WATN: Amy Chouravong

Here's an update from Amy. Amy, my apologies for not getting it up quicker. It seems the Christmas holidays got the better of me!

Amy sends a timeline of her life since Morris as well as information on how to support her on her upcoming year long mission trip.

Graduated from Morris on May 2004 (was commencement speaker).

July 2004 - moved to San Antonio TX

Oct 2004- Oct 2005 - 1 year in the University of the Philippines studying Broadcast Communications on the Catherine Sullivan Scholarship

Oct 2005 - Traveled to Thailand and Burma to meet relatives on my dad's side that I had not seen ever in my life.

Oct 2005-Feb 2006 - Spent vacation time in San Antonio TX preparing for the PI

Feb 2006-Oct 2006 - Volunteered with True Love Waits Philippines. Entered a reality show called "Close Up to Fame"

Oct 2006 until now - Worked with abstinence education in TX. Preparing for a one-year trip to the Philippines.

Dear Friend -
Thanks for your time in Minnesota as I was raising support for my mission! I thank God I was able to reconnect with you! I'd like to present to you a challenge for you to prayerfully consider. If God has put it on your heart to be a monthly partner with my mission to the Philippines, click the link below to my mission website. The instructions are simple to support me via Electronic Funds Transfer.
Simply click on the link below -https://www.denarionline.com/DonorServices/TEMPLATEPAGE.ASPX?COMP_REF=_CTEN&XCONTENT=MISSIONARY&MISSION_REF=_2H70X2X8N&CONTENT=MISSIONARYPLEDGE
from that point fill in - PLEDGE AMOUNT $Dollar Figure

PAYMENT FREQUENCY Monthly

PAYMENT METHOD - Electronic Funds Transfer
then - ACCOUNT TYPE: Checking

ROUTING #: Your bank routing # off check

BANK ACCOUNT#: Your check account # off check DAY OF MONTH: Day you want the withdrawal

I pray Colossians 1:9 over you, (read slowly) that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. That you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.
Thank you for your prayers and support,
Ami Chouravong210-867-5944 http://www.wagmuna.com/

P.S. Attached is my support letter to read more about what I will be doing in the Philippines.

And here is her support letter:

True Love Waits Philippines
Metro Bank Bldg., Room 302Banker’s Plaza Building Julia Vargas St., Cor San Miguel Ave.Ortigas Center, Manila Philippines
www.wagmuna.com

Dear Loved Ones,

All over the world, love-starvation is a real thing. We see it on billboards and milk cartons, disguised in perfumes and Playboy. My passion is to feed the love-starved youth by serving overseas with True Love Waits (TLW) Philippines beginning January 26, 2009.True Love Waits Philippines is a mission to reach youth with God’s message of love through Jesus Christ by unmasking the lies about love through a curriculum designed for Filipino youth. After three short term mission trips to the Philippines, God is leading me back to the Philippines long term.

During my most recent stay, I was a finalist on a reality show which now gives me the platform to impact thousands of Filipino youth. I will return to the Philippines as the TLW’s National Media Production Manager: supervising media projects, networking media contacts, and speaking in media outlets as an advocate of the message of sexual purity.

I have been accepted to Commission to Every Nation (CTEN), a non-denominational missionary sending agency. I will be serving with True Love Waits Philippines under this agency. Please consider being a part of my sending team by financially supporting my life’s mission. I will need $2,500.00 monthly. Use the enclosed envelope and response card to partner monthly with a gift of $25, $50, $100 or any donation of your choice. You may now send your partnership gifts, which will be effective immediately, even before I arrive in the Philippines. How else can you help? I would like to schedule a time to share with you about my calling, and pray about how we can partner to save Filipino youth and turn their hearts to God. Truly Loved,Ami Chouravong
ami@wagmuna.com
210-867-5944 (c)

View my personal testimony on wagmuna.com. Thanks for your support!
"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." – Matthew 9:37-38

I know that's a lot of information all at once but Amy seems to have a lot going on in her life! Oh, and the picture above is from a mini reunion in Morris. Thanks for reading!

WATN: Back online!

Hey Everyone!

I've just realized that it's been over a month since I posted any updates. It's pathetic, I know. Life just seems to have gotten the best of me in November.

Anyway, I'm going to post a bunch of updates from the reunion today so happy reading!

Catherine McDade: Catherine is in Fargo working for Microsoft. She travels for work a bunch and has also gotten to do some personal travel to various places around the world. When she is home, she stays busy as an elder at the Harvest Community Church in Fargo which is a church plant from the Morris Community Church.

Anne (Robinson) Kuffel: Anne is married to a wonderful guy named Bryan and teaches first grade in the Hopkins school district. They have two kids, Katherine and David, and live in Chanhassen.

Mary (Ness) Everhardt: Mary and her husband Mark live in north Minneapolis and have 2 kids: Kenton and Blake. Mary works for a company called DecoPac making display cakes. So the next time you're at the bakery counter and see those fake cake display things, you can remember Mary since her company is one of the two major companies in the US that makes them!

Mark and Christy (Larson) Daigle: Mark and Christy have three kids, Micah, Naomi, and Oliver and live in Minnetonka. Mark recently started his own business. Information on the product he is launching can be found at www.where-pro.com.

Ross and Jennifer (Olson) Hawley: Ross and Jenn live in Bloomington and have been blessed with 3 kids; Benjamin, Emily, and Corinne. Jenn stays busy at home with the kids and Ross works as a product manager at the Toro Company.

Kevin and Sarah (Olson) Wergeland: First off, I have to say thanks to Sarah for all the great photos she emailed me previous to the reunion. Such fun to look at! Sarah and Kevin are currently in LaCrosse, WI and have one child, Samuel, who will be one just over a week from now on the 21st. Kevin is currently the chief resident and will be an internal medicine doctor at Luther Middlefert in Eau Claire in August of 2009. Sarah is home with Samuel and active in MOPS and Side by Side (a ministry for Christian medical and dental wives).

Melissa Turner: Mel lives in the Excelsior/Chanhassen area. She keeps busy these days with substitute teaching, working part-time at Target and volunteering with church and college ministry.

Sandra Hohnstadt: Sandra is currently living in Fairmont, MN and teaching math in Truman, MN (a small town just north of Fairmont).

Ryan and Deborah Scott: Ryan and Deborah have two children. Conner is 3 and Caiden is about 6 months. The big news in their life is that they are in the process of moving from St. Paul to Eagan. You can read the saga of their life on their blog at www.snazelfrat.wordpress.com.

Carissa (Anderson) Meehan: Carissa and her husband Tim currently live in Eden Prairie with thier three kids, Isaac, Naomi, and Ada.

John Kess: John is currently living in Bloomington and working at a company called Eaton Hydraulics. He volunteers at a church camp in Paynesville, MN called Ultimate Challenge camp. And, just so he doesn't get bored, he is also in grad school for engineering.

So, there you have it. All the updates I was able to collect at the reunion. I'm hearing rumors of babies and blessings out there so will be tracking them down to update this page going forward.

Hope the Thanksgiving holiday was full of many things to give thanks for!

Technology Issues

Hey Everyone

Just thought I would let you know I haven't forgotten about you. My apartment complex has some construction going on just accross the street and the last week has produced several electrical outages and other problems with buried cables. While we haven't been told officially, we're all pretty sure some brilliant person cut some lines while digging. Thus, I'm limited to reliable internet at work until they can get it repaired.

I'll be back with updates from the reunion then!

Sara

WATN: Annie, Jaclyn and Jessie

Here's another group to update from the reunion!

Annie (Olson) Howard: Annie is married to a guy named Matt and they live in Stacy, MN. Annie is teaching 3rd grade at Lakes International Spanish Immersion school. They are expecting their first child in April.

Jaclyn Reinarz: Perhaps better remembered as Jacci or, for those who worked at Bible camp with her, Chuck. Jaclyn is living and working in Park River, ND. She is teaching Kindergarten and loves her school and students. Because Park River is about 1/2 the size of Morris, there isn't much to do in the long ND winter months and so wrote and will soon be publishing a children's book. More information will posted here when the official release date is announced.

Jessica (Zepeda) Argetsinger: Jessie is teaching 4th grade in Stillwater, MN. She, her husband Paul, and their one year old son (pictured above) live in Mahtomedi. Paul will be serving our country in the Middle East and prayers for his safety and their family are greatly appreciated.


IN OTHER NEWS: I'm getting ready to email out the spreadsheet with as much contact information as I have been able to gather thus far. If you have not received the mass emails directly from me and would like to be included on the list, please send me a message and I'll add you to the list!

WATN: Carrie (Casper) Potter

Here's an update from Carrie!Carrie and her husband welcomed their second child just over a week ago. Isla Jane was born on 10/15/08 at 12:06 pm. Other big changes in Carrie's life since her Morris days were meeting and marrying Jonathan (they have been married for 3 years now) and moving to his hometown of Buffalo Center, IA. Isla will be lucky enough to have a big brother watching out her as they also have Jackson Tate who is currently 20 months old. He is enjoying being a big brother, giving his new baby sister lots of kisses and helping out whenever he can.

After maternity leave, Carrie will be returning to her job as a registered nurse in Mason City, IA. Her husband teaches high school social studies and coaches cross country and track for Buffalo Center: the same town he grew up and went to school in which also means his family is close by.

Her highlights are easily meeting her husband and starting a family.

England Adoption Update

Hey Everyone

Sorry to have disappeared for bit. I was coordinating a youth retreat that happened this last weekend and am realizing that it's starting to take a little longer to bounce back than it used to. I have no idea how I ever did the IVCF retreats where I was lucky to get about 8 hours of sleep for the weekend and then go to class on Monday.

Anyway, that's not why I'm back to the updating today. Kristi (Jensen) and her husband Rich have been going through the adoption process to adopt from Russia. About a month ago they got a name and a picture. If you look back through previous posts, you'll find one announcing the news. Unfortunately, there's been a new development. Here's what Rich posted on his facebook site last night:

"Attachment is a funny concept. I’m not talking about the things that hook to your vacuum. I’m talking about the bond that you develop with another person. I say it’s a funny concept because you could know someone for years and not ever become attached to them, or you can simply see a face in picture, and develop an intense attachment almost immediately. That’s what happened to me when I saw a picture of a little Russian boy named Sergei. I was hooked immediately, and I had quickly made up my mind that I wanted to adopt him.

I’ve heard many stories of how a father feels when he first sees his newborn baby. I don’t know what that feels like exactly, but I know that what I felt the day I saw Sergei’s picture was like nothing I had ever felt before. He instantly became a part of my heart; a part of who I am.

That’s what made today so sad.

Kristi and I found out today that Sergei was adopted by a Russian family. We knew it was always a possibility that something could stop the adoption at any moment. Especially in Russia, where there is a strong push to keep Russian children in Russia. But we were so sure that God had chosen Sergei to be a part of our family that we just didn’t want to think about anything but him being home with us.

To say that we are saddened would be an understatement. The truth is we feel a profound sense of loss. We formed an attachment to him that will never be broken. A part of our heart will always be with him. We also find ourselves with a sense of fear. We fear for Sergei. What if his family won’t love him enough? What if they are abusive? What if they adopted simply to get a government check? What if they are not Christians?

We don’t know why this had to happen this way, but we do know that God is still God. We also know that he loves Sergei more then we ever could, and that God has chosen our family for us. There could be lots of reasons why God put Sergei in our lives. Who knows, maybe God just needed someone to be praying for him for a while. God doesn’t make mistakes, and he never does anything by accident. That’s why after losing all that he owned and hearing that his children had all died, Job said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21b NASB)

But as Kristi and I have found out in a very real way today, even when you know that God is working things out for the good (Romans 8:28), it can still hurt, a lot. We would appreciate your prayers during this time. Pray that we would have peace about Sergei’s new family. Pray for his safety, and that he would know Christ at a young age. Pray for us as we are still in the adoption process and faced with new decisions almost daily. Pray that we would be able to grow close to God, and fully give our burdens to him, especially the burden of having a family. "

I'm also going to add a request that you remember Jay and Lindsey Sykes in your prayers as they are working through the adoption process to adopt from Africa. And indeed, when you think about it, everyone's life is touched by adoption in some way. Maybe you or a sibling is adopted. Or maybe a friend is adopting, has adopted, or was adopted. I encourage you all to also take a moment to thank God for the blessings adoption has brought into your lives.

WATN: Nathan and Andrea Rooney

Nathan and Andrea weren't able to make it the reunion but I recently received the following update from them...

Nathan and Andrea on a recent trip to CA.

Nathan and Andrea moved to Fargo, ND in 2001 to plant a church (along with other UMMers) where Nathan served as pastor for 7 years. The Rooneys live in Moorhead, MN. Andrea is currently staying home with their 2 children, Moriah (6) and Noah (4). Moriah is in first grade and Noah is preschool age. Nathan is in the final stage of getting licensed as a financial advisor and will start this fall with a firm in Fargo.

Noah and Moriah helping in the kitchen.