Happy New Year Friends!
I hope you each had a wonderful holiday season, time with friends, family, and
focusing on all our Savior has done for us. The last two months have been quite a treat for me as I have had the chance to walk just a little in one of my heroes’ shoes. For years I have admired and studied as much as I can about Timothy, Paul’s own son in the faith. Not only did he get to travel with Paul for awhile and learn from him, but he travelled without Paul, travelling to and from different churches Paul or he and Paul had been to before, finding out how they were doing spiritually, finding comfort and rejoicing in the state of others and making connections between churches and between believers. Paul said of him that he has no man like-minded who would naturally care for their state, because all men seek their own. (Philippians 2) Timothy then of course went on to pastor and Paul still kept an eye on him, encouraging, edifying and exhorting him in his own ministries.
Over the last two months I have gotten the chance to travel to numerous churches and in each one found sort of connection to someone else I know, or to another church I love. I got to see people I hadn’t seen in years, seeing how they’ve grown, chosen to minister, and to continue allowing God to work in their lives. Between the holiday season as well as the passing of my grandfather I was able to make connections and spend time with friends and family I haven’t connected with in many, many years. To hear what God has been doing in their lives, to see the changes that might have been subtle over the years but are evident with the passing of time has been a joy and a comfort. I feel like I perhaps understand how Timothy felt.
Over the past two months I have had the opportunity to share the ministry in Peru with nine different churches between Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan and Tennessee. In one church I had the chance to talk and pray with two young women considering going into full time missions, and in another church I spent time with a wife and mother whose husband had just shared with her the burden God was placing on his heart for another country. While I don’t have permission to share names, please continue to pray for these women. In one church I was working in the junior church and a young lady raised her hand during the invitation indicating she wasn’t sure she was saved. Her parents had been in the back as they were the usual junior church teachers and that afternoon they got the chance to lead their daughter to Christ. Praise God!
God has allowed me to see His working in many ways these last two months; people saved and considering missions, a young man who years ago been a teen in the youth group I worked is now a youth pastor in Tennessee with wisdom that blew me away, and a passion for God and to serve Him in extended family I haven’t seen or spoken much with since I was a child. All of it has been such a joy.
Something else God allowed me to see over the next few months involved a surprise with my support. While I am not fully supported yet, I got to see a month where between regular monthly support, 2 love offerings and a few additional Christmas gifts the total made up exactly 100% of the support I need. I know it doesn’t mean everything is coming in already, but it was an encouragement to see and provided hope and the drive to keep going.
Please continue to pray as I visit and minister to other churches while raising support to head over to Peru. I hate focusing on the funds needed for the ministry in Peru while at churches, I would rather focus on ministering to the families in the churches, so please, partner with me through your prayers. Pray that I can be a blessing to these churches but also that the remaining funds will be raised quickly. Please also pray that I will be able to find and schedule other churches to fill in the remaining dates I have open this January – March. I greatly appreciate your prayers and never cease to take them for granted. Have a wonderful new year!