Missions

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Waking up to World Missions

January 8, 2009 in Ministry, Missions by Dave | 4 comments

wakeupOne of my favorite Christmas gifts was one I wasn’t even wishing for, a set of world-shaped coffee mugs. My mother-in-law had one of these in a cabinet for several years, and I always tried to get my hands on it when breakfast time rolled around. It just seemed appropriate, me being a world missionary and all. She picked up on the hint and bought me an entire set this year.

Of course, I’m not the only one waking up to world missions in this new year. Several students who attended the World Missions Summit have also woken up to their responsibility to be a part of the great commission. Over 4000 attended the conference with 845 commitments to “give a year and pray about a lifetime” made at the event, a number that is sure to rise over the coming days.

064We were blessed to link up with several of these students as we hosted four “Meal with a Missionary” events throughout the week. We had a chance to share our call, while we affirmed each participant in what the Lord was doing in their lives. We wish them well as they follow God’s direction.

How about you? How are you waking up this year to the Great Commission? Drop me a comment and let’s talk about it.

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Double Take

January 1, 2009 in Misc, Missions by Dave | 2 comments

doubletakelead.jpgWe’ve made it to Cincinnati where an estimated 6,000 have gathered to respond to the challenge to “give a year and pray about a lifetime.” Of course, with this event being sponsored by Chi Alpha, my brother twin brother, Mike, is also here, having brought his Chi Alpha team from American University where he serves as a campus pastor. This has made for an interesting mix of “worlds” where several, knowing either Mike or I but not the both of us, have found themselves greeting a complete stranger when they were expecting to talk with an old friend. As the interactions became more frequent, I decided to catalog the encounters and put up an album of my new friends. Click here , or on the picture of Mike and I to launch the album.

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New Missionary: What advice would I give?

December 29, 2008 in Missions by Dave | 2 comments

cross-culturalservanthood-2.jpgI should be in the car as this post is released. We’re on our way to the World Missions Summit 2, a gathering of Chi Alpha college students who are being challenged to give a year to missions and pray about a lifetime. With this possible influx of new missionaries it just so happens that, serendipitously, Jim Cottrill, a fellow Mexico Missionary at Missionary-Blogs.com is asking us to give our best advice to up and coming missionaries. So in anticipation of the event, which begins the 30th I’ll weigh in with what I feel to be the best advice that I have received as a missionary: “Attempt to be a cross-cultural servant.”

We who come from developed countries have a wealth of knowledge and expertise to share with those who have been less fortunate. We have access to the best information, the most knowledgeable scholars and the latest in high technology gadgets. Still, we find that in many situations we fail to make a significant impact in areas where we feel that our advantages could most readily be put into service. Furthermore, in many parts of the world, those of us who call ourselves Americans are more readily cursed than we are welcomed. Why is that?

Some could say it is a case of sour grapes, that other countries are frustrated that Americans have received so much while others have had so little. Still, I feel that there is something more. I feel that it comes more from what we convey than what it is that we have.

In his recent book, Cross Cultural Servanthood Duane Elmer remarks that many of us, and Christian Missionaries probably more often than others convey attitudes that “inadvertently communicate superiority, paternalism, imperialism, and ignorance. While never our intention, our ethnocentrism leads us to behave in a way that tells our host culture (the people of the country where we live and work) that we are the experts. We are there to give out of the vast knowledge that we have, while they submissively receive. This attitude immediately creates an “us and them” mentality where the host culture is frequently evaluated and usually denigrated by our accepted American “standard.”

To illustrate, Elmer uses the story of a monkey, watching a fish struggle against that current. Moved by his plight, the monkey, at some risk to himself, climbs a tree and swings out to an branch that overhangs the river. Extending his hand, he grabs the fish, and climbing down from his precarious perch, he places the fish gently on solid ground. Joy comes over him as, after a momentary struggle, the fish enters into a peaceful state of rest there on the bank.

Now of course, we all know that the did not help the fish at all, but from the monkey’s point of view, he did him a great service. Our problem is that we often behave like the monkey–offering our help while failing to fully evaluate and understand the situation, and while we may accomplish certain goals we may be at best tolerated and at worst isolated, while gains are usually only short lived.

What Elmer suggests is that we learn to become true servants–entering into the culture, finding guides to learn from and then inviting them to work together with us to reach sustainable goals. This requires more than simply learning the language, although it starts there. It requires an openness to change and a suspension of judgement on the part of the missionary that needs to occur on an ongoing basis. If we can convey this attitude, we will go far in identifying with our host culture and opening new bridges for collaboration, the key to make real progress on the mission field.

So as we make our way to Cincinnati to share with the students assembled there, I’m preparing myself. If anyone asks, I’ll ready with a copy of Duane Elmer’s book and the best advice that I’ve ever received: “Be a cross-cultural servant.”

Have you seen cross-cultural servanthood in action? What did it look like? What were the results?

Coming Near Through Language Study

October 24, 2008 in Culture, Language, Maya, Missions, Progress by Dave | Permalink

Maya Language School Itzamná

Maya Language School Itzamná

Ma’alob k’iin. Bix a beel’ex. Having trouble responding? That’s because what my greeting was written in Maya. It reads, “Good morning. How are you?” (There are no question marks in Maya)

Here in the Yucatán the official language is Spanish. For this reason, we spent our first year of this term in Costa Rica learning Spanish so that we could live and work here in Mérida. Nevertheless, there are times, like this past month when we journeyed to the town of Tekax, that even speaking in perfect Spanish isn’t enough. That is because, in several towns in the state of Yucatán, many still speak the traditional indigenous language which has changed only slightly from the time of the pyramid builders of Chichen Itza to the present. Others are bilingual, having learned Spanish in school, but clearly function better in their native language.

So how do we respond to this fact? Well, we could rely upon those who are bilingual to translate for us, hoping that they will correctly interpret the meaning of our message. But what does this teach the Maya speakers? I feel it teaches them that the gospel is something foreign. Something that requires special abilities in order to understand, and that salvation is reserved for those who earn it by learning this foreign system. I don’t believe that our God is like that.

From the beginning, with the question, “Adam, where are you?”, we know that God initiated his plan of salvation. Romans 5:8 says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And John 1:14 says that Jesus, the very Word of God came near, and lived among us. We are not those who search for Him says Romans 3:10-11, He comes after us.

How does this translate then as a reaction to the situation of the Maya here in Yucatan? Years ago, before archeology became the force that it is today, many thought that the Koine Greek, the language in which the New Testament was written was a sacred tongue. This was thought because the texts available to the scholars at the time, that of Classical Greek was different from what they saw in Bible. However, as more research came to light, they found that the New Testament Greek was not a sacred language after all. In fact, it was the common speech–that which the housewives used to write out their shopping lists. So, in fact, we see that the very Bible that we read is another aspect of God “coming near” to us. He didn’t speak through the elite of the society or through a priestly class, He instead spoke through the common tongue of the merchants, the peasants, and the slaves.

Understanding this, if we are to “come near” as Christ’s ambassadors and show the Maya that this message is in fact for them, that Christ came to save every, tribe, tongue and nation, then we in turn should take the steps to learn to share this salvation in their native tongue.

So that in fact is what we are doing. Every Monday and Wednesday for two hours, I am traveling to the “Ermita”, a plaza south of town, to learn to speak and write the Maya language. (The picture in this post is a shot of the entrance to the building.) The municipal government has established a course in which they teach citizens and foreigners at beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels for only $5 a month. Having extended for a year, and having scheduled outreaches into these Maya speaking regions, this was an offer that we couldn’t refuse.

So here I am again learning anew how to function in another language, struggling to come up with the words to respond to the teacher. However, when I consider what Christ did for us, coming to us as a baby, unable to speak, to function on His own, in order to live among us, I say that my struggle is worth it if it allows me to live among this people and reveal to them the God that we serve, the God who came near.

By the way, a fellow Mexico Missionary just sent us a link to an example of the power of “coming near” to an unreached people group. You can check out the video on You Tube

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Freedom

September 26, 2008 in Devotional, Mexico, Ministry, Missions, Thanks by Dave | 4 comments

The streets of Izamal

The streets of Izamal

It was Sunday September 7th. We had been driving that morning to Izamal, a village about an hour outside of Mérida in order to attend the district-wide prayer meeting, when Kelly asked me about a passage that she had been reviewing for an upcoming women’s meeting. With Mexico’s Independence Day celebration upcoming, she had settled upon Galatians 5:13: “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love.”

Using the passage as a jumping-off point, I remember expressing an idea that came to my mind: “Being released from the bondage of sin, we are now free to humble ourselves and serve one another. Although the external circumstances would suggest a different reaction, we are free to love when before we were tied to serve only our own passions and interests.”

Little did I know, however, that what was then theoretical would become suddenly very concrete.

As we were leaving the city after the meeting, we had stopped at a stop sign and were beginning to continue when, unseen by us, a motorcycle carrying 3 teenagers attempted cross in front of us. They struck the front of the truck and fell against the curb of the opposite corner. All three weren’t wearing helmets.

Immediately, I got out of the truck to tell the boys to stay where they were. Soon, those that lived near the scene were out of their houses, and before long, the police and ambulance arrived. Those that were hurt were taken to the hospital, while we were escorted to the police station where I was detained for 33 hours, first at the station, and later at the Public Ministry building in Mérida.

Now, in the US, when an accident occurs, rarely does a person go to jail, but in Mexico, when there is doubt about payment, the person who causes the accident is detained for 48 hours until the situation is settled. If it is not settled in 48 hours, the driver goes to jail. Unfortunately, although we had Mexican Car Insurance it took the adjuster one hour to reach the scene, and it wasn’t until later that night that the lawyer arrived in order to begin the process to post bond so that I would be released.

Nevertheless, being placed in detention didn’t mean that I had been placed on a shelf. The words that I had spoken just hours before came back to me during my time alone. So I prayed. I prayed for the injured boys. I prayed for Kelly and the kids, and I prayed that God would use me. I knew that, even though I had been detained by the authorities, I was free to serve.

Merida Public Ministry Building

Merida Public Ministry Building

In Mérida, I was made to wait in a room with three benches and an air conditioner that had seen its best days perhaps 10 years ago, but I was not alone. It “just so happened” that, there with me in the “waiting room” was a man who we’ll call José. He had arrived the day before, having crashed his car while driving drunk on his way home from work on the other side of the peninsula, but that wasn’t the whole story. He was also a prodigal son.

He had once had a vibrant relationship with the Lord and had been an active member of the Christian community, but his work had isolated him, and in his isolation his bad choices multiplied. The crash was the end of a slippery slope that had left more than his car in a wreck, but sometimes it takes hitting bottom before we begin to look up.

José told me his story, and I told him mine, but I didn’t end it with the story of the accident. I told him that although God hadn’t caused my accident, that my meeting with him was certainly more than coincidental. I told him of the Father that welcomes home all who return to Him, and I invited him to start the journey back. We prayed, and in that detention center, we felt the presence of God. We knew that even though it seemed that our immediate future was out of our hands, we knew the hands that held our eternity.

José wasn’t the only one in the room with me. There were two youth who had been detained for driving drunk, and two others who were in the middle of a dispute between their respective insurance companies. While we waited for news about our situation, we formed a community: we talked about our families and our faith, we shared everything from the food that was brought to us to the floor that we slept on, but what filled me with the most joy was our last moments together.

When word came that was to be released, I asked if they would mind that I prayed. Given permission, we all bowed our heads and I began. I prayed for their safety and the resolution of their situations. I prayed for their families and their future, but, most of all, I prayed that each one of them might know Jesus, the only one who, in whatever situation, can set us free.

As I walked out of that room and into Kelly’s arms, I was thankful to be reunited with my family. I was thankful for the beginning of the resolution of circumstances surrounding our accident, but I wasn’t thankful for being set free. Instead, I was thankful for being taught the true meaning of freedom–that, no matter what the circumstances say, Christ has set me free, free to follow Him and free to serve others in the hope they they too will taste the freedom that I have been privileged to
experience.

In wrapping up this lengthy post, I want you to know that we are well. Although the accident has certainly left a mark on us, with God’s strength we are returning to “normal life” here on the mission field. We have definitely been the beneficiaries of the blessing of the Body of Christ in action through it all. From the prayers of the saints to the selfless help of our church friends and district officials, we have been cared for throughout this entire situation. Blessings on all of you who have been a part of this comfort that we have received.

Furthermore, it has been reported that all who were injured will make a full recovery. They have received the medical attention necessary and are now receiving spiritual care on behalf of the local A/G congregation. It is my prayer that this temporary setback will serve to redirect their lives toward a relationship with the one who can guide them through their eternity.

As for José, we were released together and are planning to get together soon to celebrate our freedom, freedom that God redefined for us in the middle of our captivity.

Photo of the Public Ministry building from Yucatan Living.com. You can read about their experience here: https://www.yucatanliving.com/yucatan-survivor/yucatan-license-plates.htm

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The Top 5 Posts You May Have Missed

September 4, 2008 in Day2Day, Ministry, Missions by Dave | Permalink

The start of September marked the anniversary of our second year in the Yucatán. Here is a look back at some of our favorite posts that you might have missed:

  1. Rethinking the task of teaching

    2. This post was written as a reflection on a major part of our work here in Mérida, that of teaching. It serves to remind us that if we seek to impart the tools necessary, and convey an attitude that promotes learning, we can create an investigator who seeks to find the answer and apply truth in such a way as to create change.


  2. Leave if You Can!

    3. This article was inspired by our trip to the flood stricken region of Tabasco, where we found that in a town where even the name encourages people to stay away, God had decided to take up residence.


  3. Living In-Between

    4. A reflection on the human condition, this post reminds us that, although we struggle in our “in-betweeness” of imperfection and disappointment, the promise of Easter is that the redemption of our soul that we currently enjoy will one day be universally applied.


  4. The Most Excellent Way

    5. This post reminds us that, when it comes to evangelism, the real question should not be, “How should our evangelism look?” but rather, “How should our evangelism be motivated?”


  5. Learning to Fly

    6. This last selection is a light look at sharing responsibilities in a missionary home.


We’re thankful for the two years of ministry that we have had here the Yucatán. It’s our prayer that, with your continued partnership, we will be able to celebrate many more.

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On the Shoulders of Giants

July 20, 2008 in Missions by Dave | Permalink

The amazing scientific mind, Sir Issac Newton, is quoted to have said, “If I have seen farther it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” Here in the Yucatan, if we have had any impact is because great men and women of God have forged the way before us.

Friday evening we had the privilege of hosting one such giant here in our home. Nancy Cave, along with her daughter Cristiana, came through Mérida on their way to Campeche where she ministered along with her husband, Dave, for 10 years.

Nancy and Dave, responding to the need that Superintendent Alfonso de los Reyes presented to them, made the Yucatan their home and had a tremendous impact. They were involved first in evangelism, but their servant’s heart never said “no” to a need. Dave was involved in construction, everything from furniture to entire Bible Schools. As a couple they received teams, sometimes three at a time. They ministered in campaigns, at times in the Maya language, and their work reached out to all ages.

Dave recently passed away from a prolonged battle with cancer. You can read his memorial at our fellowship’s website. His ultimate months were spent in the States receiving treatment, but his heart was always in the work. His dream was to return, but it was not to be. However, days before he went on to his reward, a Mexican pastor, who had heard of his condition, sought him out in his hospice room. When Dave saw him, his face brightened and he immediately entered into an animated conversation in Spanish about Mexico and the progress of the work. Nancy told us, “He couldn’t return to Mexico, so Mexico came to him.”

As we left Nancy and her daughter at the bus station in Mérida, bound one more time for Campeche, I thought about our work as missionaries. Ours is a relational ministry. The work that we do and the attitude that we convey leaves a lasting impression on the national church. What we do now will determine in large part the effectiveness of those who follow us. We’ve been blessed to have the wonderful foundation that the Caves laid on which to work. Therefore, as Newton said, if we have seen farther, or have have made a difference here in the Yucatán, it’s because we’ve stood on the shoulders of giants–because we’ve been given the privilege to continue the work that the Caves had started.

Freely You Have Received, Freely Give

June 29, 2008 in Ministry, Missions, Progress by Dave | Permalink

As Jesus sent out the 12 in Matthew 10, He gave them the motive for their ministry in verse 8: “Freely you have received, freely give. Their mission of mercy–healing the sick, casting out demons, and even raising the dead is the logical response to the mercy that they had already received in the form of God drawing near. They had seen Him, touched Him, and from Him received divine power. In Matthew 10, they are sent out to tell others about Him.

What Jesus modeled is the end of any discipleship program. He made disciples who in turn made disciples, and, here in the Yucatán, we had the privilege of seeing this cycle come full circle. This past Saturday night, the ministers and members of the Assemblies of God of Yucatán met to commission and send out Norma Uitzil, a missionary, born here in Yucatán, who will be ministering among the “Untouchables” of Calcutta, India.

Yucatán has freely received. Silverio Blanco, the director of the Bible Institute, took time during the service to tell of the first evangelical missionaries who arrived in 1866 to preach in what was then the inhospitable conditions of this predominately Maya state. Since that small beginning, many have come, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Pentecostals among others. In what was once an area devoid of believers, now roughly 1 in 10 attends an evangelical congregation. Granted, there is plenty of work to be done, but the work here in the Yucatán has entered a different stage. It is time for this district to take its place in the evangelization of the world, and missionary Norma Uitzil is one of the first to respond to that call.

About a year and a half ago, I spoke of Jaime and Jaqueline Chacon, missionaries from Costa Rica that are now serving in the U.S. I echoed in that post the words of our regional director, Dick Nicholson, who said that missions is no longer the U.S. or the traditionally Christian Nations that are sending missionaries to the ends of the earth; missions has become a movement in which God is calling people from everywhere to go to everywhere. We believe more than ever in that idea. To that effect, we are currently heading up the missions program in the church that we attend, and we are committed to continually preach missions in the various congregations in which we are invited to speak.

Some might say that it is an impossibility to promote missions in an area where the minimum wage is $5 a day, but people like Norma are proving that we serve a God who makes the impossible possible. So, as we were called forward to pray for her, I asked as well that God would begin to call others to respond to His world-wide mandate, that others would hear His heartbeat for the nations and dare to believe that they can make a difference. After all, freely we all have received, its only natural that we all freely give.

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The Most Excellent Way

June 9, 2008 in Devotional, Ministry, Missions by Dave | 3 comments

I just finished up another evangelism conference, this marking my sixth opportunity to hold such an event here in the Yucatán. With more experience comes more confidence in sharing the material, but that experience also brings a certain familiarity with the topic–an anticipation you could say of the inquiries and the reaction of the audience, but during class this last Thursday, a question was asked that I hadn’t anticipated.

We had been studying Mark 6:30-44, the account of the feeding of the 5,000, and contrasting the disciples’ reaction to the crowd’s needs with that of Jesus. Analyzing the context, we concluded that the disciples’ inaction and Jesus action was related to a key element, compassion. Jesus saw the plight of the crowd and the compassion that he felt moved him to action even though he was in the midst of extreme personal sorrow. The disciples, coming off of a successful preaching tour, failed to react because their lack of compassion.

Usually, the anticipated question is “How do we learn to react in the way Jesus did?” a question that I anticipate and answer within the lesson follow-up, but this time an unanticipated question was raised; a student asked: “Should we act compassionately first and then preach, or should we preach first and then display acts of compassion?” Caught off guard, I had to think a bit about the question. I wanted to know what it was that this student was trying to clear up in his mind. His clarification clued me in. Some organizations emphasize compassionate acts, feeding programs, rehabilitation centers, and medical clinics while others emphasize teaching and preaching engagements. This student was trying to understand what stance we should take in the debate between presenting evangelism as a moment of decision or what what some call the “social gospel.”

The question illustrates the danger of thinking in predefined categories. It can cause us to limit our outreaches to traditional activities like preaching, teaching, and passing out tracts while avoiding food distribution or medical clinics in an attempt to show our emphasis on “telling the good news,” or it can cause us to add mandatory evangelistic events to our “social outreach” in order to justify the undertaking, a practice that can lead others to criticize us as evangelicals for opportunistic proselytizing, or can lead to the phenomenon of “Rice Christians,” those who confess Christianity as long as the hand outs keep coming.

Separating compassion and preaching/teaching into separate categories should make us ask the questions: “Is our preaching without compassion?” and “Is social outreach condemned or considered second-class by scripture?” Obviously the answer to both questions is no. The real question, therefore, should not be, “How should our evangelism look?” but rather, “How should our evangelism be motivated?”

Returning to the passage in question, we see that Jesus taught and fed the needy crowd. There was no separation of his actions into evangelistic and social. Rather compassion motivated him to meet the need before him. Jesus wasn’t checking off items on his list; he was instead showing us that the compassionate response considers its recipient as a whole person.

Interchanging the word compassion for love can perhaps clarify the point. Paul, in trying to settle church division in Corinth, culminates his argument for unity with the famous love chapter of 1 Corinthians 13, which he introduces as “the most excellent way.” In his opening words, he lists both “spiritual” (prophesy and tongues and the practice of faith) and “compassionate” (giving to the poor) acts as worthless without love. It’s little wonder then that 1 John 4:12 says that we would be known to be true, not for our excellent Bible teaching or for our hospital building, but rather for our love, and this is fitting because love when perfectly applied led to eternal life. (Jn 3:16)

Reaching out to a lost world in love then enables us to push past the categories and throw away our checklists. Ultimately it allows us to utilize the appropriate means to communicate God’s love, be it through a cup of cold water or an offer to pray the sinner’s prayer.

Learning and encouraging the most excellent way here in the Yucatán,

Dave

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Rethinking the Task of Teaching

June 4, 2008 in Ministry, Missions by Dave | 2 comments

I’ll be traveling to Florida next week in order to attend an ACLAME summit where teachers across Latin America will be meeting to discuss what we do as missionary educators. This upcoming convention has given me pause for thought about my own experience some of which I’d like to share with you today.

As I’ve been here in Mérida, I’ve had the privilege of teaching for a year and a half in the Bible Institute. This is a job that I have met with much fear and feeling of responsibility. As James says, “Not many of you should presume toJ be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” I understood the need to prepare myself mentally and spiritually for the task before me, something that my family could attest as they frequently find me in my “cave” praying and writing, trying to sort out what I am to share with my classes.

Nevertheless, as I become more aware of the environment that I find myself in, I have found something that I was not prepared for. I entered into the learning environment with expectation. I was under the impression that the students that I would be teaching would be looking for answers, trying to hone their skills in order to seek the gospel take root in otherwise fruitless ground. I expected students to challenge me with their questions and compel me to further study as we sought to practically apply the theology that we assimilated each day, and in some cases, this is what I have found. But as I look over the half-finished assignments and the failing grades of others, I’ve faced a different reality, one that is in stark contrast with my expectations.

So I’m left with the task of answering the question, “what am I doing wrong?” Bruce Wilkinson, a teacher associated with Walk Thru The Bible Bible Ministries, says that motivating his or her students to learn is the task of the teacher. Therefore, if I am to be brutally honest with myself, and if I am to take James’ admonition at face value, then I need to reevaluate my teaching style and find out how I can reach those who fail to excel in their studies.

The Bible College system in Latin America accepts all students who feel called to the ministry regardless of their educational background. They need only letter of recommendation from their pastor in order to gain entrance into the program. This means that many of those who study lack the essential tools that they need in order to complete the requirements of the classes that they enter. I have found that the majority of students have never written a paper or done an investigation. One of my students admitted to me that her studies only reached as far as the fourth grade!

What does this mean? First, it seems to imply that education, according to my interpretation as the exchange and analysis of ideas is not necessarily the goal of my students. Instead, they are looking for intensely practical and readily applicable methods that they can use now in their context. They are not interested in asking questions; they are looking for answers. Therefore, my task as professor requires me to meet the expectations of my students by providing them answers while at the same time builds the tools that they need to make learning a lifestyle.

I find myself taking the role of a Mr Miyagi of the Karate Kid. Daniel, his student, wanted to learn to fight, but Mr Miyagi only left him to menial tasks like painting the fence and sanding the floor. Only when Daniel blocks a series of kicks and punches with techniques that he had learned by painting and sanding does he come to understand and appreciate Mr Miyagi’s style. So I’m restructuring my teaching style. Instead of driving ahead in order to complete the material, I am finding myself teaching concepts of research and reasoning, helping students formulate good questions for interviews, and locating good resources in the library. I’m breaking concepts down and trying to reinforce small steps toward large goals, all the while seeking to illustrate how the job of the minister makes the learning of each tool we cover essential.

On one hand, I lament not being able to get to “the meat” of the course, but at the same time, I realize that formal education, if it is honest with itself, must admit that it cannot impart all knowledge. I have only 3 years with a Bible School student. That is an incredibly short amount of time to communicate knowledge. Furthermore, I have to admit that I have forgotten far more that I have internalized over my 8 years of higher education. However, if I seek to impart the tools necessary to study, and convey an attitude that promotes learning, I can create a lifetime learner, an investigator who seeks to find the answer and apply truth in such a way as to create change. I guess that you could say that my goal is to create someone like the Karate Kid, who will find they have what it takes to survive and thrive in a world increasingly hostile to the traditional Christian message. I appreciate your prayers as I attempt to make this happen.

I have to go right now though. There is a fly buzzing and I need to find my chopsticks.

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