ROOF TOP MISSIONS

2012-01-26T09:08:00.000-04:00

Prayers by St. Francis De Sales

O love eternal,
my soul needs and chooses you eternally!
Ah, come Holy Spirit,
and inflame our hearts with your love!
To love - or to die!
To die - and to love!
To die to all other love
in order to live in Jesus' love,
so that we may not die eternally.
But that we may live in your eternal love,
O Saviour of our souls,
we eternally sing,
"Live, Jesus!
Jesus, I love!
Live, Jesus, whom I love!
Jesus, I love,
Jesus who lives and reigns
forever and ever.

Amen.

Be at Peace

Do not look forward in fear to the changes of life;

rather look to them with full hope as they arise.

God, whose very own you are,

will deliver you from out of them.

He has kept you hitherto,

and He will lead you safely through all things;

and when you cannot stand it,

God will bury you in his arms.

Do not fear what may happen tomorrow;

the same everlasting Father who cares for you today

will take care of you then and everyday.

He will either shield you from suffering,

or will give you unfailing strength to bear it.

Be at peace,

and put aside all anxious thoughts and imagination.
St. Francis de Sales 1567-1622

Some of our friends we had to say "Goodbye" to...

2012-01-13T20:08:00.001-04:00

Some of our friends we said Goodbye to....

Our boys at the last Bible study we had with them...

The Marian Home provided a great place to minister

and the kids could safely go there themselves

they made many friends

Isaac was a big hit, even though he was grumpy at times

Miss Mary!

Marlan and Dylan's mom Patricia

The kids would also help out at the pre-school, which was also on compound

Wilson and Darryl lookin cool

one last Birthday celebration at the Mission house

One of the hardest things about Missions is Leaving! We miss all of you!

More memories from St. Lucia

2012-01-12T23:40:00.002-04:00

A few pictures from the square next to the Cathedral

The Bell tower at the Cathedral

Two weeks before we left St. Lucia our friend from Ti-Rocher' invited us up to her house for supper

We picked 5-finger, St. Lucian Cherries, and Golden Apples, which are not like our apples at all.

A beautiful storm came in while we were there

Here we are with Sheila, her daughter and her grandchildren

The next weekend we had a party with our friends on the "Family and Life" Committee

We had a great time, food, fun, and games!

Here is Anne with Miss Mary. She loved seeing the kids and they loved seeing her!

Esther has a special gift for the elderly.

Memories from our life in St. Lucia

2012-01-05T14:22:00.000-04:00

Isaac at our front porch, he complained when ever someone

went outside the front porch.

Sister RoseMary teaching Isaac to walk not long

after we arrived in St. Lucia. He started walking

at 10 months and then she bought him his first pair

of sandles. Sr. RoseMary is studying to become a

doctor. She is planning on returning to Tanzania

upon her completion. She is wanting us to do mission

work there when she returns. We pray the Lord has

that in His plans too!

Our friend Hannah would visit us and her son Lee and

Isaac would play together

The Basketball Project

Trip to Canaries with Fr. Will

Last two weeks in St. Lucia

2011-09-02T16:22:00.003-04:00

     Some of you may have heard that we are leaving St. Lucia. We will be flying out on the 20th of September. We have been feeling the Lord stirring in our hearts that a change was coming. Spontaneously on the Feast of the Assumption, we decided to have a family retreat asking the Lord what did He want from us. After a week of praying as a family we believe the Lord is calling us not only back to the states but home to Oregon to be with family for a few months. We have not been in Oregon for almost two years and most of our family is there. Then at the end of November we will head back to Louisiana to our mission base and attend the "Year-End-Review" and then begin to pray and discern what is the Lord's will for us next and where He will send us. 
    Our family has been so blessed during our time here and we have grown much closer the Lord and each other. The children have experienced Priests and Religious of many different orders in positive ways that we pray they will dedicate their life to Him in one of these single hearted ways. 
    We are so excited to see what the Lord will do next in our lives. He is amazing and His Mercy is everlasting!
   We are so thankful for our time in St. Lucia and all the friends we have made. We have enjoyed serving here and St. Lucia will always be in our prayers.

Our other blog

2011-07-25T12:11:00.000-04:00

We were trying out a wordpress blog and put a few posts on there a few months ago. I wanted to link it here for those who did not get a chance to see it. https://rooftopmissions.wordpress.com/ .

Summer School of Missionary Evangelism

2011-07-08T17:46:00.000-04:00

Today, the last of the missionaries and SSME participants left. We've had 15 extra people here for a month and it has been a blessed month. We hope to post more about our last month but we are trying to recuperate today. Abigail has posted pictures in a few posts. http://veritasspelndor.blogspot.com/2011/07/picture-post-part-1.html

Let it all be for the Glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Replaced the first net today!

2011-06-30T21:25:00.001-04:00

   I wish I would have had a camera ready! I walked down to the basketball court for some of our afternoon, before supper basketball and found James Franke on the the shoulders of Joseph Summers who was balancing himself with one are on the shoulder of Marlan Monero(one of our local boys that regularly comes over). James is replacing the net! We actually wore one out already. It seems like just the other day when I posted to see if anyone would sponsor the basketball project. For those of you who contributed, specifically to the revival of the basketball court here in St. Lucia you would be proud and we thank you so much! Local boys and girls from those barely able to walk to 17 year olds have been coming regularly and playing basketball with us. Before our trip to Vieux Fort in the South of the Island we had as many as 10 extra kids eating supper with us after shooting some hoops. Not only did we have to replace the net but also a ball, Yep! we have worn out a Basketball already. It is almost smooth and no longer holds enough air, though Isaac still enjoys it immensely.
   I have been teaching the kids the basics of basketball as Cricket and Football(soccer) are much more popular here. We went from playing an almost no rules game to the boys knowing the rules, actually acquiring a good shot, and understanding most of the fundamentals of the game. One day I decided to teach them the game knock out. Knock out has become the game of choice and is probably played almost everyday, with or with out me there. Even Rachel, who is 8, has a method to shoot free throws for the game. She shoots a granny style shot as far as she can then get the rebound and quickly shoots another, much closer shot. She even manages to make the second shot and stay in a round or two.

   Basketball is one of the ways which we have created camaraderie and an appetite, which leads to some house rules which we instituted.

If you have never seen the food we are serving don’t take a full plate. Take a little, if you like it you can go back for more. (The Eckstine kids eat everything on their plates)
If you eat with us and it is okay with your parents,please stay for night prayers. They start between 7 and 7:30 and are over about 8pm
If you decide to become a regular guest for meal, you will be assigned to a chore team and help with the after dinner and nightly clean up.

Not that it has been all smooth sailing with the basketball at the Marian Home compound. We found out that there are certain places and times where dribbling really bothers Sisters, especially during their prayer times. The Sisters are great and only once have the ball been taken away. But it was a learning experience and I made them apologize directly to the Sisters.
Another thing that has resulted from our friendships is a weekly Bible study for both girls and boys. It has been going surprisingly well and the kids really seem to look forward to it.

Here are some photos of the project:

First attempt to put the hoop together, later we had to move it to where the cord on the drill would actually reach.

Marlan, working on the back board

coming together, Peter is not really on break.....

carrying it to the Court!

One of the first
SHOTS!

An appeal

2011-05-31T17:24:00.002-04:00

As we have reflected on this blog post and our appeal we believe this was a poor choice. Part of being a missionary is assuming a level of poverty to be in solidarity with the poor. That can mean forgoing some of the things we want to do, but are not needs. It is hard to admit when you make a mistake. We are not removing the blog post because we don't want to pretend we did not make a mistake, when we did.

This is Lora making an appeal on behalf of our children. Every summer the youth division of Family Mission Company reaches out to middle school children with the gospel through a week long camp called “Faith Camp” http://www.bestweekofyourlife.com/Best_Week_Of_Your_Life/Home.html . There are a lot of fun packed days that draws children every year but more importantly the focus is giving these kids Jesus. Everyday has a message about faith, evenings of praise and worship, small group discussions, all culminating throughout the week. We had the opportunity to send three of our girls last year and we can attest that it is a life changing week for them. Read about Abigail’s experience here http://veritasspelndor.blogspot.com/search/label/Faith%20Camp . We would love to send our oldest four this year. We were blessed with a sizable tax return this year that we were originally going to put towards the airfare to send them. However, due to a couple of reasons we will not be able to use that money for them. One of them is that we have not kept in contact with our benefactors through thank you’s and newsletters. So our monthly support has gone down. We know that it is vitally important for missionaries to let their benefactors know what the Lord is doing and we failed at that. The second reason is we feel like the funds we do receive from our benefactors are not for us but for doing God’s work. Therefore, when we see a need, we give. When Mark sees something in a person’s house that he can fix or we can buy that improves their living we do. We also give a lot of food away through parcels as well as feeding. The Lord has always supplied for our needs for the last 17 years of our married life and we know that He will continue to do so.

If this camp was just a fun kid camp, we would not even be considering this. However, I feel like it is important for other reasons. 1^st Abigail and Gabriella would be on the staff side. This means they are giving their week to serve and make every effort possible to lead others closer to Christ. I think that this camp will enhance all four of their lives as missionaries and give them training for their futures. Also, for all four of them, I think it will be refreshing, encouraging and an opportunity for them to draw closer to Jesus. The cost of the airfare for the 4 of them is almost $4000.

If all this was not selfish enough, I also would like to send Abigail and Gabriella to Jamaica to the Missionaries of the Poor for a Retreat. They would get the chance to work alongside the brothers giving their lives to the abandoned and forgotten. They have a center with separate quarters for handicapped men, women, children and babies. Then the girls would also be a part of a retreat given by the MOPs to help in their discernment for what God is calling them too. Here is their website with more information. http://www.missionariesofthepoor.org/ The airfare would be around $2000

If you would like to sponsor either of these trips you can send a donation to Family Missions Company earmark it as Eckstine’s Faith Camp or Eckstine’s – MOPs and the funds will be used for those purposes. On behalf of the children and from me, Thank you and the Lord bless you.

Lora

We pray this will not deter our benefactors from giving to the truly good causes we share in the future.

Special Thanks!

2011-05-02T21:23:00.001-04:00

Especially since we have been able give away so much of it! More than a few of you have sent boxes. They have been full of books, chocolate, religious items, a coffee maker, spatulas, Tony's Cajun Seasoning, cookie cutters, and many other amazing things. Easter has presented us with special opportunities to give away so much. The books have been great. Staff here at the nursing home come to us to see if we have a book, like on the subject of prayer. I gave a copy to a staff member then a few days later she tells me she gave it to her daughter who really enjoyed it and wonders if we have another copy. Still looking.... which is one of the reasons I wanted to give this quick update to say "Thank you!" and that your support is being put to good use! I really need to update what our needs are but books are so great and people seem to really appreciate them. Here is the link to what we can use: http://rooftopmissions.blogspot.com/p/supporting-us-in-missions.html and I will update it soon! Paper products seem to be hard to get items here.

New wheel barrow we were able to buy because of donors sending money for specific needs!

Here we are working on the back board for the Basketball hoop! One is now up and we have visitors to play very often!

Some of you sent money for the Basketball project, which we are still working on. (I am going to do a big post with lots of pictures on the progress). Some of you sent money for tools and stuff for the Marian Home. This has allowed me to fix and repair things for the Sisters without charging them for materials. I now even have a book with little projects the Sisters and staff at the Marian Home write things that need fixed. If someone feels the Lord is leading them to fund this ministry regularly that would be great. We are praying about how to maybe start a ministry to teach the young people practical skills, like how to repair a faucet (the pipe as it is called here) or how to make bread.

Please continue to pray and make sacrifices for our ministry here.

God Bless you all!

Mission Formation: St. Lucia style

2011-04-03T22:56:00.001-04:00

North and West from here in St. Lucia, at Big Woods every Wednesday night, people in the community, as well as state-side missionaries in Louisiana, join together for Mission Formation. This is a wonderful evening of food, fellowship and worshiping together. At least once a month they have mass and the other weeks they have...well the formation of missionaries. We give testimonies,sharing what the Lord is doing in our own lives, in the lives of those the missionaries are reaching and then there is a topic pertaining to the missionary life (which by right of baptism we are all called to be) that encourages, teaches, and inspires. In another word, catechesis.
Since our experiences from living at the Big Woods last year during Intake (our missionary training time) we have desired to have a night like that in our mission post. A lot of times our desires are brought to fulfillment but not always the way we had originally thought. Now that we have been here for a couple of months, we are starting to see the fruition of having a Mission Formation night come to pass. Instead of Wednesday night our family tradition of Sunday night desert is morphing into Mission Formation. Praise the Lord!

The Food

Tonight Mia made pineapple upside down cake. Yum Yum Mia!

The Worship

The Testimonies

Jessica sharing a testimony

Our mission formation night is small, well considering our own family still outnumbers those who come, but it is still a blessed time of talking about Jesus and encouraging one another. We pray to see this grow. Pope John Paul II on Catechesis in Our Time writes:

"If catechesis is done well, Christians will be eager to bear witness to their faith, to hand it on to their children, to make it known to others, and to serve the human community in every way.”

And, as missionaries, this is always our job; to work ourselves out of a job

Our Busy Life

2011-03-27T13:07:00.000-04:00

With the Missionaries of Charity

   We are finally sitting down to give an update on our mission. Thank you all for your support through prayers, money and sending us boxes. We have been here for two months now and as you have seen through our posts we have been learning how to cook the local food and about the people themselves. Now our ministries are getting off the ground and we are keeping very busy. When the children are not studying they help in the nursery school and visit the residents of several different nursing homes.

   Our parish has given us lots of activities to be involved in. Three mornings a week Mark, Lora and our missionary partners Sidney and James take turns going to the parish center were we bring a couple of bags of non-perishable food for anyone in need. We are also available to council and pray with them. It is an amazing gift to us to be able to spend this time with the sole purpose of talking about Jesus to those who are seeking Him.

   This parish is not unlike other parishes in that they have dwindling numbers and indifferent youth. With having teenagers ourselves we are getting involved in the youth group, as well as the children’s liturgy. We know that the youth need something more than just “fun activities”. They need Jesus. They need to hear the gospel. Even though they are brought up in Church, they need to come to know Jesus in a personal way. These are another opportunity for us to involve our own children and teach them to look to others and learn how to serve. Mother Theresa once said

“Thoughtfulness is the beginning of great sanctity. If you learn this art of being thoughtful, you will become more and more Christ-like, for His heart was meek and He always thought of others. Our vocation, to be beautiful, must be full of thought for others.” Something Beautiful for God

Feeding the Poor

Outside of our parish ministries, we help with feeding the hungry downtown, make home visits to the shut-ins, visit four homes for the elderly, abandoned or disabled (one run by the Missionaries of Charity). Then we have opportunities every day we go out into town to evangelize, pray, give food or money to the homeless and hungry who walk the streets. These are not always seeking Jesus but have not found them to be opposed to us praying with them. And then there are those who we can engage in lively discussions about God.

As you can see our schedule is very full. Alongside these our home is open in the evening to young boys coming home from school. We have at least two who eat with us every night and join in our evening prayers and thanks to those who donated for the basketball needs we have another avenue to attract more. But this gives the boys a chance to witness a family, eat, and hear the Word of God and learn how to pray. We are not sure where all this ministry will lead too but we are thankful to be able to reach out to these boys and we think of Don Bosco a lot.

At the St. Lucy Home

As we have mentioned before the state of the family is in dire need right now. In just one generation this country has gone from a safe haven to gangs and violence. There are many women who have never married yet have 5 children from 5 different fathers. Or a man might have one wife but other women on the side. These women may have children by him but they are left uncared for. These children are then brought up without a father and their moms are trying to survive themselves and so do not look after the children. Boys join gangs with nothing else to do but find trouble. Girls look for love in all the wrong places and the cycle continues. This leaves so many broken people. Children are growing with a lot of anger. Please continue to pray for this country.

Rachel and Nette @ Marian Home

The Lord Loves St. Lucia and the Sun is Rising!

2011-02-15T22:01:00.001-04:00

               (Reflecting after a week of Violence and Murders)

So many of us imagine St. Lucia as a paradise in the Caribbean, warm weather all the time, tropical rain showers daily, fruits and vegetables in abundance, a beautiful variety of flowers in bloom, seemingly little to cause worry , and yes, so beautiful! Yes it is all these things and more. The people are welcoming and warm, helpful and kind. They are ready to help us find our way around town. Our parish in Marchand, Sacred Heart Parish, gave us a such a warm welcome, even though no one knew we were going to show up that Sunday for the first time. We have met the parishioners around town, on the street vending, or in a fabric store, they are equally welcoming there too. Here we are with Monsignor Bonifacio,                                                 the priest at Sacred Heart. This used to be a vibrant parish, but things have changed. The community surrounding the parish has changed. Families are falling a part. We found a local cookbook a few days ago (this and a bunch of kid’s books, another surprise blessing from the Lord last week). On the back of the cookbook it is says “St. Lucia, One of the last truly unspoiled Caribbean islands.” From what we hear the change started about 40 years ago and much has culminated in the last 10.

       In fact as I was working on this blog post we were interrupted by the sound of gunfire. The kids were not alarmed by this, not knowing that gunfire in a city is not the same as target practice at Grandpa’s house. So we gathered and prayed for the city and St. Lucia. At the time of first composing this post I included the link below, trying to illustrate the changes taking place here, but the actual event of hearing actual gunfire and hearing a woman screaming and crying in the distance make the point just as well. This gunfight was revenge for the Friday shooting mentioned in the link below.

If you have time look at this link: Friday’s St. Lucia Star on the violence

   As we ponder and pray about what the Lord wants done here, I keep asking myself what has happened in the last 40 years? What part are we called to do? I am confident the Lord will show us. This is His work and He knows what He wants to accomplish here. I am not saying this over confidently, but because I am reminded of a scripture we have leaned on through out the process of becoming full time missionaries. Isaiah 42:16 says

“I will lead the blind on their journey; by paths unknown I will lead them. I will turn the darkness into light before them, and make crooked ways straight. These things I will do for them, and I WILL NOT FORSAKE THEM”

In a college creative writing course, I remember a lecture where our teacher explained how if you feel stifled at times, be at peace, maybe you have not had the life experience that will allow you to complete your intended writing. While not feeling stifled, I did run out of time to complete this post, and it seems more life experience will add to the second part where I intended to show that there is hope and the sun is rising. Many who read this post may pick up on my intended Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers imagery from the phrase “the sun is rising”

Just before Sunrise just out our front door, this is what we see as we go down to our chapel for prayers and mass.

The Signs of Hope:

“God Love You!” For many of us we have heard it said so many times that it has almost become clichéd. One of the many wonderful things about missionary life is that you really get to experience the hand of God and see Him loving on people, cities, and entire countries. So many times we live in protected little corners of the world, we strive to protect ourselves from danger and harm, but this can prevent us from seeing God do things. The poor MUST rely on the Lord and He moves. St. Lucia is not a rich nation, unemployment is a way of life for many here during the off season of tourism (about 6 months of the year), many are stuck in the ghettos. But God Loves these people! HIS Heart is for them and here is a list illustrating some of the signs of hope I see.

He is sending many missionaries here. Missionaries bring encouragement just by their presence. They bring the palpable love of God with them. It is awesome.

not just us, the Good News Project and others.

We met a group from the Diocese of Venice in Florida that is bringing 30 kids down here in August

FMC is trying to organize a month long mission school here.

We will be living in the south of the Island in May because other missionaries who come each year will stay in this residence.

Archbishop Rivas is not sitting around, he is busy!, His heart is with the people, the day we went to Choiseul he not only called on the people to live their faith, but to make this Lent a special time of prayer, penance, special peace marches,and more. Yet he takes time to know those around him.

The Lord brought us here, provides for all our needs through our generous donors

I put up a simple blog post about basketball and the response is amazing, I hope to get a basketball hoop up this week!

The Priests are not silent about the problems, but calling people to change and make a difference

The Sunrise looking from the same spot as above on morning after I was praying about what the theme for this blog post should be.

The Lord loves St. Lucia as He does all his children, with an everlasting love! There is hope! We can all make a difference when we are seeking to do God’s will each moment of each day!

Read some of these articles the Family Life Secretariat’s office and others are putting in the local newspaper.

If you look at these articles and follow what we are doing you will see that there are many battles left to fight, but Hope is begin to dawn, The Sun is rising!

Come Lord Jesus!, Come Holy Spirit!

Limiting our time on the Internet

2011-02-08T21:25:00.001-04:00

     As part of our initial year in missions not only do we commit to no Alcohol or tobacco products, we also limit our use of the internet and other means of communication with those back home to Sunday. We are not to use the internet for “Chit-chatty” stuff. We use whatever means of communication are applicable to the place we are sent, so there may be times when you see us on Facebook or see a post and think we are available for chats. We are not……sorry. Please don’t be hurt or offended, look for us on Sunday.

      Sometimes I will use twitter and update my Facebook status because this updates, the side panel on my blog and my Facebook status at the same time without facing the temptation to respond to peoples comments, which we view on Sundays. The twitter panel on our blog allows those who don’t want to join Facebook to get some updates as to what we are up to.

      This may seem strange or a bit too much, but we see that it makes good sense. Missionary life is not just helping people with physical needs, the primary good we do is sharing the GOOD NEWS and that there is GOOD NEWS in Jesus is exactly the area the our enemy the devil would love to see us fail in. Therefore an emphasis on home, families, friends, and in general the things of life before saying “Yes” to the Lord in Missions can cause some to loose focus on God’s calling, and sometimes even lead to people leaving missionary life. The founders of Family Missions Company want to see the Gospel succeed and us succeed also. Remember Jesus said “…and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.” Matthew 19:29 This is what we are all to be shooting for – eternal life.

      So if you wish you could talk to us or are waiting for us to respond, please remember to pray for us, that we remain strong in the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and His call upon our lives

Short Update from St. Lucia

2011-02-03T08:42:00.001-04:00

Well, so many things happen so quickly. We have been busy in the last two weeks building our life, making friends, meeting people, praying with people around town, and much is going well. It is easy to be looking for the "Big Ministry" when the everyday ministries are everywhere! There is more need here than I first imagined, from mother's contemplating abortion to young boys with out active fathers coming over and having supper with us. We are praying that the Lord would put it on some benefactor's heart the funds for a basketball hoop and back board, so we have more active stuff to do. The young boys belong to a woman, who works in the Marian home and whose husband drinks too much and she had to legally keep him out of the house, a very common story here. They are good boys however, and have been participating in our night prayers and stay till around 8pm before they go home. They will also come over next Saturday, our work day, and help us clean up the tree mess left from hurricane Tomas.
   One young man, had never met an American and is not sure if he really wants to be a Christian, though he did not say this out right. He asked the kids that were around if they wanted to be a Christian. I had a "what if" conversation and asked him if he did not want to be one, why? He mentioned the Gangsters, so as you can see the youth here are tempted by many things. He also wants to go to America some day and marry some model or singer he has seen on TV, some temptations are universal :).

       Also pray for us to only do those things that the Holy Spirit wants done. It is easy to see all the needs and want to take it all on. As Mr. Frank can testify we are smack dab in the middle of a very poor part of town, with a bar just outside our compound, I should say two. I saw a short street fight yesterday and from talking to the locals it happens a lot. We have gangs around us, in 3 directions, as the young man who sees them and contemplates a life like theirs can testify. The Holy Spirit, as the principle agent of missions, knew what He was doing, but the challenges are great. We are protected here on our compound and the Lord knew we would need this place to retreat too and renew our strength.
      We had a meeting at the chancellery office earlier this week. Our friend Peter Fevrier shared how he and Fr. Clovis( a wonderful priest) have been praying for more people to come and work with them. They run the Family Life Secretariat and they have a passion for building and yes, even saving the family here on St Lucia. The Lord is Good! We did not know we were being sent to this unknown place (to us) in an answer to prayer of people here. Not only can we testify to family but our mission partner Sid can testify to being a young man devoted to God and doing His will.
    The Lord knows what He is doing. Pray that we won't let the little things cloud our vision of all that the Lord is wanting here and that we would have eyes wide open and on Him, to be thankful for all that the Lord is doing and has done and to rejoice, always!
    Lastly, we will be on TV tomorrow at around 10:30am on February 4th. (We are on Atlantic time here, that means 4hrs a head of the west cost of America, Prayers, Prayers, Prayers.....
We are asking ourselves, who are we that the Lord would ask this of us so soon. It will be His grace!

In the Kitchen in St. Lucia

2011-01-31T08:21:00.000-04:00

Lora has been learning to cook the local foods, these are breadfruit mixed with other spices and things like onions, garlic, and parsley.

Lora is not the only one learning

                                    The process and the end results.

The first few days in St. Lucia……….

2011-01-23T07:46:00.001-04:00

One of the first things we are taught to do is to commit ourselves to the place we are sent. John Paul II, the great missionary Pope was known for his embracing the places he went in this way. (this is behind our residence)

Here we are with Archbishop Rivas, Mr. Frank Summers (one of the founders of Family Missions Company), Sr. Rosemary (a medical student from Tanzania) staying with the Carmelite Sisters that are hosting us on the bottom floor of their convent.

You can also see Sr. Mary Phillip with us and Sidney our mission partner. Our little chapel is, through the gate around our residence about 50 meters down a slight slope.

A very interesting fact about the house we are staying in: it was originally intended by the Bishop as a house for…..wait for it…….Missionaries! This is one of those things that teaches us that just because we feel we are to do something for God, for a certain purpose, and it does not happen in our timeline….well that does not mean we were wrong when we tried to do what we felt the Lord was asking us. We may not have understood His timeline or maybe He just did not tell us His exact plans, but He just wants us to do what we understand to be His will and keep seeking Him.

Last Mission Formation in Louisiana

2011-01-14T09:58:00.001-04:00

Wednesday night was our last Mission Formation in Louisiana! Wow, a little over a year ago we were still wondering if our broke down van would ever get fixed and if the fact that we did not leave Oregon when we planned were all signs from God that we had not heard Him ask us to become missionaries. Even our first attempt to pull our 34’ trailer out of Oregon ended up with us making it to around Salem, Or. , (which is a little less than 2 hours from home) and then having to turn around to fix our van yet again. This left us around $500 poorer for our trip which was to take us for a short visit to Kansas City then down to Louisiana less than a month later. That was not to be, but what was to be was better than we could have imagined. This last year was full of challenges, difficulties, and growing with the Lord’s grace and provision meeting and surprising us at every turn. We made many new wonderful friends, branched out and grew as a family in the love of God. He has provided for our needs, including a mission post in the Caribbean Island of St. Lucia.

This post is supposed to be about our last mission formation. Some are asking “What is mission formation anyway?” Mission formation is a weekly gathering of Family Missions Company missionaries, friends, benefactors, potential missionaries, and basically anyone who wants to show up. We always have a meal, sometimes have mass, always sing praises to the Lord, usually share testimonies of what the Lord is doing in our lives, reports on recent mission trips, praise reports, prayer requests and praying with, over and for whoever wants, and general sharing our lives as a community.

Around the room during Praise and Worship

from our Mission formation

Christmas Cards, Benefactors, & Prayer Requests

2011-01-07T19:51:00.001-04:00

As we get back to life in the Big Woods Mission for the few days we have left we have put up some of the pictures, Christmas Cards, and the cards we have received from our benefactors. The best part of looking at the benefactor cards, besides knowing that one of our friends or acquaintances has decided that what we are doing is worthy of financial support is that they trust us with their prayer requests. It is hard to explain how much grace we receive when we see your prayer requests and think enough of us to share them. I remember sending money to causes I felt were worthy and seeing the place for prayer requests and thinking, “I wonder if they really read these and then if they take time to pray for them” It gave me comfort to think that, “I bet they do” and also I felt the freedom to share with them my real concerns. My point is, we do read them, pray about them, and generally hold your prayer requests in our hearts. It is a real privilege to be able to pray for your needs,requests, and concerns.

The Body of Christ is a wonderful place where we hold each other up, share each others lives, and are bound together in mystical ways .

Ephesians 4:1-6

1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, 3eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all.

14 days left!!!!

2011-01-05T20:14:00.000-04:00

Soo good to be home. It is funny how endearing others can be when one lives in community with others. We love our missionary friends. Last night Sarah came home and we had her, Sidney, Jonathon and Kristin over for dinner. Mrs. Gennie took the oldest five children to New Orleans to spend the night at the Granger's and then pick up Susanna at the airport this morning. We have been praying that Susana would not have to return to India in order to get her Visa for the Philippines.

Now we are getting the kids ready for Mission Formation. As you may have noticed the date of our departure has been moved to the 19th. Tickets were a little cheaper for the 19th, but the tickets are now bought!!! Praise be to God. Thank you so much for all those who have supported us.

Leaving on the 19th

2011-01-04T09:28:00.000-04:00

Back at the Big Woods in Louisiana and well, we are in the countdown, yep on the 19th we fly to Miami then St. Lucia. Packing to do and projects to finish up. Yesterday we got a background check at the Lafayette Police department. We may need this for our Visa to stay in St. Lucia for a year. I hope to update the blog often as we prepare to leave the U.S. for a year.

   Family Mission Company has two short term mission trips going on right now. One to General Cepeda, where we went during our training. We also have a trip that is in Ecuador. The team in Ecuador had a bunch of stuff stolen yesterday, computer, cell phones, cameras.....

   FMC is expanding to do more stateside ministry, specifically a youth program and continuing the weekly mission formation, but both are taking place at the old Dominican Convent that we spent so much time working at during our formation. FMC and all the teams need to be held up in prayer. I think it is easy to think that the items on our prayer lists that we don't get to see the results of our prayers for are not doing any good. This is just not the case, all the prayers we make for other people in the Body of Christ are of the utmost importance and we will not see all the results until heaven. So please continue to pray for FMC and all their works in your prayers(this obviously includes us and our mission post)

   Some of the things we are praying for as we pray our mission into being are:

The Bishop, priests, clergy, and religious we will be working with
That the people the Lord sends us to minister to will good soil for the Gospel to grow in
that we would have generous hearts and love for all those we come in contact with
for benefactors with generous heats of prayer for our post
protection and safety
local help for the team
Adequate housing
the Lord would show us poor to serve
a schedule that works well for the whole team

I thank all those that take the time to read this blog, with all the information and stuff that is out there for us to do in our American culture, it can be hard to take time to read something like this.

God Bless!

Christmas in Kansas City

2010-12-28T19:50:00.000-04:00

Lots of cooking

Cooking

and decorating

Christmas Day after mass

I like paper!

Grandma Caver's Chicken and Bell Pepper Soup, we love it!

The leaning ginger bread house of the Eckstines

Wonderful Bonnie opening a present after a wonderful breakfast with her!

Puttin up the tree

the decorations go on

"I just want to feel it....in my mouth"

Isaac getting bigger......

2010-12-23T15:23:00.000-04:00

Mission: Possible: Intake 2010

2010-12-16T19:46:00.000-04:00

Our friend Susanna made this video of our time in Intake, it is really done well. Hope you enjoy.

Mission: Possible: Intake 2010

What did we do all day long in Mexico

2010-12-02T10:26:00.000-04:00

During Intake the importance of personal prayer time is repeated over and over again. In the Soul of The Apostolate, Jean-Baptiste Chautard shares this, "Spirit of Light, imprint upon their minds, in characters that can ever be erased, this truth: that their apostolate will be successful only in measure that they themselves live that supernatural inner life of which Thou are the sovereign PRINCIPLE and Jesus Christ the SOURCE." In other words, our prayer life must match our outward activity we clam to do for the Lord. Here at the Big Woods and at their mission house in Mexico is a simple chapel. From early in the morning and through out the day, missionaries take advantage to set their time apart and pray.

chapel in General

We are required to spend at least an hour in prayer everyday. Even the children pray at least a half an hour in the chapel. Besides our own personal prayer time, we have prayer together as a community using the Christian Prayer book of the Liturgy of the Hours. During this time we pray for one another's needs, families, concerns.

Anne in the living room at General

After morning prayer and breakfast with all in the community we meet for the Si Senor talk. I'll share more about our talks in another post. During this time the resident missionaries are busy with "Door ministry". People come to the door with a variety of needs. Some need money to pay for a prescription, some need food, some need prayer. All who come receive prayer and hear a word from Scripture and the missionaries try to help them in what ever way they can. Even our children learned quickly that they could pray for those who come to the door, even if they could not speak the same language.

Lunch time is looked forward too by everyone as it is the biggest meal of the day and the best. The Mexican family who comes to cook for us prepares simple yet delicious meals. Marta cooks far more than we could eat so that she can bag up meal size portions and these are given away to whomever comes to the door in need of food. There were more occasions than not when an extra family ate with us as well.

Afterward lunch a variety of ministry opportunities are available. Some stay at the mission house for Door ministry, some go on are home visits and some go to the Rancho ministries. Home visits are to those who are homebound. They receive a sack of beans, lard, sugar and oil. We visit with them, share scripture and pray with them. Many of our kids said that the home visits blessed them the most. Living conditions were simple at best and inadequate at worst. Yet, we did not meet anyone who did not have joy nor who did not let us feel how much our visit meant to them. However, it was in the Ranchos where I felt most how desperate the need is for missionaries. Surrounding General our 50 some Ranchos. When we bring donations of clothing it is to the Ranchos that we bring them as they usually do not have a heat source and the high desert mountain area they live gets very cold at night. They are hungry to learn more about God. The God who says He loves them and desires to bring them peace and life.

At a Rancho, which can be anywhere from 10 houses to 500 people, all are invited by us ringing the chapel bell. The bell is rung two more times 15 minutes apart. This gives them time to stop what they are doing, change into other clothes and come to the chapel. We begin with singing

Then we give our testimonies and then one of the seasoned missionaries will share the Word of God. The people of Mexico are truly hungry to know more about God. We really can not express in words adequate enough to convey the need for more missionaries.

General Cepeda

2010-11-25T12:08:00.000-04:00

There is much to write about the last few of months that we have been in InTake. Everyday has been jammed packed with activities, prayer, or reading (plus the laundry, thank you Lord for James who did most of the cooking).

front door to the mission house

Here are a few pictures from our first mission trip to Mexico. FMC (Family Missions Company) has been serving in General Cepeda for over 30 years. They have a mission house that was originally built in the 1700's the Hacienda for a Spaniard. The part owned today by FMC used to be the servants quarters. As we walk in the door, we are met with a long courtyard surrounded by rooms. This worked out so perfectly for us with children because the kids could be outside all day long but inside.

courtyard

To the left and back are rooms with bunk beds and to the right is the kitchen and the dinning rooms

This is also in the courtyard. All my children's lives I have tried to help them attain the habbit of brushing thier teeth first thing in the morning. It wasn't until we came here and they found out that they can brush their teeth and spit in here did they brush their teeth as much as possible.

Rebekah and Vincent in our bedroom

Mark and I shared our room with the youngest 5 children. We had a full size bed and two bunks in our room. Peter shared a room with the guys and the oldest girls were in the "hen house" with the other single girl missionaries. Their room alone had 8 bunk beds. So there is a lot of room in the mission house for short term mission groups that they host through out the year.

Here is the dinning room with 6 long tables. There is a smaller dinning room as well for when they are not hosting a mission group. Marta (the cook for the mission house) is phenomenal cook. We ate really simply but well.

Privileged to Serve

2010-10-22T16:37:00.000-04:00

   Today three of the girls were asked, along with others, to help with the singing as part of a choir at a funeral.

"Privilege, huh?"

   Yep! One of our fellow missionary's Grandma passed and today was the funeral mass. Abi, Ellie, and Esther sang very well. The family was grateful to have music. Speaking of family, our being here, living in community, training with other, is a lot like living as a family. Our lives intertwined, their concerns become our concerns. So we were glad to go and support our sister and her family and serve!

   When Lora and I got married one of our life goals was, and is, that we would be able to love and serve the Lord and our neighbor as a family. We believe that putting into practice our Lord's words is one of the most important ways of giving others faith in Jesus. Missionary life brings so many opportunities to serve and we have not even left our training yet, much less the country!!! As part of our training we are learning to integrate certain things into our life routine. They are Prayer, God's Word, Sacraments, Community, and Service. Each day we try to examine our day and see where we have put them into practice. I will write more about what this list means practically, later on.

Please pray for our sister Andrea who will be delivering a baby any day now.

Heading to Mexico

2010-10-14T23:15:00.000-04:00

Hello all,

Well we are about two and half weeks from our first missionary trip out of the United States. Wow, from wondering if we were really called to missions to actually being in training and now our first trip. So the plans are that we are going with our intake group (the other missionaries that are training too) as a caravan of vehicles. This means vehicle preparation. I going to check stuff out. We are going to need new tires and there is another missionary family that will need tires too before we head south. I am going to change the oil and check some other stuff before we head down.

We got Isaacs passport today! So that is one less concern.

I have been working on some old gas heaters, converting them to Propane. They are old enough so it seems like it will be easy. But wow have we been busy, that is why the blog is not updated in a while. I should be typing my Biblical talk right now for a talk I might have to give tomorrow and we have so much we are studying. It is so nice to be studying again. It is a blessing! The scriptures are so rich!

But back to work!

Blessings,

Mark

Pictures

2010-09-26T19:41:00.000-04:00

We added some of our missionary friends blogs to our sidebar. If you look at Abigail's, our oldest daughter, Tales of a Godly Maiden and missionaryjon's blogs you will see some great pictures of the family.

Trip to Montana

2010-08-12T11:19:00.000-04:00

Our Trip to Montana

Lots of long road and fields full of crops. Isaac is a really great traveler. Everyone is!

We stopped and relaxed at a couple Hotels. We used Rest Areas and Gas Stations for some much needed breaks.

We were able to do stop at Assumption Abbey which is in Richardson, North Dakota. http://www.assumptionabbey.com/index.html Speaking of North Dakota, and well also of Eastern Montana it was exceptionally green there for this time of year. Look at these photos below:

In Sidney, the house as we began our project:

As the project unfolds:

some stuff to the street other stuff in the dump trailer (Thanks to Ed Deg). Then we decide we need a beam for the ceiling...

Its almost up there!

We took time for some fun! and the kids continue their studies......

and we took time to visit friends and family:

more progress on the project, we all worked together!

There is not enough space available to put up all the photos the kids take of Isaac.

The Awesome waterslide at the hotel on the way home!

We were so bless to have our break down right in the drivewall of Lora's mom's house!

Praise the Lord for that!

Fr. Gama likes to sword fight with the kids....with pool noodles and nerf lightsabers

2010-07-14T13:01:00.000-04:00

Fr. Gama and Paz visit the Big Woods before going to Mexico on a short term mission trip

2010-07-09T08:24:00.001-04:00

We had a wonderful visit with Fr. Gama, from Spain. The kids really like him.

Group from the "Come and See"

2010-06-26T18:58:00.000-04:00

A week ago Sunday we began a "Come and See" for those discerning Missionary life. It is also required for those who have discerned and plan to join the year long formation. What a great group. It is always exciting to be around those considering serving God in such a radical way as Missionary life, because they are serious about finding out God's will for their lives and not wasting it trivialities that don't lead us to heaven. They kids really enjoyed the group. The little girls had this group of guys out picking flowers. There was Sid, who is from Louisiana and will be training with us in September. There is Ray who really seemed to want to know more about the Big Woods Mission that he faithfully helps at and donates practical things like meat and rice to. Nick is from Arizona and is involved with Life teen and it seems that will remain the focus of his life for now. There was Tommy who is finishing his Masters in Theology from Franciscan University and is still discerning. There is Susana, from India, and she too will be training with us in September. And lastly there is Rebekah who just graduated from Franciscan and is taking a year to pay of bills and hopes to be here the following September. It was a pleasure to spend so much time with such a great group of young people.

Come and See

2010-06-22T08:17:00.000-04:00

So we are down here in the Big Woods Mission and we are enjoying being part of the "Come and See" Before we were actually down here, not knowing when or how we would ever get down here we scanned the missionaries blogs looking for "something", any news. We just wanted to somehow feel we were a part.... and the posts seemed to be few and far between, except from others, who also were discerning a Missionary calling. Now that we are down here I realized just how busy it is and how much there is to do. The call to Missions is "Urgent" as Mr. Frank said this weekend at a mass. He also went on to talk about how 2/3 of the world has not heard of Jesus. We believe it is urgent and are trying to do what we can each day and seek God's will for each day. He has given us plenty to do, but in spite of that I intend to update the blog with more stories and pictures soon. To encourage those who may be considering Missions and to keep our friends and family up to date.

God Bless!

Isaac's Baptism and Rachel's First Holy Communion

2010-05-27T15:07:00.000-04:00

Father Francis was so excited that Isaac's middle name is the Italian version of Francis(Francesco). Father Francis Blesses the water for the baptism.

And we were wondering who we would find to be God Parents 10 months ago, little did we know we would make new friends in Kansas City who would perfect! Keith and Iwona Majors and their terrific children Teah, Kevin, and Sophi. What a great family. They have a great story of faith, from smuggling bibles into Russia, to Church planting for the Vineyard, plus alot more,

and now coming home to the Catholic Church.

Here is the actual baptism and in this next photo Father Francis presents us with a baptismal candle, a symbol(light) of the life of Christ, which we the parents, the God parents, and the community of believers are all charged with praying for and supporting the growth of Isaac's spiritual life. The priest says something like, "May Christ find this light still burning bright when He returns......."

Isaac is wearing a family heirloom baptismal gown that his grandpa wore and all of the kids have at their baptism. Rachel is all dressed up for her First Holy Communion.

Rachel receiving her first Communion and with her Godparents.

Family photos and the Grandparents!

Church of the Nativity, Day of the Baptism

2010-05-27T10:27:00.000-04:00

Trip to Family Missions Company down South

2010-05-14T06:51:00.000-04:00

We had an amazing time in Abbeville, Louisiana. The Family Missions Company (FMC) truly is a people of Praise and Prayer. I will write more about our time there soon, all went well and we feel confirmed in our calling, not because they said "yep, you are called to Missions" when in fact they did not say this at all. In fact they said they would welcome us but only we can decide if God is truly calling us.

Family Missions Company founder

2010-04-25T21:24:00.000-04:00

Mr. Frank Summers talks about Missions on http://onebillionstories.com/?p=1371

It's a Boy!

2010-04-18T17:25:00.000-04:00

This morning (4/18/2010) baby Eckstine #10 was born at 9:26a.m. He was 10lbs, 9.5oz, and 21" long, 14 3/4 head and chest. Everyone is doing well!So now it is 8 girls and 2 boys!

Easter 2010

2010-04-09T21:08:00.003-04:00

Happy Easter- Family update

2010-04-03T12:21:00.000-04:00

We are so thankful that we have been able to be here in Kansas City during this time of my dad's surgery and recovery. It has been a busy month. We celebrated Mia's 12th and Annie's 5th birthdays.

We have also had a variety of weather experiences. When we thought spring was here, we had a weekend of unexpected snow. The kids were hoping for one more snow and they got it...

The next weekend it was so warm the kids were outside barefoot and Mark started teaching them how to play football.

Then this last weekend we had a rain storm crash through and we had a power outage for about 12 hours. Power lines were blown over and trees were up routed.

The kids have been working hard on their schooling. We have been apart of CLAA (Classical Liberal Arts Academy) for 6 weeks and we all love it. Even Rebekah has to get in her school time :)

And what about that baby number 10??? Well he/she is still hanging out with mommy. Only 3 weeks to go but EVERYONE thinks any day now would be just fine.

Our van has not broke down for two weeks now, Praise the Lord with us!!! Maybe just maybe if the baby is born soon we can take a little trip down to Louisiana and meet The Family Mission Company for their Come and See.

Holy Week

2010-03-26T15:16:00.000-04:00

It is fast approaching Holy Week, Lent is almost over. Palm Sunday is, well, on Sunday. I am always surprised how fast Lent goes by. At this point in Lent, I have messed up on my Lenten sacrifices (at least twice), with God's grace have started over, and am wondering why I did not do more to make a change in my heart, trying to remember what I gave up and why. I wanted to make more room in my heart and life for Jesus. Really I want to give Him all of it, not hold back any parts, no sins or areas where I say "No",only "Yes". I say to myself, "This year is really going to make a difference(and it does) but I am always wishing I would have done a little more and done what I did do with a little more charity. So here are some ideas for this last week of lent:

Ask God to give us the grace to finish the fast, we know how weak we are, we know we need Him more!
Lets all try to attend the Triduum this year. When we put our hearts into the mass God gives us so much more back.
If you have not made a good confession this Lenten season do it now, if you have, consider doing it again.
Prepare to start a Divine Mercy Novena, the Feast of Mercy is the Sunday after Easter. For more info: http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/novena.htm
If you have not done anything for Lent this year talk to God about it, ask Him what He wants, Ask Him for special Graces, He is the prodigal's Sons' Father, the Good Shepherd, always waiting and looking for us to come Home, ready to give us the Fatted Calf and a party!

Your love, Oh Lord, is better than life!,

Lord, let this always be in our hearts and minds as we seek to do your will!

Eternal Wisdom

2010-03-06T09:38:00.000-04:00

March 2 was the feast day of St. Henry Suso who lived in the 1300's. In a book called "Voices of the Saints" which was given to us by our good friend Ranell Curl (who is not a Catholic) I read the following excerpt:

Eternal Wisdom: When I hide myself, only then do you become aware of who I am or who you are. I am eternal Good, and so when I pour myself forth so lovingly, everything I enter becomes good. One can thus detect my presence as one detects the sun by its brightness since one cannot see its essence.

Servant: Lord, I find within myself a great unevenness. When I feel forsaken, my soul is like a sick person to whom everything is repugnant. But when the bright morning star bursts forth in my soul, all gloom disappears. Quickly, however, it is all snatched away and I am again forsaken. But then after intense sadness it returns. What is going on?

Eternal Wisdom: I am causing it, and it is the game of love. As long as love is together with love, love does not know how dear love is. But when love departs from love, then truly love feels how dear love was.

Servant: Dear Lord, teach me how to conduct myself in this game.

Eternal Wisdom: On good days you should consider the bad days, and on the bad days consider the good days. Then neither the exuberance at my presence nor despondency can harm you. To find joy on earth, it is not enough that you give a certain period of the day. You must constantly remain within yourself if you want to find God, hear his familiar words and be sensitive to his secret thoughts.

St. Henry Suso wrote a book on prayer called "The Little Book of Eternal Wisdom" which is where this quote came from. Some think of saints as people who were perfect, but they were not, they loved God passionately and tried to say "Yes" to His will in all things, and they humbled themselves before Him when they failed. We can all be saints, we are all called to be saints. Let us seek to Love God more and more each day.

Watching and Waiting for what's next....

2010-03-03T23:10:00.000-04:00

Well things have been pretty nice here in Kansas City, Mo. We are staying with Lora's parents and we have really been enjoying ourselves. We are praying about how long we are to stay here, where we want to have the baby, when are we going to Louisiana, what is God's will for us during our stay. I am working on some repairs on their house and am trying to learn how to balance a lifestyle of "working and providing"with a life with a more prayerfull routine, waiting and watching to see what God is asking next.

We have been greatly blessed to be able to go to Mass almost everyday. We are meeting tons of really nice people. One of whom after hearing our plans gave us $100.00 for our mission work the next time he saw us! Praise God!

We have had ice, snow, even a little rain. Now it seems to be trying to become spring, frost in the morning and sunshine during the day. I have managed to get stuck in the van trying to get a load of fire wood. This weather allows just enough frost to make the ground appear hard and just enough sunshine to make it muddy. But yesterday I found some other fire wood and did have to cut it to load it, it was beside the road. The van broke down before that but it turned out to be an easy fix with minor expenses that were mostly caused by my impatience and the use of starter fluid.

We are trying to go to Louisiana this Friday to visit and possibly leave our camper down there. Since we have found such a nice midwife, who is really working with us and Lora's parents are here we will probably only spend a week down there and come back here to Kansas City to have the baby. Also later this month Lora's Dad will probably have to have a kidney removed.

We are asking for prayers for God's guidance, His provision, a safe trip, and especially that Lora's Dad will be healed. God's will be done.

Thank You's!

2010-02-20T12:25:00.000-04:00

To our supporters and donors,

Thanks so much! We would not have made it this far without your prayers and gifts. We are so new to this fundraising thing, we are used to working for our income. It is very humbling, but it is a blessing to us, to see people getting excited with us, wanting to give and to know they are praying too! What a wonderful example you are for our children. These gifts are witnessing to them of how God is working through others to help us in a tangible way. We are also really blessed right now to be staying with Lora's parents in Kansas City, Missouri. Here we have the ability to go to daily mass and enjoy time praying and preparing for this new life God is calling us too. The children are missing their friends, family, and life in Oregon. At the same time they are excited about the adventure awaiting them. Our daily activities are teaching them and we know the Lord will be able to use this phase to prepare their hearts as well as ours to be missionaries. We are working on a thank you letter and a sort of update/newsletter kind of thing to mail out. If anyone has ideas or wants to help send us a note. We will also keep your prayer requests in our prayers.

We have made some really neat connections so far, one was put on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/markandlora?ref=name) the other day about the midwife that we found. She has a heart to work with missionaries and is very reasonable in her pricing for us. Thanks be to God. So it looks like we may stay here in KC to have this baby. Lora's mom and dad should be very happy. Another connection that has come about is with another large home schooling family at Nativity Parish who are using a Classical program for homeschooling called:http://www.classicalliberalarts.com/. She suggested Lora talk with the founders and inquire about a discount. Lora told them our missionary plans and they are really working with us and very supportive. If you visit their website you will see that they are also missionaries. Also we are going to meet with another family who uses that curiculum tomorrow and have tea and crumpits and guess what, they have been missionaries as well.

Well back to fundraising... which should really be called, fundraising and prayer requests, its uncomfortable but we do have needs. First to keep us and support us in your daily prayers, unless the Lord builds the house the laborers labor in vain. It is easy to dream about tomorrow when God asks us to say yes today. Pray that we would not get caught up in the what ifs and do what is necessary today.

Secondly, we need to start and have started raising and saving for the training costs. We are unsure about how much it will be for a family our size, but we have till September. At the same time the Lord seems to be starting to build a group of monthly supporters. Our van is having issues again, which with Lora's parents allowing us to use their vehicle, takes the pressure off that one and since we are praying about how long to stay in KC this helps to answer that question, atleast until it gets fixed. We also have homeschooling costs, (which I mentioned above as very reasonable for teaching 6 kids), expenses to do this fundraising thing (paper, stamps, envelopes) and daily living expenses. We are able to live very cheaply right now but we still need to sell or rent out our house in Oregon.

All in God's timing!

Again Thanks so much to all who are holding us up in prayer and supporting us financially!

Mark and Lora

Priestly Blessings

2010-02-08T19:05:00.000-04:00

We asked our Parish Priest, Father Ryan to bless our camper before we left Oregon. Not only was he willing to do that but he asked us to come up after mass so that the whole congregation could pray a blessing on us and our future as missionaries. After mass, he blessed each of us (including baby to be), our camper and van with Holy Water.
Father Conyard, who is more like the Eckstine family chaplain, came out to the farm to pray over us too. He himself is a missionary priest and gave us some good words and blessings.

Thank you to our Fathers who keep us in their prayers, give us guidance and are an inspiration to us.

Family Missionary Company Newsletter

2010-02-07T23:03:00.000-04:00

FMC has their latest newsletter, SERVE, available online at: http://fmcmissions.com/?page_id=8

It is a really good read.

Our Christmas Letter 2009

2010-01-17T17:34:00.000-04:00

Merry Christmas

This time of year brings us to share once again the journey of our growing family. We have had another wonderful year with little ones making new discoveries. Older children maturing and making their own discoveries. We grow older together and enjoy watching it all. We are also excitedly awaiting our 10th baby to join our family next spring.
Six of the children (Abigail, Gabriella, Mia, Peter, Esther and Rachel) enjoyed another year at the Charter School. As we recount how far they have come and how much they have learned, we are astounded. They have memorized poetry, explored Chemistry, diagramed sentences, and read great literature. Not only that, but they have watched ballets from the professional dance company and went to the Shakespeare Festival. Then they themselves learned Martial Arts, danced on the Hult Center Stage, and learned piano and violin.
The little ones, Anne, Bridget and Rebekah, are learning right along side each other and their older siblings. There is not much that they miss out on seeing. The older children have the privilege of watching their younger sisters learn about life and exploring the world around us. The farm life continues to grow with more dairy goats, sheep, ducks and chickens and holds great fascination for each of the children. We hatched our own ducks this year which was a time of great excitement for the kids.
Our next great adventure is taking us on a turn that we had not expected or anticipated, and in fact had given up on the idea as not God’s will for our lives. Now we consider it an honor and privilege to announce that we believe God is calling us to family Missionary Life. Missionary work has been on our hearts since we were both teenagers though the opportunity has never materialized. We knew, of course, that we are all called to be “witnesses” to the power, glory, and love of Jesus in our daily lives, no matter where we live, but there is something different about getting out of the “American Culture” and living and learning among a foreign culture.
Our hearts desire is to live the gospel simply, raising our children among other people who live simply. We hope and pray that with our children we can lead others to deepen their existing faith, to work for the hearts of father’s to be turned back to their children, to practically and spiritually strengthen families, and to encourage others to come to know Jesus in a real and tangible way.
We were drawn to the Family Missions Company (FMC) last June. We found their website and began reading it with mostly curiosity. As we read more, we began to pray and wondered if this would indeed be the time for us to join FMC. Mark brought it to the family and we talked about it. He then asked if each one of us would pray and ask God to let us know as a family what was His will. We received many confirmations over the course of a week as well as each of the children’s hearts were in agreement.
At that point in our lives we were looking for a farm here in Cottage Grove, close to his parents and big enough for our nine children. We finally sold our house in Montana and thought that now we would be able to see this dream materialize, but events kept us from accomplishing this and we really did not understand why. We believe in Divine Providence and know that our lives are directed by Him and see now, that the Lord was preparing our hearts for a big change and that much of what were desiring will be fulfilled in missionary life.
Our plan, for the moment, is to leave for Kansas City this month. We will spend a few months with Lora’s parents. Training with FMC starts in September and lasts for three months. From their we are not sure where we will be sent. This will be a two year, minimum commitment, but we will not be surprised if this will not be for longer. We have started a blog so that you may follow us on our journey.

The Eckstines

The Blessings of Friends and Family

2010-01-06T15:16:00.000-04:00

Our Friends from the ACE Charter School held a farewell party for us. We are so thankful for the love and support you have given to us. Thank you to the Earlywine family for friendship. Ranell Curl, whom I look up to for mentorship and wisdom. The Pearsons,Donners, Smiths, Burchers for your friendship with Mark and I and your kid's friendship with our kids. To all those who have been involved in our lives through ACE, thank you. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May His face shine upon you.

Happy New Year and Still here...

2009-12-31T13:31:00.000-04:00

Well it looks like 2010 starts out with us still on Oregon. We still have lots we can do to finish up here. The more we are able to do the less others will have to take care of. The house in town and the garage are really getting clean. Trying to wrap up all my jobs. Trusting in the Lord's timing, He is the Good Shepherd!

Happy New Year!

from Abandonment to Divine Providence, by Fr. Caussade

2009-12-02T11:54:00.000-04:00

I believe that if those souls that tend towards sanctity were instructed as to the conduct they ought to follow, they would be spared a good deal of trouble. I speak as much of people in the world as of others. If they could realise the merit concealed in the actions of each moment of the day: I mean in each of the daily duties of their state of life, and if they could be persuaded that sanctity is founded on that to which they give no heed as being altogether irrelevant, they would indeed be happy. If, besides, they understood that to attain the utmost height of perfection, the
safest and surest way is to accept the crosses sent them by Providence at every moment, that the true philosopher’s stone is submission to the will of God which changes into divine gold all their occupations, troubles, and sufferings, what consolation would be theirs! What courage would they not derive from the thought that to acquire the friendship of God, and to arrive at eternal glory, they had but to do what they were doing, but to suffer what they were suffering, and that what they
wasted and counted as nothing would suffice to enable them to arrive at eminent sanctity: far more so than extraordinary states and wonderful works. O my God! how much I long to be the missionary of Your holy will, and to teach all men that there is nothing more easy, more attainable, more within reach, and in the power of everyone, than sanctity. How I wish that I could make them understand
that just as the good and the bad thief had the same things to do and to suffer; so also two persons, one of whom is worldly and the other leading an interior and wholly spiritual life have, neither of them, anything different to do or to suffer; but that one is sanctified and attains eternal happiness by submission to Your holy will in those very things by which the other is damned because he does them to please himself, or endures them with reluctance and rebellion. This proves that it is only
the heart that is different. Oh! all you that read this, it will cost you no more than to do what you are doing, to suffer what you are suffering, only act and suffer in a holy manner. It is the heart that must be changed. When I say heart, I mean will. Sanctity, then, consists in willing all that God wills for us. Yes! sanctity of heart is a simple “fiat,” a conformity of will with the will of God.
What could be more easy, and who could refuse to love a will so kind and so good? Let us love it then, and this love alone will make everything in us divine.

Thanksgiving!

2009-11-27T17:00:00.000-04:00

Thanksgiving, what a wonderful day of the year. G.K. Chesterton said thanks is the highest form of thought. We are about a month away from going to Kansas City for an extended visit with Lora's parents (a couple of months). We are not exactly sure why we are going...There are a number of reasons, like spending time with family before we are gone for a few years, re-connecting with our old parish families, to be able to go to mass and pray in a setting away from our everyday life, but most importantly we feel like we are supposed to.
So we will see if it happens and trust that whatever results God has a plan and we are trying to follow. He is a the Good Shepherd.

The wonderful side of waiting..

2009-10-27T10:43:00.000-04:00

Waiting for the timing, waiting for the provision, waiting for direction, Waiting on God, can be hard, but as we renew our strength in the process we can also have a profound experience of thankfulness. G.K. Chesterton says "Thanks is the highest form of thought." That is what I love about Chesterton, he reminds us how extraordinary the ordinary things are. When we think this might be the last time for this or that activity, like hunting or watching the colors turn to fall in Oregon, specifically this London Valley it makes me want to look one more time and not be so impatient to be sent, to know when, and to just enjoy and even be a little nicer and look a little longer.

Saying "Yes"

2009-10-06T11:49:00.000-04:00

Matt 14:22-33
Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves: for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. But immediately he spoke to them, saying, "Take heart, it is I: have no fear."
And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; but when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink he cried out, " Lord, save me." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God"

Saying "Yes" to what we think God is asking of us can be scary. Since we have decided this call to Missionary Life is what God has asked of us, life is not any easier. Possibly it is harder, but our joy and fulfillment is complete. When you step out on the water to go to Jesus, even if you clearly hear Him, it does not mean there will not be waves. But Jesus is right there to reach out and catch us. He has enlarged our hearts, increased our faith, and drawn us closer to Him. What could be better? So many little things he does for us each day to encourage us, knowing we are weak.

Accepted!

2009-10-02T10:55:00.000-04:00

Hurrah! We are accepted, now we are praying for the Lord's timing and provision.

Thanks for your prayers!

Sending in our application....

2009-09-28T10:05:00.000-04:00

Whether it is faith or foolishness I don't know but we have made many moves in our short 15+ years of marriage trying to follow God and draw near to Him and His perfect will. We usually sense His calling slightly stirring us, then it gets stronger and things fall into place,(though not everything when we think it should), we make the move or prepare to then God provides as we do. He is such a Good Shepard! There are no mistakes in God's plans, because we are on a journey to the New Jerusalem, and as we humble ourselves(this can be hard) and constantly seek His will He uses all things for His purposes. This is a lead up to saying I sent my application into Family Missions Company on Friday and Lora will finish hers soon so we really asking for prayers for the Lord's will to be done. A few people have asked: "You have not been accepted and you are telling others you are going to be missionaries?" The answer is "Yes". We feel God is calling us to this life change. I have had more than one person tell me that this is not a poll and if you believe God is asking this of you, say "Yes".
I know we have made mistakes in our lives, we have not always waited on God's Providence and at times we have even said "no", but at this stage in our walk with Him we are seeking Him and trying to say "yes" more than any time before....atleast I hope and pray we are.

So please pray for us.

Mark