May 2008

These last few months have been pretty rough (busy schedule, hard classes...), and I've moaned and groaned my fair share, but yesteray at 2:27 I put down my pencil, collected my exam papers, walked to the front of the classroom and handed in my final, final exam of the semester. "Done," I said. And it was then, as I was overwhelmed with the way God has sustained me and enabled me to persevere this semester, that I realized how ironic it is that I complain more about the ways in which God chooses to bless me, than about the ways in which I continue to dishonor Him by failing to trust Him in all things. Richard Allestree once wrote, "The very breath with which we complain is a blessing." I think that says it all.

The short version...
1. Willy Wanka: we went and saw Jack (Hana's brother) star in Willy Wanka at his high school.
2. School's out for summer!
3. Ghana or bust: I leave for Ghana on May 29 (hope my Visa comes >.<)
4. Hana's keeping her job

And the long...
1. Last Thursday we headed down to Palm City to see Hana's family and, in particular, Jack, who was starring in his high school's production of Willy Wanka. He was Willy. I had not ever seen a high school production of this magnitude. Yeah, some of the special effects were kind of cheesy; but for the most part it was very impressive. All of the actors did a great job, sang like birds, and made us all laugh heartily. Jack was one heck of a Willy Wanka! He'll be coming up to Orlando in August to start at the University of Central Florida, and he's going to be helping out at UPC with the youth ministry as our youth-ministry-music intern. I'm very excited about it!

2. Well, two down and one to go! A year from today, Lord willing, I will graduate from RTS! I overheard my (third year) friend Daniel talking on his cell to a friend about graduating and it made me so excited! Yeah, it's a year away; but down here... time flies. It still feels like we just moved in, and I'm 2/3 done with seminary already! The good news is I am not only finished with another semester; I'm finished with the hardest semester of my degree! Thank God!! I'm sure third year won't be easy, and even if it's as hard as this semester was... I'm in. I can't wait! The thing is, though, I'm not confident that I can do it. I'm confident that God will be with me, and that He's in control. One of the things I love about God is the fact that both my successes and failures are part of His plan. How could someone work together everything in my life for my good? How is that possible? I don't know how God does it, but I truly believe He does.

3. If my visa comes in soon, I'll be boarding a plane headed for Accra, Ghana on the 29th. I have been overwhelmed by the prayer and financial support of my friends and family. If you are a contributor...THANK YOU!! and THANK GOD!! How humbling. I currently have over 100% of the money I needed to raise.

A couple of weeks ago I got my shots. I've got my passport. I do need to go get my malaria prevention meds; maybe I'll do that today. I'm excited about the conference. We'll be training church planters and church-planting-movement leaders to blanket West Africa with God fearing, Bible believing, Christ centered churches. Please pray for us! My next post will have a full report of how things went.

4. Finally, as we head into summer, I just want to express how thankful we are to God for providing Hana with the opportunity to stay at JHMS again next year. She has really enjoyed this year and she's going to miss her students. We went and saw one of her students performing in the school play. He was really funny! And the play was good. At the end, while we were applauding, the directors gave a short speech. Then the male lead blurted out, "I want to make a speech!! I want to make a speech!" And then he said, "I just want to say, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for God and my Dad." He desired nothing more than to give God the credit for the applause that he was receiving, and to honor his Dad. Amen brother! Amen.

The LORD Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged (Deut. 31:8)

God bless,
MjR