disciplemexico.org · Devotional

So close, and yet so far

April 11, 2006 in Devotional, Missions, Prayer by Dave | 1 comment

The missionaries of today are quite different from those of the past. Single-minded laborers for the Lord, they loaded their belongings in caskets, headed for far off regions that they were sure that they would never return from. Today, we are usually only a plane flight or two away from our home country, and the technology that we enjoy has us linked through the telephone and the internet in such a way that many of us can enjoy a connectedness with our families that few ever even imagined in the past. Some of us are even blessed to receive visits from family as we are enjoying now: Kelly’s parents David and Kim Yaple, along with her brother Micah have been here since last Thursday night, enjoying the Holy Week school break along with us.

Still there are events that remind us of the miles. We had a few that have happened just this weekend. The first was the birth of our latest nephew Levi Christopher this weekend. He’s a 9lb 1oz cutie that is currently 2,050 miles away as the bird flies. The second was the death of my uncle David Regan. Suffering from cancer, my uncle succumbed the day before Levi was welcomed into the world. With the desire to be there strong, but the realities and expenses of travel being as they are, suddenly the world has gotten much bigger. And when we hear of loved ones being sick or churches struggling, we long to be near, to be able to comfort with a touch or simply our presence but we are unable.

These are the times when the calling has to be sure. The times when we reflect on the reason that we have left the United States in order to work on the mission field, and the answer is not because there is a need, but because we are called. So we offer up our prayers for those who are far from us. Prayers of thanksgiving for those events in which the Lord has blessed, and prayers of peace and comfort for those who have suffered loss, and we take confidence that the Lord who has taken us away is big enough fill the space that we leave behind, be it in the celebrations or the sadness.

Technorati Tags: Missions, Devotional, Family, Separation, Prayer

Taken

March 28, 2006 in Day2Day, Devotional, Missions by Dave | 2 comments

Kelly and I were on our way out last Thursday for a rare afternoon date, when we were greeted by a well dressed man, named Ronald, who claimed to be looking for fellow students, David and Carolyn Huneycutt. Thinking him to be a pastor or friend of David and Carol, we proceeded to listen to his story:

He was a new Christian, with a sick wife, children to care for, and a job to go to, but with no one to leave his children. His mother-in-law could care for them, but insisted that he bring the children to her. However, he didn’t have the money to pay for the bus fare. He had sought help from the church, but he told us that he had been turned away because he didn’t have an appointment.

Thinking it terrible that this man would have to deal with this problem by himself, we wanted to help as best as we could, since of course he was some acquaintence of a fellow student, so I asked him how much the bus fare was. He told me for the trip there and back I would cost somewhere around $8. Feeling that we couldn’t watch his children for him, I asked Kelly for the money thinking that it was the least that we could do. She gave it to me, but was a bit suspicious of the whole situation. I handed it over and prayed for the man, knowing that time was becoming scarce and believing that we would be providing a tangible proof of the love of God.

We went away happy to have helped Ronald, but questioning our action. Was it the right thing to do? I had satisfied myself with the fact that Jesus himself had gotten involved with physical needs of the people. But we found out the next day that Kelly was right to have been suspicious. In all of our mailboxes was a description and picture of Ronald. You can see the notice by clicking on the picture to the left or clicking here. The suposedly “new Christian” in reality had been hitting the missionary language schools (CINCEL and ILE), preying on students goodwill and desire help out a brother in need. The man probably had robbed several of hundreds of dollars of money with his story, as several fellow students had explained to me that they too had believed his story.

I sat through that moning worship service in disgust. Thinking, “How could a man do such a thing?”, but later disgusted with myself thinking, “How is it that I believed him? Aren’t Christians supposed to be more discerning?” I thought of ways that I could proctect myself in the future, like vowing to never give money to a stranger again, and that might be the course to take, but something inside me hesitates. Shouldn’t we be willing to be vulnerable to those in need?

I think my conclusion, is that giving money, without also being willing to be involved in a relationship with the individual is always a bad policy. If we had offered to watch the man’s four children, we would have had to possibly rearrange our schedule, but we would have called his bluff. Still, if the man had a real need, we would have been able to meet it in a more practical and caring way, and perhaps even seen another family being drawn closer to our Savior.

This interaction has left me with much to think about, and the realization that I have much to learn about being a missionary here in Latin America. I’m thankful that God gives on the job training.

Technorati Tags: Giving, Con-artist, Devotional, Training, Missions

A passage I love

February 14, 2006 in Devotional by Dave | 1 comment

In the past weeks I have joined a sort of community of evangelical missionary bloggers whose blogs can be found at www.missionary-blogs.com. I felt that this was a wise move as I wanted to be exposed to what the evangelical community is doing as a whole in regard to mission, and be able to communicate to a broader range of missions prayers, thinkers, and doers (sic.).

Of course part of being in a community is one’s participation in that community. That being said, Jim, the coordinator of the effort has asked us to write about a Bible passage that has been particularly significant in our lives. This is part of an effort to encourage our readers with the Word. Therefore, I have decided to write about Galatians 2:20:

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (NIV)

There are several reasons that I love this verse:

1. It speaks of the crucifixion, one of the central messages of the Gospel. The Son of God came to earth to die, taking our sins so that we could be acceptable to the Father. No matter how much I reflect on that concept, it never fails to move me.

2. It speaks of the newness of my life in Christ. It is no longer David Godzwa, the angry, hurt, young man, dealing with the pain of a split household and his own feelings of inadequacy who lives. That boy has died with Christ. Alive now is the man who has found his identity in knowing God and being known by Him, and the peace and security of a relationship with God has allowed me to move in forgiveness, and to live a life that seeks the good of others instead of operating from the pain of past wounds.

3. Finally, it reminds me that, although God’s love is big enough to embrace the whole world (Jn. 3:16), it is also specific enough to touch each person exactly where he or she might be. God loves me. Yes, “For God so loved the world…” but God loves me. I might be insignificant in the eyes of those around me, but God thought that I was important enough to die for.

Tarea

January 26, 2006 in Day2Day, Devotional, Language by Dave | Permalink

Tarea (f)

(Spanish) Work that needs to be done in a limited time (eg. homework)

Homework has been the key word for the past few weeks here in Costa Rica as we continue through our second trimester at CINCEL. And as you can see from the stack of books, there won’t be any let up in sight for a while.
This picture represents the books that we are using during our courses, and each comes with it’s own particular set of tarea. So in addition to the 4 hours of class time that we have each day, we have been working with at least that amount of homework. Add to that the time that we have to spend talking with people on the streets of San Jose, and that makes for a full day!

But this isn’t a post to complain, no it is much more to express our gratitude for the deadlines that God gives to us. I have found that we have a tendency to work better when there is a time frame set in place. So it is with Spanish study. There have been several times in our lives where we have wanted to involve ourselves in learning Spanish. The desire was real, but the deadline was never set. Now here in language school we have the motivation and, for sure, the deadlines. The wondrous thing is, with God’s help, those two elements have combined to result in some tremendous progress. Now for certain, we have far to go, but to be able to understand and to be understood in a foreign language is indeed a tremendous blessing. So the next time that God assigns you tarea don’t look at it as a time to cringe, but rather as a time to grow!

New Year’s Resolutions

January 1, 2006 in Devotional by Dave | Permalink

It’s 2006, a new year, the time when we naturally turn inward, reflect on our past and resolve to change for the future. Those resolutions then usually take the form of two or three goals that we set to accomplish or habits that we seek to build into our lives over the coming 365 days. This year I didn’t want to do that. Instead, I wanted to break down my life into its respective parts in order to establish values and then set reasonable goals that will enable me to live out those values. My desire is to move from the most fundamental areas and build upon those in order to form something of a personal treatise. I post it here because I realize that I am often myopic and I need the input of others. I also hope that this, in a small way, may serve as an inspiration to others.

1. I am a human being. This is the most fundamental aspect of my being. All other activities of my life are built upon this truth. I have body that has physical needs. If I neglect these needs I will pay the consequences of that neglect in both long and short term ways. Some of those needs are:

Adequate rest
Proper diet
Physical activity
Mental stimulation

In order to meet these needs I plan to:

Get a proper night’s rest, by establishing a pattern to my day and blocking out adequate time in order to allow my body to get the sleep that it needs.
Eat a balanced diet, with an emphasis on foods that will give me the energy to accomplish my daily activities, especially fruits and vegetables.
Commit myself to planned, intentional physical activity that will enable me to stay fit and healthy throughout my life.
Determine to choose my leisure activities with an aim to stimulate my mind be it in learning a new skill or information through whatever medium I choose and to resolve to never stop learning.

2. I am a child of God. I was created by my loving heavenly father, first to have a relationship with him and to live my life in light of that relationship. Because of this I commit to:

Conversing daily with my Father that I might hear his voice and know his direction throughout my day.
Reading and studying his written will for all of his children, the bible, and establishing this as the basis of my thought and activity.
Investigating and practicing the spiritual disciplines in order to gain new insight and achieve balance in my relationship with God.
Allowing my life, my relationships, my family, and my career to be directed by the above habits.

3. I am a sinner redeemed by Christ through the price that he paid on the cross. His purchase has freed me from the bondage of sin which leads to death and has conscripted me into his service, the work of life. His goals are my goals, his aims are my aims. Therefore:

Soulwinning is not an option, it is an activity that flows naturally out of my debt of love to Christ
I am a part of Christ’s body, and therefore my life is available to all who make up his body. Their needs are my needs as well.
As part of Christ’s body my life is open to the input and correction of others as they are charged with the building up of the believers who make up this body. I have a responsibility to speak into the lives of others as l am lead by Christ.
I have a responsibility to pray for my fellow believers, that through Christ’s body, God’s love might be shown to the world.

4. I am a husband. I have made a commitment of love to Kelly, my wife, to protect, love, cherish, and to be completely faithful to her in thought, word, and deed. Therefore I commit to:

Becoming a student of my wife, finding out everything I can about her, the things that she likes and dislikes and the way in which she feels love, and live out my relationship with her in light of this information, seeking her best above my own.
Becoming her companion in all aspects of life physical, mental, and spiritual.
Being accountable to her in my thoughts and actions each day.
Praying for her and with her as I pray for no other that Christ would meet her every need.

5. I am a father. I have three children who need me in order show them tangible love in the ways that they can understand so that they can live secure stable lives now, and to pattern my actions with them in order to help them grow into adults who love God and people, have a sense of worth and purpose, and seek to use their lives as a tool to serve God and others. Therefore:

I commit to spending time with each of them in order to know them and their needs.
I resolve to respond to their needs appropriately to nurture, to protect, and to teach them.
I commit to persevere with each one of them in every circumstance of their lives regardless of the situation.
I resolve to pray for them that Christ would guide their lives and overcome my limitations as a parent.

6. I am a relative and a friend. There are people in my life that are attached to me beyond my immediate nuclear family. They are a part of my life and I am responsible to them. Therefore I commit to:

Staying in contact with them on a regular basis.
Celebrating with them their important days and accomplishments.
Being available to them as they have need.
Praying for them and believing for God’s best for their lives.

7. I am a missionary. I have a divine call upon my life to a specific people group, sent by ministry partners to live among this people group, speaking their language and participating in their culture, through the power and direction of the Holy Spirit, so that I might influence some for Christ, introduce some to him, disciple some in the way of life, and partner with some in ushering in the kingdom of God among them. Therefore I resolve to:

Becoming a student of the language and the culture of my host culture, knowing that without an understanding of these items, I will never gain entrance into their lives or their hearts.
Allowing the culture to influence the method but not the message of my ministry, striving to prevent my North American mindset from creating roadblocks to what Christ would want said or done.
Developing real relationships with the people of my host culture, as relationship is the foundation for sharing the message of Christ.
Committing myself to excellence in ministry by doing all things as unto Christ and constantly learning and applying new tools for more effective ministry.
Praying for my host culture that Christ might multiply and work beyond my methods that the culture might truly be effected by the gospel.
Committing myself to a positive relationship to my ministry partners, both churches and individuals, being sure to communicate both my activities and my thankfulness for their partnership, praying for God’s best for them, and being available to them as they have need or desire to speak into our lives.

It’s about the fire!

December 28, 2005 in Coffee, Day2Day, Devotional by Dave | 1 comment

Christmas was different this year. Usually, we have our schedules full of family events, bouncing back and forth between Kelly’s family and my own in a dizzying array of dinners, shopping events, and get-togethers. This year, we’ve pretty much stayed put, and aside from sharing Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinner with our missionary family here in San Jose, we’ve been in our house catching up on some cleaning, snatching time to play games with the kids and of course playing with those cool presents that we got each other.

My present this year was yet another coffee maker. If you know me (Dave), you know that coffee has been a hobby for me, at times bordering on an obsession. I roast my own coffee as well as prepare it in a number of different ways in a number of different coffee makers. This latest coffee maker, a coffee syphon, or vacuum coffee pot, is something that I had owned before, but there is a distinct difference about this one.

This coffee syphon makes coffee like all others. You pace the coffee in the top of the maker, while the water goes into the bottom. As the water in the bottom is heated, it rises through the tube and into the upper portion of the maker where it is mixed with the ground coffee. Then after a few minutes of brewing, the heat source is removed and the brewed coffee is sucked back into the lower container, resulting in a perfect cup of ground free caffinated goodness. (You can use decaf as well.)

The difference in this pot is that the heat source is an alcohol burner, that’s denatured alcohol friends, and that is what makes it an extra special coffee gadget. There is just something about watching the flame lick the bottom of the pot that makes this method so intriguing.

Isn’t that the truth about fire in general? It has a certain mesmerizing quality about it, be it in a campfire, or a fireplace. It seems to cause us to just sit and watch for awhile.

So it is with those who have been touched by the flame of the Spirit of God (Acts 2:4). It seems that those who have really experienced the power of God in the way that the apostles did have a certain quality about them. A certain manner that causes others to take notice of them. It was true for Peter and John in the temple(Acts 3), for Paul in Lystra (Acts 14), and is true for us today.

So what should we seek for in the New Year? A better coffee maker? Perhaps, but ultimately, we should seek for the fire that will cause others to take notice, take notice not of who we are, but Who we represent.

I Love America

July 9, 2005 in Devotional by Dave | Permalink

I was attending the I Love America fireworks display put on by James River Assembly when it hit me that this would be our last Fourth of July celebration on American soil for the next 3 years. We sang the National Anthem, and I began to cry, aware suddenly of how much my country truly means to me. I asked myself again, “Why am I doing this? Why am I leaving my friends, my family, everything I have ever known and loved to go to a place that is strange and unfamiliar. The answer came seconds later: “Because I have called you.” That was enough for me.

So we go, and even though departing is bittersweet, we know that the rewards of obedience will far outweigh the disappointments. For we know that God will work all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Keeping Our Eyes on Jesus

July 4, 2005 in Devotional, Progress by Dave | Permalink

When running my last marathon, I ran great until the last few miles. I was running along with a full head of steam just a mile previously, but after mile 21, I felt as though my energy had been completely drained. It was a struggle just to keep my feet going.

I was glad when my friend Eric met me at the water stop just after that crucial mile. He was energetic and smooth, offering words of encouragement as he ran. I found that I as I looked at him I began to feel better. I began to feed on his energy and fall into step with his stride. That mile that he ran with me gave me the energy that I needed to be able to finish the race in my best time ever.

I was talking with our itineration manager on Friday He told me that, in order to be able to buy our plane tickets for language school in Costa Rica, we would need to finish our support raising by July 31st. That means that our last $1600 of monthly support would have to be in by the end of this month. Hearing this news gives me that feeling that I had at mile 21 of the marathon. We are working so hard and we have gained so much ground, but the goal still seems so far out of reach.

That’s when I can take comfort in the words of the writer of Hebrews: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..” So often, I think of Jesus as standing before me, almost as a loved one would stand at the finish line of a race, but now I realize that Jesus has not only gone before me, but He is also running with me, and as I focus on Him, falling into his pace, and hearing His words of encouragement, the race becomes runnable again.

Does the task before you seem to be too big to handle? Know that Jesus is working with you to complete, and with the two of you working together, there is nothing that you cannot accomplish!

Missions Next Door

June 1, 2005 in Culture, Devotional by Dave | Permalink

Looking for a cross cultural experience? You might get more than you bargained for:

We’ve been living in Springfield, MO for the past twelve years, and in those twelve years, we have found the face of the city to be changing dramatically. In fact, the city that was once the Chinese food capital of Missouri, with Cashew Chicken “Springfield” style being one of it’s signature dishes is now becoming decidedly more Latin. There are Mexican markets and restaurants seemingly popping up on every corner. In fact, even on our block, where we have lived for 6 years, we’ve seen evidence of this change. We’ve seen two Mexican families move in where there were none before. An amusing example of this cultural shift that is going on throughout Missouri was on display in Independence, where a Chinese food restaurant is now being run entirely by Mexicans.

So what does this mean for us who are commanded to “go into all the world.” Well, first of all it means that missions does not start when we make it to our country of destination. It can start down the street at the neighbors, in the local restaraunt, or at the corner store. Jesus did mention going first to Jerusalem. We’ve been bulding relationships with our neighbors, beliving that God can work through us to reach Mexico even here in the States. Also, it means that we need to work harder, bridging the gap to not only a post-christian, but also a foreign culture that is on the rise throughout our communities. But let us take heart in what Paul says. As we reach out to those that God places around us and see Him change lives we too will find that:

“…there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” –Col 3:11

Great Cloud of Witnesses

May 19, 2005 in Devotional, Progress, Thanks by Dave | 2 comments

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” -Heb 12:1

The image above is a map of Mexico that Kelly created to depict what it will take in monthly commitments in order for us to make it to the field. Currently, we require 46 monthly commitments at $50 a piece in order to leave.

We completed the bottom part of the map today, listing those who had committed to us throughout our year-long itineration process. As we did this, we were reminded of the “Great Cloud of Witnesses” who are surrounding us with prayer and the financial support that it will take for us to be successful as missionaries to Mexico.

Last night at our service at First A/G in Carthage MO, Pastor Dan asked the congregation to come forward to pray for us at the close of the service. During the prayer time, it was impressed upon me that we are not going to the field on our own. We will be going equipped with the power of your prayers, and I am sure that as you agree in prayer with the Holy Spirit on our behalf, we cannot fail!

Thank you to all of you who make up our “Great Cloud of Witnesses”, and to those of you who will join with them in our support.