a lot.

Blessings, and good night.

Jacob

P.S. - It has been requested that I give contact information for anyone who might want to help contribute to our upcoming trip. All checks should be made out to Pioneer Bible Translators, and sent to my forwarding agent at:

1718 Fontainebleu Cres.
Norfolk, VA 23509

Thanks again, and blessings!

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I'm Engaged!

The title says it all folks! I haven't written about this yet mostly because I've been trying to get in contact with some people before they could find out from the internet, but also because the usual pressures of school and work have been interfering with time that be used for blogging. I have, however, had a couple of requests for details on how I proposed, and so I find myself making time in my day to inform the wider world of these recent events.

Our date night was on a Tuesday. Tuesday was the only night that week that I had off from work in which we did not have previous plans already made, and as such I knew that Tuesday was my day to take her out on a memorable date and propose. I had it all planned! We were going to head into Dallas proper and have a lovely Italian dinner, enjoying the fancy food. After that we were going to enter the whimsical Cinderella pumpkin-scape of the Dallas arboretum. There, among the fairy tale land of gourds, I was going to pull out a book. Now this particular book I had painstakingly spent hours of time carving and gluing into a box. And into this box I had wired in place an engagement ring. The cover said "Our Story Begins", and let's face it, doesn't that just fit perfectly with the Cinderella decor?

Well, it seems that I had not thought as much ahead as I had previously thought. The arboretum closes at 5 each weekday. No problem! Quick plan change, and dinner was now after the engagement. She might not want to eat right then when she could be showing off a ring, but we'll deal with that then. So I picked up Elizabeth at her house and began to drive. What's that? Traffic? It seems Dallas had other plans for my evening. Such is life. In truth we ended up at the quaint Italian restaurant, early for dinner yet, and found out it wasn't so much quaint as it was dingy. We then followed that up with playing cards. (A wonderful game called Dimes. Fun times) Afterwards, we headed back to her house, and hung out for awhile. By this point I was almost depressed because nothing of the evening had looked as I had hoped that it would. But nevertheless, I was determined, and so I brought Elizabeth out to the front porch to chat. I explained how much I had wanted to make the day beautiful for her, so that she would always have the memory, and pulling the book/box from my bag, I dropped to one knee. And there and then I asked her to marry me.

The day may not have looked as I had wished it to, but I was not willing to wait another day more to give her that ring. She said yes, and that sounds like the best possible beginning to a story.

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Lessons

Do you ever have the  feeling that God is trying to tell you something? 

I do. All the time I do! And this last week it seems that He has been trying to teach me about relying on Him. You see, I am a waiter. I've been waiting tables for 2 years now, and I'd like to think that I'm ok at the job. Not as great as I would like to be, but still, ok. Anyways, the other day I was waiting tables and I had a great day! I was on fire, moving quickly from table to table and never making a mistake, bringing things even before my customers asked for them. And I thought to myself "I'm gonna make some money tonight!!!" And you know what? I did. Emphasis on the "some", not on the "money". Really, I made less than I do in a typical night, and I couldn't understand it. 

The next night I was working again, and that night I was doing terribly! I dropped some food, I messed up more than one order, and I was moving so slowly it hurt to watch. Not a great night. And I thought to myself, "Man, I messed that up. Where am I going to find the money to pay those bills now?" But a funny thing happened. Even though I messed up, and even though I had fewer tables, I still somehow manged to make almost twice as much as the night before. I couldn't understand it! It was like the amount I work, and the skills I have count for nothing in the grand scheme of things! 

Click!

Oh. That's right. I can't do it all myself. I can't make everything work out in the end because I am just Human. The truth is one of the many messages that the Bible puts forth to us is this very idea. Time and again God has shown humanity that when we try to do things on our own, we fall short. It is only when we rely on God to provide for our needs, physical, spiritual, or whatever kind, that we get that which we need. In terms of salvation, we can't save ourselves. No amount of good-deeding and Bible-reading is going to save us. Jesus saves us. Has already done so, really. 

What this means for me practically in the future is this. I will be going on a trip across the country this Fall, looking for potential partners in my mission work in PNG. People who will go with me, People and Churches who will pray for me, and people and Churches who will be willing to make my going possible. I can't do it on my own. No matter how many tables I wait I won't be able to move to PNG on my own power. And so, this trip will be my way of showing that I rely on God. And on His people. Please, if anyone has any suggestions as to where I should go, let me know. And if you have a house for me to stay in while I'm there, even better. 

But now, it is time for bed. God bless, and good night.

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Trip to PNG

So, one of the big events that is coming up in my life is my trip to Papua New Guinea this coming spring. As I plan on working in PNG long term after completing my training here in Dallas, we thought it would be a good idea to let me see what the ministry looks like in Papua New Guinea so that I would have a better understanding of where I will be fitting in! Pioneer Bible Translators does not currently have a literacy specialist on the ground in Papua New Guinea, but that doesn't mean that they haven't been teaching people there how to read. Part of my trip will be seeing what methods of teaching are in place and how effective they are. This will give me a great heads up about what sort of teaching environment I will be coming into. It will also be a good time for me to see what resources may be available to me, and an opportunity to meet some of the many Papua New Guineans who are already being impacted by God's Word in their language through the efforts of Pioneer Bible Translators with their people. It will be a time for me to learn about PNG culture, and even to learn a bit of Pidgin, the trade language in the area, so that I will be even better equipped in the future to jump right in once I hit the ground.

I'm extremely excited to see what might be in store for me in PNG, and to see in what ways I can help serve these people. As such, I have already begun to talk with people about finding funds to send me over. This trip will cost $5000, including airfare, places to stay, and expenses on the ground. Of that cost I have so far only raised a small portion, but I am confident that the funds will come in. The Church has a way of sharing with and supporting one another that is absolutely amazing to behold. I feel like this is a great spot for me to go ahead and say yet another thank you to those of you who have been supporting me in my training efforts thus far. Missions is one of those wonderful things that most everyone agrees should happen, but which so many times gets pushed to the side because the people who can go haven't found those who are willing to send. I feel so blessed to have already found so many people willing to help send me to the ends of the earth to share the Word with those who have not yet heard it. Thank you so much.

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Where I Am

Session 2 of school is almost finished! I have been here at the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics (GIAL) since July, and so far I have been loving my classes! This semester I am only taking two classes, phonetics and phonology, as I am just getting started with my requirements for getting me to the field long term. Phonetics class is all about learning the sounds that humans make in order to communicate. We get to learn everything from how to make the simple every day letters all the way up to making and using clicks in language! Phonology so far has been about learning more about how the sounds that we learned in phonetics are used in languages. As phonetics draws close to its end, I am very much so looking forward to getting even more involved with my Phonology class. Understanding how people use sounds in their language is so important when it comes to teaching them to read. It really is great to be getting into classes where I can see directly how they will impact my future missions.

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