I think we’re about halfway through the semester now. It won’t be much longer before we come home for the summer; and it won’t be a whole lot longer either before we head overseas- a year and a half or two.
Earlier in the week, we finished up a section in class with a review problem- we used the same principles we had been, but on a larger amount of data. And this time, we weren’t just giving our write-up to our teacher. This time, we made a presentation and shared our findings with a group of people, which included some non-linguists. One of the big reasons I am taking this course is to be able to help explain the patterns in a tribal language to our co-workers. This analysis of a language won’t just be for me. It is just as much for the other people who will be teaching and conversing in that language. And I will have to be able to explain things to them. So we got a little practice with that this week.
And that was the beginning of the week. After we finished that on Wednesday, the field fair began. Wednesday, we had the representative from Asia-Pacific over for supper, and were able to pummel him with questions. I’m surprised he had time to eat anything. He actually is part of a team working with an isolated people group on an island in the Asia-Pacific area. So he was able to answer questions about where medical help in that region can be had, what some difficult things are that he’s faced being a missionary in such a place, what kind of schooling is available and many other questions.
Then, Thursday and Friday mornings, there were presentations about how missionaries can plug into God’s work in countries all over the world. There was a presentation on how people groups are being affected by technology and other things as they have more contact with outside civilization. We learned about some new challenges and opportunities facing missionaries as we seek to plant churches among people groups facing more outside pressures and influence than ever before. The world is changing, and God’s work in “missions” is being carried out in creative ways that we don’t usually think of as being typical “missions”. But God knows what He is doing.
We liked what we heard about Asia-Pacific both from the rep personally and in group settings. Please pray with us as we seriously consider making that our home within the next couple years. We know that God is working all over the world, using missionaries in every place He has them. We can see ourselves walking with God and being His servants in Asia-Pacific.
But in the middle all that, we had our meeting at the Lighthouse. I had been preparing to teach a lesson on Cain and Abel. I have found that the guys at the Lighthouse have come to a place in their lives where they realize that they can’t fix their lives on their own. Shouldn’t we all be in that place? So they are primed to hear Biblical teaching. I taught a group of five Lighthouse guys, two of whom are not yet believers, but still wanting to understand God’s Word. One of them was very surprised to learn that he was in Satan’s family, not God’s. They other one is struggling to understand that there is nothing he can do to make himself acceptable to God, as Abel understood. It is an amazing privilege to teach through the Bible to someone who is hungry to understand it. Please keep praying for these guys.
So as I sit at my desk this Saturday morning, I am excited about what God is doing both here and all over the world. Thank you for thinking of us and your prayer and interest in God’s work in our lives.
Praise:
-the chance to hear from missionaries representing God’s work in various countries worldwide
-Alisha ordered new glasses for Scout this week, though they didn’t take our insurance
-the chance to teach and see God’s work in the guys at the Lighthouse
-the prospect of being involved in God’s work here and overseas
Prayer:
-wisdom and perspective in choosing a country to serve (thinking of Asia-Pacific specifically)
-that the guys at the Lighthouse who don’t yet understand the Gospel will take God at His word
-that Scout’s eye will straighten out as she begins to use her new bifocal glasses.
-finances (we almost have enough to pay off our bill here!)