Have Yourself a Killer Christmas!

One of the best things about Christmas is the music.  Recently, we came across a unique Christmas song by The Killers and Elton John, called "Joseph, Better You Than Me". Unique in that there aren't many songs about Joseph.

Although I'm not sure they got it all right, the song made me think about Joseph and what he faced in a new way.   I'm probably also relating to him in a new way because I'm an expectant father now, and,  every now and then, I find myself thinking, "Man, what have I gotten myself into?"  I bet Joseph was really thinking this when his supposedly pure fiancé showed up pregnant and claimed the Holy Spirit did it.  Not many guys would sign up to marry a girl who's immoral AND crazy!  As The Killers put it, "Would his faith stand still, or would he run away?"
   
Well, he didn't run away, and thank God he didn't, because Mary would have had a hard time without him.  He stood, even though it meant he  had to endure a lot of whispers, gossip, and questions about this son who probably didn't look like him. It also meant being hunted, and fleeing as a refugee to a country where he didn't have a job, a family, or know the language.    And God never told him the whole plan; he gave him just enough guidance, with each angelic dream, to get him to the next step.  Joseph just had faith enough to take those steps and, step by step, he protected his child and made a home for the Hope of the World.  Although Mary gets all the publicity, I'd have to say that Joseph was pretty heroic in his own right.  Merry Christmas!

Baby News, New Life at Nicholls, and the Finish Line

Although this is the time of year when we are reminded to be thankful, we feel like this entire support raising process has produced thankfulness in us. We are so thankful for our new friends and partners that have joined our support team in the last year. We are deeply grateful to those of you have been part of the team for several years and continue to give so faithful. Thanks be to our Heavenly Father who has called us and so faithfully provides for us. Our needs have always been met! (at right, speaking at New Life Church in Abbeville, LA)

We are looking forward to arrival of the new addition to our family. Baby Aidan Isaiah should be making his way into the world mid-January. We are so excited to meet him, and we are grateful for this gift God has given us!

Getting Back to our Roots

Although we have thoroughly enjoyed speaking in churches this past year, our passion is to minister to college students and youth. God opened several doors in this past month to share with this age group, as I preached at the Chi Alpha groups at Nicholls St, McNeese St, and South Alabama. I also shared with the youth at Journey Ninth Ward, and a college and career group in Baton Rouge. At Nicholls St. XA, a girl, who I'll call Josie, was just passing by the meeting room in the student union., when some XA friends invited her to the meeting. She came in, and responded to the altar call to give her life to Christ! She even signed up to leave the next day for a retreat with the group!

The Finish Line

We have not reached the finish line of our term of raising support, but we are starting to see it! By God’s grace and your generosity, we have reached 80 percent of our budget. These funds are to cover our living and work expenses for the next 3 years in Belgium. In dollars and cents, this means that we have just $1,400/month to raise before we will be cleared by Asemblies of God World Missions to go to the field. Broken down, this means if we had 10 people who would promise $50/mo, 8 who would promise $75, and 3 who would promise $100, we would reach our goal. If you have not considered making a faith promise, please pray about being one of these final building blocks of our team.

They're Gonna Put Me In The Movies!

Here we were on the set, in our 70's costumes.

This old Buck Owens song could be the theme song for our last week.  Last year at this time, we had the chance to be extras in a Disney movie, Secretariat, which was being shot here in Lafayette.  The movie just came out Friday, and if you go see it, you can see Amanda in her cinematic debut.  (My scene didn't survive the director's cut; I guess they didn't want me to overshadow the other actors  ;-) 

We've also made a short video, with the help of the talented media guy, Rich Gaspard, at our home church, Crossroads Church.  The video tells a bit about our calling and introduces our work in Belgium.  We hope you'll like it.

Stories from the Road

We've driven approximately 4,000 miles in the last month, and met some great folks! Along the way, we've heard some remarkable stories. We thought we'd pass along two of them to you.

A few weeks ago, we were guests of Ray and Betty Janway, and Ray told us about his father, Henry. Growing up in Southern Arkansas, Ray's mother Cary was a believer and a churchgoer, along with most of the kids, but Henry didn't participate. A skilled hunter and fisher, he spent his weekend outdoors, and when asked about it, he said he didn't want to know too much about religion, because then he'd be responsible for what he knew. One Saturday, the whole family was fishing, and no one caught a thing. This was unusual, because Henry was an excellent fisherman; but they fished for an hour and a half, catching nothing. Seeing an opportunity, Cary asked, "Henry, if we start catching fish, will you go to church with us tomorrow?" Willing to try anything, Henry agreed that he would. Not 20 seconds after he promised, a foot-long catfish struck Cary's line! For the rest of the afternoon, the whole family was pulling in fish almost as fast as they could throw their lines in the water. True to his word, Henry went to church the next day, and he never missed again to go hunting or fishing. Three months later, he asked Jesus to forgive him of his sins, and was given a new life! All of Henry's children are Christ-followers, and two of them went on to be ministers.

Last week, we met Pastor Robert Burnside, who is leading The Journey-9th Ward Church in New Orleans. Last March, 2 or 3 murders occurred in their neighborhood, the upper 5th District of the 9th Ward. In response, Pastor Robert and his church members started walking and praying through the streets of their neighborhood every morning at 7 a.m. Since they began doing this, there has not been a single murder in their neighborhood. How do they know? They recently had a meeting with a major on the New Orleans police force in which the officer reported that not only were there no murders, but also that violent crime, and crime in general, had all decreased since March! The officer asked them to please continue prayerwalking at least until the end of the year!

Again Jesus said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."

Unreached People?

In missions circles you hear the phrase "un-reached peoples" quite often.  When you hear this phrase, what sort of person comes to mind?  We most often think of a person living an impoverished existence, or committed to a major religion like Hinduism or Islam.  These people definitely are un-reached, but we also need to consider the professional riding the train in Brussels, or the young person shopping in a mall.  This person may not be a Buddhist, they are probably atheist, as 20 percent of Europeans profess to be, but they are no less under the sway of demonic influences.  They may have all of their physical needs met; yet they are spiritually destitute.  Ultimately, the un-reached are all those who have not had an adequate witness of the Gospel, in all of its truth and power.  This is true of them whether they are across the globe or next door. 

First Baby Photos

Hey everybody, this here is our son! I know it's a really blurry photo, and you're probably not even sure what is his head or his tail, but this is, for me, one of the coolest photos ever and I thought I'd pass it along. Speaking of cool, watching the ultrasound was pretty amazing yesterday. Our boy was waving his hands around and kicking his legs. At one point, he had wiggled around to where he was almost standing on his head. I literally could have watched for hours; it was mesmerizing. Right now, I'm tempted to write Hallmarky things about the "miracle of life", but really, it was just super entertaining to watch him do his thing. Probably my imagination, but the kid just kind of looked happy, like he was enjoying the attention. (And the  nurse said he was long for his age, so maybe that NBA career will someday be an option. ;-) )

Charles

“We commit ourselves and the Movement to Him (Jesus) for the greatest evangelization the world has ever seen.”

These words are a part of a resolution passed by a group of 300-400 believers gathered together in 1914 in the Stone Church in Chicago to establish the values of the Assemblies of God.  This was not a wealthy or influential group of people; they did not have the means to fulfill such a lofty declaration.  Their faith is impressive, yet almost100 years later, the results are even more amazing.  Today, the World Fellowship of the Assemblies of God numbers over 60 million, and the Pentecostal Charismatic movement worldwide is counted at having approximately 600 million adherents.   This is not to say that all of these believers are a result of that one meeting in Chicago.  However, that group in Chicago was linked in to a much bigger force: the will of God to give out his Spirit across the earth and draw millions to himself.  Through their faith, they had a vision of something much bigger than their little movement.


Last month, we were privileged to participate in the continuation of that vision.  We met with around 120 new missionaries for Missionary Training and Renewal in Springfield, MO.  Literally every region of the world was represented in this group, and it was inspiring to think of the lives that will be touched through them.  This was also one of the final stages in our preparation for going to the mission field, so we’re starting to feel like it’s getting closer!

Another Milestone

It feels like during the last year we have been crossing one milestone after another. Charles returned from Belgium in June. We were married in July. We became fully-appointed missionary candidates in November. Just a few weeks ago we crossed another special milestone. Charles was ordained at the Louisiana District Council on April 19^th. Ordination requires several years of study and active ministry. Charles worked hard to get there, and I’m very proud of him!

A number of our students involved in Students for Christ come from Congo, and one of them recently passed on this video to me. It portrays Korean missionaries leading a Congolese assembly of believers in worship in their native tongue of Lingala. It is reported that within the next decade, S. Korean missionaries will number over 10,000. I loved the way these Koreans believers have embraced another culture for the sake of the Gospel, and I thought that this video was a wonderful preview of the diversity and worship that will go on one day in eternity, as described in Revelations.

We don't Mourn like those who Mourn

Working as we do with University students and young people, we rarely participate in funerals. When we do encounter death it is often tragic, since no one expects young people to leave so soon.

This would seem to be the case last week, when we learned of the death of Bernadette Tshibola, a member of the Students for Christ Liege group. She passed away in her sleep on a Saturday night, finally succumbing at age 34 to sickle cell anemia, which she had battled all her life.

However, Bernadette died as a Christian, and we are certain that her smile is ever more radiant today as she worships at the throne of God. My favorite memory of her was one Tuesday night, when we were setting up chairs for our weekly meeting. Our group numbered around 10-12 at that point, so I put out 15 chairs. Bernadette laughed, said, "Charles, where is your faith?", and put out another 15 chairs. Sure enough, a crowd of 30-35 students filled the room that night. She helped teach me not to be so "realistic".

Bernadette was someone who was always serving, always smiling, and loved Jesus. Because of this, the students and alumni of SFC who knew her decided to wear white to her funeral. They wanted to signify that they were there to celebrate her past life of joy and love, and her new life of being with her Savior. What a great representation of the fact that for those who live and believe in Christ, death has no more power, and the grave is a beginning, not an end, of true life!

Morality and Values of Euro Youth

MTV recently did a study in which they surveyed 7000 youth across Europe in order to "understand the values, hopes and dreams of young people in Europe." The results are quite interesting; for example, here are the Ten Commandments for youth in Europe:

1. Have faith in yourself.
2. Respect your parents.
3. Be honest.
4. Take responsibility for your own life.
5. Live life to the full and be passionnate.
6. Keep your promises.
7. Work hard to succeed but not to the detriment of others.
8. Be tolerant of others' differences.
9. Be happy and optimistic, even in adversity.
10. Create, don't destroy.

If you'd like to see more of what they came up with, including the "7 deadly sins" you can click here.