This is where we write stuff . . .
On our way!
There’s simply no way to describe everything that has happened in the past few weeks in our family. The biggest news is that we have gone from not knowing when we would ever get back to Togo (and being a bit discouraged about it, honestly) to reserving tickets for May 30! How did that happen? The only answer we can give is: God happened. He did it all, seriously.
Update: A busy month
Just wanted to write a quick update letting you know about our progress. We have been going nearly non-stop over the past month (two, really), but it has been really great. We have been praying that God would direct our path and lead us to the people he wants us to meet and share our vision with. We know that God is building a prayer and support team for our ministry, and it’s amazing to see the way he is doing it! So, over the past couple months we’ve been going to lots of people’s homes, getting to know them, and explaining our work in Togo to them.
God is providing
Eleven months ago when we came back from Togo and lost all of our monthly financial support we had no idea how or when we would return to Africa. It’s a scary thing knowing that God wants you to go somewhere, to do something, but not having a clue as to how it’ll ever happen. We have experienced quite a dichotomy of feelings over this period in our lives. On one hand, we’ve had a firm confidence in God’s sovereignty, that if God has called us then He will open doors, provide what we need, and get us back to Togo in his perfect time. On the other hand, we’ve had bouts of doubt (could I call that a “doubt bout”?) when we really felt like it would never happen. Month after month as we watched our savings count down like a ticking time bomb, there were times when we couldn’t help but think, “OK, God, you can start opening doors any day now!”
Dealing with fears
My next statement might completely shatter your expectation of missionaries. You know, it’s the assumption that we are some sort of super-human-half-angel-über-Christians who only struggle with issues such as “Gee, how am I going to pray for 25 hours each day if I’ve only got 24 to work with?” Maybe there are some missionaries out there like that but I’ve never met any. OK, I said it would be my next statement and now I’ve made three more, so how about I get to the point:
Missionaries deal with fear and worry. Lots of it. Just like everyone else.
What in the world is a DBS?
I’m so glad you asked! DBS stands for Discovery Bible Study which is a method of Bible study often used in modern church planting movements. By using this tool church planters have seen rapid multiplication of disciples and churches even in places that are described as “hostile” or “impossible.” For a method like this to be so effective, it must be a deep and complex system of Bible study that requires a seminary degree and years of practice, right? Nope! In fact, it’s so forehead-smacking simple that even a kid can do it and nearly anyone can facilitate a group DBS. Yet despite it’s simple nature, after doing a few DBS studies you find yourself thinking, “Now this is what studying the Bible should be all about!”
Home group marathon!
Wow, what a day! As you might already know, Living Water is now our sending church which we’re really excited about. Our plan is to be back in Togo by spring (or early summer at the latest) of 2012, so for the next few months we’re really focusing on getting to know more people at Living Water. Other than visiting individual families, we’re also planning to visit all the home groups that meet throughout the week. Yesterday, we were invited to come to two different groups and talk about Togo and our mission. So, at 3 o’clock we met at my parents’ house with about 12 people from Steve & Nancy Youngs’ group. We had a really great time showing some pictures and videos of life in Togo which sparked a lot of questions. Unfortunately, though, we had to leave a bit early to rush over to the next home group that started at 5 o’clock. At 5:40 we pulled up to Neil & Glynnis Hall’s house to meet with their group. Yes, we let them know we would be late! What really surprised me was that out of the 20ish people there, we had never met most of them. So it was really nice getting to know some more of “the family.” Tiffany and I feel like this was a great opportunity to share more of our vision and heart for Togo and we are so glad to have more people praying for us and cheering us on.
It’s a small world after all…
I’m sure just about everyone has had one of those “small world” experiences. You know, the kind where you go to the grocery store on vacation and find out the cashier was your mother’s cousin’s dog-sitter . Since Tiffany and I have done a lot of traveling, we seem to often have these kind of experiences quite often. However, the one we had recently beats them all.
Incredible resources for church planters
I think that most people in ministry eventually come to the difficult, but necessary, realization that they not only didn’t get everything they needed in seminary (like practical application in real life), but that their whole understanding of ministry has been turned upside down by actually being involved in the messy lives of those around them. Of course, this can easily be avoided by setting ourselves so far apart from the people that we supposedly minister to, but this has disastrous results.
Ministry presentation
Well, it’s official. Living Water Community Church is now our sending church! We’re really thrilled about this, and we are looking forward to continuing to develop long-lasting relationships with this family of believers. I had the opportunity to speak a couple Sundays ago, telling our story of where God has brought us from and sharing our vision of what God wants us to do in Togo. If you’d like to hear it, you can either play it on this page or download the MP3 here.
What we’ve been up to
It’s been nearly seven months since we left Togo and a lot has happened in that time. Some of you who followed our previous blog may not even be aware of the changes that have taken place, so here’s the short and sweet summary of the past seven months.