Safely Home

My Friends, thank you for your prayers. Even on a 28 hour bus ride, God can show up and work in the hearts of His people. I talked with a couple guys I sat next to, a few of whom are committed Christians, and we talked about life and encouraged each other with God's Word and what He's been teaching us. That is something I did not expect on a Greyhound bus, but God is making the plans!

I am home resting now for a few days. Then, Julie and I head out on another road trip, for just a week this time, to attend the wedding of a good friend of ours. After that, I expect to be mostly stationary for a while. As I was asking God about what country I should go to and what mission agency I should look into, I have felt Him calling me to invest in my neighbors for a while. So, if all goes well, my church will finish buying a house in downtown Grand Rapids within a few weeks, and I'll move in shortly thereafter, and it will be some sort of intentional community reaching out to the neighborhood. Lead on, Lord Jesus. Lead on.

Long Day Ahead

Today is my last half-day of work at OM Ships in Florence, SC. My Greyhound bus leaves at 12:30pm, and I am ready to be on it.

Pray
Please pray for me, as I'll be stuck on that bus for 27.5 hours (arriving in Grand Rapids, MI at 4pm Saturday, Lord willing). Pray that God will use that time for His glory, whether through giving me rest through thinking/journaling/reading, or through conversations with fellow bus riders.

Praise
God has met me through His Word, His Spirit, and His people in amazing ways this month. I have wrestled with Him and surrendered many things to Him. Lots of stories to tell of His grace. I'm glad to tell, just ask!

Photos

A holiday at the sea

Went to Myrtle Beach yesterday, got sunburned, bought some aloe vera, toured a WWII battleship, and made it home with pictures and plenty to think about (you will find the pictures below). Now I am pondering the following, and you are all welcome to comment:

Freedom
War
American history
Patriotism
World history
WWI and WWII
Our founding fathers
What it means to give your life for something
How hard it would be to live on a cramped battleship with 2000 men and fight in battles and keep your nerves.
The Spiderwick Chronicles (since we listened to them on the drive)

Adventure Half-Full

Is my techy mission road trip half-started or half-finished? Actually, it's both. Here's a brief update:

The Computing in Mission conference was fantastic! The Lord powerfully reminded me that He is Lord of technology just as He is Lord of everything else. Every decision I make regarding technology should be based on His truth. Sounds strange, right? Why would God care about technology? Because it directly affects His people. Our technology choices will affect how we minister to God's people locally and abroad, so we must let God speak to these decisions.

At the conference, I also met lots of wonderful people and made good contacts with a few organizations that I will pursue more. I still don't know where I'll be in two months or a year, but God knows and I am not afraid to follow Him. Praise God for His peace!

Meet my cohorts in crime...I mean...missions: Tim and Patricia Young.

We had a few days of rest in Delaware and DC before heading to our first mission agency visit in the mountains of North Carolina. Once there, we met Clarke, a man with a passion for the unreached peoples of the world. He cast the vision for a website to mobilize people to pray for God's kingdom in all ways, especially for those living without the Gospel. Then we spent the week building the website with his constant feedback, keeping in mind that we only had a week. With God's help we made good progress, but it's not launched yet. Pray that God would bless the work of our hands and glorify His name through this project. We also spent time praying together, hiking in the mountains, and visiting with local families. Praise God for a wonderful, encouraging time with Clarke!

Yesterday, we arrived in central South Carolina for our two week stay at Operation Mobilization's ships ministry office (OM Ships). Plenty of tech work to do here! Please pray that God would give us wisdom to set priorities and leave OM in a good, working state.

My Itinerary:
June 12-16: Attend International Conference on Computing and Mission (ICCM) at Taylor University
June 17-21: Travel to "Home Base, Delaware", debrief on the conference, prepare for our first stop
June 22-26: Beech Mountain, NC: Christian Hospitality Network
June 29-July 10: Florence, SC: Operation Mobilization - Ships ministry office
July 10-11: Greyhound 28 hour bus trip to Grand Rapids!

Prayer Requests

• I feel God leading me to explore missions opportunities "where I am", meaning in my home community and through my existing connections. Please pray for courage as I step into this daunting unknown region of my future. God is giving my lots of ideas, and now it's time to investigate and pursue some of them.
• Pray that I will welcome God's work in my life, even when it involves scary and uncertain things.
• Pray that I will schedule my day around Him instead of me, both now and when I return home.

Praise

• God has inspired me to pray! It is the foundation of any effective ministry for God's kingdom, because it begins with submission to God. Join me in praying for His will to be done.
• I have experienced the kindness, hospitality, and fellowship of many believers. Praise God for the world-wide Body of Christ! He is alive!

Did you make it to the end of this post?? Post a quick comment so I can thank you! Post your prayer requests too, or email them to me, and I'll pray for you.

Dawning of a New Day

When I was laid off a few months ago, the Lord had already been stirring my heart for change. I was looking to the future, trying to understand my "calling" in God's big plan (which, I've concluded, need not be revealed by a big spiritual event, but is simply "where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet"; thanks, Frederick Buechner). While the future direction is still very foggy, I have decided (or discovered) a few solid things:

1. I love Jesus Christ above all else
2. I love the Body of Christ; when it works right, there's nothing more alive in the world
3. I love communication, music, community, games, children, solving puzzles, being childish (in moderation)
4. I have skills in technology and in interpersonal communication
5. I need to be around people at least part of the work day to keep me motivated and productive

This knowledge led me to seek current opportunities with technology in the mission field. While I have talked about this for years, it seemed best to pay off most of my school debt first. I was nearly finished with this when I was abruptly laid off, and the Lord soon put missions on my mind again. That has led me to my present location—Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, at the ICCM conference, surrounded by missionary computer geeks, and I am having a blast. So far, I've attended tech in missions presentations, met great people, heard challenging stories, and had some humbling conversations with the Lord as I relearn that He is the boss of my life, not me. I am also learning of opportunities in some mission organizations that I will consider pursuing. By far, the best part of this conference is the Christ-centered perspective. I get so consumed by the logic puzzles I'm trying to solve (that's how I view computer problems) that I forget that even technology belongs to God. He is the giver of all wisdom and knowledge. So let's submit our logical, natural, I-can-do-this-myself tasks to the Lord of all things. Let's pray about our computer issues. Let's recognize the King of kings and stop trying to take His throne.

When the conference finishes, my next adventure starts: three weeks of tech missions road trip with Tim Young of LightSys. Tim spends most of his time traveling to mission agencies around the world to consult and help with their tech needs, and I'm joining him and his wife for a piece of their USA road trip. They have a great Method of Ministry which you can learn about here.

My Itinerary:
June 12-16: Attend International Conference on Computing and Mission (ICCM) at Taylor University
June 17-21: Travel to "Home Base, Delaware", debrief on the conference, prepare for our first stop
June 22-26: Beech Mountain, NC: Christian Hospitality Network
June 29-July 10: Florence, SC: Operation Mobilization - Ships ministry office

Personal Goals
I want to know where I can fit well in God's big plan. I hope this trip will give me a broader perspective on the technology related needs in missions, and whether any of them are screaming my name.
I have done a lot of computer programming, but I prefer working with people. So I hope to use my technology skills in a more interpersonal context. That will help me decide what long term path to pursue.

Prayer Requests
Pray that I would have good chances to practice interpersonal stuff, like consulting or training, rather than menial technical stuff.
Pray that I will take time to be with the Lord, and for reflection on my experiences on this trip.
Pray that I will return with new vision and energy for God's work.

Praise
God has already provided me with a new laptop and a new (used) car at just the right time. He is taking very good care of me.

Here's a verse that one speaker powerfully shared, and it is shaping me this weekend.

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:10-11