God's provision is remarkable. We've been corresponding with a couple of brothers in South Africa about vehicles. The currency now is R10.08 to the $1 US, which is not good for them but great for us. We thought maybe it was a good time to see if we could get more for our money in the purchase of a used Toyota Landcruiser 4x4. One of the brothers wrote back:
"Hi Sean,
Thank you for your prayers. Me and my Dad spoke about our vehicle and you can have it for what we paid for it, which was R163,000 (roughly $16,000)..."
Needless to say, we were really pleased. The price this brother was offering for his vehicle was easily half of what we expected to pay. But the Lord wasn't finished yet. He kept working on this guy for two more hours until he emailed again:
"Hi,
Sean please ignore the previous email. I wasn't obedient to the voice of the Lord. We have decided to give the vehicle to you to do your work. We prefer to bank in the bank of GOD rather than depending on the world and dollars."
So, once again, the Lord has provided far more abundantly than all we could ask or think (Eph. 3:20). In fact, He was responding before the request even left our lips (Isa. 65:24) Our Master and Commander has assumed ALL responsibility for our provision. As His servant soldiers, our only obligation is to obey and trust Him to take care of us. It really is that simple.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Visas and Shipping
To all of you who have been waiting for news and asking for updates... thanks for your patience. We have marching orders! If the Lord wills, Sean and I will travel to Livingstone, Zambia in January to locate houses (or apartments) for our two families; travel to Lusaka to submit our work permit applications; fix whatever must be (and can be) fixed on the houses; and then head home in time for the True Church Conference at Grace Life Church, Feb. 19-22. After the conference, we will head out for our new home.
Here's what we're doing in the the meantime:
1. Scrambling to evaluate and choose from six different bids from companies to ship a 20' container (about the same dimension as a typical parking space) (to be shared by both families) from Muscle Shoals, Alabama to Livingstone, Zambia.
2. Gathering all the required documents to submit with our work permit applications.
3. Finishing applications for missionary visas for each family member.
That's it for now. Please pray with us that the Lord will move ahead of us to prepare the way through every hoop we must jump through and that He alone will establish us in Zambia.
Here's what we're doing in the the meantime:
1. Scrambling to evaluate and choose from six different bids from companies to ship a 20' container (about the same dimension as a typical parking space) (to be shared by both families) from Muscle Shoals, Alabama to Livingstone, Zambia.
2. Gathering all the required documents to submit with our work permit applications.
3. Finishing applications for missionary visas for each family member.
That's it for now. Please pray with us that the Lord will move ahead of us to prepare the way through every hoop we must jump through and that He alone will establish us in Zambia.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Faith Often Looks Foolish
Stephanie started reading a biography on Hudson Taylor entitled, "Hudson Taylor - The Growth of a Soul" late last spring and the Lord has used it powerfully as a faith-builder in her heart as well as in ours as a family. One excerpt that she shared with us from her reading has continued to be especially helpful. As a young boy, Hudson Taylor was taught well by his Father that God never lies, that it is always right to take God fully at his word, and that he should treat God's great promises in scripture as fact. In this excerpt, Taylor is preparing for the work God called Him to, and he goes to a minister in his native town to borrow a book on China. The older minister questions Taylor's sensibility and you can see in Taylor an unshakable trust in the promises of God revealed in his matter-of-fact response:
"This he (the minister) kindly granted (the book), inquiring why I wished to read it. I told him that God had called me to spend my life in missionary service in that land.
'And how do you propose to go there?' he inquired.
I answered that I did not at all know; that it seemed to me probable that I should need to do as the Twelve and the Seventy had done in Judea, go without purse or scrip, relying on Him who had sent me to supply all my need.
Kindly placing his hand on my shoulder, the minister replied, 'Ah, my boy, as you grow older you will become wiser than that. Such an idea would do very well in the days when Christ himself was on earth, but not now.'
I have grown older since then, but not wiser. I am more and more convinced that if we were to take the directions of our Master and the assurance He gave to His first disciples more fully as our guide, we should find them just as suited to our times as to those in which they were originally given."
"This he (the minister) kindly granted (the book), inquiring why I wished to read it. I told him that God had called me to spend my life in missionary service in that land.
'And how do you propose to go there?' he inquired.
I answered that I did not at all know; that it seemed to me probable that I should need to do as the Twelve and the Seventy had done in Judea, go without purse or scrip, relying on Him who had sent me to supply all my need.
Kindly placing his hand on my shoulder, the minister replied, 'Ah, my boy, as you grow older you will become wiser than that. Such an idea would do very well in the days when Christ himself was on earth, but not now.'
I have grown older since then, but not wiser. I am more and more convinced that if we were to take the directions of our Master and the assurance He gave to His first disciples more fully as our guide, we should find them just as suited to our times as to those in which they were originally given."
Sunday, October 19, 2008
A Pilgrim Mindset
I was reading "Life As a Vapor" by John Piper today. He was quoting Edwards (does that surprise anyone?) in Chapter 24, page 134, "Jonathan Edwards On the Pilgrim Mindset". I was struck by how these quotes have taken on a whole new meaning for me. Living temporarily here in Alabama while we look forward to the upcoming journey to Zambia - this should be a miniature picture of our whole life perspective. We're just pilgrims passing through. Here is an excerpt for your enjoyment:
Pilgrims are not diverted from their aim.
A traveler is not enticed by fine appearances to put off the thought of proceeding. No, but his journey's end is in his mind. If he meets with comfortable accommodations at an inn, he entertains no thoughts of settling down there. He considers that these things are not his own, that he is but a stranger, and when he has refreshed himself, or tarried for a night, he is going forward.
Pilgrims are to hold the things of this world loosely.
So should we desire heaven more than the comforts and enjoyments of this life... Our hearts ought to be loose to these things, as that of a man on a journey, that we may as cheerfully part with them whenever God calls.
Pilgrims ponder what they pursue.
Labor to be much acquainted with heaven. If you are not acquainted with it, you will not be likely to spend your life as a journey thither. You will not be sensible of its worth, nor will you long for it. Unless you are much conversant in your mind with a better good, it will be exceeding difficult to you to have your hearts loose from these things, to use them only in subordination to something else and be ready to part with them for the sake of that better good. Labor therefore to obtain a realizing sense of a heavenly world, to get a firm belief of its reality, and to be very much conversant with it in your thoughts.
Pilgrims will not be satisfied with anything less than God.
God is the highest good of the reasonable creature, and the enjoyment of Him is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows. But the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean... Why should we labor for, or set our hearts on anything else, but that which is our proper end, and true happiness?
And here are two scriptures to encourage you.
Hebrews 11:13-14
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
Philippians 3:20
Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pilgrims are not diverted from their aim.
A traveler is not enticed by fine appearances to put off the thought of proceeding. No, but his journey's end is in his mind. If he meets with comfortable accommodations at an inn, he entertains no thoughts of settling down there. He considers that these things are not his own, that he is but a stranger, and when he has refreshed himself, or tarried for a night, he is going forward.
Pilgrims are to hold the things of this world loosely.
So should we desire heaven more than the comforts and enjoyments of this life... Our hearts ought to be loose to these things, as that of a man on a journey, that we may as cheerfully part with them whenever God calls.
Pilgrims ponder what they pursue.
Labor to be much acquainted with heaven. If you are not acquainted with it, you will not be likely to spend your life as a journey thither. You will not be sensible of its worth, nor will you long for it. Unless you are much conversant in your mind with a better good, it will be exceeding difficult to you to have your hearts loose from these things, to use them only in subordination to something else and be ready to part with them for the sake of that better good. Labor therefore to obtain a realizing sense of a heavenly world, to get a firm belief of its reality, and to be very much conversant with it in your thoughts.
Pilgrims will not be satisfied with anything less than God.
God is the highest good of the reasonable creature, and the enjoyment of Him is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows. But the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean... Why should we labor for, or set our hearts on anything else, but that which is our proper end, and true happiness?
And here are two scriptures to encourage you.
Hebrews 11:13-14
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
Philippians 3:20
Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Practice Eco-Dome
Sorry we haven't been writing much on this blog! We are determined to get better!! Here are a few pictures of the practice "eco-dome" we are building here in Alabama. This building style will be how we will build our bedrooms in Zambia. If you would like to see a finished dome you can click on the "cal-earth" link on the side of this page. Thanks to our Church Family from Hannibal, MO who came to help us get started on this project. Thanks to all of our Church Family from Alabama for help also! A special thanks to the Kirk family for letting us build in their back yard! (When the dome is finished it will be a playhouse for the Kirk Kids!)
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