Summer's Here!

I am overwhelmed at God's sovereignty and His provision. In the last blog (Why we need each other...), we talked about the deep satisfaction that comes from working together for the growth of the Kingdom. As we work together, lives are changed and new believers come to a saving faith in Christ. It is a wonderful thing to be apart of and we are so blessed by those of you who have already partnered with us. It is truly a partnership and we are happy to confidently say that you are blessed in your giving. And, we are so thankful that you are storing up your treasures in Heaven through partnering with True Surrender to see remarkable things come to the people of Bolivia. We pray God's satisfying blessing upon you through peace, wisdom, and overwhelming joy in Christ.

Summer is finally here and so much has happened!  We enjoyed a wonderful Newk's Night fundraiser (thanks again to all those who participated!) where we raised over $500! Not only did we reach 20% of our moving budget that night, but we had a blast eating with so many friends and family. During this month many of you also participated in our Ipad Raffle. We brought in more than $4,000 for this fundraiser and owe you all a HUGE "Thank You!" This is such a blessing and you played a part in it. Thank you all so much for giving as the Lord prompted and for being obedient and cheerful in your giving! 

Going forward, we want to ask you all to consider monthly partnership in this ministry. Your monthly gift will enable us to accomplish all the wonderful things God has breathed in us to do in Bolivia. Your gift will help to grow the local body of believers through church planting, pastoral discipleship, orphanage ministry, prison visits, building homes for the poor, supplying resources to remote villages in the name of Christ, and so much more. We want to show the love of our Father to those in despair, who are broken and lost, those who truly need the 'living water' of the Holy Spirit. It isn't that we "seek the gift" but we earnestly want to work with click this link to be directed to our giving page.
you for the reward that is "credited in heaven" to you through your giving. Everything we will accomplish will be a result of God using your gifts. If you would like more information on giving, please

We are also excited to let you know that Chris and I will be going on a second scouting trip in July to visit with the Holman family in Cochabamba, Bolivia to check out their ministry. As many of you know, this is the family that we'll be working with our first two years abroad. We are so blessed that God has supplied the means for this trip (separate from our current fundraising!) as it will provide valuable time, information, and encouragement as we plan and prepare for the upcoming transition to full time ministry on the field. Please pray for safe travel and protection for us, and for peace for our wives as they take care of our active children in our absence. :) I hope to get some great video and pictures for the website while there, and maybe even a vlog or two! 

Grace and Peace, 

Seth 

PS - Check out our next fundraiser, June's Bolivia Bound Pecan Party! Please allow a three day turn-around on orders. :) 

Why we need each other...

Ever felt like your life just wasn't cutting it? Like you were just going through the motions, but there was no satisfaction? We all know that there is more to life than just eating, drinking, sleeping, and breathing. These things will keep our bodies from death, but they do little to our souls. As a husband and father, I often slip into auto-pilot and focus on need-meeting rather than spirit-building.

About a year and a half ago, when Ashley and I started feeling God telling us to begin pursuing missions, we were excited and, begrudged to admit, naive. We began researching and dreaming and talking and planning, we even giggled on occasion. Being the planners we were, we thought we had it figured out.

We began doing all the sensible things like budgeting, planning logistics, and reading the "Lonely Planet" travel guide to Bolivia. We talked to our friends, who God had connected us with in heart and calling. I think all of us were in this honeymoon season. God had so deeply rooted this passion inside of us that we just knew everything was down hill from there. God had paid our debts, affirmed the call, and even pointed us to a country.

Not too long afterward, we hit a brick wall. All of those idealistic assumptions became wishful thinking and the realization of all the things that have to come together for us to make the transition fell front and center. Some of our families didn't understand or agree with what we were feeling in our hearts, which magnified the pit we found ourselves in. We realized how much money we were actually going to need and were faced with the incredible task of trusting God to provide it (still trusting by the way).

In all the things that God has been teaching us and leading us through, I think one of the most important is the value of people. Not to say that people weren't valuable before, but we did take our friends and family for granted. Faced with the prospect of leaving our loved ones to travel so far away, we realized how important they are to us. More, we began to realize how important they are to the calling that God has given us.

When we saw that we needed upwards of 30 thousand dollars to make the move to Bolivia (2 families, 11 people), we were quite discouraged. Thinking about the fact that we, together, need $6500 a month in pledge support to live and operate, made me a little queasy. Anyone who has ever had to ask for money knows that is never a comfortable experience. Reading a great book about support raising, I now understand why that is.

Its uncomfortable because we like our independence. We like the strength and resolve that comes from being able to accomplish things on our own. The problem with this is that God intended for us to not be independent, or dependent, but interdependent. I think some of the most beautiful scriptures in the Bible are 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 and Acts 4:32-35. Both of these verses remind me of how awesome it is to have a God to supplies our needs, and that we are blessed to be a part of that.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul says that the church at Macedonia was in "a severe test of affliction" and "extreme poverty" but that "abundant joy" overflowed in "a wealth of generosity." He goes on to say that they gave as they had in their means and even beyond, to the point that they begged to give. My favorite part is that even in such circumstances, they had abundant joy that can only come from the Lord. I pray very often for God to increase this same level of joy in me so that my life could be spoken of in this same way. They didn't give for reputation or to receive a benefit but they were overcome with joy to partner with other believers to see the message of the gospel preached to the world. They knew what joy they were passing along in their giving and the investment they were making in their relationship with Paul and other believers.

Giving has little to do with resources and everything to do with relationship. God works our giving to accomplish His goals, but He provides us the opportunity of giving to sew into each other as partners in the gospel. We need each other and the joy of the Lord that this produces in us, which becomes our strength in our walk with the Lord.

In Acts, Luke tells us that the members of the church had everything in common, no one claimed anything for a personal possession. We read that there was "not a needy person among them." What a great example of God's love in caring for His people to produce "one heart" among the church to see His will accomplished.

I have thought long and hard about how to approach the whole "give to this ministry" thing that we are undertaking in support raising for missions. And, I have learned that it isn't about money at all. Its about people partnering with people with joy at our core and the commission of Christ to make disciples as our goal. Its finding that part of life that brings real satisfaction and meaning to our lives.

As we are asking people for their prayerful consideration of pledging their financial support, I pray that our hearts for partnership are evident. It's not about a monthly check, but a deep meaningful relationship. We want to pray for you, pray with you, hear about your lives, tell you about what God is doing on the field, hear about what God is doing in you, and for us to be able to encourage and affirm one another in our faith in Christ.

In love and grace,

Seth

Walking on Water

It has been about 6 months since we returned from Bolivia on our scouting trip. God has done so much in us since then and, my, have things changed. The Tisbury twins are here now, and Erin and Chris have their hands full of little blessings. Since returning home we have been able to better connect with the Holmans (missionaries in Cochabamba). Through much thought and prayer, we have been given the opportunity to serve with them for the first few years abroad. And Ashley and I have informed our employers that we will not renew our contracts this year.

We can't wait to get to Bolivia, but there are a few hurdles and roads to walk to get there. We are in the midst of our plan of action and hope we can count on your prayer support. Ashley and I have both submitted our letters of intent not to return to our jobs (in public education) next school year. This is a scary thing for us, a great leap of faith. We both have great jobs in the school system, but know that God is leading us to passionately pursue the vision he has placed in our hearts.

Typically, teachers here do not have to submit their letters of intent until February. However, this year it came much sooner than expected (I think God was testing our faith in his calling). At the beginning of January, we discussed at length when would be the appropriate time to leave our jobs, our security, in order to pursue this dream of foreign missions. We would have moments of fearless excitement at the adventure; then, at times we had feelings of overwhelming consternation at the thought of forsaking conventional wisdom and stepping out in total faith. How would such a move affect our families, our friends, our kids?

Bearing the weight of those thoughts and also feeling responsible for our own provision, our own welfare, our reputations, relationships with friends and family that might not or could not understand was more than we could shoulder. Imagine feeling responsible for walking on water in the midst of a storm entirely through your own strength and ability. It isn't possible. So, we lean on God and his promises. Setting our eyes on him, we were given fresh strength, more zeal, and a grounding confidence that he who has called us will surely make the way.

Going forward, we are so excited to see how God is going to lay our path to missions in Bolivia. We will begin networking, building partners, and raising funds next month and can't wait to do so. I know that God is going to demonstrate his divine sovereignty in every step along the way. We are trusting in him and can't wait to see where and how he leads us.

Be blessed!
Seth

La Paz will take your breath away... Literally...

As we landed, our excitement was through the roof. I remember my heart beating so fast and so loudly that I could feel it in my ears. We nervously looked at each other. This was it. We were finally there. For months, we had been dreaming of finally seeing this city and country that God had placed on our hearts.

We had researched the city of La Paz and knew that the altitude was really high, higher than any place we'd ever been. We weren't sure what to expect. After the plane came to a stop, we couldn't tell if our hearts were beating so fast because of our excitement or because of the altitude. I remember my head feeling a little light, "This isn't too bad, I can handle this." Then, we stood up.

Hoping I wouldn't pass out in the customs line, I stood as still as possible. Ashley kept talking to me (she was the only one who had been exercising and walking to prepare for the trip, so she was apparently not as affected as the rest of us). I remember thinking, "please shut up before I fall on the floor." Yes, I know that isn't the nicest thing for a husband to think about his wife, but I was barely making it and she was very actively engaged in a game of "20 questions."

Erin and Chris got to skip most of the lines because of some silly condition they called "being pregnant." When we got to tag along, it was being a VIP. However, when we didn't, it felt like being the kids that get looked over for dodge ball in middle school PE. Anyhow, because of this, they got to skip to the front of the line and left me, with chatty Kathy, feeling like a really heavy helium balloon. My first prayer in Bolivia was, "God, please don't let me pass out because nobody else speaks Spanish and we'll probably end up in some hostel in the worst part of town." Well, he answered it and I was very grateful.

As we got to closer to the front of the line, we found out that Erin was taken to the nurse for oxygen, since she was feeling really weak. But, being pregnant with twins, she had a good excuse (which came in handy for me throughout the trip - since she had to eat often and walk slow; which was great for me, being the heavy one...). Ray (our friend from the previous posts, who was also delayed with us in Lima) was very helpful. He went ahead of us and secured us a taxi.

We piled in to the little clown car taxi and headed away from El Alto, where the airport was, to La Paz. It was a beautiful drive at night through the mountainous roads lit by the city lights. Although a pretty drive, we still weren't accustomed to the South American style of driving. I went to school in Mexico and thought they drove crazily, but those memories seem tamed now.

Arriving at the hotel, we were ready to get in bed. They had complimentary Coca Tea in the lobby we helped ourselves to for some relief from the altitude. We checked in, made our way to our room, and tried to get some sleep. I, for one, had a very difficult night fighting altitude sickness.

We seemed to acclimate very quickly though, surely only thanks to God. We were able to make much of our 3 days in La Paz and fell even more in love with the Bolivian people and their culture. I think Ashley secretly wants to be a cholita. We visited the markets, the town plaza, a street fair, and the Tihuanacan ruins near El Alto. Erin picked up the bartering lingo quickly and loved moving around the markets independently, making deals. Ashley and Chris were a little more dependent on my Spanish for their negotiations.

One of the most intriguing and concerning things we learned about the culture of Bolivia was the prominence and influence of indigenous beliefs. Many who will label themselves as Catholic also make sacrifices and offerings to spirits and to Pacha Mama (similar to Mother Earth). We met a very friendly Aymara indian in Tihuanacu who showed us around his property, where he personally maintained Tihuanacan ruins and built replications in the same style. He showed us where he makes offerings to the bones of 'his ancestors' and where he burns offerings (see pics on the slide show). Many Bolivians will not build on property where a llama fetus has not first been buried as an offering to Pacha Mama. These beliefs are in addition to the 'christian' faith established during the Spanish colonization. There is much need for truth in addition to the great need for food, clothing and shelter for many.

God showed us so much in our three days in La Paz about the city, the people, the culture, and ourselves. I think we all felt a greater sense of peace in our calling to missions. I know that I think back with longing to return. We are so expectant of God's leading and directions. We count it all according to his grace to grant us the privilege of carrying his gospel to the people of Bolivia. We can't wait to be active on the field for the cause of Christ. Please continue to pray for us as we look forward to life in Bolivia. We are currently making plans and looking to God to supply all the means. The current goal is to be in Bolivia within the next 18 months, hopefully sooner. Thank you for keeping us, our calling, and the country of Bolivia in your prayers. Be blessed! We pray for you too!

In Christ,
Seth

PS - Ashley wishes that I clarify that this is told from my perspective and she doesn't remember talking that much in the customs line. ;)

Scouting Trip to Bolivia, AKA "not Bolivia"

The four of us planned a 7 day trip for July 2012. We did not have any specifics for the trip set in stone, but we had a tentative itinerary of things to do and see so as to get a good idea about the region and its culture. Our kids would stay with my wonderful mother-in-law and go to daycare during the day. It would be a long time away from the kids, certainly the longest we'd ever been away from them. We left home early (2:30 a.m.) for a 5:30 a.m. flight out of New Orleans. We had a connecting flight and layover in Miami and another in Lima, Peru; we expected to be in La Paz by 1:30 a.m. (and planned to sleep in that first day because of such a late arrival). We thought, after such a long travel itinerary, we would be in Bolivia for the night. But, God had different plans for us.

After a long 7+ hour layover in Miami, we arrived late in Lima, Peru. We were scheduled to fly from Lima to La Paz, Bolivia. With the late arrival, we, along with about a dozen others, missed our connecting flight. In the States, this would be no big deal. In Lima Peru, its sort of a big deal :-) The Lord helped us to be patient while the airline company tried to solve the problem. Erin, pregnant with her twin girls, was starving and exhausted. The others that missed their flight included a group of young people going on a mission trip to Santa Cruz and a father with his son (the father, Ray, was Bolivian by birth, but lives in New Jersey as an American.). We quickly made friends with all the others through the ordeal, and one of the college students offered Erin snacks. We waited, and waited, and waited (apparently a trend we'd learn to deal with in Latin America). Finally, around 1:30 a.m. We left the airport with a plan. We had vouchers to stay in a 5 star hotel in Lima for 3 nights (cutting our time in Bolivia by half), along with meal tickets for the hotel restaurant throughout the stay there, courtesy of the airline. Then, we'd leave for Bolivia. Not exactly the trip we expected, but we trusted the Lord's plans.

Lima, oh Lima, how I miss you! The middle of the night drive was a tad scary though, I'll be honest. Maybe more than once I saw someone urinating in the street. There was graffiti on the walls in the city. It was dark and our taxi did not stop at all the red lights or stop signs. But, when we awoke the next morning in our FINE hotel and super fluffy beds, we looked out to see a beautiful South American city. The hotel food was delicious, especially the breakfast. I wish I had a picture of the breakfast. We also explored the city's restaurants and were thoroughly impressed. I think I have more pictures of the food in Lima than I do of the four of us in Lima. It was that good!

With time to kill, we did a little sight seeing there as well. Lima is a very prosperous city in Peru, with some very wealthy residents in the heart of the city. We were in walking distance to a lot of things there, but with Erin being pregnant, we took advantage of the cheap taxis while there as well. The taxis in Lima (as well as La Paz) are TINY. Think early 90's Honda sedan. The four of us, none of us exactly tiny ourselves squeezing into those was kinda funny (and very uncomfortable.). Anyways, one day we decided to go to the movies, hearing that the price was half off on Tuesday's (which was only $2 in US currency). 

Well, we got our tickets and were excited to go see Spiderman. The theater was very 1980's ish to American standards. Oh, and there was no air conditioning - or at least it didn't feel like there was. We settled into our seats, with not a seat available in our theater...the place was packed. After the previews, the movie began. It became clear pretty quickly we were in the wrong theater. (Some Johnny Depp movie with vampires) Must have read the receipt wrong...stupid Americans (that's how I felt at the moment.). We went in another theater...Ice Age. No seats there either. We finally found Spider Man, and the only seats available were scattered all over the theater. We ended up having to come back the next day (they understood our problem...) and found an empty theater! We got snacks and settled into our seats once again. There might have been 2-4 other people in the entire theater, when another couple walked into the dark room. Where did they choose to sit? Right smack next to me. I couldn't believe it! We couldn't stop giggling about it for a few minutes, because in the U.S. This would NEVER happen! 150 seats and they chose the two directly to my right!

Clearly, we were able to have some fun in Lima. We saw the presidential palace (gorgeous), we were begged to eat at restaurants, and got our first glimpses of the beautiful Andes. It was a great detour that ended up being a blessing, not only in that we missed an apparently large and possibly dangerous city-wide party in La Paz by having to stay in Lima, but also in the time that we were able to seek the Lord. God blessed us by providing a moment for us to simply be still and seek him without the pulls of the city of La Paz. Being in Lima, not the city we were planning to go to, allowed us to spend time in the word and in prayer. We were greatly encouraged and God gave us more clarity in the direction he was leading us. 

Loving the Lord Always, 

Ashley

Steps Ordered of the Lord

Where do I begin? I'm not sure, so I'm going to go waaaay back, just to be safe. I committed my life to Jesus around the age 10. The Lord used a dear friend of mine, Rebekah Murphy, along with some other godly influences in my family to draw me to Him. The Lord helped me to understand at that young age that to give my life to Jesus was an all or nothing thing. I had plans of either marrying a pastor or becoming a missionary, and being a teacher was somewhere in the midst of those options. I witnessed to the children I babysat as a teen, shared my faith with classmates in school, discipled young girls in my youth group as an older teen, and attended several mission trips. The Lord was my focus and my desire. I couldn't go to sleep at night if I neglected time alone with Him and His word.

Fast forward a few years...okay, quite a few years and Seth and I were married, both teachers, with three kids. We had talked about missions from the very beginning of our marriage, but with student loans to pay, buying a house, adopting our children, etc. we figured missions could be way down the road for us still. To be honest, the Lord was not my focus and my desire during this season...life was hectic. And then, the Lord began to do things as only He could. God made a way for Seth's student loans to be paid off in full. Wow...what a burden to lose nearly thirty thousand dollars of debt! Then, we connected with the Tisbury's in the calling and desire to serve the Lord through missions. Somewhere in there Bolivia become our country, and we began to pray for its people.

We met with our pastor and his wife to share our hearts and to tell about what the Lord was leading us to do. We began planning a scouting trip. Soon, we realized the trip would not be a cheap one, even though Bolivia is the poorest country in South America. (Just do a search to see how much airfare is to La Paz, Boliva...) We had a garage sale, and really started to simplify our lifestyles to save money and prepare our family for that future transition to missions. We got rid of Dish Network (bye bye Food Network and HGTV), our big flat screen t.v., and even sold our beautiful dresser. We cleaned closets, toy chests, the china cabinet, etc. We began to learn more about living simply.. 

In Christ, 

Ashley

Eye Opener

February 2, 2012

We are quickly learning that there is more to missions preparation than we expected. For all of us, this has been a dream in our hearts for a long time. When we felt God move and speak to all of us around the same time, it was very exciting and motivating. We love God so dearly and wanted to please him with our readiness, although we all had our different reservations we had and will work through. I know I, being the planner I am, was ready to nail down every detail and devise a timeline to have everything in place. A basic multi-step process to missions. Boy, was I wrong.

I know God's voice was clear, but how many times do we hear a word from the Lord and then begin to formulate our own plan and stategy to see it happen. One mis-step after the other, I realized that my 'control' mentallity was not going to work with God's supreme authority. I was reminded of the scripture, “lean not on your own understanding, but in ALL your ways acknowledge Him.” We think we are doing this simply because we consider God, but do we really acknowledge Him. We tend to think that to acknowledge and to consider are interchangable words. My favorite definition of this word is 'to recognize the authority or validity of.'

Our team was doing what we thought needed to be done; I was researching places, estimating costs, creating a timeline of steps that must be taken, planning for visas. I even created this website. I was walking and leaning on my abilities to make something happen, rather than respecting God's authority to orchestrate things according to His plan and purpose and timing; forgetting to acknowledge the authority of our church leaders and counsel to oversee this endeavor. If not for loving pastoral counsel and a gracious God, our actions could have limited God's direction. We could have stirred offense and division with our pastors and church family; we could have cut off the very people we need as mentors, overseeers and wise counsel. We were working toward the goal on our own, but thankfully God intercepted this erroneous judgement on our parts.

He knows our weaknesses and strengths and, because we will be representing His nature and ministering His gospel, He has and will continue to test our hearts. If we are to carry the gift of salvation to the people of Bolivia, should we not be prepared as a 'good' gift from a loving father? We are not perfect, in fact, we're far from it. But we love Jesus and pray that He will use us and that He will keep us within His good and perfect will, and protect us from our carnality.

We recently met with a missionary friend of our pastor and were dealt some truth about our plans and the vision that God gave us. It was, in all honesty, hard to swallow. A truth that was presented in love but, because we listened with carnal ears, felt discouraging, belittling, and insulting. We heard with our unrefined hearts and could have allowed a seed of bitterness to sprout. I know that this was a battle for me personally, until God brought revelation to my heart and renewed my understanding. I am so thankful that we have a loving God that wants us to be whole in Him. I now know that there are things we need to learn, obstacles we'll have to overcome, reputations that will have to be built on our submission to God's plan. I also know that our God is bigger than our limitations, stronger than our obstacles, and able to establish His reputation in us through surrendering to His will.

He has placed us in the perfect place. With a wonderful pastor, who leads with integrity and will always have our best in mind as he hears from the Lord. We have a wonderful church home that is encrouraging and affirming. We're blessed with close friends to hold us accountable, and a network of 'servants' that are being used by God to make sure that our hearts and minds are prepared for the work of this vision of ministry. We are surrendered to this call and are ready for His preparation in us.

In love,
Seth