Changes and Transitions

...changes and transitions....
These two words can cause a lot of stress and anxiety, but they are a part of life, right? Pray for us as the next several months bring a lot of changes and transitions. This inevitably brings losses and new beginnings; fear and excitement for the unknown.

We have lived in the Savannah, Georgia area for almost five years now. We have come to know and love this area as "home" and have been blessed by the LORD with many wonderful friends who have become family. Our plan is to move back to Pennsylvania for our last six months in America. However, we'll be speaking at a conference scheduled for February here in the Savannah area, so we're already looking forward to a break from the northern winter! After a family wedding in June, we plan to depart for Papua New Guinea. We would love to leave from Atlanta, so that we can say our last "so-long-for-now's" here in Georgia before we leave.

We have a lot of work to do in our last month or two here. Pray for us to use our time wisely and pray that God will raise up partners to support us in our missions work. We have about 4% of our needed monthly support coming in, but several more pledges for support. We need to have a minimum of 75% in order to purchase our tickets and depart. Tom's employment will be ending at the end of October and we will take a leap of faith into full-time ministry and support raising!

We spoke at two different churches this past week. Pray for more opportunities to share our ministry with churches, small groups, Sunday school classes, etc. Please let us know if you would like to host a group at your home, or if you would like to have us come share in your small group or congregation. We are willing to travel! We will also gladly provide dessert and coffee if you are willing to host a group in your home for us. :)

Our timeline--which is always subject to change as the Lord leads--is to move to Pennsylvania in December.  We will be reconnecting with friends and family, and looking to continue to build our base of ministry partners. God has burdened our hearts for lost and unreached people. He is laying a heavy sense of urgency on us to go! We must obey Him and follow where He leads. Thank you for praying with us; He is faithful!

If God leads you to give to our ministry, there are several ways you can give:
Mail your tax deductible donation to: New Tribes Mission, 1000 East First Street, Sanford, FL 32771. Attach a note stating that it is for the ministry of Tom & Jen McBratney. Please do not write on the check.
You can also give online at: https://use.ntm.org/missionaries/thomas-and-jennifer-mcbratney

No amount is too big or too small. You can give a one-time gift or become a monthly partner. We need prayer partners as well, so thank you for partnering with us in prayer!

An Exciting Opportunity!

Tomorrow, we will be sharing about our upcoming ministry in Papua New Guinea with Jonesville Baptist Church in Savannah. Then, the following four weeks we will be teaching a Sunday School series entitled: The Jewish Feasts and Christianity. Please pray that God will speak through us and that we will teach with humility and truth. Pray that this will be a unifying time as brothers and sisters in Messiah. 
Also, pray that God will lay it on people's hearts to support us financially. Pray that God will open doors for us to be able to speak in other congregations. We want to build His kingdom, wherever He sends us! Pray for good health and strength.
We are so thankful for this opportunity and pray it will lead to many more.

Prayer Points

Hello! We hope you have all enjoyed your summer. By now, you have received our initial letter about our exciting, upcoming ministry in Papua New Guinea. In June, we attended a week and a half of training at New Tribes Mission’s headquarters in Sanford, FL. We were already excited, but now even more so! We cannot wait to move forward and begin our ministry.            

            There are still about 2,500 people groups unreached in the world today—millions of people are isolated from the Good News about their Messiah. New Tribes Mission exists to clearly present the Gospel to unreached people in their own language and culture. They disciple believers and partner with them to plant healthy, biblical congregations and to reach out to other tribes and villages. We will be playing a vital role in reaching the unreached.

            We have a monthly ministry budget to reach, as well as one-time expenses, such as passports, visas, and plane tickets. We need prayer and financial partners. When you pray and give, you are a vital link in helping the unreached hear the Good News!

We would love to share with you ways in which you can be a part of our team. We specifically need people to partner with us now so that we will be able to wrap things up here in the US and be ready to head to Papua New Guinea early next year. Tom’s job is not flexible, and he will only have employment until the end of September. We need committed monthly supporters so that we can make this transition to full time ministry in the next month.

            Also be in prayer as we have been on the waiting list to adopt a baby in the state of Georgia. We would like to move to Pennsylvania sometime this winter in order to continue building our prayer and financial support base. Pray that things would move forward very soon with an adoption placement.

            If you wish to give financially, you can make a one-time donation, or give monthly. There are several ways that you can give to us:

1.     Use the attached Electronic Funds Transfer form. Instructions are on the form.

2.     Mail your tax deductible donation to: New Tribes Mission, 1000 E. First Street, Sanford, FL 32771.  Attach a note stating that it is for the ministry of Tom & Jenny McBratney. Please do not write on the check.

3.     Give online: https://usa.ntm.org/missionaries/thomas-and-jennifer-mcbratney

Thank you for standing with us! We cannot go without each and every one of you praying and giving generously to our ministry. May the Lord richly bless you and keep you!

~Tom, Jenny, Michael, Daniel, and Savannah Joy

Exciting (and Faith-Stretching) Times Ahead

We have some very exciting news to share--and no, we have not received "the call" about a new baby yet. 
This is something that we have been praying about and working towards since 2012. To be honest, we have been waiting on the L-rd to open these doors for us for over a decade, but it all had to come about in His perfect timing. 
(drumroll....)
G-d willing, our family will be moving back to Papua New Guinea in May/June 2017!!!
On April 6, we received the official approval to become members (again) of New Tribes Mission. After May 1st, all of our accounts will be open so that we can officially launch our year of partnership development. We are so excited to return and see what G-d has in store for our family!
Be looking for more information in the weeks to come. We would love to have the opportunity to share more about ministry with congregations, small groups, classes, or just among friends and family in our home or yours. We will be planning trips to Pennsylvania as well throughout the next year. 
Please keep us in your prayers. We are trusting for G-d's provision and perfect timing in all that has to happen this next year.

What You Don't See

I am a fiercely private person. I am also fiercely loyal. I will do anything for anyone I love, but I have a very hard time opening myself up to others and asking for help, prayers, or encouragement when I need it. I have trouble showing my emotions to others, with the exception of my husband and parents...they see the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

And one more thing: I am fiercely protective of the family that G-d has entrusted to me. I have always struggled with how much to share about them, because I want to protect their (and our) privacy. But maybe I have gone too far the other way. The problem is: people talk, people judge, and even when you do explain things, people don't really understand; they still just usually judge. 

Our family is unique. We get a lot of stupid questions. A LOT. Like, where did you get them from? (Oh, you know, I found them wandering around the parking lot....) What language will your baby speak when he grows up? (Ummm...English?) Are they adopted? (Well, DUH!) Are they real siblings? (What other kind are there...fake?) Most of the time, I actually just laugh later at people's ignorance and wish I were mean enough to answer their questions with what I am saying in my head! My favorite questions are the ones from children, because I know they are being innocent; they are honestly just trying to figure out this whole thing of how a white mamma can have brown kids. The parents always jump in and apologize, but the kids are interacting with me in the way ignorant grown ups should. I don't mind honest questions about my family.

My favorite experience to date was at our local family dollar store. A beautiful and special grown up kid came up to my daughter and I, and asked the usual kid questions...to which her embarrassed mother kept apologizing. Once she had it all clear in her mind (which took many repetitions of the same questions from her and the same answers from me), she took a hold of my hand and said, "Can you adopt me?" Oh, how I laughed! I took that as a HUGE compliment! She made my day!

But this post is not about adoption, per se. I want to write about kids with special needs/disabilities. Kids with special needs who look completely normal. Sometimes I think that parents have it easier when it's visibly obvious that there are disabilities. But don't get angry with me; I know that's not true. We all have challenges, it's just that they are different. Whether your child/ren are biological, adopted, "typical," "non-typical" (haha), we all have challenges. Parenting is HARD WORK. So please don't feel that I am minimizing your job if you do not deal with what I do. I just need a place to vent for a few minutes.

My children--all three of them--have special needs. One was born with several heart defects and has related issues/needs that are on-going. My other two have special needs that they did not ask for--that were purely, 100% preventable. I do not dwell on that fact (the preventable part), because it does not change today. I only state that to say that it is sad when innocent children must grow up with disabilities that are due to someone's poor choices...much like a person who may be permanently disabled because of a drunk driver. It is something that must be realized, but then not dwelt upon. Forgiveness and grace needs to be extended, but then reality must be faced. I did not necessarily ask for the awesome responsibility of raising three kids with special needs. But G-d chose me, and I feel honored to be their mother. We were meant to be a family; each one is a miracle, and wow! I am blessed beyond measure! My kids are a gift! If you know me, you know how fiercely I love them and want the best for them. I want to see them reach their G-d given potential. My kids have overcome incredible odds and it is a miracle that each one is alive. I pray that I can continue to learn how to be the best parent to them and prepare them for life. I want to see them soar in G-d's strength and goodness. He will change the world through them...if they will commit their lives to Him (and I pray fervently that they do).

Here's my issue and main reason for this blog post today: do not judge a parent or a child by the child's (or in our case, sometimes--the parent's) behavior. Disabilities are not always visible. You DO NOT KNOW what a family may be dealing with and you DO NOT KNOW the best way to handle someone's child and they DO NOT WANT your unsolicited advice. Thank you. The next time you see a child (or a parent, hehehe) making a scene, just smile kindly and pray for them as you pass by. 

Sometimes I feel guilt, I feel shame, I feel embarrassment, I occasionally ask "why me?" even though I would not trade my kids for anything. I see G-d's sense of humor in choosing Tom and I for these kids, because we feel so incapable and don't always know what to do, even though we've read enough books to earn an honorary doctorate degree in the various special needs we have going on. He must laugh at us a lot; I know I do! I am thankful for a good sense of humor...it keeps the despair at bay. 

If you ever see my oldest son's chest, you will see a scar. A visible reminder of the physical disability he has. But my other two carry invisible disabilities. And for me, this is more difficult to deal with. I get comments from friends, family, and strangers--who are all well meaning, but think that I am maybe not parenting them "right." I need to be more strict, I need to be more lenient and gracious. I need to not worry, I need to...whatever. I have even had well-meaning friends tell me my kids are normal (whatever that is), which makes me angry, incredulous, and in the end just feel more sad and alone because no one gets it. Unless you are parenting children just like my younger two, I'm sorry, you just don't understand and I will never take your "advice" seriously. And to my friends who are in the same boat as me: I need you! We need to pray for each other, support each other, and encourage each other. I feel so desperately alone sometimes. 

A Gift in the Mail

Yesterday I received a gift in the mail, a treasure, really. I received God's word in my mailbox, free of charge.  Of course a donation was requested, but even if I choose not to make a donation, the book of Joshua is mine to keep, at no cost!  Do you ever have a seemingly simple, mundane even impact you in a profound way? When I was holding my treasure in my hands, leafing through the pages, thoughts and snippets came into my mind of books I've read. Books about missionaries risking it all to smuggle God's word into closed countries. People who have risked their lives to even meet together to worship God. And here, in America, where we do see our freedoms slipping away a little at a time, we must still thank God that we have the freedom to worship, to read his word. And take into account that there are brothers and sisters in other countries, today, who would give anything to live in a country where God's word unexpectedly shows up in mailboxes, for FREE.
Don't forget our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world. Pray for them. Don't take anything for granted, for we too may soon face persecution. Yeshua warned us in John 15:20, "If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too...."

A Little of This, and a Little of That

   I hope you all had a blessed weekend with family and friends. We hosted two Passover Seders, one on Friday with a group from our synagogue, and one on Sunday with two families that we meet with bi-weekly for food and fellowship.  Saturday night was a nice quiet family dinner.  Miss Joy got sick Friday night (allergies/asthma acting up), so I'm sure it was an extra tiring time for her. Now it is back to school and work!  I'm sure by the end of the week we will be ready to eat some leaven!  This week will be a learning experience in creativity with Matzohs!
    The two things I wanted to write about today is ancestry and head-covering. A cool thing that happened after we began attending the synagogue is that due to one of the boys having a homework assignment in history, we began looking into our family trees.  We were excited to discover some Jewish roots, and perhaps that is why we were so drawn to Judaism.  Tom discovered that his Jewish ancestry is on his mother's father's side. And it's the same for me. My maternal grandfather's grandmother's last name was Hevel, which is the Hebrew name for Abel (as in Cain & Abel).  I wish I could figure out their history, but it has been slow going for me. Slowly it is coming together and every now and then I have a new breakthrough, but I may have to settle for not ever knowing much about our ancestry.  Tom's mother seems to recall someone telling her as a little girl that her family was Jewish and Tom's great-uncle remembers the family having many Jewish friends who spent a lot of time in their home, sharing meals with the family.
   The other subject on my mind is head covering.  As a teenager, I remember reading in Corinthians about women covering their heads.  I, personally, felt convicted that I should do this.   I have since read many commentaries and debates on both sides of the issue.  I have come to the conclusion that it is one of those things that each person must decide before God if that is what he/she feels God wants them to do.  I am including "he's" in there because Jewish tradition is that men wear a kippah (skullcap/yarmulke) as a sign of reverence and respect for God--much the same as women would wear a covering to show respect and headship to God and her husband.  After years of feeling convicted about this, I finally decided a year ago to take the plunge.  Before ever going to the synagogue, I decided that I liked the Jewish style of wearing headscarves the best because they are so colorful, beautiful, and there are so many creative ways to wear them.  As an aside, I am usually the only woman in our synagogue wearing a headscarf.  Many women will wear a covering if they are participating in the service, or during the praise and worship time.  And that is totally okay...each person must do what they feel in their heart is pleasing to God.  There are definitely times I wrestle with this and wish God would not be asking me to do this, but those times are few.  Overall I love covering my hair, and know that I am honoring God and my husband by doing this.  Also, I love not spending time and money on my hair.  I usually wear it in a braid down the back with a knitted cap, or in a bun with a headscarf tied on.  Super easy, quick, and cute!
Here's a new style I tried this week.  Tom loved it.  I wore two scarves and braided the ends together before wrapping them around my bun.

Smile for the camera!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on anything I post about.  It is great to have discussions about things and we can learn so much from each other.  I have received the most encouragement in my journey to head covering from my Mennonite sisters (and dear friends) in the Lord.  There are many grey areas in life where God has given us the intellect and ability to decide (before Him) what honors Him and, in this case, our husbands.  Some things that we think may be a burden actually free us when we give it to God (and I am obviously not just talking about head coverings here).  We serve a great God!  As I get older I am learning to just joyfully submit to Him when He asks me to do something.  I have learned by now that He knows what He's doing, He is righteous, and when it's not a sin issue, but just an obedience thing, all we stand to lose by not submitting is a HUGE blessing.  
May God bless you all this week!
~Jenny
P.S. I just thought of something I really should address in this post.  My Mennonite friends asked me what the Messianic Jewish standpoint on the Corinthians passage was because it says men should not cover their heads.  This led me to look up the Greek word in the passage and it is talking about a veil (specifically something that women wore).  It does not seem to be speaking about a turban, or skullcap, or any type of men's traditional head covering in this passage.  The word literally means veil, which was something only worn by women.  The best commentary on scripture is scripture and we know in scripture that God addresses...for lack of a better term...cross-dressing.  
Deuteronomy 22:5
"A woman is not to wear men’s clothing, and a man is not to put on women’s clothing, for whoever does these things is detestable to Adonai your God."
This would be consistent with the passage in Corinthians.  I looked into a NT Messianic Jewish commentary to see the author's thoughts and it is consistent with what I found.  The Complete Jewish Bible, I feel, best conveys the meaning of the original Greek and I will post it below:
1 Corinthians 11:3-7
^"3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is the Messiah, and the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of the Messiah is God. ⁴ Every man who prays or prophesies wearing something down over his head brings shame to his head, ⁵ but every woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled brings shame to her head — there is no difference between her and a woman who has had her head shaved. ⁶ For if a woman is not veiled, let her also have her hair cut short; but if it is shameful for a woman to wear her hair cut short or to have her head shaved, then let her be veiled. ⁷ For a man indeed should not have his head veiled, because he is the image and glory of God, and the woman is the glory of man."
I know this is a touchy, controversial, and often confusing subject, but I was just hoping to clear up any confusion of those who think the Jewish custom of wearing a kippah is going against scripture.  I, personally, do not believe it is.  But these are just my thoughts and opinions...everyone needs to do their own studying on the matter. :)