Lost in Translation

We're up in Minnesota for a round-robin missions conference. It's pretty interesting! Five churches go together for the conference, and each one hosts a missionary family. Then each missionary family rotates to each church, presenting their ministry to each of the congregations.

The other missionaries are to the fields of India, Yap (Micronesia), Venezuela, and Zambia. Wow, that's a diverse group of mission fields. The Zimmers to Yap have some incredible stories about living in the South Pacific. They've had people threaten them with machetes; he almost died from eating a root without preparing it correctly, and they almost got washed away by a typhoon. They don't have any language schools in Yap, and they also mentioned that the Yapese people often disagree on the "proper" way to say some things. It was neat to hear how excited they are to return to Yap to share God's love with the people.

What a blessing to see how God calls every one of us to serve Him somewhere. Whether that be Ames, Iowa, or Yap. May we grow in our faithfulness to serve wherever we are.

I've just completed the transfer from our desktop to our laptop. That may not sound like a big deal, but it's one of those things that hits you--we're going to be leaving the country! A former missionary told me to either journal or blog my experiences during this time of our lives--otherwise I'll never remember them.

So, Holly and I got our major physical exams done. It was different being hooked up to an EKG and going to the hospital for a chest x-ray. We started boxing some books up. I sometimes look at my shelves and lament my weakness for books.

We leave tomorrow for a round-robin missions conference in Minnesota. That should be fun, and it's our last scheduled time of sharing our "ministry" at churches during our pre-field ministry. It's been a blessed journey!

We just got back from a great missions conference in Council Bluffs, IA. We thoroughly enjoyed the people at Valley View Baptist Church and spending time with the other missionaries.

Our host couple was such a blessing to us! They made us feel at home (we got the run of the downstairs), and we had a number of really encouraging times of fellowship with them. I firmly believe that being a layperson is no less of a calling than being a missionary. Our host couple shared many ways in which they have used their jobs for God's glory, and how they have volunteered for community causes, which has opened doors for witness about Jesus Christ.

May every one of us faithfully serve Christ where we're at!

We also received official financial clearance today from ABWE, so I'm going to order our tickets to Costa Rica.

We're gearing up for a missions conference at Valley View Baptist Church in Council Bluffs, IA, which starts Wednesday night. I'm preaching on Wednesday night and Sunday morning from 2 Corinthians 4. That chapter has things in it that send chills down my spine. I'm going to preach a two-part series, entitled "Treasure in Earthen Vessels." The first sermon will emphasize the treasure of Christ, and the second one will highlight how we need to embrace our status as "earthen vessels" in order to give God all the glory in our lives and ministries.

The church is also taking us to the zoo in Omaha on Friday. That'll be cool!

Tonight I'll be joining "dorm devos" for one of the dorms at Faith Baptist Bible College. It'll bring back some good memories from my years in the dorm at Faith ('94-'98). I'm hoping that I can encourage the guys with some things that "I didn't learn in Bible college and seminary."

We've been "busy" lately with things that sometimes drive me crazy. A good type of busy is when you're preparing lessons and sermons, preaching and teaching, having lunch with a co-worker to share the gospel, etc.

But alas, I've been keeping many appointments for things that need to be done but aren't necessarily "rewarding." Like today I had an extensive physical exam. Earlier this week I was looking into the logistics of shipping our stuff to Colombia. You get the idea.

We were able to hear John Piper preach this last weekend in Minneapolis. We went to hear him on Saturday night and then shared Sunday with one of our supporting churches. I was struck by his intensity in the pulpit. I need to become more intense about what I say from the Bible because eternal destiny hangs in the balances.

Tuesday I spent the day at a workshop on Baptist distinctives by Colin Smith from Baptist Bible College. I may share more about that later, but it was very helpful. Why am I a Baptist? What makes Baptists distinct?

We just returned from helping with our international dinner at church. Ah yes, it brings back good memories of working with international students. Holly and I did the children's program for kids Kindergarten through 3rd grade. It went pretty well--we had eleven kids.

Our church's motto, "Reaching Ames to Reach the World," is being realized through our international ministry. How else can you gain access to the creme of the creme of students from around the globe? They are usually open to the gospel too. They know that the U.S. is "successful," and they wonder why. Many of them think that all Americans are Christians (If only that were true!), so they visit churches looking for what makes our country great. They hear about Jesus Christ, and some of them respond in faith to His offer of eternal life. They later return to their countries to spread that Good News around the world. Now that's exciting!