God Opens Doors

We attended the final YWMA (Youth With a Mission) meeting for the year. Tyler and Garrett have enjoyed their time of discipleship and they have camp in two weeks! This was their group picture from the evening. I am going to miss my friends from YWAM here. They have a passion for seeking Jesus and it is always a joy to be with them.

 

Catching Up

We hope you had a great Christmas. This was our second Christmas away from the States. Our perspective has changed beyond what we ever imagined in two years. We retired 'Santa Claus' from his job several years ago as the Lord brought us to the place where we didn't see the point anymore. Our reason for celebrating the jolly old saint was because we had always done it. We just couldn't see how we could continue to 'mix' the birth of our Holy Jesus, Emanuel, with the magic of Santa Clause. We still give gifts and enjoy giving to others, but this has even been harder year. One belief about the original Saint Nick is that he gave gifts the poor. Each culture has their particular rendition of who Santa was. In Chile, they call him Viejo Pascuero. The legend says He leaves gifts on the doorsteps of the homes at midnight. The people have a huge meal at 9:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve as a family, then at midnight they open gifts. You would be shocked to know how many people were watching us during Christmas. Their interpretation of the States about Christmas is what they see through the media here. They believe all families in the States give extravagant gifts and each child receives a ton of presents. Sadly, this is for the most part a true picture. The important thing we wanted to communicate as a family to those around us is that Christmas is a reminder of the birth of the Messiah over 2000 years ago and for His children, it is a reminder He is coming again. Jesus is changing us and as children of the Most High, our perspective must continually change and begin to reflect in everything, the heart of Jesus.

Smile

One thing about it a smile, it doesn't have to be translated from one language to another. It's understood. Our ladies group was blessed by someone who has not shared her smile in some time. I have seen her at church over the last year. However, she would not get to close to anyone. About two months ago, she began attending the Ladies Ministry meetings. On Saturday, the leader asked the newer ladies in attendance to give the Lord thanks. Gladys shared how she had been diagnosed as a diabetic. Her top teeth were basically rotten and needed to be pulled, but the dentist would not pull them because she was a diabetic and might have problems with bleeding. This cloud of shame hovered over her leaving her embarrassed and ashamed. She began asked the Lord for healing of the diabetes; the Lord answered her prayer. After finding out she was healed, Gladys had her teeth pulled and now she proudly smiles with falsies. The cloud of shame has lifted and her smile to us spoke a thousand words and Mrs. Gladys did not have to say anything. We understood.

Visa Update

We received our number from The Office of Immigrations yesterday.  This means we are legal for the next six months while we wait for our approval of our permanent visa.  We have to be approved, therefore, please join us in prayer over this matter.

Thoughts on the Prayer Vigil

Last Friday night, I was honored to participate in my first all night prayer vigil. I was a little nervous because I don't do well staying up all night. Then to top it off, I was scheduled to teach at the end of the vigil by teaching and praying for the women. They planned the evening well. We read the word, prayed, and beared one another's burdens. The Lord answered our prayers because I was wide awake during my time which ended up at 6:00 a.m. instead of 5:00 a.m. The good thing was it went an hour longer than planned and nobody minded.

I can say it will not be my last. The spiritual significance of denying oneself is profound. Many times during the evening and early morning, I pondered the time when Jesus was in the garden asking his disciple's to be alert and watch and pray. Of course, that was for their good, not His. He knew their flesh was weak and temptation was coming. We need to be awake. Even last night, I found myself longing to stay up longer to read the Word and pray over Randy as he slept. It's our responsibility to pray and keep watch - nobody is going to do it for us. Jesus is not going to make us do it, He just asks us to do it - because it's for our good. If we want to see a significant difference in our family, church, and nation; we must deny ourselves.

*Note:  Randy is not here - I wrote this post several days ago.

PRAISE HIM

Randy is still feeling a little dizzy, but nothing like before and we praise the Lord for He touched Randy! He made it safely to Buenos Aires. Please continue to lift him up daily.

My mind is going ninety to nothing. I want to preface this post saying that I realize these are uncertain times financially. When you are the one facing a mountain of bills, it is very hard to hear one talk as if it is 'easy'. We know it is not easy. We are living on less than we ever have in one of the most expensive areas in Chile and we are making it. It makes no sense on paper because we should be in the hole every month. However, if you need a word of encouragement today, you'll find it here. If you are going through hard financial times, take God at HIS WORD. He is FAITHFUL.

Now for my ponders.

I am taking a break from packing. One could get real overwhelmed just thinking about Jesus. I really enjoy the packing because my mind is in total ponder mode. Here are some things worth mulling: 

• I read the other day that Wycliffe Bible Translators was given a donation of $50,000,000.00. Somebody has to give a shout out to Jesus for that! An anonymous donation for fifty million dollars! While we are in a recession folks, they have received their biggest donation in 75 years. They are in a push for their Last Languages Campaign which you can read about here and even see a video interview with the President of Wycliffe. Randy and I are extremely excited by this and how this will affect reaching nations by providing them a copy of God's Word. We feel like we received the donation. I know that sounds weird, but we are brothers and sisters in Christ and frankly, our mission statement should all be the same - reaching the nations for JESUS CHRIST. He's coming back and before He does, His word will be fulfilled.
• II Kings 4:1-7. A widow's husband, who had been prophet, died. This lady was in debt with no way to pay the balance owed. The creditor required payment even if it meant taking her sons as slaves to pay off the debt which was the law (Ex. 21:2) and legal for him to take her sons. Elisha, the prophet, asked her what she had in her home. She responded that the only thing she had was a little oil. Elisha told her to go and borrow jars, and not just a few jars. As they began pouring the oil into the jars, they filled every jar until there were no jars left. She was able to pay her debt in full and live on what was left over. Undoubtedly, this widow woman was not in debt from buying luxury items. Apparently to Elisha, it was not important why she was in debt. There was a need to be met and the Lord in His great mercy met that need and abundantly. The Lord's sufficiency is not just found in the New Testament. It is found throughout His Word. What seems impossible even with a mound of debt and bills is never impossible for God. He is always faithful.
• It is hard to just focus in on two stories from Kings. But, I want to reference one other story a few verses over in II Kings 4:42-44. Again, we find the Lord's provision. This time the feeding of 100 men. All they had were twenty loaves of barely and there was scarcity of food in the land. The Lord supplied through Elisha one-hundred men with enough to fill them and some left over. Again, He is always faithful and He is always enough.

I guess I'll hold off the rest of the things going through my mind. We praise Jesus today. He's working in the earth and among the nations. Despite what you see and hear; He is working and doing many miracles. We pray if you are suffering financially you'll find comfort today in His Word. Our hope is always in Him.

We're Not Gonna Take It

Before I move on to the blog title, I wanted to update about Randy. He was very sick yesterday. Dizziness and dry heaves plagued most of the day. He was able to rest last night until around 3:00 a.m. which at this time he got up and heaved again. Although he felt a little dizzy this morning, he believed he needed to go in faith since his tickets were already purchased. He did not make the 6:00 a.m. bus, but I put him on the 7:50 a.m. bus which will still give him enough time to get to the airport. The bus ride is four hours long and we are praying him to the port city. He is scheduled to return on Sunday, so please lift him up.

As I returned home this morning, my taxi driver was playing a Twisted Sister CD. I was a little stressed, but I was humored at the fact that I am in South America and the music is shouting, "We're not gone a take it. NO! We're not gonna take it. We're not gonna take it, anymore!" The next song was Burn in Hell. I asked the driver if he understood the words to the songs. He responded that he did not understand so I was able to take few minutes and share with him about the type of music he was listening. He pointed above my head and the pictures of many heavy metal bands were there hanging above me. Someone else got in the taxi and it was time for me to get out. As I returned home and began devotional with the boys, we read in Matthew where Jesus had just been spit on and hit. One of the people spoke to Jesus, mocking him, and said, "Prophesy about who just hit you." He said nothing. Because HE did take it. He took it all for us. We as His children need to do a better job 'taking it' for Jesus. We are finding ourselves in a different place these days. More is required. We are looking forward to taking more for Jesus because it's all about Him. We are going to take it!

Prayer Request

I want to ask you to pray for Randy. He is been going through strange bouts of being very tired. No other symptoms other than feeling wiped out. Global Outreach has a regional training for South America in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Friday. Randy will leave at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning to travel for the trip. Please pray his strength will be returned in full today! We know the Lord is able.