Kingdom

There are a lot of people in this world. Furthermore there are a lot of people that don’t know Christ, a lot of Christians sitting on their hands, a lot of people who are open to listen, a lot who aren’t and each person is on some sort of journey that we hope ends with them in the eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

I moved here because I wanted to advance the Kingdom and I wanted to obey the Lord’s voice that Tanzania is where I’m supposed to be. He has been gracious to bestow upon me the position of teacher, elder, leader and above all father. I didn’t come here on a whim and I’m certainly not leaving on one, much less anytime soon. Tanzania is where the Lord has planted me for a while to advance His Kingdom. First and foremost, with the Treasures, but His Kingdom isn’t confined to TOA. It may advance at ICC, any other church I speak at or attend, it could advance through our worship nights, through my conversations with my friends, or with George, the old guy that hangs out by the bread shop that I’ve gotten to pray with before. Nor is my work in His Kingdom confined to Tanzania.

I’ve been so blessed by some wonderful encouragements from people back in the states that have said that the blogs and other things I’m putting out are encouraging them in their own faith. For all my complaining about close friends that don’t read my blogs (my apologies), I’m truly humbled by those of you that have told me how the Lord has used the writings in your life. It is a blessing to me to know that He is still using me in any small way back in my home country, because Americans are still close to my heart and my desire is to see Americans, especially those of my generation, completely sell out for the Lord and His business. And yet, that’s not really the country I’m getting at in this particular post…

Did you know that God does what He wants? Did you know that He has a handle on things and is a creative God? Better yet, He is the Creator God. I feel like sometimes we play things out in our mind that this is what the Lord does and thus put Him in a box. This is what it means to be a pastor, this is what it means to be a long term missionary, this is what a normal congregant is supposed to do and so forth. I really am finding more and more that God isn’t as interested in our compartmentalization and confining mindsets as we are. With something that’s been on my heart (and the thing I had been fasting and praying about, mentioned in the previous post), He’s pulling me myself out of such a mindset of what it means to be a long term missionary.

You want me to stop with all the blabber and just get to the big news already? Alright, here’s the story with a little build-up…

I am a missionary at a children’s home. Our kids are Tanzanian, the kids are being raised up to follow the Lord and most presumably will do so in Tanzania. Hidden With Christ’s pastor conferences are here and aside from separate work in Ukraine, all our ministry is in Tanzania or the states. That’s where the Lord has called Hidden With Christ at this point in time.

Ryan and Stacy are the heads of Global-EFFECT. There ministry is different than ours. While their main focus right now is in Tanzania, their outlook is to touch all nations, hence the name of their organization. One of the things that they are doing is equipping and giving opportunities to Tanzanians to touch the nations. The biggest thing to date that they are doing with that is taking three Tanzanian Fountain of Hope high school girls with them on a short term missions trip to India.

I knew for a while that the trip was planned and nothing struck me about it, other than a great opportunity for these girls and Global-EFFECT. About a month ago, I was talking with Lauren at her house and she told me that she was bummed earlier in the week, because a Courage To Be You Kilimanjaro Charity Climb had been canceled, but she told me that only lasted a day, because after that the Lord Himself opened the door for her to go with Ryan and the team to India. India had been a place the Lord had put on her heart previously and now Courage To Be You is also planting a Courage House there, like the one being prepared here. So for her it makes sense, but something struck my mind and now, I was considering it myself.

I began praying about it and after doing that for a few days, I determined that this is at least something I wanted to do, but I didn’t see the connection with TOA and it is not allowed in my contract with HWC. Nonetheless, I didn’t want to think about it with an earthly mind, but wanted to continue to pray and see if this is what the Lord was calling me to do. I sat down with Ryan soon thereafter and asked him privately if it was even a possibility. I wasn’t going to bother Lydia or Rita with it, if it wasn’t even possible. He was very excited at my interest and said it wasn’t too late to jump on board. I committed the next day in fasting and prayer and after that I resolved to submit it to Lydia. While I had planned on speaking with her the next day, a week went by. It was a wonderful blessed conversation with her and we didn’t talk just about India, but also just about the meta-picture of what God is doing in my life. After that she said it was okay to email Rita. I did that and another week went by awaiting her reply. Turned out that she never got the email and I had to resend it and wait for her to pray. She emailed me back and gave me very sound godly wisdom. She told me she would release me from my contractual duties for those two weeks if that is what God was calling me to. I couldn’t confidently say that at that point. I knew that more prayer and fasting would help. So after church on Sunday, I resolved that I would do a conditional multi-day fast based on what the Lord says and when He says it. That brings us to the previous post “Voice.” After writing that, I met with Ryan for discipleship and we were able to talk about the trip. I realized that I don’t really have a process for being called to short term missions. I don’t know how the Lord and I work through that. The first international trip, aside from Mexico, that I went on was to Poland, and while the Lord used it, I essentially followed my girlfriend there. Since the summer of 2007, Tanzania was the only nation I felt called to so my short term trips were to the same place and long term was in my head the whole time. Lo and behold, I’m here and its right where God wants me. After talking with Ryan, I not only noticed that, but something was added to my soul on why He’d be sending me there for the two weeks. I could feel a shift in my spirit and a confidence growing. That night I continued in prayer, fasting and solitude and the Lord spoke…

I was originally expecting this to be a scouting trip for something maybe 15 years down the road, when I’ll move there. That could be the case, I don’t know, but that’s not what God was talking about and its not the reason I’m going. He told me “My blessing is with you.” That sounded good and it helped because my mind was on India and He knew that. Furthermore, He gave me three things that He’ll be doing on this trip. One, there is some sort of impartation that I’m supposed to receive while I’m there. I don’t know if that’s specifically from a person or the Lord Himself will do it through the experiences, but an impartation is to take place. Two, for all my focus on the Kingdom and expanding it, I’ve been too focused on doing that externally (to others), while the Lord wants to do that internally also. Third, this experience is to be a testament to others of God doing what God wants.

So there you go, I’m going to India. In the natural, it seems illogical, but I’m looking through the eyes of faith. Yeah, I’m already living on support money and to expect any extra is a bit ludicrous, but its not outside of His reign. Yeah, I’m called to Tanzania and I’ll be here for a long time and this in the natural has nothing to do with TOA, but it has to do with the Kingdom and that’s my highest calling in loving the Lord. I’m far from rolling in money, but I trust God. We essentially leave in a month and I have done zero fundraising for this, but He knows what He’s doing.

We will be going around India to orphanages and churches encouraging the believers there. I’ll probably be preaching which will be exciting. I believe we have two conferences scheduled as well as whatever else the Lord has for us. We will be ministering in Darjeeling and will be there for the majority of the time. We will also be going into a closed nation nearby and will be smuggling in Bibles and other Christian materials. We will be going in under a guise, but will also be encouraging the underground church there. I can hardly wait to see the beautiful people, witness what the Lord is doing there, encourage others and see the Himalayas!

If you feel led by the Spirit to give, then you can do that. If you don’t feel led by the Spirit to give, but you want to give, you can do that too. Please pray for us and the people we’ll be ministering to. There is some political unrest in Darjeeling right now and one group is threatening to close down the city before the end of this month. We will be gone from August 21st through September 6th. I can’t receive any potential support money through HWC, because its not their mission. However, if you want to help financially this is how you can do that…

Go to www.global-effect.org and click on the bottom button “Give” from there you can donate by credit or debit card. By clicking on the debit/credit card link it will take you to justgive.org where you can enter the amount and designate the destination which will be “Project India.” Or if you want to send in a check to Global-EFFECT you can send it payable to Global Effect at Global Effect, PO Box 992856 Redding, CA 96099 and write “Project India” on the memo line. There isn’t a ton of money coming in because it’s a small team, so when it comes in I’ll spot your name and it will be credited to my support. If I don’t know you, let me know you’re supporting me!

The Lord is good, His plans are the best and most satisfying. Being about His Kingdom is the most satisfying and fun thing that anyone can participate in. I’m blessed and excited for what the Lord is going to do through me and the team in India. To Him alone be all glory, power, praise and love forever.