Advent Season… Leading to Christmas

Advent is one of the first seasons of the liturgical church calendar. It covers the span of the four weeks leading up to Christmas. It is a time as a Christian to reflect on the first coming of Christ, and also a time to look forward towards his second coming. It is not something I knew existed before moving to Massachusetts. In New England, all the churches we have visited celebrate it and so, it has quickly made it’s way into our Christmas celebration as well. 

It is nice to think of the season as being the full four weeks, a time to reflect on what it all means and to spend time with Jesus. The first Sunday of advent, Ryan and I hurried about, collecting supplies so I could make a simple but creative advent wreath (pictured below). After assembling the wreath we had some time of devotions and lit the first candle. We set up and decorated our tree, and began to soak it all in. Of course, at the beginning of the season, I had grand plans that this year would be perfect. I would focus on the most important things and not get carried away with the busy extra details. Well, I can tell you (now that it is Christmas Eve), things didn’t go that way. It seems to be a pattern, but every year at this time life seems busier than ever, and this year was no different. But even when we didn’t get to do our devotions and light the candles on Sundays, we would do it on a Tuesday or a Thursday (whenever we had a moment to breathe). 

Now upon reflection, it was still a wonderful time of preparation leading to Christmas. I did stick with the book of essays I had selected (featured here) and it has been really great to read each essay day by day. Some have been thought provoking, and others joy provoking. Ryan and I have also been having amazing conversations about God and about marriage and about life. And now, we are in Ohio for two full weeks, and already the visit has been an awesome time of much needed rest and connecting with family and close friends. 

Below are just a few pictures of us decorating for the season and then one from a candle-lit service at our friend’s house church in Dayton, Ohio this week.

Walking Down Memory Lane

This week we are staying with Ryan’s family in Springfield, Ohio. Springfield is where Ryan and I grew up and it is so interesting to come back and visit. It is home, but it feels different too after living somewhere else for four years. I am beginning to wonder how it will feel to come back and visit after living in France for two years… or ten years… or who knows, maybe thirty years. It is truly a growing experience to live in new and different places and cultures, but it will always be fun to come back and walk down memory lane. 

One of Ryan’s memory lanes is that he used to always play in the fields and woods behind his house, and Ryan and his friends would build tree houses and play games and so on. So this past Sunday he gave me the tour of the area where it all happened. Most of the remains of the tree houses were no more, but it was great fun all the same. Below are a few of the highlights in pictures.

Advent Season 2011

As the Advent season quickly approaches, I am filled with both a sense of anticipation and excitement. I love this time of year and all that it brings, from serious reflection on Jesus’ coming to earth (and how that irreversibly altered the story of the world for the better... forever) to the simple joys of peppermint mochas and exchanging gifts. I love it all. :)

As a guide in my Advent season devotions this year, I am planning to follow along with a small book called Our Savior Come: An Advent Companion (there is also an e-book here). It is a series of reflection essays and scripture readings aimed at making the season leading up to Christmas a bit more thoughtful, purposeful, and worshipful. Our friend Nathan Shorb contributed one of the essays, along with a dozen other writers and artists. I can’t wait to begin the season, which starts November 27th.

Another thing to think about this season is how you can bless someone else. There are a million creative ways to do this so I am not going to go on and on about it. But one of the organizations I like is Samaritan’s purse. They do great things all year round, but there are a couple of fun ways to get involved during the Christmas season. One is Operation Christmas Child. In a nut shell; you select a child (age & gender), fill a shoe box with small gifts and practical things, then your box is given to a child in need (typically in a third world country) along with a small book explaining the good news of Jesus Christ. There is even a follow-up discipleship program for all the kids who accept Christ. To find a drop-off location in your area where you can take your box, click here. Another option is their annual gift catalog, in which you can donate towards one of their many global initiatives, either as a gift for yourself or someone else (an aside: it is always good to be sure someone would appreciate this as a gift first). My two favorite picks this year are #22 (Clean water for a thirsty community) and #44 (Baby chicks, they are just so cute), but there is a long list of terrific options.

If we have time throughout the season, we will keep you updated on some of our thoughts along the way. But before all that, Thanksgiving is literally right around the corner, so enjoy that special day whether you give thanks with family, friends, or just you and God.

Twenty Percent

We are at 20% of our monthly support goal. Praise God!

The Gospel Works

Erin and I have been taking a class through World Team called Gospel Foundations. In the class we are working through how to apply the Gospel to our lives, because as a professor of mine used to say, “As Christians we never move on from the Gospel, we move on in the Gospel.” One of the most basic truths of the Gospel that continues to amaze me is that it works. One of my favorite authors, in talking about the apostle Paul, put it like this: 

I have often reflected on the strangeness of the task to which Paul devoted his life: telling pagans that there is a single creator God rather than a multiplicity of gods was bad enough, but adding that this God had made himself known in a crucified Jew, who had then been raised from the dead, was bound to cause hoots of derision…. Yet Paul found that when he told this story, when he proclaimed that this Jesus was indeed the world’s true Lord, people (to their great surprise, no doubt) found this announcement making itself at home in their minds and hearts, generating the belief that it was true, and transforming their lives with a strange new presence and power. (N. T. Wright, Paul, pg. 100)

The strange power of the Gospel works. It worked then and it works now.

Some interesting French religious statistics

It has been too long since our last post, sorry for the silence. Today I was reading our friends and teammates blog, the Shorb's (who I introduced a few weeks back here), and I wanted to share their post on some more recent statistics about spiritual interest in France.

This was a study published in February 2011 and the most encouraging percentage to me was that even though only 36% said they believe in God (in general), 62% of the population said they would like to discuss the questions they have about God with someone. Not that it is always easy to identify who those people are, but it is awesome that for the majority of the French, if God exists and who God is, are important enough issues to be thought through and discussed. And that is just what we want to do, discuss it with them. :)

If you want to see all the statistics, hop on over to the Shorb's blog here. 

A brief update:

We have been in Ohio for almost a week now seeing friends, speaking with churches, and trying to build our support team. It’s been challenging but encouraging at the same time. God is at work, just not always in the ways we are expecting. As part of the trip we got to hang out with some of our super amazingly talented friends the Armstrongs and they showed us a music video they did for a musician named Josh Garrels. Erin and I thought it was amazing and since it was part of our experience here, we're sharing it with you. Enjoy.

A word from God to me

We are in Ohio this week (that’s right, OH–IO), working on developing partnerships for France and visiting family and friends. We visited three church services this weekend and were very encouraged by the music and preaching we heard and the people we met. Each gathering of believers was pretty different in look, feel and size but the message communicated and commitment to Christ demonstrated was consistent from place to place. I would like to share a bit about the different churches, because by the end of our trip we will have had the pleasure of visiting 6 or more, but I will save that for another post. For now, I want to share what God has been putting on my heart this week.

When God wants to teach me something He often does so by putting the message right in front of me over and over again, which is proof that He really knows me because if He only put it in front of me once or twice I would either miss it or assume a mere coincidence. The passage He keeps bringing to me over and over and over, through personal study with my friend Brittany, 2 services this weekend and a conversation with my mentor this morning, is Philippians 2:1–4…

“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

The section title for this in my bible is “imitating Christ’s humility” and it can be a really challenging lesson. Truthfully, seeing this kind of unity and selflessness in action is rare. But I am encouraged when I read right after this part in Philippians and it shows the literal example of Christ doing this, and then the results. After Christ humbled Himself completely, making himself nothing and taking on the very nature of a servant and THEN being obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross… after all that this is what happens in Phil 2:9–11.

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

I think God is trying to show me that I need to humble myself more. I need to love and serve others more selflessly. And then my prayer is that through that, God will be exalted and glorified and the person and persons I love and serve will be one step closer to acknowledging and living in a way that displays that Jesus is their Lord too. One tangible way to do so, as encouraged by my mentor, is to not enter into interactions with people this week with my agenda as the main thing, but rather to start every interaction by seeking to encourage and love the people we meet. This was a wonderful reminder, because we are here to develop partners, which is important, but above that we are called to love the people God puts in our path. Please pray that Ryan and I would be putting others above ourselves this week, to the glory and praise of our Lord and King.

Wise words from the mouths of babes

“At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.’”
— Luke 10:21

I was helping in the nursery at church yesterday and was blessed by the words of a little one. I set up some fun puzzles and began inviting some kids to do them with me, so I invited Girl #1 (I’ve decided to protect her identity) to join me. She is 3.

Me: Hey there, do you want to work on these puzzles with me?

Girl #1: No, I can’t do these because I am too little.

Me: It’s okay; we will work on it together, as a team (so she smiled and came over and we began assembling the puzzle, then Girl #2 came over, she is 6).

Girl #2: I want to do this one by myself.

Girl #1: No, we are a team. No one can do this by themselves, it is too hard, but together we can do this.

At this point, I had to explain that it was okay if Girl #2 wanted to try the other puzzle by herself, but we could keep working as a team on ours. But I was struck by her words. She internalized what I said about working together and took it a few steps farther. She reminded me what the body of Christ is all about. It is about working together to accomplish God’s will and mission, and it is about encouraging one another and building each other up in love.

It is just like she said, on our own, each of us is too little to accomplish much, but together… we can do this. Much like the different pieces of a puzzle, each piece on it’s own doesn’t do much, but together its’ purpose is fulfilled. Anyway, It makes me smile. :)

But what will you (Erin) do?

As I think I have mentioned, one of the main aims of our blog is to answer some of the questions we get from people. One that I have gotten a few times is “So Ryan will be in ministry, but what will you do?” And I think it is a reasonable question for a few reasons.

First, while in Massachusetts (the past 4 yrs) I have worked full-time as a graphic designer and that is my training and background. I enjoy my work and through it God provided for Ryan to get through seminary without additional loans.

Second, Along with this, is the fact that Ryan has two theological degrees and a few years of ministry under his belt, so he has some training and experience, which I haven’t had as much of yet.

Third, honestly it has taken a few years for my personal desire to be involved in ministry to grow. But it has grown. I always knew I would support Ryan in it, but it wasn’t really until maybe 2–3 years ago that God began gently leading me to it as well. I think it began naturally by being involved in our church community. I have come to love spending intentional time with people, serving and helping them to grow in whatever ways I can. And then last summer, during our internship, God gave me even more clarity about my call and a lot of excitement about what is ahead. He has been developing my desires and gifts stateside, in order to prepare me to use them, even more, in France.

But now I guess I should actually answer the question; what I will do in our ministry?

• Similar to how most believers strive to live their lives, I want to share my faith with people, in word and deed.
• I have a growing passion to disciple women (mostly one-on-one), to help them grow and mature in their relationship with the Lord and in all their life. I could easily see myself spending a lot of time doing this because it is so important and rewarding.
• I would like to co-lead small groups and bible studies.
• I would like to offer hospitality by always having an open home, for meals and time spent with people to be very regular and natural.
• I will no doubt use my communication and administrative gifts when needed (I know I will always create and design things).
• And lastly (for now), I want to serve in my neighborhood, somehow working among the “least of these” in some way.

I would like to be involved in any and every way I can, and I’m sure that will look different at various seasons in my life. Also, remember that Ryan and I are just normal people. We have hobbies and interests outside of ministry too. I will probably always have artistic and culinary pursuits, and Ryan will probably always have scholarly and athletic pursuits.

I hope this answers the question. Don’t hesitate to email us more questions if you have one or a dozen.

Always a Reason to Rejoice

Sorry for the blog silence, things have been a bit busy and there hasn’t been as much time to reflect or write. But I was thinking about God’s many blessings and wanted to share a few recent praises with you.

First, thank you to all the individuals (and our church) who have either pledged to support us or have already begun supporting us on a monthly basis. We are currently at 11% in what we need to raise per month, which is incredibly awesome and humbling.

Second, as some of you know, Ryan was on the job hunt for most of the summer….until now. While we raise support we both need to work so that we can continue to eat and live of course, but also so we can pay off the college debt we have before leaving for France. And so, Ryan started his new job this week. He is the office manager at our church, which is a great opportunity to learn more about the inner workings of the church. So things are going well and if our planning is correct, we could be debt free in 10–11 months. Praise the Lord!

Third (and perhaps last for now), as we develop partners and raise financial support we are realizing what a great side benefit and blessing we receive in terms of relationships. It is a wonderful vehicle for re-connecting with all our loved ones, friends and family alike. It is so great to see or hear how everyone is doing and to know how we can be praying for and serving each of you. One of the best things about ministry is that so much of it is about relationships with individuals, serving and pouring into people’s lives. So if you are one of the people we know and send letters too, thanks for the privilege to know and love you. And if we don’t yet know you or haven’t contacted you directly yet, don’t hesitate to contact us. We would love to hear from you.

Why Raise Financial Support: Part 3

#3: Because it is an opportunity to give

Maybe you don’t think of giving as an opportunity, but Scripture is clear that it is. Paul says in Philippians 4:15–17, “Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account.” What Paul is saying is that it isn’t so much about providing for his needs that he wants the Philippians to give, but in reality it is about them. They benefit from giving. Paul goes on to say that their gifts are “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (4:18–19). The Philippians gifts to support Paul in his ministry are actually gifts directly to God himself, and God the ultimate giver will not be outdone in generosity. He gives back lavishly to those who give to Him. That doesn’t always mean material wealth for those who give, but it does mean assurance of God’s constant care and provision, because you’re investing your wealth in something far more significant and far more eternal.

There are many good things to give to, and we believe that starting new communities of believers among the French is one of them. If we didn’t believe that, we wouldn’t want to do it. Whatever ministries you support, see them as opportunities to give.

I think 2 Corinthians 9:6–11 sums it up well:

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:

‘They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;

their righteousness endures forever.’

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”

Why Raise Financial Support: Part 2

This is the second part of the three part series on why we are raising financial support.

#2: The Practical Reason

As I said and firmly believe, all followers of Jesus are called to full-time discipleship and service. However, Christ calls some to serve in such a way that they should receive financial support from the body for what they do. While this kind of service has a biblical basis, there are also many practical realities, especially in cross-culture ministry, that make financial support from other people necessary.

First, church-planting is a demanding job. It isn’t 9 to 5 as much as it is 24/7. There are meetings, preparing lessons and sermons, doing outreach, counseling, discipling, administration, more meetings, and the list goes on. It is a non-stop juggling of constant responsibility. You can see why Paul so often equates it with parenthood, and the more children there are to parent, the less time there is for other things.

Second, all of the above is taking place in a culture that is not your own, and in a language that you don’t yet speak fluently. For this reason a great deal of time is devoted to simply becoming competent in the culture and learning the language. Without the time and the space that it takes to get these things down, you set yourself up for burnout and possibly failure. A missionary’s first task is to learn the language and the culture well enough to be able to communicate the Gospel powerfully and effectively, and financial support helps facilitate that process.

Third, financial support raising is the policy of World Team. When you don’t have the necessary know-how to navigate the system, it is best to take the advice of those who have gone before you. In our case, we’re relying on our mission organization and the experience of long-term missionaries in France to help guide us. If they say the best way to get to do ministry in France is through raising financial support, then they have a good reason for doing so. Other ways and new avenues should always be explored, but the whole reason to do missions through an organization is to benefit from the experience and wisdom of people who have gone before you. In other words, it is about being set up to succeed. We raise financial support because they ask us to, and we trust them as experienced and faithful servants of the Lord in cross-cultural missions.

Click here to read the final part of this three part series... an opportunity to give.

Why Raise Financial Support?

When explaining our ministry to people we are often asked some variation of the question, “Why not get jobs in France, instead or in addition to raising financial support?” It’s an excellent question, and one that I am hoping to give a somewhat more thorough and complete answer to here.

First a clarification, it is certainly not the case that in raising financial support that some Christians are called to do ministry while the rest are called to pay for it. There are not two classes of Christians: one that serves God and the other that pays them to do that service. All followers of Jesus are called to full service of him in everything.

So, if that is the case why raise financial support for ministry? I think there are three main reasons, there could be many more, but these are the three that most readily come to mind. The first reason is biblical, the second is practical, and the third is because it is an opportunity to give. I will split them up into three posts so it is not too long.

#1: The Biblical Reason

In the Gospel of Luke Jesus sends out the seventy-two to announce his coming, and he tells them “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages” (Lk 10:2–7). Paul writes something similar in his letter to the Corinthian church when he says, “Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel” (1 Cor 9:13–14). So, both Jesus and Paul are in agreement that full-time ministers of the gospel should be provided for by others as they do the work God has given them.

“Wait,” you may say. “But Paul was a tent-maker. That’s how he provided for his ministry.” Paul was indeed a tent-maker and there was a time in which he gave up his right to receive support, as he calls it in 1 Cor 9:6, to provide for himself through that vocation. Acts 18:1–5 says, “After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.” Paul’s whole argument in 1 Corinthians 9 is about how he gave up his right to receive financial support from the Corinthians while he was preaching the Gospel to them. He did however receive financial support from another church, possibly the Philippians (see Phil 4:10–19), when Silas and Timothy arrived that allowed him to stop making tents and devote himself exclusively to preaching. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:7–9, “Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so.”

Therefore, the pattern for Paul seems to be to receive support from established churches and believers so that he can start new works without making the new church pay to support him (see Romans 15:23–24). He made tents so the Corinthians wouldn’t have to pay for his ministry while he was waiting for funds from Macedonia. In modern day church-planting we are attempting to do the same thing, that is raise support from existing churches and believers so that we can start a work in a new area offering the Gospel to them free of charge. Do we need business minded believers to start companies and do ministry through their work? Absolutely. It takes gifted and talented people to do that work. But Jesus said that those people he calls to enter the harvest should be fully provided for through that work.

We believe that we have been called to this particular task and seek to take Jesus at his word by raising financial support.

Click here to see the second part in this three-part series... the practical reason.

Thanks Be to God for Friends Who Encourage

In our current world of developing partnerships for France and continuing to fully engage with our life here and now, it can often feel like an up and down roller-coaster ride. Some days and weeks will feel like little progress is made but then, often when we least expect it God provides encouragements and blessings both big and small. This week we were encouraged by our friend Nathan's blog post about us. Nathan Creitz is a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we have been blessed to receive many sermons from him and to be under his leadership at our current church, Grace Community Church in Marblehead. Nathan and his wife Kim, and their beautiful children Zoe and Zachary, are currently looking for a new congregation to lead, and we are excited to see how and where God will lead them next. If you are interested, you can check out Nathan's blog and his most recent post here.

The Complete Finance Breakdown

We want to be as transparent as possible in presenting how much financial support we need to raise. So get ready... here it is.

The basic overview of our monthly support requirements:

$4,654.29 Net Salary* (This is what we live on)
$4,994.29 Gross Salary (Net Salary + Retirement, taxes, etc.)
$1,343.07 Benefits (Health Insurance for both the U.S. and France)
$450.00 Ministry Funds (Travel, Hosting, etc.)
$1,151.07 World Team Admin Fee (Funds the activities of global leadership and sending country support services)
$7,938.43 Total (This is what we must have donations for each month)

A couple of points of clarification:

• *We raise financial support in dollars, but in France we will live on the Euro, which at the moment is stronger than the dollar. So, while our Net Salary is $4,654.29, thirty percent is lost in the conversion process leaving 3,258 Euros. This salary is equivalent to a teacher’s salary in France plus half, so a teacher and a half’s salary.
• We’re required to be on our employer’s, that is World Team’s health insurance, plus pay into the French health system. This way we are covered while in the U.S., but also not taking advantage of the French health system. We want to be respectful and responsible guests of our host country.
• 14.5 percent of the funds we raise are applied to the general operating accounts of World Team. This money is used to help fund the sending offices of World Team so they can provide support, guidance and accountability to missionaries around the globe.

In addition to our monthly support requirements we also have a number of one-time expenses that we must raise before we can leave for France. There are many more items on this list so I’ll just highlight some:

$15,000 Language Training (Both Erin and I for a year of intensive French)
$20,000 Vehicle Purchase (Reduce by 30% for Euro exchange rate)
$1,000 Immigration (visas, passports, etc.)
$2,500 Housing (Many apartments require 2–3 months rent up front)
$1,500 Travel (Plain tickets to France)
$9,000 Pre-Field Training (Housing & tuition for a 10-wk training)
$80,032 Total (Other start up costs, moving expenses & WT Admin Fee)

Because all donations are placed into the same account, when you commit to support us monthly everything you give prior to when we arrive in France goes toward our one-time expenses. Therefore, we would desire that you begin giving as soon as you can so that we can have 100% of our one-time expenses covered before we leave for France.

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or email us, and we’d be happy to answer you. To begin giving, complete this faith promise form and mail it to World Team.

Stay tuned for a three-part series on why we raise financial support.

Our Teammates in France: Part I

Something we would like to do periodically is introduce you to our teammates who are on the ground in France. It truly is an amazing group of people committed to both being and spreading God's light to the French. There are team members from the U.S., Germany, Switzerland, Guadeloupe, Australia and France. Several of them, who started the work in France 30 years ago, are still on the ground working and passing not only the baton, but years of wisdom, on to younger teammates. It is a great honor for us to become a part of this dynamic, multi-generational and international team.

This is an informal (and inadequate) introduction to the Shorb family. Nate and Erica (and their two awesome sons Kaden and Luca) are a few steps ahead of Ryan and I in this journey and they have been a great source of encouragement to us. We got to know them a bit before they landed in France in January 2011, and we feel privileged to be able to ask them questions and to follow them as they adapt to French language, culture and ministry. They have had an eventful first year in France, especially recently with the birth of their son Luca. Hopefully soon we will tell you more about the Shorb's story (with their permission of course), but for now I wanted to explain just a bit about the France team generally and the Shorb's specifically.

Check out the Shorb's blog and their most recent post about Why we participate in missions anyway. Check it out here and be blessed this week.

What does World Team do?

As I think a lot of you know, Ryan and I were recently accepted to become church planters within the organization World Team. We are planning to go and work (as church planters) in France. An important questions to ask is... Who is World Team?

Well to sum it up, World Team is an international church planting organization. This is their mission statement: World Team exists to glorify God by working together to establish reproducing churches focusing on the unreached peoples of the world. One of the awesome things about them is that they are really excited about church planting from start to finish, and the primary objectives range drastically depending on where they go. These objectives can range from training people in sustainable business, doing evangelism and discipleship, translating bibles, meeting medical needs, etc.

This video shows some of the highlights of what God has done through World Team missionaries around the world in 2010:


If you want to learn more about World Team, check out their website here.

My time on the couch

I just finished my last counseling session. I didn’t actually lie down on a couch as the stereotype goes but rather sat in a semi-formal and cushioned armchair. I have been going to sessions for a couple months because I wanted to accept myself more and to believe more that I really am a daughter of the living God. I have always struggled with self-worth, and in the past it has hindered me from doing or trying things I know the Lord has wanted me to do. I want to be more obedient and able to serve selflessly at a moments notice, and I don’t want to worry so much what people think of me. This weakness and sin could very easily get in the way of ministry if I let it. Counseling was something I had considered for a while, but sort of thought it was just for crazy people. And maybe it is, and we are all just a little or maybe a lot crazy. Anyway, I was encouraged to think about seeing a counselor during the application process with World Team, and so I did… and God even provided a way to do it almost for free, which is amazing.

The main thing I took out of it wasn’t very magical as much as it was practical. The counselor really helped me to identify a lot of my sin and negative thought patterns and then to understand how I usually respond or cope with them. Then we took all the same sin and thought patterns and found passages in the Bible that laid out the more Godly and biblical way to cope and respond. As I compare life circumstances against scripture more and more, it becomes easier to live more biblically and to have more joy and trust in God. It is one of those answers that seems too simple to be true, but it works. It is all in God’s Word, you just have to know what’s in there and to believe that it’s true.

Here is a brief example. I learned that often when I am down or upset about something, I tend to isolate myself and stew about it. I want to shut out the rest of the world and be miserable. The scripture passage I found is 2 Corinthians 7:10 “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” When I compared this to my method I was challenged to try something different, to not shut people and God out, but to turn to God first in prayer and bible study, and it has helped a lot.

Or this passage that helped me to re-think what it means to live in freedom and obedience at the same time. “Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son [or daughter] belongs to it forever. So if the Son [Jesus] sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

This will all continue to be a process, but as the children Sunday school song goes “Jesus loves me! This I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong; they are weak but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me!”

Faith and the X-wing Fighter: Warning it gets a little geeky

I'm a nerd. I like Lord of the Rings, I’m way too excited about Harry Potter 7 part 2, and I sometimes make Star Wars analogies (this is one of those).

In The Empire Strikes Back—quite possibly the best movie of the series—Luke goes to Degoba to train as a Jedi with Yoda. When landing on the planet he crashes his X-wing Fighter into a small lake on the swampy planet. During one afternoon of training with Yoda the X-wing, which had been stuck partially submerged in the swamp, sinks completely. Luke had just been moving around rocks by using the Force, so Yoda encourages him to use the Force to raise the X-wing. Luke says, “Master, moving around rocks is one thing, but this is totally different.” Yoda quickly replies, “No. No different. The difference is in your mind.” Luke then makes an unsuccessful attempt to lift the ship by the Force, but gives up calling the task impossible. Yoda, however, immediately proceeds to lift the ship and bring it over to dry ground. After passing around the ship in astonishment Luke says with mixture of wonder and relief, “I don’t believe it.” To this Yoda immediately responds, “That is why you fail.”

I was thinking about this in connection to faith, particularly having faith in God to raise all of our financial support for France, and I think there are a lot of similarities. I look at the external difficulty of the task and decide whether or not I think it can be done—raising a few hundred dollars, no problem…raising thousands, um… But that’s because in reality I’m really trusting in myself. If God didn’t come through for raising a few hundred dollars, I could probably pick up the slack. But there is no way I in my own power have the ability to raise thousands of dollars a month in financial support. It can’t be done. But if I was really trusting in God in both instances, then size has nothing to do with it. God spoke the universe into existence, and it all belongs to Him. So, whether it is two dollars or two hundred thousand, the amount doesn’t really matter, because God is capable of it all. It isn’t a question of ‘can He’ but ‘will He’. My job is to trust that He will, knowing that He is fully capable and believing that He will make it happen. Jesus said if we have faith the size of a mustard seed we could move mountains. My mind tells me its too big, but scripture says, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

A day with the Lord

Ryan and I have begun this season of preparation for ministry in France and already we have had many moments of feeling burnt out and fatigued. There is this strange phenomenon that occurs all too often (I hear especially in full-time ministry) in that sometimes we forget to practice what we preach. Our hearts' desire is to see and help people to know and follow Jesus more and more, but often in all the busyness of life and preparing for this task we forget to slow down and spend time with the Lord ourselves. And the less time spent in God’s presence, the more crazy and out of control life becomes… because He is our sustainer and our strength. As much as oxygen and water is, literally the absence of the Lord brings darkness and eventually, death.

So we decided this past Saturday to take a break, to slow down, and most importantly… to spend the day with the Lord. It was awesome. We woke up and did our daily devotions, we had a slow-paced peaceful breakfast, we went to our favorite coffee shop (Jaho) and read and reflected on what God is doing and speaking into our lives, and then we took a long walk and de-briefed together. At the end of the day and even now (almost a week later) I feel more at peace than I have in a couple months. Life makes more sense and the big picture has come back into focus.

Praise God for this wonderful day and the many more to come!

Praise God for little encouragements

We picked up our second financial supporter this week!

We still have a long way to go, but it’s a start. It’s exciting and humbling at the same time to have people commit to give to our ministry, because it is 100% outside of our control. So, it is a real tangible expression of God’s love and goodness through another person. God works through people, people like you and people like me, how amazing and how humbling.

Praise God!

Religion By the Numbers

Statistics can’t show everything, but they can help present a picture of religious life in France, especially when compared to America.

A couple things to note:

• France has a greater percentage of self-professed Atheists than America has of Evangelical Christians.
• Conversely, America has proportionally more Atheists than France has Evangelical Christians.
• France’s Muslim population is proportionally twice as large as all other religions in America combined.
• A generous estimate for all practicing Christians in France is around 8% while in America over 78% claim to be Christians.

We could scrutinize the numbers and question what counts as practicing, but the reality is the percentage of Christians in America is immensely greater than in France. America certainly needs more sold out followers of Jesus, but doesn’t that mean that the French need is that much greater? It isn’t so much about trying to raise the French numbers as it is about looking at the pool of available Christian workers for each country. Americans have large numbers to pull from, the French don’t. Jesus said that the harvest was plentiful, but the workers are few. It is workers that are needed. The French need workers, because their harvest is plentiful but their workers are few.

What is Discipleship?

Before Ryan and I go to France there are a handful of things we want and need to accomplish first including (but not limited to); developing partners, paying off debt, learning how to rightly handle the Bible, finding mentors, and in turn discipling others. I keep lingering on this idea of discipleship. It is kind of a buzz word in the church today, partly because it means so much and partly because most people don't really know what it means. We know according to scripture that our main call as believers is to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18–20). But what is a disciple really and what does it mean to disciple someone?

Wikipedia says a disciple is "a learner." In Christianity, the disciples were the students of Jesus during his ministry. They wanted to be as much like Jesus as they could be. Discipleshiptools.org says: A Disciple is one who grows in Christ and in so doing models and teaches Christians the precepts of the Bible, prayer, doctrine, relationship, Christian living, service, and worship.

So if I am understanding this right it seems that the first command should also fulfill the second. As I strive to become more like Christ, I will model what it means "to be like Christ" to others, and intentionally with some (whom I disciple) as I attempt to help them become more like Christ too.

Hmm... I actually feel better about discipling someone now (that sounds rather self-serving doesn't it). I struggle sometimes because I want a detailed step by step guide of exactly what to do, but God and the Bible are better than that (I think I will read a book about Discipleship though, just in case). I will trust too that God will even use my rough spots to show what not to do, and I'm sure I will learn even more than those I disciple sometimes.

So here it goes... let the experiment begin!