Outreach

We are currently in our outreach portion of our training. To follow our team go to our blog - outreachfiji.blogspot.com

Thanks

Week 4

Somewhere along the way I accidentally deleted my week 4 summary that I was working on. So I will try it again.

Week 4 we had Joe Ferrante teaching on The Father Heart of God. Many people have no idea that the God loves us. We have an intellectual knowledge of it, but that's as far as it goes. We tend to believe two lies: 1. God is not good, and 2. I am not good enough for God to love me. Satan uses a pattern to condemn us, but God counter-acts Satan's deception.

Satan uses doubt, confusion, fear, despair, and isolation. God counters with truth, clarity, confidence, hope, and intimacy.

If we are going to have intimacy with God, we have to let go of one question: Why? It's OK to ask the question, but we need to be content about not receiving an answer.

Satan knows how powerful forgiveness is, that's why he works so hard against it. Forgiveness needs to be a lifestyle. We are unable to do it in our own strength.Forgiveness shakes the very foundations of hell.

This is just a brief summary of week 4. Joe was a great speaker and such a gentle and loving person.

Week 5

Week 5 we had Jim May teaching us. The topic of his teaching was "With Him". God wants us to do everything with Him. It's as if God says "Hey, I'm going for a walk, you want to come? It's amazing to me just how many Christian books are man centered. Why isn't God the center? We need to realign our center to match His.

Below are 11 passages on why we are to meditate on The Word. I would like you to comment on the reasons given in the passages.

1. Joshua 1:8
2. Psalm 1:1-3
3. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
4. John 8:31-32
5. John 15:17
6. Psalm 119:11
7. Romans 10:17
8. Matthew 24:35
9. Hebrews 4:12
10. Psalm 119:98-99
11. Psalm 81:13-14

I hope as you read through these passages that you will see the value in diving in and devouring The Word.

What's happening in Chico

Here's a real life update finally. We only have 3 weeks left of our lecture phase of CDTS. I can't believe how incredibly fast it has gone and don't want it to be over yet! The teachers have been fantastic, most have been teaching around the world for decades. We still love being here. It's even more beautiful now, we've had some rain to bring out new grass on the mountains and the trees are gorgeous. The temps are still in the high 60's and 70's during the day so it feels like summer to us but with the shorter days and red trees it looks like fall...how confusing! The kids are still loving school and life here. I think they would be happy to stay here forever.

There's been a change with our outreach due to flight availability. We leave on Sunday, Nov 22 for Fiji and couldn't get a flight back until Tues, Jan 12. Because of this we won't be able to minister to homeless people in San Fransisco. That's disappointing but it gives us more time to work with people in Fiji. We still need $3,800 for our outreach expenses, this includes airfare plus transportation, lodging and most meals in Fiji. We'll be staying at the Sandalwood Inn in a town called Nadi which is near the airport and the coast. We've heard the beach there is muddy but hopefully it's not too gross. Since we'll be there in their summer it'll be 80-90 degrees in Fiji with high humidity. Sound good? Another thing, women AND MEN should wear skirts in some areas (like villages). They are called sulus and we'll have to buy some when we get there.

We still plan to drive to the YWAM base in Creel, Mexico to visit when we are done here. As much as we love this place and the people here, our hearts are still for the people of Mexico. Please keep us in your prayers during these last weeks of teaching and preparation. Please pray that our finances come in (as well as our team's finances) and pray for wisdom and we prepare puppet shows, dramas and songs for outreach. We so appreciate all the prayers, words of encouragement and financial support that you've sent our way. Praise God!

Week 3

Our scheduled week 3 speaker, Donna Jordan, had to cancel due to Dengue fever. So a little rearrangement of our schedule had to be done.

The first part of the week was covered by Dale Harrison, the base director that spoke during week 1. He continued with Intimacy with God and a couple of other things.

Dale described the original intent of the altar as portable, so that people wouldn't have to travel in order to worship God. God designed it, but it had to be constructed by man. After the coming of the Holy Spirit, man became the altar to continue in the portable nature of it. We do not need to go places to worship God, we are able to worship Him where we are. There were different types of altars described in the Bible. They were made out of four different types of materials: gold, bronze, stone, and earth. The gold altar in the Tabernacle was only for the priests to use and only incense was to be burned on it. The bronze altar was for the sacrifices, very bloody. Stone altars can be built anywhere, and symbolize what we have become. In Exodus 20:25 the instruction for constructing a stone altar were given. They were to use only uncut stones, meaning only natural stones that haven't had tools used on them. God doesn't want us to dress up ourselves. He wants us to use the messes of our lives to build an altar to worship Him with.

The rest of the week was taught by our class leader Carlos Penning. He spoke on the character of God. God inspired the Bible to show us His character. He wanted to be transparent with us. He wants us to ask Him questions regarding His character, He is big enough to handle them. His character shows us that He desires a relationship with us. Our relationships with everything else, people and things, are only to be a compliment to our relationship to Him, not a replacement. We have chosen to replace that relationship with God, and seek after relationships in other places. We have made an abomination of what God desired. Indescribable horror has occurred due to our selfishness. Murder, rape, child molestation, and the list could go on and on. God could step in and stop these horrible things, but then His perfect justice would require Him to stop all sin, even mine and yours. That's not to say that He doesn't sometimes do that, but only when His people intercede for change. God has chosen to limit Himself to using His people for now.

Week 2

Week 2 – Bill Payne

The Truth Box

We all have a truth box. It's the little box that we file things that we know, or think, are true. If you hear something you immediately run through the files in your truth box to verify it's true. Say if I were to tell you that the world is not really round like we all thought it was, but instead that the world is actually square. You'd take that bit of information that I just gave you and check it against all the things that you know about the earth, pictures that have been taken, eye witness accounts that have seen that the earth is actually round, etc... and you reject the idea that the earth is square. We also put things in the truth box about God. Depending on your life experiences and other influences your truth box may have untruths put in there by other people or even the father of lies himself. Untruths like: God can't possibly love me as filthy a sinner as I am or God is just waiting for me to mess up so He can zap me with lightening, or some other such nonsense. The picture of God in our truth box influences how we approach Him. The truth is God loves you more than you can imagine.

Don't believe me? Read it for yourself. Ephesians 3:17b-19 says:

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Hmmm.... Sounds pretty clear to me. Yet for some reason we read this passage and the knowledge of it stays in our head and doesn't make it down to our hearts.

Do you ever wonder why you were created? Why would God create such frail and fragile beings as us? Did anyone ever ask you why you had kids? For most of us, we had kids as an expression of our love between our spouses and us. We wanted to share the relationship we had between us with our children. That is why God created us. God had a perfect relationship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Out of that perfect relationship God created mankind to be a gift between the Persons of the trinity. Mankind was meant to be an expression of the love between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God acknowledged that His relationship was good and He wanted more of it. It's like us having a bowl of ice cream and wanting more because it was good. Jesus didn't come so we could get into Heaven, but to restore the intimacy mankind had with the Father.

Did you know that God can't make you love Him? Love is not love unless it's freely given. If God could make you love Him you would because His will is that no one should perish, see 2 Peter 3:9.

If you're not trusting God or believing His love for you, you are attacking His character and are in league with Satan. We believe that our families love us, but we doubt God's love even though He tells us over and over again that His love for us is unmeasurable.

People sometimes reject God because they can't believe in a God that would send people to Hell. God doesn't send people to Hell. People are free to choose which path they follow. God doesn't stop them from following the path they've chosen. It's like telling someone that I want to go to Chicago, but I'm determined to take the road to Detroit. There is no way that I'm going to make it to Chicago, but I keep insisting that I'm going to make it. Then suddenly I end up right where the road has taken me. Then God gets blamed for me choosing the wrong road.

God is more interested in my pleasure than I am. He created us for ecstasy. I am valuable because I am a creation of the living God, created to have relationship with Him! I'm not valuable because Jesus died for me, but Jesus died for me because I'm valuable. If you pick up any person in the world and look at their price tag, you would see the ultimate price for each and everyone of us, every drop of Jesus blood. We are the most expensive things ever purchased in the universe!

Update we sent out by email

Hello family and friends,

Sorry it's been so long since you've heard from us. Life here is much busier than we anticipated. We arrived on Sunday, Aug 30 and were shown to our house/room. We spent the rest of the day meeting people and getting unpacked. They also treated us with a steak dinner that first night as a welcome! Not bad, eh? We hit the sack early because breakfast was at 6:45 (yeah, right) Monday morning with class beginning at 8:00 for all of us. The first few days were a blur of new faces, new schedule, getting to know our housemates, etc, etc, etc. We went to bed early because all the changes wore us out! Now we feel much more settled so I have a few minutes to tell you about our life.

The YWAM base is a few miles NE of Chico, CA down a very, very, very bumpy tar road. There are many springs in the area that have ruined the road. The road follows a mostly dry creek bed through the canyon between some mountains (don't think huge, Rocky Mountains!). The surroundings are mostly brown, dead grass and many trees with greenish/brown leaves. They can go for 6 months in the summer without a drop of rain...VERY different from MI! The center of the base is the hotel from the 1920's (see www.ywamchico.com). We have all our meals in the dining hall/banquet room of the hotel. We also have meetings, worship time, prayer time, some classes and coffee time in the hotel. There are many regular hotel rooms upstairs that are used for conferences and summer youth camps. There are a few larger buildings around the hotel where the younger DTS students live, the house we (Crossroads DTS) live in and a few cabins for speakers and such. Also scattered around are numerous tiny houses where the rest of the staff lives plus a bunch of tiny cabins for visitors (hint, hint). There are lots of trees on base and we are surrounded by mountains on three sides. It's really beautiful! There are a few flowers and bushes sprinkled around to add green to the place. There is an Olympic size pool which is very much in need of a new paint job if anyone is interested. Oh, yeah, the school is by the hotel along with tennis courts and a small playground. Definitely a place we could be very happy at for a long time!

Our schedule starts with breakfast every morning at 6:45, usually only Dan goes, the rest of us have cereal at our house. At 8:00 school starts for the kids and we begin with either worship time, prayer time or lecture. At 10ish (depending on the day) there is a coffee break at the hotel complete with coffee cake or some delicious, fattening treat. Then we have lecture again until 12:00. We meet the kids at the dining room for lunch all together and at 1:00 school resumes and we have lecture or other activities until 3:00. School is done at 3:00 so the first week we went swimming everyday after school. This week will be different...work duty begins. All students are required to work 2 hours a day during the week for the 3 months we are here. Dan is doing breakfast cooking/prep so he has to be in the kitchen at 5:45 am M-F. Ugh, not for me but it's what he wanted. I was assigned to grounds so I'll be helping to weed flower beds, mow some lawn, rake leaves and other outside duties. I'm glad I get to be outside but also nervous since it'll be hard work and the temps are predicted to be close to 100 again by Friday. I prayed that I would lose weight here, God is having me sweat it off! Dinner is at 5:30 and most evenings are free but they go very quickly since we go to bed earlier.

There are 5 other students in Crossroads with us and they are all around 50 yrs old. Karen is a widow from Colorado, Chick and Lynda are from Colorado and Frank and Denise are from Arizona. Frank and Denise have 5 grown children from previous marriages and now have 5 children together ages 5-12 and all 5 are autistic. They are gluten and dairy free along with a number of other food and environmental restrictions. We can barely tell that they are autistic, they have come along way in "healing". The oldest is Caleb, he's 12 and since they are all a bit delayed he is a perfect fit with our Caleb. Nathaniel and Josh play great with the younger boys. Unfortunately, they have one lone girl that is 10, she is really outnumbered. We live in a house with Karen and Chick and Lynda. It has a kitchen, dining room, family room, living room, laundry, 2 bathrooms and a bunch of big bedrooms with lots of bunk beds. We have a room with 2 sets of bunk beds pushed together, a big desk and a big closet. The boys room is attached to ours, they have 2 sets of bunk beds and a dresser to share. There is also a big front porch which I LOVE! We have plenty of space and so far sharing has been easy. Lynda actually said that our boys were 'so quiet and well behaved'. WOW! We said that school was tiring them out.

Stay tuned for more updates!!!

Week 1 Summary Aug 31 through Sept 4

Week 1 was a week of settling in and getting to know some of the staff and the base. We had a lot of orientations and mini teachings on a number of different things. We also met our CDTS classmates Chick and Lynda Munfrada are from Colorado, Karen Wells is also from Colorado. Denise and Frank Derusha are from Arizona. Derushas are the only other family with kids. They have five: Caleb, Tavita, Macaiah, Israel and Isaiah. Poor Tavita is the only girl in the bunch.

On Monday we began the day with base worship. Everyone on base comes together and we sing a few songs, and the base director gives a little message. We also had a tour of the base showing us around several of the different buildings and showing us where to go for certain things. The base was a luxury hotel back in the 20's that many people from Hollywood would visit because of the mineral springs that are still actively flowing in some areas.

On Tuesday we began the day with worship again but just with our class this time. We then continued with orientation until lunch time. After lunch Bill Cheney, the leader of the men in our group, taught on intercession. One phrase that sticks out in my mind from that time is “Lord, break my heart for the things that break yours.”

Wednesday started with worship again and after that the official DTS teaching began. Our first teacher was Dale Harrison, our base director and he taught on Intimacy with God.

Intimacy with God – Dale Harrison

Where does the world get it's concepts of God? Basically from other people. Sometimes we get the wrong impression of God from well meaning people. Some of us grew up in churches that left us with a picture of a God that is cold and heartless waiting for us to screw up so He could punish us. God is nothing like that. He is a loving God that wants a relationship with us, His children. God wants us to receive our concepts of Him, from Him. He wants to show us His heart. We are precious to Him. He wants that intimate relationship with us. That relationship has to be from the heart. All of our other relationships flow out from our relationship with God. Jesus came and gave a direct picture of what our relationships to others need to be like. Jesus example of washing the disciples feet in John 13: 12-20 was not only about washing feet, it was to show the disciples an attitude of service. We are called to serve people as priests. The priests served in three different ways. They ministered to the Lord, to the Lord's people, and to the world. We cannot relate to the world if we are not relating to each other, and we cannot relate to each other if we are not relating to the Lord.

When the Israelites wandered in the desert the tabernacle (God's dwelling) was always at the center of their camp. In the same way, worshiping God should always be the center of our lives. Worship is our destiny. Serving God is not something to do but something to be! Worship is personal, costly and transforming. Remember when Mary washed Jesus' feet with perfume? When she left his presence she smelled like him. We can go to church and hang out with our christian friends without truly worshiping Jesus, then we go away smelling like our friends and not like Jesus. Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot worship. He is our inspiration, initiator, instructor and interpreter. It's possible to go to a worship service where sound is made...motions are made...but there is no worship. If what we are doing is worship, God must be the subject of our worship/song. Our worship will be limited by our God concept. Talk to God like you talk to a person, with expression and body language. As we communicate with God in love our worship will grow. God made us to be worshipers, being real is the only way to worship God. We can worship with tears, laughter and dancing. It doesn't matter how much time we spend in Bible reading and prayer but we need fellowship with God everyday.

“All service must flow out of worship lest it become a substitute for worship. We long ago learned that God will curse a substitute, but may bless a supplement...It is not an 'either/or' situation but a 'both/and'! We will worship and serve the Lord God, but in that order.”

-Judson Cornwall-New Wine Magazine-Nov 1976

Finally day 6 of our road trip!

Day 6 – Saturday, August 29

(This was now over a week ago, I'll try to remember) Saturday morning we headed a couple of miles back to the salt flats. It was worth it! We took the exit by the Bonneville Racetrack but stopped just into the salt part rather than drive to the racetrack. Apparently this racetrack is one of the fastest in the world and it's just out on the salt. The spot where we stopped was not pure white but rather looked like dirty snow. There was a piled up spot that the kids climbed on just like a snowpile. We walked out to a cleaner spot and tasted some salt crystals. Cool educational moment!

On the road again...within a few miles we were in Nevada. If I remember right, Nevada was pretty boring. There were a lot of brown, rolling hills covered with mostly dead shrubgrass. Gas was about 40 cents higher per gallon in Nevada then it was during the whole rest of the trip so we watched our tank go down hoping to find cheaper gas. Big mistake! We finally entered California just north of Reno by a gas station with a big Hallejulah Junction sign by it. We really needed gas and it was another 30 cents higher in CA. Duh, isn't everything more expensive in CA? Instead of taking I-80 down to Sacremento we cut across the mountains on CA-70. It was beautiful! Most of the way was winding through mountains following a river. The whole area is a National forest so is was loaded with evergreen trees. The green was a welcome relief after the brown of Nevada.

After a while we came out of the woods into the brown, dead fields of eastern Chico. It looked so barren, I was nervous to live in this type of place. We made it to the highway and then the tears hit. I realized how far away we were from everything that is comfortable and familiar to us and for how long. We saw the Welcome to Chico sign and eventually I got a grip again. We found our hotel in downtown Chico and enjoyed our last night of “freedom” for 5 months. Yikes!

Days 4 and 5

Day 4 – Thursday, August 27

Today we spent at Brad and Kelli Drenth's house near Denver, CO. She has been my good friend since I was in 2^nd grade. We took the kids to a couple of parks to burn off energy and play with Tegan and Riley, their kids. We all enjoyed the break from traveling, even if only for a day. We were treated to a fantastic dinner of tacozanga (taco lasagna), homemade pico de gallo and chips. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing each other again and the kids played so well together even though they hardly remembered each other. Tegan cuddled in bed with me for a few minutes Friday morning and said, “I'm really gonna miss you guys 'cuz I really like you.” It's always hard to say goodbye. Sniff-sniff

Day 5 – Friday, August 28

After a great nights sleep and a sad goodbye we left Denver and headed north to I-80. I was excited to drive through the mountains thinking that it would be like driving to Estes Park, CO. Well, in my opinion, the “Rocky Mountains” do not exist in Wyoming. It was rather boring and flat with rolling, rocky HILLS. We saw lots of permanent, wooden snow fences all over plus some more cattle and sheep. Around 5:30 we stopped in Evanston, WY for McDonalds and gas. The playland had little, built-in saddles for chairs by the kids tables! They were soooo cute! They also had a 'hot & spicy McChicken sandwich' on the value menu instead of the regular chicken sandwich we have in Michigan. I tried it and almost couldn't eat it, that baby was HOT!

Soon after dinner, we crossed the border into Utah. Honestly, I've never had a desire to visit Utah but it's really beautiful. We drove through actual mountains finally. The were very rocky with huge areas of gray or red rock. Mostly they were shrub/grass covered with some areas of evergreen trees. We never got above the treeline so I guess we'll have to visit the Rockies again someday for my snow covered mountain top craving. We saw a few interesting signs that you don't see in Michigan. Of course you see many 'falling rock' signs but one that made us chuckle was 'Chains required when lights are flashing'. Obviously that's a winter sign!

Salt Lake City is gorgeous. It's surrounded by mountains. I had no idea. We saw the Great Salt Lake, looks like any other big lake. Then, just past the lake, we saw miles and miles of flat land that was covered in salt. Looks like they flood the area and then wait for the water to evaporate so they can harvest the salt. Not sure if that's how it works but that was our guess. We saw a Morton Salt plant surrounded by giant piles of pure white salt. Pretty cool! We just passed through the Great Salt Lake Desert but it's too dark to tell if it's all sand or all white with salt. We can tell it's light in color and I really want to get out and touch it but it's after 9pm and we are almost to our hotel in Wendover, UT. Hopefully in the morning we can figure it out, either on-line or in person.

Thank you so much for all the prayers and facebook comments of encouragement. We can feel the prayers and know that that's why this trip is going so well. Today we saw many trees growing out of the rock on the mountainsides. I was reminded of the foolish man who built his house on the sand and the wise man who built his house on the rock. We've been learning to trust God completely and be anchored in Him. No matter what comes our way, I pray that we are strongly rooted in our Creator and Sustainer so we can weather storms when they come our way. Hotel in view, goodnight all!

Go west.... day 2 continued and part of day 3

(con't) It was about 8:00pm when we arrived at Badlands National Park. Since we were on the very edge of the time zone the sun was just about to set. The Badlands are incredible! You drive through surrounded by towers of rock and deep crevices all with layers of different colors of rock. We hopped out for some pictures and let the kids climb a bit amidst the "Beware of rattlesnakes" signs. Being there at sunset was especially beautiful since there were amazing shadows on the rock and gorgeous 'sky-blue-pink' clouds. We left in the dark and heading up to Wall, SD to our hotel.

Day 3 - Wednesday, August 26

What an awesome, mighty and creative God we serve. We are truly seeing God's handiwork in creation while we drive across the country. From the landscape to the wildlife to the flowers all creation sings praise to our God! Today has been packed so far. We started out at the famous Wall Drug Store. It's a complete tourist trap with tons of little shops. Mom O, you would LOVE this place! We didn't want to spend too much time so we just shopped a bit and took some pictures. We saw the giant T-Rex in the back 'attempt to feed'. Nathaniel and Josh were terrified! Next we drove an hour-ish to Rapid City where we stopped at this little Dinosaur Park. It had a few rather pathetic, painted, cement, dinosaurs but an amazing 100 mile view. Next we drove through Bear County USA. It was pricey so we debated rather we should or not but we got our money's worth. We saw a large variety of animals but the highlight was definitely the black bears. We rounded a curve and saw 20-30 bears walking around, splashing in a small pond and walking right beside the cars. It was fun (and slightly frightening) to see so many bears up close. Next stop was Mount Rushmore just a little further south. It was inspiring to see such large replications of past presidents after walking through The Avenue of Flags. We hiked the Presidential Trail that gets a bit closer to the monument. There were a lot of steps so we were pretty hot when we finished. We stopped at a concession stand for ice cream cones. Caleb chose a cup instead of a cone and he asked the gal at the counter if he could have a spoon please. She told the gal at the register to 'give the boy a free pop' because he's the first child she heard say please today. She said she would shake our hand if she could (she had gloves on) because we are doing a great job. We were all so happy, especially Caleb with his free root beer. After Mount Rushmore we headed south through a scenic Black Mountains drive. The scenery was awesome, tight turns and tunnels. As we drove through one short tunnel we could see through an opening in the trees straight to Mount Rushmore far in the distance. That was a nice surprise! We didn't pay to do the Custer State Park Wildlife Loop because of time constraints. I think that's where the buffalo roam. So we missed fields of buffalo but did see a couple resting beside the road. After our scenic drive we started heading south towards Denver where we are spending the night with good friends. We're due to get there at 10:35pm. I'm glad we are taking a break from travelling tomorrow. It's been going great but we're all pretty sleep deprived. Today was another fantastic day of sunny, blue skies with poofy clouds. The kids did great again with just a few minor squabbles. The sunset in Wyoming tonight was breathtaking! Goodnight all.

P.S. It's really dark in Wyoming at night!

Go west..... days 1 and 2

California Road Trip August 09

Day 1 - Monday, August 24

We wanted to leave at 5:00am but didn't get packed up on time. We couldn't take any of our bikes because it was too much weight for the van, that made me cry. We finally left our house at 10:22am. About a mile from home Josh asked how long it would take to get to California, we said "all week." He had a shocked look on him face and he was speechless. At 10:24 we were in front of the Hudsonville McDonald's when Caleb said, "look how far we are already!" It was a beautiful, sunny day in the 70's. The drive through Michigan and Indiana was pretty uneventful. Of course the kids loved crossing the border out of Michigan.

We took 94 to 90 (toll road) near Gary, IN and stayed on 90 to Rockford, IL and up to the Wisconsin border. The boys were amazed with the Chicago skyline. We pointed out the Sears Tower and John Hancock buildings. As we neared O'Hare airport there were a ton of planes landing and taking off. The boys were constantly spotting them. At one point Caleb let out a yell when a low flying plane scared him. Josh became irritated at this point because he is packed into the back seat of the van with the seat beside him full of stuff. Since he can only see out of one side of the van he claimed it and said that no one else may look out HIS side. He'll put up his hand and sternly say "no peeking!" We ate the yummy sandwiches that grandma VJ packed for us between Chicago and Rockford, IL. We were starving and daddy didn't want to stop driving. It was about 2:00 MI time. About an hour later we stopped at an oasis for gas, the rest of our lunch and a bathroom break. The boys thought it was cool to stand in the oasis, over top of the road and watch the traffic pass below.

Wisconsin was pretty uneventful. The boys watched some Superman videos while mom took a much needed nap. Even daddy took a couple of micronaps. The last hour of Wisconsin and first part of Minnesota were beautiful. We went through some hilly, rocky, tree covered areas that made for interesting scenery. We crossed the Mississippi River as we crossed into Minnesota. We stopped at a rest stop for some pictures. The boys had fun rolling down a small hill on the bank of the river. After driving in Minnesota for a while we were all getting sick of it. We'd been on the road for almost 10 hours and didn't want to drive to our goal of Albert Lea, MN. We called to book a room at a Comfort Suites in Rochester. It was a new hotel with free wi-fi, and the tiniest pool I've ever seen in a hotel. The boys were obviously stir crazy since they 'thought' they could run down the halls and jump on the bed. They were wrong! We swam a bit then ordered Godfather's pizza. We highly recommend their taco pizza, it's amazing! Daddy and the boys finally hit the sack at 10:30 while mom spent a little time on the computer.

Day 2 - Tuesday, August 25

We had a wonderful stay at Comfort Suites. Everyone slept till 7:30 (very impressive that the boys slept that long since that's 8:30 MI time). The hotel breakfast was fantastic and even had bacon and these cheesy, sausage things. The weather was cloudy and cooler, great for travelling. The boys and I walked around a small pond while daddy loaded pictures on Facebook. Nathaniel cried a bit when a Canadian Goose 'chased' him. I even pulled a couple of giant weeds out of the hotel landscaping (gardener at heart). We left the hotel at about 10:00, it was just starting to sprinkle. Later than I thought we would but that's ok. At about 10:30 we drove through a big wind farm. The boys LOVED it! They kept pointing and looking and exclaiming. At 11:15 it was pouring rain when a nut came loose where our wiper attaches to our van. Of course it was the driver side, the wiper flipped back up against the mirror. Dan drove for a couple of miles looking out my side of the windshield until he was able to pull over until a bridge. Oh, and this was in a construction zone so traffic was going in both directions. Thankfully, he packed a tool kit so he fixed it in just a couple of minutes and we were off again. As we pulled away Caleb said, "goodbye old, faithful bridge that kept us dry."

By 1:00 the sun had come out, we stopped for lunch about 1:30 at a rest area. Later "Here I am" is on the radio reminding us of what we are doing. We crossed the border into South Dakota the first time at 2:40. My picture of the sign was blurry and since I was showing Dan the picture he missed the tourist info rest area. So we turned around and looped back for a redo. I was happy! He rolled his eyes at me. :-) Still 1 hour to the corn palace. This day is going way too fast, it'll be another late night. We arrived at the corn palace at 4:00. It's really an entertainment auditorium with a really cool looking outside and a lot of corn murals inside. There were photos on the wall of the corn palace dating back to the late 1800's. They have to replace the corn every year so all the pictures were a little different. There was also a tourist trap gift shop and concession stand inside. The outside was the best part. We got gas before getting back on the highway. The boys jumped out for a quick snack and had fun stomping on crickets in the parking lot. We were on the road again by 4:30. The east side of South Dakota is very flat, similar to Iowa. Then, out of nowhere, there is a big hill that you go down before crossing the Missouri River. After that it's pretty hilly with almost no trees or signs of life. There are giant fields of corn, hay and bright yellow sunflowers. There are a lot of pastures too. There are giant fields covered in round bales, they even bale the grass along the sides of the highway. Day 2 to be continued.........

What do I know of Holy?

I love the new song by Addison Road "What Do I Know of Holy". Take a few minutes and listen here.

Or you can read the lyrics.

I made You promises a thousand times
I tried to hear from Heaven
But I talked the whole time
I think I made You too small
I never feared You at all No
If You touched my face would I know You?
Looked into my eyes could I behold You?

What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

I guess I thought that I had figured You out
I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about
How You were mighty to save
Those were only empty words on a page
Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be
The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees

What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame?
And a God who gave life "its" name?
What do I know of Holy?
Of the One who the angels praise?
All creation knows Your name
On earth and heaven above
What do I know of this love?

What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

What do I know of Holy?

What do I know of Holy?

It's a very real look into myself. If you play me in Bible trivia you'll find that I'm very knowledgeable about the Bible, but I think that I tend to keep the knowledge in my head and don't allow it to trickle down through the rest of me. I don't apply what I know in my life. I treat God too small and play along the edges of His greatness instead of diving headlong into what a wonderful and powerful God that He is. I can't listen to Him because I only hear myself talking. This is quite surprising when you consider what my family and I are heading into. We leave four weeks from today for our training in Chico. I look forward to the things that God is going to teach me about Himself. I hope I can be open to what He has to say and respond with a heart that longs to be like Him. God is greater than anything I can imagine. My feeble human brain cannot comprehend His greatness. I think I know so much but I don't. I've let pride ruin what could be a great relationship with God. What could be a most intimate relationship with God I've reduced to a meaningless memorization of ambiguous facts that I've managed to retain in my brain. I long for that intimacy more than I can tell you. These are some of the things I hope to learn while in Chico. I hope I can take the plunge and become what God wants me to be, a true worshipper of Him. He desires that more than anything else in this world. He has created us specifically for that purpose. That relationship is to be more intimate than that of the relationship between a husband and wife. This training I am going to is meant to foster that relationship and to make it grow.

Dear Lord, may I become the person you want me to be. Remove from me the things that are hindering my complete devotion to you. This is my prayer.

So what do I know of Holy? Very little.

Temple

I love food. I love to eat good food. I love food so much that it has become an idol for me. Those of you who see me regularly see the results of this idol worship. I am currently about 70 lbs overweight, and I am on blood pressure medication because of my bad choices. The last couple of weeks I have begun to do something to improve my health. I have been walking every couple of days to try and get some exercise in my life (one day I accidentally walked 7 miles... yes I said accidentally, but we won't go into that right now). I like to walk it gives me time to talk and listen to God. I just got back home from a five mile walk and God was talking to me about my food consumption. I have no self control when it comes to eating. I go away from almost every meal feeling overly full. I am a glutton. I live to eat, not eat to live. I think the worst part about it is that I see my older son following in my footsteps. I am constantly warning him to have self control over his eating. But am I expecting him to do something I'm not willing to do? I think it's a case of do as I say not as I do.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

The context of this passage is talking about sexual sin, but I think it applies to any aspect of your physical body that is out of control. For me this passage shouts at me that I am to watch very closely what I put into my mouth and how much of it. Instead of two or three greasy GFS burgers why not have just one and savor it a bit longer instead of gulping it down. I eat so fast that my stomach doesn't have time to tell my brain that I don't need any more food. I need to slow the pace down at our dinner table and actually have conversations with my family instead of rushing through the meal so we can get going on the next thing that doesn't really need to be done all that quickly.

As I prepare to move temporarily to California for training, God has impressed on me that this needs to be a time of total preparation: mind, spirit and body. God wants the whole package, not just the parts that you are willing to give Him. I will continue to work on giving up the idol of food and continue to exercise so that I can be prepared for what ever service He has in store for me.

All glory to God my provider.

California

It looks like we'll be heading for California instead of Texas. We were really torn between California and New Zealand, but in talking with trusted friends and prayer partners, we think that God is leading us to the base in California. There were a number of reasons why this seemed to make better sense to us. We weighed the extra cost of flying the entire family to New Zealand (between $5,000 and $10,000) and driving cross country, and realized that that extra money could be spent in a much better way. We would get to visit some friends in Colorado on the way. We would also get a chance to see more of this great country that we live in. We really didn't get the knock over the head realization that this is where we should go, but a number of friends reminded us that sometimes God doesn't specifically tell you where to go. Sometimes He lets you start down a path and if it's not where you're supposed to go He'll redirect you, like Tyler. That door was closed for a reason, we may never know why, but God does and that's good enough for me.

We continue forward with the expectation that God will guide us and provide for us.

God is good, all the time!

?

Well God has told a resounding NO to Tyler TX. We got a call today telling us that the CDTS there has been canceled due to lack of applications. So we are asking for prayers for a new direction. We are currently looking into a few different places for CDTS, and trusting that God will open a new door for us to enter into. It's hard not knowing what we are supposed to be doing. We covet your prayers as we listen to God speaking, and we hope that He will guide us.

Break me Lord

Robin recently found a blog describing a CDTS Outreach that was taking place in Guatemala (link here). The people were ministering to a couple of different areas in Guatemala City. One of the areas was located near a garbage dump where scores of children and families live, yes they live in the dump. A friend of mine who has seen a video of this area told me that the children will fight with the seagulls to get food. It just breaks my heart that people have to live this way. I feel so spoiled here in America. I can hardly wait to get away from here and hopefully make a difference in the lives of people like these. We are so easy to complain and grumble when we are inconvenienced just a little. It almost makes me sick to my stomach to think of all the time and money and resources that are wasted in the U.S. while these people have to fight birds just to get something to eat.

I have also been reading a story (link here requires Adobe reader) in a World Vision magazine that we receive about a reporter and her camera man living with a family in Turkana in northwestern Kenya. The writer and camera man lived with the family and ate what they did for five days. The area hasn't seen significant rain in 18 months. The people have been forced to go long distances to feed and water their animals which puts them at risk to be attacked by raiders looking to steal the animals. The family she is staying with was just attacked and lost a significant portion of their flock to the raiders (they lost 312 goats, 38 camels and 10 donkeys, leaving them with just 7 goats and 2 camels.) Please read the rest of the story. These people are starving and yet any little thing they receive they see as a gift from God and praise Him eagerly for it. We take for granted that our grocery stores will be full. We squander and waste so much we aught to be ashamed.

God has blessed this nation, but we are not fulfilling our responsibility to pass that blessing on to others. I realize that we do a lot to help, but are we doing enough? I challenge you to examine your life to see where you can change to help impact the world and make it better. If it means not getting that gourmet coffee, or giving up some entertainment choices (movies, TV, etc...) even something as simple as lowering your internet service to a slightly slower speed, or cutting back on your food choices (eating at home rather than eating out.) I am writing this to myself just as much as to any of you. The choices I have made when looking back at them sometimes disgust me. To think of all that could have been done with the money that I have wasted. I just pray that God will forgive me and guide me to better choices, and that He will break me and show me the things that break His heart. He sees those starving kids in Guatemala and in Africa and He weeps for them. I want to feel the way He feels and do something that makes a difference. I believe that is what He is calling our family to do. We will continue to listen to His calling and follow where He leads us.

We've been accepted!!!

We have received our letter of acceptance from YWAM Tyler! Our plans are as follows:

June 22ish leave for Texas for 5 months training. (See here for course information) This includes 3 months classroom training and 8 weeks outreach somewhere in the world. Outreach will be determined during the training phase.

November 15-? visit the base in Creel, MX and get to know the people on base there better. We have been in contact with them on Facebook and through email. During this time we will be particularly listening for God's confirmation as to whether this is where He is leading us or not.

November ? - January ? gather support for permanently moving to Creel. We hope to leave at the beginning of next year. This of course will be determined on exactly how much we need to raise and how quickly we can raise the funds. We will get a better notion of what exactly we need to raise when we visit down there.

We really covet your prayers during this time. We have a lot of things to take care of and not a lot of time to do it. We are still waiting on the other couple to sell their house. They have had it listed for a couple of months now. Please pray that their house will sell soon so that they can purchase our house. We are still in the process of cleaning out or house and disposing all of the stuff we have accumulated during our time in this house. It's amazing how much junk you can gather in one house. Pray for us to stay on track and to remain diligent in our work.

If you have been blessed and feel God calling you to support us financially, you can do so through our church. Checks can be made out to Friendship Chapel, but DO NOT write our name on the check anywhere. Please insert a separate note saying that this is for Dan and Robin. They can be sent to our church at:

Friendship Chapel
7754 28th Ave.
Jenison, MI 49428

The cost of the CDTS is $6990 for us as a couple, plus $1755 for our children to be there as well. This covers all of the training and room and board. The outreach phase will cost an additional $2000-$2500 for each of us, depending on where we go. We understand that this seems like a lot, but we feel that the training and experience we will receive will help us tremendously in our future.

We thank you in advance for all your support either in prayer or financially.

"Mission has two categories: those who go down into the well and those who hold the rope. Either way it will cost you, and either way you will have scars." - Paul Washer, director of the HeartCry Missionary Society

Would you be willing to hold our rope while we venture down into the well?

Going forward in God's grace and guidance.

Doubts

People say that they hear God speaking to them. I personally haven't heard any audible words, but I have felt His calling on my life. As a result I think that I hear a lot from Satan as well. Satan knows what God is doing in our lives and he doesn't like it. So to combat it he speaks. Oh it's not audible just like I haven't heard God audibly. He speaks in ways that we sometimes don't see them coming. He speaks to my doubts "What do you think you're doing? You're not good enough to become a missionary! God can't use a sinner like you. You're going to fail and return home disgraced." I have been feeling a little apprehensive about this whole thing lately. The home that needs to sell for our house to be sold hasn't yet. We have so much to do yet to empty our house and so much to go through that it seems overwhelming. We haven't heard if we are accepted yet from YWAM Tyler. All this weighs heavily on me. I can feel it.

Then there's the BUT (usually the BUT is the bad thing)... But God has promised to take care of us. But God has removed all my sins and made me clean. But God can use me a dreadful sinner just like all the other dreadful sinners He has used in the past. But God can and will sustain us, even when we feel like giving up and going home.

I need to remember to claim the promises of God and live them out everyday. I need to remember to "resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7) When those doubts creep up on me I need to look to His Word to answer those doubts. 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." A wise friend of mine once talked about this passage. She said that it was interesting that out of such a negative book, that one of the best know verses out of it was one of the most positive and uplifting. Most of all I need to not worry. God has known our needs way before we have known that they exist. He knows right when that house is going to sell. He knows that we need the time to go through our house and get it ready. He has been teaching a lot with that as well. I am surprised at how much junk we have accumulated. Suddenly all of these things that seemed so important to us we don't even hesitate in selling or giving away. I have peace that God will work it out and that His timing will be perfect. I need to remember the words of one of my favorite hymns:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

It is well with my soul,
it is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
let this blest assurance control,
that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
and hath shed his own blood for my soul.

It is well with my soul,
it is well, it is well with my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

It is well with my soul,
it is well, it is well with my soul.

And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well with my soul,
it is well, it is well with my soul.

Horatio G. Spafford

So I will trust God to take care of us. He hasn't let me down yet and I suppose that He never will.

It is truly well with my soul.

YWAM Tyler, TX

Well we have completed the applications for YWAM Tyler. We're really excited. We just need to get them in the mail, and hand out our references that we need to get from our Pastor and some friends. Then we wait and see if we get accepted. What an awesome time of reflection. Some of the questions on the application really made you think about your motives for doing it and your walk with Christ. Oh, and there's the section on if you die while doing the outreach YWAM's not responsible for shipping your body back to your home country. Lots of medical questions and junk like that too. What a good and gracious God we have that we have these opportunities to serve Him. We have the privilege of joining with Him in the greatest work. All glory be to God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

May His name be great among the nations!!

Cadbury Mini-Eggs

Easter is coming. Evidence is all over the place. Easter bunnies (which by the way is a pagan concept, if you don't believe me look it up http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/origin-of-the-easter-bunny-faq.htm) are making there way into stores along with the usual compliments of assorted candies and eggs and other various decorations.

My wife and I are especially fond of the Cadbury Mini-Eggs. We look forward to this time of year with great eagerness since this is the only time that we can purchase them. If you've never had them, don't try them, they're addictive. Thinking about how eagerly we look forward to those little pieces of candy that aren't particularly good for you and only offer a short burst of satisfaction makes me wonder why we don't long as much for the coming of Christ and the fulfillment of His reign as ruler of God's kingdom. We all spend so much time and energy longing for earthly things that God and His Kingdom get lost in the shuffle.

As Robin and I have been preparing to enter the mission field, it has become increasingly clear that our whole way of thinking needs to change to be more focussed on fulfilling the Great Commission. God's desire is that His name will be glorified throughout the earth, and nothing should stand in the way of that, not material things, not our comfortable lives, and not even family. Robin's parents have been less than overjoyed at the thought of us packing up and leaving with their grandchildren (they might miss us as well). Lately God has been laying some verses on Robin to get the point accross that we are to be obedient no matter what. Here are a few of the verses that have come up in her Bible reading lately:

Mark 10:24-31

The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?"

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."

Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!"

"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

Matthew 8:18-22

When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."

Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Matthew 10:34-39

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
" 'a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law -
a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'

"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

These verses are sometimes hard to hear, but speak the truth blunty. Following Christ is not to be a walk in the park with everything going well and good. The Christian life is going to marked with suffering because you have chosen to set yourself apart as His follower and are willing to do anything that He desires for you. What do you need to give up to show your allegiance to Christ and the furthering of His Kingdom? Is it not going to see movies that are unfit for anyone, especially Christians, to see (like the current movie Watchmen (for a review see here))? Is it not giving in to gluttony? Gossip? Porn? What sets you apart for Christ? We are called to be transformed, not to conform to this world. Jesus has called you to be His amassador to this world. We cannot be ambassadors of Christ and wallow in the filth of this world. The book of Revelation warns us of being lukewarm, either be hot or cold, otherwise you are in danger of being spewed.

Perspectives

Wow!! I'm a little behind on my summaries of class. Well here it goes.

Week 3: Your Kingdom Come.

The Kingdom of God has already come in the person of Jesus Christ. It is actively working to destroy the evil schemes of Satan and to prepare God's people for the ultimate coming of the Kingdom when Satan will be utterly destroyed. The disciples were charged with telling others about this truth. They were to show that Jesus ushered in the Kingdom and that the Holy Spirit is now using us a believers to defeat Satan in this present age. This gives us the hope that we need that we are not fighting on our own. God is behind us and in us to bring about the manifestation of His Kingdom.

Week 4: Mandate for the Nations

Jesus started His ministry with just a few followers, and concentrated almost all of His efforts on the Jewish people. He knew that the time of judgement for the Jews was coming soon so that their time of exposure to the Gospel would be short. He did reach out to a few Gentiles at this time to show His disciples what His future plans for them would be. They were ultimately to take the Gospel and spread it to the Gentiles. The disciples at the time were very confused when Jesus worked with the Gentiles. They thought that the Messiah was only coming to save the Jewish people they didn't understand that God's plan was for Jesus to pay the debt and redeem the entire world. Jesus told them in the Great Commission to "go and make disciples of all nations", they still didn't get that they were to reach all people not just the Jews. They were finally showed what to do with the vision that Peter saw on the rooftop just before the men from Conelius . They realized now that God wanted the message of the Gospel to reach all peoples of every tribe, tongue and nation.

I will try and do a couple more later today. I still have three weeks to catch up on.

To update our lives. It looks as if we are going to be applying for the CDTS in Tyler, Texas. We have the applications and need to start filling them out. We can't wait to get started, but have a lot to do before then in getting the house sold and a lot of other things sold as well. Please pray for us as we continue to prepare.

To God be the Glory

Confirmation abounds!!

God is amazing that's what I have to say.

If you don't know about the housing market in Michigan, let me tell you that it's really bad. The thought of trying to sell our house before leaving for CDTS was quite distressing. But again God in His infinite wisdom has taught us a lesson that He undoubtedly will teach us over and over and over again. With one phone call and talking separately to some other family members, we have two people already interested in buying our house. In Michigan that is near impossible. He is able to take care of seemingly impossible things. Like He's telling us "Therefore do not worry", sound familiar. Here's the full text from Matthew 6:25-34:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Why do we continue to worry? Why do we have to re-learn this lesson all the time? God will take care of us. It may not always be in the way that we like, but it is the way that He has in store for us.

We are humbled and in awe of His grace and mercy and guidance. He has proven His ability to provide for us. We will continue to trust in Him to bring us into His work for His kingdom.

May the Name of the Lord be praised.

Peace

Wow, it's amazing the peace that God grants. If my unemployment had happened at any other time, both Robin and I would have been freaking out. But God has definitely been granting us peace during this time and during our quest to find His will and join in with Him.

We are currently looking into two different CDTSes, one in Lebanon, PA, the other in Tyler, TX. What's really turning us off to the one in PA is that they usually do their outreach portion in the Ukraine, and we really have no desire to go there, but we'll see what God has in store for us. We really like the site of the TX one. You can see information on both schools here:

http://www.ywamtyler.org/index.html

and here:

http://www.ywampa.org/

After the CDTS we hope to move to a small YWAM base in Creel, Mexico to help serve a tribe of Tarahumara Indians that live in the area around Creel. We've been looking at pictures of the area and of the people and are falling in love with both. My passion is to reach the unreached peoples of Mexico, and while the Tarahumara people aren't on this list we felt it would be a great stepping stone into the area of reaching the unreached people. According to joshuaproject.net there are 14 unreached people groups in Mexico. Our job as Christians is to bring the gospel to all the world making disciple of ALL nations. The use of nations in the Great Commission is not referring to the Geo-political nations that exist in the world today, but rather the different people groups that are present in the world. Reaching out to these people and bringing them the good news of Jesus Christ is an exciting and wonderful task that God wants us to undertake.

There is more information on YWAM Creel at: http://www.ywamcreel.com/home.htm

We trust in God's providence and are continually amazed at His goodness. We are feeling an incredible joy at being able to join with Him in His desire to bring His name to the world and bring the nations into worship of Him.

We continue to ask for your prayers as God guides us down this path.

P.S. I will try and and review weeks 3 through 5 of Perspectives soon.

Confirmation..... sometimes a bitter pill.

Subtitle: Be Careful What You Ask For.

Robin and I this past week have been earnestly praying about doing a CDTS through YWAM this summer/fall. Robin has been wanting to do one for a couple of years, she was just waiting for me to come around. Well I finally felt we need to seriously consider doing it, even though it would mean quitting jobs and selling our house. The CDTS is 5-6 months long, and consists of 2-3 months training and then a 2-3 month outreach. Well be careful what you ask for. God may answer your prayers in a flash. We got a bit of confirmation yesterday, I was laid off from my job. We see this as a confirmation that God really wants us to pursue this and enter into full time missionary work. We are excited about what God is going to do for us and through us. We will continue to trust in Him, and trust in His provision to see us through and into the mission field.

Review of weeks 1 and 2.

Week 1 of Perspectives on the World Christian movement (Perspectives) was about God being a missionary God.  Since the creation of the world God has been working to bring all nations into deep worship of Himself and His name.  The readings were mostly about God's calling of Abram and how his promise to Abram was really showing that God was calling the nation of Israel to be His conduit of bless to the entire world.  The seed of Abraham would be used to bless all nations.  The people of Israel were chosen to bring the message of hope and deliverance to the rest of the world, and ultimately to bring true blessing to the world, Jesus Christ.

Week 2 of Perspectives was about the story of God's glory.  The readings emphasized that the goal of God was not to reach people but that His name would be glorified.  In order for His name to be glorified to the max God calls people to gather other people from all the nations to join into worship of Him.  The readings go on to say that our goal in missions needs to be that God's name will be glorified and that helping people needs to be secondary.  If your main goal is to help people and meet their needs, the goal is not lofty enough and disillusionment and burnout can result.  If the motivation behind all you are doing is to gather people into true worship of God, that is a goal that can inspire you to continue even through the toughest of circumstances.

This class has been amazing so far, and I'm looking forward to continuing to grow as God guides me.  All praise and glory to God.

Perspectives

I am currently taking a course at Western Theological Seminary called "Perspectives on the World Christian Movement".  It is a course designed to teach about the purpose of missions, and to hopefully ignite a desire to enter into active missions.  I will try and give a summary after each class.  

If anyone is even thinking of missions, this class is for you.  You can find more information at:

http://www.perspectives.org/site/pp.aspx?c=eqLLI0OFKrF&b=2806295

Welcome

Welcome to my blog.  For some time now my wife and I have felt called to become missionaries to somewhere in Central America (most likely Mexico).  This blog will be a sort of journey to that fulfillment.  Thank-you for joining us on this journey.