This morning we attended a church service at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Courtland, MN, where  Tim’s maternal grandmother attended as a child.  The graves of Tim’s great-grandparents are in the cemetery next door to the church

The church was started by German immigrant farmers to Minnesota and services were held in German into the 1920’s.  As a child Tim remembers special church services in German were held at the church. 

The founders of this church understood the need to hear God’s Word and worship in their mother tongue.  So it there was something special about seeing Tim up front in this morning sharing about the ministry of Wycliffe and our desire to see everyone be able to have access to God’s Word in their own language.

We are thankful for the rich Christian heritage of Tim’s family and the support of Immanuel Lutheran of our ministry.

Yesterday as I sat at my computer, a Skype chat message popped up from our friend Peter.  We know Peter from the village where we lived 15 years ago in the Solomon Islands.  Today, Peter is in Virginia finishing up special training with the US Coast Guard before returning home where he serves in the Solomon Islands Search and Rescue office.

Earlier this week when tornadoes touched down about an hour south of Dallas and Peter saw it on the news.

Here is the chat conversation with Peter:

Peter : Hello..heard about the storm,are you ok?

Martha: We are fine.  Thanks.

Peter: Oh..thank God, i tried to call today when i saw it on the TV early 4 am this morning and there was no reply, so i thought you might be hurt.

Martha: You are sweet to worry about us.  No, the place where people lost their lives was about an hour southwest of us.

Peter: Ok..now am happy back again, i was worried,i told my brother in Kirakira that there was a storm strikes in Dallas,but when i called there was no reply..so i can tell them now that you are fine..we know you very well and if some thing terrible happen to you, you can imagine how we feel, so thank you for reply..May God keep you well.

Tears came to my eyes as I read his message.  Our family was a part of that community for a couple of years, but we are forever connected with them.  In the same way we worry about them when we hear of  cyclone bearing down on their island.

It’s amazing  to have friends and family around the world.  It really is true when Scripture says,

And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life. Matthew 29:19 (NLT)

We are truly blessed.

Boxes. They are everywhere in our house.  Post-it notes mark the final deistination; ship, store and ’boutique’ (the donation spot at our offices).

On Saturday Tim finished packing our crate and screwed it shut hours before he flew to Australia and on to the Solomon Islands.  He built the crate in our second garage (an extra garage in our backyard) and placed it on a small trailer we have. He intended to pull it the 2 miles to our center before he left.  But we found out that a truck could come pick up the crate if we could find a way to get the crate on the truck.

Last week we were driving home and noticed inside our neighbor’s yard, what looked to be a forklift.  Next time I saw the neighbor, I asked about it. Sure enough it is forklift and he was happy to help us out.  He said, ‘I have no idea why I brought the forklift home from the shop.’  I think I know why…

The cut off for this shipment was May 1st so today I scheduled the truck to come.  Some colleagues wanted some boxes shipped too, so this became the shipment that grew and grew.  Aaron and his two kids brought their boxes to our house and helped me finish up my last packing.  I made a last minute trip to Lowes and Walmart just this morning for a few last hard-to-find-in-the-Solomons items.

We stacked up the boxes and cargo by sending family unit and measured the piles.  The cost of the shipment is based on cubic space so we will have to sort all that out later. The truck came, the forklift rolled out of the neighbors and we filled the truck.  First the boxes went in and last of all the crate.  It had to be taken out of the second garage, through the first garage and out to the street where it was loaded in the truck.  There was a bit of sweating, but in the end, the job was done!  Yeah.

The next stop was the shipping office where the boxes and other cargo was put on pallets and covered in black plastic.  We then marked all the pallets with the destination address.  From here the cargo will be trucked to Houston where the shipper will put it with other cargo headed to the west coast by train or truck.

From the west coast of the USA it will ship to Singapore. It will then be put on a ship headed to the Pacific and we will see when it arrives in the Solomons.  The shipping office is predicting an arrival of June 26th.  We think that is doubtful, but time will tell.

Now the ‘to ship’ piles have gone, we are mostly down to things that we will store or take with us in our suitcases. The house is looking more empty as we push toward our time of departure.

Carefully getting the crate out of the garage. The forklift JUST fit in the garage.

The kids working on measuring the calculating. (REAL homeschooling today!)

Paper products are expensive in the Solomons. I found a way to wrap my plates and get a roll of paper towels there!

So thankful for our neighbor!

This is all the marking needed to get to the shipment to the Solomons; HOU (Houston) HON (Honiara) and the booking number.

The crate being removed from the truck at the warehouse

loading the crate on the truck at our house

Plastic boxes full of cargo

The warehouse crew wrapped everything in black plastic to help insure everything stays together

The elliptical and treadmill made for some strange shaped cargo!

Aaron and his two kids who helped with the cargo. Their family returns to the Solomons in August

After writing the blog post this morning about needing a home for Cali, God has already answered.  A friend in Kentucky has agreed to provide a loving home for  Cali.  She has even promised Sarah Skype sessions with Cali!  It doesn’t get better than that!  We are driving to Michigan in early June and were already planning on stopping in Kentucky, so this is a perfect solution.

Thank you, God.  Thank you, Alana!

PS And yet another offer has been made.  Cali is covered and another item ticked off our ‘to do’ list.

In 2009, when we moved from the Solomon Islands to Dallas, we left behind two dogs and two cats.  Naturally, it was a painful experience for our kids to leave pets behind.  Sarah loves cats and began praying that we would be able to get a cat when we got to Dallas.

About a month after we arrived in Dallas, I saw a notice on a bulletin board for a cat who needed a new home.  The cat had started hanging around the home of a retired couple who lived nearby.  They began putting out food for her and eventually coaxed her into their home.  ‘Cali’ settled in and they took her to the SPCA and got her shots and spayed.

It soon became apparent that the couple’s own cat was not happy with Cali in the house. With a heavy heart, the woman started to pray for a good home for Cali. They made a flyer and brought it to our center where I saw it on a bulletin board.  I placed a phone call and we went to meet Cali.  Sarah’s heart had a place for this shy cat and we agreed to take her.  The couple even kept her another week until we moved into our new home.  It was neat to see God answer the prayers of Sarah and this woman we didn’t even know.

We kept in contact wit this couple who were interested in seeing Cali settle into our home well.  When they heard we had gotten a dog, the woman worried about shy Cali.  Cali and rambunctious Duke learned to get along.  One day when Tim found Cali curled up with Duke, we knew they had become good friends.

Now as we get ready to move back to the Pacific, Duke will stay with Emily, but we are looking for a new home for Cali.  While Sarah is not looking forward to saying good-bye to Cali, but it needs to happen.  Sarah said the other day that she wants Cali to go to a nice home and she would enjoy having Cali go to someone who could occasionally give her updates on how she is doing.

God answered Sarah’s prayers for a cat and now we are trusting Him to answer prayers for a new home. If you have a place in your heart for a Cat and a missionary kid who loves her, please let us know.

Sarah will spend the next two years largely living in PNG (Papua New Guinea) where she will attend school.  This morning we finished packing a suitcase and bag with clothing, toiletries and other things that will help make her feel at home in the youth hostel where she will live.  The two pieces were delivered to the warehouse at our offices today where a truck picked them up for delivery to our shipping office in North Carolina.  A shipment is being readied for a shipment to PNG.  The shipment is due to be sent in May and will take about 3 months to reach the capital city and then will travel by truck up to the highlands where our center is located.

We are thankful for this opportunity to get clothing and other things Sarah will need.  In the meantime, we are working on preparing a shipment of household goods for the Solomon Islands.

Driving in the Solomon Islands is a funny situation.  With less than 100 kilometers of paved roads, there isn’t far to go, but we still need a car.  We have been watching this website: www.japanesevehicles.com for cars that would meet our needs.  We have been looking at smaller cars with 4 wheel drive.

Yesterday we found a 2004 Ford Escape with 52,000 miles that had been reduced in price by $1100.00 US dollars and is now  $3900.00. It looks like a perfect car for our needs and have committed to purchasing it.  After the money is transferred from our bank to to the company in Japan, they will prepare it for shipping to the Solomon Islands.  The costs for shipping and insurance will be about $3000.00 USD.  When it arrives in the Solomons, we will pay duty and ‘goods tax’ of at least another 10%.

In our last newsletter we mentioned the need for funds to cover the cost of the car.  If you feel led to make a contribution, you can follow this link www.wycliffe.org where you can give a tax-deductible gift.  If you would prefer to make a contribution by mail or a phone call, further instructions can be found on the ‘participate‘ tab above.  Gifts need to be designated for ‘Tim & Martha Matzke’.

Purchasing this car is another step forward in our return to the Solomon Islands and the opportunities awaiting us there. We are grateful for the support of our friends like YOU!

Our latest newsletter is available here: Matzke Messenger – March 2013 as a PDF download.

I should be packing my bags to go to Detroit where Tim and I will be attending a missions conference at my home church. But I have to stop and share an amazing story.

We are continuing to make plans for our return to the Solomon Islands in the middle of the year. We are excited about going back and the wonderful opportunities that await us. But this week we were reminded of what it is going to take to get us there.

Our monthly financial support is a bit short. But the big items God needs to supply are our plane tickets, money to cover shipping some household goods and the purchase of a vehicle. As we added up our estimate of what we will need, it was a bit sobering. How in the world is that going to happen before the end of June?!?

That night we went to church to attend the Wednesday night dinner and go to choir. After the dinner, a friend asked us about how we get to the Solomons. We explained the various routes and what we were thinking. Then he asked, ‘But you don’t really care HOW you get there, right?”. We admitted we had our preferences, but when push came to shove, it doesn’t really matter.

Then our friend asked, “What if I could get you there or part of the way with my frequent flyer miles?” We were floored. Before we could even let people know about our list of outgoing needs, God was providing.

This afternoon our friend booked the three of us tickets to Auckland, New Zealand where we will visit friends. From New Zealand we will fly to Brisbane, Australia.  So all we need now is to pay for airfare from Brisbane to Solomon Islands!

We didn’t NEED to go to New Zealand, but we were hoping we could. Now God has provided a way – free of charge and before we could even ask. Isn’t that just like God?

And last week he provided someone to house sit our house sit our house in the Solomon Islands. We had just found out the renter was moving out when someone approached us with a temporary housing need for their son and daughter-in-law. Again, we were amazed that God provided before we could even ask.

As we continue to make preparations for our return to the South Pacific, we thank God for his confirmation of our plans through these encouragements.

There are a lot of smiles at our house today.  The long awaited day for the removal of the braces has arrived.  After two years Sarah no longer has braces.  Yeah!

Sarah and I have known about the appointment for some time, but we kept it under our hats.  This morning I picked her up from school and took her to the orthodontist’s office.  Afterward we stopped by the office to surprise Tim.  As Tim looked at Sarah’s beautiful metal-free smile, he broke into a smile.  And I got teary-eyed.

When we were told 3 years ago that both girls needed braces, and not just for cosmetic reasons, we had no idea how we would be able to pay for them.  We moved ahead in faith and trusted God to provide.

Friends donated a car to Wycliffe in our name and the proceeds from the sale of the car were almost exactly what we needed for Emily’s braces.  We have been making payments on Sarah’s braces month after month and have always had enough. God has been faithful even when we couldn’t see a way forward.

Sarah isn’t the only one smiling today.  What’s not to smile about?  We have a God who delights in providing for his children – even straight teeth.

Before…

and after…