May God Multiply our Loaves

Two years ago today, I was in Haiti with my sweet friend Mariah and a beautiful team of young women.   I really don't have the right words to describe this particular day, these special children.  Jehovah Jireh, I pray you are still multiplying loaves on behalf of these precious ones.

Riah and a very special baby girl.

December 19, 2013

Monday and Tuesday we visited an orphanage where about 20 children lived.  They did not have much, but they did have clean clothes, food to eat, and were obviously cared for by the woman who ran the orphanage.  Had we just visited this one place while we are in Haiti, I may not have called these children blessed.  But they are.

Today we went to an orphanage with 45 children of all ages.  Immediately we knew that this place was not like the first (where the kids were loved and well cared for).  The children were too thin, their clothing too dirty, their bedroom held 19 beds and I am certain they slept at least 2 to a bed.  Some beds had torn up sheets, some beds had none.

Our leader, Melanie, went to the market and bought some food supplies as we do for each orphanage that we visit. But by the time it was 3 pm the children still had not eaten a meal.  We had some bread and some peanut butter for our team's lunches and we calculated that it was enough for each child to have half a slice with a smear of peanut butter.  As I made the sandwiches others passed them out.  We got to the bottom of the peanut butter jar and we still needed two more slices, so we switched to jam.  When the jam was gone, the children asked for the jar.  They put their hands in and got out all they could, when they couldn't get any more with their hands they filled the jar with water to loosen the jam and drank it.  They were THAT desperate.  THAT hungry.

Earlier this morning it was my turn to share a devotion and I talked about how we don't have to have all the answers and we don't have to solve every problem.  God can take our "loaves and fishes" or insufficiency or weakness and make it into so much more.  I was speaking figuratively, but little did I know He would use our literal loaves today too.  Please pray that God multiplies our loaves even in their hungry little bellies.  Pray that the God of the universe would be sufficient to meet their needs because I (we) certainly am (are) not.

Coming Up for Air!

I knew life would be crazy and super busy once school started, but I thought I would update our blog before we had been here 7 weeks!  

Everyone seems to be settling in pretty well and adjusting to the new lifestyle.  Our new lifestyle includes a lot more exercise (biking and walking) and a lot less riding in cars.  (Maybe once a week!).  It also includes a lot less junk food and a lot more veggies.. YAY JAPAN!

Nathan is settled into an international preschool and seems to be enjoying himself.  He will start Japanese school in April.  Nikki started third grade at Japanese school and is enjoying all the preparations for "Undokai" or sports day coming up in October.  Undokai is a big deal in Japanese Elementary School.  Jordan and Kloe have settled in at CAJ, Jordan did well in his first Cross Country meet, and Kloe has joined the choir and is learning to play recorder.  Mark is spending his days studying Japanese at the local YWAM base, as well as shopping, cooking (quite well!!) and cleaning.  I would not survive without him.

We visited the church that meets at CAJ once, then we went to our old church in Ome another Sunday (it's too far to go to every Sunday).  Then we found the church we have decided to call home.  It's a church that meets in a house, and is pastored by a really sweet couple.  He is Japanese and she is American.  It's a good mix of foreigners and Japanese and everything is done in both languages right on the spot.  Which is GREAT for brushing up on our Japanese!

We experienced our first earthquake early last Saturday morning.  I jumped out of bed and ran for the kids because I was concerned that they would be freaked out.  Turns out it was the strongest earthquake in our area since the big earthquake in 2011.  It's the strongest one I have ever felt in all our time in Japan.  It was very short lasting thankfully, and had stopped by the time we got the kids out of bed.

Today we had an earthquake drill at school.  Those kids are experts at diving under their desks.  :-)  Nikki has a seat cushion for school that doubles as an emergency hat they put over their head in an earthquake.  Pretty ingenious.

Our house has turned out to be as big of a blessing as we thought.  I can walk to school in less than 5 minutes, which is good, because I am practically living there lately.  Nikki can walk to school in two minutes as well.  The river is nearby and the kids enjoyed playing there this summer.  It is lined with biking and running paths too.

I am LOVING my job.  My 6th grade homeroom consists of 7 girls and 5 boys and they are the BEST kids ever.  They still have a sweetness about them, and they are enthusiastic about learning the Bible with me.  It's so fun!  My math classes are larger and a little less personal.  I have finally learned all of my students names.  WE have many nationalities represented but what I didn't realize was how many Koreans we have.  I feel so bad as it has taken me a long time to get their names.  Wonjun, Songjun, Jinwoo, Yoonjin, Yonjoo, Jihye, Sungwon, Hyeonseo....  see what I mean?!!  

Why Japan? (A guest post from my husband)

As the Van Clan prepares to board a plane and move to Japan tomorrow, I'm sure some of you are thinking why are you going there? From the first year or two of our marriage, Renee' and I talked quite a bit about how we'd like to become missionaries after our time in the Air Force. However I honestly thought that would probably be to Kenya, like my mom and dad; but God thought differently:-) 

At this point I need to take you back to July 16, 2000. We were visiting a church pastored by some good friends of my mom and dad's, just weeks before the Air Force transferred us to Yokota Air Base, just outside Tokyo, Japan. In the middle of the sermon the pastor, Ivan, stopped preaching, looked at us and said that "God is preparing you for the mission field while you're in the AF. And after retirement from the AF, Uncle Sam will be paying you as missionaries." That impressed us so much we kept that Sunday's church bulletin where we wrote that down, and still have it to this day.

And you know what? God did prepare us to go back to Japan while we were there because of the Air Force! We spent seven years there (2000-2007) and God put a love in our hearts for the people of Japan that was inexplicable. We began to wonder if maybe that's where we would go back to someday, but were quite unsure of how we would go back and in what capacity. 

But God wasn't unsure, He had a plan! Last fall Renee' was hired as a teacher by Christian Academy in Japan. This is a Christian International school just 12 miles from where we were stationed with the Air Force. And as Pastor Ivan prophesied; the AF will help support us through my retirement pay as we serve God in Japan.

So over the course of the past few months; we prepared to move with our 4 kids to Higashi-kurume, a suburb of Tokyo. We have thrown stuff away, given it away and sold it until we can fit the possessions we need to take into 12 suitcases, 6 backpacks and a carry on in a pear tree;-)

Even though we had to get rid of the majority of our "stuff", we never gave it a second thought (ok, maybe I struggled a bit getting rid of my lifetime's collection of tools!) as it is just that; it's stuff, with no eternal value, stuff that could actually be a hindrance to following God's will. Plus there is such joy in knowing you are following God's call/plan, that it is worth any sacrifice! 

Although Japan is a modern first world country it is spiritually poor with less than 1% of the population considered Christian. Tokyo proper has a little over 13 million people, with the Tokyo metropolitan area having almost 38 million people. So, there is a HUGE mission field with 37 million people who don't know about Jesus Christ just in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area alone! 

And without Jesus Christ there is great hopelessness. Thanks to my awesome brother David McDaniel making a video       ( http://youtu.be/EAtvixTnIZE ) with the same title as this post (he used it first though:-); there are some figures I'd like to share. 11% of Japanese wish they'd never been born, 85% of young Japanese wonder why they exist. 

Japan has the sixth highest suicide rate in the world. Around 30,000 people a year take their own lives. That's 100 people a day, three every hour! Talk about a dark place in need of some hope! And thanks to Jesus Christ we have the answer for this hopelessness; so why shouldn't we go to Japan? In all of Japan there is only 1 missionary for every 56,000 Japanese. I hope that our going there will challenge many people to follow us and be a part of what God will do in the coming years:-)

We have heard and read so much of how many people feel that Japan is on the cusp of revival. And we are beyond ready to go to help usher that in! Every day I am so anxious to get there and see what God has in store for us in. And there is such joy and peace in knowing we are truly doing what God has called us to do.

So I leave you with one last quote from my friend David McDaniel. "Why Japan? The real question is, why not Japan?" Please pray for us as we leave tomorrow morning! Pray we continue to hear and follow God's leading; and pray that Japan will see revival like never before! 

   

Sent from my iPad

We have a Departure Date!

Yes, we took the plunge and purchased our airline tickets to Tokyo!!

I have to admit, dropping that much money at one time made me want to hyperventilate a little... I mean what if something goes wrong?  What if our visas don't come through?  What if aliens invade earth or there is a zombie apocalypse?  What if Jesus comes back before we leave?  Alright, I admit, if Jesus comes back I am not going to care about the money... but you get the idea.

So I summoned my courage and hit the "book" button.  And we got an AMAZINGLY GREAT DEAL.  Seriously, the tickets were about $350 PER ticket less than prices I have been seeing since the fall when I started tracking prices.  Multiply that times 6 folks and you have a huge chunk of change.  God's hand is in every detail, and we are thankful, and excited.  Anyone want to come to Tyson-Mghee at 6am on July 29 to say goodbye?

Please pray that there would be no hiccups or bumps in the road in regards to obtaining our visas!

Jehovah Jireh- OUR PROVIDER

I had to wait until it was a done deal to share this testimony, but I just love how God takes care of our every need, and in the process confirms that we are exactly where we are suppose to be, heading exactly where we are suppose to be heading!!  Here's the story...


A couple of weeks ago I was talking to a CAJ staff member that had connected with me via Facebook.  We were talking about housing and she was saying and I was wholeheartedly agreeing that it would be important to be CLOSE to the school.  Commuting by train every day would get expensive, and with Jordan in sports, he would have to figure out the Japanese system pretty quickly so that he could travel alone.  For a kid who struggles with language and reading this was weighing on me pretty heavily.  After speaking with my friend I messaged some of my prayer warrior friends who have been faithful to pray us through these last two extremely difficult months.   This is what I wrote:

"It's about time for the folks in Japan to be looking for a place for us to live. It is complicated by our large family, and Japanese houses are typically very tiny. We also really need to have a house close to the school so that we won't spend tons of money and time commuting. Would you guys join me in prayer that God will lead them to the "just right" place? I know it is silly, but I also worry that if it is too much of a commute or too far from the school, it will be hard on Jordan"

They immediately replied with encouragement and prayer...

"Thank You for Being Jehovah Jireh, our Provider. Thank You because when You called the Van Druffs to Japan, You already knew what home You have specifically Hand-Picked for them, where they'd live and who their neighbors would be etc. Now Father, Divinely lead those who are in charge of securing their home directly the one You picked. Amazingly, You can see it right now!;) Thank You for the doors You opened to ensure that their home would be in the perfect size for their big family and for working out the commuting situation and for already taking the finances involved in account."

"My faith is BIG for your house Renee….exactly what you need and right where y'all need to be! Daddy is not one to let details like this slip past Him grin emoticon This is soooo EXCITING!!!!!"

You all need friends like this!!  :-)  And guess what?  I am not even exaggerating when I say that just an hour or so after that prayer, my friend from CAJ sends me this message:

"I have a lead on a mission house that is one block from the school that "randomly" another teacher just told me about it as I entered school this morning. I just emailed XXXX and someone else about it."

Did you all catch that?  ONE BLOCK FROM THE SCHOOL!  Well, by the next morning, the person in charge of renting the house had already contacted Mark to see if we were interested!  To make a long story, not too much longer, it's big enough for us, it's in a perfect location, and the rent is reasonable!  Not only is it one block from where Jordan, Kloe and I will be going to school, there was another "little something" from the Lord as well.  As we checked out the house on Google Maps we noticed that the elementary school that I wanted Nikki and Nater to go to actually borders our new back yard.  Seriously, God just knocked our socks off on this one!!

"And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus!"

Spiritual Warfare Part 2

I am finding it hard to come up with the words to begin this post.  At this moment I am in awe of God's love and care for us.  The last weeks since I wrote that first post about spiritual warfare have literally been some of the hardest of our lives.  Some things I can share, and some I cannot.  But what I can say is there were times when we were in great despair, and I don't use those words lightly.  We were utterly powerless to do anything to "fix" the situations and totally dependent on God to move TWO big mountains in particular.

One thing that happened, was just a crazy unbelievable mistake on my part.  So crazy, and so unlike me, that I told Mark this has to have happened so God can show up and show off.  That is the only explanation. The long and short of it is that I missed an important step in submitting my big EdTPA portfolio to Pearson and it has caused my scores to be delayed until a couple weeks after graduation.  The university told me that I would receive an incomplete in the class and I could not get my degree or graduate until August.  Since I need my degree to get my visa, and the whole process of getting the visa takes a couple of months, this was very bad news.   Somehow some way I had to graduate on May 9 and receive my degree.  God had to move this mountain.

Yesterday in church we had a guest speaker.  Ever have those days where you know God planned the message just for you?  Yesterday was that day.  The word was from 2 Kings 6-7 and the subject was from "Famine to Feast".  In short, there was a famine in Samaria, and things were really desperate.  So desperate that the people were eating goat heads and dove poop.  Along came the prophet Elisha and he says: 

HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD.  (Ch 7:1-2)

"In 24 hours everything is going to change"

There is a lot more to the story, but this is the most important part.  This is what I felt in my spirit God was saying to me.  Both Mark and I were in tears by the end of the message. Last night, one of the two mountains, (sorry to be so private, but just know it was HUGE, and we were desperate for a change, and that we had been praying for WEEKS for a breakthrough) that problem completely turned around in a matter of hours.  Like 180 degrees.  Total change.  Just as the Lord said.

Then this morning at 10:30  (24 hours from the start of church yesterday) I received an email.  I am going to graduate on May 9.  I will receive a "D" rather than an incomplete for the class in question.  Once my scores come in, they will recalculate my grade.  In the meantime, I have never been so happy to ruin my 4.0.  (And it is only temporary!)  Makes me wonder if God thought I needed a little dose of humility!  LOL.

In the process of fighting these battles, facing these obstacles, praying for miracles, I have learned so many things.

1)Never ask to be tested, but know this:  God uses every trial for good.  During the testing you will become more dependent on God than you ever were when all was right in your world.  And there is no better place to be than dependent on the One who has the power to move mountains.

2)We all need praying friends.  Friends who won't just SAY they are praying but will actually do it.  So many I could name that have been on their knees time, and time, and time again for our family over these last weeks.  They were our lifeline.

3)Take the time listen to people who are in the fire.  Look for them, seek them out and pray for them.  Then follow up with them.  Continue to lift them up until God brings them through.  I know for a fact that I will be more aware of people who need to be encouraged and carried to the Father in prayer.

4)Know that nothing is too difficult for God and that in 24 hours, everything can change.  Nothing can stop His plan for your life.  When God calls you to it, He will bring you through it.  Cliche perhaps, but true nonetheless.

Spiritual Warfare

If you have ever moved out in obedience to something God is calling you to do then you are no stranger to spiritual warfare.  I cannot tell you how many people I know who were living comfortable, care-free lives until they decided to enter the adoption process or become foster parents only to have all hell break loose.  In the 15 months of our own adoption journey we had several appliances break down, the stock-market crashed cutting our investments by more than half (the very investments that were to pay our adoption expenses!), and I had a miscarriage.  Spiritual warfare is real.

"For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens." Ephesians 6:12

So I mentioned to Mark a few weeks ago that we should not be surprised if things start "happening".  God is calling us to Japan, and He has a purpose for us there.  There are powers of darkness and spiritual forces of evil that would work to hinder that purpose.  Therefore, it is no surprise that at the beginning of the year I felt led to make "Serenity" my focus word.  Or to put it in a way that is more my style "Hakuna Matata" NO PROBLEM.  Both vehicles starting to have issues when up until now they have run in perfect harmony with the universe? Hakuna matata!  Find out we might have trouble processing the visa in time if my TN licensing paperwork takes too long to come after graduation?  Hakuna Matata!  Hubby forgot to take the super duper stinky trash out before leaving for work?  Hakuna Matata!  Why are we able to say no problem?  Because we know how this ends!

The weapons of our warfare are not worldly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10:4

1. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
   Let this blest assurance control,
   That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
   And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
2. _____________________________________________________________________

The post above this point was written a month ago but never posted.  I didn't know then that we were about to face a much bigger battle than car trouble!  I think God had me write this so that today, when we are facing a discouraging family situation, I could look at it and remind myself.  "We know how this ends!"  As I have been contemplating our current spiritual battle, God gave me the following verses from Zechariah...

Then he said to me, “This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.  Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel’s way; it will become a level plain before him! And when Zerubbabel sets the final stone of the Temple in place, the people will shout: ‘May God bless it! May God bless it!’” Zechariah 4:6-7

Please pray for God to move a mountain for the Van Clan... that it would become a level plain before us!

Feeling Gray by KBV

Sometimes my days feel so gray

Everything seems to be a mess

Nothing seems right

Mistake after mistake

Things get even harder

But that doesn’t mean I can’t change

Chorus:
Even though it hurts

Even though it’s hard

I’m going to try my very best

I need You, I need You

Lord I need You

No matter what it takes I need You

Sometimes I feel hurt

Sometimes it feels so hard

Not everything seems right

But I don’t think you or I should ever give up

Whatever our days feel like

God is always there

When trouble comes for you or me

Sometimes it feels like I just mess up every day

But God is with me

Sometimes my days feel so gray

Nothing seems to be right

Time is flying... and dragging!

It's February!  If all goes well we have five months before we leave for Japan.  Time is flying and dragging all at the same time!!

Some progress is being made toward our move...

1)We all have our passports!  All six of them.  Although we have 4 different expiration dates among the six passports!  Gonna have to pay attention to that in the future!

2)I have a general idea of what I will be teaching at CAJ, but things can change on that front.  Right now it looks like I will be in middle school.  Specifically 6th grade homeroom, math and Bible.  In addition to that I will likely be teaching one other core subject OR 8th grade math.  Anxiously waiting for the final say on that so I can start digging into curriculum maps and making plans! I did go ahead and buy a cheap teachers guide for the 6th grade math on Amazon.

3)We have sold and will keep selling our bigger furniture items.  We are know eating at a picnic table, having sold our dining table and chairs this week.  My "desk" is now a group of boxes stacked up.  I am surprised at how much we have sold and yet still have PLENTY of junk.  Too much stuff.  Seriously.  Even being minimalists has not saved us from collecting a bunch of things we have no need for.

Our new (old) dinner table

My "desk"

4)This month I realized that we will not be having any yard, garage, or junk sales to raise money because neither Mark and I can hold onto our unwanted/unnecessary junk that long!  Several carloads have already been taken to our local KARM (Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries) thrift shop.  We have always been minimalists, and having a good excuse to purge is fun for us.  :-)  I think we'd rather be blessed by donating it to a good cause than be blessed by the few dollars we could get for selling it.

So five months to go.  Seems like forever and yet I know it will be here soon!