Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Monday, September 16, 2013
It's happening again. The same feeling I had in August of 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and the flood waters rushed in to inundate the city. The same feeling I had in 2010 when the earthquake devastated Haiti and the same feeling as last October when Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast. A ache in the pit of my stomach and a breaking heart for those affected by yet another natural disaster. Each time I have watched the news coverage and scoured the internet for news articles, maps of the area and pictures. I have prayed for the people, prayed for the relief workers and prayed for the private and public servants that rescue people from roof tops and cars. I have mourned those who have lost their lives and have prayed for the families that have lost loved ones. And I have cried.
But tonight was different. The ache was still in the pit of my stomach and my heart was still breaking but my prayers became much more specific. Father, give the workers the strength to carry Your Gospel to the broken hearted. Father, give ME the strength to carry Your message to the broken hearted. Reality hit. Soon we will be one of those workers. We will be carrying the message of hope and redemption. Of love and compassion to those that have lost all their worldly possessions.
The song by Brandon Heath, "Follow You" is ringing in my ears. Several months ago a friend of ours said he thought this was "Our Song" and sent us the You Tube video to post on our blog. I truly want to "Follow You into the homes of the broken." We have a biblical mandate to meet the needs of the poor and needy. Please click on the link to the right and listen to this song. This is what it's all about.
But tonight was different. The ache was still in the pit of my stomach and my heart was still breaking but my prayers became much more specific. Father, give the workers the strength to carry Your Gospel to the broken hearted. Father, give ME the strength to carry Your message to the broken hearted. Reality hit. Soon we will be one of those workers. We will be carrying the message of hope and redemption. Of love and compassion to those that have lost all their worldly possessions.
The song by Brandon Heath, "Follow You" is ringing in my ears. Several months ago a friend of ours said he thought this was "Our Song" and sent us the You Tube video to post on our blog. I truly want to "Follow You into the homes of the broken." We have a biblical mandate to meet the needs of the poor and needy. Please click on the link to the right and listen to this song. This is what it's all about.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Storing up treasures
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Matthew 6:19-20
Yesterday after church and a sermon by our pastor on stewardship, Rob and I went to a store that buys old record albums to sell about 100 records that we had. How many of us have these old things laying around that we just can't get rid of and think..."Boy, these are gonna be worth a fortune someday, so I better hang on to them!" Well as we have been packing up our home we have found a few of these "treasures" and the records were in that category for us. I'm not sure what we thought they were going to be worth but we expected to get "a pretty penny for them".
We walked into the record shop and were shown to exactly who I pictured would be buying our "vinyl". A 60 something guy with long graying hair and a rock concert t-shirt on. He was a super nice guy and talked a lot about the music business and how with the onset of digital media, record sales have dropped off. He flipped through our records and began to separate out some that we thought, "wow, those must really be worth something if he is pulling them out!" He then looked at the condition of the ones he pulled out and divided them out even more. The whole "appraisal" process took about 20 minutes...20 minutes to flip through our "treasures" that we had bought for anywhere from $7.99 and $20.99 when we were in our younger years. 20 minutes to tell us that he would offer us...$32.00 for all of the records he had separated out and an additional $3.00 for the other 75 in the boxes we had brought them to him in. $35.00 for our "treasures", $35.00 for our memories, $35.00 for what we thought was some pretty good old stuff! We took the $35.00 he offered us because we are trying to reduce our "treasures" before we move and this was 3 more boxes gone but we left there thinking wow, did we get ripped off or what? We had seen the prices they charged for "vinyl" and they were going to make a ton of money from those records! Then I wondered if Jesus feels like that when we offer him such a small portion of our "profits". When we give Him pennies on the dollar for His treasures instead of what He deserves.
So then I asked, what are Jesus' treasures? People. People are His treasures. I have looked many times at how I steward the resources that God has given us. Do I waste it on earthly treasures? Absolutely I do. I think as Americans we all spend more money on earthly treasures than is necessary. We have hobbies and interests, we travel, we eat out and most of us have closets full of clothes and shoes. Each time this slaps me in the face, which that's what this was, I get a little better about how I steward those resources. My prayer is that when I think about spending money on a non-necessity I think...how many souls could be won if I gave this money to our church, a missionary or an organization that helps to evangelize and disciple Jesus' treasures. I want this to be my prayer for all of the resources we have been blessed with each day.
We have also had people send unexpected gifts in for our ministry when God gave them an unexpected treasure. Well, we have an unexpected treasure, $35.00, that we have to think about now. Will it be spent on a meal, some fishing lures or at the quilt shop or will it be stored up in heaven as an unexpected gift to a fellow missionary or disciple of God? Hmmm...seems like a no brainer to me.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Multplying Churches Globally
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| Church planting and Compassion Ministries Training |
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| New and seasoned church planters |
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| Americans and Chileans |
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| Americans and Canadians |
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| Rob and Jackie |
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| And even a group of Brazilians! |
Monday, June 24, 2013
Partnerships and Partners
Back in 2011, shortly after we started the application process with ReachGlobal, Crisis Response, a tornado hit in North Minneapolis. Our thoughts went immediately to how we could get our home church, Maple Grove Evangelical Free Church (MGEFC), involved in the relief and recovery work. First we looked for ministries in the affected area for us to come along side. One of those ministries was Urban Homeworks, a non-profit, Christian organization that had been working in North Minneapolis for several years and knew the area well. A partnership was soon formed and MGEFC started to send people in to clean up yards, tear down garages and remove trees that had come down on people's homes, garages and yards. God was using this crisis as a new mission field.
But this partnership didn't end when the trees were cleaned up and people lives had returned to normal. MGEFC has continued to serve alongside of Urban Homeworks and this last Saturday we found ourselves once again in that neighborhood working on a home that will soon be sold to a family in need of affordable housing. What a blessing it was for us to work with some of the underprivileged guys that Urban Homeworks employs and hear them talk about what Jesus means to them. How he has redeemed them and how they cannot believe that some of their friends deny the existence of God.
Another huge blessing to us was being able to work with people who have blessed us by partnering with us in our ministry. We consider it such a privilege to be able to pray with, laugh with and do life with our ministry partners. To us, this is what our ministry with ReachGlobal, Crisis Response is all about. Growing partnerships to be able to help those affected by crisis and bringing our personal ministry partners along with us to minister to those in need. Does it get any better than that here on this earth? We think not.
Enjoy the pictures below of us working together to bring glory to God by helping His people.
But this partnership didn't end when the trees were cleaned up and people lives had returned to normal. MGEFC has continued to serve alongside of Urban Homeworks and this last Saturday we found ourselves once again in that neighborhood working on a home that will soon be sold to a family in need of affordable housing. What a blessing it was for us to work with some of the underprivileged guys that Urban Homeworks employs and hear them talk about what Jesus means to them. How he has redeemed them and how they cannot believe that some of their friends deny the existence of God.
Another huge blessing to us was being able to work with people who have blessed us by partnering with us in our ministry. We consider it such a privilege to be able to pray with, laugh with and do life with our ministry partners. To us, this is what our ministry with ReachGlobal, Crisis Response is all about. Growing partnerships to be able to help those affected by crisis and bringing our personal ministry partners along with us to minister to those in need. Does it get any better than that here on this earth? We think not.
Enjoy the pictures below of us working together to bring glory to God by helping His people.
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| Nate, Gayle and Keith working on footings for a deck. |
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| Gayle digging holes for footings |
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| Jackie shoveling cement for footings |
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| Keith cleaning up the mess! |
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| And Shari cleaning up everything including the kitchen sink! |
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| Shari painting |
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| Nolan, Rob and Jason taping drywall. |
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| Mark, Rob, Nolan and Jason hanging drywall. |
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galatians 6:9-10
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Why long term missionaries in Crisis Response locations?
We often get questions about why we are needed in these crisis locations, what we will be doing and how we will do it. Those are all great questions! So we thought we'd try to answer some of them.
First of all we are needed on site at the crisis/disaster locations to help the local church respond to the great needs of their community following a major storm, hurricane or other crisis. In many cases the local church has sustained damage to it's own building, the pastor(s), elders and congregation may have sustained damage to their homes, many people may be without work because businesses and industry may have been damaged or destroyed and there is no place for some of these people to go to "get out of the disaster". People come to the church for help and we are there to come alongside of that church to provide some of that help through prayer, a hot meal, a shoulder to cry on and help in restoring their home. This gives the body of the partner church another resource when their own resources are at their limit.
Another major part of our role in Crisis Response will be to facilitate Short Term Mission teams from churches around the country/world that want to help out in response to these crises. Our ministry gets tons of calls from churches of every denomination from places as far away as the Czech Republic whenever a disaster hits. People want to help! And people need help. We are the conduit to bring the help people want to give to those that need it.
Rob will be working with homeowners and government and non-government organizations to find resources for the homeowners to restore or rebuild their homes. He will meet with the homeowners to see what needs to be done, coordinate materials, building permits, and the financial resources the homeowner has available to them so that when volunteer teams come they have work to do. I will work with him to let him know who is coming and when and what kinds of skills the team(s) coming in any given week have. That way he knows who he has coming and can line up work accordingly. He will then work with the volunteers during the week they are there. He will remind the workers that it's not all about the task at hand but about the relationship with the homeowner, neighbor or local people that they are working with. A common question from Rob may be "have you put down your hammer today to talk to the homeowner?" American's are very task oriented so we have to be reminded that the relationship is the most important part of the work they will be doing that week.
Someone also needs to host the teams in the ministry center of that crisis location. That will be part of my job. Many times the local partner church will have provided help for cooking, cleaning and other household chores but sometimes as in Haiti, we hire locals for this work. I will be helping to facilitate the household staff/volunteers, making sure everyone has a spot to sleep, food in their bellies and helping with orientation and team debrief upon team arrival and departure. I am also hoping to encourage the women of the local partner church through bible studies and maybe a hobby based ministry to bring women together in fellowship.
On Staten Island, NY we have a staff of 3-4 for the summer that are running a site that can house 70-80 volunteers at a time. In August, 2 of these people will complete their time with ReachGlobal Crisis Response. This site is actually set up for 5-7 staff people. It takes a team this large to be able to make sure that 70-80 volunteers have work to do with materials and tools available to them. For building permits to be obtained, homeowners to be consulted and meals to be prepared. This is where we will be going upon reaching our support goal. We are so excited to be able to go help those that need help and witness to the mission field that was created in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
Psalm 147:3
First of all we are needed on site at the crisis/disaster locations to help the local church respond to the great needs of their community following a major storm, hurricane or other crisis. In many cases the local church has sustained damage to it's own building, the pastor(s), elders and congregation may have sustained damage to their homes, many people may be without work because businesses and industry may have been damaged or destroyed and there is no place for some of these people to go to "get out of the disaster". People come to the church for help and we are there to come alongside of that church to provide some of that help through prayer, a hot meal, a shoulder to cry on and help in restoring their home. This gives the body of the partner church another resource when their own resources are at their limit.
Another major part of our role in Crisis Response will be to facilitate Short Term Mission teams from churches around the country/world that want to help out in response to these crises. Our ministry gets tons of calls from churches of every denomination from places as far away as the Czech Republic whenever a disaster hits. People want to help! And people need help. We are the conduit to bring the help people want to give to those that need it.
Rob will be working with homeowners and government and non-government organizations to find resources for the homeowners to restore or rebuild their homes. He will meet with the homeowners to see what needs to be done, coordinate materials, building permits, and the financial resources the homeowner has available to them so that when volunteer teams come they have work to do. I will work with him to let him know who is coming and when and what kinds of skills the team(s) coming in any given week have. That way he knows who he has coming and can line up work accordingly. He will then work with the volunteers during the week they are there. He will remind the workers that it's not all about the task at hand but about the relationship with the homeowner, neighbor or local people that they are working with. A common question from Rob may be "have you put down your hammer today to talk to the homeowner?" American's are very task oriented so we have to be reminded that the relationship is the most important part of the work they will be doing that week.
Someone also needs to host the teams in the ministry center of that crisis location. That will be part of my job. Many times the local partner church will have provided help for cooking, cleaning and other household chores but sometimes as in Haiti, we hire locals for this work. I will be helping to facilitate the household staff/volunteers, making sure everyone has a spot to sleep, food in their bellies and helping with orientation and team debrief upon team arrival and departure. I am also hoping to encourage the women of the local partner church through bible studies and maybe a hobby based ministry to bring women together in fellowship.
On Staten Island, NY we have a staff of 3-4 for the summer that are running a site that can house 70-80 volunteers at a time. In August, 2 of these people will complete their time with ReachGlobal Crisis Response. This site is actually set up for 5-7 staff people. It takes a team this large to be able to make sure that 70-80 volunteers have work to do with materials and tools available to them. For building permits to be obtained, homeowners to be consulted and meals to be prepared. This is where we will be going upon reaching our support goal. We are so excited to be able to go help those that need help and witness to the mission field that was created in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
Psalm 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Friday, May 17, 2013
Transitions....
Tonight we began the first of several transition milestones in our lives. I'm not too sure I'm ready for this transition but ready or not, here we come! Tonight's milestone was Brad's last choir concert in his high school career. We had a solo that he sang wonderfully and he was so poised up on stage. As I watched his solo and the rest of the concert, I realized, this is it... The last kid to graduate from High School, the last kid in a choir concert, the last kid to worry about underage curfews and the last kid to make a college decision. We are really proud of Brad's accomplishments as we are proud of Misty and David's. Brad will graduate next Thursday night cum laude and attend Marquette University in Milwaukee next fall as a Pre-med student. Wasn't it just yesterday that he learned how to ride a bike and how to write his name? Time sure has flown.
As we head into a week with the Baccalaureate Service, final projects, exams and papers due, final transcripts to Marquette University for college, graduation and finally the beginning of graduation parties I will have to keep reminding myself that these kids NEED to move on. Each of them is heading off to a different college in a different area. Each of them has different talents and each will have a different walk with the Lord, and probably different even from what they look like now. They will explore what it's like to live without Mom and Dad right there. They will experience good times, great times and really tough times in their lives. They will all need prayer. What I need to remember the most though is that as much as I love each of them, they have a heavenly Father that loves them even more than we as parents do and that He will direct and guide each of them as they walk through life. We can't ask for much more than that, can we?
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| Brad singing his solo |
We have gotten to know a couple of Brad's friends really well. There is his friend Kal, who all through High School had the same long haircut and about 8 weeks ago, got most of it cut off to donate to "Locks of Love". I cried when I saw him and his short hair! I had never seen him with short hair! Kal loves to run and has a heart for service. Last year he was the only one of his friends to letter in "Service Learning". Brad stays at Kal's house when we are out of town. His parents, Karl and Krisi have become Brad's other parents. He even has a bed at their house. This family has been a huge blessing to us. We know that Brad has a safe place to lay his head and a home full of love to go to when we are gone.
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| Kal and Brad with their prom dates, Rachel and Ally |
Then there is Alex. Alex is the kid that hangs out at our house. He comes here even when Brad isn't. He calls after major snow storms to see if we need help with snow removal. Alex is a swimmer and loves to talk. If he does not end up in politics after college I will be totally shocked. He has strong convictions and is not afraid to stand up for them. This is a kid that knows his faith, defends his faith and serves often at his church. The other thing Alex does really well is EAT! When he is here we order 2 large pizza's for 4 people knowing that Alex can eat an entire pizza on his own. And with that pizza he will drink most of a gallon of milk.
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| Brad and Alex |
As we head into a week with the Baccalaureate Service, final projects, exams and papers due, final transcripts to Marquette University for college, graduation and finally the beginning of graduation parties I will have to keep reminding myself that these kids NEED to move on. Each of them is heading off to a different college in a different area. Each of them has different talents and each will have a different walk with the Lord, and probably different even from what they look like now. They will explore what it's like to live without Mom and Dad right there. They will experience good times, great times and really tough times in their lives. They will all need prayer. What I need to remember the most though is that as much as I love each of them, they have a heavenly Father that loves them even more than we as parents do and that He will direct and guide each of them as they walk through life. We can't ask for much more than that, can we?
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Follow You Into the Homes of the Broken...
There is a song by Leeland and Brandon Heath that was sent to us today from our new friend, Travis He thought it described our ministry with TouchGlobal. And as I watched this video and read the words I felt as if this song was written just for TouchGlobal. One of the questions we get asked frequently by people we meet with is "So you have no idea where you will be going?" And we say, "Yep, Where ever a crisis hits we could be sent there." It could be right back here in Minnesota or across the world. And this song says it all, "Follow Me into the Homes of the Broken, Follow Me into the world."+
God has called each and every one of us to Follow Him and join Him in His plan. There is one plan. That plan is to spread the gospel and make disciples of all nations. When a crisis hits people are left behind devastated and broken. And in the wake of every crisis a mission field is created. God has spared the people so that they have a chance to hear the good news of Jesus Christ! And we are called to Follow Him into the homes of those broken people and to help them not only rebuild their homes but to show them the hands and feet of Jesus so that they can rebuild their lives on the solid foundation of the gospel. So today I ask God to "use my hands and use my feet to make His Kingdom come".
I know you all get pretty tired of us putting into our blog and our newsletters that we cannot go to the field until we are fully supported. We too have gotten newsletter upon newsletter asking for support from missionaries and organizations. I know now how that missionary feels now though. They are so passionate about their ministry and wanting to get out there and be the hands and feet of Jesus that they sometimes forget that not everyone is as passionate about their calling as they are! That everyone has a different passion. If your passion is to Follow Him into the homes of the broken, consider how you can do that. Some people are "goers" and some people are "senders". We are "goers". We have been called to go and we couldn't be more humbled that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has called us! If you are a "goer" consider a short term mission trip or a work day at a local ministry like Feed My Starving Children or Urban Homeworks. Go to New Orleans for a week this summer and see the work that is still being done in the homes of the broken. Or maybe God has been tugging on your heart for a while and you have been considering serving for a longer time in a mission field. If you are a "sender", find a ministry you are passionate about and be a part of sending a "goer". You can make an impact in so many ways. Pray and ask God how He wants you to Follow Him into the World!
God has called each and every one of us to Follow Him and join Him in His plan. There is one plan. That plan is to spread the gospel and make disciples of all nations. When a crisis hits people are left behind devastated and broken. And in the wake of every crisis a mission field is created. God has spared the people so that they have a chance to hear the good news of Jesus Christ! And we are called to Follow Him into the homes of those broken people and to help them not only rebuild their homes but to show them the hands and feet of Jesus so that they can rebuild their lives on the solid foundation of the gospel. So today I ask God to "use my hands and use my feet to make His Kingdom come".
Monday, January 21, 2013
Man it's COLD outside!
I am sitting here in a Caribou coffee shop wondering why I have even ventured out in this frigid weather. We woke up this morning in Minnesota to -10 degrees with a windchill of -35! Now for those of you that live in New Orleans that lived last week with a chilly 40 degrees...you ain't seen nothin' yet!
Here are just a few things that some of you Southerner's may not even know exist! We have what is known as "HEAT" that is a gas additive you put in your gas tank so you don't get what is known as "gas line freeze". Some of us actually have gas tank heaters on our cars where we can plug them in to keep them warm so they will actually start! Heated seats are the most coveted thing in your vehicle and Caribou and Starbucks coffee are the most popular places to be...even moreso than normal! Your winter survival kit consists of a full tank of gas (in case you end up sliding into the ditch on a frozen road), a wool blanket, "choppers" ( leather mittens with wool liners), a warm scarf, a half a bottle of water ( you don't want a full one because it will explode from the cold), high energy snacks and a shovel. We have what is known as black ice on the roads. That is frozen exhaust condensation...and it is virtually invisible so you don't even know if you have hit a patch until it's too late. And oh yeah there's ice fishing! Yes, you drive your car, truck, atv out on the lake, drill a hole and put a heated ice house (ice houses are for those people that can't hack the REAL cold!) on the ice and fish through that hole. Sometimes you have to take a small scoop and scoop out the ice that has formed on the hole. And if you are really lucky...yes it's all luck not skill...you will actually catch a few fish. This winter ritual in Minnesota is what most northern's look forward to when it's -10 outside!
You may ask...why do you live THERE? Well it's simple. Our family is here, our friends are here, our church is here and well up to now this is where God could use us to the fullest. And then there is the obvious question...Why are you leaving there? Your family, kids, friends, and church are there why would you leave? The answer again is simple. Because God has asked us to. Because He has now told us that He can use us to the fullest somewhere else. We will be moving to just north of New Orleans, LA hopefully in June of this year. We will leave it all behind, yes even the subzero winter temperatures to follow the call that God has on our lives. After our move we will train and learn how to best help people after their lives fall apart following disasters and crisis all over the world. We don't know where that will be or how long we will be there but we know that God will protect us, sustain us and guide us through it all. If He can protect us from the cold of Minnesota....He can protect us from anything. And for that we are forever grateful.
Praise God for His Sovereignty, His Love, His Grace and yes, even for cold winters in Minnesota!
Blessings to you all on this cold Minnesota evening!
Jackie
Here are just a few things that some of you Southerner's may not even know exist! We have what is known as "HEAT" that is a gas additive you put in your gas tank so you don't get what is known as "gas line freeze". Some of us actually have gas tank heaters on our cars where we can plug them in to keep them warm so they will actually start! Heated seats are the most coveted thing in your vehicle and Caribou and Starbucks coffee are the most popular places to be...even moreso than normal! Your winter survival kit consists of a full tank of gas (in case you end up sliding into the ditch on a frozen road), a wool blanket, "choppers" ( leather mittens with wool liners), a warm scarf, a half a bottle of water ( you don't want a full one because it will explode from the cold), high energy snacks and a shovel. We have what is known as black ice on the roads. That is frozen exhaust condensation...and it is virtually invisible so you don't even know if you have hit a patch until it's too late. And oh yeah there's ice fishing! Yes, you drive your car, truck, atv out on the lake, drill a hole and put a heated ice house (ice houses are for those people that can't hack the REAL cold!) on the ice and fish through that hole. Sometimes you have to take a small scoop and scoop out the ice that has formed on the hole. And if you are really lucky...yes it's all luck not skill...you will actually catch a few fish. This winter ritual in Minnesota is what most northern's look forward to when it's -10 outside!
You may ask...why do you live THERE? Well it's simple. Our family is here, our friends are here, our church is here and well up to now this is where God could use us to the fullest. And then there is the obvious question...Why are you leaving there? Your family, kids, friends, and church are there why would you leave? The answer again is simple. Because God has asked us to. Because He has now told us that He can use us to the fullest somewhere else. We will be moving to just north of New Orleans, LA hopefully in June of this year. We will leave it all behind, yes even the subzero winter temperatures to follow the call that God has on our lives. After our move we will train and learn how to best help people after their lives fall apart following disasters and crisis all over the world. We don't know where that will be or how long we will be there but we know that God will protect us, sustain us and guide us through it all. If He can protect us from the cold of Minnesota....He can protect us from anything. And for that we are forever grateful.
Praise God for His Sovereignty, His Love, His Grace and yes, even for cold winters in Minnesota!
Blessings to you all on this cold Minnesota evening!
Jackie
Friday, December 7, 2012
Tis The Season...
As I went through my day today I was reminded several times that this is the last Christmas season, at least for a while,we will be in Minnesota. The last Maple Grove E Free Women's Christmas Dessert I will decorate a table for, the last Spectrum High School Christmas Concert Brad will sing in, the last winter in the cold (well that's not such a bad thing) and the last time I will decorate this house for Christmas. A season of lasts is what I thought about.
But then as the day went on I thought about the new beginnings we are going to experience in the next year. The first summer on the field serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Brad's first year of college and our granddaughter, Analise's first year of school. Walking into a new church for the first time again and all those people I have yet to meet for the first time. And that permeated my thoughts later in the day.
There is a time and season for everything. Ecclesiastes 3 tells us that there is "a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance". The time to tear down will probably be the first disaster we respond to and a time to build will be that first home we are able to put back together for someone...but first we need to break down our own home here in Minnesota and then build a new home in Louisiana. We are not literally building a home but it takes more than bricks and mortar to build a "home". Anyone that knows me knows that "a time to weep" could be about anytime! But I imaging the weeping this next year will be tears of sadness as I say good bye to so many friends in Minnesota when we move. And a time to laugh..well that will be the times of remembering all the good times we have had and the joys that the Lord has brought into our lives. And a time to mourn. We will mourn our "home" in Minnesota. Not the bricks and mortar home but the home that others have built through their friendships that really have been our safe haven for years. And a time to dance. I will be doing the happy dance when I see people complaining on Facebook about the first snow and how cold it is outside!
In all seriousness, we all have seasons in our lives that are good and seasons that are bad. Jesus Christ was sent to this earth to bridge the gap between us and God the Father during all the times of our lives. We all make mistakes and go through difficulties. How awesome is it that we can all receive the gift of Jesus' saving grace from our Father this Christmas season or in any season of your life? Have you received and accepted that gift? Is it your season to mourn or is it your season to dance? Experience the joy that is Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior this Christmas! Come dance with me!
Blessings,
Jackie
But then as the day went on I thought about the new beginnings we are going to experience in the next year. The first summer on the field serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Brad's first year of college and our granddaughter, Analise's first year of school. Walking into a new church for the first time again and all those people I have yet to meet for the first time. And that permeated my thoughts later in the day.
There is a time and season for everything. Ecclesiastes 3 tells us that there is "a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance". The time to tear down will probably be the first disaster we respond to and a time to build will be that first home we are able to put back together for someone...but first we need to break down our own home here in Minnesota and then build a new home in Louisiana. We are not literally building a home but it takes more than bricks and mortar to build a "home". Anyone that knows me knows that "a time to weep" could be about anytime! But I imaging the weeping this next year will be tears of sadness as I say good bye to so many friends in Minnesota when we move. And a time to laugh..well that will be the times of remembering all the good times we have had and the joys that the Lord has brought into our lives. And a time to mourn. We will mourn our "home" in Minnesota. Not the bricks and mortar home but the home that others have built through their friendships that really have been our safe haven for years. And a time to dance. I will be doing the happy dance when I see people complaining on Facebook about the first snow and how cold it is outside!
In all seriousness, we all have seasons in our lives that are good and seasons that are bad. Jesus Christ was sent to this earth to bridge the gap between us and God the Father during all the times of our lives. We all make mistakes and go through difficulties. How awesome is it that we can all receive the gift of Jesus' saving grace from our Father this Christmas season or in any season of your life? Have you received and accepted that gift? Is it your season to mourn or is it your season to dance? Experience the joy that is Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior this Christmas! Come dance with me!
Blessings,
Jackie
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Sharing our Blessings
We just finished up with Thanksgiving and most of us probably went around the table
and said what we were thankful for. Well, all those things are blessings and they are
given to us by God. When we really think about it there are a lot more that we didn’t say
at the table. I know for me I could go on for hours. When we look at the rest of the
world we are a very blessed nation. As I read the Bible it tells me we have been
blessed so we can be a blessing. In Gen. 12:1-3, God asked Abraham to go and I will
bless you and through you I will bless all nations. We are part of that blessing and we are to use it to bless all peoples but we must go to do that. Then I read on in Matt. 28:19 where Jesus gives us a mandate that all of us should follow. “There for go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Here we see go again, so right now all of us should be in one of two stages, either we are being discipled or we are discipling. Where do you fit in there and how long does it take to make a disciple? Jesus took three years, so we need to be on the move. Go.
Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice and because of that we can have a relationship with
God. Since then we no longer have to take our sacrifices to the high priest to be
forgiven. That in itself is a huge blessing. As a matter of fact sacrifice for us is only mentioned
in the New Testament twice. Once in Romans 12.1 “Therefore, I urge you brothers, in
view of Gods mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-
this is your spiritual act of worship.” Again in Philippians 4:18 as Paul was traveling
around doing ministry work the people were supporting him and Paul says their gifts are
“a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.” Though we do not need to
sacrifice for our relationship with God we do need to sacrifice ourselves and our
resources to carry the gospel message to others. Our Blessings.
This doesn’t means to give what we can afford or to serve if we have time, this means we look at what is a true sacrifice and give out of our blessings not just our abundance.
Ephesians 5:8 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.”
Jackie and I are so blessed that God has brought us from darkness and made us light.
We have chosen to sacrifice our lives to him by serving with TouchGlobal so we can
bring the gospel to those in need in the wake of disaster. In our experience, we
found God when there was no where else to turn and someone was there to share Jesus with us. We need to Go. We need to pass the Blessing. God just keeps pouring his Blessings on us since we have decided to Go. I challenge you to Go spread your blessings that God has given you so they can see what Jesus did for you and that you are blessing them because Jesus blessed you.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Ask and you shall receive!
The Passer house has been alive with activity this month! If you are following our newsletter you probably read that we are getting our house ready to put on the market at the end of January. We had an amazing young lady come in and donate her house staging services by giving us ideas for paint colors, light fixture changes, furniture rearrangement and a mini bathroom makeover. The Lord provided the finances for the changes in the form of a nice tax rebate and we were all set to go!
With Jackie directing traffic in the background (most unsuccessfully I might add), Rob began the task of changing out light fixtures and tearing down wallpaper. I'll let you ask him which of these he enjoyed more! A request was put out in our last newsletter for help for Rob in painting the rooms that needed to be done and low and behold the painters arrived! The front entry hall, upstairs hall, master bedroom, and both bathrooms upstairs were prepped and ready to paint and the crew got to work! In a matter of a few days all of the areas that were prepared were painted with two coats and rooms were reassembled so quickly it looked like a version of Extreme Makeover-weekend Edition! Hat's off to Jen, Will, Shari and Katie for the time they took out of their lives and their painting skills to accomplish the task at hand. Our friends are absolutely amazing and we don't know what we would do without them!
Below are a few action shots of some of the crew working! We praise God for such humble servants!
We'd also like to give a BIG shout out to all of those that visited the hospital, our home, fed us and prayed for us over the last month. Jackie is going back to work on tomorrow, 11/1 and is healing up quite nicely! Your prayers and support are so much appreciated.
We also want to welcome everyone that has joined our Ministry Partnership Team and thank them for their support! We are currently at 23% of our monthly support committed and 48% of our start up costs already given!
If you have been thinking about joining our team but would like to hear more about our call and what we are doing, shoot us an email at rob.passer@efca.org and we can set up a time sit down and share our hearts with you. Maybe God is tugging on your heart to just join the team! You can just hit the TouchGlobal logo under the "Donate online" button on the right and you can give online or go to
http://www.efca.org/give-serve/ways-give for other giving options. Be sure to include 1670-Passer on any donations made.
Please keep all of those affected by Hurricane Sandy in your prayers. There is so much clean up and rebuilding to do and TouchGlobal will be among those helping. Pray that the light of Christ can show through every worker that God calls to this field and that the people can see that their only hope is in Jesus.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’”
Exodus 16:32
When I look in the bible I see so many verses on food. Whether they are regarding sustaining a population, breaking bread with others, or celebrations with food. God fed the Israelites while they were in the dessert, Jesus fed the multitudes with a few fishes and loaves of bread. The apostles broke bread with Jesus the night before he was arrest. God performed many miracle with food. He has taught us many a lesson through these miracles and today He has taught me a lesson about food and the meaning of eating versus using food as an idol or even crutch.
In the last few years I have gained quite a bit of weight. It started out because I discovered I loved to bake pastry, breads, cookies and cupcakes. Ahhh the cupcake. Cupcake wars had become the go to show on Sunday nights and finding a cupcake shop that had been on Cupcake Wars was put on my "bucket list." And yes, that has been checked off the list!
But as I sit here in the hospital for my 6th night after having abdominal surgery to remove a large colon polyp I really began to think and pray and ask God what I was doing wrong. Why was I not able to eat yet? The only thing holding me back from going home was food! One of the things that I truly love the most in the world. Anyone who knows me knows this. And here I sit blogging from my hospital bed because of food. I have to be able to "tolerate" eating 2 meals in a row to be able to go home. It became quite clear to me today after a walk around the hospital floor what was going on. God was giving me another clear message and it has taken me a few days to figure it out. I needed to take food off of that list that some days was above God in my daily life. Food had become an idol and it clearly needed to be put back in it's place. It's place is for sustenance. Food is one of the things that our body takes to live on this earth. BUT not an overload of it or overindulgence of it.
Tonight as my carefully chosen dinner was put in front of me I prayed. I prayed to God for my body to be able to tolerated what I was going to feed it. I prayed in thanksgiving for again teaching me what was coming between my relationship with Him. And I prayed to be able to go home tomorrow to the family that I love and want to see so badly.
Thank you Jesus for being my Savior and ALL that I need on a daily basis. Thank you for the rememberance of the manna put in a jar for generations to remind us that God can and WILL give us all we need.
Blessings,
Jackie
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Crisis or Christ?
"He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have supremacy." Colossians 1:17-18
Our church is doing a sermon series on Colossians right now. The above verses are so fitting for what is happening with our church and how the church is allowing Christ to take over and not the crises that keep cropping up on us.
A little over a year ago it was announced that by mid-2013 or Sr. Pastor of 20+ years would be leaving our church to follow God's call into a Marriage and Family Care Ministry. A search committee would be formed to look for a new Sr. Pastor and in the mean time Pr. Russ would still be around until a new Sr. Pastor was found. Those of us that have been around a while were not shocked at God's call on Pr. Russ' life but were sad to even think about another Pastor leading our church. And we still had Pr. Dan, Pr. Paul, and Pr. Phil plus the rest of the staff that would be consistent and staying on. So we took it all in, prayed about God's direction and trusted God to get us through this.
Last December I sat with my good friend who was also my direct ministry report in missions, Pr. Dan as he explained that what they had thought was Parksinson's Disease was actually ALS, Lou Gehrig's Disease. He indicated that he would be around for over a year and hoped to transition out of ministry by the end of 2012. But that is not the way it happened. Pr. Dan's disease has progressed much faster than he and his wife, Heidi had thought and he retired in March, 2012. We have kept up with his Caringbridge site and have seen Dan and Heidi's total dependence on Jesus during this time of crisis and I personally have been so humbled by their walk with the Lord through all of this. This has been so difficult for all of us at MGEFC but we follow Dan and Heidi's lead and are completely dependent on the Lord to get us through this too.
In the last few weeks we have received email after email from the prayer chain about people from our church going through major health problems. The father in law of an elder with a serious illness, a long time member of the church going through bypass surgery and subsequently acquired a rare and serious infection that will keep him hospitalized for maybe a total of a month, the daughter of our youth Pastor with a serious throat infection that has caused her to be hospitalized twice and who is looking at surgery on Tuesday, and finally our Sr. Pastor again, who fell off of a ladder doing home repairs and has shattered his ankle and heal and is also having surgery on Tuesday. And the list goes on... All of this going on in so short a period of time could have crippled our church. But again we were completely dependent on Christ and did not give into the crisis.
One might think...boy that church is under attack! Those people better watch out! I wonder what's next? But...just think of this...if the evil one is trying so hard to attack us, what is he so afraid of? We must be doing something right for him to be working so hard at trying to discourage us. What are we doing right? Well we believe this...
1. Jesus is God Col. 1:15
2. Jesus is the creator of all things and holds it all together Col. 1:17
3. Jesus began the church! Col. 1:18
(these 3 things taken from my sermon notes from this morning)
So if Jesus is God, is the creator of all things (that includes us!), He holds everything He created together AND He began the church, why would it surprise anyone that Jesus is protecting us from the evil one right now. We could be down and out. The leadership could feel as if they can't take another crisis or illness. But what is happening? Services go off seemingly without a hitch. God has begun the healing process in the elder's father in law and the elder's wife's face showed true joy today as she told me about answered prayer. The long time member's family is hanging in there and is trusting on God to bring him through all of this. The youth Pastor's daughter will finally get some relief from the pain she has been in from this infection and Pr. Russ will be up and around in no time. Who says God doesn't perform miracles anymore? Not me because I know JESUS IS GOD and He IS holding it all together because He began this church!
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Watching and waiting...
I remember 7 years ago tonight. I say in front of the TV watching and waiting and praying. Praying that Hurricane Katrina would slow down, change course or just plain fizzle out. Instead it hit the Gulf Coast with a fury and shortly after that the storm surge hit New Orleans and 80% of the city was flooded. Rob was in Colorado hunting and I sat with the boys just staring at the pictures on TV. The rescues, the water, the Super Dome and the Civic Center. I watched as the National Guard and Coast Guard rescued people in baskets from helicopters from their roofs. I watched and I cried.
Tonight I sit in front of the TV watching and waiting and praying. But my prayer tonight is one more of praise to my Heavenly Father for the storm not going higher than a category 1. Praise for an amazing team of TouchGlobal friends that are sheltering in place in New Orleans and the surrounding area so that they can be first responders to a wind blown and rain soaked city in a few days. Praise that Our God heard our prayers and for the most part spared our friends in Haiti from this storm. And praise that I know for sure that God can and will use every event for His glory, even hurricanes and earthquakes.
Will I cry over the next few days as I watch the damage reports or possible hear about lost lives? Absolutely! But compassion and mercy are part of who God made me to be. That's OK. I look forward to the time when we are in the field and I can be a part of that first responder team going in to see if everyone is OK. When I can go in and pray with someone and tell that about the life giving blood of Jesus Christ. Our Lord and Savior can and will help us through any storm.
My friend and teammate Katie had this verse on her blog and I wanted to share it with you.
"Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
you have done wonderful things,
things planned long ago.
2 You have made the city a heap of rubble,
the fortified town a ruin,
the foreigners' stronghold a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will honor you;
cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
4 You have been a refuge for the poor,
a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm
and a shade from the heat."
Isaiah 25:1-4
This is a different storm than Katrina was 7 years ago. That storm caught me at a time in my life where I was looking for a place to serve. Looking for what I was going to do when I "grew up" so to speak. Today I know what God has for me. I have grown into a daughter of the King. A daughter that just wants to love and serve her King and expand His Kingdom. Hurricane Isaac has opened my eyes a little more to what God has in store for us. And I have to tell you all....I am so joyful that He has chosen us for this work and so joyful that He is a shelter from the storm.
Jackie
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| Hurricane Katrina, 2005 |
Will I cry over the next few days as I watch the damage reports or possible hear about lost lives? Absolutely! But compassion and mercy are part of who God made me to be. That's OK. I look forward to the time when we are in the field and I can be a part of that first responder team going in to see if everyone is OK. When I can go in and pray with someone and tell that about the life giving blood of Jesus Christ. Our Lord and Savior can and will help us through any storm.
My friend and teammate Katie had this verse on her blog and I wanted to share it with you.
"Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
you have done wonderful things,
things planned long ago.
2 You have made the city a heap of rubble,
the fortified town a ruin,
the foreigners' stronghold a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will honor you;
cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
4 You have been a refuge for the poor,
a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm
and a shade from the heat."
Isaiah 25:1-4
This is a different storm than Katrina was 7 years ago. That storm caught me at a time in my life where I was looking for a place to serve. Looking for what I was going to do when I "grew up" so to speak. Today I know what God has for me. I have grown into a daughter of the King. A daughter that just wants to love and serve her King and expand His Kingdom. Hurricane Isaac has opened my eyes a little more to what God has in store for us. And I have to tell you all....I am so joyful that He has chosen us for this work and so joyful that He is a shelter from the storm.
Jackie
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
My Brother Jeff
Tonight as I reflect on the last few weeks one thing keeps coming to mind. My brother Jeff. Jeff is 14 months younger than I am. Did you ever have a sibling that whenever your mom and dad would ask any one of the kids in your family "who did that" you would answer "so and so did it!" Well in our house it was always "Jeff did it!" While sometimes it was Jeff who did it, he was usually our scapegoat and after a while I think our parents knew that the answer they were going to get is "Jeff did it!". Did they know that the first person to say "Jeff did it!" usually was the culprit? I'm not too sure but I can place dollars to donuts that they did. We weren't pulling the wool over their eyes at all!
To say that Jeff had a rough life is an understatement. He soon fell into a life of drugs and alcohol that would continue until just a few years ago. At that time Jeff had met some people at work that invited him to church. They loved him for who he was, embraced him for who he was and led him to a spirit filled life with Jesus Christ. The change in Jeff has been like watching a caterpillar morph into a butterfly. The love and light of Jesus shines through him.
So many people hear about Jackie and Rob's travels and Jackie and Rob's road to the mission field. I learned recently that many people even from our family don't know that Jeff has made a huge move in his life also! On Memorial Weekend Jeff came over for dinner and told us all that he had applied for a medical missions training program in the Philippines and if accepted he would be selling everything he owned, giving his dog to friends and moving to the Philippines for training this July. Imagine our surprise! But also our overwhelming sense of God's goodness and mercy.
Well, Jeff was accepted into the training program and on July 6 he left for the Philippines. He is working each morning doing some building, gardening and other things to help build character and then in the afternoons they are doing training for a medical mission. Jeff is the embodiment of a missions minded servant of God. He has sold everything he owned and moved to the other side of the world to do the work that God called him to do.
I love my brother Jeff so deeply. I admire him and what he is doing. And I give all the glory to God for Jeff and the miracle he is. Amen to that!
To say that Jeff had a rough life is an understatement. He soon fell into a life of drugs and alcohol that would continue until just a few years ago. At that time Jeff had met some people at work that invited him to church. They loved him for who he was, embraced him for who he was and led him to a spirit filled life with Jesus Christ. The change in Jeff has been like watching a caterpillar morph into a butterfly. The love and light of Jesus shines through him.
So many people hear about Jackie and Rob's travels and Jackie and Rob's road to the mission field. I learned recently that many people even from our family don't know that Jeff has made a huge move in his life also! On Memorial Weekend Jeff came over for dinner and told us all that he had applied for a medical missions training program in the Philippines and if accepted he would be selling everything he owned, giving his dog to friends and moving to the Philippines for training this July. Imagine our surprise! But also our overwhelming sense of God's goodness and mercy.
Well, Jeff was accepted into the training program and on July 6 he left for the Philippines. He is working each morning doing some building, gardening and other things to help build character and then in the afternoons they are doing training for a medical mission. Jeff is the embodiment of a missions minded servant of God. He has sold everything he owned and moved to the other side of the world to do the work that God called him to do.
I love my brother Jeff so deeply. I admire him and what he is doing. And I give all the glory to God for Jeff and the miracle he is. Amen to that!
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Home...It's relative thing
Home...where is home?
Home is where the heart is. Home is where you hang your hat. Home Sweet Home. Welcome Home! Carrie Underwood says in a song "This is my temporary home, it's not where I belong, windows and rooms, that I'm passing through. This is just a stop, on the way to where I'm going. I'm not afraid because I know, this is my temporary home."
We stayed in lots of "homes" along the way this summer and then we got "home" and we were there for 5 days and left again for training. All this moving around gave us the feeling of, wow, this is what it's going to be like when we go into ministry with TouchGlobal full time. Away from our "stuff", friends, family and what we know as normal. But then we got home and it didn't feel right. It really made the word home feel a whole lot different than I had ever felt before. Temporary, fleeting, just a stop along the way....
This is just our temporary home here on earth. Some day we will all live eternity somewhere. My home will be in heaven singing praises daily to my sweet Jesus. I won't have to worry about my stuff. Won't miss my friends or family and normal will be far greater than anything we could ever imagine here in our temporary home on earth. It makes me wonder why I missed my house so much when it isn't really my permanent home.
Soon we will be moving to Louisiana and we will have a different house. Same stuff, different house. We will be in and out of that house too. Where ever God calls us we will go. Hurricanes on the gulf coast or Pacific ocean, earthquakes in Turkey, Japan, Haiti or another unknown location, flooding in Brazil or North Dakota or fires, tornados or drought. God will call us to those locations and again we will leave our temporary home to live in another temporary home. People ask...aren't you afraid? You will have no idea where you are going...how will you prepare? We say...no we're not afraid and God will prepare us. He has been preparing us for such a time as this since the day we were born. We will be ready. God will provide the Ministry Partners in His time and that time will be when He feels we are totally ready to serve Him and not a minute or a day sooner.
So as we prepare for a new home and a new life over the next several months we will keep in mind that this home too will only be temporary. A temporary home here on earth that is preparing us for our permanent home in heaven, serving Him and singing praises to Jesus.
Home is where the heart is. Home is where you hang your hat. Home Sweet Home. Welcome Home! Carrie Underwood says in a song "This is my temporary home, it's not where I belong, windows and rooms, that I'm passing through. This is just a stop, on the way to where I'm going. I'm not afraid because I know, this is my temporary home."
We stayed in lots of "homes" along the way this summer and then we got "home" and we were there for 5 days and left again for training. All this moving around gave us the feeling of, wow, this is what it's going to be like when we go into ministry with TouchGlobal full time. Away from our "stuff", friends, family and what we know as normal. But then we got home and it didn't feel right. It really made the word home feel a whole lot different than I had ever felt before. Temporary, fleeting, just a stop along the way....
This is just our temporary home here on earth. Some day we will all live eternity somewhere. My home will be in heaven singing praises daily to my sweet Jesus. I won't have to worry about my stuff. Won't miss my friends or family and normal will be far greater than anything we could ever imagine here in our temporary home on earth. It makes me wonder why I missed my house so much when it isn't really my permanent home.
Soon we will be moving to Louisiana and we will have a different house. Same stuff, different house. We will be in and out of that house too. Where ever God calls us we will go. Hurricanes on the gulf coast or Pacific ocean, earthquakes in Turkey, Japan, Haiti or another unknown location, flooding in Brazil or North Dakota or fires, tornados or drought. God will call us to those locations and again we will leave our temporary home to live in another temporary home. People ask...aren't you afraid? You will have no idea where you are going...how will you prepare? We say...no we're not afraid and God will prepare us. He has been preparing us for such a time as this since the day we were born. We will be ready. God will provide the Ministry Partners in His time and that time will be when He feels we are totally ready to serve Him and not a minute or a day sooner.
So as we prepare for a new home and a new life over the next several months we will keep in mind that this home too will only be temporary. A temporary home here on earth that is preparing us for our permanent home in heaven, serving Him and singing praises to Jesus.
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18
Friday, July 20, 2012
Our Country's Monuments
As we have traveled throughout the country we have seen several monuments along the way. The monuments were erected in memorial or in remembrance of so many different people or groups of people. We soon learned that we could not take pictures of every monument or we would be stopping every few miles. Every country has their monuments and the USA is no different. But as we have traveled across the country and talked to people we have learned that monuments are built for man and that we must build our monuments in our hearts to glorify God.
Below are just a few of the monuments we have come across. The last one is a monument that hit us hard though. It is the monument talked about in the documentary movie "Monumental". Look at the pictures of this monument and read the captions below. As you read them think about where you have built your monuments?
Liberty has the chain broken from where we have come but a sword in his hand to remind us we must fight to keep it. Liberty can only come with the rest of these. It cannot happen without the rest of these or Liberty would be on top.
Below are just a few of the monuments we have come across. The last one is a monument that hit us hard though. It is the monument talked about in the documentary movie "Monumental". Look at the pictures of this monument and read the captions below. As you read them think about where you have built your monuments?
Monument at the gate of Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona
Memorial at the Hoover Dam
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| The Statue of Liberty |
Monument to the Founding Fathers
It starts with faith that we can only get from God that is why she is pointing up and there is a star on her forehead which represents the wisdom God gives us.
It takes morality which we get from the 10 commandments, she has no eyes so she cannot be distracted.
The law is kept by the justice system whether you our rich or poor we are all treated the same.
Education is holding the Bible and this is where we are to get our education.
As we serve God in our ministry we are reminded that we all have erected monuments to those we have loved and served on this earth. The Monument to the Founding Fathers left us thinking...if our country has been built on Morality, Law, Education and Liberty, that comes together because of our Faith...are our monuments built on faith in what God can do or are our monuments built on what man can do? We will be serving in disasters all over the world, I pray that as we go out and serve that we can continue to build our monument in heaven on our faith in what God can do.
For more information on the above monument please watch the movie "Monumental"
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Family, Friends and places along the way...
We have been on the road now for 22 days. Our travels have taken us from Minnesota through the fields of Nebraska, the mountains of Colorado, the deserts of Utah, California, Arizona and New Mexico, to the beautiful Grand Canyon and the powerful Hoover Dam. We have seen the roaring waves of the Pacific and the oil wells of Texas. And then the beautiful rolling hills of Arkansas and Tennessee. We have rolled through Mississippi and then spent a few days in Alabama.
But the most important part of this trip has been the people. From the high school classmates, in St. George, Utah and Santa Rosa, California to the siblings in Visalia, California and Memphis, Tennessee we have been welcomed with open arms. In those 22 days we have spent only 4 nights in hotels! We have been blessed with comfortable beds, yummy meals, laundry facilities and even an oil change. We have been prayed over by friends that we haven't seen in years and loved on by aunts, uncles and cousins. Below are the pictures of some of those that have blessed us along the way. May the Lord bless them as they have been a blessing.
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| We stayed at Jane Rohr Peterson's house in St. George, UT our second night on the road. Jane and I sat down and started to talk like we had seen each other the day before. It was such a blessing to see Jane and meet her husband, Pete. |
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| Two of my sister in law Cheryl's three dogs. We stayed with Todd (Jackie's brother) and Cheryl for 5 days before we dropped Brad off at Stanford. |
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| We then moved on to Jackie's friend Ann's house in Santa Rosa, California. We had a great time with Ann catching up. |
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| We spent a family day in San Francisco before we dropped Brad off. This is fun on the Cable Cars! |
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| On to the Los Angeles area for breakfast with Jackie's Aunt Sheila and brother, Todd. What a blessing to see Sheila again. |
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| And believe it or not we had dinner the same night in Phoenix with my Aunt Diane. I am amazed at the number of people we have been able to see on this trip. |
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| From Phoenix we moved on to Tuscon for an afternoon and evening with Rob's cousin, Gary and his wife, Patrica. They hadn't seen each other in over 25 years. They spent ours catching up. |
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| Then a couple of nights in New Braunfels, TX with a friend of ours that Rob met several years ago. He made smoked ribs and pork loin. Yum Yum! |
Please pray for everyone that has blessed us so much! We would not be able to do this trip without them. We are being constantly surprised by God each day. Again, just like our ministry with TouchGlobal it is about the relationships not the tasks. We praise God for these relationships.
Yesterday, on the 4th of July we went through some of the tornado torn parts of Harvest, Alabama. It was a reminder of why we are on this trip and why God has called us to work in Crisis Response. We feel more fortunate than ever that God chose us!
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