Elkhart, Indiana . . .

. . . has been made famous recently with President Obama visting there in 2009 because of the ecomony there. However, we are mindful that God's economy does not operate the same way.

As if there was not enough life changes going on with Elizabeth graduating from Wheaton College (with honors, too!) in May, Johnny graduating from high school in early June, HCJB approached us with a new idea: for John to serve half-time (since we are over 50%) with HCJB Global at the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, IN, while we continue raising our full support. Elkhart was the first place we had visited when were new missionary appointees.

If you remember, we were dutiful appointees and visited each possible place that we had originally considered during our training in Colorado. Elkhart was the first stop. After our visit there, we thought we could serve there. Then, we visited Colorado Springs and thought we could serve there as well. The same happened for Quito, Ecuador as well. The conclusion was that we could serve in any one of the three locations, with the goal being Quito.

In faith, we opened the door to serve in Elkhart half-time, and God has kept that door wide open. To serve half time with HCJB Global, we would have to have a secondary part-time job. Not just any part-time job would do it would have to be one that would provide benefits.

After considerable prayer, John approached his current employer. We were uncertain how the outcome would be but his employer is quite willing to provide benefits as John works part-time for them. How does that work in today's economy--only God could work that out!

The weekends from the end of May through June were spent going back and forth to Elkhart to house hunt. We learned that in Elkhart:

• housing is GREATLY varied
• there is an internationally known Jazz festival each summer (yikes! who knew?)
• is known for their manufacturing of musical instruments, particularly brass instruments

Last week, we have found a house that we love and we've placed a bid. We are just waiting to hear back from the bank, as this house is considered a short sale. We hope to move soon and be ready for the fall as we still plan on homeschooling David and Anina.

Meanwhile, we are working on the house and hoping to put it up for sale soon, taking David to get his driver's license (successfully on his birthday), working on the house, and getting Johnny ready for Judson University, and working on the house, getting Elizabeth settled...well you get the idea...

Please be praying for us as the details fall into place. Please be praying for our children--normal life changes can be overwhelming, but we are grateful that God is a constant and that each one of us continue to rely on Him during this time.

He is Done!

Well, it only took 25 years...but John is done and is an official Wheaton College grad; class of 2009, as of August 31, 2009. It has been quite a journey, but as we both reflect back to the purpose of Wheaton, we know that besides getting that degree, he and I were meant to meet there.

So to surprise the guy, we had a party this past weekend and it was really great to have his brother, Don, as well as Don's three youngest here all the way from Racine. They were a blessing to have as well as the rest of the friends who came to celebrate John's success. It was a fun time, and we all enjoyed ourselves.

More importantly, God is good to us all, and He is the Good Shepherd who cares for us: not just to provide a bare minimum and being stingy with us, but rather, a Shepherd who gives us the ultimate care, with blessings beyond we can imagine.

The Middle Nation, the Central Kingdom: China

Elizabeth had the privilege of participating in the "May with Asia" program with Wheaton College, this past May-June. It was a blessing for her to see such sights as the Great Wall while learning about part of her culture!

She stayed mostly in Beijing with a side trip to Xi’an. She met local students in both cities who wanted to practice their English. Please be praying for those they tried to witness to!

A similar trip was led by the same professor back in Jean's days and Jean got to go on the "Wheaton in East Asia" trip in 1980!

John and Jean are suffering a bit of empty-nesting with Elizabeth approaching her senior year of college, Johnny taking his college exams, and David learning how to drive. Good thing Anina is still small…for now.