Certainty, Uncertainty, and Faith in 2013

I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas season and that 2013 is filled with hope for what God will do in and through you this year. We have had a wonderful few weeks of relative rest over Christmas and are now preparing for the many changes we anticipate coming our way in 2013.

-The spring will be filled with continued travel and support raising (Jan.-March in NC and SC and April in CT and ME).

-If we have enough financial support we will move to the Netherlands and begin teaching at Tyndale Theological Seminary in June.

As I think about the massive changes ahead for 2013, particularly the uncertainty and complication of support raising and an international move, I have been reflecting anew on what it means to live a life of faith—a life completely and unreservedly dependent upon God to such an extent that if God doesn't provide there is no good back-up plan. Abraham would have been in this situation when God first called him to leave his homeland and travel to an unknown destination.

As I consider how Jenny and I are in this situation (along with other missionaries) I have realized that all Christians are really in the same situation. Nothing is certain in life, as they say, except death and taxes. Every Christian shares the same situation. Our jobs aren't certain, our health isn't certain, our safety isn't certain. So little in life is certain. As Christians however, we know an incredible truth—God as revealed in and through Jesus is certain. God’s purposes and plans are certain. This has forced me, more than ever before, to put away the false façade of certainty (that never really exists for anyone anyway) and look more and more to the one true certainty in the universe—God. May you find increased certainty and security in the one true and only source of both in 2013!  

The Approaching Whirlwind

Between now (Oct. 12) and Dec. 4 we will be speaking or sharing 16 different times at 7 different churches across SC, NC, and CT. This includes two different mission conferences. We anticipate that these next seven weeks will be amazing, wonderful, and crazy all at the same time.  We love sharing about the growth of God’s kingdom throughout the world, particularly His work in and through Tyndale Theological Seminary. We especially look forward to reconnecting with many friends we have not seen for years.

   

Please join us in prayer for the following requests.

1. That God would give us and our boys emotional, physical, and spiritual stamina throughout all of the traveling. It can be especially difficult on the boys to constantly be on the move and visiting different churches.
2. That God would enable us to effectively communicate exactly what needs to be said in each situation. Our goal is to pass on a vision and passion for God’s global kingdom.
3. That God would raise up the remaining financial support we need to be able to move to the Netherlands and begin training pastors at Tyndale full-time. We need 30 more friends to join our support team at $100.00 a month (or 60 people at $50.00 a month) to be able to move.

We will continue to post updates as we are able. Thank you for your prayers!

Journeying Home

The summer has rushed by and we have reached our final day in the Netherlands! Please pray for safe travel as our flight takes off this evening to return to the States. There are so many thoughts and emotions rushing through us as we reflect upon the past two months and look ahead to the future. 

Most pressingly, we are fired up and excited about returning to the Netherlands full-time as soon as possible. From our youth Jenny and I have both felt called by God to cross-cultural missions and the past ten years have been a long process of preparation as we have sought to discern how and where we could make the most effective impact for God’s global kingdom. We have found the place a Tyndale; our primary impact will be through the students that will be trained, equipped, and sent back into the entire world in fulfillment of 2 Tim 2:2! Over the next few weeks we will post some more reflections on our time here and the road ahead.   

Amsterdam Church Plants

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to preach at Christ Church South, a local Amsterdam church plant. It was a nice change of pace from the intensive summer classroom teaching! There are over 200 church plants in the greater Amsterdam area, many of them among the immigrant population. Many of Tyndale’s 100 or so part-time and non-degree seeking students serve in these immigrant church plants. We need to pray that as these immigrant churches grow they would have an increasing positive impact through evangelism on Europe. In addition to our ministry at Tyndale we will join in serving with one of these church plants when we are able to move here full-time.

Student Highlight: John

John hails from Myanmar (Burma), a primarily Buddhist country that has experienced serious social, political, and economic difficulties this past century. Because of the economic situation it is very hard for students from Myanmar to get advanced education outside the country but due to Tyndale's scholarship program (supported by Christian individuals and churches) he, along with many of the other residential students, are able to further their studies. John will return to Myanmar at the end of his studies to teach at an underground (figuratively speaking of course) Bible school and train Burmese evangelists and to continue work on a Bible translation of his native language based upon the Hebrew and Greek.

Student Highlight: Assel

Assel was not raised in a Christian home but after coming to faith in Christ as a teenager has worked with Child Evangelism Fellowship in Kazakhstan for the past 11 years. She is pursuing further education at Tyndale in order to be better able to train and equip Christians in Kazakhstan to reach out to and evangelize children.

Student Highlight: Jean-Pierre

Jean-Pierre is a pastor from Rwanda with an amazing story of God's grace. When he was four he was abandoned to the streets by his mother who could not take care of him. He was rescued by his grandmother at some point and came to faith in Christ. In the aftermath of  the Rwandan genocide he felt God's call to  pastor and help meet people's serious spiritual needs. He is deeply concerned with helping the church meet the needs of people in Rwanda, particularly in light of country's past and present political and social turmoil.