Prayers, Plans and Potential Places

Hey everyone,

Just a quick blurb. There is just over two month until graduation (June 2). Things are getting busier and busier. Patty and I have been exploring options for where we will go after graduation. That all involves a job for me, housing that we can afford and available mid wife training for Patty. If you have any leads on work, housing, or know a good midwife who wouldn't mind an assistant, then please let us know.

Thanks so much for your prayers!

Todd and Patty

todd-o@hotmail.com

Engaged…for real!
(Sorry this post is so late, since getting back to school things have been kind of crazy.)
Ok, so it’s a little confusing but here’s how it works. From the beginning Patty and I were aiming towards marriage. Some say it’s cool, some say it’s weird and other look at me like I’m off my nut (…keep your comments to yourself). We had gotten to know each other very well before our “romantic” relationship started. Once it did start we were both clear that we didn’t want to mess around with this if we both weren’t serious. Therefore, talk of marriage. So that is what courting is: a purpose driven relationship. Now I don’t really care what you call it. I know people that are in a very purpose driven relationship and they call it dating. In the end it’s just terminology. This mindset wasn’t something that tied us down or made us feel that if we didn’t get married we had failed or let the other down or anything like that. We both recognized that we may not end up married. So with that out of the way we get to the confusing part. Since we were courting and talking of marriage everyone just assumed that we were engaged. We had a wedding date picked out last June or July but were waiting for me to meet her parents before making it official (i.e. me asking her dad formally and asking her formally and giving her the ring… which I’d had since August).
So, all of that to say that as Christmas eve turned to Christmas morning I officially asked Patty to marry me.She said "Yes!"
Lord willing, we will be married on June 16th, 2007 near Kellogg, Idaho at her grandparents house. Interesting trivia: Patty’s dad and mom were married at the same house almost 29 years ago.

So What About Our Future?
Patty and I would like to ask for your prayers concerning the decisions that we will have to be making in next few months and years. We are in need of a place to live and a job for after we graduate. Here are some of the details that play into those decisions. I/we need some sort of job(s) that is flexible enough that we can be working on our support raising without being bogged down by hours. Now, it would be nice to just settle down and make money for a while and that may even get us over seas but it won’t keeps us there. Both Patty and I know churches in different parts of the country so that plays into our decision making. We are looking into midwife training for Patty as that has been a desire of hers for a long time and we can definitely see the benefit to that on the field; both for nationals and missionaries. We are also trying to see what areas of ministry we can fit into as a couple. We don’t want to just pick a country of service and hope that there is something there that we can do. We want to find our ministry and then a place with that need. Please be praying with us as we look, and ask questions and talk to people. God will lead us where He wants us.

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."
-I Peter 2:9

Who Am I?...in the non-philosophical sense

"Hi, nice to meet you. My name is Todd Olson. I am from Denver, Colorado. I hope that the following will help you get to know me better."

My Family:
I grew up in a family of four boys; myself being the oldest (and the wisest :-) they just don't know it yet). My brothers are as follows:
Timothy (Tim) March 30, 1984. He is engaged to Heidi Simpson. They will be married Dec. 30, 2006. He is Asst. Manager of the General Merchandise Dept. of King Soopers (local grocery store).
Jeremy (Jer) April 30, 1986. Jeremy works at the same store in the Produce Dept. He is enjoying his fruits and veggies a lot..."pass the ranch!"
Jeffery (Jeff) October 20, 1988. Jeff is in his senior year of high school and is planning on joining the Marines after graduation. Please keep him in your prayers. He also works at the store his brothers work at as a checker...are you sensing a theme?
We grew up breaking windows in the back by playing baseball and windows in front by playing hockey. We all still enjoy hockey a lot. They are all on a team in Denver and I am on a team with my church here in Ontario.

My parents are Don and Lois. My Dad works with Quest, a communications company. My Mom has home schooled us boys from the start. They are very supportive of the direction I am going. I have a lot of respect for them and how they have raised us. Thanks Dad and Mom!

My Testimony
Growing up in a Christian home I was saved pretty young. I grew up in the youth group and very involved with church. I knew the gospel and that I was a sinner and that Jesus paid the price I could not pay. I knew I was saved and knew that God viewed me as righteous but I thought that I could earn favor with Him by doing things (missions, for one). I often told myself, "I know I can't earn salvation but I am going to pretend that I have to." I thought that God would like me better if I lived with that mindset. I think that I tricked myself into thinking that I was a holier person than those around me.
Some background: being raised in the church I had the opportunity to go on multiple mission trips. I went to Mexico several times and to Brazil and China. In junior high, through the discipleship of a pastor in my chruch, John Chesnut, I started thinking that missions was something that I could do. My motives were probably pretty tainted (thinking I'd live under a coconut tree and get some serious brownie points with God). I decided to shoot for over-seas missions. Through junior high and high school my understanding of what missions is grew and so so did my desire to be a part of it. After I graduated high school I had the opportunity to go to China for a second time. This time for 6 months. I was hosted by a missionary couple with 3 other guys. The purpose was to put us in another culture and language and be able to build some realtionships with Chinese people outside of a 2 week context like most mission trips. This time in China confirmed that career missions is what I wanted to do. Almost immediately after returning home in July, '02 I left for Jackson, MI to New Tribes Bible Institute. This is part of the New Tribes Mission training program. It is 2 years of Bible education.
So, NTBI; this brings me back to my spiritual walk and misunderstanding of my relationship with God. Though I knew God and had experienced His salvation from sin I didn't understand what walking with Him looked like on a day to day basis. At the Bible school I was surounded, it seemed, with people who knew less about God but had a deeper relationship with Him. This frustrated me. Through classes, a "chat" with the dean of men and some other circumstances I began to understand that, "...just as you recieved Christ Jesus as Lord (by faith alone), continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness." Colossians 2:6-7 I was saved by faith in what Christ had already done, what makes me think that I can live appart from Him? I was frustrated in my walk because I was relying on my own goodness for my relationship with God. Through the time at Bible school I bagan to understand that, as the above verse says, I walk by faith just as I was saved by faith. He is the strength behind what I do and the reason I do it; not because I am good or righteous in and of myself but because He has become my righteousness. Anyway, all that to say that I am growing in my understanding of how I live this Christian life or I should say, Christ lives through me. Galatians 2:20

What About Now?
So, after Bible school I took a year off to work and get reconnected with my church. It was a very good time to get to know people again and earn some money and get to put into practice what I had learned (and am learning) at Bible school. That brings me to Canada...which brings me to Patty :-)...but you can read about her in several other posts!
Here's how the New Tribes Mission Training works. They have two Bible schools (but accept credits from other Bible schools/seminaries): one in Waukesha, WI and one in Jackson, MI. The purpose is to send out missionaries with a firm background in the Bible. It is Bible with a missions emphasis...just the way God wrote it! After that two years there is another two years of specific missions and language classes. This is the how-to of missions. How does one plant a church in an unreached people group with an unwriten language where the spiritual belief is Anamism (more on that in a later post)? This two years will train us in everything from the practical side to the spritual side of missions. All the tools and skills and training in the world will not keep a missionary on the field if his/her relationship with God and with the other missionaries is not healthy. I really appreciate the focus on relationships and the care and concern that is given to making sure that we are able to be the most effective and best prepared for whatever the future will bring. (...Wow, this has turned into a long post) Thanks for keeping me in your prayers!

Todd-O

Prayer Requests

Part of the purpose of this blog is so that you, the reader, can pray for me specifically and not just have to leave it at "...and God bless Todd-whatever he's doing." I will update this entry as needed so don't just assume it will be the same as the last time you read it.
Thank you so much for your interest and faithfulness. I would love to pray for you too. Send me an email of how I can pray for you.
todd-o@hotmail.com

Thanks Again,

Todd-O


New Requests:

Finances for Patty as we need to pay for the rest of the training. Praise the Lord that she was able to get a scholorship from her church. It has been neat to see God provide for her. I look forward to seeing how He will continue to do so. Thank you for your prayers.

Housing/Place to live. When Patty and I graduate and are married we will need a place to live and work and have a "base of opperations" for the time that we will be raising support and building relationships with churches. It could be anywhere from Washington to Nevada to Colorado or somewhere else that we haven't even thought of. Please pray that the Lord would give us clear direction and provide an affordable place for us that would be benificial for preparing for our future.

Past Requests:

Future Ministry. This is just high-lighting a request below but is on our hearts and we would appreciate your prayers with us. Pray that as we look to the Lord for direction and wisdom concerning a ministry that we would be resting in His timing. We both know that we want to be involved with reaching tribal people with the gospel but we are unsure of what that will look like. There are 101 ways that God could use us and each of them are legitamate needs. Pray for patiance. Thank you for partnering with us in reaching the unreached!

That Patty and I would continue to grow together and that God would be preparing us for marriage and whatever ministry He might have for us.

That we would clearly see what country we should go to and that we (me especially) wouldn't over complicate the decision.

That God would heal Patty of her headaches--and if He doesn't, that I would see His grace as sufficient for her. NOTE: Patty has much peace about her health but God has had to work in me to see that it is okay, whatever happens, and that He is perfectly capable of taking care of His child.

Purity. We both desire to see this "pre-marriage" relationship to the end with no regrets. We both have also found that "purity" is more of an issue than we thought it would be. Please pray that Christ would be the strength and reason behind the boundaries that we give ourselves.

Classes and focus. Sometimes it is easy to loose focus for why I am here. Classes get going and even though they are directly related to reaching tribal people I tend to view them as something that I just have to get through. Pray that I would take this time in the training as an opportunity for God to continue to grow me and prepare me for the future. Pray that classes would not become routine and that I would be open to whatever God has for me now.

Patty Mae at a Glance

Patty is a whopping 5' even. Born on my half-birthday (Feb. 18, 1983) she is exactly 6 months younger than me. She has blond hair that cascades gold in the sun and eyes that are green or blue (depends what she is wearing). She has a very dry sense of humor but still laughs at my jokes...or at least some of them. She has a great singing voice but doesn't particularly like to sing in public. She can claim Idaho, Washington or Nevada as home and graduated Bible school in 2003 at NTBI in Waukesha, WI. She doesn't like tomatoes or green olives but loves cheese...no you don't understand; she really loves cheese. "The sharper the better" she says! Though she is small in stature she is big in ambition. She has wanted to be a missionary sense she was little. She has wanted to go to Sierra Leone, West Africa. A missionary from there once tried to discourage her saying it was to hard and dangerous. This only made her want to go there more. She is open about her love for the Lord and that He is the number one person in her life. Patty has a few health problems that some would use as a reason not to go to the mission field. She has Cluster Headaches which are extremely painful and can take a person out for days at a time. She also has an allergic reaction reaction to sulfur (which is a preservative in more foods that you would think). In her early teens she had a really hard time with it but God was faithful to grow her tremendously through that. One of the first things I noticed about Patty was her attitude in the midst of pain. Her dependence on God and the peace she has when she is sick or in pain really caught my attention. She is an amazing woman who has let God do some amazing things in her life. I Love You Patty!

ps, check out Patty's blog at pmbnews.blogspot.com

Meet Patty

Patty Mae is one special girl. I am so blessed to know her and be able to court her. "Court?" you say. "What is courting anyway?" Courting is something you don't hear about that much anymore. As far as the original meaning I think that what we are doing might look a little different. What it means for Patty and I is pretty simple. Both of us came into the New Tribes Mission training for one purpose: to reach unreached people with the gospel. That is where God has led both of us-seperatly. But here at the training in Canada we meet each other and like each other. What now? We both know that God is working in our lives to use us to reach tribal people and with the knowledge that believers (yes, even believers in ministry) have the freedom to marry and knowing that if I were alone in the minisrty I would have a tough time of it, I decide to get to know her better. Well, a little later and with much prayer I decide to appraoch her about a relationship. I was pleased (ecstatic actually) to find that, as I thought, she liked me too. I was also pleased to find that she was not interested in a casual dating relationship. Patty didn't want to waste time or enegy on a relationship thats only purpose was to be fun or just seen as something to do. God was still her #1 priority and reason for being in the training. I received permission from her father the day after I asked her. So, back to the courting bit; neither of us want to wast time on a relationship that isn't going anywhere. By the time we decided to start seeing each other we had known each other for almost a year. We felt that though we just started our relationship we not only could aim toward marriage but that it would be wise to do so. That is what courting looks like to us. It is a purpose driven relationship. Christ remains the reason and strength behind it and we both understand that without Him it cannot work. It has been amazing to see how God has provided and lead us. We are planning on being married June 16th, 2007. We will take the next year or so to get used to being married and to raise support for the field we end up going to. Thank you for your prayers.

Todd-O

Welcome to ToddSpot

I just started this blog and really have no idea what I am doing. Please forgive.
If you are looking at this you probably already know me so I won't go into all that. The purpose of this blog is for people (family, friends or the rest of the world) to be able to see what is happening in my life on a more regulare basis than my news letters. Fear not, this will not take the place of my letters...unless postage hits $1.00; that would be bad. If you don't get my news letters and would like to then just shoot me an email. todd-o@hotmail.com
Well, enjoy the blog.

Todd-O