Coral Joy

Our sweet baby girl arrived on Monday, November 18th, 2013, weighing 8lbs 4oz and measuring 20¼ inches long. While we were elated at first, our joy quickly turned to alarm. Most newborn babies have a pulse ranging from 120-160 beats per minute.  Coral’s heart rate was ranging from 70 to 100.  The doctors and nurses were concerned that this might be an indication of something serious.When we began to panic, many of our friends and family members committed to praying for Coral, while others watched our kids and took time off work to help us out. After two EKGs, one x-ray, and a trip to the cardiologist in Syracuse, we are thrilled to say that her heart rate is increasing. According to the cardiologist, there is no problem. She is a perfectly normal little girl. God has blessed Chris with a job that will allow him to take a few more days off from work that will allow him to help Lynnie as she learns to care for two active boys and a thriving infant. Through it all we experienced what true Christian community is like; in short, we felt overwhelming support. We need to thank everyone who prayed, including those from Lifespring, E-Free, Lakewood Baptist, and Christ Community.

Waiting

Waiting seems like a formidable enemy these days. Lynnie is due to have our new baby girl any day now; we are so anxious to meet her. This weekend is opening day of deer season in New York, and Chris can hardly contain himself. The same need for patience seems to pervade our ministry progress at this point. While we are slowly working on developing partners, it is challenging to really pour ourselves into this area until Chris has finished out the school year. 

Meanwhile, it feels like our teaching ministry at Carachipampa Christian School is calling to us, "Hurry up and get over here, we need long-term teachers NOW"; however, there is a lot of work that must be done before we are ready to board the plane (target date Jan 2015).

 
Waiting is quickly becoming a way of life for us.  For Lynnie and I (and probably many others reading this), we like to get the job done as efficiently as possible so that we can move onto the next thing.  While that philosophy is often a good thing, God is using this waiting stage in our lives to teach us the importance of the process.  We need to bring God glory by focusing on how we do each of these things, not just how quickly they get done.

Bolivia? What are we thinking?

Our story:
Early in marriage, we prayed that God would lead us into full-time service together. Chris has dreamed of developing a ministry that combines education and outdoor adventures to disciple young people. Lynnie, though passionate about raising two (nearly three) kids, has kept alive her longing for cross-cultural ministries. Not knowing how our desires matched God’s plan, we sought guidance through prayer. Through a Bible study with some good friends based on David Platt’s book, Radical, we looked deeply at how we could better serve our own community as well as the immense needs around the globe. Shortly thereafter, some friends of ours currently serving in Paraguay invited us to contact SIM (a Christian international sending organization) to see if our gifts, skills, and passions would be a good match. It took us most of a year to finish the application process as we evaluated the idea of moving our family overseas, specifically in regard to safety and leaving family. In the end, however, God led us each to Peter’s encounter with Jesus in John 6:67-8. Jesus asked his disciples, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” For us, our response is the same: Where else can we go but to Jesus? Following God’s will does not guarantee the safest or most comfortable life, but it does lead to His best for us. Because you have had a significant impact on our lives, we want to invite you to be a part of this journey. We greatly value your prayers and support as we respond to this calling God has placed on our lives.  

 

To Bolivia:

We knew God was leading us into missions, we didn’t know where. After attending a conference at SIM USA headquarters, we realized the tremendous need for teachers all around the world. By mulling over our passions and skills we surmised that we have a heart for building lasting relationships, responding to existing needs, and we both have master’s degrees in teaching. It was hard to deny that we were equipped and experienced for this role. God continued to open doors with a small school in Bolivia eventually tugging at our hearts. Carachipampa Christian School is an international school that services missionary children and Bolivians near Cochabamba, Bolivia. The more we learned about this opportunity, the more excited we became about responding to CCS’s huge teacher shortage. 

Dozens of missionaries in the area count on this school to provide quality education for their children so they can continue service to the people groups around them.  Many Bolivian families also desire to have their children attend CCS because of its reputable instruction and caring staff. Unlike public schools, teachers are free to discuss faith in Jesus and help the next generation of leaders grow in their relationship with Christ. Chris will be filling a vacant position in the elementary, and Carolyn (Lynnie) plans to teach English after our children have reached school-age.  We hope to be serving in Bolivia for the 2015-16 school year. Please pray for us and look for more updates ahead!  

 

PRAY FOR...

· Our family’s transition into a new culture and language

· Saying goodbye to family and friends

· Raising needed financial support along with 400 prayer partners

· Effective ministry opportunities at school and in local Bolivian community

Why are the Clarks leaving?

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the Church, worship is.  Missions exists because worship doesn’t. –John Piper. 

Lynnie and I are part of Christ’s church which strives to see all peoples from all nations worship God.  In the short time we’ve been involved with SIM, we’ve met some passionate people serving in all parts of the world. 

In Bangladesh, John and Tina are part of a team that secretly rescues women from prostitution and the slave trade and offers them jobs to support themselves.  In southern Asia, Peter and Kim have gained access to a secure area by running a business (Business as Missions).  In this area, millions of people have never heard of the love of Christ.  In Bolivia, Catholic Christianity has been mixed with traditional animism of the native Quechua people living in the mountains.  They lack an understanding of God's gift of eternal life through faith in Christ alone.  The result is a complex mission field where evangelical missionaries have to not only show the love of Christ, but foster a worldview based on God’s written word. 

Almost 60% of Bolivians live in poverty, while 24.4% live in extreme poverty (Unicef.org).  Soveldo, who I had the pleasure of meeting, grew up in a large city in Bolivia.  When his father left them when he was young, his mother was forced to move away to find work to support her family.  Soveldo’s 12-yr-old sister was forced to raise him.  Sadly, this is a common situation in Bolivia.  There is a great deal of humanitarian need in Bolivia, but more importantly, these beautiful people need the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in their lives.  SIM Bolivia is there to respond to the basic needs of the Bolivians, proclaim the gospel to them, and equip the local church to take over the ministry. 

There are all kinds of ministries going on in Bolivia run by SIM and other mission agencies.  Included are youth outreaches and kids clubs.  To the Quechua, there is medical outreach, church planting, and radio ministry.  There is also an institution for training Bolivian pastors to reach their own communities.  One thing that many of the workers in these ministries have in common is that they have children who attend Carachipampa Christian School (CCS). 

Unfortunately, one of the main reasons missionaries leave the field is because of family struggles.  Carachipampa Christian School makes it possible for families to serve in ministry.  Those who cannot or choose not to homeschool can rely on the caring staff of CCS that seeks to provide a first-class education to these students while meeting their spiritual and emotional needs.  Presently, Carachipampa Christian School is struggling to maintain a full staff.  While it remains the best school in the area (the mayor of Cochabamba has sent his children there), the teachers and staff are experiencing burn-out.  I recently met with the director on home assignment who explained that he has been trying to run the school while preparing and grading papers for the upper-level math courses.   This has caused major strain in his own life. We hope to alleviate some of the stress by filling vacant roles and encourage those who are serving in this capacity.

With our passion for youth, combined with our degrees and experience in teaching, we want to be a part of this supportive ministry in Bolivia.  We are also excited about being a part of some of the great things that are happening through the school including a student-run baby-washing ministry to the Quechua people, and a camping component to the middle-high school curriculum.  We pray that we would be effective servants for God in this community for his Kingdom.