In & Out and A Few More People

This is the second year we've had a team from LeTourneau University in our office for Spring Break Code-a-Thon.  It's fun seeing the changes between the two pictures.

March 2012
(Note the baby still "in.")

March 2013

Just a few more people... and the baby hanging out on the back instead of the front.

So blessed to be able to work with great teams each year!

Road Trip Stop #2: Taylor University

Road-tripping we will go, road-tripping we will go...

Stop two of our recent road trip was a LightSys stop through Taylor University in Indiana.  We were busy recruiting missions IT interns and talking to Spring Break code-a-thon peoples.  Of course, hanging out with friends and seeing the new Euler Science Complex were added benefits.  This was Baby J's first visit to Taylor!

Baby J manning the LightSys booth outside the new CSE department.
 

"Yes, may I help you?"
P.S. Yes, the diaper bag, which he is unpacking, is an ICCM backpack.

Mr. A checking out the new server racks in the old Dungeon.
 

Baby J and his favorite prof with the award-winning CSE Christmas Tree.
 

Cutting teeth on floppy disk (well, except he doesn't have any teeth yet).


Pray for a Taylor student to join us as a summer intern this coming year!

Two Favorite Booths

We're at the Cedarville University Missions Week and I just couldn't resist taking a photo of my two favorite booths! :)
www.lightsys.org
www.gfa.org

Wait - How's That Formatted?

If you've ever mailed a letter overseas, you know that their addresses are not always formatted the same way ours are.  And if you're constantly mailing things to offices, employees, and donors in multiple countries, those mailing differences can get pretty confusing pretty quickly!

It seems when you finally get the format right for Denmark, a package for Chile comes along and you're stuck desperately trying to remember what THEIR preferred address format is.

And then the next question -- How do you get your computer to PRINT the address in the right format?

Enter Greg's new work of art.  A specially designed screen to let the mission organization's mailing department set up each country to use a precise address format.

You can click on the picture to see it better.  But the mailing staff can set up each country's address format to look exactly the way it needs to look.  Hurrah for tools that make things more efficient!  And hurrah for amazing programmer (who just happens to be my husband)! :)

This screen shot is part of the Kardia software -- ministry finance and management software that is being developed by LightSys for mission organizations to use free of charge.

Travel Update

Hi blog readers!
For those of you who know we're road, this an update!
For those of you who don't know we're on the road - guess what!?!  We're on the road!

Just before our trip, we had a great time fellowshipping with supporters who were traveling through Colorado Springs.

In reference to the trip, I told them, "It's just a short three week trip and we only have one major stop. So it's not that big of a deal."

I forget that when a trip includes driving 3,094 miles through 6 states over 3 weeks, most people don't define it as "not that big of a deal."

We camped in Idaho on our way out to Seattle and had a beautiful, full moon over Lake Walcott.

Then drove the rest of the way to Seattle.  We're here working on the Kardia software project for Action International Ministries.  (English for the newcomers: LightSys is creating financial software for ACTION.)  The last BIG piece is being put into place this week and Greg has been HARD at work.

We're seeing more computer screens these days than beautiful lakes.  And yes, Seattle has been giving us cloudy, rainy weather (with a couple sunny days tucked in!).

Pray:
* For strength and focus as we pour ourselves into this project for the next week.  Lots of things still to do.
* For God to go before us.
* For the database cutover to go smoothly.  (What?  Yes, I know you don't understand what that means. It's okay.  God does.)

Praise:
* Safe travels to Washington!
* Wonderful host home!
* Good work on the project so far!
* Good fellowship time with a missionary back from the Philippines.  I so enjoy hearing what God is doing on the field!  The Gospel is going forth -- and that's why we do what we do!

(Random note: When the missionary asked what our roles were, I said: "You know those reports you get each month that let you know how much financial support has come in?  And give you your donor updates?  We write the software that sends you those reports!"  We got a big thank you! after that. :)

Okay, a little, tiny, ultra-cute "thank you" in the form of a keychain. :)  A reminder to pray for those we serve.

Road Trip!!!

We are on our way!

to Seattle!

with three interns!  (SJ is hiding in the back making faces.)

But it's hard to get the camera right when you're shooting it from the dash of the van.

But here we go!!!

Practical Update - Interns Coming!

Hi everybody!

I know things have been quiet on here.  I keep forgetting to pull out my camera and the blogs I read tell me that no one wants to read a blog that doesn't have pictures.  So then I feel guilty.  And I don't post.  And sure enough - nobody reads the things I don't post.  Hmm....

A couple quick practical updates... let's try bullet points. :)

• We have three college interns coming to work with us here at LightSys this summer!
• Our interns are... a Dutch student from Canada, an MK from Kenya, and a Californian.  Lots of cultural exchange here this summer!
• The first intern arrives in 10 days (assuming his visa arrives on time)!  Wow - soon!
• Mr. Amazing and I have now been in CO home for 5 consecutive weeks!  Woo-hoo!  We haven't been in one place that long since September of last year.  3 weeks has been average.
• Hurrah for taking time this weekend to refocus and regroup before the interns arrive and the summer road trip starts!  Pray for rejuvenation and rest for us!!!
• Praise God for housing for the all the students while they are here!  He's provided so wonderfully!

Okay - that's enough updates for right now.  I'm off to sleep.  Yes, s...l..e...e..p.....

Good Busy Week

It's been a good, busy week here in Colorado Springs.  We've been meeting lots of people and working on lots of LightSys projects and we've got a wonderful host family!  Thursday evening we had supper with a friend who I had prayed with over the phone, but had never met.  Friday evening we stopped by The Mill - the twenty-somethings ministry of New Life Church.  We got to share a little bit about LightSys with their leadership team and then join them for prayer before the services started.  They blew us away with their friendliness and genuineness.

Praise - after the prayer time with the leadership team, a girl came over to us all excited.

"I never thought about missions using computers!  I'm a software developer at [major server company] and I've always wanted to be able to help missions with my IT skills, but no one could ever tell me how.  This is so exciting!"

I love seeing the lights come on in people's eyes!

Saturday, we took time to go for a quick backpacking hike.  We're getting ready for a big backpacking trip in the future, so thought we'd use the mountains and elevation to help get ourselves in shape.  Somehow, our area of KS just doesn't work as well for elevation training...  Then lunch with friends and back to the host home to rest.

We went to New Life Church with our host family this morning, enjoyed lunch with them and then swung back to the house to make dump cake before joining new friends at a local house church this evening!  It's been a FULL day!

And this week is going to be a FULL week.  We're preparing for upcoming LightSys meetings, meeting new people, and getting all our regular work done too!  Pray for focus, wisdom, and strength!!!

And to finish with a picture: here's a photo of us resting along our hike on Saturday.  It's good to get away and be quiet sometimes. :)

Session completed

Just finished up my session!  Had a good group of attendees who were great about sharing and conversing with me.  Shared some basic principles of why and how to train and then shared about 60 sample training documents that they could take with them and use.  Yay yay!  Thanks for praying!!!

Error Message (Loosely Translated)

This past week was interesting and fun as LightSys deployed a new software module for the Kardia program.  I was talking to one of the office staff about a bug she had come across and got her fun translation of an error message:

I was trying to save and I got that error message.  You know, the one you get when you're trying to do something and it says "This is an error and you're not going to get away with it"?

Fan Page Joy

I did it!  I figured out how to make www.facebook.com/LightSys go to the LightSys fan page!  I know, it's a small thing.  But I was so proud of myself!  I haven't been a Facebook page admin for very long and I'm really not very good at the in's and out's of Facebook. But I did it!

Yay for me!

Well Aware

Yes, I'm well aware I'm a bit behind on the blog.  We'll catch up.  I had planned to catch up during the Super Bowl, but find myself a bit worn and wanting just to watch the game. Greg and I are in Upland, IN  where we had a rare chance to chat with some good friends this afternoon and are now watching the SuperBowl.  Well, and blogging.  and programming.  and eating ice cream sundaes. :)

We've been at Taylor University this week, sharing with students and professors about missions computing and recruiting interns to work with LightSys for the summer.  You can see our booth photo at the LightSys fan page on Facebook (even if you don't have a facebook account).  Become a fan! :)

Ice and Snow: Take it slow. The weather has been adjusting our travels at time.  An ice storm as we were leaving Texas led us to stop in Little Rock, AR for a night. (Yay for seeing Lowry's!)  And a snow storm welcomed our visit to Xenia, OH this Fri-Sat. (But caused us to miss a visit to the Schechters.)  Our next stop, Grand Rapids, MI, is forecasted to get 6-9" of snow the day we arrive (this Wed).  Lots of fun!


Below: Cool Photo of the Week

 

Photo: The Ohio state sign.  Photographer: Greg.  Camera settings: Digital macro.  Set by Dorinda when taking pictures the previous day.  Oops!

Next stop Ohio... or not!

Dear faithful blog readers,
We just finished up our days at LeTourneau University's Missions Emphasis Week and a had a great time there visiting with the students and the other mission organization reps.  I got to see a few of my friends who attend there and met a few new friends through them (Hi Elysa!).   We had a table set up with information about LightSys and I'm not sure how many times we answered the question: "So what does LightSys do?"

"We provide free of charge IT support for mission organizations."

The four days kept us busy sharing at the booth, in several classes, in dorm devotions, and with the ACM club.  We were blessed with an awesome host family (Thanks, Henry's!) and a really cool student liason (Thanks, Laura!) and met some amazing students and staff and faculty.  It was really fun to see the lights come on for some students as we shared with them how they could use their IT skills for missions.  I like those moments!

The next stop on our route is the Xenia, Ohio area, but we've been waylaid briefly due to the ice storm.  We called up good friends in Little Rock this morning.  "Can we crash at your place tonight?"

They said yes and we arrived just in time to be treated to steaming bowls of Ed's chili.  Now we're blogging and relaxing after a stimulating game of Farkle.

Ah, the blessing of friends!

On the road again...

We spent a wonderful 4 1/2 days in the Dallas, Texas area- visiting with GFA friends, closing my PO box, getting dental check-up, clipping 4-5" off my hair, worshiping at Hope Fellowship, and celebrating cousin Sam's birthday!  It was so good to catch up with friends and it was good to be reminded of what God is doing around the world and how our lives are a part of that.  As one friend shared from her heart, "Dorinda, it is worth it!"

After a fun lunch with friends today, we headed out of Carrollton and on to I-20 heading east.  We stopped by the Orphan Relief and Rescue (a mission organization LightSys serves) headquarters this afternoon and visited with their staff - hearing their heart and finding out about their computer needs and solutions.

Now - we're in Longview, TX for the week, sharing about missions computing at LeTourneau University's Missions Emphasis Week.   I'm really looking forward to spending time on the campus and sharing about missions computing with the students and faculty there.

Praises: Amazing hospitality here from the LETU IT Director and his wife!
Prayer requests: Booth to set up smoothly tomorrow.  God-appointed contacts and visits.

Two states down...

It was a busy yesterday.  We tracked down some critical LightSys information, packed the van, closed up the house, said good-bye to Grandmother (who may be with Jesus before we return), replaced 2 fuses for the van, fought with the inverter and started on our trip.

We're going to see how many state signs we can manage to capture during this journey, so Oklahoma was the first with the bustling town of Manchester (pop. 91) in the background.

Here we encountered a nice winter thunderstorm, complete with torrential rain, lightening, and enough hail to cover the ground and crunch under the tires.  The white between us and the taillights in front of us is not just rain on the highway, but a covering of 1" hail. You can't see it well in the photo, but here tries...

And then, we pulled in to dear, old Texas.  Where we were reminded by the big green sign to "Drive friendly, the Texas way."  (Jen S., I think of you every time I drive by that sign...)

Today has been busy tracking down Kardia bugs, getting teeth worked on, having lunch with a couple wonderful friends, seeing the J-Fam again, and hugging a few necks at the GFA office.  So thankful for a quiet house while we're here so we can be programming-focused during the day.  Thanks, Fred and Luci!

Funny story from today: I was at the GFA office and used the lobby phone to call a coworker who could get me what I needed from a secured storage area.

"Hello?"
Hi, it's Dorinda
"Oh, hi Dorinda. DORINDA - OH HI!"

Bob - you are too much fun!

Upcoming Road Trip

Greg and I are getting ready to hit the road this week for our first official LightSys road trip together.  Our first stop will be the Dallas area where we're looking forward to seeing GFA and Hope Fellowship friends.  In between visits, we'll be programming, having dental appts (me), closing my PO box and doing all sorts of odds and ends.  And celebrating Cousin Sam's birthday!

The next stop is LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas for their Missions Week - January 26th-29th. (Hi Benaiah and Laura and crew!)  From there, we'll head to Taylor University in Upland, Indiana (lots of friends here!) and then to Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan for their Missions Fair on Feb 11-12th.

At each of these stops, we get to build relationships with students and professors, recruit interns to work alongside us in LightSys, and share our hearts for missions computing.  There are amazing young people out there who are talented with computers and are serious in their walk with the Lord.  Now what could they do if they knew that the missions community needs skilled computer workers to help more effectively further Kingdom-building work?

Our next stop is just down the road to Seattle, Washington to work with a Kardia deployment project there for a couple weeks.  Greg's been busy working on writing this software and we're reaching some major milestones with it!

We can definitely use your prayers as we set out on this journey.  There's a lot of miles, a lot of details, a whole ton of computer programming, and a lot of heart to share.  And we so much want the Lord's direction in all of this.  Unless He goes before us and guides our paths and open hearts and doors and gives divine appointments, then we're just out there making a lot of noise.

And as much as I like making noise, I don't want to do that when I've been entrusted with this amazing opportunity to be sharing the Lord's heart for the lost world and mobilizing people to be involved in the rescue.  If you'd commit to praying for us during these upcoming 5-6 weeks, would you drop a comment below?

We'll keep you updated along the road...

Changes - By God's Direction and Grace

My newsletters finally got sent out and most of my supporters will get them in the next two days. I think this newsletter was one of the hardest ones to write because of the feeling and emotions behind it - emotions of joy in what God is doing and emotions of change...

As the newsletter shares with my supporters, September 30th will be my last day serving with Gospel for Asia. With my leaders' blessings, I am transitioning over to LightSys - Greg's ministry - to serve alongside him in the call the Lord has given us.

Things that will change:

• I'm leaving Dallas and moving to Kansas for the six weeks before the wedding.
• I'll be serving alongside Greg in the ministry of LightSys. We're not yet sure where long term headquarters will be, but we'll probably be in the KS area for the short-term.

Things that won't change:

• Greg and I will still be serving as support-based missionaries.
• We are still called to reach the lost world with the gospel of Christ.
• Similar to the computer support I was providing for GFA, we'll still be doing computer support for a variety of mission organizations. (Helping take care of their computer and training needs so they can do the mission work they need to do.)

We will continue to need your prayers and support! THANK YOU for praying for me so much over the years and thank you for your continued prayers.

Could you pray for me this week? It's a little bit of a busy and emotional week - wrapping up 7 years of office work, packing to move, trying to address and send out wedding invitations...

I would so appreciate it! Thank you!