The Container is Loaded !!

After days of late night packing, shrink wrapping and preparation, the morning finally came to load our shipping container for Chile.

It would have to fall on one of the coldest mornings of Dec...it was -10 degrees! To make things even more interesting, the driver was delayed by an hour and a half due to equipment problems. We all waited in our running cars until he arrived.

Our 20 ft shipping container arrived around 10:30 am. We were given two hours to load the whole thing.

Above: Mike and my dad were in the "inside the container" men. Their job was to take the items and "put together" the puzzle.

John Ball and I loading a dresser.

Throughout the process, I needed to think two steps ahead of the group in order to give appropriate items at appropriate times.

We didn't know exactly how much room we would have towards the end of the container. We had a rough idea, but there were some worries that everything might not fit...but at the halfway point, it was evident that we would have plenty of room for all of our stuff.

Above: The group shot of all who helped. (From L to R: Ken, Jan, Simeon, David, John, Mike, Jeremiah, Cary, Ethan, & John) Kristi took the picture.

A big thank you to all who helped with the loading of the container. We could not have done it in one hour without each one. Praise the Lord! One more major project completed in the continuing process of our family moving to Chile.

Next on the schedule is our commissioning service on Saturday, Jan. 3rd. Hope you can be there! We will post pictures of the service for those who can't come.

Reminder: Commissioning Service

Reminder:

David & Kristi Flinck's
Commissioning Service



Saturday, Jan. 3rd
1 PM
Berean Baptist Church (map)
8825 W. Broadway
Brooklyn Park, MN 55445

Guest Speakers:
Neal Cushman (David's college missions prof.)
Rev. Terry Thompson (Gen. Dir. of GMSA)
Dr. Cary Flinck (pastor of Berean Baptist Church)

A time of refreshments will follow the service

For more information, please contact Pastor Flinck (763)-221-1039

We hope that you will be able to attend!

We will be posting pictures from the service if you are unable to attend.

Our Christmas Week

Christmas this year was very special on many fronts. This will be the last Christmas in the States before we move to South America. We have cherished time with family, friends, and our sending church.


The kids were able to sing in the children's Christmas program at church. Above: Kaylee is doing the actions to one of the songs.

Yep, you guessed it...Away in the Manger

Jordan, Ben, & Levi singing.

We had one last time of fun and goodbyes with the Wilson family (fellow language school grads) at a local Caribou Coffee. They have been such a blessing to our family this past year, and we will miss them greatly. They will be serving in Christian Camping in Southern Mexico.

Christmas Eve meal at David's parent's house.

Jordan (7), Kaylee (3), & Ben (6) - Christmas 2008

Christmas Day family gathering in MN.

We have only a few days left here in MN. The days are packed with appointments & last minute
things to do before we leave for Florida on Jan. 5th.

Please continue to pray for our family.
Have a Happy New Year!

Support Update - Dec. 23rd

We praise the Lord for His timing and provision. Our support level is now up to 85%. Another local church partnered with our family for the spreading of the Gospel and Biblical truth in Chile.

Continue to pray for our family as we prepare to leave for our first term of service on Jan. 12th. We continue to pray for the remaining support to come in God's timing.

What a Mess!!

A few days after we arrived back in MN, our tubs arrived in the mail from TX. We would have packed this stuff in our mini van, but back in Aug. our van was totaled and we had to fly home.

If only my parents knew what was about to hit their living room!

Step #1 - Take all the plastic wrap off of the tubes.

Step #2 - Open up all the tubes and make a mess in my parent's living room.

Step #3 - Create a bigger mess by making piles for packing in the container, piles for packing in the suitcases for Chile, and piles for Goodwill and/or giving away to friends.

Continue to pray for our family during this hectic time of packing. We need wisdom and strength to get through each day. In a few days the living room will be back to normal (Lord willing) and we will enjoy Christmas Eve and Day with extended family and friends.

So This Is What Winter Is Like!

Our family was greeted by some "typical" MN winter temps and snow. Quite a shock to our thin "Texas" blood. That being said, we have been having a great time with family and friends in our first week back.

The kids helped Grandpa and Grandma put up the tree, Christmas lights, and ornaments.

I have been trying to avoid my mother's endless supply of Christmas calories in every room.

The kids (and parents) have missed playing outside in the Texas temps. Jordan, Ben, & Kaylee have been able to get outside once in a while, but they get cold quickly.


Kaylee - our little pink Eskimo


The other night I had them go outside to "help" by shoveling the sidewalk and driveway, cause they were bouncing off the walls inside. It was snowing lightly and very beautiful. I think all they did was push snow around...it definitely wasn't shoveling :)

Come back to the blog to find out what we've turned my parent's house into...it's not pretty!

Unpacking the Storage Container

After arriving back in MN on Friday afternoon, we all had a good night's sleep. But around 7:50 am, my cell phone rang and woke me up. Who could be calling at the hour? It was the storage container company calling to tell me that our container would be dropped in 30 minutes. I guess I'll start my morning by unpacking...not the plan I had invisioned for our first full day back in MN.

The driver came just as he said, and dropped our full container around 8:30 am. Our stuff has been stored in this container since last Dec. (just before we moved to language school).

In ten minutes, the guy had our container dropped and he was on his way.

My dad and I decided to start unloading it right away, since there was a snow storm coming later that evening. The outside temp. was around 32 degrees, which was pretty "warm" for MN this time of year.


The plan was to unload our stuff and place it in certain piles for a more organized plan to repack our shipping container later this month.

Thanks to the help of my dad, we were able to unload the whole container in an hour and a half. I was not expecting to get that far, but I am so glad we unloaded it on Sat, cause Sunday and Monday's temps were below zero.....brrrrrrrrrrrr

Praise the Lord, project one completed. The empty container will be picked up on Thursday and we can be done with the storage fees for good.

Continue to pray for our family during these frantic weeks of unpacking, repacking, and packing our shipping container. We need wisdom, strength, and time management to get everything accomplished.

From the Oven (TX) to the Freezer (MN)

After days of packing and deep cleaning our apartment the day finally came to leave RGBI. Goodbyes were hard but technology will help us keep in touch with friends and classmates. On Friday morning John and Laura Neimeyer drove our family and the Wiebe family to the Harlingen airport for our 11:30 am non-stop flight to Minneapolis.

We got the LAST row in the plane...good for being close to the bathrooms, bad for getting out of the plane quickly. I sat with the boys on one side of the aisle.

A family from RGBI bought the boys a new cartoon and gave it to them right before we left, so they enjoyed the flight watching the video on the portable DVD player. Thanks again, Skeltons!

Kaylee and Kristi sat on the other side of the aisle and had an extra seat to spread out.

Dallas and Tara Wiebe (and their son, Carter) flew back on the same flight. They live in Canada. Tara was in my graduating class and Dallas has one more semester of study left. They are spending their Christmas break back in Manitoba with family and also for the delivery of their second baby. Tara is due in two weeks and was hoping to make it back to Canada for the delivery (she made it). Follow their ministry blog called "A Walk in Our Shoes" to find out when the new baby will be born.

Carter had a good flight, looking out the windows and....

...watching a video with Kaylee on my laptop.

We were thankful that the flight was only three hours and went without incident.

Upon our arrival, we were able to meet Dallas' parents (who drove from Canada to pick them up) and the Wiebes were able to meet my parents. Above is our final picture with the Wiebes...we may never see them again...this side of glory. We will miss them and everyone else at RGBI.

After fighting against rush hour traffic, we finally made it home to my parent's house around 3:30 pm. A warm house with a fireplace was waiting for us and we all enjoyed going to bed early for once....but...around 7:55 am the next morning my cell phone woke me up.

Come back to find out how that phone call affected my Saturday morning.

RGBI Graduation

Last Tuesday night was the RGBI graduation. The ceremony was a little over an hour long but packed with memories and encouragement.

Bethamy, Tara, Amanda, and Corrie (piano) sang a song in Spanish.

I read a passage from 1 Cor. 12 in Spanish on behalf of our graduating class.

President Larry Windle giving me the diploma (or if truth be known...a piece of paper stating that the diploma will be coming in the mail).

All the faculty gathered around the graduates for a time of prayer of dedication.

The graduating class of Dec. 2008 (Top L to R:) Jared Thomas, Paul Wilson, David Flinck, Michael Godbold, and Carol Patton (Bottom L to R:) Amanda Clayton, Roxanne Wilson, Tara Wiebe, Corrie Anderson, and Bethamy Anderson (Patty Thurston wasn't able to attend the ceremony due to a family illness).

My grandma, Rhoda Flinck was able to attend since she lives in the Valley during the winter months.

Praise the Lord for His help, grace, strength, and provision during the last year at language school. We are now on to the next phase of preparing to leave for Chile.

Thank you to all who have been praying for me and our family this past year. Your love, support, finances, and encouragement have been a BIG blessing.

Come back again to read about our plane ride home.

Class Party and a New Tradition

The first semester class put on a farewell party for our graduating class last Sat. night. Prof. David Love was the speaker and gave a great challenge to all of us going to our next stage of ministry.

After the party, there was an extended time of fellowship around the bonfire.

The kids sure had fun playing with their friends and gathering sticks to throw in the fire.


Mel and Kyle played their guitars for all to sing together around the fire.

We spent time talking with classmates and their families. Above: Kristi and I are talking to Paul Wilson (our class president and missionary to Mexico)
The Patton girls took care of Kaylee during the bonfire. S'mores, smoke, and sticky fingers were a common sight.

As for the new tradition...Paul and I decided to burn our grammar manual. Now let me explain why this felt so good. First off....the book was $43. Secondly, the book is not that helpful after we leave for the field, cause it was just a fill in the blank workbook that goes with our grammar textbook. Finally, we needed some kind of outlet for our pent up frustrations of learning a second language.

So one chapter at a time, we ripped out the pages and stoked the fire. It gave the crowd much entertainment and laughter.


Apparently, SOME of our classmates couldn't part with the manual (see name on the front of the book ;)


All in all, the night was a fitting end to our time here at RGBI. All the kids stayed up late and were filthy due to the smoke, sticks, and s'mores.

"Mom, I'm really not dirty"