Wait, Hope for & Expect the Lord

In this time of waiting on the Lord for where He wants us to settle, we are having our mail (personal & ministry) forwarded to my mother's house since I am there in eastern Mass 2-3 days a week caring for my mother.

Future mail can be sent to us at:   86 E BACON ST. PLAINVILLE MA 02762.

After packing up all we own into storage & traveling for a month, we returned to New England Oct 15. God's amazing provision every step of the way is evidence of His faithfulness affirming that He is with us in this wilderness/transition time. So we are continuing to look to Him to direct where we stay, in the meantime, seeing this as an opportunity to get some more quality time with friends/family that we get to stay with.

Thankful for God's kindness & generosity to us displayed through many of you who have been praying & through those who have opened their homes to us & others who shared generously blessings with us so that we had all we needed to be where God wanted us to be.  The EQUIP course & the fellowship & wisdom gained while gathering with others was like rich treasure!!

There is so much to pray about in terms of direction and advice that we, & especially Jon & Joyce, received as we met with people on the trip & since. 

We are seeking Him for not only housing & the means to live where He directs us, but also for direction & ministry focus for all of us, especially for Jon & Joyce regarding the priority, of the Gospel, as well as, the medical. Having seen the Lord so order our steps, we can trust him with all the `

unknowns in our future as we wait on Him, which is the best place to be!

Stay tuned for a detailed update from Jon!    www.fromjoninafrica.blogspot.com

Thank you for your prayers! We realize that this time of waiting has great purpose & we know that we will rejoice together one day in all that God accomplishes in this time of waiting on Him that we can see, but realizing there is so much our Great God is doing that we cannot see!  

Clinging to Him for all that He has for us, 

Roger & Patty Lueken, Jon & Joyce & Patience

Patty (774) 254-4336 Roger (774) 210-2800 

Jon (774) 203-8308

1.Operation Nehemiah Missions website www.operationsnehemiah.org
To Donate on the website, scroll to the bottom - Choose "option #2 " (we get 96.8% of your donation through PayPal)

2.PayPal onlighthouse@gmail.com with monthly donation option (we get 96.8% of your donation through PayPal)

3.Mail checks to:
 Operation Nehemiah  c/o 86 E BACON ST. PLAINVILLE MA 02762
 (we get 100% of your donations by check) 

Our blog: Glorious Things He Has Done! theluekens.blogspot.com
 Read all of Jon's *South Sudan Adventures:  fromjoninafrica.blogspot.com

God is meeting our needs day by day!! We call it "Manna mode!"

Our God provides for all our needs according to his riches in glory!

On Sun. Sept. 23, as we drove from VA to EQUIP international in NC, I had great hope & joy-filled expectation rise up in my heart as I thought of WHO GOD IS!!! We are crying out to Him & seeking to walk in HIS PLAN & to be WHERE HE WANTS US TO BE and DOING WHAT HE WANTS US TO DO, so we can be confident in His faithful provisions, guidance, & direction for the future. Not only that, but also very excited for all that God has ahead for Jon & Joyce as they cry out to him in this difficult season!

Students begin to gather at EQUIP International

We had set out on our trip on Sat. 9/15 with enough funds to make it to our first stop & a week later, having stayed with dear praying friends along the way, by God's faithful hand we arrived Sun. evening 9/23 at EQUIP International in Marion, NC, just in time for orientation.

Joyce getting her picture taken

We are overwhelmed by the beautiful accommodations they are allowing us to stay in... a little 4 room dorm/house (right next to the chapel, student lounge and dining hall) with a small kitchen that has a refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, toaster & dishes so Roger & I can have food for us & Patience while Jon & Joyce's tuition covers all their meals! (We figured we would have to get a hotel miles away)

Abi (Grandpa) & Patience hanging out in our rooms

Also they offered Jon and Joyce a scholarship discount off their tuition, which God has faithfully provided the balance due as well as the minimal charge for us staying on campus. 

I got to sit in on the morning devotions and filled up with tears 3 times, first, when they opened in prayer, second, when we sang these words to the first song we sang...

What love could remember, no wrongs we have done

Omniscient all-knowing, He counts not their sum

Thrown into a sea, without bottom or shore

Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

What patience would wait, as we constantly roam

What Father so tender, is calling us home

He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor

Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

What riches of kindness, He lavished on us

His blood was the payment, His life was the cost

We stood 'neath a debt, we could never afford

Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

Praise the Lorr-ord, His mercy is mor'-or'-ore

Stronger than darkness, new every morn

Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

Praise the Lorr-ord, His mercy is mor'-or'-ore

Stronger than darkness, new every morn

Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

 Third, after a wonderful presentation about God's hand in cross cultural missions, when they asked those who spoken another language to come forward to sing "God is so good" in their own language as we all sang in English, my heart just burst.. 

Singing in Russian, Spanish, Madi (Jon joined Joyce & I got a video but internet is slow so I can't even watch it)

This is so vital for Jon and Joyce who've had no missionary training like this whatsoever.  The hearts of these veteran missionaries from all over the world are offering to pour into these, who are new on the mission field, all the wisdom, lessons, counsel that they have gained as they have served the Lord.

Just a glimpse of much that God is doing that we can see & we rejoice in all He is doing that we cannot see... thus we are overwhelmed knowing just a fraction of His goodness, wisdom, power, grace, mercy & love!!!

"Needs are my best riches, for I have these supplied by Christ. I think the sense of our needs, when we have a restlessness & a sort of spiritual impatience under them, because we need Him whom our soul loves, is that which makes an open door for Christ; & when we think we are going backward, because we feel deadness, we are actually going forward; for the more sense of need we have, the more life there actually is, and when there is no sense of need, it argues that there is no life."
There is no sweeter fellowship with Christ than to bring our wounds and our sores to him."
- Samuel Rutherford

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS & SUPPORT!!!

Keep clinging,  Roger & Patty Lueken, Jon & Joyce & Patience

Patty (774) 254-4336 Roger (774) 210-2800 Jon (774) 203-8308 

1.To Donate on the website, www.operationsnehemiah.org  scroll to the bottom - Choose "option #2 "

 (we get 96.8% of your donation through PayPal)

2.PayPal onlighthouse@gmail.com with monthly donation option (we get 96.8% of your donation through PayPal)

3.Mail checks to our new address:
 Operation Nehemiah  c/o 23 Tyringham Rd. Lee MA 01238
 (we get 100% of your donations by check) 

Please join us in praying for MORE than we could ask or think Eph. 3:20!!

Asking you, our praying friends & family, to join us as we cry out to the Lord for just about everything.... 

There has been so much going on it's been impossible to keep updating you and way beyond fully explaining.

It's as if everything in our lives is in the Lords hands...

Our future housing, ministry support, upcoming ministry trip, people we love & are concerned about. So much is unknown in our future & God certainly has our attention! We have been waiting on Him earnestly & are seeing His hand at work in our hearts, so we have to believe he is at work in the hearts & lives of those we are earnestly praying for... Therefore, we have HOPE!!

With God's help we will finish packing up all our belongings & putting them all in the storage by the end of the week.

By faith we will be heading out on Sat. 9/15 on a ministry trip for which we need God's provision & guidance even to firm up the itinerary and take the first step. We are heading down to North Carolina so Jon & Joyce can attend a week long Community Health Evangelism course.

We also need His provision & guidance regarding our future housing once we come back from our trip in early to mid October.

We need His provision of so much... but already there is an offer of needed furniture so He must have a plan for a home for us. See our blogpost/update if you haven't read it already for details of how this all came about

https://theluekens.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-cloud-is-moving-so-are-luekens.html?m=1

Our hearts have been so heavy with concern for others as well, that these impossible circumstances have caused us to wait on the Lord and pray more than when the future seemed clear. 

Thank you for joining with us as we look to our great & mighty God for Whom nothing is too difficult & Who holds us in the palm of His hand & there we find rest (most of the time... we have our moments & that's when we fall back on our knees).

Clinging to Him,  Roger & Patty Lueken, Jon & Joyce 

Patty (774) 254-4336 Roger (774) 210-2800 Jon (774) 203-8308

1.Operation Nehemiah Missions website www.operationsnehemiah.org To Donate on the website, scroll to the bottom - Choose "option #2 " (we get 96.8% of your donation through PayPal)

2.PayPal onlighthouse@gmail.com with monthly donation option (we get 96.8% of your donation through PayPal)

3.Mail checks to our new address:
 Operation Nehemiah  c/o 23 Tyringham Rd. Lee MA 01238
 (we get 100% of your donations by check) 

Operation Nehemiah updates Facebook page www.facebook.com/groups/792420867442485/

Our blog: Glorious Things He Has Done! theluekens.blogspot.com
 Read all of Jon's *South Sudan Adventures:  fromjoninafrica.blogspot.com

The cloud is moving, so are the Lueken's

Patience wants you to know that the cloud is moving, so WE ARE MOVING AGAIN in 3 weeks. Let the packing begin! 

We recently found out that it would be helpful to our friends who need to sell their house if we would move out by Sept. 15th exactly the same day we moved in one year ago! What a blessing to have this year to get to know this dear couple, now our dear friends, whom many in this area know and consider their home a haven as they have a revolving door and hearts so big to welcome all who would enter. Bob & LuAnn have a ministry in Kenya to the poorest of the poor & it has been such a blessing to have their understanding & wisdom and to pray together. We are moving out just as we leave on a several week ministry trip so that they can paint and continue to ready the house to sell. Roger helped by painting their garage and barn this summer & Jon & he lay down new shingles on two large sections of the barn roof.
   
"The Lord orders our stops as well as our steps." George Mueller  

Thank you for your prayers for God to order the days ahead as we pack up our belongings, put them in our storage unit, & head out on or around Sept.15 for a 2-3 week or more ministry trip south so that Jon & Joyce can attend a Community Health Evangelism course at EQUIP International in Marion, NC 9/23-28. Roger & I will be going along to care for Patience so that Joyce can attend. 

Before & after the course we will be visiting friends & family in PA, VA, NC, SC, TN, so they can meet Joyce & Patience & learn how God is equipping Jon & Joyce, & all of us.  There is also opening up an opportunity to meet with those at Heart Cry Missionary Society in VA & we look forward to that connection. We were told by a pastor we met in March that this ministry, founded by Paul Washer, has pastors trained and ready to go overseas to disciple the  leaders of a ministry so that they are equipped to disciple others. This would be a great source of support and training for Jonathan in sharing the Gospel & discipleship training. God knows His reasons for the connection.

We trust that when we return from this trip that we will know where the cloud has settled us.

I was telling Joyce about a time when the boys were little that we were encouraged by the scriptures in Exodus when Israel moved when the cloud moved and settled when the cloud stopped. Then someone I never met but had prayed fro years ago sent me this message, Wow!!!

"Exodus 13:21 "By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night."

1 Corinthians 10 reveals our unshakable foundation in Christ where it tells what happened in Exodus 13. "All of them ate the same spiritual food and drank from the spiritual Rock that traveled with them, and that rock was CHRIST!"
Please read 1 Corinthians 10 today in different translations to understand what God is doing in your life. As I send this I'm praying for you."

​

PLEASE PRAY for God's provision for this course, this trip & for God's provision of housing & the finances needed, as well as, furnishings (we have not needed beds & kitchen furniture anyplace we've lived since 2006, &  we have not needed living room furniture since early 2016) 
PRAYing also that his provision would include an answer to prayers long prayed that Jon & Joyce would get a small place to live alone as a family for the first time.

PRAY for Joyce, she is not use to or fond of traveling hours in the car, and Patience is not found of the car seat except when she's sleeping. In addition, Joyce is not accustom to moving quite so often and it causes some insecurity. They have moved several times since their marriage in 2016.

PRAY that the Lord provides for us in such a way that she and others see how very faithful He IS as He has been so many times in our past. 

"If the Cloud stayed above the Tabernacle two days, a month, or a year, that is how long the people of Israel stayed; but as soon as it moved, they moved. So it was that they camped or traveled at the command of the Lord..."   Numbers 9:22-23

​

 "FAITH IN A FAITHFUL GOD WILL STRETCH US TO THE LIMITS 

OF OUR PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, SOCIAL, INTELLECTUAL, 
& SPIRITUAL BEINGS, 

BUT THE STRETCHING WILL SERVE ONLY TO EXPAND OUR CAPACITY 

TO KNOW GOD, & IN THE KNOWING TO DISCOVER 

THE VAST POTENTIAL OF A LIFE LIVED BY FAITH."

Expanding our capacity to know God as we cling to Him,

  Roger & Patty Lueken, Jon & Joyce & Patience

Patty (774) 254-4336 Roger (774) 210-2800 Jon (774) 203-8308 

1.Operation Nehemiah Missions website www.operationsnehemiah.org To Donate on the website, scroll to the bottom - Choose "option #2 " (we get 96.8% of your donation through PayPal)

2.PayPal onlighthouse@gmail.com with monthly donation option (we get 96.8% of your donation through PayPal)

3.Mail checks to:
 Operation Nehemiah  c/o 23 Tyringham Rd. Lee MA 01238
 (we get 100% of your donations by check) 

HEALTH UPDATE & ANSWERED PRAYER

Not only Joyce, but both Roger + I, Emma + Josh  have had our health struggles...  

Spring 2017, Rog & I wondered if we had Lyme + we were led to a doctor who offered  to do a extensive testing to eliminate other possibilities + treat us for Lyme if all came back negative. We found that I had a virus (as do alot of Baby Boomers) which is called “the silent killer” b/c it usually has no symptoms, but fortunately for me, I was among the 1/3 who have symptoms of difficulty concentrating, disorganized thinking, memory loss & brain fog, as I had an extremely high load of the Hepatitis C virus! I was treated last summer + I am beginning to be able to hold onto immediate thoughts, but I still struggle with ADD like symptoms, some memory loss & things I use to love to do, that overwhelm me. But God has used this to slow me down + I constantly pray for His help!

Roger, was discovered to have very low B12 (the normal range 200-900) but in other countries if you are below 500 they bring your levels up because you can have DEMENTIA-LIKE SYMPTOMS,  which explains a lot.  Low B12 effects sleep, mood + can cause “IRRESVERSIBLE” NEUROLOGICAL DAMAGE. It takes several months of taking B12 supplements (1 mg of methylcobalamin-B12 losenges under the tongue) before seeing any improvement. By July, Roger was like a new person with more energy than I’ve ever known him to have + improved visual acuity (where mine has really deteriorated) … But it appears he has neurological damage resulting from low B12. When he sleeps his legs move or jump every 30 to 40 seconds ~Periodic Limb Movement Disorder, His sleep is constantly interrupted. so he still needs 10 hours sleep + a nap.  This new doctor has directed us to see a neurologist, though we have found that Magnesium (a relaxant) helps minimize his nighttime leg movements (and eliminates my Restless Legs Syndrome).

While Roger was in the later 300’s for B12, Emma was lower than him and Joyce was 252!! And their PCP’s said nothing!!!  After all they were in the “normal range”, but at the BOTTOM! Our infectious disease doctor says for optimal health we should be 800 – 1200.

NEXT TIME YOU SEE YOUR DR. ASK FOR
A HEP C SCREENING +

TO KNOW YOUR B12 LEVEL

Because we saw such a great improvement in Roger’s energy level, when Joyce’s B12 was at the bottom of normal, she started on B12 sublingual supplements as well as iron + her health + stamina have improved greatly. She is no longer sick all the time + she sings + jokes with us + is much more energetic + fun!!   She says, she has never felt more lighthearted and carefree!!  Praise God!

Josh is also facing some health issues, as he started having some minor seizures (sensory overload) that seem to occur in clusters but weeks apart. These seizures closely resemble Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, but tests have been inconclusive.  So he had to leave his job that required a lot of travel + he got a job right in Scituate, that he likes doing, not far from where his girlfriend, Mary, works, with hopes to start school in graphic design in the fall.

With all the busyness + concern for Joyce + Patience (who is healthy as can be + so much fun,) Jon put off connecting with a doctor till now + will see his new PCP soon. Meanwhile, he has been studying all he can get his hands on to lay a foundation in health, anatomy, vaccinations, nutrition, prevention + math (to get his GED soon). The Lord is guiding him step by step. Unusual training possibilities have opened up. This SOLO Wilderness/Survival EMT course is right down Jon’s ally + more transferable to Africa that has little infrastructure. This course is also a prerequisite for another intensive advanced EMT course in Tropical Medicine in August which will include hands on training in intravenous that Jon needs.

Emma has been taking iron since being severely anemic over a year ago & is now also taking B12 as she is lower than Roger. She is working part time in eastern MA + is getting a 2nd job at a bakery. She loves baking, + was our baker both times we ran a B&B. She is living in our old apartment in the other half of my mother’s house, which is a God send to our family as my mom needs someone there with her most of the time + Em does overnights.  I have traveled out to stay with my mother 2 days a week since August sharing daytime coverage with my siblings.  Interestingly enough my Hep C brain issues have given me a lot of compassion + understanding of the frustration + scariness of having declining memory, as well as, Roger’s life-long inability to juggle. We really need each other more, b/c together we have a whole brain… what I forget, he remembers. God surely uses all things together for good!!!

Thanks for taking the time to read all this + join us in the praise of our God, Who has been overwhelming faithful in  so many, many ways. By your prayers, you have been vital co-workers with us, so we can rejoice together in all He has done that we can see + even more for all that we cannot see that He is doing in answer to our prayers!!  We do walk by FAITH IN A GREAT & MIGHTY GOD, so we no longer seek a particular outcome, but seek to see His hand + His kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. WE PRAY DAILY TOGETHER FOR THOSE IN SOUTH SUDAN + OTHERS… HOW CAN WE PRAY FOR YOU???

We now live ¼ of a mile from LEE EXIT 2 in western Mass. Easy on & off of the Mass Pike, 12 miles from the NY border. So if you’re ever passing thru COME VISIT! We also have 2 guest rooms for friends to stay!  Our address: 23 Tyringham Rd. Lee, MA 01238 (GPS: Big Y 10 Pleasant St. Lee, MA – we are across the street).

Clinging to our faithful God is life changing! 

                                                  

Keep clinging! Us, Lueken’s

1.Operation Nehemiah Missions website www.operationsnehemiah.org
To Donate on the website, scroll to the bottom - Choose "option #2 " with monthly donation option  (we get 96.8% of your donation)

2.PayPal onlighthouse@gmail.com with monthly donation option (we get 96.8% of donations)

3.Mail checks to Operation Nehemiah c/o 23 Tyringham Rd. Lee, MA 01238          (we get 100% of your donation)

Recent blog updates & pictures at www.fromjoninafrica.blogspot.com

William’s updates of  latest news of developments in South Sudan www.operationsnehemiah.org

Amazed at what God has done that we can see in 2017!! Praise Him for all He is doing that we cannot see in 2018!!

What an eventful, prayer-filled year!!  So eventful that we couldn’t take the time to keep you informed. Our  updates were spotty at best. I can honestly say that April to November felt like the busiest 8 months of my life! A year of crying out to God for so much +seeing His hand, even in little things, that gave us the faith to believe for greater things than we could ask or imagine…

^“Now to HIM WHO IS ABLE to carry out HIS PURPOSES

superabundantly MORE than all that we dare ask or think

[infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams],

according to His power that is at work within us,

to Him be the glory in the church in Christ Jesus

throughout all generations forever +ever. Eph. 3:20-21

Looking back on 2017 with tremendous gratitude !!!

A quieter winter & spring of B&B guests about one week a month which freed  me (Patty) up to spend hours on the phone with Jon, constantly praying as we tried to maneuver the visa process. Joyce didn’t get the copy of her 3rd corrected passport until March 23^rd,  leaving us 2 ½ months before Joyce would be at the end of her 8th month + unable to fly. For the next 2 months, we spent more than 2200 minutes each month on the phone, talking, working on paperwork & praying for God to direct the next step.

^“A man’s mind plans his way,

but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure.”

Proverbs 16:9

 First, Jon’s Petition to request approval for Joyce to even apply for a visa usually takes 5 months + each of the 3 embassies we contacted told us to go to the other + we did not know what to do. Then out of the blue on May 9^th, we got an email from an embassy worker who asked us to send our request to have the Petition expedited and she saw to it that our request made it to Nairobi, Kenya the next day!! It was expedited & approved in one week on May 17^th!

I cried! but it left me with a SURE HOPE that God was with us!

Less than 3 weeks remained... After filling out Joyce’s visa application, we spent days securing proof of everything, even a financial sponsor. Then on Tues May 23 we secured the ONLY VISA APPTMNT AVAILABLE, so Jon & Joyce packed THAT night + left Wed. morning to drive 10 hours to the airport to fly to Nairobi Kenya at 2 am Thurs. for a 7am, 2 day health assessment. They stayed in Nairobi (GOD PROVIDED FREE HOUSING!) until the day after her Tues. May 30 appoitment. + her VISA WAS APPROVED!

Wed. May 31, they flew back to Uganda via GOD’S MIRACULOUS PROVISION as they had run out of funds (a missionary friend from another country felt led to wire them money). Then they traveled 10 hours back up north to the So Sudan border on Thurs night.; packed & said goodbye to family & friends Fri & Sat + traveled back 10 hours south back to the airport on Sunday.  They flew to the US on Monday, the first day of her 37^th week.  AND even with her visa in hand they almost did not let her board the plane!!!!!!!!!!!

An entire year process was accomplished in one month! Every step of the way we witnessed God’s miraculous intervention overcoming obstacle after obstacle.

So amazing, but it kept us on our knees! 

They arrived in Boston June 6^th!

The high that day was 48 degrees!!

Longed for family reunion! 

Josh, Em, Mary, Rog, Patty, Joyce, Jon 

God connected us with a wonderful midwife & after countless doctors appointments & lots of testing through the month of June...  

PATIENCE ROZANA arrived on July 8th weighing 6 lbs. 13 oz & 19 3/4 in.

Then we found out the cloud was moving!! Just as the children of Israel, God was moving us on + we had no idea where. We were confident that HE HAD A PLAN, so after a busy summer at Maplewood, we moved in with friends who had planned to use their newly renovated space for AirB+B in order to have income for their ministry & travels to Kenya Africa. So our rent helps them as they have a ministry to children & families there.

Packing to move was difficult b/c we now had this cute little distraction + her first few months were colicky, so it was wonderful that Auntie Em was there to share the “burden” of jiggling the little munchin” she affectionately named Pookie, before Emma moved out to eastern MA in early October.

Auntie Em and Pookie 

Four weeks after moving, we had a planned ministry trip to the Midwest to introduce Joyce to family + supportive friends/churches.  I was so overwhelmed at the thought of a trip after moving (w/my compromised brain issues – see Health Update post) that I cried out to the Lord over & over one night, + woke with the thought, STOP UNPACKING. So I had Roger take all the boxes back to storage + they are still there! When we finally returned to our new home in early Nov, we just needed to have a season of rest since moving + traveling, especially for Jon + Joyce! Since they got married their life had been so intensely difficult in so many ways. When I think back, I almost can't believe it myself all that they went through. How soon we forget all the amazing things that God did to protect them + part the Red Sea to get them here! We are just like the children of Israel, we forget + yet, our wondrous Father + precious Saviour never give up on us.

Over the holidays it was so nice to just stay home; be a family in our new place; reflect on God's goodness + focus more fully on what the season is about.  Having Joyce here makes everything special (like homeschooling again)  We explain more about the Scriptures; the message of the carols; view more things that have to do with Christ's birth + the Gospel !!!

Our lives are never in a vacuum, as you well know, concerns for family & friends, circumstances + emotions swirl around + force us to trust that God is with them + us.  You have been a huge part of this adventure as you have prayed. So we rejoice together! His faithfulness through it all is wonderfully overwhelming! I can't thank Him enough!! So much is out of our control in this life, but God is so faithful to hear our cries + answer according to His great wisdom + power for our good + His glory!                                                                                           

  In 2018, we hope to visit many churches & friends, old & new.
We will go wherever invited, if at all possible, as the Lord provides. Just call us 774-254-4336 or email plueken55@gmail.com or jonlueken@gmail.com   

New address:

c/o Herring 23 TYRINGHAM RD, LEE MA

01238

Abi (grandpa) + Patience at 6 mos