Tag: germany

Water from a Rock

One Sunday a few weeks ago, we read Exodus 17 in worship. The Israelites are fairly fresh from leaving Egypt and have seen more spectacular miracles than the average person might expect to see in the span of a few months. Now they’re in the wilderness and have a real need for water. But despite seeing God provide for them in amazing ways, when it seemed that all was lost, they report their need to Moses in something along the lines of a class-action lawsuit.

Moses, worried that he’s about to be lynched, runs to God for help. He’s pretty agitated. Yet God gives him a calm, gracious answer: Go hit that rock with a stick. Moses obeys, and God provides water for all those people. From a rock.

So God met the need of His people, even though they brought it to Him as a complaint? Wow. That’s some God!

Later, Jesus said, “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” (Matthew 6:31-32)  He also said, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11) I don’t think I’m drawing a bad conclusion from the Bible when I write that God loves taking care of His people.

The Israelites experience in the desert made me think about our own move and our own needs.

In our April newsletter, I mentioned that we need an additional $2,000 in support each month to have an adequate living in Germany. We also have to sell the house. And we’d like for the boys to start school in Germany this August. That’s a lot of water. With the U.S. economy and housing market as they are, it seems that God is leading us to a big rock and saying, “Don’t worry! I’ve done this before.”

Yes, He has done it before. Katherine and I began serving Wycliffe at different times, and we each had to find all of our financial support before going to Africa. Lo and behold, God provided it! He did it then, and we fully expect Him to do it again now.

Here’s the fun part. You know how He does it? Through our brothers and sisters in Christ! After all, we missionaries would look pretty silly if we had to walk around with corporate logos all over us, like NASCAR drivers. So if you’re a child of God, it’s just possible that He’ll stir you to give to our ministry. Just like He stirred us to go in the first place.

One doesn’t have to be a “big giver” to make a difference. It would be pretty easy for 200 people to meet our present need, don’t you think? God just wants people who are eager to give. If you’re one of those people, or you know a fellow believer who is, then here’s the place to go: http://www.wycliffe.org/Partnership.aspx?mid=ECCA8C.

We’re all standing before an imposing rock as God calls us to reach this world with His message. Just read what Wycliffe USA’s leader, Bob Creson, recently said to Mission Network News about the size of the task. The rock’s big, but our God is ready to let loose streams of water if we’ll all obey Him!

Newsletter, April 2010

With all that’s been going on with home renovations, it’s been hard to pull away and write a bit. In the last newsletter I wrote (in December), our email project was about 50% complete. Now, a part of me can rest, since that project is 100% finished. Done! And so far, I haven’t seen much residual work.

So now the big push is to finish the sorting and selling and packing and fixing-up and planning and … you get the idea. Perhaps you’ve been through it yourself. In the newsletter, I describe what we’ve been up to and what lies ahead. In just a few weeks, we’re going to make our first major moving trip, and there’s a lot to do in the meantime.

Please enjoy the newsletter. You will notice that it mentions how much more support we need for our assignment in Germany. You may not be aware that all Wycliffe missionaries raise their own support. We’ll need to get the full amount before we can leave. And that, my friends, is part of what faith is for.

April 2010: A Liddle Good News (for reading on-screen)

April 2010: A Liddle Good News (for printing)

Just don’t get Congress involved

I certainly don’t know if you use a budget for yourself or not and what you think of the process, but when you’re a Wycliffe missionary, the whole matter of budgeting can get pretty complicated.

Wycliffe members are responsible for raising all of the funds that they’ll need for life and work in their ministries. Typically, the only funds that are raised by the mission itself are for large or special projects. Good examples of these are the Last Languages Campaign and individual projects that Wycliffe takes on. (Yes, do go and check them out – you don’t really think God’s going to let a little thing like the economy get in His way, do you?)

My main point is that Wycliffe doesn’t pay us a salary. But they certainly don’t leave us hanging in the breeze – they’re a very caring mission. To make sure that we’re financially sound (nothing’s secure, mind you), they estimate how much we need to live on – including taxes, Social Security, retirement, health care, etc. – and set that as our support goal. Now it’s very easy to write “they” and make the whole thing sound simple. But “they” truly are multiple people in several places, each person having a little piece of the budget puzzle. One must gather the pieces to assemble the puzzle. That’s where we are right now with the Germany move.

We’re decided on sending the boys to a local school, so we know that we don’t have to account for tuition. Katherine’s pretty sure that a local health insurance plan will be a better option for us than the one offered through Wycliffe, but we need to be certain of the details and costs. Our tax status will change overseas, and estimating taxes is always fun. (Everyone groan together, please.)

So please pray that we’ll get these numbers put together reliably. We don’t want to be wrong in either direction.

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