Merry Christmas from the Delps!

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Joel & Kim

We wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas from the Delp household!  May the peace that passes all understanding be with you and yours during this time of awaiting the arrival of Christ Jesus!

We are also sending along our most recent newsletter.  Some of you may have received a paper copy.  For those of you who haven’t, you can download it here:

Newsletter_December_2012

There are a couple of things that we reference in the newsletter as being “included” in the mailing.  Since you did not receive those, we can help you with downloading them. One is a Electronic Transfer Form (ETF).  It can be downloaded here: Electronic_Funds_Transfer

The second one is the Response Form.  It can be downloaded here: Response_Form.  It can be downloaded, printed, filled out and mailed into this address: Joel & Kim Delp, 58121 County Road 23, Goshen, IN 46528.

As explained in the newsletter, the fact that we are transitioning into Long-term Missionary service, the big thing we are needing is more monthly/quarterly givers.  Having a larger amount of monthly givers means that our ministry will be sustainable for the long-term.  You can see the post below this one for more of an explanation.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

Much love,

Joel, Kim and Simeon

 

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Help Wanted!

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Joel & Kim

You’ll soon be receiving our Christmas newsletter (if you haven’t already) and in it we explain how as Long-term Missionary Candidates our need for monthly supporters has gone up a great deal.  We currently have around an average of $3,700 in monthly support.  In order for us to return to Ecuador, we have to be over $9,700.  Of course, our one-time or periodic givers are just as important to our on-going ministry as what our monthly supporters are.  It’s just that it is important for us to be able to show as missionaries that are going to be serving in the long-term that we have a strong support base of committed monthly givers that will be able to support our ministry for the long haul.

For those of you who are thinking about a Christmas gift to our ministry, we are asking you to consider a Christmas gift that will help sustain us for the long-term: a gift of a commitment to long-term giving.  That doesn’t mean that you are committing to partner in our ministry financially forever; rather it is a statement that you are planning to give monthly as long as you are able.  If your circumstances in life change, then we understand how you might not be able to continue in the future, so please don’t look at it as a lifetime commitment but rather a as long as you are able commitment.

There are a few ways that you can make this type of commitment.  The best, lowest cost method is to begin doing this is by filling out an Electronic Transfer Form (ETF) to start an automatic, monthly withdrawal from a bank account.  This form can be downloaded, printed, filled-out and sent into the address listed on the form.  Please click here to download the form: http://blogs.covchurch.org/delp/files/2009/06/electronic_funds_transfer.pdf

Another way that you can make the commitment is through the use of a credit card by online giving.  This is a quick and easy way to get signed up. Just click here to sign up online: http://www.covchurch.org/mission/jkdelp/#more-4857

Finally, you of course can send in checks month by month.  Checks can be sent to: Covenant World Mission, Attn: Delp Missionary Support, 8303 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago, IL 60631.  Please write “Delp Missionary Support” in the memo line to make sure the checks get to the right place. If you could, please also let us know of your commitment.  You can just shoot us an email to let us know that you will be committing regularly so that we can take account of your commitment in our support total.

You all have been so incredibly supportive of our ministry as partners in our ministry.  We can never thank you enough because it is only through you partnership, your prayers and giving, and the goodness of God that our ministry is possible.  Thank you so very much for continually supporting us!

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Delp Family Christmas Tradition

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Joel & Kim

We started this tradition a few years ago while living in Chicago.  We have tried to modify it depending on where we live and Goshen is no different.  When we lived in Chicago, we would go to IHOP for breakfast, get our Christmas tree, put it up together, at some point get a Christmas coffee from Starbucks and then decorate to Christmas music.  The last couple of years in Ecuador, there was no IHOP, but we found a good pancake place instead.  No Starbucks either.  This year we had the treat of getting IHOP-Simeon’s first time-and he seemed to LOVE IT!  We got out Christmas tree together and then went to Simeon’s new favorite place… THE TRAINS!  There is a great little place in Goshen that has large and small trains that go around on tracks.  He can stand on a chair and watch them.  No Starbucks this year and we didn’t get all the tree decorated, but we had a great time.

Life is different here in the States, not bad, just different.  We enjoy the things we missed while in Ecuador, but it can be hard for us sometimes.   When we think of Ecuador, it seems so far away-our daily lives, our friends, we miss them and we miss Ecuador.

Simeon really liked IHOP!

 

 

Simeon REALLY loved the trains!!!

 

 

Yeah… trains!!!

 

 

Is that an intent look or what?

 

 

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Another blessing!

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Joel & Kim

We just wanted to share another big way that they Lord has been working in our lives and our transition to life in the States for this time.  While we will be in the States for Home Assignment, we’ll be living in the Goshen area of Indiana (just east of South Bend).  We had no idea where we would find a place to stay.  But, just like the car, God has surprised us and provided for our every need.  During a service at their church, Joel’s parents shared the news of us returning to the States and the fact that we would be living in the Goshen area.  After the service, a parishioner in the church who is a farmer came up to Joel’s father to explain that he had a rental house that he would like us to live in if we would like.  Well, this is what has worked out.  On Sunday, we moved into our temporary home for our time here in the States.  You can see pictures below as we are getting the Christmas lights setup after moving in.  This has been an amazing, wonderful blessing for us that we had no idea would come about.  We feel quite comfy in our new little home.

Our new temporary home.

 

 

Simeon helping with some work around the house.

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Top 10 Things the Delps are thankful for…

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Joel & Kim

 

Number 10:  A multitude of different food choices that we have missed-including favorites like Buffalo Wild Wings, Chipotle, Suishi Station, Einstein Bagels and Wendy’s

Number 9:  Cell phones that don’t require more ‘saldo’ (phone credit) in the middle of conversations

Number 8:  Flat Roads to drive on

Number 7:  Not needing to flush toilet paper

Number 6:  Kim’s new job

Number 5:  All of God’s blessings, especially good health for our family

Number 4:  A great national church we were able to work with in Ecuador and the lifelong friends we have made there

Number 3:  Our son who continues to teach us every day and show us what life is all about

Number 2:  Time spent with family and friends we haven’t seen in a while

NUMBER 1:  YOU!  Our faithful prayer and financial supporters!

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Where in the WORLD are those Delp’s?????

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Joel & Kim

If you follow this blog often, you may have noticed we haven’t been blogging as much as normal and that’s pretty rare.  We really have been all over the place and this is one of the first chances we have gotten to sit down, breathe, and blog.  Apologies for the absence, but hopefully we are around now for a little while and will have some time to keep up with it.  We’ll try and update you on our latest adventures here.  It’s been a little crazy as you can probably imagine just moving back to the U.S. from South America.

I believe that last time we left off, we were awaiting Hurricane Sandy while in Maine.  We made it through with really no damage, the lights only flickered and we had some heavy rain and winds for an evening.  The next day we actually went to the beach and hung out a bit.  Here’s some pics from that.

Maine Coastline after Sandy

 

 

Simeon and Joel enjoying the beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then traveled to Massachusetts and stayed with a friend of ours from seminary-Whitney Hall and her parents.  It was great to get to know them all better and to see some of Massachusetts.  We visited the church that Whitney is pastoring and did a presentation about our ministry in Ecuador.  Her church, Emmanuel Covenant is in Nashua, NH.  It was wonderful to be able to worship with fellow Covenanters on the East Coast as this area is new to us.

We then traveled to Connecticut and stayed with Joel’s aunt and uncle-Chuck and Shirley.  We were pleasantly surprised when we got there to see ALL of Chuck and Shirley’s children, spouses and grandchildren, the majority, Kim had never seen before except in pictures and Christmas cards.  We got our first welcome home card and were excited to answer many questions from the kids and adults too!  This was a very encouraging time for us and so nice to see and meet family and of course share in a great Mennonite meal and play DUTCH BLITZ!

We then ventured to Pennsylvania to visit friends of Kim’s from college, Stacy and Franco. It was nice to re-connect a bit and to meet their kids. This was a great time of encouragement as well and we were blessed by the time.

Joel, Simeon, Micah, Anna and Franco

After this, we went and visited long-time friends Scott and Sara Hallam in Ohio.  It was great to re-connect after almost 2 years, see how their kids have grown and meet their newest edition Miles.  This was very relaxing and uplifting for us.  During this time also we got to spend time with different friends and family in the Cleveland area including college friend-Brooke Osborne and her fam and Joel’s cousin Starla, her hubby Yan and son Kieran.  Here’s a picture of the Osborne’s, minus Cameron.

Visiting the Osborne’s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After this we headed to see friends in Coshocton, Ohio.  It was great to see them and a little surreal since the last time we saw them was in Ecuador!  It was nice to meet their kids and just be able to fellowship and of course, EAT!

Coshocton friends

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are blessed!  Blessed by loving friends and family and people we don’t even know that offer to let us stay with them and eat their food and take their time.  We appreciate this people and are so thankful for you all and the way you have blessed us over the last 3 weeks!  THANK YOU!

You may wonder what we are up to now?  Well…

We are happy to say that Kim got a job in the Goshen area, actually at Goshen Hospital here in Indiana.  She will be working as a hospitalist, admitting, rounding and discharging patient’s from the hospital here.  We were also offered a place to stay in Middlebury which is about 15 minutes from the hospital and 7 minutes from Joel’s parents.  It’s a 2 bedroom farmhouse and we are very thankful for it.

We are currently waiting for all of Kim’s credentialing before she can start her job.  It may be as long as a month and a half!  YIKES!  We will be here in Goshen, visiting with family and friends in the area.

Soon, we will start the home assignment process of support raising.  If you would like us to visit your church, mission committee or other engagements, we would love to do that.  You can just contact us and we would love to come and visit!

God is good and faithful and we are so thankful for all He is doing!

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First Church Visit

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Joel & Kim

The Calm Before the Storm in Maine

Yesterday (October 28) we had our first church visit as Long-term Missionary Candidates.  We visited Evergreen Covenant Church in Sanford Maine where Frank Catalano is the pastor and his wife Austin works with children, women, does Sunday school as is basically a “Jill” of all trades!  It was our first visit so our presentation went pretty long, but luckily the church was patient with us and seemed like they wanted us to keep talking (never a problem for us!).  Evergreen is a church that we have worked with already twice in Ecuador and they are very excited about long term partnerships in Ecuador.  This is exciting for us!

We talked to many people in the church, but 2 in particular we just wanted to highlight so that you can be praying with us for them.  Mary is in med school and is thinking about practicing in the future overseas.  She had a lot of questions about practicing which seemed to be encouraging to her that I will be able to practice as an NP.  We are excited to see what possible partnerships could happen with her in the future and we are thankful for God’s call on her life.

Emily is currently in seminary and she said during our presenation, a vision that she had in the past of working overseas came to her mind again.  She is still seeking what God has for her life and future ministry once she is done with seminary, but we are excited about what GOd is doing.  She said pieces of the puzzle are finally coming together!  This is awesome!

We share these stories not because we are great people, but because we are humbled that God would think to use us in His plans for people’s lives and ministries.  Although we know home assignment is about gathering support-prayer and financial, we realize that there is such a deeper part of it that is more important-allowing God to use us anyway He wants to.  That may be through words, prayer or other things, but we are humbled that we would be chosen for that.  We strive to be as Christ was, a servant (Phillipians 2:5-11) and we pray that we can be up to the challenges and experiences we will have during this next year.

Blessings to you all!

P.S. We are currently in Maine where, as you may have see on the news, there is a storm coming to.  We don’t exactly know what that will bring so please keep us in your prayers as we see what that is.

Simeon enjoying playing at the beach in Maine

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Different country, same story… ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Joel & Kim

We are heading out on our first trip for church visits for Home Assignment.  We leave tomorrow October 24th and we won’t be returning to Indiana until the second week in November.  We’ll be heading all the way to the east coast in car and then back again so your prayers for provision and protection are appreciated.  We’ll be visiting Evergreen Covenant Church this Sunday, October 28th.  We’ll be attending the Covenant’s East Coast Conference Pastor’s Retreat on the 28th through November 1st.  Finally, we’ll be at Emmanuel Covenant Church in Nashua, NH on Sunday, November 4th and after that we’ll start making our way back.  We’ll be making numerous stops to visit family, friends and supporters along the way.  This will be a big trip for us but are very much looking forward to connecting with close friends and churches.  Again, your prayers for safety along the way are very much felt.

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A Blessing in a…CAR!

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Joel & Kim

The givers of the car-Kim's parents, Jerry and Noritta

A family picture with the new family car

Today we were very blessed by the gift of a car to use for the year, given from Kim’s parents.  As you may well realize, we will be doing a lot of traveling during our time here in the States and without a car, that could have gotten very expensive.  We had talked about this with my parents a while back and they had talked about giving us a car to use for the year.  It’s been very surreal seeing it all happen, but specifically today, it happened.  Kim’s parents drove up to Goshen where we are staying with Joel’s family to turn over the title and switch it into our name.   What a blessing this is to us.  To see God providing for our every need is a very humbling and amazing experience.

Kim’s mom told a story today about the car.  She said that when we started talking about the car, she prayed a prayer of protection over the car – that it  would be protected over the last year for our use.  On the way to Goshen, about a mile from Joel’s parents, 2 deer came dangerously close to the car, but it was fine.  She also said a prayer of blessing and protection over this next year as we are traveling.

Before we were missionaries, we heard many stories and testimonies about ways God had showed himself in the lives of missionaries.  We believed and still believe them, but it is a totally different thing to experience it first hand.  Before being missionaries, we never prayed for a car to be provided or a place to stay.  We were able to provide those things, in a way, for ourselves.  But it is a different ballgame when we HAVE to rely on God to provide because we can’t do it ourselves.  It is humbling, sometimes a little embarrassing, but there is nothing more awesome than to see and experience God provide for our every need and to see how His people listen to Him when He asks.

We thank God and praise Him today for providing for our car needs.  We praise Him that He provided not just 1, but 3 car seats for Simeon for our time in the States and also for providing over 2 plastic tubs FULL of clothes for Simeon to use during this year.  We don’t say these things lightly, and we hope all those reading realize HOW incredible these blessings are for us!

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What we’ve been up too…

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Joel & Kim

Some of you may have wondered what we have been up to for the last week or so since returning back to the States from Ecuador.  Well, it’s safe to say…ALOT!

We told you about our recent interview a week ago Friday which were very affirming and encouraging for us.

We were able to relax last weekend and watched a lot of football which was great for us!  We attended our home church, Northwest Covenant.  Unfortunately, Joel got sick the night before, so he was unable to go.  But for Kim, it was nice to be in our home church and see many familiar faces as well as meeting new people too!

On Monday, we started day 1 of three with Midwest Ministries which is a requirement for our long-term missionary candidacy.  We took many personality tests and other evaluatory kinds of assessments to make sure we were in a healthy place mentally and also to assess what areas we should work on in the future.  Although these were long days (9-4, M, W, Thur), we were refreshed to be told we’re normal with a few things to work on!  These days were hard for Simeon.  It was the first time he had been away from both of us for a long period of time.  I’m sure it added to things that he was in a new culture with new language, basically new everything.  He did remember our friends, The Hoskins, but it was still quite a change for him.  This made leaving even more difficult.

We had another set of individual interviews last Tuesday.  These were with Covenant World Mission.  The long papers both Joel and I had written were reviewed and discussed and different questions were asked for almost 2 hours!!!!  Kim went first, followed by Joel.  Kim is in the process of seeking the license of Consecrated Missionary, while Joel is seeking Ordination.  The interviews went well, nerve-racking, but well and we were both approved to move on to the next round of interviews at the National level.  These will be in March.

We are now in Goshen, Indiana with Joel’s family.  We are packing and getting ready to head out on our first church visit in Maine and New Hampshire.  We leave Wednesday for this trip.

Please pray for us, for continual acquisition and transitional issues back to the States and for times of rest.

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