Opportunity

"You wonder why people choose fields away from the States when young people at home are drifting because no one wants to take time to listen to their problems. I'll tell you why I left. Because those Stateside young people have every opportunity to study, hear, and understand the Word of God in their own language, and these Indians have no opportunity whatsoever. I have had to make a cross of two logs, and lie down on it, to show the Indians what it means to crucify a man. When there is that much ignorance over here and so much knowledge and opportunity over there, I have no question in my mind why God sent me here. Those whimpering Stateside young people will wake up on the Day of Judgment condemned to worse fates than these demons-fearing Indians, because having a Bible, they were bored with it—while these never heard of such a thing as writing.” ~Jim Elliot, missionary to Ecuador

It's Getting Real

I was going through my box of framed pictures yesterday, removing all the pictures and setting the empty frames in the pile of things to give away. That's when it started getting real. Framed pictures are things that you take to your next residence to hang up on the walls. They're far too heavy and bulky for me to take, plus I can always get more once I get there, but taking the pictures out and giving the frames away is a sign of finality. It means I'm not planning to have walls to hang them on on this side of the Atlantic anytime in the near future. It means I'm not keeping any reserves back home "just in case." It means commitment.

I'm at 95% monthly support. I have a ticket booked for March 10th, only two and a half weeks away. I'm making all my last minute purchases and appointments. Planning going away celebrations. Meeting with friends or talking with them on the phone for the last time. It's getting real.

Neither Do I Condemn You

I was invited to preach at my home church again this past Sunday. I spoke on John 8:2-11, the story of the woman caught in adultery. This passage teaches us that even though you are far more sinful than you could ever imagine, you are far more loved than you could ever dream. You can listen through the player below, or click here to download an mp3 to listen to at home, in the car, or at your convenience.

Preaching at CCA

This past Sunday I was given the opportunity to preach at my home church, Christ's Church of Amherst. I spoke on the life of Joseph and how we can have confidence and comfort in times of uncertainty. Here's the podcast if you're interested in listening, or click here to download an mp3.

Milestone Reached!

I have two different goals for raising my support: 1) The one-time costs of preparing, getting to, and setting up life and ministry in Namibia, and 2) The ongoing monthly costs of living and doing ministry in Namibia. At the beginning of December, I was at approximately 42% for each of those goals, but God has blown me away with His provision this month!

If you've read about God's provision through my Christmas Benefit Concert below, then you know I made it 25% closer to the goal for my one-time needs in just that one event. Additionally, some of my expenses have come in significantly under budget. For example, God provided a vehicle for half of what we had budgeted! I was able to sit down with my financial guy at SIM and adjust my total need to reflect these God-provided savings. As a result, I now have 100% of my one-time needs!

So are one-time gifts still needed? Absolutely! I still need about 43% of my monthly support. So we will take those additional one-time gifts and spread them out over the length of my first term to count as monthly support. So if all you can give is a one-time gift, please do give because it still helps toward my monthly support.

 Thank you so much to all those who continue to give generously and faithfully! It's a privilege to partner with you and I couldn't do it without you!

Merry Christmas

Christmas is easily my favorite holiday. I love the decorations, the lights, Christmas music, Christmas parties, giving presents, seeing family. The whole thing's great!

But what I love most is that it's a celebration of my favorite person, Jesus. :) God sent His Son in the form of a helpless little baby born to a virgin woman in the humblest setting imaginable. The King of the universe, proclaimed by the angels, worshiped by kings from the East and shepherds from the foothills.

"Mild He lay His glory by, born that man no more may die!"

May you all have a blessed Christmas remembering the true reason why we celebrate.

A Successful Show

A huge thank you to everyone who helped out with the Christmas concert! Everything went sooo well and everybody seemed to have a great time. When we first started the sanctuary was about half full and many of those were the performers' families, but by intermission the place was packed out! We had a bake sale (thanks to all who baked!) and a raffle (thanks to all who donated!). Not to mention the music was amazing (thanks to all who played and sang!). We shared the whole Advent story through song from our great need for a Savior, to the wisemen and shepherds and angels, to Mary's labor and the joyful celebration of God with us! You can check out some videos on the event page if you wanna hear some of it. Just before intermission we took up an offering and I had a donor who agreed to gift-match everything that came in that night. Including the gift-matching, the total donations came in at over a quarter (25%) of my one time needs! What a huge answer to prayer and provision from God!! Thanks again so much to everyone who contributed and to all the volunteers who helped out. It was a joy to serve with you!

p.s. I know there are a lot of exclamation points, but that's because it was exciting! :)