The Waves of Change

Hello!! I feel slightly embarrassed by how long it has been since we have posted last-- we are so sorry if you feel out of the loop and ask for your grace! Life has changed dramatically for us since having our third boy, Roman.  For those of you who don't know, Roman was born November 5th, 2014.  He quickly moved into a state of colick and acid reflux-- both of which left us often stressed out and exhausted.  Finally, finally, he has moved out of that stage and we feel a little more of normal life settling in.  So, we apologize for the draught of posts, but hope you can understand the craziness of adding another boy to our two active toddlers! :)

So, where are things now?? Great question :) We last left off that we would be seeking a business opportunity in Pokhara, Nepal called Rasilo (the juice company).  After lots of thinking, praying and processing we have come to realize that a business visa right off the bat may not be the best use of time and money.  We know that Nepal is an ever changing country-- and has obviously changed since the earthquake.  A business visa is ideal, but we realize that adjusting to the culture as a family and learning the language is a huge undertaking in and of itself.  So, the door isn't shut to the juice company, but we most likely will not start off on that type of visa.

Ben is going to Nepal with Westwind Church, the church that planted New Heights Church, at the end of July.  They're working in partnership with an organization called WaterStep.  Water Step is providing water purifiers to help many people in Nepal get clean drinking water. One filter can provide 10,000 people with clean water!! This is such a huge physical need in Nepal.  Ben is excited to see how setting up these purifiers will not only help these people live but also give many open doors to share the gospel!

** Prayer points**-- Pray for the nationals response to a foreign idea/product.  They often are hesitant to accept change.  We are definitely not the first to bring in a foreign idea to the people of Nepal, but hope that through education people would be open to change and see how it can benefit their communities.

-- Please pray for God to use this trip to continue to direct our hearts and steps toward Nepal.  We know and understand that "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps." (Prov. 16:9) We realize that this journey overseas can take a lot of time and patience as we wait for God's direction.

If you are in the Des Moines area we would love to see you if we haven't seen you yet!

We love you all and promise another update post Nepal trip!! ;)

Oh yeah...here's Roman...we kind of like him a lot! :)

NEWS!!

In our last post we indicated that we had some big decisions on the horizon. We spent the month of August praying and seeking the Lord's will and direction.  The main decision we had was whether to move back to Iowa sooner or later.  As Ben left Nepal he had peace about stepping forward with the Rasilo Jucie company.  He felt like it is a great opportunity to work among the unreached Tibetan people.  Through conversations with the owners of the juice company Ben could see how valuable business experience is.  As many of you know, Ben's family has a business, Sweet Honey, his parents started from ground zero close to 30 years ago.  We feel like the best use of our time would be to be involved back in the family business.  Ben's parents have such great knowledge in how to run a business, from book keeping to having employees. We had always planned on returning to Iowa at some point before we headed to Nepal.  We haven't been sure on the timing of this, but as we prayed we felt God showing us that moving back to Iowa was the best decision for our family.  With our third baby boy on the way being in Iowa would also give us the great help and support we would need. We also took into account our commitments here in Colorado.  As of this summer, we had completed most of what we had hoped to accomplish here.  After several different conversations we continued to feel God's confirmation in us moving back.   

So with that being said we are moving back on October 15th!  We are moving back in order to be close to friends and family, our supporting Iowa churches, and to be spiritually refreshed at home in our time remaining.  Our date to move to Nepal hasn't changed, as we are still looking at January of 2016.  

You can continue to pray for several things: 

1) Details of the move 

2) Boy #3 on the way (due Nov. 11)

3) Transition into working with Sweet Honey for Ben

4) We are meeting with the founder of Shepard's Staff tomorrow afternoon in order to make them our official mission organization partners 

5) Continued communication with Rasilo Juice Co. and that the business visa wouldn't go up in price 6) Leaving friends here in Colorado 

7) Please pray against fear in our hearts. Pray that we would trust God and His word and we would remember that He is with us every step of the way and providing everything that we need.

Thanks for your love and support! If there is anything we can be praying for you please don't hesitate to email us.  It may be a while that you hear from us next in blog form, but we would love to catch up with all of you Iowans (and non-Iowans) in person!! 

With His Love, 

Ben & Meredith

Nepal 2014 Trip

POKHARA, NEPAL

Hey everyone!
I hope this finds you well!  As with any trip overseas, it always comes with a lot to process upon return to home.  Once my feet step onto Nepali soil my sensors are always overloaded with the smells and sounds of Nepal.  This trip was a crazy whirlwind for 7 days in Nepal.  We spent the first couple days in Kathmandu with some contacts of Matt and Trista Deaver's.  Then we flew to Pokhara for 3 days to meet with the owners of Rasilo Juice Co.  And really there are numerous individual owners/investors of the company, some live in Nepal and some live in other parts of the world.  Keith and Heather are the current managers/owners of Rasilo and have the most input in the business.  We met up with Keith and Heather for several days to get to know them a little more and to become more familiar with the business.  Rasilo is located within the current largest and oldest Tibetan Refugee Camp in Nepal.  It is home to 1,000 Tibetan refugees.  Rasilo is completely run by Tibetans, except for Keith and Heather of course.  They make 3 types of juice; apple, orange, and pineapple.  The juice is all grown within Nepal.  It turns out that not only do the Tibetan people produce the juice but they also are the largest buyers of the juice!  Other than the Tibetans, the juice is mostly sold in Pokhara.

A common question asked is "Can Keith and Heather live off of income from the business?"  Unfortunately, Rasilo isn't financially there yet.  Rasilo is around $5,000 short every year in which they have to rely on outside sources to cover their expenses.  Rasilo is a very small business and therefore produce a small amount of juice.  They only work 3 months out of the year currently and it's spread out throughout the year so it's not back to back months.  This is by Keith's design and preference so he can focus on ministry, but it has the potential to do more.

When Keith asked me what I thought about Rasilo I responded with, "It seems too good to be true!"  To be able to live in Pokhara would be a much preferred place for us to call home rather than Kathmandu.  Kathmandu is a crazy city. We would somewhat like to avoid living there if we can. Another reason why Rasilo seems "too good to be true" is that we would be able to rub shoulders with Tibetans every day.  The Tibetan people are the main and really only specific people group that God has placed on my heart since 2005. It's crazy and overwhelming for me personally to think of this long road that I've been on since my trip to China/Tibet in the summer of 2005.  For some reason the Tibetan people have stayed on my heart throughout the years.  God only knows.  But I've always asked, "Why Tibetans?"  God knows. This business is a great way to live among the Tibetan people located in Nepal.  Definitely not the only way, but it provides great stability (which stability isn't really a word I would ever use to describe anything in Nepal) for our family with giving us a definite focus and task from the start instead of the alternative of moving to Kathmandu, learning language, and seeing where God leads and what opportunities are revealed.

Currently in Nepal to gain a business visa an individual has to show access to $55,000 in a bank account, which would later be invested into the business.  We were informed on this trip that it is in the works in the Nepali government to raise this amount to $200,000.  We were told that the Indian government is putting pressure on Nepal to raise the amount to keep Westerners from starting businesses and keep them out of Nepal.  Who knows what the real reason is but it doesn't matter because if this happens then Rasilo won't be an option for us.

Where do we go from here?  What are the next steps?  Right now Meredith and I are praying for the  month of August (and more if need be) to decide what to do next.  We are specifically praying for this opportunity in Nepal with Rasilo.  We are also praying about whether to move back to Iowa before our third baby boy arrives in November (we apologize if this is your first time hearing this news). Most of our training here in Colorado has come to an end sooner than what we thought it would. Would you please join us in asking God what He would have us do in months ahead?  We think we have answers, but we want to be sure and confident in God's direction.  This is very brief summary of my trip and would love to chat with any of you if you have any further questions or thoughts.  Thank you for your prayers and all your patience with this process!

Tibetan workers making pineapple juice

With much love,
Ben

FInally Some News!

Hi Dear friends and family,
It seems to have taken us a long time to get to this point where we actually have something concrete to share with you.  There have been a lot of ups and downs as we have sought out what the best way to get to Nepal is. Well, we have finally landed on the organization we feel is the right fit.

Drum roll please………(when it's taken you this long to figure something out you need a good drum roll =) )

We are going with Shepherd's Staff! Shepherd's Staff is an excellent organization that is so well suited for our needs.  Their main roll is to take care of the administration needs (taxes, health insurance, emergency expenses, etc.) that we will have as missionaries in Nepal.  These needs the typical local church doesn't have the ability to meet.  At the same time they take a more hands off approach to the actual "support" that we'll need and place it on the shoulders of the local church(s) that are sending us.  This allows the local church to fulfill its role in giving you all the opportunity to support us through Skype, emails, annual visits to Nepal, and probably many other ways that we are not even aware of yet.  We have come to find out that the Director and Founder of Shepard's Staff has been to Pokhara several times which is encouraging to know the organization has experience with where we are headed.  Once all of our reference forms get returned to Shepard's Staff we will have an interview with the Director/Founder Jeff Jackson to make everything official. Once it's official Shepard's Staff will be able to begin accepting financial support.

Phew.  This decision is a huge relief for us and gives us great motivation to keep moving forward.

In other news, Ben leaves tomorrow for Nepal! He will be joining our teammates Matt and Trista Deaver for a short 10 day trip.  They will meet up with the owner of the juice company in Pokhara called Rasilo.  Our hope is for them to get more information about what it would look like for us to take over the juice company in order for us to have a business visa so we can be in Nepal long term.  They will also meet with the pastors of the Binay Church that we hope to join and work with.  So much of their time will be spent making connections and praying and seeking God's direction and continual guidance for how we will spend our time in Nepal.

We hope this finds you all are doing well!  Thank you again for your continual love and support! May God bless you in the season of life you are walking in! We will share more once Ben returns!

Counting the Cost- Part Two

Hey, Ben here, I've been meaning to write this for some time now.  A lot has progressed since the last update that we sent out after my trip to Nepal.  This leads me to think that I need to revisit the reasons why we have moved to Colorado to make sure that I am being clear and that everyone is on the same page. Our initial thoughts in moving to Colorado last July was for the main reason that Mountain View Church (MVC) and their relationship with Binay Church in Pokhara, Nepal.  MVC graciously offered to help prepare us the best they know how through Porterbrook (www.porterbrooknetwork.org to see more), family/marital preparation in CTO (Called To Obedience), and Wilderness Ministry Institute (WMI).  I have been involved in Porterbrook since September.  We begin CTO in two weeks with one of the pastors and his wife.  I will be also looking at guide training beginning in March with Matt Scott and WMI, since I'm still not sure how God is going to move once we are in Nepal.  All this to say, it's still going as planned. 

This brings me to the biggest changes.  The original thought was that we would be sent directly through MVC to Binay Church in Pokhara, since Binay Church is a part of the same church planting network called Crossway Chapel Network.  However after receiving some financial support and traveling to Nepal once again, Meredith and I felt like we were asking to much of MVC to support us like a missions organization would.  We felt like MVC would have to hire someone just to handle all the responsibilities that come with the administrative tasks.  We felt like it was creating too much of a burden for MVC, even though I think they were willing to try to make it work.  We just didn't have peace with it. Also we felt that a missions organization could provide us with more of the support that we feel we need and even the support that we don't know we need once in Nepal. 

This led us to look at Pioneers right before Christmas with the our friends Matt & Trista Deaver.  God aligned us and the Deavers together at the same time regarding this step, which is awesome!  Like with most missions organizations, you fill an initial introductory application and have an interview over the phone.  We were fortunate to have a Pioneers rep right here in Fort Collins to meet with.  One of the biggest unknowns or questions that came from the interview was the "E" word: Education. I knew this was coming with the territory of missions organizations, not for all, but most require you to have at least one year or 30 credits of Biblical education.  If I wanted to make this update 5 times longer, which would be good for practice in writing papers for my "education", then I would discuss my thoughts on education.  But I'll save you the time.  If we were to go with Pioneers, I would have to have at least 24 credits and Meredith would need at least 12 credits and we would have 5 years from the date that Pioneers accepts to send us to complete the classes.  We both feel that we would want to have this completed before we go to Nepal and that we would have to move back Iowa in order to afford the classes. 

So why Pioneers?  Many people that I look up to in the Faith, which includes the pastors from New Heights Church, the missions pastor at Cornerstone Church in Ames, IA, along with one of the pastors here in Fort Collins have all encouraged and said great things about Pioneers.  Their focus, which goes with their name, is working among unreached people groups all over the world and encourage pioneering new church planting movements.  They are a "field driven" organization compared to a "office driven" organization, which means teams on the field are able to make decisions more freely versus someone in a home office.  Pioneers has only one team in Nepal currently working with sex-trafficking issues.  Even though we haven't been told for sure that we need to join this team in Kathmandu, we are being told that this is a high possibility for a short season (2 years).  The Deavers and we feel like Pokhara is where we want to be but also realize we might
 need to take some other initial steps at first in order to get to Pokhara to join Binay Church.  One of biggest unknowns is our visa to be in the country.  The different options are a student, research, or business visa.  Very briefly, a student visa would be one of the cheaper options and little commitment to a local university, but restricts you to a certain city, probably Kathmandu.  A research visa gives us a lot more flexibility to be anywhere within the country as long as whatever we are researching, which can anything, is approved by the university.  It's one of the cheaper options as well.  A business visa would be ideal for long term options, but I've been told that it costs anywhere from $50,000-$200,000! 

So this leads to another development!  As you may know I had the idea or thought of a coffee shop or guest house in order to get a business visa.  While Matt Deaver and I were in Pokhara this last Oct./Nov. we tried to meet a Canadian missionary couple that own and run a juice company.  The company and their house is located right next to Tibetan monastery and a refugee camp that is home to around 20,000 Tibetan refugees.  I've been told that it's the largest juice company in Nepal.  They grow all the fruit right in Nepal and even have some greenhouses located within the refugee camp itself.  It's a seasonal business in which this Canadian man named Keith hires 20 or so Tibetan people to work for him.  Matt skyped with Keith in December to gain more of a perspective of what life is like in Pokhara.  During the conversation, Matt shared our business ideas and Keith didn't think the guest house option would be good not only because its ridiculously expensive, but also it's seen as not creating job opportunities but taking them away from the local business owners. Keith mentioned that it would be better if we invested in an already existing business, in which both of our families could share the expense of $55,000!  It dawned on Keith and he told Matt that he plans to be leaving the field to retire.  Keith is 60 yrs. of age and has been living in Nepal for 15yrs. and doesn't want the business to go to waste.  He asked Matt if either he or anyone on our team has a heart for Tibetans and would be interested in running a business.  Matt told him that I've (Ben) had an interest and heart for Tibetan people; I've been to Tibet/China; we have friends that are working among Tibetans in Nepal and China; and we are very interested in a business opportunity!!!  Obviously it was only one conversation, but we were all excited to be offered this opportunity and feel that it's no coincidence!  

We are now currently just trying to figure out how realistic it is for us to move directly to Pokhara or after a short period of time in Kathmandu, begin our language training, transition into life in Nepal, AND possibly run a business.  I'm trying to have my hands as open as possible and not have some firm plan as to what I think Nepal is going to be like and what we are going to be doing. 

I confess that I need to do a better job at communicating these updates more frequently so that it doesn't take you a week to read it!  This is what we are faced with currently.  

Our prayer requests are: 
1. Which missions organization to partner with (Pioneers - www.pioneers.org, or others that we are considering Shepards Staff - www.ssmfi.org, World Team - us.worldteam.org, World Harvest Mission - www.whm.org), 
2. Our current communication with the Pioneers team to see if it is a good fit, 
3. Education - if needed, 
4. Business opportunity with Keith, 
5. Continued unity with how God is directing the Deavers and us, 
6. God to continue to prepare our families for what lies ahead, 
7. Finally that we wouldn't lose sight of the Gospel and it's everyday value in our lives and that it continues to drive our vision for people that have never heard of Jesus Christ to follow Him with their lives.  
8. Actually this is the final one for now, please pray for the Tibetan people throughout Nepal and the world and for our friends working among them. Pray that they would see fruit in their ministries! 

We love you all and hope to connect with you all again soon!  Please email us any questions that you may have! 
Thanks,
Mer, Abe, Zion, and Ben

Counting the Cost - Part One

Hello everyone!
This is my (Ben) first post here on our blog.  As many of you know, I recently had a great opportunity to join my church, Mountain View Community Church, on a trip to Pokhara, Nepal for three weeks.  The point of the trip for me was to meet the pastors and leaders of Binay Church and to get an understanding of their hearts for the Gospel and see what God is doing through them in Pokhara and throughout Nepal.  Since there is a possibility to join and help run a trekking business, that was started to help employ local youth leaders, I was also able to go on the most popular trek in Nepal to Annapurna Base Camp.  Most of the time was spent getting to know and building relationships with these pastors and leaders.  I was able to attend two church worship services at Binay Church.  It was, like all the times I've been involved with local worship services on trips to Nepal, China, and Tibet, awesome to see God's children worship Him with simplicity and humility.  I think there are too many distractions within the Western Church that keep us from really connecting with God.  But that's another post.

Machhapuchere Mt. Elevation: 22,943 ft. (6693m)

The two main teaching pastors are Hom(home) and Lekh(lake).  Hom is a national that grew up in a town called Gorkha.  Gorkha is where the main church is located that has planted 17-20 churches throughout Nepal, including Binay Church.  Hom is involved with an organization called Young Life.  He is the Young Life Director for Nepal.  He is a business, networking, youth minded, humble servant of the Lord.  His vision is to "saturate the youth of Pokhara with the Gospel" as well as the entire country of Nepal.  He mentioned that most youth and their families are not open to being invited to a church event, Bible study, or youth gathering.  But these families are open to Young Life club meetings that meet after school throughout the week.  There are 5 club meetings that meet all throughout Pokhara, with 125-150 youth coming regularly!  There are a number of youth leaders and youth that attend Binay Church.  The Young Life club meetings are seen as the youth ministry of Binay.  I asked Hom if he was interested in moving or expanding to other countries in the future and he said that his heart is for Nepal because of the work to be done with the few workers they have.  Praise God for his heart and commitment to Nepal!  My eyes were opened to youth ministry and the importance of its focus in Nepal!  Operation World states that Nepal's youth "comprise two-thirds of Nepal's population, which is one of the world's youngest and fastest growing." 37% of the population are under the age of 15!  Unfortunately, most of these youth are vulnerable to sex trafficking and lack opportunities for education.  Because of the 70% unemployment rate as well, many are forced to look for employment in India and the Middle East.  This is why businesses need to be started in Nepal, to create jobs for youth and people in general.

This is Hom and I on my last morning in Nepal.

Lekh is originally from India.  When he came to know the Lord, he was told to leave his village by not only the village but his own family.  But his mother said, "All this trouble for one boy proclaiming his faith in this God that heals.  I will join in following this God as well!"  So his mother and several other brothers proclaimed their faith in God and left the village.  I can't remember how he arrived in Nepal, but I have a lot of pride in calling this man my Brother in Christ!  He is a great story teller and is so passionate for Jesus!  He is financially supported by Mountain View.  His vision is to reach the youth with the Gospel and in turn reaching their families.  His main interest is for the local church in Nepal and for eventually church planting.  I really found myself connecting with Lekh and his heart.  My one prayer, well one of many prayers (you pray a lot when in Nepal), was that God would draw my heart to connect with one person.  Lekh is a humble, apostle Paul-like man of God.  Lekh does most of the teaching at Binay's Saturday services (day of worship is on Saturday in Nepal) as well as leading two new believer Bible studies.  His main prayer for several years has been to be freed up in order to plant churches.  But because of his responsibilities at Binay, he hasn't been able to.  When I told Lekh about our heart for Nepal, he told me that my family and I might just be an answer to his prayers. Please pray for these men and the other leaders at Binay Church.

This is Pastor Lekh on the left and Paul on the right.

Hom's younger brother, Paul, led our trek and works with Nepal Outdoor Adventures (trekking business) in addition to being a leader in Young Life.  I really connected with Paul as well on this trip. Don't ask me how they name children in Nepal; Hom, Paul, and another brother Bill.  I don't get it.  :) Anyway, during one of many conversations with Paul, I asked him about business opportunities.  I came on the trip with the idea of a guest house.  I've had this idea on my mind for the past 7 years since my trip to China/Tibet in 2005.  Another idea is a coffee shop, either included in the guest house or separate from.  I know, a coffee shop is a popular strategy/idea that many missionaries have, but there really isn't many ways to get good coffee in Nepal, unless you think instant coffee is awesome and is real!  Which if you think this, we need to talk!  Some of you may be thinking, "How easy is it to get coffee into Nepal?"  Or, "Do they grow coffee in Nepal?"  On the last day of my trek, I was walking and thinking a lot about what life will be like in Nepal, like most of my trip, and Paul, knowing that I'm interested in coffee, taps me on the shoulder and says, "Look Ben! Coffee trees!"  There in a small village that we were passing through sat around 25-30 coffee trees just looking at me saying, "Come pick Ben!"  Yes, the coffee trees actually spoke to me!  Well that might have been the altitude speaking or the lack of caffeine within my system! But it gave me a small amount of hope.  Once we returned to Pokhara, Paul and I spent a day on his motorcycle searching the city for coffee shops.  We found one promising business, that actually had an espresso machine sitting on their counter as well as other locally baked pastry items from a German bakery.  But Paul said that there is a university with what he said around 15,000 students.  He gave me an idea of a coffee shop near the campus to invite college students to.  He mentioned that no ministry in town is really reaching out to the college students.  He thought that it might be a great business to develop relationships and be able to practice English and share the Gospel!  Something to pray about!

Pictures of Binay Church in Pokhara, Nepal

So, those are the main leaders in the Binay Church. There's still so much to process about my trip, but that is why I'm calling this Counting the Cost- Part One! I hope this wasn't too long, but I felt it necessary to include these men so you could get to know them as well! :) 

As many of you already know, we sent out a fundraising letter asking many of you to join our team!! When the day comes that Mer and I take our family and step off the plane in Nepal, we truly believe those of you supporting us and praying for us are there stepping off that plane with us. You're our team!! We need your help! We have heard back from a handful of you and are so so blessed.  If you would like to be a part of what God is doing through us, please let us know! 

We Made It To Colorado!!

Hello Friends!! I'm so sorry for the delay in getting this posted! We just got internet in our new place this week.  Finally!!

As many of you know WE ARRIVED in Fort Collins!! For those of you who didn't know...I'm so sorry! Don't worry, we are not sitting on the side of the interstate waiting for you to come help us. =) We made it!!

For almost the first month of us being here we had family visiting.  We are just now getting into the swing of being full time Coloradoan residents! The mountains are such a beautiful site to be blessed with daily.  I try to not let a day pass where I don't pause and thank God for creating such beautiful scenery!

Our time has been spent getting settled, meeting people from our new church, riding distances on our bikes that I've never gone before, and trying new coffee shops --they have some awesome ones here!! (*Hint, hint, you should all come visit us!)

Ben is still looking for work and trying to connect with the pastors of our new church to see what life will look like for us here.  There are several different avenues of training we will need to go down to prepare for Nepal.  We have been trying to decide how much to undertake right off the bat.  Ben will be starting a Biblical training called Porterbrook come September.  I was hoping to take it with him, but as of now it isn't looking like it's going to work out.  I will still do the weekly reading with him so we can be in discussion about it.  The purpose of this training is "Letting the Bible story shape the hearts of ordinary Christians in the context of the church on mission to the world."  How cool is that?!! We are excited to see how God uses the Gospel to change our lives once again through this training.

Of course there are lots of service opportunities as well.  So we are trying to seek the Lord and see how we can be apart of, and love, our church body here.

If you think of it, we could use some prayers for these things:

- Continual transition for us and the boys.  Abe has seemed to have the hardest time transitioning.  We were in 5 different places in a month, so he was a little out of whack.  He's super strong-willed as well, so parenting and disciplining has been a challenge, but we are pushing through!! =) He's making great strides too despite being a super active 2, almost 3, year old boy!

- Direction in Ben finding work.  We're praying and asking the Lord to show us what this looks like.  We have the freedom to start raising support, as well, once we get the okay from our pastors here. We're still unsure of what this all looks like.  So prayers for patience would be great too! =)

We love you all and are so thankful for how God has used you in our lives!! Please email us and help us stay in contact with you!! We would love to hear how life is and how we can pray for you!

For His purposes,
Ben & Meredith

Ben: cadwellben@yahoo.com
Meredith: meredithcadwell@gmail.com

WE HAVE GREAT NEWS!!

We are moving to Fort Collins, Colorado!!! Yes, you read it right! The exciting news doesn't stop there though.  In about two-ish years we are planning to move indefinitely to Nepal!! 

Okay, so here is the back story:  
At the end of March we went to visit friends in Colorado that are a part of a church called Mountain View.  This church has two church plants in Nepal that are native churches (they consist of all Nepali people).  The churches really desire to have an American couple come and support them long term.  Some of that support to them would be the training and discipling of native pastors, as well as, helping them learn English.  Our hope is that we would help train these pastors to go and reach surrounding villages where there may be unreached people groups!! So, right now, we hope to be that American couple! 

To live in Nepal you have to have a platform- aka business visa.  Mountain View Church is also involved with a non-profit trekking company stateside and in Nepal that provides work for these pastors and peoples of the churches. (Many Nepali husbands leave their families to find work in India or other middle eastern countries because work is scarce.)

This whole endeavor is really fitting for us personally.  When we move to Fort Collins we will have the opportunity to be trained on multiple levels. Many people at Mountain View Church have been to Nepal, including some of the pastors, and the main guy who started the trekking business and church plants.  We will be trained to be missionaries (schooling of some sort) there, as well as, how to help the trekking business (Ben's dream come true!). In addition to those, they have training for the marriages of missionaries- which is awesome!!

Whew... This is a big step for us, but through many ways God is confirming this next step.  It's comforting knowing that they will train and prepare us, and send and support us in a major way emotionally and spiritually.  Mountain View Church also does trips to Nepal two times a year... *hint, hint* We are thrilled that there would be people coming to visit us pretty regularly... *hint, hint- you all should come =)

ETA for Colorado is July/Aug.  Yikes! So soon! Ben will be finding a job of some sort, but that's still being worked out. 

Our heart is to Know God and make Him Known to all peoples.  This is a major step of faith for us to uproot our family and reposition our lives to honor and serve God in the best way that He has for us. 

If you are interested in being on our email update list, please let us know! We would love for you all to follow us and be a part of what He is doing! 

So, there you have it!! We welcome any thoughts or questions!! 

IT SOLD!!!

Oh, we've got good news!! Our house sold!! Finally, after 2 years of waiting and waiting and waiting some more, our house sold.  As of now, our closing date is September 26th!! So, I've been busy dreaming up what I need to do to get us packed and out of here.

First order of operation is to have a garage sale.  I'm looking at September 8th, 9th, and the morning of the 10th.  We have so much stuff that we don't need.  I love simplifying our lives!  Plus, our hope is to move into an apartment/townhome-like dwelling on the south side of Des Moines to build stronger relationships with a Nepali/Bhutanese community.  They are such sweet and wonderful people! So, I need to go through everything because we won't have room for it all.

Ben and I have recently read the book Radical, by Dr. David Platt.  This has been such an inspirational book!! Even though Ben and I have been wanting to move for 2 years now to reach this community, the selling of our house has come at a perfect time.  We both finished reading this book and are even more inspired to live radical lives for the Lord.  We understand that many people will not understand why we want to leave our nice Grimes home for apartment living on the south side of Des Moines.  That's okay. We know in our hearts that God will never tell us, "Ben and Meredith...giving up your dreams and desires for the sake of my Name was not the best decision."  No way!! He will never say that!  He doesn't promise us that we will have an easy going life if we are willing to follow Him.

So, with that, we are moving!  Now don't get me wrong, I am constantly fighting the battle of material possessions.  I look at fun websites and see fun ways to up-date your house, or fun ways to accessorize your wardrobe and I so much long to just spend money and not think a thing about it.  Not that these things are wrong in and of themselves, but it's where our hearts are. I love to make things beautiful- I was an art major in college =).  I do believe that God is the Ultimate Creator and instilled those types of interests in us because He loves beauty as well! But I do know God wants us to do all things for the glory of His name, despite the cost.  For Ben and I right now, God is calling us to downsize, give up some favorite personal items and make an impact in a community that doesn't know Him.

I love a story that was shared in Radical.  I'll paraphrase...An older man came to Pastor Platt and told him that the messages he had been preaching were crazy.  So crazy that the older man started trying to live them out.  He started selling all of his possessions to give to the Lord.  The man was concerned at times that what he was doing was unwise...until he realized that God will never say to him, "You know, you didn't keep enough for yourself."  --This story blew me away.  He is SO right, I can never give enough of my time, possessions, and resources to the Lord.


We would appreciate your prayers!!

Osage Beach & California

This was the month of vacations for us.  The first week of June we went to Osage Beach, Missouri with my family. It's a family tradition to go the first week of June and stay in the time share my parents have.  My parents were so gracious and got Ben and I our own time share unit.  It was so wonderful! Unfortunately, my brother and sister-in-law were unable to join us this year.  Hopie and Lexi, my two nieces were still able to come. They were such great entertainment for Abe.  He just loves them.  They are 4 1/2 and 2 1/2 and full of energy.  Abe slept sooo good when we were there!!

We did a lot of pool time because the weather was so warm.  It was around 90-100 every day.  We even swam at night with Abe because the water was as warm as the bathtub.  Abe loves the pool.  Especially, when his Daddy carries him around so he can splash all over!

We felt so relaxed and enjoyed the time with my family!

Just last week, we were on family vacation with Ben's family.  We stayed primarily in Laguna Beach, but visited San Diego, as well as, Santa Monica.  There's just something about California that Ben and I love.  Maybe it has to do with it being beautiful, warm, awesome beaches, and the relaxed temperament of the locals.  

We spent time on the beach, did a lot of window shopping and dined at some great restaurants. One of our favorites was a place called Zinc. It was known to be a spot where the locals convened.  We ate three breakfasts in a row there! That's how good it was! My favorite was the steel cut oatmeal with bananas, strawberries and an almond and dried cherry crumble on top...YUM!! That's kind of our thing- to find those 'local places' where the food is the best! We have a rule when on vacation- we can't go anywhere that is here in Iowa.  (Well, other than maybe a coffee at the airport's Starbucks.) This vacation we were really successful and the places we hit up were really great.  

This vacation was really relaxing as well, and we had a good time with Ben's family too! 

We are thankful to now be home...and yet we feel like we need a vacation from our vacations =) and we need Abe to get back on a schedule- silly boy! I feel like this summer is almost over...even though it's not, I just can't believe it's July already!

Jesus Wants a Breakfast Wrap

Just this last spring Ben and I went to Colorado.  As we were driving home we stopped at a restaurant to grab some lunch.  I was debating on a salad verses breakfast of some sort.  I stumbled upon a breakfast wrap.  It was pretty chilly out so I thought maybe this wrap with eggs, potatoes, and bacon would hit the spot.  When our order arrived I realized this wrap didn't stand up to my expectations.  The eggs were fake, the potatoes were mashed (and fake), and it was gigantic.  I was thoroughly discouraged because Ben and I have always taken an interest in health and this breakfast wrap was far from it.  


As Ben and I sat in this little restaurant, Ben noticed a man walking past multiple times.  He was clothed in a hooded sweatshirt and sweats.  Ben mentioned he thought the man might be homeless.   Ben's worked with homeless guys before so I knew his intuitions were probably right on.  Ben thought we should give the guy our leftovers.  I was more than happy to give up my meal.  We hurried out of the restaurant to go find him and I began to worry.  What if this guy wasn't homeless and we had totally judged him?! I began to pray that God would give us clarity.  As I was praying, the man walked around the corner.  He walked right up to us and asked us if we had any spare change!! I was praising God that He was so direct with us.  Instead of giving him money we gave him our leftovers.  


We got back in our car and headed for Des Moines.  Ben and I discussed how thankful we were to be able to provide something for that man to eat.  It was so cold out.  We knew that he probably enjoyed my breakfast wrap the most.  What homeless guy wouldn't love a mashed potato, egg, and bacon filled wrap- plus it was hot!! 


I was reminded of when Jesus talks about whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me.  We are convinced that the main reason my wrap came the way it did was to bless that man.  Thank you Lord for your provision for him...even if it meant me eating something that I was unhappy with!