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It is official... I stopped into Keys Hotel and put my name on the dotted line for the Kilimanjaro Half Marathon and got my number! I found out some good news... Instead of 7:30a, the race actually starts at 7:00a! This should give me an extra ½ hour between race finish and church time. w00t!
Around 7 p.m. I was on the phone with Joas Kibaba talking about where we are in the building process for his parsonage on the property of Rehema Baptist Church, Lamadi. As you may have noticed from our last letter, we have been praying for some funds to come in so that we can move forward in the building process. As we were saying our goodbyes, I told Joas - "I am just waiting for an answer to prayer.", and then hung up with a chuckle. LAUGH?! Why should I LAUGH?
Anyways... at 9:30 p.m. an e-mail hit our inbox while Paige was doing some work on the PC. I was lying in the bed and could hear her going like... "Wow! Wow!" So I ask her, "Wow, what?" "Come here.", she says to me. WEELLL GLLOOORRRRYYYYY!!!!!! Someone is sending $1500 to help finish up the parsonage for Joas in Lamadi! That was a quick prayer turnaround. We are now praying that the Lord would send the last $500 for this project.
The Kilimanjaro Marathon takes place in just four days. As much as I wanted to give the full 26.2 miles a try, I have opted out of the long trot and decided to just go for the 1/2 marathon. My training was going well until December 17 when I pulled up lame with issues in my left knee and hamstring. Actually, I wondered if I was going to have to totally bow out of the March 1st run. I got back to training in mid-January and just couldn't get to the point where I knew I would be able to finish the full marathon in four hours.
A four hour finish was imperative as I will be preaching that morning after the run. So... In order to preach the Word I had to shorten the course. Yes, many life lessons can be learned through marathon training and running. This lesson... Keep your priorities straight!
I just watched a video that was posted online of an Academy Awards acceptance speech. There was a sense of jubilation in the crowd for the director of a film called Milk. During his speech, Dustin Lance Black assured the audience that the GLBT community will experience federal recognition for gay marriage. This hot button issue is at the forefront of legislation and stirs the emotions of many. All too often, terms like homophobe and bigot are mindlessly thrust upon any one who opposes the GLBT agenda or the recognition of Gay Marriage. My question is... If (When) Gay Marriage becomes legal, should there be any need or reason at all to restrict any type of matrimonial union?
Let's take an imaginary journey into a fairyland where there are no restrictions, whatsoever, to the marriage pact. I mean, won't it be wonderful when the time comes that a woman can marry a horse. (If homosexual marriages are acceptable, why not bestiality?) How pleasant and serene will be the ceremony and union between a man and his woolly sheep at the altar of matrimony. Oh yes, and when a 55 year old man is joined in holy matrimony with a 5 year old girl, how sweet. I must say that these current laws and marriage restrictions are quite cumbersome on society. Who has the right to refuse a woman who wants 3 husbands? or, better yet, a man with 5 wives? (The legalization of polygamy and pedo-unions will produce utopia, indeed.) Why shouldn't two 8 year olds be allowed to marry? Let's just completely throw off the seemingly ridiculous law of one adult woman and one adult man. I mean... who ever thought up such a silly, singular plan as that for marriage and procreation? Hmmm...
I would like to begin this entry by pointing out that I do believe clean air and green grass are much better than a poisoned atmosphere and parched ground. However, the global warming scare tactics and planetary salvation doctrines are a bit much for me to handle. Furthermore, the dogmas of global warming are being propogated by scientists who scoff at the idea that someday the Lord God Almighty will destroy the present heavens and earth with fire. May I remind you that these are the same scientists who reverently cling to the theory of evolution, in an attempt to squelch the God factor out of our universe.
Now... why do I suggest that Evolution + Global Warming = A Scientific Conundrum? Well, one of the major elements of the theory of evolution is ADAPTATION. The theory of adaptation was first presented, interestingly, by Jean-Baptiste Lamark. The idea is that living organisms change over time to adapt to their environment and changes therein. This element of the theory of evolution flies in the face of those who are preaching the fire and brimstone message of Global Warming! IF an evolutionist adheres to environmental adaptation, then what is the big problem with a change in the environment? Why don't they suggest that global warming may usher in a quantum leap whereby man evolves to a higher level of being? I do not see the harmony of science in these two irreconcilable concepts, which Paul called "oppositions of science so falsely called." (1 Tim. 6:20)
I will not tremble at the threats of Global Warming, nor will I bow to the beliefs of John the Baptist Lamark, rather I will continue to take stock in the preaching of John the Baptist Zechariah! Amen...
Matthew 3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
This is not a place where you want to owe people money. Sadly, one of our young men at church found this out the hard way. Before church started today, I got a phone call from Moses. I had a bit of trouble understanding him completely; but, got the fact that he would not be coming to church today because his hands had gotten cut by someone. He asked that we visit him after the services. After church, the family and I went to his Maasai homestead and got the full story... He had borrowed some money from a neighbor and the debt had gone delinquent. So, last night the lender's patience had worn out and he started hacking Moses' hands with a Maasai knife. Thankfully, the guy didn't kill him and Moses' was able to get stitched up at a local clinic. I read some Scripture to him about debts, and how a believer is to respond to his enemies from Romans 12 & 13; then, we had prayer.
I'm not going to be borrowing any money from any Maasai any time soon!
The church services went well today. We finished our series through the book of Philippians. From chapter 4 we re-learned the importance of being joyful, prayerful, and graceful. When we have joy... God's blessings are realized. When we pray... God's peace is present. When we give... God's rewards are assured. There were 15 in the adult service. Paige led the children's church meeting and also had 15 with her.
Thank you for your prayers and support! We would love to hear from you, so drop us a line if you have opportunity.
Today, I beat my Dad at Connect 4. It is amazing because he said that no one can beat him. When I beat him he swung back in his chair and said, "Do you know what you just did?" I didn't even notice it at first, but... I WON!! It was a fun night!
What would you do with an offering of 2 eggs?
The congregation of International Baptist Church - Kingereka is growing in the area of grace giving... So, thanks for praying. Two more individuals returned Faith Promise commitment cards which boosted our yearly promise to 212,100/= Shillings ($167). This new amount is more than DOUBLE what I had hoped we would see promised during this inaugural year of Grace Giving. Please pray that the folks would follow through with their vows.
Philippians 3 was our text this morning. We examined the believer's progressive growth towards Christlikeness. We encouraged one another to think like Christ, act like Christ, and look to Christ! These we will do if we utilize three agents God has given us: the Holy Bible, the Holy Church, and the Holy Spirit. Several came forward to pray during the invitation time. We praise the Lord for working in hearts.
So... What would you do with an offering of 2 eggs? Well... What we usually do with non-monetary offerings is place them in a church auction. As we dismissed from the services, I brought the BAPTIST EGGS before the people. Now, an egg usually sells for 200/= Tanzanian Shillings (16 cents), but... remember these are special eggs, these are BAPTIST EGGS!! Therefore, I started the bidding at 500/= (250/= for each of these special BAPTIST EGGS! - What a bargain!!) In the end the eggs went for 1200/=! PTL... These eggs brought one additional dollar into the offering, plus the people had a lot of fun bidding.
Well, it has been quite a while since you have heard from me. So long that I could not find my last entry! HA Greg does a great job of keeping up to date on the blog, and the kids enjoy giving some input as well. I prefer to leave things to the rest of the crew :)
So what has been going on around here???? Well, we have finished another nine weeks of school (3 down and one to go!) and grades are averaged (mostly). Everyone is doing great! I think that I have finally found the groove with balancing 4 kids' homeschool, because Christine has been doing very well the last month or so. A little later than I wanted to "get with it", but better late than never, I suppose!!
We took a "working" vacation to Mombasa. The kids were on a break, but Greg and I conquered a mound of Bible College materials to grade. Everything is done except for one class that I forgot to take the KEY. Smooth move, huh? I also have all the grades averaged and just lack getting everything entered onto their permanent records. We are having our very first graduation this year for LVBC. We are so excited!!! These guys have worked so hard.
Furlough is coming up in 14 weeks (from today, that is), but who's counting :) Greg has done a great job at getting some meetings scheduled. We are doing something a little different this time. The kids are going to go to school. We are excited for that too!!! I have been in contact with the school so that we can get all the preliminary stuff taken care of early. We are going to be mostly traveling as a family during the summer, so I won't have a lot of time to be running back and forth for that.
The weather has been HOT here! Praise the LORD the we have gotten some sprinkles here and there lately though. Saturday we got a real rain shower! We were so thrilled that Greg had his chair outside on the patio sitting in it. (He said he didn't have enough sense to get in out of the rain! HA) The rainy season is coming soon. I have enjoyed some cool mornings the last few days before the kids have stirred. Won't be long and I will be able to sit down for morning devotions with a cup of chai and a blanket :) (It is too hot for chai right now still.)
That's all for now...thanks for checking in. If you get a chance, drop us a line. We would love to hear from you!
This was our second Sunday to receive Faith Promise commitment cards. (I recently talked to one pastor who told me - "I never thought about the importance of churches on the 'mission field' giving missions offerings. It is encouraging to hear about that happening... They need to give, also.") Last week 3 cards were returned; today there were four more added. Last week, we announced a 2009 promise of 115,700/= ($90USD); today that commitment jumped to 196,700/= ($150 USD). We are praising the Lord for this "leap of faith" by our people! This is a very new concept of giving for our folks, and it will take some time for faith and action to formulate into consistent performance; but, these initial steps are very exciting.
In the morning worship service, we reached chapter 2 of the joyous journal that is Philippians. This book is very apropos for African churches, for the theme is how to have joy through suffering. Truly, this is a continent plagued with hurt and harrasment... What a blessing to provide the possibility of joyous hope through the Lord Jesus Christ!
While we were at Mombasa, we and the Schultzes rode the Wave Runners. First, my mom & dad and Abigail & Chris went. When I got on with Susie, we drove for a few minutes, then I asked Susie if I could drive. She said, "Yes.", so I took control and drove. When I started going faster, Susie yelled, "Joe, we are going to tip over!". So I slowed down, then went fast, slowed, fast, slow, faster. I had a lot of fun!
Not too big, I don't guess. Interesting to note... I am 37 on the 37th day of the Gregorian calendar (NS), which has replaced the Julian Calendar (OS) in most places around the world.
I loved having fun at the Kid's Club. I enjoyed getting in the swimming pool, instead of sitting around and eating. It was really, really fun there!
Last week, we went to Mombasa for a vacation. There was so much that we did that I will only tell you the most important things. (Come to think of it... There are only two extremely interesting things we did. Everything else was just the usual vacation stuff.) Anyway... We went to do some snorkeling on Thursday. We had been hoping to see some dolphins, but they weren't there. We had a good time, though. We snorkeled for, I don't know... maybe 45 minutes? It may have been less than that, but I had no way of telling. After that, we went to a sandbar about 1 kilometer from the shore, in the middle of the water. (It was low tide.) We saw an octopus, and Joe, Sus, and Chris held it. I had held one once before and have no desire to do it again! IT WAS AWESOME!!! I mean... the way you could see it change colors to blend in with any background was awesome. After that, we headed back to the shore.
The next thing we did (Friday) was ride on Wave Runners. Some people at the place we were staying had booked them, and my dad wasn't about to let such an opportunity go to waste! ;-) My mom & dad got on one for ten minutes, and we kids split five minutes each. Joe & Sus went first. When they got back, Chris & I got on, and I got to drive. I was definitely tense the first minute or so, but after that, I had sooo much fun! That ride was one of the coolest things I have ever done!
Well... That is all that can be told without me going on for days to write everything. Believe me... I have spared you many details. ;-)
A few days ago I went to Mombasa. We went with our friends, the Schultzes. When we got there it was HOT! A few days after we rode on the Wave Runners... IT WAS A BLAST!
Ahhh Yesss... Super Bowl XLIII! One of the greatest Super Bowls ever between the Steelers and the Cardinals. The first quarter was okay, 2 scores (FG + TD) by the Steelers. But, when you jump to 15 seconds left in the first half, when Kurt Warner throws and interception to James Harrison, who goes end zone to end zone, 100 yards... longest play in Super Bowl history... Well... that's AWESOME!
Going into the 3rd quarter Steelers led 17-7. The third quarter was all right. Things picked up in the 4th. Going into the last 1:00, the Steelers trailed 23-20. Then, the amazing happened... Big Ben Roethlisberger leads the Steelers down the field for the game winning score! It was a TD catch over three defenders by Santonio Holmes. AMAZING! AWESOME! OUTSTANDING!
Majaliwa taught Sunday School this morning as we enter the second month of the year. He is maturing as a believer and growing in his teaching abilities. Please pray that the Lord's hand would be upon him, and that he will remain steady in the service of the King.
It was a big day as we received faith promise commitment cards for the first time in this infant congregation. I was hoping that we would be able to see a yearly promise of at least 100,000/= Tanzanian Shillings, or $75-$80 U.S. (This amount would be a decent monthly wage for someone here.) It was a joy to be able to count the commitment cards and inform the people that our promise was 115,700/=!!! Amen. Please pray that our church members would grow in grace giving.