Inadequate me - All Powerful God

I’m glad God is big because I sure feel small. Okay, inadequate is more the word.  The more I try to change, to invest my time in things with eternal significance, the more I realize how selfish and sinful I am.  Matthew 25:35-36 speaks about loving people; meeting them at the point of their need.  I want to love people this way.  I want my life to point people to Jesus.  But the truth is, meeting people at the point of THEIR need is a messy, time consuming business.  The occasional volunteer gig is more my style.  But coming alongside someone on a regular, on-going basis, a situation where I can’t just “love” or “serve” at my convenience; that’s been……ugly.  Like I said, I’m glad God is so big; bigger than my sin and my selfishness.  I’m grateful for verses like 2 Corinthians 5:17 which says “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 

We had another meeting for our trip to Kenya.  The team will be assisting with a conference for pastors and their wives.  The ladies on our team will be presenting the Chronological Bible Study to the pastor’s wives.  (That word – inadequate – keeps coming to mind.) 

But God isn’t just big; He’s gracious and merciful too.  The kids and I have been reading through the account of Moses in Exodus.  Did you know that Moses felt inadequate also.  The Lord reminded Moses that He, the one true God, was in control.  God reminded Moses that his performance wasn’t as important as his obedience.  Pray that when I feel inadequate, I will focus on obeying God and leave the results up to Him.

If you want to hear a really uplifting song based on this verse visit www.seedsfamilyworship.net Click on “Media” and then “Listen Online”.  You will see a grey bar that says “Seeds of Courage”.  Click the drop down arrow at the right and choose “Seeds of Faith”.  Then choose song #11 “New Creation”. 

For more information on the Chronological Bible Study visit www.w3cbd.org

Autumn

The Details are Beginning to Come Together

I am pleased to share the wonderful news that we were able to raise the deposit money by the deadline so we are officially on the team.  I am so encouraged by the generosity the Lord continues to inspire in His people.  My parents lead a weekly Bible study group in their home.  My mom had been asking them to pray for us.  One night they surprised my parents by presenting them with $500 to go towards our trip.  Many of these precious people have never even met us.  What a mighty God we serve!

Since my last post we also attended a second planning meeting.  We received more details about the exact itinerary.  We will now be leaving on February 3rd, which happens to be my birthday.  It’s going to be a happy birthday for sure.  We will be working in Nairobi, Kitale, Eldoret, Kakamega, and Kisumu.  We got to see pictures from some of the feeding stations that we will visit.  We will be working in conjunction with two mission organizations while we are there, Global Field Evangelism http://gfekenya.com and Light Ministries www.mikecurry.com/.  I have been reading the “Kenya Journal” on Light Ministries website. 

Our team leader also encouraged us to start preparing physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually and relationally.  I thought his advice was very applicable to anyone going on an overseas mission so I wanted to summarize it for you briefly.

Physically – Begin working on stamina and hydration.  Begin drinking the right amount of water every day and continue to do so while you are gone. (Make sure it’s bottled water while you are out of the country.)

Emotionally – Nothing can really prepare you but become more educated about the poverty and desperation you will see so you won’t be a total basket case.

Financially – Support letters, scholarships, etc.

Spiritually – He asked us each to pray and ask God to lay a message on our hearts. Also, Satan will attack so be aware.

Relationally – Begin to cultivate relationships with the other team members so we will have a good working relationship during the trip.