dirrimstogo

First Night Thoughts of a Sleep Deprived Missionary

BIG day today! Today, after rousing the family from bed at 0330, I moved my family of eight from the comfort of the middle-class northern suburbs of metro Atlanta to San Cristobal, Guatemala to be missionaries for at least the next two years.

Tears, sadness, hurt, and a sense of isolation are what awaited us upon arrival. There’s no describing the way it feels apart from telling you to take a look at the face of young Brooks in this picture as he said good-bye to Ezra the day before we left. That conveys what is in our hearts at this time. We ache.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, reminded us of the truth of His glorious Gospel-we are sinners saved by the mercy of our sacrificed and resurrected Savior! We are here so that He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus as we fight to preach the Gospel not only to the people of Guatemala but to ourselves.

When I walked up to one of my sons who was looking out the window crying, the first words out of his mouth were, “I want to go home.” One of my daughters, in a controlled non-hyperbolic manner, stated to me that she too wanted to go home. My wife cried walking into the grocery store with me for the first time and said that she couldn’t believe this is real. One of my other sons stated the hardest thing about the day was saying good-bye to his Uncle Doug. Just thinking about their hurt and writing it down brings tears to my eyes. As their dad and husband I want to make all their pain go away. I want it to stoop.

However, as I tried to prepare the family over the previous months about the looming change and impending pain and sadness that I knew was coming, I saw regularly in the Word that Jesus points out the high cost of following Him. Being a follower of Jesus Christ is not like signing up for a dads verses kids football game where we all know the dads will utterly destroy the kids. Following Jesus requires cost, high cost-but it is coupled with huge reward-Jesus Christ Himself. So, hour by hour, conversation by conversation, I keep pointing myself and my family to the supreme value of knowing Jesus Christ above all things. I keep reminding them and myself that He is sovereignly in control over all things, that He is utterly good in all that He does, that His mercies are new every morning, and that all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purposes.

May He be lifted up as we strive to value Him more than we want want our pain or problems to cease. Your prayers along these lines would be greatly appreciated.

Clubhouse Guatemala Christmas Opportunity

I just wanted to share this with everyone, Mike Parker posted this on his FB page this evening:

“while traveling I have been planning an awesome opportunity for folks to come to Guatemala and give Christmas to a ton of kids. If you are interested in going please email me. We are looking at December 27-January 1 or 2nd. Your in country cost will only be $250 per person!!!! We are lowering the cost to help people get to Guatemala during Christmas. We will also be working with a agent to secure flights from Atlanta! This is first come first serve. Email me at mike@clubhouseguatemala.com. Keep in mind airfare in not included in the 250. If you book air now it is cheaper. We will be doing backpacks with a ton of kids!!”

We would love to see some of our Atlanta friends down there!!

Return to Guatemala

Looking forward to spending the week in Guatemala! I’m currently at the airport on my way there right now. This week we are hoping find a home to rent, I will be looking at the property that Clubhouse Guatemala owns upon which the camp will be built, and we will start defining our role within the ministry. Please pray that God’s favor would be upon us this week as we move closer to our Guatemalan move date. Thank you!

Sojourners and Exiles Part 2

“For through Him [Jesus Christ] we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.  So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.” — Eph 2:19-21

Last week I wrote about how the Apostle Peter says that we ARE strangers and aliens (exiles) based upon 1 Peter 2:11.  This week, I’m writing about the exact opposite based upon what the Apostle Paul has to say in Ephesians.  So, which is it?  Are we or are we not strangers and aliens (exiles)?

The answer is “Both.”And it all depends on your perspective as to which one is correct at the time. If we are talking about where are home truly is as followers of Christ in regards to our time here on earth, whether that be 25 years or over 90 years, we are strangers and exiles.  This is not our permanent home; in fact, as citizens of heaven we are considered foreigners while here.

However, if we are talking about our former life as sinners who were separated from our King then we are no longer strangers and aliens.  While we (all Christians) are strangers and sojourners here on earth (because this is  not our permanent home) Paul makes sure that we know where we are citizens – in God’s Kingdom (where we are now not strangers and aliens because of Christ’s finished work).  We are fellow citizens with all the saints of all time with Christ Jesus being the cornerstone of both the Kingdom and Temple that we are being built into.

Additionally, though, Paul shows us that we are not simply citizens of this great Kingdom but we are also members of the household of God Himself!  Because of the finished work of our brother, Christ Jesus, the firstborn of God’s creation, we are also considered family.  According to John MacArthur’s commentary on this passage:

“Heavenly citizenship and family membership are not distinct roles or positions but simply different views of the same reality, because every Kingdom citizen is a family member and every family member is a Kingdom citizen.”

So, regardless of where we physically abide while here on earth – even if it’s in the same house for 50 years — we are sojourners and exiles because this is not our permanent home. However, regardless of where we physically abide while here on earth we are no longer sojourners and aliens, in a spiritual sense, because we are now citizens of God’s Kingdom and members of His own family!  Praise God for that great truth!

3 New Passports, 12 Shots, and Blessings!

We started out Monday morning geared up and ready to do some leg work for the upcoming move.  Our younger three need to get passports and we all needed to get some sort of vaccination.

I’m sure many of you understand what it is like getting everyone rounded up to go do something that nobody really wants to go do. Can you say “herding cats”.  Once we got going we made our first stop with success and then the rest of the day was down hill.  We missed appointment times, forgot to make appointments, left paperwork at home and ended the day with everyone but 2 getting shots.

I have to admit that all the problems we had were due to my lack of planning.  My husband and children could have been very upset with me at every turn.  Yet God used them to show me grace.  I am always so grateful for my husband but especially during this adventure.  He kept reminding me that God was greater than our circumstances and this was just opportunity to prepare us for the upcoming challenges that we will be facing. Thankfully our success on the mission field is not dependent on my being able to plan and perform.  It is up to God and I just need to be a willing servant.

Later on in the week we received an anonymous card with a support gift from someone in our neighborhood.  What a surprise and blessing that was!  Just another reminder of what a great provider God is. I am looking forward to seeing how God is going to bring all the details of where, how, and when we will make it to the Dominican Republic.

Please pray for us as Pat and I, along with Gary and Judy, prepare to go down to the DR on Monday. It will be a scouting trip to visit various ministries, schools, check out housing and other details.  I plan on posting about our trip and all that we see.

Sojourners and Exiles Part 1

Sojourner (paroikous) literally means “alongside the house.” The word came to denote any person who lives in a country not his own and is therefore a foreigner. The term fits Christians who do not belong to this world’s system but live alongside those who do.” (The MacArthur NT Commentary on 1 Peter)

“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” — 1 Peter 2:11

As followers of Christ, even though Barb and I have lived in the US for over 40 years each, we are sojourners here. The US and Georgia is not where our home is at nor where are eternal citizenship is. As adopted sons and daughters of our King, God the Father, and as brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, our home is in heaven — as is our citizenship.

As part of the long and arduous process of adopting our son, Pablo, our Sovereign King is calling us to make some changes/sacrifices –  most notably by changing the people that we live alongside with.

It is with great joy, excitement, expectation, and trepidation that we are sojourning with our entire family to the Dominican Republic to live alongside a different people group as we serve our great King and Father. It is our hope that we can make Jesus more famous to those that we come alongside with and that many will grow in their love for and repentance towards Jesus because of this journey He has called us on!