Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Parked for Awhile

I am so sorry we have not been able to get back to this blog sooner. We arrived home on Apr. 10th in the afternoon to a clean house thanks to my mother-in-law and a nifty housekeeper. We were able to attend the Good Friday service which I must say was the cup of cool water we needed. Our daughter Amy's in-laws also arrived which is always such a big blessing to us. They are strong, mature and wise believers that always give us rich fellowship. Paula is also a very talented artistic person and was a huge help with getting our display done for the following weekend.

I was asked to give a talk on missions to the Central District Women's retreat. It forced me to do some reflection and debriefing with the Lord as I struggled to know just what to say. I was very concerned that the message would not be diminished by the weakness of the messenger. I really felt the Lord answered prayers my prayers and the women were so receptive. Actually the retreat was perfect timing for me. I was running pretty much on empty and these serious, godly women in their 70's delivered a spiritual retreat that lifted all up to a higher plane of thinking concerning our bridegroom coming for us and what that means to us today.

Meanwhile, Alan came along to be introduced on Friday night along with our district superintendent and his wife. Then he had Saturday to just veg-out and do what he wanted. We were in Branson, MO, so not too bad though it was raining. Sunday afternoon we headed for a cabin we rented outside of Branson and slept! Then Monday had a wonderful time recapping what we have done the past 4 months, prayed for many things and headed off for the outlet malls. We even prayed about that. We were looking for shirts that are designed for humidity. We found that when we would wash our sweaty clothes while in places like India and Africa, the clothes would not be dry by morning so then you put on slightly damp shirts to begin another humid day. We were like kids finding the right toy, when we found these moisture-wicking shirts on clearance and on sale.

The rest of the week found us beginning to shape up what the next 3 months will look like. We must get busy at support raising and developing teaching with hand-outs to be ready for the first of June (in order to get it translated in time). Alan especially has a lot on his plate as he meets in Dallas with the Center of Church-Based training. They are bringing in people from all over the world to discuss important issues regarding the training of Pastors and leaders in places all over the globe. In August we will be going to Burundi and Kenya to be with pastors and their wives for a week in each place. Our teaching needs to be primarily of an oral approach as the education levels are limited for some and most of the women cannot read. It is an exciting thought to open an understanding of the scriptures to these called ones who are ministering to the body of Christ in their areas. Alan is especially on a time crunch to completely write his own "Basic Theology" course with hand-outs by the first of June. That way the materials can be translated in their own language. In Burundi we are on our own but in Kenya we are with a team. In both places I am the only American woman so I am praying for God to send me an assistant to go too. In the upcoming weeks I hope to enlist the help of our daughter Anne to post some pictures.

We also want to share about our trip to India as it impacted us in so many ways. It is truly a praise to our God that our health remained strong and our attitude positive despite many frustrations. We are learning more vividly that our God reigns and is not thwarted by anything despite the strongholds Satan has in many of the places we go. When you think of us please pray Ps. 18:28 "For it is you who light my lamp: the Lord my God lightens my darkness." In many ways we are in the dark as to what is the best way to reach these people, may the Lord bring to light what we should teach and how best to communicate the truth.

Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus,

Al and Edie

Thursday, April 9, 2009

House Calls

We have left Kolkata, in West Bengal India. The last night we were there we did house calls. The first home we visited was a family of believers. The man asked some practical questions that Alan answered for him from the scripture. They were such a sweet family. The second home was multi-family members of which the wife of the owner was the only believer. The son had slit his wrists recently and been in a hospital for 1month. He isn’t any better but had honest and hard questions to ask Alan. He did the best he could to answer them and then prayed passionately for him. His name is Michael. If you think of him pray for his salvation. Their other son died of a brain tumor.

We spent last night in Delhi and are headed this morning for Varanasi. It is a village with only 4 million people. We have to be discreet and careful since it is a strict Hindu area. We return here the next day and spend 2 days meeting with people here . On Friday the 10th we leave late at night and then arrive at 3:15pm on the 10th in Fort Dodge. Funny huh?

India is a difficult place to see. But what a light the Christians are here. They are really in contrast to their culture around them.

Thanks for listening and praying for us. We know your prayers are a sweet aroma to God on our behalf.

Love In Christ,

Al and Edie

Monday, April 6, 2009

Experiencing India

It is quite amazing to be here to say the least. So many people and mostly appear to be living in squalor. It is hard to imagine so many people infirmed, begging and washing themselves on the street corners from an old fashioned pump. We are in Bengal, which is communist-ruled, but the conditions are awful. Still Christ has compassion and so should we. His church is growing too despite all the bondage from Hinduism. It seems like hopelessness is all around. We leave here to go to a poorer and darker part of India tomorrow. This is Calcutta, which is considered to have more upper caste people. We are far from where William Carey started it all. I really wished we could have visited his residence.

I purchased fabric to make a sari but don’t know if I can have it done tomorrow or not.

We were out sightseeing last night and were by the river. A pile of garbage that people and birds were going through then several groups of people came to release idols in the river. Some were covered with colored dust. It was a sight to actually see people doing this bizarre thing. A train went by, old just like the movies and what a ride that would be. Not luxurious by any stretch of the imagination.

We are headed to do house visits (pastoral). You can’t imagine what it is like to be doing so many things without schedules or routine. In other words, it is always new situations we are having to quickly adapt to as best we can.

Our accommodations are comfortable. It is twin beds, but we figured out how to heat the water heater so will have a warm shower in the morning though the bathroom we don’t cool and it is very hot. It is also very humid. I actually had swelled ankles for the first time. I am drinking lots of water. The city traffic is just outside our window and is quite noisy. It quieted down though later and didn’t really get going until 6 am. I hope we can find a way to send this. The Cafe is closed today so will try tomorrow .

Love and miss you all,

Edie

Leaving Bangkok

We don’t have Internet access here so are going to try an Internet cafe down the street. Here it goes….

Hello Fellow Sojourners!

We finished out in Bangkok making new friends in ministry, and feeling like we learned a lot from our African brother who spoke on “Discipling the Nations” and the need for a mind transformed by the Word of God. Just as we in America tend to act in ways that are more “American” than Christian, other cultures do the same, only with more contrast, such as pagan practices of sprinkling salt on the ground around a house to keep the spirits away, as we heard one teacher in Africa was teaching. Unless people can see the difference of applying what God’s word says concerning who we worship, how we worship, how we are to think and live, etc., it is hindering to the change that can really be seen. We thought it interesting that we saw more visible signs of idol worship in the city of Bangkok than when we were there in January but then they were celebrating Christmas with trees , Christmas music etc.

We are now here in India. We are having plenty of interaction with nationals who are pastoring either full time or part time. The testimonies have been amazing. One member of our team from a church in Calif. said in the Middle East God is working through dreams and visions. Here it seems He is working through wonderful healings. The Hindu religion has been here from hundreds of years, encouraging worship of a lot gods. Many problems in families and the society are occurring because of that. People who come to Christ really know He is the true God, and that they have been rescued out of a harsh and oppressive religion. It isn’t the miracle that is important as much as it is the God who did it to show them He is good and just, and to worship Him is to obey Him. They are not looking to have all their problems solved because they see He doesn’t heal all the time but they know they need to just submit to His sovereign will, no matter what He chooses to do.

Alan and I both have enjoyed getting to know the congregation this morning. We had many opportunities to pray for different ones individually. That is a practice I wish we could incorporate more in our church fellowships. They love prayer and praising the Lord. Alan preached a powerful message about the man healed of his blindness but didn’t see who healed him. Eventually he was thrown out of the synagogue and when Jesus approached the man who now could see and told him who he was, the man fell down and worshipped Him. He now was given spiritual sight, but of course his problems didn’t go away---in fact he had new ones. Very culturally understandable here.

In the way of prayer requests for Alan and I , I ask for stamina. Good rest helps too. Also we ask that you join us in asking God to give us extraordinary ability to hear and understand what the Nationals are saying even if it is in English. Our hearing is not too sharp to begin with and we are finding it extremely hard to enter conversations or repeat names because we just can’t hear them clearly. So we ask you lift that up for us. We also would like the Lord to show us if he would have us to work here and what his will is in all of this. We need wisdom and the Spirit to prepare hearts for Alan’s presentation tomorrow regarding Church based training.

Thank you for your support and prayers,

Edie