Goals for Deputation

We are about half way through our Ohio/Indiana tour, and God has been helping us. We had a very good service yesterday evening at Shoals, IN. Well, it was very good except for one minor detail. When I went to get up from kneeling down for prayer, my one shoe somehow got wedged vertically between the floor and the bottom of the pew in front of me. The more I struggled to get up, the more firmly wedged it became. Finally I had to work my foot out of the shoe; thankfully I had on a pair of slip-on rather than tie-ups. Anyway, the whole ordeal was rather embarrassing.

Although I haven't done that much preaching, I've done enough to know that God is the one that makes the difference and produces lasting results. Before we started on deputation, I set five specific goals that I wanted to see God accomplish through our travels. I would like to share those goals with you and ask you to please pray with me that God will see them met.

1. To help people develop more of a burden to effectively share the gospel message with those within their circle of influence
"Missions" involves all of us, not just those who are going to foreign fields. All souls have equal value in God's sight, whether they live in the US or in Costa Rica.

2. To see God call at least one new laborer into His harvestfields

3. To help people become aware and involved in foreign missions to where it becomes one of their passions
I believe that God wants all of us to carry a burden in be involved in foreign missions, and I have been encouraging people to set specific goals or plans to become more involved. Once people become involved, they will automatically develop more of a passion for missions.

4. To raise prayer support
I believe in the power of prayer. People right here in the US can have an influence on the souls to whom we are ministering in Costa Rica through their prayers.

5. To raise our full financial support
Although nobody likes to talk about this part of deputation, it is simply one of the realities of mission work. It is going to cost EFM a little over $3,000 a month to put us on the field. We are trying to raise at least 155 support shares of $20.00 a month. Although it seems like a big task, I believe that God is going to help us meet our goal.

Funny Animal Picture #1

A while back my sister-in-law sent me some neat pictures. I will be posting some of them from time to time; hopefully you will enjoy them as much as I do. I also thought it would be neat if you would help me come up with some good titles or captions for them. So, here is picture number one.

Tagged

I've been tagged by Br. Hight, so...

(1) What I was doing 10 years ago

Ten years ago I would have either just been ready to come home from Costa Rica, or else I would have just arrived home (I don't quite remember exactly when we returned).

(2) Five things to do tomorrow

-Work on a correspondence class that I am taking
-Take Missy shopping
-Play with Devin on the playground
-Read some more of Enemy at the Gates (about the WWII battle of Stalinburg)
-Study a book on the cell-church concept

(3) Snacks I enjoy

-Chips and Mountain Dew
-My mother-in-laws apple pie (even though I seldom get that)
-Ice cream

(4) If I were a billionaire

-Buy both of my parents a house
-Give some money to all of my siblings
-Give to missions, Penn View, and God's Missionary churches
-Invest
-Start a business

(5) Three bad habits

-Interrupting
-Playing with my chin
-Not cleaning my car often enough

(6) Five places I've lived

-Thomasville, NC
-Charleston, SC
-Costa Rica
-Nicaragua
-Penns Creek, PA

(7) Five jobs I've had

-Picking coffee
-Working for my uncle at Kaufman Trailers
-McDonalds
-Wood Mode, Inc. (a cabinet factory)
-EFM

(8) Five people I'd like to know more about

-Rachel Clough
-Eric Kuhns
-Collette Burch
-Katrina Randolph
-Sarah Susan

Busy Weekend

The reason why I have not posted since last Friday is not because of a lack of something to post about, but rather because of a lack of internet access. Actually, we had a very busy and enjoyable weekend.

• We were able to stay with Scott and Sarah Susan, Missy's brother and wife, last Thursday night and Friday night. It is always nice to be able to spend time with family on deputation.

• On Saturday we drove to Bedford, IN, the headquarters for Evangelistic Faith Missions. Several of EFM's missionaries were in Bedford for the weekend; on Saturday evening we all got together for a time of fellowship and pizza. There were special EFM services on Sunday at Br. Leonard Sankey's church in Bedford. I shared in the morning service, and then we traveled to Twin Oaks Holiness Church in Petersburg, IN for a service with Pastor Barry Whitaker.

• We spent Sunday night with my cousin Trent Hill and his wife, and on Monday morning Trent took me fishing. Although I have not fished much, I enjoyed it and even caught four largemouth bass.

• Yesterday we visited EFM's headquarters for the first time, and then the Manleys took us out to lunch. Tonight we have another deputation service, so as you can see we have been keeping busy.
  
  
  
  

Scott grilled us some yummy burgers and hotdogs.

Devin enjoyed his cousin Ethan, except when Missy held Ethan instead of him.

We really enjoyed being able to spend time with Daniel and Tiffany Melton and their boys.

Veteran missionaries still enjoy pizza.

Sis. Hight, Missy, and Tiffany visited while the guys played basketball. (You should see Br. Hight play basketball).

New Poll

My first poll has ended, and I was fairly pleased with the participation. I was not surprised to find out that 11 out of the 12 people who voted think that Barack Obama is going to beat Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Although I can't stand either of the two candidates, at this point I think that I would rather have Hillary as our next president as opposed to Obama. Since I am not too fond of McCain either, my humble opinion is that our general presidential election will be a choice between not too good and very bad.

Having said all of that, I know that not everyone enjoys politics (like Missy, for example). So, I chose to ask you to pick your vehicle of choice. Now I know that this can be a touchy subject, and I promise to keep all votes completely anonymous (not that I would know how to find out who voted how anyway, and if you are bored out of your mind, you can try to either diagram this sentence or say it fast ten times). This poll came to mind after a comment from a friend of mine. When I told my friend that the stereo in our Chevy van is acting up, he said something like "Well, what do you expect; that is why I have a Ford in my garage." To be perfectly honest, my vehicle of choice would be a Toyota (please excuse my complete lack of patriotism). But if I were to pick between a Chevy, Dodge, or Ford, I would go with Chevy. Now that I have rambled on entirely too much, please stop by my poll on the left and cast your vote.

IHC

We have been privileged to attend IHC this year for the first time since we have been married. God has come in the services so far. Tonight Br. Daniel Stetler preached a wonderful message which really challenged me to stay true to my conservative holiness heritage. And while there is nothing like being at the convention in person, it is good to know that we will be able to watch future conventions live when we are in Costa Rica


On our way out to Ohio we had the opportunity to stay with the Smiths, some good friends of my family. We enjoyed the fellowship, and I love their clock.

For those of you who don't already know this, Hispanics tend to be much more relationship oriented than they are time oriented. To put it simply without going into a long cultural discourse, that means that they show up late to a lot of things. Maybe I should just be a good, adaptable missionary and take this clock down with me when we move to Costa Rica

Sneak Review

Some of you may have seen the sneak review for the upcoming edition of the "Herald" on Br. Hight's daughter's blog, but I want to publicize it as much as possible. As you can see, the "Missionary Herald" is an excellent magazine; if you do not get it, I would strongly advise you to do so.

Uh Oh!!!

This is NOT what you want to find in the hallway, especially when it is supposed to be on your little boy. That's right, Devin went walking in to Missy the other day minus his diaper. Hopefully that won't become a habit.

I did some yard work yesterday and had a little helper. I might be a tad biased, but I think he is pretty cute.

We had a service last night at the Lebanon, God's Missionary Church. The pastor and his wife, Br. and Sis. Barry Arnold, are great people for whom we have a lot of respect; we really enjoyed being with them and their congregation. After two local services this weekend, we will be heading out on a month-long trip to Ohio and Indiana. Please pray for us as we continue with our deputation travels.

Blog Changes

When I created our blog, I did so for two main reasons. First, I wanted to have a way to share news, pictures, and prayer requests from the missionfield with friends and family back home. God has called Missy and me to be missionaries, and along with that call He has given us a love for missions. That is why I have so many missionary links; I would encourage you to stop by their sites. Although we are not on the field yet, I know that it means a lot to missionaries to know that there are people back home who are following their ministry and, most importantly, praying for them. I also know that it is important for all of us to develop an interest and even a burden for foreign missions, and one good way to do that is by learning more about missionaries and their work.

My second reason for having a blog is because Missy and I both enjoy blogging as a hobby. You will no doubt see some of my interests (such as politics) as well as my mischievous (ask Br. Hight about that one) and humorous streaks showing up on my blog. On that note, I love polls and have posted one on our side panel to see if it draws any interest. Feel free to vote and also to give me some ideas for possible future polls.

I want our blog to be as interesting as possible, so I am asking for your help. Please give me some ideas of things or features that you like to see included on blogs, as well as things or features that you think should be excluded from blogs.

Missions Conventions

I know this picture has nothing to do with my title, but I love rainbows. If you look very closely, you can see a second rainbow directly to the left of the telephone pole.

We have been scheduled for three missions conventions right in a row. This past weekend we had a three day convention in Portage, PA, tonight we finished up the three day convention at Penn View, and tomorrow we start a three day convention in Hanover, PA. Although the schedule has been somewhat tiring, God has really been blessing in these services. My dad gave a powerful presentation in the service last night and did a wonderful job of unburdening his heart on the subject of having a passion for missions. I am very proud of my Christian heritage, and I was especially proud of my dad last night.