Nathan & Julie Thiry


The Thiry Family Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain The Lord has opened a door for Nathan and Julie and their three children to minister alongside of Dave and Lois Belch with the church planting team in Santa Ursula, Tenerife. A 2009 seminary graduate, Nathan served as youth pastor at Maranatha Bible Church, Comstock Park, Michigan while completing his seminary degree. The son of missionaries who served in Nicaragua, Nathan is fluent in Spanish. Julie studied Spanish in college and is fluent in the language as well. Nathan and Julie previously went on a number of short term teams to Guatire, Venezuela, assisting Dave and Lois Belch with gospel outreach. As the Belches prepared to transition to Tenerife, they approached Nathan and Julie about being a part of the Santa Ursula missionary team. A move to the mission field will be a stretch of faith for such a young family—the Thirys have three children under the age of four. But Nathan and Julie share a passion about gospel ministry and are encouraged about the opportunity to serve with the church planting team. The Belches and Albrechts (who initiated the Santa Ursula church plant) recognize a need for a young family who can model Christian parenting in culture where children are undisciplined and parenting is not valued. One of Nathan and Julie’s prayer requests as they prepare to move to Tenerife is that God would help them to model consistency in biblical parenting. Please pray, as well, for the Thiry family in the following ways: * For needed support funds so that they can depart for Tenerife in January 2010; * That God would go before every facet of their transition, helping them to navigate the details of life in a new culture; * For the children’s adjustment to life on the mission field, and for God’s leadership in decisions about their future schooling; * For clarity about their role in the Santa Ursula church and for unity with the missionary team; * That the Lord would grant favor as the Thirys minister, using them to draw people to salvation and to help believers mature in their faith.	Birthdays Nathan – June 5 Julie – May 30 Elijah – February 8, 2006 Levi – December 25, 2007 Eliana – January 12, 2009 E-mail Address njtenerife@gmail.com Current Address 4665 Division Ave N Comstock Park, MI 49321

Thiry Update July 22, 2010 Dear Friends, Thank you for praying for us the last three weeks! It has been a busy time of activity which God has blessed by opening up doors for the gospel in the Orotova Valley. Through the Push the Rock Basketball clinic in Puerto de La Cruz and La Victoria, 2 towns very close to Santa Ursula, many friendships were begun and continued with people from the community who do not know Christ yet. We asked you to pray for some specific things the last couple of updates. Let us give you a brief report of what God has been doing: -Through the basketball activities with Push the Rock, the testimony of Christ and our church in this community was advanced and many relationships were established and deepened. -As a church we were able to share the gospel with many groups and individuals through the activities. The people that we were doing the Basketball clinics with were open to letting us share with each group of kids and youth that we worked with. -As a church we have been able to follow-up on some of the relationships that were started through some Wednesday afternoon basketball games the last two weeks. Several men have made professions of faith in Christ and many others have been open to listening to the Word of God more. Please pray for these youth and men that they would experience new life in Christ. Specifically there are about 6 teenage guys from Puerto, 2 adults from Puerto, and several teenage girls from La Victoria. The men we played against in La Victoria invited us to play against them again tonight (Thursday night) so please pray that the fruit of all this would be the establishment of the church in La Victoria where there is no church right now. -We have seen some of the people in the Santa Ursula taking a more active role in outreach through Basketball, which is very encouraging as our long-term goal is to see a reproducing church of Tinerfenos! -Through the interview that Dave Belch a lot of attention and some appreciation towards our church and what God is doing has arisen! Many people in the community have seen the interview and recognize Dave and others in the church and it seems to be opening some doors for further gospel proclamation and discipleship opportunities. -Some strained marriages have made some progress towards God-honoring conflict resolution and it seems that God has used His Word through the counsel of Steve, Cheryl, Dave, Lois and others to convict and restore. Pray for continued progress in these marriages. -Steve and a team of people from the church were able to knock down the wall in our church building, expanding the room we use for worship due to the use of the upstairs that we now have. This has significantly opened up the space for Sunday morning worship. Pray that God would fill that new space with new people worshipping our Savior and living for Him!! **Please pray for the Impacto the next 2 weeks. 9 Venezuelans from two of the partner churches in Venezuela and 11 Americans from two of our sending churches in the US will be participating together with the church here in Santa Ursula to do outreach in the nursing home, to put on a Family camp in Santa Ursula, and to do 2 outreaches in Granadilla. Pray specifically for: 1) Unity and cohesion a the team from 5 different places comes together to proclaim Christ (practically pray for good rest and orientation Friday and Saturday as the team arrives from over the ocean) 2) New families to come to Christ in Santa Ursula through the Family Camp each night (July 26-30 from 6pm-9pm each night) 3) For deepening of walks with Christ for all those who are part of our church who will be participating in various ways in the activity (those helping Lois cook, all those in the family camp, those doing shopping, participating in theater, etc...) 4) For the Nursing Home activity the first week from 11am-1pm that God would be glorified and He would work in the lives of the elderly and their caregivers 5) For the outreach the 2nd week in Granadilla, that God would strengthen the church in Granadilla for the work of the Great Commission and that He would draw many to himself (We will do a children's camp each day August 2-6 in the morning from 10am-1pm and then a youth outreach each afternoon from 4pm-6:30pm while also doing community service projects in the afternoon). Pray that many would be drawn to Christ and that a fresh movement of the Word of God in the lives of people would begin in the south of Tenerife. Thank you for praying for us and serving Christ with us- we need His strength and life each day to sustain us and equip us for every good work He wants to do here in Tenerife and wherever you are right now! Praise God that He is so gracious and generous. 2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. Looking to our great Savior to lift up His name here in Tenerife, Nathan & Julie on behalf of our missionary team here P.S. On a personal note, Julie is doing well in her pregnancy- she is almost 27 weeks along and is managing to go up and down the stairs a billion times a day and to take care of our 3 kids marvelously. She has started doing school with them and Elijah and Levi are responding very well. Pray that each of our kids would learn wisdom and the fear of the Lord- we are seeing progress, sometimes painfully slowly, but still progress in how they are responding to shepherding, so praise God for that! We have had some good times as a family going on walks, watching Lucha Canaria, going to the zoo, and playing in our yard. It is such a joy to see our kids growing and learning and changing! We are super excited to have precious brothers and sisters coming from Grand Rapids and Spokane the next 3 weeks!! Julie has been able to share a lot about parenting and following Christ with one lady who is not attending our church yet but is interested in following Christ and seems to be growing- it has been encouraging to see God using the things he is teaching us to minister to others here too. -- Nathan & Julie Thiry Church Planting in Tenerife, Canary Islands Calle Codeso 39 F 38390, Santa Ursula, Tenerife, Spain www.thethirys.blogspot.com	Carmen and Claire La Victoria Push the Rock Spain Soccer
Thiry Update June 24, 2010 Last night I was blessed to have a young lady from the community over who is a new professing believer. We were able to spend a few hours going over some verses relating to the gospel and talking about God's sovereignty, works vs. grace leading to salvation, purity, etc. She had just asked me what people meant when they said "I am the master of my own destiny," when we smelled an overwhelming amount of smoke. We were investigating the house when she finally realized that it was June 23, the day the island celebrates Hogueras de San Juan. She explained that at night, everyone lights big fires and burns anything that brings them bad luck (blankets, sweaters, books, trinkets... anything). Then, under the moon, they bathe themselves in the ocean to rid themselves of bad luck and negative energy. (All of this is also of course accompanied by a lot of drinking and carousing). What an incredible example of people vainly trying to be masters of their own destiny! We talked about where those people are putting their hope... in a sovereign all-powerful God, or in their own efforts to change their luck? In truth, despite burning all of your possessions today, can you prevent a truck from striking you tomorrow? Can bathing in the sea prevent cancer from spreading invisibly in your body? While it was a great bridge to talk to her about faith in a huge God verses a puny self, it really broke my heart for the people here who live day to day without knowing their sovereign Creator. "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Colossians 1:15-17) We covet your prayers as we work in this culture so darkened by humanism and flavored by superstition. We also ask you to pray for wisdom regarding our kids' schooling. We learned recently that if we enroll Elijah in school, it doesn't appear we can take him out in a year to homes chool if we so chose. Essentially, once you are in the Spanish system, you must remain there. One family in the mainland had the school send social workers after them and even took them to court to force them to put their kids back in school. We also recently read that Tenerife has the lowest test scores and education output than any other part of Spain. So, we are leaning towards home schooling despite it being such a cultural oddity here. We are even praying about the possibility of someone coming from the states (a young lady?) to study Spanish and help us with home schooling. Thank you for standing with us in prayer! Julie
Thiry Update June 21, 2010 Greetings from Tenerife, Spain all of you who encourage us in many ways and uphold us in prayer! We are thankful for your partnership in the gospel, and we need you now as much as we ever have. As a family we are adjusting to life in Tenerife, although we continue to covet your prayers for our further development of our understanding of the culture and our ability to speak Spanish well. We are taking language classes once a week and are seeking to interact with Tinerfenos as much as possible to learn from them about their culture. Julie has been cooking amazing meals as we have had the opportunity to host large and small groups of people in our house, which has been a great blessing for us. She got to meet with a girl who is a new professing believer last week, so please pray for that relationship and for the further establishment of that girl's faith. Julie has been doing school with the kids and climbing two flights of stairs a lot, which is taking a out of her as baby Lucas is getting a lot bigger. Please pray for strength for her. Our kids are adjusting to life in our house here, although they are still struggling with their interactions with everyone in Spanish. They do well one on one, but when they go to church and are swarmed by kissing, tickling, nice, well-intentioned people, they have been getting quite overwhelmed (except for Eliana, who loves being the center of the crowd). Please pray for wisdom as we make a schooling decision for Elijah in the next week. (We are deciding between home-schooling and public school- there are a lot of challenging issues that factor into the decision). The good news is Elijah has glasses now, so he is able to better see what he is doing. As a church we have been focusing on our mission (why we exist), which is to glorify God by rejoicing in the reconciliation we have in Christ, and our vision (what we seek to do), which is to form authentic followers of Jesus Christ who impact society with the message of reconciliation in Christ. Please pray that God would impact the Orotava Valley and it’s more than 100,000 inhabitants with the gospel of Christ. We long to see new followers of Jesus Christ being formed here. Dave Belch and I (Nathan) got to do a two week preaching series on our mission and vision. Besides occasional preaching and teaching, I have been going to driving school for one hour each day so that I can get my Spanish license. This has been a good way to work on Spanish and build a few relationships. Towards the goal of impacting with the message of reconciliation in Christ, please pray for the Push the Rock basketball outreach which starts next Monday. For one week we will be in Puerto de La Cruz, 15 minutes from here, doing Basketball clinics and playing basketball games. The games will also be played here in Santa Ursula, and the clinics are open to children and youth from any community in the area, so please pray for many opportunities to beg people to be reconciled to God through Christ. The second week we will be in La Victoria, a town about 5 minutes to our east, doing basketball outreach. Pray for all of us to be motivated and impelled by the love of Christ in all we do during these busy two weeks. Pray for open doors for the gospel and for God to do the work of salvation in the lives of the people we are spending time with. On the theme of reconciliation, we are thankful that a little over a week ago the two families that were in conflict met together, just the two couples, and were able to work out their conflict in a God-honoring way. We are rejoicing in the Lord that they are able to serve together in harmony now in our body. Please pray for the reconciliation of two friends in our church who had a conflict a week ago and are still working on reconciliation. Lois & Caroline Belch, along with Claire Dionne and several others from the States and Venezuela, are in the middle of two weeks of outreach in Italy with Carmen Chugg, Lois’ sister. Please pray for them that God would use them mightily to reach families for Christ in the Venice area. Finally, we had a church meeting/fellowship-day/banquet on Saturday, called an “Assembly of Commitment” to affirm our beliefs, values, and goals as a church (see the attached pictures of "asamblea de compromiso (commitment) and comida (food). It was a great time of fellowship and fun together, and it was also a time of strengthening and renewal for our church. Please pray that this year we would be faithful as a church family to be totally committed to Christ and totally surrendered to His work in and through us. Interestingly, although this was a by invitation only event for the members of the church, we still had several unbelieving family members come and some who have not been at church lately also came, so, praise God for that! Also, please pray for an outreach and fellowship activity for youth that we are organizing and I am teaching at on Saturday in Santa Cruz. As the nation of Spain is very focused on the World Cup and “futbol,” please pray that the sacrifice and victory of Christ would also capture the hearts and attention of many. Thankful for our Savior who became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him, Nathan, Julie, Elijah, Levi, Eliana, & Lucas (who is alive and kicking strong!)	Asemblea de Compromiso Comida Elijah's new gafas Nathan Preaching Pork Chop Man
Thiry Update May 23, 2010 Date: Sun, 23 May 2010 23:40:53 +0100 Subject: Update from Tenerife 5/23 From: njtenerife@gmail.com To: njtenerife@gmail.com Dear Praying Friends, Another 2 weeks have gone by here in Tenerife, and there is much to be thankful for. We had a good outreach activity a week ago Saturday. A church in Santa Cruz has a non-governmental organization called “Kairos” and they came to Santa Ursula to put on a community activity. There was a children’s component which allowed us as a church to interact with about 80 families from the community. It was a great time of getting to know new people and being able to show them that we are not some weird cult (which is a lot of people’s first impression of our church because we are not the local catholic church). After the children’s activity there was a concert which involved some great music and sharing from the Christian artists. Please pray for the seeds that were sown that some families from Santa Ursula and nearby La Victoria would come to Christ. A common theme lately has been seeking permission from local government for the expansion of the church and the gospel. Recently we have been given permission to rent the facility above our church building (it is part of a large block of apartments and stores). This will allow us to expand our physical ministry facility. We also have been given permission to do gospel outreach in Granadilla with a like-minded church down there (it is about an hour to the south). Dave Belch has been going down there once a month to preach and to work with the pastor down in Granadilla, Baltasar. Please pray that God would do a great work to strengthen this church and impact the south. This summer we will be participating with their local government doing children and youth activities during our Impacto’s 2nd week. During the 1st week we have permission from Santa Ursula to use the large pavilion owned by the local government to do family activities each night. We were denied permission to do Push the Rock, a basketball outreach, in Santa Ursula, but were given permission again to do Push the Rock in La Victoria and Puerto de la Cruz. So, praise God for all the permissions that were given and please pray for people to come to Christ and for families to be changed by the gospel through these activities: Push the Rock – end of June through early July Summer Impacto in conjunction with Guatire and Lecheria Venezuela and Spokane and Grand Rapids Michigan – end of July through early August Please pray also for several youth activities coming up that God would use those to impact the youth of Tenerife (One on May 29th in Granadilla). On a personal note, our family is thankful for how God is helping us to adapt to life in Tenerife. Our fellow missionaries, the Albrechts and Belches, have watched our children for us on many occasions while we have gone to doctor’s appointments for Julie for her pregnancy, for our language classes, and for us to go on dates. We are slowly getting everything figured out. Eliana has learned to wave at everyone we pass and say “hola.” Elijah prefers his cartoons in Spanish now. Levi knows how to yell “corre (run) and espera (wait)” while out on walks. Julie is 18 weeks pregnant with Lucas. There is now no doubt after our last visit to the OB. Thank you for praying for us in Tenerife. We are so grateful for your support and encouragement. Nathan & Julie	Butterfly Kitty and Puppy - our kids at last Saturday's outreach activity Families at Saturday's outreach activity
Thiry Update April 28, 2010 Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:32:14 +0100 Subject: Prayer letter from nathan and Julie "The Word of truth, the gospel,... is constantly bearing fruit and increasing...[in the lives of those who] heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth." (Colossians 1:6 paraphrased) We praise God that this weekend at the book fair, where we had a table, many people heard the word of truth about Christ! Steve and Cheryl said that this year many more people stopped by and listened to us and took information about our church than in the two previous years. Probably over a hundred people took information on our church, many of whom stopped and listened to a brief presentation of the gospel. We had some longer conversations with others about the truth of the gospel of Christ. This year we were also able to have a table in La Matanza, a town about 10 minutes away in the valley, and so many parents and their children came by our table and took information and tracts that Luis had to call Dave to bring more materials! In the plaza where the book fair was happening on Friday and Saturday, there was a group of about 8 young men who normally spend their days there in the plaza involved in various questionable activities. We were wondering how we could get an audience with them and share Christ when they all noticed Steve and Cheryl giving out bracelets with the colors of the wordless book on them. They all came up to our table and asked how much the bracelets cost. Steve said they were free but that we wanted to share a message with them. They all listened attentively and took the bracelets. Because they seemed so interested, I went up and talked with them more about the gospel, and several of them seemed very impacted by the reality of Christ's death for them. They kept calling us over to give a bracelet and talk to each of their friends as they joined them. It was very encouraging to see God opening the door for the gospel. Update from Wednesday: These young men have continued being very friendly and open to interaction. Pray especially for Cesar, 29 years old, kind of a leader among them, who seems especially open. Please pray for these young men and all the rest of the people who heard the gospel Friday and Saturday, both in Santa Ursula and in La Matanza, that the gospel would bear fruit in their lives. Pray especially that many of these parents who were at the book fair with their children would come to the workshop we are having this Friday and Saturday on the relationship between parents and children. David Crespo, an elder/pastor from the Guatire church in Venezuela IBFE, is coming this Thursday and will be here for two weeks doing a lot of equipping and preaching. Please pray for him that God would use him mightily in the lives of the saints and those who are lost. Specifically, please pray for the following: Friday and Saturday as David (and the rest of us who are also teaching at the workshop too) would be able to clearly portray God's heart for how a family should function and that all the parents (and children) would grow in being like Christ by applying Biblical principles that we will hear. Sunday as David begins our series on spiritual disciplines, that our church would grow in Christ-likeness through this series Many equipping and evaluation times that David Crespo will have with Sunday School teachers, the elders, and worship team, that God would sanctify us and grow us through this time and give David wisdom *For a youth retreat he will speak at May 7-9, that our youth who come would grow and those who are yet to embrace Christ would do so Steve preached yesterday and we finished the book of Acts. Pray that we would be obedient to the word and persevere in preaching the gospel in spite of the frequent rejection that we can expect. Please pray for Steve as he works with the small groups, writing the lessons and training the leaders. Pray especially for God to raise up godly men who can equip and lead His church here. Pray for Cheryl as she meets with many women throughout the week and seeks to shepherd them. Please pray for Dave as he writes equipping materials, prepares for various teaching and preaching times, organizes and plans most of our activities, and spends time discipling and shepherding. Pray for Lois as she leads several women's Bible studies on the pursuit of holiness by Jerry Bridges. Dave will be leading the men Saturday morning in the same study. Pray for Lois too as she shepherds and disciples many of the women and youth. A brief update on our family: we are now living in our house in La Quinta, about 2 minutes from the Belches and a 15 minute walk from the main street in town and the church. We have been able to get most of our furniture and it is starting to feel like a home. We are very thankful for the space in the house and outside. It will be a huge blessing for our 4 kids and Julie and I as we seek to minister to people here. We are hopeful that our kids will be able to get more settled this week into a more regular routine. They are enjoying making friends with some of the little boys in the church (Dorian who is 7, David who is 5). Please pray for us that we would be able to adjust to the language change quickly, walk closely with Christ, shepherd our children well, grow in our relationships with those in the church, and have opportunities to proclaim Christ in this community. Thank you so much for standing with us in prayer and so many other ways. May God bring much glory to Christ both here in Tenerife this week and wherever you are too! Nathan & Julie, Elijah, Levi, Eliana, and Olivia?? Calle Codeso 39F Santa Ursula, Tenerife 38390 Spain 34-608-496-896 (Nathan's cell phone) 34-689-527-683 (Julie's cell phone) njtenerife@gmail.com
Thiry Update April 12, 2010 Julie and I are so thankful for God's faithfulness in so many ways! He has safely seen us to Santa Ursula, Tenerife! We are currently staying with Steve and Cheryl, who have kindly agreed to put up with our crazy and large family until we find our own place to live. The kids have been having a blast, but have also been struggling to learn new rules of apartment living. They have discovered that matchbox cars DO fly nicely off of 3rd story apartments... It was a joy for us to worship with our new church yesterday! We saw many new faces that were not here two years ago, and it was great to see many of them already actively serving Christ and His body. Just a few observations of things that the Lord has done in the last 2 years: -Several new couples have started coming and have gotten very involved, including Julian, Lotta, Patricia and Joel (are involved in worship team and teaching Sunday School). -There are Sunday School classes for 4 different age groups now with various people from the church teaching them. -Many of the people that Steve and Cheryl were meeting with are now doing well feeding themselves spiritually and are even seeking to disciple others now. -Jose Angel, who was not a believer 2 years ago, is now helping lead worship and actually led on his own this week - it is so encouraging to see his love for the Lord and desire to help others to know the Lord. -Dave and Lois are helping some of the youth with their homework after school everyday - they are doing regular activities with the youth, many of whom are unsaved. Please pray for: -A youth activity this Saturday with various gaming systems (Wii, Playstation, etc...). The purpose will be to have lots of fun, build relationships and to share Christ with these youth. We will do a short devotional on the topic of having fun in a way that pleases God. -Permits and permissions for possible renting of more space above the church building, permits for outreach activities in various places this summer, and pending residency issues for several of us. -Please continue to pray for us (Nathan & Julie) in our transition- especially that we'd find a place to rent. Houses that would fit our family of 6 are few and far between. So far, we have two options, to rent a bigger, older house six minutes up the STEEP hill (which has a decent price but may have mold issues as it's higher up the hill), or a smaller new place down the hill. Pray that God gives us direction and wisdom. We also covet your prayers that God would help the Spanish come quickly for all of us. A special event this Sunday was the renewing of marriage vows for Tino and Ampari after 25 years of marriage! Steve led them in a ceremony after the service and it was a great time of them giving testimony of what the Lord has done in their lives. Couples like Tino and Ampari, committed to Christ and each other and to serving others, are what we are praying that God will reproduce all over the island of Tenerife.	Passover celebration during Holy Week Beginning of a 6+ km hike during Holy Week Very informal picture of Thiry family (less Elijah)
Thiry Update March 28, 2010 Dear Friends, We are so thankful to be leaving to go to Tenerife to proclaim Christ in word and deed on April 7! We got tickets for a great price leaving out of Grand Rapids at 10:25a a week from Wednesday arriving in Tenerife at 12:25p on Thursday. As we look back on the last couple of months, there are many answers to prayer and things we are thankful for which I want to share with you who have been praying for us: -My visa was granted on January 11, only 2 months after applying, which was a blessing considering they could have denied it or delayed it a long time -We were over $800 short on our minimum monthly support that we needed to leave, and in a matter of about 3 weeks God provided all of that through many of you! -Our contact at the Chicago Spanish Consulate was very helpful and gave us pointers on what we could do to move our visas along, was wiling to print and reprint our visas so that the dates would work with all the deadlines, and in general was super helpful! -We were surprised that Julie and the kids' visas still had not come after over 6 weeks of waiting when they told us to anticipate 2-3 weeks of waiting, but in the weeks that followed when we thought we would already be gone God opened many doors for us to share the gospel with people here in Grand Rapids and we found out we were pregnant! -We were able to get quick prenatal care and get everything Julie and the baby need before leaving, including going through most of the first trimester without the stress of moving -God has sustained our hope and given us grace for the trials that come with indefinite waiting without knowing when the visas would come and we would be able to go -We had asked the Belches to inquire about our visas in Tenerife, which they were in the process of doing when the Albrechts went to the same office in Tenerife and inquired without us asking them to do so, which seems to have moved the visa process along- neat to see God's hand in their even going to that office as they shouldn't have needed to go but some papers were requested that they shouldn't have had to turn in yet. -God provided all the hours that I needed at Starbucks to keep our insurance while we were waiting even though I was short by over 50 hours with about a week left and I was only scheduled for about 10 hours. -We received all of our visas a week and a half after the office in Tenerife said "it was complicated and they would tell us IF we were approved"- Praise the Lord! -We got terrific ticket prices leaving out of Grand Rapids even though we are in a more expensive travel season now. At first the travel agent didn't see any good deals and then she found this one which was only $10 more per ticket to fly out of Grand Rapids than to fly out of Chicago! -We have been able to work with our kids on various issues and have seen God growing them and us in the process while we have been waiting. Thank you for praying for us! Next time we write to you we will be in Tenerife- we are very excited to see what the Lord has in store for us there. Please pray that our eyes and our hearts would be fixed on Christ through this transition. Because of the Lamb who was slain to purchase people from every tribe and nation, Nathan, Julie, Elijah, Levi, Eliana, and Lucas?
Thiry Update March 15, 2010 From: Nathan & Julie Thiry [mailto:njtenerife@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 8:26 PM To: Nathan & Julie Thiry Subject: Thiry family update March 15 Dear Friends, We continue to learn about trusting in God's timing and sovereignty! Friday, March 5 we thought that the office processing our visas in Tenerife said they would get Julie and the kids' visas ready for the following Friday. So, Sunday March 7 we had our send off service at Maranatha Bible Church. It was a very special and encouraging time to be with our church family and to be encouraged by them as they send us out! The following Tuesday we were afraid that there might be a problem with the baby in Julie's womb, but Thursday we found out through an ultrasound that everything is fine! So, we thought Friday we would get our visas and leave the following week. However, Friday we found out that there was some confusion in the visa processing office and our visas are still not ready. We were disappointed, but we are still hoping in the Lord that soon those visas will be granted. We keep learning that we cannot guess what is going to happen by what "normally" should happen. We can only trust in our God to open this door. So please pray with us that Julie and the kids' visas will be granted. As far as we can tell, there is nothing missing and no problems. It is just a matter of waiting for the person in the Tenerife Office of Foreigners, and we are thankful that they are under God's sovereign control. Thankful for all of you who are sending us to proclaim Christ, Nathan, Julie, Elijah, Diego (Levi), Eliana, and ?
Thiry Update February 19, 2010 From: Nathan & Julie Thiry [mailto:njtenerife@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 5:59 AM To: Julie Thiry Subject: Prayer Request Hello praying friends, We just wanted to update you as to where we are, and give you a prayer request. We are still awaiting Julie and the kids' visas from Spain. TEAM hired someone in Madrid to look into where they were, and they were just told they are "in process." So, there doesn't seem to be any "problem" with our applications, but they are probably just sitting on someone's desk. We are still hoping to leave on March 3rd, but as that date gets closer, and we have no visas and no tickets, the prices for tickets goes up drastically. In fact, we'd like to ask that you pray, that if the Lord wills, we'd be able to leave by March 10th as tickets go from $609/each to over $900/each after that date. Nathan has seen them as high as $4000/each depending on the day. We are ready to go begin the ministry God has prepared for us, yet we know He is keeping us dependent as we wait. But, we pray that whoever has our files on their desk will suddenly have a compulsion to clean off their desk and send our files through! Also, while we've met our minimum to move to Tenerife, there is still some monthly support lacking that would allow us to fund our kids' schooling and put money aside for return travel to the USA. So, please pray with us that a bit more support comes in. Thank you for your prayers! We'll keep you posted. Until the Nets are Full, The Thirys
Thiry Update November 8, 2009 November 8, 2009 Dear Friends, Phew! The dust around our little family wagon train is starting to settle, but not for too long! In July we traveled to TEAM in IL to finish our training. We then drove down to Louisiana to visit with dear friends, then we drove to Florida to visit family, then we went up to Tennessee to visit with more family and friends. We returned home for three weeks before heading to Spokane, WA for a 7 1/2 week visit with family, friends, and two supporting churches. What a rich time of fellowship and encouragement we have enjoyed! It was a blessing to get to spend an extended amount of time reconnecting with those at Faith Bible Church and Christ our Hope Bible Church in Spokane. Thank you so much to all of you who graciously opened your homes, lives, and hearts to us on this journey. We are so blessed to see God at work in you, and are thankful for each of you who is eager to pray for us and watch as God does His sovereign work in Tenerife. We are also thankful for the prayer and financial support that God provided through our time in Washington. At least 100 people expressed a desire to pray for us regularly and over $1,000 of our needed monthly support came in from people in Washington! On October 22, we returned home to Grand Rapids, MI. It has been good to be back here with our church family. We were very humbled and encouraged our first Sunday back when Maranatha Bible Church held a special offering to raise money for our one-time expenses. This was the culmination of a 7 week series on evangelism and missions that Todd Dykstra preached. It is a blessing to be sent out by a church like MBC that is so supportive and excited about missions. We praise God for the $6,000 that was raised by this offering, which brings our total one-time gifts to over $30,000! This is basically enough for our one-time expenses of setting up and furnishing an apartment, buying a vehicle, buying plane tickets, and the other incidentals associated with moving. (We do not plan of shipping our possessions to Tenerife as the cost is so great. We'll be moving with just what we can fit in our suitcases.) So, praise God with us for His provision of most of our monthly support and one-time expenses! Please pray that the remaining monthly support of about $1000 will come in during the next few months before we leave and that our visas will be approved in God's timing. After hearing that we would have to wait some time for our needed documents from Spain to arrive, allowing us to apply for our visas, we were surprised Saturday to hear that the documents are waiting for us at our local post office. So, tomorrow (Monday, we will be driving to Indiana to stay the night with grandparents, so that Tuesday morning we can go to the Spanish Consulate in Chicago to apply for our visas! Normally it takes about 6 weeks to 2 months for the visas to be approved, so Lord willing, we will be able to move to Tenerife sometime in January or February. We would ask that any of you who have a desire to partner with us financially but haven't committed to a figure to please let us know soon what you are thinking. While we are close to having what is needed, we can't actually leave until the full amount is raised. Please pray with us right now for the following things: 1) For our family during this time of transition, that Julie and I would walk humbly with Christ, and that our kids would be flexible. 2) For our sending church, Maranatha Bible Church, that the transition of sending us will be a time of God growing all of our hearts for Him and His work around the world. 3) For the remaining financial support that we need so that we can go. 4) That our visas will be granted in God's timing. 5) For Fountain of Peace and Hope Christian Church in Santa Ursula, Tenerife that we will be joining, that God would will continue to grow His people in Christ-likeness and draw more people to Himself. *Specifically there will be an outreach activity soon in the neighboring town of La Victoria that they are reaching out to. Pray that God draws people to Himself in La Victoria and begins the work of establishing a new church there! Thank you for standing with us in prayer and so many other ways!! Hoping in Christ who is our Life, Nathan, Julie, Elijah, Levi, and Eliana
Thiry Update November 22nd, 2009 Date: Sun, 22 Nov 2009 Subject: A quick update on Visas From: njtenerife@gmail.com To: njtenerife@gmail.com Hello praying friends, We just wanted to let you know that two weeks ago we were able to go to the Spanish Consulate in Chicago and apply for our visas! They said that we "appeared" to have all of our documents in order. They also said to expect at least a 3 month wait. The reality is, (and always has been) that our times in in God's hands. The Albrechts (soon-to-be-coworkers in Tenerife) received both of their Visas within 6 weeks using this same consulate. Lois Belch (another coworker) was told this summer to expect at least 3 months, and hers arrived after 6 weeks as well. So, it's possible we could have them in a month or so. It's also possible it'll be 3 months from now. Either way, our time here is short. Our hearts are growing with excitement to be working alongside of the Albrechts and Belches with the people of Tenerife. Here's a huge prayer request. Whenever we get word that our Visas are ready, we have to go pick them up within 30 days, WITH OUR PLANE TICKETS IN HAND. They stamp the visa directly onto the tickets. This means we have to be financially ready to move when we go pick up our visas. We are still short about $800 a month at this point. We are confident that God will provide in His way and His timing, and we ask you to pray to that end as well. We praise God that He's already provided the bulk of our monthly support, and we basically have all we need for one time support. We will keep you posted as our Visas arrive, and as we get prepared to actually "launch." Continue to pray for our family during this time. Elijah seems to really understand we are moving to some place called Tenerife that is a volcano and is surrounded by deep water (which he is convinced shelters the infamous "big fish" that swallowed Jonah). He was quite sad this week when we explained it would mean leaving behind our "blue" house here in MI and getting a new place to live. I asked him what he could take to make the new place feel like home, and he said, "my jacks." They are from the dollar store. I wish I were so easily contented! Confident in Christ, The Thirys (p.s.... just to clarify some confusion... the visas we have applied for are NOT credit cards we'll use to charge our way to Tenerife. :-) They are documents from Spain granting us legal permision to do religious work in Tenerife)