Update on various things
posted by Jesse on Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 8:23 pm
I’ve got several things to update you about, so rather than writing a bunch of separate posts, I’ll include them all briefly here in this one big update buffet.
• We ordered our appliances yesterday, and though they were a little more expensive than we were going to pay with the other company, the total price was not as bad as we thought it would be. The other bit of great news is that they should arrive in Missouri within about a week, which will give Friends in Action enough time to put them on the container.
• Our Togo visas came yesterday, and they were approved! So, we now have all the essential things we need in order to make our trip without any major difficulties. Thank you God!
• Just six months ago, we had no idea if we were going to have enough finances for everything involved in our move to Togo. But as of right now, it’s looking like our overall financial situation is much better than we originally had thought it would be. God has provided unexpected money from various places, and we’ve tried to keep our expenses to a minimum to save money wherever we can. We still do not know exactly how much we will have to pay for certain things, like taxes on our container and vehicle, but according to our “guesstimations” it looks like we will be somewhere between breaking even to running a few thousands short. I know that probably doesn’t sound like good news to you, but to us it’s incredibly good news considering that we originally thought that we’d be standing on a street corner with a sign by now! It’s just incredible to see how God has been providing in every way, even through a terrible economic recession. It’s just more proof to us that He is in complete control and that we have nothing to worry about when we’re in His hands!
• I had the privilege of speaking at two unique events this week. The first was a lunch banquet for our church’s Forever Young ministry. I spoke about how to effectively pray for missionaries and shared with them a bit about what missionary life is like.
Then today I spoke at Marshal High School in their Bible club, which was started by some teens from our church. I spoke about the “what” and “why” of our missions work in Africa, explaining first what we’ll be doing and then why we’ll be doing it. I talked about the great need that mankind has for the truth of God, which is revealed through the Bible and through Jesus Christ. I then was able to describe what Christ did for us when He died on the cross and took the punishment for our sins so that we could be forgiven and have eternal life and a relationship with God.
Every time that I speak or preach anywhere, I am just amazed that God would choose me to speak for Him. I am reminded of what the Bible says in I Corinthians 1:26-31:
26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
That is exactly what we are to do, each time that God uses us to do anything. We are to realize that we can’t do anything of value on our own (in our flesh), but that anything good that is done by us is simply the work of Christ through us. If that’s the case, then we can never glorify in what we’ve done, but only in what God does through our lives.
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