Here comes the SUN!

As Jadynn basks in the sun, we too feel that the warmth and good weather has been a gift from our Father.  The next few months of our time here in England are going to be incredibly busy, but we are confident that we will finish the race, in our studies and as we prepare for the next part of our journey. We trust that He knows where we should be, and we are excited to share that news with you very soon.

Our recent visitors from home, Great Grandma and Auntie:


Our latest classes have been focused on Culture and Language study, and we are gaining loads of experience. Our final project will begin at the end of May as we move out to the "tents" and live simply for 5 weeks. We are only allowed what food we bring in and can keep- there is no refrigeration.  Jonathan and others will be learning how to build toilets, showers, and other necessities.  The planning process is one that will take several weeks.  Once we get there we must be sure that we have everything we need, enough diapers for Jadynn, food for the three of us, candles, matches, clothes, sheets, pots, pans, and if we forget anything we only get one chance to go back and get it!  

The whole experience is one that we have been looking forward to all year.  Though it sounds pretty tough, we are so excited to begin.  While we are there we will spend 8 hours a day (for Jonathan) and 4 hours a day (for Robynn) learning language and using the tools we have been taught over the past year.  We recently found out that we will be learning the Dutch language (spoken in Holland).  

Jadynn wants to learn how to read so she can learn Dutch, too!



However, we are not going to be taught in a class with books or other language tools. Instead, we will live with, work and get to know our language helpers who are from Holland and learn their language by using the voice recorders and listening as we build relationships with them.  It just happens to be that our language helpers are also our fellow students and some of our best friends, so we are really happy to learn a little of their language since they are always speaking English to communicate with us.

A recent presentation on Asia with our Dutch friends:



We will not able to communicate with the outside world while we are living in our new environment, so we will have to give you an update when we return.  The day we move back to the campus is July 4!  Couldn't be more perfect- Independence Day!  Will you keep us in your thoughts before the Father, and remember us as you switch on electricity and turn on running water?

All our love,

Jonathan, Robynn and Jadynn

Snowy Spring

Our time in England is quickly passing by, and as we welcome one more Spring here we were surprised to find on Easter morning a blanket of thick snow covering everything! Some of our dear friends from the community invited us to the country to stay for the weekend, and we gladly accepted. We spent our time in an idyllic country home with a special Easter morning all to ourselves, since we were snowed in.

Horses in a nearby field:



The country lane:



Daddy and daughter, do they look warm enough?


Since January we have enjoyed two more terms at our training and learning about the practical aspects of life in another country are proving to be so valuable. Our latest classes include; Grammar, Literacy, Phonemics, Home Assignment, Translation, and other additional workshops on Teamwork Skills, and Home School Techniques and curriculum. With these and many other classes in the mornings, we have a short lunch break and then its back to work for the afternoon.

Jonathan has found himself enjoying his outdoor practical work. As an artist he rarely has time to enjoy the outside since most of his work involves sitting behind a computer. Recently he has been working on the demolition crew of the campus. He is helping his international teammates destroy an old Officer's Mess. He loves his job and comes home three afternoons a week covered in dust and boasting of the latest things that he has crushed with a huge mallet or dug up with a jack hammer.



Robynn as been spending the afternoons helping Jadynn develop a naptime schedule so she can be more productive. When Jadynn is sleeping, she is able to take optional classes on subjects like homeschooling. Former teachers and mothers who have years of experience are teaching these courses to help new moms plan ahead for when they may find themselves in an environment without any formal education system. Mom has a big job, she takes care of the home, is on the team with her husband, and can be the primary educational provider for her family. In addition to this she is learning to cook basic meals with everyday ingredients (i.e. cooking from scratch). Who knew that you could make brownies and cakes without a box?



In our local community we continue to look for ways to serve and use our gifts. Jonathan is helping again in the morning children's classes and Robynn is finding that Jadynn is a great way to meet other moms and make friends. The friends we have made here have been such a joy to us and we are overwhelmed with their generosity. They have made our training ground a home for us, and we are very conscious of our numbered days with them. We are making the most of every opportunity to visit or have them over for a spot of tea!




We have been so thankful for your support during our training and look forward to the time when we can see you all again, hearing from you is a great joy to us. You are continually in our loving thoughts and we ask Him to give you strength, wisdom and encouragement as we serve together both here and in your own communities.

Welcome to our World, Jadynn

I'm sure all of you were wondering what happened to our blog since we haven't updated it in a while; we've got a good excuse...we've become parents.

On December 14, 2007 Jadynn Clarice Bachman was born at 10:57am at Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in the U.K.

Here's a picture of our new family at the hospital:



I'm sure all of you were also wondering if Robynn ever finished the rocking chair from our last blog entry. Well, the day she put on the finishing touches, she went into labor, so it was His perfect timing :)

Here's the finished product with Jadynn and mum enjoying their time together:



Adjusting to being parents and students at the same time has brought its challenges, but we've been able to get through it so far with the Father's help. Classes are going great as we're continuing to learn the practical skills we might need for living overseas, such as Linguistics (for language learning), husband/wife and parent/child relationships, and Technology Tips, which is "do-it-yourself" construction and electricity for building a house.

Here's Jonathan creating light with a few tools, some wires, and a battery:



Jadynn attends classes with us, but she usually just sleeps through the lectures:



With the added responsibilities of parenthood, Robynn has learned to multi-task as never before (here, she's doing laundry):



We're looking forward to our future work and where we might serve:



Please continue to keep us in your thoughts.

Mum-to-be (among other things)

Robynn wearing a shirt given by her sister-in-law, which reads "Coming This Winter..." This winter has been a time of preparation for the arrival of our little baby girl as we've been getting ready for parenthood--we've taken the classes, read the books, and stocked up on diapers (which are called "nappies" here in England). Robynn has been setting up the nursery and has even started a few projects, including repainting and reupholstering an old rocking chair.



The chair has an interesting history having travelled around the world. Here's Robynn at work painting:


Here's the "before" picture, and we'll post the "after" picture when it is finished.


We continue to enjoy the friendships we've made at our church here, and one couple invited us to visit with them and their family in a beautiful part of England called the Yorkshire Dales. We had a great time of fellowship and were so thankful for their generosity and hospitality. Our friends have a baby boy and you can tell he had a great time by the look on his face. Ha!


The beautiful countryside in the Dales:


We even rode a steam engine train through the hills:


We're learning a lot from our new classes which include: Medical Practice, Culture and Language Acquisition, Linguistics, Cultural Anthropology. We are also meeting regularly with our professors now to talk about how we are doing in classes, how we are growing, how we are serving, and even how our marriage is going. These are all issues that are discussed in deciding about the future of our work and serving in another country. Here's a group of us with our professors and their family--the other students are from all over the world.


Soon we will be experiencing the biggest change of our lives...and our biggest happiness, too! We are looking forward to introducing you to our daughter in our next web update! The due date is December 10, but only the Father knows when she will come. Please keep us in your prayers.


All our love,
Jonathan and Robynn (& Baby)

We Survived!

Imagine living in the wilderness with no electricity, no running water, and no tent for 4 days! How would you survive? We went with our class on a survival course to see if we had what it takes to do just that. Not that we plan to live in those conditions in the future, but it's always good to know necessary survival skills just in case they might be needed. We learned how to start a fire without matches, build rope out of plants, find food in nature, as well as basic orienteering using a compass and the sun and stars. We also learned how to build our own shelter and I've provided step-by-step instructions so you can learn how do it yourself!

Find two large forked branches or trees and one long one to use as a pole and set up as shown. (It helps to have a cute wife help you, too)


Next line some smaller sticks along the middle pole and weave twigs through them so that you can add foliage for protection from the elements.


Finally, weave foliage into the twigs and make sure the leaves are pointing down to carry the water away from the shelter in case it rains. We used local ferns called bracken to cover our shelter, and amazingly, it kept us completely dry when it rained one of the nights. It was time-consuming to build the shelter, but it was so much fun and next time we go camping, we want to build another one!


Robynn and baby were well taken care of with great food over the fire (we hiked in with some food supplies), plenty of drinking water (provided), and a team to serve them and make sure they were okay.


Here's our team in front of some more shelters we made (Robynn carved the flowers out of wood).


We had a great time and we wish we could do it again. He has provided everything we need in His creation, and we experienced a simpler, more thoughtful way of life far from distractions and (in)conveniences. Robynn was sad to leave the first home her husband had made for her!

We're back in normal classes again and really enjoying them as we continue to learn about His work in the world. Thank you for thinking of us!

All our love,
Jonathan & Robynn (and Baby) only 8 weeks to go!

Back 2 Britain

We've made it back to Britain safely after having a wonderful time with family, friends in the States. This will be our second year of training and starting the Cross-Cultural Communications Course. It will be challenging, but we are looking forward to the practical lessons we will be learning and growing in our faith. Also, we love the English culture and our little British home. Today we picked blackberries in the countryside and found this sign on one of the roads.

It was great to see Jonathan's brother and his wife again earlier in the summer, and they're having a little girl, too! His parents, of course, were so excited to be grandparents and had already filled the house with pink girly gifts. Little sister Christi is excited to be an Aunt, too!



Robynn's brothers are shocked to see their sister is having a baby and that they are going to be uncles. Can you guess which one is more crazy than the other?



On our way back to England, we stopped in New York before flying out of JFK to see some friends and experience the city.



Classes started up right when we got there, but it wasn't all sitting behind a desk and taking notes. We went on a long hike through the English countryside to get to know the new students as well as test our stamina.



Here's a beautiful old building we passed along the way.



Another aspect of our classes is maintaining the grounds and facilities in order to keep the costs down for the students as well as practice having a joyful attitude. Here, Jonathan works hard on the hedges whereas other days you can find him happy singing and tune and scrubbing toilets.



We are so happy to be here again growing in our walks and living with such a wonderful community who desire to please our Father. We especially look forward to the next coming months as He continues to amaze us with His love.



All our love,
Jonathan and his Girls

It's a GIRL!

We are pleased to announce that we are having a baby girl! This past month was amazing. At the end of July we graduated from our first year of training, received our diplomas and even won a swing dance competition at our school. The next day we went to Diana Princess of Wales Hospital to see our baby at 20 weeks. The sonogram was so clear we could even see when she waved to us--really! The doctors are happy with her growth and gave us a good health report as we prepared to go home for 6 weeks.

The past few weeks we have been in Atlanta enjoying time spent with family, friends and Jonathan's church. Robynn's belly continues to grow and she feels great, only a little tired now and then and ALWAYS hungry! We are looking forward to spending most of August in Florida with her family, friends and our home fellowship.

Thank you so much for your thoughts and the ways you encourage us. Our experience this year in England has been so wonderful and enriching, we can't wait to share it with all of you. Please write and let us know how your summer has been.

All our love,
Robynn & Jonathan (and Baby Bachman)

Baby in Britain!

We are so excited to share with all of you how we are very thankul--we're having a baby! We have been desiring and waiting for nearly 2 years, and now in His perfect timing, He has answered us with this wonderful gift. The baby is due in December, and he or she will be born here in England while we are finishing our training, so it will be a "British Baby" and Robynn is a "mum" :-) We recently got this scan, and the doctors said the baby is healthy as well as the mother.


We were also happy to have Jonathan's family fly "across the pond" and visit us. We took them out to eat for a Mother's Day celebration and surprised our mom (and our dad and sister) with the great news. She opened a Mother's Day card written from the baby, thanking her for her love for us and for being such a great mother...and grandmother. Of course, everyone was thrilled and crying with joy. My younger brother and his wife are having a baby around the same time we are, so it is especially exciting that our family is about to have two new members!


Here we are in Scotland where William Wallace (from Braveheart) used to live and fight the English in epic battles.



We also led music during one of the evening sessions of a local conference, singing and playing.

Thank you for your committment to make an impact and for supporting us. We would appreciate your continued thoughts for us to finish strong in our studies as we graduate next month, as well as good health for the baby and Robynn during this time of pregnancy. Please let us know how we can encourage you, too!

All our love,
Jonathan and Robynn

Holiday in Holland

We just got back a couple weeks ago from our Easter break in Holland. We were invited by our Dutch neighbors down the hall to go home with them and spend our break in the Netherlands with their family. We had the most wonderful time with them, and their family was so gracious to us, serving us for nearly two weeks.


Our Dutch friends and their loving family in their beautiful garden.

Our friends took us all over their beautiful country, and it was the perfect time as the sun was shining and the tulips were blooming and the windmills were...winding (?)


The tulips under the trees.


The variety of colors was amazing.


A typical Dutch landscape with sheep, flowers, and a windmill.


View of the tulip fields from the top of a windmill. The colors were even more brilliant in person.

After our break, we had some friends, who had been serving in Northern Asia, come and visit the training center here. They were the couple we met with on a regular basis when we were first dating and were interested in what they were doing. They came to the training to teach several classes as well as share the needs of Asia. We had a great time with them and, perhaps, we may work with them in the future.


A traditional Dutch reformed building


"Hey Jonathan, you think we should work somewhere cold?"

We are amazed at the wonder of our creator and how He reveals His love to us: through His creation, through His Son, and through His children, which includes you! Thank you so much for your continued thoughts and love and support.

All our love,
Jonathan and Robynn