Road to Transformation

Some of you may be wondering what exactly we'll be up to in the Solomon Islands. At this point we can say that we hope to involved in the process of Bible translation, using our skills and training as best as we can. What does that mean, you ask?

Wycliffe US recently published this page which illustrates the journey involved in a Bible translation program. It's not as easy as just sitting down and getting to work on the translation right away! Check out the page and spend some time clicking on the different stages to see more information, and to hear stories of these parts of the process in action all around the world. It's really cool to see and hear about transformation happening around the world through translated Scriptures!

We're excited to start on the path toward Bible translation. Here's a picture of Megan on a Bible distribution tour in the Solomons during our 2008 Discovery trip.

Introducing Nicola Joy

We are thrilled to introduce the newest member of our family!

This beautiful girl, Nicola Joy, was born on Thursday, May 10 at 7:29 PM. Mom and Dad are excited about having this new little body in our home, and are on a steep learning curve as we adjust to life with three! Thank you to all of you who prayed for blessings of health throughout the pregnancy. Prayers have been answered, and we are indeed blessed!

Megan has posted more pictures on her Facebook account, for those of you who'd love to see more.

A Glimpse of the Solomons

A few days ago, thanks to a heads-up text from one of Andrew's aunts, we got to see an unexpected glimpse into the Solomons!  Descending, a diving show, had one of their episodes in the Solomon Islands and it was being aired that night on TV.  We were glad to be home and get to watch it!  The premise of the particular episode was that highly experienced divers went to the Solomons to dive (we're talking scuba diving, by the way) around World War II wrecks.  We enjoyed the show, especially seeing a different side (the underwater side!) of the Solomon Islands.  We also thought that the cinematography was well done and the producers did a good job of showing life in the Solomons and interacting with the people and culture there.  During the show, they talked to several different locals, including two that had been living to see the wrecks they were diving around take place.  It was very interesting, so if you run into Episode 110 "The Pacific Theatre" of OLN's Descending, you should watch it!  We tried to find the link to post here, but unfortunately didn't find where it could be watched online at this time.

(clicking on the photo will enlarge it)

The Solomon Islands played a pretty major role in the Pacific campaign of World War II.  The Japanese first occupied many of the Pacific islands in the area, and later, in an effort to defend their supply lines in the Pacific, the Americans went in to counterattack the Japanese, landing on Guadalcanal (the island where Honiara, the Solomons capital is now located) and other surrounding islands.  It was a location of bitter fighting, with the US eventually gaining the victory and stopping the expansion of the Japanese across the Pacific.  If you look out over the water from Honiara today, the area you see has been renamed "Iron Bottom Sound" for the dozens of ships and airplanes (both US and Japanese) that went down in that water during the naval battle that took place there.  The map shows the locations of many of those wrecks.

When we were in the Solomon Islands in 2008 we got to do a little snorkeling one day not far from Honiara.  In this picture, you can just barely see where the outline of the ship is (that's the smokestack sticking up on the right) and how close it was to the shore!  One of Megan's great-uncles actually fought at Guadalcanal during the war, and at one of our presentations in the fall we were able to talk to a gentleman who had been there during World War II.  Do you know anyone who fought during the Second World War in the Pacific?  Let us know!  Scuba diving is a part of the extreme tourism that takes place in and around the Solomon Islands.  So, if you're a scuba diving fanatic, maybe you'll have to come visit us one day and explore some of the World War II wrecks for yourself!

He Is Risen!

It's almost a week past Easter already, but it's still good to remember that Christ died on Good Friday. He didn't stay in the grave, but rose from the dead on Easter Sunday and is alive; not just 2,000 years ago, but today as well!  It's so foundational to us as Christians to know that we serve a living Savior and that He continues to intercede for us on our behalf.

We had some company from the west coast over the Easter weekend.  It was great to have Megan's parents and youngest siblings in Ontario for the first time and get to be tour guides showing them around the area.  Dundurn Castle, St. Jacob's Market, Niagara Falls, Welland Canal and a visit to a local sod farm were all sight-seeing and educational destinations.  We also enjoyed many hours of games and conversation between various members of both sides of the family.

In other news, we are moving into the home stretch with Baby Van Andel.  Megan is now 37 weeks along and is officially considered 'full term,' which means delivery day really could be any time!  With less than a month to go until the due date, we covet your prayers for the safe arrival of this little one.  Please pray also for the whirlwind of presentations we have in the next few weeks as we're trying to get as much in as we can before the baby's birth.  It's a busy time for us, as Andrew's now back to landscaping work and we're trying to fit in both baby preparations and Wycliffe stuff around an already full schedule.

Fund-o-meter

In our March newsletter we included a thermometer graphic showing the then-status of our fundraising efforts.  At the time of the newsletter, we reported being at 56% funding.  In case you're wondering, that means that we are calculating all regular gifts that have already begun or pledged amounts we have been given for regular giving (i.e. monthly, quarterly, annually, etc) and figuring how much we have towards our monthly budget.  If you have more questions about any of that, or are wondering if your gift(s) are being calculated into this percentage, let us know!

73% funded: check back for updates!

As you can see, since our newsletter went out last week, we've already had to update our thermometer (or "fund-o-meter" might be a more appropriate term), to include the recent pledges of monthly support we have been given.  We are very thankful for people who are continuing to step forward and be partners with us and Wycliffe! 

We've added this fund-o-meter to the right side of our blog page, so check back for updates.  Also, let us know if you would like to help us get closer to being fully funded!  Our fund-o-meter needs to be at 100% before we are able to put our plans for going overseas into motion, including applying for visas and booking plane tickets.

If you did not receive our March newsletter, you can view it by clicking here.  We are also archiving our newsletters on the right side of our blog, at the bottom of the other links and information.

March Madness!

One of the well-established traditions here in the Van Andel residence is being a part of March Madness, the NCAA basketball championship. The two of us have filled out brackets every year that we've known each other, and we feel that it's been a really good relationship builder. How better can you capture the tension and the roller coaster of emotions than following 'your' teams through the tourney? Talk about highs and lows!

This year we've gotten our dads and friends involved, and it's been a lot of fun. And as has happened most years, Andrew's hours of research have not paid off. He's already lost his championship pick and is headed toward a last-place finish...again.

Despite the results, we have a ton of fun with this tournament, and hope we can at least continue to fill out our brackets in the Solomon Islands, even if we don't get to watch the games. Who knows, Andrew just might win one year!

The Early Days of 2012

We've said little about our day-to-day lives these past weeks since Christmas and felt that it was time for an update in that area!

Looking towards Lake Ontario on a recent Family Day hike

First of all, one of our prayer requests from our Christmas newsletter was to open doors for job possibilities.  Where Wycliffe is concerned, we are currently raising money for our work, but are not actually on salary yet, and so any funds that are coming into our Wycliffe account will be used for initial costs, but other than some Partnership Development related reimbursements, are not actually being paid to us yet at this point.  Therefore, we needed a way to pay some of our current living expenses!  We are very blessed and thankful that God continues to provide a roof over our heads and plenty of food on our table!  Megan worked about two and a half weeks in total during January in a printing warehouse which was in need of some extra people to help with hand collating, inserting, stuffing envelopes, etc.  She continues to be 'on call' if they need additional help.  This month Andrew has spent three days supply teaching at Guido de Bres Christian High School and will be there tomorrow and Monday as well.  He also got a few hours of snow clearing in awhile back following one of the only real snow accumulations we've had this winter!

Andrew, geocaching while hiking

Continuing in our Partnership Development and support raising has been a big focus for us these past weeks and months.  Since Christmas we've done three after-service church presentations, one presentation at a church congregational meeting, two presentations at a christian elementary school, and represented Wycliffe by manning a booth and participating in a panel discussion at another church's "Missions Sunday."  We also have a Bible Study presentation scheduled for next week, have three different small family/business group presentations lined up and have made inquires about doing presentations at several other churches.  Megan has been working on communicating with both Wycliffe Canada and the Solomon Islands branch and getting our budget numbers finalized.  Once we get that finished as well as receive our next donation statement we hope to give an update on our current funding status.  Check back soon!

Photo opportunity from on top of the Niagara Escarpment

In her spare time, Megan has also launched herself into baby research.  She has spent hours looking on the internet at various brands and options, reading reviews, and seeing what is available second-hand from Ebay and Kijiji.  Several emails of questions have gone out and been patiently answered by Wycliffe moms who are currently in the Solomon Islands and elsewhere overseas to ask advice on what things are valuable to bring to the field for the baby and what things most of us North Americans might see as a "must have" here but aren't actually necessary in that cultural context.  For example, we won't need lots of blankets and booties in the tropical climate, but will need to be prepared with summery clothes and shoes/sandals to clothe this little person for the next three years!  And while we're on the subject of the baby, we have just over 10 weeks to go until the due date, and no, we don't know the baby's gender, nor will we be finding out until his or her birth day!  We will all get to be surprised together!  :-)  We are very thankful, too, for how smoothly this pregnancy has progressed and how well Megan has been feeling of late.

Megan, with Andrew's mom and one of his sisters while hiking at Rattlesnake Point