Tuesday, July 21, 2015

THE ROAD I CHOSE!!!

 

Waiting For My Flight-A view I see a lot, different place-same view
 
THE ROAD I CHOSE
 
    I have been called a missionary, an employee, a warrior, a man, a leader, a father and the one I choose to call myself is a Servant.  Where I am today, where I will tomorrow and where I was yesterday are all places that I chose to be.  You are probably wondering where I am going with this.  You see, God called me as He does all of His to follow Him and do His work, but like all of us; we have a chose.  A chose to answer that call or a chose to ignore it and walk away.  I chose this road.  I chose it because of the love I have for my Lord and the desire to follow Him wherever He calls. 
     Some of you might think that this is the life.  I get to travel to exotic locations, doing the work of the Lord.  That it is wonderful watching a person make a decision that will affect their life forever.  That I meet exciting and loving people.  I have heard some of you say that I must never worry when I am traveling because the Lord walks with me.  All of the above are very true.  But there is the other part that is not so glamorous. 
     The not so glamorous is the loneliness and worry of the road.  As I make these trips, there is not one trip that is only a few hours long.  The typical trip is an average of 10 days.  This is 10 days away from your family and friends.  It is getting to the airport 3 hours early at the beginning, having a unusually long layover in a "foreign" airport, where although English is spoken it is not their first language so you are struggling to understand, then there are the flights for many hours at a time.  And to make each flight worse, I am making these flights without family and most of the time alone.  Even with a team, I still miss my family, the loneliness of being away from them, and the worry that they will be fine. 

But this is "THE ROAD I CHOSE."  It is the Road that I would not change.

It is a Road that I would not be able to make without the emotional support of my family.  It is the Road that I could not be on without the prayers of the many that pray for us.  It is the Road that I could not be on without the support of many of you who sacrifice so much for us to do this. 

Someday this Road will come to end.  How many more days I will be on this Road I am not sure of.  I will continue this Road until God pulls me away or tells me enough.  But no matter where the Road will lead I will claim the promise from Jeremiah 29:11- "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
 
    

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

That Time Again.....A Ministry Newsletter Blog

THAT TIME AGAIN!!!

    In just a few days from today, I will begin a season of travel.  The first stop on my travels is viewed in the picture on the left and the other stop this time is below on the right.  Over the next 9 months, I will be traveling every month but one.  It seems like God is  opening lots of doors.  Please pray for me, my family, the people I will be meeting with and of course that God gets the Glory.
    I have been trying to write more blogs and let you know what is going on in the ministry that God has called us in to.  I hope you are reading them because God is really doing some great things in the region.  This trip will be a whole lot of preparation for future projects with teams.  But will also include many opportunities for prayer and sharing the one real Truth. 
    As I told you in the first paragraph, I will be traveling every month but one over the next 9 months.  As you can guess these trips or excursions are tough.  They are tough on many levels, from physical and emotional to financial.  Please pray.
    I will try on this trip to use the blog more to let you know what is going on, where I am and how God is working. 

WHAT IS HAPPENING???
    God has really been taking care of us this year.  He has had to take care of us because if you look at things that have happened, it can only be God who has brought us through everything.  In our lives, good and bad; we need to always look at the hands of God in our lives.  And for us we can see God's hands throughout our lives.  Here are some of the ways we have seen the hands of God:
1.  I had a health scare with my blood pressure spiking to dangerous levels, but I never felt any of the side effects.  Today although we are monitoring it, it is at the lowest levels of my life.
2.  Our son recently got married to a young lady that was an answer to our prayers.  We had prayed that God would bless him with a partner in life that would be a biblical example and that is exactly what God gave him.  They are a perfect compliment to each other and they put God first in their lives.
3.  In the recent years, I have been able to reconnect with friends from my childhood and my college days.  These friends have taught me how to forgive, how to look at my past with fondness and that through it all they are there to walk this road with us. 
    These are just three of the ways we have seen God in our lives but there are so many more.  God is always with us, we just need to look for them.  Jeremiah 29:11 says:  "For I know the plans I have for you--this is the LORD's declaration--plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."  This one verse is something we all must remember.

A TOUGH SUBJECT
    God has really blessed us since we started this journey in 2001, at that time with the International Mission Board, then in 2005 when we started the second part of our journey with International Commission.  Earlier I spoke about God being with you and in our journey with International Commission, we have seen Him so very much in our lives especially in our financial situations, although we have seen our financial situation decrease over the years.  Yes the tough subject I am going to talk about is Great Commission Partnership. 
    God calls us to follow Him.  He really calls us to go therefore and make disciples of the world, sharing His love and good news.  Each of us that are "followers" have this command in our lives.  We are called to GO, to PRAY, and to GIVE.  Some cannot GO, but all of us can PRAY and GIVE.  What are you doing with this command? 
    International Commission is a faith based ministry, which means that we need people (JUST LIKE YOU) to come along side of us to pray for us and to financially partner with us so that we can stay in the ministry.  Is partnership biblical?  Please look at the ministry of Paul and the other disciples who had people and churches come alongside of them so they could continue in the work.  We have been blessed to have many partners who have come alongside of us and it is this core that has kept us going.  Over the last 6 months, our financial Great Commission Partnership has reduced by as much 25% on a good month.  We need you to pray with us about our financial situation.  We have now begun to tap into our savings in order to meet our daily needs.  Pray that God will lift up people who are called to come alongside of us.  Pray that many of our partners who had to reduce or stop their partnership will feel God calling them to increase their amount or begin again.  Please pray that God will continue to meet all of our needs.  Pray that God will give us peace in this current situation.  Thank you for your prayers.

   

Thursday, July 2, 2015

A Love Story


   
 
 
Our Wedding Day



 
 
 
A Love Story
    Almost 33 years ago, I met this wonderful person after going through what I thought was one of the toughest years of my life.  I will save that story for another time.  So I walked into our college food service where I worked and met, Jeannine.  You know that saying that "sometimes you just know this is the one."  Well that is exactly how I felt about Jeannine.
    To make our long story short, I asked her out she said no.  But I was persistent and finally she gave in and asked me out and of course I said yes.  Like I say before, I knew she was the one.  A few short months went by and we got engaged.   Then after dating and being engaged for 18 months, we got married.  
    Not long after we were married, we moved.  This would be the first of many moves that Jeannine would agree to without complaint. Eleven in the first 5 years of marriage and then feeling the Call of the Lord and moving to the Middle East.  All without complaint.   This is the way that she has been our whole marriage.  She loves without conditions.  Over the last 30 plus years, Jeannine has been an answer to my prayers more than I have been an answer to her. 
    Jeannine seems to always know what I am thinking, probably before I even know what I am thinking.  She stands next to me in every decision, of which I think many she does not agree with.  As I have followed the Lord, she has followed with me.  I know that she gets concerned and is concerned every time that I leave.  But still she hugs me, kisses me and says that she loves me and is praying for me.  She has cried when I cried and laughed when I laugh.  She supports me when I complain or am upset, never saying a cruel or unjust word.  She stands with me during the darkest moments of our lives and brightest moments.  She is the example in every way what the Bible says a wife is to be.  She loves me a 100 percent of the time, and many times she gives more. 
    This is the woman that God made just for me.  Many have said that God knows and plans for us to prosper and that is what Jeannine is for me.  Without her I would not be the person I am.  She is my gift from God.  We have had almost 33 years together and in one month, we will be married for 31 years.  I would like to have another 33 years with this woman, Jeannine.  She is my life, my love and my everything.