Why Christ Came

I lost something once.

Okay. I've lost more than one "something" before, but you know what I mean.

This particular something was my wedding ring. I had taken it off to knead some bread dough and stuffed it into my pocket. Later on, when it was time to take the clothes to the laundry room to wash, my ring was still in that pocket. I didn't even realize it was missing until all the laundry had been washed, dried, and put away. With chores done, I went to apply lotion to my dry skin and my fingers felt the void where the ring should be. A sudden panic seized me as the sudden realization of what I had done struck me. I searched the pockets of the now laundered skirt where the ring had been placed earlier in the day and found them to be empty. I rushed to the laundry room and hunted through all the machines I had used and found no ring. I scoured the floors and retraced my paths but did not find the lost ring anywhere. When I returned to the house, Jason asked what was wrong and I had to tell him my bad news. He went to search the laundry room as well and came back with my ring. It was tucked in one of the crevices in the washer! I was so relived, as you can well imagine!

The ring was lost. It was important to me. It was sought after and found.

The Bible says that Jesus did just that for us: "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost." Matthew 18:11. These words are echoed almost word for word in Luke 19:10, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

And how many parables did Jesus tell of something that was lost and found?

-Lost sheep (Matthew 18:21-14, Luke 15:4-7). Lost coin (Luke 15:8-10). Lost son (Luke 15:11-24)

When we value something, we do all we can until it is found, just like the missing wedding ring.

Jesus did just that very thing for us. He came to live among men (John 1:14). He came to seek and to save the lost. 

It's just like the words in that great hymn, "Amazing Grace" says, 

I once was lost, but now I'm found.

Now, I may lose my ring again and have to search for it again, but praise the Lord that we don't have to go back to being lost once saved!

About Hungary in less than two minutes!

This is a short trailer I made showing some of the sights of Hungary, but more importantly, about the people needing Christ: 10 million reasons to go to Hungary.

Faith Baptist Church Missions Conference

We have just wrapped up a great week in Kilgore, Texas at Faith Baptist Church. The Missions Conference theme was taken from Colossians 1:10 "being fruitful in every good work". 

I love how churches are so different in their theme and decor for missions conferences. These are the table decorations from the meals for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of the conference.

The girls were able to help out with clean-up duty in the kitchen. I just love to see their little servants hearts developing!

Living Proof provided special music for the week night services. Their love for the Lord was evident as they ministered through the songs they sang, many of which they wrote themselves.  http://livingproofmusicministry.com/ 

During the preaching, the children, grades 6 and down, met in the teen class for lessons from each of the missionary families. 

Pastor and his wife took us on a trip to the East Texas Oil Museum. In this picture, we are getting ready to see a presentation on a bit of Texas historry with footage from the boom period.

Here Micah is examining a 1930s kitchen...

...and an old school desk!

The kids enjoyed their time with some of the MK friends they met this week. 

We stayed at the home of Betsy or "Granny" as she allowed us to call her. We had a lot of fun visiting... so much in fact that we almost had our mail forwarded to her address ;)

So happy for new friends!

GBC Missions Conference

September 18-23, my family got to be at our home church for their Missions Conference. We had a great time reuniting with our church family, getting to meet new members, spending time with the church staff, and sharing our burden for the people of Hungary with them.

Pastor Tony Ghareeb kicked off the conference with sessions on reaching Muslims. It was very informative and the opportunity to practice what was learned was presented by visiting a mosque and visitiation to the homes of some neighborhood Muslims.

It was fun getting to be a part of Joyful Women class for Sunday School. These ladies are just the sweetest!

We were able to be a part of the 4th through 6th grade class during the morning worship service. Jason is teaching a lesson on David here in this picture. 

The girls and I enjoyed Sunday afternoon tea with the ladies of Grace.

We enjoyed an outing with the staff to the Creation Museum.

Micah is showing off the new suit the church got for him. I think he looks quite handsome :)

Our family was happy to spend some time with the students at MCS.

The Body of Christ

1 Corinthians 12:12

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

Did you ever meet one of those people that always seem to be be saying "ow" because they bumped into an inanimate object or stubbed a toe a table leg? Yeah, that's me. Clumsy. 

One particular week was especially full of bumps and bruises for me. On the Fourth of July, my family was invited to a picnic and a group had gotten together for a game of volleyball. I joined a team and the game began. I was doing well for a while when all of a sudden the ball came toward me and I hit it, but in the process, it hit my left thumb hard and kept right on sailing past me.

It hurt. A lot.

I tried to keep playing but soon it became quite obvious to me that it required ice, so ice I went to seek but it was hot and melted quickly.  After a bit, I asked Jason if we could leave the picnic because there was no way I could stand it any longer with no ice pack. It wasn't long before I made up my mind to go to the hospital just to make sure I hadn't done any damage to it that needed attention. It turned out to be a sprain. The doctor splinted it, said to keep ice on it.

A month and a half have passed and I'm still feeling my volleyball injury.

Yeah, I think I have officially retired from volleyball.

That same week, I was opening a can of green beans for dinner and cut my finger on the tin can. Same hand that was already splinted. Bandage coming right up!

That same week I also slipped down some wet steps, smashing the middle toe on my left foot on a metal pole. It turned purple and I limped around for the rest of the week.

Fingers. Toes. They seem so minor, yet as soon as they are injured, you sure notice them and give them all your attention!

It reminded me of the body of Christ. It's easy to feel like your ministry is small and insignificant. You might feel like you are not really needed and what you do wont really matter. Fact is, that's just not true.

Our family helped out with a VBS a few weeks ago at one church in Ohio. Jason was asked to teach a class for boys. Other adults there helped with snacks, crafts, teaching, and music. Everything was already covered. I would be a floater helping with registration and then wherever I could. Seems little. Seems insignificant. But God has given me a love for creating things artistically. So, after I helped with registration, I went around taking pictures of all the activities that we're going on. I was able to present the church with a picture video on the last night of VBS when parents were invited to come for the closing service.

1 Corinthians 12 gives us a great illustration of how the body is one yet has many members. So be in church and serve right where God has put you. No one is little and no one is insignificant. Because when those little fingers and toes are absent from normal use, the body as a whole ceases to work as it did when the fingers and toes were fully functioning. 

Take No Thought For Your Life

     Matthew 6:25-34 "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

     I am continually amazed at how God has taken care of us. The right provisions always come at the right time.

     Here are just three stories of items He has provided along our deputation journey:

~ On one trip, our family was running low on a few items. One was hairspray. Jason asked why I had forgotten to get more on our last trip to the store. I joked with him that it was like the widow's jar: God would give us just enough hairspray for what we needed that day. The other item we needed was toothbrushes: all three kiddos could not find theirs (I did wonder if they had planned that... Hmmm). It was a Wednesday and after service, one lady said their church had a mission's closet and took us to visit it. There on the shelf was one can of hairspray and a box of toothbrushes. Yay, just in time, Lord.

~ I am a Goodwill shopper. I love to shop there! A particular blue floral printed skirt I had gotten at one such thrift store became my favorite and wore it often. That is until it ripped and could not be mended by me. Hey, I can slap a button on a garment just fine but mending tears and hemming are just not my specialties. So, on our last trip, I left the skirt at home thinking I could wear it around the house to clean in. We traveled extremely north to the upper peninsula of Michigan for a week. The pastor's wife at the church we were visiting told me she had some brand new skirts and let me try some on. Among the skirts was a blue floral skirt that fit perfectly! Yay! When I returned home and my around the house day came, my old skirt was rendered usable no more. I was able to throw it away with no remorse and put on the new skirt God had provided me.

~ Micah was in need of a new pair of glasses. Jason was in Hungary and I was watching the money very carefully since he would be two weeks without meetings. I went ahead and paid the $40 for the glasses, but was worried we wouldn't make it to the next meeting when Jason returned. God showed me how wrong I was to worry when he used a sweet couple in my home church to provide $40. Thank you, again, for providing, Lord.

     When Jesus preached His sermon on the mount, the crowd was filled with people who were worried about making ends meet just as there are today. But Jesus told them to "Take no thought for your life". He reminded them that the birds and the lilies don't worry because God takes care of them, so why should the people worry? 

     Right now, we have a vehicle situation that could be a big worry seeing how much we rely on a vehicle to get us around during deputation. But I will choose not to worry. God's got this! 

     ...And that will just be one more provision to add to the list of things we can give Him glory for!

OBC Missions Conference

The Mann family just finished up a great conference in Odenton, Maryland this week. We were kept very busy but enjoyed our time with the church staff, members and fellow missionaries.

The theme of this conference came from Psalm 147:3 "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds." At first glance, this seemed like an odd verse for a missions conference, but as the week progressed, the skits and the messages preached really brought together how relevant this is to missions.

The skits each night drew very real pictures of what the church should not do. Monday night, a patient sat before a doctor who casually told him he needed heart surgery and gave him a pamphlet sending him on his way. What the doctor did not tell the patient was that he needed heart surgery IMMEDIATELY or he would die. This illustrated the urgency of getting the gospel out. Tuesday night, the same patient was awaiting surgery while a crew of doctors and nurses who should have been attending him stood around arguing about their own personal problems amongst themselves. This is so true in that Christians often become so wrapped up in their own lives that they forget there is a lost and dying world out there. The skit that concluded services on Wednesday was about the same man yet still awaiting heart surgery. The doctor proceeded to attempt to make this man look good on the outside by giving him a makeover and throwing a suit coat on him. The doctor was trying to fix the outer man when all he really needed was a new heart... Very well said.

Sunday, our family got to visit all the childrens classes and share Hungary with them from the toddlers to the teenagers. 

Monday, we found ourselves exploring the Udvar-Hazy Center in DC and saw a good assortment of planes. It was neat to find out this particular center was named after a Hungarian immigrant!

Tuesday was a lunch with the ladies while the men and boys went out on an outing of their own. Mrs Wilhite, missonary to Japan, brought a lesson on fear and shared her own testimony with how she got through her own fears. She certainly was a blessing to the ladies!

Wednesday was the last day of the conference. We had the opportunity to explore Fort McHenry. It was neat to get to see this part of history surrounding the inspiration for the writing of the "Star Spangled Banner".

We praise the Lord for the great week we had and the new friendships we've made, but more importantly, we praise Him for being the answer to healing the broken in heart.

Deputation Stats

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." 

Philippians 4:19

So far, the Mann family has visited churches in 18 states for deputation. (This obviously does not include states driven through or non-deputation related.) We've had great meetings and, praise the Lord, no horror stories. Here are the states from least to greatest for number of meeting in each of them:

North Dakota: 1

Texas: 1

Illinois: 1 

Connecticut: 2

Michigan: 2

New Jersey: 2

Florida: 3

Massachusetts: 3

South Carolina: 3

Indiana: 4

Pennsylvania: 4

Tennessee: 4

New York: 7

West Virginia: 8

North Carolina: 8

Kentucky: 8

Georgia: 10

Ohio: 45

Grand Total: 116 churches

1 Year Down, And Prayerfully, Only 1 Year To Go!

Rest stops are a fun place to take pictures when time allows, especially when this involves a 14-foot alligator!

Pray, Give, Go

Our family just finished a great conference in Morton, PA. The theme was "God's Threefold Cord For World Missions: Pray, Give, and Go." Missionaries to Israel, Madagascar, the Dominican Republic were also there to share their burden for each field. Pastor John Hamilton of New Life Baptist Church in Columbia, SC gave great challenges each night on Joyful giving, Motivated giving, Reliable giving, and Expectant giving. He wrapped up the conclusion of the conference on Sunday night with "Looking to Jesus" from Hebrews 12:2.

 Pastor Cartwright informed all the missionaries that he prays for them over a bowl of cereal. He attaches prayer cards to the cereal boxes to keep them in front of them to pray for them at breakfast. Jason presented Pastor with a cereal container complete with the conference missionaries prayer cards.

Each night the kids had their own conference in their classrooms. Micah taught the first through sixth graders that they can serve God no matter how old or how young they are, giving the examples of Moses (Exodus 7:7) and Jehoash (2 Kings 11:21).

Our family enjoyed some great fellowship with the Cartwrights!

We had a great time getting to tour Philadelphia and see the Liberty Bell!

Friday evening, the children dressed up in costumes representing the children of the world and sang "Jesus Loves The Little Children" for the congregation.

The final night ended with a candlelight celebration reminding all to be a light in the darkness. We are all thankful to Calvary Independent Baptist Church for allowing us to be a part of the conference and for committing to pray for each of us!

Renew Ladies Retreat

    Psalms 51:10 "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."

     This past weekend, the ladies of my home church gathered together for a retreat in West Harrison, Indiana. It was great that it worked out I could go. My family was in East Peoria, IL for Wednesday service, and going to be heading to Ashtabula, OH for a conference starting Sunday, so IN was right in the path of our travels anyway! 

     Sixty-eight ladies gathered at the peaceful location of Higher Ground Camp and Conference Center to focus on renewing a right spirit. Sarah Anderson, a pastor's wife in Georgia, taught lessons on seven spirits that we can typically have. Three of these spirits we are to strive to put off: a HASTY spirit, a HAUGHTY spirit, and a HURT spirit; and four we are to put on: a HUMBLE spirit, a HARNASSED spirit, an HONORABLE spirit, and a HAPPY spirit. 

Sarah Anderson giving her testimony before getting into the first lesson

I am thankful for our pastor's wife for taking the time to organize this event and for all the work she put into it!

A goofy skit helping to define what "renew" really means

Ready to renew!

The food was great too (however, I forgot to take a picture of the hot fudge cake, oops!).

As we parted ways, we were given a token to remember the conference by with Psalm 51:10 on it.