The Adventure Continues

(written by Mary)
Dear friends and family,

It's hard to believe it is already mid December. I think I start half of our blog posts amazed at how much time as passed. Little Joya is over two months old! Can you believe it?

Here's what's been happening in our lives:
We finally got moving on fundraising, and by God's grace and provision we are a third of the way there for long term support. That means we have a little under $2,000 more of monthly support to raise.

Joya has been growing like a weed. Around Thanksgiving we were blessed with the opportunity of taking a roadtrip to speak with a couple Churches and introduce Joya to family and friends. She is a little champion when it comes to traveling!

We no longer have an exact departure date for our Romania training or first term in PNG. 2017 is a blank slate besides a planned fundraising/partnership building trip to Grants Pass, OR in January. So many times we have tried to project forward, set a date, and run with it. So many times we have been set back down again and given another piece of the foundation God is building before we leave.
This time around, I am at peace - which is a big deal for me (all of you know how impatient I can be). We are trying to be faithful to submit each step to God, follow through with the things He has placed in front of us, and trust Him to take us when and wherever He wants us to go.
That being said, my not so secret hope is that we will get to go early this spring!

We have been blessed and humbled in the process of fundraising; but I have not felt humiliated (the fear of which paralyzed me for a long while). We have received aid and advice from unlikely places, been surprised by generosity when we were most dispirited, and continued to feel the steady, affirming flow of God's movement sweeping us forward towards His work for us in Papua New Guinea. Right now, we are called to work, serve, and prepare faithfully. With your prayers and God's grace we will continue to do so.

Ben would like your prayers as he awaits news on his pending state EMT endorsement which is required for his employment with an ambulance service - this would give him continued education and practical application in the area of medical aid. He is also praying about pursuing training in computer coding as this would potentially give him a way to help support us remotely or at least when we are visiting in the states.
You're all probably familiar with the 'tent maker' model of missions - essentially, Ben hopes to be able to support our family as much as possible so that donated funds can go directly towards project needs such as printing literacy material, hosting skill training workshops, and supporting the men and women who give up there time to work with us on Bible translation and language training.  
Please pray for wisdom and discernment as he strives to balance the desire to be our family's provider with humility and trust in God's provision and direction.

We are praising God for His goodness to us in this season of preparation. He continues to provide us with everything we need and to affirm us in pursuing this path to missions in PNG. Every time we share about what He is doing and what we hope to do in the field, I remember that His plans are so much bigger than our own, His vision so complete, and His love for the people of Papua New Guinea so much greater than ours can ever be. We are blessed and humbled that He has invited us to join the work!

We can never thank you enough for all of your love, prayers, and support. You are part of the work He is doing too! May He bless you in your own areas of ministry. May you be faithful and obedient in all that He sets before you. We are honored and ever amazed at the way God works in and through His people.

With love and immense joy during this season of celebrating our Savior,
Benjamin, Mary, and Joya Grimm

Written by Mary.
The month of September is quickly coming to a close. Ben is finishing the last few days of his EMT training, and Mary is growing rounder by the minute.

This month has been full of blessings.
For those of you who don't know, Ben has been taking a month long intensive course out in the Okanogan forest, learning about how to respond to medical crises in a remote location. When he is finished he will have four certificates: Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Wilderness First Responder, Medical Person in Charge, and First Aid/CPR. We are both thankful for the security that this training will provide when we are living in our remote village in PNG. God answered our prayers for Ben to be able to focus on and retain the information he is learning in his course. He loves the information, has been diligent in his studies, and has done well in all the exams and practicals so far. His final is coming up on Thursday (the 29th), so keep him in prayer!
While Ben has been away, Mary has been staying with some dear friends in Bellingham

anticipating the arrival of the Grimmling sometime in the next few weeks.

Results are in

Written by Mary.
 
Well, I confess, I am surprised by the results of this election. In fact, I may have been in a suspended state of disbelief for the last year. This morning out of the melee on social media, a good friend of mine's post stood out:
Please pray for Donald Trump.
He will need wisdom.
Please pray for those among us who feel threatened.
They will need comfort.
Please pray for those among us who feel emboldened.
They will need humility.
Please pray for our country.
It needs healing.
This I can say 'amen' to. I will strive to encourage others to take a stance of power, love, and self-control. When you are tempted to fall into fear mongering, blaming, crowing, or complaining stand instead in the power and love of God and pray for our nation and for your community.

Two words have come back to me again and again through this season. 
FOR
and 
BOLD

If God is for us, who can stand against us? What fear has power over us?
As the body of Christ, we are for the world:
For healing, for love, for reconciliation, for abundant life.
Our part is not to fall prey to division and fear, but to pray for each other.
In this word 'FOR', I feel challenged to orient myself toward others, even when that means engaging grief and suffering. 
Do not go numb, do not give up. 
Be for wholeness. Be an ambassador for Christ.

BOLD is something I have not been.
I have not been bold to proclaim Christ to the dear people God has placed in my life.
I confess I have let the fear of rejection overwhelm my love for them.
I have not been bold to prepare financially for our mission by seeking aid from our community.
I confess I have let the fear of shame overwhelm the vision for what God will do in the village of Baku, in PNG, and here in my community.
I have beat myself up inside, telling myself I should have more courage; but when the moment arrives, I let yet another opportunity to glorify God slip away. 
A good friend recently shared a sermon with us on the topic of Boldness.
The speaker pointed out that even Paul was constantly pleading with the Church to pray for him to have boldness!
LIGHTBULB!
This isn't an attribute I can manufacture in myself. Part of a bold ministry is a dependence on the people of God. Boldness is God's gift.
So please pray for me, for Ben, for our Church to be BOLD.

To those of you who have been praying for us: Thank you, again and again, thank you!
We have had a couple answers.
First, a good friend of ours gave us the kick in the pants we needed to really get moving on fundraising. We are both feeling more empowered and focused in this area.
Second, we had a consultation with the executive director of our organization and received the following counsel: 
- Do not deplete your savings to buy tickets for Romania. Start a fund drive specifically for that purpose and see what God does. Tentatively, keep the plan to go in February.
- Hold the date of April for departure to PNG loosely. Keep praying, keep raising funds, but be willing to push the date back. It may be that the timing of a later date will be better for everyone involved.
- Keep seeking prayer and advice from your community.

God is good. When we call, He answers. We trust that He will work His own purposes through all of this, and that He will provide for us to walk in His will.
We do deeply believe that He loves the people of Baku village and the people in the surrounding language groups and that He will provide for them to grow in the knowledge of Him and in healthy community. So we continue to press forward to answer the request that they have made of us, in the hope that God will use us as His tool to bless them.
Will you please pray about being a part of this long term ministry through prayer and financial support?
Will you consider being a part of sending us to our training in Romania? We need to raise roughly $3,500.
We know that this has been a rough year for many, and we ask that if you cannot support us financially that you would continue to support us in prayer - that is exponentially more important!

We love you all and are, as ever, overwhelmed with gratitude for you and for God's hand in our lives.
Stand FOR each other.
Be BOLD in the faith.
In Christ,
Mary (and Ben and Joya) Grimm

Written by Mary.
Dear friends,
The last few months have been so full - Ben going to EMT School, me farming through the summer, and of course us getting to meet our beautiful Joya Tov - that it's been easy for me to put off the question of funding for our mission.

Unfortunately, despite my greatest hopes, this question doesn't disappear with neglect. Neither does the process of funding magically become easier if just I slim our budget down to bare bones. While consulting with a veteran missionary (per. our pastor's advice), I was told with blunt honesty that this is going to take as long as God wants it to take in order to teach you what He wants you to learn.

I'm pretty sure He has a doozy of a lesson coming up because at this point three out of the four Churches that we were hoping might support us have said that they are not at a place financially to do so. If I could predict the future in my current mood of apprehension, I would say the fourth Church will probably have a similar response to our inquiries.

So, here we are again, hoping so very much that God gives us an open door to go to PNG in April and craning our necks to try and see the top of the wall that seems to be blocking the path.
Meanwhile, we are faced with the decision of whether or not to go ahead and purchase the tickets for our training trip to Romania. We have enough money set aside in savings to do this out of pocket if we do it soon and if we don't mind slimming our buffer fund down to a sliver.

TRUST. I do, but....
WISDOM. Are we just kidding ourselves?
ACTION. Do we take our current situation as a sign to back off and wait or to step forward boldly in faith?
Your prayers would be much appreciated... as would a monthly pledge (just being honest).

I know that getting into each others business is generally frowned upon in the Northwest, but we really, truly want your feedback on this one. Pray and tell us what you believe God would have us do. We are trying to listen to Him and to His people, the Church (that's you).

Thank you for your love, prayers, and support.
As ever, we are full of gratitude to God for the good people He has placed in our lives. Whatever comes of this season, we are thankful for you.
Love,
The Grimm Crowd

Written by Ben.
Well friends, our new child finally came to see us after nine nonths of waiting in anticipation! Say hello to our hairy, barrel-chested daughter (I could not possibly make this up) Joya Tov. Born 08Oct16 at 0825 in Bellingham WA. And weighing a whopping 9lbs 2.5oz!

I am struck by the little and great blessings surrounding our Joya. Things like our next door neighbors when we were house guests who were foster parents, around our age, loved board games, became good friends, and even hosted our baby shower. This is just to name a few!

Other things come to mind like our prayer that Joya would be an easy pregnancy, that she would be an easy delivery, an easy baby, and healthy too. All these things were answered. ALL of them. Joya was commented on by the midwives multiple times even before she was born, her heart was metronome solid and she stayed head down to the left side for three months. (For those of you not familiar, this position is the ideal one for delivery) She delivered in less than eight hours, an oddity for first time mothers. She delivered on time, another oddity for first time mothers. When she came out and I caught her she coughed once, upside down mind you, and sang out just long enough for us to slide her up to Mary. There is a rating system used to determine the health of the baby just after birth and Joya was 100% from her first breath. Even the day after was a blessing since we found her constant feeding through the night meant an inconsequential loss of weight. Newborns are expected to lose some weight the day after up to about 10% of their weight. Joya lost three ounces. Three.

Being new parents is something we feared to screw up, shuddered at the responsibility for someone's soul, held each other in blind anticipation, looked up countless stupid parenting myths and rumors, and ultimately came to see it the way most parents and experts like our midwives have told it: babies are intuitive. Analytical minds need not be present. This is tough for me; my mind wants a digital, on-off, itinerary, sub divided by category, color, date, and relativity.

Realizing that Joya is miming what she wants sometimes and ticking off the two or three other things it could possibly be makes a crying baby just a signal that there is something needing fixing. It isn't stressful, or awful; even for an introvert like me. And how can you ever get past the in-your-face example of God to man in the simple act of holding your daughter? I don't know if Daddies get that oxytocin rush when they hold their babies, but you know what? Chemistry can go thrombosize. I love holding my Joya and I grab her anytime Mary isn't feeding her because I love her so much. I love watching her sleep, I love holding her, I love changing her diapers, I love her downy little blonde hair; I love all of her. And that is exactly how God loves me.

You THINK you're ready when you've babysat enough kiddos and worked in social services for children. None of that prepares you for holding YOUR baby; the human you and your soulmate made. I think too that placing this little life second to Mary feels odd yet after discussing it with Mary and some other people in terms of parenthood and Godly behavior this priority makes sense. I'll tell you why: Placing Mary first sets an example to Joya of what a healthy relationship is. I will be a living demonstration of what she will seek in a husband and Mary will be the template she will model herself on as a woman. Second, placing Mary first is healthy in our relationship. Just like our relationship with God, we don't let anything come between us. It says with our actions where our priorities are and shows our love with our hands. And by this, the second point reinforces the first.

I really want to ramble on but I realize I am making a wall of text! Besides, I need to demonstrate my love for my wife and child and get back to them! Blessings on you all in pursuit of God's will in your life. May he bless and challenge you far beyond your capacity to guess. May His design for your life color way WAY outside the lines you drew.

In His Grace,

Benjamin, Mary, and Joya

P.S. I am now a certified Remote EMT...praise God for that too!

Automobiles and Overbooking

(Retro Post - Ben wrote this right before heading off to his EMT course September 4th)

One last post for the road! It is time to prep for school and get to Leavenworth. The last two weeks have been adventurous...even by our standards! Our car broke down a few weeks ago while Mary was hiking with a friend but managed to limp it home, we then had it repaired in anticipation of driving to Portland to see her sister in town from New York. The battery was not the issue, but was replaced anyway(250 bucks).
    I told you that to tell you another story: Our scheduling is tentative sometimes and not always able to be methodical and wise. Two weeks ago was that day. We had planned on: working for our friends at their deliveries, attending a wedding, going to the reception, visiting another friend, cleaning the church and dashing down to Portland. Keep in mind, we had not PLANNED to do all this together. Sigh! Someday...
    Thus by 5pm, blithely driving through Seattle traffic in the heart of downtown (you know; the place where you drive in the tunnel?) we experienced a familiar stutter in the car. Not unlike what had caused us to replace the battery. With power gone, we shut it off, got a jump and limped a few more miles down the road to the Boeing Field exit. A call to the parents got us a guest membership to AAA ( zero bucks!) and a long wait in the car for an incredibly cheerful tow truck driver who claimed he would wear a cape and a mask if they let him. He was very happy about his job being a hero. We got the car 3 miles away to the mechanic where, in the dark, he sadly informed us his boss had told him he could not drive us to the airport. (He even told them Mary was pregnant! Wonderful man, bless him.) After a few minutes figuring out the Uber app, we summoned a ride (23 bucks) who happened to be a native of Mali and a great conversation about Seattle and the culture shock here. Then we found out our chosen rental company did not take debit cards...off to the next line (90 bucks). And dashed down to McMinnville. We got in around 0230.  Loooooooong day. Five hours later we are having family time.
    It turned out very well to have a time to spend with a family member we don’t see much. And we got to have most of it together for a picnic in Newberg. For all the difficulty in getting down there, neither of us would have traded it for anything else. You only get so many chances for family time. Then at 1530 it was time to go. So at 1700 when we left the coffee shop (12 bucks) it was time to dash back to the Sea-Tac airport to drop off our rental and meet our friend in Bellingham who (God bless him) drove down to meet us and take us home.
    Next Friday we finally had our alternator replaced and were dashing down into the maelstrom of I-5 traffic to retrieve our beloved car (500 bucks). Six hours of round trip fun!

So what do we learn from this little adventure?

1. Time to go never ever means time to go. It’s more like a 1 hour warning.
2. Scheduling works better when you talk to your spouse about plans (I am SO guilty). It also works better in a utopian perfect world.
3. We are not making any more cannonball runs to Portland in the middle of the night.
4. It ain’t about the money; we had a great adventure

Let our adventure inspire you too. Look past where you’re at and forward to the bigger picture. How can you bless somebody right where you are, right now?

May God bless and challenge you so you will share the gospel with your work, your words, and your thoughts.

In His Grace,

Benjamin, Mary, and the Grimmling

(Note from Mary: This whole adventure was pretty stressful for me, especially in the area of finances; however, God provided ahead of time for this mishap through the donations of a few wonderful friends. It was a blessing to experience again how He anticipates our needs and takes care of us. Thank you to those of you who blessed us in this way, and to all of you who are praying for us as we prepare for ministry in the field.)

August Update

Hello friends!

The harvest season is petering to a halt, and I (Ben) am alive and mostly in one piece. Did we mention we are having a baby? We are having a baby!!!! If you have never seen a baby yawn on a 3D ultrasound: it is so cute you want to eat it!

Also, we got to see my Momma and step-dad this weekend after their grueling 10 hour trek through nightmarish Seattle traffic. Awesome greasy burgers and gelato were had by all. It was joyous.

I have had the privilege of making friends with a chemical engineering student who is planning on joining us in the near future to help with solutions to stabilizing products on their way to market. I also met a produce farmer who worked in the Peace Corps in Guatemala around the same time as another Christian organization(Agros) which started in the very same place (The Ixil Triangle, if you want to know) to empower farmers to own their own land and become financially independent.

Also, I have discovered a refrigerator made of clay (the Mitticool, from India) that functions off of water evaporation and requires ZERO electricity. That’s right. 

In addition, I will be meeting with a few friends who are tech savvy to piece together a prototype power production model for the village. In theory, we can produce power far in excess of the village needs and this means a stable platform to host translators. 

Keep in mind we won’t be hosting folks on day two. Goal one is to learn the language and make connections while learning about their felt needs and unexpressed ones too. We also want to ask a mountain of questions about expectations, culture, and their own plans for how to accomplish these goals.

On that note, it is rather strange to shift one’s perspective from a technician’s mindset (I am the best, therefore I shall do it...NOW!) to an advisor’s mindset (I move based on YOUR direction). This might be the lynchpin of frustration AND excitement. All of us, not just Mary and I, have to remember that cultural expectations could be VERY different, and Christ’s model was always invitation (whether He angered Pharisees or not is beside the point). Therefore, we have to come humbly and without pretense to ASK how we can help. Tough...very tough for our culture. It is a stretch goal for us as Christians that Christ wants us to grow into so we can look at following Him through the lens of multiple paths (not doctrinally, just culturally).

Thank you, each of you reading this, for taking the time to look into our lives and see what Christ is doing with us in this season. May He guide you like He guides us: Absolute certainty even in total darkness!

In His Grace,

The Grimm Horde

Details on donations, budget, and travel plans

Budget Stuff:
We are still working out our PNG budget with Word Made Flesh.
Right now, we are looking at raising approximately $3,200 a month - this will cover all of our expenses for travel, living, utilities/supplies, medical, retirement, etc. as well as the costs for starting up or participating in the various projects that we hope to put together in country.
If any of you are interested in seeing our budget/giving us feedback (much appreciated) please email me and let me know.
WMF would like us to have %100 of this budget pledged plus two months of actual income. This would be in addition to having our initial airfare to and from PNG covered (something we will probably put together out of pocket).
In addition to our PNG budget, we need to put aside a separate fund for our time training in Romania.
It looks like we will be spending less time there than we originally thought. The field director in Romania has suggested about 3 weeks.
Travel Plans: 
We are looking at going to Romania in the 2nd week of February, and would appreciate your prayers and advice regarding this decision. The trip should cost about $3,500 (covering living in country + airfare).
It's cheaper to fly to and from Romania and then fly to PNG from the states than it is to fly to PNG from Romania, so y'all will see us for a brief visit before we head to PNG. We are looking at about 9 months to a year for our first stay in country. The majority of that time will be dedicated to language learning and relationship building. We will also be assessing what kinds of tools, resources, etc. we might need to bring in when we return.
Donation Details:
Just a heads up, the organization takes out a 13% processing and administration fee, so part of our estimated $3,000 a month includes that as well as tithing (our choice).
There are three ways to donate to us through Word Made Flesh:

• Automatic Withdrawal from Checking - Print off and fill out the from in this link, and mail it with a voided check to P.O. Box 70, Wilmore, KY 40390. Alternatively you can scan and email the form and voided check to ken.dean@wordmadeflesh.com. 
• Check - made payable to Word Made Flesh and sent to P.O. Box 70, Wilmore, KY 40390. Include a note designating who you are donating it to
• Credit Card - you can click on this link to make a one time or recurring donation. Please don't click on the 'pay by check' option on this page. 

These donation options are listed in order of most preferable to least. As I said, WMF takes out a 13% processing and administration fee. If you donate by Credit Card the processing account Pure Charity takes out 7% so WMF only takes 6%. In short, more money goes directly to helping Word Made Flesh run the organization if they process one transaction (an automatic withdrawal form) directly through their own organization. But, by all means do what makes the most sense to you. One way or another, God provides for us and for this organization. :)

Finally, if you haven't had a chance to see it, here is our Word Made Flesh web page. Photo courtesy of my last trip to the Sepik Region of PNG in 2008.

As always, we covet your prayers, appreciate your feedback, and would love to hear from you regarding questions, prayer requests, concerns, advice, etc. We both have email accounts with Word Made Flesh if you would like to email us: benjamin.grimm@wordmadeflesh.com and mary.grimm@wordmadeflesh.com.

Thank you all for your continued love and prayers!
Love,
The Grimm Crowd

July Update

Hello everybody,
A lot has been happening in the last few months. Once again, I am behind on updating y'all. I won't bore you with all the little chance encounters, awesome conversations with random missionary people, and details of getting instated with Word Made Flesh.
News:
The two biggest things that have happened are that:
       We are officially members of Oikos Fellowship and have been enjoying getting to know our new  Church family.
       We are officially staff with Word Made Flesh. We have a webpage now!
For those of you who are hoping to support us in our mission, that means that you can donate through WMF now. I'll put info on that in a separate post. We're still working on the best way to get newsletters and prayer updates to everyone.
On the home front: we have been growing green things in our garden (no crop yield yet, since we started late); Ben has been going a little nuts with pickling all the things I am bringing home from working at the bamboo/organic food farm; the berry harvest is in full swing, so Ben's been blessed with plentiful hours - working 12 hour days, 6 days a week; and the Grimmling is growing strong and very squirmy!
Thanks: 
We are thankful for all of your prayers for us as a couple (now family) and for our path into the mission field. We have been so blessed to see God at work in our relationship and to see His provision for our spiritual growth and direction through fellowship with a number of beautiful Church communities.
Prayer Needs: 
Moving forward, we could use your prayers as we navigate fundraising. Neither of us is good at this aspect of support raising. Ben would also like prayer for possibly being able to learn from/model an organization that has done some incredible work in sustainable agriculture and community development in South America. 
I also ask for your prayers for my dear friends the Scotts as they mourn the loss of their son and brother. In a season otherwise so overflowing with blessing for our family, this has been a very difficult reality to wrap my head and heart around. It is an ache of grief that doesn't go away but ebbs and flows throughout the days. I know that my friend is truly ALIVE and well, but that doesn't erase the gaping hole he has left behind. It is hard to stomach how briskly life keeps moving, how the responsibilities and needs keep pressing in, but they do. 

Thank you all again for your love and support. We are so blessed to know each of you.
May God bless and keep you.
Love,
The Grimms

Turn My Mourning Into Dancing

The month of June is well over but it is still lingering with me.
The days were too long, passing too quickly.
On the morning of the 8th one of my closest friends called to tell me her brother was gone.
He died suddenly in an accident in Yellowstone, June 7th. He was 23 years old.
Even now, my mind and heart rebel at the words. It is too unreal, too bizarre, too cruel.
In all my memories, he is very much alive, an integral part of his family, his community, this world.

I have wished a hundred times over that there was a way to bypass the stilted inadequacy of words and even presence in such a time of grief. Ones own body and mind are inadequate to the task of grief. The mind surges with pain and then ebbs in forgetfulness. At times the body simply refuses to produce more tears or register the ache. What can one offer as comfort out of this state?
My heart breaks for Colin's mother, his father, and his siblings - my friends.
I have nothing to give them that can temper the jagged trauma of his loss or shorten the long days that will stretch into years of grief and longing.

In the depths of grief there is a place where none can follow or approach.
Christ alone waits there.
Yet even He does not close up the gaping hole that is left in this world in the wake of such a life.
Colin lived wholeheartedly, generously, boldly.
He left a mark everywhere he went, and now there are so many broken threads.
I am still in shock.
I have trudged through anger and suspicion towards God and been given not an answer but an assurance that Colin is truly and gloriously well.
God gives no answers, no reasons. When we stand before Him at last, the terrible beautiful truth is that we will not even ask Him for a reckoning.
Death has truly lost its sting... for the one who dies, the one who passes from death into glorious life.
For the rest of us, the wait is lengthened by the longing.

Three makes a crowd

First things first.
We are happy to blog-officially announce the pending October arrival of the third Grimm addition to this adventure! Meet the Grimmling (gender as yet unknown):




I am four months along and doing well. We are happy, healthy, and very excited; even though, as you can imagine, this will change up our plans a little.








Cementing our partnership with Word Made Flesh is still in progress. We were thankful and blessed to meet with a few of the staff this last weekend, including their newest project manager. It was very nice to ask questions, hear stories, and pray together in-person.



Since the baby is due in October, our four months training with Word Made Flesh will probably be bumped over to January 2017.

Patience. Sigh.

Our current tasks are to propose a budget (email me if you want to see the first draft - mowen10@georgefox.edu - your feedback and advice would be very much appreciated), rally our prayer network (that's you), and wait patiently.
Pastor Clemence has informed us that Baku village in Papua New Guinea has begun building on our house. More than ever, we wish we could book a ticket for tomorrow and just go!

In other news this month:
We had a wonderful time in Portland announcing our pregnancy to family and friends and getting an ultrasound checkup.
We celebrated our second anniversary (May the fourth be with you) with a romp on Mt. Rainier. We climbed up to Muir Hut for a fantastic view at 10,000+ feet.
We were very blessed and encouraged by our visits to two Churches that have been partnering with us in prayer.
We are still working on the Bamboo farm (though not for much longer as the season winds down) and stashing away as much as we can into emergency savings. Ben already has work lined up for the rest of the summer, but I am job hunting.
We are pursuing membership with a Church community in Bellingham, WA called Oikos Fellowship. Finding this community has been a surprise and a great blessing to us.

Prayer and Praise:
We praise God for our village in Baku, for our friend and mentor, Pastor Clemence Komnapi, and for the many that have been praying with us, advising, encouraging, and supporting us.
Please pray that God would guide us in making good use of our time left in the States, that He would provide for our health and financial preparation both for the baby and for travel overseas, and that He would help us to be discerning and patient while we wait for things to unfold.

Thank you all for your prayers and love. As ever, we are blessed to be a part of your lives and to be engaged in this grand adventure.

The view from Muir Hut

May God bless and keep you.
Love,
The Grimm Crowd

Checking In

It's funny how nothing seems to be going on in life until you set out to give a monthly update.
My initial summary of this month is that we handled a lot of bamboo while we waited for everything to be processed with Word Made Flesh (still waiting). While this is true, we also had many wonderful opportunities to spend time with family and friends, make new friends, and learn some good lessons about communication and prayer.

I had the opportunity to visit my dear friends in Colorado at the beginning of the month and returned with some borrowed books and a lot to think about.

The next weekend Ben and I were down in the Portland area, catching up with old friends, receiving some much needed counsel, and making new friends at the Church we had the privilege of visiting.

Back home, we celebrated Ben's birthday with a climbing gym membership and dinner with some good friends.

My parents and little brother came up for spring break the following weekend. It was a treat to introduce them to our dear brother in Christ who was visiting from the Middle East and to take them to Church with us. It was an eventful Sunday since the transformer down the street blew up and started burning. The guest pastor gave half his sermon in the dark.

My brother stayed for the week, and we put him to work playing music for us and working at the bamboo farm.

Easter weekend, our car started going haywire about 40 minutes into the drive down to Portland. We turned around, went home, switched all of our gear into a second vehicle recently gifted to us by a friend (more of a blessing than we realized), registered that car, and finally made it down around midnight. God is good. 

Easter is always a time of remembering the goodness of God in my own story and the very real Truth of His resurrection. He is Alive! We are walking miracles, raised from death into His life.

I love these lines from the song "In Christ Alone":
"There in the ground His body lay, Light of the world by darkness slain. Then bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave He rose again! And as He stands in victory, sin's curse has lost its grip on me. For I am His and He is mine, bought by the precious blood of Christ!"

Now March is almost over, and we are back to cutting and packaging bamboo. There are many stories and good conversations that linger with me as I work. Each dear friend and family member forms a part of the pattern, a beautiful image of God's intricate weaving. Words and memories circle in my mind.

"There comes a season in every Christian's walk where God asks, 'do you love me, or do you love my stuff?'"

"I told God I had nothing left to give and then He asked me 'So are you going to let me carry you?'"

Stories. Laughter. Abandonment. Blessing. Poetry. Painting.

"There is a healing balm in Gilead." 

A blessing in Hebrew. A prayer in Arabic. 

"God is His own interpreter, and He will make it plain." 

Threaded through it all is the joyful, conspiratory light I see in the eyes of the person across from me as they pour out their passion and hope and share the glimpses of something so beautiful only God could have dreamed it up. That same light hovers around those who, in the midst of pain, cannot shake the deep rooted knowledge of His goodness. His plans are not our plans. His thoughts are not our thoughts.
He simply Is.
He is Good.
And it is good to know and serve Him.

Year in Review (with pictures)

I am a month late for "Year in Review" and "New Years Resolutions"...but who cares? Lets do it anyway! I thought some pictures would say a thousand words, something old, something new, something...blue...eh, I forget that saying. Moving on.

Here is our year in review, praise God who has better adventure plans than we do!

January: Mary Got a Haircut to try something different...and hugged a tree in Newberg.

April: We went to a friends' wedding in Grants Pass. Ben wore a bow tie. Smiles were had by all.

May 4: Remember THIS mountain?!? Yeah. We did that. Happy Anniversary to us. One year of life together and we are both better and different than we could have imagined.


 
May 11: So there we were...five days later we are standing on top of Mt Adams. On a snowy and sunny day. Without sunscreen. See those hats? Useless. I'm going to burn them one day. Really. If you will kindly direct your attention to the slope picture that was par for the course. It's an "easy" mountain. Heh.



May 13: Saw friends off to Alaska with poofy lips and peeling faces. We miss you, Adam and Lauren! And the three of us finally coerced (yes, coerced) Mary into wearing shoes! Hold your heart attacks until the end...


June: Took the host family kiddos on an adventure to the Mount Baker Wilderness unprepared and totally joyful.



September: Took a date weekend to Deception Pass and sat for hours just listening to the water and staring at the waves. This was pretty joyful! Also, God gave us a home. Seriously awesome. Found the place unadvertised through a professor's wife at Trinity Western, within the price range, out of town(quiet), in a cedar grove(gravy for Ben), Christian landlord, and wonderful neighbors.


October: Our good friend Jahnathan and new friend Carilyn got married. After we threw Jahnathan off a bridge. No really...that picture is ON the bridge!


November: Went to see Ben's Momma and took a trip to Astoria's Tower for the first time. This was the first time in something like seven years that Astoria had a clear sky and it lasted for three whole hours! Woot! (hideous exaggeration mine)



 
November: This is a really really big root ball from a bamboo row; with the roots it weighs a bit less but you are looking at around #150. I put my glove down for size comparison. This job has been a blessing so very many times over I am stunned. It paid more than all other jobs I've had while in Bellingham. It allowed me to see Mary much more. Being an introvert, I get to spend most of the day by myself and working at my own pace (effective but completely without pattern). It's outside, which is fantastic in good weather and desireable even in bad weather. I got a raise! And in December, when we were praying about what Mary should do for work, the owner offered Mary a job!

December: Christmas with the families! A wonderfully raucous day with the Owen clan and we got Dominion from Mary's sister and her husband! Awesome points were liberally awarded and we immediately broke it in. Then a pleasant quiet day with the Stapleton crew. Sigh! Best of both worlds. We have very very good family.


February: Now with the weather improving, Ben has been in a frenzy of DIY, homesteader projects. Among the successes: Pickles (Mary likes this one), Chocolate made with coconut oil (we both REALLY like this one), pickled kale, beet greens, bell pepper, and onion. The bowl of unidentifiable goo is soured Quaker oatmeal to act as a starter and for meals. It's kind of fun to keep adding to it; kind of neglect combined with tasty treat payoffs. The antique hand grinder we got from Ben's step-dad works great and we use it as often as we make coffee. It's quite effective and only takes a few minutes to grind up a full batch for the french press. One of those little adjustments to learning how to live without electricity...
In the hopper: Beet cider! More as that one ferments.

We also have access to a metric ton of bamboo our boss can't use and Ben is playing with different joining techniques to put together wind chimes, a bookshelf, a step ladder, a turning barrel compost bin, and a structure to hold the barrel-ponics project.

In seeking a sending body: Word Made Flesh is in the final steps of our application process. These guys are big on long term relationships and Christ-centered community development. In January, Mary chatted with one of their recruiters and we had a very positive "That's exactly what we do! You should work with us!" So after a great phone conversation a week later between the three of us, here we are! We are praying for God's direction and would appreciate your prayers.

We started attending a new church in Bellingham and fell in love when we had a chance to serve the community the first Sunday. Every component we wanted to be present was there in spades and after praying before going into the service we had confirmation that said loud and clear: "Go here." Praise God for talking loud.

Otherwise, we are putting together a hand tool kit for PNG. Ben is wanting the professional grade stuff for tree felling, auto repair, and carpentry. This guideline is subject to change, but since we aren't taking a generator: no power tools. Suggestions and donations are appreciated here, thank you!
May and June will be school time for Ben when he will attend classes in Permaculture Design and Medical Missions Intensive (focus on tropical disease). August will be the capstone for Ben when he attends Remote Medical International's Remote EMT course in the Okanogan National Forest.
In the meantime, we are trying to keep our little hands busy getting ready for what amounts to homesteading. Questions for you, our friends: What should we be practicing? Laundry by hand? Construction? Home school curriculum? Let 'er rip, brothers and sisters!

Finally, remember we love you all and pray for you daily. Let us know what needs you have so we can intercede for you and more importantly, keep us updated! It is always a blessing to hear answers no matter what they are.

In His Grace,

Benjamin and Mary

Happy 2016, friends!
I am officially finished with my Masters in Linguistics; Ben and I are debt free; we are in our own little place with a wonderful landlord; and, tomorrow, I will be starting full time work at the bamboo farm where Ben is already working.
We are so deeply thankful for God's abundant provision for us and for the prayers and support of friends and family.

What happens next?

A friend and I were talking about awkward seasons in life when we stand ready to jump at the next thing God wants us to do, but that next thing is not quite apparent yet. It feels unstable, full of possibilities and maybes but no concrete plan to present with certainty.
I am having to learn that it is no shame to present the community of Faith with the maybes and by so doing receive prayer and guidance.

This is where Ben and I are now.
We are eager to be on our way, to come to our new home in Papua New Guinea and join in the work of Bible Translation and community building that we have been invited into. But between us and that destination there is an ocean of unknowns. Who will we partner with? Who will send us? Are we sufficiently equipped? Are we ready spiritually?
At least we know the right next step. There are some things that are clear: God has provided Ben with opportunities to become more equipped for his work in our mission, including a workshops on sustainable agriculture and wilderness medical aid; we have been counseled to put together a faith statement and letter of intent to share with those who are interested in partnering with us; and we have been provided an opportunity to save and set aside a sum of money during this next season. That's a good place to start.

Thank you for praying for us and for your patience as we fumble our way through this adventure. We are currently praying about sometime in August as a departure date for our initial stay in Papua New Guinea. God has been faithful, and we know He will continue to direct us and provide for us as we seek His will.

We pray that your new year has begun with joy, and that God will bless you abundantly as you seek after Him in obedience.
With love,
The Grimms