All in In His Time

For about a year now, having left TPI, we have been working where we are, wondering what God had lined up for us next. Were we going to stay in Mississippi assisting in missions and women’s ministries at Trinity and providing computer assistance at Northpoint Christian School (formerly SBEC), or were we going to go somewhere else. We wanted to be sure we satisfied two conditions: working in areas where we have skills and passion, and working in an area where there is a great need. We were using a saying we learned from Vance Pitman at Hope Baptist Church: ministry rides on the rails of relationships.

Through a series of relationships that we are confident were orchestrated by God, we came in contact with Latin America Mission (LAM). LAM’s focus is to partner with existing ministries in Latin America, providing assistance as necessary.

After much prayer and discussion, we completed the application process with LAM and know that God is now calling us to work with Su Refugio in Paraguay. Su Refugio is a Christian home in Paraguay that takes in children from abusive and drug-using families. Scott Kvandal, an engineer from San Diego, started Su Refugio several years ago by building a small dormitory, dining area, church and amphitheater, and has recently added a Center of Hope which helps train women with skills to help sustain their families; an elementary school is also being developed.

Bill will be assisting Pastor Pablo with the church on the campus at Su Refugio, as well as home churches that are starting in the neighboring town of Tobatí. Bill will also be working with Pastor Alcides to teach and develop course for the Bible college Alcides has already started. Sandy will be working primarily in the Center for Hope, helping women in Tobatí and another town, Caacupé, learn sewing and cooking, and also with starting practical businesses out of their homes. Together, we will be coordinating visiting mission teams and leading marriage retreats for towns in the surrounding areas.

We have put our house up for sale, plan to sell both cars and most of our furniture and put a few things in storage. We are planning a trip to see family and friends in Las Vegas, California and New Mexico, followed by a four week intercultural course in North Carolina. We’re looking to move to Costa Rica in mid-December to sharpen our Spanish skills, and then on to Paraguay, probably in early June.

These are definitely exciting times for us. Please pray for us, giving thanks to God for making our plans as clear as He has, and that all goes well as we transition to our new lives in Paraguay.

The Flow of Discipleship

I have always viewed the Christian life as a stream: although you cannot always see its source, nor where it finishes, you know it is real and it is in motion. You can observe it from a distance and study it under a microscope, but if you really want to understand it, you have to jump in! Only after jumping in can you feel the power of the water, the smoothness of the rocks, and know the many places it will take you!
 

 

At times, you are moving swift and steady, enjoying all the sights and sounds.

At times, you feel as if you have no control over where you’re going, but you know the ride is exhilarating.

At times, the motion is bumpy, and you appreciate the times that were smooth and look forward to them once again. At times, you feel stuck, but you know the stream continues and soon you will be moving again.

When you look at the flowing water, you notice it is clean. Why? Because the sediment sinks and the rocks and gravel act as a filter.

When you look at the rocks in the flow, you see that although they are not moving, they, too, are clean. Why? Because the flowing water cleanses them.

You also notice rocks near, but not in the stream: they look like they have been rinsed off, but moss and lichens are growing on them. You see still water off to the side, and because it is not part of the flow, stagnation is occurring and pockets of algae are forming.

What does this have to do with discipleship?

The way I see it, you can be an observer, you can be part of the flow, you can be a rock in the flow, or you can be like part of the stream that is off to the side and stagnant. If you’re an observer, that’s all you can do; you can never fully experience all that God and this life have to offer. You can see it and you can study it, but you cannot truly understand it.

If you are part of the flow, you are living the Christian dream, following where God leads, enjoying all that is around you, even the rough times.

You can be stationary, like a rock in the middle of the stream, and still be part of the flow. Teachers and pastors and other leaders that are constantly building and cleansing the people that go past them are part of the flow.

Finally, you can still be in the stream, in the Christian life, but not be associated with any of the flowing water. Oh sure, you once were, but you may have found comfort in simply being off to the side, oblivious to the flow around you. Be careful: this is how stagnation and mold and algae can form, causing you to lose the beauty of the stream that was once yours.

Conclusion

If you have jumped into the stream, if you have entered the Christian life, you know you have been changed. You now see and understand things differently than you ever could before while simply observing the stream. The longer you are in the stream, the more you experience. The more you experience, the more you are able to share, and sharing is how we make disciples.

It is likely someone shared with you what they discovered after “jumping in,” causing you to “jump in.” Since then, others have shared their knowledge and experiences with you. It’s only right that you continue the flow. It’s even biblical.

The last command Jesus gave His disciples before ascending to heaven was Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.

If that was His last command, what do you think His first question will be when He returns?

Children and Butterflies

Oftentimes I have seen children outside playing, running, and chasing butterflies. Today I saw this simple activity in a new way.

I am spending a few days getting to know Pastor Pablo Benitez and his wife Paula, serving at Su Refugio (www.SuRefugio.org), a Christian children’s home for abused children. When the local government gets reports of potential child abuse in the home, they will investigate and when the problem is real and serious, they pull the children from the home and place them in foster care. There are virtually no foster families in the area and few places for these children to go in safety: Su Refugio is one such place. Pablo and Stella told me the backgrounds for some of these children – horrifying what they have been through. Knowing the abuse some of these children had experienced and now seeing them playing as if they had no cares in the world was moving, to say the least. This is how children are supposed to grow up!

I also realized this home is different than an orphanage. In an orphanage, you do not necessarily know the background of the children: they could have come from a battered childhood, but they also could have come from good home lives where the parents died in a car crash and had no other family to take care of them. Su Refugio is different: every child here has a battered past.

Pray for them and pray for Pablo and Stella as they serve God by serving the children.

Galilea - The Classes

We were here to teach the 3rd of 12 TPI classes - A Survey of the Old Testament. As the course progressed, I was impressed by the men's ability to understand the material, ask solid questions, and compare and contrast the biblical teachings with some of their tribal customs that sometimes differed from biblical practices. They had questions about infant salvation, the use of some medicines and drugs that induced alcohol-like euphoria, marriage vs living together, and how to minister to someone with two wives.

This was the area where few, if any, of the students were married to the woman they were living with, and had children with. One of the men had contacted Jaime, our country coordinator for Peru, and told him that 7 of the men wanted to get their lives right before God and had decided to get married in May, but wanted Jaime to send them a program because they didn't know how to do it (perform a wedding ceremony) and didn't want to do it wrong. When I got there and told them that what they had done had been an inspiration to me, and others, that 7 had taken this step, based solely on the power of God's Word, they told me the new number was 14. When they discovered I was particularly interested in this, they recounted and told me that 16 couples had recently married, wanting to be more in line with God's Word on marriage and the relationships between God, men and women. I asked these men and women to stand when I took this picture, so you can put faces to some of these remarkable people.

The people standing had married just a few months ago to "get their lives right before God."

Peru - Life in the Jungle of Galilea

Walking the street of Galilea reminds me of the rural areas of Honduras and Nicaragua... Dusty (or muddy, depending on when the last rain fell), home-based restaurants and shops, and people walking everywhere... It was easy to forget you were in the middle of the jungle... Until you realize the generator provided electricity for the town only from about 7:15 pm until 11 pm (the people use flashlights and candles in their houses and stores if it is dark before the electricity comes on), there was nothing but more vegetation behind the vegetation you could see, and the street and trails we were walking on had to be cut by hand with machetes.

Without consistent electricity, there is no consistent refrigeration, so food is prepared fresh and eaten right away or thrown out. Speaking of food, most of the meals include fish and/or chicken... Frying and boiling are the two common methods of preparing the food, both done over an open fire. They also eat a lot of rice, noodles, plantains (like bananas but harder and not as sweet) and yucca (a root). Needless to say, there are few computers and no Internet, although cell phone coverage is plentiful!!

Peru - Getting to the Jungle

Other than a few minor delays, the trip from Memphis to Houston to Panama to Lima, Peru was uneventful... Even going through immigration at 1:00 am was a lot more crowded than I expected... It seems a lot of flights arrive in Lima between midnight and 1 AM. I got to the hotel around 2, got checked-in, emailed Sandy that all was OK, and tried to sleep, knowing I had a 6 am meeting with some of the teachers from Peru.

Daniel, Rolando and I got the 8 am bus to Bagua Chica, arriving at 4 am (that's right, 20 hours on the bus!)... At least the seats reclined a little further than your standard airline seat, but not much. We then hired a car to take us one hour to where we could find a truck (4X4) to take us to Santa Maria Nieva. After the first two hours, the next 7-1/2 hours were on dirt and rocky roads. We finally arrived in Santa Maria Nieva, but the town was on the other side of the river from where we were, so we had to take a water taxi. We found rooms in the third hotel/ hostel we checked and stayed the night.

Isn’t Marriage Universal?

I am planning my first visit to Peru in August and was recently chatting with Jaime, our country coordinator there. One place we will visit is the Amazon region, where we will be teaching a class on the Old Testament.

Jaime and I were talking about what I would do there, and I told him I could teach some of the OT lessons, but would also like to share some lessons on apologetics and marriage. He told me the lessons on marriage would be especially useful because none of the pastors in this region are married: they are living with their “wives” and have families, but have never married. Jaime has already taught two classes in this region, and spoke to them about God’s plan for marriage, and told me my lessons would help give credibility to what he has already told them.

The TPI class in the Amazon region of Peru

Jaime got an email from William, one of the men in the Amazon region, a few days later and passed it on to me. The pastor said that seven of the men wanted to get their lives right before God and decided to get married this month (May). [I wanted to send this post a few weeks ago but was waiting for a photo of the group] Since this would be the first marriage ceremony in this area, they asked Jaime to send them information how to perform a wedding.

We are able to reach into this area because of your continued prayers and financial support. Thank you!