A Chapter Closes and a New One Begins

This past week was quite the busy one as it was the last week of classes at BBTI followed by graduation on Saturday. Below are pictures from the week. The first two are of the Wednesday night service at Calvary Baptist Church in Bowie, TX where we have been attending. The girls were in the Wise Guys program and got trophies for memorizing 26 verses!

 The next pictures are from Saturday graduation which was held at Bible Baptist Church n Bowie. This is the sponsoring church of BBTI.

The last pictures are again at Calvary as we said goodbye to our church friends we made during the year. We will certainly miss all our friends! 

Resurrection Sunday

Mar 16:5 — Mar 16:6

And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.

We serve a risen Saviour! 

Praise the Lord! 

Easter Sunday this year, my family was invited the Mclendon home, members at Calvary Baptist Church in Bowie, TX, the town where we have been taking the advanced missionary training classes at. Mrs Maridan Mclendon bought the children new outfits for Easter (picture shown above) and invited us to lunch after morning service. This is wonderful to get an invitation on a holiday for a missionary family who has no family in the area to spend the holidays with. People like the Mclendon's are rare, but when I do come across these kind of people, they leave a lasting impression on me, as well as on anyone they meet, for that matter. You never ever forget them, because of the impact they had on your life while with them, no matter how temporarily. 

Thank you, Lord  for bring special people like the Mclendon's into our lives! 

You may be a missionary on deputation if:

While on deputation, I had the opportunity to share this list with a group of ladies during a missions conference. I thought I would share it here. Without further ado, here is my list,

You may be a missionary on deputation if:

1. When asked “Where are you from?” your children stumble over how to answer. “Well, I was born in Massachusetts, but my home church is in Ohio, but we live in Texas now and then we will go live in Hungary in this summer…”
2. You have not only homeschooled your children, but have also van schooled, hotel schooled, coffee shop schooled, and library schooled them.
3. You consider a city 200 miles away to be “very close”.
4. You consider a 3-hour car ride to church to be “not too far”.
5. You speak with authority on the subject of airline travel.
6. You have friends in 20 different countries;  you sort your friends by continent.
7. You tell a story about your travels and use the phrase “and then we went to” at least five times during the story.
8. You go to a church and find your family picture on the bulletin board.
9. You go on Saturday morning visitation and, in the middle of talking with someone, forget what church you are on visitation with. (Could I please see that tract I just handed you?)
10. You carry a coffee maker in the van. (and sometimes even a grill!)
11. You can’t remember what state you got your last oil change in.
12. (for the men) Your son could get up and finish your message because he has heard it so often.
13. You don’t worry too much about packing enough clothes for travel: Goodwill has become like a closet for you.
14. You have slept in five different beds during the course of a week.
15. Your Sunday afternoon nap has been in the car, on the couch at the home of a pastor, or even by the Ohio River under a bridge.
16. On any given day, your three meals may have been in a hotel in one state, a fast food place in another, and at a church dinner in another state.
17. You go to put a tract on the table at a restaurant in OH and realize the tract is from a church you visited in Texas last week.
18. You reach for your prayer card in your Bible to hand to someone and pull out 10 different cards from 10 different missionaries you recently have met. None of the cards are your own.
19. You have no special musical abilities but have sung in countless churches all across America.
20. You get very…. Very tired of talking about yourself. 

And there you have it. Maybe now someone here will be inspired to go on deputation…. Either that or run away from it. One or the other.

Want to see more from our deputation adventures? Check out these Vimeo links:

First year:

https://vimeo.com/132620287

Second year:

https://vimeo.com/169579241

What's in a Name?

Proverbs 22:1 "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches,

and loving favour rather than silver and gold."

When trying what to choose names for our three children, I remember pouring over baby name books that I picked up from the local library. I can recall searching for Bible names that were not already overused. While there were more possibilities for boys names, the girl's names were rather scarce. I already knew my fair share of "Mary's" and "Sarah's". 

Yet I had an even stronger desire to choose names that had meaning; names that stood for good Christian qualities. I found one baby book listed four items per name: origin, meaning, spiritual connotation, and a verse. While the girls did not get Bible names for their first names, they did for their middle names. (I loved Hannah, but "Hannah Mann" was not going to happen!)

What I love about the names is their meaning. I pray my son will, indeed, be "Like God" and "Courageous" as the meaning of Micah Andrew stands for.  And how marvelous to be "Crowned with Honor" as the name Laura Elizabeth reveals. And my "Honored" little "Patient" Heidi Grace. (She sure is patient with those siblings of hers!)

 But even more so, I pray they live lives that will honor our family name so they too can pass a good name onto their children.

Isaiah 40:8

Isaiah 40:8 "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."

My 13 year old daughter made this verse picture. I think she did a great job and just had to show it off!

Christmas Events

The BBTI ladies got together for a couple events. One was a sock exchange and the other was a get together at a fellow classmates home. I'm so thankful for these ladies and know the Lord will do great things through them when they get to their fields of service. 

The works of men's hands

Psalm 115 
1 Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.
2 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?
3 But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
5 They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:
6 They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:
7 They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.
8 They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.

     As I was reading this passage, I couldn't help but think of the statues I had seen in the churches in Hungary. The Catholics see the use of statues (and there are a great many statues to look at in the churches) the same way as pictures in a book illustrate a story. People don't have time to do a lot of reading, so the statues help tell the story quickly to get the point across. Whatever the reason for all the statues in the churches, they are still the work of men's hands and draw attention, not to the Creator, but to the creation. Praise the Lord that through Christ, we can have a relationship with Him, not simply practice an empty religion.