Pictures!!!

Well this is a start. We want to share with you more pictures of the people and our life here, however, it can be a little awkward. It is one thing when you are a tourist, and another thing altogether when you live here. But, we feel a little more settled now and are beginning to be recognized as locals, so we will have more pictures for you soon.

Also, as soon as I can get the time I would like to tell you a bit about Port Vila. It is a different kind of place, and not at all what I, Tania, was expecting. It is a thriving 'third-world' city. There are so many interesting faces to Port Vila. This however is not the place where we will be permanently, and the men are diligently seeking out where that place will be.

Will write and send more pictures soon!

Thank you all for your prayers and encouraging emails! Stay in touch.

Love in Christ,
Tania, for the Kenners


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Computer Update, Thanks for Praying!

Hello all!

A quick update for you...
We have just about got our computer troubles ironed out. We were able to get all of the critical data off of my hard drive, praise the Lord! Thank you to all of you who responded to our request for prayers! Now we just need to send in the computer for repairs. We will see how that goes... sending a laptop from here to the US, I hope the Port Vila post office offers insurance. =)

A more detailed report coming soon!

Love in Christ,
(Tania for) the Kenners


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We are here!

ATTENTION! - Due to 'technical difficulties' we do not have access to many of our praying friends' email addresses. If you normally get our e-updates, and you did not recieve an email that looks just like this post... please email us at tkenner@biblicalministries.org so that we can be sure you are included in future updates.

Dear Family & Friends,

This is just going to be a quick note to let you know we got here! The trip went well. It was uneventful, however long.

The last few days have been spent just soaking things in. We are island sponges. Everything is different ...the sights - Ni-Vanuatu people, green jungle everywhere encroaching on the city, water on every side, different plants, cars, birds, things in the market, etc. ...the sounds - dogs, children, birds, language that is foreign to us, but hopefully not for too long ...the smells - always garbage burning, heavy humid air, the people and the market smell of coconut and some kind of perfume that I have no idea where it comes from ...the tastes - we have been eating island foods that we will tell you more about later, but basically coconut, bananas of all kinds, sweet potatoes, etc. Lots of rain already, but not too hot.

As soon as we arrived we found that our computer was somehow damaged during travel and has crashed which means my crashed hard drive is holding hostage a lot of VERY important stuff including all of our contact information, ministry files and programs, visa applications, etc. Please pray that Jim will be able to retrieve the data from the hard drive. And if not, the Lord will help us figure out what to do.

Anyhow, we have arrived safe and sound in Vanuatu. We are settling into the home we will be in during our time here and have started learning our way around. It is wonderful to finally be here. We look forward to sharing more as soon as we can. For now we will be using the Richards' (our teammates) computer when we can.

Tankiou tumas time yu praya (which in Bislama means... thank you so much for your prayers)

Love in Christ,
The Kenners

FAQ - "So, are you getting excited?"

Are we getting excited? It is complex.

Yes, we are very excited to go. I cant wait to be introduced to the land in which the Lord has called our family to serve. I cant wait to smell the air, feel the sun, meet the people, go to the market, find out what it is like to have geckos as roommates, and so on... I am excited to learn how to prepare food island style. From the sound of it we will be eating a ton of yams, tarrow, and coconut. I cant wait to hear voices speaking Bislama while strolling through town... I cant wait to stroll through town! Yes we are excited.

Then on the other hand... we are leaving behind loved ones that we won't see again for a couple years. It has been very sweet to have the time with them that we have had this summer. Thank you Lord, we are grateful. We pray the Lord would give them peace and that they would know how much we love them. More importantly, we pray they would know how much God loves them!

"Are you ready?" ...for the most part, yes. There are always last minute things to do. And they tend not to get done as soon as we would like them to, do they? There are good lessons in it though. It is good when things get to the point that we have no control, and all that we have is trust. Trust that the Lord is Sovereign. What He means to get done, will get done... nothing more, nothing less. It is our part to pray, persevere, and 'count it all joy'.

Two of the main goals...

Goal 1 - The 'Jungle' Jeep - As many of you know, Jim has been working on getting as much work done on it as possible while we are here. With the help of my Dad (John), Bruce Cowan, Larry Harke, my brother (Jeremy), and others, it has been coming along. But the work isn't done yet. As soon as it is we will move it to where it will be stored until we return to pack our container and take it back to the islands. Here are a few pictures...

Tania's dad, John

Bruce is doing some welding on the axls

Jim prepping parts

Goal 2 - Australian Student Visa - (Sorry no exciting pictures, just a lot of paperwork and waiting.) It would be great to have our student visa and not have to deal with it when we are in Vanuatu. We applied last Monday. There is one piece of paperwork that the immigration department is waiting on, our confirmation of registration for home schooling, which is usually not granted unless you are residing in Australia. However we have to have it for our visa which is required to get into the country. We hope to hear back about how to procede early this week.

We are praying, and trusting the Lord with both of these situations (Jeep & Visa). He is in control, and He knows best. We would be grateful if you would pray with us.

Love to you all,

Tania

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For Him, and by Him...

This is just a devotional thought we would like to share with you this morning. It is from C.H. Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening". We know that without Christ we can do nothing. It is for Him, and only by Him, that we are able to do any good thing. As we are nearing our departure we are reminded that without a healthy connection to the root/branch our vine will bear no fruit.



September 8
Morning

"From me is thy fruit found." - Hos_14:8

Our fruit is found from our God as to union. The fruit of the branch is directly traceable to the root. Sever the connection, the branch dies, and no fruit is produced. By virtue of our union with Christ we bring forth fruit. Every bunch of grapes have been first in the root, it has passed through the stem, and flowed through the sap vessels, and fashioned itself externally into fruit, but it was first in the stem; so also every good work was first in Christ, and then is brought forth in us. O Christian, prize this precious union to Christ; for it must be the source of all the fruitfulness which thou canst hope to know. If thou wert not joined to Jesus Christ, thou wouldst be a barren bough indeed.

Our fruit comes from God as to spiritual providence. When the dew-drops fall from heaven, when the cloud looks down from on high, and is about to distil its liquid treasure, when the bright sun swells the berries of the cluster, each heavenly boon may whisper to the tree and say, "From me is thy fruit found." The fruit owes much to the root-that is essential to fruitfulness-but it owes very much also to external influences. How much we owe to God’s grace-providence! in which he provides us constantly with quickening, teaching, consolation, strength, or whatever else we want. To this we owe our all of usefulness or virtue.

Our fruit comes from God as to wise husbandry. The gardener’s sharp-edged knife promotes the fruitfulness of the tree, by thinning the clusters, and by cutting off superfluous shoots. So is it, Christian, with that pruning which the Lord gives to thee. "My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." Since our God is the author of our spiritual graces, let us give to him all the glory of our salvation.

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Pray for our family as we also pray for you...

that we as the vines will remain in Christ, the branch,

and that we would all be pliable as we are strengthened by the pruning and care that we recieve from the Vinedresser.

May we all bear much fruit for the glory of God.

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Our September Update

Normally we post all that we share in our regular monthly prayer update here on our blog. Not so this month. If you usually receive our emails check your Inbox (or junk mail folder) to find this month's letter. If you have not been receiving our emails and would like to, drop us a quick note at - jkenner@biblicalministries.org

There are only 15 more days until we leave for Vanuatu. Keep your eye on this blog. We will post an update as soon as we can after we arrive.

To those of you who are with us through your prayers and support, we thank you and praise God for your laboring with us.

Love in Christ,
The Kenners


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Intel from Vanuatu...

...courtesy of Laura.



For those of you that don't know Laura Thulesen, she is one of our teammates. She has been in the capital of Vanuatu, Port Vila, for almost 4 weeks now along with Houghton and Gretchen (her sister) Richards.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words but that is not always the case. Check out Laura's blog... in her most recent post she does an awesome job of describing the things that you just cant always convey in pictures.

Follow this link...
http://psalm96three.blogspot.com/2008/08/vanuatu-quirks.html


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