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Tag: blessing

Words: The Gift to Give This Christmas

December 18, 2020Leave a comment

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Words

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“They are going to put Bo in jail.” The phone

“They are going to put Bo in jail.”

The phone call comes from my wife Leah around 6:45. “Bo pulled onto Entebbe Road after we thought the presidential convoy had finished going through, but it hadn’t. He was pulled over and now they want to impound the car. Can you come and get us?”

Bo (our son) and Leah had taken one of our staff girls to the doctor and were on their way back.

“They are going to put Bo in jail.”

The phone call comes from my wife Leah around 6:45. “Bo pulled onto Entebbe Road after we thought the presidential convoy had finished going through, but it hadn’t. He was pulled over and now they want to impound the car. Can you come and get us?”

Bo (our son) and Leah had taken one of our staff girls to the doctor and were on their way back. They just so happened to be on the same road at the same time that Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were traveling from the airport into town.

Typically, if a traffic cop in Uganda pulls you over, they either take your license or impound your car, or both, to ensure you will pay your traffic fine.

Once the fine is paid you can get your license and/or car back. I imagine this is what my wife means. I hop in our other car and head up the road to go and get them.

About 15 minutes later, I receive another call from Leah. Through tears, she says, “They are going to put Bo in jail.”

“What?”

She repeats, “They are going to put Bo in jail.”

I tell her I will be there soon, and start accelerating through the traffic.

I pull up to the police station, enter and see my wife seated in a chair in front of a desk, crying. Bo is surrounded by 4 or 5 police officers.

I start asking questions:

“What did my son do wrong?”

“Why do you need to detain him?”

“Isn’t this just a traffic violation?”

“Who is in charge?”

Today, we listen to Brent's story about when things overseas...go wrong.

http://www.goservelove.net/jail

I picked it up because I was feeling dry. The wel

I picked it up because I was feeling dry.

The well-thumbed copy of Bruchko seemed to call my name from my bookshelves. I slid it from the shelf, must creeping to my nose with the satisfying feeling of an old, delicious story.

I’ve found that a good missionary biography refreshes me, puts life back into my dry bones.

Life is like that, sucking you dry at times. Same thing each day. Good stuff, sure. But tiring.

(What breathes life into your dry days? Find out. Dry days do come.)

In my hands, the real-life tale of Bruchko came to life. It’s the story of a young Minnesotan, Bruce Olson, from a dry difficult home. Convinced God said “go”, Olson up and went”–not sure where or why.

And nothing went right.

Slowly, persistently, day after day he walked the trails Jesus drug him along in Caracas, Venezuela. Hungry, without friends, no money, living wherever he could, he kept going.

Olson was–is still, at 79–one of those tenaciously independent missionaries who didn’t plan ahead.

Interesting how God showed up.

Eventually, Olson started on the real jungle trails of the Yuko Indians. Men shooting arrows at him. Olson was ignored, struggling to find anything to do in a village he doesn’t understand, where he can’t communicate with anyone. He began learning their language.

Now to the Motilone Indians, the ones he really came to work with, the ones who really kill you, the ones not even the Yukos went near. (Spoiler: “Bruchko” is the Motilone version of Olson’s name.)

After all the pain, nasty diseases, and repeated feelings of failure–finally sweet days began to appear.

Slowly he was accepted, allowed to join the hunts. He learned their language and stumbled upon odd pieces of their culture that opened doors to understanding and even connecting.

God had hidden in the tribe’s collective memory stories that pointed to himself! Those stories left a haunting question, a missing piece that God wo https://www.goservelove.net/dry-days/

We get a distinct thrill over here in partnering w

We get a distinct thrill over here in partnering with you in a small way as you look in an overseas direction. Here are the posts that seemed to resonate with you--and represent some of the best posts of 2020.

May God empower your every next move for his honor and renown.

The Go. Serve. Love Team

[LINK BELOW!]

#2020 #bestposts #biographies #checklist #closeddoor #coronavirus #COVID #COVID19 #globalworker #infographic #Islam #missionary #missions #Muslims #overseas #podcasts #pray #preparation #prepare #racism #realities #trends #watchlist

https://www.goservelove.net/best-posts-of-2020/

Even though it was years ago, I remember it as cle

Even though it was years ago, I remember it as clearly as if it were today: the year our Christmas was a sickly yellow.

It had taken me a good while to adapt to life in Ghana. After many mornings of tears--morning is when the reality of life there would hit me--I adjusted well. Life was good: The evening Bible school was off to a good start, we were getting to know our neighbors, Gary was mentoring a couple of men and I was helping Nicole, French and married to a Ghanaian, grow in her new faith.

Our world came crashing down around us when Gary got very sick. Just a couple months before he’d had typhoid fever and malaria. What was happening?

When Gary turned yellow, I guessed his diagnosis.

But borders were closed. Supplies in the country were so low that he could not even get a blood test to tell what kind of hepatitis he had.

At the time none of our colleagues were in the city. We did live near the university and knew the dean of the medical school. He started making house calls “with empty hands,” for there was nothing he could do.

Those were dark days for us as Christmas approached.

We tried to make the best of it with our two small boys, while we watched “Papa” get thinner and thinner. The bile under his skin caused severe itching and relief only came with a scalding bath followed by a cold shower.

Then Gary would sit under the ceiling fan clad only in boxer shorts––any other clothes irritated his skin. But this routine wasn’t always possible with frequent power outages and lack of water.

And we were almost out of food. He needed some good nutrition.

I was not a coffee drinker, but needed to stay awake for some “alone time” in the evenings, so learned to drink it. I was exhausted but wanted to write letters back home to people who were praying for us.

Often sitting with only the light of an oil lamp, I’d hear God speak words of comfort and peace. (Read the res https://www.goservelove.net/a-yellow-christmas-dotsies-story/

Words are powerful. Words are powerful. With

Words

are

powerful.

Words

are

powerful.

With a click of the lock, the creak of the wooden door and the click of my brass mailbox…another card is ready to be picked up.

It doesn’t take long. Ten minutes at most. Each day this month I have committed to send one handwritten card to a different friend.

These aren’t your typical Christmas cards with signature and family picture. I want these cards to be filled with words that speak life to those I care about most.

With a click of the lock, the creak of the wooden door and the click of my brass mailbox…another card is ready to be picked up.

It doesn’t take long. Ten minutes at most. Each day this month I have committed to send one handwritten card to a different friend.

Instead of spending more on a gift that I wasn’t sure kids would like or that adults needed, our family choose to focus our attention on written words. Words of appreciation, affirmation, and blessing for each parent, aunt, uncle, and cousin.

My family split up the cards and worked on a few each evening after dinner. I didn’t want us to wait till the last minute or feel rushed.

Our notes included characteristics and qualities we were thankful for in the recipients–observation of talents and abilities that we saw in them, as well as reminders of who God says they are and the promises he has for them.

Ann Voskamp reminds me in Unwrapping the Greatest Gift,

"Look for the small, broken cracks in the world, in hearts, that would be easy to walk right by – and right there, slip in a little word that grows great courage. Miracles happen whenever we speak words that make souls stronger."

While you speak life-giving words here today, say a prayer for those you hope to befriend overseas.

Ask that God will prepare their hearts to receive his words of love. Pray for the ability to learn their language well so you can use new words to share the https://www.goservelove.net/words-the-gift-to-give-this-christmas/

Maybe you're in your own advent this year: Your ow

Maybe you're in your own advent this year: Your own waiting. Need some truth and a few verses to hang onto? We've got four to print. Free. (Link below.)

#2020 #advent #character #Christmas #faith #meditate #meditation #memorization #memorize #missionary #missions #overseas #patience #printable #trust #verses #wait #waiting

https://www.goservelove.net/advent/

I was leaning back in my chair at 6 AM in our spar

I was leaning back in my chair at 6 AM in our spare bedroom that doubled as an office. And I was telling God how dissatisfied I was with how things were going.

I was in seminary preparing for missions. It was my second year; I loved my classes. We had spent an awesome summer in New Zealand teaching at a Bible School.

But the finances for continuing weren’t there.

"Have I ever failed you?" God seemed to be asking...as everything felt wrong. As plans felt out of place.

Read more at the link below. #waiting #overseas #missions #missionary

https://www.goservelove.net/have-i-ever-failed-you/

After 30-plus years as a missionary, I have seen t

After 30-plus years as a missionary, I have seen the wide and wonderful diversity in the people God calls to be missionaries! And everyone has different expectations about how they will go overseas and what kind of mission agency or “sending structure” they will use.

Some folks are so determined to do things their way, there's no way they will survive working within a mission agency.

Others are totally committed to doing things as a team and won’t go without a sending agency and a team.

And there’s everything in between.

Grab resources to help you ask the right questions--and get the answers you need.

#cons #find #fit #help #match #mission #missionagency #missionary #missions #missionsagency #organization #overseas #pros #sendingagency #sendingorganization #trauma

https://www.goservelove.net/mission-agency/

Recently I described my new favorite morning routi

Recently I described my new favorite morning routine while I set the kids up for virtual schooling. Once things hit an even keel, I tackle last night's dishes and take in one of my fave missions podcasts.

Let’s face it: The world of missions is vast and full of diverse opinions and ideas. Thankfully, here's no singular method to show the world the Savior we love.

God is moving. The Holy Spirit is depositing faith and stirring up gifts, equipping the Body of Christ for the task at hand: Sharing the good news of Jesus with the 7,400 people groups who still have no access to Christian material, teaching, or people.

Missions podcasts educate and equip me for my unique role in the Great Commission--and help me keep pace with God's work around the globe. Grab my list of the 10 best.

#missionspodcasts #missions #podcast #listen #overseas #globalworker #missionary

https://www.goservelove.net/top-missions-podcasts-2020/

Editor's note: When you're far from home, celebrat

Editor's note: When you're far from home, celebrations can both intensify and improve that "fish out of water" feeling. Celebrating Thanksgiving overseas might make it feel more like home, richer in the new faces around the table.

(It can also make you feel a little homesick.)

And God associates himself with parties and feasting through all of Scripture. He establishes seven feasts for his people to celebrate and rest in throughout the year. In Deuteronomy 14:23Open in Logos Bible Software (if available), his people are told to eat their tithes of wine and grain before him. In Isaiah 25, he anticipates the feast and celebration he’ll prepare for his people.

And in Revelation, the Bible closes with his own wedding.

It’s safe to say celebrations are a big part of God’s heart. And we are his partyin’ people.

We’re happy to welcome back All Nations’ Peggy Spiers today as she reflects on celebrations that doubled as game-changers for some missionaries.

Jesus' first miracle was turning water into wine. #celebrate #celebration #Christian #missionary #missions #occasion #overseas #party #special

https://www.goservelove.net/celebration/

When God begins to pull your hearts in an overseas

When God begins to pull your hearts in an overseas direction, that potential decision is inevitably a life-shifting chapter of your kids' calling and story, too.

We're pulling this post from the vault to help you navigate. Check out the link below!

#children #discussion #goodbyes #grief #kids #longterm #missionary #missions #mourning #moving #overseas #parenting #practical #sad #talk #vision

https://www.goservelove.net/kids/

I awake. Soon, it's morning coffee, dishes from la

I awake. Soon, it's morning coffee, dishes from last night, and a missions podcast. It’s become my new routine as my kids settle into their virtual classes for the day.

In sharp contrast to what I see and experience in my stateside Christian community, most days the world I hear through these podcasts includes stories of persecution. Discipleship-making movements.

I long for the Holy Spirit to fan into flame a great awakening in the American church.

I want to see greater urgency for God’s global mission and a return to the commands of Jesus–a simple church that is reading, believing, experiencing, and obeying the God who created the universe.

Recently after a prayer time with others for the church in our city, I sat down and wrote the words in my heart. My prayer is that it would be an encouragement to you that it would resonate and speak to your inner person as well.

Care to join me? Click the link below.

#prayer #Church #awake #arise #missions

https://www.goservelove.net/awake/

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