In case you haven't heard...

WE'VE Moved! Our new blog address is:

http://6given2jesus.org/blog

please update your bookmarks. looking forward to your future visits there.

This is our last post on this blog.

in Christ,
Roland

You must evacuate!

Pounding on the neighbor's door drove her to open our own. A frightened and profusely sweating police officer beckoned us - "You must evacuate this building immediately". Can I get something for my kids?, "there is not time you must leave right now".


As we quickly directed our sons and daughters out the door of our new home, we had no idea what would meet our confused minds. At the base of our first flight we were greeted by a very loud crackling sound. To our left, about 30 feet away the building next door was ablaze, with 15 foot flames lapping at the roofline and out into the nature walk. I turned our now terribly frightened daughters down the rest of the staircase and headed them out toward the fishing pond away from the fire - all the while their cries tearing at my heart "What's happening Daddy?!" "Will our house catch on fire?" "Will we catch on fire Daddy?"

We were directed to move from there and get into the parking lot, which we did without any further hesitation. I had to carry my girls, they were crying deeply and were to frightened to move. As we made it out we were met by a huge fire truck being emptied of its hoses by several firefighters. We moved past them quickly and went to sit on the grass where we could not help but see our neighbors homes going up in tremendous billows of smoke and flames.

My daughters now began weeping and wailing about our neighbors, was anybody hurt, was anybody in there, was anyone going to die in there, will the firemen be able to help them, they are losing everything aren't they?

The questions and tears flowed like the water from the hydrant being called into service right in front of us.

So even as they asked I told them we will pray for these things, all these things. And with every question I was able to, I prayed in their ears, asking our Father, and theirs, to meet the needs and answer each question. We prayed for the fire to go out quickly, the firemen to have strength, for the people to get out without being hurt or killed, for the little kids not to be too sad because they are losing all their toys and more. It was a privilege to pray with them and watch the Lord bring comfort to their hearts as we gave all we could to the Lord, entrusting Him with each answer.

Jinni took several calls from friends, church members, who were hearing about the fire in our condo/apartment neighborhood. They prayed with us, too. We did not see any groups gathered in prayer anywhere else, but we weren't really looking for that - we were in shock over what we were seeing like everyone who lived there.

It seemed there were many people with cameras around, taking pictures. We didn't have our camera, so we have no pictures to post of the flames, but these are a few of the aftermath - two days later and a couple more I took today.

We thank the Lord none of our neighbors died and there was not a serious physical injury to anyone. These 20 units, now leveled by flames and water, remind us that a day will come where no evacuation will be available. The warning has been delivered.

Update, post date, way late... doing great

A month ago our family left for the U.S. and we knew we were needing prayer support. Our arrival was safe and timely, as I posted earlier. We had a lot of unloading to do and storage was the destination. Our precious friends in town, (and NTM representatives) Calvin and Gwen Taylor, have given us the use of their home while we (Jinni really) began the search for a place of our own.

Monday 6/11 began a week of Vacation Bible School ministry at night. Our program ran from 6:00-8:30PM. We had to arrive at 5:30 to prepare for each night's activities and responsibilities.

I was working with the security team. With over 600 kids coming and going around our home church's campus, there are a lot of cars and grown-ups to manage. It is a challenging task, sometimes mildly confrontational, ensuring the parents know we are looking out for the well-being of their kids and everyone else's. The Lord gives wisdom and grace as we communicate and parents understand our hearts.

Jinni and RJ were privileged to be a part of the dramatic side of VBS. They interacted with the kids of all age groups. Their ministry was to present a platform for further discussion about the work of Christ in the lives of the kids attending. There were a couple of nights when the children responded and their teachers had the joy of seeing kids respond to the gospel. I know RJ and Jinni count it a blessing to have had a part in that.

I almost forgot! Elijah, although he was one of the VBS kids, he too got to be a part of the ministry team. He and several other kids were able to 'lead' in the musical portion. They were the examples to follow when the music called for movement - hand clapping, hopping, whatever. He enjoyed that first then went on to be with the kids in his age group.

It was a busy five nights at VBS and a precious time of building more memories for us and the kids.

During the day, Jinni and the kids got to relax mostly. Some friends contacted her about providing swimming lessons for their children. What a sweet joy to have friends call her back again and be a blessing to us. Jinni was able to make arrangements for a swimming pool, through another wonderful family, and planned out the timing for lessons. All the while she was looking into where we would be locating our family.

Our prayers and yours were answered last week. We looked at an apartment/condo about 1/2 mile from church. We began making all the arrangements to move into our 3-bedroom 'condo' and finalized everything on Thursday, 06/28. The building management people allowed us to begin moving in some of our belongings that afternoon. More went in Friday and Saturday. It was a real blessing because we had to be out of storage by the 8th of July. We will be moving the remaining things on Monday the 9th, excitedly!

I have been blessed and privileged to be working for a dear friend and supporter. Each summer, for the past four years, he has provided temporary work for me. This summer has been no different. He has brought me in to help with a project that should take about one more week. I am so thankful for the opportunity to be used of the Lord and be an asset to he and his business. Our family can move in to our new place because the Lord has used this to provide for us once again.

It has not been all work, we have had some fun times as a family already. Two weeks ago all of us got to join a group from church, our adult bible fellowship, and attend a local AA baseball game. The local team is part of the farm club organization for the Chicago Cubs (I think). It was a losing night for the Tennessee Smokies. They struggled on the offensive side of things and only scored one run. Though their defense was working well, defense can not score points in baseball. :-( After the game we got to enjoy a short fireworks display. It was a real treat provided by members of our ABF. We thank God for them giving to us so abundantly.

Since Jinni has been giving swimming lessons again, the kids are able to be in and around the pool almost everyday. Prior to the lessons though they were able to go to one of the local pools as guests of another family from our church. We surely are counting our gifts, loving and caring people, whom the Lord has added to our family because we a part of His family – they are everywhere!

This week we are in Florida. God has allowed us to come down and join in the celebration of family through the outpouring of love shown by Jinni's family. We are so thankful to be able to be with them all. The kids have had the chance to meet some new relatives, whom we have only known by pictures. Jinni and I have marveled at how beautiful and enjoyable these kids are and how they and our own have embraced their newly introduced family. It has been a real treat to watch them interact – telling stories, playing games, chasing down lizards =), etc.

Jinni and have appreciated 'catching up' with everyone. The years have gone by quickly as is normal so this time has been needed and encouraging. Our prayer is that we will be able to visit at least once more before we leave for our field of ministry and are going to trust the Lord for that very thing.

Many of you have been praying with us about the remaining steps we need to make in order to serve the Lord as missionaries. Our steps are always ordered by the Lord, so we are thankful that you are involved with us in this ministry. We have had the chance to meet with the Missions Leadership Team of our home church. It was a great meeting. We got to share about the things we've had the privilege of learning. We also got to talk about our enthusiasm for God's guiding us to look at several fields of ministry with NTM. We shared about our interest in the field of Indonesia and why we are excited about this as our best possibility so far. We were able to answer a few questions and clarify some points about culture and language as it relates to our possible ministry in Indonesia. All in all it was good to know we are in the Lord's hands, as are our MLT leadership and that together we all will trust the Lord as we go forward. So, thank you all again for partnering with us in prayer and please continue to pray for wisdom for all.

enjoying His rest,
Roland (for the family)
2 Cor 3:4-6

We've Arrived - Thank You, LORD!

Our trip south to TN was completed on Wednesday night about 10:30 (finally to a place where we could post an update).

The trailer light problem resolved, with some incredible blessing and time investment by a friend of the NTMC. We received a needed component and I was guided in the installation of everything - which is working without flaw.

We are now at our friends' home while they are out of the country ministering with family in Brazil. We thank the Lord for your prayer for our trip. We thank God for your friendship and ministry to us - everyone of you.

Thank you for your prayers with us as we work out the schedule for meeting with our leadership here in TN.

This coming week we have the joy of participating in the Vacation Bible School program. RJ will get to be a part of the drama, and the rest of will join in wherever we can best be of service. We are excited that many kids will have an opportunity to hear about what Jesus has done for tehm over the next week and that some of them will place their faith in Him, too. Please join with us as we pray for the workers and administrators involved in this VBS ministry. Pray each child will know they have been around God's people because of the love of Christ shown to them.

in christ,
Roland (and the family)
2 Cor 3:4-6

Departure Delayed

We are not on our way just yet, but we should be leaving Canada by this afternoon. We had hoped to be on the road Monday, however that did not happen.

Packing the last of our belongings has taken a little longer than estimated for one thing. Lighting problems with our homemade cargo trailer has been the biggest slow down.

We thank the Lord for the many who have graciously helped us get this far along the way.

This should be our last post until we arrive in Michigan. Please pray with us that our trailer lighting problem to be resolved, that the remaining packing would go quickly, and that our now delayed arrival in Knoxville would not see any further delays. We thank the Lord that you will be praying alongside us.

in Christ,
Roland (and the family)
2 Cor 3:5-6

Our Spring Photo

This is one of the pictures we took today, for our Graduation Program, less than 1 hour before our two sons competed in some Field Day related events.

Field Day, an intramural competition of track and field events, is structured a little different this year. Mr P, the Academy principal, has the running events spread out over several days and some far in advance of the actual Field Day. Today Elijah, some of his classmates, along with RJ and some of his classmates all had the chance to run the 1500 meters.

There are records for Field Day events which can be broken. These records are divided into age bracket for each event. Elijah ran against three other boys, while RJ ran against only one other. Both of the boys achieved their personal best times in today's event. It was an exciting time rooting them on while they were running. RJ came from behind and beat the older guy he was racing with by a VERY close 00:00:25 - to everyone's cheers. Neither of these guys broke the record for their bracket. Elijah came from 3rd place into 2nd on the 3rd lap and passed the leader of the race around 150 meters from the finish. The race to the line was very close after that but Elijah finished 00:02:18 ahead of his friend. The other two boys in their group finished close on their heels all of them under record time! What an exciting time all the timekeepers and spectators had cheering on the racers to the finish. After finishing, the racers temporarily collapsed, but each was helped up by congratulating onlookers.

I thank the Lord and am so glad that we had the afternoon off from campus ministry today. This break from normal routine afforded me an opportunity to celebrate with my sons some precious memories we'll share for a lifetime.

Thank you for your prayers for us. We are so grateful the Lord has us on your minds. We have so much to be thankful for, daily and right now I just want you to know how much your prayers mean to us. We could never be at this point in our lives without your prayer support and encouragement. We thank God every time we remember you, too.

This evening we will have our last, BIG, school-wide, picnic extravaganza. Everyone will be out by the big ponds sharing a meal, maybe some volleyball, and stories of what God is doing in our lives as we draw to a close on this chapter of our journey. We'll try to have some pictures to follow, later.

Praise the Lord for John Sholly's successful triple by-pass. They only had to do 3, not 6 as expected. The metrical tube is out (whatever that is) and another tube and he sat up twice!!! His first words apparently were, "Praise Jesus I'm still alive!" He and Jennie won't make it for graduation, but we can visit them in June, on our way back to Knoxville.

Here's the countdown until we graduate...

Almost over? Hard to believe...

Our kids are nearing the end of their school year. That means they are all preparing for their big end of the year event "Field Day 2007". Each one of them is excited for their own reasons.

Susan knows she will be racing against the bigger girls this year, now that she is finishing Kindergarten. She will be having some of the races of her little life this time, because she will be running against her big sister. Susan knows she will have a chance and that she will have to be prepared to lose well, too. It must be hard racing against your bigger relative. I never had that experience.

Moriah is excited because she has the chance to repeat her specail times from last year and win some more 1st place ribbons. She will not be racing against her friend Anna Lee Oickle this year as Anna Lee is in Senegal with her family, now. Moriah will get to race agains her other classmates though and she is getting ready.

Elijah has his work cut out for him this year. There have been a few boys who have come off the mission field, with their parents, and they are in Elijah's class. They are stiff competitors as Elijah has experienced already this school year. These classmates of his are pretty good athletes and have been at r near the top in everything sport they have shared with Elijah. Elijah is working hard and has already achieved his 40 mile prize for running (he may be a little ahead in that).

RJ is working hard this year at having another good showing. Last year he was up against some pretty tough and older young guys. One of them has passed into the higher bracket of the competitive ranks, but like RJ his friends from last year have grown and developed. They will all be out to top one another (I remember what it was like as a teenage boy).

Jinni and I are also nearing the end of our classes here at the Missionary Training Center(MTC) in Durham. I can hardly believe it has been two years. The last four weeks are going to be JAMM-PACKED with the reamining classes and activities that come with planning a relocation. We are scheduled to graduate on June 2nd, that is less that 35 days away. Is this really almost over?! Yeh, but not over yet.

Our family has experienced so many blessed times since coming here. We have mostly been filled with the vision of seeing every human being have the chance to hear the MIGHTY Gospel message in their heart language. We have come to hear the Great Commission ring louder than ever, "to the uttermost parts of the earth". We are certain that God would have us be a part of His plan to reach those who have never been reached, more than we have ever before. That sense of purpose is one of the richest blessings we've received.

As the Lord brings us to your minds, please pray for our finish. We desire to complete this leg of the race with Him in focus, Him as our life source and sufficient One. We know this is not the end of the race but just this part of the journey with Him; however it must end for there to be more ahead.

2Co 4:5-7
(5)For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. (6)For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.(7)But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

We thank God for your prayers for us.

in His wondrous care,
Roland (for the family)

"I wanna be a teacher, or a Dobu leader"

One of the joys of parenting is being a part of our children's growing understanding of the Lord and how He directs our lives. While Jinni and I are in classes we try to keep the kids aware of what we are doing. We have been sharing what we are learning from the Dobu tribal simulation we are involved in. We also talk about how we are nearing the end of this phase of God's preparing us for missionary service.

Each of our kids is getting prepared for the last day of our time here in Canada.

RJ is looking forward to a summer in TN with his friends and the coming school year with them. He has not been in school with any of his (TN) friends since we left for New Tribes Bible Institute almost 4 years ago. He is ready to have their company again and face the challenge of the 11th grade with them.

Elijah, while making occasional mention of summer in TN, is focused on the immediate, right now. Not a bad place to be, really. He and RJ are invited to compete in the ACSI chess tournament this coming Thursday. The school has encouraged them to attend and enjoy the depth of competition they'll face. Elijah
has been playing me (Roland) in order to prepare himself. I am honored that he thinks I am that stiff of a competitor, He has beaten me, severly already. Maybe he feels ready. He is also attending a field trip with this class, his second trip, to Medieval Times. He enjoyed it so much he is excited to be going once again. He talks about these events alot.

Moriah talks about her friends, some. She especially looks forward to visiting with our old dog, Midnight. She took it hard when we had to leave him in TN to come to NTM training. We did get to visit with his new owner and Midnight two summers ago. It was hard once more for her to part company with him. I'll bet it will be the hardest for her to breakaway from here, when it is time to finally say good-bye. She and Susan are ready to play the summer away at a swimming pool somewhere. Moriah is working hard to prepare for the coming "olympics" on campus. It is called Field Day. She had quite a time last year and will surely enjoy it this time.

Susan Grace. She is the winner. She has worked out most of her summer plans playing at Gulfwood pool, visiting with Midnight, and spending LOTS of time with her friends Terra and Autumn Ryan. She has made sure we know she would like to have a nice party in TN for her next birthday. She has even told us what she wants to be when she grows up. She was pretty clear with Jinni, just yesterday in fact. When she grows up she wants to be a teacher or a Dobu leader.

As I said it is a joy to be a part of each kid's growing understanding. Susan seems to have focused on Mom's and Dad's experiences and has decided being a teacher or a Dobu leader would be the best God has for her. She is really precious, as are each of the others.

We are drawing near the close of our training time in Canada. We have lots of plans to make and need the Lord's wisdom in each decision. As you remember us in prayer, we would appreciate knowing you are asking with us for these needs. The Shafers are so thankful that the Lord has you lifting us before Him in your times of prayer. We appreciate each of you. It is our privilege to pray for you, each time the Lord brings you to mind.

June 2nd is our graduation date. Pray we will have the strength to stay the course and finish this phase well. Thank you again for your encouragement and support. Looking forward to hearing from you.

serving in Him,
Roland & Jinni Shafer family

p.s. skype us when you can:
we64jesus (Jinni)
-- or --
rs4jesus (Roland)

Bible Institute visits...

Jackson visit was a great time. Lots of questions which we could give some 'answers' to and others which we could only share personal testimony.

It has been a precious time of bonding with my classmates. I am so glad for this time with them, thank You Lord.

Jinni and the kids left for Missionary Training Center, Durham (NTM Canada) this morning. I have checked the weather and there has been a bit of snowfall since we left last week. I am praying the roads will be open for them to make it back safely.

Our group will leave Wisconsin in less than two days. We have one more chapel with which to provide information to prospective students and one more 'coffee klatch'.

Praying for you, as the Lord brings you to mind. Thank you for yoru continued prayer partnership with us!

in Christ,
Roland (for these Shafers)

Safely in Michigan

We arrived in Michigan safely, checked in with our Bible School hosts, had a pre-presentation meeting and then headed a little further south.

John and Jennie Sholly, a couple who have 'adopted' us, live south of NTBI's Jackson campus, in Jonesville MI. We are privileged to have their company for the next several days and their partnership while we've been training.

We arrived at the Sholly's house, after leaving the Bible Institute, to some wonderful snacks - including chocolate milkshakes!! They will have the kids overnight, splitting boys and girls, probably. Jinni are staying at another home just down the street. Our hosts are the Hoyt family. Ivan and Kim are friends of the Shollys and are preparing to serve a missionaries to Argentina. Their daughter Cristina is home to welcome us while Ivan and Kim are away in Argentina for 5 weeks.

We are looking forward to some busy days ahead. God has blessed us with a praying team who have been partnered with us since we began this journey of missionary preparation. Thank you all! Will try to update again soon. Until then, keep resting!

in Christ,
Roland (for we Shafers)
2 Cor 4-5

Traveling South...



Our family is heading down to the U.S. with a group of students who will be sharing at both of the New Tribes Bible Institutes over the next week.

Jinni and I will be together for the trip down to Michigan. On Saturday we will part and I will continue on the trip to Waukesha, Wisconsin. We are going to each Bible Institute campus with the purpose of sharing the training program at New Tribes Mission of Canada.

Pray we will communicate clearly with those whom the Lord is intending to continue on toward the mission fields. Pray for the training staff that has spear-headed this trip. They will be coming along and are sacrificing valuable preparation time. Pray for the team as we travel, that we would be vessels of the Lord as we interact with folks along our trip.

Jinni and our kids will be coming back to Canada without me Sunday afternoon. Pray for their safety.

Roland (for we Shafers)
2 Corinthians 4-5

Rom 5:2 Through Him we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice on the hope of the glory of God.
We had the privilege of accompanying two of the trainers at New Tribes, Karen & Shane Whatley, to a church in Cambridge Ontario. We had 90 minutes with 80 or so kids, age range from 4 to 12. God's grace was evident everywhere. Traveling was uneventful, (a blessing as the snow has been quite abundant,) technical challenges were dealt with accordingly, some with better outcomes than others. All in all the team was quite united, the message clear, God was glorified, the kids were challenged and all seemed to have a good time in the process. Karen took many photos that we were hoping to share at the end, but they will see them this Sunday. Maybe a blessing as the "message" will be reinforced. Shane presented a powerful illustration depicting the abundance we have in the "western world" compared to the many living in poverty.


He also made the connection to spiritual resources like the Bible and all we have that goes along with it...various translations, concordances, study notes, videos, music, books, etc, etc, etc. According to Wycliffe, there are 6912 language groups in the world. 422 have the entire Bible. 1,640 have translations in progress. 876 have at least one book. 1,079 have the New Testament only, which leaves 2,529 with no translations started.
Roland did the "New Tribes Card presentation". This demonstrates the need as well as the importance of "teamwork". This required a lot of volunteers to hammer home the point of what a BIG job it is.
RJ, ELijah, Moriah & Susan had their first chance to minister as a team.
They did 3 puppet shows to the tunes of "Rise & Shine", "Be Careful"
& "Stand" (veggie tale). They worked really hard and did an excellent job and the kids loved it...even the "older" ones. RJ & Violet (Jinni) did a short intro to Shane's & Roland's presentations, giving some background info. Jinni led the kids in several songs
between the different events for transitions and energy expenditure... :-) Here she "nabbed" one of the boys in "Love Your neighbor as yourself". We then spent the afternoon with 2 couples from Temple Baptist who were very gracious, fun to be with and they fed us all! What a fun time we had sharing God's heart and His desire for ALL people to be saved! Thanks for your prayers!

Rom 12:6-8 And we have different gifts according to the grace given to us. If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith. If it is service, he must serve; if it is teaching, he must teach; if it is exhortation, he must exhort; if it is contributing, he must do so with sincerity; if it is leadership, he must do so with diligence; if it is showing mercy, he must do so with cheerfulness.

Our Last Semester Has Begun

We are 1 week deep into our final semester of training with New Tribes Mission. Our current class is dealing with Health and Wellness. It has been an enlightening time of learning how to be physically prepared now for staying healthy when going for a long stay on a field assignment. With 30 years experience as a foundation which includes 13 years in the field of Senegal, Faye Brown has been a delight to sit with and learn from these past several days. She will be teaching for two more sessions next week and she will return to her home in Pennsylvania where she serves on hospital staff. If ever there was a place where I knew I would receive the best treatment I know it would be where Faye is serving.

As parents we could not ask for a better place to have our children educated than the NTMC Academy on campus. Each of our precious ones has had an exciting time during the last 3 1/2 months of school. Susan has started into the joys of reading - she is happy and growing in her ability by leaps and bounds. Moriah has developed her artistic ability and loves the idea of being able to draw horses. Elijah is becoming quite the athlete, although he is small in stature he makes up for it in quickness and prowess. RJ, is such a joy to watch grow in his understanding of the need for weakness, which shows up for him occasionally. The kids are thriving, I can't say it enough. The best part of the Academy is the teaching staff's heart to see each child grasp that intelligence is what God uses to provide a way for them to understand Him. They desire the best possible spiritual understanding to come from their time at school while they acquire skills at the same time. Jinni and I agree this has been more than we could have ever prayed for our kids, thank You Lord.

With the beginning of this semester comes the inevitable questions, 'What will you do next?'; 'Do you know where you will be serving'; 'What are your plans after you complete the training in Canada?', questions we, too, have been taking to the Lord in seeking wisdom and guidance. Our plans are beginning to formulate in our minds and many conversations have to take place between now and our graduation June 2, 2007, which is oh so close at hand! With that said, we especially are glad for your prayer on our behalf and with us as we look to the Lord for our future. We are privileged to be praying with you, too. Thank you for your ministry to us in the Lord.

This is an exciting time for the Shafer family. We are already getting a greater sense of God's hand upon our lives and His desire to use us in service to Him, seeing the unreached of the world to hear the gospel. As we have sensed all along this journey, we know we have come this far as God's people have upheld us in prayer before our wondrous and gracious Lord. With the knowledge of those praying for us and the timely financial outpourings of family and friends we have been granted the joy of this adventure with God 'at the helm'.

Christmas without snow, maybe - but not without Hope

Amazing but true. We are without snow on the ground here. It has been kinda muggy with an overall drab-gray most days since Christmas break began. The temps are up for this time of year, too, in the high 30's to middle 40's. It is practically a heat wave as we begin the winter months. Of course, the weather can change in a moment because we don't know which way it will decide to blow next.

Just about every one of us has been hit by the winter bug. Coughing, sneezing, fever, sound familiar to you? We know we aren't the only ones who are going through it. Being sick has a way of making things look somewhat worse at times, too. When I am ill I find it one of the best times to look for ways to remember God's goodness, otherwise the glum appears to be the 'forever norm'.

This year we have again seen the care for our family, friends, and fellow classmates that God alone could provide. We know He has chosen to use people to bring about the bearing out of that care, so we give the Lord thanks for using many folks to remind us of His intimate involvement in life's circumstances.

We have gone through this year seeing our training fill us with an even greater desire to see the unreached hear the powerful proclamation of God's Word, the truth of His redemption plan. Our hearts are filled with wonder and awe that God, Who created and sustains all things, would decide to take our family to be a part of His incredible gospel 'delivery system' and use us all somewhere - so that the unbelieving might be believing because they finally get to hear His message. We thank the Lord that your, calls, prayers and correspondence have been a part of encouraging us to persevere and complete this portion of our preparation to get to that place.

With only a few hours left before we retell the First Christmas testimonies, the Shafers together wish every one of you a holiday you will treasure. May the focus of your attention be drawn, as ours continues to be drawn, to the One, Jesus Christ, Who has been given to us, for us. May the memories of God's supply, the gift of the ages, give you a heart full of reasons to rejoice. May the Holy Spirit's ministry to you, meet you right where you are and show you God, for all He is. May your home be filled with a greater understanding of God's desire for all people to know Him. May you celebrate that this year, there are individuals who are commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ for the very first time - because someone took the time the tell them of God's gift of Hope to the world.

Well perhaps we'll celebrate this Christmas without snow, but because of the coming of the Christ child, we will not celebrate without hope. Merry Christmas!

"And the Scriptures were written to teach and encourage us by giving us hope. God is the one who makes us patient and cheerful. I pray that he will help you live at peace with each other, as you follow Christ. Then all of you together will praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:4-6 CEV)"

Roland (for the Shafers)

December is here...


The kids were in the town Christmas parade two weekends ago. It was cold but we are thankful it was not raining like it had been for several days prior. We did get some snow over the last two weeks (about 5") so the parade had that Christmas feel to it. The kids got to finish by receiving a candy treat bag from 'Santa' and a photo op :-).

We are excited this month to be celebrating some very special birthdays. First, of course, is the Lord Jesus'. How wonderful for us to remember the birth of the One who "came not to be served but to serve and give HIS life a RANSOM for MANY" Mark 10:45 says. 1Ti 2:5-6 says, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, a man, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself--a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time." Jesus' birth was perfectly timed, laid out on God's timetable as we can see in Galatians chapter 4 verses 4 and 5; "(4) But when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, (5) to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights. The birth of God's Son

IS GOOD NEWS!

We've celebrate Moriah's birthday. She is seven years old now. We all are happy with her since she celebrated her 2nd spiritual birthday, too. Cousin Jennifer will be almost three times older than her cousin Moriah, but not quite. Happy birthday Jenny, we love you! Grandma Deanie we love you and hope your birthday is wonderful and that your heart is filled with joy. Cousin Nick happy BIG 6TH birthday! We all love you, hope you have a great day and get to eat your favorite birthday meal!

Jinni, RJ, Myself and a classmate, Julie Arnold, had the privilege of presenting a Christmas drama at three churches over the past two Sundays. What a joy to share the hope and reconciliation available to everyone, no matter how bad they think their life is or the wrongs done in the past, through Jesus Christ - God's own Son. Our prayer has been that lives would be able to see that God understands our hurts and weaknesses. He is fully aware of the guilt and shame we rightly feel because of sin in our histories. He took drastic and incredibly miraculous measures - sacrificing His only Son in our place - to ensure we might have a right relationship with Him.

We are now just a few days away from our Christmas break. Classes end this Friday afternoon and lots of folks will be heading away to be with family during this holiday season. We will be staying up in Canada this year. Our travel plans will be limited to celebrating with the members of our local church and those who will be remaining on campus through the break.

As we draw nearer to Christmas day our family is reminded of the many folks who have been praying for us to get through this semester of training. Thank you, all of you, for your part in our lives and your ministry to us. We thank our Father for you and continue to pray your lives will be enriched daily as your grow in your relationship with our God. We pray your homes will be filled with laughter and the making of fond memories as you all celebrate together the anniversary of the coming of the King! Enjoy your holiday, vacations to those who will have them, and Merry Christmas to you all from each one of us.

"For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; dominion will rest on his shoulders, and he will be given the name Pele-Yo'etz El Gibbor Avi-'Ad Sar-Shalom [Wonder of a Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace], in order to extend the dominion and perpetuate the peace of the throne and kingdom of David, to secure it and sustain it through justice and righteousness henceforth and forever. The zeal of ADONAI-Tzva'ot will accomplish this. (Isa 9:6-7 CJB)"

Roland (for the family)

Scripture quotations are taken from the Complete Jewish Bible, copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. www.messianicjewish.net/jntp. Distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources. www.messianicjewish.net. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

New prayer requests...

Time to get to eye clinic and have Elijah's eyes checked-he defintely needs glasses.
Moriah's spacer has moved so her teeth are bothering her
Jinni's right ankle totally heal from 6 week old 'severe sprain'.
RJ's science project come together and Spanish would go well.
Kees' stress test properly interpreted by doctors.
Mumsy Shafer continue to recover in her Nursing Care facility.
All-weather tires, waiting for sale prices.

"Comprehension +1"

We have completed our 1st week of Culture and Language Acquisition practicum. It has been great. Some of the things we've learned about the Dutch culture, from Kees, are helping us understand why some of the words and phrases he's teaching us are used the way they are. Kees has been just wonderful. His willingness to learn something new has been a definite motivator for me, Roland. Each 2 hour session brings excitement knowing we will spend time with our new friend. So far he has taught us over 200 nouns, adjectives, and verbs combined. This week we are scheduled to learn more verbs and nouns, plus we're going to add numbers and adjectives, too. He has also taught us more than 15 necessary, practical expressions. One we've used frequently (you might even guess), "Vat is dit?" Another is "Dankje vell!" Think you can figure those out? You may have an ability to learn language if you can.

We are so blessed to start each session with a word of prayer. Kees has even taken some time and provided some scripture reading from a couple of Dutch Bibles (pronounced the same). Jinni and I don't understand all of what's being read but we're able to pick out some words already. God has amazed us with what we have learned in just a few days about His faithfulness in creating languages which communicate culture. We are so thankful that He has taken the time to make sure His message will be clear in them all. God communicates and He desires that everyone has the chance to hear His message for themselves.

Quite a bit of our time is spent using our computer to 'file' all the day's data. We must transfer our recorded sessions from our digital voice recorder to our laptop PC first. After thevoice recordings are on the computer we begin the processing work. The recordings must be edited before they are filed with the CLAware application. The end result is an embedded sound file with phonetically transcribed text with which we do our review. Once the review information is complete the CLAware application allows us to file our phonetics into a lexicon. The lexicon is a dictionary, sort of, that associates the phonetic rendition of the data to a rough translation provided by Kees. All tolled we have spent anywhere between 4 and 9 hours - depending on the recording quality - completing the processing tasks. It all pays off because we have clean audio files to use in our review stage of the whole program.

We thank the Lord for the software, the recorder, the laptop, the CLA practicum program, and Kees! We also know we are being prayed with and for, which makes us ever so much more grateful for this experience. God, in His faithfulness, has brought folks alongside to ensure we will complete this stage of preparation - seeing Him as our Sufficient One.

Thank you for your participation and partnership with us while we train, so that every nation and language will hear the GOOD NEWS...

Roland (for the Shafers)
2 Cor 4-5

Culture and Language Acquisition
(6 weeks of Practical Techniques)

Jinni and I are currently in our first few days of the most challenging period of this semester. It is called CLA Practicum. We are assigned a bi-lingual Language helper, a first generation speaker, from another country and culture. This precious person will spend the next 6 weeks with us (two hours a session), working with the CLA method of learning a culture and language. Our assigned a language helper is from the Nederlands. We have already spent some time setting up our meeting time, gathering a few culture related photographs.

Our first session has come and gone. We have had two hours with Kees (pronounced Kase). He is a wonderfully friendly guy from Haarlem. He recognized some of the photos we had chosen for our first session. That was a fun time as he explained what the picture contained. He is, by self admission, more than willing to help us and maybe even a little too willing to talk more than we might need :-). We spent several minutes getting to know him which will continue over our time together.

Lots of parts to this program are intended to give us as close to a National Culture Language Acquisition program as possible. Some of the things we have to work through is managing the four primary facets of the CLA method (Plan, Practice, Process, and Participate), organizing our daily routing around the C/L sessions and Culture events required in the course, and arranging for the care of our kids while we are immersed in the practicum. We praise the Lord for the members of our culture teams, they too have to partner with us in ensuring we all make it through this time so we are partnered to work together.

Please pray for us as we have more than this next six weeks of classes on our plates. Elijah has been invited to be a participant in a spelling bee. RJ, Jinni, me, and a fellow classmate are performing 12/3 and 12/10, a Christmas program, I have the privilege of leading the worship services at the church we're attending (Rock Mills Fellowship Baptist Church), Jinni gets to lead the praise music time for our Monday morning Devotional time on campus this month, and I get to do the same 12/17 at Rock Mills. Of course our kids must not be shorted during all of this either.

Thank you for your partnership in prayer with us as we draw this semester to a close with this busy, busy ministry schedule. We are excited and we realize it will be stressful. What a privilege to know that we have been given this opportunity to see our Lord in a mighty way and better grasp that He walks with us through every twist and turn and circumstance. We are thankful that we have the honor to pray with you, too. Until next time, or as the Dutch might say it, "Tot Zeens".
until the unreached have heard...

Roland (for the family)
'For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake. For God, who said "Let light shine out of darkness," is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that the extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.'
(2Co 4:5-7)