Conclusion
As the Learning Journey comes to its completion we thought it wise to reflect on our growth and lessons learned. This is simply a time of reflection upon SOME of what we have learned in the past 12 months of our Journey together with you.

We have learned... (And are continuing to learn)
--How important we are to each other, in South Africa we were together 24 hours a day, in Kazakhstan we're together about 19 hours a day (average) and we anticipate that to be between 11-13 hrs/day in the U.S. We face this reality with both disappointment and enthusiasm for the new chapter in our lives and the challenges it presents.

--How we are gifted, while Paul still enjoys hanging out with youth and being the loud extrovert needed at youth functions, he much more appreciates being in community with families, drinking chai (tea), talking about life and God, etc. Becky has begun to realize that her gift for details goes much farther than being behind the scenes and that directing and organizing functions, programs and events is right up her alley_that foreground work is just as rewarding as being someone else's invisible right hand person. We believe that we have seen our opposites emerge this past year_Paul the extrovert is enjoying more quiet intimate moments and Becky the introvert is finding it more comfortable in the role of the ringmaster!

--That evangelism on the frontier field (Kazakhstan/Central Asia) as well as in highly developed areas (States, South Africa) happens through caring for people, living life together_winning souls to the Kingdom through relationships is so rewarding.

--That we can minister to people by helping them with their computer problems.

--That short term missionaries, those with return flights home, are incapable of making the impact that someone can who stays for a year or more. After about 6 months in a country you finally get the hang of things_language, relationships, culture, transportation_.life in general. Then you can begin to make a difference around you because your instinctual drive to figure it all out is gone replaced by a comfortability and a selflessness that you can't really have in your first 6 months.

--That without native language ministry is so much harder!!! Even in South Africa where the majority of people speak and understand English, they were delighted when we spoke greetings in their native tongue_it makes them so happy. And here in Kazakhstan, where the majority speaks Russian, if you speak Uigher or Kazak it warms people's hearts, from the police to the vegetable vendor on the street corner.

--That there is a major difference between trade language (English and Russian) and heart language (Sotho, Kazak, Uighur, Afrikaans).

--About time management, work ethic, and balanced priorities_ A work day with less than 4 hours of work? Paul struggled with this and understanding the balance between doing what you need to do during the day and then leaving the uncompleted behind for the next day. He had trouble going home at 4 o'clock (when everyone else did) if there was still much to accomplish_until now. He is still learning this lesson and working to break old thought patterns and behaviors to balance work and home life in such a way that it is pleasing to God.

--A weak US Dollar hurts missionaries' budgets badly.

--Strictly kept meal times and sleep patterns help us to avoid Becky's headaches.

--Paul's heart's desire is to be the provider for his family (wife and future kids).

--Missions can and does involve many fields from law to computers to teaching, to college ministry, to leader discipleship. Missions is not just straight evangelism.

--That we desire a community, a people of God to belong to who looks after each other. That this is something that is necessary for us no matter where in the world we are residing.

--That a very high quality of life that can be found overseas... in places so unexpected.

--A deeper understanding of God's love for us allows us to love, forgive, accept and care for others in ways not thought possible before....by not trying to love them by our will power but to allow God's love to flow through us into others.

--That we prefer a non-formal or an in-formal setting/classroom for teaching, more of a tutor or a learning mentor.

--Faces to put with names and real struggles of missionaries (a few of which we have gotten to know on an intimate level).

--How ego-centric our home country and culture is in news, literature, thinking, and speech_especially when we use words like we, everyone, and everywhere.

--That it is more loving to take someone to the location to which they are asking directions rather than just pointing them in the general direction.

--What it means to put people and relationships first over tasks.


We had called this trip The Learning Journey; you saw it in our newsletters, on our website and occasionally in our text. Originally, we had a few goals which God had placed on our hearts:
--We desired to see God's hand at work outside our home country, to see what the People of God looked like outside the States.
--We desired to discover God's call on our live together, to a people group, to a ministry, to a country etc.
--We desired to encourage and support missionaries in the field to help in whatever way we could
God has been faithful in bringing these to fruition:

We have seen God's hand at work and we have seen the beauty of his people, we will never be the same again, we can never return to how we used to be, our eyes have been opened.
We have discovered a call to a people group, though it was not what we expected. We thought this trip would set the stage for foreign missions as a way of life (and it still might), but for now God has called us back to the States, to our family, and to other families who need to be ministered to.

We have learned ways to support missions; we have helped through teaching their children and offering a hand here and there. But more importantly we now carry their names in prayer, we will continue to pray for them and support them financially as God leads.


This is not the end of our Learning Journey, though we will close this chapter, and take down this website. We hope you too have grown and changed from taking this Journey with us. As we close this website we hope that you will seek out other short or long term missionaries to support through prayer and finances. Although we have found such joy in your journeying with us we are sure that you will understand that we need to take time away from the spot light to be in intimate community which cannot happen on line or on the phone....although we remain available by e-mail for questions, comments and continued correspondence.

The question we know we will face the most is: Will we be back? People here in Kazakhstan are praying that we will, that this chapter in the States will be a short one and that we will return to their side here on the field. To answer this question let me tell about a family we met here two weeks ago.

Ten years ago the couple with their first born spent 6 months in Mongolia. They then moved home to the states, began to raise a family had four children altogether. Only after ten years did they realize that now it was time to go serve overseas again. They uprooted their family, brought them here long term (3 or more years). They are here assisting locals through computer ministry.

Will we be State-side for ten years and then "return"? Will others (kids/family) come with us? We cannot know the answers_ not yet_all we know is to remain faithful to the call God has placed on our lives for the next season_and that is to Family, both ours and others.

As we return home and close this site we'll explain the introduction or the forward to the next volume or chapter:

We begin by flying into West Michigan, spending quality time with our immediate families and perhaps seeing others during the month we will be there. Please look us up (you can contact us through either of our parents) we'd love to see you once again in person.

After we have been able to speak at our supporting churches, and have seen our family we will move to Iowa, Davenport/Quad Cities around mid-January. We have found a place to live and hope to find jobs. Long term goals are to get established in a community, since leaving our parent's homes we have not lived at one address longer than a year, we hope to establish community with neighbors and start a family of our own.

How long will this be? We don't know. Will we go back, to minister outside the US someday? We hope so. For now all we need is to be obedient to God's call....that for the next season (be it 2 months or 2 decades) we are called to live in community with our family.

Our thanks goes out to each and everyone one of you for sharing this journey with us. We have appreciated your company. Perhaps God will have us meet again and journey together under different circumstances. Know this we have been blessed by your continued support.

Thank You

Thank You

Thank You

My friends may you grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior,
My friends may you grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ,
To God be the glory, now and forever now and forever Amen
To God be the glory, now and forever now and forever Amen


- posted at 11:08 AM (E.S.T) by Namtrok

 
Pick-Pocketed and Packing
Dear friends, we have lots to tell you and soon we will be with you in person to tell many stories.

God has protected us in so many ways and we want to share one way this week where we experienced his protection. We had a few people who owed us some money which we were looking to collect on Tuesday, neither of them paid us. Tuesday evening we boarded a marshutka (mini-van-like-bus) to head to our friends the Blair’s for dinner. The direction we were going at the time of night provided for a loaded bus. This is normal and we didn’t think anything of it. Later in the evening I noticed my wallet was missing. Once we got back home and confirmed that I hadn’t left it there by accident we were sure that we were pick-pocketed. We called and canceled our credit/debit/ATM card. And There was only 22 USD in the wallet because the people who were supposed to pay us back had not…if they had remembered , we would have lost close to 100 USD. They paid us back the next day and it is enough for the rest of the purchases we need to make until we get home. Had this happened earlier in our trip we would not have access to our money in our account. We noticed God’s blessings and protection in the whole situation, limiting it to a minor frustration where it could have been a major loss.

On another note...school finished yesterday (Wednesday). We have said many goodbyes, finished grading and completed our projects. Now it’s simply packing. It has been an emotional time saying good bye to our friends here. Please continue to pray for them, for us as we tie up loose ends and for safety as we travel 25 plus hours home.

See you all soon!
We will be at the GRR Airport this Saturday 6:30 pm Lord Willing

- posted at 10:38 PM (E.S.T) by Namtrok

 
Update
We updated our sites and the email system didn't send, so check out http://learningjourney.paulkortman.com and http://prayer.paulkortman.com To be updated!

More coming soon!

- posted at 3:05 AM (E.S.T) by Namtrok

 
Thanksgiving 2004
Our Thanksgiving celebration was fantastic!!!

We went over to the Horsleys and joined the other 60+ people in a teriffic meal (in one packed little house) and a time of singing. There were two guys on guitar and one on a bongo drum. First we had some time to thank Father for everything he has provided for us and simply for being the Good Father that he is. It was so wonderful. Paul and I haven't really sung like that since before we left home and we had really been missing it.

After the singing time we had dessert and then got back to singing...anything and everything anyone requested...from Elvisto the Beatles...from Sunday School songs to Sweet Home Alabama! It was so much fun! We laughed so much! Some of the kids had put together some skits and they were very funny too. One kid (a studentfrom our school) had memorized a story and retold it to us...it was absolutely hilarious!!!! A couple of dramatically inclined adults read some sketches as well. We also played group games with everyone involved...it was like a huge variety show and no one ever got bored!!!! We arrived for lunch at 1:30pm and left at 9:30pm and the party was still going!

I haven't laughed and smiled so much since my wedding day!!! Both of our faces hurt when we got home! What a good time!! We almost wish we were here to go again next year! Such fun!!!



- posted at 1:16 AM (E.S.T) by Becky

 
Town Hall Meeting & Parent/Teacher Conferences
First, we attended a Town Hall Meeting of all American citizens in Almaty on Monday evening.

Consular officers were there to answer questions and we got to meet and talk with the new American Ambassador to KZ, John Ordway. Questions were mainly about security and the old law that had begun to be enforced inthe past month concerning people having to leave the country to renew their Visas instead of staying here and doing it in country (also that Visas were being granted to wives and kids but not husbands or vice versa). We enjoyed seeing the number of representatives of the secular American citizen population in Almaty and also recognized many firmiliar faces there as well.

Second, we had Parent/Teacher conferences yeaterday. Paul had 5 and Becky had 2. We spent our afternoon off out at the Barahoka and then went to Micah Koning's birthday party. After the party we went with a group up into the mountains to see some of the meteor shower that was last night. Our driver wasn't sure how to get to the observatory (where we were to meet a larger group from the school) and we never really made it there but we did stop and see a few shooting stars. It was REALLY cold and we didn't want to stay out in the wind for long. However, the teacher who organized the trip has been teaching us all about the 2 annual meteor showers (August 12 November 17) and and all the astrological things that happen during a meteor shower.

We might have missed this one but we're already planning for the next one!

- posted at 11:04 PM (E.S.T) by Becky

 
Teacher Retreat
This past weekend we attended a teacher retreat with some of our fellow Tien Shan teachers. We traveled 3 hours (by coach bus-no don't think Ambassador...nothing nice like that!!!) east of Almaty to Senni Gorri in the mountains. It was so beautiful and although it was a busy weekend we were glad to be out of the city for a few days!

We spent some good time praying for each other and our students.

One God story was that on the way to Senni Gori the bus was stopped by teh police (which is common) and they wanted to see all our papers (certified copies of our passports and Visas). One couple had only their copy of their temporary Visa that allowed them to enter the country but they hadn't gotten a new copy of their renewed Visa. The policeman was very unhappy. He was talking fast in Russian. Teri Horsley the Elem. Principal speaks very good Russian and she was translating between the couple and the policeman. We were all quiet and praying. He was talkign about arresting them or giveing them a very substancial fine. He completed looking at everyone else's papers and then went to the front of the bus to talk with the driver that the school had hired. Then he got off the bus. Teri told us that he told them never to let this happen and that he would close his eyes this time! Teri said the only thing that could have made him close his eyes was God...when certainly in any other circumstance he would have seen a opportunity to try and bribe the couple for a large amount of money to let them go. We were so thankful!

Check out some pictures of the weekend on our photo page.

- posted at 10:47 PM (E.S.T) by Becky

 
Snow
Well, we have snow! It snowed last night and started up again this morning. The ground is still too warm for too much to accumulate. There is a white dusting all over everything, but once it stops snowing it will surely melt.

Just yesterday I mentioned to Paul that I thought the air had changed and it had a definite edge to it…fall was over and winter had come.

The changing of the seasons once again turns our hearts toward our Great God and we praise him for his faithfulness.

- posted at 1:02 AM (E.S.T) by Namtrok

 
Email update working?
We have put some posts on our site which have not been email to the people on the Bloglet subscription.... simply go to http://learningjourney.paulkortman.com and http://pictures.paulkortman.com to see the updates!

Thank you for your patience with this system.

- posted at 6:38 AM (E.S.T) by Namtrok