Another Great Missions Conference

We were just in a local church’s missions conference where the theme was “The Call to Arms”.  Being highlighted for this event were missionaries who were going out to pastor or plant churches near US military bases around the world.  We were encouraged to tag along and put up a table so that the people in the church could get to know us a little better.  We were not one of the speakers, though Charlie was able to share our ministry with one of the adult Sunday School classes this morning.

While we were not the focus of the conference, it was great to be part of an event where the church obviously rose to the challenge of getting missionaries out to the world.  These are some highlights from the conference. 

Every night the missionary families were fed supper.  After the meeting, the whole church was invited to a time of refreshments in the fellowship hall where the missionaries’ displays were set up.  Also every night there was a missionary “store”.  The three main families were invited to take part in taking things from the store on the first two nights.  After that, the other missionaries who were there were encouraged to take part.  Every night new objects appeared so that even though we only went into the store on two nights, we still walked away with a lot of usable items – things like soap, laundry detergent, dryer sheets, work gloves, water bottles, cleaning supplies, toothpaste, shampoo, and other things.

Someone did a great job decorating.  With a theme of “The Call to Arms” they had three displays in front and one in the back that highlighted the need to obey Our Commander in Chief and take the gospel around the world.  These pictures will give you an idea.

Two men from BIMI preached, alternating each night.  They did a very good job of encouraging people to get behind the missionary endeavors of the church.
Tonight they took up their “Faith Promise” offering.  From this church of about 130 people, $126,000 was promised by the people for the next year.  What a great show of faith by the people of that church!

It is exciting to be in any missions’ conference, but it’s especially encouraging when we see the church very excited about the way they are personally helping the cause of missions throughout the world. 

On the way to the car, I said to Charlie,”I would like to be in more missions conferences.”  He replied, “I’d like to have the job of speaking in missions conferences all the time (like the BIMI speakers at this conference).  That would be like giving candy to a kid.”

We came away blessed and so thankful to see people excited about spreading the gospel around the world.

"No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life . . ."

A Home Base

Last month we posted a blog that had some fun with this question of why we feel we need a house.  Lest anyone think we’re not taking their questions seriously, we thought we should post a more serious answer to the question.

We need a home base.  That home base could be on wheels, but we came to the conclusion that a motorhome would cost us more in the long run and would have to be replaced more quickly so a house made more sense.  Even though we will be gone a lot, we need a place to regroup and get ready for the next trip.

Today's "office" will need to disappear before the next meal.

We need a place to set up an office.  People have been very gracious along the way to let us use their dining room table or their guest room so that we have a place to work when we are in their homes.  However, all of our books and files are in storage boxes.  We do not feel it’s wise to go buy that book we feel we need when we know it’s somewhere in a box in Maine.  That means every time we go to write up a lesson to teach in a Bible institute or church, we’re starting over from scratch and we don’t have any of our reference books to help us.  It also means that when we are in the middle of a project, we don’t have a convenient place to keep it.  Every lesson and sermon outline needs to stay with us.  The longer we’re in this ministry, the thicker our current working files are becoming.

We need a quiet place to work.  During these years of being “homeless,” we have used libraries, restaurants, picnic tables, living room couches, beds, the car, and dining room tables as our “office.”  That means that usually there are lots of distractions around us.  Sometimes those distractions can be easily ignored and we keep working.  At other times, those distractions end up involving us, breaking the flow of thought and making it harder to get back to work when the distraction is over.  I have been asked to write curriculum for IPM, but I’ve found it very difficult to do it with the lifestyle we currently have. 

We need a place to keep things.  Over the last two years, we have often found ourselves looking for things we thought we had brought along with us.  When we can’t find it, we then ask ourselves where it might be.  Did we leave it in Georgia at my parents or in Maine at the storage locker?  Or did we lose it and we need to buy a new one?  It will be nice to have a place to keep things where we can go to the shelf or the closet where it’s supposed to be and actually find it. 

Everyone we know who has our type of ministry has a home base.  While there may be a better way of doing this ministry, we have not yet run into a better model than one that involves having a home base.  One day that home base may be abroad, but air travel originating in other countries is generally more expensive than travel originating here.  So for right now it made sense to us to make a house in the USA our home base.

Any questions we haven't answered?  Feel free to post your comments below, and we'll respond to them.

What If?

Thoughts on giving.

I sat thoughtfully after the service and considered my own giving.  I thought I was doing well since I was giving more than the 10% that was expected in my circles.  Yet today the preacher had shifted my thinking.  It wasn’t that 10% belonged to the Lord and the rest belonged to me, but it ALL belonged to Him.  I was only the caretaker, the investor of His funds.  Even if He was being generous with the “salary” I received for taking care of His investments, was I spending more on myself than He would expect?

That experience took place a long time ago.  Since that time, I have tried to be sure that the money I spent from my salary (in whatever job I had at the time) was necessary.  Just because I had the money was not a reason to spend it.  After all, God might have a better use for it.  I have grown in my giving to a larger percentage than I once thought possible.  But still, I still need to check my habits and make sure that I have not fallen into the worldly mindset that says this money is ours.

One Sunday night I was so pleased to see several children come to the special offering for us with dollar bills in their hands.  It pleased me in so many ways.  I am pleased that their parents are teaching them to give.  I am pleased that they considered us worthy to take their gifts and use them well.  I am pleased that God is teaching them to invest in eternal things.

So once again I began to think.  What if? 

• What if some of us took the view of LeTourneau who decided he would live on only what was necessary?  He kept extending his giving rather than his expenses.  The Lord blessed him and by the time he died, his giving had increased from 10% to 90%.
• What if every adult in the church decided to increase their monthly giving to missions by $5.00 and every child by $1.00?  In some churches, that could mean that several missionaries could be added and current missionaries receive a raise.
• What if we asked for money to be given to missions instead of exchanging Christmas presents?  Did you know that most missionaries see a reduction in income in December because of increased expenses?  Wouldn’t it be nice if they saw an increase instead?
• What if we taught our children to keep their wardrobes down to what they need by setting an example for them ourselves?
• What if we asked the question every time we bought something, “Do I need this more than the Lord needs me to send the money to one of His projects?”
• What if every time we said “no” to that specialty coffee or meal out, we took the money it would have cost us and gave it to the Lord?

In the past, I have heard some creative examples of coming up with more money.  One woman decided to reduce her visits to the beauty salon so she could give that money to missions.  A family trying to make ends meet planted an extra large garden and took an additional row of their garden to give to the Lord. 

I could add more examples and ask more what ifs.  But the real question is, Does my checkbook look like Jesus owns it and I’m just the treasurer?  Or does it look like it’s mine and Jesus gets what I decide?

Why do we need a house?

We plan to spend at least five months abroad next year.  In addition, we will be making multiple trips throughout the US to raise support and represent the mission.  That means it’s likely we will only spend about three to four months at “Home”.  So the question has been asked, “Why do you need a house?”  So here are a few of answers which you might find enlightening.

Milk frother

With the money we’ve spent at McDonalds, Tim Hortons, and other restaurants in order to use their “free” wi-fi, we could have already paid our entire mortgage. 

When we wanted to buy a $2.49 milk frother from Ikea to make specialty coffees from time to time, we couldn’t figure out where the right place was for it in the car.  And, we wouldn’t have been able to make coffee in our car anyway, so we decided to pass it up for now. 

We need to keep an entire address book just to keep track of our return addresses.

Our arms are just not long enough to reach up to the storage locker in Maine to get a book that we need for study.

Sitting on one of our chairs in the storage locker just does not feel like home. 

We’d love to be hospitable to missionaries, friends, and relatives, but how do you invite people over to your car for dinner or to stay the night?

Right now when people ask us where we live, we say “our car”.  If they ask where we are from, we still usually say, “Our car.”  It has been tremendously economical for us to live out of our car, but we’d like to be able to have a real answer to that question soon.

Letters From Abroad

I love reading the letters from our mission's international missionaries.  (By international, I mean that they are not from the US.)  I love the dedication of these men and women.  Here are a couple quotes from their recent letters. 

“We pray and are planning to start building a mission school in November, using bamboo, wood, and with a tin roof (cost $980). In the beginning, simple furniture such as table, bench, desks, chairs, and black board will be needed (cost $450). For four teachers’ salaries $400 is needed per month.”  An Indian missionary

Regarding their Bible institute:  "Like every year, we did have to deny many who applied, because of limitations in space and finances, but we do thank God for blessing us with 210 students this year who were willing to face the challenges and sacrifices of leaving families and ministries behind, all for the furtherance of the gospel. We would like to ask you to pray for a few of our students who had to go home for family emergencies. One student received the heartbreaking news that his little boy passed away while he was at SALEM." – One of our Haitian missionaries

That same missionary wrote about their elementary school:  “Lord willing, school will be back in session before the end of the year. Exactly when, we cannot say. We do not have the luxury of a stable government that announces the dates of the education calendar each year. It usually depends on the political climate, the economic situation of the country, and so on. Hopefully we will get the go ahead to welcome our students back on campus within the next few months.”

“Brethren, I kindly ask you to pray for a book I want to reprint. I have added six chapters to my book “I escaped...from Satan’s gallery.” The book’s idea is to show a gallery full of windows, each of them representing a religion in which this astute enemy tries to entertain and deceive man. It was amazing how this book blessed many homes. At the time that I printed this book, I had a car and sold it to pay for the expenses.”  An Argentine missionary.

"We had the opportunity to travel to {a 10/40 window country} for a week on a mission trip. I taught “Introduction to Old Testament” (part one) for five consecutive days to four of our online students. I also preached at two home churches.  (Christians there are not allowed to meet publicly.)" - A national missionaries in a sensitive location.

It stirs my heart to read of the work God is doing all over the world through the lives of our co-workers.  Some of them have suffered great persecution, yet they continue on.  If you would like to support one of these amazing missionary couples with your prayers, please let us know.  They are well worth your consideration.