On the road again

Since leaving Lancaster on Monday morning at 5 AM we have logged roughly 29 hours in the car and have driven approximately 1,630 miles through 5 states (Wisconsin is a lot bigger than it looks on a map). It has been a tiring week but tomorrow our travels bring us to Rockford, IL for some final team-building time with Sam and Sarah Snyder before our trip together in a week and a half. We are looking forward to staying in one place for at least the weekend. We were able to get in some fun in the sun kayaking in the Apostle Islands for an afternoon. It was supposed to be for 2 1/2 days but bad weather (and consequent 4 foot waves) forced us to change plans. The blessing is that with our extra day we were able to stop in central Wisconsin to visit Jason and Beth Anderson (and Caedmon and Jonas) and my sister and brother-in-law, Joanna and Andy. Now we are in Lindenhurst, IL with Amy Billings before our short trip to Rockford tomorrow.

It begins...

Well, we're on our way now. We didn't get to bed last night until about 2 this morning on account of having to finish packing our apartment. Then it was up by 7 for a pancake and eggs breakfast at the Matlack's. We picked up a U-Haul truck in Willow Street and loaded everything up; a pretty quick and rather sweat-soaked process. But many hands make light work and we had 12 of them as Joel, Levi and the Matlacks came over to lend their services. In no time at all we were unloading everything in my grandma's basement in Shiremanstown, PA.

And now we are back in Lancaster with only one more day until our departure. It really is hard to believe. This journey has been almost one year in the making yet it seems all of a sudden upon us somehow. My last day at my job was Thursday, Michelle's was Friday. The moving made it sink in a bit more but the busyness is keeping the reality from really sinking in this weekend. Right now everything is still normal. But ask if it feels real on Monday and I expect my answer will be different.

Where we're coming from

"So what exactly did Aaron and Michelle do in Lancaster?" you may be wondering to yourself. Wonder no more. Hopefully this will give you a half-decent idea.

Until yesterday I was an Agriculture Conservation Technician with the Lancaster County Conservation District. Basically, that means that my job consisted of helping farmers in the county meet state regulations concerning water quality and soil conservation. This entailed

1. working with the farmers to write conservation plans that outline the decisions they are making that will impact the sustainability and continued productivity of their land,
2. reviewing and conducting status reviews of nutrient management plans to ensure that manure (yes, manure; see above) nutrients are not being over applied and polluting local watersheds and
3. designing and performing construction checks on structural practices such as grassed waterways and cattle crossings (see below) that when implemented on a farmer's ground will either reduce erosion, improve stream and groundwater quality or both.
   
   -Aaron

Well, I found myself doing something completely new in Lancaster. After six months of job-hunting, I was hired as a Program Coordinator for Tabor Community Services, a non-profit housing and financial counseling agency. Not exactly in the same field as camping and outdoor ed but God is good and knows my path greater than I do. So here I am (today is my last day!), working with low income families, teaching them about budgeting, credit repair and home ownership and walking them through employment searching, career training and further education. All this in hopes that they will one day provide enough for themselves to no longer need government assistance for their daily financial needs. The program I work with is called the Family Self-Sufficiency Program and mostly assists single moms. Little did I know that after less than one year on the job, we would be making plans to go to the Congo to work with orphans and widows, teaching them the skills to help provide for their daily needs. More on that to come...

-Michelle

Kicking it off...

They say you live in hospitals and trenches
And towers in the sky
But I'm not dying or fighting any wars
Except on the inside
"The Emptiest Day", Caedmon's Call

We know that Christ came not for the healthy (or for those who presumed they were) but for the sick, for those who were dying and knew it (Mt 9:12-13). We feel the sickness ourselves, even as, in Christ, our recovery is certain. And just the same, we feel the fatigue of fighting over and over the same battle of spirit against self even as we know that victory is certain. We know that when our spirits are shedding the sickness of sin and making advances against it, it is because of the work that Christ finished on the cross and that his Spirit continues in us. Inwardly, God is there both in the 'hospital' with us and in 'the trenches' with us. And it's much the same on the outside. He is always found where people are hurting and in need (Ps 9:18, 69:33). As his people, that's where we should be found as well. That's where we are ministered to inwardly and it is where we serve outwardly- in hospitals and trenches.

So, kicking off this blog, we are praying that the Lord will use us to minister wherever we are, even as He never stops working in us and for our good. In just two and a half weeks we will be on our way to central Africa to begin our work with the Elikya Center in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We are hoping to use this blog to keep anyone who is interested up to date on what God is doing there and to keep you updated on our prayer requests and financial needs.

May God bless you as you live and work in your own hospitals and trenches.