Introducing: Joel James Husband

Amy and I had known for some time that if we had a boy, we’d have to make a very hard choice: his name! For some reason, girl names have always been easier for us… and when our son was born the morning of Monday September 29th, we wanted to know his name right away! We had several great options to consider, but in the end we named him Joel James Husband. ‘Joel’ means ‘Jehovah is God’, and our hope is that our son will make that testimony central to his life and purpose here on earth.

Joel was born at 8:07am local time, which should have come as no surprise to us: both Elayne and Titus were also born within 10 minutes of local 8am, as was Amy! Both mommy and baby were (and still are!) in perfect health, which is a wonderful answer to prayer and a blessing for which we continue to thank God. We spent the night in the hospital together, and late the next afternoon – after muddling through the Spanish-language red tape for leaving! – took Joel home.

With Joel’s arrival, we’ve enjoyed visits from family back in the States! Amy’s parents (Rob and Laurie Greenslade) came down that same week, and we loved having the opportunity to catch up and share our joy with them. This past Thursday I drove back up north to El Paso with Laurie (Rob had to leave somewhat earlier), and brought my mom (Tracey Husband) back down with me. During this time of transition and figuring out a new ‘normal’, both of our families have been such a huge help and encouragement!

I (Jordan) have already resumed full-time language study, and love it even through the additional sleepiness! It was interesting to visit the United States for all of four hours this past week… two months seems too short a time to make a dramatic difference… yet I clearly experienced mild culture shock, expecting life in El Paso to function more as in Chihuahua! The process of ‘becoming’ more relevant in this culture is clearly under way, and I thank God for that small evidence of His work in me.

The time has not quite come for Amy to resume her study of the language and culture, and we are so grateful to have leadership here that loves and cares for us! The greatest pressure to ‘get back up to speed’ has come from ourselves, and it has been our teachers and co-workers who have helped us stay focused first on getting Amy rested and adjusted.

Prayer Requests:

• Thank God with us for a healthy baby boy and a complication-free delivery!
• Please pray for Amy’s continued recovery, and her eventual transition back into language learning. You can specifically lift her up in the areas of getting sleep, not feeling ‘rushed’ back into study, and the natural post-delivery emotional rollercoaster.
• Pray for me as I work on Spanish, yet need to continue prioritizing Amy and the kids first.
• Elayne and Titus love their new brother to death! Though they aren’t acting jealous of Joel, they are finding good behavior a little harder to come by right now. Please pray that they continue to adjust well to having a new baby in the house… and that they continue to feel as much love from Amy and I as ever!
• Finally, Amy and I need our daily time with the Lord despite all the new jobs and responsibilities that Joel creates. Please pray that God helps us set aside that time with Him, keeps us resting in Him no matter what each day looks like, and helps us prioritize time to continue teaching Elayne and Titus about Him!

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Other Missions Updates:

• Three days ago, NTM pilot Jon Leedahl was in a motorcycle accident which resulted in the amputation of his right leg. The original report can be found here, and the most recent update here. Please pray for Jon and his family – there are so many levels on which this is hard for them all!
• Have you seen the classic NTM video ‘Ee-Taow‘? It describes God’s work among the Mouk people of Papua New Guinea through (among others) NTM missionary Mark Zook. Mark has been sick for three months, only recently diagnosed, and went home to the Lord a couple days past. Please pray for his wife Gloria (in poor health herself), and his two sons and their families who are also serving with New Tribes.
• NTM missionary Rachel Chapman is working among the Nahuatl – a church plant here in Mexico, and one possible option for our family to join in a couple years’ time. Read Rachel’s blog post on Bible translation from this summer… it’s a great illustration of how the tiniest mistakes in another language can have dramatic impact on the message! Please pray for Rachel’s church planting team (currently on furlough or ‘home assignment’, and for the clear proclamation of the Gospel to the Nahuatl people!