Tuesday, March 8, 2011

JAARS Day

 Last week our church hosted their annual missions conference.  It was during this conference that the Lord stirred in my heart a deep love, respect, and appreciation for our missionaries and their precious families. I had the privilege of listening to several of these missionary couples give their testimonies, and time and time again was blown away by their dedication and sacrifice for the cause of the gospel. I was challenged in my own walk with the Lord and came face to face with my own selfishness and pursuit of worldly things. The Lord is ALIVE and working. He did a work in my own heart this week and I was blessed to hear how He is working and changing the lives and hearts of people all over the world!!!

After coming off this AMAZING missions week at our church, this past Saturday, our family had the oppurtunity to enjoy JAARS Day—a free event designed for families to learn more about worldwide Bible translation and the many other AWESOME outreach services JAARS participates in. I was so excited for our family to learn even more about how the Lord is working here and abroad!

 Immediately when we arrived, we watched a demonstration of the capabilities of the Kodiak airplane and the helicopter. The boys were completely mesmerized!!
 It was amazing to watch just how precisely these aircraft's can be handled by the highly trained missionary pilots!

After the air show, we headed over to the hanger to "hang" out!

Sophie fell in LOVE with this big purple helicopter! 
She would've taken it home if she could;)

The kids each stamped their names out in Egyptian hieroglyphics.


Face painting was a BIG hit too! 

Then it was off to enjoy a lovely boat ride on the Crystal Lake.

The boat that we rode on was going to soon be on it's way to Ghana. It will be used to get supplies and missionaries to places where people have yet to hear the Word of God.

 
As we rode, I couldn't help but pray for the precious people and hearts that this boat will one day reach.

When we got off the boat, everyone was hungry so we enjoyed a yummy picnic lunch--lake side!

After lunch, the kids noticed a huge display of musical instruments that were from all over 
the world. They had a blast rockin' it out on those instruments;)


The high light of the day was supposed to be an actual airplane ride for Corban and Riley. Unfortunately, it started to rain and they were forced to cancel all scheduled flights. The boys were totally bummed. They had never been in an airplane before, so they were both greatly anticipating their very first flight. Oh well! The JAARS staff  invited us to come back anytime to make up for that canceled flight! We all enjoyed our day so much that it wasn't hard to promise the boys that we would definitely be back again real soon!!



8 comments:

Bethany @ Our 4 Sons Plus 1...Super Cute Girly Girl said...

Jenny, I know exactly what you mean about feeling that pull (and conviction) between worldly and godly pursuits. It's so hard at times, and I've been struggling with that a lot recently.

Wow! What a fun-filled day learning about missions around the globe! We don't generally have events like those up here, and I sure wish we would! I think it would be a great kingdom-building tool for the kiddos, as well as the adults! And I must say, I'm the slightest bit jealous when I keep seeing pics of you guys in your shirt sleeves, ha! :) Have a great day!

Caroline said...

What a great day! I love how in your family picture everyone matches! Did you plan that? :)

Melanie said...

Missions Conference was SO wonderful & I agree, it was stirring to listen to so many wonderful testimonies of what God is doing all over the world & even here!
Love all of the photos from JAARS Day! The kids were commenting that they have added several things (or we missed them) from last year, so we will probably go again this summer! BUM-mer on the plane rides! I rode a plane for the first time at JAARS when I was a girl & we all had fun riding a helicopter last year!

The Corwins said...

I remember going to JAARS day when I was a kid, how fun!

Yes, glad you saw the post about Charlotte now! You were one of the ones I wanted to make sure you knew! I can't wait to hang out!!!

Sara @ Domestically Challenged said...

What a special day! I am sorry to hear the weather made them cancel the flight. My boys did a ride in a plane like that last year and had a blast!

Sarah said...

this has been on my to-do list since we moved here a few years ago and we have yet to do it. i'm SO happy your family was able to go and that jaars agreed to plane rides at another time... i know that will be a super fun time for you all! and miss sophie - how cute is she with the purple helicopter?! :)

Ashley said...

love it! your family is seriously ADORABLE!!! you are blessed!

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