Christmas 2012

It was strange this year to think that this is the last Christmas we will be having in the states for a while, so we have been taking the time to cherish the little things.....Christmas lights on the houses, a real tree, even Christmas music on the radio. We've heard bits and pieces of what Christmases are like in Indonesia, but it's hard to imagine what it will be like for us.

We went to my parent's house in Bellevue for a few days and celebrated with my side of the family. It was a nice time relaxing and spending quality time with family. The only bummer is that we've been battling sickness for a couple of weeks now, but overall we still had a great time.

 Cousins having a great time. Jameson looks like he's wondering what to think of all of this.

 Uncle Jake playing with Callie. She's always shy at first, but he can get her to warm up fast.

 Eva (left) and Callie with her new hippo flashlight

                            Blake with the new remote control car that uncle Rich gave him, and Callie with her new  

                            stroller. So much fun!

 Looks like Santa left us a cute little Christmas bundle!

Having way too much fun playing with toys! My dad's face looks like a little boy that just saw Santa Clause!

 Blake being a goofball as usual

 Wonder where Blake got it from?

 Stockings!

Uncle Jake holding Eva. How sweet!

Upcoming Decision Date!

 

We wanted to update everyone on our status as far as support and how things are looking regarding when we will attend final training and be leaving for Indonesia. January 2nd is a big day! MAF will be evaluating our support status and will either give us the okay to attend the required ten weeks of final training starting in February, or we will be delayed for another several months and attend the summer training. We have been planning on the February training and are getting so close to our goal, so please pray with us that our support comes in and that we'll be approved to attend in February. This has been a long road for us and we are so ready to get to Indonesia!

We are now at 82% of our monthly goal and still need 52 new ongoing monthly partners of $25 per month (quarterly or annual commitments are okay too) to be fully funded and ready to go and we won't be able to board a plane until we are at 100% of our monthly amount required.

 

Just a reminder that we have reached 100% of our one-time amount (praise God!) and any further one-time donations will go to the MAF general fund, OR one-time amounts can be sent to us directly to be used towards Indonesia set up costs and to purchase a vehicle when we get there (this option however is NOT tax deductible). Another option for folks who are considering an end-of-year gift is to make an annual commitment to give each December through at least our first term overseas.  We understand that the amount given each year can fluctuate and that's okay... what's important is that we know of your intention.  End-of-year gifts without an ongoing commitment will be processed into the MAF general fund, but a commitment will allow us to add you to our ongoing team and fulfill that last 20%!

Thank you to each of you who have helped us get to this point and for those who have continually lifted us up in prayer. We are so grateful for you!

Clinging to Immanuel

The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means "God with us." Matthew 1:23

It's hard for me (Ellie) not to get into the minds of the parents, the police officers, the children that survived such unspeakable horror and imagine what they are feeling......and an overwhelming heaviness and grief descends on me (as I'm sure it does countless others). As a parent it's excruciating to even fathom what those poor families are going through in the wake of the elementary school shooting in Newtown, CT. It doesn't matter that I don't know them or that they are thousands of miles away, they were innocent children....and I have children of my own. Yesterday when I saw the news, all I could say was "no, no, please God no".....and I cried. And my mom and I cried over the phone together. And then I cried out to God.

Not coincidentally, the word Immanuel keeps going through my mind and it's meaning "God is with us." It reminds me that He came to this earth in the form of a baby boy to be with us, to suffer with us. He knows grief. In fact, He knows it more than we could ever imagine. The story of the death of Lazarus in John 11 also comes to mind. When Jesus saw Mary (the sister of Lazarus) and the others weeping after Lazarus died, he was "deeply moved in spirit and troubled" and he wept with them. Even though He knew that He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, He couldn't bear to see them grieving. Oh, how He loves us.

While reflecting on this in the car I heard a song by Aaron Shust entitled "My Hope is in You." Sometimes the only thing we can do is cling to that hope.....hope found through a tiny baby boy in a manger. He was with us back then, and He is with us now.

Cling to His characteristics and His truths. Here are a few that stood out to me:

"The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love..." Psalm 103:8

"God is light, in Him there is no darkness at all" 1 John 1:5.

"Put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption." Psalm 130:7









 

  

Eva Grace has Arrived!



Wow....we had every intention of keeping up our blog but lately things have been a little crazy! We apologize for the late notice, but our little Eva Grace has finally arrived! One week after her due date I was induced, on November 3rd. To be honest, I really did not want to be induced, but it ended up being a huge blessing! It was the most relaxed labor and delivery I've had, and we didn't have to worry about getting to the hospital in time. Once labor started, she was born after only 2 1/2 hours! She weighed 8lb 8oz and was born at 2:18pm on November 3rd....she shares a birthday with her grandma Scheer!

We are doing well, though I will say that it's been quite an adjustment for all of us, mostly because our life hasn't slowed down much and we are not getting much sleep (not surprisingly!), though that has been a little better lately. We've tried to keep up with our goal of finishing our support team by the end of the year and have been gearing up for some travel as well. Eva is such a sweet baby and it's pretty cute to see how Blake and Callie have reacted to her. They both shower her with kisses and love to watch her sleep. Blake is such a sweet older brother and we can tell that he just adores her. The transition has been tough at times too. Callie is almost 18 months now and doesn't quite understand all of the changes going on, so she has been extra clingy. She also gets nervous and insecure every time we prepare to travel somewhere. It can make it difficult to pack! Blake has also been struggling with acting out, so we could use prayer for patience for both of them and for quick adjustment for the whole family. In addition to a new baby, we have also had to go through several other transitions including travel, transitioning Blake and Callie into sharing a room, and saying goodbye to our cat, Taz, as we dropped him off at his new home this week.

Here are some pictures of our new baby girl. We thank God for this new little life and what a joy she is!

Proud grandma Barb 

Watching baby sister sleep!

 

Big brother Blake....he's so proud!

 

 Callie checking out her new sister

 

 My handsome little man

 

Sleeping on grandpa



Waiting on Baby...

Callie was eager to meet the world and was born a week early.  Blake values promptness (he's going to be a pilot when he grows up) and was born exactly on time.  This little girl however seems very content with where she is and has no intention of giving up her cozy little resting place!  Ellie is 3 days overdue and the plan is to induce her on Saturday Nov 3 if the excitement hasn't happened by then.  She has no idea how excited we all are to meet her!!

Grandma and Grandpa Woelke have been here for the last week helping us with meals and playing with the kids.  It's been SO nice having the help, but also the comfort of having family close by during a time like this.
 
So what have we been doing while we wait for baby to make her appearance?  Well we went to a Fall Festival up at Greenbluff where we enjoyed fresh hot apple cider, fresh pumpkin donuts (Matt's favorite!), running around a pumpkin patch, and dancing to the live music.  The pictures below are from that weekend. 

Besides that we were all knocked flat by a stomach bug last week.  It hit all 4 of us on the same day and I don't know what we would have done if grandma and grandpa weren't here to pick up the slack for those couple days! 

We continue to look for opportunities to share about MAF and invite people into our financial and prayer team as well.  Matt is heading down to Arizona the weekend before Thanksgiving to speak in a church about missions and to connect with friends down there.  The weekend before that Matt has the opportunity to speak in a local church, and then this coming weekend (if the baby doesn't decide to come on that day) he will be involved in a panel at the big Spokane Missions Conference on Saturday.

So that's about it for now...we'll be sure to put the word out in every way that we can when baby Scheer #3 decides it's time to introduce herself to the world!  Pray with us for a safe and healthy delivery!

Family Update October 2012

It has been a while since I've done a family update and some of you also may be wondering where I'm at in the pregnancy. Well we are getting close....I'm now almost 38 weeks....two weeks away! My due date is October 27th but I'm hoping this baby girl will come early :). I've hit the point of extreme exhaustion and discomfort most of the time and definitely feel ready. Everyone in the family has also been battling sickness and Callie and I now have it. We could use prayers for this, and also that I don't go into labor while feeling extra crummy.
 

Blake is almost 3 1/2 now. He has started preschool and absolutely loves it. We felt it would be good for him since he has always needed constant stimulation, and so far it has been a huge blessing. He Also has entered the talking non-stop stage and asks "why" to just about everything!

Callie is 16 months and loves to babble, even if most of it doesn't make sense. She's already saying quite a few words and mimicking sounds. She does really well playing on her own and entertaining herself (the opposite of Blake!), but also loves to copy some of the things her big brother is doing....like playing cars! I think we need to get her some more girly toys :).

Here is a quick video of the kids preparing for their new baby sister. I added some random pictures below as well.

Callie likes to try on Blake's back pack :).

 

 Blake LOVES to read books!

Callie inspecting Blake's new hair cut 

The kids with their favorite stuffed animals. Callie doesn't like to sleep without her "Squishy" and Blake just loves his "Little Bow Wow"

October Update 2012: God is Working!

 

In the last two weeks since we started our 100 x 25 challenge, we have seen God work in some amazing ways and bring several new ministry partners to our team! It's so exciting to see the numbers drop as we get closer and closer to our goal of being fully funded by Jan 1st. We are down to a need of eighty one more people giving $25 monthly!

Would you please pray about joining us in touching the lives of the Indonesian people?


We still have a ways to go in the next three months however. One thing that we feel is important to note is that we are now at 100% of our one-time goal of $35,000 (praise God!!!). This means that any further one-time gifts will go into the MAF general fund, which would support the organization as a whole (and still greatly blesses us!). Another option if people desire to give one-time gifts is to send the money directly to us, which we would put towards our set-up costs in Indonesia and purchasing a used vehicle. This option would not include a tax deductible receipt, but would help us greatly in getting set up over there.

In order for us to attend final training in February and leave for Indonesia shortly after that, our main need now is for monthly or annual commitments. If you would like to find out more about joining us, please click on our 100 x 25 tab in the top left-hand corner to learn how to do this and to watch a personalized video of our family and what we will be doing.

We also could use your help in networking. If you have a small group or bible study that may be open to hearing us share about what God is doing through MAF in Indonesia, please please contact us. We would love more opportunities to share!

100x25 Challenge

We are so close!!

Will you consider being a ministry partner? We are close enough now to begin packing our crates and making final preparations! In this challenge we are asking people to consider simply committing $25 per month. That's all it would take to help us get to Indonesia and begin our first term ministering to the remote communities through our aircraft. We are praying that by the end of this year the Lord will provide...

100 new ministry partners* giving $25/month

To be completed by January 1, 2013

We are excited at how far the Lord has brought us, and we are excited to see the light at the end of the tunnel! Some of you have been following us for 4 years since Matt graduated Moody and started instructing with Moody Aviation. Some of you are just joining us! We're glad you are all with us...and we hope you can feel our excitement as we are now so close to jumping on that long plane ride to Indonesia. We know the Lord has awesome things waiting for us there as we reach out to some of the most remote communities on earth through aviation.

Here is a short video we put together about our family, the ministry we will be doing in Indonesia, and how you can get involved with us.

Will you help us fulfill our 100 x 25 challenge by the end of this year? Will you join the nearly 100 individuals and churches who have already partnered with us to bring us up to 65% of our monthly need, and 100% of our outgoing expense? 

Stay tuned on facebook, check the blog often, and share our excitement as we watch the 100 (people) tick down to 0! 

How to begin partnering with us...
1.) Go online to www.maf.org/scheer and follow the prompts on the right to set up special or recurring gifts.  MAF accomodates major credit cards and can also do automatic bank withdrawals.

2.) Call MAF Donor Services directly and talk to Jackie Dean who would love to help you get set up in whatever way is most convenient for you. 800-208-0800

3.) If you still have one of our prayer cards just fill out the tear-off page in the back and send that in to the address on the card.  You can set up credit card payments, bank transfers (send a voided check), or make special gifts this way.

4.) Most importantly...send us an email or FB message letting us know that God has led you to begin a partnership with us so we can share in the excitement!  We'll be updating the 100 x 25 challenge with each new partnership and watching that 100 tick down to 0!

* Ministry Partners are faithful prayer warriors and committed, generous givers who hear the Lord calling them to fill a vital role in reaching the lost for the Kingdom of God through Jesus Christ in remote areas around the world

Our Story

In honor of our seven year anniversary, I thought I would share the incredible story of how God brought us together from across the globe, for those who have not heard. It's a story that shows how anything is possible with God if it's in His plan!

Matt grew up in Rwanda, Africa, until the age of 18 when he came to the states to attend Wheaton College in Illinois. I grew up in Bellevue, WA, just outside of Seattle. I was 22 and in the midst of my nursing pre-requisites in Bellevue at the time. One morning I woke up debating whether I should go to church since I had a huge anatomy and physiology exam the next day. I finally decided I didn't want to miss and I'm sure glad I did! All of a sudden, in walks this extremely handsome guy that I had never seen before! I found out that he was on spring break from Wheaton and had come, along with some other friends, to visit a mutual friend Airika. We were introduced and I learned that he was interested in missions like I was, and he was planning on becoming a missionary pilot. I'd never even heard of missionary aviation before but it sounded awesome! After meeting that one day, he left to go back to Wheaton. I was so disappointed.....here was this great guy and I'd probably never see him again!

After a couple of weeks however, Matt built up the courage to email me and we started an email friendship (also after some encouragement from our matchmaking friend Airika). In the meantime, he graduated from Wheaton and informed me that he had taken a position with an organization called Samaritan's Purse and would be working in Sudan for a year while he waited for a spot to open up at the Moody Aviation Program in Tennessee. Now pay close attention because this information is crucial to the story....the program was in Tennessee. I remember being so frustrated....I had already attended school in Tennessee and that chapter of my life was over!

We talked on the phone for the first time the night before he left for Sudan, and from there on had to write hand written letters that would take weeks to get to each other, and by then it was old news. He was in such a remote area (the area that is now being bombed by the government), it was actually the missionary pilots that brought him my letters! I remember thinking, "I know anything is possible with God, but how in the world are we ever going to be in the same place at the same time?" I had been accepted to the Washington State nursing program in Spokane in the meantime and moved there, not knowing anyone. He was planning on finishing up his time in Sudan and starting the Moody program in Tennessee. Then one day I got a phone call....the Moody Program had decided to shut down and relocate to....can you guess where? SPOKANE!!!!!! I remember getting chills. Of all of the cities in the country, what were the chances that this program would come to Spokane?????? Matt got the news on a satellite phone in the middle of the Sudanese desert and was shocked. He'd never even heard of Spokane until he met me. He had even bought me an African necklace, not knowing if we'd ever see each other again.  God is so amazing! There's no way that this was just a coincidence.

He then moved to Spokane and we immediately started dating. The rest is history.

Working Together

Matt and I both have a pretty good understanding of the "body of Christ" and how each part of the body has a different function, working together in unity, but we never really experienced it until this last year. We have been absolutely blown away by the generosity of others to help get us to Indonesia, not only financially (though that has been a big part), but also by the way people have given up their time, spiritual gifts, and resources to help us!

Here are a few examples:

• One family is allowing us to drive their van until we leave since ours was totalled in an accident.
• A group from our church came over to help us re-side our house
• Another family allowed us to stay in their Arizona home while we were sharing about the ministry down there.
• Several people got up on a Saturday morning to come help with the house, even though it was raining
• One of our supporters put together a team to get our house/yard ready to put on the market (see picture below)
• Donations to our garage sales to fund raise for our ministry
• Donations of kids clothes since we have to get together four years worth of clothes to take!
• Setting up small group meetings, luncheons, and barbecues so that we can share about our work
• One family is funding the remaining balance on our one-time amount that we have to raise, bringing us up to 100%!!! Now we just have the monthly amount to raise.
• Donations towards our Indonesia set-up costs
• One man from church came over to put up new trim around our doors

Thanks to each of you who have been a part of this...we couldn't do this without you....you know who you are!

Blake helping the ladies plant flowers...he's such a little helper!