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.

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