Upcoming Service

Today I was in my office talking with John, a fellow co-laborer, in missions. He and I spoke about how amazing it is to see God's Kingdom expanding around the world. John is excited about something that gets overlooked by many in the church. He got me excited. I thought that if we could see things the way he does then many of the problems we face would go away. He wants others to see what he has seen. The slums of Kenya. Sounds incredible, kind of. The thought has little appeal to most of us because we don't see how God works. I mean, God does not work the way we do. He seems to work opposite to us. I think my couch at home is many times my main goal in life so that I can be comfortable. God does not want me to always be comfortable. John Piper tells of two women who were missionaries. They had served the church for years. They were older and had given the best years of their life to the missions field. One day they were driving a car when they had a terrible accident. They drove off a cliff. They both died. Many could not understand how to explain this tragedy. Piper on the other hand had a different perspective. Maybe he saw it the way God sees things, Piper said that he believed that the only real tragedy in life was a life not lived for the Lord. My friend John sees how amazing God works in the lives of those who serves. One of his great hopes is that he can be a catalyst for others to be blessed through service. Get involved in service and maybe we will see what he sees. The slums are waiting for you.

Prayers for Ghana

It all started in the Delta concourse. Our team of six guys checked through 13 pieces of equipment and luggage for our trip to Ghana. The overage for the luggage was significant. The person behind the counter told us that the cost would be $950, before I had a chance to gasp, she realized that I had booked all the tickets together under my name. I had just enough miles to qualify as silver medallion. She then informed that she would try to put all the luggage under my ticket. A moment of typing passed and she quickly informed that we would only need to pay for 1 extra piece of luggage. The cost went from $950 to $200, we saved $750 before we were even in the air. Then we landed only to find out that my visa was a little over a month expired. The man at the counter told me that I would need to fly back to the States. I could only think of one thing to say, "I can't". He looked at me startled. I told him that I needed be here because we were on a very important project to help children understand their faith. He paused and starred at me. He then said that he needed to figure out what to do. A few anxious moments passed and he told me to move through. He let me pass to the other side and then brought me passport. He smiled and told me to have a great trip. I started to think Prayer might be working. Encouraged by these amazing events, I knew that there was more to come. Customs in Ghana is one of the most regulated in all of Africa. We were bringing $6100 dollars worth of video and sound equipment into the country. The expected taxes on the equipment was $3000 dollars. I brought a letter of donation explaining our plans to give the equipment to the Ghanaian churches. The custom agent looked at the letter and said that we need more documentation from the churches. She asked me our plans. I told her what we were doing. Very similar to the man looking through my passport. She starred at me and paused, she then had the team take the equipment off of the carts and had agents confirm what we said. There was some tension. I knew we had not done anything wrong, but I was anxious to see what she was going to charge us for the taxes. She barked a few commands to the other customs workers in "EWE" an African language and then looked me straight in the eye and told me to have a good day and to pass through. We did not pay anything. I really started to believe in Prayer. Before, we ever did any work God was showing us the power of prayer. These were things that we could not take credit for. They were all him. Our trip was equally blessed. Your prayers made all the difference in the world. All of us were blessed because we have a church who truly believe in the power of prayer. 850 children in Ghana heard the gospel. They learned about the Bible and we saw God move. Thanks for the prayers.