Video

Here is a video outlining what life is like at the Center for Intercultural Training.  Notice how dramatic it is… because that’s how we live life… dramatically.

 

Church (e.s.)

Between Amy and I, we’ve visited an uncountable number of  churches that span the denominational spectrum.  So it’s easy for us to look at a church name, figure out its worship “flavor” and decide whether it floats our boat.  Because the both of us have been members of churches for years, we almost forgot what it was like to go church shopping.  Part of our missionary training requires us to visit a church that is vastly different from the type of church we’re used to, research it, write about it, but most importantly, become part of the community.  So today, we went forth – shopping for churches.

It took us a couple of days and literally up to the last minute to decide where to go.  Something that I realized was that I rely heavily on websites.  Though a church doesn’t need to have a great website, I have found that the website is an important tool and can convey a lot to the wood-be shopper.  I like pictures.  Seeing a gallery full of photos capturing the joy and community of a church can sway me.  What is the church doing?  What are they teaching?  Let me know about the staff…  Oh, and what about the worship music?  

Out of all our research, we decided to go to Forest City Foursquare Church (I’ll let you figure what the Foursquare denomination believes – google it).  It had lively worship, friendly people, inter-racial couples (a bonus for us!), and great preaching.  The lady giving the message was so vibrant and the Holy Spirit was so evident in her preaching.  There was even a barbeque at the end.  The community was awesome.  We totally loved it.  We don’t have the luxury of actually shopping for a church.  Once we pick one, we’ve gotta stick to it because we only have a summer to get to know everyone.  By God’s good grace, the first one we visited is one we enjoyed.  So there you go… our first church shopping adventure.

Missionary Bootcamp (e.s.)

    

“So how long was your son tortured for again?”  

“It only took me a year to be fluent in Spanish.  Now that we’re headed to a new field I can’t wait to start learning Chinese.”  

“The hardest thing was having my sons say goodbye to their best friends…they were devastated.”  

Those were just a few memorable quotes from students and advisors today.  In between classroom instruction, bouts of laughter and moments of awe, we soaked in this overwhelming feeling of wonder… wonder that comes from knowing that there are disciples in this world called to sacrifice lives of comfort to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth.  Don’t get me wrong, when we were in Oceanside, I knew that we were proclaiming the Good News alongside “souled-out bondservants of Christ.”  However, there is something to be said when you encounter individuals who are built just like you.

It’s kind of like going to a family reunion.  Families from all over gather at a mutual meeting place (usually in the middle of nowhere) to meet up with relatives, most of whom you’ve never seen in your life.  But you greet each other with hugs and you hang out because you all have the same genes.  You have something in common and you know it the moment you say hello.  Everyone in our class has sold or given away their possessions, left everything and everyone they knew, and spent years fundraising and in formal training just to get to a point in their lives where they will experience vulnerability, weakness, poverty, and fear for the sake of the Gospel.  Not everyone is called to this life and this certainly is not the only way one can serve the Lord, but if it’s in your genes…you’ll never be at peace until you GO.

So what are we learning in this boot camp?  Well for one, the philosophy of our training is “Though He will work through you as a missionary, what He wants to do in you is of equal importance to Him.  God is concerned about the heart of the missionary just as much as what He will do through them.”  God calls missionaries to tasks that are impossible because it is He that does the work.  As we seek to grow in Jesus, we become  more  dependent  on  Him to do the work, rather than relying on our own power and abilities.  More than giving us great techniques on outreach and evangelism, we’re learning to draw closer to Christ.

Additionally, we’re learning about ourselves and how we interact with teams.  We are also learning how to handle conflicts among those who are a part of the church and the missionaries who are a part of the team.  We get to learn how to approach evangelism like Christ did – incarnationally.  And we also get all the other cool stuff like language acquisition, cultural training, and crisis control.  We’ll keep you updated on those subjects when we get to them.

Something we were reminded of today that I’ll pass on to you – we must preach the Gospel to ourselves everyday.  Grace and Peace to you all.

getting close

We are getting closer and closer to our dream each day!  Currently, we have about 98% of our support pledged.  We just registered for the training that is required of us.  We’ll be in North Carolina at the Center for Intercultural Training from the end of May until the beginning of August.  We are so thrilled to be confirming this step toward the field!

In the mean time, we are still praying for a God-filled answer to our insurance situation (all the options so far are very expensive, and we’ll be unemployed!).  We do trust that God will show Himself as Provider in a very real and tangible way.  The  more difficult the situation, the more profoundly can we praise and glorify His Name!

Baby Samson is growing, and we find out the sex next Tuesday (April 14).  We can’t wait!  All seems to be good in this area of our lives, thank the Lord.  Amy’s belly continues to grow!

sharing the Best thing

Last night I was moved by an amazing experience. Edwin and I were worshiping God with hundreds of college students at a missions conference at BIOLA (we went to represent World Team and got blessed in the process). As the drums and bass rattled the hollowish gym floor beneath my feet, and the vibrations made their way to my heart, I connected in a moment of joy to the reality that my baby is aware of the environment his mother is in. And since he can now hear what is going on out in the world he’ll soon inhabit, he was a part of that same worship experience that was quickening my heartbeat in the awe and joy of loving Jesus through song. It was an intimate time for me, of connecting in spirit with my Lord, raising one hand high, and connecting in flesh with my child, one hand on my growing belly.

There is no joy like knowing that I get to be a nurturer of this child’s faith. He is not mine, nor Edwin’s, but the Lord’s, and we are his stewards, the blessed parents of a living, breathing creation of God. During those moments of worship, I realized that I was in the beginning moments of what I have prayed so long for: to disciple and raise up a lover of Jesus Christ. I have long prayed for my children, that they would be men and women of God. Last night my child was a receiver of that heavenly flow of the Spirit’s movement. And I was a part of giving that to him…the first of many opportunities to share God’s love with my baby.

We’re havin’ a baby!

Our little one is due September 4, 2009!  We are so grateful for our new little blessing!  This changes no plans, so far, for heading to the Philippines as planned.  Please pray with us that the Lord will give us grace and favor to go when it is in His will!

transition

Although we’ve known for over a year that we were headed to the Philippines as missionaries, it is becoming more real as life-altering plans are being made.  We are in the last few months of life and employment and ministry in Oceanside, which means if all goes according to plan, we are only a year away from being on the field!

It seems that we have been in constant transition, and now things are just speeding up.  I (Amy) ended my life as a student in June, graduating from the Haggard School of Theology at Azusa Pacific University with a Masters in Religion.  Except for a year after college, I have always been a student.  It has been a strange and sometimes frustrating adjustment.  I love education.  Edwin finished his MA in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary in December.  I warned him that his long-lived life-as-a-student would be a perhaps difficult adjustment.  I was right.  He now fills the time he used to use writing papers with ordination study.  He hopes to be ordained this spring.

Another thing in transition is Frontline Ministry (Edwin’s child).  After a solid year of praying for where the ministry will go, we believe the Lord has answered our prayers in providing a team of Frontline leaders to carry the baton of serving the Oceanside community.  We are leaving behind a ministry birthed from Edwin’s passion to discover what God will make us passionate about in the Philippines.  I personally look forward to discovering that together.

While I look forward with excitement all of the things that will happen this year to make our move to the mission field possible, I also anticipate prayerfully the times of trial.  We will be living out of our suitcases from May until December.  Even that is a rough guess.  We are praying that our “planned departure date” will fit closely with reality.

All this reminds me of the passage in James that says not to plan too far ahead.  Lord, we submit these plans to You, knowing that You have called us and You will make the way.  Please provide the prayer and financial support to make this mission possible.  You clothe the lilies, and we trust You to clothe us.

hand of God

The other night, while running west along a dirt trail, the sun setting looked like the hand of God reaching out to bless the world.  The palm rested on the horizon as the fuscia, orange, and purple fingers reached across the sky.  It was just what I needed after a heavy spirit of late.  Since then, the hand of God has settled onto my heart, and I am at peace.

update

Mom and Dad came out for my birthday!  It was a great week.  We toured the USS Midway and heard Edwin’s stories of being on ship.  A couple of days later we went to Laguna Beach and saw some Dr. Seuss originals in an art gallery there.  Edwin gave me a surprise party…my first!  And Mom and Dad were there for it!

We are now in the middle of Edwin’s last quarter of seminary!  He’ll graduate in December!  And now that it’s mid-October, we’re trying to organize events for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  It will be here before we know it!

a momma’s prayer

Father,

You know my broken heart.  You made my heart, just like you made the heart of my little baby.  My little baby whose heartbeat I saw.  My little baby who is now in Your arms.

And you know the grief I have over the dream ending.  I trust for future dreams, but am so sad for the end of this one.

We were going to have an April baby.  Or perhaps late March.  Our family and friends were all so excited for us.  We were going to take Baby Samson to see family in June and July 2009, and then to missionary training in the fall, and finally to the Philippines in early 2010.  We would have taken him or her to Disneyland before we left California.  And the beach.  We had a name.

God, I trust You.  I know that someday we’ll have a baby on this side of heaven who we’ll know and name and teach and love.  I know Your love is all our baby needs now, but if it’s possible can You tell our child we love him or her?  Could You tell my son or daughter that this mother can’t wait to see him/her and that I love him/her so much?

Oh Lord, I am trying not to be anxious about the future.  A terrible fear of min has now come true, but now I must trust You for whenever You bring us another child.

It all seemed so perfect!  How our baby was conceived was a constant reminder that You are the one in control of creation.  You knit my baby together, You started the heartbeat, and You took my baby Home.  This was always Your baby.

Thank You that we know we can get pregnant.  Thank You for the time we had to know there was a baby created by You through the two of us uniting.  Thank you for loving us through the short pregnancy and now into the time of grief and loss.

Increase my faith, Lord, I pray.  Grow my confidence in Your good will and Your omniscient way.  Increase my joy in Your Name and peace in my spirit.  Please make me look more like You, so when I am a mother I will be a godly one, wise in the things of my Lord and calm and understanding through the storms of living.

You, oh Lord, know what is good.
And You, oh Lord, are my God,
the God, forever.

~a mommy