Snow on the Farm

I was looking through some pictures and found some that Dano took around the house on February 13th when we had a "big" snow... big for here, anyway! Enjoy! Remember, you can click on them to make them bigger. Oh, some of the pictures show where the deer had a party running around in our yard!

Virginia's first time in the snow.

Dano & Virginia watching us sled.

The snowman Dano built.

The snowman Olivia built by herself (well Dano stacked the balls she rolled up).

Dano and Wesley worked on this one together.

(Notice how all the snow is almost gone after all the snowman making!)

Whited Update - We're Moving!

Where? When? Why? All of these are questions you may be asking! Well, we have the answers… kind of!

(Wesley is inside of a wing-mounted cargo pod for the Pilatus PC-6 for use in Papua, Indonesia. Dano helped with the preliminary testing of the pod for its FAA approval. The pod was designed by a JAARS missionary. One day, the pod and our family will be serving side by side speeding Bible Translation in Indonesia!)

Where?

We’re moving to Papua, Indonesia to a “city” called Sentani. In case you aren’t sure where that is… I’ve inserted some maps below. The first one shows WHERE in the world it is. The second map has Indonesia in yellow (a nation made up of many islands). Papua is pointed out. It is the left half of the island just north of Australia.

When??

Well that is the tough one. Hopefully this time next year or sooner! There are several factors that will determine our departure. 1) Dano is in Aviation Pre-Field Orientation from March until June. 2) We need to say goodbye to as many as we can… and say goodbye well. We’ll be gone three or four years before our first visit back. 3) We need YOUR help in raising our Outgoing Expenses so we can set up our home in Papua. As of now, this is a long term move.

Why??

That is the easy one. We have felt called to Papua since 2000. God has given us a desire to help the people groups there learn about Him through His Word. Did you know there are still over 600 people groups without any Word of God in their language in this region* of the world? Papua is a land with very few roads. The main form of transportation in this land is aviation. Dano will help keep the planes running in tip top shape so that the translators and other missionaries can reach the people they are working with in a safe and timely manner!

Keep your eyes open… we’ll be sending more information soon!

Thank you for praying for all the details to come together…

For Melinda’s father to be healed from cancer http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/richardmcdonald

God’s timing in all areas

Our outgoing expenses to be raised

For our discipline in getting rid of stuff

For our kids as they will be going through lots of changes over the next year

For us and our family as we face saying goodbye for a long time (of course… they or anyone else can come visit)

For us as we begin learning Indonesian to make our Language School experience easier (pray for miracles here)

We love you… and we are soooooooooooooo excited to share this news with you!! Of course there is sadness as we think about saying goodbye… but there is joy as we see how God is fulfilling a call on our lives that has been there for TEN years! God is faithful!

Love,

Melinda for Dano and the gang

Olivia, Derek, Emma, Wesley, and Virginia

*this region is known as the Indonesia-Pacific Archipelago.

Whited Update - February 28, 2010

(An e-mail I sent out Sunday.)

Greetings in the name of the LORD!

We hope this finds you well!

We just wanted to send a quick update with a few important prayer requests:

Dano starts Aviation Pre-field Orientation tomorrow (Monday... which was today)! Yea! He’ll be learning even more about maintaining the small aircraft in the overseas operations. Please pray for a great experience and time of learning.

Virginia has a bump (about 1.5 cm) on her face next to her eye that she will be having a CT scan on Tuesday, March 9^th to make sure it is “nothing.” Please pray that God will make it disappear on its own ASAP. Otherwise… pray that it is truly NOTHING! (If you don’t know it is there, you’d never notice it.)

My Daddy begins another round of chemo tomorrow (Monday). This time it will be even more intense. He will be in the hospital for 3 or 4 days. You can stay up to date here: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/richardmcdonald Thank you for praying for his healing & restoration of health!

Upcoming celebrations:

Virginia turns ONE on March 11^th!!

Emma turns FIVE on March 29^th!!

Derek turns SEVEN on April 3^rd!!

Thank you for praying with us and celebrating with us!

We’d love to hear from you! We’d love to share your burdens and your joys!

Thank you, once again, for partnering with us and enabling us to serve in mission aviation!!

Love,

Melinda for Dano & gang

Olivia, Derek, Emma, Wesley, & Virginia

PS Keep an eye out for another update coming SOON! =0)

You can give online by going to:

http://www.wycliffe.org/Give/MissionaryMinistries.aspx

You can enter Dano or Melinda Whited (it is all the same), and our account number is: 215422.

You can also call 1-800-Wycliffe and use our same account number to direct the gift into our account.

JAARS Talent Show

This past Friday night, JAARS had a talent show. Both Olivia & Derek wanted to participate.

Derek (age 6) loves to draw and write! As a matter of fact, he gets in trouble all the time for drawing when he is supposed to be doing his school work. I even have to put a limit on his journal time (drawing & writing), or he would spend all day doing that. He has always been a storyteller. He's great at it, too! He can come up with an amazing story out of the blue. Now that he's able to write, many of his oral stories are becoming written stories! And many of his drawings now have a written adventure to support them. He has some pretty funny characters! So for the talent show, he wanted to display some of his work. Below you'll see some of his drawings. Honestly, these aren't his best. What is so great about his drawings is that they show action and emotions... sometimes they are just stick figures, but they are hilarious! I love them!

Olivia (age 8) has always loved to sing. Even when she was a toddler I remember when I would take her into a public bathroom, she would start belting out a song. I guess she loved the acoustics! I was always a little embarrassed! Anyway, her love for singing has never waned. She did her first duet in our church in Ohio when she was three. She's pretty much participated in just about every musical she's been able to at church since then. So of course, she wanted to sing in the talent show.

She picked "There Is a Name I Love to Hear" from a Veggie Tale CD we listen to when we drive. Olivia & Emma both LOVE singing this song. Since we didn't think we could legally play the CD for her accompaniment, she decided she would sing acappella! I can NOT believe she wanted to do this. Without trying to discourage her or scare her, I reminded her that there is a large crowd there. She said, "Well, I've sung in front of the whole church before." So I dropped it and encouraged her. Meanwhile Dano & I were awed by her courage. Below you will see a video of her singing (except the first few words because I was a little slow starting.) The second time she sang the chorus after the second verse, the crowd spontaneously joined in. It was so precious.

I hope you enjoy!

Blessings,

Melinda =0)

This drawing does have a couple of "guys" who are really showing that emotion I was talking about!

This picture of Olivia is just before she went in to sing.

Is It Practical?

I'm looking for some help! Maybe YOU can help me. You see, I've been contemplating this question for some time. Did God ever call anyone in the Bible to do something "practical?" I personally cannot think of any examples, but I know that I am far from a Bible scholar. Perhaps you can think of some BIBLICAL examples when God called someone to do something "practical."

 

From my years of Bible study and teaching, the only stories I can recall are the ones where God called people to do things that were NOT "practical." Isn't that where faith comes to play, anyway? If God asks someone to do something "practical," it doesn't require much faith, huh? If it is "practical," does that person really need God? Of course, everyone NEEDS God… but if it is a project, a calling, a mission that you can handle on your own because it makes sense, then would you call on God? And doesn't God receive Glory when the impractical, the impossible is accomplished?

 

Here are some examples that are NOT "practical" that I can think of off the top of my head. Peter getting out of the boat to walk on water, Noah building the Ark, Abraham taking Isaac to the altar, Jesus praying over 5 loaves & 2 fish to feed thousands then telling the disciples to pick up the leftovers in baskets, Nehemiah rebuilding the walls, Joshua & the Israelites walking around Jericho, Joseph leaving for Egypt in the middle of the night with Mary & Jesus, etc. This list is easy. It can go on and on. But when I try to think of ONE "practical" thing… I'm at a loss.

 

Well, those are my ponderings. I hope you'll let me know if you can think of any BIBLICAL examples of God calling someone to do the "practical." If you CANNOT think of any, please let me know that, too. Thank you!! I REALLY hope to see your entries!

End of Year Gifts and Happy New Year!

In case you need to give an end of year gift... or a place to give gifts in the new year...

(I forgot to post this message here after I e-mailed it out just before Christmas.)

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!! Goodness, can you believe it is already here?

May this season be a time of reflecting on the most important gift ALL of us has been given: JESUS!

I hope this finds you all well! Unfortunately, we’re not. It seems all of us are battling the flu or recovering from it so we’d appreciate the prayers for our family’s health. (Update... we're pretty much all better! Yea!!)

On the ministry side of things, I thought I’d tell you what Dano was up to Friday (the 18th that was)!

He was in charge of a 50 hour inspection on a Cessna 172. What makes this inspection note worthy is that one of the guys that Dano had working with him, Rio, is here from Indonesia.

Rio is here to become a pilot to serve back in his home country of Papua, Indonesia. As you may recall, this is where we have felt called to serve since 2000.

So Dano had the privilege of serving Papua, Indonesia Friday as he helped train Rio in this inspection! Maybe one day, Dano and Rio will be serving side by side THERE in Papua!

In the meantime, we serve here with YOU at our side! It would be IMPOSSIBLE to serve in missions without your FAITHFUL, MONTHLY support!! It would be IMPOSSIBLE to serve without your SPECIAL GIFTS that fill in the gaps! It would be IMPOSSIBLE to serve without your FAITHFUL PRAYERS!! Thank you!!

Maybe you find yourself looking to give an end of the year gift to a worthy cause. We hope you will pray about giving your gift to serve BIBLE TRANSLATION… what could be more worthy than giving the gift of GOD’S WORD to those who don’t have it? Did you know current estimates suggest around 353 million people speaking 2,252 languages may have a need for Bible translation? Will you partner with us monthly or with a special gift to help these people know God in a personal way through HIS WORD? Not only does the WORD OF GOD transform their spiritual lives, but it brings positive changes to their communities including literacy, health education, agricultural development, and many other positive elements! Thank you for praying about your part in changing lives! Your special gifts will also help us “catch up” from the short fall we have experienced in 2009.

You can give online by going to:

http://www.wycliffe.org/Give/MissionaryMinistries.aspx

You can enter Dano or Melinda Whited (it is all the same), and our account number is: 215422.

You can also call 1-800-Wycliffe and use our same account number to direct the gift into our account.

Please let us know how we can serve you. Let us know your prayer needs. We’d love to hear from you!!

Serving HIM in Aviation,

Dano, Melinda, Olivia, Derek, Emma, Wesley, & Virginia

The Whited Family

3529 Thompson Rd.

Lancaster, SC 29720

803-283-3725

Merry Christmas!