Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Wordless Wednesday

When I was in Mwanza in 2004, we stayed in a hotel that was in the process of building an entirely new building in the rear of the property. The building we stayed in was only three stories and about 6 rooms per story. As you can see the new building will be much bigger. I think it is interesting to see the difference in construction over there compared to here. There are no cranes doing this work. It takes years as everything is carried and put into place by hand.
The trees in front of the new building are interesting too. The tall one in the back looked a lot like a pine tree until you looked at it closer.

And the other tree with the brown things on it was stranger. The brown things seemed to me to be some kind of a seed pod. It didn't look like any type of fruit though. Each of the pods was covered in prickly spikes.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Desire versus Compulsion

In the Beth Moore study I am currently working through, she recently discussed the differences between a desire and a compulsion. A desire is something we want to do based upon our own reasoning, personal feelings and choices. It is something where we weigh the pros and cons but a great part of the decision is based upon what we want to do rather than what we are supposed to do. With a compulsion, there is a burning within the soul, something that keeps one awake at night, a virtually irresistible drive.

God causes a compulsion within His people when He doesn't want them to miss something. God has had a plan for us for all time. He helped to prepare us to be able to perform that task for the time that He chose. In our case, serving God through orphans and widows in the mission fields of Africa has become a compulsion for us. A burning within the soul, that keeps us awake at night, an irresistible drive. It is our compulsion, along with the vision and compulsion of End Time Glory Ministries, that will cause things to be done in His name that could never be done any other way. Sure God could send some other ministry with some other workers to the same place and the work that would be done would be similar but it would also be very different.

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." -Ephesians 2:10

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Wordless Wednesday


While waiting with the rest of the team at the bus stop in downtown Mwanza while I was there in 2004, I saw this. It is a young man with a wheelbarrow full of coconuts. He was wheeling it around and selling right out of it. Street vendors and street markets are very , very common in Mwanza. This is the way the vast majority of items are sold.

Monday, October 22, 2007

The Commissioning Service

The Glory Conference this past weekend was amazing! Praise and worship was fabulously moving and the speakers were anointed. We truly had a good weekend and felt like it was a very productive time. On Friday afternoon the ministry held a commissioning service. During that service both Shannon and I received our Christian Workers papers from End Time Glory Ministries. The application for the papers defines a Christian Worker as the following:
"The Christian Worker is someone in the beginning development of ministry, apprenticing under an established ministry to receive instruction, guidance and 'on the job' training. The Christian Worker must be actively pursuing their development in the areas of personal character, Bible school training and ministry."
Anyway, Shannon and I are very excited to be officially under the umbrella of End Time Glory Ministries. Please continue to pray for us, Wayne and Rev Debra and the entire board of the ministry as we continue to move into working together more.

Will you please pray for this family?

For a couple of weeks now, I have been following the story of the Medders. I do not know them but their story appeared in a newspaper drawing my attention to them. Jason and Kelli,from Fargo, parents of 2 year old Wyatt, found out several months ago that she was pregnant with identical quadruplets! That means all 4 babies developed from one egg/sperm combination. This is truly rare! The 4 babies, all girls have had huge odds against them for survival and one baby has recently lost the battle. It is looking like another little one is having problems as well. Will you just send up a prayer for this family and their three little ones?

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Wordless Wednesday

So many people enjoyed Shannon's photo last week of the baby wearing that is so prevalent in Africa, I wanted to share others that we have. I took these three while I was in Mwanza in 2004.



Current Happenings

I never meant for the blog to become a wordless Wednesday one only and I apologize for being so wordless... except on Wednesdays. The first couple of weeks each month are busy for me with the one job and with it also being harvest I have also been carrying mail nearly every day for a couple weeks as well. Add in homeschooling and all of the other daily tasks and I stay pretty busy.

This weekend brings the next End Time Glory Conference. You can find out more here. We would love to see you there if you can join us for any part of it. It is always a great time of praise and worship, good teachings, fellowship, miracles and prophecy.

Last night we hosted a visitor, James, a good friend of ours. James is originally from the Willmar area and is currently living in Washington state. We hadn't seen him for 6 years but we were able to talk with him like he hadn't been gone. We spent a lot of time with him, early after our salvations, in bible study and prayer. James traveled to Uganda last year at about the same time Shannon was in Tanzania. We all wish we had more time to visit than just one evening but with him in the area for only a week and a lot of people to visit we were so glad to see him.

Collin was recently chosen to be in the church's Nights of Music. He will be playing the part of Ben, the oldest child in large family at the turn of the century. The commitment level is large with rehearsals for 6 weeks and 7 performances in early December but with myself in the choir and going anyway, he will just ride with me. There's not too much extra running involved.

I've been doing a Beth Moore bible study and have gotten a lot out of it. We are studying the life and ministry of Paul in her To Live is Christ study. It is one of her older studies but still a great one.

I'm going to go find a picture to share with you and get that "Wordless Wednesday post done.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Wordless Wednesday

Yet another photo taken by Shannon last month. This one shows a mother carrying her baby on her back. I find it interesting that many American mothers have recently rediscovered the ease and joy of "baby wearing", something the African people have never given up. I remember when I was there three years ago, seeing young girls, likely as young as 6 or 7, "wearing" their toddler siblings on their backs. I honestly cannot remember hearing a baby cry the whole time I was there. Babes rest peacefully on their mama's backs and are lulled to sleep by the rhythm of her daily tasks. When a baby is hungry, the whole set up is slipped around to the front for baby's dinner.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Blessed by the Mathetes Award

I was tremendously blessed to wake up this morning to find that I had been "given" a Mathetes Award by my online friend Renee. Renee and I met through a homeschooling forum and have supported each other in prayer through our children's adoptions as well as the children we couldn't adopt.

Mathetes is the Greek word for disciple, and the role of the disciple (per the Great Commission) is to make more disciples. In the spirit of this award, the rules are simple. Winners of this award must pick other "disciples" to pass it on to. As you pass it on, you mention and provide links for 1. this post as the originator of the award and, 2.the person that awarded it to you.

I have chosen the following bloggers to pass this award on to.
1. Mary Grace at Books and Bairns--I discovered her blog after she visited mine and posted a comment about how helpful a particular post had been to her that day. I read hers often and have enjoyed her writings. She inspires me as she writes honestly about daily life.
2.Renee at Steppin' Heavenward --I don't know if it is against the rules to regift the award to someone but if it is, I don't care. Renee has supported me through some tough times as we have lost 2 separate sibling groups we were planning to adopt. She is currently raising 6 biological children and has adopted three from Africa and is in the process of adopting two more from Africa. She inspires me with her constant focus on God through the good and bad times and how she is raising up an incredible army of disciples in her home. Renee, this is in honor and remembrance of our T and A,and C and H and your David and Isatu.
"Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate." Psalm 129:3-5
3.To my cousin's wife whose blog is private at her request as she and my cousin raise twin toddler boys, two more wonderful disciples for His kingdom. She is a great inspiration to me and a wonderful friend that I don't see nearly enough of.

There are many many others I could present the award to who do not blog. So many people have influenced me in my Christian walk. Thanks to all of you.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Wordless Wednesday


This is a picture of Alex carrying a large rock. There is also a pile of rocks in the background and a larger pile outside. But these are not just any rocks. These are the rocks that were used as partial filler for building the stage at the front of Pastor Richard's church in Mwanza. While Shannon was helping Pastor Richard's nephew, Alex and other church members build the stage, he asked them where the rocks had come from, assuming they had been brought in on a truck and dumped there. Alex proceeded to tell Shannon the story. When they decided they wanted to have this done and finished before the End Time Glory Ministries team of 7 came over, Alex told himself he would go out each day and collect 5 rocks. So each day, he went out into the city and around the city, finding these rocks and he hand carried each one back to the church site. As it was getting closer for the team to arrive, Alex could see that he would not have enough rocks to finish the project in time so he was getting more than 5 per day.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Confirming God's Will

Sorry I haven't been around. Since Shannon returned home we have spent time getting back into our schedule of busy! We have had two birthdays in our family this past week and one coming up tomorrow. I have been catching up on work I didn't finish while Shannon was away and have started my new cases for the month of October. Last year after Shannon and Collin returned from Tanzania we dedicated quite a few posts to giving our readers a synopsis of their trip. Due to our almost daily instant messaging on this trip there is a lot less to share but we do still plan to sit down and do a post together.

I started a new Beth Moore bible study early in September. This will be the third study by her I have done, the second group I have led. I had tried to do a couple of her studies many years ago but was not committed enough to keep up with the daily work at that stage in my life. We are studying the series titled "To Live is Christ" about the missionary journeys of Paul. Anyway, last weeks lesson talked about several ways to confirm God's will. Being within God's will is something Shannon and I take very seriously in our daily lives and in regards to moving to Mwanza, we know we have to be in God's will to be able to minister effectively.

The first question was, "Is this command congruent with God's character?" Throughout the bible God has asked His followers to not just accept him but to tell others of Him, to care for the less fortunate and to love others as themselves. Throughout the bible He has asked average people to do extraordinary things in His name and with His help. One huge concern in our situation has been that we have an adult severely mentally disabled son that is unable to travel with us to Tanzania. Is leaving him behind consistent with God's character? Shannon and I feel it is. Again, throughout the bible, God has asked His followers to leave behind friends, family and belongings to follow Him. And in the case of Abraham, he was asked to kill his son Isaac. Abraham acted in obedience and was spared from actually committing the act but the point is that he was willing to obey. We will leave Brandon in a group home with loving caring staff and assign a legal guardian in addition to us who is in the area.
Friends and extended family members in the area will be here for him as well.

The second question, "Have you received reconfirmation?" Both Shannon and I feel that we have. Through dreams and visions we have each experienced, through words given to us, in some cases by people who do not even know us, through "coincidental" circumstances that have put ourselves or others in the right place at the right time.
The curious way in which our vision for the ministry matches up almost exactly with Rev. Debra and Wayne and the rest of the End Time Glory Ministries team is just another huge confirmation for us.

And the last question, "Have you received sound counsel?" Early in this process we spoke with several people we knew and trusted to give us wise thoughts. Pastor Keith Kerstetter from our church was one of them. I wrote a bit about our conversation with him here. A good friend of ours, Dan Mitchell, was also on our list of people to speak with. Shannon had a couple of phone conversations with him and we spoke with him in person once. Of course, we have many other Christian friends that we have spoken with about the situation and nearly all are encouraging us to move ahead.

Shannon and I will be meeting with Rev. Debra and Wayne again in November to discuss the ministry further. I want to speak with them and the End Time Glory Ministries board about all of these things, all things I feel they know to ask themselves as well. We know that God puts dreams and visions in people's hearts and joins those people together later to accomplish His work. We can't wait to see what He has planned next!