David

To Europe and the World

It’s nearly summer here in Toronto, and after so much time has passed since posting our last update, it is high time that we share our biggest news and needs with you all – and this time, there is a lot! Make sure to read until the very end.

A New Missionary Placement:
The Netherlands

Most importantly for us, and for you who have partnered with us: we are thrilled to report that God is calling our family to go as missionaries to Europe, serving at a theological institution with a decades-long mission to train future leaders for the global church of Jesus Christ. Tyndale Theological Seminary is an interdenominational college located in Badhoevedorp (a suburb of Amsterdam) that offers English-language graduate degrees in Christian ministry and practical theology, with a special focus on training students coming from the Majority World, particularly Africa and Asia. Because all of its core faculty members are missionaries who raise their own support, the school is able to offer students from developing countries a full scholarship – tuition, room, board, and a stipend – while they pursue an MDiv (Master of Divinity) or MET (Master of Evangelical Theology) at Tyndale. This means that roughly 75% of the school’s 60 full-time students are not only from places like Cameroon, Pakistan, or Hong Kong, but that they are also living in community and practicing mutual ministry on-site at the seminary.

Our Discernment Process with Tyndale

My appointment to teach Systematic and Historical Theology at Tyndale is the end of a lengthy process of prayerful discernment that has involved multiple stakeholders invested in this ministry. It was two years ago now, in June 2022, that our mission director with SAMS-USA mentioned that Tyndale might be a good fit for us as a missionary family. Despite our long-time interest in serving in Latin America and the Caribbean, she was aware of what the school was doing because two missionary families connected with SAMS through IATW, our companion Canadian mission society, were already serving at Tyndale. What’s more, two other SAMS missionary couples were also serving Anglican chaplaincies nearby in Amsterdam and Heiloo, and they were able to vouch for the spiritual needs on the ground in the Netherlands. At the time however there were no faculty openings at Tyndale, and so we mostly put it out of our minds as we looked into other ministry possibilities elsewhere.

A map of the countries that Tyndale students come from.

However, in April of the following year our friends in Heiloo alerted me that Tyndale was advertising for a faculty opening in precisely my area of theology, looking for someone with a background in philosophy and experience in pastoral and missionary service. After talking with Mary Beth, I decided to send in my CV and see where God might take things. My interest in the position led to a Zoom interview with the seminary’s Academic Dean, and then in June a visit to the school’s campus in Badhoevedorp while on my way to Germany, along with a friendly chat with another professor on the hiring committee. This process continued throughout last fall, as I submitted essays on my teaching philosophy and personal goals and mission and met again with faculty over Zoom.

Finally last March both Mary Beth and I flew to Tyndale for a week of meeting students and spending time with the other missionary families teaching there. I was asked to preach in chapel and give a lecture as part of the course on Christology, and at the week’s end the faculty took a vote on whether or not to recommend me for the open spot on their team of theological educators. Throughout that week, we were impressed by the academic caliber, unity of vision, and sense of community that the faculty demonstrated, and we were even more struck by the spiritual maturity, passion, and talent of the students we met during our brief time there.  Needless to say, as overwhelming as it all ways, I was grateful for their affirmative vote on our last Friday there, and we left the Netherlands with the sense that, if Tyndale’s board were to appoint me, we would take this as God’s leading our family in this direction.

There is so much more that played a part in this discernment process as well: discussions with our leadership at SAMS and IATW, with the faculty here at Wycliffe College, with friends here in Toronto who have spent years living in Amsterdam, with members of our extended family who remain so vitally and integrally a part of our life. All this is to say, there has been a collective sense that this is where God is leading our family next, and we are so excited to follow that lead.

Our Purpose in Heading to the Netherlands

Mary Beth and I have been praying for years that God would lead us to the place where our family’s gifts and callings would bring greatest glory to Jesus Christ and most effectively build up his church, and our conviction has been that this would occur through training new leaders – that is, through theological education and ministry development. Our passion has been to equip and prepare lay and ordained believers for ministry to the entire church, especially for ministry in those areas of the “Global South” where theological education remains difficult to access. However, we have also as a couple become increasingly aware of the real need for faithful Christian witness in the historic “West” of Europe, North America, and Australasia, places and cultures wrestling with fundamental questions in the wake of the atrophying scourge of secularism – nations and cities moreover to which the world is now increasingly immigrating. North Holland, one of the least religious areas in Western Europe with one of the highest population densities and immigration rates in the world, is precisely one of those areas that desperately needs the faithful Christian witness of families willing to integrate fully into and contribute socially within its communities.

In moving our family to the Netherlands to teach at Tyndale, our purpose is therefore twofold: 1) as before when we were serving in Belize and elsewhere in Latin America, we still seek to train and equip leaders for ministry in the church around the world, particularly for churches in marginalized regions; and 2) we now also seek to be a family that makes faithful, compelling Christian witness in Western Europe an essential part of our life and ministry. We believe that serving with Tyndale affords us an opportunity to do both, and we could not be happier that God has led us on this path.

Our Timeline for Relocating to the Netherlands

I wish we could tell you specifically when we expect to move our family to the Netherlands, but I can’t: there are several questions that will need to be answered first. For many practical reasons, I will however essentially need to finish my thesis before we relocate (more on my progress below). I am hoping to finish writing and start defending within the next calendar year (by the end of 2024), but I am not quite far enough along to be able to say one way or another if this will occur. After that, we will need time to raise the rest of the financial support needed for our family’s ministry and life in the Netherlands before we can leave (again, more on this support below). If we can raise support locally in Ontario, and virtually around North America while I am still finishing my dissertation, we will be able to shorten our time raising support after I am finished and arrive at Tyndale sooner, rather than later.

What We Need to Serve in the Netherlands

Our needs as a family are quickly going to change as we head in this new ministry direction as a missionary family. For example, we soon expect to have a revised missionary budget that will include the cost of living in the Netherlands – including housing and taxes – together with the cost of relocating from Canada there. While we have not yet sat down with our supervisors at SAMS-USA to work out the details, we are in no doubt about the obvious need to raise a lot more support before being able to leave North America and begin teaching. In this regard, we need to ask you for several things:

  1. Please pray that the Lord will supply our financial needs very quickly, so that we will not have to go through a long period of raising support in North America after I have finished my dissertation.

  2. Please consider sharing our family’s vision and financial need with others! We only know so many people, but you may know someone who would be interested in partnering with a missionary family like ours: please consider passing along our information to them, or being the link between us in some other way. We would be so grateful to arrange a Zoom meeting, or meet in person, in the weeks and months ahead.

  3. The same goes for you: we would love to meet with you in person or on Zoom to discuss this new direction more with you, and to explore ways that you could partner with us. Message us, and let us know if there is a best way for us to link up soon!

  4. Finally, please prayerfully consider partnering with us financially in our family’s mission, whether on a regular, long-term basis, or even as a one-time gift. Despite a drop in giving, over the last four years the Lord has provided for our family – through COVID-19, through a relocation, and through these doctoral studies, and we are now asking you to consider joining with us again, or for the first time, in giving to our ministry.

Finally, we would ask for your encouragement and advice. If you have any kind words to send our way, or suggestions for us as we prepare to make this move in the next couple of years, please let us know! We would be grateful to hear from you, and we would love to hear more about how you are doing as well.

How Our Family Has Been Doing

The short answer is that we have been doing well, and the Lord has really been blessing us in so many ways! The longer answer is a little more complicated, but is going to echo the shorter as well.

First off, the children are doing wonderfully! Austin and Lily have now celebrated their fifth and second birthdays, respectively, and all three are growing up so quickly. The personality of each our three kids is burgeoning by the day, and we are so excited to see the people that they are turning into. Austin and James have been progressing in reading books, writing their letters, and counting on their numbers. Austin’s main challenge with reading is that his own imagination is so vivid, it is difficult to find books on his level that can capture his attention long enough to go through the process of sounding out words. But his intelligence is coming through, and we are amazed to see how he is learning and developing as a boy, and no longer a toddler. James is sensitive, compassionate, intelligent, and observant, and while being very much his own person, he is eager to catch up to his brother in almost every way. Lily on the other hand is charming, imposing, and very content to “do her own thing” in adorable ways, and we are constantly wondering where in the world this self-proclaimed ballerina-princess came from, and how God has placed her in our lives. They are amazing, our pride and joy, and we are so blessed to be their parents.

Mary Beth and I are also doing well, although we are coming off of a number of illnesses and medical procedures. In April I underwent surgery to repair a hernia, and while the recovery was longer and more painful than I was hoping (still, exactly like I had been warned), I am doing really well and gradually getting back into all the activities I was taking on before. Mary Beth has needed her own time for recovery as well, following her second lithotripsy procedure in eight months. But we are so happy to have one another, to be able to take the time to look after one another, and to do so occasionally with the help of relatives like our parents who have been close enough to visit.

Finally, we are both continuing in our various forms of ministry at school, church, and elsewhere here in Toronto. I am continuing to teach, preach, and lead services when asked at Christ the King, and Mary Beth has agreed to become a co-leader with the Community Bible Study group that she has been a part of for the last year. Our accompanying jobs at other churches continue as well, and they have been a blessing especially to our children who, although divvied up between the parents, are being well taught in Sunday School in the morning, as well as in the evening.

All that’s to say: thank you for your prayers! These have been busy, and sometimes trying months, but we are doing well, and we bless God for all that he is doing in our lives.

How My Research and Schoolwork Is Coming

My doctoral thesis is coming well … not quite where I was hoping it would be by now, but given the health issues and the missionary placement trips and interviews, not at a bad place either. This past weekend I sent in another chapter to my supervisor, and I should be able to get another chapter in within the next few weeks. (The chapter I have been working on for much of the past year was both too large and also too important, so it’s been divided into two – hence the quick turn around.) If I can get drafts of the remaining core chapters done by the end of the summer, I stand a chance at defending my dissertation early in the spring of 2025. Please pray that I am able to make that progress!

In the meantime, I have also been able to get a few papers I’ve written headed toward publication, most recently an article in the Scottish Journal of Theology on Milton’s theodicy and Protestant theology that should come out in print soon. It’s “Open Access,” so feel free to check it out! I hope to have a positive update or two on other publications that I currently have in peer review, so stay tuned to see if any become available in the coming months.

Finally, it looks like I will also officially be an adjunct faculty member at Wycliffe College in the fall, co-teaching the course on preaching for which I was a Teaching Assistant last fall. I am really looking forward to receiving more experience in the classroom at this early stage of my new calling as an educator, and to learning from my students in the process.

A Huge Thank You

This update has gone on long, but let me conclude by thanking all of you not only for reading up until this point, but for supporting us in our lives and ministry through your encouragement, prayer, and giving. We ask you please to continue and expand your support, let us know if you have any questions, and help us connect with others whom God might be calling to join us as partners and senders in this new season of missionary life and overseas ministry. Again, thank you, and may God richly bless you!

Summer Travels and Fall Labors

Warm greetings from our family in Toronto! Our summer this year has been a productive time of “getting things done” outside of the rigidity of the school term, and I’m eager to give you all a little window into how things have been going throughout this season of study, ministry, travel, and rest.

As our last missionary update suggested, we were expecting life to get a bit hectic over these last few months: and this has been even more true than anticipated! Mary Beth and our three children headed south in mid-June, to spend a significant chunk of time with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. With the help of my parents in Indiana and hers in Georgia, they arrived at the latter’s home in the Smoky Mountains safe and sound, where I also joined them a few days later. Although I was only able to spend a week with them, it was a rejuvenating time of relaxing in a beautiful part of the world with people that we love.

While I had to continue my journey en route to Europe, the rest of our family was able to continue spending ongoing quality time with an extended family that had come from places as far away as California. During that month in Georgia, Lily learned to walk, Austin and James re-learned how to go creek-ing, and despite the very full house everyone had a fantastic time with each other in ways that – given our family’s missionary calling – we don’t usually get to have.

While all this was happening, I had made my way to Europe for nearly three weeks. I first visited fellow SAMS-USA missionaries who are serving in the Netherlands, around a half hour north of Amsterdam. Despite the jet lag, I was incredibly blessed to spend an amazing time with Louise and Johann van der Bijl, who in addition to his ministry as an author with Langham Publishing is pastoring an Anglican congregation in Heiloo. I then took the train to Germany, where I spent two weeks in Wittenberg studying Reformation-era paleography: that is, the kinds of cursive and other scripts that were used by Latin-, German- and English-writers in the sixteenth century. Honestly, it was much harder than I expected, but also much more important for my specialization than I had previously realized.

In addition to reading letters written by Martin Luther, Thomas Cranmer, or Queen Elizabeth I in their own hand, I was also fortunate to rub shoulders and learn from some of the top scholars in Reformation scholarship: people like Robert Kolb, Ashley Null, Andreas Stegmann or Dorothea Wendebourg (my encounter with whom was – alas! – all too brief). As our small cohort of graduate students travelled around east Germany, visiting manuscript archives and encountering other historical artifacts, we also formed bonds with one another that, moving forward, will continue in the years ahead. I am deeply grateful to the Wittenberg Center for Reformation Studies for accepting me into the program, and for covering the travel, living, and studying expenses necessary to make it happen!

By the middle of July, both my family and I found ourselves back in Toronto: exhausted, but happy to have made our ways through the world as we did. Less than two weeks after returning, we borrowed a vehicle, packed everyone up and headed to Camp Koinonia, where I served as the speaker and pastor for Family Camp, Week 2. In addition to guiding worship at the beginning and end of the week, each day I led the adults in discussions that centered on allowing the Lord’s Prayer,  combined with excerpts from the Gospel according to John, to inform our understanding of prayer in general. Due to the insightful collaboration of the many campers who joined with us, these discussions were challenging and fruitful, and I myself will be ruminating on our sessions together for months to come. In the meantime, Mary Beth and I enjoyed watching all three of our children flourish in the wild: making crafts, swimming in the lake, going on hikes, jumping on the trampoline, and making friends with a good half dozen other kids around the same age. As usual, when we reached the end of the week at camp, they did not want to go back to the city!

One thing however that we brought back from camp has been colds: since early August, it has been one cold or flu after the other, both for the kids, as well as for me and Mary Beth. While I have been getting back into the swing of reading and writing for school, as well as preparing to TA for Wycliffe’s class on preaching, illness has put something of a crimp in my productivity. Please pray that both I and the rest of the family are able to get back on both feet soon!

In this regard, let me give you an update on how things are going with writing my dissertation. In June I turned in a chapter of my thesis (treating Richard Hooker’s understanding of participation in Christ and the sacraments) that was favorably received by my doctoral supervisor, and I’m now onto the next chapter (on Hooker’s ecclesiology and political theology), a part of which I am scheduled to present next month at a conference in Baltimore. My hope is to get this next chapter, and hopefully another finished by the end of the calendar year. Doing so will take a considerable effort, but the result will be that the bulk of my argumentation will be completed, setting me up (potentially) to submit my thesis for defense some time in 2024.

At the same time that I am chipping away at my academic research, we have also been steadily following up on leads for future mission placements. So far, we have had serious conversations with representatives of three theological institutions – on multiple continents! – that are accepting missionaries to teach, and we are prayerfully continuing in dialogue with them and others that have begun entering our field of vision. It is still far too early to tell where the Lord will be sending us, but we are even now beginning to get excited by the sense that he has a place and a set of ministries for us beyond the horizon of our life studying and serving in Toronto. And we can’t wait to tell you more, even as we find out more ourselves. Stay tuned!

Along these lines, I am aware of how difficult it is to continue supporting missionaries who are back in North America on Educational Ministry Assignment, especially given the financial pressures that so many are finding themselves under. I want to thank you for your prayers and for your gifts, and for continuing to partner with us long-term in this ministry to which the Lord has called us. Indeed, as monthly giving from supporters to our ministry continues to drop, and we would ask you prayerfully to consider giving to our family’s ministry – in Canada, and wherever God next calls us to go. 

To sum all this up with our requests, please pray especially for:

  • Bodily health and financial provision

  • Fruitful study and writing

  • Effective ministry in Toronto

  • Good routines with the children

  • Discernment for next steps as missionaries

On this Labor Day, our family wishes you and yours a wonderful beginning to the Fall months, and we do ask you to keep us and our needs in your prayers. We look forward to sharing more about our life – and more about my progress in writing – in these months ahead!

Growing Together

We’re on the cusp of spring here in Toronto, and before the snow disappears and the buds turn into flowers, I want to take a moment and update all of you on how our family is doing, what we’re doing, and what our hopes are for this year that is already passing us by so quickly!

So, as to how we are doing, things are going well, despite the frigid weather, flu and colds, and everything that the winter winds have brought. I say “frigid weather,” but it’s actually been uncharacteristically warm, a fact which by itself has made a big difference for us compared to last year. Not only this, but whereas the “Omicron” wave that hit last winter led to the closure of nearly every child-friendly establishment – restaurants, museums, community centres … even our church, for a bit – this time around, we have been able to take fuller advantage of the opportunities to get the kids out of the confines of the college and explore. We are especially frequent visitors to the Royal Ontario Museum and to an EarlyON programme, as well local libraries and malls, a taste of which the kids’ grandparents ended up getting when they visited us during the Christmas and New Year holidays. We are of course still feeling a little cooped up and squirrelly, the boys more than any of us, although they have become quite mobile as they zip around the city on their red and blue scooters, and that can sometimes get the wiggles out of them. But spring will be a very welcome arrival for our family, and we look forward to getting out and about much more.

The winter has not affected our daughter Lily that much, as she’s still been somewhat confined to laps, floors, and the occasional stroller. But these constraints won’t hold her back much longer: as she nears her first birthday she has been bracing herself on objects (and people) to stand up, cruise around furniture, and ascend a staircase step or two, and it won’t be long before she is walking around like a big girl. Even before having mastered bipedal motion, her strong personality is coming out: she will not be bullied by her brothers or neglected by her parents – she is here and she will be attended! I say this somewhat in gest, since at the same time her strong will is also balanced out by the fact that she is still the chillest baby that I’ve ever run across: she is ordinarily quite happy to play by herself, to be passed back and forth between adults, or simply to sit calmly with us as we go about our business. She’s a happy, squeaky, hilarious joy, and we are so blessed to have her in the mix. Please pray for Lily and her brothers as they continue to grow up into the mature persons that God intends them to be.

Mary Beth is doing well and starting to keep very busy. She is now not only playing the organ for the Sunday morning service at a church on the other side of Toronto, but she has accepted a position on the Church Council for the small Anglican mission we have been attending as a family (and where she also accompanies worship about once a month). In addition to attending a small Bible study on Friday for spouses of Wycliffe students, she was also invited to participate in another, much larger Bible study at a nearby church. What’s more, Mary Beth is looking into taking organ lessons for the remainder of our time here in Toronto – after all, we’re living at a college that has its own organ available for practicing: now would be the time to take advantage of it! Please pray for Mary Beth as she continues to nurture her passions and talents and service in tangible ministries here in Toronto.

Alongside all of this, as Austin approaches preschool age Mary Beth and I have begun thinking through how we’re going to handle schooling for the boys. While we have nothing at all against traditional schools, we also recognize that, as missionaries with feet in multiple cultures, there is a high likelihood that we will be homeschooling our children when we return to the mission field. Mary Beth is excited to lead the charge here – she and her siblings were homeschooled through high school – and together we are trying first to work out our family’s philosophy of education and then to adopt and adapt a curriculum that will work for our needs. Please pray for Mary Beth and me as we make these momentous decisions regarding our children’s education. (Suggestions in this regard are welcome, although we’re also aware that opinions – and judgments – tend to be strong, so please be kind!) Even so, both Austin and James are counting, identifying letters, making up songs, and learning the days of the week, the colors of the rainbow, and more things than I can keep track of. All three are such very intelligent people, and I am already so proud of them.

For me on the academic side, I have been plugging away constantly at my dissertation (what they here call a thesis): working hard, but not as quickly as I might have hoped. I am still following the research plan that I proposed to my committee back in October, but as usual new things come to light and I have to see where they lead! For example, in the chapter I am currently working on, my study of Richard Hooker’s understanding of human participation in the life of God has led me not only to compare his work with that of the Lutheran theologian Martin Chemnitz (something I was expecting) but also with the writings of the Strasburg reformer Martin Bucer (definitely a big surprise to me!). I am happy with where the Lord is leading my research, although I wish it were leading me to write more quickly. I am still hoping (perhaps “wishing” would be a better word) to submit my dissertation by the end of the year, but I’m content with whatever plan God has in store for this project. Please pray for God’s grace for me as I write my dissertation.

In the meantime, the Lord in his good providence has given me other small projects to clear my head when I need a break. I was able to write a review of Brian Douglas’s new book, Sacramental Poetics in Richard Hooker and George Herbert, a review that I hope to be published sometime this year. I continue accompanying Wycliffe weekday Morning Prayer services on piano and weekly Eucharist services on guitar, as well as leading Evensong here about once a month. I’ve also continued assisting the Anglican mission our family is attending by attending weekly pastoral meetings and occasionally leading services, teaching, and preaching (most recently on Ash Wednesday). I’ve even become the resident church baker of (gluten-free) communion bread, a kind of regular pattern of preparation that is (in its own way) a kind of askēsis. Please pray for my ongoing priestly ministry, even though it is part-time and unpaid.

These rhythms of life, mine and those of my family’s, are set to continue here for the foreseeable future, and we are content with them, even as we look beyond the foreseeable to the future that God has for us after this time of school and preparation. Speaking for myself, I have been more focused on researching and writing my dissertation at this point than exploring missionary opportunities for the years to come; indeed, this has come from the global leaders with whom I have spoken that have counseled me: “First, make sure to get your thesis written!” I have to remind myself that, in a strange way, the primary ministry that God has given me right now is to complete this stage of my academic work, and while there are other prongs of ministry available to me now – and there will be more to come – bending my attention to the project at hand is an act of spiritual obedience, worship, and service. Please pray for my present ministry of academic scholarship, and for good discernment regarding our future ministry as part of God’s global mission.

With that said, our family is looking forward to some breaks in the summer. Not only are we planning on returning to camp in August, during which I will serve as camp speaker for the week, but it also appears that I have the opportunity to participate in an all-expenses-paid, two-week course learning how to read handwritten documents from the sixteenth century in Latin, German, and English. The program is run through the Wittenberg Center for Reformation Studies in Germany, and I am looking forward not only to mastering more of the craft of parsing old manuscripts, but also to rubbing shoulders with some of the great scholars of the period I myself am studying. While Mary Beth and the children will not be able to join me, they are planning on taking the time to visit with family in the United States – and really looking forward to it! 

Finally, I also want to mention how grateful we are for those of you who continue to support us financially in our ministry, and to emphasize again how much we are in need of further support. We are being hit right now with a kind of double-whammy: at the same time that inflation has been driving up the prices around us here in downtown Toronto, our monthly pledged support has continued to drop precipitously. I am concerned that if trends continue our family may soon need to take another substantial pay cut (we took a $2,000/month pay cut in March 2021) at precisely the time when our growing family is desperately in need of a pay increase! Please, prayerfully consider making a pledge, or increasing your gift, at this critical moment in our Home Educational Assignment with SAMS (USA) or IATW (Canada)!

But as the snow begins to fall again here at Wycliffe College, I do want to end with thanks: thank you for praying, thank you for giving, thank you for supporting our family as we seek to follow the path that God has put in front of us. It is a privilege to have you on as partners in this ministry … to be riding (as it were) with Team Alenskis. May God richly bless you. We’ll be in touch again soon!

All about Lily and Life

There is so much to share with you – and I’ve waited so long to write it all down – that I’m not entirely sure where to start. These last few months have been incredibly intense, full of so many things related to life and school and ministry, so let me start with the news that you have most wanted to hear about: our new daughter Lily Grace.

Our Easter Lily

Mary Beth’s third trimester was blessedly uneventful: unlike her pregnancies with Austin and with James, the doctors never even asked her to go on bed rest. In fact, we had a difficult time preparing mentally for the fact that a fifth member of our family was rapidly on her way! Of course, living in a new country in a small space with two very busy toddlers, we were looking ahead to how delivery was all going to go. We were very thankful to work out an arrangement with the College by which my parents could come and spend around two weeks with us in the Residences, beginning just before Mary Beth’s due date. This proved to be critical for what followed next: at around 6am on the morning following their arrival – on Austin’s third birthday, no less – we sent my parents a blunt message letting them know that Mary Beth’s water had broken and that she was going into labor. So they stayed with the still-sleeping boys while we checked her into the hospital.

Labor and delivery this time proved to be even faster than the previous two births. Mary Beth was almost entirely dilated when she first arrived at triage, and we had a close call getting her epidural in time. If I remember correctly, she ended up pushing for less than two minutes before we were graced with our daughter Lily: a healthy, beautiful baby with a decent set of lungs and a mind of her own. The two ladies were fortunate to get their own private room immediately following delivery, and this also proved important in what came next.

Shortly after delivering Lily, the anesthesiologist approached us and let us know that when receiving the epidural she had suffered a “dural puncture,” and that she might soon begin experiencing a splitting headache. This was an understatement. Within a few hours Mary Beth was in terrible pain any time she would sit up, let alone try to stand, and as the first night wore on she found the pain increasingly debilitating. The following day the anesthesiology team performed a “blood patch” to fix the puncture, and she spent another night in the hospital recovering. During all this time I was able to go home and see the boys, but they were missing her tremendously. Finally, the doctors allowed Mary Beth and Lily to go home, and we held the birthday party that we had been planning for Austin before his sister’s surprise arrival: Peruvian lomo saltado, (we even tracked down real ají amarillo!) a chocolate cake, presents and, of course, balloons (!!!).

Unfortunately, the blood patch did not hold much longer. After experiencing a coughing fit later that day, Mary Beth’s headaches returned, and she found it necessary to stay in bed for the rest of the week. Throughout this entire time it was critical that my parents were here with us: their help managing the house and taking care of the boys allowed me to give her the care that she needed, and she was able to take care of Lily. Although our digital forays “doom scrolling” about post-dural puncture headaches warned us that the condition could potentially last up to a few months, we were thankful that God answered our prayers, and Mary Beth’s began to go away after about one week following Lily’s birth.

Since then, Lily has been progressing really well! Now over two months old, she is smiling and cooing, and doing all the things that babies need to do to grow up big and strong. Her brothers are obsessed with her, especially Austin, and they love to spend their downtime with their faces close to hers (whether she likes it or not!). James especially, I think, has been missing the degree of attention he used to receive as the youngest (and most snuggliest) of our children, but we’re grateful that he has not associated these changes with Lily herself.

Although some bureaucratic hoops remain for us to jump through on Lily’s behalf – right now she has her American passport, but not yet her Canadian – we are expecting that she will be all set to travel to the United States in September when we are scheduled to be at the New Wineskins Conference on global mission. Not only will she get to meet her other grandparents, but we hope she might meet some of you as well! All this is to say, thank you for your prayers for Mary Beth, for Lily, and for our family in this exciting new stage of life! 

Progress in Doctoral Studies

Mary Beth mentioned in her last update that the Winter and Summer terms at Wycliffe College was going to be an intense one … and things absolutely lived up to these expectations. I spent the vast majority of my time over the last few months – whether snowed in at the College or looking longingly at the late-spring lilacs outside our apartment – preparing for the “comprehensive examinations” that were to determine whether I could proceed in the PhD program here or not.

According to the Toronto School of Theology’s handbook, these two written exams – together with an oral defense of the written exams – must be completed within a single 30-day period, and can only be undertaken after all other coursework, languages, and a thesis prospectus have been completed. Their purpose is not only to put to the test my mastery of the fields related to my research topic, but also to evaluate the student’s ability to design and teach courses in these fields. As a result, I was asked to come up with reading lists for two hypothetical graduate seminars of between 2,000 and 3,000 pages each, then to suggest examination questions that I might assign to a hypothetical class, and finally to answer those questions myself during the actual written exam. The oral exam follows the written exams, and is designed to show how I might field questions from future students in an actual class setting.

As of this past week, I am now finished with all of this! My “specialist” reading list was geared toward an (expansive) imaginary course, English Theology from 1500–1600. The exam, which was open-book and take-home, began the morning of May 17 and ended twenty-four exhausted hours later. My “cognate” reading list focused on Sacramental Theology from 1350–1600, and I took this exam two weeks after the first. Having successfully passed both written exams, I gave my oral defense this past Tuesday, which means I can move on to writing my dissertation!

I know this is a lot of detail, but I hope it explains why we have been slow to post updates on our family’s life and ministry right now. Because Lily’s due date was in mid-April, mere weeks before my first exam was scheduled to start, and because both Austin and James were born early, I knew I had to knuckle down and do the reading for my “comps” before her arrival. This necessitated a demanding schedule to finish going through the readings before April, as well as a dedicated time of collating and organizing my notes and thoughts in the weeks following Lily’s birth. I haven’t had time to think about much outside of family and exams since the beginning of the year.

That said, I also share all this because the purpose of these exams – to think through how to work out the details of a college course – is genuinely important for my future ministry. Wherever the Lord places us after we have concluded this season of education and preparation, I suspect I will be designing courses, choosing content, weighing progress, and evaluating performance. Even though these exams aren’t exactly a replacement for actual teaching experience, they are an important way to certify to the university that I can put together the academic heft of the kind of high-level course in theology I hope to be teaching soon.

The only remaining requirement for my PhD program will be to write an 80,000-word dissertation on the theology of Richard Hooker … not exactly a small task! The first step is to put together a formal “thesis proposal” that will outline the dissertation’s context, methodology, structure, and relevance. My intention is to have this proposal defended and accepted, and to move on to actual thesis-writing by this upcoming September. My soon-to-be-fully-retired doctoral supervisor’s goal is for me to submit the thesis for examination just one year later – by September 2023 (!!!) – which means that this will be another intense year of study, writing, and editing. Please be praying regularly for me in the months ahead as I knuckle down and (basically) write my first scholarly book.

All this is to say, thank you so much for your prayers for me, and for your support for our family. I would not be moving along if not for your partnership in our ministry – past, present, and future.

Ministry: Present and Future

Speaking of ministry, let me share a little about how God has enabled us to be serving over the last few months, and what we are looking forward to in the months ahead.

As Mary Beth mentioned in our last mission update, I was licensed to serve at our local Anglican parish, and since February I have been attending weekly pastoral meetings, as well as preaching and leading services when invited. It has been wonderful to have the opportunity again to open God’s word for his people – it sometimes feels like “old times” in Belize! – and to administer his sacraments.

For me, the high point of ministry this year so far took place in March: it was my privilege to baptize five adult Iranians who had converted to Christ before emigrating in order to find refuge abroad – first in Europe and now in Canada. For security concerns, I can’t post any pictures of that day, but the testimonies they shared before going into the (frigid) water blew me away: I found it incredibly humbling to baptize those who had already suffered reproach and loss for the name of Jesus. What I can share with you is the picture (above) of Lily’s baptism this past Pentecost Sunday: it was held in the beautiful chapel at Wycliffe College, and we were so blessed by all the people who came to welcome her into the people of God and support her in her new life in Christ.

We are also looking forward to an intriguing ministry opportunity next month. I have volunteered to take a week and help the deacon of our church to lead a “family camp” some two hours north of Toronto. Our whole family is planning on coming: while the boys will be with the other children doing fun outdoorsy things, Mary Beth and I will be with the adults, where in addition to celebrating a communion service I’ll be serving as a kind of “M.C.” for the week, and where together we’ll be assisting with music. We’re really looking forward to making an impact on these families’ lives, as well as to getting out of the city for a few days.

Our church is between rectors (senior pastors) at the moment, and although things have been going well during the interim, we invite you to pray with us that God will send us just the right person to lead this urban church plant focused on ministry to international students.

Further out on the horizon, our family is at that point in our present “Educational Ministry Assignment” when we probably need to be discerning actively where the Lord is calling our family next. We are only just beginning this process, but we are hoping to make significant progress in the next couple of months leading up to the New Wineskins Conference in September. Because dozens of Anglican leaders involved in theological education and ministry development around the world will be there, we are hoping to schedule as many fruitful meetings with them in advance of New Wineskins as possible. Please be praying for the Lord’s perfect leading in his perfect timing.

Canadian Donations

Before I close out this update I should also give you an update about our application to join the ranks of Into All the World (IATW) a Canadian missionary society that has partnered with SAMS-USA to receive and process tax-deductible Canadian donations to our ministry. We’re pleased to report that our application was accepted, and IATW has already begun receiving Canadian gifts on our behalf. If you are Canadian (or living in Canada) and are interested in partnering with us in ministry through giving, please make sure to check out IATW’s giving page (in “Step 1” make sure to look for and select “David and Mary Beth Alenskis - SAMS”) and make a gift today!

And, I should add, we are certainly in serious need of financial support for our present and future ministry – including the rising cost of life and tuition – and we would be deeply grateful for any one-time, ongoing, or increased gifts to our missionary accounts. As prices go up around us, we would ask you to prayerfully consider partnering financially with our family in ministry. Please let us know if you have any questions about how to make that happen!

There is probably more to tell, but that’s going to have to be it for this month’s update. Thank you again for your ongoing support for our little family, and please keep us in your prayers in the months ahead as we continue on the missionary path that God has set before us!

Baby On Board

This is quite the meaty update from all of us at Team Alenskis … honestly, we’ve got a lot to share with you. So, let me start out with some great news from our family, before tackling a number of other really important matters having to do with life and ministry here in Toronto.

Baby Announcement

First things first, Lord willing our family of four will soon be expanding to five. That’s right, Mary Beth is pregnant with our third child, expected next April! We are very excited, even with all our apprehensions and questions about the future. Things have been going very well so far: the first trimester had been tiring, but there have been no complications and the second trimester is starting off a bit better. Mary Beth is very happy with her OBGYN and the hospital here, and the health insurance we have in Canada will cover the entirety of the pregnancy and delivery. We’re not sure how exactly people manage three children at a time – isn’t being outnumbered a thing??? – but we figure others have pulled it off successfully, and we’re determined to do the same.

Speaking of the other children, we are not sure how soon the boys will understand what will be happening to their band of brothers. Mary Beth isn’t showing yet, but we have begun to pray for the baby in mommy’s belly, and I suspect that Austin will begin intuiting more about his youngest sibling before long. We’re expecting a terrible shock for James when he is ousted as the baby of the family, but he’s a resilient soul and with a little help from his brother (and his mommy and daddy) we suspect he’ll be just fine soon after his newest companion is born.

In short, please keep Mary Beth and the baby, and our whole family in your prayers as we approach this new horizon in life!

Life and Ministry in Toronto

The weather in Toronto is cooling off significantly these days, and we are enjoying taking walks around the city as the leaves fall and a crisp bite settles into the air. Mary Beth and the boys have explored a good chunk of the playgrounds within a mile or so of the college, and we are trying to take advantage of all the days when they can play outside without their mama worrying too much about how cold they’re getting. We’ve discovered a few gluten-free joints at which to get some treats – a bakery, a chicken ’n’ waffles fryer, and a gelateria, to name a few – and very occasionally we will indulge one of our cravings. There are of course so many more places to explore … but then again, we have a few more years to discover them all!

One of the best parts about our move to Toronto has been the relationships we have already been able to form since arriving. Wycliffe College truly has an amazing community of faculty, staff, and students, and we consider ourselves blessed to be meeting so many new people so quickly. Many of our first friendships have been formed among the other residents at the college who come from all over the world, and beyond getting together for meals or casual conversations, most of us gather each day in the chapel for Morning Prayer (and I was honored to lead the service this past Friday!). It’s the kind of thing you don’t miss until you experience it all over again, and you realize it was missing all along. Additionally, Mary Beth has been meeting other spouses of students and moms with toddlers who are connected to the college, going to Bible studies, play dates, and other informal get-togethers. Although the ongoing weight of the pandemic still can mute these times of fellowship – inside encounters are masked, and other precautions still have to be taken – we are still able to be more social than we have been for years, and it has been nourishing for our spirits.

We have also continued to integrate ourselves more and more within our new church family, Christ the King, and we hope to be able to serve more and more as time goes on. We are slowly meeting people and connecting faces with names, and Mary Beth is a part of the rotation of accompanists for Sunday worship. Some big changes however are in store for the congregation. The church’s curate – ordained to the diaconate just a few months ago – has been reassigned to a church in Windsor (across the border from Detroit). On top of this, the rector recently announced that he will be leaving in December to begin a PhD program in New Testament at the University of Durham: while we are very excited for him and his family (we like them a lot!), they have been with the church now for six years, and it will be difficult for everyone to say goodbye. As the parish searches for a new rector, the interim period will be led by a retired Wycliffe professor, assisted by the church’s remaining deacon. As you can imagine, I also am hoping to chip in at Christ the King in any way I can, and to this end I sat down with the local archdeacon this past week to see about being licensed by the bishop to preach and administer the sacraments in the greater Toronto area. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes, and please keep our church’s transitions in your prayers!

Finances

As I was hinting at above, our baby news is not without its anxieties for our family’s future, particularly with respect to finances. To be honest, we are feeling quite squeezed from two different directions.

On the one hand, life for a family in downtown Toronto is unavoidably expensive, both in relation to the U.S., as well as to suburban and rural Canada. We thank God for student housing (what a gift!), but our regular household expenses (food and other essentials) are still trending measurably higher than what we had been hoping for. There are still discount grocery stores to explore nearby, and this past month has required that we make fewer large purchases, but we are nevertheless coming to grips with the reality that – even apart from tuition – our basic necessities may end up exceeding our family’s income on our current (decreased) SAMS salary.

On the other hand, though, gifts by pledged donors to our missionary account with SAMS continue to trend lower and lower, reducing the likelihood that we will be able to recover part of the salary that we gave up in March. Much of this is inevitable given everything that is happening in the world: for example, churches have closed during the pandemic, and others that have remained open are experiencing budget crunches themselves – and in many cases individual donors have hard go of it as well. Although in other circumstance this might mean taking time to raise support, given our present commitment to my doctoral studies we are unable to travel at this time. However, we are so grateful for those who have made a recent commitment to give sacrificially to our ministry, or to increase their regular gift.

And we are doing other things to make ends meet. Beginning this month, our family is no longer on SAMS’s health insurance: Ontario’s international student health care program is not only cheaper than U.S. insurance, but it’s also mandatory for us – so that will help our missionary account somewhat. And we are praying that God will bring opportunities for service as we gradually become more accustomed to life in this big city environment.

But the bottom line is this: we are in desperate need for new partners for our ministry as SAMS missionaries, a ministry that is still ongoing during this time of Educational Ministry Assignment. We urge you to pray and ask the Lord if he is calling you to go beyond simply praying for us, to take the step of making a financial commitment to the mission he has given our family: making disciples who will make more disciples, and training leaders who will train future leaders. Will you partner with us today?

Doctoral Studies

Finally, I should let you know how my studies are going, shouldn’t I? The short answer is that I think they are going well. The longer answer is … well, a little longer. I am currently taking two courses for credit this term, one centered on how to teach (pedagogy) and the other on how to think theologically (methodology). They have both been interesting and stretching, each in its own way. The more unusual, and more engaging aspects of this Fall term have had to do with what has been happening academically outside of these courses.

In early September, my advisor invited me to serve as a part-time Teaching Assistant for his Introduction to Anglican Theology course, with a section being run online for clergy in the Anglican Diocese of Singapore, as well as the customary section for Wycliffe students proper. Not only has this given me an opportunity to get an early window into the world of a university instructor, with a little experience in managing online content delivery, but it has allowed me to meet amazing Anglican leaders on the front line of mission in Southeast Asia. Additionally, a couple of weeks ago the professor had to be out of town at the last minute, and I was given the opportunity a to teach one of the class sessions for the section being taught at Wycliffe, a chance few second-year doctoral students get around here (also, I think it went really well!).

On top of all this, I am continuing the work needed to outline a dissertation topic. At this stage, this means putting together a short “prospectus” by the end of 2021 that will sketch out the broad contours of what my doctoral thesis will involve. This in turn informs the various general and comprehensive exams that I will be taking in the first half of 2022 – the last task before submitting a formal dissertation proposal. There is so much to do, so much to read, so much to write: all to be finished while I am focused on my other courses and obligations at the college. It is a lot, and I ask you to please keep me and my academic work in your prayers.

Well, that’s all I have for now. Thank you for keeping us with us, for holding us up in prayer, and for supporting us in so many ways. May the Lord richly bless you all!

From the Heart

Heartfelt greetings to you all from the heartland of the United States! Our family is doing well, and we pray yours is as well. It’s time for an update on our stay in Indiana as it comes to a close, and a preview of what our ministry, study and life will be like in Canada in a very short time.

Time has flown since the end of the semester. The University of Toronto’s “Winter Term” wrapped up for me in mid-April, and I am pleased to report that I did very well in my coursework. That said, it has taken me almost all of the last two months to feel like life has returned to normal after the stress of final papers and exams. And it has been time well spent: I have been able to help Mary Beth a lot more with the boys, with yard and house work, and with the beginning stages of unpacking and then repacking those of our belongings from Belize that arrived here in March. Although I have also begun work on a thesis prospectus – something I will need to submit to my committee around year’s end – and although I will be working on reading academic German theology, these things have not been the focus of our lives right now. Instead, many of our family’s conversations have revolved around how God will be leading us in ministry moving forward, and what shapes that ministry might eventually take: whether in Toronto, or whether on the mission field once again.

With respect to our move to Toronto, we have good news to report. As of this week, we have signed an agreement with student housing at Wycliffe College and come August our family will be living in a two-bedroom apartment on campus. This is a tremendous answer to prayer: not only is it the least expensive of the housing options we have explored in downtown Toronto, but it will put us solidly in the heart of community life at Wycliffe, something that we have been looking forward to since accepting the College’s offer in April of last year. After such a long period of isolation and distancing and uncertainty, knowing that we will be surrounded by a worshiping and studying community of believers is truly energizing. Given how scarce student family housing is at the University of Toronto, and at Wycliffe especially, we give thanks to God for this opportunity, and to you for praying so faithfully for our family’s wellbeing. The Lord is good!

This all means that we are also having to figure out how to make our move to Toronto happen by August. The largest pieces of that puzzle involve what COVID-19 travel restrictions will be in force on the border at that time. As a number of journalists have recently noted (for example, here and here), following their country’s huge spring surge in cases, hospitalizations and deaths, Canada’s border with the United States (the longest in the world) is still closed to most travelers, and those who are allowed across are required to quarantine for fourteen days. Although I now have my Canadian Study Permit – and therefore we qualify to cross the border – unless Canada relaxes some of its requirements we will have to quarantine for those two weeks. This introduces a whole host of hurdles to settling in our new digs: not only will it be rough quarantining for fourteen days with a two-year-old who practically lives outdoors, but the restrictions suggest we may not be able to return a rental truck, forcing us to ship our belongings (again) rather than bring them up with us ourselves. For these reasons, please pray that the border opens to families like ours such that we won’t have to quarantine long upon arrival, or at least that we can figure out the how of quarantine with little extra cost to our bank account or to our collective sanity.

The boys are doing really well. James is scooting, sitting, climbing, standing, balancing, and trying his absolute best to get everyone’s attention all the time. He’s begun competing with his brother for toys and things to munch on, but in general he adores Austin and loves (most) of every minute of attention that he gets from him. And we should mention that on the Great Day of Pentecost James was baptized into Christ, surrounded by family and friends at the church we have been attending in person since last month. We are still so blessed with this newest addition to our family!

Austin is still an avid reader, and he’s been signed up at the local public library to receive a prize every time he reads a hundred books … a feat that takes him only a handful of days before he’s on to the next set. After months of relative isolation Austin has also really been enjoying being back in contact with other children. Some of this contact is at playgrounds and public parks, but a large dose of it is with the other children at church. We are so grateful for his steady transformation from infant to child, and a day without hearing his (surprisingly intelligible) babble is unimaginable.

We are still connecting with our new church in Toronto as much as we can before arriving. Although since May we have not been able to join their Zoom worship like we had been doing, we are now privileged to form part of one of their online small groups, and we are enjoying the new connections and partners in prayer. Mary Beth has agreed to be one of the many musicians accompanying worship when we arrive in Toronto, and I have been asked to collaborate on refining the church’s website. We are very curious to see what doors for service the Lord will open through this vibrant community of believers, especially since their weekly worship will be taking place on Sunday afternoons at the Wycliffe College chapel … just a stone’s throw from our new apartment.

Finances at this time are rather tight, as our regular readers can imagine. Just as I predicted in my February update, in March we had to accept a 40% reduction in our salaries, and while we have been able to make this new budget work in rural Indiana, it will be much harder in Toronto, since our monthly rent will have gone up by about 50%. Still, we are deeply grateful for all of your financial contributions to our family’s ministry through SAMS: despite the deficits, your gifts are making this transition to a new kind of mission possible, and we thank all who have made ongoing or one-time donations to our missionary account.

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As we look to the future, beyond the next three or four years of ongoing education and preparation, we ask you again to join with us in praying for God’s leading even now. We are seeking to make connections with dioceses, seminaries and churches with whom together we could serve our Lord Jesus Christ in raising up new disciples and new leaders. And if he thus leads you, we ask you prayerfully to answer his call and commit to partnering with us financially even now in preparation for what he has envisioned for us next.

So, from all us at Team Alenskis, we pray that the Lord will bless, keep and preserve you … and we thank you for doing the same on our behalf. Have a wonderful rest of your summer!

Ten Years a Missionary

Writing to you from the frozen north of the United States is such a remarkably different experience compared to where we were posting from this same time last year. I was up early this morning shoveling our walkway of the six-to-eight inches of snow that had accumulated overnight, and pondering what I had heard of the weather in Belize last week—which I have on good authority was in the low 90s. But here we are in Indiana, surrounded by the white fluffy stuff and the withering winds because we believe that the Lord is calling us onward to new ministry endeavors and a new missionary vocation, and as I sit down in this week to start squeezing out some papers on Denys the Areopagite, John of Damascus and Hans Urs von Balthasar, it is that thought that is keeping me going. That, and another cup of coffee to spark some nimble inspiration into these fingers.

In this update I want to focus on three things: 1) how my studies are going, 2) how our family is doing, and 3) how our financial situation is evolving. We feel that you, our supporters deserve a thorough briefing on all these things, to assist you in your prayers, to help you feel connected to our little family, and to guide you as you prayerfully join us in this ministry and vocation to which the Lord is even now still calling us.

1. Doctoral Studies

I am very pleased to report that I survived the first semester of my doctoral coursework in theology at the University of Toronto! (I say University of Toronto because although I am a student at Wycliffe College, the academic side of things is managed through the broader University, and consequently I have been taking classes at a number of other colleges within the Toronto School of Theology.) The classes have been harder than I was hoping, though not more difficult than I could have reasonably expected, and I am grateful for the opportunity to reintroduce myself to academia before having to write a dissertation, which is what would have been expected of me if I had accepted an offer from a university in the United Kingdom.

I’ll admit: it has been difficult getting back in the swing of academic work, particularly when it came to picking up again the habit of focused writing. Since graduating in 2009 with my MDiv, I would sometimes write out sermons (although with less and less frequency), and I wrote small pieces that ended up online in blog posts or church newsletters. I had kept up on my theological reading, and even bettered my skill in the biblical languages, but this past spring was the first time in over a decade that I have had to write essays of the caliber and length that would satisfy the expectations of a graduate program in theology. Moreover, when lack of practice was not holding me back, anxiety would step in and keep me from getting very far. But with the help of God’s grace, I was able to get my essays finished and polished before the close of the Fall term, and I was very pleased with the grades that I received in all my classes. To God alone be the glory!

Some of you might be interested in what courses I have been taking (if not, skip ahead to the next paragraph!). Last term, in addition to a standard class on research and scholarship that all incoming doctoral students had to take, I was privileged to take a seminar with W. David Neelands on the English reformer Richard Hooker, whose writings will most likely figure very prominently in my dissertation. The class I enjoyed the most however was a seminar on “theodicy” in early modern theology, led by my adviser Ephraim Radner. It may have been a little off-topic with respect to my long-term research interests (Christology, anthropology and cosmology during the “Long Reformation”), but I found it not only intellectually stimulating but personally challenging as we thought through the history of Christian responses to evil and suffering. During the Winter term I am currently juggling three rather demanding courses, all of which are led by experts in their fields: a class on Hans Urs von Balthasar led by Sr. Gill Goulding, a seminar on the sacraments taught by Joseph Mangina, and another taught by Robert Sweetman entitled “Rhetoric as ‘Philosophy’ from Isocrates to the Age of Abelard and Heloise” (the name’s a mouthful, and the workload is certainly a handful).

This should leave me with just two more courses to take in the summer and/or fall terms of this year. Since (as of last month) I have completed my language requirements (French and Latin), the projected schedule of my doctoral work should be:

  • Complete the rest of my coursework by December 2021;

  • Have my prospectus accepted by the end of February 2022;

  • Complete my comprehensive examinations by August 2022;

  • Have my dissertation proposal accepted sometime during the Fall of 2022.

This would keep me on track to defend and complete my dissertation (Lord willing) by Spring of 2024. During this dissertation phase of my doctoral program, I will also be expected to serve as a Teaching or Research Assistant for the experience it will afford.

So this is where I am at with my studies. Although I am just beginning a very long process, it is going well, and I would ask you to keep me in your prayers. Please pray that I am able to focus and perform well in the classes I am taking now, and that the Lord would prepare the way for the new academic challenges that will begin by the end of this calendar year!

2. Our Family

Mary Beth and the boys (or, as she likes to spell it, the “boyz”) are doing well! After eight months of living with family—first her parents, and then mine—we were able to find a small, furnished two-bedroom place in my Indiana hometown to rent until we are able to relocate to Toronto … Lord willing this coming summer. (My Study Permit was approved, but it was approved too late for us to move up there right now.) We love our little house, and although our living expenses are going up, we are so grateful to be able to have a place of our own to be together as a family.

James is getting so big! At five months already, he is incredibly smiley (if also a bit clingy), strong and active, and he is much more of a lover of music than Austin ever was. The doctors are very happy with his progress, and we could not be happier having him now as part of the family … indeed, life without James seems unimaginable. He absolutely loves Austin, and he’s desperate for any amount of playtime that Austin can give him. Austin is happy to return the favor, and loves making James smile, although we are still working a bit on the whole “sharing” thing, of course.

Austin is now a full-blown toddler: he often talks in whole phrases, and he’s curious about everything, wants to help with everything, and wants to push the boundaries on everything. We love it … and we love him so much! His favorite things in the world right now are trucks, airplanes, balls, but far and away above everything else: sticks. He’s intrigued by snow, but he doesn’t love to be out in it, which is okay with us since we don’t love to be out in it as well. He’s learning to pray, which is hard because even adults find it difficult to focus during prayer, but he is starting to love the songs we do during prayer time, and he’ll cut his prayers short to try and go straight to the songs. And he adores any time that he can see his grandparents, whom we still get to see a couple of times a week now. In short, this kid is great, and we are so blessed that God has entrusted him to our care.

One of the big things that has happened for our family since we last wrote an update is that our plan to return to Belize in the summer to pack out has had to change (again!). St. Andrew’s let us know in January that certain financial pressures due to the pandemic were requiring them to rent out the Rectory, and the decision was made to have them ship our belongings to us—without our going back for them. Initially we were hoping to sell many of our possessions, but it appears that most of them will actually be put in a container and shipped across the Caribbean to Miami, where they will be delivered to our house in Indiana.

Because my going would have been impossible due to the demands of my studies, and traveling with children during a pandemic has been unadvisable for Mary Beth, her mother went down to San Ignacio in our place for a couple of days last week to help organize things and carry our most delicate possessions back with her, and it appears that this week the container with our things will be packed up and sent on its way. In all honesty I can say that we have seen God’s hand move in amazing ways not only to allow her to go down on our behalf, but also to see how God used her during that time in Belize to touch people’s lives, even if briefly. Indeed, this whole season has been a testament to our family that God is able to arrange the details better than we ever could, and to take care of things that we could not even have anticipated. We are getting a whole new lesson in how to trust God regardless of what circumstances might suggest, a painful lesson to relearn again and again but one that forms the backbone of the missionary vocation to which he has called us.

Still, this has been unbelievably difficult for us: we have been desperate to be back in Belize to close out our time with our people there on a better note, to say goodbye in the best way possible, as we we gradually packed up the Rectory and made our way to this next location. We first thought it would be last summer that we would have packed up, and then we were looking toward this coming summer. Now however it is unlikely that we will be back in Belize for a long time, perhaps not until after my doctoral studies have come to an end. This fact has been heartbreaking for me and Mary Beth, and we ask you to join us in praying for our friends and parishioners, our churches and schools back in Belize, as they move on as well without us, with new initiatives, new vision and new leadership. We genuinely believe that God has got them in his hands, and we are trusting that he has our little family in those same hands as well.

3. Our Financial Situation

Predictably this move is not going to be inexpensive: we are forecasting that all told the moving expenses will be around $7,000 (USD) after everything is said and done, and it looks like we will be selling fewer and fewer items in Belize to cover those expenses. If it can be sold at full value the Nissan pickup truck that I purchased in 2014 should cover these costs, but we are not sure how long it will take it to sell at that price. Please pray that we are able to sell the truck for its full value—and that very soon—along with the other belongings that are being left behind for sale.

I write this at the same time that our missionary support has reached new lows. I’ll get right to the point: there is now a $3,300 gap each month between pledged/regular gifts to our ministry and the ministry’s bare-minimum expenses (salary, health insurance, taxes, and pension). The issue is not whether Mary Beth and I will need to take a pay cut, but how much of a pay cut we will each need to take, and we will be having precisely that conversation with our leadership at SAMS over the next couple of weeks. We still need to work the numbers, but we anticipate the need for a decrease of 30–40% in our salaries.

This is not entirely unexpected—we always knew that there would be some drop in our support as we prioritized this new stage of training for future missionary service over how we had until recently been serving in Belize—and of course the effects of COVID-19 have amplified the likelihood that we would see a drop. But now that we have come into 2021, it is time to take stock realistically of the resources that the Lord is entrusting to us and work out how best to use them for his glory and for his kingdom.

As we enter this new season of diminished resources and heightened demands, we are so grateful for each one of you who has been dedicated to supporting us in our ministry. Whether you have been “on the team” since I first went out as a full-time SAMS missionary ten years ago next month (!!!), or whether you have only recently signed up to be a part of how God is calling us in this next stage of international service, you are a tremendous instrument of his blessing to me and to Mary Beth, and to our “boyz.”

I should also add that if the Lord is leading you to make a gift to our ongoing ministry as missionaries-in-transition, I cannot think of a better time to do so. Not only are we looking for new partners who would be willing to make a regular gift to our ministry, we would be so grateful for any one-time gifts. Even a single gift can help provide our missionary account with a little financial margin so that, as we move ahead with adjusted salaries, we will not need to readjust them a second time in the near future.

So from all of us here at Team Alenskis, whether you are trapped in the snow or sweating in the tropics, we love you and we wish you all the best. Please keep us in your prayers! (And a blessed Lent to you as well!)

New Horizons

Dear friends, family and supporters,

Greetings from the Midwest of the United States! Our second son, James, was born this week, and as parents of two wonderful boys we could not be happier! Mary Beth’s pregnancy made it to a whopping 39 weeks, at which point her doctor recommended an induction, and for good reason: he was so big! Both mother and child are doing well, trying to rest, and get this new phase of life off to a great start.

While James’s arrival is bringing about so much change in our own family’s life at the moment, we should also add that he was born at the precise moment that our ministry as missionaries is undergoing an enormous shift. I’ll explain below, but first I encourage you to watch this little video that we put together (with the help of SAMS-USA President and Mission Director Stewart Wicker) that will explain what the next few months and years will likely hold for us in ministry:

In brief, Mary Beth and I have been sensing for some time that the Lord may be calling us to a ministry that is more focused on theological education and leadership development in the context of the Majority World, and not only on pastoral ministry in a parish setting. There is a tremendous need around the world for this targeted kind of ministry, one we often experienced in Belize (a country that currently has no formal seminary for training clergy for any denomination), and one that is often repeated when we speak with other missionaries and leaders in the Majority World. Having consulted with theological educators from around the Anglican Communion—from Myanmar to Chile, from Kenya to Mexico, from Indonesia to Egypt—the answer to the question, “What should our next steps be?” was clear: if I wish to train others to become leaders in the church, I should pursue a higher level of expertise in the things of God, a path that would take me to a research doctoral degree in theology, i.e. a PhD.

So, with the support of SAMS and the bishops to whom we are accountable, we began a process of formal enquiries and grueling applications (GRE included!) that have led us to Wycliffe College, an orthodox, evangelical Anglican theological college affiliated with the University of Toronto, currently ranked in the top twenty universities globally for the study of theology and religion. In the end, I accepted Wycliffe’s offer to join their PhD program as a full-time student with an emphasis in Historical Theology, a discipline that straddles both Church History and Systematic Theology. My courses and research over the next 4–6 years will supervised by the Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, himself a former missionary, and one of the world’s leading Anglican experts on the Reformation, pneumatology, ecclesiology, and the history of biblical interpretation. I am very blessed and excited to be working with him, and with many of the other members of faculty at Wycliffe College and more broadly with the Toronto School of Theology.

Just to be clear: Mary Beth, our sons and I are still missionaries with SAMS, and we plan to be for many years! We are not leaving ministry at all, but we are beginning a season of what SAMS calls an “Educational Ministry Assignment,” a time of preparation for another kind of future ministry wherever in the world the Lord may call us. This means that we will soon be leaving our pastoral ministry in Belize to others, clearing the way for God to do new and amazing things through the people with whom we have been laboring, into whose lives we have been pouring ourselves. We are very torn up about leaving … it has been driving us crazy to think that we will be leaving a people and a place that mean so much to us, but we believe that this is where the Lord is leading, and where he leads we will follow.

At this time, there is much that we need from you as supporters of our ministry. First, please pray for us during this time of transition. There are so many things going on right now: because of COVID-19 we have not been able to cross the border into Canada, nor have we been able to return to Belize to pack up and say goodbye. We will need to be able to do both things as soon as possible, so please pray that the Lord makes a way for that to happen. I have begun the fall term online, which is not an ideal way to pursue graduate studies, but even the possibility of this approach would have been inconceivable just a few years ago. Please pray that my studies go well, that we can say goodbye to our home in Belize, and that we find a new home in Toronto very, very soon. And please pray for our churches and schools, lay leaders and Bishop in Belize as together they all grapple with this transition as well.

Second, since we are continuing as full-time SAMS missionaries and plan on going back on the mission field as soon as I finish this program, we are urging you to continue giving to our ministry, or to begin giving as the Lord would lead you. With these new horizons in view, our budget is only increasing. In addition to the tremendous deductible we will likely have to cover because of Mary Beth’s labor and delivery, we are also looking at moving to downtown Toronto as a family of four, and we project that expenses will be far above what they were for us in Belize. And although both Wycliffe and SAMS have both been very generous in their willingness to offer me some scholarship funds towards Wycliffe’s annual school tuition and fees, our family will still be covering well over half of these educational expenses out of our own pocket. Even if our missionary account won’t cover the international tuition rates for Wycliffe (and we don’t expect it to), your one-time and regular gifts will help us retain our salaries and make it possible for us to rent a modest apartment, feed our family, and raise our children without compromising either our dedication to this season of preparation or our determination to return to the mission field once we are prepared. To sum up: we desperately need your financial support, and we ask that you begin, continue, or increase your giving to our ministry as the Lord leads you.

And because we believe that the Lord has led us to this point in ministry by using precisely your gestures of support as his sacred instruments for sustaining our efforts and holding us accountable to his purpose, we want to thank you again for everything that you have already done. We would like to be able to thank you more personally, and to share our plans with you in greater depth than this post (or video) could possibly manage. Please contact us, and let us know if we can chat on the phone (or Zoom, or any number of other platforms). If you’re lucky, James might even be awake and showing his cuteness for the camera! And stay tuned for changes on this website: we will be updating our context very soon, although with everything going on (I know, I know, COVID-19 can become such an excuse!) it may be a few days or weeks before it’s all sorted out. But be ready for these new horizons to begin to appear in your view as well as ours.

May the Lord richly bless you all. We will be in touch again soon!

The last time we were in Toronto was four years ago for missionary training. Who could have guessed we would be back for so much longer?

Unexpected Ministry

It’s high time you got another life-and-ministry update from our family: so much has been happening in these days of πανδημία and panic. We have been healthy and working hard to minister the Gospel despite some real obstacles in the short term, and we believe that we have many good things to share with you—apart from the fact that the baby we are expecting in September is a boy!

You may recall from my last update in March that Mary Beth and I had made the heart-wrenching decision to evacuate from Belize when we received word that all borders and airports would be closing. The material reason for our departure was that Mary Beth is pregnant with our second child, and we wanted to ensure that given the very real possibility of an overwhelmed health care system that she could still receive the prenatal care in case of an emergency. Our departure was sudden in the extreme: we made the decision late in the night on Friday, March 20 and began travel early the next day. Those days and decisions felt traumatic to us at the time, although nothing compared to what COVID-19 patients, health professionals and other front-line workers have been going through over these past weeks.

In retrospect, we still believe that evacuation was the best decision. Soon after we left Belize, the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed and the country leaped to contain the outbreak, rapidly progressing to a full country-wide lockdown that began Easter weekend. We were right to be concerned about access to routine and emergency medical care for this new pregnancy: the clinic where Austin was born ended up closing, and Mary Beth’s OBGYN is not seeing patients with the exception of deliveries. Indeed, early on travel was prohibited within and between the Cayo District (where we live) and other regions, because one of the initial cluster of COVID-19 cases emerged in our town of San Ignacio. This meant that we may not have had access to the private clinics in Belize City either, but would have to pass through a public health system that—if those in Belize who have had COVID-19 are to be believed—has often been more like a labyrinth than a haven.

These measures have taken an incredible toll on the families in our town and the surrounding villages, and parishioners at both of our churches have been heavily affected. In addition, with the authorities’ attention focused elsewhere the burning of fields for farming—traditional this time of year—got out of hand throughout Belize, and especially in our agriculturally-oriented community. For weeks the air was hazy with extremely high levels of smoke; in fact, this posed a much greater respiratory danger to our fellow Belizeans than the novel coronavirus ever did.

But the news from Belize has been getting better and better. The Ministry of Health launched a herculean effort to get contact tracing and mapping off the ground, and although not everyone who wanted to was tested, thousands of tests were administered, the vast majority of which were negative. In the end, only eighteen people were confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19, and for the last three weeks no one new has tested positive. Of those eighteen confirmed positive for COVID-19, two died and the other sixteen have fully recovered. It will take some more weeks to declare Belize free of this new coronavirus, but even so the Ministry of Health and the healthcare workers throughout the country deserve credit for a job (so far) well done. And what is more, rain has begun to fall during this hot and dry period and the air has begun to clear in post parts of the country as fires have been put out. God has been very good.

Because of these positive steps, the country has begun to open up elements of its economy once again: certain kinds of businesses that were closed can now open, and many government ministries and agencies are operational again. However, a mandatory curfew is still in effect, face masks are obligatory in public (at the pain of a $5,000 fine), and churches and schools are still closed. Local airports are opening up again, but the international airport is still closed, as are the borders with Mexico and Guatemala. But … things are getting better, and people are rejoicing that Belize may have been spared the worst.

In the meantime, we have been doing our best to reach out and conduct the same kind of ministry from the U.S. that we would have been doing if we were locked down in the Rectory in San Ignacio. We have been in regular communication with folks in our parish and missions, and with the diocesan bodies of which we are a part. Google Meet has allowed me to hold meetings with the staff at each of the schools, with the Church Committees of St. Andrew’s and St. Hilda’s, and to hold a Wednesday Bible study on St. Paul’s epistle to the Romans (it’s going really well!). Coordinating with our leadership on the ground, we have also been able to put together lists of families who have been adversely affected economically by the lockdown, and over forty families received aid last week due to the church’s coordination efforts.

If you are connected with our Facebook pages, you are probably aware that Mary Beth and I (and often Austin) have been broadcasting a livestream Morning and Evening Prayer service, not only to our churches and schools but often for the entire Anglican Diocese of Belize. Because of this, I have been forming part of a diocesan team that is crafting and planning for future “online” ministry that will continue long after the lockdown has come to an end. I’ve had Zoom meetings with the Bishop and the other clergy, and tomorrow I will be participating in a meeting of the Diocesan Education Board. All of this is being accomplished through the incredible medium of technology, which both allows us to do the otherwise inconceivable and also shows us how much distance ministry can fall short of actually being present.

But we know that being physically present in Belize right now would still mostly require us to minister remotely from the Rectory, and that until the international airport and borders open up, being here will be safer for Mary Beth in what could be (based on her experience with Austin) a high-risk pregnancy; in fact, here in the U.S. she has not only seen an OBGYN but has already been referred to a doctor specializing in high-risk pregnancies. We are not sure when the airport will reopen and we can find a return flight to Belize: much (it appears) depends on the case trajectory in neighboring Mexico and Guatemala. For the moment, the State of Emergency will remain in effect through the end of June, although it could end sooner or later than that, depending on what the Government of Belize decides. Until then, we are waiting, watching, praying and ministering alongside of our beloved parishioners back in Belize.

If I can, I would like to share one more concern for us. Like many in ministry, we are particularly vulnerable to the winds of economic downturns, not to mention century-defining crashes and depressions. Long before we expected, giving to our missionary account in March dropped to half its February level, and given the state of the U.S. (and global) economy we are concerned that giving may drop off even further. In this we need your help: if you are one of our regular donors, please do not stop giving at this time … and if possible, we encourage you to set up an automatically recurring donation, so that the occasional check won’t slip through the cracks. In fact, if you feel led to give towards our ministry—even as a one-time gift—we would be incredibly grateful for your contribution to our work as missionaries. We need your support (giving, prayers, and encouragement) now more than ever before as we look to receive a new family member in September, and as we discern how God may be leading us in the months and years ahead.

A New Baby Update

This is an update with some really good news about our family, and some complicated news for our ministry due to COVID-19 in Belize (but let’s be clear at the outset, there’s no reason to panic!).

Mary Beth and I found out a short while ago that we are expecting our second child in late September! We are thrilled to be able to announce God’s latest gift to our growing family, with the good news that Mary Beth and the baby are doing wonderfully here at the beginning of her second trimester. We couldn’t be happier.

However, the emergence of a global coronavirus pandemic has thrown the long-term planning we had been starting into serious disarray. You may have heard of this thing, and it may have thrown your life similarly into pandemonium. It certainly has ours, and an uncertainty regarding health, finances and safety has been hanging over us and many other missionaries in our situation.

Until recently, no confirmed cases of COVID-19 had popped up in Belize, and for this we can praise the providential hand of God. As we have witnessed from afar the overwhelmed health systems of Wuhan, Lombardy, and now New York and Los Angeles, we have been made painfully aware that much more advanced infrastructures than ours have been crushed by an onslaught of critical cases needing oxygen, ventilation and constant care. But if and when this novel coronavirus spreads through Belize, the healthcare system has the potential to be disastrously inadequate, whether this is measured by beds, ventilators, medical staff or supplies.

Nevertheless, Mary Beth and I were determined to stick it out in the country, hopeful that our youth and relatively healthy bodies would keep us from needing the most severe forms of hospitalization. Two weeks ago, we began taking the strongest social-distancing measures that we could: we only left the house to shop for essentials, cancelled other meetings and plans, kept distance with people that we encountered in the way, and washed our hands regularly and thoroughly. As the Bishop began suspending services—first on Sundays and then on weekdays as well—and as the Ministry of Education cancelled school for the two weeks leading up to Easter break, we felt confident that we would be able to protect our own health as well as keep others safe in the process. Our ministry turned to remote methods, and the Rectory became our base of operations. We even began to broadcast daily Morning and Evening Prayer on Facebook Live, and it seems to be reaching people that would not normally come to church or seek out a priest for help.

However, cautious family members and other supporters began to voice another concern to us: if the health system in Belize were to become overrun and overwhelmed by respiratory patients at every hospital and clinic, would Mary Beth and our unborn child be able to get the help they would need in the event that this pregnancy were to develop complications? You may remember that serious issues popped up with Mary Beth’s first pregnancy with Austin, and if similar (or other) problems were to come about, would an overtaxed and flooded emergency health system be able to give her the care and attention that she and this growing baby would need?

Much of our comfort with medical care in Belize up until now has depended upon contingency plans: both Guatemala and Mexico have excellent health care systems, and both are a short drive away. In an extreme emergency (like what happened to Fr. Juan Marentes back in 2013), we could probably even leave for treatment to the United States. However last week, one-by-one international borders began to close in our area; most notably, the Guatemalan border twelve miles to the west became closed to North Americans, and then to everyone else. Still the Northern Border remained open, as did the international airport in Belize City. And then, last Friday (March 20) we received word that the northern border with Mexico would be closed within 24 hours, and that the international airport in Belize City would shut down (except for transporting cargo) within 72 hours. The closure would last for a minimum of 30 days.

We realized we had to make a decision immediately: should we stay, or should we go? We didn’t want to leave. We had already received word from our missionary society SAMS-USA that they would support our staying or leaving: both were justifiable and the decision was ours. However, we were also told that our concern for Mary Beth’s ongoing care during pregnancy should probably be the deciding factor. But again, although our ministry had by then gone 95% online/remote, we did not want to leave our people, our home, and our community. Finally, we spoke with friends of ours who serve as missionaries in Italy, and hearing our situation and our concerns, they told us unequivocally: we needed to leave until we were sure it was safe to come back.

After receiving the Bishop’s encouragement and blessing, we made our final decision late Friday night: we would come back to the U.S. for the next 30 days, or until it was possible to return to Belize, in order to give Mary Beth a better chance at accessing emergency healthcare during her pregnancy. In haste we packed that night and the following morning, and by Saturday evening we were holed up with Mary Beth’s parents at their home in north Georgia. After the mounting stresses of the last couple of weeks, we feel blessed to destress a little bit with family as we continue almost all the same remote ministry we were carrying on from the Rectory in Belize.

We realize that this temporary relocation carried with it many risks. We left Belize when there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 to come to a place with tens of thousands of cases. We also were painfully aware of the risks in traveling through airports and airplanes without masks or much other protection apart from soap, water, hand sanitizer, and dirty looks at people who tried to get too close. But in the end, we believe that the higher possibility for Mary Beth to receive better care in her pregnancy should she experience any emergencies outweighs the risks we have taken in relocating while we wait for Belize to reopen to international travel.

Please pray for us, and pray for Belize. Yesterday Belize confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on Ambergris Caye, and fear exploded across the country. Before the government could shut things down, residents of San Pedro Town tried to flee on boats to the mainland. Entire villages have threatened to prevent any visitors from entering, and across social media platforms people have attempted to doxx the Belizean who had traveled back from Los Angeles before testing positive for the virus. So many Belizeans we know (and many we don’t) are terrified, panicking, and desperate for safety against an unseen assailant. Medical institutions are taking all kinds of precautions—suspending services like routine vaccinations or in-person maternity check-ups—and yet we have seen pictures of hospitals full of worried individuals and parents seeking help before it becomes impossible. All of this has come on top of the disappearance of basic food staples like flour, sugar, or baby formula.

So as you pray for our safety, and the safety of this new baby on the way, please pray also for our effectiveness in ministry. We aim to use all technological means at our disposal to reach out to our parishioners and other members of our community over these next few weeks, and we are praying that the Lord will use this global threat, unparalleled in our lifetime, to bring people to know him through his Son Jesus Christ. Pray that the Lord would pour out his Spirit upon the means of grace, that sinners would turn to him and find healing and forgiveness. Pray that the Lord would spare Belize and Belizeans, not just from COVID-19, but from death itself forever. And please pray that our financial support holds firm as the world goes through a global economic contraction!

We will try and keep you posted about Mary Beth and the baby, and about any new plans or developments that arise in the next few weeks and months. We love you all, and we are so grateful for your support. May the Lord richly bless you!

We invite you to partner with us in our ministry!

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