Farrs at work and Play

Wycliffe's National day of prayer

2011-11-11T07:39:00.001-08:00

We are Praying today that God would lead us and complete the work of Bible translation and even translation of communities in our time.

Today we celebrate those who have served in various armed forces today and also those who serve in Bible translation related work around the world including many partner organizations and governments that are participating in the work. We depend on God to complete the work of providing truth into their language communities and freeing them from spiritual slavery and giving them hope and an awareness of their value in God's eyes. Join us in prayer that John 1 would become real for them. The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. Jesus wants to move into every neighborhood, reveal His glory and His father's glory and heal the broken in spirit and physically and culturally as well. Pray..

Some fun...

2011-10-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

JJ is quite a story teller. It all started with our canoe trip on a rainy Saturday morning to Wekiva Springs Park. The internet reported the rain would clear up but the rain at our home was coming down like water spraying from a poorly tightened water hose. JJ was not sure that this fun at all. He shared, "this is scary" speaking about the rain which normally means there are thunderstorms here in Orlando. Brandon was looking forward to going with friends but was wondering when we would leave. Brandon's good mood was remarkable as it was still dark out... Brandon generally likes to sleep in. We had planned to join the rest of our sundayschool/life group class but were even more excited because our neighbors were going with us. My boys were excited because Andrew and particularly Noah would ride with us in our car and canoe with us. The boys excitedly talked about airplanes in the backseat and what they hoped to see at the park. JJ settled right into the canoe and both of the boys listened to my instructions about safety and how to paddle. It was truly an exciting morning for me as I watched them learn how to paddle, how to help each other point out animals or other things they observed and just to be together.It was fun to see them grin when I lauded them for their efforts. They were troopers on our two hour canoe trip! We saw two gators by my count and Brandon, as our "spotter" saw several fish and we all enjoyed watching blue herons, blue water birds(other types... i am not a birder yet), water gliders, and many turtles.

At lunchtime we used every picnic table as a place to land the toy airplanes that Brandon had just received for his birthday gifts. There is nothing like a four year old, 3 year old and their daddy flying airplanes between tables at an almost empty park. We had a great guys morning together. I will treasure many moments from our guys morning away. I look forward to the next time.

under 2000 languages... big deal right?

2011-10-27T04:43:00.000-07:00

There are only around 2000 languages left where no one is yet working to provide them with access to scripture. Brandon is pointing at that list here. Why does this matter? Matthew 24:14..This gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to all nations and then the end will come...Does it matter if all nations here? Does it matter that God says all peoples should hear?Does my life matter? Am I here for some reason/ some big picture beyond my existence here on earth? Am I relevant? Am I to play a part?I think we all may ask some questions like this. If you come up with answers like, I believe that I am here because I believe that my life is of value and should impact others in a positive way beyond my life time... Then you agree with God's tenant and mission for your life... He does too. He wants to you to know you are valuable enough to sacrifice his life for, valuable enough to trust with taking good news and hope for others, and uniquely talented to be his ambassador and carry his story to tell anyone else seeking meaning in their lives...He also believes in diversity... He understands diversity and plans that all ethnic nations will be with him forever.. Revelations 5 and Revelations 7:9. Can you imagine a God that believes in us, values each ethnic nation, dies for them, seeks them out, understands each person's failings and loves them in it and wants to restore them through the sacrifice of his own son.... now you are talking the language Spoken by God and begin to understand the values that Jesus has expressed and lived out.Praying that today Matthew 24:14 disturbs you even as it disturbs me... why should people have to wait to know a God that wants them to know His love for them, His willingness to die for them, and His plan to have those who know Him take the story to every other language on earth... To this end may our lives be lived.

Praise and Prayer

2011-10-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Team,How to Pray: Our father who is Heaven, make a name for yourself here on earth, your Kingdom be established and your will be done hear just like in heaven. Please put the food on our table and forgive me for my sins and for those who sin against me and keep me from temptation and deliver me from the evil one. To You goes all the fame, and renown, and glory. A real example of how I prayed this week one morning taken from Matthew 6. This is not an attempt at a translation, just a recognition of the desire to see God glorified and my practical prayer... What to pray for: it says to pray for daily food both physical and spiritual I surmise, for God's name to be widely revered and known, (God make a name for yourself), and his Kingdom goals and vision which is for us to tell about Him and His desire to be the sacrifice for all sins ever committed by all people who will accept His offer. Jesus then says forgive others and pray that you won't be attacked by the evil one.Please pray the above for us and think about situations that you may be dealing with and pray for them!.. How can God be glorified in your situation? How would his name be more broadly celebrated as a result of what you are going through? (Usually it means you telling of God doing something lifechanging in your life or the life of others.) Have you had a really difficult situation where you have no words to share and it seems like there is nothing good that can come out of it... pray that God would glorify himself so others would see the difficult situation addressed and their lives changed.We would like prayer for next week as I will be at a meeting with over 100 leaders from churches, military ministry focused Christian organizations as well as some Christian military leaders. The purpose of the conference is for connections and to discuss issues in terms of serving service members and their families. We also hope to introduce the militarybeliever.com website for many who will be there to see how we might more collaboratively work together to share in ministry to the US military service members and families and other military service members seeking to be discipled, disciple, or use their gifts in service.Pray also for JJ as he really has been having moments where he seems frustrated and acts like a three year old... hmm... I guess he is one.. but we sure would like him to be able to express his feelings in healthy ways. Baby S. has a permanency hearing coming up and we pray that those making the decision would be able to make that decision based on good facts and that God would be glorified and the best placement decision made for her... Pray for Brandon as he is growing quickly and while he loves school, we pray that he would be more confident in the skills that God has given him. Pray also for Abigail that she would always know that she is a princess, and that God has made her beautiful and she is dearly loved. She has a heart of gold and loves to serve, we want her to know that she is loved without reservation by the Father and us.Anita and I pray for energy and wisdom in the daily love, nurture, admonition, and prayers for our children as we raise them.

The above picture was taken while minigolfing with Anita's sister Becky and family this summer. Praise: We thank the Lord for meeting our needs as a family in 2011. Each month we have seen the Lord meet our financial obligations. It has been ironic in that some of you, committed to the ministry with us have actually increased your giving over the past few years, while others were unable to sustain their giving for a number of reasons. I want to let you know however, the largest surprise to us has come from several donors who have anonymously given to us to the tune of about 20% of our support for the year. We can do nothing but Thank God and you his servants... We are truly thankful, and have experienced grace in challenging financial times for many of you and cannot express enough our dependence on God and you the team who have so diligently journeyed with us, prayed for us fed us and served with us through partnership in the ministry. Until Jesus' name is known and celebrated for the sacrifice that He made in every ethnic nation, we won't see Him in his full glory!

I miss you daddy

2011-10-08T23:46:00.000-07:00

Daddy I love you. I miss you... I love when our little Jared shares this unsolicited discussion.I look forward in my days to a morning hug and kiss from each member of my family and a hug and kiss when I come home. In the morning we part with the phrase and blessing, "peace of the Lord be with you". In the evening we get enjoy reading together and praying together before bed time. These moments are so meaningful to me.

What brings us greatest joy as parents though is when our children just break into prayer or Praise of the lord. Our kids recently, particularly JJ and Abby have been singing or making up songs that glorify the Lord. Thank you Jesus.

Travels...Some exciting moments

2011-10-08T21:43:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have once again proven to be both challenging but also spiritually engaging. I left on a Friday morning to fly to speak at AIM, Adventures in Missions and share with around 40 men and women who have recently returned from serving overseas. Each of them came looking for an opportunity to serve and connect with future opportunities that God might direct them toward. The meeting setup was fine and I received great input and feedback from several of our overseas entities outlining awesome opportunities for someone to engage. The four core opportunities shared were both exciting and cutting edge. The first opportunity presented work among 70 language communities, yet unstarted, in a remote region of PNG involving recording of the language and gaining basic knowledge and establishing relationships and starting points to expand the work. The second opportunity was for five to six people collaborating and working to help the work going on all over the Highlands province of PNG in terms of scripture use, Jesus film work and service to the nationally led work in the region relating to churches etc. The third option was to work in the Americas in writing and communication of the work going on all over the region, again for a group of five and last but not least was a work constituting scripture in use throughout the entire pacific but focusing also on communications to help recruit a generation to come and serve in the work. and then it happened.... I was packing my bags when... I received a phone call from US Airways that my plane for the morning flight was cancelled. I immediately called back and after a forty minute call we had apparently lined up a flight to get to Atlanta on time the next morning to make the meeting. My seat was confirmed on Delta and everything looked great. I thanked the Lord that i would get an extra twenty minutes of rest but went in early the next morning anyway. I arrived at the airport and was told that the Delta agent had made a mistake and that my seat was only standby and currently there were 11 others in front of me and the flight was oversold. I remember silently praying, but also calling USAirways to see if they could somehow explain or help with this challenge. I remained on the phone with them, or rather the agent did with my phone... even as it travelled through the security line until I could pick it up again... Long story short... 12 people did not show up for their seats and I was on the flight... This was the second cancelled flight in two weeks and travel related challenge I have experienced in travelling to go to AIM in three weeks. Coincidence? Opportunity 2. I flew last week to the north american leaders meetings in Scottsdale arizona, titled RESET. The only challenge, I was bitten by a cat that was hanging by its back foot in our fence the morning I left. I attempted to help the cat but was bitten and scratched and because I was leaving in only a few minutes elected to call the SPCA. They were somewhat helpful but the phone call to make the report took over 30 minutes....Thankfully neither Anita nor the kids were bitten or hurt in the next several hours. The cat was eventually freed by the SPCA and thankfully did not have rabies. I did get antibiotics eventually in phoenix and was grateful that the rest of the that trip nothing untoward happened.. I would travel a total of 8 days on this trip as I was able to connect with Parkway Community Church in Phoenix where a dear friend, Jeff Mcaffee is Pastor and then spend the night with friends and longtime supporters Bob and BarB Roberts put me up for the night. Monday I met with friends and old Wycliffe colleagues, Armon and Elona Siemsen and then travelled into the mountains for meetings with the Recruitment team for Wycliffe in the West. Wednesday night I boarded the plane... read my blog post on stories from Thailand.. and arrived in Newport News VA in time to share with a perspectives class that evening. The last four weeks have meant much travel, but have included some great opportunities to connect with churches, and individual supporters but also with mission leaders both inside and outside of Wycliffe. I don't take any of these encounters for Granted but firmly believe that God is the midst of each and every one. Thank you for your prayers. Anita's mom was able to be down with Anita for 6 days last week of the 8 I was gone and it was truly a great time of connecting for them and for the kids. We are so grateful that in this season mom has been able to help us out like this.... Praising the Lord safety in travel, great opportunities to see God at work, but also to experience the Grace of God. Serving with Joy, Jamie for the family...

Fred Moury reads stories to the Kids in our home last month.

Brandon and JJ on a ride during our vacation this summer.

A Story of God and the work of Bible Translation in Cameroon...

2011-10-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

I was priveleged to meet and pray with Efi Tembon not long ago and he shared with me what he has seen God doing in his home country of Cameroon. Rejoice with me in the provision of the Lord, but also pray that Efi and Local Cameroonian leaders would be protected and unified as they and the local church work together to see each ethnic nation in receive the scriptures in their mother tongue.... Efi shares his story...

Meeting in a parking lot... Stories of God doing great things...

2011-10-08T21:01:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday night I parked the car in the budget rental parking area in LA. I looked up and recognize immediately the guy who had just parked the car immediately in front of me. Our neighbor from Thailand! Mike and I gave each other a big hug and thanked the Lord for this unlooked for opportunity... God does things like this.
I asked what flight he was on and of course... we were on the same flight from LA to Chicago. We walked up to check in and they said the flight was full and there were no seats near mine... but of course the seat beside me was miraculously available...
Mike and I were able to spend a good several hours together hearing what the other has witnessed over the last several years. It was truly great to hear Mike share about Thai Church leaders gathering together for a united meeting a couple of years ago and believing that God wanted to see the church grow from 400,000 believers to 1,000,000. Two years into that time with many churches uniting together, praying and discipling to that end there are over 600,000 believers today. It is truly exciting to see God do this through the leadership of the local church and locally led ministries. God is stirring the hearts of His Church worldwide. PTL

Oh my goodness

2011-10-02T08:10:00.000-07:00

On the way to church this phrase repeated by JJ sets his siblings into crazy laughter given the right days... Sometimes i can't stop them from doing this.. but they continue.. Once JJ was stopped Abigail said Oh my... and laughter erupted...

Thanks Lord for laughter.. I have to smile as sometimes I might be driven crazy by senseless phrases repeated again and again.. but my kids are laughing... Let me join them Lord and revel in the moment..

A now laughing daddy.

GSP

2011-04-30T06:35:00.000-07:00

Slideshow personalized with Smilebox

In the last 10 years.... 20 000 to 60000 believers... only God could do this.

2011-03-24T03:57:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of the Ifugao people taken in early in this millenium. Len Newell has since this video was shot gone to be with the Lord. The truth of this story however is that God continues to transform the Ifugao and today the church is vibrant and exploding in its growth. A report conveyed this last month by a colleague reflected that as many as 60,000 Ifugao now believe.

Thank you for your partnership... Partnership implies collaborative effort. Your labors are not in vain. It is exciting to see what God is doing.

The impact of God's word 27 years later... and today?

2011-03-24T02:33:00.000-07:00

Scripture provides transformed lives, cultures, families....

Just this week a colleague shared of transformation that continues in the Philippines among the Ifugao people I hope to get a video to share with you here in the near future. The Ifugao people now have 60,000 believers. It started years ago with a Bible Translation that would begin to transform a culture...Today they have videos on youtube of Ifugao singing in Ifugao in their churches... Only God can do this.

Scripture In Mission: Three Major Priorities In Eradicating Bible Poverty | The Lausanne Global Conversation

2011-03-08T05:57:00.000-08:00

Scripture In Mission: Three Major Priorities In Eradicating Bible Poverty | The Lausanne Global Conversation

This post is a refresh of a post from several months ago at the Lausanne Conference in South Africa.. but is truly relevant to where I sit today. How is that the Bible does not speak to my neighbors, to our country, in our schools, in our homes... if it is available?

This disturbs me...

Words of Life Baruga People/Language Movie Trailer

2011-03-03T16:26:00.000-08:00

This is the language group that my parents have been working among for the last 20 years. It is exciting to hear recordings of scripture finally going out. It was exciting to hear in a language I understand, people i recognize that are discovering for themselves God's story in their language...

Translating the Bible Into Meru

2011-03-03T16:04:00.000-08:00

first moments...

2011-03-02T19:21:00.000-08:00

Brandon, Abby, and JJ all seemed to learn this week how to swing out back. I am glad for moments like that in the midst of frenetic and difficult days like today was. Our day was a really hard one for Anita and myself. Anita received a call about a possible baby foster girl to come to our home, but before we were able to process as a couple and get back to the agency... the baby had another home. These moments are hard. I struggled with the decision more than Anita as I looked at possible four children, tiring... and the thought of finding a babysitter for four under four... Anyway.. I am grateful at this point for the positives in each and every day.

Thank you for your prayers.

Kimyal New Testament launch in Indonesia

2011-02-24T19:40:00.000-08:00

This is a fantastic demonstration of the power of the Word to Transform a culture.. This is a movement that God is doing. We are blessed to participate in the eradication of Biblical Poverty. It will happen in our time and the great irony of it all is that so much of the church may be watching from the sideline, engaged in good things but missing out on this. This is the task of the church, and we rejoice in the opportunity to see God accomplish His vision and glorify His Son Jesus. The Kimyal are no longer a people group without the word and they no longer live in darkness.

We are so grateful to you our friends family and team for your very real and powerful participation in this process. Jamie

If God will do for me...

2011-01-04T03:43:00.000-08:00

"Jacob vowed a vow: “If God stands by me and protects me on this journey on which I’m setting out, keeps me in food and clothing,21 and brings me back in one piece to my father’s house, this God will be my God.22 This stone that I have set up as a memorial pillar will mark this as a place where God lives."

God has done these things for me... so today I, Jamie setup a pillar and thank God for his faithfulness. He is good everyday. Join me in celebrating a God that has provided amazingly in our lives...

a few pictures for you diligent followers to enjoy....

2010-12-27T23:27:00.000-08:00

The boys... running during pictures...

Jesus needs to be right here... Abby

Ok. so its cold, lets take the picture and go...

No Bah Humbug here daddy... i like this bag

"My daddy", "My little Princess" - so blessed

My princess with my cold oldest son, I love her caring side...this is great of her!

Oh, fun, I love presents...

Lets put everyone where they belong in the manger scene...

John is angry...

2010-12-27T23:16:00.000-08:00

It has been a wonderful year and we have had some great memories...This morning made me smile. My daughter abby, 3, stated of the fish lying on its side in the aquarium, "John is angry". She explained that his eyes looked angry to her. We explained a few minutes later that "John was actually no longer living and was dead and tried to decide how John should depart the tank. When the idea of flushing john was suggested, all three children looked askance and opted instead for putting John in the trash. Thus ends the story of one goldfish...

Moments like this are cherished and I am always surprised by how my children will respond. They were fine with losing one of their fish, which is astonishing to me, because they have all stared at their fish nonstop for two days since "opening" the present and beginning the process of caring for them. It has been both entertaining and serious at the same time. It is great to watch them grow in their appreciation for the care of the fish while also thankfully light enough to not seriously disturb them at the death of a friend so quickly acquired and then lost.

We are grateful for life's learning moments and thank the Lord for daily reminders of his presence in our lives..John is not angry, he is simply no longer here with us... goodbye John.

Today in our staff meeting...God is good... meet the team.

2010-12-22T11:07:00.000-08:00

Today I was blessed to talk with partnerships team serving with Wycliffe in our staff meeting. I have this incredible group of men and their families that Anita and I get to serve as part of Recruitment Ministries...
A new staff Member, Bob Dontje, from East Moline, is joining our team in the coming month and he will be serving on our aviation recruitment team. Bob told us of losing his eyesight and regaining it, losing his first wife to cancer, meeting his second wife who lost her husband a few years ago to cancer... and told us of God's faithfulness. He shared about the way that he and his wife Sally were able to touch and minister a man losing his wife of cancer... God places us in specific locations and certain times for his glory...
Son... Josh - Serving in the Military in Afganistan
Son # 2 Tim - in Iowa
Daughter Stephanie - finishing college
Prayer: for transition this month to Wycliffe after 29 years serving with MAF, focus on Jesus in this second marriage.
Others Currently on our team...
Kevin Tillett - Recruiter for Military to Missions Recruitment,
Served for several years, but previously served 20 years in the military. Prayer for US military as a result of the Don't ask don't tell policy, also requests for adult kids in various needs relating to jobs etc.
John Wilson - Director of Perspectives and Speakers Bureau
Served for 20 years, mostly in the Philippines. Lives in Portland Ore.
Prayer: John's mom who has congestive heart failure and family who don't know Christ.
Terry Heffield - Aviation recruiter, Head engineer for JAARS aviation
Served for 31 years with Wycliffe and JAARS,
Prayer: son and daughter-in-law who are going to serve with MAF to be able to raise support;
has seven units that are in process through online application

Antonio Rivera - incoming Military to Missions Recruiter
Randy Karcher - Alumni network developer and recruiter
Served for 25 years, lives in Garden Grove California,
Job for son and transition for the kids as they move forward
Brian Post - Director of Finishers Recruiting
Served for 25 years, In Guatemala and then in Dallas
Prayer: wife Bea is struggling with health
Barry Hohulin - Recruiter for Missionteach and Regional team as well,
Prayer: Denise is struggling with health issues and daughter Joti as she works through issues

This week..Highlights... Nov 15. - Nov 21

2010-11-21T09:06:00.000-08:00

Nov 15. Liberty University representatives came to Wycliffe to meet with some of our leadership team. It was a great day to make new connections and to pray about the next steps that God will lead us down in our lives. It was a neat opportunity to meet Johnny Moore, Don Fanning, and Matt Rawlings and hear their desire to connect Wycliffe with Liberty University. We are praying that we can help Liberty Students see their strengths and help them find a fit for their skills in the Kingdom.

Nov 16. I met with Dan Pennell and our Church Ministry Team from Wycliffe regarding possible connections between individuals, churches, and language project needs globally. We were also able to review the current status of the webportal projects that we have worked on to date.

Nov 17. We saw an incredible powerpoint from my our Personnel team showing where we have sent people Internationally in the last ten years and also where our current staff in wycliffe US are serving.

Nov 18. We held our first ever Bethany Christian Services of Florida Banquet in Florida. We had friends from Wycliffe and !st Baptist Join Anita and myself for the evening. We praise God that we are invested in this local ministry and that this year we have seen 46 babies adopted into loving Christian families. President Doug Imler from the American Pregnancy Association was our speaker. His children are both adopted. His son is the birth grandson of one of our board members. It brought tears to my eyes to hear the story of God knitting these families together. I immediately called the birth family of our precious daughter Abigail. We are so blessed that God has knit us together with others and given us family where we did not have family before....

Nov. 19. Firehouse day and a Party for the recruitment team of wycliffe here in Orlando at our home. I won't give you the details.. but checkout my facebook for the picture of the 20 that came...

We went in the morning to the firehouse and received a tour of it and learned about the operations at the local station.

Nov. 20. We spent yesterday working on things around the home as a family. The most significant part of yesterday for me was a spending time with our family. I enjoyed time walking around the neighborhood thanking our friends for their impact on our lives... We were able to share clothes, thank you notes, memories from earlier this year. God has truly blessed us with friendships here. We spent time with five different families yesterday!

Nov. 21... Go Eagles.... Philadelphia Eagles... that is.

Wycliffe Bible Translation Statistics from www.wycliffe.net

2010-11-21T01:54:00.000-08:00

2010 Scripture Access Statistics

Scripture exists in over 2500 of the 6860 languages used on Earth.

About 4.7 billion people have a Bible available in their first language, a further 542 million people have at least the New Testament (but not all of the Old Testament).

Work has begun for many of the people groups who still do not have God’s Word in their language and further work is still needed in many of the languages that already have some Scripture. Of the remaining languages with no known Scripture or a translation program in progress, current estimates suggest around 340 million people speaking 2078 languages may have a need for Bible translation to begin.

Wycliffe, a global alliance of organizations with staff from more than 50 nations, is one of the key international organizations involved with Scripture translation into languages where it has not previously been available. Since Wycliffe’s beginnings in 1942, Wycliffe personnel have been involved in the translation of 745 complete New Testaments and 27 complete Bibles, potentially impacting around 114 million people speaking 704 languages.

Since Wycliffe began, Wycliffe personnel have also worked with others in the production of Faith Comes By Hearing audio Scriptures in 211 languages, The JESUS Film in 225 languages, some or all of the Luke video in 237 languages and some or all of the Genesis video in 86 languages. Wycliffe personnel have also helped produce thousands of resources for literacy, education, health and other development-related goals.

The 45 Wycliffe organizations are responsible for approximately 6500 affiliated staff working alongside many partner organizations, individuals from local communities and national organizations working in languages from 98 countries.

In 1999, when Wycliffe and partners adopted Vision 2025, we reported our involvement in almost 1100 of the 1500 translation programs known to be in progress. Between 1999 and 2010 Wycliffe personnel have helped in the translation of more than 200 New Testaments and begun new work in more than 670 languages.

Wycliffe staff are currently involved in 1525 active language programs representing 2.6 billion people. Additional work is being undertaken by other organizations in a further 500 languages.

There are many other numbers we could report on and many we don't know. We do not have a count of how many lives have been touched and transformed as a result of Bible translation and all the other work that is done. We do not have a figure for the number of people who have prayed or given financially so that others might give their time and sometimes their lives.
(taken from http://www.wycliffe.net/)

Our prayer for you... Philippians 1 revised... Farr friends and family

2010-11-11T17:15:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends and Family,

I write this to you with some paraphrases as a prayer from our family to yours. We are truly Thankful for your partnership with us...This familiar passage has a couple of changes which I am underlining so you can see where it is different. This passage from Philippians 1 is so powerful. This scripture is from "the Message" translation, embedded from http://www.biblegateway.com.

^1-2Jamie and Anita, both of us committed servants of Christ Jesus, write this letter to all the followers of Jesus on our partnership team, pastors and ministers included. We greet you with the grace and peace that comes from God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ. ^3-6Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God's Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.

^7-8It's not at all fanciful for me to think this way about you. My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. You have, after all, stuck with us all the way from the time we left for Thailand, were brought back to recruit teachers, saw three children join our family, and most recently started to direct the Partnerships team for Wycliffe Recruitment Ministries. All along you have experienced with us the most generous help from God. He knows how much we love and miss you these days. Sometimes I think I feel as strongly about you as Christ does!
^9-11So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God. ^12-14I want to report to you, friends, that this season of ministry here has brought wonderful and unexpected results. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. We are seeing many ministries collaborating and working together to provide websites where the saints from around the globe can actually see how their skills can be used to build his Kingdom. I currently am working with military friendly organizations eager to carry on discipleship among those who serve the US military. On another greatly encouraging note, we are in the midst of the greatest acceleration of the start to projects in Translation the World has ever seen. We are seeing, in our time, the remaining languages needing starts among ethnic peoples of the world declining as a result of God's work like never before. Only 2078 languages remain to be started.(Data from Wycliffe Int.) 174 languages have dropped from the list of needed starts this year. Praise the Lord This has piqued the curiosity of many, and now they are beginning to learn all about him. Not only that, but most of the followers of Jesus here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah.
^15-17It's true that some preach Christ because , they think they'll step right into the spotlight. But the others do it with the best heart in the world. One group is motivated by pure love, knowing that I am here defending the Message, wanting to help. The others, , are merely greedy, hoping to get something out of it for themselves. Their motives are bad. They see our work as their competition, and so the worse it goes for me, the better—they think—for them. A sense of doing it alone destroys the Unity that Jesus is developing with his Bride in these days.
^18-21So how am I to respond? I've decided that I really don't care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on!
And I'm going to keep that celebration going because I know how it's going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through us will be done. We can hardly wait to continue on our course. I don't expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to Wycliffe in these days only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether we live or die. They didn't shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I'm Christ's messenger; dead, I'm his bounty. Life versus even more life! We can't lose.
^22-26As long as we are alive in this body, there is good work for us to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I'd choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it's better for us to stick it out here. So we plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues. You can start looking forward to a great reunion when we come visit you again. We'll be praising Christ, enjoying each other.
^27-30Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ. Let nothing in your conduct hang on whether I come or not. Our conduct must be the same whether no matter who is looking at us. Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people's trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition. Your courage and unity will show them what they're up against: defeat for them, victory for you—and both because of God. There's far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There's also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting. You're involved in the same kind of struggle you saw me go through, on which you are now getting an updated report in this letter. (Philippians 1, The Message)
Now for a real life example from Wycliffe's day of prayer. Read this testimony and see a real story from the Cape Verde Islands and a request for prayer... jamie for our Family.. We are grateful for your partnership with us.

Jamie in meetings over the next couple of days...

2010-08-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

Wycliffe Leadership Community Meetings - Please pray...

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives” (Psalm 37:23, NLT).

Today and tomorrow, the Wycliffe Leadership Community, including senior leaders and directors from every department, will meet together for fellowship, mutual encouragement and cross-departmental planning.

• Pray for times of meaningful worship and prayer during the meetings. Pray, too, for good discussion and shared wisdom as these leaders dedicate a portion of their meetings to focus on the successes, failures and costs of innovation and risk-taking.

• Praise God for the people filling these leadership roles. Pray for strength and good health for them as they carry on with their major responsibilities.

Ready to go...

2010-08-10T11:03:00.000-07:00

Brandon and JJ with their backpacks and sleepingbags.

Daddy, we are ready to go. My boys surprised me one day with packed bags and grins, complete with toothbrushes, shampoo, soap etc. This year I am praying for an opportunity to take a trip with each of my children and combine it with a trip to visit a church or a visit to others. We certainly are learning how dynamics change in our family as the kids grow.

Sunday school

2010-08-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

Our kids love their classes and have some good friends there. Please pray for their ongoing growth. Pray for me as I meet with our leadership this week in CA. I hope to touch base each day. Praying for wisdom and unity in the meetings. Join us in prayer. Pray for anita: kids to fall asleepmeasily, no mechanical problems, and good health.

Peru Trip - taken from Take 59 issued yesterday.... follows up blog from morning...

2010-08-04T05:25:00.000-07:00

“Everyone will share the story of Your wonderful goodness; they will sing with joy about Your righteousness” (Psalm 145:7, NLT).

Yesterday, Wycliffe staff involved in fundraising and the administration of the Last Languages Campaign traveled to Lima, Peru on a vision trip. Ultimately, the journey will take them to Panao where they will experience, first-hand, a Scripture celebration, dedicating the newly translated Panao Quechua Scriptures.

• By attending the celebration, trip participants will be better prepared to personally communicate the importance and joy of Bible translation work to future partners. Pray for them to return with an even stronger passion for reaching the Bibleless peoples of the world, and with a new sense of urgency in the work.

• Pray that the experience will also provide the Last Languages Campaign team with strengthened skills and greater experience in event planning for all upcoming events, especially as they may use this event to build a replicable model for future Vision trips in 2011 and beyond.

• Pray for safety in travel and for good health for all the trip participants.

Each day, I am blessed along with so many others by specific notes for prayer like this. These are called take 59 ... 59 seconds to pray!

Anita and I so appreciate your prayers...
1. Its just a conversation with God...
2. It takes only a few seconds, but we appreciate it...
3. It is vital and helps connect us...
4. We would love to hear about your moment in prayer for us.
5. We would appreciate your prayers as I will be in National Meetings Next week. Please feel free to call and let us know your needs and how you are doing.

Serving with joy, jamie

A day at the office and what a day at home...

2010-08-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

This morning started with a combined meeting with the Recruitment team and Integrated marketing teams joining together for prayer. There were roughly thirty people in attendance and a friend led our time. John asked me to read a note from the finish line about the work with the Walmi *(not their real name) people of South Asia.

Prayer Time:

Peru trip - for Joel and others going to see a dedication.

WALMI; South Asia; 1,100,000. Thank God for modern technology that helps
accelerate the work. Pray for the team as they develop and promote reading
materials to prepare Walmi people to receive the New Testament in 2011.
www.theseedcompany.org

Bethany w-brain cancer,is daughter for colleagues in another country

Discovery Ghana trip Equip pd now

Cousin- Dan Moury coming to work on the team

Pd for many

Hcbc- connecting with Wycliffe - a church that came to visit and see how to connect with some language projects.

Interns and next steps in their lives

Barb G. returned to work- cancer treatments have kept her out of work, but she returned today

We then prayed for other needs as they came up. Each day we use The Finish Line (see link above) beside the Walmi people group and pray for languages that still wait for Translation. We normally would share what each person has on their plate for the day and then go to work. Today we came upstairs and I worked on email, some discussions with a partner helping to put together the joint websites and some planning for our strategic meetings next week.

At lunch time we said goodbye to a good friend. who worked downstairs but is moving away. I worked this afternoon on strategic plans and will be uploading some quickly made videos outlining some of our goals for the partnership portals.

Meanwhile at home.... Brandon and JJ were having brotherly shoving sessions and all three decided that today would be a slow/drag your feet sort of day... so Anita also was having a slow day. This afternoon was full of surprises in that while Anita was chatting with me for a few minutes (3 to be exact) the boys found the baby powder and liberally started sprinkling it throughout the upstairs...

Tonight, we head out for a neighborhood party which anita prepared cookies for and we will have a bbq with many of our friends. So ends this note, with many exciting stories to go still today, unless I miss my mark...

Blessings and have a great day. PS this morning I reread James 1 in my devotions.. maybe tomorrow I should read about blessings from the Lord rather than joy in trials...

Cheese Day

2010-07-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

It did not take long. Anita had just finished cleaning the upstairs and the downstairs was done. We were expecting guests this week and she was feeling very good about being ready for the guests. Brandon and JJ went downstairs and a few minutes later, Brandon came running up... 'Mommy JJ is throwing Cheese..."

In the couch, on the floor, in the back of trucks in the laz-y-boy, on the changing table, in the toy kitchen, dishes etc. It was as though God had caused cheese to rain down from heaven all over the 400 square foot family room. Needless to say, I received a call minutes later about "your boys" and my heart could only weep for my wife facing the challenges of yet another day in our home. No, this does not happen every day, but who said missionaries lived boring lives? In so many ways our stories are so close to many of yours and yet so very real and very challenging as well. Days like this remind me how great a wife, God has given me. Few men are so fortunate to be blessed with an understanding supportive wife who has so many other talents as well.
Oh, one other thing... Brandon added his own surprise to the cheese mess, he did not make the toilet, you get the picture. Quite a mess.
Two hours later, I arrived home and dinner was going and our guests arrived fifteen minutes early, but found none of the surprises that our boys left for Anita. These moments also remind me of how quickly I can make a mess of plans the Lord has but also how ably he picks up my failures and brings Glory to himself. I thank the Lord this month for the great partners we celebrate and the wonderful partnership I have at home with my love, my wife.

3.1-3.2- RVA and ICEC meetings with National African colleagues and International Schools

2010-04-02T05:32:00.000-07:00

It is 7:15 am. I somehow lost my sportcoat lastnight, which I will surely miss at my presentations ... I am glad that I did not leave my passport in my jacket Lord! My devotions this morning are out of Judges and I read about Sampson... surprise surprise on my ride to RVA, I sit beside a man, I guess to be in his late fifties or early sixties, his name is Sampson. Sampson is a dynamic believer with an amazing story. Sampson is a powerful black man from South Africa. His story is a blessing and encouragement to me. Sampson chose to walk away from being the "witch doctor" (Secular Western Term) spiritual leader for his animistic people. God lead Sampson to eventually start a Christian Worldview centered school, provided for his graduate education through the generosity of a single retired Christian teacher who met him through extraordinary God ordained interventions. She called and asking him to drive some 700km to come meet her. (She did not know how far she had asked him to drive. His pastor drove all of the way and picked her up and brought her back.) God would use her to challenge Sampson to get his advanced degree and even told him that she had been saving money for such a time out of obedience to the Lord. She helped Sampson get his advanced degree in Education. Sampson was used to start a beautiful school in South Africa and eventually to become the leader of ACSI for Africa. Today there are 12000 Congolese Christian schools and at this conference we have representatives from Sudan, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, and Ghana. Each of them either currently is running a school as the administrator or are planning to start schools in this year. All told there are at a minimum three times as many Christian schools in Africa today then there are in the US. These schools are looking for trained teachers to help them in the development of Biblical Worldview curriculum and training materials to help train their fellow countrymen in Christian Education.

It is daunting as I sit and listen to these men and women from the heart of Africa make their plea for those who would come to help them in Christ Centered schools. These schools hold many of the translators and leaders for the countries where the difficult task of Bible Translation needs to be completed. I prayed with several of my colleagues today.

I am sitting on a school computer, but cannot upload pictures or write from my own so many of you will not get these notes... I am sorry. I will forward to all of you a link so that you can see my scribblings.

If you do read this... happy Good Friday and please pray for my family. I have not been able to talk with them since last week and really miss them.

Kenya... a beautiful change.

2010-04-02T05:13:00.000-07:00

Dust, driving on the left side, customs, beautiful ebony skinned people with radiant smiles, am I back home in PNG? No, I am not. I am confronted with similar but different situations here. I love it. I got through customs here in Kenya quickly and was blessed to see my name on a plaque carried by my driver. After meandering through rush hour traffic, I arrived at the AIM guesthouse 11/2 hours later. As I get out of the van, I am pleasantly surprised to see old friends in the waiting area. I can't believe that I am seeing Art and MaryEllen Davis in the waiting area. Apparently they are only here tonight to pick up a friend from PA who is arriving today as well. Art invites me to a local chicken shop where we enjoy spicy chicken, chips and a fruit softdrink and I find out more of what is happening in both their ministry and at large. I am wowed by God's grace in giving me friends who take me to dinner at 8pm! I am exhausted, but too excited with meeting my kenyans and a football (soccer game) that all the staff will be watching shortly to go to bed. I hope I get more sleep tomorrow.
I fall asleep exhausted but exhilarated to be a country so much like the country that I grew up in, but with so many new newances as well. I remember my friendships with students who went to RVA years ago that attended Messiah with me and I am blessed. Thank you Lord for your faithful teachers... I wonder what tomorrow will be like.

2.30 - 2.31 Final day at Kandern

2010-04-02T05:05:00.000-07:00

It was sunny this morning as Isaac and I awoke and headed to school after picking up some fresh rolls. Isaac has some duties today to prepare for tonight's banquet, but we are also excited because we are going out to lunch with Suzanne, (Isaac's fiancee).

It was a great morning and a very good session to start the day. I dialogued today with three college representatives and also Harold Klausen of Teach Beyond. Harold shared with me his Worldview piece which he has compiled and shares with different organizations. I bought his book and did some initial previews of it. I was blessed to have great conversations with Debbie MacCullough, (Philadelphia Biblical University), Tim Heaton (Cedarville), and Dale Linton (Spring Arbor University) over the last two days. These schools do an excellent job of preparing students for international service as teachers. I look forward to followup sessions with at least two of these schools where we will be able to present for a day with students interested in serving overseas in international schools. I pray that God would send forth hundreds of laborers this year.

Lunch was a great moment for me as I was able to see Suzanne and Isaac relating to a family of a graduate from last year while we waited for food at a local chinese restaurant in town. The interesting note about this restaurant is that we tried two other restaurants, but they were closed for the day becuase they are not open at lunch time on certain days. The local culture places a large value on rest and family time, I was informed, and this was a welcome treat to see it in action.

Anita and the kids and I finally connected tonight via skype. I am five hours ahead and I reached them about 6;30 pm so do the math... not an early night tonight. I hope to get sleep tomorrow on my flights to Kenya. I will get up in three hours to prepare for today. OOPs forgot, I am carrying pounds of chocolate for certain family members of Isaac's in Orlando.. Good night.

Closing days in Kandern Germany

2010-04-02T04:53:00.000-07:00

2.29.2010
Today, I awoke after spending much of the night preparing for two presentations. I shared about missionteach.com today with school administrators for four hours of interactive discussion. I also was priveleged to meet with our personnel office for parts of Eastern Europe and other countries in the East. It was fantastic dialoguing together and talking about educational needs, but also about evaluations and ongoing plans for best supporting families who serve in remote places. This group needs prayer for families in difficult to reach places serving alone. The young families need good educational opportunities and we need people with a passion for difficult service working with individual families to consider going to serve.
The day was rainy and while Wes Stafford (Compassion International) was excellent, I found my mind wandering to many of our families and kids with needs globally in education. I met with four principals but also had the opportunity to engage with four of our teachers we have sent out and arranged a meeting for all of our teachers at this conference to get together for coffee/tea and some light refreshments. This time of meeting together was especially sweet as we had staff from Moscow to Tanzania to Kandern and spots in between there.
I went to bed again late... I have a presentation tomorrow about recruitment and retention practices. It promises to be a very full session. The principals at both job alikes were most interested in recruitment and retention as subjects to discuss with other administrators.

Sunday - March 28

2010-03-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to a drizzle in a little home in Kandern Germany. I fell asleep after traveling for 18 hours in airplanes or sitting in airports from Orlando to Charlotte then Frankfurt and finally on to Basel in Switzerland. I then excited on the French side of the airport and was taken by shuttle to Kandern, Germany. What makes this most interesting is the willingness I have to travel with less information than most... like where I will be spending the night... I had arranged to stay with a friend, colleague who is teaching at BFA(Black Forest Academy) that also grew up in PNG. However, i neglected to address the fact of where in town he lived or even what address..To top matters off, his phone was not working or his internet... but in the day of Facebook and immediate discussions, I soon found out from his sister where his home is and arrived without mishap. Isaac was barely awake as I rolled in the door at midnight but it was great to connect.

3.29.2010
I ran out this morning to get rolls at the little bakery across the street and stopped to watch the local clientelle and see what I could learn. I watched as they gave the lady their own little bag which she filled with what they wanted. I felt embarrassed not to have my own bag, but went with the flow and tried my now very broken German in an attempt to communicate. I succeeded in getting the brotchen (rolls) and enjoyed a five minute walk in the mist to BFA for the start of the conference for me. I will write more later. Thanks for praying for me. Please pray for effective communication over the next few days with school administrators and colleagues as well as other organizations.

Force Multiplier - will you join us?

2010-03-04T20:31:00.001-08:00

Invitation to a one day openhouse

2010-03-04T20:30:00.000-08:00

Please join us for...

An open house with Jamie and Anita Farr

When: Saturday, March 13 drop-in between 2:00—4:30 pm
Where: Trinity EC Church, Lititz (44 East Orange St. Lititz PA 17543)
Our time will include:
Light refreshments
A brief talk about the Farr’s ministry(3:00pm)
Short video clips
We look forward to the opportunity to connect with you and share about our ministry.
In Him, Jamie, Anita, Brandon, Abby and JJ

Upcoming news... JJ's adoption, travels to PA and more

2010-03-04T20:15:00.000-08:00

JJ's adoption is supposed to be finalized this month on March 17th in Pensacola. Many of you have been praying about this with us for over a year now. Thank you for praying for us in this.
Many of you read our updates on Facebook and prayed for us as we travelled North from Orlando to PA for a missionsconference in Aldan, PA. We are excited to celebrate the 75th missionary conference of Aldan Union Church. My parents were sent out in 1970 and Anita and I were sent in 1998. I am excited because friends of ours left from Aldan this past year to serve in PNG.
We left Orlando Monday night after a great weekend conference hosted by our church at a "Love and Respect" conference. Many of you prayed for safety in our travels up here and we want to thank you for that. We arrived safely and have enjoyed some very good times with my dad and Joan who flew in on Tuesday as well.
Please let us know how we can pray for/with you for concerns that you may be facing at this time.

Jamie will be flying on Monday to meet with the Recruitment Ministries Leadership team in Orlando before returning on Friday. Please remember Jamie and the team as they talk and pray about direction for the recruitment teams. Anita and the kids are spending time with family friends and supporters while Jamie is down for meetings.

We want to invite all of you to an openhouse on Saturday March 13 at Trinity EC Church in Lititz PA 17543. Please join us for an afternoon of fun and discussion about ministry opportunities.

We will travel south to for the adoption on the 17th and then Jamie will travel on for meetings in Waxhaw NC with his team.

God's Glory, the purpose behind all that we - see a video of key partners in the task...

2010-01-22T04:14:00.000-08:00

Anita and I recognize that without critical partners like JAARS which support the work of Bible Translation around the globe by providing training for Pilots and preparing many in critical support roles, the task will flounder. We pray for partners like JAARS and their success. Please pray for us at this time as we are working to develop a multimission website which will feature as one of its key entry points JAARS and other aviation related missions organizations who are focused on delivering God's Word to those who still wait.

Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!"
Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
Jesus said, "This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." Matthew 24:23 - 32

This passage so well sums up why Christ came to earth and died. God is longing to Glorify his son and redeem the world and all of its peoples from Satan's dominion over the earth. Jesus secured the victory, but now we eagerly work toward's his return. In our lifetimes Anita and I anticipate seeing the last languages translated but many workers are needed. In fact in the next fifteen years, we anticipate seeing God start Bible translation in the remaining languages on the globe.

The purpose for every Jesus follower was to take the gospel of the Kingdom and spread the "name of God" (translate this - his fame, reknown) throughout all the earth until every people group has worshippers(those giving God glory). This measurable goal is what we celebrate and pray for. Please join with us in praying, going and sending for these ends... In Christ, your partners, Jamie and Anita Farr, Brandon, Abby, and JJ

Its in your power

2010-01-22T03:45:00.001-08:00

thanks and happy new year 2010

2010-01-09T01:20:00.001-08:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Flagstaff conference

2009-10-27T05:55:00.000-07:00

Philippians 1

1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers[a] and deacons:

2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. 8God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

What strikes you in this story?
I am struck by the statement that God is doing the work in you. He is working to complete that work.

In chains, Paul communicates joy and peace. Anita and I thank each of you for your prayers, joy, and partnership with us in the gospel. Would you help us tell the story of our collective ministry?

Love, Jamie Anita, Brandon, Abby, jj

October moments

2009-10-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Who should we pray for?

2009-10-23T19:01:00.001-07:00

Three nights ago while walking in our neighborhood we posed the question to our kids, Who should we pray for. Brandon said "Michael Chuck" a version of my bosses name "Chuck Micheals" and Abby listed a few people in our neighborhood. They both prayed for many of our neighbors and asked them to know how much God loved them. It was very fun and rewarding to hear our kids expressing their love and compassion for others this way.

we felt so proud of our little children and grateful for the way He is at work in and through their lives. Smiling inside and out... jamie for the five of us.

Seattle and Home again

2009-10-23T06:54:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

In the springs and at home.

2009-09-15T06:21:00.000-07:00

Jamie is in Springs with meetings with other missionleaders and is enjoying time with good friends form around the world that serve together in SIL and Wycliffe and WA positions worldwide. He is very excited about the opportunities this provides for hearing what is going on in each section of the world and what challenges remain ahead.

Pray: For Jamie as he communicates updates and upgrades on missionteach.com today. pray also for good connections with people from various mission agencies regarding who best to connect with regarding their mission agencies.

Anita is working around the house with three very active little kids. She is also working on the house, helping neighbors hosting friends and did I say helping Abby with potty training? Anita spends much of each day keeping three children fed, teaching life skills, modeling prayer, helping with speech development and instructing about life. Please pray for Anita with an incredibly difficult job when I am travelling like this for a week.

On the physical front...
All are healthy, JJ and Abby are currently in different stages of teething, mommy and daddy are in different stages of correctional planning. This week the challenge is that the kids have quickly figured out how to go out the back door to play... the problem... they are not yet asking permission and the challenge is how to effectively reward them for waiting when the backyard is soo... much fun..
You can pray for wisdom as we try and help the kids in all areas of life.
Thanks for your prayers and your friendship.

Met a friend this morning...

2009-09-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

Sat with a friend this morning... just met him... prayed with him... God sightings happen at the most unusual times and in the most unusual ways...

Billy sat down beside me on a flight to Denver from Colorado Springs. I would not have been on this flight, but brought Nelson ( also here for meetings with me and ACSI) to the airport for his 6am flight out. I decided to fly standby and checked in for the next flight.

I was one of the last onto the airplane at 6:50 am, and as I prepared for the forty minute ride to Denver, I thought I might finish my book. God had other ideas in mind. Billy and I would tentatively begin a conversation about a book he was reading which took us to some current events as a nation and quickly to the responsibility we had as Christians to have a positive impact in our communities and nation. As we shared about community, the need for intentionality in relationships and especially about the importance of family, and our families especially, it seemed that God was opening our hearts. Billy shared about his son being deployed to IRAQ, and I talked about adoption and God's provision miraculously but also the losses in our family this year, and Billy revealed some of his family's losses. It once again amazed me, how God could so quickly break down barriers and allow two men to share deeply so very quickly. We shared about how God is able to orchestrate connections like this that many never experience in their lives. I just want to thank God for an opportunity to meet a great family man and share together in how God is at work in our lives...

I pray as many of you read this that you get to enjoy moments like this. The celebration and confession of my heart following this moment is once again... God is able to make things happen and bring together unexpected sequences of events to touch our lives. I want to keep my eyes focused on what Christ might do in others or where I can witness it and then share the story.

Billy and I prayed for each other and went to our respective gates... grateful for an amazing moment in time... Billy safe travels this week...

I love you daddy...

2009-09-03T06:46:00.000-07:00

There are few words more precious to any parent than, "I love you." It is so fun to be at the stage where our kids notice and say I love you to Anita and myself. This week that happened in three different ways, communicated in different ways, but expressed just the same.

Brandon was up late on monday night and said, "Daddy will you work on a window with me? I like when we work together." As I took him upstairs in my arms, I was so happy he wanted to do what I do and he wanted to do it with me... Sermon possibilities here...

It was only a few hours later that Abby would complete her first full day of a dry diaper... she had a complete day of potting training success (GO Anita!!) which stretched into two. I was the hero because I stopped to pick up a princess balloon, but her joy was transparent. She squealed with delight and said, is that my balloon?

This pretty little girl than said, daddy thank you! I love you. Her expressions of love are as simple and sweet as giving mommy or daddy a shoulder rub.

JJ on the otherhand is a man on a mission. He sees his goal as getting into mommy and daddy's bed and cuddling up to mom before the siblings get up. This morning he jumped on mom and looked back at daddy. When I got close he looked back up at me and then grinned from ear to ear. He was delighted to have us kiss him on both cheeks at the same time. He is a little delight!

Anita and I are so very blessed with these little blessings. Please pray for us, that we would be good parents raising our kids in the love and admonition of the Lord.

Please join us in raising our kids... when we talk about partnerships, we mean everything. Thanks for your prayers.

An invitation to those who want to see cultures changed - oct 9

2009-08-30T12:37:00.000-07:00

We want any of you interested in coming to this one of a kind celebration to join us on OCT. 9. Please let us know if you would like to come... Out of town or not... this promises to be an extraordinary day. jamie RSVP so we can get you nametags and get good seats!

Some thing to do... how can you help

2009-08-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

Last week Jamie was in idyllwild California for leadership meetings. This week we are getting caught up at home and preparing for trips in the coming weeks to Colorado Springs for meetings regarding http://www.Missionteach.com and meetings with leaders from other organizations interested in International education. Jamie and the VP of recruitment will also be in meetings related to partnership ventures. Please pray for these upcoming meetings during the dates...
Sept 9-11 (missionteach Board meeting)
Sept 14-19 IMKEC meetings in Colorado Springs and A day of meetings with SIL colleagues and other partner organizations.
Sept. 29th: Leadership Briefing in Orlando Florida: attendees are significant mission leaders and also Church Pastors from the Greater Orlando Area.
Pray for:
Strategic discussions to build relationships, and help the organizations to see how we can more effectively work together.
Action statements: to move forward partnerships forward.
Pray that the churches and Mission leaders would embrace how God could use the Perspectives courses to help grow their church membership and leadership.

At home:
Anita started two of our children with potty training. she is exhausted and they are not quite there yet.. She is so courageous with this. Both Brandon and Abby are getting better and both use the "po...y" but remembering to use it before they need to go is a growth process... JJ's status regarding adoption is on hold and we would ask prayer that God would move the process along.
Anita has an amazing way with the kids. Yesterday Brandon helped make a pastry dessert and Abby helped to mix together icecream... it did not quite turn out... but they were pleased, and so were we. It is so fun to see them growing in their expressions of kindness and tenderness towards each other. It is incredibly rewarding to here them saying please, thank you, and watch them spontaneously pray for others or treat them with kindness. JJ is learning to say daddy and mommy and is mimicking other words too! Abby is great with helping with dishes and trash and Brandon and Abby both learned about cleaning up while I was gone and really can be a big help now.

Praise items:
Many of you know that with three kids and the loss of several supporters over the last year when they went home to be with the Lord that our financial picture has changed. The numbers have changed significantly, but there have been several of you who have increased your support in this challenging year and we have seen a couple of new partners join the team both in prayer and financially in the last two months. As a result of the new commitments we are one fifth of the way towards the financial partnership goal. We are humbled by your partnership with us in the gospel and the strategic nature of your giving in economic times like these.

How could you help?
We plan on taking a trip to PA in December to speak with churches, visit family, meet with partners and enjoy a PA Christmas with Anita's mom and our extended families. We hope to see many of you. We would love to have a couple of places to get together at a few locations with friends and acquaintances to catch up and relate over dessert what has been happening with the ministry. Note - please feel free to add comments to our website on the right side of the site... prayer requests, favorite quotes, notes. We want to thank you many of you who wrote to us and talked with us about the issues you are going through at this time following the "what matters" blog entry and email I sent a couple of weeks ago...

Today... we have two little children teething (translates... parents without sleep and grumpy kids). Anita is also not feeling well so in the short term we would love your prayers for quick healing...

video of the family taken yesterday.

2009-08-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

Just saw a video on Animoto called "trip to sea world"

the cutest things... and prayers needed

2009-08-16T20:20:00.000-07:00

Brandon, Abby and JJ do the cutest things...

This week abby and Brandon both shared some priceless comments with us. Brandon revealed that he is very intuitive and aware of life and even how to address life issues... Early in the morning, we received a call that our good friends down the street Abby and Jared were going into the hospital and would we watch their little JJ for the morning? Brandon came downstairs at 6:45 to welcome his friend and said we will pray for you "guys" and proceeded to do so. This humbles our hearts as parents to see our kids responding in difficult times with pure hearts of faith.Thanks Lord.

Friday morning, the whole family is in the living room. Abigail hits me on the head with her styrafoam bat repeatedly while saying "be kind, be kind"... unforgetable. The bat is soft and noone is hurt, and we all laugh together.

How good our Lord has been in showering us with these precious children. We feel so honored to love, raise, pray for and train them up in the way they should go.

Prayers needed for this coming week: Jamie travels to California for leadership meetings.
Anita and the kids will be home and we hope nothing breaks down or goes wrong.
Sue S. that works on Jamie's Childrens Education portion of his team lost her mom on Sunday and her dad just two weeks ago. We would appreciate your prayers for their family during this time. Pray that God would encourage Sue and her brother and give them strength as they are tired and in need of much encouragement.

A few fun summer memories

2009-08-16T05:58:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

Truth Project version 2 for HS and College students - We need a few volunteers!

2009-08-11T05:53:00.000-07:00

Dear Farr support team - some of you know that we are working together to see Focus on the Family's new project for High School, College, and Young adult - (millenial, gen y, and gen x generations) address the issues of their day. The first dvd is already available but we need help with a few of the remaining videos. This is your chance to be part of a Kingdom process to bless this nation and others. Can you help transcribe for this project? click here to see the new website...

True U - Focus On The Family - Needs help with this new program we want to promote
Unique Volunteer Opportunity on TrueU!
From The Truth Project

We are currently working on the TrueU study guide booklet that will be included in the DVD set. We’ve run into a major deadline time crunch and need some help.We are looking for 2-6 volunteers who would be interested in doing some video transcription for us on the new TrueU videos. You must have EXCELLENT typing skills and capacity/margin to assist between Aug 9-12. We are looking for people who have experience in transcription and/or can type minimum 80 wpm.This will be a unique opportunity to get a sneak peak at the videos, and contribute to this exciting project (we’ll also mail you a complimentary copy of the series when complete).If interested please send an email to truthproject@family.org with the subject line “ATTN: Grant Cheney”. Send your contact info, mailing address, and phone number where you can be reached. Please note previous dictation experience and type speed. We will contact you from your email.Thanks for your help!!

We hope a few of you can help with this strategic Kingdom project. In Christ, Jamie

What matters?

2009-08-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

(Great grandpa with Brandon and Abby, Brandon and Abby sharing what they have.... will you share your story with us? )

Anita and I have returned from PA... we have been home one week now. we have been recovering and trying to get back up to speed at work. I spent yesterday at a Summit leadership event and it will close today.

Anita, Brandon, Abigail, JJ, and I all were sick while travelling south. Our van was filled with sick weary family members. I can't begin to describe the clamour, smell or other variables that we addressed together.

It was worth getting home though... Brandon standing in the playroom..."my trains, daddy, I love my trains. I am glad to be home" Abby ran up to her room and said "this is my room daddy, my room. Daddy this is my room!" she delightedly started to unpack some of her clothes that were in her drawers and threw several of her stuffed animals around the room and held others. JJ walked into the living room, looked up the stairs and appeared overwhelmed, but he went to each room to check it out. Anita's response, "I love my bed." Anita and I were so glad to fall into bed the first night home and slept deeply for a couple of hours until our sick kids awoke us...

At work, Anita has cleaned, is hosting a meal for twenty this week, has helped the family, and sacrificially has been up with the kids a couple of late nights. Anita is a fantastic wife, mom, friend and woman. I am blessed...

I have tried to reconnect with the team that we serve with. If you are reading this, you are part of the team that matters and we really value. I find myself trying to focus on what really matters. We want to enjoy the vision of where Wycliffe is going, our team within Wycliffe is going, enjoying the relationships that God has given us(family, friends, fellow journeyers, church family), and connect each of you our dear friends with all of this.

I want to confess a few things. I also want to confess why this is so important to me, our family and our relationships.
I don't feel as connected to you or to my team at work, church or my family as I want to! I so desire to increase the connectedness between us.
Your relationship is so very important to us that I plan to send this out by email (even though it is actually on our blog- which you can become a follower of) We need to know your needs. We need you to know ours. We believe that God has given you to us so that we can mutually journey through life together. We also believe that as we invest in each other's lives, we purposefully want God to show up in our lives. Jesus in John 17 prays that we would be unified in purpose and that Satan would not be able to divide us or our unity. If we really believe this then... what? Will I seek to truly know you? will I seek to find out what is happening in your life? At what point have I invested enough or found out deeply enough about what is going on in your life?

In some ways i feel like I/we have failed continuing to build our relationships in this way. As a family we have needs, but I want to ask you to share yours with us too. You matter to us... can you hear/feel that. I want/need to grow this way with my wife and kids too! I want to invite you to deeper relationship. Would you please go deeper with us.

In order to do this I want to invite you to help us address some of our communication shortfalls and weaknesses.

Take one of these lines and finish the sentence for us..

I/We (be specific) need the following...

I/We are in transition...

I/We feel this way about what is going on in your lives...

I/We want you to know...

Thanks for posting or replying to us. If we can post your responses or your emails then please let us know so that we can post these on our blog... We would love to have many of you add comments to the site. Love Jamie for the family.

Wycliffe creates a new video... farrs to share in PA

2009-07-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,
I travelled north after three exhausting weeks in orlando of finishing responsibilities with our summer internship program - we handed the responsibilities over completely to the interns, training for new teachers, and some team building for the teacher recruiting staff that work on my team. It was a very challenging time.

This week we want to thank you for your prayers and support for us in transition. it has been a great month for Anita with mom and the kids in PA but it has also been very hard especially for our Brandon who has not been able to sleep well thus keeping Anita and the others up until midnight on many occasions.

We will be speaking this weekend at Royersford EC CHURCH in Royersford PA. We would love to see any of you that would like to connect with us. The church is located at 66 South Limerick Ave, Royersford PA. We will be speaking at both services.

Here is the link to the new video about Bible translation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_w-qqaF6xA&feature=player_embedded
We also have an exciting video about why Wycliffe is involved in Literacy work around the world. This video is an excellent example of why we need people in Literacy work.

We would appreciate your prayers specifically for our family as we share this week at camp. We are being intentional about asking some more people to join our team and asking some of you who are able to consider helping us with additional support needs. We have recently had our support needs reevaluated and have experienced an increased need of about 30%. This is primarily due to the adoptions of the children. We have not really sought out increased support in the last four years, but changes in family and increased factors such as insurance and cost of living have continued to happen. Please feel free to ask us specifics.

The ministry is exciting, challenging and taxing on our abilities and energies. We could not be engaged around the world without your help. Thanks for your partnership in multiplying the work of Bibletranslation and kingdom ministry around the globe. Jamie

July update - Happy Fourth and more...

2009-07-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

Whether it is a wedding, new teacher orientation, Team development with the teacher recruitment team or Anita spending time with her mom and the kids in PA... it is a good month. This is one of those months, you don't ever want to relive, but it is a good month too.

Following dad's sudden passing, it has been a couple of weeks of trusting God for his provision and for minor miracles too. JJ did not have to return to Florida for a visit and so we were able to have Anita stay up with mom in PA. Anita and mom have spent the time with the kids and doing errands in PA. Yesterday, Anita helped make a birthday cake for cousin Katie and the whole family was able to enjoy the fourth of July, in Lititz and watch fireworks together. These moments are precious to the whole family and are a blessing. Daddy(Jamie) misses his beautiful wife and the kids though!

Brandon has really done a good job talking on the phone and it is fun to carry on a conversation with him about his daily activities of the day. I found my throat catching however when I was able to see him sitting on his uncle Ben's lap while I was at home because i was wishing that I could hug and hold my wife and kids. Abigail has proven to be quite the communicator as well and Anita reports that she plays so very well with her cousins. This difficult time for the family has proven to be a great blessing for the kids as they have been able to spend so much quality time together. Meanwhile, JJ has done very well adjusting and enjoys playing with different toys and walking around pushing or carrying the larger cars/trucks etc. It is also fun to hear him say daddy and to hear Anita express his delighted joy when he hears my voice over the phone.

Anita has been able to take the kids to see the parade, go for walks with them and today was able to go to her home congregation. It was a blessing that the kids did so very well in Sunday school. With all of the changes they have had to deal with we continue to marvel at how well they are doing and would ask that you uphold our family as we spend the time in different states for about half the month.

In ministry, this week has been one of praying and meeting with the leadership team for our recruitment ministries and submitting the budget for the coming year. This has been a great learning experience for me in the way that the process was handled. I thank the Lord for the team that I have the privelege of serving with. We met as a team and prayed over how the team spent time and resources in the past year and how the team should invest for the future. Depending on God for a "vision budget" and then working through all budget decisions in light of this just exemplifies how we need God in every segment of our lives. I praise God for the Godly team that we have the privelege of working with.

On Friday, my cousins Dan and Melinda Moury and their kids who have just completed their new member training here at Wycliffe came over for Dinner. After and early evening they were leaving for a wedding for my cousin Jennifer in the Carolinas. Saturday marked the staff orientation day for ICO (International Childreans Education Orientation). Tonight we begin the meetings with the teachers.

How to pray:
1. Pray for Mom, Anita and her sisters as they deal with the continuing emotions of missing dad and adjusting to life now.
2. Pray for Anita and the kids with mom that they would continue to do well while away from home.
3. Pray for me and the other staff during teacher orientation this week.
4. Pray for the team building for the teacher recruiting team this next weekend into next week.

How to get involved:
1. Let us know how to pray for you.
2. Get engaged in supporting the ministry... see the sidebar for opportunities.

Thanks:
1. We want to thank so many of you who are actively involved in the ministry with us.
2. We want to thank many of you who wrote such gracious letters and cards to us and came in droves to support the family at the viewings and funeral service.
3. To those who watched our children, helped with the meal, have served mom and dad over these past two years, helped us with airplane tickets or rides to and from the airport... and more.

As Paul writes, "we thank our God whenever we remember you". Humbly, Jamie for the Family

Praying... needing prayer... what are your needs?

2009-06-28T15:04:00.001-07:00

(pictures - Prayer time daily..., dedication day for Brandon and Abby,
Anita teaching at ICO, Anita and Jamie together, Jamie teaching at ICO, 1400 boxes sent to colleges in the spring for Missionteach).

This last week has been a difficult one for our family. We did not get back to many of you on email. We were so grateful for the emails that many of you sent upon hearing of Anita’s father’s passing.

Let me give you a couple of prayer items and praise items. Let me also ask if you would consider praying with us about a strategic partnership of your choice in addition to each of your family needs. We realized in speaking with many of you that we don’t know some significant issues going on in your lives. We also face a dearth of pictures which is how our kids will get to know you! We will be the missionaries in residence at Herndon Camp Meeting in PA from July 18^th – 25th. We have a busy month before us. I will be down covering the needs as outlined in the email below over the next several days and Anita will be with her mom. We anticipate her staying with her mom in PA along with the kids and then either travelling down with mom so that foster visits can happen for JJ with all of us driving up to PA for the 17^th or that Anita will stay up the whole month in PA and the visits will be arranged up there.

I will teach at International CHED (Teacher) orientation for teachers preparing to go serve overseas from July 5 – 10^th with staff prep days on July 4^th and debrief on the 11^th. That is followed by team orientation for the teacher recruitment team which is one of the departments that Anita and I serve in the Partnerships team for Recruitment Ministries at Wycliffe.

Immediate prayer requests:

1. Anita and her mom as they try and pick up pieces at her mom’s place in PA and sort through life without dad. The other sisters will be back at work, but this month will be a challenge as so much needs to be done on the home front.

2. Pray that all three kids will be healthy and have a good time at Grandmas. Brandon is 2 and is a fireball. Abigail is our loving motherly 2 year old daughter. JJ’s adoption is pending and we would appreciate your prayers with that. His mom’s rights were terminated and now our home has been identified as the goal for adoption. Pray that this process would progress quickly and smoothly.

3. From work. We are under spiritual attack. This last week three of the five in the

Take 59 – 06/26/09: Recruitment Leadership Meeting – this has been modified from a Wycliffe internal message that went out for prayer for the Recruitment leadership team (I am part of this team) this past week.

leadership team lost immediate family and as we put submitted vision budgets to meet the needs outlined below the guy who was compiling the budgets for meetings starting tomorrow – His computer crashed.. This is breaking news.

“He replied, ‘What is impossible for people is possible with God’” (Luke 18:27, NLT).

With almost 2,400 job openings within Wycliffe USA, recruitment of new staff is a vital part of the Bible translation task. Each year, Recruitment Ministries’ senior leadership team meets to discuss where God is leading the team for the future. This year’s meeting is scheduled for June 29 through July 2 in Orlando, Florida. As of today, one key staff member has had an unexpected death in the family and another has a family member who recently went into a coma.

· Ask God to comfort these staff members as they grieve the illness and loss of loved ones. Pray that He will work through them to encourage family and friends during this very difficult time.

· Pray that the Recruitment leadership meetings would be able to continue with all staff members present and engaged in the future planning process.

· Pray that decisions that are made regarding future planning would glorify God and enable many to be recruited into the world-wide task of Bible translation.

· Ask God to protect the team from spiritual attacks meant to derail vision-building and the future planning process.

4. Pray as I am the national director of partnerships for our Recruitment team and we have several that we are investigating for which we need wisdom, protection and prayer. These are the partnerships that we are primarily focusing on growing in the next couple of years.

· Missionteach – currently teachers from 102 countries are on this site looking at teaching opportunities globally

· The Truth Project , 1.2 million people went through this last year from the US. – We are hoping that God would move many from this site into missions.

· The Perspectives on World Missions Movement (13 week course on the how God has moved the church through 2000 years)

And significant others that cannot be shared at this point.

Pray that God would provide people ready to serve, give, and go into these Kingdom size opportunities. We have our blog which highlights some of these partnerships and puts some names from our team together with the partnerships they are working with. Our blog is http://www.farrsatworkandplay.blogspot.com

I will also attach a few pictures of our family so that you can see and download these. These pictures feature a few of our family and also of anita and myself teaching. We hope you enjoy these.

Updates from PA - Glenn Thomas goes home To Jesus

2009-06-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

This picture would be the last time that my mom and glenn Thomas would see each other on earth. They are now together with their father in heaven and their savior. PTL!! We miss them...

june 20

Dear Family and Friends,

We just received news that Anita’s father has taken a turn for the worse. While not completely unexpected this has really hit us hard here. Please pray for our family as we anticipate a trip to PA to see the family. We don’t know all of the details but he is having trouble eating and the family asks for prayers. We are trying to arrange things from our end and would pray that we get permissions for JJ to go along too. We know the Lord is in control. If any of you from PA might be able to help us with either an airport PICKUP or dropoff that would be of great assistance. We do not have firm dates for travel but probably look to come North in the next week sometime.

We rejoice in all things and ask prayer for:

1. Mom as she carries this burden and does not want to leave his side.

2. The sisters as they see how they can be of assistance to mom and each other.

3. The children to be able to process why the sudden moves and changes to schedule.

4. Wisdom and understanding as we pray before we act and as we lay our plans before the Lord and ask Him for His plans…

5. We praise the Lord for friends and family who join us in prayer during these times.

June 29

Dear Friends and Family,

Anita and I took the last flight up on Sunday night from Orlando into Philadelphia. Good friends and family took care of our tickets to come up here very graciously and unexpectedly and my aunt and uncle picked us up at 10:30 at night from Philly airport and drove us to Lititz where we saw my mother-in-law. Dad died after we boarded the plane to fly to PA before we arrived.

The background behind the miracle of getting to PA is worth telling. We came back from an overnight in St. Pete where we were getting away for Father’s day and a needed break when we received a phone call encouraging us to get home asap. We called several friends after arriving at home and they provided the helps we needed. Two hours and twenty minutes after arriving home we had packed our family, printed our tickets, been driven by our dear friend Joe Blake to the airport and received confirmation that my Aunt was dropping things this week to help with Childcare and coming to pick us up. This story has been mirrored by many others who have brought meals, offered to pick us up, quietly reassured us of their prayers and even rescheduled their lives on our behalf. We have been tired, trying to juggle work, family, and emotional weights while receiving blessing after blessing from the Lord through you! Humbled…

I want to let you know our current plans and what is happening. Anita and her mom and sisters have been doing most of the event planning while I have been in charge of childcare, and some communication and a little work. Tomorrow there are times for people to come and share with the family from 2-4pm at Lititz Mennonite in Lititz PA. There is a second time scheduled for visiting at 6-8pm also at the church. The church is located in Lititz on front street.

I will be watching the kids in the early afternoon but the rest of the immediate family will be at the church. The internment will be a private affair on Thursday and the memorial service will be held at Lititz Mennonite as well at 5pm on Thursday night. The obituary is available online at the following address.

http://obits.lancasteronline.com/index.php?p=2344872

Some of you have asked about the wishes for the family with regards to memorials. I have copied this directly from the obituary.

“In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his memory to Hospice of Lancaster Co., the Lititz Mennonite Church, or to Wycliffe Bible Translators. For online condolences, please visit: www.richardheiseyfuneralhom.... In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his memory to Hospice of Lancaster Co., the Lititz Mennonite Church, or to Wycliffe Bible Translators. For online condolences, please visit: www.richardheiseyfuneralhom....”

If you wish to designate this gift to our family please simply attach a note with your contribution stating the gift is for the ministry of the Jamie Farr family or it will be put into the general fund for Wycliffe.

Love, Jamie

Pictures

2009-06-11T21:44:00.001-07:00

JJ loves life and had a great birthday in April.

It was great to be with my cousing Elsie this spring in PA. We were so glad to have some time together.

Seaworld is a favorite place for our family to enjoy. We love the animals, the time together and opportunities to laugh while enjoying great opportunities to relax as a family.

This jeep which was given to us by friends provides some great moments for fun with our kids. Thank you for those who give to us in so many ways, prayer, love, your concerns, your time... we are humbled.

Abby is a great sister and displays her love for her little bro in many great ways. We are so grateful for the family that God has given us. We thank God that he has adopted us into his team and invited us to join him in sharing with others His desire to bless all nations.

We are grateful for God's passion for people and pursuit of them to the ends of the earth.

Shopping... a fun but stretching month

2009-06-11T20:31:00.000-07:00

Most might think that shopping is an easy activity and might be fun for girls to do together. What could be nicer for a mom and her daughter?... right. My girls, Abby and Anita went out tonight to get some clothes and look for some things for the house.. unfortunately Abby is still getting over a hard week with a cold and not feeling well. Abby wanted sunglasses and they were looking for bathing suits... trouble is brewing... when Anita got her refocused there were none there the right size.. Uhoh... then they looked for shoes for Abby and of course no shoes that fit... the night went from bard to wailing and crying ... who would have thought. Some days are like this.
At home, both boys struggling with colds, I put them to bed early. When Abby came home she was in great spirits, but sometimes too much is happening. on a different front...
I spoke to thirty this morning that are here in Orlando investigating whether Bible Translation is a good fit for them. They have been in class all week and range in age from HS to early thirties. The rest of day for me was talking with my directors regarding a number of different issues but focusing mostly on budget and contact coordination(we currently have about 1000 phone calls set up with teachers and 2nd career people investigating Wycliffe opportunities). I also spent time preparing for the guys night tomorrow night for the mentors and interns. I am the men's director for summer interns here this summer. My responsibilities are to deal with issues when they arise... The last two weeks have increased our activities in the evening because we have worship one night, outreach another, dinner a third, and a social event on another for the month. This schedule helps the interns develop community among themselves and learn how to share their Faith.
Saturday we are going to the beach and will be sharing food on the beach and sharing with people who come up.

M2M

2009-06-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder... what happens when the men and women serving in the military change jobs and bases or locations? who helps out? What about the kids?

One of the more exciting and emerging partnerships that currently we are doing research on is ways to help the men and women serving our country. What services could their families use to help them with transitions? What about ways to help them get plugged in to supportive churches looking to provide beneficial services to the men and women who serve the US?

This venture which is only in research stage will take much prayer. It is our prayer that good services may be provided to our military men and women in terms of ongoing Christian support and helps. There are currently many organizations working together with different strategies to help.

I believe that we have a unique opportunity to help provide meaningful uplifting connections. Pray that God would give us discernment with how to proceed both expeditiously and quickly. Praying that God would bless the leadership of our country with great wisdom and discernment,

Jamie

Partnerships continued

2009-06-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

Our last blogs featured a couple of different partnerships and I would be remiss not to mention some more. One of the more exciting partnerships that we see God bringing together is with the truth project. This project has a goal of challenging many with Biblical truth. All too often Biblical truth may be accepted as Truth and not questioned or verified. This statement may seem very innocuous, but if the response of Christians is that truth cannot be questioned then what will our children do if "THE TRUTH" is challenged. Do they have the tools necessary to really dig into the substance and get answers or do they fall away thinking that perhaps our truth can't or does not answer the issues today...
One of the outcomes of the Truth project is that participants leave challenged to use their biblical worldview in practical ways in their lives and as outreach to others. We want to see them use their understanding of Biblical Truth to investigate God's heart for the poorest and least significant peoples of the world. This is the World where Wycliffe finds itself. I have heard it described this way... take a plane to the the other side of the world, follow the road until it ends, walk until the path goes no further and in that village ask them about the truth... when you get a blank stare... ask them if they read... when they explain they have no books, poor healthcare, no adequate schooling... you have found a future assignment. It is not simply providing a Bible that matters, but ministering to the wholistic needs of families, communities, and cultures that matters to people everywhere. We hope that many people using the Truth project will see a bigger picture of God's heart for communities in need globally and many choose to join with us in helping them. See the short clip from the Truth project from this link.

This is one of many significant partnerships that we pray God would give us opportunity to work together with to see many engage. Pray with us that God would move laborers to go to his harvest field.. jamie for the family

Focus on Partnerships 1

2009-04-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

As we start a new job, there are always learning curves. My new job within Wycliffe is no different. As I start this job... there are a few things i already know. I need God to provide for my areas of weakness and the learning curve feels more than steep at this time. This is a new role and a new position for Recruitment Ministries as we have never had an intentional department called Partnerships before. This leaves me breathless with excitement mixed with very real feelings of inadequacy at some moments and sheer joy when considering possibilities in the next.

Many of you who read our blog and have kept updated with us over the last couple of years will recognize the name missionteach. WWW.missionteach.com is a website that points educators to schools and organizations and real positions all over the globe.

Currently the numbers of applicants to the site by areas of the world are:
Africa 95
Asia 249
East/West Europe 110
Latin America 34
North America 1171
Pacific 39
No Area specified 2330

While the above is very exciting, we have to temper that excitement with a challenge. We have to figure out how to help these people move from being perspective teachers to teachers actually serving.

the challenges with this include: Finding a sending organization that can vet them professionally and helping them with the funding needs that they have in order to take up their future work somewhere! It is outstanding however to see God's hand so evident in so many coming from all over the world.

My contact coordinator - a teacher herself and someone with experience from around the globe is Sue Schmidt. She and her husband have two fantastic kids, both in High School in NC. Patrick and Sue both went to serve overseas over two decades ago as short term workers and continue serving with joy today. Sue is the primary contact for missionteach and on any given day may be in contact with individual teachers from any of a number of countries about service opportunities worldwide. Below you see the picture of their family. Please pray strength for them as they parent, serve education globally, and work in training and development of colleagues from the African Continent as well.

A day in the life...

2009-04-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

So what is Jamie's Job?
My days start at 6 am with me departing for work between 7 - 7:30 am. I usually bring up coffee, juice, milk and bottles to the appropriate family members around 7am and we all gather in our room and read/wrestle pray and play together for a few minutes before i leave for work.

Work starts with a checking of my calendar and planning for the day and cursory look at emails. WE have collective prayertime with the members of the department located in orlando and wind up at 9am with a 30 second briefing of activities for each person for the day.

My days are mostly composed of meeting on the phone with my staff(Thursdays) or others. I usually have about 6-8 meetings per week that do not include the rest of my team. Between meetings, I work on new initiatives, planning, projects related to partnerships that Wycliffe Recruitment is hoping to develop or grow.
While face to face meetings are critical for good partnerships - these relationships are critical and need to be fostered and it is not practical to try and fly to meet with all of the necessary partnerships. It takes time to work on these relationships and meaningful dialogue and goals to keep them fresh. Please pray for success in God's favor on these relationships that are forged internally and externally while working remotely from most of the interested parties.

My travel schedule is limited to about one trip per month and usually is not more than a couple days. Three times per year I have meetings that by necessity are at least a week in length - but one of those happens here in Orlando - so i am home in the evenings then.

I usually leave to go home between 5 to 5:45 on most days with an attempt to get home earlier on Friday.(not usually succesful)

My job also entails supporting a diverse team of leaders - diverse because of what partnerships they represent, where they live, and interests. Please note prayer requests below

The major prayer requests that I ask for now are:( the members of my team currently directing these efforts are mentioned below - please pray with me for them)
Military partnership: developing a partnership that will help the communities of servicemen and woman know what spiritual supports they have in their local community and ways to engage in the future with Bible translation efforts globally.
Finishers partnership: led by Brian Post - growing a great partnership that is engaging many in second half jobs for eternal relevance globally for the Kingdom of God.
Perspectives on World Missions partnership: led by John Wilson - These courses are taught nationwide and encompass a very broad range of people in what God has been doing through the church among the nations over the past 2000 years. These courses are graduate level courses taught across the nation and in some other countries. We are looking to bolster these courses and see many from these courses go to engage the world.
Missionteach: daily contact by Sue Schmidt - pray for an expedited way to help teachers connect with jobs being posted and wisdom in how best to support schools and mission agencies in this endeavor worldwide.
Teacher recruiting: directed by Hettie Stauffer - the teacher recruiting team is involved in recruiting teachers for our global needs and work closely with WA and SIL fields and international schools to accomplish this task.
The Truth Project: directed by chuck micheals - This project is geared toward helping generations of Americans come to a deeper understanding of Truth. Without understanding truth - few will know why the Bible is so relevant in the transformation of lives around the globe. We pray that as people intentionally study the truth that they will be moved by the Lord to take the truth to those who have not heard and have no context for understanding currently.

While there are several other partnerships - the above are the ones I am most deeply engaged in with my team currently.

So What is Anita's Job?
She gets up at 3,4,5,6 am depending on children's health and goes to bed at 10-11pm. Between those hours...

7am family time
8am Breakfast/Cleanup/chores
9am walk with the kids (Tuesday - correspondence, Wednesday - laundry, Thursday - GroceryShopping/watch neighbors children, Friday - MOPS, activity day)
10 am JJ naps, older two kids sesame street or other learning activity
11 - 1 Play together or with other children,eat lunch, tidy up, play outside
1 - 3:30 kids are supposed to nap - Anita gets caught up on life
3:30 - 5 prep dinner, play with kids, snacks, books, reading
5 - 6 set table, coordinate kids playing in back yard, room, take care of squabbles and somehow put dinner on the table
7 - 8:30 read, play with kids, debrief as family, cleanup from dinner, take a walk, work on house projects
8:30 - 9:30 Pickup leftover jobs from day and unwind
9:30 - 10:30 unwind, clean, plan meals....

And in between all of the above...
Write thank you notes, changed diapers, nurse ailing knees, feet, feelings, care for hubby, plan menus, keep the house together, paint, do projects, come up with creative learning ideas, host two meals with guests, smile, plan around trips, see Dr's about 3x per month, keep paperwork going for JJ and keep track of calendar for family.

Anita's requests: Strength for the continuous changing of schedules that keep her from any sort of a regular routine.
A sense of balance in her topsy turvy world where she frequently feels like she is getting nothing accomplished - but the kids and I disagree with her! She does a great job!
Strength and Joy in the journey as many of her tasks seem menial and repetitive yet are so foundational in the development of our children.

Our Prayer requests:
Some downtime as a family together... anyone know of anything in keywest where we can get away as a family??
JJ has been struggling with infections over the past couple of months - he has trouble sleeping and has earaches and fluid in his ears.
Brandon would get over this stage of no... I don't want to
Abby would continue to be as joyful as she is right now.
Other than this - we enjoy kicking back and just taking it easy.... In fact sleeping is a fun novelty that we are considering taking up in the near future...

Happy Easter... reveal your glory Lord.

2009-04-11T12:16:00.000-07:00

Christ Is Risen — Run Away!
Why we don't always want to meet the resurrected Lord.
Mark Galli | posted 4/09/2009 10:18AM

In the last couple of years, we've seen a strange phenomenon: fear of good news.

When the surge in Iraq actually worked, not many antiwar activists exulted in the fact that violence had actually diminished. When Barack Obama was elected President, many black activists still kept grumbling about an incurably racist America. When the stock market climbed recently, prophets of the "coming economic collapse" still had nothing good to say.

In each case, of course, good news exposed some fallacy around which these groups had framed their lives. That's also and especially true when it comes to extraordinary events — like encountering God in his glory. It's not always good news... please (see the link on the blog below to Christianity Today for the rest of this thought provoking article.)

After going through this past week and seeing the article above which is located in Christianity today... I have been thinking...

What exactly are my kids catching Easter is all about? What impact will this Easter have on their lives?

Our lives... This Thursday we celebrated Maundy Thursday. We have a Seder Feast at our home and walked through the service with the kids. Brandon and Abigail each repeated the question, What is different about this night than any other night? and received the requisite answers. Tonight we celebrate what God did for the jews by freeing them from captivity among the Egyptians as narrated in Exodus. we also ate unleavened bread and obviously the table looked very different - we had food which represented different things to remember and we actually reviewed these with the kids... the night was very different... but what are our kids actually catching??

They experienced the passover feast, they attend church each Sunday, they see their parents reading the bible or listening to it on biblegateway as well and pray over meals and at bedtime or when they are sick and get medicine or for any other excuse we can come up with ... but what are they catching???

Is dad's quick, "Brandon" in a too-stern voice or "don't touch" of greater import to them than all of the above? Do they hear the well done? Do timeouts following naughtiness separate us from what anyone else does? What separates our practices and traditions from real life giving encouragement and blessing and love our kids need and do they realize our love pales in comparison to Jesus'?... As I reflect on this Holy week, by the way, my very favorite weekend of the year, I pause and reconsider.

Will my kids catch Jesus from me, our family, our home, the way we make decisions? Do they actually catch my frailties, the gnawings in my heart for deeper relationship with Jesus or do they see a huge man who hugs them, corrects them is moral, practices attending and listening to the speaker on Sunday, works hard and enjoys football during the season. What are they catching??

This past weekend in Life group, a great brother in Christ, Cyprian shared from a few passages in the new testament. He asked a question that I have chewed on all week.

"When Jesus called Peter, James, and John to come and follow him, why did Mr. Zebedee (their father) and likely owner of the boats, not say "hey, Jesus why are you taking away my sons and our source of income? How will I support my family and how my sons eat?" It did not happen... Cyprian then went on to share about the training that all young Israeli boys got in the word of God over 6-8 years as young children and the expectations that their families had for them.

The children would memorize much of the first five books of the OT and develop a great working knowledge of the minor and major prophets and the best would in fact be able to think fast enough on their feet to answer questions presented by a teacher of the OT (Law) with a question of their own(pointing to a different book/chapter) revealing a comprehension of the meaning and not simply the answer to the teachers question. They were able to do all of this by age 12! Can you imagine an educational expectation for your children that would have them memorizing hundreds of pages of God's word over a 6 year period? What will my kids learn? Perhaps the reason the mr. Zebedee did not stop his children from following Jesus was because this was the dream of every parent for his children... Would that my desire and longing would be as his was that my kids would become disciples of THE TEACHER and that all of my efforts, prayers, thoughts, and decisions were made with that as the goal.
My surmise is that perhaps my following of Jesus is not as passionate or deep as I would it to be... deep journeying this week.

He is risen! He is risen indeed! Happy Easter

Finally Home

2009-04-01T18:39:00.000-07:00

After 32 days away followed by a crazy week at home and another 10 days away...I am home. My dad and mom also arrived here today within minutes of my arrival. We enjoyed a walk, playing with the kids, a great dinner and some downtime tonight. We feel great to be together again as family. Thanks for your prayers.

Link to many pictures on the web

2009-03-09T08:04:00.000-07:00

Farr pictures
If you click on the link above, you will see pictures from the spring. We have several web albums located on this site. The first time I tried sending this a week ago, many of you were unable to get them. Thanks for looking at the pictures and a few small movies too! Turn on the volume so that you can hear the movies! Love, Jamie for the family

A night with friends in Aldan

2009-03-07T19:33:00.000-08:00

It was two years ago on Monday night that I was meeting with Chad and Leah at their apartment in Aldan, when I received a phone call that Abby was going to be born prematurely and I needed to leave in the morning. That night would be influential in a number of ways. They were able to participate in a night of prayer for my soon to be born daughter, understand what it means to have a team praying on your behalf and joined me in the process of praying for their futures as well. Tonight they prepare to go to the country I left, to follow the Lord where he would lead our family. They will work with the kids that I once was and have an impact on a generation of future leaders - perhaps the one to finish the last language. Please pray that God would provide for their needs in the ensuing months. It has been a journey for them and for us. I will be speaking in the am service and one of my delights is to return to the church of my mother's childhood and share what I have seen God doing in my lifetime. We anticipate God completing his work among the languages of the world in while our generation is working. When will he return? Great question. What will be about, our choice? What will be our impact - Depends on our obedience to him.

Thanks for praying for this weekend. Jamie for the family... Anita is watching her dad with her mom tonight. His health continues to be day to day.. but his joy is complete in Christ. We could not serve without you.

New Role for Jamie

2009-03-06T11:56:00.000-08:00

Dear family and friends,
Read below excerpts from My boss the VP of recruitment for Wycliffe's announcement of my new job and its impact.

INFORMATION:
In the past year, I have been working extensively with various potential RM partnership organizations such as Perspectives, Mission Teach, The Truth Project (Focus On The Family) and several other organizations (Navigators, Unveiling Glory, NorthStar Academy, Impact Movement, etc.). It has been only in the last three to four months that I have begun to see the fruit of these relationships and have come to a point with these partnerships that I can no longer maintain them by myself.

The main purpose of developing these partnerships is to find new streams of highly interested and highly ready potential recruits. It seems as if the Lord is opening doors for us in this area and I believe these partnerships will result in many new people coming to us as we have seen with our partnerships with Perspectives and Mission Teach.

At the same time we are developing RM(Recruitment Ministries) partnerships, we are also anticipating the arrival of a number of new Specialty recruitment staff to help us work on other new recruitment streams. ... We also are launching a new initiative to help our Wycliffe members recruit via Facebook in addition to a potential to see a new recruitment stream develop from efforts underway to recruit people leaving the Military and with Teach for America. All of this speaks to the fact that we must provide capacity to effectively manage these new areas.

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE IN Recruitment Ministries
So, to provide capacity for our Specialty Recruitment area to take on new staff members and also have the capacity to deepen our RM partnership development, I have asked Jamie Farr to take on a new role of Director for RM Partnerships effective April 6, 2009. Jamie will become a member of my Senior RM Leadership Team.

While developing RM partnerships, I have also decided to move our Teacher Recruitment team and our Finisher Recruitment team to work under Jamie’s leadership. Brian Post currently leads our Finisher recruitment effort and will begin to report to Jamie in April. However, because Jamie is moving out of his Teacher Recruitment Director position, we had a need to replace him in that position. I am happy to announce that Hettie Stauffer has agreed to become the Interim Teacher Recruitment Director until we can find a long term replacement. Both will begin their new duties on April 6, 2009.

One reason I have moved Finishers and Teacher recruitment under Jamie’s team is because both of these groups deal with a partner agency (The Finishers Project and Mission Teach). However, the main reason I have moved them under Jamie’s team is so that at a Senior RM Leadership Team (SRMLT) level I will always have the majority of the voices on the SRMLT be voices that are dealing with the needs of recruiters. We exist to make our recruiters successful! We all have a part to play in that success, but if parts of our team are successful and the recruiters are not we have failed. So, I have intentionally designed my SRMLT so that I have three recruiting voices (Regional Recruiting, Specialty Recruiting and now Partnership Recruiting) to two non recruiting voices (Resources and Professional Development and Training). My SRMLT is aware of this and are in full agreement of this decision.

Since Jamie will be working on partnerships, we are also moving John Wilson’s Associate Director for Partnerships work with Perspectives and large Mission Connexion type mission conferences from the Resource team to be under Jamie’s new team. It is possible that as more partnerships get developed we might have more Associate Directors for Partnerships for other groups.
Please pray for our teams as they give leadership to our recruitment efforts and please pray for Jamie and Hettie as they take on new responsibilities.

Chuck Micheals, VP for recruitment

Perspectives video

2009-03-06T11:53:00.000-08:00

This weekend

2009-03-06T11:14:00.000-08:00

I arrived tired but glad to see my family in PA yesterday. Anita, Brandon, Abby, and JJ are here staying with her family. I will be staying with them as well after this weekend. I will be working from PA. Anita's father's health is a day to day event and we celebrate each moment. Brandon - "I want to go to grandpa's house." Abby - "I see grandma play with kitty" and JJ " EENG". They love going to their grandparents. This is a great thing because they are spending a lot of time there these days as Anita helps her mom with her dad's care. Please pray for his continued improvement. We are grateful that the kids have had such meaningful interactions and that Anita has had so many great moments with her sisters, mom, dad and the extended family. As we walk through these next weeks, we ask for your consistant prayer for the following:

Monday: Health for our family, recovery for Dad.
Tuesday: A sense of togetherness while living in a different environment and living with family.
Wednesday: That our kids would feel secure in the love their parents have for them.
Thursday: That Anita and I would have wisdom to know how to best support her family, and each other.
Friday: The spiritual impact of this time on our family and others - that God would receive Glory.
Saturday: that we would play, pray, laugh and enjoy time we have together.

GWA - A typical place to go. - a good but long video of a school.

2009-03-06T10:54:00.000-08:00

Do You Speak Global? from George Washington Academy on Vimeo.

Update on Dad Thomas

2009-03-02T22:23:00.001-08:00

Dear friends and family,
Here is the latest update on Glenn Thomas (Anita's dad). There have been some answers to prayer. We are taking each day as it comes. There are obviously people praying all over the world! We have had people extend greetings from Papua New Guinea to the Midwest to Europe to local churches to Asia.

We felt two weeks ago that dad would not be able to survive the week when he was taken into the hospital with blood pressure 50/40 range. He was very sick and it turned out had blood poisoning. We prayed and so did you. Over the last couple of days he has been able to get out of bed and walk into the kitchen and living room in the house. Currently his legs have ulcers on them (reaction to the blood poisoning) which are healing slowly. Anita, her sisters, and her mom have split time serving as dad's aides changing dressings on his legs.

When dad came home to the house, his mood noticeably improved and the introduction of his grandchildren brought obvious delight. It is miraculous to see Dad's current status after what we witnessed a week ago.

As you pray, please pray that Dad's legs would not have secondary infections but completely heal. Pray that his appetite would continue to increase and that his strength would return. We are taking each day as it comes.

Anita and the kids will be in PA until Monday when we hope to travel back home to Orlando. We are praying for strength for mom and the family as we adjust to a new normal. I fly up to join Anita and the kids in PA, but will be in the Philly area and travelling to Lancaster.

Pray that God would be exalted through our relating to dad and with our incredible family. Pray that I would know what to share this weekend with the different groups I will be sharing with.

Friday pm - Middle school
Saturday am - fun morning with supporters at a breakfast
Sunday am Early and late service
20/30 somethings
Sunday pm - Sr. high group.

These opportunities are a blessing. Please pray that these segments from the church would see how they should be investing in God's plan for His Kingdom. In Christ, Jamie

Quarter 1 2009

2009-03-02T22:20:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

February Notes

2009-03-02T22:17:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Trip to... California

2009-02-25T06:54:00.000-08:00

The trip was supposed to end up in PNG with the wedding for my dad. The travels for my family ended however in LA. Here we are in the airplane riding out to LAX. The kids really did very well on the airplane ride out.

The children loved looking at the airplanes and even showed the airplanes to "their train Thomas" by holding up the book of Thomas the train to the window so he could "see" the airplane. Brandon was particularly aware of all that was happening on the airplane and both wanted to walk up and down the aisles.

The reason that we had to cut the family's trip to PNG short were phone calls from Anita's family. Glenn, Anita's dad was taken to the hospital in an ambulance and we were told he did not have long. While we know he has been struggling with an unknown illness, diagnosed as cancer(All biopsies have been negative), we were shocked to here he was so poor. Plans were to stay in California from Friday to Sunday when we were scheduled to fly to Brisbane, via Nadi Fiji and then on to PNG. Upon hearing the news we prayed and many of you heard and joined us in prayer. We were able to book tickets to come back to PA and I was able to see dad in the morning on Sunday before travelling back to connect with the ongoing itinerary to PNG. It was good that we were able to come back when we did, a call a day later would have been much more difficult to process! God's timing is perfect.

This past week saw the diagnosis for Dad's immediate illness come back as blood poisoning and within a couple of days, his blood pressure was back to normal. Struggling with a lot of pain, Dad, is currently on some heavy pain killers and is home. He was released from the hospital to come home with hospice care. We received word that Dad's physical weakness and condition were so bad that he would not have long to live. Many of you were praying for us during these hours/days and dad's health took a dramatic change for the positive. On Saturday of this past weekend, Anita noted he had some of his humor back and appears to be gaining strength. Thanks for praying.

We have seen the Lord's hand during this past week in the battle here at home for dad's health. Anita spent several nights by dad's side attending to changing dressings or readjusting his side. His wounds continue to seep but appear to be healing. Anita also has had help with her sister and brother in law watching the kids at times as well as my aunt who has spent portions of days with Brandon and Abby. A few friends offered meals and we were able to take up the offer from Theresa Hampton (our former Director's wife in Thailand). These helps and the prayers of many of you have kept our hearts encouraged through weariness in care for dad and strengthened our spirits too! You are a huge blessing. It has been amazing to see many of you, our extended family in Christ praying for us, calling, and touching base with us. Our Wycliffe family has also been upholding and praying for our family.

While all of this was happening here in the US, I was travelling to PNG and meeting with
many different people while preparing for Dad's wedding. The time was filled with laughter
wedding practices, little construction jobs in the new home, packing, eating with old friends,
getting acquainted with soon to be family (Kombio men), and times of prayer and praise.
I was able to attend the morning of prayer at Ukarumpa and they joined in praying for our
family too! Most days it poured rain, but we(my aunt Caroline and Fred Yocum, cousin Ruth Banner) had a full and fun time. The wedding was joyous and the weather leading up to the ceremony was spectacular.

We praised the Lord for a beautiful international ceremony complete with bible readings by Kombio and Baruga men and the traditional binding of the arms by my Korafe sister, Patricia. To see pictures of the family please visit the picasa website link.

I returned on 24th From brisbane arriving on the 25th in the morning. Tired, but grateful for the improvement in dad's health, a tremendous wedding ceremony, and good
connections on the field with school leadership, branch leadership, and friends, I praise
the Lord for the past 10 days.

As we look forward to the coming weeks, please join us in prayer for the things that we anticipate happening and for things that we don't too!
1. Jamie's travel - roundtrip to pickup JJ on Feb. 25.
- Roundtrip by air to PA on Feb 26th with JJ to drop him off and see family.
-Trip to CA to speak at conference in Escondido Ca - World Class Encounter on Sat returning overnight on Sunday Feb 28th.
-Trip up to join Family on 5th of March tentatively returning on march 9th.
2. Anita and sisters and brother-in-laws and mom as they care for Dad and juggle schedules and kids too!
3. The upcoming celebration of Missionteach in Orlando on march 3. 2900 + teacher candidates to followup from 100 + countries!
4. SLEEP - pray that dad and the family are able to get good restorative sleep over the next several days.
5. Pray that I would be well prepared for speaking engagements this weekend and next in PA
at Aldan Union Church.

PNG?PA? Seeking prayers

2009-02-15T20:29:00.000-08:00

Wow, it has been an impactful 24 hours. I fly to png tonight and anita is in PA with the kids. Tonight she has all night duty at Lancaster General Hospital with her father. We were called yesterday while in California preparing for out trip to PNG when we received the call that Anita's father's health had deteriorated suddenly and seriously and would we consider coming home. We talked and prayed with friends and the four of us took the redeye flight to Harrisburg. Anita and I were picked up by my aunt and taken to see dad who was in the hospital. He was very weak and his blood pressure while up significantly from the night before was better. He is in much pain currently and not doing too well. I left and flew back out to California to make my flight tonight to Australia via Fiji. We would appreciate your prayers.

Many of you read our status on facebook and gave great comments and asked what you could do. Would you consider praying for Anita and sending her some cards at jamieanita@msn.com. It will be hard as we are separated by so many miles to celebrate my dad's wedding and the ongoing saga with Anita's dad's health.

Pray for the children who are struggling have travelled much.
Pray for flights for me as I go to PNG.
Pray for Anita and her siblings as they support mom and dad through this time.
Pray that God would reveal himself in powerful ways to dad. He is in good spirits but suffering with a lot of pain currently. The latest news is that he probably has some blood poisoning. Thanks for you support and love for our family.

Types of airplanes flown on for this flight

2009-02-12T19:34:00.000-08:00

For you plane buffs enjoy this. These should be the planes we fly on for this flight.
Our first a boeing 737.

continue on 747 to Fiji and Australia
Continue on a Fokker Friendship 28 to PortMoresby

final leg on an Islander to Ukarumpa... home of my upbringing.

I hope you enjoyed the airplanes. maybe we can focus on roads next! have a great week and please pray for us. Pray for Dad especially as he and Joan tie the knot. WE are so excited for them. We would also pray that you remember my aunt and uncle as well as cousin that are travelling with us.

check below for a map of our flight path. We are so grateful to all of you that pray faithfully with us. You are a huge blessing in our lives.

Off to png

2009-02-12T11:06:00.000-08:00

Well it is thursday, and I am sitting on our couch. Most of the packing is done and I am tying up loose ends here at the house. Anita is packing a few of her stuff in a suitcase and preparing to go take care of some last minute errands. Abigail and Brandon are taking naps and JJ is with his former foster parents for the next two weeks.

So what does the next couple of weeks hold?...
We would appreciate your prayers for us as we travel to PNG. We leave our home tomorrow morning and will arrive in La. We hope to spend some time enjoying the zoo tomorrow before spending the next day with Friends in San Clemente. The kids love animals and we love watching them interact with animals at the zoo. My Cousin Ruth Banner will join us on Sunday as she flies in from South Bend, enroute to the wedding in PNG too! We fly on Sunday via Nadi (capital of Fiji) to Brisbane Australia where we will overnight and meet up with my aunt Caroline and uncle Fred Yocum. We fly up the next morning, Wednesday to Port Moresby and finally up on the Jaars airplane to Ukarumpa where i grew up. We have guests coming over for dinner and then hope to sleep all night! Thursday and Friday, Jamie has meetings with leaders at Ukarumpa and then the wedding is on Saturday. Sunday we hope to take some down time and take some pictures around Ukarumpa. Monday morning we backtrack along the same route we took going and will finally arrive in Orlando at 6:16am on the 25th.

On the 27th, jamie flies to California to speak at a conference in Escondido and returns on the 28th redeye flight arriving on the 29th in the early morning.

On the 3rd of march, we will once again be sending out a mailing to 1100 colleges across the US about missionteach. This year 2700 individuals have completed profiles indicating an interest in serving overseas in Christian educational options. Awesome!

On March 5, Jamie heads north to PA and will be speaking at the Aldan Union Church missions conference.

So... how to pray...
Mondays: Pray that kids do well with travel and that we parents would travel well too! Health for all.
Tuesdays: Pray for safety in travel and for yourself that you would see God's glory today.
Wednesdays: Pray that we will laugh much, and enjoy family time mixed with work.
Thursdays: Pray for JJ who will be without us for two weeks while we are travelling.
Fridays: pray for our impact on others that we would be the fragrance of Christ.
Saturdays: pray for Anita's dad who continues in his struggle with illness that leaves him weak, and Dr.'s scratching their heads wondering what it really is
Sundays - pray for downtime for the family and rest in Jesus

2009-01-21T05:59:00.000-08:00

Two precious little gems. We feel so very blessed.
Enjoy the flowers - its take time but is worth every moment.
Daddy loves swinging his kids and they love to be swung.
JJ is the cutest little bug and what a snuggler!
This picture taken in Nov. with our Wycliffe HongKong colleagues reminds us of God's faithfulness and of his Kingdom. His bride is gathering from all corners of the globe. Want to be part of it?

Wow - new year, inauguration, and 1000 Missionaries!

2009-01-20T13:33:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe the inauguration has happened and we have new president! Congratulations for another peaceful transition of power. This miracle that we observe regularly is not so common in the majority of the world's countries. While we as Americans celebrate a new president, I am reminded once again of the mandate and command in scripture that perhaps we have not been as faithful in as we should have been. We need to pray that the president would make wise decisions that will benefit this country and its people. I confess that I have all too frequently "trusted" in those in leadership with whom I agreed, but that is not biblical nor does it require Faith or demonstrate foundationally a deep trust in God's leading. Lord let me pray more faithfully.

It has been a bang of a new year with lots of fun and interesting tidbits for us all. The farr family goes the way of dad's favorite teams when cheering on football so this weekend left us sad and happy. We are happy that our favorite afc team (Pittsburgh Steelers) will be playing but sad that our favorite team(Philadelphia Eagles) was knocked out of contention and will not be at the big dance.

JJ learned how to say dadda dadda and has slept all through the night this week several times in a row! Yeah! Go JJ!

Abigail has taken many tumbles but has learned to jump. She also sings three songs without prompting... Away in a manger, Twinkle Twinkle little star, and Jesus loves me. She also communicates pretty well about what happened in the day and is our "little" helper.

Brandon has grown so much that he can reach all of the lights. This morning he turned all of the lights on downstairs and said "see me daddy, I turned lights on." He appears to be struggling with some need for extra attention now so we are trying to hold him and talk with him especially about his day.

Anita is trying to get caught up on housecleaning after having been gone in December into early January in PA and coming home with sick kids. She is tired but appreciates snuggle time with the kids.

I am preparing for three days with my staff who are coming in early for a working retreat followed by a huge convention retreat for the Recruitment Ministries team for Wycliffe. We would ask prayer for the following regarding my smaller retreat.

Pray for the Childrens Education Team retreat:
1. that our team would gel well with a new team member
2. That technology and process related questions could be addressed and the team be on the same page when they leave and have all of their computer issues resolved.
3. That we would enjoy time collectively with the Lord.

Pray for the coming week with All Recruitment team:
1. A revisioning week.
2. A time of spiritual renewal.
3. A time of corporate celebration and rededication to the task.

Pray for our family for the week:
1. Strength for Anita and health for all of us.
2. The Kids learning to "be kind" and "share"
3. For our house guests (Speyers, Bassos) - That they would experience much joy and laughter while in our home.

Praise Items:
1. The website missionteach.com that i have been working on for a couple of years as another way to help people see the needs around the world has had 400 people visit the registration page this month already!
2. All kids pretty much sleep through the night now, although Brandon really struggles falling asleep at night.
3. Over the last three and a half years over 1000 people have joined Wycliffe from our national team. You are part of that! you have participated in sending 1000 new missionaries! I want to say a big thank you to all of you. Awesome!

Pics with dad and Joan in November

2008-12-21T00:33:00.001-08:00

Pictures from last year this time.

2008-12-14T14:13:00.000-08:00

These pictures crack me up at this point. The kids were only crawling or just starting to walk in Brandon's case last year at this time. Now they are running!
Below you will see the picture of my mom, dad, the kids (less JJ) and anita's mom and dad. It is very hard for us as dad Thomas is sick at this point in time and has lost much weight and strength. Doctors after 20 months continue to have no certain diagnosis or reason for his weight loss and weakness. We are much in prayer for him and a few others who are very sick. We go into this Christmas season keeping our eyes very much on Jesus and enjoying the beautiful lives he has surrounded us with! The children have really grown and so have we.
Anita and I have become more patient, more generous in our love for each other, more intent on little changes in the kids lives, guarded about how we spend our time, more celebratory about little happenings and more prayerful daily that we would be Christ like and our kids see Jesus in ourselves and others!
This family is so much closer, larger, more aware of each other and even more grateful (hardly seems possible) for the friends and family that God has blessed us with. We could not serve without you, not that we would want to, but we know that God has called us together to serve for His glory! It has been a great year, but a hard one too. It has been a fruitfilled year, but a year of loss and passing away of dear friends and family.
We know that God gives and takes away, but he always does what is best for our lives.

A little example of God doing what is best in our lives. This year has been a year of adding children through God's gracious giving while at the same time we lost a few supporters who have joined heaven's ranks. We also have experienced the financial challenges experienced whenever you some of your faithful partners are no longer able to support you as they once did. IN This past month however God made up a six month shortfall through some one time gifts. Rejoice with us in unseen provision.

JJ has been with us now for about three weeks and is settling in well. He is a foster son at this point, but we are praying that we will be able to adopt him in the spring. We also ask that you would pray with us that we would be able to take him with us to PNG for dad's wedding in February. Thanks for your partnership in the gospel.

Pictures. pictures, pictures

2008-12-14T14:05:00.000-08:00

Here are some fun pictures from this past month with the three kids.

A Day in the life of the team...

2008-12-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

Here is our family in their first helicopter experience. The kids loved experiencing watching the helicopter but were not so happy to think about riding in it.

My kids are eagles fans and greeted their daddy with eagles outfits when I landed to show off their support for their daddy. Brandon loves to say "iggles" and Abigail sings the song "fly eagles fly, go iggles" JJ just laughs and smiles. I will take it all. My wife supports this crazy family and we all love mommy!

This sitting area, part of the completed addition is such a great place to relax and enjoy time with friends and family. We praise the Lord for the gift of time that so many generously donated in helping us this year and for my great Aunt and Uncle who gave the finances necessary to complete the addition. This would not have happened without friends, churches, family pitching together on so many fronts. Our children and we use this space out back every day for many hours and even neighbors come over and play in the backyard about three to four times each week! Thank you Lord.

Ruth Baek, pictured here with Bob Pittman has been very involved with MK nest in Korea. This woman has been a huge support to many Korean families preparing to go overseas in terms of the support that their families will need while serving. It was great to finally meet her in HongKOng while on my trip. We met together briefly to discuss future opportunities. Ruth and Bob are two important cogs in the world of MK teachers. Bob's father Dick Pittman was instrumental in the opening of Wycliffe's work in Vietnam, Philippines, PNG, Australia, Russia and a few other places I can't talk about. Bob is my mentor and his wife serves on my CHED recruitment team. Please pray that God would extend the reach of servants like these.

These three are always in cahoots about something. I cannot express how much joy these three gifts bring to our family. Brandon, 25 months is the oldest and has a very sensitive spirit.
JJ(middle) is almost 8 months old and has a smile that would brighten the saddest face. He also is very inquisative and does not like anything taken out of his hands. He is now learning to stand with support.
Abigail is my little princess. She is so very helpful and thoughtful but also has a devious streak about her. She can also be a flirt too. Please pray with us as we seek to raise these gifts in the love and admonition of the Lord. We are humbled by God's great love for us! Thank you for your prayers over the many years. IN the past two years, the Lord has filled our home with little children and our hearts with the wonder of him, our minds with the awareness that we need his spirit, and our arms with crying, laughing, smiling, sad, happy, smart, thoughtful bundles of joy.

Hongkong moments - The light of the World

2008-12-06T16:58:00.001-08:00

800 educators from all over Asia came to the meetings in HongKong.

There were plenary sessions that were excellent as well as some great times of connection as we met with many of our Wycliffe teachers teaching in different locations.

Speaking with teachers, administrators, and individuals really reminds you of the hardships, joys and challenges to getting this gospel out. It was encouraging to see our fellow coworkers!

Here we are at 6:40 am preparing to take the bus to the school where we began by eating and then starting meetings. The bus ride was about 10 minutes followed by 10 hours of meetings, some time away for dinner and then evening sessions.
My favorite session was one led by Dr. Gary Chapman where he shared on five languages of apology. I hope to read his book on this.

This was the track that I ran around outside our concrete floor cabins. The cabins had four sets of bunks concrete floors and a communal bathroom with holes in the ground and one western toilet. the toilet stalls also served as the showers which had water hoses coming out of the walls. It was fun rustic and memorable. Bob and I share a room in these lush quarters while our wives and kids pined away for us in Dallas and Orlando respectively.

The entrance to our camp is shown below. The guard was very helpful and let us in late at night. The idea of keys being for each room is a western one. All of us in one cabin shared one key which we left at the front gate with the guard. You can imagine if the last person does not leave the key and stays out till midnight... the others will share certain thoughts with the infractor when he comes back...

This fence reminded me of colonialism and its effects on HongKong and its Chinese inhabitants. The wealthy had while others were left on the outside looking in. The honest confessions of my heart show that I have so very much. I own a house (part of one - the bank owns most of it) and have vehicles, toys, clothes, while some we saw had nothing. Their smiles were just as broad, their faces just as happy... Lord thanks for trips where i get to see your hand and meet your people and see those who still wait. My heart yearns for the day when each of these will read and know that you love them and that you understand their prayers, their music, their issues - their hearts.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent,^[c] nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. (John 1:10-13 NIV)

God is raising up many in China who know Jesus. We heard through a friend that bibles in massive numbers are being printed and distributed though legal channels. We celebrate God's word spreading. Thanks for your prayers and partnership in the gospel with us. jamie for the Farr clan.

Coming back from Hongkong

2008-11-29T18:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends and family,
I am travelling back from travel to Hongkong and a great conference with school administrators and some different agencies and teachers from all over the globe. I will be updating the pages, but would ask that you all pray as I travel back to the US. I have a fifteen hour flight into chicago and then continue on to Orlando tonight. I hope to put a day in the life of Jamie page up in the next day or two of my time in HongKong. Thanks for your prayers for anita while I was gone. In Christ, jamie

Last Languages Campaign launches.

2008-11-21T19:57:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow we launch the last languages campaign. The tent is up and i will be reading in Korafe and will be carrying the PNG flag. We will have several different friends from our church coming. The kids and anita will come out to join us after the initial celebration to be part of the fair type atmosphere around lake Tyndale at Wycliffe Headquarters. There will be food, language and culture tents, a village story, prayer booths, dancers, artists, and many other specialists here to celebrate what God is doing around the globe. We rejoice in what God is doing. Thank you for your prayers. Please write us and let us know how we can pray for you. Love Jamie for the five of us.

Last Languages Campaign Website

What is God doing?

2008-11-19T19:54:00.000-08:00

2 days to go to the Launch at Wycliffe's headquarters in the US. It is amazing to me to think that this story is so small considering the ramifications of the completion of the task for this world. Then again, there was no widely told story when Jesus was born in a stable, probably a cave in a small poor town in Judea though either.

In 2 days Wycliffe will be launching the last languages campaign as a response to Vision 2025. This vision has been written about and talked about in Wycliffe and SIL organizations now for the better part of 9 years... But more important than Vision 2025 is the culmination or result of the culmination of these projects. Matthew 24:14 says, "the gospel will be preached to the ends of the earth and then the end will come." Wycliffe US recognizing the import of telling this story, getting people to pray, invest, and go is launching this event. It is not without impossible odds or without its challenges, in fact the launch and the plan to begin the last 2200 + languages in just 17 years is impossible if we try to do it ourselves. This is a God sized task and will incorporate the worldwide church, if it is to be accomplished. However, the world has never seen bible translation accelerated like it has in the past 8 years.

Standing at the dawn of a 10 year campaign, praying for God's direction, leadership, and equipping is an exciting opportunity to consider. It is also one that Anita and I and all of the Wycliffe Family cannot hope to accomplish in our strength, expertise, and experience. I tell you however that we believe God will accomplish this challenge and that we will see workers beginning the process of Bible translation in the remaining languages of the world in the coming years.

God has accelerated Bible translation in the last eight years to the place that today a bible is started every 4 to 5 days. Anita and I know that we will not have the strength or resources for this task before us - so we are writing you our friends, family, churches and loved ones to consider what you might consider doing as part of this.

This morning i faced some very daunting questions as i talked with the Lord.
What will be my impact on eternity?
Will the Lord make us relevant to others in this life and the next?
Am I doing the job that I am to be doing or is God calling me to something more?
How will the Lord use our family for etermity?

Many of you lift us up in prayer regularly, and some of you financially have joined the team with us, and others are considering going. Please join us in some tangible way for what promises to be the greatest time in the history of man as we See God begin work among people groups that have never understood that they are valuable, valued and their sins paid for by Jesus. We can't wait to be part of accelerating this process and seeing it happen while we are on watch.

Love from Jamie for the five of us.

3 days to the largest celebration ever held by Wycliffe

2008-11-19T05:54:00.000-08:00

In three days we will launch the last languages campaign at Wycliffe Headquarters. This promises to be the event that launches us into the final languages remaining on the earth. WE are excited to Join God in seeing the languages of the world and the peoples see hear and know that God speaks their language, values them and loves them and is holding off eternity until they hear. Expectations, expectations, expectations...

family pics

2008-11-16T19:47:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken when the kids picked out pumpkins a week ago.

This picture was taken in Early November when we first went to visit JJ.

Last month Brandon and Abigail were dedicated at first Baptist.

This was at the beginning of this season. We love those eagles.

Here are the kids this past week. They just learned how to shuck corn this past week. They really enjoy eating it though! What a blessing.

Last languages campaign website

2008-11-16T13:24:00.000-08:00

So why are we doing this bible translation thing? What is the purpose of the last languages campaign launch? Why is Jamie building a set for a prayer tent for this Friday?

Click here to see the videos recorded of people from all over the world talking about why it is important in their lives and for their entire group of people.

The Word of God in the Last Languages

A Vision for 2025
For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NLT)
You just did something that nearly 200 million people cannot do. You read God's Word in the language you've most likely spoken from infancy — the language you understand best and that touches your heart.
Wycliffe Bible Translators and our partners have made remarkable strides. But there remains so much yet to be done.
There are still more than 2,200 languages that must be translated. We cannot wait.
This is a story full of urgency. The last language can be started by 2025. It is possible, and that is Wycliffe's mission and commitment.
The vision is to reach the last languages on earth with the words of eternal life — a vision that can be shared by every Christian.
Time will not wait. If we act now, God's Word and the knowledge of God's love will reach millions.
God’s Word in my words
When God’s Word arrives in a heart language, it changes everything. In cultures where women, widows, children and strangers are frequently looked down upon, God’s Word says that all are loved and have equal standing in God’s eyes.
In villages where fear of demonic spirits rules daily life, the one true God brings the person of Jesus and the assurance of His presence and power. In a culture that denies truth and prizes superstition,God’s Word casts out ignorance and fear.
Having their own Scriptures often inspires Christians to compose hymns, dramas and songs borne from deep within them. Their prayers become more meaningful as they pray God’s Word using their first language, fully expressing their innermost thoughts and feelings.
When we read and hear God’s Word, we know He loves us. He speaks our language. He uses words we understand. We hear our name imbedded in His promises. We trust His stories when His words use expressions familiar to us. In our culture, we often take all this for granted.
Think of what it means when a person hears God’s words for the first time. Lives are transformed.
Imagine what happens to a community member, or an entire village, when they first hear Scripture in their own words. Their own inflections, phrasing and nuances.
God tells them that He loves them. In their own language. Hope rises. Faith soars. Fear disappears.
They hear God’s Word with the authority of the One who knows them intimately—speaking their language.
Everyone in the community is forever affected. One life touches another. And they pass it on from one generation to the next.

Huge Event at Wycliffe.

2008-11-15T11:58:00.000-08:00

Wycliffe will be launching the Last languages Campaign this next Friday and Saturday. This event is a commissioning and launch for Wycliffe to address the remaining 2251 languages of the World that still wait for the Word of God. These languages have noone working among them. On Friday and Saturday over 500 people from all over the country will be coming and we want to invite any of you that would like to crash this awesome party to join us. We have been incredibly busy with picking up JJ - our new son tomorrow and having my new step mom here visiting with dad as well as building sets for the event itself. Anita has been busily working at cleaning, preparing for a new baby, hosting, and helping with other challenges at church, and Wycliffe.

We hope this is encouraging reading. God is doing some great things and we hope to be sharing more. Running out the door to get our third child JJ. All our love, will write more later. Jamie for the four of us

2008-11-13T03:50:00.001-08:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Upcoming travel and prayer and praise needs

2008-10-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

Jamie and Anita plan to drive up this weekend to pickup their new boy – JB Farr

Jamie as he travels – Monday Missionteach meeting in CO springs.

Tuesday meetings in California – WCE that evening with Biola students and former teachers from PNG and a current one from California. (NO Staff MEETING)

Wednesday – Jamie meets with profs at biola and then travels to meet with SW office at their retreat.

Thursday - Jamie returns by evening.

Friday/Sunday – down day and CPR update for Jamie and Anita and trip to Pick up JB in Northern Florida.

Nov. 5 - 10 Jamie will be in Dallas at the Finishers conference. He is presenting at the conference on missionteach and will be meeting with the International Coordinator for Literacy. please pray for him regarding how to help the effort to coordinate recruitment for literacy needs around the world. Currently there are 187 people needed worldwide immediately.

We praise the Lord for the upcoming travel in terms of return for the Kingdom but we would ask that you pray for our family especially Anita as Jamie is away. Pray for safety in travel, obedience by the kids, good sleep and health for the whole family and that the kids would know that we love them!

PS if you go on to www.myfirstorlando.com and search for the 10:45 service on the 19th of Oct. you can watch the service of dedication to the Lord for our two children. Please watch it and you will see us quickly seen. Jamie

A great week with family!

2008-10-18T14:10:00.001-07:00

See our cuties. Katie joined Brandon and Abigail on the couch her first night here. It was so fun to see the girls sporting their new "pig pajamas". The kids loved seeing each other and playing together again.

You have been hearing about the room....

Well, see it below. Here is the answer to prayer. Honestly, this addition would not have been a reality without the gift of a generous donor and contributions of time by Ralph, Connie, Bill, and several others. Anita has been so very gracious and patient in the process, but we are truly grateful to all of you.

You see the kid's play corner that Anita and I cut,painted, and put together. This was a work of love and totally reflects Anita's creative abilities. The kids shrieked for joy when they first saw their play area.

Here is the outside view of the room, porch, and patio outside.

The kids enjoyed Dad Day on Friday. Dan, my brother-in-law and I had the day with the kids as Anita and Becky spent the day relaxing together. We had so much fun. The kids played in the kiddie pool, wrestled, played with balls, went for a long walk, all followed by pizza for lunch. We spent the afternoon taking naps and then had grilled hamburgers and went to the park where the kids played until dark.

Two days this week, our families spent at Seaworld and it is hard to pick any one activity or moment that we enjoyed most. Thank you mom and Dad for your gift to us last year that gave us the opportunity to enjoy God's beauty in this way so much. We had a great time this week with Staskels; our family, our friends, and our support team.

Please consider coming to visit us, pray with, vacation with us, and relate with us.

On the work side... This week we reached the milestone of having over 400 teachers complete profiles and indicate interest in positions all over the world.

Anita and I look forward to tomorrow... but most of all to seeing God move in the lives of our children as they are dedicated. Please share with us how we may serve or help you understand how vital you are to the ministry. Praising the Lord for you.. Jamie for the four of us.

A great week with family!

2008-10-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

Dan, Becky and Katie - some of our best friends and family too... came and we have had some great times. See the pictures. Here the kids sit on our loveseat. Abigail and cousin Katie both received new pig pajamas. They loved the soft texture.

Here the three little cousins sit at the table Grandpa built out behind the new extension which is finally finished. The kids loved their day with their daddy's. The kids have played outside each day. On daddy's day they swam, played outside, went for a walk, ate pizza and went to a park after eating hamburgers at night. Wow, what a day.

As if that was enough, today the whole family went and enjoyed Sea World. W e have really enjoyed days at SeaWorld. Thanks for the gift of the tickets mom and dad! We all really enjoyed the shows and watching the kids shriek for joy at all different points. The negative - they actually have water that they don't want the kids playing in. Imagine that! Katie and Abigail found that fountain and of course wanted to get in... but of course we were able to resolve the moment with bowls of icecream. We came home excited but tired.

Here we are as a family at the South Pole.

Its finally here! Kids dedicated to the Lord!

2008-10-16T06:30:00.000-07:00

Abigail and Brandon are facing some important days ahead. This coming sunday they will be dedicated. We are so thankful for your prayers for our family over the years. We want to thank you for praying for us... many of you have prayed for us, helped us, and asked the Lord to bless our family with Children. We excitedly join you in thanking God for this wonderful provision.

Here to celebrate this weekend with us are some close friends and anita's sister Becky and Dan and their family. We gratefully thank the Lord for the kids, but more so for his promise to look out for them. Please pray with us this Sunday and consider affirming with us God's blessing of these children.

Stormie OMartian says, "there is no greater thing we can do for our kids than pray". Pray with us for these precious gifts and help us in raising them up in the Lord. Grateful for your prayers, Jamie

News, News, News

2008-10-07T20:23:00.000-07:00

We received a call last thursday asking us to consider taking a little boy into our family. This boys name is Angel, and he is the younger brother to our beautiful little Brandon. We were so very excited, but we also recognize that little angel will add new challenges to our lives. Angel is five months old. His mother is currently unable to care for him and it looks like he may join our family permanently. This brought Anita a great sense of joy, and me a sense of fulfillment.

We were grateful and yet, asked the Lord for Wisdom. Angel currently is several hours away. Please pray for us as we anticipate getting him in the next couple of weeks. We received a picture of him yesterday and he looks like a cute straight haired Brandon with a slightly more cherubic smile.

God has certainly filled our home in the last three years in ways that we never expected. Blessed be his name! Love in Christ, Jamie