What Happened to Your Mission Plans

First Published on January 24, 2015

Our friends moved to Malawi, Africa, last year, and most of you know we planned to go with them. We took the idea very seriously and, after much prayer and fasting, made the decision to go. We gave our plans to God and expected that He would bless us with support. When we found ourselves working against the grain in every aspect of preparation, we began to rethink the idea. We were willing to do whatever it would take to answer God’s call, we just weren’t sure He was calling us to that particular mission. Eventually, we were sure He wasn’t—at least not then. But the desire and stirring never left either of us. Then we opened our eyes to another possibility.

Other friends and former mission team members in Porto Alegre, Brazil, had been hinting that we might consider returning to that city. Our team has changed greatly since we left shortly after Andy was born. There are only two families still living there and they are each involved in separate ministries, both dealing with drug and alcohol rehabilitation—very different than the traditional church plant we were a part of in 2002. After more prayer and fasting, we felt sure we needed to consider that work. This time, we even had verbal commitment from a few key individuals at a prospective supporting church. It seemed they would at least send us on a survey trip, so we got our passports renewed and began planning our trip. In the end, that church decided not to begin a new work in a country they didn’t already sponsor, so our survey trip was cancelled. Though it felt like a punch in the gut, we didn’t blame them. We felt that God was once again saying no.

You may call us fickle, but that would imply we keep changing our minds. We don’t. We are absolutely prepared to move our family anywhere God calls us. We were completely committed to join the work overseas, regardless of which part of the world God chose for us. It would take the space of an entire newsletter to explain how the doors were shut on both destinations, but for now, suffice it to say we apparently have more work here in Springtown, Texas, to do. So, it would seem, our mission field is right under our noses. You can see a picture of it and the church that has developed from it on the front page.  

We love these folks and the opportunities The Gem has afforded us: employment, recreation for us and our kids, a homeschool group, and friends that are more like family. And—most importantly—we are blessed to have people around us who are hungry for God’s word. You may remember Dave, who was baptized last summer. Well, his son Luthor has been a part of our studies and decided to get baptized just before the holidays on his thirteenth birthday, reminding us that the local harvest is still full. (That’s Ben studying the event from poolside.)

Here’s Luthor and his younger siblings, with three reasons we’re glad he chose to follow Jesus. (This was taken last 4th of July.)

So, I guess the answer to the question about our plans is that we are learning to live out God’s idea of mission above our own. It may not always be what we had envisioned, but if souls are being saved, we can be sure it’s from Him and right where we need to be.

Eden's Baptism

First Published on November 29, 2014

Recently, John baptized a seven-year-old girl, which was unusual for us, because we usually see adults or older children baptized. Sometimes kids want to do what their parents are doing but, after some discussion, we find out that little ones don’t grasp the meaning of baptism, so we wait. Eventually, the kids grow into an understanding of what their parents have done, and through study with mom and dad, they make that decision on their own. That seems to be the typical rythm of the process, anyway. Last month, however, a little girl named Eden reminded us that there is nothing typical about God’s ways.

Here’s Eden (in the middle), holding her baby brother, with her mom and younger sister: 

Her parents were baptized in September and are the ones allowing us to stay in their travel trailer until we get the legal battle with my brother resolved. Needless to say, you can get pretty close to someone when you share a back yard. That’s why we were so alarmed to hear that Eden was obsessing over disturbing thoughts and images that were robbing her of her innocence. When she shared some of them with me, I immediately thought she must have been exposed to something very inappropriate, but then she told me about a scenario playing over and over in her head, which involved my mother, whom she described to me in detail. (Eden has never met my mother nor seen a picture of her.) Baffled, we prayed with her parents that God would help her. It was greatly affecting their whole family.

Eden said she was asking God to take away her bad thoughts, but she was sure she needed to be baptized. We weren’t so sure, but after much discussion, she politely insisted that it was necessary. (I must add that Eden is a precocious little girl, who usually knows the answers to the questions asked in Bible class. She’s also memorized large chunks of Scripture and seems to be gifted with spiritual wisdom well beyond her years.) Her parents were impressed by her conviction and asked John to baptize her right away. We used a birthing tub the family has used for the home births of their children. John and I found that ironically appropriate. 

Since her baptism, Eden’s disturbing thoughts have ceased and she has returned to being her normal carefree self—a smart and thoughtful little girl. The immediate change in her demeanor is remarkable, and I have found cause to ask God to give me a deeper understanding of spiritual warfare and the accountability of children to His Word. 

Acts 16:                                                                                              

…32And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. 33And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.

Ben's Teeth

Since moving back to the States, we haven't had medical insurance. Instead, we have one of those Christian bill sharing plans that has an astronomical deductible and is good only to keep us from going bankrupt in the event of a catastrophic illness. After the report we got at the dentist recently, we were faced with the reality of suddenly producing that deductible to save Ben's teeth. 

Here is Ben at his first ever dentist's visit:  

We weren't planning to take our kids to the dentist any time soon; we simply couldn't afford it. Our friend Dee heard that Ben had never been and took it upon herself to get us a complimentary appointment with her cousin, who happens to be a dentist. Jonah and Andy had great reports, but we were shocked to hear that Ben's mouth was full of cavities. We were referred to a pedodontist (a dentist for children) and ended up getting a second then a third opinion because we were facing up to $10,000 in surgery. The consensus was that he needed three pulpotomies (like a root canal for a baby tooth) and three crowns, plus several other smaller fillings. We questioned the necessity of spending so much on teeth that were destined to be replaced in a few years, but were educated on the importance of the space they occupy in allowing the adult teeth to properly align as they come in.

Apparently Ben has suffered from acid reflux that has decayed his teeth as he sleeps. That's why he has been tossing and turning at night and complaining of stomach aches and why the cavities are all in between his teeth where we couldn't see them. (We are treating him for reflux and he seems to be doing better.)

We couldn't afford to have the surgery done here, so we began the process of planning to take him to Brazil where dental care is excellent and much cheaper. Our former mission team members served as liaison to get us an appointment with a pedodontist there. We rushed Ben's passport renewal and prayed for open doors in time to avoid abscess of his already weakened teeth.

In the meantime, an acquaintance told us about a local pedodontist who he called "something of a wizard in these situations". We gave him a try and found him to be the answer to our prayers. He agreed to do the procedure in his office with local anesthesia and scheduled the first visit the very next day on his lunch hour. It took him about thirty minutes to finish up the two worst teeth and he charged us only half price for the procedure, which we had available because of some very generous friends. Now we can wait until after Thanksgiving to finish up with one more crown and some fillings in the smaller cavities. We are so very thankful for God's provision.

Here's Ben with his new silver teeth, which he loves to show off, and the prize he got for being so well behaved during the procedure:

When This is Said and Done

Losing my mother to Alzheimer’s has introduced a new level of challenge to our family. After she passed away this summer, I anticipated a quiet period of reflection and healing for us and our children. It's been emotionally taxing on everyone. Instead, we find ourselves in the middle of an unfortunate legal ping pong match, because my brother believes we have embezzled money from my mother's estate. 

Living in a travel trailer instead of my mother's house is a daily reminder of the accusations against us, and it’s been difficult to pray for my brother as we are told to pray for our enemies. I confess my initial attempts were not kind, but with God’s help, I've been able to sincerely pray for spiritual blessings over him and his family. Despite our petitions, his paranoia continues to grow and we are forced to relive every financial decision we've made over the past few years as we provide records for his attorney to scrutinize. While exoneration would be nice, we are simply praying for a quick resolution.   

We have weighed very heavily Scriptures like these:

I Corinthians 6: 

Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts?…

Matthew 5:

Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

We have no plans to pursue what's left of my inheritance through litigation, but we have retained a lawyer to help us get out from under the legal tie that binds us to my mother’s estate. God has blessed us with a mature Christian attorney who claims she can do nothing without the favor of God. Please join us in prayer, as we have our hearts set on returning to the foreign mission field when this is all said and done.

Counting on Your Prayers

Yesterday John had us start the day by each saying one thing we are grateful for. That was a good exercise because it’s easy to grumble and complain during transition when nothing is familiar or comfortable. Today I am thankful for those of you who are praying for us and want to solicit your prayers for, not just our family, but also the other five families in our house church.

Here are some details, using only first initials:

Family #1: D recently bought a piece of land with trailers occupied by renters, one of whom D found dead, apparently from a heart attack. D’s family has been busy cleaning out that house and dealing with the emotions of the situation. They are also working to get a new renter into the house, as they need the income.

Family #2: E’s son and our youngest were found playing on Highway 199 in front of The Gem. Thank God traffic had been temporarily stopped a couple of miles up the road for an unrelated issue. Our whole group was shaken and took the matter very seriously. A fence has already been built around the Gem playground. Also, just two nights ago during a Bible study, E got a text from her neighbor that E’s husband had a seizure causing him to fall and bust his head open. He is currently doing OK, but they don’t know what caused it.

Family #3: D was just diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing a very painful treatment. She has four children and is understandably very concerned.

Family #4: M just delivered her fourth baby after a stressful week of erratic labor. Also, we are living in this family’s back yard in a travel trailer.

Family #5: L shared at our last meeting that her husband is not at all interested in meeting with any church that requires more than one hour on Sunday morning. She added that she may not believe what she has learned in our Bible studies anyway.

I should also note that we are talking about new Christians, and four of the families represented here have a spouse that is not a Christian. So, as you pray for our group, please pray first and foremost that God will use whatever is happening to strengthen the faith of the young Christians and bring those who don't know Him to Jesus. We are experiencing a great deal of upheaval and uncertainty but we are sure God sees the future and hears our prayers. Thank you for joining us; we are counting on it.

First Night in the Trailer

Last night was the first night we spent in our new, albeit temporary, home. As travel trailers go, this is about the nicest one we've ever seen, and we are thankful. Andy and Ben slept on the pull-out couch with their new dinosaur bedding. (Sorry, Grandma, we had to give them their Christmas presents early, as we're a little short on storage space right now.) 

Jonah got his own "room", but he only gets to keep his door closed when nobody needs the bathroom. He spent the evening building a Lego set he bought with birthday money. 

We've moved most of the big things out of the house but still have all the little stuff that ends up taking more time to sort through than it's worth. Thank you for praying for our family. This has been a very challenging time. 

Preparing to Leave

We met our new friends Michael and Mandy this spring, and today we're moving into a travel trailer in their back yard.

















At the end of April a petite and quite fit pregnant woman introduced herself to me in the group class auditorium at The Gem. She had just hired our family for a pet sitting gig over the phone, by way of the "Jonah's Pet Sitting" flyer on the bulletin board. Our boys enjoyed their three tail-waggers while they were on vacation, but our relationship didn't end there. Mandy and her family had us to their house for dinner and presently took part in our Sunday church meetings and weekly Bible studies. We found out that she too had recently lost her mother to a terminal illness. There was an immediate connection.

Mandy, her husband Michael, and their three young children have become a comfort and a joy to our family. Their willingness to learn and respond to God's will for their lives is a great encouragement. And they're not the only ones. There are four other families we are watching transform before our very eyes. Though God has done truly amazing things in the lives of this vibrant group we call our house church, we have been very distracted by our own precarious circumstances. You see, September 16th was the probate hearing for my mother's will, which transferred ownership of my mother's property to my brother and me and put us equally in charge of finalizing her affairs and distributing her assets. It was a relief in that John and I thought this difficult chapter was over; we thought it had finally come to an end and was time for grieving and looking ahead. The enemy had other plans.

My brother, who John baptized in November, made a very disturbing phone call to me just days after the hearing, in which he accused me of abusing my power of attorney for personal gain. Because he had nothing to do with taking care of her during her illness, he has no idea how her money was spent--he doesn't know how very expensive Alzheimer's can be and suspects that we embezzled her assets. I was hurt but waited to see if he would repent and relent. He did neither and gave us no opportunity to answer questions or address his fears in a rational discussion. Then he called John and verbally assaulted him in ways that don't warrant repeating. Unexpected? Yes. Unbelievable? No. Matthew 12 warns:

"Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came'; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation."

We understand that this is a spiritual battle and ask you to join us in prayer for our circumstances, and more importantly for my brother's soul. John and I believe, because of personal threats, that it's best to shut down communication and move out of my mother's house. We retained an attorney and she agrees wholeheartedly. Our goal is not to litigate or even to get what's rightfully ours. We are immediately seeking a safe place for our family and ultimately a release of our legal responsibilities regarding my mother's estate. We didn't come here for a pat on the back or to receive an inheritance, and we are working daily at giving the injustice of the situation and all the related negative emotions to God. I'm tempted to say I will forgive when it's all said and done but am painfully reminded of the fact that Jesus was still on the cross when he forgave his murderers.

As I try and miserably fail to take persecution and injustice well, I see God's grace and patience. Michael and Mandy have offered to let us move our things into their workshop and our family into the travel trailer parked in their back yard. Despite some well-intentioned warnings from family and friends, we're taking them up on their offer. Acts 4 encourages us:

"And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them."

So, today we are packing suitcases and boxes, preparing to leave the place we have called home for the past couple of years, trusting God to take care of us on His terms and in His time.