And The Ministry Begins!

I had the opportunity to travel with my team-member to another district in our state. It was a three hour drive to get to this place, where we met with one of our national partners. We were there to pray over the opening of a new shop of a believer, and when this happens, many people from the community come and celebrate the opening. We were able to pray, help cut the ribbon to open the shop and then my team-member had the chance to share with the crowd his testimony. After this, he asked if he could share with them the good news that had changed him. All said yes. Then, after sharing the news of Christ's salvation, and that it was a free gift for them to accept, he asked if anyone would like to receive this free gift. All raised their hands, and then we led them in a prayer of salvation. We were able to hand out New Testaments in their language, for which there was a mad scramble for them. It is obvious that they are hungry for the Word! We underestimated how many to bring, and we ran out. Our national partner took names of the ones who did not get Bibles, and he will provide them with New Testaments as well. It is probably realistic to say that not all these men fully accepted Christ that day, but my partner said that there were about 5 that were really tuned in to what he was saying. Even if the others did not accept, they still took a Bible, and we compelled them to not only take this book, but to read it. At least they have the Word in their hands and now have the opportunity to read the Truth. All in all, it was a good trip, and I was privileged to be part of this. I pray that the men who received the Bibles feel the presence of the One True God, and that He loves them just as much as any of His children. Please pray with me for these brothers in Christ, that they become disciples of the King, for His Kingdom.

Few and Far Between

I used to keep up with the blogs, including updating my own pretty regularly, and commenting on some of those that I read. I also would be sad when a blog was left with no new post for a long time, because I love to read what they all have to say. I must confess, I have been so busy with things here in S.A. that I have neglected my blog, and I have probably lost some of the only few readers I have. So, may I apologize and try harder to get better at updating this blog especially while I am now here in the country God has brought us to. My new occupation as missionary is one of the main reasons for this blog. So here are a few updates from the first few months here.

I have been learning a new language, using a curriculum offered by the company, and along with a fellow national believer I have been learning much in the past month. This has occupied much of my time, as well as keeping the household in order. We hired a national believer to work M-F to cook lunch for us as well as clean the house. We met her during one of our volunteer trips here, and her and my wife really connected. Her sister works for our team members, so we have one big happy family working together for the Lord. During the day, while she works, I am studying my language and my wife and daughter are doing homeschooling. They are also trying to adjust to new way of life, especially since my daughter went to public school. She misses the interaction with other kids, but she has made many friends with the other girls her age in our building.

My son tries to stay occupied with the toys we brought for him as well as the television, but it is difficult being 5 and no one to play with him during the time we are all busy. He has been able to play with the kids in the building also, but only after they come home from school. They come up and ask for him, and he and I play cricket with the other boys downstairs.

We prayed and asked God to not only provide for our needs here, but to provide relationships for us to build to share the gospel. Through the children, we have made some friends with some of the neighbors in our building. There is one older family whose children are grown and moved to America whom we have visited often. We are able to speak with them, as they speak english very well. We were able to share that we are Christ-followers and that we follow only Him. She also said that she follows Jesus along with her other gods. She had been looking for a Bible in her language, but hadn't been able to find one. My wife made a bookmark for her and we gave her a New Testament in her language. She was excited to have it, and she said she would put it in her puja room, where she does her worship. We pray that God's word would be the brightest light in that dark room, and that her and her family would be confused by the worship they do to the other gods and be able to understand that the truth she seeks is in the Word. We have traded food with some of the other neighbors here, and though they don't speak English and our understanding of their language is limited, food seems to be the universal language! Like I said, we are building long term relationships here to gain influence slowly and also share the Gospel along the way.

We have been blessed by God so much here, especially the place where we live. I knew that God would provide a place for us, even felt it was picked out well before we had even decided to come here and follow His lead. It was one of the things that I was worried about the least. It is a short walk to the market as well as to our team-members, maybe 2 minutes walk. We are finally settled in it and have dedicated it to the Lord as a sanctuary for us as well as those who enter and visit with us.

Since I have so much to catch up with, I'll limit this post at this point. Promise get up to date fully by the end of the week!

Life Goes On

Wow has the time gone quickly. It seems like only a short time ago we were waiting patiently for our house to sell, then went through what seemed like a 6 month orientation, and now since arriving on the field we have been running constantly to set up our home and get ready for the coming year of ministry. Sometimes it feels like we need to take a break and catch our breath. Well, thank the Lord for visa runs! We will be heading to our regional office in another city for a Language Workshop/visa renewal today. We will be gone for 6 days and meet up with some people we went through orientation with as well as a couple we met a year ago at our conference who are living in the city we are traveling to. And with this breather we are getting, we also get to eat BEEF! Yes, we live in a country that does not serve any kind of beef, so any McDonalds we go to here is Big Mac made with chicken patty (or even worse, veggie patty), so it will be a welcome meal when we are able to eat red meat for the first time in a long time.

During our time here so far, we have been able to set up our house, very near to our team members, and also I have been working on my language with the help of a local believer. He is very good, though I feel like I am progressing slowly. He has said that my progression is good, so he is good at words of encouragement. God provided this relationship, because He knew that I would need to be encouraged through my language learning, and kicked in the pants as well when it is obvious that I have not done the required study. He is good at challenging me, which is what I need. Anyways, I look forward to coming back and continuing my learning.

Everyone here has been very nice and helpful to us, and we are greatful for the relationships we have made here. We have been able to share the Gospel a little with a couple of our neighbors during Christmas, and even give a new testament to a lady in the local language. She says she studies the teachings of Jesus, but the family worships many other of the local gods and idols along with Him. We are being very slow to build the relationship with them, but we are being strong on the fact that we follow Jesus only because God's word has told us to. She was excited to have the Bible and said that she would read it. There have been many opportunities during our short time here so far to share, and we pray that we have many more opportunities to share our personal relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Thank you for your prayers during this long time of transition. We have felt very lifted up during this crazy time. Please continue to pray for the local people we come in contact with every day that we will reflect Jesus to them and that they see the light in this dark place.

A modern day Athens?

This morning I was watching some of the things going on outside. In addition to the many people coming and going, the various men yelling up to the people living in the apartments what they are selling, I noticed a woman walking through this lumber yard. As you can see, there are some cows tied up in the yard, as there are every day. She was nicely dressed, and carrying something to give to the cows to eat. I noticed her giving some sort of sign after giving the cows what she was carrying and it occurred to me that she was worshipping the cows at that very moment. As I was astonished, I began to feel very sad at what she was doing. I realized again, through all that we have been doing so far to get set up here in our city, that people are so very lost.

The people of South Asia are a very spiritual people, as I notice by all the idols, false gods and temples that are everywhere we look. It makes me think of Paul in Acts 17, and how he was greatly distressed to see that Athens was full of idols and he even saw that the people were very religious. It is distressing and sad that 99% of these religious people we walk past every day here do not know the One True God, and are going down a road that is leading them to eternal separation from Jesus.

However, as my partner here pointed out that as bad as the idol worship was in Athens, those false gods and idols are nothing but myths and legends today. God has defeated and crushed the beliefs in those false gods, and we may be privileged to witness and be a part of the beginnings of another revolution that will take down the false gods and idols we are seeing worshipped right here.

Please continue to pray for the people of South Asia, that God will bring these people to know Him personally. Pray for the nationals who come to accept Jesus to be sowers of the Word, to grow His fame among these people, and for the people to be receptive to what the truth is. It is not anyone's power or might that can do this, but it is God alone who can accomplish His task through faithful and obedient followers.

Many Thanks on this day of Thanksgiving

“First of all, I ask you to pray for everyone. Ask God to help and bless them all, and tell God how thankful you are for each of them.” 1 Timothy 2:1

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. While we are living in a temporary apartment here in our city until our new flat is finished, there are some thanks I would like to share during this time of Thanksgiving.

We are thankful for God’s provision while we are here to have found an apartment so quickly, and a new one at that! Even though we are waiting for it to be complete, it is a blessing, and we are thankful.

We are thankful for our health while here. The “crud” has gone once through the family, but it seems to have gone away and it was nothing major. Nothing a little antibiotics couldn’t cure.

We are thankful for our team members here in our city, the newest members of our family, who we are able to spend time getting to know and who we will be spending much time together for the next few years. They have been a huge help and blessing to us as we have been getting set up here and we look forward to the growing relationship and fellowship our families will have in the future working together for the One True God.

We are thankful for our family members who have sacrificed a normal relationship with us and our children to encourage us to follow God’s purpose in our lives, and seek Him.

We are thankful for our friends and our church family back home, who have also sacrificed close relationships with us to encourage us to do God’s work on the other side of the world. Your support and prayers are much appreciated.

We are thankful for our prayer partners back home as well as overseas, who lift us up to the Father often. Even through the busy-ness of life, I know that they have committed to partnering with us in prayer while we are here. Not only lifting us up, but also the people we are engaging here in South Asia to come to know Jesus as we do.

We are thankful for the IMB who has allowed us the privilege to be vessels to be used by God.

Most of all, we are thankful for a Heavenly Father whose love for His children is larger than we can even imagine. He took the time to create us, put us together as a family, and ready us for service in a far away place. He has brought us out of many pits, some so deep that we could have easily given up. But through faith in Him we persevered, and became stronger from those times. The times may not be easy here, but we know that God will provide for our every little need. We will cling to Him and rely on Him for everything. We will consider it joy to do what we must to make His name famous in this place.