Archive for the ‘Prayer Request’ Category

Basketball and Dorm Parenting

Posted by Jon and Katie Ruse on Monday, January 30th, 2012
 There are certainly plenty of difficult things about dorm parenting.  Trying to spend quality time with your own kids, making meals all the time, cleaning up endlessly, always being ready to make decisions and give direction, helping with homework.

Katie & Rachel

On the other hand there are some things that are just plain fun like having a birthday party, playing in the rain, taking a group of teens tubing down the river, watching a movie, singing and dancing, cheering them on in sports, or just having a good talk.  One of those fun things Katie enjoyed this term was playing basketball with our dorm girls.  Let me explain!  We had 4 girls who were on the high school team and their only official games are during 2 tournaments.  So, in the weeks leading up to the tournaments they scrimmage the women (New Tribes moms, singles, etc.) for “practice”.

 
So Katie got to rough it up on the court with some of our girls.  Let’s just say the women definitly gave the girls some competition and Katie had a blast.  We want to praise God that her back was strong enough and continues to hold upwell now. 

Women's Team

We are excited as we look towards next term.  A few of our girls will be playing soccer and I(Jon) will be assistent coach for the guys high schoool basketball team!  The men usually play basketball every Monday night so it has been great to develop relationships with some of these teen guys that I will be coaching.  I am excited to see how God will use this avenue for me to be an example and impact some of the young teen guys here

*Pray for Katie and I that we will balance our time  & responsibilities well this next term as coaching will take extra time away from our family and the dorm!

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The Depths of God Found in Difficulty

Posted by Jon and Katie Ruse on Thursday, October 27th, 2011

        If we are all honest, there are times in our lives where we don’t understand what God is doing and all we can do is ask why?  Why This?  Why Now?  Why Me?  Aren’t I trying to be godly and aren’t I following your will and direction in my life, then why is this so hard?

  “Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable are his ways!”  Romans 11:33

        God has brought us across the world to serve Him as missionaries in Papua New Guinea.  We have left our home, family, and friends behind to do what we know is His will for us.  The transition was difficult but filled with God’s grace.  Finally, we made it through language learning and were excited to begin the “Dorm Ministry”.  We did not expect to spend our first term helping Ellaina struggle through schoolwork, making visits to the medical clinic, staying up in the night with Katelyn in pain (suspected appendicitis), Ben having breathing problems, two with conjunctivitis, a staff infection on Ellaina’s leg, removing a bead stuck in Chloe’s nose, and having Katie not physically able to help because of back problems.

        In the movie Evan Almighty God says, “Remember that whatever I do, it is because I love you.”  After a series of trials and difficulties Evan replies, “Can you love me a little less?”.  We will never fully understand the wisdom and purposes of God.  We don’t have the knowledge or foresight to even question His ways, but we may think sometimes: “God, love me a little less!”.  Wouldn’t that be easier than trials?  

        Thankfully, God is not able to love us any less than His best even though it hurts sometimes.  What would I be like today without His work in my life or without His loving hand allowing difficulties and at the same time carrying me through them when I am unable to stand on my own?  Would I really know God without the difficulties, without having to place my Trust & Faith in Him when nothing makes sense at all?                 

Josh & Ellaina

Josh & Ellaina

 “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”  Heb. 11:1  

God, help us all to walk by faith!   Heb. 11:1

Please Pray with Me for my brother James, his wife Becky, and their 11 year old son Joshua.  After a few intense days in the hospital they have just learned that He has Leukemia!

*God, please give the doctors wisdom!

*God, strengthen and guide James and Becky with the many difficult decisions.

 *God comfort them when they see their son in pain and help them Trust You through the Trials!

 

 

 
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Easter Weekend In The Dorm

Posted by Jon and Katie Ruse on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011
 
Dinner in The Dorm
Dinner in The Dorm

We were given the opportunity to “dorm sit” over Easter weekend.  Our whole family moved into a dorm for four nights while the current dorm parents went on a much needed family vacation.  We really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know these youth!  Due to various situations this year, the dorm was down to 3 girls and 3 guys from an original 10. However, their 6 plus our 4 made 10 kids for the weekend! 

Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Egg Hunt

 Special activities we enjoyed:

  • Thursday night we hung out late playing card games and getting to know them.
  • Friday night pizza and the movie, “Tangled”.
  • Saturday evening “get-to-know-you” games.
  • Sunday after church we enjoyed a big Easter dinner.
  • Ellaina and Katie hid Easter Eggs for the “big kids” who had a blast looking for them!
  • Then the teens hid the eggs for our kids.  I’m not sure who had more fun!
  • Sunday evening we enjoyed doing worship and dorm devotions.
  • We also ate a lot of cake, ice cream, and chocolate chip cookies!
  • Monday morning we went with half the teens on a hike up a nearby little mountain with our language helper.  This was a good opportunity for them to get out of the fence and see the community around the center. The scenery was beautiful!
  • We enjoyed a picnic lunch on the top of a grassy hillside at one of the nationals’ house and a swim in the large river after we crossed it on the way back!

    Hiking

    Hiking

We were extremely tired by Tuesday when we had to start back into our 7th week of language learning!  However, our whole family really enjoyed getting to know these teenagers and spending time with them.  Seeing the potential for lifelong relationships and the need to challenge them spiritually and prepare them for life after high school gave us a renewed passion for this ministry.  We were encouraged and grew more excited as we look forward to dorm parenting full time when school starts again in July.  Even though they are Missionary Kids (MK’s), they are just like teenagers you would find at your church and what an opportunity to disciple as you live along side them!

 

 Praise the Lord with us for:

 

  • Recovered sleep and health! 
  • Our container arriving this week!!! 
  • Language learning going well.
  • Relationships being built with nationals, fellow missionaries, and MK’s.

 Prayer Requests:

  • To grow in our ability to communicate in Pidgin.
  • Our family may spend 2 weeks in a tribe in June.  Parents of a future dorm kid work in this tribe.  Pray we will be able to build a good relationship with them.
  • Tim and Kerri Shepherd (Her back has kept her down for the past 2 months. They are needed for the other dorm in July!  Pray the Lord strengthens and heals her back and directs them for the future. We’d love to work with them, Lord willing!)
  • Wisdom as we continue with dorm orientation.
  • For the Lord to place the individuals HE would like in our dorm next year.
  • Pray we will have intimate time with the Lord and that He will make us into the parents and people He wants us to be.
  • Time for Jon and I as it is hard to “get out” together in this kind of setting.

 THANK YOU all for your prayers, encouragement, and support!  We truly saw God’s hand on our weekend! YOU are a vital part of this ministry and we praise God for you!!

 

 

 

 

 
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Adventures In Langauge Learning!

Posted by Jon and Katie Ruse on Thursday, April 14th, 2011
 
 
Passim Lo Banana

Passim Lo Banana

 If you thought bananas grew good and ripe on their own, then think again!  Have you ever wondered how grass huts were made or how to start a fire without matches?  Maybe you’ve wondered how coffee was grown or prepared.
 
 

Drying Coffee

Drying Coffee

 These are just a few of the many things we have done or observed recently. Our goal is to be able to describe or tell someone what we did using Pidgin.  This means taking pictures, recording stories, piecing it all together afterwards and practicing.  It is amazing how quickly you learn this way with a lot of exposure, interaction, and visual aid.  It is now our fifth week of language study and we feel like we can carry on small conversations with Papua New Guineans.  Praise God!

 Last week Katie, Ben, and I crossed the river by Gumi (intertube) after lunch and helped out in our language helpers garden.

Katie & Ben on Gumi

Katie & Ben on Gumi

Katie spent time “brukim giraun” (turning soil) while I learned how to “passim lo banana” (cover bananas for a greenhouse affect).  This is done by weeding out every other banana then wraping the remaining clump of bananas with big drai banana leaves.  Next, you cover this with a few garbage bags and tie it tight.  Now they will sit on the tree and grow bigger and ripen!
Brukim Giraun

Brukim Giraun

We have really enjoyed getting to know our language helper Aute and his wife, Georgina.  We are excited to be able to learn the language to the point of really being able to talk with them about life.  They have been married 10 years (like us), but have been unable to have children.  While working with Georgina in her garden, she shared with Katie their struggle with that.  Aute’s mom pressured him to get another wife (making 2 wives which is very common), but much to Georgina’s relief he did not want to.  They would talk and talk about wanting kids when Georgina decided to talk to God about her desire.  Now she says that, “God knows everything.  We do not.  I do not need to keep talking about wanting a baby, I have already asked God.”  Katie tried to explain (as best she could) that she could trust God and that He hears her. She seemed to understand and agree.

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 Please pray for them to really know their Creator God and for us to have more opportunity to be used of Him in their lives as we get to know them, their culture, and their language better.
 
 
 
       Aute and Jon
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We’re Learning “Tok Pisin”

Posted by Jon and Katie Ruse on Saturday, March 26th, 2011
 
 
 
Classtime With Aute'

Classtime With Aute'

“Em wanem (What is it)?”  It is the national language of Papua New Guinea casually now as Pidgin English

Village Exposure

Village Exposure

We have completed two weeks of learning Pidgin.  It has been very busy but also quite fun!  Thankfully, we have progressed faster than expected.  Right now Katie and I spend Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings in class from 8:30-12:00am.  Our teacher is a missionary from Michigan.  His wife graciously watches our kids while we are in class.   During our class time we learn a lot of vocabulary through repetition, interaction, and discussion with Aute’ (national language helper).  We also practice putting sentences together to describe things or events.  We usually have homework to review and practice what we learned in class. 

Crossing the Bridge

Crossing the Bridge

After class and a quick lunch either I (or Katie) head out with the other students (6 of us) to visit a local village for exposure, practicing what we’ve learned, and meeting people.  This usually takes around 2 hours.  My favorite so far was wading across the river and walking past giant “Mambu” (Bamboo) trees.  We also crosssed a mini suspension bridge over the river to a different village.  That was very cool!  Their are usually many people out and about, pigs wandering around in and out of the “bus” (bush), and tons of plants, flowers, gardens, etc.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays I spend most of the morning at a village learning about “daily routines” and new vocabulary so we can practice them later.

After next week our days will switch.  We will spend more time in the village (M,W,F) and less time in class (T,R).  We will begin working on

Crossing River

Crossing River

 projects like learning each step in pidgin for “mekin copi” (harvesting coffee), “wokim haus” (building a house), “kukim mumu” (preparing and cooking a special social dinner), etc.  We’d appreciate prayer as we juggle class, homework, kids, chores, and everyday life here.

Thanks for your prayers! Now you have learned a little pidgin too!

“Lukim yu” (See ya!)

 
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26 Day Count Down…

Posted by Jon and Katie Ruse on Monday, March 14th, 2011

After much prayer and manyconfirmations from the Lord, we have decided to move ahead in faith.  We trust that the Lord will supply the last 17% of our monthly support budget and are excited to see how He will do that!  We have purchased one-way tickets to PNG for February 23, 2011!!!  We will leave around 12:32p.m. out of Chicago and fly for15 1/2 hours to Hong Kong.  After a 4:40 layover, we will fly another 6 3/4 hours to Port Moresby, PNG. We then will have just under 2 hours to go through PNG customs and make it onto our (much smaller) plane ride (1 hr.) into the highlands region where we will be living.  We should arrive there on Feb. 25th at 10:30a.m. PNG time.  There are a lot of mixed emotions as our days here are now numbered, but we are taking one day at a time by the Lord’s grace. 

Goodbyes are hard, but we praise the Lord that this life is not all there is to live for.  Christ’s example of leaving His “home” in heaven to come give us the gift of eternal life continues to spur us on.  We are excited to see what He will do in and through us to help reach many lives in Papua New Guinea through the ministry of dorm parenting!

Thank you to so many of you who are such an important part of this ministry as well!  Your prayers, support, love, friendship, and encouragement make a huge difference!  We could not do this without you and pray the Lord will bless you for your many sacrifices as well!

PLEASE PRAY with us about:

  1. Strength and an eternal perspective as we say goodbyes (especially to our parents/grandparents)!
  2. The Lord’s provision for approximately $750/month still needed in support.
  3. Comfort and health with so many changes to come!
  4. 26 days of time well spent before we go!
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12 Joys of Packing

Posted by Jon and Katie Ruse on Thursday, January 13th, 2011
Girls Shoes for 4 Years!

Girls Shoes for 4 Years!

 Twelve pens have gone missing (We always seemed to misplace pens, markers, or packing tape.)

Eleven columns filled on spreadsheets (11 columns x 789 items =8,679 possible entries)

Ten thousand pounds of lifting (We had to weigh our supplies for shipping.  It was 2520lbs and I moved everything at least 4 times.)

Nine days by truck to California (The truck should arrive in California Jan. 17 where it will be loaded into a container to travel by ship to PNG.)

Eight days of babysitters (A friend and both grandparents took turns caring for the kids.)

Seven hundred and eighty-nine items (Each item needed a quantity, description, category, value, etc.)

Six-ty six inventoried boxes (Mostly large storage tubs, some boxes, and individual items like the kids bikes & matresses)

Five pounds gained from Chocolate (We survived on leftover New Years buckeyes, chocolate chips, caffinated tea & Mountain Dew.)

Four crazy kids (They were actually really good but always full of energy and needs to be met. We’re so thankful for the help with them!)

At the Loading Dock

At the Loading Dock

Three a.m. bedtime (The night we finished the spreadsheet was the latest but we were rising earlier and going to bed much later than normal all last week.)

Two exhausted missionaries (We crashed Friday after finishing the paperwork, ran errands, went to a friends basketball game, came home and went to sleep! Saturday –  back to work!) 

And One great God who carried us through! “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.  Amen!”  Ephesians 3:20&21

THANK YOU for praying for us as we took one step closer to PNG last week.  It’s exciting, but reality is also setting in! 

PLEASE PRAY ALONG WITH US ABOUT:

  • BIG ONE: Choosing our departure date!  (We would like to make the deadline of February 28 for dorm parenting but don’t want to step ahead of God or go underfunded!)
  • 19% support left to raise (about $1000 in monthly support)
  • Wisdom in decisions about how to handle finances overseas, switching to New tribes Insurance, and many little details!
  • Keeping our kids on schedule with the PNG Missionary school they will attend.
  • Sharing memorable moments with family and friends as we prepare for the soon coming goodbyes!

 

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Quick Praise & Prayer

Posted by Jon and Katie Ruse on Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

Praises:

~We have gained 3 more supporters and are now at 65% of our needed monthly support!

~We have had wonderful visits with a number of churches, individuals, and friend

~We have been able to purchase and organize our supplies for PNG thanks to the generous donations of our friends and supporters!Ruse Support

Prayer Requests:

~For our support to increase to at least 85%. Then we will pick a date and purchase tickets to PNG.

~The timing with shipping of our supplies (the container for our things is filling slowly and may not depart to PNG until late January? (2 mo. trip)

~A refreshing time together for Katie and I as we celebrate our 10 YEAR Anniversary (1½ months early) with a few days away!

~Quality time with our families during the holiday season as our time of departure draws closer!

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More Than Meets The Eyes

Posted by Jon and Katie Ruse on Friday, October 15th, 2010

My eye problem or infection came back again this weekend while we were away in Rothbury, MI.  At first I was frustrated and mad about it.  It was painful, uncomfortable, and inconvenient for the things I needed to do.  The Lord reminded me how Paul had a “thorn in His flesh” that He had asked God to take away and God replied“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” II Corinthians 12:9

How could Paul rejoice in his sufferings and find contentment in any situation?   His focus was not on His circumstances but on His Savior and on the Goodness of God.  As I began to look around and see the beautiful fall colors (as best I could), enjoy the loving church family and friends God’s given us, and the goodness of God I no longer noticed the discomfort in my eyes.  Even though I am thankful the eye infection is gone again and would not wish it to come back.  I am more thankful for how I felt God’s love through many people while it hurt and how I was able to let go of the (this isn’t fair attitude) and find joy in Christ despite the circumstances.                                  I hope you can relate to this and find encouragement to keep your eyes on Him instead of what you are going through!

Answered Prayers & Requests:

  1. We’ve gained 3 more supporters this week and are now 60% Supported!  (Praise God)
  2. While in Rothbury we had a great time with our host family, enjoyed participating in a Missions Conference, spent time with friends, and enjoyed activities.
  3. My eyes are feeling good now after using some special drops.  Pray the infection won’t come back again
  4. Pray for wisdom in scheduling our limited time available (so many people and some churches we would like to spend time with before leaving in January)
  5. Pray for efficiency with the many decisions to make, communications and relationships to maintain, things to organize and pack or junk, homeschooling, etc.
  6. Pray that the Lord would lead more churches & individuals to support us by the end of November so we can move forward with shipping and buying tickets.

*Click on the “Photos” tab above to see more recent pictures from our travels!

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A Refreshing Vacation in the U.P.

Posted by Jon and Katie Ruse on Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

It’s not easy to “Be Still and Know That I Am God“.  After a very busy spring and summer we felt drained as a family and in need of some undistracted time with each other and the Lord.  This was part of what led us to focus on a week of prayer.  God answered many prayers during that time as well as refreshing our spirits.  We were then able to go on our first family vacation (with no work attached) in a long time. 100_5201

We stayed at a friends cabin in the U.P. and enjoyed many activites, but especally relaxing by the lake or around the campfire.  We visited Oswald Bear Ranch were Katelyn had a close encounter with a bear cub, we also visited Tahquamenon Falls State Park, and Cut River Bridge for site seeing and hiking.

Thanks so much for praying for us recently!  We are back home and working hard on organizing supplies, catching up on correspondences, visiting with people, a new newsletter, updating this website, planning a trip to Indiana, and preparing for a church presentation Sunday.

Pray with us about these things: more opportunties to share our ministry, timing for supplies and shipping to PNG, preparing to begin homeschooling again, maintaining a passion for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Enjoy all of the pictures of our family!

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Picture 1 of 39

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