Mount Ida - Burden Is Light-a ??

Yesterday we participated in an unconventional Timberline tradition. Each student is required to wake at 2am and hike the 12,000 foot Mount Ida in pitch darkness. We enjoyed a time of reflection while watching the sun rise near the peak and then summited a couple hours later.

This activity wasn't just planned for torture purposes (even thought at times it was torture - think 30 degrees plus whipping wind chill!) or physical conditioning (even though our muscles are a little tight today!). During the sun rise we were taught about the burden of sin. As an application activity, we wrote our personal sin-burden in chalk on a large rock and hiked to the peak while lugging our sin in our pack. This was a great time of meditation and prayer. Later, we left our sin burden and representative rock at the summit of Mount Ida. With Him our burden is light and we have the God-strength to lay down our burdens through the victory at the cross. Awesome!

This morning we studied the book of Ezra and had a two session Hebrew lesson of the beginning of Genesis. God's Word is rich and we are so excited and blessed to be daily digging into the Truth that is life transforming.

Thankful and Blessed!

This is the week! Chris and Tina begin school on Wednesday and are very excited to have a set schedule. We spent this last weekend with our dear Beckett friends at Family Camp at Camp Elim and were blessed with good teaching, fun playtime and great family time of hugs, dancing and chatting. God ordered this time for us to connect and energize as a family before beginning our schooling. Thank you Lord!

While we are on the topic of praise. Let us share a few big victories with you!

- Praise God! We have raised about $15,000 in on-time gifts and only have $7,000 remaining to pay for our school in full! We not only met our September 7th tuition deadline but exceeded it by $3,000!!!! Some of our financial needs remain ($7,000 for school and about $1000 in monthly support) but we are so encouraged and trust the God who brought us here.

- Georgia and Reese are doing well in school. Reese is on cloud nine with her own desk and enjoys eating lunch and having recess with her older sister. Georgia is enjoying her new friend Abby and is in the "Dolphin" learning group. According to Georgia, Dolphins have a lot of hard work but she thinks she is up for the challenge!

- The renters for our Highlands Ranch home are settled in and seem to be very good renters! In fact, they asked if they could do some additional upkeep while staying at our house. God met this need exceedingly, above and beyond what we could ask or imagine!

Keep praying! We aren't there yet but are surely blessed by a God who knows our needs and a family of believers that are walking by our side.

Love and Blessings!

Chris, Tina, Georgia and Reese

1st Day of School!!

Reese started Kindergarten today and Georgia began her 2nd Grade year!! The girls were so excited and, as expected, a little paused about what to expect at a new school. We were blessed by Georgia's new friend, Abby. When we arrived at Winter Park Christian School, Abby was waiting for Georgia outside the school. Once she saw G, she began yelling her name and running through the rain to give her a big hug. The transition was seamless. Thank you Lord!

Here begins our Winter Park adventure!

Clinging to the Truth!!!

Our family "moved" to Winter Park this last Tuesday and it has been a rough journey! On Tuesday one of our cars broke down and may be beyond repair...Chris missed work on Wednesday to tend to the car situation and was in bed for half the day with a migraine...Reese was hit in the ear with a stick and nearly needed stitches!!! The list goes on.

The pastor at our Winter Park "foster church" said it best, "Satan does not want more believers in the Winter Park Valley!" Spiritual warfare is real people!!! How do we answer to Satan's attempts? Honestly? At first we whined a little... THEN we got on our knees, dug into scripture and are seeking the prayer support of our fellow believers!

We would love for each of you to know our day to day victories and struggles so that you too may be spurred on by God's great power and provision. Thank you for walking with us as we seek God's will for our lives. He is faithful!!

Just for fun, we have listed the scripture references we have been CLINGING TO lately!! May they be an encouragement to you as well.

Ephesians 1:18-20

Psalm 91

Hebrews 10:23

Col 4:17

Hebrews 10:35,36

Lamentations 3:22-26

Unexpected Blessings

We held our first dessert this last Sunday and were so encouraged. Our lives are crazy right now with the transition of movie and busy work weeks. Taking the time out to tell the story of what God has done seemed impossible. But, in true God-style, He blessed our socks off with a great group of friends attending the dessert. The time was spent chatting, eating, sharing our hearts and was sealed with the power of prayer.

We don't know how God will provide for our every need but we KNOW He will provide. Our cup runs over with encouragement and hope for a future He created for our little family.

As we move forward and plan for our next dessert we are excited! Thank you Lord for this breath of fresh air.

Giving in the Midst of Offering Our Lives

The sermon at our church today was about God's gift of His Son and our response to that gift. In response we can be a giver or a taker. Chris and I were both hit with the realization that even in the midst of us offering our lives for God to use in ANY way He chooses, we still have a tendency to have a taker mentality. We so often ask God what He can do for us instead of asking Him what can we do in response to His Ultimate Gift.

Our prayer today is that the Lord would continue to work in us a heart of giving in the midst of our circumstances. No matter what those circumstances may be, we know one thing for sure; HE IS FAITHFUL AND WORTHY. May that be the message of our lives.

2 Corinthians 8:7

Meditation of the Day - Get Stressed OR Just Get Dressed!

What will you choose? Get stressed or just get dressed?

We all know that each day holds too many tasks but God doesn't ask us to do everything. He simply asks us to do what He has called us to do. Sometimes we must just get dressed in the morning and allow God to lead our day as the tasks ahead seem far to big. Trust God and just get dressed; then follow His leading to do what He has called you to do and nothing more.

May He bless your day, increase your faith and give you hope for tomorrow!

God's Call On Our Lives - A Timeline

Ferry Family – Chris, Tina, Georgia (7) and Reese (5)

God’s Call On Our Lives – A Timeline

Over the past 4 years, God has been asking us to step forward in obedience to explore the ministry calling on our lives. Our journey, as God has designed it for our refinement, has very much been a journey of obedience to take the next step without fully knowing the ultimate destination. God has been faithful to reveal the next step and bless us abundantly when we move forward in faith. We have a heart for the world and are excited to see how God will use the sacrifice of our lives for eternal purposes.

2008 – Chris went on a mission trip to India and God used that experience to highlight his God-given abilities. God began to woo us towards the idea of missions.

2009 – Our family took the 12 week Perspectives in Missions course at New Life Church. This course gave us a deeper understanding of the history and future of missions. Our girls, Georgia and Reese, came to understand and have a passion for missions.

2010 (Spring) – Chris and Tina attended an in-depth Missionary Assessment (MAC) with Converge Worldwide. We were recommended to serve with Converge as missionaries with two conditions – 1. That we take a vision trip to the place we felt God was calling us to serve 2. That we each complete 30 hours of formal Bible training.

2010 (Late Fall) – We took a vision trip to explore ministry in Granada, Spain.

This trip accomplished –

• God used this trip to seed passion about furthering our Bible training.
• Allowed us to spend more intimate time with Converge leaders to aid in determining if Converge is the best sending agency for our family.
• God solidified our ministry focus of Leadership Development and Discipleship
• After this trip our place of ministry is still unknown but we have a heart-leaning towards the Latin Culture. We continue to seek Him for direction and will continue to take short term trips to explore ministry locations.

2011 (Spring) – Torchbearers Bible schools began surface frequently from several different sources.

• We visited the Winter Park Torchbearers School (Timberline Lodge) and were encouraged by their Leadership Development teaching style.

2011 (Late Spring) - Attended a week-long ALTECO Conference (Amazon/Lowlands Agency).

This conference accomplished –

• As we had further exposure to Christian Tribal leaders, National leaders and World-wide missions organizations we felt confirmation that the Torchbearers School would serve us well as we seek to practically apply our education in the mission field.
• Opened our eyes and hearts to the needs in the Amazon and the possibility of a ministry to equip and disciple the existing Tribal and National Christians to reach the 207 unreached tribes in the Amazon region. Thus, we are planning to take a family vision trip in the 2012.

Present (May, 2011) –

Confirmed –

• Schooling – Chris and Tina are to attend the Timberline Lodge Torchbearers Bible School in Winter Park, CO Fall of 2011 and Spring of 2012. This intensive 40 credit hour, 1 year program will fulfill the requirement for Converge and all other missions sending agencies we are considering. Georgia and Reese will attend Winter Park Christian School and are currently enrolled for the 2011/2012 school year.
• Lodging – Praise the Lord, Tina’s boss is graciously allowing our family to live in her Winter Park condo for the entire 2011/2012 school year.
• Appointment as Rock missionaries; allowing us to raise support for our 9 months schooling and reduced living costs.

Pending –

• Funding for our schooling and partial living expenses. Tina will continue to work very part time to retain our family’s health insurance and cover the cost of our girl’s Christian education.
• Rental of our current home in Highlands Ranch CO for 9 months. We are hoping to rent our house to minimize monthly expenses.

Purpose in the midst of much uncertainty

We created this blog for two purposes:

1. To memorialize God's direction, provision and blessing in our lives. He has already worked so many amazing things in our lives. Like the Israelites, we want to make spiritual markers as a reminder to praise God for His faithfulness and create a log to meditate upon during the difficult days.

2. To give a more intimate view of our journey to our friends, family and ministry partners. We want each of you to be encouraged by what God is doing in our lives and challenged to trust Him even more in your day-to-day lives. Together we will know Him better!

We are blessed and thankful. Stay tuned for more posts, timelines, letters etc!

Love,

Chris, Tina, Georgia and Reese