Anticipating Asia

These past few months have been super busy as we said goodbye to our dear friends in Florida, packed all of our belongings (which was quite a task with a little one), and moved to Atlanta. We loaded the car with everything we owned as well as strollers, baby clothes, and diapers, and we made the 8-hour drive through the night (which we highly recommend to parents with young children) as Jadynn slept soundly in her car seat the whole way. We are staying with family at the moment and they are thrilled to spend time with Jadynn; however, we have to keep an eye on them to prevent them from spoiling our little one! We look forward to our time here as we continue to meet with friends, family, and others to update them on our plans.

Jadynn loves Atlanta!


Since our last blog, we have since met with leaders in Asia and discussed the possibility of joining the work there. As we asked questions and listened to stories of their experience living and working in Asia, we grew increasingly excited about the opportunities available in the area. We also heard more about the great need of the region and were challenged by the task of starting a new work there. After hearing about the need, we sought our father’s direction for our lives. We also studied the word and sought counsel from our elders to help us make a wise decision as to where we should serve. It has since been confirmed that we should prepare to go to Asia, and we are now building up our team as we prepare for our new adventure.

Getting ready for Asia:



Jadynn is growing up so fast! Every day she amazes us by saying or doing something new. She is quite the active little girl, running, swimming, jumping, and climbing everything she sees. She is also very friendly and loves to hug people (even total strangers!) Her joy is contagious, and we know that we are so blessed to have such a sweet little girl. We hope she will help us to make many friends and learn language in Asia.


While in Florida, we worked at Robynn's father's strawberry farm and Jadynn loved picking the strawberries and eating them, and if she couldn't pick them off the vine, she would just bite them off!


She would sometimes get in the way when I was driving the tractor, too.


Thank you for thinking of us during this time, and we look forward to moving ahead in our journey. We'll keep you posted!

All our love,
Jonathan, Robynn and Jadynn

New Exciting Year

Wow. This past year has gone by so fast. We are now in 2009 and can reflect on the blessings of 2008 as well as look forward to the promises of the future. Looking back, we saw the end of our cross-cultural training in England and the addition of a new family member. Looking forward, we can expect great things as our journey continues and our father leads us. Through the past and into the future we know his faithfulness and that he can be trusted.

We have had many opportunities to testify about his goodness and his work in the world in various meetings, communities, and conferences. The latest was at a conference held at the community in which Jonathan grew up. It was exciting to see their involvement in various countries throughout the world, and we got to meet many brothers and sisters from other countries who are now our dear friends.

At the conference, they hosted a dinner with music and food from the different countries in which they are working:


Robynn translated in Spanish for a leader from Costa Rica, and he was VERY energetic, but Robynn kept up and did a great job:


Jonathan shared about our vision during several of the meetings:



Since we've been living in Florida, we have been meeting with our supporters here and we hope to meet with others on our team when we are in Atlanta soon. Jadynn loves meeting everyone, too.



Jadynn turned 1 this past December and we had a great celebration with all her friends. She also had cake for the first time. At first she didn't really know how to react to everything:



But later she really got into it:



She's one year older now and the time has gone by so fast. We continue to cherish every moment we are given. We know this year will probably go by even faster with all the changes that will take place in our lives as we continue to move step by step in faith. We are one year closer to the goal set before us, and we appreciate your love and thoughts toward us at this time. Have a blessed and exciting New Year in 2009!

Back 2 America

Our time in Britain has come an end, and as we look back at our two years of training we have so many wonderful memories. The father gave us many friends and a community, and the best surprise of all, a beautiful daughter. We are so content with all that he has bestowed on us, and now back home in the USA, we continue to follow his leading for the future.

The summer in England was a truly special as we were able to spend more time with our friends and local community before we said our goodbyes. We really grew in the friendship with the leader and his family, as we left England we wore the English football jerseys given as a parting gift (football is soccer in British English).

Jadynn's last call from abroad, now we can see most friends and family in person!

The plane ride was long, but we had many comforts on this family friendly airline.

Soon after we arrived home, we were able to visit with Jonathan's brother and his wife and baby girl. Jadynn and her cousin met for the first time! It was great to see the cousins together. They napped, played, crawled, laughed and brought a lot of joy to their parents.

We have been able to reunite with some good friends. They have been used by him in our lives. They were our leaders in college, and encouraged a passion for the work in the world that we plan to do.

During a special night at our fellowship's cafe, we were able to meet with our partners and update them on what he is doing. We have been seeking his guidance, and fervently asking for wisdom from the one who gives to all who ask. He has given us the next steps and we were excited to share, while also giving a chance for questions and to hear about what he is doing here at home.

As you can imagine, in our preparing for our work overseas, we have been doing a lot of traveling. During this time of home assignment, we are meeting with partners on our team, sharing, encouraging, presenting our vision, getting involved at our home fellowship, and participating in conferences. Though at times our schedule is tiring, we are so thankful to be in the company of many loved ones who understand us, and support us in so many ways. We have been traveling mostly by car, some by plane and so far our Jadynn has taken the changes very well. We are so thankful! She is such a happy, active, adventurous and precious little soul and fills our lives with joy.

On behalf of all of us, we thank you for your lifting us up and supporting us in this season of our lives. Looking forward to seeing you soon. Happy Autumn!

Leaving England

With our Father's help, we officially graduated from the Cross-Cultural Communications Course on the 24th of July to complete our two years of training here in the U.K. It has been an amazing experience for us and we are especially grateful for the opportunity to have learned so much and to have met so many great friends from all over the world. It has been difficult to say goodbye, and we know that some friends we may never see again here on earth. Others we hope to see again in the future.

Here we are receiving our diplomas:



We were planning on leaving for the States soon after graduation, but due to expensive ticket prices during the summer season, we have had to wait until a later time when the prices drop. It's funny how our Father leads, as we now have had the opportunity to spend quality time with the people from the local community that we have become a part of here. We also have had more opportunities to reach out to those that we have built relationships with outside of our community.

We have had accommodations from various friends and have lived in town, going to the shops and market days, living the "real" British lifestyle.

Here, we're at the market where we buy the local produce as well as the meat from the local butcher:


Here's Jadynn after eating the local vegetables:


The town we stayed in was right on the Prime Meridian, so you could take one step from the Eastern Hemisphere to the Western Hemisphere!


We were invited to the nearby beach with our friends and Jadynn enjoyed eating sand with her British boyfriend:


Many of our friends have stopped in to say goodbye, here we are with a staff family from our training:


We hope to be a help to those around us as we spend our last weeks in the U.K., and we look forward to seeing you all soon back in the States as we continue to prepare for our future. Thank you for standing with us through our training and please be thinking about us as we consider where and how to best serve in the future with the gifts and training we have received.

All our love,
Jonathan, Robynn and Jadynn

Time in the Tents

We survived! Our five weeks in the tents was completed on July 4th, and we are happy to report that the Bachman Family is back in their English home.

The experience we had was amazing. Waking each morning to the sun peering in our tent and the fresh cool air of the countryside was really a pleasure. Our Father gave us just the right amount of rainy, stormy nights, sunny days, windy afternoons and everything in between.

Some nights we were so hot we had to shed all blankets, and other nights we couldn’t find enough clothes and blankets to put on. Our little girl was so adaptable, she slept in a snowsuit, or just regular pajamas, with several blankets, hot water bottles, or without.


Jadynn was great! She loved being outside and her mommy loved dressing her for the (occasional) warm weather with sun hats and dresses. During the five weeks, she learned to crawl and is now scooting around the dorm at a quick pace and is starting to get into everything.


Home Sweet Home. We grew very fond of our tent as it became a home to our family. It was just the right size, and we enjoyed making it cozy for ourselves and our visitors. The colorful panels are windscreens to protect those sitting outside from the high winds that sometimes sweep through this area. Our comfy lawn chairs were where we sat, mostly in the evenings, and reflected on the days events and enjoyed a coffee or tea while baby was asleep.


The kitchen and dining room was the hub of our daily activities, like preparing meals, feeding baby, and meeting with friends. During the day we had our language sessions here a few mornings a week. Our Dutch language helper and our teammates met here, drank coffee, had cookies, and of course spent hours listening, recording and mimicking in Dutch. Learning about language and culture is not just work, it is relationship building too, we became good friends and had a lot of fun together, while also accomplishing a great deal in the language. We cheered for one another as we progressed in the language, and really rejoiced when the sounds we produced sounded like real Dutch!


The whole family in our tent. Our loving Father was so good to us and showed us His help in many situations. We sometimes find it hard to believe that He has given us one another. Also, that He gave us such a precious life to look after. We do not feel qualified for such a task as raising a family, let alone living in a foreign country. We do know, that He is able and if we are willing, then we can do great things.


Our bedroom. The place we really looked forward to seeing at the end of the day. The work was hard not only mentally but also physically, with gathering water each day, doing laundry, washing dishes, emptying our toilets and cleaning them. Each day we got a good night’s sleep because the demands of this lifestyle require much more effort than we were used to in our modern convenient lives.


Jadynn loved to crawl on our bed. She used our soft duvet to strengthen her developing leg muscles and this allowed for softer falls too!


Baby Jadynn had her very own nursery in our tent. Mom and Dad decided early on that our precious girl should have her own space so that we could all sleep well. Maybe you recognize the rocking chair that Robynn painted and covered in pink when she was expecting! Jadynn did not miss a beat and fell right into her normal routine even in the tent. There were a few nights she woke up, but only because she was cold. After a snuggle and a hot water bottle in her bed she was back to sleeping through the night.


Jonathan was required to put in at least 8 hours of language and culture study each day. This is where he spent most of his time during the day. It was only a few meters from our tent, so Mom and Jadynn could visit and see how he was getting on. Here in the main marquis students were allowed to use electricity only for the use of computers with language learning software. This place was very quiet as each one concentrated on the drills and intricacies of the language that they had been assigned to learn. Among the languages that we were learning were: Dutch, German, Russian, French, and Estonian.

One of the weekends while we were in the tents there was a large conference. Jonathan was given special permission to come out of the tents for the weekend and lead music. In the picture above he is singing a song he wrote during a trip in Russia accompanied by Robynn.


Several of our British friends from our local community came to see us. Pictured above are Paul and Caroline (holding Jadynn), and Simon and Janet with little Judith. These were just a few of our dear friends that took the time on a visitor’s weekend to come and encourage us. We had been looking forward to seeing them, as it had been several weeks since we had been together. Thank you so much for your visits, Eastgate family!


Of course it wasn’t all hard work! We did enjoy quite a few nights around a warm fire cooking, roasting marshmallows, eating, playing volleyball, and getting to know one another even better in this intimate and close-knit community.


The Dutch language group. As a thank you to our language helpers Reinout and Arenda, we invited them over for a barbeque. We were planning on not working on language during this time of relaxation, but we couldn’t help ourselves. Our desire to learn and be understood kept us constantly talking in Dutch and asking for corrections as we advanced and began to see results from our hard work.


The clay oven. We were not the best at using it, but we did give it a try. To start up the fire, prepare the food and cook it correctly took several hours. One night we thought it would be nice to make a simple meal, baked potatoes with beans. Much later Jonathan handed me my plate and said, “ Hope you really like them, they took me 4 hours to make, can you believe it?” Needles to say, they were really good!


Of course, as the only American couple in the tents, we had to make our own cultural contribution. We couldn’t find anything more typical than pizza and Coca-Cola. So every Wednesday night we had this meal with our neighbors and perfected the art of pizza making.


All in all, it was a unique experience that we’ll never forget. We were encouraged by so many who thought of us, visited us, and wrote us letters. Hearing from our friends and family only made us more excited to return stateside and to see everybody again. We will graduate from the Cross-Cultural Communications Course here on July 24 and will be returning to the US shortly afterward in August. We look forward to spending time with each of you and sharing what He has done. Jadynn is eager to see you, too!

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