Nell and Kyle's blog

0 to 60 in Two Months!

2012-02-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

Moroccan van in southern Spain

If you are into fast cars, "0 to 60 in two months" sounds like a joke. That is not the case when you are a talking about the Stiff's recent increase in support for moving expenses to Spain!! In less than two months, God provided through generous giving 60% of what we need. Also, God has provided new monthly supporters and we are now at 80% of our monthly support requirement! Praise God! We are almost there.

Read more about our exciting journey of faith in our first prayer letter of 2012!

Other exciting news...we were given approval to apply for our Spanish residency visas in March. We will be traveling as a family to Los Angeles, California in order to turn in our paperwork to the Spanish Consulate. Please pray for Kyle as he navigates through all of the requirements which include FBI background checks, birth/marriage certificates authenticated by the Secretary of the State and translated into Spanish!

A close friend recently shared the following passage of Scripture about the Lord's steadfast purpose. "My purpose will stand and I will do all that I please...What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do." (Isaiah 46:11b, 12b)

If you would like to send a one-time donation toward our moving expenses or begin giving regularly, you can find out how at: onechallenge.org/donate Thank you!

Trusting in God's steadfast purpose,

Kyle and Nell

Guat's Up?

2012-01-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

Hey friends!

We were recently featured in a student documentary about Guatemala. Thanks, Emma Dobiash! Check out part 1 and 2 of these videos below. Don't forget to watch to the very end...Nell steals the show!

We are applying for our Spanish visas in March and we are on target to move to Spain in the late summer. Thank you for your prayer and support! If you would like to know more about how to donate toward our family and ministry, click here: onechallenge.org/donate

Kyle and Nell

43

2011-12-14T17:34:00.000-07:00

To my father
who just turned
My heart has never-ever
felt this burn

As the years pass
with a roll,
My father is aging
out of control!

For my father has
earned all these years
with all these different gears:

A gear for love,
A gear for smarts

A gear for faith,
A gear for caring with all his heart

To my father
who is forty-three,
Finally now I've figured out
that he is my need.

Love, Mikayla (Age 12)

P.S. Nell had a great trip to Spain. Here is our December prayer letter that explains a little more about her preparation to become an Education Consultant for families living in cross-cultural contexts.

Nell is on her way to Spain!

2011-11-15T14:26:00.001-07:00

By the time you get this blog post, Nell will be leaving the United States and flying to Spain. We are very excited for her!!! Can you tell? Please pray for the following:

Nell senses God's presence and strength as she trains eight Latin American missionaries serving in Granada, Spain. She will be leading them through a process called Life Mapping.

Nell has the opportunity to learn more about becoming an Education Consultant for families living cross-culturally. She hopes to assist Latin American missionaries that are working in our target region discover suitable educational options for their children.

Nell is able to connect with our teammates in Málaga and finds some schooling options for our daughters next year.

Kyle, Mikayla, and Elena won't miss her too much while she is gone!

Thank you for praying!

Nell is going to Spain next month!

2011-10-10T10:14:00.001-06:00

She will be traveling on her own from Colorado to Spain to attend a consultation on educating children in a cross-cultural context. One of the difficult challenges for missionaries is to find adequate solutions for educating their children in another country. We see one of Nell's future ministries in Spain will be to help Latin American parents develop long-term educational plans for their children while serving as missionaries in difficult places.

During her stay in Málaga, Nell will visit some local schools that Mikayla and Elena might attend. Also, she will have time to connect with our teammates and scope out our future neighborhood! This will greatly help us get prepared to move our family there next summer. Would you mark it on your calendar and commit to pray for Nell while she is in Spain? The trip dates are November 15-21.

Here is our October newsletter which is appropriately titled: From here to there. It will give you more details on how you can pray for us and how you can get involved. Thanks for your partnership with us as we turn our focus toward Spain!

¡Adios, Guatemala!

2011-09-02T08:54:00.000-06:00

Nell and I were sitting on the bus together as we departed from Antigua, Guatemala for the last time for a long time. "Adios, Guatemala," I said under my breath and I noticed Nell started to get tears in her eyes. There are so many memories for our family in that wonderful country. Working with youth at Centro Bíblico El Camino, Paso y Pedales with the Haeseckes and Ellers, introducing coffee to the Gulicks in Antigua, fireworks on the Goll's roof, going to San Martín for black bean soup, walking the kids to Colegio Suger Montano, dear Guatemalan friends and Sepal teammates who have changed us forever, traveling with STEP teams to reach the Least, the Last, the Lost, teaching Guatemalans about missions at CEMCA.

Our family mission trip to Guatemala last July marked the end of something and the beginning of something new. A shift in direction, a shift in focus. We are saddened to say, "Adios" to Guatemala as a family but at the same time we are excited for what God has in store for us in Southern Spain where we will empower and care for Latin American coworkers reaching the unreached in North Africa and the Middle East.

Please read Nell's reflections on God's calling on our lives to the ends of the earth. Thank you for praying for our family in this time of transition. If you would like to join our support team toward our new adventure in Spain, please contact us using the information on the bottom of our newsletter or on the sidebar of this blog.

15 years of growth

2011-08-17T07:49:00.011-06:00

A lot has changed in us over the last 15 years of marriage. Besides the change in appearance, (no gray hair jokes, please!) we have grown as individuals, as friends, as husband and wife, and as parents. Our lives have been forever impacted by our relationship with each other. Last night during our anniversary celebration, we reflected that one of the highlights of our marriage has been our ongoing conversations about the many adventures of life, faith, and ministry that God has given to us as a couple. It has been an amazing journey.

We want to thank all of our family and friends around the world who have been an example to us. You have been an instrumental part of the growth that has impacted our lives and marriage. Thank you!

Please read our latest newsletter that Nell wrote reflecting on some of the growth in our marriage, family, and future ministries.

Your friends,

Kyle and Nell

Summer is Here!

2011-07-06T14:03:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone! We hope you are having a great summer!

We leave for Central America in two days! God has provided all of our personal funds needed for the missions trip with Tri-Lakes Chapel Student Missions Team.

Nell wrote a great letter to you all this month called Waiting for Summer. Check it out.

Please pray for our time in Guatemala this month and our continued fund raising for our move to Málaga, Spain next summer.

Much love, The Stiff Family

Back to Latin America

2011-05-02T10:09:00.004-06:00

This last week, I had the chance to spend time with Dr. Carlos Pinto and Lidia España. They were here in Colorado to receive training on debriefing cross-cultural workers.

I met Carlos back in 2005 in Quito, Ecuador and I met Lidia in Panama last March. They are both a part of providing holistic care for missionary families sent out from Latin America. Lidia told me that there are currently about 17,000 Latin American missionaries serving around the world!

It has been fun to speak Spanish again and reconnect with friends and colleagues the Latin American Missions Movement. That will be on a daily basis when we move to Málaga, Spain!

By the way, we are helping to lead a group of 41 students, staff, and parents down to Guatemala in July!

Here is our May prayer letter that talks about our adventures in Central America! If you would like to make a donation to OC to help our family serve in Guatemala this summer, please send your donation indicating that it is for Stiff Travel Guatemala 2011. Thanks for your partnership in sharing the gospel of Christ to all nations!

Are you coaching me?

2011-04-01T13:42:00.004-06:00

Check out our April prayer letter to hear more about ministry coaching and why the Stiffs are going to London for two weeks!

Click Here!

"Dad, when we move to Spain, can we take Porter?"

2011-03-01T10:14:00.005-07:00

Porter, is our Black Dachshund. He is the black phantom that you see (or may not see) in the front of the picture to your right!

The signs of transition are upon us already! We are having interesting family conversations about our decision to move to southern Spain and join OC’s North Africa-Middle
East (NAME) team.

• Please pray for us as parents to have the wisdom to know how to help Mikayla and Elena process our decision to leave Monument, Colorado, and step out in faith toward a new country where God is leading us to live.

Our March prayer letter is out. What do Spain, the Rocky Mountains, Panama, and Guatemala have in common? Find out here!

If you would like to subscribe to our prayer letters, please click here to sign up.

Why Málaga?

2011-02-03T11:11:00.006-07:00

God is calling us to continue serving the Latin American Missions Movement through coaching and training young, emerging leaders.

Málaga, Spain is becoming a strategic hub for equipping Latin American missionaries and their families that are working in some of the least-reached parts of the world.

Here's our latest newsletter on how we fit in the OC Málaga Team!

Please take a moment to join our prayer team by signing up for our electronic prayer letters. Thanks!

Spain!

2010-12-06T08:10:00.008-07:00

Click here for an important update on the Stiff family's future!

News Flash! We have accepted the invitation to join OC's team located in Málaga, Spain that serves and encourages Latin workers in North Africa and the Middle East! Our target departure date is Summer 2012.

Would you consider joining our prayer and support team? Here's the link to donate through OC International. Thank you for your partnership with us!

¡Gracias!

2010-11-01T16:37:00.004-06:00

Click here to read our
latest update!

What's New with the Stiffs?

2010-09-02T15:06:00.002-06:00

Click HERE and you can find out!

Need miles? Yes!

2010-04-12T10:36:00.005-06:00

Hey friends, the Stiff Family is returning to Guatemala! Well, for 14 days at least:)

We have been asked to co-lead a team of high school students from Colorado on a short-term missions trip at the end of July. Mikayla and Elena will be a part of the team as well. They are excited to return to serve in the country where they grew up. We will be working in a rural Mayan village, serving alongside the local church as they reach out to children and youth.

If you have American Airlines frequent flyer miles, would you consider donating some toward our trip to Guatemala?

Until April 30th, 2010, AAdvantage is offering up to a 30% bonus on miles that you share!

If you would like to donate some miles toward our family's ministry trip this summer, please write to me at: guatekyle@gmail.com

Thanks, Kyle.

Uncharted Territory

2010-03-31T08:06:00.002-06:00

Greetings, friends! Some of you may have read our March OC Prayer letter announcing some changes that are happening in our lives. Over the last few months, I realized that the role of US Personnel Director for OC International is not the best fit for my gifting and abilities in ministry. I love mentoring and discipling young, emerging Christian leaders particularly as it connects with the Spanish-speaking world. I want to get back to doing that full-time!

As of March 15th, I am no longer in that role and will continue to serve my replacement, Debbie Smith until mid-May. We have decided to take a sabbatical this summer to create some “space” in our lives in order to spend time seeking God’s direction. We are specifically asking God if he may have us return to a cross-cultural assignment within OC in the future. During this time, we plan to spend the month of June in Málaga, Spain. In July, we will be traveling to San Pablo La Laguna, Guatemala for a short-term mission with a team of high school students from our local church.

As you can tell, it feels like we are hiking into uncharted territory. As a friend prayed for me yesterday, "God, you are not giving Kyle and Nell a map, but we pray you will be their compass." Just to clarify, we are not leaving OC, rather we are seeking a different assignment (either in Colorado or elsewhere, as the Lord leads). We covet your prayers during this transition period. We are uncertain as to what the future holds, but we trust the One who is leading us there!

Happy 11th Birthday, Mikayla!

2010-03-18T11:25:00.001-06:00

Flying through Guatemala

2010-03-05T09:05:00.007-07:00

Last month, I flew down to Guatemala with Tony, the youth pastor from our local church here in Monument, Colorado to set up a youth missions trip for July 2010. We are going to serve alongside Mayan, rural pastors and do some children and youth ministry in a remote village near Lake Atitlan.

Here's the link to the missions trip: Guatemala Mission Trip

It was so great to speak Spanish again and be back in a country that my family lived in for over seven years. I loved being back!

As an added bonus at the end of our trip, we had the chance to go on a zip-line through a Nature Reserve in Panajachel, Guatemala. Hey, if the youth are going to do it, the leaders have to make sure it's safe, right?

Enjoy the video!

Happy 9th Birthday, Elena!

2010-02-15T09:31:00.001-07:00

How to get over jet lag

2009-11-14T04:45:00.002-07:00

I flew into Davao City in the south of the Philippines after 30 hours of traveling. Denver, LAX, Seoul, Manila...whew! Needless to say, I felt kind of sleepy today in our lunch meeting with the Philippine Challenge team...until our visit to Outland Adventure this afternoon.

The Outland Adventure staff person asked me, "Do you want to sit in your harness or be Superman?" Gosh, when you put it that way, how can you just sit in your harness? Besides, if the cable breaks and I fall 200 feet into the murky, green river below, I might as well make the dive of my life!

Well, my heart is still pumping as I look at this picture. I flew 750 meters in about 29 seconds. I'm really enjoying my time in Davao and it makes me miss living cross-culturally. I am amazed at the incredible things God is doing in and through our OC team here. They have a big vision for the Philippines.

Live from Manila

2009-05-23T02:46:00.011-06:00

Greetings, friends. I am writing to you from the Philippines where I have been attending some meetings outside of Manila with OC leaders representing 12 different countries. This is my first time to Asia and I have really enjoyed my time here.

I have been amazed by the wonderful hospitality of the Filipino people. I have also been deeply impacted by the level of commitment to the Kingdom on the part of my colleagues in OC as we move forward with plans to internationalize the mission giving greater freedom for expansion.

I have made some new friends this week from places such as India, Canada, Singapore, and of course, the Philippines!

I have also really enjoyed the food, which is no surprise. One night our hosts took us out to seafood and we had our fill of shrimp (with the heads still on!) along with crab and mussels.

Today, the seafood of the day actually looked like it was still moving until I got a better look at it. I normally don't like squid but this was extra fresh! For those of you who have a weak stomach, you may not want to look at the last picture.

Please pray for the remaining Internationalization meetings and our time in Filipino churches tomorrow. I leave for home on Monday. Thanks for praying for me!

Download Coldplay's free live album today!

2009-05-15T08:09:00.001-06:00

Click here!

Happy Mother's Day, Nell!

2009-05-10T21:27:00.002-06:00

We love you!

White as Snow

2009-04-18T17:58:00.005-06:00

I have never celebrated Easter in snow. Someone said, "Yeah, that's why they color the eggs, so the kids can find them!" The snow that literally covers everything outside right now, has prompted me to think how the act of love and forgiveness that Jesus accomplished on the cross blots out my sin and washes my dirty heart "white as snow".

U2 says it this way in their new song called White as Snow:

"Once I knew there was a love divine

Then came a time I thought it knew me not

Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not

Only the lamb as white as snow"

David meditates on this image in Psalm 51:1-10, which he wrote when the prophet Nathan came to him after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

This Easter I am thankful for the One who blots out my transgressions and washes me white as snow.

Happy 10th Birthday, Mikayla!

2009-03-18T11:54:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!
We love you, Mom and Dad.

Magnificent by U2

2009-03-05T07:49:00.003-07:00

"Only love, only love can leave such a mark, Only love, only love can heal such a scar, Justified till we die, you and I will magnify, The Magnificent" Lyrics by Bono and The Edge

Spring Cleaning, Confessing Sins and Flying Kites

2009-02-23T10:10:00.004-07:00

This week Lent will begin and I have decided to follow it more closely.

On my Gmail calendar this morning the words popped up: Clean Monday

I decided to do a wikipedia search to find out about it. Here are some interesting tidbits that reminded me to search my heart, ask for forgiveness, and enjoy my child-like walk with my Father in Heaven:

Clean Monday (Greek: Καθαρά Δευτέρα), also known as Pure Monday, Ash Monday, Monday of Lent or (in Cyprus only) Green Monday (actually translated as such), is the first day of the Eastern Orthodox Christian and Eastern Catholic Great Lent.

The common term for this day, "Clean Monday," refers to the leaving behind of sinful attitudes and non-fasting foods.

Liturgically, Clean Monday—and thus Lent itself—begins on the preceding (Sunday) night, at a special service called Forgiveness Vespers, which culminates with the Ceremony of Mutual Forgiveness, at which all present will bow down before one another and ask forgiveness. In this way, the faithful begin Lent with a clean conscience, with forgiveness, and with renewed Christian love. The entire first week of Great Lent is often referred to as "Clean Week," and it is customary to go to Confession during this week, and to clean the house thoroughly.

The theme of Clean Monday is set by the Old Testament reading appointed to be read at the Sixth Hour on this day (Isaiah 1:1-20), which says in part:

Wash yourselves and ye shall be clean; put away the wicked ways from your souls before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well. Seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, consider the fatherless, and plead for the widow. Come then, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow; and though they be red like crimson, I will make them white as wool (v. 16-18).

Clean Monday is a public holiday in Greece and Cyprus, where it is celebrated with outdoor excursions, the consumption of shellfish and other fasting food, and the widespread custom of flying kites.

The happy, springtime atmosphere of Clean Monday may seem at odds with the Lenten spirit of repentance and self-control, but this seeming contradiction is a marked aspect of the Orthodox approach to fasting, in accordance with the Gospel lesson (Matthew 6:14-21) read on the morning before, which admonishes:

When ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret... (v. 16-18).

In this manner, the Orthodox celebrate the fact that "The springtime of the Fast has dawned, the flower of repentance has begun to open..."

Happy 8th Birthday, Elena!

2009-02-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!
Love, Mom and Dad

Two Stiffs Selling Gas

2009-01-01T17:33:00.006-07:00

Ever been to Lovelock, Nevada? On our way out to California for Christmas we stopped by to visit a very strangely named gas station. Yes, it's true! The original owners were both Stiffs. Kind of a father and son operation.

We just had to stop for the girls to get their picture taken under this big sign along with pretending to be future gas attendants.

Who knows, maybe Mikayla and Elena will someday want to buy the place and continue the family business!

By the way, we had a great road trip together as a family. We enjoyed seeing everyone in Nevada City and Chico.

Infant Born to Immigrant Couple

2008-12-19T08:41:00.005-07:00

Here is a powerful story from a friend of mine:
Granted the city has been slammed with out-of-towners in recent weeks, but a report has come into our newsroom of an unusual story that bears repeating. Most readers are well familiar with the housing shortages we have been experiencing due to the latest political maneuverings, and unfortunately many visitors coming from other districts have not found room with relatives.

Apparently one couple found themselves in a real jam when events conspired against them. Their lineage was not of the highest pedigree, coming from the backwater north where one must do without the advantages of modern conveniences. Not only that, but the couple in question apparently had gotten themselves in some trouble "in the family way." That may explain why there was no room with any of their relatives in town.

The weather being fair enough, the pair found lodging among the homeless. The street hospitality rallied around the couple since the woman--barely of age--was delivering a child. The fact that an unwed mother would still have to give birth without proper medical care reveals the woeful government oversight we have often referenced in this publication.

Cruelly, this story will be quickly forgotten and no action will be taken to alleviate the suffering of families that comply with regulations but lack the resources needed. On a positive note, the newborn infant--a boy--is in good health and will be glad to return to his village and resume a placid life which contrasts his stormy beginning.

Contributors: Bob Rasmussen and deceased correspondents

Kyle turns 40

2008-12-16T20:33:00.003-07:00

Kyle's parents bought him a t-shirt for his birthday from one of his favorite restaurants in his hometown of Chico, California. La Comida started their business in 1968, the same year that Kyle was born!

"It's been an amazing life!", Kyle shares with people who ask him how it feels to be 40. "I am very thankful for the life that God has given me to share with my wife and kids."

What are you looking foward to in your 40's?

"Riding my new mountain bike that Nell bought me from REI. I hope I survive to tell the tale! I'm also blown away that God has given me the opportunity to travel around the world. It looks like I will travel to Indonesia this year. It will be my 40th country!"

Smashing Pumpkins

2008-11-01T12:06:00.000-06:00

Pumpkin Carving with Tim and Annette

2008-10-20T18:23:00.000-06:00

From Videos

Miss Nell is back in action

2008-10-17T10:30:00.003-06:00

Some of you may have heard the news...Nell is back in the classroom teaching kindergarten. She is really having a good time. She loves to teach and it is providing a wonderful opportunity for her to connect with kids and their families here in Monument.

Please pray for Nell as she balances being a part-time teacher, part-time Short-Term Ministries Coordinator at OC, and a FULL-TIME Mom!

OC leaders and Count Dracula?

2008-10-10T09:32:00.000-06:00

Dare I ask what they have in common? Actually OC leadership from all over the world has been meeting in the Transylvanian Mountains of Romania since Saturday discussing some of the challenges and hopes for the future of our ministry worldwide. We took a break to visit the medieval Bran Castle that was made famous in the historical fiction novel, Count Dracula.

I was expecting to see dungeons and dark hallways but the inside was actually very beautiful including some spectacular views of the valley below.

I head back to the United States on Saturday. It's been a great trip but I'm looking forward to seeing Nell, Mikayla, and Elena.

Ever been on a Bulgarian Train?

2008-10-08T14:26:00.004-06:00

It's not much to write home about! I traveled last Thursday night on a Bulgarian train from Sofia all the way to Bucharest, Romania. It was about a 10 hour train ride. Although the outside was pretty rusty, this train whose ultimate destination was Moscow, surprisingly was quite comfortable. One of our OC workers in Bucharest told me that these old trains have to be lifted up and be given a new gauge of wheels to fit the Russian railroads. Something about the Cold War!

Thanks for praying for me this week. It has been very eye opening to visit Eastern Europe this week.

Greetings from Sofia, Bulgaria!

2008-10-02T02:07:00.011-06:00

I have spent the last few days with some great friends, Kirk and Dawn who live in the beautiful city of Sofia. We went for a walking tour of downtown.

We stopped at one of the city plazas where crowds of men stood around watching intently over chess matches. I'm sure a lot of money was riding on who won!

I had a chance to visit a Bulgarian social service foundation that Kirk and Dawn are involved in supporting called Star of Hope. It provides encouragement, training, and help to abandoned children, orphans, children and adults with special needs, poor families and prisoners.

Before we headed home last night, we stopped by a local market to get some vegetables.

I'm taking a train tonight for Bucharest, Romania.

The Global South

2008-09-19T13:56:00.017-06:00

Greetings from Costa Rica! I am here with missions leaders from all over Latin America learning how we can better connect and cooperate with the global missions movement. God is using his church in the Global South as a new harvest force toward reaching the unreached. During our conference, the Latin American missions movement called COMIBAM met with Rueben Ezemadu, who is one of the top leaders of the African missions movement. I couldn't believe what I was seeing...Latin America was talking directly with Africa about how to complete the Great Commission!

I also had a great time catching up with old friends from Guatemala that I served with in the national missions movement.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support of our family and ministry. Truly, we are reaching the world together!

Kyle

I haven't seen you all summer!

2008-08-08T18:40:00.004-06:00

"Where have you been?" I haven't seen you all summer! That's been the common conversational exchange for Nell and I as we have been immersed in ministry this summer up at Bear Trap Ranch in the front range of the Rocky Mountains. It has been an amazing experience to go deep with the next generation of OC field missionaries. We had people join us for our Lifeworkx missionary training program that are interested in serving with OC around the world.

We also spent 10 incredible days with OC missionaries taking a break from field ministry and getting some R&R with us. Nell and I were mentors for the college group during OC's Personnel Enrichment Program (PEP). Some highlights were taking them to see the premier of the Batman Sequel: The Dark Knight and camping up at the top of San Luis Peak. Our conversations ran deep as these students shared what it as been like adjusting to life in the States after living their whole lives in different countries around the world.

Thanks to all who helped us participate this summer with additional support. It was the highlight of our year!

It's a Hardknock Life

2008-06-08T15:54:00.001-06:00

Teach Me How to Shimmy

2008-06-08T15:53:00.001-06:00

The Eller Family Says Good-bye to Guatemala

2008-06-04T13:11:00.003-06:00

After 12 years of faithful service, the Eller family is leaving Guatemala. Their new calling: serving Spanish-speaking missionaries from southern Spain, many of which have been sent out to countries near Spain. Spain has become a strategic location for pastoral care, encouragement, and training of those missionaries.

Our family had the privilege of traveling down to Guatemala to help the Ellers pack up their home and sell a lot of their possessions in April. We were able to put some of our packing skills to work and our bartering skills to the test as we walked through this process with our good friends. It was a very special time of saying goodbye, our very last week with the Ellers in Guatemala.

Read the rest of our June prayer letter

Faces from around the World!

2008-05-03T08:48:00.003-06:00

"It is clear that as we look into the future as a mission, it is a future filled with faces from all over the world. Not only faces that we are ministering to, but faces we are ministering with! With almost half of our missionaries from countries other than the United States, we are excited to see the sharing of leadership that is beginning to take place in the mission."

Read more about our new ministry with OC in our May newsletter. Click here!

Power versus Love

2008-04-30T10:22:00.003-06:00

I was just asked by a colleague of mine to send him a favorite leadership quote. Immediately this one came to mind. It has had a dramatic effect on the way that I desire to lead others.

In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership by Henri J.M. Nouwen
pg. 59-60

What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible? Maybe it is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love. It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life. Jesus asks, "Do you love me?" We ask, "Can we sit at your right hand and your left hand in your Kingdom?" (Matthew 20:21). Ever since the snake said, "The day you eat of this tree your eyes will be open and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5), we have been tempted to replace love with power. Jesus lived that temptation in the most agonizing way from the desert to the cross. The long painful history of the Church is the history of people ever and again tempted to choose power over love, control over the cross, being a leader over being led. Those who resisted this temptation to the end and thereby give us hope are the true saints.

One thing is clear to me: the temptation of power is the greatest when intimacy is a threat. Much Christian leadership is exercised by people who do not know how to develop healthy, intimate relationships and have opted for power and control instead. Many Christian empire-builders have been people unable to give and receive love.

In Memory of Dr. Clyde Cook

2008-04-14T09:31:00.004-06:00

Dr. Clyde Cook, President Emeritus of Biola University, passed away at approximately 6:30 PM on Friday, April 11th, 2008. He was in his study at home when he apparently suffered a massive heart attack.

Nell and I just had dinner with Dr. Cook and his wife Anna Belle in February here in Colorado. Nell greeting him as "Dr. Cook" and he immediately responded, "Please, call me, Clyde". We will always remember Clyde's sincere interest in our lives and ministry with OC International. Before he became the president of Biola, he served as a missionary and president of OC International. He kept a picture of Kyle and two of his Biola friends, Dave Engel and Scott Douglas on his desk for the last 15 years. Clyde imparted to us a tremendous passion for missions and he will be greatly missed by all. May God bring comfort and peace to his family during this difficult time.

It's almost been a year!

2008-04-13T17:08:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! We are writing this post from one of our favorite spots on earth. The small colonial city of Antigua is a very special place to our family. It's almost been a year since we left Guatemala and it has been fun to visit some familiar places with our friends like Café Condesa with the Eller family.

Please pray for us this week as we spend time encouraging our former team members. Thanks Bill and Jana Porterfield for donating your miles so that we could go as a family. Mikayla and Elena are having a blast. It's like they never left.

GOAL!!!!

2008-04-09T18:41:00.001-06:00

Elena had her first soccer game of the season. She scored a goal! I think that she was a little surprised that it went in since it bounced off an opposing player.

Surprisingly enough, although Elena was raised in Guatemala, she really never has played soccer all that much. You can see the raw potential when she plays, but she definitely needs to learn the basics. That is why we are so thankful for Coach "D" (Diana Douglas), a long time friend from our university days at Biola. She is an amazing motivator and really is helping Elena develop the basic skills of the game. I think this is just the beginning for Elena scoring goals. Now she has the "fever"! GOAL!!!! Way to go, Elena!

What is your definition of love?

2008-04-04T08:26:00.005-06:00

I was impacted yesterday by the words of William Shakespeare's "Sonnet CXVI"

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alterations finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

This sonnet made me think of the powerful description of love by the Apostle Paul in his letter written to the Corinthian church:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

May our love for one another be "an ever-fixed mark", unshaken by life's tempests, always hoping, always persevering.

Happy 9th Birthday, Mikayla!

2008-03-21T17:53:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday, Elena!

2008-02-15T16:57:00.002-07:00

She did it!

2008-02-05T18:04:00.000-07:00

Congratulations, Elena! Tonight our "soon to be" seven year old read her first whole book in English without any help! Of course, it was the famous Green Eggs and Ham. Thanks, Dr. Seuss.

Elena who has grown up all her life in Guatemala turns 7 years old on February 15. This will be the first birthday that she celebrates in the United States. She is growing up before our eyes into a talented, loving, energetic girl. We love you, Elena. You are so cute.

Big Day for Mikayla!

2008-01-29T17:48:00.000-07:00

Unlike most kids her age, Mikayla was totally excited to get her glasses today. She loves them because the daily headaches are now gone for the most part. Mikayla has an eye muscle disorder called Convergence Insufficiency (CI). I know... it kind of freaked me out as well when I first heard the name. In simple terms, Mikayla's left eye turns outward when she focuses on something closeup. It causes her eye muscle to work extra hard to keep that left eye in focus. She has struggled with squinting, bad posture, and mostly headaches after she gets home from school.

The doctor prescribed these glasses that have a low grade prism that help her eye not strain as much. That should take care of the pain. We are also helping to train Mikayla's eye to stay focused by doing a vision therapy called "pencil push-ups" three times a day. This exercise helps train Mikayla's left eye stay focused on close objects.

Mikayla loves to read and play webkinz on the computer. Now it won't hurt as much.
Way to go, Mikayla! You look beautiful!

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

2008-01-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

Nell and I just watched Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C in 1963.

May we all be as passionate about Jesus' message of justice and equality, social transformation, and setting people free to experience the kingdom of God on earth!

Street Language

2008-01-06T11:46:00.000-07:00

I started reading The Message (of the New Testament) by Eugene Peterson this morning. His introduction on the use of ordinary street language to tell the message of Jesus expresses exactly what I have been wrestling with lately.

"A striking feature in all this writing is that it was done in the street language of the day, the idiom of the playground and marketplace...Some people are taken aback by this, supposing that language dealing with a holy God and holy things should be elevated - stately and ceremonial. But one good look at Jesus - his preference for down-to-earth stories and easy association with common people - gets rid of that supposition. For Jesus is the descent of God to our lives, just as they are, not the ascent of our lives to God, hoping he might approve when he sees how hard we try."

"And that is why the followers of Jesus in their witness and preaching, translating and teaching, have always done their best to get the Message - the "good news" - into the language of whatever streets they happen to live on. In order to understand the Message right, the language must be right - not a refined language that appeals to our aspirations after the best but a rough and earthy language that reveals God's presence and action where we least expect it, catching us when we are up to our elbows in the soiled ordinariness of our lives and God is the furthest thing from our minds."

Litany of Humility

2008-01-03T22:19:00.000-07:00

Deliver me, O Jesus...

from the desire of being loved,
from the desire of being extolled,
from the desire of being praised,
from the desire of being preferred,
from the desire of being consulted,
from the desire of being approved,
from the desire of being popular.

Deliver me, O Jesus...

from the fear of being humiliated,
from the fear of being despised,
from the fear of suffering rebukes,
from the fear of being forgotten,
from the fear of being wronged,
from the fear of being ridiculed,
from the fear that others may be loved more than I.

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire...

that others may be esteemed more than I,
that in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,
that others may be chosen and I set aside,
that others may be praised and I unnoticed,
that others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should.

- Cardinal Merry del Val

The OC Christmas Party - The Guatemala Girls

2007-12-14T19:12:00.003-07:00