New Government

At the first of the year Guatemala changed the way that they will handle adoptions in the future. Any children who are in "PGN" (the Attorney General's office) will be processed under the old system. Any children who are in the system but not in PGN will have to wait until after the new system for adoption is created and then their adoption will follow the Hague Treaty standards (current international standards for adoption).

As it turns out we thought that both Gabriella and Christian were in PGN, which they were, but Christian's case was turned away because our embassy in Guatemala did not get them the paperwork they needed on time. As it stands now Christian will have to go through the new system while Gabriella will be processed under the old.

The Guatemalan government seems to be moving through the children who are in the old system pretty quickly. We are hopeful that we will have Gabriella sometime this Spring and Christian in the summer. We would ask for your prayers during this time for both of our children and what they must be going through. Thanks so much for joining with us and being patient with our updates!

We are getting our Children!

Thank you so much for praying! In the past week we found out that we are going to get our children! I know that many of you wrote letters and called your congressmen and we are so thankful for you.

As of now both Christian and Gabriella are in "PGN", this is the Attorney General's office in Guatemala. They can be there for anywhere from 1-5 months. In this stage of PGN they will go through all of our documents in detail to ensure the legality of what we are doing. It is not uncommon to get "kicked out" of PGN several times, but each time slows the process down considerably. Please pray that we move through with no mistakes, if this is the case we could have our children sometime early next year.

We are really excited about these new developments. and are hoping that we have the children soon. On the other hand, we are really tired and worn out from the process of adoption/moving and job change. Thanks for all that you do for us and the encouragement that you give!

Fall Retreats and Revelation

The first six weeks of a students first semester will determine the trajectory of their college experience. The people they meet, the clubs they get involved in and their experience with professors have a lasting impact beyond graduation. This is why we have fall retreats in every state; to help students set a priority of their relationship with Christ and other believers. Often this is the first experience that a student will have with Campus Crusade for Christ.

I had the privilege of speaking at 3 Fall retreats in the past 5 weeks. I spoke at the KU Fall retreat, the Kansas City/St.Louis Fall retreat and most recently at the UCLA fall retreat. At one retreat there were 20 students from Nepal in attendance. I was reminded of Revelation 5 and the world being represented at Jesus’ feet. It was humbling to think of bringing the Gospel of Jesus to Nepal’s future leaders! Thank you for investing in our ministry and the future of the nations.

New Pictures of the kids!

Just this morning we received new pictures of Gabriella and Cristian. We also received good news about where they are in the process. Please continue to pray that they are "processed quickly"

Why we work with college students...

This video produced at Kansas State University is one of the most powerful insights into what students are going through in today's educational system. In many ways this is why Erika and I do what we do...

October Adoption Update

We received some potentially devastating news in the past two weeks. The Guatemalan government is threatening to shut down all adoptions on January 1st, 2008 including those that are in process. When I heard this I was speaking at a Fall retreat for the University of Kansas and there was a part of my heart that shut down. All that went through my mind was "this can't be happening." I even found myself purposely distancing myself from Cristian and Gabriella because I was afraid of the pain of not getting them.

Since that time some things have developed. First, we are writing our congressmen and women in order to bring political support to block this action. I am not sure of how this all works but there is precedence of this type of action working. There is a good chance of a grandfather clause being entered into the bill that will allow those in the system currently to finish out their adoptions. If you want to participate with us in writing your congressman let us know and we can send you the information.

Second, we are working extremely hard to have our children's documentation pushed through the Guatemalan system before the new year. We are not sure what to do, but we are considering going to Guatemala and working along side our lawyers in Guatemala to hasten the process. Please pray for wisdom for us in this area.

Finally, many of you continue to ask how you can help. We are so thankful for the way that people have rallied around us during this time.

We obviously need your prayers, and assistance with the political system. Financially we are on the right track for now, we will not need the last amount of money until we go to Guatemala and pick them up. However, if any of you would like to donate United or other miles to us we can use those miles to fly back and forth we would appreciate it greatly. Please email me and I can walk you through how to do this.

Thanks for your love and care of us and our children! We are grateful for you.

What a month! (And its only been two weeks)

This morning Erika and I were talking about all the things that are going on with our lives: adoption, moving, new job and raising support. We are seeing exciting things happen in these four areas of our lives. Feel free to scroll down to the story that interests you most.

New Job:
First and foremost our ministry is to students. Last week I was able to speak to 140 students who lead gospel centered movements on 20 campuses around the St. Louis area. We talked about "Why we walk with Jesus" and looked at "What happens when we walk with Jesus?". I was amazed at the commitment that these students have to reach their fellow students for Christ. For example, the students at Washington University (where Einstein unveiled his theory of relativity) have doubled the amount of small groups THIS FALL so that every living area has a group of believers meeting in it. They are determined to see God use them to bring their friends to Christ.

Another aspect of my new role is to help implement strategies and resource teams that are in the cities of San Fransisco, L.A., Chicago, Miami, Washington D.C. and New York that will reach every student in these cities with the Gospel. Currently we are working on a way to increase the number of staff in these cities through volunteer networks. Ross and Cindy Queener who head the ministry in NYC see a day when every borough has a team of staff, students and volunteers reaching every campus in the area. It is a huge challange. Thanks for partnering with us in this endeaver.

Moving:
Not much news here, we are still waiting to sell our house...It would be easy to be discouraged but God has us in a good place. He continues to remind us that he is in charge and has us in Greeley for this season. We are tempted to think about moving before selling, but its not possible right now.

Adoption:
From what we understand, our papers are starting to work their way through the Guatemalan government. We feel sad and disconnected from our kids their...this is a hard one for us right now. As you pray, pray for them to be cared for and that time would go quickly. We are still waiting on 3 peices of paperwork as well.

Raising support:
We are attempting to raise about $1500 monthy support due to cost of living increase, two more children and the reality that we have lost some support over the past year. We are encouraged to have had about 7 new families join our team and about $700 in monthly support as well!

We have kids!

Last Monday was an exciting time for Erika and me. We spent the day in Orlando looking at houses. That evening we were able to connect with our adoption agency. Sue, one of our caseworkers, showed us pictures of two children; Cristian and Claudia. We had known about Cristian for a few weeks but were waiting to hear back about some tests to see if he was “adoptable”. We found out that he is and we told her that we would “take him”.

He is three years old this August and is a little behind in speech,. This is because he has not had parents reading to him and talking with him. We figure that Rylee and Walker will get him up to speed on the important topics of candy, toys and cuddling. And Erika and I can read to them about Jesus. Please pray for him as he is with 450 other children in the orphanage in Guatemala City. Pray specifically that his papers would be processed quickly. We have been told that it could be as many as 12 months before we can bring him home.

Claudia is a different story. She was brought to our caseworker by her mom and grandfather. Her mom is dying of AIDS and her grandfather is incapable of caring for her. Our hearts were broken as we saw pictures of Claudia and her mom. Claudia is two and a half years old, severely mal-nourished, under height (maybe due to mal-nutrition) and very shy.

We can’t imagine what she must be going through. Erika and I are praying for her mom to come to Christ. Unlike Cristian, Claudia is a private adoption. This means it is more expensive but very quick…we could have her as soon as Christmas, which would be wonderful as her birthday is 12/26. Please pray for Claudia’s mom to come to Christ and for paperwork to go smoothly and quickly.

Hopefully Erika will be able to go to Guatemala in the next 6 weeks to connect with Claudia, Cristian and the orphanage. Thanks for your prayers, we will update you on our work in the next week.

Another Change

Change is a big part of all of our lives. I know that in the past six months many of you have experienced great change and all of you have entered into one of the biggest changes that we will experience; adoption. Whether by prayers or finances you have been a blessing to us during this time. In humility we ask you to continue with us in this journey as we are still in the beginning phase of all this. We would be content with the complexity of our lives if this were all we were going through, but its not.

In the middle of May we were asked to take on a national role with Campus Crusade for Christ. What this means, in general, is that we are moving to Orlando, Fl (the headquarters of Campus Crusade) to help give leadership to the 7,000 U.S. campus staff around the world. Specifically, I will work with our 200 teams in the United States that are trusting God to reach the next group of 4,000 unreached campuses and ethnic groups. Our vision has not changed. We desire to put someone who truly follows Jesus within arms’ reach of every college student in the world. Our scope has increased. Our mission is the same.

As we engage in the Great Commision in a new way we are incredibly thankful for you. God has used you in mighty ways to reach students in Greeley, East Asia, Mexico and the states around Colorado. God is now calling us (the Rietemas and you) to bigger things and we are grateful to have you as our team. The next few months will be full of raising support, finishing adoption, and planning to move. In the meantime I (and sometimes Erika) will commute a few days a month to Orlando to start our new role. We want to meet with all of you (either at a gathering or individually) to talk with you more and to thank you in person.

Paper Trail!

By the end of this week Erika and I will be finished with our paperwork for the adoption. We received a "no record of arrest" clearance from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation earlier this week and our birth certificates are being authenticated as we speak. After all of our paper work is turned in we will wait for acceptance from the Guatemalan Government. If things go well this could happen in the next 8 weeks. After we are accepted we will be in line to be assigned children! While waiting we will take some classes on adoption and look into taking a Spanish class to help with the transition.

If you were to pray for us please pray:

• That our paperwork would go smoothly and quickly through the Guatemalan government.
• That our children are safe and being loved on.
• That the Spanish language would come easy for us.
• That finances would finish up quickly and well.

Thanks so much...the pictures are from a great family vacation with my brother and sister in law!

Local Leader training

In a few days Erika and I will head to Fort Collins, CO to participate and lead our "New Local Leaders Training" For four weeks we will work with new directors on how to direct a campus or a city ministry that will reach all colleges and universities in their geographical area. Usually about 150 people participate in this training. These new directors play a pivotal role in expanding to the next 4000 campuses in the next 5 years. It is a privilege for Erika and I to play a part in their training

Specifically I will be training about 7 directors and "MC" the meetings. Erika will work with the wives of these directors. We love the time that we get to spend in Fort Collins every other summer. If you were to pray for us during this time please pray:

• For Erika and I to trust Jesus with all of the things in our lives right now. We feel really under the pile with paperwork for adoption, anticipating this training and just getting back from Summer Project.
• Pray that Directors would find themselves in love with the mission of "turning lost students into Christ-centered laborers" and that they would be teachable.
• Pray that Rylee and Walker's hearts would be prepared for their new brother and sister.

Thanks for reading this and praying!
Ethan

Long Beach

Erika and I just returned from 3 weeks in Long Beach, CA. We helped set up the summer project and were able to find a few days to vacation with some family that came to visit.

I was encouraged as 31 students made their way to Long Beach to spend 10 weeks working in the community and bringing the kingdom of God into every aspect of their lives. It seems as though these summers never return void in students or the communities lives.

Last year we (some staff and students on project) saw a women by the name of Dawn trust Christ at the GLBT center in Long Beach. recently we heard that she is still walking with Christ and is plugged into a house church network in the area. I am amazed that God works in these ways; that he redeems people, he calls them his own and he uses those who are broken and needy to glorify himself.

April Update

Virginia Tech
Everyone mourned as details of Cho’s rampage were revealed last week. This event sobered Erika and I as I know it did you as well. What we have though about is: “what if this was us? What if the students who died (4 of the students were members of Campus Crusade for Christ) were students we had ministered to and given our hearts to?”. We have mourned constantly for the students, parents, faculty and staff at Virginia Tech.

It is events like these that remind us of why we do what we do with college students. Our understanding is that students involved with Campus Crusade at VT had initiated with Cho several times (Erika heard this most recently on a local radio station) and that these students were actively pursuing Cho in relationship. Erika and I have often talked about “reaching lost and hurting students with the gospel.” This is truly what students and staff are involved in at Virginia Tech. Will you join us in praying for them over the next few weeks, here are the things that they have specifically asked for prayer about.

• The families of the students who were killed.

• The students who were injured and still in the hospital.

• 4 students that were involved with Campus Crusade were killed. Please pray for their families and friends.

• Survivors of the shootings who witnessed the horrors of that day. Pray for God¹s grace and comfort.

• Pray for wisdom for the CCC Staff and other campus ministers and pastors as they seek to counsel and love the hurting students.

Thanks so much for joining with us in interceding for these things and for joining us to reach college students around the world.

Adoption

Thanks so much for the encouraging emails and phone calls regarding our adoption. We are spending a lot of time learning about having a multi-cultural family, filling out paperwork and trying to raise funds (you may receive a letter in the next week or so). Please feel free to write, call and/or pray for us on this journey. (prayer requests are at the right). We are grateful for you beyond words!

Changes

In our last newsletter I mentioned that there are changes coming for Erika and me. I moved into a new position with Campus Crusade for Christ this fall. We are excited about the transition for a number of reasons. The best way to so this is by asking (and answering) some questions that we are asked as we talk about the new role.

What is your new role?
I took my boss’ job! Instead of having one campus to over see and reach with the Gospel I will now work with a team of 7 others to lead and resource 16 teams in 6 states (CO, WY, NM, NE, MO and KS) and another 14 teams in 7 nations (Serbia, Russia, China, Ireland, Mexico, Spain and Chile) In some ways to think of my new job as campus ministry with a bigger campus.

Will you still work with students?
Yes! I will be on campus at the School of Mines in Golden and still part time at UNC. This was a deciding factor in taking this role. In this position I can take more responsibility in reaching the world with the Gospel and not lose too much face time with students.

How many staff and students are in your “scope” of ministry?
Currently there are about there are about 32 teams with about 400 staff representing over 3 million students! This is overwhelming to think about at times, yet we have never sensed God’s calling to what we are doing more than now. And we are assured that God has led us to this new role.

Will this mean more travel?
The simple answer to that is “yes”. I will visit all of the campuses in the US this year and in the next few years I want to visit those overseas as well. I will connect with the directors of all these campuses and walk through getting the gospel to every student in their area of responsibility. On a daily basis I will track with them through phone and email.

Why did you take this new role if you like being on campus so much?
The first reason is that we believe in college students and the impact they can have on the world. Those first years away from home after high school are the defining years of a person’s faith. We want to be there as they work out what it means to walk with God. In this role I will have a direct impact on the way that we (our region) gets to all those students with the Gospel. People in college have more time, energy and are free to do what God calls them to do. Erika and I want to be a pat of mobilizing these laborers for ministry while they are in school and ensure that they are trained for a lifetime of ministry. Imagine if every year hundreds of thousands of students graduated with a heart to do ministry and a mind that was devoted to Jesus.

Do you still need to raise support to do this new job?
Yes, still have the privilege to raise all our own finances for insurance, income and retirement. We are grateful for a system that makes us dependant on Jesus to provide daily bread. And we are grateful for you as a conduit of his grace!

LB Movement Planting #2

Disc Golf in Flagstaff, Andy Wood throwing through the trees to an unknown target...


We spent the summer planting spiritual movements in Long Beach, CA. I mentioned in an earlier post about the summer (LB movement planting #1) that we started by praying. Next we trsuted God to lead us to pockets of people to minister to.

This sounds easier than it actually is, most Christians have few if any friends that are not believers in Christ. So to find a group of people with a common interest that is NOT Christianity can be challenging. Personally I think that often in the Christian sub-culture we have no idea what we like to do because we are told what to do and what not to do rather than told to be who we are created to be...another thought for another time.

After a few weeks most students were plugged into people groups that either suited their gifts and abilities (playing soccer in a park with the same people wvery day, or joining a pottery club), or groups that they had compassion for (Homeless shelters or the Gay, Lesbian, Transsexual community center. I chose the former.

I chose a pocket of people that suited my gifts and abilities, I chose a group of Disc golfers. If you are unfamilier with the sport click this link...it will open your eyes a little to the game. Disc Golf.I met these guys at ElDorado park in Long Beach. I did not know what I was getting into when we first arrived, in fact I did not even know that there was a group of disc golfers to join. However, after visiting the park a few times we realized that there were about 60-150 disc golfers in the community that knew eachother well. They connected at tournements and local parks, during the week they met almost every day to play and smoke dope.

It seems as though it is fairly easy to get a medical marijuanna liscence in California so most of these guys were legal. It was strange to play disc and to be offered a hit regularly. When people ask about my summer I mention that I learned how to smoke pot (I did not smoke, just learned how to) this gives indication into my sheltered background. Anyway, this group truly had a shared interest, and we jumped into this group with the Gospel.

More to come.

Praying for the Rietema's

Please join us in praying for the following things:
1. We recently lost $800 in monthly support. A generous friend and donor told us that they would not bu giving financially to our ministry next year. We are grateful for their support for the past 10 years, and are sad to lose them. In the meantime we have the additional support to raise. We know that God is faithful and will provide.

2. Please pray for our transition. Both Erika and I are taking on more resposibility in our region and will need God's wisdom as we pursue 1,000,000 college students with the Gospel.

Life Change in Long Beach

These past two months we followed a vision the Lord gave to us to teach, train and encourage college students to plant spiritual movements all over Long Beach, CA.
On May 27, 32 students arrived eager to see God move in their lives and around them. We sent the students out into the city to work, live, and connect with the people of Long Beach. Our prayer was to see God raise up among the people of Long Beach leaders of new spiritual communities, new Bible study leaders and new churches. The faith steps were not easy but we learned a ton about our sin, our fears and the power of God.
The first week 3 students and a staff gal, Brandon, Brian, Chelsea and Tawnny adopted the Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, Transgender community center as a place to serve and love and to beseech God to move. They participated in pool parties and some pretty sensitive discussions. During all their interactions our students prayed that God would break hearts and
minister to the people. Initially Dawn, the operations manager, was shocked that Campus Crusade would want to serve in her community center.
Three weeks ago Brandon and Tawnny initiated with Dawn, to talk and go out for ice cream. Dawn was too busy but still wanted to talk. They showed up at the center and the doors were locked but Dawn let them in. Dawn shared her pressures in life, hurts and then she started crying.

Our students were praying that God would do a miracle and then they shared the Gospel and Dawn expressed a deep desire to know Jesus. That night in the middle of the center she prayed to receive Jesus. Since then Chelsea has continued to serve, love and interact with Dawn. Dawn has many hurts, fears and questions that
have yet to be healed and answered by God. Please pray for her to trust God’s love. Hurts, fears, loneliness and doubts are experienced by many of the people we interact with. We know that God desires to transform Long Beach. Please continue to pray that God will use our students to plant spiritual movements and to share his love with others

Discipline Follow Up

Walker started to pee in our backyard today...Not sure what to do about that... Apparently my discipline a few days ago didn't take.

Discipline

Growing up I had the impression that when my parents disciplined me it was more about their desire to inflict pain and damage into my life rather than to benefit me. Now that I have my own children I see things a little differently. To discipline someone requires a level of selflessness and sacrifice.

For example; yesterday my daughter told me that my son had peed in the plastic blow up pool in our backyard. When she told me about this I was in the middle of figuring out some finances and getting ready to have guests for the next few days. Immediately two things arose in me; first there was a deep sense of anger. I was angry that I had to stop figuring out what I was doing and teach my son something that we talked about many times before (there was also a little shame involved because Walker’s lack of peeing discernment reflected on me as the male leader of the household). Second, I though “can I just ignore the fact that this happened”.

In all reality I did not want to discipline or train my son at that moment. I wanted to be selfish and do what I wanted to do. But, in order to properly train Walker I needed to drop what I was doing and address the character issue(s) he was dealing with.

So I sent him to his bedroom and walked him through why it’s wrong to pee anywhere other than the toilet. Apparently, after all the confessions, he didn’t pee in the pool just in the bathtub. He was appropriately moved by my words of what would happen to him if he urinated anywhere other than the toilet in the future.

This disciplinary process showed me something about the nature of God’s discipline. As humans we can discipline selfishly in hopes of changing people so that our lives our easier, God’s discipline is selfless and done so that our lives our bettered.

Currently our family is undergoing some disciplinary measures by God, it is not pleasant. At times I question his love for us, his provision and even whether or not he truly knows what is going on. Last night he brought this thought to my mind: “Ethan, disciplining you is not something I sadistically enjoy, its something that I do (and enjoy) because I love you and I want you to know more of me.”

In my hour long commute to Boulder this morning the thought of God's heart towards my discipline comforted me. I am grateful to know that he disciplines us for our good, and he does not revel in sadistic pleasure as we go through hard times, but walks with us in disciplne so that we see him more clearly.

Long Beach Movement Planting #1

We (My family, 32 students and 9 staff) spent this summer in Long Beach, trying to launch spiritual movements among different cultures and people groups. As a Campus minister I know a lot about leading, training and equipping Chirstians for a lifetime of ministry, but this summer I experienced firsthand working only with non-believers. We wanted to see God raise up spiritual movements, not from an experienced Christian worker, but from lost and broken people. My next few blogs are about this process and some of the things I learned.

Practice of Prayer
Our first step was the Practice of prayer. In the way that we organized the summer prayer was the supreme priority. I know that it seems simplistic, but often we as a group would have a tough time filling 30-90 minutes of prayer, especially prayer that focused on those who did not know Christ. We asked our staff and students to pray daily for large amounts of time even before they had a place to minister in, or a group of people that they would be a part of. This practice led me to one of the first things that I learned this summer:

I am not as spiritual as I think I am. In other words, my heart does not beat in concert with Christ's in regards to the lost, or seeing his kingdom established, or in many other things that he values. It is convicting to see your own heart far away from the heart of Jesus.

The good news is that, though I am not as spiritual as I think I am God already knows this and does not hold it against me. It was a growing experience to confess my hard heart towards prayer and the things of the Lord and to see him changing me. By the end of the summer I found myself praying spontaneously for things that I never thought of before. Often Zach (my ministry partner for the summer) would spend 30-40 minutes praying without running out of things to pray about.

The practice of prayer changed the way that we did ministry. Often times we would leave an hour before we were scheduled to meet at our ministry location so that we would pray, and trust the Lord with all that we were going to do. This gave both Zach and I a deep sense of joy and freedom.

And i need to experience the joy and freedom of God. More often than not I am frustrated that I don't see more fruit than I do, and I work hard to produce it. But in these times of prayer we entrusted the results to God. In trusting God we were freed up in our relationships with our non-believing friends because through prayer and repentence we saw that we needed Jesus as much as they do. So by the time we met with them we were freed up to be ourselves and engage others as friends, not ministry priojects. Knowing full well that Jesus loves them as much as he loves us. I can't begin to describe to you the lifechange that this broguht to me as I prayed for others.

This picture contains some of the people that we met. Please join with me in continuing to pray for (Left to right) Martin, Zach, Joel, Howie, Me, Lester, and Ted.