Week of Prayer for International Missions

This year’s Week of Prayer for International Missions includes stories of missionaries, their partners and U.S. churches who are committed to being totally His.

Committed to God, first to love Him and then to love others, as Christ commands in Matthew 22:36–39. Doing whatever it takes and giving no less than their all.

Are we – all of us – up to the challenge to do what is required of us as believers in Christ?

Click on this link to see a daily guide for the week:

http://www.imb.org/main/lottie-moon/weekofprayer.asp?PageNavID=112

Lottie Moon Offering

This month I would like to share different ways on my blog about how you can be more involved in our work in Zambia.  This year’s theme is “Totally His … heart, hands, voice.” No less than all our heart, soul and mind is what’s required of us as believers. Missionaries commit their lives. Will we support them with our dollars?

Jesus says in Matthew 22:37-39, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself” (HCSB). As followers of Christ, we must give our all so people can know the love of Jesus. That’s what being totally His requires: pouring ourselves out completely to be His heart, hands and voice — individually, as a church, as Southern Baptists working cooperatively to reach all the nations. We are part of the task to fulfill the Great Commission. And although Southern Baptists have been praying, giving and going for more than 160 years, the task is far from finished.


If you are interested in giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering you can look at the sidebar of this blog  on the right and click on the icon and it will take you to the imb website where you can give online to this offering. 

Thanksgiving

It's not often that we get to be with family for Thanksgiving.  So happy to get to enjoy that this year!

 

 Psalm 69:30
I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.

 our family with Kevin's mom, dad, and sister

Justin enjoyed going hunting.

Millions Grope in Darkness

 

This past Sunday while we were in church we sang the hymn, "Set My Soul Afire."  I have heard and sung this song many times I'm sure but today these words just stood out to me: Millions grope in darkness....

Tears came to my eyes as we sang these words and I imagined what it was like to be in the complete darkness.  There have been many times in Zambia when the power goes out and we have to grope in darkness looking for a candle or a flashlight.  We feel our way along the walls and keep one hand out front so we don't run into something.  It is completely black!  You can not see anything!  But then when you light a match it dispells the darkness.  There are so many people all around us who are groping in darkness.  People are searching for something to make them feel content and fill a void in their lives such as: drugs, alcohol, sex, work, friends, new diets,etc.  But nothing will fill that void and make them feel content except Jesus.  

Think of your neighbors, the people you work beside each day, and others you bump in to through out your day.  Will you be a witness? Not just the kind of believer who hopes that people who you come in contact with will come up and ask, "How can I become a Christian?"  I don't know about you but that hasn't ever happened to me.  We need to start being more bold with our faith and not be so concerned with what people think of us. I am so glad that someone took the time to share with me how to know Christ.  Who are we sharing the Good News with?  Let's let our LIGHT SHINE so that the people groping in darkness around us can come into the light with us.  

"SET MY SOUL AFIRE"

SET MY SOUL AFIRE, LORD, FOR THY HOLY WORD,
BURN IT DEEP WITH-IN ME, LET THY VOICE BE HEARD;
MILLIONS GROPE IN DARKNESS, IN THIS DAY AND HOUR,
I WILL BE A WITNESS, FILL ME WITH THY POW'R

CHORUS:

SET MY SOUL AFIRE, LORD, SET MY SOUL AFIRE,
MAKE MY LIFE A WITNESS OF THY SAVING POW'R,
MILLIONS GROPE IN DARKNESS, WAITING FOR THY WORD,
SET MY SOUL AFIRE, LORD, SET MY SOUL AFIRE

SET MY SOUL AFIRE, LORD, FOR THE LOST IN SIN,
GIVE TO ME A PASSION AS I SEEK TO WIN;
HELP ME NOT TO FALTER, NEVER LET ME FAIL,
FILL ME WITH THY SPIRIT, LET THY WILL PREVAIL,
 
REPEAT CHORUS:

SET MY SOUL AFIRE, LORD, IN MY DAILY LIFE,
FOR TOO LONG I'VE WANDERED IN THIS DAY OF STRIFE;
NOTHING ELSE WILL MATTER, BUT TO LIVE FOR THEE,
I WILL BE A WITNESS, FOR CHRIST LIVES IN ME

Jesus, You are the Light of the world. And because You reside in our hearts we are a reflection of Your holy light. The world we live in is dark and growing even darker as Satan’s sinister and deceitful schemes are being played out.  Help us not to look the other way when darkness is spreading lest the darkness overshadow us in time.  Instead would You empower us through the light of Your Holy Spirit to shine in a wicked and decadent society. We come against the darkness by speaking against wickedness in all forms.  And, Lord, help us to be consistent not only in what we speak but the manner in which we live.  May the fruit of light be evident in all we do.  It is in Your name, Jesus, that we pray.  Amen.

Kevin's Korner

Hello friends, family and prayer supporters…
For some time now we have talked about the Zambezi cluster. We continue to live in Zambia, but my job has changed where I am now the CSL (Cluster Strategy Leader) for the Zambezi Cluster. I thought I would take some time to write and explain exactly what that is.
The Zambezi Cluster is made up of about 212 indigenous people groups with their own language, culture and customs. These peoples are primarily found in Angola, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, but some of them spill over into other neighboring countries including DRC, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. The cluster takes its name from the river that runs through these four main countries and ties them together both geographically and historically. The total population of these peoples is approximately 74,000,654 but they are dispersed in a land mass that is over 3,182,760 square kilometers in size (about 5 times the size of Texas) with a limited infrastructure. There is a wide spectrum of cul-tural and historical backgrounds with some people coming from a British Colonial perspective and others from a com-pletely different Portuguese colonial perspective (not to mention the few groups in DRC who have been influenced by Belgium). While all these tribes are Bantu peoples and share a similar affinity, they each present their own unique chal-lenges, which make a comprehensive strategy difficult at best.
My job as the CSL is to lead the 90 IMB missionaries who serve in all those countries and to make sure that we are get-ting the gospel to those 74 million people that make up our cluster. As you can imagine it is a pretty big task and in-volves a lot of supervision, administration, mentoring and travel. In addition, I am continually searching for new strate-gies, partners and means of getting the gospel to the people groups in our cluster that are still unreached and have no missionary. We still live in the heart of Zambia, but my vision has to extend to multiple countries, tribes and languages and I would covet your prayers as I engage in this work. Over the months to come I will take you on a tour of our cluster and familiarize you with what we do and who we serve. Stay tuned for next month’s installment.

World Hunger

There are almost 900 million hungrypeople in the world today. That’s about 1 in every 8 persons.

Last year, over 5 MILLION childhood deathsworldwide were attributed to hunger.

49 million Americans struggle with hunger, including 17 million children. That means 1 in 6 people do not get enough food to be healthy.

An estimated 35% of poor families in the U.S. are forced to choose between buying food and paying their rent or mortgage

Global Hunger Relief (formerly the World Hunger Fund) is the channel Southern Baptists use to meet hunger needs in North America and around the world. 100% of every gift you make meets hunger needs in North America and overseas. Your gift to Global Hunger Relief meets both crisis hunger needs and catalyzes change in conditions that cause hunger. Our goal is transformed lives ... for today, tomorrow, and forever. A full100% of your donation at worldhungerfund.com will be used to meet hunger needs.

This Sunday is the day that World Hunger will be emphasized in many churches.  Please prayerfully consider how much you should give to this fund.

Donate now at:  http://www.worldhungerfund.com

Kevin's Korner

Kevin has started writing a bit in our monthly newsletter so I thought I would include it on our blog also.  

Hope you enjoy!

A word about Giving:

Plain and simple, it takes money to further the cause of missions. Sometimes we thing it is unspiritual to talk about money, but money is what provides a salary which feeds our children, clothes them and helps them live in another culture far away from home. Money is what it takes to have health care, a house to live in, a vehicle to drive, materials for witnessing, and countless other necessities for doing ministry. When it comes to these necessities, Southern Baptists provide for their missionaries through two avenues; the Cooperative program and the Lottie Moon Christmas offering.

In churches people hear about those things, but I am not sure they understand them. They know their church gives to the CP, but they don’t realize that a percentage of that comes to the IMB, which provides for us. They don’t realize that the more they give to the CP, the more the IMB can do in the world. Even many don’t understand about the LMCO. This yearly offering provides about half of the support for the IMB, so in other words the Rodgers tribe depends on Southern Baptists to be faithful to give to this offering because it provides for about half of what we need. Yet, we are seeing giving to the CP in our SBC churches at an all time low. The LMCO remains about the same, but giving (overall) continues to decrease. So why am I writing all of this? Is it to complain about the lack of giving in our churches or the difficulties we are facing overseas? Not at all, I am instead writing to say two things…

1) Thank you for giving. Every time you give to your church, and every time you give to the LMCO you are giving to us. We are here to reach the lost in Africa for Jesus and you make it possible for us to do that. Even though giving overall is down, and the IMB is continually having to make cuts, we are thankful for the support we do receive and realize it is the Lord working through you. As the time for giving to Lottie Moon draws nigh, I would ask that you continue to be faithful and that you continue to give… and even challenge yourself and your church to give more than ever before. Without your giving to the CP and the LMCO we could not do our jobs, which means the gospel advance would be hindered and the Kingdom would suffer. Some people don’t realize this. I heard about a guy who said to an IMB missionary, “Well we do take up an offering for missions but we stopped giving it to the IMB and instead are giving it to these other groups that raise their own support. You see we know you get a salary, but they don’t so we feel sorry for them.” That is a true story… yet, the problem is this guy didn’t know that the very place we get our support was from that very offering that they had chosen to give to others. I don’t know if he thought we had some other channel of support or not, but without the cooperative program and the Lottie Moon offering, there is no plan B for those in the IMB. This leads me to the second thing I want to say,

2) The money is out there! A lot of people don’t realize this, but the problem is not the economic downturn or the failure of people to give. The problem is that people no longer give to us… Last year Southern Baptist churches took in a total of 12 billion dollars. They gave 1.3 billion of those dollars to missions at home and abroad. This is great, because it looks like we are giving over 10% to missions. However, the sad truth is that of that 1.3 billion dollars, only $250 million came to the IMB. Of course, not all that 1.3 billion should come to us because there is the SBC North American Mission Board and state and local missions endeavors in the towns where those churches live. But the real truth is that a lot of that money went to other non SBC organizations and individuals around the world. Meanwhile we fell about 50 million short of our budget last year, and we have had shortfalls for that last several years in a row.

What do we do when we don’t meet our budget? Well sometimes we sell property to make up the difference, which is a little like burning the furniture to keep the house warm. Sometimes we cut back on ministry… sometimes we send less people into the harvest fields. My point is not that churches and individuals aren’t giving, but for some reason they are not giving to us… they instead are giving to those who are constantly in the church asking for their support. I am not faulting them for asking, but since we are on the field, doing the job we are out of sight and often out of mind. What is the answer to all of this? I believe it is connection, which is part of why I am writing this. We are like that car you have that you love, depend on and trust… until a wheel starts squeaking and then you take it to the mechanic. Until then, you don’t even think about it, you just hop in and go. Well we at the IMB have been shy about squeaking because we are so grateful for all the years of faithful support. I think it is high time we started squeaking J I think we need to educate the folks who pray for us, love us, and trust us. We need to let them know what is happening in the world and what is happening in their church and how that affects us. We need to connect with you and let you see how you are an integral part of all we do and it is more than just giving… it is a partnership and we are proud to be your partners.

Celebrating 25 Years!

This past week on September 10th, Kevin and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary by going on a cruise in the Eastern Caribbean.  This was our first ever cruise!  We had a great time and I didn't get seasick which I was worried about.  However, at the end I did get the flu and had to be quarentined to our room for the last day.  Thankfully, we had done all of our excursions and seen all the shows we had wanted to see.  We had a blast and it was one of the best vacations ever!  Hope you enjoy the pictures...

 

In the Bahamas we got to spend time with some dolphins.

 

 We even got to kiss it!

 and hug it

 We were on the Oasis of the Seas with Royal Caribbean.  It is a huge ship with lots to do on it.

 Overlooking central park on the ship.

 Inside the ship on the promanade deck.

 more dolphin pictures

 sea turtle

 Seahorses

 This was a huge sting ray

 there were lots of characters on the ship

 our captain

 It was fun dressing up for meals!

 We loved our steward!  He did such a great job cleaning our room, answering our questions, and making our towels into animals!

 There were lots of shows on the ship which we enjoyed.  Unfortunately, we could not always take pictures.

 Isn't it massive!

 Our excursion in St. Thomas was to go out on this boat and go snorkeling.  It is called Sea Blaster because we got blasted by water going out to our site.  We had to wear our snorkel mask on the boat!!  

 While snorkeling we got to see sea turtles, sting rays, and many tropical fish.

 another view of the boat

 On our anniversary they brought us out a specail dessert and sang to us.

 In St. Marteen

 In St. Marteen we just went to the beach and enjoyed the day walking and swimming in the ocean.

 Kevin with Amy our Cruise Director.  She was a hoot!  

 This man won the belly flop competition!

 Another show we went to see.  We were amazed at how talented all the people were who were in the shows.

 These last two pictures are the people who were at our table all week  for dinner.  They were both such sweet couples and we enjoyed getting to know them.