Matthew 19 records a famous dialogue between Jesus and a rich man. After the guy totally lies about following all of the commandments, Jesus throws him a curve ball. Something he can't get around. "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Jesus didn't say this because the outcome would benefit him, but because he knew this would shake this guy to the core. The man came to seek joy but his joy was in the comfort of his cash, and he left Jesus clinically depressed . Ironically the joy he put in his money robbed him of what would bring him true joy. We are in a unique position, where our call for serving Christ overseas means selling our stuff. Easy for those who love Jesus right? Ha. No. You find out how materialistic you are when you have to get rid of the things you love. We are closing in on our move out date, and the things we can't store and can't bring with us needs to go. We are currently the local experts on the art of Craigslist. A hard moment for me was selling my motorcycle Rufio. This guy has been in my life longer than my bride and we've been together through thick and thin. We both have changed a lot over the years, but I think in the end we both turned out ok (I'm no longer begging for food and Rufio is no longer purple). God is teaching me (slowly and forcibly) where true joy is found. Instead of having the same reaction as the rich man I am grateful that I get this opportunity, all while being so intrenched in a society that treasures their things. My reaction is changing from a saddened rich man to the euphoria of the man who found the true joy found in Christ:
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." PS. if you see Rufio on the street say hi
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I have a few things milling around in my head that I want to share with you, but right at this moment there is something else that I would rather you read. I know I keep posting links
to other blogs but I just couldn't help passing this one along. In fact, I don't think this will be the last time I pass this one around. With no further ado. Ten Things That Your Missionary Will Not Tell YouBy Joe Holman MAF exists to share Jesus’ love to isolated people, who live beyond the last dirt road and through dense, rugged, infested mountainous rainforests... So, how do you land an airplane in an area where you can barely walk? Good question! The answer is: very carefully. MAF aircraft are specifically designed to handle these steep and rugged airstrips with very little “runway” available. The aircraft of choice is the 750 HP Quest Kodiak. It can take off in 880 feet, hold 10 people and has a useful load of 3535 lbs! MAF pilots are also specifically trained to make these takeoffs and landings safe and possible. I’m excited to start the training in Idaho this August for standardization - a process where I will spend 3 months learning how MAF wants their pilots to fly and mechanics to maintain. This will be done in the MAF maintenance hangar, and in the Idaho Mountains where the flying and airstrips are similar to that found in Papua. Do you want to stay up to date with us during the training and into our departure to Indonesia? Our letters will continue, but for more information, pictures and video keep posted on our flight report blog, Tricia on her Facebook page and find me on Twitter (@mafaviator) and Instagram (mafaviator) for updates. This! Many of you have herd my story, so you will know how deeply this article resonates with me. Since Alex and I have been raising support I have lost count of the times I have herd things like "I could never do that" or "what you are doing is so important." Now don't get me wrong, I can all but feel the goodwill that is behind the voice of the speaker in these conversations, and in many ways the comments do not go unappreciated. However there is also a lot of pressure that comes with them as well. For much of my childhood I (like this author) believed that obedience in this area meant that someone 'had it all together' or that anyone not in vocational ministry was somehow skirting their responsibilities. Wrong! For His glory and our blessing obedience is the call of every believer, regardless of what that looks like. And above all, we are all sinners in desperate need of a savior. Period. That's enough out of me. I just wanted you to read the article...but then I sort of got on a roll. Anyway, I'll leave you with a couple of quotes to entice you. Read it, it is great! P.S. If you would like examples of how we just don't 'measure up' I would be happy to make you an alphabetized list ; ) "If I wanted to sort-of serve God, I could become a pastor, but if I really wanted to serve God, I’d become a missionary. And if I didn’t care about serving God at all, I could become a lawyer (which I did, by the way, but that’s a story for another time)." "We are ALL called down the street, it’s just that some of us have to travel a bit to find our street." We are at 63% of our monthly support and counting! While we are still only at 30% of our one-time/start-up costs it still feels good to be well on the right side of half way. We have learned a thing or two in the last few months. Here is a small sample. 1. It is hard to get any work done with a baby at home. When they are being sweet you just want to play with them, when they are fussy, well... The struggle is real friends! 2. I could never be a Mary Kay consultant. I went to a Mary Kay party recently. The woman talked about how much she loved her job and I began to think how similar it is to ours right now. She spends her days going to appointments with friends and strangers alike, and gives the same presentation over and over in hopes of inspiring in others her belief in the effectiveness of the product she is selling. Now, I love getting together with friends and making new ones and I certainly believe in the the effectiveness of MAF, but doing all of that year after year- hmm, maybe not! 3. A 99 cent box of brownies goes a long way. I can't tell you how many times I have realized two hours before a small group meeting that we should probably bring something. Stash of brownie mix to the rescue! Unfortunately, there are no box mixes where we are headed. 4. Schedules are overrated. Make of this what you will. We, however, are in just-roll-with-it mode right now and I must say it has its perks. 5. Prayer is underrated. This is no joke. It changes attitudes and hearts...mostly mine. I have been particularly convicted about this lately. It is so much easier to turn on the television some days. Although we sure don't do enough of it, we can definitely tell the difference when we do. Your prayers for us do not go unnoticed either (did I mention we still have a lot left to raise?)! I have to be honest we are ready to get this show on the road, but we have been more than blessed in this whole deputation process. I think I will enjoy this season while it lasts. Time to go watch the lovely Iowa sunset, then grab a book and curl up in front of the fire. I have been staring at the computer for awhile now, but so far nothing has happened. January is just dreary. The pace of our days seems ever increasingly to match the dull grey sluggishness of our setting. I cannot say I mind the slowness and quietness of life right now though. I can feel the time slipping away so quickly, as time tends to do, and we are certainly in the calm before the storm. However, for all the enjoyment that rest can produce, it does not tend to produce good stories. So I will have to rewind a little. The theme for today is God's provision. I feel this is appropriate as we are in the midst of waiting on both his provision and his timing while we raise a support team. When I am tempted to freak out a little about our complete inability to produce supporters, I am compelled to remember the many ways that God has richly provided for us in the past. Here is one of my favorites: The summer of 2013 was the end of our second year married and of my second year in Spokane. Alex was in the middle of his two years of flight school. To set the stage a little, you should know that Spokane was struggling. Even with a college degree I had spent over two months unemployed the previous summer until I finally found a minimum wage job with a house cleaning company. Alex was unable to work throughout the flight program due to it's intensity, so finances were more than a little tight. Despite the circumstances and with more than one providential booster along the way, we had gotten through the year quite comfortably. That summer Alex's one and only sister was getting married in Iowa. We have become dear friends with the couple since and were overjoyed to be a part of their big day. Here was the pinch. The company I worked for would not allow me to take the necessary time off to fly home and attend the wedding. I had two options: miss the wedding or quit my job and hope to find something within days of my return (living on a diet of ramen and road-kill did not seem like a viable choice). I was not sure I wanted to risk it. But that still small voice whispered that He would take care of us. I took the leap. He proved Himself faithful. In the end I had a better job than when I began, where I was blessed with good hours and sweet new friendships. The Father has used so many times like this to draw us into deeper and richer trust in His great care for us. At least in the area of finances. This Christmas season, everywhere I turn it seems I am noticing advent messages related to waiting. I must confess my advent revolves mostly around waiting to get and give gifts, and waiting for delicious food (Pickled herring anyone? Thats ok, more for me!). But I have been reminded this year in particular how important it is that we remember there was a time when the messiah had not yet come. The world was waiting. And we wait still, at the earth aches and groans under the weight of sin, we wait patiently for all things to be made new. Alex and I are in our own season of waiting right now. We are counting the months untill we head for a warmer climate. Sometimes we count because we are excited, and sometimes it is because we are sad to leave this place. Tonight though, I am gratefull that, despite our current work load, this particular season of waiting is full of peace. We are so happy to be with familly this christmas season, and yet we are thrilled to be moving forward in this journey God has us on. I am gratefull for our snug little appartment where we can take naps by the fireplace. I am gratefull for the depth of meaning that we are able to experience this year in the fact that the Son of God humbled himself to become a human infant. A drooling, pooping, floppy infant. God did that. I am gratefull that this is the God who is the prince of peace in our waiting. Merry Christmas folks! Hello friends! Since this is the time for cheesy "Christmas miracle" movies on the Halmark channel, I thought it would be an appropriate time to tell you one that is true.
What follows is a true story from MAF'ers in Indonesia just a few months ago. "When Emma Grace was conceved, her teenage parents were some of the very first believers among the Moi people. Her dad accused her mom of cheating on him when Emma Grace was in the woumb. According to Moi belief, babies in the womb wont grow unless parents have ongoing intercourse. Since her dad was gone durring several months of the pregnancy, but the baby grew anyway, he could only conclude that his wife was unfaithful to him. He ordered his wife to kill the baby as soon as she was born. So, reluctantly, just a day or two after the baby was born, his wife tied vines around the baby's neck and placed her in a net bag which hung outside the hut, leaving her to die. Someone heard about what was happening and told ome of the missionarys living among the Moi, who ran to the hut and retrieved the baby from the net bag, pleading with the parents to change their minds. The father was unwilling, so the missionary took the baby and ran to a colleague's home where they cut the vines off her neck, bathed her, named her Emma Grace, and cared for her for about one week. Throughout that week, the missionaries talked with the baby's parents, explaining that babies grow in the womb and that babies are a precious gift from God. Also, durring that week, Emma Grace's father read Exodous 1, which had been translated into the Moi language and told about the Hebrew midwives who were blessed because they spared the lives of the Isrialite baby boys, even though Pharaoh ordered the babies to be killed. Emma Grace's dad's heart was changed through the scripture he read and he accepted his loittle girl back into his home. Now Emma Grace is an exuberant, vivacious five year old ready to start kindergarden! You can watch her beautiful song of thankfulness to Jesus, which she wrote herself and sang with her friends." Written by: Tom and Valli Howard Thought I'd give you all just a quick update about how the last few months have been for us. Of corse we have done a lot of meeting up with friends and family since we got back from Idaho. We have enjoyed countless hours of catching up, sharing our ministry, and just chatting. But there have been a few other highlights too. Our sending church has been so supportive of us in this whole process. They have provided us with a number of opportunities to equip us as we head out to the field. One that we are particularly excited about is the Biblical counseling conference. It is taking place over three separate weekends this fall, and we have already learned so much about how to relate to others, ask good questions, and understand our own hearts. It is amazing how teaching that was designed to help with ministry seems to pierce our own hearts more than anything else! We also had the chance to go to Dallas for a few days this month. We went to visit a few fellow Moody grads who we had not seen in far too long. One of them, our dear friend Abby, has been battling hard against lukemia for over a year and a half now, but had her second clear PET scan while we were there! Praise God! On a side note, Alex's foot got brutally dominated by an army of fire ants. He is allergic to them so his poor foot swelled up like a microwaved marshmallow. The recovery required large quantities for Benadryl. But all's well that ends well, right? Overall, we decided that we would take Iowa over Texas any day of the year (except maybe in January), but it was great to see so many dear faces! Last but not least, you should see another letter in your mailbox from us in about a week, so keep an eye out. |
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