NH Trip Part 2 "The Rock vs. The Windshield

An additional picture of all the boys in Marinette, WI that I forgot to post yesterday. (Jordan, Ben, Josiah, & Zachary Choi)


As for the rock vs. windshield story...Kristi happened to be driving on a two lane highway when a semi drove past us and threw a quarter size rock into our lane hitting our windshield. It sounded like a gunshot and scared Kristi & I. The rock left a ding in our windshield, but we didn't think too much about it at the time.


Well...five minutes or so later, a crack formed from the ding and starting moving across the windshield. The more we drove the more the crack moved. It was somewhat comical, until we realized that we should look into getting the windshield replaced before we traveled too many miles down the road.


We are thankful that our insurance company would pay for a replacement. The difficult part of this whole process is trying to find a company that could replace the windshield before we had to drive to the next city. Monday morning, Mike and Larry from Eau Claire drove out to our friend's farm and replaced the windshield.



Come back tomorrow as we share more about "Fun on the Farm"
Thanks for your prayers and support!

New Hampshire Trip (Part 1)

And we're off! After several days of getting our house in order and packing, we left for our 18 day trip out to New Hampshire. In the next several post, we will be sharing our experiences with you via pictures. Please keep us in your prayers as we are traveling many miles and meeting with our GMSA co-workers at the mission meeting in NH.


J, B, & K all ready to go in the van (taken in our driveway right before we left)


Our first stop was in Marinette, WI to visit Pastor Sam & Sarah Choi and family. They are friends going back to college days. Sam & I stayed up till 1 AM talking about the ministry and encouraging each other. All the children loved to play together at the park.


Kristi & Sarah walking to the park with Kaylee & Zach.


Saturday afternoon we traveled down to Green Bay to meet with some friends for supper. We did make the obligatory stop at Lambeau Field, but only to reaffirm our loyalties to the Minnesota Vikings.


Jordan and I were goofing around with Vince.


The atrium was free, so we took a look around. It beats the Metrodome anyday, but it didn't sway my loyalties to the Green & Gold.

Come back again to hear of our next adventure...The Rock and The Windshield.

Last Night in our Own Beds

Tomorrow, around lunchtime, we leave for 18 days. Eighteen days in different beds. When we go on trips, the closest thing we have to our own beds is our pillows. We are thankful that our whole family loves to travel and is very tolerant of different sleeping arrangements (especially the children).


(Kaylee in her crib at home)


(Ben sleeps with Lightnin' every night)


(Can you get any more comforable than this, Jordan?)

Prayer Items:
-Safety on the roads
-Joy & Happiness in the van
-Timely naps for all three children (and parents) while traveling
-Be a blessing to those we meet
-A strong tail wind the entire way for good gas mileage (just kidding - wouldn't that be nice)
-Profitable GMSA meetings in New Hampshire
-Our reactions, attitudes, general health, & speech

Continue to check back with us as we will be posting on the blog during our trip!

Which Way to Go?

Our family would appreciate prayer as we will be traveling starting on Friday through the end of the month of May (18 days total). Our final destination will be the 1st Annual GMSA Mission Meetings held this year at Merrimack Valley Baptist Church, in Nashua, NH. We will be stopping in Chicago to meet with the Chilean Consulate.



During the meetings in NH, we will be sharing with fellow GMSA co-workers where the Lord has been leading us to for our first term ministry and mentorship. Pray for us as we discuss this and many more issues of ministry in Chile. We are glad that other appointee families will be in attendance as well. Pray for a profitable time together in prayer, encouragement, questions, fellowship, and strategy for the Lord's work in Chile.

The Cart and the Coughs

Traveling weekly with the family IS a wonderful experience, but every trip has it's moments of stress and insanity. Kristi & I are learning valuable lessons that come up on our deputation trips (patience, trust in God, conflict resolution, to be content, parenting our three children, and balance in ministry).
When "heat" comes into our lives we are tested in our walk of faith and love for the Lord.

This past weekend, we were reporting back to one of our supporting churches in SW Minnesota. Thankfully the church put us up in the AmericInn Hotel for our stay. We're thankful because all three children were coughing and not feeling 100%. We had a restful stay and I personally enjoyed having a cart.

Yes, a cart.

Sometimes, when we stay at a hotel our room is on the second floor. So what, you may say. Well, after the 11 trips from the van to the room lugging our stuff, I struggle inwardly (and sometimes outwardly) with how exactly staying in a hotel is supposed to be relaxing.

Thankfully, this hotel had a cart where we could put all of our stuff and only take one trip up to the room. All three kids love to "ride" the cart and try to convince me that they are "helping" me pack.

We are home this week until Friday. Starting Friday, the next three weeks we will be driving out to New Hampshire for the Annual GMSA Meetings. We will be able to see other couples on deputation from our mission board and opportunities to meet with the administration and field directors.

Thank you for your prayers for our family while we are on the road.

Support Increase

We are thankful that the Lord has seem fit to bring in yet another support increase.
Praise the Lord for His timing and care for our family.
Our support level has risen to 48%.
We continue to Set Our Hope in God for the remaining support needed to enable us to minister in Chile by the end of the year.

Please continue to pray for our family on deputation and service to local church ministry in the Mid-West.

Prayer Items (May)

Pray that our family will:

-Set Our Hope in God (Ps. 78).
-Be a blessing to others.
-Walk worthy of the Lord.
-Have safety in travel during May (MN, WI, IL, IN, OH, PA, NJ & NH).
-Have profitable GMSA annual meetings in NH.
-Be sensitive to God's direction and leading.
-Be effective in serving local churches in the ministry this summer(5 VBS weeks & 1 week of camp).
-Set our affections on things above.
-Give glory to God.

Chile Quiz #3 Answers

1. Chile land area is 285,133 square miles. What US state is closest in land area to Chile?

Answer: Texas (261,797 sq. miles)

2. Why is Chile called Chile?

Answer: There are various theories about the origin of the word Chile. According to one theory the Incas of Peru, who had failed to conquer the Araucanians, called the valley of the Aconcagua "Chili" by corruption of the name of a tribal chief ("cacique") called Tili, who ruled the area at the time of the Incan conquest. Another theory points to the similarity of the valley of the Aconcagua with that of the Casma Valley in Peru, where there was a town and valley named Chili.
Other theories say Chile may derive its name from the indigenous Mapuche word chilli, which may mean "where the land ends," "the deepest point of the Earth", or "sea gulls;" or from the Quechua chin, "cold", or the Aymara tchili meaning "snow."
Another meaning attributed to chilli is the onomatopoeic cheele-cheele—the Mapuche imitation of a bird call. The Spanish conquistadors heard about this name from the Incas and the few survivors of Diego de Almagro's first Spanish expedition south from Peru in 1535-36 called themselves the "men of Chilli."

3. If you have been reading the blog this should be easy. How many varieties of Chilean fruit are exported worldwide?

Answer: 200 varieties

4. The River Simpson (located in southern Chile) is famous for what water sport?

Answer: Fly Fishing

"...in the Midst of..."

Philip Kenneson wrote a book called, Life On The Vine: Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit in Christian Community. I was intrigued by his chapter headings and how they illustrate the difficulty of living Christianly in a non-Christian context:

* Cultivating Love in the Midst of Market-Style Exchanges

* Cultivating Joy in the Midst of Manufactured Desire

* Cultivating Peace in the Midst of Fragmentation

* Cultivating Patience in the Midst of Productivity

* Cultivating Kindness in the Midst of Self-Sufficiency

* Cultivating Goodness in the Midst of Self-Help

* Cultivating Faithfulness in the Midst of Impermanence

* Cultivating Gentleness in the Midst of Aggression

* Cultivating Self-Control in the Midst of Addiction


Please use these to pray for our family as we minister in the midst of a sin cursed world.

"Put It On My Charge Card"

Divorce rates rise in Chile as the process gets easier

Chilean couples are getting divorced at an unprecedented rate as specialist law firms cut fees and offer easy payment through department-store credit cards.

In late 2004, the South American nation became the last in the Western Hemisphere to make divorce legal, overcoming a decade of opposition from the Roman Catholic Church, conservative groups and lawmakers.

Almost 2,000 couples divorced in the first two months of this year, up from 900 in the year-earlier period and 1,200 in all of 2005, according to the civil registry. The pace may quicken as lawyers compete to make it easier, faster and cheaper.

"Our offices are full practically every day," said Alejandro Krausz, 31, co-founder of Defensas Judiciales, a law firm in Santiago that serves estranged couples.

In February, Defensas Judiciales joined with Johnson's, a chain of 58 department stores, to give holders of the store's credit card a discount on divorce fees and as long as 18 months to pay. Defensas Judiciales is handling 450 to 500 divorce cases a month and plans to open offices across the country, Krausz said.

Another group of lawyers founded a firm called Solo Divorcios (Just Divorces) and has attracted 1,000 couples with Internet marketing and easy-payment terms.(HT: James Attwood)

Read a similar article but with more details HERE.

Adding credit cards to the depraved human condition is a formula that can only add to further and "quicker" destruction.

Please pray for our family in light of this article in the following ways:
-For our family to be an example of Christ-centered living.
-That God's Word, the Holy Spirit, and a verbal Gospel witness will see Chilean families changed.
-Families are hurting. We need guidance to "see" their hurt and minister to them.
-Pray for David as he targets men in conversation, relationships, and mentoring.
-Pray for Kristi as she targets women in the same.