Jevon and Danica Rich connecting you to tribal missions Praise
above: The kiddos asleep on the way home from a late night meeting. They’ve been great sports. We pack jammas along, and they sleep in late the next morning. 
It’s fun meeting neat people who love the Lord and are about His kingdom business. And it’s fun sharing what is on our hearts and God’s heart about missions.
We miss our home church, Salem Baptist Church, on Sunday mornings and often pray for you on our drive to church wherever we are. But there is something very cool about walking into another meeting of believers and hearing them start to worship our God and Savior Jesus Christ, often using the same songs we know from back home. It makes us realize that the Body of Christ is bigger than we know. It also makes us think about how awesome heaven is going to be, when we are all together – people from every local church gathered into the Bride of Christ and adoring Him together. That’s why we do what we do. Because there are others…
We know that God has purposed to gather a people for Himself from every tribe and tongue and nation.
So that’s why we spend our time meeting with whoever wants to meet with us in their homes, churches, youth groups, or Awana clubs, and talking about the tribes in the jungle of Brazil that are still without the message of reconciliation through Jesus Christ. And we are loving it.
We might possibly stay out West longer, since we may be able to meet with more people and churches if we do. That would mean we might be getting back to Wisconsin later in the spring than we originally planned. That just shows that God is answering prayers! Thank you all of you who are praying with us.
Love from the Rich family,
Jevon, Danica, Cali, Karina, and Isaiah
Praises:
We are meeting new people and making new connections.
The Lord has raised our promised support from 20% to 34%.
Jevon is getting more comfortable in front of people and is enjoying giving his presentation more and more.
Prayers:
Continued opportunities to share with families, churches, individuals, and small groups the work that God has put in our hearts to do.
Ministry partners.
Continued spiritual growth for each of us in preparation for the move to Brazil.
Tags: New Tribes Mission, NTM
Home Sweet Stuga
stuga: Swedish for “cottage” – a modest, cozy dwelling. can refer to a vacation or summer home.
When we refer to “The Stuga”, we mean the cozy little A-frame with a view of the Mollalla river off the back deck. And we feel very blessed to be settled here with this as our jumping-off point for a couple of months.
It is not, however, vacation OR summer (as the cold downpour of Oregon-wet-season-rain indicates…and that is not a complaint because I LOVE THIS WEATHER AND I MISSED IT WHILE I WAS GONE THE LAST 8 WINTERS! it’s soooooo good to be “home” and to hear the sound of rain pouring off the eaves and dripping from the trees!)
We are here for the purpose of meeting as many people as possible and talking about tribal church planting in Brazil and finding financial and prayer partners for this ministry. Please pray for divine appointments for us and also for wisdom and tact as we pick up the phone and start making phone calls.
Happy New Years to you and may we all remember His kindness to us as we reflect on 2011 and look forward to 2012.
Mike, Donna, and Izzy…we are praying a special prayer for you right now.
Love,
Danica for the whole Jevon family
Praises:
Thank you God for safe travels to Oregon
A fun Christmas week in Long Creek with Danica’s family
The provision of a place to live and work from in Mollalla (sort of between Portland and Salem)
Prayers:
Opportunities to share with families, churches, individuals, and small groups the work that God has put in our hearts to do.
Ministry partners.
Continued spiritual growth for each of us in preparation for the move to Brazil.
That God will speed us on our way.
Christmas with the Studtmanns
To anyone who misses the kiddos’ bright eyed faces…and to anyone who misses the Studtmann faces too. Enjoy.
Isaac
"the abominable snowboy" watching the christmas tree procedings
with Grandpa Studtmann
Long Creek Mountaineers
Isaac Number 24
Karina watching with new friend
Cali watching with Uncle Amos. Future Aunt Cymbre has the festive headgear.
Sam
hurray! our people won!
"Uncle Isaac has silly hair" -Karina (don't worry; it was just for the game)
- Christmas cookies!
Uncle Amos helping them
Amos made a Cali cookie and a Kiki cookie
Christmas Eve
studying the manger scene while Jevon reads to them
one present Christmas Eve
pajamas!
Christmas Eve goodies while we watch Dr. Seus's Grinch (the old one and the best!)
his first Christmas morning
good morning and Merry Christmas from the Riches
Cali and Dakota looking out the window
Karina and Danica
Grandpa Studtmann reading the Christmas story
some of us listen
some of us try but its so hard when you are excited
new puppy
new socks
new food
new zebra
Amos and his fiance Cymbre
Isaiah's awesome socks from Uncle Isaac which both Wisconsinites and Long Creek people will appreciate
Christmas dinner: Navajo tacos (tacos on fry bread)
Frederik (student from Denmark) helped too
and mom was flipping the fry bread between taking pictures
do you want to pet my puppy Sam?
oh sure why not?
and finally...the feast. Thank you God for another Christmas.
2011 Christmas Thoughts (from Danica’s journal)
When Karina was born, it was only barely more than a month before Christmas. She was born at home in our living room. I remember Jevon lighting the candles in that room. I remember them flickering in their spiral “staircase” of votive holders and casting a quite mood of rest, celebration, and reflection around that room after her birth. It was something like the peaceful scenes we create at Christmas for reflecting on our Lord’s birth.
And I thought, that Christmas, how very human an entrance God chose when He stepped into our world – His world. I knew something about labor pains and the crazy, messy, beautiful and miraculous event that birth is. He came the same way we all did. HE CHOSE TO COME THE SAME WAY WE ALL DO.
But I also thought, that Christmas: Jesus wasn’t born at home. And Mary didn’t have the comfortable place I did in which to do her work of labor and birth – that work God gave her. I thought about that. But I wasn’t sure what God was teaching me or to what conclusions He was leading me in those thoughts.
Well, this Christmas, Isaiah’s birth is the freshest one in my memory. And here I am again, reflecting on God’s human entrance into this world. How He chose to come.
Jesus wasn’t born in a cozy bedroom or a birth suite. And who knows how much time Mary had to “nest” or prepare a makeshift place in the barn before the labor contractions overtook her. Jesus was born on a journey, and there wasn’t even room in the inn for them.
In some ways, the cinder-block walls and cement floor of the dorm room where Isaiah was born probably bore a slightly closer resemblance to the scene on which the newborn God-man entered when He was born. It was a makeshift barrier of a mattress blocking off our end of the hallway that provided privacy. Most of the people accommodating us and rejoicing with us that night were not our extended family.
But we were prepared.
We were provided for.
Everything happened exactly as planned, exactly as it was supposed to happen. We had everything we needed.
And this Christmas I have a vague picture in my mind which is slowly coming into clearer focus: a picture of human, humble, imperfect circumstance, messiness, a bit of chaos, and makeshift creativity – all being directed purposefully by a God of perfect order, Sovereign intention, and faithful provision.
Here meets humility and deity.
Here comes our Savior!
Do not be afraid.
Watch. Worship. Trust.
Celebrate with lights and candles and feasting and gift-giving; it is right to do so, because Christ is our light to reveal God to us, our provision from God, and the greatest gift from the Greatest Giver of all. But when the short season is gone and the mess of everyday not-quite-so-perfect moments is back, remember that the God we can’t see is right there in the thick of it with us, silently working it all according to His perfect plan.
A God of sovereign intention.
A God of faithful provision.
A Savior in Whom meets humble humanity and glorious Deity.
OUR SAVIOR.
JESUS CHRIST.
Do not be afraid.
Watch.
Worship.
Trust.
Newsletter 11 2011
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Oklahoma Pics
Above: My language helper, Louise, (middle), my language partner, Julie (left), and Cali and I
at an appreciation dinner we put on for all of our Cherokee language helpers.
Below: A Friday afternoon after language session – Jevon cutting a rotisserie chicken for a picnic in Louise’s backyard. And that is my mom in the picture also. She came for Isaiah’s birth and was a huge help and blessing to us.
Above, left to right: Jevon holding Isaiah, me, Julie, Louise,
Cali and Karina in front.
Below: Another session day. The shoes are on the table because we are eliciting noun phrases. Such as “two black stringed shoes”. We set up the situation on the table and asked her to describe it, in hopes of getting the phrase in its most natural Cherokee form. We were concerned that if we simply asked for it in English, our English form might influence her language choices.
sorry the pictures are a little blurry. we are getting to know a new camera.
Shoes were not the only things on the table that day. We had lots of fun with various assorted objects.
Isaiah – one week old. With Faith – the midwife God gave us in answer to your prayers, Salem kids! We are so thankful for her help and for Isaiah’s very good birth.
A Saturday morning at the Illinois River.
Flowers from Daddy.
Clean-up crew. Teamwork was a big theme of our 7 weeks living together in Oklahoma.
Stew for 30 people.
And bread to go with it.
Eye protection…was he just being a goof or did chopping that whole bag of onions really warrant some safety gear?
Playing with the kids while other daddies and mommies cooked.
Who isn’t cute with flour on their noses?
And who doesn’t love chocolate chip cookies?
Cali with Louise.
Louise and her twin sister, Betty.
Some of the church ladies put on a baby shower for the two pregnant girls and Isaiah and me.
Lucille and Isaiah.
I guess when you travel by car as much as we do, little things entertain you. ha ha, like seeing all the same 6 digits on your spedometer. This was a few days before we got to trade our faithful little Toyota…
for this. which is a little roomier and more comfy. thank you, Lord, for letting us drive a mini van, this year.
October 1st we left the camp in Oklahoma…
and I spent 3 weeks at Marilyn’s dining room table sifting through language files and charts, writing down everything I knew about Cherokee…and trying to make careful notes about things I didn’t understand yet. All this was a practice run. If God gives me the opportunity to work in a language that is not yet written down or does not yet have God’s Word translated, I will have a good idea where I’m supposed to start!
The write-up was due and I turned it in Monday, October 24th. Jevon was as excited as I was to be done with the linguistic marathon. He put in as much work as I did to make this happen, because he wanted his teammate equipped this way. And we both are super glad we did it…and glad its done…glad God carried us through this chapter of our life.
So bring on the next one.
and here’s a bonus picture of Isaiah…at six weeks old. He’s getting bigger and cuter all the time.
Until next time…
May God, in His faithfulness, continue to grow us and stretch us all in preparation for His work in every corner of the world.
Love,
Danica for the Rich family
He’s here!
Isaiah Doran Rich
We finally get to meet our baby brother!
Cali and Isaiah
Karina and Isaiah
Yawn
Happy Birthday from Cedar Tree Baptist Church
“When he’s grown, you tell that boy ‘You was born in Indian country!’ “
Language Session with a baby.
Julie, my partner, and Louise, our language helper, came to my room for the first few sessions after baby was born.
Those are little lego guys on the rubbermaid lid. We are trying to set up scenarios to elicit all the different actor persons that can change the form of a Cherokee verb…ten of them, to be exact!
Trip Pictures
13 hours and still smiling!
13 hours and still awake!
Thank you, “Miss Babe” for lunch!
God helped us find a place with a play area!
The new “fort” bedroom that Daddy and the other guys built for them!
And a much-deserved resting place for the driver!
We are all settled in here. Hope the next blog is baby pictures.
Love, Jevon, Danica, Cali, and Karina
Oklahoma here we come!
In five more days we’ll be on our way to Oklahoma for the Linguistics Practicum. Danica and another student will be meeting together with a language helper and analyzing the Cherokee language. This is a practice exercise in “the real thing”, under the supervision of our linguistics teacher from MTC.
If you’ve seen us lately, you can probably tell by the watermelon-ish proportions of the baby-belly that our due date is fast approaching! We expect the baby to be born in Oklahoma with the assistance of a midwife there. In spite of limited interent access, we will try to get the news out one way or another…and let you know if its a boy or a girl.
To all of you in Wisconsin…we love you and see you again in six weeks!
Love,
The Rich family
Praises:
- opportunities to meet with individuals, small groups, and members of our church’s missions commitee this summer
- God’s financial provision for us to drive a mini-van for a year
Prayers:
- a way to get the van from Florida to where we are
- mental, physical, and emotional stamina for doing the practicum and welcoming a new baby
- peace for the girls in the middle of change
We’re Here! (in Wisconsin)
We will be in Eau Claire, WI from now until August 11.
If you live anywhere in the same state (or only slightly across the borders), and
If you want to hear more about what we’ve been doing these past 2 years and about our future plans for ministry in Brazil,
WE WOULD LOVE TO COME SEE YOU!
e-mail us at jevon_rich@ntm.org and let us know what dates you’d like to have us, and we’ll get back to you ASAP.
We are happy to share with individuals, families, small groups, churches, or whoever wants to hear.
Where have we been the last few weeks since leaving Missouri?
We’ve been in Wisconsin:
- reconnecting with Danica’s family at Grandma’s house
- camping and fishing with friends from church
- settling into our new home in Marilyn’s basement
- trying to figure out how to go about living this new phase of life
This one month has packed alot of both fun times and sad times. We’ve been to funerals of two different people who were dear to us: a pastor who mentored Jevon before we were married, and Danica’s Great Grandma. But both of these people are in heaven, and we know that the glory they see in the face of Christ is beyond any beauty we can imagine here. We also heard that Danica’s brother’s baby twins were born prematurely at 23 weeks and went quickly into the arms of Jesus. They will be buried tomorrow in New York, and we aren’t there with them but are praying that tomorrow would be a comforting time for Phil and Julie and both sets of grandparents.
We’ve also had fun fishing with Marilyn…the lady who has given us a nice home in her basement for the summer. In fact, fishing (and fish-eating!) has become such a big part of Cali’s life that she requested to decorate her birthday cupcakes with fish! and we did – gummy fish. Cali is pleased to be a four year old, and every time we compliment her on anything she does well she remarks, “that’s because I’m four now”. We are pleased and thankful with all the ways she’s grown – not only in size but also in heart.
That’s the news from the Rich family. Keep us posted on your life, too, as you have time…we love you!
–Jevon, Danica, Cali, Karina, and Baby-Who-Keeps-Getting-Bigger
Almost done
We are into the last week of school! And you should see our house! Actually maybe it is better that you NOT see our house! It is a wreck, as we have been pulling things off of walls and shelves, and out of drawers and cupboards. Every night a pile goes away (to the mission barrel, for other people to use), and other piles go into boxes or totes. But more just keeps coming out of the dusty corners! The homework and classes continue simultaneously with the packing, sorting, cleaning, and preparing for a new phase of life. We appreciate your prayers in this time of transition as it feels like we are doing so many things at once and not doing any of them well. Pray that we will finish well here at school, and honor God with our attitudes and actions regardless of the stress.
We look forward to reconnecting with many of you in the coming year as we devote our time to pre-field ministry and partnership development. (“Pre-field Ministry” and “Partnership Development” just mean we get to spend our time sharing the work that God is doing in some of the most isolated people groups of the world, and giving people an opportunity to be partners with us in that work).
We will be back in Wisconsin May 26, hopefully…and sometime around June 7th we will be settling into a temporary home that God has graciously provided in Eau Claire for us. Stay tuned for more information about our future plans. Sooner or later we may be coming to your part of the country and would love to get in touch with you when we do.
Until then…keep your eyes on Jesus and on what HE has done and is doing…
Love from the Rich family,
Jevon, Danica, Cali, Karina, and baby #3
