Donation Button

Ministry Only Happens With Love

When you hear the same message more than once from unrelated sources it seems appropriate to take note. That happened to me recently. In my home Church in the States there was a guest speaker on my last Sunday. He spoke on loving people well and his point was that ministry can only happen when we lay down our preconceived ideas about a person and let God love them through us. We have to be open to Him and intentional with them. I then returned to my Church in Guatemala and there was again a guest speaker. He spoke about loving God and receiving His love and then letting that love pour out onto the people that we want to minister to. If we do not have a heart filled with love, we have nothing that the unsaved would want.

In both of their messages it starts with being in love with God and letting that relationship overwhelm us and spill out onto our relationships with the people in our lives. The world needs us to receive what the Father wants to give us. The world is desperately in need of love and if we do not have it from the Father, we will not be able to give it to them. We can only receive His love and be confident to give it away by spending time with Him and allowing Him to speak with us.

I have been reading in Psalms the last few days and I was really struck by something. David is very much like everybody I know. He has some serious struggles in His life. There are times that he wants to die because He is so overwhelmed by the problems that face him or because he is ashamed of his sin. The thing about David is that he always returns to the Lord. He does not let his shame or inadequacies keep him from God. When I see my own shortcomings I want to run away and hide but he returns. Where does he find the fortitude or faith to continue to pursue God?

I think that the answer is hidden in a well known verse that we often skip right over. In Ps 23:4 David tells us that he finds comfort in the the Lord's rod and staff. The staff is to give direction but the rod is used for correction. David found peace and comfort in the discipline of the Lord. He received it as a sign of God's love. He knew the the Lord disciplines those He loves. David embraced the Lord's discipline and even looked for it in his life. He knew that if he received the Lord's discipline, he did not need to fear anyone or anything else in life. He was secure in the Lord. Love is more than just acceptance. It is also correction and redirection.

God wants us to receive His love but we have to also embrace His discipline if we want to really know what love is. In order to have confidence in our place in the Father's love, we have to embrace all that He has for us, including correction. We need more than just a nod of approval. We need to open ourselves to discipline and to allow our lives to be redirected. God will move us and place us where He wants us and where we can experience His love if we will be open to all that He has for us.

I want to be changed and transformed in every way. I want to embrace the Lord's discipline in my life so that I can be secure in His love and then I want to be able to give the love that I have received to lost and hurting people. I want people to come to know all that Jesus has made available to them because I walk in confidence. I want the Holy Spirit to be able to have full access to my life and to be usable by Him. I want to see the world transformed and people to know the love of Jesus. I do not just want to do things for people but I want to be an expression of God's love to them.

This is my prayer for my life this year, That I would know how high and how wide, how deep and how strong is the Father's love for me. That I would see His hand at work in every person I come in contact with and every situation that I encounter. I want to see the kingdom of God in everything this year.  I want to corrected when I need it and encouraged also. I want be available to the Father so He can use me as an instrument of change and lastly, I want to be free of the defeatist mentality that has so many in the Church living in fear of the future.
   

You Can Do It!

As I prepare  to leave in  a couple of days I wanted to say thank you to everyone that has prayed for me, encouraged me and supported me. All of these things are important to the success of the work that we are doing. Many of you have partnered with me and with Galilea in the ways mentioned as well as coming to work with us on projects. Because of your generosity and obedience, I have already passed the 35% mark for my funding goals for the year. I am able to leave without thinking about resources for the time being and I knowing that God is faithful to provide every need. Again I want to say thank you.

I also wanted to take the opportunity to encourage you all. I know that each of you carries a dream and a desire in your heart. God has put a seed of something in you that you desire to accomplish with your life and you do not know how you possibly could. You do not have the time, resources, knowledge or 1,000 other things that you think you need before you can launch out. I pray that you come to see the God that destroys our excuses. He makes a way for us where there is no way. He opens doors that we thought were sealed permanently. Most of all, He lift us above our failures to fulfill His purposes.

You say that sounds nice but..................................... My circumstances are special. I cannot right now because................................... I to can tell you many reasons for why I could not possibly go right now. I could point to circumstances that make it impossible. I am also sure that it will be more convenient later. I am going now anyway. God did not tell me to go in the future. He even called me to go at some of the craziest times in my life. He has called me to go when I had no funds, when I had cancer, when I had a host of physical problems, He called me to go.

I believe that God prefers to have us do crazy things for Him when it is most impractical, inconvenient and even impossible. When we do these things in His time and when it looks crazy to everyone, only God can get credit and glory for the success. He can be seen best when He works in spite of our inabilities and shortcomings. He uses our abilities but He glories in our weakness.

You ask how can I do these things. I believe the answer is found in Matt 6. Jesus told His disciples that the Father knew all of their needs but not to worry about them. Seek His Kingdom and righteousness and all of these other things would fall into place also. He is not saying just to look for His kingdom but to pursue it, hunt it down, run after it, turn our backs on all else for the sake of attaining it. When we do that He will bless all the things that He leads us to. When we loose ourselves looking for His Kingdom, we find our true identity. We find our purpose and we find our provision.

Today, begin to ask the Father to help you see the Kingdom at work in everyone and everything around you. Ask Him to show you how to walk in obedience to Him and pursue His kingdom. Let Him reveal the things in your life that block or inhibit you from chasing after His Kingdom. When you allow Him to show you how to follow and pursue the Kingdom, all of the other things in your life will line up with His purpose and call for you. You will have no excuses but lots of opportunities. You can do it! In the Kingdom there is success and victory. Pursue!

2016 Is on the Way

Dear Life Church Family,

I know that many of you read my blog but I also know that several are not on facebook and do not see when it is posted so I wanted to give you an update about where I am heading, what I will be doing and my needs for the coming year.

I will be leaving for Guatemala again on Jan 18 to begin work immediately. We will be hosting about 14 groups and working with 2 others this year. We have approximately 28 weeks of work on the schedule as of now and there are sure to be a few changes and additions as the year progresses. I will be returning home in late March most likely for about 3 weeks and then returning for 6 to 8 more months.

We will be doing much the same work as last year. We will continue with house and stove construction. We still have work to complete on both schools and the Church in Membrillal. We will continue to work on the Food Machine in Zapote. We will also work with medical teams as well in both villages. Our desire is to find projects that will help people become self sufficient and allow us to proclaim the Gospel to them.

We never know what a year will bring and there are always lots of surprises but we are looking forward with eager anticipation.

As for me, I am behind on my fundraising. I need to raise about $3,000 by Jan 11 before I leave to cover some expenses. I have received about $1,000 so far and half of that has gone to my initial airfare. I will also need to buy a roundtrip ticket in March before I return.  I have set a goal of $12,000 this year for my personal expenses. I set the amount at that because that is the amount needed for a resident visa. Though I love to come back here, it would be more convenient to do in my timing rather than the Guatemalan governments. I also am looking to raise $5,000 extra for a car. It would probably cost around $8,000 for a reliable vehicle and I figure that there should be about $3,000 that I could spare from the $12,000 because I do not have rent yet. This is the best year to buy a car because next year I will have the extra expenses of rent and utilities.

I am asking you to consider partnering with me in this ministry this year. In order to raise the needed funds, I am looking for 20 monthly individual supporters and 3 or 4 monthly supporting Churches. I also want you to consider Jean, Lauren and Annie and the work they too will be doing in Guatemala. If God leads you to support them instead, that is great. Mostly I want to ask you to pray for us and get involved.

 Thank You.


If you would like to help with my expenses you can mail checks to  
Life Church Morris
C/O San Lucas Mission    
P.O. Box 679                      
Morris, IL 60450

            For Lauren and Jean              
C/O Santiago Mission
                                 
For Annie                            
C/O Esther House

Always remain flexible

This week I started making preparations for my return to Guatemala. We have been anticipating a very busy year and so it was with excitement that I started looking for my tickets. I found a fairly good deal on United and bought them. I was not excited about the outbound flight time but I was very excited to get back to work. I am enjoying being home and seeing everyone but feel like it is time to be working again. I miss everyone here when I am gone but feel unproductive when I am here, even when I am working on things.

I bought my tickets and sent the information on to people in Guatemala so they would know my plans and about 30 minutes later I got our new schedule. In the last two days it has changed substantially. I will only have about a week in the States in May if I keep my current itinerary but I could come back a month earlier and have almost a month. There is now a group coming earlier in January and they will be there 4 days before me. I will not be changing that date because they are small and will get by without me.

You might be asking why I am sharing these things. I just want to let you all know that plans change. We like to get locked into something and force it to work on our timetable and God laughs at our stubbornness. We cannot see tomorrow but we plan like we have everything figured out. We are being blessed with more teams coming to us than ever. More work will be accomplished than we expected but we have to be flexible for it all to work out. We cannot predict what God wants to do in or through us. We can only remain pliable in His hands and receive the blessings that He pours into us as they come.

It is Christmastime and most will be spending time with family and friends. God wants to bless us with their presence in this season but many of us stress out because things do not go like we plan. We want to control how our days and our interactions go. We miss out on those blessings because we are not flexible. I want to challenge you this season to be flexible this season. Give the people around you the freedom to just live in relationship. Don't try and direct or control your relationships and your time together. Let God just bless you with presence this season. Thank Him for what He brings you and allows you to experience with your friends and family this Christmas. Determine in your heart to just enjoy Him, them and the holiday and not to let the things that come up or the plans that  change distract you from the blessings He is giving you this year.

I wanted to let you know that I will be leaving on Jan 18th and it looks like I will be returning for a few weeks at the end of March through the middle of April. I am still in need of financial support. I have talked to many people but nothing is sure as of yet. I need to raise $12,000 for living expenses and am praying for a $5,000 to $8,000 more for transportation. I have been limited by the lack of a vehicle for the last 3 years and I I am spending more time there it is becoming a major inconvenience. Please pray about partnering with me in the coming year. If you have questions about the work that we are doing or my role in it please feel free to message or call me. My # is 779-227-3812 or my e-mail is thegeokr@yahoo.com.

You can mail support to
Life Church Morris
P.O. Box 679
C/O San Lucas Mission
Morris, IL 60450

Thank you all and Merry Christmas

Learning humility

I do not know about you but I am horrible when it comes to admitting need. I can tell you about the work that is being done or about the kids and families that we work with but when it comes to stating a need, I lock up. I remember when the doctor diagnosed my cancer 5 years ago, I did not want to tell my family. I did not want to admit that there was something in my life that was beyond my control. I knew that God was big enough to lead me through it but I denied the rightful place of believers to walk out the journey with me.

In missions I often find myself in  similar situation. I love the work that I do and know that God has called me to it. I do not doubt He is the one that initiated the work and opened the doors for me to be part of it. I even know that He is responsible for meeting my physical needs when I am doing the work He calls me to. Where I struggle is in admitting that it is not just my work. He has called and is calling people to partner in this work to advance His kingdom. I struggle to admit that I need them in order to do what I am called to do and that they need me to do it because God has put this work on their hearts. He has called us to partner together for His kingdom.

When I look around, I see a lot of missionaries doing great work. They are sharing the Gospel and meeting the needs of others and doing it with a servant's heart. They love the people that they serve and do it in order for the Glory of Jesus to be seen in the earth. I hope that I too am reflecting Jesus this way in my work. They have so many needs and I feel like my asking somehow cuts into their support and many of them are friends. I would not want to hinder them by telling my needs. I should just have enough faith to let God provide.

That sounds altruistic but really I am beginning to see that it is a form of spiritual pride. The Bible tells us to bear one another's burdens. To want to help others without being open and vulnerable about my life is a form of holding myself in spiritual superiority. In reality, it is pride and fear. How can I lead if I have unmet needs? How can people see God working through me if I need something other than Him? Put on the mask of strength and do not let people see inside. You and God will get through this.

The reality is that God sets us in a body. He does not call us to independence or even to depend solely on Him. While He is our primary source, He calls us to live in a body and for each of us to supply, support and strengthen the parts of the body around us. He could provide every need without the body but then we would not develop the healthy interdependence that He desires us to have. We would not have unity if we are all off doing our own thing without relationships with one another. He designed us to live in community and to learn to lean on one another. I do not have everything that I need to do the work that I am called to and neither do you. We all were created to work together as a living and dynamic organism to accomplish the purpose of evangelism, discipleship and serving the world.

With this in mind I wanted to share a little bit about my upcoming year. I will again be in Guatemala working in the communities of Zapote and Membrillal. We will be working with about 13 teams over 20 weeks doing construction, medical clinics and food production. We are serving these communities with the Gospel and with physical help as well with the dual goals of community independence and a thriving Church in the community. These things are already taking place and growing. Zapote has 200 students in the school and about 270 people in the Church. Membrillal is just beginning to see the Church take off and the school will have about 110 students next year.

As for me, I am committed to this work and know that God has called me to be there. For next year I will have several expenses. The government of  Guatemala requires me to have $12,000 of verifiable support to begin the process of applying for residence and so that is my baseline. It would provide for things like Spanish classes, daily living expenses and a few occasional luxuries like a weekend away from the work. It would also pay for my airfare to the States twice a year. Beyond that, I would like to raise $5,000 to $7,000 this year in order to buy some form of transportation. I considered a motorcycle because of affordability but there are to many limitations. Something with 4 wheels is much more suited to all of the things that I need it for.

I do not want to sound ungrateful for all of the past giving because I am not and I do not want anybody to give unless God is directing them to. I know many others that are serving also and want you only to give where God is directing you. I do want to ask you all to pray though and support fully the one or the few that God is calling you to support. In missions. we are happy to go and do the work that we are called to but we need the body to support that work for it to continue. Let God lead you but please support the missions that He calls you to.

If you are called to support me, you can mail your support to
Life Church Morris
C/O San Lucas Missions
P.O. Box 679
Morris, IL 60450

or if you feel led to support Jean and Lauren as they prepare to go you can mail support to the same address but C/O Santiago Missions.

Thank you all for your friendship, support and prayers.

Why Me

I have been thinking about a lot of things this last few weeks, reflecting on the year that we are completing and wondering why God chose me for this role. Why am I the one that is living far from home, getting to see God do such amazing things and having a part in all of it. Why did God choose me?

As I ask that question I realize something. He chose me because He chooses all of us. I am doing something that I love and know that I was created for because all of us were created for a purpose. None of us is here by accident but we have reason for being and destiny programmed into us. Some of us are called to go to another place and live with people that speak a different language and have different customs than we grew up with. Some are called to be nurses or mechanics. Others are called to be pastors or school teachers. None of us are called to mere existence. I have stepped into what I am created to be and so can you.

How do I know what I was called to do? First we have to have a relationship with the Creator. Who but the one that designed us would know what we were made for. Without Jesus, we may stumble along and find our passion but we will never find our destiny. They are tied together but are not the same thing. Our passion gives us power and vision for our work but our destiny will cause our work to impact the lives of people for eternity. We will enjoy working in our passion but we will find fulfillment in our destiny. Obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit will bring these two together.

When we let God lead our steps, He will direct us into the place that He can use our lives to build His kingdom. As we are active in building His Kingdom, we are also building our own inheritance. He told us to store up for ourselves treasures in Heaven where thieves could not steal and moths and rust could not destroy. We will also find a sense of fulfillment in knowing that we are leaving the world better than we found it. People will have a hope that they previously did not have because we are walking in what God created us to be. When we walk in His purposes, we become the salt and light that Jesus called us in Matthew 5.

Today, did you get up with a sense of purpose and destiny? Do you feel like your life will matter long after you are gone? Did you dread getting out of bed to face another long tedious day? That is not what God created you to do. Ask Him how to escape the rat race and walk into purpose and destiny. I am not telling everyone to quit their jobs. Some of you are working 9 to 5 and are exactly where God created you to be. Where you are is impacting people for  His Kingdom. Some of you are in ministry and hate what you are doing. You chose a career because you believed the lie of sacred vs secular and now feel like a failure or disappointment because you want out. All of our labor is to be as an act of worship to God but it can only be worship if we are there in obedience to His plan for our lives.

I know that I am here because God has called me to be. Sometimes I worry about what the future will be. I am dependent on things beyond my control like finances. I do not have the material possessions and resources that I had when I worked at a regular job. I no longer have a 401 K. I am not sure about what I will be doing tomorrow but I know I am to be here today. I believe that God has me here and the proof is that He keeps putting it on people's hearts to support the work I do but even more, He keeps producing fruit and I get to rejoice at seeing it and knowing that He is working through all of our inadequate efforts to grow His Kingdom all around us. I am grateful for how God is using my life and pray that today you can say the same thing. If not, ask Him to help you set a new direction, one that will cause you to be on the path of purpose and destiny.

This year, many of you have supported me and the work that we are doing here in Guatemala and I am eternally grateful. Next year I am praying that will continue and increase. We will be doing more work and my personal needs still exist. It is coming to the point where I really need to get reliable transportation and will eventually need to find a place to live, though that could be quite a ways down the road yet. Pray for me and for our work. My financial goal for me next year is $17,000. This is much higher because it includes the purchase of a vehicle. I would also love to raise $15,000 for the school at Membrillal to finish next year strong financially. I will be writing about these things more in the coming weeks and will tell you more about how you can be involved. For now, if you would like to help me personally, you can send support to

Life Church Morris
C/O Guatemala Missions Fund
P.O. Box 679
Morris, IL 60450

The pictures have little to do with our work this year but they are just some fun ones that I liked and thought that you may enjoy as well.

Soon I will be telling you how you can help the school and the students for next year.

Thank you all