Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas with their loved ones!  We had a blessed day today, and then it's off to work tonight for Janella :) Hope everyone in Champaign-Urbana can continue to have a nice Christmas with no need for an ambulance :)  
Had to think today of how much Orrin has changed in the past year.  Last Christmas he was a baby, and now he has become a little boy who can run, communicate, and understand so many things!  Just think of what he will be doing in the next few years!  And then I thought about Jesus who was born as a baby, but how He grew up and how much He did in His short life on earth.  May we pause at the manger, but dwell on the Man who came for us once and is coming again!



Christmas Greetings of Love,
As we reflect back on this past year, we are so thankful to God for His blessings to us!  Where would we be if we did not have a loving God to sustain us and lead us? 
Orrin started out the year as a three month old who was sitting around in his bouncy seat, smiling and puking a lot.  Now he’s a very busy 14 month old who is running everywhere, still smiling most of the time and thankfully not puking anymore!!  He loves to read books, climb stairs, eat tomatoes, give hugs to babies, blow kisses, wear his boots, and shake his head ‘no.’ 
David works at Duffy Ambulance in Pontiac, and with his dad doing construction.  He also started volunteering for Grace on Wings, a charitable Christian organization that provides lower cost medical fixed-wing flights to people.  He really loves flying!  He taught an EMT class this summer, so things were really busy.  This summer we added a patio onto our house, and David spent a lot of time making his dream of an outdoor kitchen where he can cook with all his grills!
Janella stays busy being Orrin’s mom and working about one shift a week at PRO Ambulance in Champaign.  One of her highlights of the year was when Orrin learned to sleep through the night J 
David went on a work trip to Haiti in the late winter, and then we took a trip to Texas with David’s family for a week in May.  We also spent a few days in Indiana at Brown County this summer.  David and Janella just went to Haiti for a week to look at the possibility of moving down to Hospital Lumiere at Bonne Fin, Haiti for several months in 2014.  We have felt the Lord directing us there for several months and are looking forward to trying to fulfill His will and follow Him!  For more of our story, updates on our coming months in Haiti, and contact information, go to www.djzimm.blogspot.com.  Hopefully we will keep it updated often!

May God bless you in the coming year and may we always seek His will first in our lives!  Love, David,  Janella and Orrin 

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Mommy Group


Meet Orrin's friends!!

A few weeks ago, all the ladies from Forrest church who had their first
 babies within the past year decided to get together and start a playdate for
 our kids (and ourselves) :)  Yesterday everyone came to our house and the
 kids played and we talked and ate :)  Included are Shannon and Addie, Krystle and Rylan,
me and Orrin, Lynelle and Montana and Makynli, LeAnne and Karli, April and Tristan,
Carissa and Ella, and Larissa and Trevor.  What a busy Sunday School class this will be! :)

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Called to Haiti

As I'm sure most of you are aware, David and I have been feeling led to 
Haiti for mission work since this past March.  We wanted to share our
story how God has called us to serve in Haiti.  Below are some notes
David typed...his story is in blue and mine in red :)



The first time I felt prompting that maybe God was calling me to missionary work was on my way home from Haiti the second time we went (2011).  I seem to remember having a definite feeling of leaving behind unfinished work.  I used the Bible app on my phone to read the daily reading.  It was II Kings 8 where Elisha tells a woman to take her and her house and go sojourn in another land because there is going to be a famine for seven years.  The woman does and when she returns at the end of the seven years all that was hers including the crops from the seven years was restored to her.  This spoke to me very directly about being a missionary and that God would take care of what I left behind.

This calling was again spoken to me when a few days later, I believe I was on my first full time shift at Duffy’s, and I opened for the first time in a new Bible that I had.  I believe I opened to where the marker was from the factory, II Kings 8 again. 

My first day home from my third Haiti trip Janella and I read at the lunch table.  I had somewhat forgotten about the previous times we had opened to II Kings 8 and did not immediately recognize it when it opened to us for the third time.  Janella did and it quickly all came back to me.  This was the turning point for both of us at which time we both felt very seriously and undeniably that God was speaking to us about missionary work.

March 7th One thing that I was not sure of was if now was the time.  I prayed and put this question to God.  I opened and read St. Luke 2 where it speaks of Mary and Joseph go to be taxed, while they are there Jesus is born.  When the Shepherds hear of it they say let us now go and see him.  This spoke to me on several levels first Mary and Joseph were willing to go despite the inconvenience, because of this prophecy was fulfilled.  The wording of the Shepherd’s response also spoke to me in that when they heard of Jesus they left everything and said let us now go.

March 8th AM I felt that it was probably Haiti but I had not really felt any specific direction so I prayed that God would show me if it was.  I opened to Psalm 18 where it speaks of God making the earth shake.  This spoke to me of Haiti and the earth quake they had. 
March 8th PM Began to doubt myself and if this was all what it seemed.   I prayed again that God would show me if it was time.  Read in Philippians 2 verses 12-16 stood out where they are told what to do now in his absence.

March 9th Janella was at a friend’s house and she spoke to her about what we had opened to when I got back from Haiti.  She went to open the Bible and show her, the Bible opened to the chapter II Kings 8.

March 10th AM Listened to a sermon at work.  It was on Luke 18 and the minister spoke about how cross bearing is not something that is laid on us but that we willingly take up ourselves in the name of serving Christ.  Minister also spoke of a missionary couple and how they witnessed to a leader of another religion.  This leader had been very cruel to this couple and Christian converts persecuting them.  When this leader became sick the missionary couple felt that it was the right thing to do, in spite of risk of infecting themselves and everything else, to bring him some soup.  It ends up that before this leader dies he asked the couple to adopt his son.  They do and he goes on to become a Christian missionary himself.

March 10th PM Opened to II chronicles 13 Spoke of Hezekiah being given a sign and he did not render again according to the benefit given him.  I don’t want to ignore the calling of God.
March 11th the night before Janella and I had talked about going to Haiti and we had both shared some of our cares and concerns about it.  One of her big concerns with going now was the posibility of having children down there.  On the morning of the 11th I prayed again for God to speak to me.  I opened to Luke 3 it speaks of John being called to preach and he did. That morning when I checked my email I had just received an email from Eric Hartzler (another missionary down at Hospital Lumiere).  In it, he gave me a link to his blog.  The very first post that came up on the screen was of their new baby born in Haiti.

Janella red in Hebrews 13 v14 “For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.” and it spoke to her that she should not get too rooted in one place.  This world is our temporary home.
March 14th Janella opened to John 2 and read where Jesus says “Woman, what have I to do with thee?  Mine hour is not yet come.”  This made her wonder if now was not the time.  It also caused me some doubt.

March 15th On my way to work I listened to the Bible and the chapter was Mathew 27 it speaks of Jesus trial and crucifixion (when his time came) Janella opened to John 17 v1 “…father the hour is come”.

March 16th opened to Colossians 3.  This was the same chapter that she read when she felt at peace about marriage.  V.18 wives submit to your husbands.  She felt that she should submit to what I was feeling called to do.  She talked to me and said she was willing to go on my faith if that is what I really feel like we should do.  Also a comfort to me because I had prayed and asked God to show me just this if he wanted be to “be the head” and lead by my faith alone when Janella was struggling with feeling ready.


March 17th Janella had been thinking about an account of a Missionary she had heard years ago.  He traveled by foot so much that it damaged his feet terribly.  He came to the home of another missionary couple.  The wife was trying to clean and bandage his feet, and it was so bad that she had to leave the room.  As she did, she felt God say, "These are beautiful feet to me."  Although she felt at peace about going to Haiti, she thought it would be nice to read the verse that talks about the beautiful feet.  That same morning she opened to Romans 10 v.15 “And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”.  This opened again to her in church that same day.

At this point, we talked to our parents, and to Marvin Dotterer, the Elder.  We started the process for mission work, and this brought us through the summer months and into fall.  Around our anniversary in August, David talked to me about him reading over and over in the Bible about Jesus' temptation in the wilderness.  We wondered what God was trying to tell us...to use this time as preparation before our "mission" begins, that something bad was going to come upon us, or that something was going to happen in 40 days?  We decided to use this time as preparation, and wait and see what 40 days brought.  

In October, right around the 40 day mark, David received an email about a position opening up at Hospital Lumiere in Haiti, to help with construction work.  We really felt like this was what God was leading us to do.  We spoke again with Marvin and others with World Relief. In November we took a week long trip to the Hospital to see where we will live and make sure that all was going to work out.  But that's a story for another time.... :)

Thanks for your love, support and prayers during this time!!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Wonderful friendships!

Two of my great friends came from Iowa yesterday to visit us! We had a really nice time together with our babies :) Thanks Renee and Lindsy for making the trip!