Wrapping It Up

(Josi (Tona's sister), Corey, Maggie, Tona, David (our nephew) and Alex on Thanksgiving)

It's hard to believe it's already December! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We drove up to Michigan to spend Thanksgiving with our families. We'll be here for a few more weeks to itinerate and enjoy Christmas with our loved ones.

As this year comes to a close we'd like to ask for your help. First and foremost we need your prayers. Our initial hope was that at this time we'd be packing up to leave for Colombia, but this year has proved difficult to raise the support necessary in order to do so and we find ourselves delayed. We need you to stand in agreement with us petitioning God to work a few miracles in our fundraising finances.

We need churches and individuals to join with us in this mission. If you are not already a monthly partner with us would you please consider joining us now? We cannot leave for the field until we have raised 100 percent of our monthly support. Our biggest need right now is to raise up monthly support so that we can get to the field.

If you already support us, we thank you so much. Would you please pass on our information to your friends, pastors or others who might be interested in knowing more or helping out?

You can click on these links or go to the "How Can I Help" tab on the left side of this page to make a donation.

For a one-time donation click here

To become a monthly partner click here

Thank you so much. We are praying for a Christmas miracle, that we will see huge strides forward in our support raising. I hope to post a few more blogs with updates of great success! Can you believe for a miracle with us?

Merry Christmas!

~Tona

Unexpected Blessings

We have been blessed so much. I'd like to share a few of the stories with you on how we have been touched by churches, pastors and friends throughout these last weeks.

A couple of weeks ago we spent a weekend in Tennessee for the Tri-Cities Missions Convention, which I must take a moment to brag on. The Tri-Cities section had a 100% participation - all of the churches in the section took part in the convention where we were able to share our burden for Colombia with all of the pastors in a rally Saturday night and then on Sunday all of the missionaries were dispersed throughout the churches to minister. We had three services on Sunday - one in Spanish - and then a wonderful breakfast on Monday. We were so touched by the openness and kindness that all of the pastors showed us and their enormous hearts for missions.

The following weekend we packed up again and headed to Panama City, Florida. Again, we were blessed so unexpectedly. They put us in a beautiful hotel the night before our service. On Sunday we were able to share our heart for Colombia in both the English and the Spanish service. After the morning service they gave us information to go to a resort on Panama City Beach. They set up for us to stay for two nights! I failed to mention that Corey was on the road at least five days every week throughout September, so after going to Tennessee and then driving to Florida, we were running pretty close to empty! We spent Monday and Tuesday, just the four of us, taking time to enjoy a relaxing break. It had been three years since we had been on a trip where we just rested together as a family. We have been on trips with extended family or conferences in beautiful places, but it's been three years since the four of us could take a vacation on our own. We savored every moment of it!

The rest of October has been going so wonderfully. In one service, God's perfect timing put us in a church the week their pastor was sick and unable to preach. In another, we were able to visit Pastor Dennis and Miss Sue's church (the Pastors who originally sent us out as missionaries) where it was not only a wonderful blessing to be with them but also to watch as our darling Rachel, one of our former youth, led the adults with her amazing gifts! It's so cool to see our "kids" all grown up and in ministry.

So much more has happened and I could write a book with all that we've seen and our experiences, but one more that stands out was a visit we had just this last Sunday. We were scheduled for an evening service at a church we haven't visited before. We have mutual friends with the pastor, but we didn't know much more about the church. That's common, but I'll be honest here. One of the hurdles of itineration is that we spend a lot of time in the pulpit preaching and teaching and giving our all to be a blessing to the people we visit, but there are times when we do not do enough to refill our own spirits. We have devotions in our house every morning before we start our day where we all read our own devotional or study and then we come together for prayer, but sometimes that's not enough to sustain our spirits after all of the traveling, school, meetings, etc. that go on.

When we walked through the doors of the church I'd have to say we were spiritually tired, but we went in with our game faces on, ready to give whatever we had left. Our goal was to make it through service and crash and recover on Monday. Well, God was having none of that. Worship started - and they were an awesome group of worship leaders. They sang "How He Loves", which happens to be one of my favorite worship songs right now - that whole story is for another blog, another time. As they sang, the Holy Spirit began to move through that church. There were probably 30 of us there and most of the people flooded the altar. At one point a man came forward and threw away his cigarettes, not because of a sermon or a call to do that, just because the Spirit had moved him to get rid of it. I found myself praising and tears falling down my cheeks. It was such a sweet and refreshing atmosphere.

The pastor called us forward. Churches pray over us often, but this was different. This time was not to pray over our ministry or support, etc. He gave us a specific word for the state of our spirits and the prayer was direct and intentional to restore us and refill what we had poured out. He said he sensed our heaviness and weariness and as he prayed I was so grateful that we were in a place where we could be real, give it all to God and let him refresh our exhausted spirits. It's difficult to explain the whole experience in a blog, but that was such an unusual service where I felt the Lord tear off my "game face" and remind me to be real, that sometimes I need to be the one in the altar, not just the one praying for those who come forward. When it came time to share about Colombia I had a tough time keeping it together. God really rocked me that night, but I left that church different - and better - than when I had walked through the doors and that is one of the best blessings to receive!

~Tona

Happy Birthday, Maggie!

Maggie is 12 years old today!

Fall Update

Our Fall Update is available for your viewing pleasure! Click on the picture for a larger view.

~Tona

Monthly Updates

We just started using a new email service to get a monthly update out to our friends, supporters and anyone interested in what's going on as we prepare for our return to Colombia. If you didn't receive an email and you'd like to, please fill out this form to join our mailing list.

~Tona

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Kautz Academy of Ugly Toed Zebras

That's what we...or maybe just I...considered naming our homeschool when we had to declare a name for our new home study program. We went with Kautz Academy. The kids thought it was really cool that they got to do their first day of school barefoot. We went through a few names and realized we're really just simple people and a simple name was fitting!

We embarked on this new adventure in homeschooling and so far it's going well...of course we've only completed one day. Fortunately I've been able to connect with several moms who are homeschooling and it's been a blessing to get their wisdom. We are so new to all of this. I'd love to hear any insight or ideas you might have to help us make this year a great one. Please keep us in your prayers as we work out the details and take on this new year!
~Tona

Where Do You Do Church?

One of the most exciting parts of itineration is seeing the diversity among all the of the churches we visit. We've seen many cultures within the walls of the church, worship and music that spans generations and styles. Even more interesting is where we've seen all of this happening.

We've been in some churches that are very large with coffee stands in the foyer, stadium seating and state-of-the-art lighting and sound equipment. We've been in churches that remind me of the church I grew up in, a "traditional" style church, with the piano and organ on stage, pews and the same communion table that says "This do till He comes." We've seen some that are just like the church where my grandparents pastor - smaller in size but big in the way of a "church family" atmosphere. Someone told me recently that I should start a blog to chronicle the many churches and people we have encountered along the way. There would definitely be some moving experiences but there would also be a lot of funny stories to share and many instances where a song, a circumstance or a person instantly transports our minds to a childhood memory. (I've even actually run into my childhood Sunday School teachers along the way!) I'm getting off track...

One of the coolest things we've seen outside of all of the actual church buildings are innovative places where people are creating church. We've visited churches in elementary schools, middle schools, community centers, the Country Inn and Suites!! It's so amazing to see people who just want to worship God - no matter where that happens to be. That is not to say anything against congregations who meet in an actual church building, I'm just so impressed by the dedication it takes for pastors and their teams to show up with their trucks, cars or trailers and every Sunday completely set up chairs, audio, visual, instruments, make-shift nurseries, etc...everything they need to have church. There's something so cool about worshipping in a place where you know the next day it will be filled with children or people in the community who don't have a relationship with Christ. They may not realize where they are entering, but they are stepping into buildings where the Holy Spirit has been invited, where prayers were lifted up for them. I love thinking about the people unknowingly walking into the presence of God. It makes me wonder what kind of a difference it makes. I know they're all just buildings but I still believe it makes an impact.

In a few weeks we'll be visiting a church that meets in a movie theater. Awesome! I can't wait to see what that's like! One day all of these churches will probably have their own building and that will give them a chance to create more time for services and specific ministries for youth, etc. but I'm glad we are able to witness how amazing church is wherever it may be!

~Tona