Sunday, January 29, 2012

Campus life

I wanted to share a little bit about what we are studying here at the Mission Training Center (MTC). Each topic is well thought out, and put together by missionaries that have come back from the field and realized that other missionaries need to learn this stuff. It's SO GOOD!

One class we take is called Learning Styles based off the book by Cynthia Tobias called, "The Way They Learn." A great introduction to people's learning styles and dealing with different personality types. Realizing that people learn things/understand things in different ways and that graciously accepting people's differences will be and should be a way of life in ministry.

We have a Worldview Analysis class about understanding our worldview and learning to defend it. Very fascinating. Even if someone says they don't have a worldview, that is their  worldview!

We have a Ministry Practicum class where we learn how to be an outreach to everyone in our community. We are missionaries at home not just overseas.

We have chapel 2 days a week, with worship and a small teaching from a staff member or missionary guest. Very encouraging!

We have a Culture and Language Acquisition class.We are learning about understanding cultures around us and overseas to be a better about not offending people while trying to "minister" to them. To jump into a situation to try to "teach" someone or share with someone about the Lord without understanding the full circumstances can be more of a hindrance then a help.

And lastly we meet twice a week with a small group for discussion, prayer, encouragement and accountability. It's a neat way to be able to get more connected with people here on campus.

Inbetween classes and homework, since everyone lives so close to each other here on campus we've been having get togethers almost everynight and having such a great time!

Thank you for your prayers! We can definitely praise God for helping us get settled in here in MO and get adjusted to life here on campus. Keep up the prayers!!
Our love to you guys,
Adie
PS So sorry about no recent pictures. Internet is a little harder to work with down here. So pictures will slowly trickle in. 

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The craziness continues!

Hi All,
We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season spent with family and friends! We had a crazy one this year, packing up our house and driving to Jon's parent's Christmas Eve. Certainly a Christmas we will never forget! We celebrated with his family Christmas Day and then Dec 26th drove back to MN to pick up our trailer and  do a last minute clean up of our house. From there, we have been traveling around and visiting with family for the past few weeks. Such a fun and great time to see family and enjoy a little down time.

We were at Adie's parent's house in VA this past weekend and drove from VA to MO overnight on Sunday, January 15th. We arrived on campus at the Mission Training Center, Camdenton, Missouri Monday afternoon and hit the ground running. The campus provided all of the new student families with a host who provided us with a meal/dessert and help unloading our boat/trailer the moment we arrived. What a huge blessing! The weather that day was 68 degrees! Another huge blessing to have gorgeous weather to unpack. Yesterday MO was hit with a cold snap with temps in the teens at night and 30s during the day.

We moved into a fairly new lower level 3 bedroom/1 bathroom 4-plex. Very bright and open and just the perfect size for us! Our furniture fits very nicely in our new place.
Our first night here we had a TORNADO warning complete with the tornado siren going off at 11pm at night. So strange to have not only a tornado at that time of day but in the middle of January!?! We thankfully have a nice staircase right outside of our door that we hid under until the alarm went off. My first thought when I heard the alarm was, "Wow, they throw the tests at you right away, don't they?" Not until Jon pulled up the weather radar did we realize that this was not just a test, there was a tornado spotted within 4-10 minutes of our campus! Crazy times and I hear this is just the beginning of these sirens. Oh dear.

Our first day of orientation/classes began today. The rest of this week is all orientations, meet and greets, get togethers and chapel. Today we had a speaker who was from PNG, a language translator sharing her stories of what she experienced before and after she got into the field. Her story was an encouragement to us that we may have "our" plans but in the end God has THE plan for us. But our we willing to accept His plan and His will for our lives. Are we open to his guidance along the way? Good thoughts to ponder as we begin this journey into the "unknown."

We were excited to see that there are 2 other aviation families here going to school and they have little ones. We got together last night and we all hit it off. Looks like there will be many get togethers that include great food, fellowship and some good competitive game playing. (They are Settlers of Catan fans, too! :)

The boys are adjusting very well for having gone through a lot of changes. They are most excited about the community playground right outside our patio door. I am just as excited as they are because I can see it from our dining room and living room! The Lord is so good to us!

I am hoping to post pictures soon on our blog and Facebook, but need to figure out the internet around here. Please keep checking our blog or Facebook for details
Please feel free to friend us on Facebook at: Jon N Adie Leedahl if you would like to have the most updated information and pictures. We tend to upload cell phone pictures more than my regular camera.

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement and support! We appreciate you all very much!
Love in Christ,
Adie, Jon, Jaeden, Levi and Jace Leedahl

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Newspaper article

We were recently interviewed by our local newspaper about our mission goal. You can read the story here:

http://www.redwoodfallsgazette.com/lifestyle/family/x550233978/The-gospel-with-wings

We are gearing up to start school on January 18th! We are excited to learn more about what we'll be doing with NTM and how the Lord will be using us wherever He sends us.

Thank you for your prayers! So far all has been going well. Pray for the boys as they go through many transitions with moving and daycare. Pray for us as we get settled in that everything goes smoothly.

The Lord is so good to us!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year!

Here is our New Year's Letter:
Dear Family and Friends,

We pray that you all had a great Christmas with your families! As most of you know, we have now begun the process of becoming full time missionaries with New Tribes Mission Aviation (www.ntm.org/aviation)! We begin our training in Camdenton, MO on January 18th. We will complete two semesters there graduating in December 2012. We will then move to McNeal, AZ to begin my flight and aircraft maintenance training/internship. This will last about 9 months. The plan is to be serving overseas before 2014, Lord willing.

December has been a very busy month. I was finishing up my last month at my job with North Memorial Air Care as an EMS helicopter pilot. Adie (and I when I could) was home cleaning, packing and getting the house ready for our move. We drove up to my parent's farm near Leonard, ND on Christmas Eve with a trailer load of stuff to put in storage there. After enjoying Christmas with my family, we drove down to Missouri with a trailer full of our belongings to move into our three-bedroom apartment provided for us on campus. Since it's winter break we can't move in until January, we just left the Jeep and trailer by our apartment and drove out to Adie's family in  King George, VA.

Our three boys are growing like weeds and keeping us busy! Jaeden is 5 and loves to draw, paint, work on his school,  if he can find time between building with his Lego's. Levi is 3 and likes to do whatever his older brother is up too. He is always full of smiles and mischief. Jace is almost 15 months old and definitely keeps us on our toes! He is on the move all the time, trying very hard to keep up with his brothers. He is a tough little guy and I think he will grow to give them a run for their money!

We ask for your prayers as we begin this new phase in our lives. We've been working towards the mission field for so long, it's exciting to finally see that we are almost there, Lord-willing! We are grateful for all of our family and friends who have been praying for and encouraging us along the way. We pray that we glorify God and seek daily for His will to be done.

We pray that the New Year will find you blessed by God and growing in your faith!

Jon, Adie, Jaeden, Levi and Jace Leedahl
jleedahl@gmail.com
adieleedahl@gmail.com

www.wingstothegospelntm.blogspot.com

Financial support can be sent to:

New Tribes Mission
1000 East First St.
Sanford, FL 32771
Designate the gift to the ministry of Jon & Adie Leedahl