Missionary Transition

Cardboard box
All must fit inside
Frustration

Photo by: z287marc

A drive starts deep in the team’s own territory. The ball is moved up steadily through the backfield. Passes are made to advance across the midfield to the opposing team’s territory. Then, an attacker advances ahead, centers the ball to a teammate and the kick is made. The ball speeds closer and closer toward the goal. The goalie leaps to trap it, but it sails just past his outstretched hand. The crowd stands to its feet to cheer as the ball sails… just wide of the goal. Instead of a shout of jubilation a collective “Ohhh!” is heard. The team had almost scored a goal.

As we near the end of our time here in the States, our experience has been somewhat reminiscent of this scene. However, for us, it’s not been a trophy that we’ve been shooting for, but our visas. We had been told that all was ready and that we would be receiving them soon, but new complications have arisen taking a bit of wind out of our sails. We stood to our feet to cheer, only to watch as our efforts have still sailed wide of the goal. We still stand almost ready to leave for Mexico.

We appreciate it then if you would stand with us in prayer regarding this item. Pray for us that our visa complications will be resolved soon, and that, with visas in hand, we’ll be able to make plans for our departure. We understand that our departure date is still almost two months away, but we need to begin to make preparations now so that we don’t have to make last minute ticket purchases.

So pray with us that our visas will be delivered–that our shot on goal will hit the mark, that we won’t have to stay almost ready to to return to the field.

Imagine then my shock when, after sending in additional documentation and paying all our fees, I receive an email saying that our expediter has yet to receive our visas that I was to have sent to him to be renewed! This was unwelcome news indeed; not only were our visas delayed, now it was possible that they had been lost!

This post was to be written to ask for prayer for this difficult process, that our visas would be found and that they would arrive soon. However, instead of sending that prayer request, I have the pleasure of posting a praise report! Just this week, we received word that a mistake had been made. Our visas, though delayed had not been lost. Furthermore, we would be receiving them in a matter of days.

So it seems as though we have an real-life example of Matthew 6:8 in process. Even before we had asked for prayer, our Father knew that we had need of our visas in order to return to Mexico. So rejoice with us! We have one less hurdle to jump on our way back to the field!

“Some random shots of my trip out east to hang with my brother and his family and to minister in Warrenton, VA”

From Washington/Virginia Trip 2010, posted by David Godzwa on 7/03/2010 (9 items)

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Pow Wow meant travel to Rocky Mount Royal Ranger Camp in central Missouri. It meant sleeping in tents, and eating in the open air. It meant BB guns, and tomahawk throwing, and non-stop action from early in the morning until late at night.

I took a few pictures of the event that I thought you might enjoy. Take a look, and relive with us a change of pace for this itinerating missionary family:

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http://www.disciplemexico.org/?p=1331

Recognize this picture? If you’ve seen our missions display you might.

It’s a snapshot of our struggle to teach and train in spite of the lack of resources on the mission field. In that particular instance, I was trying to set up an old projector without a VGA cable on a kiddie table. The result, after an hour of work, was frustration. We went without the Power Point that session. It’s a common tale when we have to rely on what the local church may have on hand to facilitate our presentations. In many locations, even a white board is a luxury!

However, thanks to Vector Ministries and their Speed the Light challenge, the frustration that you see in the above picture is a thing of the past. This past Sunday, at Praise Assembly in Springfield, they presented us with a brand new Sanyo projector, complete with cables! Now instead of worrying about our equipment us as we head out to train, we’ll be able to focus on discipling those we’ve been called to serve.

Thanks Vector Ministries!

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Think you can't participate in a comeback? Jonathan lifts me showing that a little can go a long way.

When we last talked, I was detailing the return that I had made from sitting on the shelf after my marathon to racing with a personal record in the Kitchen Run 5K. But that was just half of the story.

Back in January of 2010, we were facing a mountain as we attempted to return to Mexico. Because of our change of status, from Special Assignment to General Appointed Missionaries, the increase in time from a three year term to a four year term, and the attrition that comes from being out of the United States for 4 years, we needed to raise an additional 2,000 dollars of monthly support.

Although the current economic climate didn’t make the prospect of reaching our goal by August 31st any easier, we were optimistic. We knew that God had called us to a work as yet unfinished. He had given us a vision and a passion to see it fulfilled. With this in mind, we set ourselves to the work.

January was a slow month, but February saw our calendar full with services, sectional councils, and Light for the Lost Dinners close behind. Momentum was building, but the bulk of our work was still in front of us. By mid-March, as I analyzed our progress, I found that we needed to average about $72 in additional monthly support each week if we were to reach our commitment goal at the designated time. So I set myself to work, recontacting churches and individuals and sharing our need.

The first two weeks saw us meet our goal as certain churches agreed to do more and others became new partners. Then we surpassed our goal by double the amount, then triple as partners, both new and old resonated with our message and responded to our need. We had worked hard, but we had the feeling that we were witnessing a miracle.

As I post this update, we now stand at 94%, needing just $469 in monthly support to reach the field by the end of August. We’ve seen new support coming in at an average of $97 per week, and our weekly goal has been more than cut in half as we have dropped from needing $72 each week to $34 in order to make our departure deadline. We’re ecstatic to say the least!

Our comeback is in full steam, but we take nothing for granted as we set our sights on our return date. We don’t want to limp to the end; we want to storm past the finish line, ready to throw ourselves into the work. So, we continue to travel the country. We continue to schedule services and announce our need to all who will listen. We work as if it depended on us, but we pray, knowing that it all depends upon God.

So, as you read this post, we’d ask you, Are you interested in participating in our comeback? Perhaps you’ve met us at a church and have kept track of us through our website, but you’ve never had the opportunity to partner with us. Perhaps you’ve been reacquainted with us through the wonders of Facebook or Twitter and are just now getting excited about what God is doing in Mexico. Perhaps you’ve partnered with us for some time, but feel led to do more. We’d love to talk to you about how you can help.

Just respond to using the email link at the bottom of this post, or contact us through our contact page on our website. We’ll step you through the ways that you can be a part of sending us and keeping us on the field in Mexico–a part of making our comeback a reality!

Back in January, I wrote about making a comeback –about how difficult it can be, but how I was determined to make it happen physically, coming back from a marathon injury, and in our ministry, raising funds for our return to Mexico. Well, I thought you’d like to get an update on our progress.

First I’ll let you in on my physical condition. As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been struggling with an IT Band injury. It is an inflammation of the band that connects the hip to the knee. After my marathon in November, I had been unable to run for 6 months as any attempt reduced me to hobbling in 3 minutes or less. I had gone through an inconclusive MRI and 12 weeks of physical therapy which never seemed to give me the relief that I was looking for. However, slowly but surely, I returned to the road, first with my boys going for 5 minute stints, then one mile intervals. Finally, I was able to run for three miles straight with my brother during our family reunion. That got the wheels turning for a comeback in the month of May.

As I took a look at the race schedule for the Springfield area, I noticed that the Kitchen Run was set for May 8th, the Saturday before Mother’s Day, and I floated the idea to Kelly. She was game for the entire family to participate. So, on the Friday before the race, we registered as a family for the 5K.

On the morning of the race, I wanted to be as conservative as possible. I had set my virtual training partner to pace me for a 7:30 min per mile pace. That would put me in for a 24 minute 5K, certainly not my fastest time, but respectable for not having raced for a half a year. I lined up in the middle of the pack, and got ready for the gun.

When we set out, I felt myself moving out pretty fast. Looking down out my watch I noticed that I was running a 6:11 pace, quite a bit faster than my conservative estimate. Still, I felt pretty good, and knowing that this was a 5K and not a marathon, I decided to see what might happen. I tucked in behind another runner who was running a similar pace, and waited to see if I’d be able to hold on.

At the one mile mark, my time was 6:30 and change. I felt good. The pace was challenging but not impossible, and I had a good duel going on with the runner I had been following. We traded the lead for the next mile before I began to hear him labor for breaths. At that point, I had thrown my conservative expectations out the window. I was racing!

I put on a bit of a burst and set my sights for the finish line, now less than a mile away. I labored a bit on the uphill, but when I turned the last corner and saw the clock, I began my finishing kick. I had beaten my impromptu opponent, and now I was going to beat 21 minutes! I put my head down and gutted out the last 100 meters, crossing the finish line just as the clock hit 21. My official time was 20:48, good for a 6:45 min per mile pace and a personal best! I had just come off of an injury to run the race of my life. Talk about a comeback!

I also had the pleasure to pace Joseph in for a 38 minute race, while Jonathan and Kelly crossed the line at 40 minutes flat. Rebekah finished with friends just three minutes later. Jonathan and I both placed in our age groups as well. Needless to say, it was a pleasant finish to a difficult road to recovery.

Now for our progress on our return to Mexico… Actually, this post is already too long. I’ll save that update for the next.

We were travelling from Dalton, GA to Caruthersville, MO, returning from services in Georgia and a family reunion in South Carolina. We were on our way back to Missouri on Saturday morning via I-24 and I-40 with hopes to spend a leisurely afternoon with the Titus family, pastors of Caruthersville First, before holding services the next day in the Kennett section of the Southern Missouri District.

Things progressed as expected until just after lunchtime as we reached the Murfreesboro area. As we continued west, the skies opened up soaking the roads and slowing our momentum to 40 miles per hour at times on 70 mile per hour freeways. This kept up for at least an hour, finally breaking as we passed through Nashville. However, just as we thought that the worst was over, our progress ground to a halt in front of a river that had overflowed it’s banks and now crossed the entire highway.

The next two hours were spent in a number of switchbacks as we looked for a suitable detour. We traveled across US-70 through the flooded Dickson and then onto Waverly, where the river had virtually cut off that town from the highway. We crossed the water to travel down route 13 only to be turned back again 4 miles from rejoining I-40. We drove back to US-70 then and on to route 641 where we were finally able to regain I-40 and continue our forward progress toward the boot heel of Missouri.

As we looked to the right and the left of the roadways, everything seemed to be underwater–houses, businesses, churches and farms. The water was everywhere and seemingly in everything. By the time that we made it through Dyersburg and across the Mississippi it was well after 8:00 PM, and we were overjoyed to have reached Missouri and our journey’s end.

As we traveled, there were moments when I doubted that we would be able to make it through. I second guessed our decisions to continue, thinking perhaps that it might have been safer to stop and attempt forward progress at a later time. However, after spending a stormy night in the hotel in Missouri, I was confident that the urgency that I had felt to press on was well founded. The situation only got worse the following day in Tennessee.

So I am thankful that God had His hand upon us, guiding us through. And I am grateful for the prayers of those who stand behind us, as much during our itineration as during our time on the field. We appreciate this much needed support!

Still, as I am glad to be home to tell my tale, my heart goes out to the many who weren’t able to escape the flooding–those who lost possessions, homes, even loved ones to the raging waters. One quote from a news story read, “I know God doesn’t give us more than we can take, but I’m at my breaking point.” As you pray for us, please lift up these who are now suffering in the devastation through which we were guided this past Saturday.