Hello Key Clubbers! I’ve decided to take a break from the student testimonies, and bring you up to date on a few things.

In mid-December, my dad took a job with a company that the US military contracts with to maintain the unmanned ariel vehicles (UAVs, or the Predator) flying missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. For the past 6 weeks he’s been training on this new aircraft at Creech Air Base, near Las Vegas. This past week he completed his training, and yesterday he boarded a plane for Iraq. He traveled commercially from Vegas to Doha, Qatar. From Qatar, he’ll take a military transport into Iraq. During his “lay over” in Qatar, we’re hoping he’ll be able to see my brother! Rich left on January 18th for a 6 month deployment to Qatar. My dad will be working at Balad Air Base, about 40 miles north of Baghdad, for 4 months and will return to Wisconsin in June. Although my dad has made dozens of deployments throughout his 30 year Air Force career, we’re finding it’s a bit different to be living in the civilian world and having dad deploy as a contractor. Military communities are a tremendous source of support during deployments. We’re extremely blessed with wonderful neighbors... who’ve already helped us fix many “dad things.” : ) We’d appreciate your prayers for my Dad and brother during their deployments (for safety, endurance, and encouragement) and for my mom and I as we hold down the fort.

Tomorrow morning I’m meeting with my pastor and our church’s missions director to discuss Malachi and potential support. I’m super stoked for this open door. Join me in praising God for the opportunity, and please pray for me as I share the vision of ministering to military teens.

How this meeting came to be is a pretty cool story - I’ve only been attending my current church for about 4 months. Shortly after I came, a lady asked me what I “do.” I explained to her that I was a missionary with Malachi, and that I was living in the area with my folks while I raise support. She sounded pretty interested, so I gave her some more info about it. Well, a few months passed by, she flew south for the winter, and "out of the blue" last week, I received an e-mail from my church’s missions director, letting me know he heard about my ministry from a gal in the church and was wondering how the church can help! If this isn’t a “Divine appointment,” I don’t know what is! It’s so cool to see God working. Thank you for faithfully praying over the past months for open doors to share the story of the military teen, it’s been a huge blessing and encouragement to me to see and experience the fruit of your prayers!

For the Gospel,

Beth

Dear Team,

Good afternoon! I hope this finds you doing well this week. I had a great time nannying in SD! I enjoyed my Tanner time and was happy to see Tanner’s parents get a much needed rest! : )

On Sunday, I shared about Malachi at Calvary Reformed Church in Monroe, SD - just outside of Sioux Falls. Thanks for praying for me last week for the presentation. I thought it went fairly well. I had some great conversations following the service and was encouraged by those who signed up for the Key Club - praise the Lord, our numbers are growing!

I had initially planned on driving back to WI on Monday, but SD got slammed with another blizzard Sunday night and all day Monday - closing the interstates in SD and MN that I needed to travel. They were finally reopened Tuesday morning, and I made it home safely last night around 8.

> My car was pretty buried on Tuesday morning from all the drifting, Chad dug me out though!

Last week, I introduced you to Joelle and I shared with you her thoughts on growing up in the military. Joelle started coming to youth group as a 7th grader, and quickly became a regular. If the doors to our building were open, she was there...and she wanted others to be there too! She once came into my office and handed me a fistful of money, and said, “so-and-so said he isn’t going on the retreat next weekend because he doesn’t have enough money to go, so I’d like to pay for him so he can come.” Did I mention she was 13?

This week I’ll share with you what Joelle wrote about her youth group experience... I think you’ll see why she was so eager to have others join her!

Seventh grade, for me, was an incredibly tough time in my life. It was kind of brought about by the beginning of middle school in a foreign country (Okinawa, Japan) in just a tough environment. I don't know if I can accurately explain the day-to-day life of an insecure Christian seventh grader in a federal-owned and military-operated middle school. In short, during this year Quest [the middle school youth group] held me together. Quest brought Christ into my life in places that would not have been exposed to the Gospel. I can recall several occasions of mentorship between me and the youth leaders that definitely changed my life. In Quest, I wasn't just "part of the crowd," or one life out of billions. I was special, cherished, loved by God; and looking back I can clearly see God's hand at work mightily during my many times at youth group. I don't know what I would have done without Quest.

I remember the first time I walked into Quest. I was a little scared to find out what youth group was like. Would they accept me? Would they like me? I was a little freaked out to be on the younger side of the youth group. I remember walking in and immediately being recognized as new, but in a good way. Dave, the main youth pastor of Quest, came up to me and asked me what my name was, if I had been to Quest before, and a whole bunch of other random questions. He was really friendly and introduced me to "some of his friends," other kids at the youth group. As a result, I felt immediately safe and welcome to the youth group, and I even got to spend a whole year with the group, including going on three amazing retreats, lots of hangout times, and just being energized by the Word.

I’m so grateful to have had Joelle in youth group! I praise the Lord for opening the door for Malachi to be able to minister to teens just like her! Would you join me this week in praying for young teenage students, who are insecure and trying to navigate through the ever changing landscape of adolescence. Pray that they would find refuge in the Lord and root their identity in Him.

Thanks for your continued prayers for our military teens! I'm so happy to be journeying with you in this Kingdom work.

Blessings,

Beth

Good Afternoon Key Clubbers!

My time in South Dakota is going well. Tanner (the 3rd old I’m nannying) and I are getting along just fine : ).

Tanner lives on a sheep farm!!

We went to church together yesterday - the same church that I’ll be sharing about Malachi with this week. It was nice to meet and visit with the pastor and many of the church’s members. I’m really looking forward to sharing on Sunday, and I ask that you’d pray for me as I prepare this week, and that I’d communicate my passion and vision for ministering within the military community clearly.

In keeping with the theme of sharing personal stories from students that I worked with in Okinawa, I’d like to introduce you to Joelle this week. Where do I begin, as I try to describe her to you? I met Joelle as she was entering the 7th grade. She’s a total sweetheart, really fun, and one of the most thoughtful students I’ve ever known. She’s the second oldest of 4 children, her dad is a Marine officer, and her family lived in Okinawa for 4 years.

I asked her to share a little about what it was like for her growing up in the military.

Military life, honestly, is pretty tough. I mean, there are a lot of pros, don't get me wrong. You get to travel to different places and grow closer to your family (because the less time you get with your military parents due to deployments and other separations, the more you appreciate the times you do have). However, I find that it has been quite a tough journey moving around from place to place my whole life. Every three years or so (give or take) our family would pick up, move, leave everything secure and stable, and land wherever the military sent us. It often left our family scrambling to pick up the loose ends. Constantly being the new kid on the block kind of built up my defenses, personally, and made it harder to construct deep friendships at times.

Would you join me in praying for...

• Sweet times together for military families
• Students who, like Joelle, have put up shields when it comes to making friends. So many military students long for deep relationships, yet past good-byes can make it hard to say “hello” again. Pray that they would take risks, knowing that friendships are vital and important on so many levels! (check out Eccles. 4:9-12)

Thanks for your prayers! Blessings on you friends, as you serve our Lord this week!

Because of Christ,

Beth

Hi Team!

I hope you enjoyed meeting Esther last week and hearing her share about military life. This week, I’ve asked her to share about the Malachi youth group she’s a part of.

Unlike the average military teen who moves every 2 to 4 years, Esther’s family has remained in Okinawa for awhile. So Esther is unique in the sense that she’s been able to experience Malachi youth groups throughout her middle and high school years.

“Quest [junior high group] and Impact [high school group] have played a HUGE role in my spiritual life. It helped guide me and it put me in a supportive and stable family of Christians who encouraged me to grow spiritually. It also gave me access to wiser, Godly people (particularly staff) that I could trust and ask about the Bible and get solid answers backed up by the Bible. It also surrounded me with Godly examples and gave me a chance to minister to others as well. It helped me grow so much. It was crucial in my spiritual life, especially at the beginning.”

Again, Esther emphasized the importance of community. As a youth leader, one of my main goals will be for students to not only cultivate relationships with peers, but with staff too. I think it’s so important for students to be discipled by Godly adults. Deployments and training exercises leave military families in a constant state of changing from dual parenting to single parenting. As a result, youth workers often become surrogate parents during these times.

I praise God for the opportunity to come alongside students and point them to Jesus. I’m thankful that you’re joining me in this Kingdom work through your prayers. Would you pray this week for Malachi staff and adult volunteers who are currently discipling students. Pray that God would encourage them and give them wisdom and courage as they demonstrate God’s love, and invest in the lives of military teens!

I leave on Tuesday for a two week trip to South Dakota. I covet your prayers for this trip. Winter driving in the upper midwest can be sketchy. While in SD, I’ll be nannying for my favorite 3 year old! Also, I’ll be sharing about Malachi with a local church ... more on that in next week’s update!

For the Gospel,
Beth

Happy New Year Team!

Ready or not - the New Year’s here and it’s time to get back into the swing of things. I hope that the past weeks have been restful for you and that you’ve had some nice times with family and friends.

Over the coming weeks, I’d like to introduce you to some of the students that I worked with while interning with Malachi in Okinawa. I’ve asked them to share some of their experiences of growing up in the military and how they’ve been impacted by Malachi youth groups. I hope you enjoy hearing from their hearts!

I met Esther at the end of her 6th grade year when she started coming to youth group. I remember her being quiet at first, but that didn’t last long : ) Esther soon broke out of her shell! She has an infectious laughter, sings really well and has an amazing heart for people - she was always bringing friends to the group. Today, Esther is still living in Okinawa and is a junior (but she’s taking extra classes to graduate a year early).

Because of her dad’s job, Esther has spent the majority of her life on overseas bases. I asked her to share a bit about military life. She wrote, “Military life for any kid/teen can be really lonely and hard because most families move constantly from one place to another. It’s hard to pick where your "home" is. Since you're constantly moving, making new friends is sometimes difficult and the anxiety of moving to a place with people who will accept you is awful. But the good thing is that you get to meet a lot of people, you get to see a lot of the world and share in its culture, you are surrounded usually by people who understand what you're going through, and the community usually tries to help each other out. The most challenging part is just finding out who you are while being jostled around from place to place and from people to people.”

As I read Esther's response, relationships are a common thread. Military teens long for meaningful relationships. Malachi seeks to provide a safe place for students to build community. We also seek to provide opportunities for students to know and experience Jesus, and ultimately enter into an eternal relationship with Him.

This week, would you join me in praying for...

1. Students, like Esther, who are struggling to fit in and discover who they are in the midst of change. Pray that they would find community and find their identity in Christ.

2. Next week, I'll be driving to South Dakota to nanny for friends who will be going on a weeklong vacation. While I'm there, my friends have arranged an opportunity for me to share about Malachi with their church! Praise the Lord for opening this door!

Thanks so much for journeying with me as we seek to minister to the military community!

Blessings,

Beth