What's going on round here

It has been way to long since I last updated our blog, so join me as I recap some of our Shinar shenanigans: • We are preparing to get on a plane to Africa! May 21 is the day! The tickets are purchased and everything. There is sooooooo much to be done, it kind of makes my head spin.


• We sold almost everything we own! You might remember the “Contentment Tree,” well now we have a “Contentment Dresser” otherwise known as paper bags. We had a yard sale a few weeks ago so now our underwear and socks reside in Safeway bags, we eat all meals on the couch, have nothing on the walls, and find ourselves constantly looking for things and saying, “oh yeah we sold that.” But lest you think we are altogether holy and pious in our humble abode, we still haven’t sold our Ijoy chair. I fear someone will have to rip it from my hands the day we leave. I love that chair, so therefor it will be sold at the very last moment (unless we can find a way to get it on the plane)


• I am becoming a hippie. You have been warned. Please do not gawk when you see me. I have stopped dying my hair and my wardrobe is looking more pitiful every day. I have a lot of gray hair which is weird because I am hardly 21 (snicker)! Usually I cover the gray with whatever box dye is on sale, but a few months ago I started down the au natural path. I decided I didn’t want to scare the Africans when in a few short months I go from looking like Angelina Jolie to Kathy Bates. I doubt they have Loreal Haircolor in “Stary Night” or the concept of denying your age by covering up unsightly gray hairs so I worry that they might think I am sickly, diseased or cursed when I “age” rapidly. And my wardrobe. Sigh. It is depressing. After almost a year of being pregnant and wearing maternity clothes, another year of trying lose the baby weight and wearing whatever kind of fit, and the fact that in a few months I will be dressing like an Amish hiker- it is safe to say that I am a good candidate for “What not to Wear.” I also rarely wear makeup or dry my hair. Hippie.


  • We are trying to pack in as much family and friend time as possible. Charlie and I (Josh still has to work) went to Georgia to spend time with family and friends. It was so hard to say goodbye. In May, we will be going to San Diego with Josh’s parents to visit his brother and family. We also are trying to spend time with friends. If you want to hang out- let us know! I hate goodbyes and I am not looking forward to this part of the journey.


• We are still trying to raise our support. We have raised about $70,000 (thank you Jesus!) and still need about $30,000 more. If you planned on supporting us, but haven’t got around to it yet- NOW IS THE TIME! You can do that here. Just a gentle reminder :)


• I am learning about tropical diseases. Did you know water filtration is the best method to stop the spread of guinea worm?


• Speaking of diseases, we are going to every doctor we can. I think every part of my body has been poked, prodded, and examined. I even got my wisdom teeth taken out today. On the plus side, I got to read a lot of magazines in the waiting rooms.

• Up net on the to-do-list- pack everything we will need for 2 years, get malaria meds, rent our house, sell our cars, and the list goes on…..

The Great Shinar Yard Sale of 2012

Everyone is talking about it. Some have even called it “the sale of the lifetime.” I call it “my worst nightmare.” I am talking about “The Great Shinar Yard Sale of 2012.”




Moving to Central African Republic means that Josh, Charlie and I will each take 2 Rubbermaid bins of supplies. Everything else must go! And I mean everything!
In preparing for the sale, I have learned a few things:

1. It is amazing how much junk a family can accumulate
2. It is not fun packing/pricing/moving said junk when you feel sick
3. Cleaning out every nook and cranny in our house was refreshing
4. I was surprised at what items mad me sad to get rid of like the little mirror Charlie an d I look at every day when we walk up the stairs
5. I was also surprised that some things, like my seminary books, were not as difficult to get rid of as I thought they would be
6. We really do have a lot of junk
7. We really are moving across the world
*Our sale is this Friday-Sunday. Come by, buy our junk… I mean treasures and help send us to Africa!

Should we give an ambulance?

There once was an African village on top of a hill. Every year during the rainy season, the trail to the bottom of the hill would get very slippery and inevitably several people would slide off the hill and get hurt. The nearest clinic was very far away and many people died because they could not get care in time. An American church came to this village to help the poor people with their problem. They decided to go back to their church in America and raise money for an ambulance that way the people could get to the clinic sooner. The church was excited to help the needy people and soon the village had a shiny new ambulance. The church people showed them how to use it and then they left. Like always, people fell down the hill in the rainy season, but were whisked away in the ambulance. They were able to get to the clinic in time and were healed! The African people were happy and the American people patted themselves on the back. After a while the ambulance started to break down. The African people asked the church for more money and more people to come out and fix it. The church was hesitant, but they complied. Every year the African people needed more time and more money to fix the ambulance. Eventually the church said they could no longer help because they needed all of their money to go toward their new building fund. The ambulance sat unused and broken down. Once again the people were falling down the hill. Another foreign church came and saw the problem. They decided the solution was to move the clinic closer and provide antibiotics that the Africans did not have. The village people fell down the hill, but were able to get to the clinic sooner and were healed. Eventually the clinic ran out of supplies. The Africans asked the foreign church to help replenish the medicines. The church was unable because it was involved in another short term mission project. Once again the villagers were at risk for dying from falling down the hill. Another missionary came along and saw the problem. The people asked him to help. He asked them if they had any ideas how they could solve the problem. One man timidly spoke up, "what if we build a railing on the trail? I was going to suggest it before, but the ambulance was so shiny and the clinic so close." Everyone agreed that it would be a good idea to build a railing. They talked about how they could gather supplies- there were plenty of trees for wood. The community joined together to clear the path, build the rails, and put them in place. They were very proud of themselves and grew closer and stronger. The next year when it rained, no one fell down the hill because there was a rail to hold onto. After a few years, the rail started to breakdown, so the people rebuilt it and it was as good as new! Although this story is fictional, there are many real stories like it.



The last missionary is what an example of a CHE (Community Health Evangelist). Josh and I just completed our CHE training last week. It challenged our saviour complex to say the least, but opened our eyes to the fact that sometimes helping does hurt. We have been inspired to help in ways that are sustainable, reproducible, locally funded/supplied, and most importantly "owned" by the people. This type of helping is transforming and redeeming!

This article is a fascinating read about how foreign aid is hurting Africa. Here is an exerpt:
Giving alms to Africa remains one of the biggest ideas of our time -- millions march for it, governments are judged by it, celebrities proselytize the need for it. Calls for more aid to Africa are growing louder, with advocates pushing for doubling the roughly $50 billion of international assistance that already goes to Africa each year.

Yet evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that aid to Africa has made the poor poorer, and the growth slower. The insidious aid culture has left African countries more debt-laden, more inflation-prone, more vulnerable to the vagaries of the currency markets and more unattractive to higher-quality investment. It's increased the risk of civil conflict and unrest (the fact that over 60% of sub-Saharan Africa's population is under the age of 24 with few economic prospects is a cause for worry). Aid is an unmitigated political, economic and humanitarian disaster.

Finally- my New Year's resolution

I am finally going to make a New Year’s Resolution: stop procrastinating! Oh the irony that I waited until January 21 to make this resolution, but it has to be done cause I have SOOOOOOOO much to do and so little time!
Here is a taste of my “I am about to move to Africa to-do-list”:
• Get Charlie’s birth certificate
• Get Charlie’s passport
• Take an online “Perspectives” course (which usually takes 6 months, but cram it into 4 because I procrastinated)
• Pack/get rid of all of our stuff in our house


(note- this is not really our house, but what it feels like at the moment)

• Find somewhere to store the few things we can’t part with
• Figure out what to pack for all of us
• Work on Charlie’s baby book
• Prepare our house to rent out
• Plan Charlotte’s 1st birthday party



• Get plane tickets and visas
• Spend as much time as possible with friends and family
• Get immunizations for Charlotte and us too I guess
• Prepare emotionally and spiritually to leave everything I know and start a new life
• Find a home for our super dog



• Get physicals
• Set up finances and power of attorney for while we are gone
• Raise 40,000 more dollars



• See about taking a tropical medicine course
• And the list goes on and on and on…..

The Contentment Tree

For the last few weeks, I have been thinking a lot about Christmas. I have been nostaligic about Christmases past, excited about Charlotte's first this year, and uncertain about Christmases to come.



I have really been struggling with the materialism of the holiday. I love gifts! In fact, gift giving and receving is one of my "love languages." But, I feel gifts have become a distraction from the real "reason for the season." Just look at the Black Friday madness this last week- people trampling over one another, using waffle makers as weapons, and even using pepper spray to get stuff we don't really need. As Steven Colbert puts it, Christmas has become a "consume-icaine."



Today as I was decorating my Christmas tree,I was thinking about what Christmas will be like next year without a house full of decorations, crowded mall shopping, cyber Monday, gift-a-thons, party overload, and long to-do lists.



Then it happened. The tree fell over- fully decorated.



And we do not have one of these new fancy trees that are pre-lit and easy to assemble. No. Our's is 7 years old and cheap. You have to put every branch in its hole and put every strand of lights up. Decorating our tree takes hours. And just as I finished, I tried to move it a little and it fell. And bent the base that was already bent and repaired from last year's falling of the tree. This year, it was beyond repair. The harder I tried to fix it, the worst it got.



So I threw it in the trash.

And I put our ornaments on the tree we already had in the living room. This year, we are having what I call a "Contentment Tree." And I love it.



This Christmas, I am praying that I can learn to be content with less. For after all, it is the holiday in which we celebrate the King that was born in a barn. Now that trully is being content with less!



"What self denial! What self abasement! What self emptying! He, whom no infinitudes can hold, is contained within infant’s age, and infant’s form. Can it be, that the great ‘I AM THAT I AM’ shrinks into our flesh?" -Henry Law.

This is the reason for the season.

Money and bugs!

(bugs in the operating room- yes they are inside!)

It has been scary long since I have blogged which is kind of ironic because it is that time of year again for scary things…. Like money and bugs.

I was going to write a blog giving an update on our fund raising status and give some more specific details about our budget, but then I was looking through some pictures from our trip to CAR a few years ago and I saw them- the many pictures of the big scary bugs that live in our future hometown- and I wanted to share them with you. So I thought I would combine the two terrifying subjects: money and pictures of bugs (and other critters)!



Before we get to the gory details, first some good news- we have $27,205 in gifts and monthly commitments! We are already at 18.14% funded! And this is without some pretty big verbal commitments added in. God is good!

STM WORKING BUDGET for Josh & Lori Shinar
Language School 4 months, CAR 2 yrs
Prelim

PREFIELD
Processing fee 400
Passport 90
Photos/Document. 75
Visa Costs
Physical 0
Immunizations 500
Supp.ltr/Prayr cards 258
Prep. Allowance 225

Total 1548



METE (Missionary evangelism and training)
Travel 1333
Meals/Housing 400
Program/Material 200
AM Travel 0
AM Room/Board 0
CHE Travel 600
CHE Room/Board 1000
CHE Registration

Total 3533




TRAVEL
Air Fare 3000
Extra bags 600

Total 3600



IN-COUNTRY COSTS 4 mo lang school

Rent ($375/mo) 9000
Utilities ($95/mo) 2280
Cell Phone ($30/mo+$100) 1780
Internet ($60/mo) 1540
Transportation 2500
Hospitality/min ($100/mo)2400
Documentation 2400
Misc 1000
Mission Conf/Retreat 4000
Visit other Mission Site
STM Resupply 800

Total 27700



LANGUAGE STUDY
Language Study 20000
Travel?
Extra Bags

Total 20000




OTHER
Salary $1000/mo 28000
Child Supplement 2800
Cost of Living
Social Security (15.3%) 4710
Return Salary 2200
Return Social Security 340
Insurance-Family 19240
Return Insurance 1450
Newsletter 450
Med.Care (deductible) 1200
Misc. 300

Total 60690

RETURN COSTS
Return Air Fare 3000
Return extra baggage 400
Physical Exam 100
Reentry - Travel 500
Reentry - Other 175

Total 4175


TOTAL 2.25 YEARS 133371
Total per year 59276
Total per month 4763


(snails- gross, but also our dinner!)

We have a working webpage and our support letters are in the mail!

If you have read our blog, than you know we are going to Central African Republic (CAR) for two and a quarter years. Going wasn’t a hard decision. When it comes down to it, Jesus laid out a pretty simple religion for us- love God and love others. For us that means going to CAR. Deciding to go was easy. Paying for it however, is a real challenge.



This is the part I hate the most. I hate asking for money! When I was little and had to sell Girl Scout cookies or wrapping paper, I only sold to my parents and I never won the bike. They refused to buy 250 rolls of paper with penguins on it! I can feel the embarrassment and panic rising just thinking about going door to door to convince someone to buy sunblock! I hate it so much that Josh and I were bound and determined to pay for all of this on our own, but this was pride speaking and not God. We have come to learn that we must humble ourselves and allow God to use others as well to minister to the people of CAR for this is not “Josh and Lori’s mission.” The word “missions” actually comes from a Latin word that means “the act of sending!” We are being sent to Central African Republic by God, but also by you.

2 Corinthians 8 talks about the Macedonian churches that begged Paul for the privilege of sharing in the service to the Lord’s people. They pleaded with Paul to let them give him money for his mission! They gave as much as they were able and some even beyond their ability.

You don’t have to beg us for the privilege of giving us wads of cash, we will gladly let you support us! (In addition to large bundles of cash, we also accept checks, all major credit cards, and live animals).





In all seriousness, we know that times are hard and not many people are looking around for places to throw their extra money. We are trusting that God will provide for us and we are also trusting that He will bless your generosity. I am not talking about a “Health and Wealth” Gospel in which I con you into giving to our ministry and then promise God will bless you with even more money, a big house, or a new sports car. I think God’s blessings are far more unexpected and satisfying.

I love The Message’s version of 2 Cor. 9:8-11:

God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it,

“He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon. His right living, right-giving ways never run out, never wear out.”

This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.

God gives to us extravagantly so that we can give recklessly to others so that all can give praise to God. And in the end, we are all wealthy!

Did you know that most missionaries get more of their support from individuals rater than from churches or organizations? We need to raise 80% of $150,000 before we can begin language school and go to CAR. While any gift is appreciated, having regular steady donations (monthly donations), even in small amounts would help us budget and help us focus on the work God has called us to rather than money.

If you did not get a support letter and want one, let us know! Send your address to lorishinar@gmail.com

Please don’t make us sell smencils door to door