Getting Close

It seems every time I write a title, I think of another meaning to the words!  When I typed "Getting Close" above, of course I meant that we are getting close to our departure date.  When I started to type though, another meaning popped into my head: getting close to the Lord.  We are at the end of the preparation time for this trip, and honestly, I don't feel very prepared!  I only know a few words in Russian, we don't have a very solid itinerary of activities, and I know I need to pray more.  Work has been as busy as ever (go figure!), there have been some cool things happening with the children's ministry at church, and there is always a list of things to do around here (and even some projects elsewhere).  

Basically, I've not been able to focus on this trip as much as I would have liked.  But you know what?  That's the story of my life.  I know I need to learn to say no more often, let some things go, and spend more "Mary" time at the feet of Jesus.  I had a wonderful conversation with a brother at the church last week, where he said something that struck me: "We all seem to be able to handle different levels of 'busyness'."  My life is busy, and this next little while will be no exception as we finish preparing for this trip.  However, I think the Lord created me this way, and even if I find myself down a side road He didn't necessarily intend, He always is willing to take me back as I turn around.  

In the midst of work this morning, I paused for a moment because I realized there was a number that kept popping up lately: 360.  I asked the Lord what it meant, and He led me to Hebrews 10:36 (36 x 10 = 360...I know, I'm a geek). I shared this with my wife, and she thought it meant that we are just going in circles! :)

For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: "For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him." --Hebrews 10:36-38

For yet a little while...  Lord us help us remember that all of this life is very temporary, and of all we do, only what's done for You will remain.  Help us to draw close, and stay close to You.

Things to Fall Back On

Walking with the Lord is hard.  When we purpose in our hearts to be obedient to the Lord, exactly where we are, doing what we do, there will be trouble.  I am fully convinced that if we take it to the next step, where we change what we are doing to allow more of the Lord in our lives, or serve Him in a greater capacity, there will be more trouble.  I am also fully convinced that if we endeavor to do all of that in a place we do not know, a place or situation that is unfamiliar to us, there will be even more trouble.  I am learning this: that each step that requires greater faith, will be met with even greater resistance.  Sometimes the resistance comes from within, as the result of my own flesh, and other times it comes from outside.  When I am blinded by the flash-bang grenades of the resistance (in whatever form), I need to have things to fall back on.  I need to be able to just close my eyes and say, "Lord, I know You are right here with me...and I trust You." 

So this morning, when I awoke, discouraged and doubting yet again, I needed to do just that.  The Lord met me in that place, and told me to read Jeremiah 31-33.  Most mornings I barely get through a chapter, but today I had to read three.  I know these chapters are speaking to Israel, but as gentile believers, we are grafted in, and therefore heirs of the promises.  For that I am thankful.  Here are a few of the words that spoke to me this morning:

Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. --Jer. 31:3

Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock.' For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he. --Jer. 31:10-11

Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all. --Jer. 31:12

Thus says the LORD: "Refrain your voice from weeping, And your eyes from tears; For your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD, And they shall come back from the land of the enemy. --Jer. 31:16

For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul. --Jer. 31:25

No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. --Jer. 31:34

Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.  --Jer. 32:8

Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You. --Jer. 32:17

You are great in counsel and mighty in work, for Your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. --Jer. 32:19

Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? --Jer. 32:27

They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. --Jer. 32:38-39

For thus says the LORD: "Just as I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them." --Jer. 32:42

 And I could go on and on...there's so much more, but that's enough for today.  I'll need more encouragement tomorrow too!

Visas...and the Plan

Monday we received our visas in the mail!  It's a very strange thing to have them in our hands...an invitation to come to another country half way around the world.  To us, it's permission to come and share the good news of Jesus Christ with people we've never met and will probably barely be able to communicate with! 

Yesterday we bought our plane tickets!  Now it's all there...dates are fixed and it's real!  Here's the plan:

We fly into Moscow, where we will be picked up by someone from CCCPM. We will stay with them (they have a lodge that can house large groups of missionaries) for four nights.  We then board a plane for Novosibirsk (the largest city in Siberia at 1.5 million people!).  There we will be picked up by Bill Shepherd, pastor of Calvary Chapel Novosibirsk.  We'll be staying at a hostel in Novosibirsk for two nights.  Then we'll board the Trans-Siberian Railroad with Pastor Bill (thankfully!), and begin a 30-hour train ride to another city further east in Siberia called Irkutsk (which is about 500,000 people!).  We'll stay four nights in a hostel there before boarding the train again for the return to Novosibirsk.  After two final nights in Novosibirsk, we fly back to Moscow for two more nights with CCCPM before boarding a plane for home.

Like I said earlier, it may be tough to communicate, but thankfully even that barrier can be overcome.  Regarding the brethren that we will meet (and hopefully encourage!):

Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. --Romans 15:5-7

Whoever we may meet, even if we cannot understand them, let us remember this:

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. --1 John 3:18

Please pray for us! 

Please Pray!

Praise the Lord!  Our visas have been approved, and are ready for pickup!  Thanks so much to our dear brother Tracy, for all the prayers, advice, and for helping out with the visas!


The final, biggest step is the plane tickets to get us to Moscow!  As of right now, that's the last major obstacle, and I know it is a small thing to the Lord.  Please pray that He would provide and make it clear when we are to buy the tickets: time is getting short!


Also, please pray for protection for my family.  We have all been getting hit pretty hard lately.  My son is in a cast with a broken right wrist (and yes, he is right-handed).  We found out yesterday he actually broke two bones instead of just one, and now may still be in a cast during our trip!  I have a bad knee from a fall a couple weeks ago, and I just learned I most likely won't be able to get an appointment with an orthopedic doc until after the trip (unless I want to pay extra money to go elsewhere).  There's more, both physical and spiritual things, but I'll spare you all the details...  Just suffice it to say, I'm pretty sure that our adversary does not want us to take this trip to Russia...


God is always faithful, however, and I need to give Him praise for what He is doing in our body here in Sioux Falls!  Every time we gather, we are encouraged by our brothers and sisters in the Lord.  We are praying, and seeing that He is doing a new thing here, stirring the hearts of His people to fulfill the Great Commission, both here in South Dakota and around the world.  Pray that many would be willing to go and make disciples, whether that means go down the hall to a children's classroom, next door to a neighbor, to another city, or somewhere on the other side of the world.

We recently received some encouragement from another new friend, Mary, who has spent some time in Russia: "Just take it one step at a time, keep flexible, and watch for what the Lord does with things you can't expect or prepare for."  Good advice for anyone endeavoring to walk by faith, not by sight! (See 2Cor. 5:7)  Please pray we will have the faith to do just that.  She also encouraged us with this:

"Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass."  --Psalm 37:5