Where is home?

Where is home?  That's a funny question to ask.  But as we spent the last two and a half months in Montana- the place we have called home all our life, the word "home" became a blurred vision of something that had been so simple and concrete in our minds just a year ago.  But as people we met this summer asked that fateful question phrased something like "Where are you from?" or "Where do you live?" I struggled to find the right answer.

The answer should be obvious right?  Well it depends.  We were raised in Bozeman but we are from Los Fresnos, Texas.  We are living in Los Fresnos, Texas but our life has always been in Montana.  And if you are asking where will we live in the next 1-2 years, I can't say anything more enlightening that "I don't know".  Those are the realities for this new life we lead, this missionary life.  That doesn't make it any easier, especially for a guy who loves to have the 3-month, 1-year, and 5-year plan laid out in all of its wonderful predictability.

However, there was an unexpected joy and excitement our family found returning to Los Fresnos.  We were excited to be home.  This is home for us right now.  That doesn't mean that our family and friends back in Montana don't hold a very special place in our hearts. They do!  But it does mean that God has been so gracious to us over the past year that we are eager to engage the life and friendships we have formed here in Texas.  At this time last year we were struggling with the shock of this very hot and very flat place. I still vividly remember Evelyn asking with all the concern of a 3 year old- "When will the mountains get here?"  We were struggling with the reality that you hear as much Spanish as you do English, Wal-Mart trip takes an extra hour and there is always sand in your car from the beach even when you haven't gone for two months!

Those very things about our new home were the very things we were excited to get back to.  They weren't scary foreign concepts anymore.   We enjoyed seeing the palm trees as we entered Los Fresnos and the Stripes gas station that has awesome homemade breakfast tacos (typically awesome food and gas stations don't go together but they do here).  We enjoyed hearing one person speak Spanish and the person respond in English and seeing a whole family out doing their shopping together even if it's a little slower shopping for us.  And of course we loved building our first sand castle of the second year here.

All this has helped me to realize one thing- God gives grace to help us understand the things that seem foreign and different are not bad, just different.  Not only that, He can help you to LOVE where you live and thrive there, not merely survive.  This is such as sweet realization as we spend our last year training for the mission field.  There will be culture shock as we move wherever the LORD directs us but there is also real hope that the same gracious God who made Los Fresnos feel like home will do the same in the future wherever we are as a family.


Upcoming Posts-

•      Summer Highlights
•     South Asia Trip
•     Preparing for our Final Year of Training

   

Mckenzie on the Move!

THOUGHTS ON THE FIRST YEAR   It's hard to imagine that we completed our first year of training and have made the 2,000 mile trip back to Montana for the summer (which was uneventful except the pig manure water sprayed all over the suburban in Dalhart, Texas).  This first year of training has been so good.  As I reflect on the year, three areas keep coming to the forefront of my mind. Here are  a few quick thoughts.   This year I have been given a tremendous amount of theological tools for long term mission work. How to rightly divide the Word of God is critical.   I have been given the confidence to take any section of scripture and teach it.  I had the privilege to use this skill many times in Mexico and in various bible studies throughout the year.   To see that everything in the Old Testament was written to anticipate, prepare, and show in a shadow form Jesus Christ  has opened wide the Scriptures to me.  I shouldn't be surprised, Jesus said almost the same thing in Luke 24:44.   I have so much to learn, but I'm excited to continue teaching and training others what I have received!        One of the amazing aspects of this program is that we spent one week every month for a total of 9 weeks with the people of Village "M".  We were able to practically apply our classroom training and build real relationships with the village.  "R" and his family(pictured above) have experienced wonderful growth in Christ!  He and his family are hungry for more discipleship and looking to help share these truths with others in the village.   My heart is excited to build on this foundation for next year.    Finally, the way the Lord has worked in my heart this year.  It has been an up and down roller coaster to depend fully on Christ alone and seek my joy from Him through deadlines and disappointments.  Constant school work, learning at warp speed, going into Mexico and leaving Brita and the kids for a week every month, and  most notably with the disappointment of being diagnosed with diabetes and missing the Papua New Guinea trip last February.    I do know that through those experiences Jesus satisfies fully because He is all sufficient.  Those same disappointments and stresses have also been some of the greatest sources of joy this year.  As David Sitton, the president of To Every Tribe reminded us, the Christian life is a paradox of sorrow and rejoicing.  Not one and then the other, rather both at the same time.  We've tasted some of that this year and long for others to taste and see that the LORD is good!     SOUTH ASIA TRIP THIS JUNE Last update we told you about a strategic trip Brita and I have the opportunity to be a part of in June.  For the sake of wisdom, we will now be calling the country we are headed to "South Asia". This is a precautionary measure for the long term work through To Every Tribe. Instead of telling you about the area we are going, take a look for yourself at last year's trip!   The harvest is indeed plentiful but the workers are few.   Please pray for us as we prepare for this trip June 23rd-July 4th.  This trip includes discipleship training for the few believers as well as backpacking into some of those unreached villages in the video.  We are so thankful for your partnership- both spiritually and financially. If you would like to invest in this trip please click here. PRAYER REQUESTS We know that the single greatest work for the gospel is not with our strategic plans or great teaching ability, but with prayer.   Our greatest work is coming before the Lord of the harvest, who WILL accomplish His good pleasure.  He is our strength and hope, period.  So will you join with us in"casting our anxieties on Him, because He cares for you"? 1 Peter 5:7 Please pray that: We will be able to clearly share all that God has done over the last 9 months with friends, family and supporters and "that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine" Romans 1:12. We would be prepared spiritually and physically as Brita and I travel to South Asia at the end of June. The kids would thrive during this busy summer. We could connect with a few churches in the area who are interested in long term mission work.  CONTACT US! We are very excited to see friends and family over the summer.  Now that we are here, please contact us via facebook, email joshandbrita@gmail.com. Thankful for you,  Josh, Brita, Dan, Clara, Paul and Evelyn Mckenzie

If you would like to partner with us financially, click here

Village "M" April Trip

Here is an update of our most recent trip to Village M.  It's amazing how many more pictures we have when Brita comes!  The discipleship of "R" and his family has gone well.  We dove into the Resurrection, its importance and implications one night.  We are also studying the story-line of redemption from Genesis through Revelation.  

Along with the disciplining the believers, we also continued building relationships and sharing the gospel with the residents in the village.  We had the privilege to visit an 81 year old woman and her 91 year old husband.  It was good to hear stories of the village 40+ years ago and a little of the story of this woman.  It seems almost every person has a biography worthy of the best sellers list!  Praying that this woman and her husband will find the pearl of great price, Jesus Christ!

Here is a snapshot of the trip while we were in the village.        

Evie and Hadassah had so much fun!

Selling the morning catch.

Walking to visit a family.

Fishing boats

Josh sharing the gospel through John chapter 4.

Our suburban got to come too :)

Evie and a new friend.

Sorghum fields. 

Welcome to Matamoros on the way back north.

A Day Looking through Brita's Eyes

Snakes and squirrels on the ceiling fan, kids in the cupboard, chores, school, fun with the family and friends.  Life is full of messes, spills, adventure and fun.

Not what I expected to see when I walked into the boys room!

We can eat a lot of eggs!

Battleship with a friend and a photo bomb by Evie and Mankie.

Evie and her bug friend "Scary"

The girls cleaning up their room.

Dan doing one of his chores after breakfast.

Paul working hard on his math lesson.

 

A couple hours at a nearby Estero Llano Grande State Park.

Alligator Lake:  I wonder if bear spray would work if we run into an alligator??

Not too excited to go to the grocery store...

Dinner experiment

Marveling at the veggies for sale with my shopping buddy.

Four square with friends.

You never know who you'll meet on the way to the laundry room in the dark!

Caterpillar friend- "Can I keep him?"

There are so many flowering trees and bushes and I have no idea what any of them are!

Neighborhood grocery store.  It's so great to be able to take a quick walk to get something we need.

Morning Bible reading.

Biblical Hope EQUALS Certainty

Life can be crazy sometimes. That is a big understatement for most of us. I have heard it said that we are either going into a storm, in a storm, or getting out of a storm. That's how it has felt for us.

A month ago I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Seemingly out of nowhere my body flipped a switch and started attacking my pancreas. From my vantage point this is bad. As a result, I didn't go to Papua New Guinea, I didn't get to participate in training pastors, or help encourage the missionary family there. Just doctors visits and shots, and wondering if I can eat "Brita bread" and chocolate chip cookies ever again (which thankfully I can, in moderation).  Why this disease? Why now? Why in the middle of mission training? 

After multiple doctor appointments, I was able to join Brita and the kids in Montana. They had been given tickets to stay with her parents while I was supposed to be out of the country for the Papua New Guinea trip.  I was so thankful to be back to reassure my parents and family, in particular, that I'm OK.  It was a great week and a half and we were thankful to spend the time with family and a few friends.  The trip home had Brita and the kids leaving Bozeman the same time as myself, but on different planes; Brita and the kids to Denver and me to Minneapolis. I was forced to fly by myself while Brita had all four kids to keep her company :)

The flight to Harlingen was uneventful and I had an hour to get home and pick Brita and the kids up at the Brownsville airport once I landed.  I had just taken a few steps off the plane when I got a call from my mom, letting me know that a routine heart treadmill test had revealed blockage in my dad's heart. The doctors immediately scheduled a cath to insert a stint in his heart if needed.  During that procedure they discovered the blockage was very bad and in the most difficult and largest artery going to the heart.  They immediately stopped the procedure and scheduled a quadruple bypass surgery two days later. What?!  My dad is 58! He works outside and is in good shape! He could have a massive, fatal heart heart attack at any moment?!

My head was swirling with questions and then I heard muffled voices and the phone when silent. I couldn't get an answer from my Mom and I was in the way of busy passengers trying to get out of the terminal.  A few minutes later my sister called very scared. Apparently as my sister was talking to my dad, he suddenly lost consciousness and had a mild seizure.  My mom had dropped the phone and ran to be with him.  The nurses called a code blue and every doctor from that floor came to revive him. Thankfully they did revive him and it sounded like a vein was pinched causing him to faint. Nevertheless it made all of us think it was his last breath. 

I flew to Billings, Montana the next day to be with my mom and dad during and after the surgery. By God's grace dad made it through the surgery and was discharged 5 days after surgery.

All this to say that in the last month we have been in a storm of sorts. God provides different types and intensities of storms as He sees fit. Spending five days in a hospital watching and waiting has been good for me. I was reminded what this world offers us and promises us and sitting in the hospital I see some of those promises exposed as the lies they really are. 

• This life will last. 

• You will live content if you have enough. 

• Money, insurance, and possessions will give you peace. 

• If you work hard, you can enjoy life during retirement. 

• You deserve it. 

• Make youth last. 

• Your health is the most important thing in the world. 

• You're strong and if you stay positive you can conquer anything.  

• Believe in yourself. 

• TV can numb the pain. 

• Affliction won't happen to you. That's for "other" people. 

• You will always have friends and family around you. 

• We can hope for good to come.  We can knock on wood.

This is the hope offered by the world. 

BUT the Word of God says and promises something different.

• This life is a vapor, a puff of smoke. 

• We are dying. We have sinned and the result is death and dying, pain and suffering. 

• There is nothing we can do to save our lives. 

• God sent Jesus to die for us, in our place so that we exchange our sin and death for His righteousness. 

• All who receive Jesus and believe in Him will be children of God. He will give peace and joy and abundant life forever. 

• Trials will come to those who love Jesus and those who don't. All of those trials will work for your ultimate good if you love Jesus. 

• When I am weak, then I see that I'm not God. 

• When I am weak I see that Gods power is shown more brightly. He gets the glory and I get the joy and peace. 

• You will live forever. 

• In Christ, your bodies will be made new. 

• Jesus will never leave you, will never be too busy to come to your hospital room, will never forget about you. He will be there in the pain and the loneliness when friends and family are gone.

Hope in Jesus is certainty.  It will happen.  When you see the word hope in the Bible it means certainty.  It's not wishful thinking.  It's as certain as the sun coming up, but more than that.  It's a great promise and a great comfort for those who know Jesus.

So take comfort in Jesus!  Every promise of God is yes in Him.  Whether we are going into the storm, seasick in the midst of the storm, or battered and beat up coming out of the storm, Jesus is the anchor for our soul!

Preparing for battle!

Fun in Montana!

We are NOT teaching the Bible!

That's right.  I was shocked when I heard this statement from my professor. What am I here for then?  I came down to school to learn how to teach the Bible.  In fact, this was a class on hermeneutics(how to study the Bible).  I've been struggling and striving to understand my assigned passage in the Bible this week.  I want to get it right.  I'm still an engineer at heart and I want to know exactly what the text is saying.  What's the main point?  What's the context?  Who wrote it?  What was the aim of the original author? What is the application?  I want to get the text right!  I want to teach the Bible!

But what my professor, Steve Leston pointed out in a very loving and straightforward way was that we are not teaching the bible.  We are teaching the Bible TO PEOPLE.  This is not academics.  This isn't merely to be right.  We are giving hope to people who have no hope.  We are holding out new life to people who are at best existing day by day.  The truth is, biblical hope equals certainty.  Not wishful thinking.  Not hoping it will be sunny today.  The hope offered by God through Jesus is certain!

We have been studying Genesis 1-11 recently.  I'm not sure why I forget this so often, but God has so much packed into each book of the bible, each chapter and paragraph declaring who He is, what He is doing, how He is pursuing a people for His own, how He is working, purposing, moving, revealing, sustaining, suffering, purifying, loving, and hold out His grace to a rebellious creation.  Genesis is no exception.

One of the fantastic exercises we did this week was to look at Revelation 21 and Genesis 1-3.  These book ends of the bible are incredible!  Typically we read the beginning of everything in Genesis and much later we read the end in Revelation.  But the similarities and differences between the beginning and end are stunning and worth looking at.  So look at Revelation 21:1-8 and list some of what is there:

Revelation 21:1-8                                          Genesis 1-3

New Heavens and Earth                                       God created Heavens and earth

God is our light                                                     Light created

God said it is done!                                              God rested from His work- Then went back to work

God making all things new                                   Created all things

God with them forever                                         God with them in the garden

No death                                                             Sin produced death

New Jerusalem                                                    Removed from the Garden

No gates                                                             The Garden entrance is blocked
Nothing will be accursed                                      Everything is cursed
Spring of the water of life                                     River to water the Garden

Tree of Life Given/Fruit each month                     Tree of Life off limits after the Fall

Leaves of healing

This is HOPE!  This is what the gospel offers in Jesus.  So l want to always hold out the gospel of hope to family, friends, neighbors, and the world.  So we are teaching the bible, but it isn't for exegetical perfection, but for life and hope in the Author and Perfecter of our Faith! 

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

When God Intervenes...

Dear Family and Friends,

God is sovereign. God never writes the story of our life the way we would write it. And that's a very good thing! If I were writing the story I never would have met my wife on a blind date. I never would have put myself in a church where I would hear the gospel of Jesus and be mercifully saved. These events altered the trajectory of my life forever. I'm so glad I'm not God.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

“For who has known the mind of the Lord,

or who has been his counselor?”

“Or who has given a gift to him

that he might be repaid?”

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

As most of you know next Tuesday I WAS supposed to go with my team of nine to Papua New Guinea to serve a network of local pastors with biblical training. This trip also includes a week of living solo with one of the national pastors in his village, as well as encouraging the current missionary family with To Every Tribe on the island.

However, God's ways are not my ways. I had not been feeling myself for the last two months. So with Brita's encouragement I went to see the doctor. My heart sank as I heard the doctor say I have type 1 diabetes. I found out type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disorder that has caused my body to attack my pancreas and kill the cells that make insulin. Because of this I now need to give myself multiple insulin shots a day to control my blood sugar. This is a process of trial and error to get my blood sugars to normal levels. This may take a few months to work out. For this reason my doctor very strongly recommended I not go to Papua New Guinea one week after being diagnosed.

The doctor also said that within a few months I should be free to travel overseas. This means that we are still able to train and to be sent as long term missionaries!

• Praise that Jesus has truly been sweet through this hard time. What a Savior! 

• Praise for God's perfect timing. This could have been really bad in a remote village in Papua New Guinea. 

• Praise that through gifted tickets and frequent flyer miles our whole family will be coming home to Montana for two weeks during the time Josh would have been in Papua New Guinea. 

• Please pray for wisdom for Josh's doctors. 

• Please pray for patience and love for each other through this unexpected speed bump. Pride and selfishness are showing themselves much too often. 

• Please pray that the sugar in Josh's eyes would dissipate quickly so that he can see clearly again. 

This is hard, but God is so merciful. The night before my doctors appointment I was in Mexico teaching on 2 Corinthians 1:3-11. Here is a portion of it:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God... Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

and Psalm 119:50 says "This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life"

If God can raise Jesus from the dead(and He DID) how much more can I trust Him with this light and momentary affliction.

I can truly say with out any lip service, that I am excited to see how God will use the comfort He has given me through Jesus Christ to comfort others in their affliction. This has helped me to see how much I rely on myself and not on Jesus.

We want to keep this brief so we will be posting more in the next few weeks. We love you and are so thankful for your prayers and support as we rejoice in God's sovereign and perfect plan.

Josh and Brita