Brant Christian School

Photo Cred: Mark & Michelle Sharrow

Last week a team of High School students from Alberta, Canada came to Tijuana, Mexico for a Mission Adventures outreach. Our crack team of missionaries hosted them as they served the poor, shared the Gospel and built a home. I love the these two quotes from the team. (Special thanks to Mark and Michelle Sharrow for the picture!) 

In two weeks, the next wave of short-term students arrive for more Mission Adventures. Please pray for effective ministry to the poor, and for inspiration for the students.

Uma the Ironing Woman

Right outside the home I stayed in Visakhapatnam, I saw a barefoot young woman ironing. Every day, and every time I saw her, she was at her table hard at work with an antique hot coal iron. She worked quietly and all alone, scrubbing piles of laundry by hand. She must have worked twelve hours a day. Her sweet smile and elegance drew me to her, and every time I walked past her, I would smile as I silently prayed that I would get a chance to speak to her.

I asked my host, “How much will she make in a day, doing all of that laundry?”

"About 300 Rupees, if she's lucky," he replied. That’s not even $5 US for a long day of scrubbing, ironing, bending, and lifting, all the while standing on a hard concrete floor. Both my back and my heart ached for her. I prayed for her as I fell asleep that night.

The next day, I felt compelled to give her a gift. On my way out of the house, I stopped and handed her about a week's worth of wages. I told her that it was a gift, and that I didn't need her to do any laundry for me. She graciously took the money with a slight smile on her face. I explained to her that I serve the God named Jesus, and that He sent me to give her the gift. I told her we didn't have to earn his love, just like she didn't have to earn the gift I gave her. She told me her name was Uma and said to me, "Now I have many gods, but I used to worship the God called Jesus, but now I am married to a Hindu husband. I walked away knowing I’d been obedient and hoping my host could build on our conversation.

The following morning, during breakfast, Uma knocked on our door. After a brief conversation, she just stood and stared at me as if I had something else for her. I knew I needed to offer her something worth more than any amount of money. “Do you want to return to serving the 'God named Jesus' and worship only Him?" I asked.

“Yes,” she said. And then asked if it's okay to worship Jesus when she goes to the temple with her husband. I said, “Yes, I’m sure Jesus is quite big enough to understand your culture, and is at work in your husband, until he can have his eyes open to the One True God named Jesus.” She smiled and we prayed to have the God named Jesus to reveal Himself again to her as He once had and to forgive her for following other gods. She prayed for her husband and children to see her as an example, and that her husband would have his eyes opened when he goes to the temple. After our prayer, we hugged and she allowed me to take a photo with her. She smiled when she realized what she looked like. What a great breakfast with my new friend and my God named Jesus!

I Have Made Mistakes

Recently, a dear friend of mine, (thanks Beth!) turned me on to The Oh Hellos, a brother and sister duo from south Texas who write and record a sweet blend of folksy and rootsy music. I was smitten from the first listen, and one of my favorite tracks is called, "I Have Made Mistakes". It contains the lines,

And the sun, it does not cause us to grow;
It is the rain that will strengthen your soul
And it will make you whole.

For some reason, maybe it was the catchy melody, maybe it was the unexpected statement about the sun, but it just caught my ear. And the truth about the difficult times, the rain, causing growth just resonated through me. Now, I am not in this moment, in a rainy season, but this truth renews my hope for wholeness as I continue to follow the path laid out for me.

If a folksy, rootsy groove with rich brother-sister harmonies appeals to you, The Oh Hellos have made their debut album (with the track "I Have Made Mistakes") available here:

That link will take you to the iTunes music store. If you like what you hear and choose to purchase the song or the album, Apple will give us a very small percentage of the sale. If you'd like to know more about the band, click here: The Oh Hellos

A Picture of India

Woman Ironing, Visakhapatnam, India by Kay Charlotte via iPhone

Thoughts on Making the Guest Bed… Again.

That far corner, tho…

I was kind of grumbling to myself while I made up the guest bed. Our loft serves as a makeshift guest room, and the twin bed is stuffed in the corner next to an Ikea dresser. I could barely get my hand between the bed and the wall, and was having difficulty wrapping the elastic around the mattress. So I was grumbling, but I caught myself. I realized it wasn't the minor irritation of getting the sheet to fit, it was the fact that our dear friend who had just stayed in our guest room was gone. Her visit was far too short for someone we consider like an extra daughter, (see below). Of course, our time together was sweet, and as I wrestled with the pillowcase and fluffed the comforter, my attitude began to change. I realized that I've made this bed a hundred times over the years. And each time I've done so, it's been because we've had a guest. Many of them are missionaries and have gone to exotic places after their brief stay with us. Many came as strangers and left as friends. Others came as friends and left as if they were family. In that moment, I understood again what a privilege it is to have all these people in our lives. I thanked God again for our home and for our little guest room.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

So let me tell you about Beth. She's a YWAMer who is on staff in Harpenden, England. She leads Discipleship Training Schools, YWAM's 6-month university-level course. We met Beth seven years ago when she served at the YWAM center in Las Vegas. There she led a Mission Adventures ministry. And we all just love her. The kids think she's hilarious, and fun, and smart. Kay Charlotte and I admire her and believe in her ministry. Every time we've worked with her, we've come away impressed with this young woman. But what's so sweet about this is that she's willfully come to us and treated us like extra parents. She's leaned into us for advice. And she's always been so thoughtful and kind. And this time when she visited she shared stories about her recent outreach to a place we can't name, but we can tell you that she worked with refugees. What she does is strategic and meaningful, and we are proud to call her one of our own. It's safe to say that our house is filled with Beth fans. We all had mixed emotions as we sent her on her way. Yes, I'm grateful for our guest bed, even if it's challenge to make!

Kay Charlotte Is in Asia

Kay Charlotte is in the middle of a two week trip to Asia. Last week she was in Chiang Mai, Thailand. While there she attended a YWAM conference to promote our Mission Adventures WAVES Gathering that will be held there in 2017. She and a couple of other coworkers also scouted locations for where we'll hold that Gathering.

Update: Looks like the venue will likely be the Horizon Village. It looks amazing. You totally should plan on crashing this event!

This week she's in Vizag, India meeting and training up some YWAMers there who want to launch both Mission Adventures and Homes of Hope. As always, Kay Charlotte has lots of fun travel adventure stories including ill-placed fragile stickers, power outages, and more on her FaceBook page.

Kay Charlotte and long-time Mission Adventures legends at the temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Working on Love, Sex, & Dating

I wonder if the word, "Sex" in the title of my post will mean that I get more traffic…

A week from now, I'll be speaking to the students in our Discipleship Training School on Love, Sex, and Dating. There are thirteen of them, ten ladies, and three gentlemen. And of course a half dozen staff members too. I'm nervous as always. Public speaking isn't my biggest fear, but it's way up there on my List of Things to Avoid™. 

Even though I am nervous, this is my favorite topic. I've already got a week's worth of material… See that document in the lower right of the picture? That's about eight hours worth of teaching. But I just can't help myself. See all those other documents scattered across the table? Those are a bunch of articles I've either written or saved since the last time I updated my teaching notes. So I'm planning on being up late reading, rereading, writing, re-writing, and building new lessons on love. 

“I want to inspire the students to live lives of great love.”

Of course, this is a lot of information… and part of the reason I'm teaching is to give this info to the students. But I want more than that. I'm not interested in them copying down some lame theories, I want to somehow inspire them to live lives of great love. That's not enough either, I want to give an impartation of God's Spirit, so that they're empowered to move beyond whatever past they have, and into the amazing future He has for them. 

Pray for me!