PREACH~TEACH~REACH
Friday, November 16, 2018
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
August 2018 Deputation Adventures
Hello family and friends,
I pray that you are all well and blessed! We are excited to tell you how God worked and blessed our family in the month of August.
We had the opportunity to have a few weeks of stability in our mission home in Alabama. From Tuesday through Friday, we were able to have a regular day of school with the boys, plan for the next school year, and get much work caught up and finished.
In the picture to the right, from left to right is Elijah (13 and in 8th grade), Seth (17 and in 11th grade), Nathan (15 and in 10th grade), and Jared (12 and in 7th grade). Edited to change my youngest 2 boys' grades. How in the world are they in those grades already???
We also had some family time and meals around the table which was so needed! What a blessing! We traveled on the weekends and on Wednesday evenings and had some wonderful meetings with God giving the increase and churches partnering with us in the ministry!
The guys were invited on an overnight camping trip!
Then Joshua, Seth, and Nathan got
to go kayaking with some friends!
We were in Tennessee next, where we again had blessed meetings, were even invited to another meeting which extended our stay, and then were invited to a conference in October. We just praise the Lord for all He is doing!
While in Tennessee, our family was blessed with tickets to The Discovery Park of America, and my youngest 3 boys and I were able to go and have a great time! The inside was wonderful with all kinds of historical and educational and FUN things to see and do, but the outside was even better!
We stayed in a wonderful little cabin on acres of land, a pond full of fish, and an amazing front and back porch where I enjoyed doing school and whatever else needed done. We got to visit with Joshua's sister and her family, who live nearby. Our boys so enjoyed spending time with their cousins! And a friend that I hadn't seen in years drove hours to come spend the evening with me...such a fun time! Joshua and I were also incredibly blessed to go out on a dinner date...ALONE!
God has increased our support to 64% in August and we have a couple more churches who have chosen to partner with us! He is bringing it to pass, glory to God!
We have begun Mission Conference season and will be very busy over the next few months with meetings and travel. We are excited to be a part of these meetings and can't wait to see what God is going to do!
Please pray:
That we will be a blessing and an encouragement.
That more churches will feel led to partner with us.
For strength and help in the full weeks ahead.
For travel safety.
Ya'll are a blessing to our family. All of your messages of encouragement to us and prayers for us mean so very much! We love ya'll!
I pray that you are all well and blessed! We are excited to tell you how God worked and blessed our family in the month of August.
We had the opportunity to have a few weeks of stability in our mission home in Alabama. From Tuesday through Friday, we were able to have a regular day of school with the boys, plan for the next school year, and get much work caught up and finished.
In the picture to the right, from left to right is Elijah (13 and in 8th grade), Seth (17 and in 11th grade), Nathan (15 and in 10th grade), and Jared (12 and in 7th grade). Edited to change my youngest 2 boys' grades. How in the world are they in those grades already???
We also had some family time and meals around the table which was so needed! What a blessing! We traveled on the weekends and on Wednesday evenings and had some wonderful meetings with God giving the increase and churches partnering with us in the ministry!
The guys were invited on an overnight camping trip!
to go kayaking with some friends!
We were in Tennessee next, where we again had blessed meetings, were even invited to another meeting which extended our stay, and then were invited to a conference in October. We just praise the Lord for all He is doing!
While in Tennessee, our family was blessed with tickets to The Discovery Park of America, and my youngest 3 boys and I were able to go and have a great time! The inside was wonderful with all kinds of historical and educational and FUN things to see and do, but the outside was even better!
We stayed in a wonderful little cabin on acres of land, a pond full of fish, and an amazing front and back porch where I enjoyed doing school and whatever else needed done. We got to visit with Joshua's sister and her family, who live nearby. Our boys so enjoyed spending time with their cousins! And a friend that I hadn't seen in years drove hours to come spend the evening with me...such a fun time! Joshua and I were also incredibly blessed to go out on a dinner date...ALONE!
We have begun Mission Conference season and will be very busy over the next few months with meetings and travel. We are excited to be a part of these meetings and can't wait to see what God is going to do!
Please pray:
That we will be a blessing and an encouragement.
That more churches will feel led to partner with us.
For strength and help in the full weeks ahead.
For travel safety.
Ya'll are a blessing to our family. All of your messages of encouragement to us and prayers for us mean so very much! We love ya'll!
Thursday, August 9, 2018
June/July 2018 Deputation Adventures Pt. 2
This is part 2 of our June/July happenings. Click here for part 1.
I want to start trying to share some of our adventures here on the blog, especially for those who don't do Facebook. If you're already friends with us on FB, then you may have seen a lot of this. But maybe you haven't...I know I don't see everything all my friends are doing due to time constraint or FB hiding things.
Anyway, I don't know how faithful I will be with this...but I will try. :) And I'm not going to go back and try to share all that has gone on in the last 14+ months, other than what we've already written about in past blog posts and in newsletters.
In the last post we were leaving NY. After New York, we had a Monday-Friday Camp Meeting we were scheduled to be at in Eastern Pennsylvania. There were several churches that get together and put this on, and each church took time to have their choir or special singers minister, and each pastor started the services each night. We stayed about 25 minutes away from the meeting, in Maryland. What a beautiful part of the country! Rolling green hills and lovely farms, horses and cows and gardens...it was just gorgeous to drive to and from each day.
We enjoyed some wonderful preaching, missionary presentations, and singing the whole week. It was a blessing and and an encouragement to us. Everyone was so friendly and we were very much refreshed after the week was over. We were blessed to meet several missionaries this week and even met a pastor-turned-missionary (and his son) from near my birth place, Houma, Louisiana, who pastored my parents for awhile! We love visiting with other missionaries. We have been blessed by them throughout the years as we were the ones being ministered to when they came to our church to share their burden.
Excuse the blurry picture...this meeting was outdoors and the lighting made for interesting pictures.
We had an adventure during one of the morning meetings! A missionary to Brazil gave his presentation. An amazing story of how God has been using his family on the field for a number of years already. He spoke of jungles, and riding in a boat to get to remote villages. After he was finished and had sat down, the service went on. All of a sudden, there was a commotion near where he was sitting on the other side of the building. A snake had slithered in to join us! That same missionary got up and helped to take him away from the outdoor building where we were. It took some minutes before he and some other men were able to get him...the snake was up and striking near the front platform when they finally got him out. It was quite exciting, but I sure am glad that I was all the way on the other side!
From Pennsylvania, we made our way down to Tennessee. God answered our prayer and allowed all my boys to be able to go to camp! We dropped our oldest 3 off at a church in TN, where they left early Monday morning to travel down to Pensacola, FL, to attend Pensacola Christian College's Teen Extreme camp. They had an absolutely wonderful time and enjoyed the youth group they were with so much! They have not stopped talking about the camp, the youth pastor that they went with, and the friends they made. I am so very thankful that they had that opportunity!
After we dropped the older boys off, the rest of us headed down to South Carolina for Midway Baptist Youth Camp. We joined 3 other churches and had a blessed time! The preaching was awesome, the singing was so good, and the way that God met with us there was so wonderful! A lot of kids, as well as us adults, got some help from the Lord. It was so great to see the young people praising the Lord and just enjoying the things of God. 7 young people were saved this week!!!
On Friday we headed back to TN to spend the night and pick up our teens.
From here we headed to North Carolina, where we stayed in a place we consider a home away from home. It truly has been a blessing to come back to this place time and again. We walk in, and there are scentsy things burning, everything is clean and refreshing, and....there is a washer and dryer! Hallelujah! :D I'm just giving God praise for what He does for us. And I pray that God blesses the people all around the US who go out of their way to take care of missionaries!
The end of July found us in northwest Florida...closer to "home" but not close enough. We had a great time here and enjoyed yet another wonderful mission home!
Again, we are so very grateful for the opportunities that God has allowed in our lives and the amazing people that He's put in our path during this deputation journey! And let me tell you all...God has some GREAT, godly churches scattered all over the United States. With people who love the Lord, want to do His will, and work in the harvest. I'm so thankful to be a part of what God is doing!
I want to start trying to share some of our adventures here on the blog, especially for those who don't do Facebook. If you're already friends with us on FB, then you may have seen a lot of this. But maybe you haven't...I know I don't see everything all my friends are doing due to time constraint or FB hiding things.
Anyway, I don't know how faithful I will be with this...but I will try. :) And I'm not going to go back and try to share all that has gone on in the last 14+ months, other than what we've already written about in past blog posts and in newsletters.
In the last post we were leaving NY. After New York, we had a Monday-Friday Camp Meeting we were scheduled to be at in Eastern Pennsylvania. There were several churches that get together and put this on, and each church took time to have their choir or special singers minister, and each pastor started the services each night. We stayed about 25 minutes away from the meeting, in Maryland. What a beautiful part of the country! Rolling green hills and lovely farms, horses and cows and gardens...it was just gorgeous to drive to and from each day.
We enjoyed some wonderful preaching, missionary presentations, and singing the whole week. It was a blessing and and an encouragement to us. Everyone was so friendly and we were very much refreshed after the week was over. We were blessed to meet several missionaries this week and even met a pastor-turned-missionary (and his son) from near my birth place, Houma, Louisiana, who pastored my parents for awhile! We love visiting with other missionaries. We have been blessed by them throughout the years as we were the ones being ministered to when they came to our church to share their burden.
Excuse the blurry picture...this meeting was outdoors and the lighting made for interesting pictures.
We had an adventure during one of the morning meetings! A missionary to Brazil gave his presentation. An amazing story of how God has been using his family on the field for a number of years already. He spoke of jungles, and riding in a boat to get to remote villages. After he was finished and had sat down, the service went on. All of a sudden, there was a commotion near where he was sitting on the other side of the building. A snake had slithered in to join us! That same missionary got up and helped to take him away from the outdoor building where we were. It took some minutes before he and some other men were able to get him...the snake was up and striking near the front platform when they finally got him out. It was quite exciting, but I sure am glad that I was all the way on the other side!
From Pennsylvania, we made our way down to Tennessee. God answered our prayer and allowed all my boys to be able to go to camp! We dropped our oldest 3 off at a church in TN, where they left early Monday morning to travel down to Pensacola, FL, to attend Pensacola Christian College's Teen Extreme camp. They had an absolutely wonderful time and enjoyed the youth group they were with so much! They have not stopped talking about the camp, the youth pastor that they went with, and the friends they made. I am so very thankful that they had that opportunity!
After we dropped the older boys off, the rest of us headed down to South Carolina for Midway Baptist Youth Camp. We joined 3 other churches and had a blessed time! The preaching was awesome, the singing was so good, and the way that God met with us there was so wonderful! A lot of kids, as well as us adults, got some help from the Lord. It was so great to see the young people praising the Lord and just enjoying the things of God. 7 young people were saved this week!!! On Friday we headed back to TN to spend the night and pick up our teens.
From here we headed to North Carolina, where we stayed in a place we consider a home away from home. It truly has been a blessing to come back to this place time and again. We walk in, and there are scentsy things burning, everything is clean and refreshing, and....there is a washer and dryer! Hallelujah! :D I'm just giving God praise for what He does for us. And I pray that God blesses the people all around the US who go out of their way to take care of missionaries!
The end of July found us in northwest Florida...closer to "home" but not close enough. We had a great time here and enjoyed yet another wonderful mission home!
Again, we are so very grateful for the opportunities that God has allowed in our lives and the amazing people that He's put in our path during this deputation journey! And let me tell you all...God has some GREAT, godly churches scattered all over the United States. With people who love the Lord, want to do His will, and work in the harvest. I'm so thankful to be a part of what God is doing!
Thursday, August 2, 2018
June/July 2018 Deputation Adventures Pt. 1
I want to start trying to share some of our adventures here on the blog, especially for those who don't do Facebook. If you're already friends with us on FB, then you may have seen a lot of this. But maybe you haven't...I know I don't see everything all my friends are doing due to time constraint or FB hiding things.
Anyway, I don't know how faithful I will be with this...but I will try. :) And I'm not going to go back and try to share all that has gone on in the last 14+ months, other than what we've already written about in past blog posts and in newsletters.
At end of June through the month of July, We traveled to New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, 3 of us to South Carolina for camp while my oldest 3 boys went down to Florida for camp. Then we were in North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and in Florida. ALL in one month. Whew!
In New York, we were honored to be in many churches in many different areas of the state. We had a wonderful time presenting the ministry and getting to meet brothers and sisters in Christ!
We were invited to be a part of a Kid's Bible Club on a Saturday. We canvassed a neighborhood near the church and passed out many tracts and invitations to the event the day before. We came upon 2 different birthday parties going on and were able to hand them out to many children and families at once! On Saturday, our family along with several from the church, participated in the Bible Club. We had 6 children that came! We played games, had some snacks, and my Honey preached the gospel to them. We praise the Lord for those that came and heard the gospel and pray that what they heard sticks with them and they will get saved!
We were also excited to be a part of a nursing home ministry that this church has on Sunday afternoons. Our family sang to the Lord and Joshua preached. What a blessing to see the room full of people who wanted to be there. Singing and testifying of God's love and grace!
We were blessed to be able to stop in a church on a Wednesday night to visit with another missionary family before they headed back to the field. They were having Singing School that week and what a blessing that was! After services, we realized there was another family we knew there...an evangelist family that we had been with before. It was so good to visit with them! We enjoyed dinner out with the missionary family along with many from the church. We had such a good time!
Our family took a day to enjoy Niagara Falls! We had been there once before, but it was quite chilly. After hearing from everyone that we really needed to go to the Canadian side, I was determined to do! But...there were a ton of people there the day we went and we just decided to go where we went before. It was such a great day! There was also some games set up outdoors that we enjoyed. We played some table tennis, and corn hole and got some lunch from the food trucks and just enjoyed the day.
With another church in NY, we had a great time helping out with their VBS prep and then heading to fireworks afterwards to hand out patriotic tracts. We handed out TONS of tracts and most were received really well due to the red, white, and blue. What a great opportunity! When the show started we found a great place to sit where the fireworks were right up close in front of us...to the point we had to look overhead! Those fireworks were absolutely amazing! Here are couple of fun ones from the night:
With another church nearby, we were blessed to be invited to their 4th of July picnic and very much enjoyed food and fellowship with the church family. After the picnic and church service, we headed to our second night of outreach and fireworks! Again, we were armed with hundreds of tracks that were patriotic. Another wonderful opportunity!
The rest of our time in NY was filled with dinners and fellowships, ice cream outings, helping out with some yard work and lunches, and trying to get some school work and other things accomplished.
We very much enjoyed our time in NY! God blessed us many times over and we treasure the new friendships that were made here, as well as sweet times of reunion with friends that we already knew.
Then....off to Pennsylvania we went! Click here for Pt. 2!
Anyway, I don't know how faithful I will be with this...but I will try. :) And I'm not going to go back and try to share all that has gone on in the last 14+ months, other than what we've already written about in past blog posts and in newsletters.
At end of June through the month of July, We traveled to New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, 3 of us to South Carolina for camp while my oldest 3 boys went down to Florida for camp. Then we were in North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and in Florida. ALL in one month. Whew!
In New York, we were honored to be in many churches in many different areas of the state. We had a wonderful time presenting the ministry and getting to meet brothers and sisters in Christ!
We were invited to be a part of a Kid's Bible Club on a Saturday. We canvassed a neighborhood near the church and passed out many tracts and invitations to the event the day before. We came upon 2 different birthday parties going on and were able to hand them out to many children and families at once! On Saturday, our family along with several from the church, participated in the Bible Club. We had 6 children that came! We played games, had some snacks, and my Honey preached the gospel to them. We praise the Lord for those that came and heard the gospel and pray that what they heard sticks with them and they will get saved!
We were also excited to be a part of a nursing home ministry that this church has on Sunday afternoons. Our family sang to the Lord and Joshua preached. What a blessing to see the room full of people who wanted to be there. Singing and testifying of God's love and grace!
We were blessed to be able to stop in a church on a Wednesday night to visit with another missionary family before they headed back to the field. They were having Singing School that week and what a blessing that was! After services, we realized there was another family we knew there...an evangelist family that we had been with before. It was so good to visit with them! We enjoyed dinner out with the missionary family along with many from the church. We had such a good time!Our family took a day to enjoy Niagara Falls! We had been there once before, but it was quite chilly. After hearing from everyone that we really needed to go to the Canadian side, I was determined to do! But...there were a ton of people there the day we went and we just decided to go where we went before. It was such a great day! There was also some games set up outdoors that we enjoyed. We played some table tennis, and corn hole and got some lunch from the food trucks and just enjoyed the day.
With another church in NY, we had a great time helping out with their VBS prep and then heading to fireworks afterwards to hand out patriotic tracts. We handed out TONS of tracts and most were received really well due to the red, white, and blue. What a great opportunity! When the show started we found a great place to sit where the fireworks were right up close in front of us...to the point we had to look overhead! Those fireworks were absolutely amazing! Here are couple of fun ones from the night:
With another church nearby, we were blessed to be invited to their 4th of July picnic and very much enjoyed food and fellowship with the church family. After the picnic and church service, we headed to our second night of outreach and fireworks! Again, we were armed with hundreds of tracks that were patriotic. Another wonderful opportunity!
The rest of our time in NY was filled with dinners and fellowships, ice cream outings, helping out with some yard work and lunches, and trying to get some school work and other things accomplished.
We very much enjoyed our time in NY! God blessed us many times over and we treasure the new friendships that were made here, as well as sweet times of reunion with friends that we already knew.
Then....off to Pennsylvania we went! Click here for Pt. 2!
Friday, July 13, 2018
Friday, June 29, 2018
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Our family is blessed and privileged to be serving God together! We are enjoying traveling the states and sharing our burden for the Dominican Republic, but we so look forward to getting to the field and ministering there. I wanted to write a little bit about the country that God has called us to, and what we plan to do when we get there.
The Caribbean Islands are in the Caribbean Sea. There are 25 independent countries and other territories. The specific country God is leading us to is the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with the country of Haiti. We will be moving to the capitol city, Santo Domingo, in spring/summer 2019 as the Lord leads and allows. The country is 95% professed Catholic, with the other 5% being Mormon, Jehovah's Witnesses, charismatic, all kinds of other beliefs and then there are Christians. We've just recently learned about the significant Jewish population in the Dominican Republic as well!
Here is a great resource that I got some of my facts from, in case you are interested in more information about the country.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/dr.html
Our goal, with the Lord's guidance and help, is to spend our first year in the country learning the language and the culture. The people who live here speak Spanish and we will need to learn this so that we can be effective in sharing the gospel and build relationships with the people around us. We plan to enroll in language school and also have tutors to help us learn as quickly as we can.
We are planning to jump in and help, wherever we can, while we are learning the language. We have been blessed to have advice and help and fellowship with both missionary and national brothers and sisters in Christ. And we desire to learn from them as well as encourage and be a blessing to them.
Our goal is to do the Lord's work in evangelism, discipleship, and church planting! Our desire is to see the people of the Dominican Republic saved, baptized, discipled, and serving the Lord!
(Left) This is the coast line in Santo Domingo. The water splashes up on the rocks as the waves come in.
The Caribbean Islands are in the Caribbean Sea. There are 25 independent countries and other territories. The specific country God is leading us to is the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with the country of Haiti. We will be moving to the capitol city, Santo Domingo, in spring/summer 2019 as the Lord leads and allows. The country is 95% professed Catholic, with the other 5% being Mormon, Jehovah's Witnesses, charismatic, all kinds of other beliefs and then there are Christians. We've just recently learned about the significant Jewish population in the Dominican Republic as well!
Here is a great resource that I got some of my facts from, in case you are interested in more information about the country.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/dr.html
Population of the Dominican Republic 10,734,247
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 3,603,210
Our goal, with the Lord's guidance and help, is to spend our first year in the country learning the language and the culture. The people who live here speak Spanish and we will need to learn this so that we can be effective in sharing the gospel and build relationships with the people around us. We plan to enroll in language school and also have tutors to help us learn as quickly as we can.
We are planning to jump in and help, wherever we can, while we are learning the language. We have been blessed to have advice and help and fellowship with both missionary and national brothers and sisters in Christ. And we desire to learn from them as well as encourage and be a blessing to them.
Our goal is to do the Lord's work in evangelism, discipleship, and church planting! Our desire is to see the people of the Dominican Republic saved, baptized, discipled, and serving the Lord!
What a beautiful country the Lord created!
(Left) This is the coast line in Santo Domingo. The water splashes up on the rocks as the waves come in.
(Below) This is at Los Tres Ojos (The Three Eyes), natural limestone caves with lakes fed by an underground river.
Saturday, June 2, 2018
Thursday, March 8, 2018
January-February 2018 Newsletter and Extra from Joshua
A) Bless the LORD for Marcus in Georgia--praise God he not only received a tract, but he asked for 3 more as he turned around behind the restaurant counter to give to them to his co-workers! Pray for Cameron, a Walmart supervisor in North Carolina, who knows the Lord, but isn't attending church because he is discouraged and needs God to deliver him from sin.
B) God did keep us safe on the roads. During our time in North Carolina we missed a Weds service because the roads were near impassable. Also, in Pennsylvania, we couldn't pull out of a church parking lot because we were going uphill in a van with summer tires! God blessed and we were able to put some rocks on the incline and get out before it snowed some more the following morning. Hallelujah.
C) Bless the LORD for allowing us to attend our 100th church on 25 January 2018!
D) Praise God for the opportunity to buy a newer vehicle at a reduced cost. God introduced me to a pastor in Alabama that has been doing this kind of thing for missionaries and churches for years. He explained that we can buy a wrecked vehicle from an insurance agency and get it rebuilt at a significant discount. He personally knows the key players in this process and all of them are willing to help. We’ll see how the Lord leads in this area. Thank the Lord for this door of opportunity.
E) Well it happened..both vans were in repair at the same time. God is good. One had a radiator that needed replacing and the other needed a new tire and condenser. God worked it out. Parts came in on time and the repairs were done before we had to drive to the next state—so we didn’t miss any meetings. God also gave us a great deal on the radiator! Hallelujah, we had the van towed to a church we were staying at and God provided a Christian expert mechanic (now retired) who did the work for us the very next day and didn’t charge us anything for labor (and we got a discount on the parts). God is good.
Thanks,
Joshua
Joshua
Thursday, February 22, 2018
A Week of Deputation
Hello to my friends and family! I know it has been a long while since I (Hannah) have written. Part of it is because I really don't know what to write sometimes. I do share little tidbits of where we are on our travels on our Facebook page, and ya'll are welcome to friend us (me) Joshua-Hannah Corner. For the most part, we do a lot of the same things all the time that really is not interesting to read about. So when I finally have time to sit down to post something...I get stuck. Over the last several months, I had an idea for a post. But as you'll see in minute, I haven't had a free minute to think it out, much less write about it.
I want to share a bit about what goes on in the Corner family's life on deputation. I know that every missionary family does things differently. We travel, school, and minister differently. So what I write about is how it is for US. I also want to say, that as I share this with you, I am in no way complaining! We are so thrilled to be on this journey and in God's will for our lives. We have met some absolutely amazing people, had awesome adventures and experiences, and are learning so much. So if you are interested in what actually happens on deputation and how we spend our time, keep reading! I am going to keep it real. :)
Every day is different. Every week is different. We change our schedule, and then it changes the next day. The word that God has given me for deputation is flexibility. Our goal on deputation, is to share the gospel with people along the way...at the store, restaurant, park, or wherever. Our goal is to minister and be a blessing to each church, that we either stay with in their mission home or have a scheduled meeting with. Our goal is to spend time getting to know the people in those churches...that's my very favorite part. I keep saying this, but I am so grateful for the people that God has put in our lives!
While we do all of these things, we still have daily things that need to be done. I won't go into a whole lot of detail on what my husband does, since this is coming from me, and I know I will forget some things. First, the boys and I can find him spending time in prayer and the Scriptures every morning. He also studies for the teaching, preaching, and presenting that he does at churches. He has phone calls to make, emails to write, records to keep, and vehicle and other maintenance. He teaches our 2 high schoolers Math as well.
Homeschool is something that HAS to be done. With 4 boys, grades 6,7,9, and 10, it is quite challenging to get regular, consistent time in our books. Their education is important to us for sure, but so is allowing our boys to learn many other things they have the opportunity to learn on deputation. The Lord is helping us with this and the boys are doing well!
A typical, busier week would go something like this:
Joshua is usually up before the rest of us. He has his quiet time with the Lord while the rest of us start to get up and start our day. This day is a travel day. We are going to leave one area and mission home and head for another. We get our breakfast, me starting with coffee while I try and read my Bible before the craziness starts. We pack our things, which have now spread ALL over the place since we are living out of our suitcases and vans. We don't like to leave a mission home a mess so we strip beds, put dirty linens in piles, if can't wash them and put them away, wipe down kitchens and bathrooms, and put things back in order. While the boys and I try to clean up, my husband tries to make phone calls and gets our info ready for our upcoming travels. Gps, contact info, time we need to get there, etc. Joshua packs our vans up and it's time to drive away.
We drive 4-6 hours depending (our family tries to break up the trips for many different reasons), and usually take a couple more hours than that with stops for meals and bathroom breaks. As well as taking advantage of stores and time to shop for necessities along the way. We have to get that in when we can. Joshua drives one van, with Seth sometimes driving so that Joshua can do some work. And I drive the other with 2 or 3 of the other boys. We use walkie talkies to communicate stops and whatnot. Some days we are able to do school, but some we are not. A book got packed up and we can't get to it. Or they need to be taught something new and we are both driving. So we do what we can.
We arrive at our new place for the night or few nights depending on how long we are scheduled to be there. It's time to unload the vans. We get everything inside, figure out who's sleeping where, and then it's time to think about food. I pull up a grocery store on gps and usually the boys and I will head out to get groceries. We do travel with a small cooler that we keep a few condiments in, so we don't have to rebuy them each time, but not much else. We get our shopping done and head back. Cooking does not happen on a travel day, so we either pick up something or we eat something easy like sandwiches or a tv dinner. In the evenings, we are doing as many things that need to be done as we can. I do laundry, write thank you notes, add contacts to our data base, and practice piano and singing with the boys. Joshua works on a lot of things that I mentioned earlier. Then we sleep and repeat.
Maybe it's a travel day with a meeting. I prepare the church clothes the night before, and we either try not to get wrinkled or messed up on travel day, or bring the clothes with us and try to change right before church starts. We try to limit our stops to get to our destination on time. Sometimes a church will have dinner for us before services, but mostly not. So we'll go straight in and set up our table and meet people. We LOVE this part! We've been with most of you in meetings, so you know what we do at church. Joshua sometimes teaches and preaches. He also shows our video and gives a presentation. I sometimes teach or speak, and our family sometimes sings. After church, we stick around until we are usually the last people to leave so that we can talk with people and get to know them. Sometimes, the church will take us out for dinner and sometimes not. Either way, we usually are eating dinner on those nights at 9pm...or much later. We so enjoy our time with new friends!
If we are able to stay in one area long enough, we try to be a help to each church in whatever way we can. Whether it's visitation or whatever. We also get to spend more time with families when we are stationary for a bit. The boys and I especially have enjoyed outings and fellowship with friends along the way, when my Honey is working. We do try to do regular school in the mornings on those longer stays as well.
I covered pretty much what happens all of the time, but there are also many other things that makes our family us...devotion times, learning some Spanish, researching our future mission field, play times, reading times, and such. BUT, things are always switched around. Different circumstances, lodging, and times. It's never the same from one place to the next.
So that's what we do! God has been good! He is faithful and provides for our needs as well as gives us the strength we need to keep going. I just thought it might be fun to read about what happens behind the scenes of the family you see at mission meetings. And I have the memory of these days written down for later, when we are serving the Lord in the Dominican Republic!
Thank you friends and family for praying for us! We have an extra special prayer request. We are in need of a vehicle that we can finish out deputation with as well as bring over to the DR when we go. Our 2 minivans that we caravan in right now are on their last leg, and we are spending more trying to keep them running than what we want to. And neither of them qualify for us to keep and bring into the DR. We would be so grateful if you would help us pray about this! We appreciate your encouragement...every message, phone call, and email.
I want to share a bit about what goes on in the Corner family's life on deputation. I know that every missionary family does things differently. We travel, school, and minister differently. So what I write about is how it is for US. I also want to say, that as I share this with you, I am in no way complaining! We are so thrilled to be on this journey and in God's will for our lives. We have met some absolutely amazing people, had awesome adventures and experiences, and are learning so much. So if you are interested in what actually happens on deputation and how we spend our time, keep reading! I am going to keep it real. :)
Every day is different. Every week is different. We change our schedule, and then it changes the next day. The word that God has given me for deputation is flexibility. Our goal on deputation, is to share the gospel with people along the way...at the store, restaurant, park, or wherever. Our goal is to minister and be a blessing to each church, that we either stay with in their mission home or have a scheduled meeting with. Our goal is to spend time getting to know the people in those churches...that's my very favorite part. I keep saying this, but I am so grateful for the people that God has put in our lives!
While we do all of these things, we still have daily things that need to be done. I won't go into a whole lot of detail on what my husband does, since this is coming from me, and I know I will forget some things. First, the boys and I can find him spending time in prayer and the Scriptures every morning. He also studies for the teaching, preaching, and presenting that he does at churches. He has phone calls to make, emails to write, records to keep, and vehicle and other maintenance. He teaches our 2 high schoolers Math as well.
Homeschool is something that HAS to be done. With 4 boys, grades 6,7,9, and 10, it is quite challenging to get regular, consistent time in our books. Their education is important to us for sure, but so is allowing our boys to learn many other things they have the opportunity to learn on deputation. The Lord is helping us with this and the boys are doing well!
A typical, busier week would go something like this:
Joshua is usually up before the rest of us. He has his quiet time with the Lord while the rest of us start to get up and start our day. This day is a travel day. We are going to leave one area and mission home and head for another. We get our breakfast, me starting with coffee while I try and read my Bible before the craziness starts. We pack our things, which have now spread ALL over the place since we are living out of our suitcases and vans. We don't like to leave a mission home a mess so we strip beds, put dirty linens in piles, if can't wash them and put them away, wipe down kitchens and bathrooms, and put things back in order. While the boys and I try to clean up, my husband tries to make phone calls and gets our info ready for our upcoming travels. Gps, contact info, time we need to get there, etc. Joshua packs our vans up and it's time to drive away.
We drive 4-6 hours depending (our family tries to break up the trips for many different reasons), and usually take a couple more hours than that with stops for meals and bathroom breaks. As well as taking advantage of stores and time to shop for necessities along the way. We have to get that in when we can. Joshua drives one van, with Seth sometimes driving so that Joshua can do some work. And I drive the other with 2 or 3 of the other boys. We use walkie talkies to communicate stops and whatnot. Some days we are able to do school, but some we are not. A book got packed up and we can't get to it. Or they need to be taught something new and we are both driving. So we do what we can.
We arrive at our new place for the night or few nights depending on how long we are scheduled to be there. It's time to unload the vans. We get everything inside, figure out who's sleeping where, and then it's time to think about food. I pull up a grocery store on gps and usually the boys and I will head out to get groceries. We do travel with a small cooler that we keep a few condiments in, so we don't have to rebuy them each time, but not much else. We get our shopping done and head back. Cooking does not happen on a travel day, so we either pick up something or we eat something easy like sandwiches or a tv dinner. In the evenings, we are doing as many things that need to be done as we can. I do laundry, write thank you notes, add contacts to our data base, and practice piano and singing with the boys. Joshua works on a lot of things that I mentioned earlier. Then we sleep and repeat.
Maybe it's a travel day with a meeting. I prepare the church clothes the night before, and we either try not to get wrinkled or messed up on travel day, or bring the clothes with us and try to change right before church starts. We try to limit our stops to get to our destination on time. Sometimes a church will have dinner for us before services, but mostly not. So we'll go straight in and set up our table and meet people. We LOVE this part! We've been with most of you in meetings, so you know what we do at church. Joshua sometimes teaches and preaches. He also shows our video and gives a presentation. I sometimes teach or speak, and our family sometimes sings. After church, we stick around until we are usually the last people to leave so that we can talk with people and get to know them. Sometimes, the church will take us out for dinner and sometimes not. Either way, we usually are eating dinner on those nights at 9pm...or much later. We so enjoy our time with new friends!
If we are able to stay in one area long enough, we try to be a help to each church in whatever way we can. Whether it's visitation or whatever. We also get to spend more time with families when we are stationary for a bit. The boys and I especially have enjoyed outings and fellowship with friends along the way, when my Honey is working. We do try to do regular school in the mornings on those longer stays as well.
I covered pretty much what happens all of the time, but there are also many other things that makes our family us...devotion times, learning some Spanish, researching our future mission field, play times, reading times, and such. BUT, things are always switched around. Different circumstances, lodging, and times. It's never the same from one place to the next.
So that's what we do! God has been good! He is faithful and provides for our needs as well as gives us the strength we need to keep going. I just thought it might be fun to read about what happens behind the scenes of the family you see at mission meetings. And I have the memory of these days written down for later, when we are serving the Lord in the Dominican Republic!
Thank you friends and family for praying for us! We have an extra special prayer request. We are in need of a vehicle that we can finish out deputation with as well as bring over to the DR when we go. Our 2 minivans that we caravan in right now are on their last leg, and we are spending more trying to keep them running than what we want to. And neither of them qualify for us to keep and bring into the DR. We would be so grateful if you would help us pray about this! We appreciate your encouragement...every message, phone call, and email.
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
2017 Deputation Report and Extra from Joshua
Here are the blessings that God has granted to the Corner family and our deputation status as an end-of-year report. Lord willing, the next newsletter will report on January-February 2018.
a) Praise God in upstate NY! The Lord used one meeting we had on a Sunday evening to speak to the heart of a young girl. One of our friends reported how she listened very intently at the end of the message; and, then looked up said that she NEEDED to get saved. At home that very evening, this child got saved. Glory to God in the highest—whosoever believeth has eternal life!
b) Praise God in Snowshoe, WV. God blessed the Corner family with a family Christmas celebration together in the snow-covered mountains of West Virginia. We all thoroughly enjoyed our time—praise the Lord. God gave me a vision during this week for a great American evangelistic opportunity—a “white as snow” ministry! As I traveled up and down the lifts on the mountain-side I had many, many witnessing opportunities—in the midst of the glory of God’s creation—and right in the middle of the Christmas season! God could not have set this up any better! Often I would be sitting next to 2 or 3 individuals for 3-5 minutes each time and there was no way to walk away. There weren’t any cellphone interruptions, dogs to discourage, TVs to distract, “no soliciting signs”, or any other worldly influence. Praise God for opening the door for me to speak with Alex, Kyler, Carson, Jeff, Lisa, Max, and many more! Please pray for Alex who is a catholic and he received a gospel witness and tract. Pray that Kyler receives God’s Son as well—he received a gospel witness and tract (he is trusting in his baptism not Christ). Pray for Carson who believes in good works and needs Jesus—praise God, he too received a gospel witness. Jeff and Lisa gave testimony of their own salvation—what a blessing. Rejoice with me—both this husband and wife received Jesus in their 40s and have been living for Jesus ever since (10+ yrs ago) and aren’t ashamed. Glory to God. Pray for Max—another Catholic. He also received a gospel tract. Yes, there were some who didn’t want to hear the good news, but I give glory to God for the amazing open door he gave me to sow the Seed this December! What a great way to share the gospel.
Thanks,
Joshua
Thanks,
Joshua
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