this past weekend we went on a simple living camping trip and i thought i'd share a few pictures and tell you about it...

first things first, we had to map out where our campsite was based on some coordinates we were given and then hike there using a gps and compass.

once we found our campsite, brett built us an awesome shelter to live in for the weekend. it kept us surprisingly warm in the thirty degree weather. quite cozy for being a tarp.

we had different classes during the weekend to teach us some practical skills we'll need while living in the jungle like: 

working on small engines

 that one in the picture is a generator

building a fire and cooking over it

killing and processing dinner 

yes that is a chicken, yes we ate it that night...yes it was disgusting

we also chopped a lot of fire wood, learned how to suture cuts using pigs feet also disgusting, learned knife care and sharpening, and set up a water pump and filter run on solar energy. 

it was a busy weekend, but a fun one and incredibly beneficial. we learned a lot, even if we froze a little. it's crazy to me all the things you have to learn to think about when living in a remote location. simple stuff like quality knives and clean gasoline for a generator or cleaning off your solar panels with soap and water so they can work to their highest efficiency. things you have to invest in and know how to do so that you can prevent things from breaking and fix them when they do, because you're the closest thing to an expert on the issue within a hundred miles. so, what we're learning is that simple living is not so simple after all. 

    For the past two months we haven't been in the same state for more than a couple weeks at a time. This is the life of support raising. The upside to this is that we've gotten to see pretty much all of the people we love in life in the past eight weeks.

    The past two weeks Brett and I have been down in Florida on a support raising trip. It was a week full of getting to meet new people, catching back up with friends, and sharing the vision God has given us for PNG. It was also our first official support raising trip, so we got a little taste of what full time support raising will be like next May. 

    One thing that I really love about Florida is the relationship Brett and I have with some of the local youth. Brett was a youth intern at a church down in Florida for the past three summers so we've had an opportunity to get to know some amazing teens. Seriously, these kids are so on fire for Christ and are doing amazing things for His kingdom. But anyways, getting to hang out with them was my favorite part of the week.

    Also, before I forget. I got to do this in Florida. It was a big moment for my Midwestern self.  

.....it's harder than it looks in the movies. 

-morgan gordon

Brett and I had an awesome summer in Florida. We got to work with some amazing teenagers, spend time with family, and live in a kickin' RV. Who knew our first home would be mobile. 

But now we've arrived back in Missouri for our last nine months of training and its so good to be back. The transition has been a little crazy since I spent most of the last six months resting and trying to recover from Lyme disease, but I'm learning to balance my time, not commit to too much outside of class and ministry, and go to bed at eight o'clock. (like all good 22 year olds should) Even though I don't feel 110% percent yet physically, I'm so thankful to be back in training. To finally get my nose back to the grindstone, learning the skills and tools to plant a tribal church. It feels good to be working hard again. 

Because I got so sick from Lyme's last semester and had to step out of training in order to recover, I only have to make up what I missed which means I'm currently only in one class called Field Health. Its goal is to teach us the information we'll need in order to deal with health issues and emergencies in a remote setting. I can sum up my thoughts and abilities in this class in two words: eewww blood. Blood is neither mine nor Brett's forte, but we do need to know how to take care of ourselves and our families in the remote settings we will be in, so I've been super thankful for the practical skills and knowledge the class provides. (even if some of the pictures of different skin and fungal infections you can get in Papua New Guinea make me feel like passing out) (I won't even bring up the topic of worms...in your intestines) (this is when an eternal mindset comes into practice.) Anyhow, I am learning a lot and really looking forward to getting into more classes within the next month. 

Like I said, I'm making up what I missed this semester, so Brett isn't actually training right now since I have to catch back up to him. So for the next three months he is going to be doing full time support raising. He's doing this because the faster we can raise the money we need, the faster we can go to Papua New Guinea and the needs over there are urgent. I'm super proud of him though because he's doing it alone by himself all day and that takes some diligence and lots of hard work. 

So, that's a little look into our lives right now. Training and support raising. (and decorating our new little apartment on campus, can't forget that fun and important activity!)

-Morgan Gordon

beautiful feet...often I look at mine and wonder if they fit the description. are they feet that are eager for spreading the good news? are they eager to go where the name of the one true God has never been spoken? are they feet that bring good news of good things to those who have never heard? our prayer is that they will be. our hope and passion is to go...

 

so, this blog that brett and i are starting will be a simple way for you to hear about what is going on in our day to day ministry. it probably wont always be exciting, and it won't always be pretty, but i promise that it will always be real. we will share with you not only what we are experiencing in the classroom (and on the field when we finally get there) but what we are learning in life. we will share our failures as well our successes. and it will be a way for you as our loved ones, friends, supporters, acquaintances, fellow missionaries, etc. to hear about whats going on in our life and ministry on a day to day bases.

if any of you are just happening to stumble across this blog and know nothing about brett and i, let me tell you a little bit about us and what this blogs all about....

this is brett and i. my name is morgan, so we're brett and morgan gordon. yes, it rhymes. we just got married in may. so we are newly, newlyweds, and we are training with new tribes mission, to plant tribal churches among the unreached tribal groups of papua new guinea. 

that little red dot over australia is PNG and it has over 600 different language groups living within it. over 300 of those language groups still have no access to the bible. they have never been to a church. they have never heard the Word of God. never heard the name Jesus. and no one is telling them. they will never hear the gospel unless we as believers go and take it to them. 

so thats what brett and i are training to do. the process starts by moving over to papua new guinea permanently. we will move into an unreached tribal group and spend several years learning there language fluently. we will then teach them the bible starting in genesis and going through to jesus in their native language. once people come to know the Lord, we have a baby church. our next step is discipling that church to maturity and become a self-functioning church who doesn't need us as missionaries anymore to thrive and survive. and finally, we will translate the Word of God into their language. 

and then my friends, this people group who previously in history never had the chance to know the truth, who could only live in darkness and hopeless will have the life that is Jesus Christ, not only for their generation, but to pass onto generations to come.  

right now brett and i still have one more year of training with new tribes mission. we are currently training in camdenton, missouri. in may we'll graduate and be official new tribes missionaries. then all that will be left between us and papua new guinea is a year of support raising. that sets the timeline for us being overseas around august 2015. although Lord knows its all up Him.

this is the passion the Lord has given us. we know he has called us to be apart of this work of reaching the unreached. so thats what this blog will be about. i will update you on what's going on in our day to day training and our day to day lives. not all of it will be about missions, but none of it will be about nothing. 

-morgan gordon