Five years ago we traded our rural Haitian lifestyle for the big city of Santiago, Dominican Republic (DR). Now we have the best of both worlds—discipling Haitian university students, while working with a fast-growing Dominican church at a time when the Dominicans are receptive to the good news of Christ.
After four months of home ministry—14 different states (not counting emotional ones), two summer camps, one Vacation Bible School, countless visits and ministry presentations—we return to the DR October 3, Lord willing. Bob thrives on marathon visiting. I tend to wilt after awhile. However, it’s a paradox. Those same visits that drain my energy have refreshed me, so that I’m eager to return to the DR. What energizes me is seeing you—God’s family—honoring Him, faithfully serving Him, and inviting Him into the difficult messes of life to do His gracious handiwork. These are some of the God-things that we’ve witnessed these past four months:
--Parents who let you move in, fill their closets, upset their routine, and double the mileage on their vehicles.
--Teenagers who actually hang around to talk to graying and wrinkling missionaries when they could be out with their friends.
--A mother’s testimony of her faith in a loving God, as we tearfully watch a video of her youngest daughter who recently died in a tragic accident.
--An entire family using their vacation time to run a Bible camp for junior highers.
--Two women voluntarily working in the camp kitchen for two weeks—cooking three meals a day for 30-100 campers.
--Teenage boys arriving at church before 9 a.m. on their summer vacation to help corral high-energy kids during Vacation Bible School.
--A 10-year-old girl running excitedly to get her journal so she can show me what she wrote that morning about her love for Jesus.
--Three good friends living with cancer (make that four—the list is growing) whose hope is in the Lord, even when it hurts and He’s not telling what’s around the next corner.
--Pastors who teach God’s Word and shepherd his people season after season.
--Emails from young campers asking, What can I do to grow as a Christian?
This list is incomplete. Every conversation where you’ve honestly shared with us what God is doing in your life—every example of practical, Christ-like living—has encouraged and challenged us.
Please pray as we return to a people-intensive discipleship ministry in the DR. Bob looks forward to helping young leaders of two Haitian congregations become solid, Christ-like leaders. We also go back eager to mentor new believers in the Dominican church, and teach others to do so, so that each one can be complete in Christ. Thank you for enabling us to have this privilege. Pray that we, and those with whom we work, will learn to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord (Col 1:10).
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Here Am I, and the Children God Has Given Me...
…even if He does take them away temporarily. Part 3
We left Texas July 20 after living six weeks with Judy’s mom. Saying good-bye to Judy's mom never gets any easier, especially since she's 80. Yet she remains in excellent health and spirits, and her love for the LORD expressed in plain-spoken common sense-wisdom continues to amaze me.
One of the reasons that momma’s faith in Christ is so strong is because she has had to weather a number of storms in her life, especially the death by suicide of her son and Judy’s brother Roy. Momma told me after I married Judy, “The hardest thing in life is to have to bury your child, no matter what age you are.” Years later, I asked her what God did to enable her to cope with Roy’s death. In essence, she said that she felt that God spoke to her some months after Roy died, letting her know that he was ok.
We visited the second North Highlands Bible Church family on July 12. Sarah, their articulate adult daughter introduced herself, then introduced her two daughters. She added, “We also had a third daughter, Audrey, but she is no longer with us.” Two- year old Audrey was killed in an accident, when a repair truck backed over her while leaving the driveway. Sarah had not realized that Audrey had run out the door, and the driver did not realize that she was behind his vehicle. Audrey died some 20 months ago.
When someone shares their grief that openly, you don’t know whether to duck, run for cover, or dive in. Changing the subject looked like a good option especially with someone with whom I had just met. Yet while I will never understand this kind of tragedy or grief, Momma’s perspective on Roy’s death has helped me. So armed with Momma’s wisdom, I dived in.
Dr Ken Quick of the Capital Bible Seminary, Lanham MD once stated 90 percent of all couples who lose a small child to death wind up getting a divorce. Bryan and Sarah have been able to weather this tremendous storm so far and they now look to share publicly with others how to cope with such a tragedy.
As we talked, her mom showed us a DVD of Audrey singing “Jesus Loves Me” with enthusiasm, singing her heart out for our LORD. (Hang on, even now I can’t seem to keep typing, and my throat is getting tight). She sang that song TWO DAYS before she died. Both mom and grandma said that Audrey’s song was preparing her to see Jesus.
The other touching scene that God gave me was of their two daughters, one seven, the other six. Both girls played together like normal girls. I have heard that if the parents do not properly cope with the loss of a child, the children will reflect that with bad behavior. One child responded to his little brother’s death by urinating in the house.
That day NHBC allowed us to get to know some real heroes.
While Bryan and Sarah would not agree with the last statement, still…in giving us permission to share this post, Sarah writes, “There is certainly nothing heroic about the way Bryan and I or our family and friends have handled this loss. The thing I have taken away from it all is that God’s grace is absolutely sufficient to meet all of our needs when they arise, whatever they are, no matter how painful. And, the promise of Heaven has captured my heart like never before and has taken root in my life. It is this hope that now fuels my passion for telling others about Jesus and for living each day with strength in the face of great pain…and we continue to face other pain…God has not spared us of dealing with life’s other struggles, too!
You see, I think many Christians live knowing and believing and standing on only half of the truth: that Jesus was born, lived a perfect life, and died for our sins. While we need to focus on his sacrificial atonement, we will miss God’s big picture perspective if we do not finish the story. Jesus AROSE, and we too will be resurrected when Christ returns to rescue us once and for all. His other promises have been fulfilled, and we can count on this one as well! With the full picture, we can live in real victory, no matter what we face here on earth. We await perfect bodies in a perfect world without sin and death…the physical and spiritual realms as God intended them to be.
Now, that is something to get excited about!”
"O death, where is thy victory, o grave where is thy sting?"
We left Texas July 20 after living six weeks with Judy’s mom. Saying good-bye to Judy's mom never gets any easier, especially since she's 80. Yet she remains in excellent health and spirits, and her love for the LORD expressed in plain-spoken common sense-wisdom continues to amaze me.
One of the reasons that momma’s faith in Christ is so strong is because she has had to weather a number of storms in her life, especially the death by suicide of her son and Judy’s brother Roy. Momma told me after I married Judy, “The hardest thing in life is to have to bury your child, no matter what age you are.” Years later, I asked her what God did to enable her to cope with Roy’s death. In essence, she said that she felt that God spoke to her some months after Roy died, letting her know that he was ok.
We visited the second North Highlands Bible Church family on July 12. Sarah, their articulate adult daughter introduced herself, then introduced her two daughters. She added, “We also had a third daughter, Audrey, but she is no longer with us.” Two- year old Audrey was killed in an accident, when a repair truck backed over her while leaving the driveway. Sarah had not realized that Audrey had run out the door, and the driver did not realize that she was behind his vehicle. Audrey died some 20 months ago.
When someone shares their grief that openly, you don’t know whether to duck, run for cover, or dive in. Changing the subject looked like a good option especially with someone with whom I had just met. Yet while I will never understand this kind of tragedy or grief, Momma’s perspective on Roy’s death has helped me. So armed with Momma’s wisdom, I dived in.
Dr Ken Quick of the Capital Bible Seminary, Lanham MD once stated 90 percent of all couples who lose a small child to death wind up getting a divorce. Bryan and Sarah have been able to weather this tremendous storm so far and they now look to share publicly with others how to cope with such a tragedy.
As we talked, her mom showed us a DVD of Audrey singing “Jesus Loves Me” with enthusiasm, singing her heart out for our LORD. (Hang on, even now I can’t seem to keep typing, and my throat is getting tight). She sang that song TWO DAYS before she died. Both mom and grandma said that Audrey’s song was preparing her to see Jesus.
The other touching scene that God gave me was of their two daughters, one seven, the other six. Both girls played together like normal girls. I have heard that if the parents do not properly cope with the loss of a child, the children will reflect that with bad behavior. One child responded to his little brother’s death by urinating in the house.
That day NHBC allowed us to get to know some real heroes.
While Bryan and Sarah would not agree with the last statement, still…in giving us permission to share this post, Sarah writes, “There is certainly nothing heroic about the way Bryan and I or our family and friends have handled this loss. The thing I have taken away from it all is that God’s grace is absolutely sufficient to meet all of our needs when they arise, whatever they are, no matter how painful. And, the promise of Heaven has captured my heart like never before and has taken root in my life. It is this hope that now fuels my passion for telling others about Jesus and for living each day with strength in the face of great pain…and we continue to face other pain…God has not spared us of dealing with life’s other struggles, too!
You see, I think many Christians live knowing and believing and standing on only half of the truth: that Jesus was born, lived a perfect life, and died for our sins. While we need to focus on his sacrificial atonement, we will miss God’s big picture perspective if we do not finish the story. Jesus AROSE, and we too will be resurrected when Christ returns to rescue us once and for all. His other promises have been fulfilled, and we can count on this one as well! With the full picture, we can live in real victory, no matter what we face here on earth. We await perfect bodies in a perfect world without sin and death…the physical and spiritual realms as God intended them to be.
Now, that is something to get excited about!”
"O death, where is thy victory, o grave where is thy sting?"
Monday, August 17, 2009
“Here am I, and the children God has given me.” Part 2
HMA in Texas was a fast-paced time of ministry, visiting friends and family, vacation Bible school, and helping out with our two supporting churches. One of our churches, North Highlands Bible Church scheduled us to visit a number of families for Sunday dinner after church. Two families stand out and blessed us immensely. We’ll present one here now, the other in a later post.
A few families, like Judy and me, are OINKS (one income no kids). We don’t know why God didn’t give us kids, but in His grand plan, He chose not to. And we have accepted that. I will admit the term OINKS makes me want to “pig out”. Excuse me while I take a break to eat some pork chops (seriously, right after I wrote this, I had pork chops for supper!)
The Sunday we visited Trey and Kristen after church, Kristen and her daughter greeted us and cordially invited us in. Another young lady came and said hi, introducing herself. And then another kid came. And another. And another. I thought, “It seems like the kids are coming out of the walls here. They must have a lot of company.” WRONG! God has given Trey and Kristen (and they have lovingly accepted) EIGHT kids. Wow! Twelve strong gathered at the dinner table, and please accept my apologies for not remembering nobody’s names! There were too many!
In Isaiah 8, Isaiah went to the royal courtyard in Jerusalem. Since he was a prophet to the kings of Judah, they were used to seeing him there. However, that particular day, he went to publicly rebuke the Judean king and nobles for making an alliance with neighboring kings against Assyria. Judean kings confirmed the alliance by participating in idol worship, rejecting the protection of the LORD God of Israel. Isaiah had the nerve to even take his two sons and pronounce the judgment as they stood by his side (8.18). Imagine the dirty looks the kids received as their dad rebuked the nobles!
Later, I got up the nerve to ask them later how people responded to them when they went to public places. Some have been very encouraging. Others have not—and yes, they have received a few dirty looks. Yet their kids love the LORD, they were very well behaved while we were there, and we had a fun visit in large part because of the kids!
In fact, a couple of the girls told us of their trip to New Orleans to help an inner-city church do a vacation Bible school. I was impressed at the way they spoke to us--it was like we were talking to adults! Their experiences eerily reminded us of Haiti—the way witchcraft and superstition can destroy a culture while the one thing that can lift a culture out of its misery is the good news of Jesus Christ.
I have every reason to believe that these kids will grow up to become Godly, responsible members of our churches and society!
A few families, like Judy and me, are OINKS (one income no kids). We don’t know why God didn’t give us kids, but in His grand plan, He chose not to. And we have accepted that. I will admit the term OINKS makes me want to “pig out”. Excuse me while I take a break to eat some pork chops (seriously, right after I wrote this, I had pork chops for supper!)
The Sunday we visited Trey and Kristen after church, Kristen and her daughter greeted us and cordially invited us in. Another young lady came and said hi, introducing herself. And then another kid came. And another. And another. I thought, “It seems like the kids are coming out of the walls here. They must have a lot of company.” WRONG! God has given Trey and Kristen (and they have lovingly accepted) EIGHT kids. Wow! Twelve strong gathered at the dinner table, and please accept my apologies for not remembering nobody’s names! There were too many!
In Isaiah 8, Isaiah went to the royal courtyard in Jerusalem. Since he was a prophet to the kings of Judah, they were used to seeing him there. However, that particular day, he went to publicly rebuke the Judean king and nobles for making an alliance with neighboring kings against Assyria. Judean kings confirmed the alliance by participating in idol worship, rejecting the protection of the LORD God of Israel. Isaiah had the nerve to even take his two sons and pronounce the judgment as they stood by his side (8.18). Imagine the dirty looks the kids received as their dad rebuked the nobles!
Later, I got up the nerve to ask them later how people responded to them when they went to public places. Some have been very encouraging. Others have not—and yes, they have received a few dirty looks. Yet their kids love the LORD, they were very well behaved while we were there, and we had a fun visit in large part because of the kids!
In fact, a couple of the girls told us of their trip to New Orleans to help an inner-city church do a vacation Bible school. I was impressed at the way they spoke to us--it was like we were talking to adults! Their experiences eerily reminded us of Haiti—the way witchcraft and superstition can destroy a culture while the one thing that can lift a culture out of its misery is the good news of Jesus Christ.
I have every reason to believe that these kids will grow up to become Godly, responsible members of our churches and society!
Friday, August 7, 2009
"Here am I, and the children that the LORD has given me."
Furlough. Ok, that’s the old fashioned term. Now, the hip expression is Home Ministry Assignment or HMA, using initials like hundreds of other entities both profit and non-profit. At least typing HMA is easier than repeating furlough.
We spoke at a camp in south-central Missouri working with a couple of our personal supporters. Paula is Judy’s best friend; Lance received Christ at this camp and has come back for years since then to share Christ to some 30 junior highers and some 15 counselors.
The locals at camp told us that they saw a bear about a mile away, but the bear never showed up. I guess he decided to stay in the woods. Good thing for him, we had junior highers at our camp! Our JHers would have been too tough for that bear to handle!
Lance also told us that he kills about one copperhead a year at camp. We didn’t see any this year (and I am VERY grateful!) I guess the JHers scared them off too!
Located deep in the Mark Twain National Forest, The Hammond Mill Bible Camp's cool weather gave us a much needed break from the Dallas heat which hit a high of 108. We donned jackets and rejoiced at the rain and the high of 66 degrees.
Despite being JHers, we were impressed at how receptive the kids were. They were very well behaved and I think five of them prayed to receive Christ during the week. Three were baptized.
The camp cost the kids only $30 for four days. It’s that low because the workers volunteer their time. Even the cooks who came from Kansas City, five hours away, came at their own expense. And despite the low budget, the food was great!
We are in Virginia now and will return to the Dominican Republic October 3.
We spoke at a camp in south-central Missouri working with a couple of our personal supporters. Paula is Judy’s best friend; Lance received Christ at this camp and has come back for years since then to share Christ to some 30 junior highers and some 15 counselors.
The locals at camp told us that they saw a bear about a mile away, but the bear never showed up. I guess he decided to stay in the woods. Good thing for him, we had junior highers at our camp! Our JHers would have been too tough for that bear to handle!
Lance also told us that he kills about one copperhead a year at camp. We didn’t see any this year (and I am VERY grateful!) I guess the JHers scared them off too!
Located deep in the Mark Twain National Forest, The Hammond Mill Bible Camp's cool weather gave us a much needed break from the Dallas heat which hit a high of 108. We donned jackets and rejoiced at the rain and the high of 66 degrees.
Despite being JHers, we were impressed at how receptive the kids were. They were very well behaved and I think five of them prayed to receive Christ during the week. Three were baptized.
The camp cost the kids only $30 for four days. It’s that low because the workers volunteer their time. Even the cooks who came from Kansas City, five hours away, came at their own expense. And despite the low budget, the food was great!
We are in Virginia now and will return to the Dominican Republic October 3.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Heading for the States
Bob is practicing piano for his last performance with the praise team at Central this Sunday--at least until we return from home ministry. We fly to Virginia on Monday the 25th to begin 4 months of visiting with family and with those of you who partner with us in the work here in Santiago.
It's not easy to leave. God is really at work in the Central Church, and it's fun and challenging to be a part of it. On Friday, Bob and 30 of the young men (and a few not so young men) from church camped out on the beach, talking around a campfire until the wee hours of the morning! They dragged in on Saturday in time to rest up for Sunday's activities. Eight men and women were baptized after church on Sunday--one of them was Juan Pablo, a young man in our Wednesday night small group who came to the Lord through the basketball ministry. Central has no baptistry; so after church we all piled into cars to go to another church across town. Tuesday night, Bob attended a meeting of the small group leaders at Central. He came home rejoicing after hearing all that God is doing in the various groups.
Please pray for continued unity in the church and for us while we are in the states. Pray that we will be an encouragement to the churches we visit. Thanks.
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