Back to Montego Bay!

We spent a lot of time at the Montego Bay campus of CCCD during our first two years in Jamaica. We really like the MoBay campus and kids. But, after Daisha came, the travel back and forth became very difficult, another missionary came for the campus, and we really havent been back to MoBay much since. But, on Saturday, our sending church is coming into MoBay on a ministry team. So, today, we ventured down to MoBay, moved back into the apartment we lived in before, and feel like we are getting back in the saddle. We will be in Montego Bay all of this coming week.

Also, our home phone will be off for the coming week and therefore email may be the quickest method of contacting us and then we can call you back.

Silly Sally - R.I.P.

You may remember that Truitt got a rabbit for his birthday. He named her Silly Sally. Well, Sally died a couple of weeks ago. We have no idea what happened. Yes, its sad, but the strangest thing is that we took it harder than Truitt. He still talks about it sometimes, but at the time he really kind of brushed it off. We did our duty as the three of us "men" went out to bury Sally. I tried to give the boys an opportunity to have a moment of silence or something in memorium, but they were unfazed. They were more concerned about whether we should put more rocks on top of the grave so that the dog didnt come and dig her up. We did cover the topic of rabbits in heaven, but in the end, the adventure of going out to bury the rabbit far outweighed the tragedy of the rabbit being dead. Anyways, it was good while it lasted and for now we will put the rabbit farming on standby.

Gone Fishing

Sorry we have been so absent. We are currently between teams, which means we have more time to get things done. But, we feel a little like we are in a vortex between teams. Feeling some fatigue from the last couple of weeks and ramping up to a big team the week after next. On the 31st, a team from our sending church is coming for a week. We are really excited, but also feel alot of responsibility. So, we are ramping up to that time and trying to get things in order. We are resting on Grace!

Daddy's Girl

It all started one sunny day in June of 2009, and he's never been the same since. It's amazing the influence such a little girl can have on such a big guy! Daisha Leigh has become her Daddy's princess. She's already convinced 100% that "Daddy's my man," and refuses to close her eyes at night till she has squealed from the tackles of her dad. And her Daddy, he often adjusts his plans for the day around the whims of this little 2 year old bundle. As her mom, I love watching their relationship grow. We pray that she will always be won by the love of her father, and by this understand that she is so precious in her heavenly Father's eyes!

February Update

Plattner Family Update - February 2012

We must believe that the Gospel is enough. It must be the answer. If we cannot reconcile the Gospel as being the answer for all “making right” in the world, the guilt will kill us. The needs of the world are absolutely overwhelming. This message keeps resonating back to us again and again. The story often goes like this, when faced with the needs of the world, the level of guilt we feel demands a response. Then, because this guilt is born more out of shame for our blessings rather than compassion regarding the consequences of sin, we respond in the flesh rather than the Spirit. Our response is our best effort to bring aid to the situation in a way that will provide comfort to our guilt. This will lead down the wrong road every time. The response of our flesh will always lead to problems and the response of our flesh to suffering will likewise lead to more problems. Therefore, we must believe that the Gospel is the answer. We must believe that our response must copy the response of Jesus. We must believe that the answer is in true “Com-passion,” the true “suffering- with” as Christ suffered with us. That is the Gospel, God’s story and plan of reconciliation of His wayward people back to Himself through the passion of the Cross. We must start here or our helping will only serve to hurt.

February has been a significant month. At the beginning of February, our teammates Chad and Pam Huber, announced that they were moving back to the states. This was profound for us in many ways. They have been great teammates for the past 4 years and it is hard to see them preparing to leave Jamaica. But, we trust God’s leading in their lives. The Hubers have done great work on behalf of Apostolic Christian World Relief and the Jamaica Deaf Village. Their love and sacrifice have been a testimony to our family. Not all has gone as envisioned for the Hubers, but their steadfast trust in His plan has refreshed our hearts. Our circumstances have been very similar to the Hubers and we are trying to learn all we can as they walk through this transition. Please pray for them as they transition to a new phase in life.

In early February, while newly processing the idea of the Huber’s leaving, our support team came for a visit. This was a 5 day extravaganza of meetings. We visited many ministries around Jamaica and we also spent a lot of time focusing on our vision for the future in Jamaica. It was a very blessed week of fellowship and planning. The remainder of February was spent living life, but not in any normal sense. The Lord challenged us and stretched us through another unique set of circumstances involving two friends in our lives. These situations reawakened us to the absolutely destructive power of sin. I don’t know how and why we forget, but our hearts become calloused. While not situations that we can specifically explain, we pray that the light of our Lord shined through us in these dark situations. And, we continue to pray for soft hearts that remain malleable in His hands.

The experiences alluded to above were good for our soul. We continue to seek Him in our ministry, marriage, relationships, and parenting. The understanding of our need for sustaining grace continues to grow. Drew is more than half way through his first grade year and continues to love learning. Truitt continues being Daisha’s worst nightmare and best friend. Daisha, when not fighting with her older brother, continues to wow us with her little “girly” personality. And,, Danae continues her bipolar approach to life which results in either adorable smiles or fussy crying. Keri and I continue to celebrate life together with a love that continues to grow deeper. Again, we walk by grace and give thanks for all of your love and support.

Called to Controversy (by Ruth Rosen) - A book review

Called to Controversy is a book about Moishe Rosen, the founder of Jews for Jesus. The book is an honest look at Moishe from his youth through his leadership of the foremost mission organization to Jewish people. The book detailed Moishe’s early life, conversion, educational journey, early ministry, and then the founding of Jews for Jesus. I really appreciated the authentic approach of this biography. There was no sense in which the book felt like a “rose-colored” eulogy, but conversely, it felt like an honest summary of a man passionate about Jewish evangelism. Moishe was pictured as a man of God committed to the cause, but not without his flaws. This approach to biography was refreshing and offered a more realistic look at ministry and organizational leadership. While there were times that I wish the book gave a clearer picture of what and how Moishe taught the Bible, the book did give a detailed look at the inner workings of Jews for Jesus as an organization. The passion and commitment came through clearly and the book concluded with reflections back across Moishe’s life. The coverage of the time after Moishe’s retirement was especially insightful as the author included many of Moishe’s introspections of his own life and ministry. Ultimately, Moishe’s commitment to preaching the Good News to the Jewish people shined through this book and ministered to me as a significant encouragement. I think this little poem written by Moishe most succinctly summarizes the heart of the book. “Our love cannot preserve itself nor our rightness last. O Lord, love us and we shall be loved and love. Keep us right till we are right with you.”


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Wheaton College

For the past week, we have been hosting a team from Wheaton College. The team is comprised of the students in their ASL club. They were a great group of kids and we had alot of fun with the team. Their program is very well run and they had two great leaders, Cindy and Noah. Cindy works for the school and enjoys spending time with the kids for the trip to Jamaica. Noah is a young deaf leader who is currently in seminary training to be a pastor. Noah works with igniteasl.com which produces videos to encourage and equip young people. Below is one of his videos if you want a taste. Thanks Wheaton for a great week!

Media from Deaf International on Vimeo.

For Frau Lau

"Frau Lau" is my delightful Aunt Marlene. And, I think she can appreciate this post as much as anyone and therefore I post it for her.

Check out the picture of these two guys below. Do you see any resemblance? I dare say they could be twins and come to find out they are very close in age with profoundly similar life stories. Check out these profound similarities.
1. Same last name
2. Both of German Heritage
3. Both worked for IBM
4. Both worked in computers all their life

And, that is where the similarities stop. The guy on top is named Hasso Plattner and the guy on the bottom is named James Plattner, my dad. Their differences begin with the fact that Hasso is worth an estimated 7.2 Billion dollars and comes in on Forbes richest people in the world list at #127. But, despite the marginal difference in net worth, I am "banking" on the fact that Hasso may be a long lost uncle.

Grandma Post

Click here for a few pics from the past couple of months.

Meet Blake and Tashi

Meet Blake and Tashi, our friends, comrades, and teammates. Blake and Tashi Widmer were interviewed at our home church last evening. They explained a little about their lives, ministry, and life in Jamaica. They testified to God's goodness in their lives. You can check out the interview by clicking here.