Final Countdown!!

June has been a busy month!  We have been packing our 300+ lbs of luggage, packing up our home, and saying good-bye to friends and family.  We thank God for meeting our needs for financial support and for final clearance from AIM!  We have felt your prayers and can't wait to share our mission in Africa with you!! 

John has worked hard to pack each bag to weigh 50 lbs!

Here are some important dates coming up:

July 2- Commissioning Service at Lone Jack Baptist Church, EVERYONE IS INVITED!!  Church begins at 10 a.m.  

July 5 Leaving Day!  Once we arrive in Kenya we will spend several nights at a Missionary Guest House to adjust to the time change and recover from the 24+ hours of traveling.

July 11- August 1 African Based Orientation, We will attend ABO for three weeks.  We won't have access to reliable internet, so we may not be able to post updates while at training.

During the first week of August we will get settled into our new home at RVA. In August we will also have New Staff Orientation and Staff Inservices.  School starts on Aug. 28.

Once we arrive in Kenya, we will have a lot to learn while adjusting to our new home.  We would appreciate your prayers!  

Here are our specific prayer requests:

*Please pray for our hearts, attitudes, emotions, and patience as we pack our home, finish our "to do" list, and say good-bye to family and friends.

*Please pray for our family and friends as they say good-bye to us, learn to Skype, and wait for updates.

*Please pray for a smooth plane ride.  Pray that we will make our connecting flights, we will get rest on the plane, and our luggage will ALL arrive safely.  We are looking forward to flying with the girls.  It will be a long trip, but our girls love to travel.  We are excited to share this experience with them!  We have been reading books about planes and visited the KCI airport to help prepare them.

*Please pray for Ruthie and Gracie and their transition to orientation and our new home. As you can see from our schedule, it will be close to four weeks before we are settled in our home.  This may be challenging for our family.

*Please pray for our time at Orientation.  Pray that John and Becky will learn valuable information and the twins will enjoy their time with the child care workers and other children.

*Please pray for the leaders at ABO and other families attending.  Pray that everyone attending ABO will be safe while traveling and adjust to the time change and new environment.

If you would like to hear the sermon John shared at Lone Jack Baptist Church on April 9, then visit the website below.  John shares more about our mission in Africa   http://www.lonejackbaptist.org/index_files/LJBC_sermon_04092017.mp3

  

Thank you for being part of our team and for your prayers!!  Please send us your prayer requests!  We would love to pray for you and your family too!  If you would like to receive our email updates, then send us your email address via the contact us button on the right side of our blog.

Losing my Identity

I have, for the past thirty-one years, identified myself as a public school teacher.  I became a public school teacher by choice. I gladly entered the classroom and believed I was making a difference.  I have taught everything from second grade to eighth in the public schools, and I have served a multitude of roles including elementary classroom teacher, special education teacher, middle school Social Studies teacher, and Process Coordinator. There have been times I have stepped away from public school, namely when I was working at Rift Valley Academy, but I have always returned to the classroom. I have loved my career.  I have considered it a calling and I have considered it an honor to serve the parents and student.

On Wednesday, May 24th, all of that changed as I joined the ranks of "retired teachers." I ended my career teaching fifth grade.  I have had many excellent students over the years, and my final class was no exception.  They were kind, respectful, resourceful, and hard working.  A teacher can ask for no more than that from a group of kids.  I have prayed for these kids in the morning before school starts and when I knew some were struggling. I will continue to pray for them as they come to mind. It was hard to say good-bye to them as they left on Tuesday.  I felt quite melancholy as I cleaned out my room on Wednesday, said goodbye to teammates, handed in my badge and keys, and walked out the door for the last time. 

I am no longer a public school teacher.  I have lost that identity. But in losing that identity I am reminded that our true identity is found in Christ.  In Christ, we are a new Creation.  In Christ, we are redeemed. In Christ, our sins are forgiven.  In Christ there is hope and life and salvation.  My identity as a public school teacher is gone.  My identity in Christ remains intact.  

In 38 days, I will regain another identity I treasure; that of MK teacher, or Missionary Kid teacher. Please keep us in your prayers as we pack up our house and say good-bye to friends and family for the next couple of years.  Pray for our transition to Africa, for our Africa-Based Orientation training, and for our settling in to life at Rift Valley Academy. Also, please pray with me for the students and parents I will serve in Africa.

In the love of the Savior we serve, 

John 



 

Surprised by God!

Hello!!  We are excited to share that our Missions Garage Sale was a HUGE success.  We were a bit surprised to see how much stuff was donated, how many people came out to support us, and the number of shoppers that kept coming all three days!!
We had enough items donated to set up on two driveways and in two garages.  We also had enough donated that we were able to put out new items each day.
We had shoppers show up, who we had never met, and offer to help us organize items.  They would tell people that this was a sale for missions and they should buy MORE!!  We had a kind lady show up on Saturday morning who ended up staying for hours to help shoppers find items that they just couldn't live without!!!  We saw several items get bought just after she moved it to a different location.  She had a gift for selling items at garage sales!

Two driveways and two garages!!

Our family and friends?  They went above and beyond to help us!  We had friends and family babysit our girls, help organize before the sale, help run the sale, provide us snacks, lunch, dinner, and pick up things we needed for the sale.  Becky had two dear college friends drive over 3 hours to come help.  One of her friends brought her two sweet daughters who played with our daughters so John and Becky could both be at the sale on Saturday.

Becky and her dear friends Carrie and Diane, 

Becky met them her freshman year in college.

The weather forecast included rain for the three days we had the sale.  We were concerned about the weather, so we found a plan B location on Saturday.  Our plan B wasn't needed!  Thank you, God, for sending the dry weather and sunshine!
The sales from the garage sale went way past our goal and will allow them to purchase everything they need to pack for their two years in Africa.  John can get new running shoes and Becky can get the sturdy shoes she needs for pushing the double stroller up and down the hills at the school in Africa.
We were thankful that John's mother and his twin brother's family opened their garages and welcomed the mess and craziness the sale brought.  They were generous, helpful, and cheerful through the whole process!!!
We were pleasantly surprised by the success, but when we stop to reflect on the experience, we should not be surprised.  Anything is possible with God!!  He was watching over us and blessed us in too many ways to count!!!!  Thank you God!!! And thank you to our family, friends, and shoppers!!!!

Becky and John feeling thankful for such a successful sale!!

**Photos taken by Carrie Simpson

Missions Garage Sale

Come visit us at our Missions Garage Sale!

Dates and Times: April 20-22

Thursday & Friday 8am to Noon

Saturday 8 am to 4 pm

Location: 3701 SW 11th Street

Blue Springs, 64015

If it rains Saturday, the sale will be moved to Plaza Heights Baptist Church on SW Clark Street

Happy Easter!

April 14, 2017

Happy Easter Everyone!

This weekend we celebrate the most important event in history, and the most important holiday in all of Christendom. We celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. The crucifixion of an innocent man seems an odd thing to be happy about, but the results of that sacrifice gave us Life. Jesus’ sacrifice paid the price of our sins.  Through his death, we could be made right with God, and through his resurrection, we could obtain eternal life with God.  Now, through faith by grace, we are redeemed from the Pit and given new life.  The old is gone, the new has come! We are a new creation.

In John 10:10, Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life and have it to the full.” For those of us who know Christ as Savior, this is good news.  For those who do not know Christ, it insinuates that they do not have life.  The fact is, they do not.  In I John 5:12, John writes, “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” Christian, “gird your loins” as the saying goes, and invite those who do not know Christ to know him. Share his love with your neighbors. Help where you can. Encourage where you can. Weep with others. Rejoice with others. Pray for the lost. Let them see the hope you have in you, and be ready to explain that hope.  That is our job.

So, again, let me wish you a Happy Easter, and let us rejoice in God’s grace to us and in the good news we have heard. What a great day to know our Savior, Christ the Lord! He is risen! He is Risen Indeed!

In the love of the Savior we serve,

John and Becky, Ruthie and Gracie

Myricks On Mission Speaking Event

We will be speaking at Lone Jack Baptist at 10 am Sunday, April 9.  Come see us early and enjoy donuts, starting at 9 am.  We would love to see you on Sunday!

Cling to What is Good!

Have you ever sat in church and felt like the pastor was talking to just you?  This was true for me today.  Our Paster, Jerry Tharp, spoke about evil and good from the book of Romans.  He started his sermon by asking the congregation to describe what evil was to them.  Lone Jack Baptist Church is a small enough church that someone came around with a microphone to those of us who wanted to share.  Some shared how evil is anything contrary to God and that knowing what is good and not doing it is evil.  I shared that evil is the thief who only comes to steal and kill and destroy.  John 10:10 is one our favorite versus. In the rest of the verse Jesus says, "I have come that they may have life, and it to the full."  That is good news!  We need to recognize evil and overcome it with GOOD!!
To be completely honest, these past few weeks the thief has tried to steal my joy and replace my thoughts with those of doubt, worries, and sadness.  I have started feeling overwhelmed by our to do list and worried that I'm not packing the correct items that my family will need for the next two years.  My thoughts have been focused on all that could go wrong and how difficult it will be to tell my loved ones good-bye.  I recognize that this is evil and it is aggressive!  
In Romans 12:9 Paul tells us to hate evil and cling to what is good.  Cling to good like gorilla glue, was the example my pastor gave.  Cling to the hope that Jesus brings us.  Cling to the truths we read in the Bible.  Cling to the fact that the safest place for my family is the center of God's will!!
Pastor Jerry started to end the sermon, then stopped everyone to share one more verse.  
Hebrews 3:12-14
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. Pastor Jerry went on to explain that if God has called us to do something and we don't follow through, then we are siding with evil.  If God asks us to do something, then we must trust that He will see us through it.  We walk in faith and that is GOOD OVERCOMING EVIL!!!!  
This verse spoke directly to me.  God is calling us to Kenya and we will not turn away.  We go there to share Christ, and through Christ, we will hold to our original intentions.   The thief may want to throw doubts and fears in my way, but we cling to the hope that Jesus brought, to the full life Jesus came to give. Please keep our family in your prayers as we plan and pack and get ready to leave for Kenya.  Pray we will do the good we see to do. So please join us in prayer that our family will recognize evil and overcome it with GOOD.  Thank you pastor Jerry for those words of encouragement. 


***Happy third birthday to our beautiful daughters!  They bring us such joy each and every day!!!***