Bowls: Better than Christmas?

We have been in continuous prayer for our teammates in Togo.  The Koonces and Crowsons have left Togo for the last time and will be arriving in Rwanda shortly.  I lift them up to you to ask that you pray for them.

Here in Tyler, we are continuing to undergo even more changes and final chapters.  We have been blessed by family and friends this holiday season.  We realize that each holiday that passes will be the last celebrated with this family for the next 2 years.  We were blessed by the fellowship of family at Thanksgiving and had a wonderful office party for Christmas and anxiously look forward to Christmas with family.  

I know it seems trivial but one other "last" that is approaching is Bowl season.  We love college football in our home.  We love to watch the Sooners and the Penn State Nittany Lions.  We are going to miss Bowl season.  I love the controversy that surrounds the BCS.  Arguing about the rankings is half the fun.  Well this year it was made even worse.  I have always sat back in my chair and watched the big bowls and wondered what it would be like to be there.  Well, I have a patient that starts on the defense of the Utah Utes.  For those who don't know, they are considered "the BSC busters" again.  They will be playing the previously #1 team in the nation, Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.  The family of my patient called today and offered me two free tickets to the Sugar Bowl in the family section of the stadium.  

I was in pain.  I had to say no.  I wanted to go so bad but at this time in our life we are not equipped to make such a trip.  In a joking, sort of way, I am figuring out what Jesus was asking when he asked us to give up our lives for him.  

Sounds silly but stuff like this is a major part of our lives now.  Satan seems to be placing the world at our feet over the last year.  He has shown us many great things and I feel that we have been shown these things to make us want more and to make us more aware of what we won't have when we get to Rwanda.

Satan temped Jesus with splendor in Luke 4:

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7So if you worship me, it will all be yours."

 8Jesus answered, "It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve him only."

I love what God has done for us and we again recommit our lives to him and freely give up all things to serve him only.

Please continue to pray for our family.  Pray that we will continue to have courage and not be blind to the things Satan is throwing at us to distract us from God's will.

And lasty;  BOOMER SOONERS!!!

Current Needs

   ·      Kids clothes

o   Girls (all clothes should be knee length or longer)

§  Dresses/skirts with adjustable waist band , if possible in sizes 8,10,12

§  Jeans with adjustable waist band, if possible, in sizes 8,10,12

§  Very modest blouses 8,10,12

§  Shirts (three quarter sleeve, longs sleeve, short sleeves)

§  Underwear 8,10,12

§  Socks white and dress

§  Shoes sizes 12,1,2,3,4

·      Dress

·      Tennis shoes

·      Sandals

§  Hair clips/bows

§  Light dress sweaters  sizes 8,10, 12

§  Rain coats/windbreakers

§  Pajamas sizes 8,10,12

 

o   Boys

§  Jeans size 5,6,7 (slim or adjustable weight)

§  Dockers type pants blue and khaki colored size 5,6,7,8 (slim or adjustable weight)

§  short sleeve and long sleeve dress shirts 5,6,7,8

§  short and long sleeve t-shirts 5,6,7,8

§  shoes toddler sizes 8,9,10,11,12 and boys sizes 1,2

·      dress sandals

·      dress shoes

·      tennis shoes

·      boots

§  socks

§  underwear sizes 5,6,7,8

§  light jackets sizes 5,6,7,8

·          DVDs

o   Family friendly movies

·          Music

o   Any music

§  Oldies

§  Contemporary Christian

§  Pre 90s rock

o   Sheet music for

§  piano

§  simple music for guitar

§  clarinet

§  simple music for violin

·           Books

o   Educational

o   Bible study

o   Leisure

§  Historical fiction

§  fiction

o   Children’s books

§  Educational

·      Biographies for young readers

·      Books for 5-7 year old boys

·      Books for girls age 8-12

·            Hygiene items

o   Tooth brushes

o   Tooth paste

o   Deodorant soap

o   Dove green

o   Razors

§  schick twin (green or blue)

§  Venus breeze cartridges

o   Shaving cream

o   Shampoo and conditioner for kids and adults

o    

·           Food Items  (these items need to be collected and packed in our container the first week of June 2009)

o    Holiday treats and items

o   Canned tomato paste

o   Rotel

o   Mac and cheese (dry cheese, no liquid cheese packs)

o   Peanut butter

o   Bulk size spices

o   Chips of all flavors

o   Dr. Pepper (no diet)

o   Candy bars of all kind

o   Dry food packets

§  Pasta sauces

§  Noodle packets

§  Mexican seasoning packs

§  Chili seasoning packs

 

·      Financial needs that we are praying for individuals or groups to donate

o   Container shipping costs $17,000

o   Container import tax in Rwanda $4000

o   Vehicle in Rwanda $32,000

o   Vehicle inport tax $10,000

o   Visas $400 per person

o   One year of school in Kigali Christian School $9600

o   Plane tickets for final travel to Rwanda $12,000

o   Generator $1300

o   Extras:

§  Solar panels for our home (plenty of power outages in Ruhengeri) $3200

Thanksgiving

Well, another "last" has come and gone.  It kind of felt that way even though it was not a true last but with the passing of this Thanksgiving we did realize we would not be with family next Thanksgiving.  It did have some emotion associated with it but I want to give credit to Kristin's family and say that rather than dwelling on this fact or complaining about it they were encouraging, peaceful and understanding.  I am thankful that they have realized the necessity of this mission.  I give thanks to the Lord for the Ford family and their continued love and prayers.

I did spend some time in reflection about the Thanksgiving to come.  We will find ourselves in the capital of Rwanda.  We will find ourselves with new family and I think we are both excited about the new relationships we will continue to build and nurture.  I am excited that we will be with the Koonce and Crowson families.  We look forward to sharing our hearts with them and we look forward to growing under God's guidance and nurturing.

Our planning has continued to vamp up a little as we winter arrives.  It has forced us to begin sorting out clothing for our children.  We have began the difficult task of planning for our children's clothing needs for the next 2 years.  They will no longer need winter clothes or hot summer clothing.  They will need two years of spring and fall clothing.  The weather in Rwanda is around 75-80 degrees all the time.  We realized that we are sorting their winter clothes for the last time and have already packed most of the summer clothing to give away.  

Each of these "lasts" continues to bring us closer to the reality of God's plan.  We are excited to begin this segment of our journey but we are also stressed by it.  Kristin and I have different ideas of what must be done first and what is the most important and as all married couples do, we take that out on each other.   Fortunately we have the love that God has granted us and we have a unified heart about this mission and God renews us with peace each day.  We have continued to pray together about this trip and we again ask that each of you remember to lift up our family and the work that we are undertaking.

Prayer needs this month:

Two families in our team are moving to Rwanda in the next 2 weeks.  The Koonce family and the Crowson family have said their goodbyes in Togo and are leaving this week.  Please pray for them.

We pray for safe travel for our family during the holidays and I pray that my family in Missouri will be as supportive as Kristin's was.  This will be our last Christmas for 2 years.

We are praying for our fund raising.  I have been blessed by two great workers in this area.  My partner at work, Sylvia, has undertaken the task of being our liaison to the other doctors in the clinic and has begun raising money in this area.  She has done an amazing job and so I ask that you pray for her and those who are giving.

We still await word from Preston Road church of Christ who is still considering a mission team to support.  We were told they would meet this month. 

We need prayers for planning.  We have many lists and they grow by the day.  Pray that we will not take the stress of this out on each other.

We do have continued financial needs and because our teammates are in the process of moving, our web site has not been updated to include our current needs list.  I will post that on this blog for now.

Thank you all for your prayers.  We are humbled to hear over and over again people say, "We are praying for you".   We are strengthened and encouraged by your love and the fact that we are not alone in this journey.

Blessings to all and Happy Thanksgiving.  Praise and Honor to the God of all.

9...

It is hard to explain the emotions we are experiencing. It is so hard to believe that when we finally let ourselves see what God was planning for us that the joy and excitement would be surrounded by other strange and sometimes painful emotions.

 

We are at 9 months and counting down.  

 

Work was painful last week and I was hit hard with some surprising emotions. I expected to have emotions of various sorts when telling my patients goodbye and I have experienced those in the few patients with whom I have shared this journey. But, as I sat in the Trinity Clinic board meeting and voted on who I wanted to replace me I began to feel quite anxious and almost depressed. I knew months ago that the day would come for me to resign from the board but I did not expect it to "hurt". That same day the executive medical director (my boss and my great spiritual mentor) came to me and said that the clinic was going to reorganize its administrative structure and that since I was leaving they had chosen someone to replace me and that my job was being reallocated.  Again, I had already planned to resign that position at the first of the year but the reality of it was difficult.  It is harder to have something taken from you that it is to give it up freely.

 

If that's not all, during our "trunk or treat" at church I ran into the Ries family (missionaries to Togo for last 10 years) who were there visiting mutual friends. I asked the boys if they were having a good time and Tracy Ries said "they're handling it pretty well for their first Halloween".  For just a second I was frozen because in that same second I realized that this was likely my kids last Halloween and they didn't even know it.

 

After praying about these and many other sudden realizations I was reminded of Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

 

I know there is much that we will miss and many more that our children will miss and we are guilty of holding on to things and forgetting that we have been chosen this work and we (Kristin and I) believe with all our hearts that God has chosen this work for us and our family and we will do as he asks and we will seek to serve him whole heartedly without regret.

 

Paul in his letter to the Philippians recounts all the great things he has to boast about.  How great his education was, how great his "job" or position was and then says, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."

 

Kristin and I feel blessed to have been called to Rwanda.  He has and will give us the strength that we need. We accept this without regret. Please continue to pray for us.

 

Brian

Fund Raising

Many of you have asked about our fund raising and other needs. We give great praise to God for his willingness and ability to provide.

We have been given our salary by our loving family at Glenwood and already know that with nothing else, we will serve in Rwanda.

 

We are still waiting to hear from individual donors and churches regarding our start-up fund. We need about $45,000-$50,000 for this and this amount includes our first year working fund. This fund will allow us to get to Rwanda and begin language training and allow us to begin being productive in the ministry set forth by our team arriving in Rwanda in Jan 2009.

 

This amount is larger than previously expected. After contacting the shipping company it appears that the global price of fuel has increased container shipping costs by almost 50%. We are hoping to find a single church family or a group of committed donors to join together and donate the 16,000 needed for our container shipping costs.

 

Beginning in 2010 we will need this fund to continue but it will be our work fund for the initiation of our ministry in Ruhengeri. We expect this amount to be around $35,000-$45,000 and continue as an ongoing expense.

 

We are praying for individual donors to begin giving regularly by January 2009 so that we can begin arranging for our container and small needs that are not in our large start up budget such as 220 volt transformers, immunizations, passports, etc.

 

We have moments were we are overwhelmed but as we see God lift up amazing people to come to our aid we consider ourselves loved and blessed.

 

Many of you have called or emailed to let us know that you are praying and supporting us. We pray for you constantly. Praise God for you and your faith.

Brian

Over Exposed

I was talking to a wonderful and precious friend from my past this week and the subject of blogging came up.  I mentioned that it was so hard to be a continuous blogger because you were never sure if your blog should be an "informative" tool or a diary.  If you have read mine you can see that it has been both.  I was thinking this week and writing in my diary (to masculinize it, Logbook) and I thought that I would share this thought and prayer request with you because I know that each of you has been faithful in praying for us and continually shows your faith in us by supporting us.

I have truly enjoyed the class and sermon series at church the last couple weeks.  The series on the parables of Jesus has continued to remind me of what Jesus was and is saying to us today.  

This weeks lesson was on Luke 16:19 and following.  The Rich Man and Lazarus.  

I love the book of Luke.  Besides the fact that it was written by a gentile, and a doctor at that, I love that Luke's focus is the gospel to the poor, the women and the gentiles.  All of which were despicable to the Jews.  I can almost see Luke sitting at his desk writing to this "Theophilus", also a gentile, almost saying to himself, "I cannot believe these Jews did not see this coming".  I cannot believe that they have turned their head in denial of not only Jesus the person but his teaching.  "My research is so conclusive, how can they not see it"?  (That's the doctor in him).

In Luke 16, after Lazarus and the rich man die the rich man is being tormented and asks "I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house... Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment."  This rich man knew Lazarus' name!  He was not a stranger.  The rich man walked by him every day and did not see him.  The poor were everywhere and I'm sure it made Jesus overwhelmed with frustration and sadness that the "Godly" people of that day did not even see them.

We have been having our Sunday night ministry at the Benevolence for over two years now and I confess that before we started this study the people who walked up and down the street with their old bike, shopping carts and 3 layers of clothes in the summer time (so no one will steal them) had no names to me and were invisible.  Now, I see them all.  I see them hiding in their little corners at the stores, malls, and the wooded clearings around town.  I praise God for opening my eyes.  I realize that I was not tuned in to God's view of the world.  Now I know their names.  (It is almost strange to hear your 5 year old, from the back seat of the van, say as we pass the corner at Brookshires, "Hey there's Mary".)  She's the one who hold the sign, will work for food.

My fear, and my point, is that I have been praying that God would not allow my eyes to be covered and my feelings to be callused when we move to Rwanda.  The fear of overexposure because of the mass of people in need is so great that I am afraid of becoming blind to God's plan for me and forgetting to see the forest because of the trees.

Please pray that not only me but Kristin and our children will see God's world through the eyes of Jesus and seek out every chance to serve.  I know it can and will be overwhelming at times but with the compassion and love of Christ we will prevail.  

Lord do not let any of your workers be blinded to the works you have prepared for us.

I want each of you to know that I lift up all those who pray for us and ask great blessings and peace on you.

10...

As a father of two little boys (who are awesome) it is common around our house to hear the Rocket Countdown.  You know, 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...BLASTOFF!!!  With a 3 year old it is more like 10...9...8...2...1...BWAST OFF!!!

Well this is were we are at on our journey to Rwanda.  We are now at 10 months and counting down. As you can imagine this means many more long nights and unfortunately a few stress "discussions" between me and my dearest wife.  Yes, we are human and we admit it.

The past month has been so amazing.  God has been so faithful to us and repeatedly shown us his great commitment to answering our prayers.

At the beginning of this month I was becoming a little stressed about our fund raising when an amazing thing happened.  A great man came to me and actually said, "I want to be in charge of your fund raising".  Now, I polled numerous missionaries and none of them have ever had such a thing happen.  God is amazing.  This has given me more peace than I could have imagined at this point in our journey.

After this the missions chair at Glenwood called and said that the missions team and mission elders had agreed that Glenwood would be our sponsoring church.  Within a month we had our entire mission salary committed by the mission committee, Elders and church body.

The same month we had our dear family from Hershey, PA call and invite us to give our mission presentation to the church body.  After 3 days there we felt like we had never left.  The church just took us in and loved us.  They have committed to helping us and we are now awaiting the decision from their budget team about that commitment.

It is not their faithful commitment to the Lord that impresses me because I see that all the time in them but it is the faith that these two bodies have placed in me that not only impresses me but humbles me.  

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

After all this, I was actually able to sit down at a table in Lindale with Marty Koonce and have breakfast.  It was unfortunate that he was here because he had to rush back for the funeral of a close family member.  In spite of this I was so blessed and my heart was filled up with joy and I had the joy of reliving the excitement that we experienced the day we sat in our home with the Koonces and made that monumental and faithful decision to move to Africa.  Praise God and God bless the Koonces, His great tool in this amazing and intricate plan.

Our prayer requests for this month are:

1. our children.  they seem to be adjusting but we are just getting into a busy part of this journey and they do drop hints (likely unintentional) of their thoughts on Rwanda.  They go back and forth between being excited and being sad.  

2.  We continue to seek support for our start up funds and future work funds.  please pray for the churches that are still "pondering" our request for funds.  Rt. 230 Church of Christ, Park Plaza Church of Christ, New Hope Church of Christ, Cinco Ranch Church of Christ and Preston Road Church of Christ.

3.  We want to lift up thanks and praise to God for Glenwood Church of Christ and Rt. 230 Church of Christ for their faith in us.

4.  Peace in our home while we begin to pack and plan for packing our container.

Thank you all so much for your love and faith.  Thank you and bless you.

Brian and Kristin