Hey everyone,

We wanted to update you all with everyday life, but also with a decision we are trying to make and value your prayers. There’s a lot of things happening here in Dem-land and it won’t all fit in 1 post (I mean it could, but it would be REALLY long), so we are going to update you all in chunks. In the next update there will be a video update as well with us explaining some changes with our future plans for our family, but that will be in a couple weeks.

First off, the Dem are continuing to grow in their faith everyday and working through trials and temptations just like we all do. We have 1 more lesson in Ephesians after going through it verse by verse and of course they love the last chapter talking about war and the armor of God. A good friend of mine came to me after I taught the lesson on how “we wrestle not against flesh and blood...” and that we are at war but we cannot see our enemy, and told me about a dream he had a few weeks before.

In his dream he said there was an enemy who was strong and wanted to kill me (J), but I was wearing these strange clothes and strange shoes and I told him in the dream that we, who are God’s children, do not need to fear the enemy and that the enemy has had a hold on this land in Dem for so long, but now the Gospel is here and we need not to fear the enemy.

He said he didn’t understand the strange clothes I had on, but when we taught the lesson on spiritual warfare he saw the picture of a Roman soldier with the breastplate and sandals and he said thats exactly what he saw in his dream. He said during the lesson when he saw the picture and we read Ephesians 6:10-13 his mouth dropped and he was amazed that the Lord would make His word so clear and real for him through this dream. This was really cool to see and hear how the Holy Spirit is working even in dreams of our Dem brothers and sisters.

On the flip side, 2 days after he shared this dream and was on fire for the Lord, the tribe faced a temptation to fall back into their old ways. A man who was a big guy in Dem, who had been out in a small town, was killed in a war and because of his status, lots of the men in Dem were angry and wanted revenge. The Dem culture has always been “an eye for an eye,” so if a Dem was killed by a person from a different tribe, then the Dem would not rest until a person from that tribe died as well.

This was really sad to see some of our believers turn so quickly to the old ways and forget the truths we have learned. On the other hand it was really cool to see some of our stronger believers come together and pray for their fellow brothers who were not holding onto the truths of God’s word, praying that they would not fall back into the old rituals of the past.

That Sunday I decided to not teach on Ephesians, but go back and remind them of the Israelites, who saw many miracles and despite God rescuing them over and over, they would turn so quickly away from the Lord. I then challenged them that they too have seen and witnessed many miracles here and now, many of them were very quickly turning back to their old ways just like the Israelites did.

The Dem are on fire for the Lord, but also dealing and struggling with many struggles just like we all do. Their’s just looks a little different then ours in a western context, but our enemy is always out looking to seek and destroy God’s children. Our enemy attacks us with flaming arrows and we need to shield ourselves just like Paul said in Ephesians 6. Please continue to pray for your Dem brothers and sisters.

An exciting thing that we will briefly update you on, but will give more details in a future update is the Indonesian school that has started in Dem-land. Long story short, a Christian business man from Jakarta wanted to use the money the Lord has given him to help remote locations in Indonesia (mainly Papua) to provide them with education and from a Biblical perspective.

They were ready to open a school here about 3 years ago, but we asked them to wait. We wanted to make sure the Dem had time to be grounded in God’s word, to grow in their faith and focus on that before having any outside distractions come in. Even though this school provides Christian teachers and not run or funded by the government, it is a huge time consumption and excitement here, and we wanted the people to have a solid foundation first, instead of taking away from the most important thing, God’s word.

The school started fall of 2024 and we will give more details and info about that, but it has been a huge blessing. The 4 teachers are really amazing and love our Dem kids. The school has been using our church building temporarily for the 1st year and also living in our previous co-workers house, but they are wanting to build their own classrooms and houses and so the Dem have been working hard on preparing land for the permanent buildings the school will use for many years.

It makes you take education for granted. The desire the Dem have for a school here, so they can continue to hear God’s word in the Dem language and also receive education and learn the national language is pretty evident. They have been cutting the wood for posts, carrying rocks from the river, cutting down trees, digging up roots, moving tons of dirt, all with their hands, and few shovels and wheel barrows. They continue to thank the Lord for making the trail for His word to enter Dem-land, and now for the school to come to help them learn.

Upcoming trip and decisions-

This below is filling you in on an upcoming trip and kind of the reasoning for the trip and also for you to pray as we make a decision on what to do. This below is from Bri…

Where do I start this update? Time is flying by and so much is happening these days.

I guess I will start with letting everyone know that Eden and I (Briana) and now Noelle will be attending Eden’s best friend’s wedding in the end of May in Indiana. I am sure many of you are wondering why we would travel across the world for this wedding. It’s a big trip that will cost lots of money and we don’t take these things lightly.

Let’s rewind back to 6 years ago. Eden was 10, and growing up in a remote tribe, didn’t have many opportunities for friends in her language and culture. She did have our coworker’s daughter thankfully!!! But Raquel was almost 3 and a half years older than her, and sometimes, the age gap was felt and a longing left in her to have a friend her age. When we came on furlough in 2019, she didn’t fit in with any of the girls in the states her age, still left feeling very lonely. One sweet lady asked me how she could be praying for my kids, to which I responded “Will you please join me in praying for Eden to make a true friend? She is getting to that age, where she really just needs a friend.” Someone who she actually clicks with, someone who will be able to keep in touch with her, someone who will be a good friend to her and encourage her…. Well it didn’t take long after we were back that she found that friend, in a rather miraculous and unexpected way actually. It was a COMPLETE and TOTAL ANSWER TO PRAYER. It was all God.

Through some random church travels we took to Indiana after our normal Michigan church visit, we met the Leeman’s and their church. Emma was their daughter who was 12 at the time. Eden and Emma really hit it off, and were able to stay in touch over the years, and their friendship grew a lot, even though long distance. It turned out to be exactly what Eden needed living in such an isolated place. It was a God send!! I have thanked God for providing this friend for Eden so many times over the years now. We made every effort for them to see each other when we were back in 2022/2023, but they still have only been able to be together in person less than a handful of times, and sometimes that is really hard for Eden.

Well fast forward to 2024, Emma gets engaged to a boy from her church who she has grown up with and is getting married! It was a bit shocking for us to process this all from here as the last time we had seen her she was 16, and now she is 18, getting married young, and Eden processing she will never get that one on one friend time she had hoped to get with Emma one day when Eden moves back for college. And yet, we are SO happy for her. She is a Godly girl, who is very mature and has just been such a blessing to us all. Eden doesn’t want to miss out on this monumental life event for Emma, and I don’t blame her. We would do just about anything to make sure she was there for this special day. Eden often has felt as though she has missed out on things, like seeing Emma more, and being torn between 2 worlds, but she overall has handled it very well and is thankful for her rich life here too. SO we want to make sure she gets to be there for this big day.

We planned on paying for Eden and I to go since it would be too expensive for the whole family to go back for just a summer, but I was feeling so sad about leaving Noelle as she has 3 new baby cousins she is dying to meet, and she misses her grandparents and is such a Momma’s girl, that that time here while we are gone would be so hard for her. Grandpa and Grandma graciously offered to pay for Noelle’s ticket to join us. We have been preparing for this trip coming up in May and looking for best options for plane tickets, etc.

But as it gets closer, I now am heavily considering what it will look like, if Jericho doesn’t go back to the states, his passport country for 4 years. I know he will be just fine ultimately, but it becomes more and more like a foreign country to him, and one he will have to return to when he graduates from here. So, I am left wondering if I am doing him any favors leaving him here and should we all come back, even if it is just for a short trip (could be 8 weeks)? Please pray with me as we wrestle through all our options. We thought we had it settled, but it’s not feeling quite right now. I am feeling guilty for leaving Jericho and J here now, as it will have been 2 years since we came back to Indo, and we won’t be coming back until after Eden graduates in 2027. That is a long time. And with parents getting older and retiring to different states (Washington and Florida!!) next year, it all feels a little bit overwhelming not wanting to make the wrong choice. I don’t want to look back and wish we would have just spent the money. I thank you all for your prayers, support and gifts to us. We try to weigh everything out heavily, instead of making decisions lightly.

If anyone would like to contribute or has questions about the trip, feel free to write us. Thanks so much for your continued prayers.

Eden and Emma when they met in June 2019 and when they saw each other last in June 2023