NTM

  The past 3 months have been a stretching but great 3 months. Learning how to become parents, learning to trust God for things that are out of our hands, and just learning to adjust to this whole new aspect of our life that envolves relationships and presentations.

  Prasie God He has provided some partners that want to join our ministry and help further the spread of the Gospel. As of rite now we are about 30% and trusting that God will provide the remaining amount needed to go to Indonesia in January.

  We covet your prayers and encouragement and are so thankful for your intrest in what God is doing in us and with us.

Please pray as we try and make plans to speak in churches and just share with the body what the Lord is doing in our lives. What He has challenged us to do with our lives, and what is going on around the world in missions.

Please pray that the Lord would calm our sprits and give us peace as speaking in front of a church is not the most comfortable thing to do.Thanks so much

  We are back in missouri and back to classes and things are great. Last week we went back to the nursing home for the first time since we left for summer and we saddened by some news. 3 of our buddies had passed away over the summer. We knew leaving for the summer that there was a good chance some would not be there when we got back, but it still was hard hearing that they were gone.

  We go to the nursing home every week for a few hours and do crafts and just hang out. Please pray that we would seek oppurtunities harder to share the Gospel as most of the residents have a knowledge of God and Jesus but have not made a decision to put their trust and faith in our Savior.

 Please pray for the residents at Windsor Estates.

Thats rite lady’s and gents, we are expecting our first child. Briana’s due date is January 20th. She is doing good and praise the Lord she has been feeling well.

Praise the Lord for this blessing He has allowed us to take part of. (Being parents)Praise the Lord for a healthy baby thus far.

I hear it said so often when talking about going to the mission field, "Thats so great your doing that, I could never sacrifice everything and do that." My question with this is, "is missions really a sacrifice?"

In Mark 10:28-30 we see an interesting thought brought before Christ by Peter. Peter states in verse 28, "we have given up everything to follow you" shortly after Christ had just told a rich young man in verse 21 to "go sell everything you have…and then follow me." It’s a clever question in statement form.

At first glance you may think it is a selfish question or one not worth being asked. But i think if we think about it, we’ve all wondered this same question in some form or another. The question underneath Peter’s statement is simply… "We’ve given up everything to follow you Lord, now what will we get out of it.?" We all want to know that our life is counting for something worth while don’t we? I do and would dare to say that deep down inside, you do to!

When a man reaches old age, he wants to be able to look back on his life and know that it counted for something. I think that this was the same desire that could be found in Peter underneath this question. He simply wanted to know would it be worth it all? Even more interesting than Peter’s question itself is the reply that Jesus gave to him. Note that Jesus never rebukes Peter for his question, he simply answers it by saying in verses 29-30, "...I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mothers or fathers or children or property for my sake and the Gospels sake will receive now in return a hundred times over… and in the world to come, eternal life." Jesus says to Peter that because he lived for "the Christ and the Gospels sake," he would get back 100 times what he left behind in this life, plus eternal life to come. Not only would he end up with way more than he ever left behind, he would have the joy of knowing that his life had counted for an eternal purpose that outlasts life itself.!

Does this sound like a sacrifice? to get back 100 times what you left behind and to know that your life is counting for all eternity.!?!

David Livingstone said, "People talk of the sacrifice i have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice which brings it’s own blest reward in healthful activity, the conscienceness of doing good, peace of mind and a bright hope of a glorious destiny afterwards? Away with the word sacrifice in such a view and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice! Say rather that it is a privilege! … I never made a sacrifice."

Not only does Jesus mention living for "Christ and the Gospels sake" in Mark 10, he also mentions in chapter 8, "if any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your own selfish ambitions, take up your cross and follow me, for whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses himself "for MY sake and for the Gospels sake" will save it. -

So in light of these passages we can conclude that living "for Christ and the Gospel’s sake," is

NO SACRIFICE.

But living "for Christ and the gospels sake," is our ultimate goal in life, not Missions…

“Show me the right path, O Lord;?point out the road for me to follow.? Lead me by your truth and teach me,?for you are the God who saves me.?All day long I put my hope in you.” Psalms 25:4-5 "’

"Not called!’ did you say??’Not heard the call,’ I think you should say.?Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help.

"Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father’s house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face — whose mercy you have professed to obey — and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world."

– William Booth

I was once told that missions is a such a sacrifice, and that it was only for the people who were specifically “called” to the mission field. Well I am now more than ever realizing how missions is no sacrifice but truly a “privilege.”

Now i know you may be thinking, “easy for you to say, your not on overseas yet.” True, but even by us stepping out in faith and taking the “less traveled path” into this thing called “missions,” we have been overwhelmed at what God does for us and who and what He truly is.

God desires a intimate relationship with His children so dearly and it’s not that He’s lonely and needs some company, but that “He is in LOVE with us” and just wants us to know that, and realize who is He is.

We are in route to go over seas and go into a remote location and live among people that us Americans would consider not worth going to or think they have no intelligence at all. But these tribal people; are the same people that Jesus Christ had in mind when He left His Heavenly position and became a mere human and died the death of a sinner for.

And hearing stories of different “tribes” that are coming to a saving knowledge of Christ and the sincerity in their hearts when they say, “Thank you Jesus for what you did.” Or hearing stories of these tribal people rite after salvation they ask the missionary there, “When can we go and tell the other tribes?”

Why is it that these remote tribal people; can understand better than us “civilized” “intelligent” Americans that the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Word of God are so important that they “have to go and tell everyone else in the jungle.”

They understand that this message is so important that they will hike days, not have any food or drink and that they will put aside the fact they have been warring with other tribes for centuries, and want to go and speak the name of Christ.

I am humbled at these stories of souls that have been controlled by the dark lies of satan for centuries have come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and have entered into His Kingdom and the Passion they now have to love and serve the “TRUE God.”

Being used by our Gracious Creator to do His work and to be able to witness these live changing testimonies is no sacrifice, but a PRIVILEGE. And am ever reminded that God does not need me! He is Sovereign and His work will be done with or with out me and i (WE) are HONORED that He allows us to serve Him and to call Him Abba Father.