Happy New Year! Of school!

04 Mar 2013

Today was the first day of school for this school year for everyone but Allen.  Even Amy went since she just started teaching English at the Christian school at the church we attended before.  Most of the kids don't know any English at all.  Besides English, she has the opportunity to teach about life, the Christian walk, and geopolitical current events.  One question they asked was, "Are there any other countries that speak English besides the US and InternetLand?" (okay I'm paraphrasing a bit)  One student told Mia that she likes how Amy teaches.  She doesn't just write things on the board to copy, but she makes them talk and even sing, which they thought was hilarious.  

I did take a picture of Amy's first day of school, but her eyes were closed, so I've included one from a her first first day of school.

Last Day of Summer Vacation

03 Mar 2013

Today is the last day of summer vacation, so we decided to go go-karting.  For just under $1 you get a ticket, wait in line and then drive 3 laps around the course.  The karts have no seatbelts, but are so low they are about impossible to roll over.  Mia tested the rebound characteristics of the tire barriers and was unscathed.  I subscribe to the 'put the accelerator on the floor the entire time' strategy.  I lost my hat on the last lap, shortly after Ben took this picture.

At church tonight, the electricity went out.  We moved the pews outside, to take advantage of what little daylight was left.  Fortunately, the electricity came back on about half way through the service.  I thought, 'Christ Community Church in Omaha never has adventures like this!'

FACING LIFE'S STORMS

01 Mar 2013

 

FACING LIFE'S STORMS

Do you ever feel as though your life is being swamped by the waves of trouble, responsibility, disappointment? If so, listen to this reading from the Bible, And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves; but he was asleep.

This verse is found in Matthew 8:24. Jesus and his disciples were in a small boat on the Sea of Galilee, and as was not unusual for that little sea, a violent storm arose. The boat was being swamped by the waves, but Jesus was asleep. The disciples were terrified and woke Jesus up with the words, Lord, save us; we perish And he said unto them, Why are you fearful, 0 you of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds, and the sea; and there was a great calm.

The contrast between the frantic fear of the disciples and the calm repose of Jesus is obvious. Why the difference? Jesus had explicit faith in the Father while the disciples thought only of their own human resources. That made the difference.

And that is also what makes the difference today. Life gets rather hectic sometimes, doesn't it? It has its storms. We are afraid. We are sometimes sure we are about to perish. The inward storms of the heart, of the family, of our business, and of life in general sometimes seem destined to overwhelm us. But what do we do when these storms arise?

If we have our anchor firmly planted in the Father, we can remain calm through it all. As the storm raged, Jesus was asleep! It is difficult to imagine his total lack of fear. When he awoke, he first rebuked the disciples for their fear, and then rebuked the wind. What we need today is that inward peace that provides calm amidst outward turmoil. And that comes only by having our feet firmly planted on the rock our salvation, Jesus Christ. Christ was resting in the Father, and we can rest in Him.

David said in Psalms 4:8, I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for thou, Lord, only makes me dwell in safety. And in 25:12-13, What man is he that feareth the Lord? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease. In 37:37, Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace. Sin brings shame and fear. A bad conscience makes a coward. In Psalms 119:165, David said, Great peace have they which love thy law; and nothing shall offend them. Listen to Isaiah, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee Isaiah 26:3.

Just before Jesus returned to heaven he said, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid John 14:27. The world offers but cannot produce peace. The man with millions is still afraid of a depression. The man with a storm shelter is still afraid. But there is real inward peace and calmness to be found in unreserved trust in the Lord. Are you like Jesus who could sleep through the storms, or like the disciples who were terrified? In Romans 8:6, Paul said, To be spiritually minded is life and peace. One of the fruits of the spirit which comes into our heart and lives after we have been born again is love, joy, and peace. (Galatians 5:22). But it comes only after we have genuinely submitted our lives to God.

Goodbye Arequipa, Hello Australia

01 Mar 2013

We said goodbye to our friends in Arequipa. We had a little farewell with our university group and our pastor. On the morning of our flight, Hans and Martha from our mission prepared a special breakfast for the family. At the airport lots from our SIM mission family were there to say farewell. We're going to miss you - our Arequipa friends.

After more than 17 hours in the air and many more hours at the airport we've arrived in Australia. We travelled well and fortunately the kids slept well on the flight. At the airport we were met by David's parents, sister-in-law and her kids. It was lovely to see Amelia and Annabelle hug their cousins after being away for almost two years.

Qantas Flight

Our main reason for returning to Australia is the wedding of Christine's sister, Rosalind and her fiancé Adrian. They will marry very soon in Brisbane. We'll be back in Arequipa in 3 months.

Here are our kids experiencing a bit of Aussie culture...

Missionaries pushing their culture

26 Feb 2013

Missionaries are taught not to push their own culture on other cultures. Especially when teaching the Bible it's important to teach the eternal truth which speaks to all cultures, including our own. So while it's generally not right to push your own culture there may be exceptions. We think that one of them is Vegemite. For those who don't know, Vegemite is a popular Australian spread to put on bread. It's made from yeast extract and has a strong taste.

Watch us introduce some of our Peruvian student friends to Vegemite.

What time is club tomorrow?

24 Feb 2013

It is I think every Christian parent's dream to see their children not just walking in the Lord but serving Him as well.  Sarah has very eagerly taken on the role of children's Sunday School teacher in our tiny new church.  She prepares the lessons and prepares games and crafts by herself.  The kids love her and her flannel graph stories.  When we arrived at church tonight there were 5 kids sitting outside of a house across the street.  The pastor and I talked to them and invited them to come to see the flannel graph stories.  They came!  They had such a fun time with the stories and games that one of the boys asked as it was over, "What time is club tomorrow?"  "Sorry, you'll have to come back next Sunday!"

Good Sportsmanship

22 Feb 2013

Friday night is chess club night!   We usually get about 10 kids playing chess and another half dozen playing ping pong and other games.  Each week we have a 3-round tournament and the top three players get a small monetary prize (about $1 for first prize).  But this week we changed things.  Instead of those with the highest scores winning the prizes, those who exhibited the best sportsmanship took home the prizes!  1st place went to Chiquitín (which is translated, "Little One" but his real name is Carlos) for reminding his opponent to push the button on the chess clock after he moved and for not getting mad when another kid tried to trip him.  2nd place went to a kid for saying "Thank you," and third place went to another kid for losing graciously.  I've seen the kids do a lot of thinking during chess games, but I've never seen them look so pensive as tonight.

Is the Bible like Nostradamus?

22 Feb 2013

Meeting with a new Christian and friend named Luis to study the Bible has been really interesting. We've been going through a study book called "New Life in Christ" and looking specifically at who Jesus is. This week we looked at Isaiah 53 among other passages and Luis was really struck when I said that this book was written several hundred years before Jesus was born. It's amazing that so long before Jesus was born, Isaiah speaks clearly about a coming servant who will take the punishment that we deserve. Surprised at how this passage predicted the future, Luis asked if this was like Nostradamus. I didn't have much to say about Nostradamus but we did spend the next twenty minutes looking at different passages in the Old Testament which so accurately predicted the coming Messiah, Jesus. Luis is now really motivated to read the Old Testament too.

Pray for Luis, that he will continue to be amazed by God's word.

Birthday Month

20 Feb 2013

February is birthday month for all of the women in our household.  Yesterday was Mia's birthday.  After getting her ears pierced (the family rule is one has to wait until she is 12-years-old) in the morning, we had a discussion about whether Ben could get something pierced too, since he's over 14.  He was given permission to rebel by growing his hair long again.  Tattoos are right out.

In the afternoon, Mia went with Sarah and 5 other MKs to the mall to be 'mall rats'.  They went to the pet store and argued animatedly about what was the best way to cook dogs to the horrified stares of others.  We grabbed a bite at Chili's and then went home to watch GroundHog Day and ate birthday brownies and ice cream.  

It's France's turn this year...

19 Feb 2013

 

Here in our little country town - there is LIFE!!!

 

For more than 15 years, women from the Catholic, Reformed and Free Evangelical (that's us!) churches have been getting together to organize the local version of the Women's World Day of Prayer (that is now open to all, by the way.)

 

When I arrived as the new Pastor's wife, it was expected that I get involved. The first year was 2009 - Papua New Guinea. Quite close to home really! It was a nice, staid experience, but not necessarily my cup of tea. However, I was called up for the next year's organisation. The group was getting older and looking for younger women to take over. The several women that I took along with me to the meeting were all younger and very involved in the children's ministry in our church. We said that if they wanted younger participants, they would have to reach a younger age-group in order to pass on the richness of the idea of Christian unity and prayer along with the discovery of a different country each year.

 

The Catholic church was in the process of holding a Mission in the region; their version of evangelizing their own people to re-awaken believers and renew the church.

 

So our mixed group of women, including Catholic nuns involved in their mission, came up with idea of involving children in the WDP celebrations.

 

In practice, this meant organizing activities and an introduction to the World Day of Prayer and the featured country on the Wednesday afternoon preceeding the first Friday of March. Probably the only time I thanked God for the French education system of no Primary School on Wednesdays, and only the mornings for the Junior and Senior High Schools!

 

The kids came along for the afternoon, then we invited them to take part in the Friday evening celebration. Of course, this meant that the families would come with them. We held a traditional celebration in the afternoon for those who preferred it and who don't like to go out at night, then the family celebration in the evening. It worked really well - great attendances and a generally positive attitude to the different churches getting together. It's always held in our church, too, so we are better identified now.

 

To these celebrations, we added a participative Bible study in the morning to get the most out of the prescribed texts and a meal based on the recipes of the featured country.

 

This year is a little different. We held a meal and Bible study earlier, in order to recruit new people to help with the kids' section and the actual celebrations. Now we are finalizing our preparations for Wednes 27th Feb for the kids afternoon. Then we'll have the 2 celebrations in our church on Friday 1st March.

 

This is also an opportunity to invite kids from non-practising families, especially since the issue of migrants in France is a hot one now. How do Christians understand their rôle in welcoming/integrating foreigners? What does Jesus ask us to do? Compare what He says with the Old Testament rules stated in Leviticus 18 and 19. What is the definition of 'foreigner'? In French, the word for 'foreigner' is 'étranger' which means 'stranger' as well, so this year's celebration, written by the French committee, asks participants to define "who is a stranger to me?" In the kids' section we are going to help them to understand that anyone who is different to me could be considered as a stranger/foreigner, so Jesus is asking me to accept that person and to value his/her differences as if we were reaching out to Jesus Himself.

 

A precious lesson.

And a bit ironic that I'm involved in promoting a positive attitude to foreigners as I am one myself!!!

 

May His kingdom come ....

 

See the Aussie WDP web page : http://www.worlddayofprayeraustralia.org/world-day-of-prayer/2013-france

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