What to pray, these ladies asked? Well, if you know me this will not come to you as a surprise, but if you don't know me this should give you a pretty good picture of my greatest weakness plain and simple. There are many tangible things you could be praying for, but if I'm honest, a lack of submission is the winner! As my husband likes to say, him qualifying as elder didn't depend on me, but thank God I didn't disqualify him....(ha-ha). Partly joking, but not so much. He knows me best and he cannot but help me see it.
See what? Well, let's see, it started way back when Eve convinced her husband Adam to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan is at work and we, weaker vessels, are his spears to hit the target. He knows that we are to submit to our elders as unto Christ...and do you think he doesn't use us to weaken that headship Christ's church? Well, think again. But as the story goes, you know from then on, we, as women, were cursed in a very particular way: "Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you"(Gen 3:16b). I think I got a double dose of that...seriously, my desire is to rule over my husband constantly. Don't take me wrong, my husband appreciates my input, my views, and opinions -- he likes what I have to say! However, him previewing info doesn't mean I get a vote. It doesn't mean, he doesn't know how to discern and/or make decisions and needs my counsel. It means, he's simply sharing. The cursed was that we would want what our husbands have: authority & headship over us. My husband's position of leadership only magnified what I already knew... and it brought it all the more to light. With our own hands we tear down our own homes and I'm sure it starts with a heart that rebel's against our husbands and ultimately God. So, how I submit to my elders (and one of them happens to be my husband) is a telling story of how I submit at home. Get the picture?
Satan never sleeps and when I think I've got it, I don't. So if you think to pray for us, and/or me in particular, pray that I yield more often, more graciously, and more to the Glory of God.
Thankful for you,
Esme
There are two main things that I would like prayer for Missio Dei in 2010. Those items are:
Community Groups - Pray for continued success with them but a desire by all to use their groups as a source of encouragement and accountability to help them and others persevere in their walk with Christ. Pray also that our groups continue to strive to be missional in all we do. I pray that many unbelievers are affected through our outreach into the community as we seek to be a light unto the world.
Families - As I have been encouraged by the growth of the young adults within Missio Dei, I realize that another generation is rapidly following behind them. We have a large number of families at Missio Dei with children, from newborn to teens. Please pray for the parents of these children, myself included, as well as the children themselves that Christ be our central focus and glorifying God be our goal. Pray that we as a church equip our parents to effectively raise their children. Not simply in obedience training, but to raise our children up with the gospel as the central focus of all that we do. Pray also that we as parents would be found faithful to demonstrate the joy that being in Christ is to our beloved children. As it says in Colosians 3, verse 16: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
Thanks, Mike Reeves
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Everything is going right...
This has been one of those months... you know the type. We've been plagued with car troubles (and a mechanic who thinks we're imagining things like grinding sounds and cold air blowing from our van's vents when there is supposed to be heat). We had lost mail, late mail, and opened mail (by someone other than us). We've been sick and gotten sicker. Hectic has been our daily routine. Tensions have been running high and so there has been added strife and seeking of forgiveness and so on. My computer (the information hub for our whole family) broke all of a sudden and the prognosis is grim. Add to all of that the deadline for having our house ready for our move within a few short weeks, money being tight, Ry starting back to school and still being unemployed, as well as the boys starting a new homeschooling curriculum. I'm sure you can understand how I might soon have a nervous twitch and a new habit of thumb sucking (it seems to help baby Gabriel!). I feel like I might just lose my mind one of these days!
Wait a minute though... didn't I say that everything is going right? [Pause]... [deep breath]... Just the other day I was encouraging a frustrated Austin (who felt unfairly disadvantaged because he didn't get a cool weapon when playing swords with his brothers/cousins) to take a moment to think about how blessed he really is. Here's what it sounded like: "Austin stop and think about this for a moment. God loves you! He sent Jesus to die for your sins so that you are now forgiven and you are God's child! Someday you will get to be in Heaven with Him! He's coming back to get you! He is so kind to us! That's the big scheme of things, but now consider today. Today you woke up from a comfy bed, you ate breakfast, and you put on warm clothing. You have parents who love you, you're surrounded by a family with lots of cousins who love you and you get to spend the day playing with them having fun. You are better off than most all of the people on earth! God has richly blessed you! Don't be discontent but rather praise God for how amazing His mercy and love toward you are. Be happy with what you have and be thankful for how God has been so kind to you!"
So the other day when I was feeling a little overwhelmed with all of the stuff I mentioned, I had a little talk with myself. "Betsy, you are so blessed! Thank You God for sending Jesus to be born as a man and endure all of the stuff that this life throws at us. Thank You Jesus for never sinning and for living perfectly with love and compassion! Thank You Jesus that You willingly suffered the punishment for my sin. Thank You that You would take all of my depravity upon Yourself so that I could have Your righteousness and know the Father through You! God, thank You for making me Your child! Thank You for all of Your promises and Your kindness toward me! Thank You for how You always meet our needs and You are so generous with us! Thank You for how You don't always give us what we want, because You know what is best! Thank You for the love that You pour out on us through family and friends and other believers and even through strangers! I am so amazed at Your grace toward me. Your tender care is so sweet to my soul. Your love is better than cars, castles, computers, coins and calm. I am loved by GOD so EVERYTHING is going right! "
A pastor (David Prince) that preached at chapel one week reminded us that complaining is blasphemous because we lie about the character and person of God saying that He isn't good enough or that what He has allowed to happen isn't worth making everything (no matter how awful) seem insignificant compared to the beauty of His glory. Complaining communicates that the gospel isn't really as glorious as God says it is. Wow... just thinking about that I'm convicted all the more. We are just so blessed! I will end with Psalm 63 in hopes that we might all be encouraged to praise God more and be content and joyful in Him, today, tomorrow and always!
Psalm 63
My Soul Thirsts for You
A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
1O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
5My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
9But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
they shall be a portion for jackals.
11But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tom Love
Tom Love oversees missions at Missio Dei. Below are some ways that he feels we can most effectively be keeping this ministry in prayer.
First, let me say that I am blessed and humbled to serve MDF in this position. It is my desire to serve and honor God in this position to make His name known, to call all people to worship Jesus Christ the risen Lord, and to serve His people as we minister together for the sake of the Gospel! We are truly blessed to have been given a vision of what can happen concerning Missions through our relationships with Philemon and Linda Yong and the work that they are doing at Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary in Ndu, Northwest Province, Cameroon, West Africa. I believe that our Missions program was changed forever when our Pastor Matt Henry first invited Philemon to come and speak to our Church. We heard about the Yong's desire to be a blessing to the nations because they/we are so blessed (Ps. 67). Our Mission's program was changed forever because of their vision and we are grateful to God for increasing our vision.
That said we will face many challenges as we seek to continue to grow up into a mission's minded people. One of those challenges is that I receive many invitations to support numerous missions work and it is difficult to know who to support and when to say no. This is never easy to do, for many of these people have left all to follow their "calling," and the work that they are seeking to accomplish for the Kingdom is a good work. But we cannot support everyone so please pray for discernment and wisdom in these hard decisions.
Second, I need to find better ways to keep the Body at MDF informed of the work that our missionaries and the organizations that we are supporting are doing. Please pray that I will be able to disseminate information and pass that along to you, so that you will be better informed and thus be able to pray accordingly.
John and Rhonda Monks, Mort and Pam Pappenfuss, Sherri Stocker, and Nichole Henry individually oversee various aspects of our Missions endeavors. They include Care Net Crisis Pregnancy Centers, Action Packs, BloodWater Mission, and Compassion International.
John and Rhonda have been responsible for our relationship with Care Net in Southeast Wisconsin. They have been organizing the baby bottle campaign as well as the Walk for Life Campaign. By God's grace we have been at the top of the fund raising efforts for this organization for the past few years. We are hoping to see our involvement increase to include working at the facility. Pray that they would continue to find ways to see our financial involvement grow, but more importantly that we would see members of MDF get personally involved with the ministry of Care Net. Lives of little ones are being saved and people are coming to faith in Jesus and we praise God for the work of Care Net.
Mort and Pam have been overseeing our work with Voice of the Martyrs Action Packs. These packs are sent to various places around the world to meet individual physical and psiritual needs. Mort and Pam spend a great deal of their time and money throughout the year to purchase items to put into bags. They have been so faithful to find great deals on items to put into the bags. They have also had many opportunities to speak to people about the work that they are doing and when people hear about this work they often times donate items. They are always in need of certain items so pleas pray that they would be able to find them. The shipping of the boxes full of the Action Packs is very costly so please pray that we would be able to find a way to cut the cost of shipping. we may never see the effects of this work that we are involved with, but we are please to be serving the "least of these." Praise God for VOM and ask God to guard this vital ministry to the persecuted Church around the world.
Sherri Stocker will be overseeing our Youth mission's emphasis. It is our desire that every age group in our church become involved in Missions. We have in the past been involved with the BloodWater Mission. This organization is working to see that the AID's epidemic in Africa is given the proper attention and support. They also see the need for fresh, clean drinking water to be addressed. Because this organization was started by the group Jar's of Clay, we saw a natural fit for our youth. We would also like to send our youth on short term mission's trips, so please pray that we would find worthwhile endeavor's for them. This is an evolving ministry and I would ask that you pray for Sherri as she looks to increase the vision of this ministry to MDF.
Nichole Henry is overseeing our Children's Missions Ministry. We have chosen to support the work fo Compassion International. This organization is involved with helping to feed, educate, and most importantly, present the Gospel to little ones around the world. Right now MDF sponsor's two children, Izamari, a young lady living in Honduras, and "J" a young boy living in Thailand. W want our MDF children to gain a vision for Missions, and this organization is one of the most trusted and effective ministries in place. Nichole will be organizing a Compassion Sunday where not only will she present opportunities for us individually to sponsor a child, but our children will participate in a Memory Verse Marathon. We will be given the chance to pledge money for each verse memorized to help support this ministry. Pray that Nichole will find effective ways to increase our children's vision of the world and how they can affect it.
I am over our involvement with Philemon and Linda Yong at CBTS in Cameroon West Africa and Steve and Leslie Schneider who are currently at language school in Costa Rica, and Lord willing will be on their way to Santiago, Chile to teach at Facultad Teologica Biblica Bautistah. Both of these families represent a fundamental belief that we at MDF hold. We believe that in order for the Gospel to be preached effectively, pastors must be well trained. These men will then go and teach their congregations well and equip them for the work of the ministry. Please pray that these families will be effective in their ministries and that many new believers will be born out of their labors. Also, please pray for a potential trip this fall to CBTS. A man from Philemon's home church has donated money for electrical upgrades and we may send a small team to install a generator for the whole school There are many logistical hurdles, but we know that our God can overcome these and many more. Pray for our Pastor as he prepare to go this fall to teach at CBTS. We will be trying to combine these two trips, please pray as we work out the details.
Right now we are in need of financial support. With the downturn in the economy in 2009 we saw our budgeted money from the weekly giving at MDF cut in half. 5% of the money given weekly is designated to MDF Missions. Thsi meanst aht we are operating on an annual budget of $10,000. Thisis not enough to support the work that we are involved with, and yet we have had some faithful people designate above their normal giving, money to support MDF Missions. Please pray that we would see more people sacrificially give to support this vital ministry.
Our vision statement reads:
"The Vision of the Missio Dei Fellowship Missions Program is to further advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ toward the creation of true worshipers of the One True and Holy God in every tribe, tongue, and nation."
Please pray that we would remain faithful to the cause of seeing this lived out in the ministries we choose to support.
First, let me say that I am blessed and humbled to serve MDF in this position. It is my desire to serve and honor God in this position to make His name known, to call all people to worship Jesus Christ the risen Lord, and to serve His people as we minister together for the sake of the Gospel! We are truly blessed to have been given a vision of what can happen concerning Missions through our relationships with Philemon and Linda Yong and the work that they are doing at Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary in Ndu, Northwest Province, Cameroon, West Africa. I believe that our Missions program was changed forever when our Pastor Matt Henry first invited Philemon to come and speak to our Church. We heard about the Yong's desire to be a blessing to the nations because they/we are so blessed (Ps. 67). Our Mission's program was changed forever because of their vision and we are grateful to God for increasing our vision.
That said we will face many challenges as we seek to continue to grow up into a mission's minded people. One of those challenges is that I receive many invitations to support numerous missions work and it is difficult to know who to support and when to say no. This is never easy to do, for many of these people have left all to follow their "calling," and the work that they are seeking to accomplish for the Kingdom is a good work. But we cannot support everyone so please pray for discernment and wisdom in these hard decisions.
Second, I need to find better ways to keep the Body at MDF informed of the work that our missionaries and the organizations that we are supporting are doing. Please pray that I will be able to disseminate information and pass that along to you, so that you will be better informed and thus be able to pray accordingly.
John and Rhonda Monks, Mort and Pam Pappenfuss, Sherri Stocker, and Nichole Henry individually oversee various aspects of our Missions endeavors. They include Care Net Crisis Pregnancy Centers, Action Packs, BloodWater Mission, and Compassion International.
John and Rhonda have been responsible for our relationship with Care Net in Southeast Wisconsin. They have been organizing the baby bottle campaign as well as the Walk for Life Campaign. By God's grace we have been at the top of the fund raising efforts for this organization for the past few years. We are hoping to see our involvement increase to include working at the facility. Pray that they would continue to find ways to see our financial involvement grow, but more importantly that we would see members of MDF get personally involved with the ministry of Care Net. Lives of little ones are being saved and people are coming to faith in Jesus and we praise God for the work of Care Net.
Mort and Pam have been overseeing our work with Voice of the Martyrs Action Packs. These packs are sent to various places around the world to meet individual physical and psiritual needs. Mort and Pam spend a great deal of their time and money throughout the year to purchase items to put into bags. They have been so faithful to find great deals on items to put into the bags. They have also had many opportunities to speak to people about the work that they are doing and when people hear about this work they often times donate items. They are always in need of certain items so pleas pray that they would be able to find them. The shipping of the boxes full of the Action Packs is very costly so please pray that we would be able to find a way to cut the cost of shipping. we may never see the effects of this work that we are involved with, but we are please to be serving the "least of these." Praise God for VOM and ask God to guard this vital ministry to the persecuted Church around the world.
Sherri Stocker will be overseeing our Youth mission's emphasis. It is our desire that every age group in our church become involved in Missions. We have in the past been involved with the BloodWater Mission. This organization is working to see that the AID's epidemic in Africa is given the proper attention and support. They also see the need for fresh, clean drinking water to be addressed. Because this organization was started by the group Jar's of Clay, we saw a natural fit for our youth. We would also like to send our youth on short term mission's trips, so please pray that we would find worthwhile endeavor's for them. This is an evolving ministry and I would ask that you pray for Sherri as she looks to increase the vision of this ministry to MDF.
Nichole Henry is overseeing our Children's Missions Ministry. We have chosen to support the work fo Compassion International. This organization is involved with helping to feed, educate, and most importantly, present the Gospel to little ones around the world. Right now MDF sponsor's two children, Izamari, a young lady living in Honduras, and "J" a young boy living in Thailand. W want our MDF children to gain a vision for Missions, and this organization is one of the most trusted and effective ministries in place. Nichole will be organizing a Compassion Sunday where not only will she present opportunities for us individually to sponsor a child, but our children will participate in a Memory Verse Marathon. We will be given the chance to pledge money for each verse memorized to help support this ministry. Pray that Nichole will find effective ways to increase our children's vision of the world and how they can affect it.
I am over our involvement with Philemon and Linda Yong at CBTS in Cameroon West Africa and Steve and Leslie Schneider who are currently at language school in Costa Rica, and Lord willing will be on their way to Santiago, Chile to teach at Facultad Teologica Biblica Bautistah. Both of these families represent a fundamental belief that we at MDF hold. We believe that in order for the Gospel to be preached effectively, pastors must be well trained. These men will then go and teach their congregations well and equip them for the work of the ministry. Please pray that these families will be effective in their ministries and that many new believers will be born out of their labors. Also, please pray for a potential trip this fall to CBTS. A man from Philemon's home church has donated money for electrical upgrades and we may send a small team to install a generator for the whole school There are many logistical hurdles, but we know that our God can overcome these and many more. Pray for our Pastor as he prepare to go this fall to teach at CBTS. We will be trying to combine these two trips, please pray as we work out the details.
Right now we are in need of financial support. With the downturn in the economy in 2009 we saw our budgeted money from the weekly giving at MDF cut in half. 5% of the money given weekly is designated to MDF Missions. Thsi meanst aht we are operating on an annual budget of $10,000. Thisis not enough to support the work that we are involved with, and yet we have had some faithful people designate above their normal giving, money to support MDF Missions. Please pray that we would see more people sacrificially give to support this vital ministry.
Our vision statement reads:
"The Vision of the Missio Dei Fellowship Missions Program is to further advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ toward the creation of true worshipers of the One True and Holy God in every tribe, tongue, and nation."
Please pray that we would remain faithful to the cause of seeing this lived out in the ministries we choose to support.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
