Supreme Court Speaks - Mixed Decision

This is the official NTM Venezuela news release on the situation there:

Yesterday, the Supreme Court handed down a preliminary decision on the case of New Tribes Mission of Venezuela. The Court determined not to suspend the effects of the Resolution from November 14, which gave missionaries 90 days to leave tribal zones. At the same time the Court accepted the request for a hearing on the constitutionality of the Resolution. New Tribes members will continue their exit from tribal areas in order to meet the February 12 deadline. In the meanwhile, NTM will be seeking the overturning of the Resolution. The final decision on that count could require up to a year.

Please be praying with us as we make the final decision on this.

We have been in touch with the field of Asia-Pacific about possibly heading there and have been encouraged by their positive response.

Waiting Pattern

As you know, we've been in a waiting pattern to find out whether or not we're actually going to Venezuela April 1. You may have already heard that New Tribes Mission Venezuela has begun to evacuate tribal stations in an effort to be responsive to the deadline that was given to them in November. They were hoping to have a stay on this directive from the Supreme Court before this, but it still has not come. If this resolution to have NTM removed from the indigenous areas of Venezuela goes through, we will not be continuing on the path to Venezuela, as they will probably not need our help anymore. We are considering 2 other fields in case this does not work out. Please pray with us that we would know what the Lord would have us do. We hope to have a decision made by February 9.

Please continue to pray with us for closure on this situation - the missionaries in Venezuela have held on for a long time and are weary of the waiting, the uncertainty of their futures.

Thanks for lifting us and the missionaries in Venezuela to our Heavenly Father in prayer.

Better Now

Wow, since we had those shots, our kids have been sick. Julia ended up with bronchitis and the boys with bad colds. We seem to be close to the end now, though, and we're thankful. Some nights were a bit scary with the uncontrollable coughing. We had Julia in the shower to steam her a number of nights in a row and I even went as far as a mustard plaster a few nights! We're thankful for nights we can sleep through now. Guess you don't really appreciate your health (or your kids' health) until you don't have it. Good reminder.

Things are still hopping here. We continue to go through stuff and the Goodwill pile is getting larger again. We also just sent out a letter to all the people on our mailing list, so that was a big job.

We continue to wait to hear good news from the Supreme Court in Venezuela. There was a resolution printed in the newspaper there on November 14th, 2005 that said that NTM had to have all of their missionaries out of the tribal locations by February 14, 2006 and we were hoping for a stay of that resolution by this week. The way it works is that the resolution is printed in the newspaper and then if after 90 days it is not contested or repealed then it becomes law. We have heard that NTM Venezuela will begin to evacuate their tribal stations on Monday or Tuesday if a stay has not been granted. The mission's Venezuelan lawyer has submitted a petition saying that this resolution is unconstitutional, as there is freedom of religion allowed in the constitution. So we continue to wait and pray.

If for some reason the Supreme Court does not agree that the resolution is unconstitutional, then NTM will no longer be able to work in the tribal locations and will need to be more creative (where they can be) to work with their tribal contacts by bringing them out to urban locations or something like that. If that ends up being the case, we won't be needed in Venezuela as much anymore, as the missionaries will each be able to handle their own finances.

Thanks for praying with us about this verdict.

Shots II

Whew - glad that's over! Last night our appointment was for 6:30. Before the appointment I spent about 2 hours filling out their paperwork (12 pages per person - no joke). We didn't leave the travel clinic until 9:15. The kids did well when they had their shots, as well as can be expected, anyway. I gave them tylenol before we left the clinic, but realized much later that I hadn't given the boys a large enough dose. We were home by 10 and our very tired kids fell asleep right away.

By 11:30, though, one of the boys was crying and moaning in his sleep. We tried to tell him to just sleep on his back, but by 12:30 we were so exhausted and couldn't handle any more crying, so we dosed them both up again and they conked out for the night.

I felt terrible that it had to hurt so much for them, but the vaccinations are a much better alternative to getting yellow fever, typhoid and so on. The typhoid didn't hurt going in like the yellow fever did, but it hurt the most later. We're looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight! They did say that the side effects for one of the shots was the throw-ups, so thankfully that hasn't happened yet!

Josh and I are both so in awe of this magnificent creation that God has made - the human body. It heals itself all the time, and you can inject sicknesses into it so that you won't get too sick if you're exposed to the real thing. Amazing. Makes serving the creator a much more comfortable proposition, knowing that He thought of absolutely everything, down to the most minute detail. And He knows us each intimately, down to the number of hairs on our heads...wow! We serve an awesome God.

Shots

This is the week for shots - immunizations, that is. Tetanus, yellow fever, typhoid, the hepatitis twins (A&B), what variety! Josh and I just had our first in a series this evening, with 3 more tomorrow night. The boys get 3 tomorrow and Julia gets 2. Imagine the fun. Then in a few weeks, more shots for the grown-ups.

I have to say, though, I was dreading the one I got tonight and it was not bad - much better than the needle with the novocaine that I got when I had my last filling (obviously it hasn't been too long, since the memory has not yet faded). Never look at the dentist's needle. Scary.

On the side we're getting a photo ready to send out to remind people to pray for us, as well as continued sorting and resorting through boxes ("Goodwill", "maybe Kara/Rachel/Mom wants", "store", "pack") and getting ready to list the house in early February!

Please continue to pray that the Supreme Court will grant a stay to NTM in Venezuela, and that they would ultimately win this case, so that the reach of the gospel can continue.

Cleaning Out!

Well, it's the second day of the new year and we're cleaning out the office. How did we get some many software boxes? And what did we think we were going to do with all those cables? (Josh says they'll come in handy in Venezuela...) We are amazed at all that has fit into the nooks and crannies of our first house.

In some ways it's a great feeling to get rid of all of the extra stuff we're not using, but there are also a lot of memories attached to some of this "stuff". I don't think we really have a concept of how much 10 suitcases will hold. Reality is starting to hit!

Happy New Year!