From:
Sent: Saturday, May 28, 2005 6:48 AM
To:
Subject: Prayer Update 5/28/05 Piles of sand
Saturday, May 28th, 2005
Dear Family
and Friends,
Last week I
was reading Psalm 23 again, and came to the familiar verse: "Thou preparest a
table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest
my head with oil; my cup runneth over."
I saw something that I had never noticed before.
David
wasn't saying "Lord, my cup is too small, look at all the water that is
getting spilled!" "I just can't catch everything!" Instead, he
was simply grateful that his cup was full
and running over.
Here in
Instead of
feeling overwhelmed, if we look at these opportunities as blessings from the
Lord, we can thank Him that "our cup is running over". We
could be sitting here wondering what to do, but God has poured out such a rich
array of projects that we need His wisdom in knowing what will be most
important to work on.
Last fall
Tim used the analogy that we feel like we are shoveling away at a huge sand
pile of things to do, and every scoop brings a new wave of sand down the side
of the pile. Recalling a recent incident with an actual sand pile near our
apartment, Tim made an interesting comment a few days ago; "Children love
sand piles."
I started
thinking about this a little more. Why is it that a sand pile represents hours
of joy to one person, and hours of toiling drudgery to someone else? The
difference is in their perspective. The child sees the sand in front of him and
makes good use of a small portion. The workman thinks only of how long it will
take to move the entire pile.
Jesus
reminds us in John 15, "Abide in me,
and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the
vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the
branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the
same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can
do nothing."
We don't
have to take responsibility for "moving the whole pile." We just need
to be faithful with the things that God has put before us to do. We don't have
to move the pile for God, He wants us to rest in Him
so that He can show His power in accomplishing His will through our lives.
Last Monday
I saw a good example of this principle in action. Leo, a university student
from MIU had scheduled to meet with me on Tuesday morning to see if I would be
available to share some lectures on character with his class. Talking with me
briefly on Sunday afternoon, Tim mentioned that some of the MIU students he saw
at church were looking forward to my lecture on Monday. :-)
Realizing
that somehow there must have been a mistake in communication, we both felt that
it would be good for me to go to MIU on Monday afternoon, just in
case they were expecting me to speak. A very full schedule on Monday morning
left virtually no time to prepare for the lecture.
I decided
to share on the quality of sincerity, since that is what we had just taught in
our character-English classes a few days before, and after a hasty lunch, I
picked up my folder and headed out the door. Pausing to pray in the stairwell,
I asked that the Lord would somehow allow me to share effectively with the MIU
students. I recalled many times last year when the Lord showed His great
faithfulness in equipping me to do what He brought before me.
Arriving at
the school a few minutes later, I tried asking a few of the students where the
"Management Research Team" was meeting. We tried calling a cell phone
of one of the students, but the Lord had orchestrated that right at that point
the girl that Tim had talked to on Sunday walked in and was able to bring
me to the class.
As it
turned out, Leo was very surprised, but delighted to see me! He introduced me
to the class, and asked if I could share with the students. Looking around at
the 20 or so students around the table, I took the pen knife out of my shirt
pocket. (I had felt prompted to grab this as I was going out the door a few
minutes earlier.) A pen cap was on the end, concealing the blade.
From all
appearances it was just a pen, everyone agreed, until I revealed the small
blade inside. "Sincerity", I began, "is being the same on the
inside as we appear to be on the outside." For the next hour, the Lord
enabled me to have a most focused and clear explanation of the first "I
will" of sincerity. Personal illustrations came to mind as I shared freely
on the importance of choosing our friends and how we spend our free time.
Why is it
that some of my best messages are given after the least preparation? Maybe it
is that the excellency of
the power would be of God, and not of me. (See 2 Corinthians 4:7) God again was
showing me that it was not my "skills" but His grace that enables me
to do what He sets before me.
Not
everything in the Christian life is "smooth sailing." CTI-Mongolia is
no exception. One of our recent challenges has been with getting some paperwork
processed for my family to be able to come to
Causing
cascading delays on other paperwork that we were trying to process, we were
told that we could not apply for a work permit for my Dad until we had our NGO
certificate back. A work permit was needed to begin applying for visas for my
family, and the rapidly approaching arrival date of June 25th caused no little
pressure for Tim and those involved.
It seems
that some of the officials in the labor department were concerned about our
organization and wanted to know why we keep trying to bring foreign staff
to
In
This also
gives a real opportunity for the Lord to work in the heart of our authorities. "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as
the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he
will." - Proverbs 21:1. This was clearly seen last week as
Jedidiah and
After
fervent prayer that the Lord would somehow grant us favor in their eyes,
Jedidiah and
To our
great surprise, the official was very friendly with us. He looked over our
papers, and said that we could go ahead and submit them for the work permit!
Instead of having to translate more letters or obtain further paperwork, the
way was opened for us to move forward! Jedidiah and
Meeting the
next day with the Foreign Affairs Office, things again were able to move
forward without further delays. This is a tremendous blessing, saving us the
additional time involved, and the added expense of having to expedite things at
the last minute. Please continue to pray that the Lord would allow the final
details to come together in the next few days.
So many
things are happening here! Just this morning I taught the Intermediate
English class for our Character - English classes. One of my students
looked at me and said, "Adam, are you a Christian?" "Yes, I am a
Christian," I replied with a smile, noticing the little crosses in her
earrings. "I am a Christian too." She said, practicing her English.
"I believed in Jesus two years ago."
I could
sense that some of the other students were a little uncomfortable, and one
quietly said, "I believe in Buddha." "That is fine," I
replied with a smile, "our classes are open to everyone." "We
want anyone to be able to come." I went on to explain that we all need
character, no matter what religion we are. (Although
I personally believe that we cannot consistently live out good character apart
from the power of the Holy Spirit. -See Romans 8:4)
It is
exciting to see not only the opportunities that God brings, but also the wisdom
He gives in responding to unexpected situations and questions in a gracious
way. This, of course, is a big learning experience in itself, but I believe that
God wants us to be able to respond graciously when others ask a reason of the
hope that lies within us.
There is so
much more that I could write about! The Attentiveness training in the Sangalkharkain district last Wednesday could fill an update
by itself! But I must bring things to a close here. Thank you again for praying
with us! God is truly doing a great work!
Praise
Points:
- Praise
the Lord for how He worked things out for my family's work permit and visas! It
looks like we will have things finished in time for them to get their visas in
the next few weeks before they come.
- Thank you
for praying for the training in Sangalkharkain last
Wednesday! We had a wonderful day teaching on the character quality of
attentiveness, and even the seasoned Police officers were getting involved in
the discussions and activities. Byato from World Vision translated for most of
the day, and showed great enthusiasm and leadership with the group.
- The
Intermediate English classes have been going very well. I have never taught
English before, so this has been a new experience for me. The greatest need for
the students is for conversation practice, so most of the class consists of
encouraging and guiding them as they practice speaking. By speaking slowly in simple
sentences, I am able to do most of the class without needing additional
translation.
- Thank you
for your prayers for the database project with
Prayer
Requests:
- Pray that
the final details of Mongolian visas would come together for my family. It has
been exciting to see how the Lord is working in this situation.
- I am
expecting the software licenses to arrive sometime early next week, so pray for
wisdom as I begin the process of upgrading our computers and setting up a
server for our network here.
Pictures:
I found
this beautiful flower growing on the side of a mountain that we climbed last
Saturday. You can compare its size to the blades of grass around it.
A view of the east side of
Five of our staff and a Mongolian friend that joined us for the hike.
The CTI team last Saturday. Joshua and Kate returned to their home in
Evening
work projects can take various forms, including repairing the latch for the
door to our main apartment.
Thank you
for your continued prayers!
In Christ,
- Adam
"And
let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint
not." - Galatians 6:9