Begin now studying about language learning.  Be careful speaking the language because once you “have it down” it will be hard to change and most of us are not going to learn it right the first time.  Remember it may sound correct to you, but you are not the judge.  Let a national help you.

There is a book called LAMP.  This will be an excellent guide and starter as you establish your plan of action concerning language acquisition.  You AND your wife need to learn the language.  Do not let the children, schooling, schedule or anything else get in the way.  You must be committed to the importance of learning the language.  Speak with veteran missionaries who have learned the language and get pointers from them.  Start now so you can be ready later.

A PDF Packet is a way to send your information to a pastor over email. You can create a stylish document that can be saved in a PDF format and easily be sent over email at a pastor’s request.

Key Points to Remember
Make sure it is Printable – When designing it or getting it designed, remember that it not only needs to look sharp in the computer screen but also in printed form. It is likely the pastor or church secretary will print the packet to review the information. Use color, but not full color. Don’t be afraid of white space.
Make sure it is Readable – Make sure the design allows for easy reading and it is easy on the eyes. Don’t make the pastor work to find the information he is looking for. Make the flow and design of it easy to read….scroll down, not across.
Make sure to use Pictures – You don’t want it to be all text, so add in pictures about your ministry, previous experience, and of the country your going to.
Make the File Small – You are sending this over email, so you want to make sure the file size is small and easy to send. Try to keep the file size around 2MB.
Fill it full of Information – Because this doesn’t cost you money you can fill it full of information about your family, filed, and focus. Include everything you would in a brochure.
This is not a Brochure – You don’t want to just send a copy of your brochure over email because it is hard to read, the file size will probably be to big, and it won’t look good printed up.
Link to Your Video Online and Website
Make sure the File Name includes your Name “Name – Information Packet.pdf”

Though I do not know computers as well as I should, I try to give you ideas that will be a great help to you.  I want to thank my friend, Mark Tolson missionary to China, for putting this together.  Thanks Mark!

Can we spiritually look at our lives and see growth and maturity in the things of God? I love the attitude of one-handed football player in St. Louis, “I don’t have a handicap, sir.  I just don’t have a right hand.”  Many times we will take comfort in the excuses we have for not reading our Bible or growing in Christ.   President Harry Truman said, “You cannot lead others until you first lead yourself.”

Make a commitment to change and growth in your personal life.  This is a personal decision and must be made by the individual.  Will you commit before God today that you will implement into your life things that will help you grow for His glory?

Be accountable to someone with the decision you have made.  Let them lovingly help you as you make growth a natural part of your life.  I am always afraid when people do not want accountability in their life.

Set growth goals in your life.  Things you would like to see developed and matured.  Make these goals measurable and obtainable.

Bring the resources into your life that will help all of this become a reality.  Place yourself in the middle of a growth environment. The material you read, sermons you listen to and people you hang around will determine what kind of growth environment you have, if any.  Be careful in your selection of these things.  Some that I thought were smart enough to chew the chicken and spit out the bones were not.  Hebrews 5:14 warns us, But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

May we never be guilty of staying in the same place when that place is a lack of growth for God.  Grow on my friend, grow on!

I want to publicly brag on Lauryn.  With her being the eldest of the girls, there are many responsibilities that naturally would fall to her. Especially with Camryn having CF.  Lauryn has and is such a big help with her sister and around the house. She is very responsible and has not caused me or her mother any reason to worry.  Seems like she baby sits all the time with never a complaint.

I am grateful for her salvation and love for the Lord.  I am very proud of you Lauryn and wish you a happy, happy birthday.

May God continue to bless you and grant you many years to serve Him.

Dad

To grow, you have to be intentional.  If you don’t have a plan for personal growth, then don’t expect to grow.  People have often said that practice makes perfect,  that is not true.  Ever go golfing? Guys who go every week for years still are making the same fundamental mistakes they made when they first started.  Practice does not make perfect, it makes permanent. No matter what work you do or where you do it, your greatest challenge is you. Let God work on who you are before He works on what you do.

In II Timothy 1:6 states, Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. God wants you to stir up the gift that he has place inside you. This takes on the thought of stirring up a fire, to revive a fire, to kindle up.  If you do not stir up a fire, it will die and go out.  Unfortunately that is what has happened to many men.  The fire has gone out.  They are no longer a burning inferno for God.  They have stopped maturing and growing.  One man said that, “Gifting without growth leads to ineffectiveness.  Can you see growth in your own life? Can others?  Are you adding to your faith?   Is there a dissatisfaction inside you because you know you are not growing like you should or used to?

Be careful of “wet wood”.  Many things out there today will make you smoke but not burn.  Be careful of childish, lite, superficial, silly podcasts, books and sermons.  Put some cured oak on your soul and you should burn for quite a while!  May there be substance to your praying, preaching and serving.

May we take Paul’s admonition seriously, that we too, would stir up the gift that is within us!

I have watched you get up earlier and more often than most women could ever comprehend in caring for our children.  I grin on the inside when I hear them say they are tired, then ask you to do something for them so they can rest.  I grin knowing the night you have had.  Knowing that they got more rest than you yet with grace and tireless love you help them.

I have watched as you have grown in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Your faith and reliance upon him strengthens your husbands soul.  Your children truly rise up and call you blessed.  Your love and devotion to the Word of God softens my heart even as I type this for my blog.

I have watched you hurt.  I have watched you cry. I have watched you sacrifice. I have watched you serve, minister and love…..and not one time complain.

I love God first and foremost.  You are so instrumental in that.

But you, you are my hero!!  I love you so very much.  Thank you for marrying me and being my wife!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STACEY!

* 266 world entities according to CIA Factbook

*Approximately 6.5 to 7 Billion People on the earth

*Over 3.5 billion have never heard a clear presentation of the Gospel

*900,000+ die every week without Christ

*7,358 Languages in the world

*Top 66 Languages in the world represent 5.2 billion people, 80% of the world

*More than 6.2 billion people have the Bible in their own language, 95% of the world

*350 million people do not have the Bible in their own language, this is more than the population of the United States.

I want to pack my bags and just head off!! Yet the answer is not in one man but the training and equipping of many men.  We must ever be on the lookout for those whose hearts God has touched to serve Him.  We must raise up “recruits” while it is day for the night cometh when no man can work.  Can I encourage you to ask God to raise up laborers who would not only go with you to your field but to the world.  Jesus said that the field is the world.  Ask God to help you be instrumental in raising up missionaries and preachers.  When you go into church, build a rapport with the young men and encourage them in the Lord.  Burn with a fire that would draw those who God is touching.

May you and I be consumed with getting the Gospel message of Jesus Christ to the world.

Let me know how I can help.

What a phrase, “…I will lead on softly…” .  As Jacob has dealt with Esau and found favor, he tells Esau that he and his family can not travel as fast as Esau and his men.  Just a few things to think about:

1.  Jacob realized that leading his family meant being considerate of his family. May I encourage you to love your family and be sensitive to their needs.  I know it can be frustrating as you want to go 500 mph but you must learn to lead on softly.

2.  Jacob showed wisdom of knowing what was too much for those that were under his care. Is your wife stressed, your children dead, your family zapped.  There is only so much they can endure. Each person will be different.  Work like a madman for three months on deputation then schedule a week of “down time” to let everyone recharge.  Once you get your wife and family past the breaking point you may find that you have just lost your ministry.

3.  Jacob realized there was a grave difference in traveling with a family and animals and 400 soldiers.  We are not comparing apples with apples here.  You have a family with children, teens, special needs, etc.  your family is not going to be exactly like another families.  Stop comparing your wife to another.  It is not right nor is it fair.  Others may go at a different speed than you.  It does not make them right and another wrong.

You must go forward.  There is a destination to reach.  It is for the benefit of everyone you reach the city.  Some men will reach the city dragging their half dead family with them.  Some will reach the city only to find they are alone and some will not reach the city at all.

How would your family describe your leadership.  Do you know what they can endure?  Will you commit to the God of heaven today that you will lead on softly?

praying for you.

As you are preparing for the field it is quite a consuming and exciting thing.  Scheduling meetings, preaching, traveling, eating, passports, visas, housing, set up, support….well the list can go on and on and on!  All of these things are of the utmost importance yet that which is most important may not consciously make it to our list, our wives.

Are we “walking out the door”, so to speak, without them?  Are they a part of our ministry, schedules, lives?  Do we understand their fears as we take them to another city, state or country?  Do we know what those fears are?  Do we care?  Do they need to just “get over it”?  Do they need to “toughen up”?

What is your attitude toward your wife?  Are you leaving her behind.  Do you have this uneasy feeling in your stomach that your are forgetting something….could it be your wife?

Just something to get the mental juices going.  I will write more tomorrow.

Love you and praying for you.

1. I prayed too lightly
WHY oh why do I not pray more?! When I pray…I see God work. When I don’t pray…it seems like His blessings dry up. So, why do I not pray more? I guess I am just a fool. To think I can plan my work and work my plan without bathing “the before, during, and after” in prayer is the height of arrogance and pride and shows precisely where my security is-in myself, instead of God.  If I choose to sacrifice time in the prayer closet because I am supposedly too busy, I am literally shooting myself in the foot!
2. I planned too carelessly
WHY do I just assume everything will fall into place? Why do I just kick back and hope that somehow my support will magically come together? There have been times I’ve been lazy, sloppy, and haphazard in my planning. I’ve not been willing to pay the price-in advance-to properly download and utilize my support raising software, to think broadly, to gather hundreds of new names, and to keep immaculate records on who, what, when, how, and for how much I was going to approach each person.  At times, I’ve been a “grace abuser,” just believing that if I “let go and let God,” He would act on my behalf. Not understanding what is God’s  part and what is my part can be a death knell in support raising.

3. I asked too timidly
WHY was I so fearful? What or who was I afraid of? And why do I let fear of rejection paralyze me? Instead of praying, planning, and then walking toward my fears, I have, at times, rationalized and backed out. Either I wasn’t able to ask the “golden question” (i.e. inviting them to come onto our monthly support team) then let them respond, OR I chose the less personal (and less intimidating) route of utilizing Facebook, email, or pledge cards to do my asking for me. When I get to heaven, I don’t want God to say: “WHY did you ask me-and others-for so little?” I really don’t want to have that conversation!
4. I closed too vaguely
WHY do I sometimes leave the appointment without a very specific, clear-cut follow-up plan as to what the next steps are? Just last month, I was able to do a face-to-face ask with a man, inviting him onto our monthly support team, even suggesting a range of amounts, but I did not communicate and agree with him exactly when and how I would follow up on his decision. (Yes, I like to use the word “decision.”).  So, if there is anything that is nebulous, any untied loose end, I cannot blame anyone but myself.

5. I communicated too selfishly
WHY can I not get outside of my little world, my little bubble? Why can I not consider others as more important than myself? In my appointments, I talk about myself and my plans so much more than asking that other person about their life, their plans, their family, their needs, etc…And then once they come on my team, I take them for granted way too often. Just this past week, we may have lost a long-time supporter. Why? I haven’t gotten to the bottom of it yet, but my feel is-by our lack of interest in them-that they may not think we care about them anymore. OUCH! And the scary thing? They might be right! DOUBLE OUCH!!