"Amazing Grace..."

It's Sunday and it truly has been a day of rest. We went to a wonderful worship service at a church near the Mercy Ships Campus. What a blessed way to close off one week and prepare for the next. Yesterday we capped off a soul searching couple of days in the Word by doing a silent retreat. We went to a local park, and we (the Gateway class) all went in our own direction for an extended period of quiet time in the Word, Prayer and listening for God's Voice. It is exciting spending 3 1/2 hours alone with God, no cell phone, no ipod, no nothing but you and God, what an invigorating experience.

The family just got back from a swim and I (Mike) started thinking back over the last two months. It is truly amazing what God can do. Ten short weeks ago (in Washington) we had a thought of possibly going to Mercy Ships in a year to two. Today as we look forward (from Texas) it is only 5 weeks and we will be on board Africa Mercy. Most of the hard things are done, personal belongings in storage, the house leased out, the Explorer sold, personal business tied up, addresses changed, good-byes to family and friends, and 3,000+ miles safely traveled. God pulled many people together to accomplish this what we feel is an amazing feat. There is some things yet to be done, the drive back to Washington, the sale of the Freestyle, and the flight to Benin, Africa (24 hours). Oh, there is still support to raise, both monthly and for the tickets to Benin, but Deb and I have a peace about what God can and we know will do by touching the hearts of others to help us in His service.

"All Creatures Great and Small..."

The latest catch phrase that we have been hearing is: "the weather is giving you training for Benin..." The last few days the temperature at the IOC has been 106F and 105F (40C/41C). We are "in training" in every sense! Apparently the temperature is not normally this high this time of year...But have the Jacobsens' ever done anything "normal". To quote Deb's best friend..."normal is a setting on the dryer." Joshua and Alisia have been having a great time in the pool everyday. While Deb and Mike have been in class becoming more "educated". One of the interesting topics we have been discussing is how we see things from our cultural point of view. We are continually being challenged to think beyond our culture in ever area of life. Today the kids went to the local zoo and had a great time. (Notice the giraffe looking over the fence at them.) Prayer Items: We still need funding for our tickets over to Benin. Please pray that the letters we sent out will be revisited. Pray also for Deb, she is struggling with headaches and had a migraine today.

"Let's Start From the Very Beginning..."

We are officially started what Mercy Ships calls "Gateway". This is the most intense part of our training that we have now for the next four weeks. We started Saturday afternoon with some "ice breakers"-those games everyone loves to dislike where you are forced out of you comfort zone in a group of strangers to bond with one another..." Sunday was more calm...thankfully...where we shared and listened to people tell their stories about how God has been leading on the journey to Mercy Ships-where our lives have all converged. Today, we discussed different personality traits and how God has made each of us as unique individuals to play a particular role in His plan. We each have a purpose and it is our choice if we are to follow Him or not...pretty heavy thinking for 93F outside... One of the fun things we did was take one of the foreign students to Wal-Mart for the first time...talk about sensory over load!

"We Are One in The Bond of Love..."

This week was like a buffet...you take a little of this, a little of that, a bit more of this, a bit more of that and oh wait dessert...we had a very filling week of information. We have been incredibly encouraged by the speakers we heard from and discovered we are joining an amazing organization with such a deep passion to bring hope and healing to the forgotten poor in West Africa by following the example of Jesus. As I said before we feel humbled and privileged to be part of the team. Both Mike and I feel such a sense of awe when we think that God has invited us to be part of this journey. It just took us to be obedient to His call. (Sometimes easier said than done!) We met some wonderful people and have had many laughs and great conversations. It will be neat to see many of these people aboard the Ship in the upcoming months. We have a half a day rest and then tomorrow we hit the more intense part of our training.

"My God Shall Supply All My Needs..."

We had the greatest phone call last night...."I have just sold your Explorer!!!!" For Deb this was bitter sweet...She loved her Explorer...but at the same time it is such and incredible answer to prayer. God is so great! We used the money to pay off some debt and we will put the rest toward plane tickets. YEAH!!

On another note-we are having an incredible time at the Introduction to Mercy Ships "school". We have learned so much about the Mercy Ships organization. Mike is thoroughly impressed with the organization and the vision for the future. Every aspect of Mercy Ships focuses on bringing hope and healing to the forgotten poor. We feel honored and privileged to be part of this organization and can hardly wait till we fly out to meet the ship.

We still have needs for monthly support and for the remainder of our plane tickets. Please continue to keep us in prayer...especially for next week which is supposed to be very intense.

"Welcome Home You, I know You By Name..."

We arrived today in Lindale, TX at the International Operations Centre for Mercy Ships. What a beautiful campus of 450 acres. We were given a heartfelt warm welcome by the staff and it was great to be able to put a face to many of the voices that we have been communicating with via phone and email over the past 6 weeks. We have also had the opportunity to meet many new people from many different states and countries who will probably join us on the ship at a later date. Tomorrow we will start our classes. We have settled in and feel very at home.

"On the Road Again...part 6"

Day 11-Tyler, TX-June 14, 2009-3003 miles
Well, after two countries (Canada and the US), 3 provinces (BC, Alberta, Sask.), and 9 states (WA, MT, ND, SD, IA, NE, KS,OK, TX) we are where we need to be for the next 5 weeks. (It is also 93F/31C here at 6:00pm). Tomorrow we will start our "Introduction to Mercy Ships" course in the afternoon. We are excited and ready to go. Please keep us in prayer for the next 5 weeks so we can learn, we are still awaiting the sale of our car, and the $ for plane tickets and monthly support.

"On the Road Again...part 5"

Day 10-Wichita, KS-June 13, 2009-2541 miles
Deb is at the point where she does not know which hotel she is in and which State she is in. We arrived in Kansas today...a very beautiful State with rolling hills. Today we drove through 4 different States-SD, IA, NE, and KS....pretty good for a Canadian! Onto Tyler, TX where we will start our training on Monday.

"On the Road Again...part 4"

Day 9-June 12, 2009-Sioux Falls, SD-2070miles
Well, promise to the kids fulfilled. We made it this morning to Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. All that the kids could say was: "AWESOME... COOL...NEAT..." and truly it is an awesome sight to behold. We then went on our way to spend the night in Sioux Falls, SD.

"On the Road Again...part 3"

Day 8-June 11, 2009-Rapid City, SD-1684 miles

The last few days have been very full of emotional hellos and good-byes. Yesterday (June 10) we had a fantastic reunion with the church that we served for seven years in Froid, MT. We were there just in time for their VBS. God blessed us with the opportunity to see Darcy from WEBE Kings Kids. We have know Darcy for 9 years. Joshua was only 2 when we first met Darcy. It was such a blessing to sit with her and catch up on how God has and is working in our lives.

The church in Froid gave us a heartfelt welcome-complete with potluck and all. No one can put on a potluck like the church in Froid! That afternoon we were able to give a presentation about our up coming adventure with Mercy Ships. Everytime we show the DVD's we have about Mercy Ships we get more and more anxious to want to get to Benin, Africa sooner. Pastor Neil took time to prayer over and for our family-sending us off with God's blessing and protection. We left Froid feeling very loved, supported, and encouraged. Thank-you Big Sky Church for loving us, supporting us, and encouraging us. You will always be a big part of our lives and we thank God for the time we had with you.

That night we had the hardest good-bye ahead of us. We had shared some very precious time with Mike's dad (who is 90 years young) over the past few days. Saying good-bye to him was the hardest thing we have had to do. But he reassured us that he was going to be here when we returned from our time with Mercy Ships. He sent us off with his blessing and is excited about the time we have ahead of us.

Finally today, we said good-bye to our adopted family in Williston, ND-the Stockmans. They have been here for us so many times when we have needed a place to stay...their door has always open for us. The hospitality they generously pour out on us is always overwhelming. Thank-you for always being available and for "putting up" with us! We then left for Rapid City, SD. After many years we have promised the kids to see Mt. Rushmore, tomorrow we will fulfill that promise.

"On the Road Again...part 2"

Day 5-June 8, 2009-Williston, ND-1194 miles

Yesterday (Sunday June 7) we enjoyed worshipping at a wonderful church, St. Paul Lutheran Church (not bad for a Baptist pastor) in Medicine Hat, Alberta. We were warmly welcomed and embraced as part of the family of God by Pastor Rink.

Today (June 8) we said a very tearful good-bye to Deb's brother and sister-in-law and kids and headed to North Dakota to see Mike's dad. We made it to our friends house, the Stockmans' in Williston, ND in good time and only encountering rain along the way.

"On the Road Again..."

We are on our way to part one of our journey! But before I go into the details of our journey, I want to share with you a very special person. Mike has a cousin, Mark Wheeler, who lives in Lynden. Mark describes himself as an "artist, writer, and thinker upper". When he found out about us going on Mercy Ships, he took it upon himself to be our fundraising advocate in Lynden. Through his efforts we were richly blessed. He also designed and made different signs we needed for fundraising and car sales. Without him we would not be at the level of fundraising we are at and we are truly blessed and thankful he is part of our team!

Day One- June 4, 2009=311 miles

After the kids said good-bye to their friends and our cat Shadrach we close up our time capsule (Alisia's bedroom we used for storage) and headed down the road to our first stop of the night Revelstoke, BC. The temperature when we left was 93F (34C). We had a wonderful trip and saw some wonderful mountain sights.

Day Two-June 5, 2009=741 miles

Today was a day of strange events...As we left Revelstoke, BC-we happened to notice the temperature was 53F (11.6C) as we neared my brother's house in Medicine Hat, Alberta we notice the temperature drop...upon arrival it was 43F (5C). (Of course we are packed for warm weather. Stopping for lunch in Calgary, Alberta, we were the only ones in T-shirts and shorts while everyone else has on long pants and fall jackets...) As we are driving Canada 1 Hwy what is strangely missing from the picture? CARS...For all the years we have travelled we have never been on a major highway and had it void of cars...especially Canada 1. We later did see more traffic. We also saw some of God's majesty in the mountains we went by.

Day 3-June 6, 2009-a day of rest-

We are spending a few days with Deb's brother Gregg and family before we have to say good-bye to them for 2 or more years. They have two kids, Kennedy and MacGregor who are very close in age to Alisia and Joshua.

God never seems to surprise us. To give you some history, Alisia is a snow fanatic. Whenever we would go by snow...she would yell...SSNNOOOWWWW.... Well, today JUNE 6...God gave Alisia a special present....SSNNOOOWWWW....We woke up this morning in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada to SNOW... Yes you read that correct...stranger things do happen "in the land of the midnight sun."