Sunday, 07 March 2010 11:07
Dean
 Our prayer letter is now available at
http://stocker.with.sim.org/images/stories/newsletters/stockerprayerlettermar10.pdf It contains an article by Dr. Perry Jansen, Founder of Partners in Hope, about the challenges and opportunities that will be greeting us in Malawi. The Grade School Theologian also offers her insights about the joys that await us in Heaven.
Saturday, 06 March 2010 09:33
Dean
Letting go in America | Taking hold in Africa | We have started selling our stuff. Penny discovered that opening a store on Amazon.com Marketplace is a great way to unload old textbooks. Now it's time to start putting things on Craigslist and planning the massive garage sale. | We are the proud owners of a couple of chairs, some dishes & cooking utensils, and various other items in Malawi. Some missionaries there are leaving the country for medical reasons, and we have arranged to purchase some of the things that they will be leaving behind. | Penny is reducing her hours at work, going from full-time to half-time or less starting in April. | We have submitted our applications for employment, so that we can be granted visas upon arrival. |
Penny has been studying Luke, and noticed a recurring phrase: "...left everything and followed him." It's not always easy to leave people, places, and things, but we can take comfort in knowing that God has a history of taking care of people who leave things behind. Michael Card wrote a great song about it:
Tuesday, 02 March 2010 07:43
Dean
We have been blessed by one of Dean's grade school teachers. She went on a missions trip to Africa several years ago, and shared pictures, videos, and fond memories with us. I invited her to join our prayer team, but I wasn't going to ask for financial support. She's a retired teacher, after all. She can't afford to give. But she asked for information about financial support anyway. "I know I can give $25 per month, but I'm going to try to give $50 per month," she told us. "If I find that I don't have money for food, I'll call and ask you for support," she added with a smile. Many people accuse us of having great faith in going overseas as missionaries. But I can assure you that our faith is small compared to that of the ones who are sending us.
Sunday, 21 February 2010 20:37
Dean
 One week with zero showings.
One week with seven showings and an open house. One offer, countered, counter-countered, and accepted. So now we're scheduled to close on April 9th, pending the inspection. Praise God for the quick sale! Please pray: - That God will provide the remaining $2600 per month that we need for our Support Account (we're now at 59%)
- That we (Dean & Penny) would be of one heart and one mind in every step along the way
Saturday, 13 February 2010 13:41
Dean
[This article was written on February 6th by Brenda Jansen, and is taken from her blog, Real AIDS Patient Stories.
The blog is about patients at Partners in Hope, where Penny will be working in Malawi.]
Olive had lived through the pain and rejection of divorce, but even tougher times were ahead for this former member of Malawi’s Parliament. Two years later, a chronic cough led her to seek medical help from her brother, a clinician at Dowa Hospital. Observing how sick she was, he encouraged her to be tested for HIV. The news that she was indeed positive came as a huge blow to Olive. She told me, “I felt shattered, and I wept uncontrollably for nearly an hour.” The emotional wounds from the divorce were behind her, but she now had to face the reality that her husband had left her with this deadly virus. There was much stigma around HIV then. She feared that her reputation would be ruined. She didn’t want people to be disturbed by her news. She didn’t want their pity. Soon she became too sick to work and had to quit her job. She could not have anticipated the response that her son would have after hearing the news of her illness. A 22-year-old husband and father of two young children, he took his own life. Olive felt that her life was falling apart. She remembered her brother who had died of AIDS three years earlier, before treatment was available in Malawi. She thought she too was dying, and even asked God to take her. She became a patient at the Partners in Hope Medical Center (PIH), where the staff showed her much love and care. She told me, “One of the nurses, Anna, spreads hope to us. She welcomes us and treats us with warmth from her heart. She even dances and jokes with us.” The doctors treated Olive with ARVs (AIDS medications) for a year. However, her CD4 count (blood test indicator) was still very low and she was having side effects to the standard Malawi ARV regimen . At that time, this special regimen was not available at PIH, so she had to be transferred to the government program. She was very happy when PIH was later able to offer these medicines for free as well, and she returned there for her care. It takes a big effort for Olive to get to PIH. In the rainy season, the dirt roads in her village turn to mud, so the buses cannot get close to her home. She walks about 12 kilometers to get to the main road! However, she feels it’s worth it, because she trusts PIH. She knows that her case is complicated, having changed her medication regimen several times already. She pays close attention to symptoms and side effects, coming to the medical center when problems arise. As I listened to Olive share her story, I could see that she has joy in her heart. She is deeply grateful to the Lord and to PIH for saving her life. She says her faith has deepened because of her AIDS. Her real hope is in Jesus. I asked her if she has been able to forgive her husband (now deceased) for the trouble he caused her. She replied, “You know, he caused me to lose my health, my job and my son. There is still some resentment, but God is healing me.” “I see a lot of hurting people, overwhelmed by HIV,” said Olive. “I try to encourage them, to give them hope. I tell them that HIV is like hair. Though you shave it, it will still come back. Instead, look after it. [You can] let it control you, or you can control it. Even with HIV, life can still be bright.” Olive talks with people wherever she goes, encouraging them about their HIV and telling them about the love of Jesus. When I asked Olive to tell me one message she would want to give to others living with AIDS, she said, “Be holy and faithful. Pray without ceasing. Expect the Lord to do His part.” One of the Bible verses she clings to reads: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11). Olive tells people, “There is still life after HIV.”
Saturday, 06 February 2010 17:03
Dean
 Our February prayer letter is now available at
http://stocker.with.sim.org/images/stories/newsletters/stockerprayerletterfeb10.pdf. Our one-time support "gas tank" is now full, and our ongoing monthly support continues to rise.
Tuesday, 02 February 2010 12:29
Dean
It's official: our house is on the market! We have spent the last couple of weeks touching up paint, hauling out bags and bags of trash & recycling, selling old textbooks on Amazon.com, and hiding boxes of stuff destined for the big moving sale. It's exciting, and yet terrifying. What if it sells before we're ready to go? What if it doesn't sell at all? Please pray with us that God will bring the perfect timing together for all of this, particularly with selling our home and raising the rest of our monthly support! One wonderful praise is how well the kids are doing with all of this. They were almost gleeful as they decided to throw away or sell probably half of their toys in preparation for selling the house. And they are doing really well at keeping the house clean for prospective buyers. And they seem to have no complaints about the whole leave-everything-and-go-to-Africa plan that has been laid out before them. You can see the official listing for our house on Realtor.com:  http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/5812-Chesapeake-Cir_Fitchburg_WI_53719_1115779836
Wednesday, 20 January 2010 08:40
Dean
 Foolishness is almost always a bad thing, but there is a small section of the Bible where wisdom is disparaged and foolishness praised:
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.'" (I Cor 1:18-19) "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." (I Cor 1:25)
It appears that we are on a foolish course right now, preparing to leave in April. After all, we've been working on raising support for almost a year now, and we are still at 42% of our ongoing support requirement. But God is adding to our support team almost daily right now, and our one-time total "gas tank" is nearly filled. Please pray that we would be wise, or if we are foolish that it would be a foolishness that is wiser than man's wisdom.
Thursday, 14 January 2010 17:24
Dean
 It was tucked away in a basement closet for three years or so. Once upon a time I used to spend time in worship--me, my guitar, and my God--pretty much every day. I started playing in small groups and at church, and my guitar time started to transform from worship to practice. I had kids, and bought a fixer-upper, and there wasn't time for anything more than practice. When I stopped playing in small groups and at church, I put my guitar away.
Last spring people started reminding me how I used to have wonderful times of worship with my guitar. First it was a chance meeting on Boston Common. Then a phone conversation. Then a book (Artisanal Theology, by Lisa Hess). Then another conversation. And finally our pastor spoke on I Peter 2:2, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation." He said that "pure spiritual milk" is whatever nourishes your spirit. For me, that is worship in song. So I've broken out my guitar again, and once or twice a week I sit and worship in song until my fingers hurt too much to go on. I used to have callouses on my fingertips, but I guess that over time they moved to my heart. Now I'm working on getting them back where they belong.
Thursday, 07 January 2010 11:45
Dean
 A provisional calendar for 2010 is included in our January prayer letter, which is now available at
http://stocker.with.sim.org/images/stories/Newsletters/stockerprayerletterjan10.pdf We hope to leave for Malawi in late April, although we are still under half of our required monthly support. Please pray that God would provide! -Dean & Penny
|
|
Last month our one-time total "gas gauge" hit "Full," and this month our monthly total "speedometer" has crossed the 50% mark!
