[CS-FSLUG] [Tim&Patricia Young] Prayer-letter 1-23-06

[Patricia Young]

Dear friends,

The summary:

Patricia and I have Just returned from a very successful, though somewhat difficult trip.  We worked with 12 organizations in about two months.  We made it home on January 11th, and had the pleasure of Patricia's mother, sister, and nephew visiting for a few days.  We had a week to ourselves, and then Patricia drove off to help a family with 8 children pack up to move.

 Our trip did have us work with some larger missions like Campus Crusade for Christ and Wycliffe Bible Translators in Orlando, Florida.  We usually do not work with these larger groups, because they usually have finances enough to pay someone else to do the work we do for free.  We usually like to provide our free services to missions that have less of a budget.  But it is helpful for us to visit these larger organizations occasionally, because the technology that big missions get to play with, is usually the technology that smaller missions will be using in a few years.  It helps us look to the future to see what new technological tricks we need to learn, so we are ready when the small missions start asking for them.

One sad, but happy, note on the trip was when we turned over the responsibility for one mission to another of our LightSys members.  Patricia and I have loved visiting Christar, not just to help out the mission, but also because we have developed some dear friendships there. With my input combined with the wisdom of many others, they have changed their technological infrastructure in such a way that Carl Armstrong's skills are better suited to help them out.  Patricia and I did stop in on this trip to see how they were doing with their changeover, but Carl is now the one who will help them out regularly.  It was somewhat sad that my personal skills were not as needed there, but happy to see the progress they were making, and also to know that we (LightSys as an organization) could still provide them with some much needed help.  We did find some other good missions in that general area to replace them in our travel itinerary, but one can never "replace" the relationships.

 The story:

We had a difficult time starting our trip.  Originally we were supposed to leave a few weeks earlier, but because of a number of factors (definitely God things) we were running a little behind our proposed schedule.  A friend forwarded me an email mentioning they heard that CEF was in need of computer help.  I had gone out with Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) one time in a very spontaneous way many years back.  One Sunday I heard a missions trip was planned and was still lacking one body.  3 hours later I was in the car with them, heading out for the week.  I still have a warm place in my heart for them, and was glad to hear of this opportunity.

The first part of our trip was at a conference in Indiana, but Greg Beeley was going to be there also.  After discussing it with Greg, Patricia and I let him handle that conference alone, and we went to CEF. 

 There is nothing like walking into a mission for the first time.  Many people try to help out missions, but it is an art to really help them out without making more problems for them.  Missions computer people are usually a little paranoid of computer "help", and properly so.  I always expect a little reluctance when I first interact with a new organization, and it is always such a joy when the Spirit starts moving.  Within a short time a bond of unity is formed and an excitement is built.  And then, over time, a trust is built and we can start to work in earnest.

 CEF was no exception.  In the beginning we did not get a lot done as they fit me into their schedule here and there.  Then, as the days passed and our relationship deepened, we spent more and more time working on their setup.  We spend two long nights making upgrades and working through issues, and by the time we were leaving, we had build a long-lasting relationship.

 In the past, that is where it would have ended.  I would have left them in a better shape than when I arrived, and with a promise to return at a later date.  But LightSys has grown this past year, and we had more to offer.  In particular, we have added our LightSys Associate team, people who are professional computer people but who want to spend some of their time helping missions.

 The last day there we spent talking about the future and their needs.  CEF has a school on their campus, where teachers are discipled and prepared for their task ahead.  A school has some unique issues with it, which I do not have all the answers for.  One of our Associates is the head of IT at a university, and is well versed in most of the issues the CEF staff needed input on.  They were so excited about this chap that shortly after we drove off into the sunset, the CEF IT department made the 6 hour trip out to visit the Associate.

 CEF made use of a lot of technologies that I was not as strong in.  Another associate, Carl Armstrong, had the skills needed to help them in that regard.  Carl had a trip scheduled to the West coast that fell through, and was able to change his journey to stop by CEF near St. Louis.

 It was really exciting for us at LightSys to be able to have this ongoing interaction with them instead of only being able to return once a year.  But it is not over yet.  Now that Patricia and I have returned home to Red Wing, I am starting to teach a computer class over the Internet.  Just today one of the CEF staff signed up for this class.  Once again, we are able to help a lot more even though we are not present in body.

 This is the first year we have done much with our associates, and we have not been able to use all of them in this way.  But it has been very exciting for us to see the marked improvement in how we can service missions.  It is difficult turning over some missions to let others service them, but it is wonderful knowing that they are getting the best help we can offer for their particular needs.

 Praises:

  a.. For the addition of the third techie to LightSys.  Shawn Parrish of MissionaryTechSupport.com has joined LightSys.  He will continue the same services that he has been doing before. 
  b.. For a safe trip back home to Red Wing 
  c.. That the Lord took care of our "new" house while we were gone, and for all the people He used to watch over it.. 
Prayer requests:

  a.. For Patricia these next two weeks as she is traveling and helping out the family with 8 children. 
  b.. For Tim as he tries to cook (heat up the pre-made food Patricia left for him) 
  c.. For the classes Tim is teaching on-line during this time at "rest" 
  d.. For the preparations for the next trip starting in April 
  e.. That we will have decent weather before we go so we can prepare the Turtle for this next journey. 
 Thanks for your ongoing prayers!

                - Tim and Patricia Young
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