Pink or Blue?

Friday was an exciting day in the Nace household!!  Despite three sets of runny noses, we got up early to go see the baby in the ultrasound.  We are already 24 weeks along but due to all our travels this was the soonest we could schedule for.  Sure was fun to see the baby yawning and punching away! Diego's attention was held the whole time.  

Here's some pictures of the newest Nace, due November 10th.  I see resemblance to Diego as a baby on the 3D shots (Grady agrees in that he feels all ultrasound babies look the same...).  What do you think?

Nice big yawn - the baby must think it's early too!

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Already a thinker?

Perhaps prepping for self-defense against an older brother?

We're thrilled to announce that Diego's wish for a little brother is coming true - he is excited to have a playmate in Mozambique!  Looks like a lot more blue in our future (which just happens to be both Grady AND Holly's favorite color... yippee!)  

Here's a little video of the yawning action we saw during the ultrasound as well.

Now we're off to show Diego the pictures of when HE was in Mommy's tummy... 

and to pack for our week long trip to Idaho & Oregon.  We've got several days of security training at MAF Headquarters and then a Sunday School presentation just outside of Portland on the way home.  Pray for Diego, Grandma and Uncle Jody as he is staying with them instead of making the long drive with us this week! 

A Jew, a Palestinian, and an Arab Christian all walk into . . .

Many of the tribes we will be working with in Northern Mozambique are Muslim.  In preparation for living there, we are doing training this week to learn about Islam and how to build relationships and effectively share Christ's love in those environments.

Besides all the training, we got to meet one of the other MAF families headed to Mozambique and we are getting to know them a little this week, as well as Christians from around the world who God is using in amazing ways.  Tuesday night a group of American’s, Koreans, a Pastor from India, and another pastor from Sierra Leone spent a long time praying for our family, and it was very exciting and humbling.

There is a lot about Muslims I did not know.  This week I have been challenged, convicted, saddened, and inspired all at the same time.  There are on average three Christian missionaries working with every one million Muslims.  In North America there are about seven million.  I have never had a meaningful conversation with one.  Almost none of us have.  Ninety-nine percent of Muslim international students never enter an American home.  I am hearing stories of people doing little things, who go over and are welcomed into houses, and are told they are the first Americans to ever visit.  One women just said a simple prayer after they met and talked a little, and the women who was prayed for cried, because no one had ever prayed for her before.  Many of them come from restricted access countries where it is next to impossible for them to hear the gospel, even though the Qur’an claims the New Testament as a Holy Book of Islam.  They come here, and we have ignored them.  They come from a culture that is extremely hospitable, and they find our doors shut and locked.  And I have been a part of that.

They are told America is a Christian nation.  That might be all they know of Christianity, and most have never met a Christian (that they engaged with long enough to know anyway).  To them the adjectives of Christian and American are synonyms, so playboy is a Christian magazine.  Please consider what you are doing to the cause of Christ if you call America a Christian nation, but do not feel too good if you do not, because until they meet you they will continue to see Christianity as whatever they see as American in Hollywood.

I have also been overwhelmed with testimonies this week from people who grew up Muslim, some devout.   Despite the overall apathy we have shown, more have come to Christ in the last decade than in the previous 1400 years combined.  It does not take super Christians to build friendships, Christians who were unprepared made huge impacts in their lives just by loving them and being willing to go where they are.  God is moving.  Many of the Muslim background believers I have met this week came to Christ largely through dreams and visions.  Their stories are amazing, but I do not want the rocks and the trees crying out because I have been silent.  Even in the dreams and vision stories God is working through believers.  Often God sends the dreams after someone starts praying for them.

Today we learned a little about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  We heard from a Jew who grew up Zionist, a Palestinian who grew up Muslim and whose father lost everything in 1948, and a Lebanese from a Christian background who grew up hating both as his friends and relatives died in the conflict.  They, and their families, have been through incredible tragedies.  And yet they all stood at the front of class today as brothers and explained the conflict as it relates to the cause of Christ, without taking sides.  Their love in Christ trumps all of that, and at the end they prayed together for those who used to be their enemies.  It was amazing.  Beauty for ashes . . . that is what my God is doing, and if that does not give you hope, I do not know what will.

Flying, Caterpillars and Thunderstorms

Today I got to go flying in the airplane my Uncle Keith built, which was also the first small airplane I ever flew (an RV-6 for you pilots out there).  It was a flight in that plane (N55KE), somewhere around 2002 that hooked me on flying and redirected my college plans to commercial aviation.  This was the first time I have flown that airplane since.  It is pretty cool how God used that flight with my Uncle to ultimately lead me to missionary aviation.

The last couple months there have been several times where Holly and I have both felt extremely blessed to be part of the families we are in.  Last month in Kansas we stayed several days with Holly’s Aunt and Uncle who flew for MAF in Zaire (Now the Democratic Republic of Congo).  It was encouraging and exciting for me to talk to Terry about their time with MAF and get advice about a lot of things.  Apparently the caterpillars they eat there are actually pretty good when dried, and taste kind of like bacon (I hear we will probably get to eat some in Mozambique, and if they really taste like bacon I am all in!).  He did have a story about the caterpillars though which led to some strong advice that we not fly anyone’s stash of live ones.

About a week and a half ago in Penrose, Colorado I had the honor of preaching at the last church my Grandpa Ellis pastored in Colorado.  We went there almost every summer when I was little so it felt pretty good to go back in that little church.  We were extremely warmly welcomed as Grandpa’s grandkids before we ever said anything, and I have always loved the feeling of being accepted based only on my relationship to someone like my dad or grandpa.  It is part of what I imagine heaven being like.

As a kid growing up in Washington I almost never got to see thunderstorms, so one of my highlights visiting Penrose as a kid was getting to watch the lightning zig-zag across the sky.  As we walked out of church we saw probably the best storm I have seen in years, and somehow it just seemed perfect.

Diego's Agricultural Education

Over the last week Diego has gotten quite the agricultural experience.  He collected eggs at my aunt’s “small” chicken farm operation (about 300 chickens which seems big to me).  We all learned how to candle eggs a little later (with a flashlight which seems like cheating based off the name.  For those of you who do not know what that is, it is when you check eggs to see if the chicken inside is viable in the incubator).  A little later in the week Diego got to plant tomatoes, but the pinnacle of his farming experience came yesterday when we got a tour of Holly’s Uncle Calvin and Aunt Shelly’s farm in Lindsborg, KS.

We got there Friday evening, had a great dinner, and Diego enjoyed showing Calvin our new map of Mozambique (as well as the opportunity to play farm toys with a REAL farmer).  Saturday morning Calvin took me to his men’s prayer group where I got a chance to share what we are doing with MAF, as well as participate in a good Bible study and prayer time.

A little while after we came back it was time for the tour.  Diego got to help herd cows, ride a tractor, sit in a combine, climb on big hay bales, and finally sit in the driver’s seat of a real cab over engine semi-truck (which is DEFINITELY his favorite type of truck, as compared to a conventional cab of course).

I also really enjoyed getting to know Calvin better.  He almost died (a few times) as a result of heart problems similar to what my dad had.  Once he was saved by a birth “defect” that put an artery in the “wrong” place.  It was good getting to talk about my dad with someone who in many ways understands, and our time there was a real encouragement.

Today we taught a Sunday school lesson and presented at a church that used to support my grandparents on the Navajo reservation, which is pretty cool.  We also met with a mission board at a different church this afternoon, and we are spending the night with another Aunt and Uncle in Kansas City.  Tomorrow we go to Memphis to spend a few days there.  We will get to spend some time with two young men that I had the privilege of tutoring in an inner city high school in Memphis four years ago, so we are very excited about that.  It will be a busy week, including a 5:15 a.m. prayer breakfast, so please pray for strength, that God will use us to minister to those we see, and that we find the partners God has prepared for us.

Homemade History and Culture Lessons

Lately we have been trying to fill our spare time learning more about Mozambique. 

There are a couple videos that we really liked.  Neither one features exactly where we will be, but both present some beautiful scenery and valuable snippets into Mozambique for us. 

Friends from California showed us an Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations video on Mozambique.  Grady was salivating over shrimp the size of lobsters and the spicy piri piri chicken!  The video also goes into some of the history and culture of the country.  Colorful celebrations full of dancing in the countryside, a community-wide remembrance of the fight for independence that ended in 1975 and a look at where the Portuguese loaded captured Mozambiquians onto slave ships bound for the Americas all offer us a glimpse of our home-to-be.  (It is not a Christian perspective so the language may leave something to be desired… and parents may want to fast forward through a few of the history scenes as well.)

The travel channel has a site page about the episode, but not the full video at http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/anthony-bourdain/episodes/mozambique.  There are some great pictures though.  I found the episode online but the only official source I could spot was sold on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Mozambique/dp/B00FEBLLD0.

We also found a National Geographic video on Parque Nacional de Gorongosa in central Mozambique entitled Africa’s Lost Eden.  It was eye opening to see what years of war can do to a region that was once called the “Place where Noah left his ark”.  Now people are working to help rebuild the animal populations and bring the park back into its rightful place as a world treasure.   

National Geographic has some amazing photos from Gorongosa here: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/06/gorongosa-park/sartore-photography.

We would definitely recommend checking online or at your library for availability of the videos!  We found the National Geographic at the library and No Reservations on vimeo.

Our recent purchases are a Mozambique guide book (it’s much slimmer than any other guidebook I’ve seen…) and a country map.  Diego has gotten a real kick out of studying the map with Grady.  He saw Aunt Roberta recently and spent a long time showing here which roads were paved, where we would live, etc., etc.  Apparently he’s been paying attention to Daddy!

We are driving through Kansas now while on a four month fundraising road trip.  Diego has heard our presentation a few times lately.  In it I talk about loving flying and complaining to my grandmother as a little girl that “driving wastes my time”.  Now Diego has begun to tell us that driving wastes his time.  While we love seeing so many friendly faces we are also eager to join the team in Mozambique.  I will admit that there are times when it would be easy to slip into a mindset where this time of preparation is “just a waste of time”.  Please keep us in your prayers – that we fully enjoy and serve without reservations during our time here on deputation.  We want to be fully vested in this time we have still in the US.  Flying in Mozambique will come in God's timing!

Strategic Placement

I am sitting in an illegally-constructed makeshift apartment in someone’s backyard, a little south of Fresno, CA.  A friend of mine lives here along with several immigrant farmworkers.  He is a pastor now, but I met him almost fifteen years ago, on my first mission trip.  I was fifteen and he was the translator for us at an orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico.  We have stayed in touch (a bit loosely) ever since.  He has not always lived in these apartments, and tonight he shared with us how God has brought him here.

(Work on the orphanage wall on Grady's first mission trip - Grady second from right)

A few years ago he was slated to lead another mission trip to Mexico, but a few things happened where they were going and the leaders did not feel comfortable taking a bunch of high school kids there.  They decided this after the kids had already gotten to California, so he had to find something to do with them.  He learned of some big needs in the community where he now lives, so he brought his kids there, and throughout the week several people accepted Christ.

There was not a Spanish church close enough for the new Christians to plug into though, so he brought the need to his sending church, and they said: “Well, why don’t you go start one?”

So he did and moved in with the people he is serving.  And he told us:  “I love every minute of it!  God has put me in the most strategic place, where I can do ministry just poking my head out the door.  He sent Jesus to the most strategic place as well.  If it would have reached more people, he could have sent him to a palace, but he knew it would be more strategic to send him to a manger in Bethlehem.”

I love his perspective, and it is awe-inspiring to see how God works and places us strategically where he can use us most.  Please join us in praying that God would use all of us strategically, no matter the location.

How Diego wrote his name.

While finishing up our first MAF newsletter in Nampa, Idaho, Holly and I decided we wanted a personalized signature block.  Diego was just getting interested in writing his letters, so I decided it was time to teach him to write his name.  Holly was not so sure . . .

My plan was to help Diego write his name, than add ours before it, scan the paper, and use it on the letter.  I confidently sat down with Diego, a marker, and a sheet of paper.  Diego was excited and I showed him how to write a D.  He drew the line, then started drawing the semi-circle, ending up almost an inch lower than the bottom of his line.  I encouraged him to connect the points, which made our line somewhat less linear, but you still got the idea, so we moved on.

Next, the I.  In retrospect maybe I should have taught the simple line I without the top and bottom lines.   Personally I've always preferred the more complex version though, so we set to work.  Diego’s bottom line was fine, but the top line was more of a squiggle, and definitely not on the top.  It probably still would have gotten the job done.  But Diego, a perfectionist who could tell it did not look like my example, proceeded to dramatically scribble out everything he had written so far . . . (Holly might have been concealing a little laughter).

We took a break, then tried again with a few skittles as motivation.  We tried lower case letters to see if they would go any better.  After a few repeats of the above, we got the below, which seemed like the best we were going to do, and the quantity of skittles that would have been required for more attempts risked diabetes.

The next day Holly and I were still working in the classroom when it was time for Diego’s babysitter to go home.  We were not quite ready to pack up yet, so I brought Diego over and tried to keep him entertained.  Diego saw the whiteboard and markers and suddenly a new idea was sparked.  I pulled a table to the bottom of the board so Diego would have a good platform to work from, and with the new medium he was quite excited to try again.

It turned out drawing letters a foot and a half tall is a lot easier than drawing letters two inches tall on a paper.  Also at that scale following Daddy’s finger worked a lot better.

Besides that, when Diego messed up a letter and got frustrated, we had the eraser (which he thought was fun in and of itself).

In fact it was so fun that when he finished writing his name he decided it should have more colors.  So in a highly risky maneuver he erased the I and the O and re-colored them.

(We took the picture above as insurance).   Once finished to his satisfaction, he decided to fly.

We sure had fun with it, and Diego has done quite well recognizing the letters in his name ever since.

Our first post will be up tomorrow, April 17th.  (Sorry, there was a Texas Rangers game tonight...)