Fuel-less Fire

Read this chapter in a book I was reading the other day and thought that it was a very good insight, here is the chapter:

The story of Moses and the burning bush is mother's knee story-telling material in most Christian homes. Popular interpretation puts the emphasis on the marvel of a bush unconsumed in the midst of enveloping fire. And why not, for isn't this a contradiction of fixed natural law? A desert bush with its leaves and twigs, cobwebs and bird's nets, is combustible, a natural fuel supply for the desert Bedouin. Yet the fire rejects the bush as its fuel resource and blazes on unfading and completely self-sustained. The miracle is not so much in the bush as in the fire; yet the bush somehow has attracted our attention and closed our minds to anything more. God was not primarily trying to show Moses the bush, but the glory that can ignore, yea reject, the fuel potential of the bush and yet burn on. God is introducing not the burning bush but the fuel-less fire.

Before attempting further interpretation of this unfed fire, we must examine the context. God's revelation to Moses is not given apart from the context of his experiences. The focus is on a disillusioned man. Moses was a man in whose heart a fire of zeal to accomplish God's great mission had burned fiercely forty years earlier. Now he is a man of lost vision, faded passion, and waning purpose. His inner fires have burnt to ashes. It had been his hope to right the injustices being meted out to his people by the Egyptians. But, for all his impressive natural abilities and high degree of training, he had impressed neither friend or foe. Confronted with exposure, he had fled to the wilderness, his mission unaccomplished. Certainly a self-sustained fire could never be applied as symbol of the man himself.

Moses knew from his own experience that he would never again be able to trust his own emotions to supply motive power for spiritual work. It is at this point he is confronted by the God of the fire and hears him declare: "I am... the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. I have seen the affliction of my people... and I have heard their groaning and am come down to deliver them." God is showing Moses that the fire of his covenant faithfulness, of his compassionate concern was not the feeble, fickle flame that Moses may have imagined because of God's long delay in delivering his people. HIS fire had burned on, regarding and needing not human passion to feed it.

In 1965 the Overseas Missionary Fellowship, a fellowship stemming out of China Inland Mission, celebrated its centenary... Hudson Taylor built the structure of the China Inland Mission on God's faithfulness. He claimed: "There is a God! He has spoken in His word. He means all He has said, and will do all He has promised." One ground for this confidence was the text, "Have faith in God," which he interpreted rightly to read, "Hold God's faithfulness." He had confidence neither in his own faith in God, nor yet in the accumulated faith of hundreds or a thousand workers to sustain the work. A thousand people could have faith in some bridge and be proved wrong because the object of their faith was unable to fulfill their expectations. There had to adequate assurance that God would accept responsibility for the involvement of literal obedience to his command. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness," he has promised, "and all these things shall be added unto you." The decades of CIM's witness surely demonstrate continuing fire of God's faithfulness.

The Broni and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad... Attitude

I keep thinking of Judith Viorst book this last few weeks. I felt like Alexander, and keep wanting to say to by self, "I think I will move to Australia!" It has been one of those weeks, or should I say months. Patty had a miscarriage at the beginning of the month. The house flooded, after the water came on at night and one of our sinks was left open. I had my malaria come back after many late nights of work and cleaning up the house. The computer crashed and it took two days to reload everything. Then Ella's foot got an infection that turned into blood poisoning from a punter wound. Also our Ghana football team was robbed by a cheating hand ball in the World Cup which would have allowed them to go to the semi-final and maybe to the finals.

But... I realized the problem was not the problems, but my attitude! I was looking at the wrong things, like Alexander does in this story. Though there have been a lot of hardships, we have been blessed in great ways. I realized yesterday, that God is allowing some of these things to help us to grow in patience. Also I realized that satan is attack and trying to use thingsto keep us from advancing in our work. He wants us to get our eyes off of God.

So in response to this Broni's terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad... Attitude. (Which I did have many times this last two weeks), here are a list of all the blessings that God has poured out this last few weeks.

Our youth activity had 25 teens at it. They loved the new games and the preaching time was the best that it has every been. Football Sunday was a great blessing and had many people attend. There are two people on schedule for baptism, and more requesting to be part of the next group to be baptized. The last two Wednesday night meetings have been so full of adults that there has not been enough room for all of them. Bismark said that if it continues he will built a small structure to allow us to meet near his house. On Thursdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays new people have been attending and have returned (which does not happen always). The house did flood, but of all the things that got wet, only two thing were ruined (books). The computer did crash, but I had almost everything backed up, and I was able to find a round about way to safe the other things before it crashed. Also after two years of my computer not working well, after I formatted the hard drive and reloaded everything, it is working GREAT! And if Ghana had won, probably many people would have died in celebration, since Ghana did not win, they did not die!

Complete Spiritual Family

My wife and I have come to another first in our time of ministry here in the new Bible Study. This last week one of the wives of our converts finished our "Way of Peace' Bible study and trusted Christ. With her conversion, this marks the first time in our current ministry that there has been a complete nuclear family that are converts.

Bismark and Matilda have been attending now for about six months. They attend Sunday on a regular basis and my wife and I visit then on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It has been amazing to see how God has worked in their lives. He allowed their son to get sick and almost die, so that they could see the power of God to answered prayer. (I read a book awhile back entitled "Power Quest', that spoke about this topic. The author said that for many Africans to grow in faith, either before they convert or after they will see faith in God tested so that they know God is more powerful they other things). He has allowed Matilda to providentially meet other Christians so that she could help her to see that being poor was not a curse. These things are just a few of the things that God has brought into their paths as they have come to faith in Him.

It is exciting to see a home that has been claimed for the the Lord. Now that they are saved, the next step is Matilda to be baptized (her husband was baptized in December). Also we are encouraged that though Bismark cannot read, each night, his wife reads to him. She has a junior secondary education, and can read basic English. After reading the Bible together they discuss the reading and try to understand it. Please pray that they will continue to follow the Lord. Pray that their son, Benedict will come to understand salvation when he is old enough. Pray that this small one room shanty that they live in, will be a place that God's light shines brightly. Pray that Bismark's younger brother Peter that has come to stay with them will listen and come to Christ.

Bringing in the New Year

2009 was a good year. During its 365 days there where some lows and highs. Though these lows where difficult they also where helpful and life changing. It is amazing how the Lord uses the lows to prepare for the high times. Overall He seems to follow the verses in Isaiah 40:4-5 "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it".

God uses our weakness to keep us from getting proud about our strengths and uses our strengthens to overcome our weaknesses. Though this year started out with times of weakness it has been able to end in ways that bring great glory to God. It seems that that is His goal Hgains glory.

The year started off with our new friends arriving from America. They started out the year totally dependant, and the Lord has used that do build their dependance on Him. Our own family started the year with dealing with our own spiritual weaknesses, but where allowed by God to brake through these areas and move to higher plains.

All these ups and downs have led us out of 2009 and into 2010. Here in Ghana, it is a modern cultural practice for most people to attend church on the New Year. Even people that do not go to church at all during the year attend.

Since seeing the important that people place on this new years time, the Bible Study tries to use it as an opportunity to reach people for the Lord. This year was no different. The annual service started at 8:00 pm. It was kicked off with our normal song service and then Pastor Andrew preached. The people listened well, and by about 9:00 pm most of the people had arrived.

From about 9:00 pm until 11:00 pm we had activities and games. One thing that Christians here do not see is that a Christian can be serious about God, and still have fun. Most people think that the fun is in the world and that the Christian just prays and speaks in tongues (what almost all the 'christian' in Ghana do). Many of them live two lives: the 'spiritual' one of church and the 'fun' one of the world. On these nights were the services are so long, games are added to the schedule so that people can see that it is enjoyable to be a Christian.


The people really enjoyed the game time, and it greatly helped the younger people to stay awake until the later hours. It started off with Bible Drills. Then we split everyone into teams. Each team has an appointed captain. This allows our faithful men to develop leadership skills in a casual way. Then a shoe realy game was played. Each person has to take off their shoes and then they have to put them back on when their number is called. After the shoe game was played the games "Candy Catch" was next. Each time selects two people to throw candy into someones mouth. The pair with the most candy caught wins.

The next game that we played was "Orange Pass". (No, the men are no necking!) All the men in each group where lined up then they where given an orange for each team. The rules where such that they had to pass the orange from person to person only using their necks to hold the orange. This was a great game, everyone was laughing and almost rolling on the floor.
After passing the oranges around, each team picked one person to play the next game. The next game consisted of drink all the liquid out of an unripened lemon. (For those that have never seen a African lemon, they are very big, and very sore). It was hilarious to watch the guys as they tried to drink the juice from their lemons.

The final game that was played was broom hockey. Now do not think that when the term broom is used that it refers to the classic American style broom. This word refers to something totally different here. The local brooms of Ghana, are hard, dry grass stems. They are about two feet in length and are tied at one end with a string. These local broom are used every where and are very cheap. They make excellent paying sticks for our game. Also the girls are better at using them then the boys, so this gives them an advantage that they do not normally have when playing active games.
After about 1 hour of hard fought play, there was a winner, and everyone was ready to sit down for a while. After the games we sang a few songs and then had are second time of preaching. I preached using the flannel graph pictures that the Bible study has. The passage was found in Acts. I preached about the time when Paul had preached the gospel to the people of Corinth. After their conversion, many of them burned idols and items in their homes that did not please the Lord. I encourage them to remove things in their life that would not please God. Though many of them where saved, they would not truly experience freedom in Christ until these items, influences, and idols where removed.

One older custom in the Akan culture was able to be used during our Watch Night service, that went along very well with our preaching. In the older days around the Akan new year the people would clean out their homes. During this time they would remove all old clothes, broken things, and anything that would make the people of the home dirty. These items would be taken outside and burned. Even today, on the 31st night a person can see many people burning tires and house items. On the 31st I used this idea to help with the preaching. Each person was given a piece of paper (since some of our people cannot write, we did not ask them to write on it). They where told to think of physical things and spiritual things in their lives that did not please God, and told to tell God that they would remove them. Like the people of Corinth, they where to burn them (the paper was given to represent these things that offend). It was excite to watch as the people seriously thought and one by one placed their papers in the fire.

After most everyone burned their papers, the adults where allowed to give testimony. It was so encouraging to hear some many tell about their new faith in Christ. Even one woman, gave testimony about the great change she has seen in her husband (He is a security guard and could not attend, and she is not yet converted). After each adult gave testimony, each person prayed in the new year.

The light of that fire was so warm and inviting (it was kind of cold that night, in African terms). It was such a blessing to experience that close family spirit that only comes with a group of true believers. Though the year had its low times, we each know that it has been preparation for this wonderful high time that ended 2009.

Practical Advice About Gospel Context and Presentation-

The way that a person visions the world is very important. Each culture is built from a collection of its experiences, religions, environment, and history. These elements greatly influence how the person in that culture sees teaching and communicating. What is a virtue in one culture can be a curse in another. What is a taboo in speaking can be an appealing plea in another. The missionary needs to learn these things, and adopt new styles (inside Bible guidelines) so that he can be an affective communicator.

Let’s give a few examples to paint the picture.

In China, if a missionary starts preaching to a follower of the Tao Te Ching, and he tells him, that John 14:6 says “I am the way”, he is telling the Chinese man, that Jesus said, “I am the Tao”. He will not think about God, but will contact this statement to his current religion, for in China, Tao is the WAY!

If a missionary is preaching in Japan, and is trying to communicate to an audience and starts by stating a theory and then moves to the practical application, most people will be gravely insulted, and will not hear another word that he is saying. In Japan, if a person moves from theory to practical, or practical to theory, he is telling the audience that they are so stupid that they can not think things through.

In the case of working with the Sawi people in West Irian, missionaries Don and Carol Richardson, found it difficult to communicate the message of Christ to the Sawi people. They discovered that when the spoke of Judas betrayal of Jesus, the people where very interested and attentive, because in their culture treachery was an appealing and high virtue.

This portion is taken from a conversation between missionary George W. Peters and Bakht Singh, (how was a former Hindu leader, and is now a pastor and conservative evangelist). They where talking about how Singh starts to witness to people.

As we talked about evangelism and a message for India, I asked him: “When you preach in India, what do you emphasize?” “Do you preach to them the love of God?”
“No,” he said, “not particularly. The Indian mind is so polluted that if you talk to them about love they think mainly of sex life. You do not talk to them about the love of God.”
“Well,” I said, “do you talk to them about the wrath of God and the judgment of God?”
“No, this is not my emphasis,” he remarked, “they are used to that. All the gods are mad anyway. It makes no difference to them if one more is angry!”
“What do you talk to them about? Do you preach Christ and Him Crucified?” I guessed.
“No,” he replied, “they would think of Him as a poor martyr who helplessly died.”
“What then is your emphasis? Do you talk to them about eternal life?”
“Not so,” he said, “if you talk about eternal life, the Indian thinks of transmigration. He wants to get away from it. Don’t emphasize eternal life.”
“What then is your message?”
“I have never yet failed to get a hearing if I talk to them about forgiveness of sin and peace and rest in your heart. That’s the product that sells well. Soon they ask me how they can get it. Having won their hearting I lead them on to the Savior who alone can meet their deepest needs.”

From these examples it can be seen that each missionary needs to study his host culture and its modes of communication if he is really going to learn how to communicate the gospel successfully to his people group.

Here are a few points of practical advise to aid the reader:

1. Try to learn about the People Group that is trying to be reached:

Here are a few sample groups-
The Naturalist Worldview- this includes all atheist and many Agnostics
The Tribal Worldview- This includes all African, Australian, Asian, South American, North American, and Island Tradition Religious groups. (This group is the largest in the world, making up 40% of the world's population, and is diverse in formers and names, but startlingly similar in thinking, ideas, and focus)
The Hindu-Buddhistic Worldview- This includes many of the far east religious branches and splinter groups.
The Chinese Worldview- Includes the follower of Lao-tzu and Confucius
The Monotheistic Worldview- this includes Jews and Muslims
The Syncretism and Mutli-religion Worldview- very common in the first world, and third world.

2. Learn the Language:
This seems simple enough. Most missions agencies seem to push this concept, but in reality this teaching only goes so far. In many countries of the world, there are national languages, and then local languages. This is true from Hong Kong, to Morocco, and from Brazil, to Ghana. Most nations of the world have in the past been controlled by a foreign power, and with that control came an official language. Many times this language is the language of business and school, but not the language of home and heart. The most striking evidence of this truth is seen in Africa. Most mission boards and agency will encourage a missionary going to Togo to learn French, since it is the national language. But, once the missionary has mastered that language, he is not seen as Togolese, but a Frenchmen. If he is to communicate to the hearts of the people, he will need to learn one of the local languages, such as Ewe or Hausa.

3. Ask the Meaning of Terms and Use Definitions
Ask questions, find out what the people think words mean. This is important anywhere in the world. Just because something means something to the person speaking, does not mean that is what it means to others.

Let me give an example- We met a young lady that is from South Africa. She was attending a Bible school in the capital, and was visiting Kumasi. She was living with our neighbors for a while, and my wife and I had a good opportunity to witness to her and talk to her.
One day while we where talking she told us this funny story. She was telling us about culture shock, and said that one thing that really bothered her when she first came was hand-gestures. Here, in Ghana, when ever a person wants to show respect, they will make the hand gesture in sign language for please: which is done by striking the top of the hand to the palm of the other hand. Most people will do this, when they are asking for something. Mary, this South African girl, said that this had totally shocked her, and offended her at first. She, told us that in South Africa, this is a very lud gesture, and if a man makes the sign to a women, then he is asking to sleep with her. Needless to say the first time a man made this sign, she was very angry.
So, as a missionary, before we start speaking and using body language we need to ask what these things mean.

4. Take time
It is never wasted time, when a missionary takes time to learn about his people group before he begins to teach and preach. In most nations, this time waiting is facilitated by having to learn the language, but in nations where the missionary can use his own national language, time should be taken to first learn about the people, before he rushes off to reach them.

5. Teach people the foundation of the Bible
Once a person has truly learned about salvation, and with some people groups before, they should be given a proper foundation in the progression of the Bible. Many missionary unknowingly divide the New Testament from its Jewish Old Testament Worldview, and do not understand why their people just take Christ and place him into their own worldview. The basic point is this, we are willing to teach Bible stories to children in Sunday School, but forget that many of the adults that we are reaching have never heard these stories clearly.

One should also keep in mind the question by a Shintoist who asked, “If you want us to understand the Christian way, why do you not open your Holy Book to the beginning and start there?”

6. Study different gospel approaches
There are many groups that have different ways of presenting the gospel without changing the message. New Tribes, Regular Baptist Press, the Divine Drama 1 and 2, along with many others are examples of different ideas. The key here is not to merely tell Bible stories, but to tell “HIS-story” and to lay the foundation for redemption. I personally suggest using a format that best suits the readers personal situation, and then modifying it to better suit their ministry and focus.

7. Listen to the Holy Spirit
This should probably be at the beginning of the list. The missionary needs to be very sensitive to God and His Spirit. No plan is flawless. He needs to be personally reading his Bible and praying, and asking God to guide him in his ability to reach his people group.

8. Let people pray on their own
This point is very important when reaching people influenced by African worldviews. In a society where social pressure and peace in the group is king, many people will just repeat a prayer, to keep peace or because they feel it is required. The best practical advise that I have seen, is that if the person is not serious enough to pray on their own, or do not know enough of the basics to do so, they are just praying for the leader, not themselves. This point also stands true with African peoples in other parts of the world.

9. Ask Questions, in ways that do not have a yes or no answer
The best way to gather real knowledge of the person’s understanding is to ask the right questions. As I have learned from personal experience, many times trying to lead a person to the decision to follow Christ, the gospel presenter is guilty of asking shallow questions. Many times this happens, because the person presenting, wants a decision more than really knowing if the person understands the message being presented. When the gospel giver is talking, ask open ended questions, that allow the other person a chance to express their thinking.

10. Let the ‘learner” do the talking
This is very hard for me, since I like to talk so much, but it is very important. Let them talk, sooner or later, the teacher will become the learner, and will gline very important information that can aid his teaching.

11. Use story methods
Most people in the world are not fully literate. Use story methods to convey truth. This is what Christ did, and it is very affective in the developing world, and inter-cities of the first world.

12. Understand how the people group learns-
Every group gains and learned new information differential. Study and find the way that local teachers present knowledge. Find successful public communicators and try to study the style or form in which they communicate. Find out if they think from practical to theory, or theory to practical, so on and so forth.

The point of it all is the communicating of the truths of the Word of God, and Jesus Christ, in ways that are understood by the local people in their own context. This will help the missionary to be seen as reaching people where they are at, instead of seeming to present a foreign gospel that only speaks of foreign problems. If the world is to be reached, it must be reached by people that have really been changed, and have embraced the gospel as their own.

*** For further study in Cross Cultural Communication- the reader can prices David J. Hesselgrave’s book. It is available at http://www.amazon.com/.

(EXTRA POINT)- The reason most missions have adopted African Traditional Music styles (i.e. drumming, dancing, and performance, that is straight out of ATR) is that they present such a foreign Gospel, that the people complain of the church being non-African. The missionary without knowing that his gospel presentation and preaching is based more on Western style and thought progression, moves to a less dangerous area in his mind, music. Soon he adapts his music forms to ATR music, and then social harmony seems to return.

Cultural Stress

Patty found this article online, while she was reading other missionary blogs. She asked me to read it, and I found it quite true. The articel was quite clear and helpful to me, I hope it will be helpful to the reader also.

What Missionaries Ought to know about Culture Stress
Ronald L. Koteskey

You feel tired, anxious, discouraged, isolated, angry, and homesick but cannot think of any reason why you should feel that way. You have been on the field for several years, but these feelings always seem to be there-increasing and decreasing. You wonder what could be causing them. It could be culture stress. You may say, "I know about culture shock, but what is culture stress?" What is the difference between culture stress and culture shock? What causes culture stress?" What are its effects? What can be done about it? Can it be prevented? Let's consider some of these questions.

What is culture stress?

Culture stress is the stress that occurs when you change to a different way of living in a new culture. It is what you experience as you move beyond understanding the culture to making it your own so that you accept the customs, becoming comfortable and at home with them. If you are trying to become a real part of the culture, to become bicultural, you are likely to experience culture stress as you assimilate some of the conventions to the point that they feel natural to you.

Of course, if you live in a "missionary ghetto," you may experience little culture stress. Early modern missionaries often lived in compounds, which were physically identifiable as missionary ghettoes. Today, even though some missionaries live physically in a national community, they have primarily relationships with other missionaries. A missionary subculture may develop which becomes focused on itself and preoccupied with group concerns so that the missionaries experience little culture stress. Those trying to become an integral part of the national community are the ones who experience the greatest culture stress.

How is culture stress different from culture shock?

As culture shock was originally defined (honeymoon, crisis, recovery, adjustment), culture stress was considered to be a part of it. However, the word "shock" connotes something sudden and short-lived. Thus, many people today think of culture shock as the crisis stage (confusion, disorientation, and lack of control) and the recovery stage (language and cultural cues more familiar). These stages begin when the new missionary leaves the enthusiastic, exciting, optimistic tourist mode, usually beginning in a few weeks, worsening for about six months, and basically ending within a year or two.

Culture stress is the adjustment stage in which people accept the new environment, adopting new ways of thinking and doing things so that they feel like they belong to the new culture. This takes years, and some missionaries never complete it. This may go on and on.

What causes culture stress?

Many factors enter into the amount of culture stress one feels while living in another culture. Here are some of the major ones.

• Involvement. The more you become personally involved in the culture, the more culture stress you may feel. The tourist, the business person or someone from the diplomatic corps not committed to being the incarnation of Christ in that culture, may feel little culture stress.

• Values. The greater the differences in values between your home culture and your host culture, the greater the stress. Values of cleanliness, responsibility, and use of time may cause stress for years. Cultures may appear similar on the surface but have broad differences in deeper values.

• Communication. Learning the meanings of words and rules of grammar are only a small part of being able to communicate effectively. The whole way of thinking, the common knowledge base, and the use of non-verbals are necessary and come only with great familiarity with the culture.

• Temperament. The greater the difference in your personality and the average personality in the culture, the greater the stress. A reserved person may find it difficult to feel at home where most people are outgoing extroverts. An extrovert may never feel at ease in a reserved culture.

• Entry-re-entry. Most missionaries, unlike immigrants, live in two cultures and may never feel fully at home in either. Every few years they change their place of residence, never fully adapting to the culture they are in at the time.

• Children. The more your children internalize the values of your host culture and the more you realize that they will be quite different from you, the more stress you may feel.

• Multinational teams. Although effectiveness of the ministry may increase, working together in your mission with people from cultures other than your host culture often adds to the culture stress.

What are the results of culture stress?

Many of the results of culture stress are the same as those of any other stress.

• Feelings of anxiety, confusion, disorientation, uncertainty, insecurity, and helplessness

• Fatigue, tiredness, lack of motivation, lethargy, lack of joy

• Illness (stress suppresses the immune system), concern about germs, fear of what might be in the food

• Disappointment, lack of fulfillment, discouragement, feeling hurt, feeling inadequate, feeling "out of it"

• Anger, irritability, contempt for the host culture, resentment (perhaps toward God), feelings of superiority or inferiority

• Rejection of the host culture, the mission board, even of God.

• Homesickness

• Etc.

Some people seem to believe that they can adapt to anything, even continual stress, without it hurting them. It just does not work that way. In the 1930s, stress researcher Hans Selye put rats under many different kinds of stress. He kept some in a refrigerator, others in an oven, made some swim for hours a day, injected others with chemicals, others with bacteria, etc. The results were almost always the same. The rats went through the same cycle. First was the alarm reaction in which resources were mobilized. Then came the resistance stage in which it seemed like an adequate adjustment had been made. But if the stressor was intense enough or long enough, sooner or later the stage of exhaustion occurred when the resources were depleted, and the rats collapsed. If the stressor continued, they died. You probably have seen people who seemed to be making an adequate adjustment, suddenly break down. Uninterrupted stress of enough intensity leads to exhaustion sooner or later in most individuals.

What can be done about culture stress?

Much can be done to decrease culture stress and make it manageable.
• Recognition. Realize that culture stress is inevitable for those attempting to become at home in a host culture, and look at what factors cause you the most stress.

• Acceptance. Admit that the host culture is a valid way of life, a means of bringing Christ to the people who live in it.

• Communication. Beware of isolating yourself from everyone in your home culture, those with whom you can relax and be yourself, those with whom you can talk.

• Escape. You need daily, weekly, and annual respites. God made the Sabbath for people, so be sure you keep it. Reading, music, hikes, worship (not leading it), and vacations are necessary.

• Identity. Know who you are and what you will allow to be changed about you. Acculturation inherently involves changes in your personality, so determine the unchangeables.

• Activity. Since stress prepares you for fight or flight, and as a missionary you can probably do neither, you must have some physical activity to use that energy.
Sports, an exercise plan, and active games with family or friends can reduce stress.

• Befriend a national family. Get close to a national family just for fun, not to learn or evangelize. Learn how to have fun in that culture.

Can culture stress be prevented?

The answer to this is simple and short. No! Stress in general cannot be prevented-we all experience it in life. Trying to become at home in another culture is always a challenging venture.

However, like other stress, it can be managed, decreased to a level with which you can live-stress without distress. The factors that help you cope with stress are summarized in the three enduring things mentioned by Paul at the end of 1 Corinthians 13.

• Faith. In addition to faith in God, faith in yourself as a person created in God's image and called into his service will help you cope.

• Hope. Rather than feeling helpless, having not only the hope of eternity with God, but also hope in your future, knowing that he has good plans for you, will help you cope.

• Love. Finally, having both God's love and the love of his people to give you support in the stressful situations you face daily, will help you cope.
Stress is a part of life, and everyone learns how to manage it or suffers the consequences. Remember that not everyone can become at home in two cultures, and it typically takes a very long time for those who do it successfully.

I agree with almost everything in this article, the only thing that I change is the part about haing faith in yourself. I would have liked to word it, "Having fiath in what God will do in you." I hope the article was insightful and helpful.

Our Second Set of Baptisms

On Sunday the 17th of May, we had our second set of baptisms. We were able to spend two weeks teaching on baptisms in our services and talking about church membership. Though we are not a church yet, we do want people to understand that they cannot be members of a Baptist church until they are saved and baptized.

We had the pleasure of baptizing Dora and Christiana on Sunday. The Lord gave us nice bright weather. We also had a lot of people attend. It was exciting to see the spirit of expectation in the Bible Studies on Sunday Morning.

Here are a few pictures.

Here is our family getting ready to go to the baptisms.

Answered Prayer

One of the greatest blessing that I think that I get to see as a Christian is answered prayer. This month we had to pay to renew our residence permits for this year. In the past we have paid the same amount, which is 200 for me, 50 for each of the kids and Patty. So that adds up to a total of 350 Ghana cedis each year. This year our paper work was delayed in the capital so we knew that we where going to have to pay a months late fee of 200 Ghana cedis. That makes for total of 550 Ghana cedis. Well, we have been missionary long enough now that we knew that things can change at any time so though the total amount was supposed to be 550, we put away 850 for the expenses.

So now you know the background, here is the story. After getting my paperwork from Accra, I went off to the immigration office. My permit expired on the 8th of March, and I went on the 8th of April. The people at immigration where very helpful, and told me that if I finished all the forms and stuff that day, I would not be charged another months late fees (200 Ghana cedi, which is amount 200 dollars).

Well it was about 2:30 in the afternoon, and the offices closed by 5:00 so we set off on the task of getting everything done. So in a whirlwind of activity (African style), we got our passport pictures taken, filled out, photocopied, and processed our quadruplicate copies for our paperwork, and typed up our letters for immigration. Lets say about two hours later I was pretty proud of myself.

So here I go into immigration, I did not have to pay the extra 200, and was already planning how I would us the extra money. So they started total up the money due, and the lady at immigration told me, "The total is 1,000 Ghana cedis". At first I just thought that she was joking but she was not. They told me that in the past it cost 200 dollars for the one holding the residence card, and 50 for the dependents, but that had changed and now it was 200 for everyone. So all added up, one months late fees plus 800 for the family, it came up to a whopping total of 1,000 Ghana Cedis. Now remember it was about 4:45 at this time, and I life quit a distance from down town, and have no car, and if I did not pay by closing time, I would owe enough 200 on top. So I told the people I would be right back.

Some how before I had left the house I had grabbed a few other envelopes that contained money, and the grand total that I had on me was about 1010 Ghana Cedis, just enough to pay and get home. So I was able to part with all that money and start processing my residences permit.

But here is the answer to pray. The 200 that I used was for other things. We had to take it out of other places, and that was going to make us very short for the month. So here was the dilemma.
We could send for money, that we really did not have to use on expenses, or just try to ruff it out, and figure something out. So we just decided to pray about it and leave it in God's hands.

Well here is what God did. Every month we pay almost 200 Ghana cedis on electricity. It is very expensive here. But for about one year now we have been paying, but the electric people have not been putting it on our account. So this has led to a lot of fun, like them trying to cut our lights every month, but that is another story. Anyway, I have been asking them to fix the problem for some time, but the accounts still say that we are behind in payments. But, here is the blessing. This month they finally fixed it, and not only that, we had a 150 Ghana cedis surplus, so our bill was only 40 Ghana cedis this month. The amount that we will have left over after paying the bill today, will be almost exactly how much money we need to make up for the extra money paid to immigration.

So we have a wonderful God. He helped me to pay my immigration fees, He fixed the problem with our electric bills, and to top it off, He gave me the money I needed for the rest of the month.

When it Rains it Pours

The work here seems a lot like farming at times. There is a lot of preperation to do. The missionary tends the fields, weeds, and plants. The whole time he is praying for rain. He knows that all the labor of his hands are nothing if God does not send the rain. Sometimes it seems like it will never come; the intervauls between rain start to spread out. Then one day, he is outside working, and the rains come.

God blessed His work this week with some of that rain. Like the old saying says, "When it rains, it pours". This week we were able to see three people saved. It was like an African rain storm. One moment it is bright and sunny, the next minute, the sky is black, the wind is howling, and 2 inch rain drops are casacading down, and if a person does not find shelter in about three minutes, he is drenched from head to foot. (Nothing is done half way here, if it is is hot, it is real hot, if it is raining, it is really raining, etc.) That is how it seemed this week. We were working away, and all of a sudden the rain came pouring down.

Pastor Andrew and I have been having salvation Bible studies with a young community college guy named Fred. He has been attending all the Sunday services for the last few weeks. Saturday we went to his house and had a three hour study. At the end, all the pieces seemed to just fall into place, and we had the wonderful pleasure of hearing him asked God to save him. It was great!

For the last few months we have also been progressing through our salvation Bible studies with our Thursday night group. We have been praying for God to touch hearts. Last week on Thursday, I preached about the resurrection power of Christ over death. The people really seemed to listen. Martha (the young lady that Patty helped out last week) asked how a person can enter into this resurrecion power. I very clearly and plainly told her how a person receives Christ as Savior. I told everyone that if they wanted to speak to someone about trusting Christ, that they needed to speak with one of the leaders after we closed. After the meeting a young man named David that has been attending for about 6 months came up and told me that he wanted to get saved. I had the wonderful opportunity to lead him to Christ.

After the Bible study on Thursday, my wife was on the lookout for any ladies that seemed to want to talk, especially Martha, but none approached her. The good thing is that God knows what is going on, even when we do not. The next day came and went and it was now Saturday. Patty was a little nervous. She had been working so long with Martha, it seemed like the truth was never going to break through. Saturday afternoon, her group headed off for witnessing. At this point I will relate the story the way that it was told to me...

"We came to Martha's house for our final visit," Patty said. "We greeted her and started our Bible study by reviewing our earlier studies. After that I asked Martha a few questions." "I asked Martha, 'Are you sinner?' to which she said "Yes", and then I asked her, 'What is the punishment for sin?', to which she said "Hell", so then I asked her, "Martha, if you died where will you go?" Martha then said, "I will go to hevaen!" I was so shocked and frustrated that she did not understand, I just asked in Twi, "Aden?" which means why???? Even Gifty was frustrated and asked her why she thought that she would go to heaven, if she was a sinner and should be punished. Then Martha gave this answer. She said, "Well, Thursday night Pastor John said that if a person knew that they were a sinner, and should go to hell, but believed that Christ shed his blood for them on the cross, they could be saved. You said that I could pray anytime. I did not have to be with anyone, so Thursday night I asked God to forgive my sins. I asked God to cover me with Christ's righteousness and to place Jesus blood over my heart, and to forgive my sins. So I am saved now, and will not go to hell, I will go to heaven!"

Patty said, "Gifty and I were shocked! After all this time, it had finally clicked." Gifty grilled her a little, but after a few moments Marhta said, 'Look, I understand everything. I am saved. I am a child of God. I understand.' So Gifty and I finished the Bible study and told her that we would be back next week to start to talk to her about growing in Christ."

So finally after all these months the flash flood came. It has been a blessing to see, and we are praying and preparing for some more rain here in the near future.

Existing or Living?

live \ˈliv\ verb
1: to be alive : have the life of an animal or plant 2: to continue 3: to have a life rich in experience

living adjective :
1: having life 2 a: exhibiting the life or motion of nature b: live 3 a: full of life or vigor

ex·ist \ig-ˈzist\ intransitive verb
2: to continue to be 3 a: to have life or the functions of vital life b: to live at an inferior level or under adverse circumstances

Why do I and so many others seem to be so content with a life of existing and not living! I seem to float through life at times in this ethereal state, not really seeing or enjoying, but just doing. Patty and I had a talk here lately that really helped me. So often I am so saturated with service, I am a full-time Christian service robot. But this is the times that I am existing, not living. This is when the sin creeps in, and slowly, or quickly in some cases, the Spirit is replaced by flesh. The kind of flesh that gets tired, but labors without rest to gain acceptance, and is consistently preforming because the fear of men!

I think that the really reason that I exist instead of live, is that the Spirit is not being obeyed or sought after. When I am existing, I will not have the fruits of the Spirit. I do not have peace or contentment. Instead of having a calm in the storms of life, I have chaos in quiet! The peace of the Spirit is what allows you to live.

Today God gave me two glimpses, to reminding me of the importance living has in my life. Last night the girls did not sleep well, and ended up in our bed. That always means a ruff night sleep for mom and dad, especially because we just have a double bed. Well, this morning while I was trudging around trying to get ready for the day, I saw Ella's teddy bear on the floor by the bed. It was one of those moments when the mind takes a picture. I can still see the things sitting lopsided by the bed. The thought came to mind, that I had better enjoy it, because they will not be small forever!

The other reminder God gave me today happened this afternoon. The girls where down for a nap, and Patty was trying to rest, hoping to recover from the lack of sleep last night. I was sitting in the living room, and had just started praying for Carey. I was praying for the guy that she will marry someday, when I heard a noise at the hall door. There was Carey, standing in one of her play dresses. It was a kid's wedding dress, val and all. Talk about a shock. Scary enough that day is not as far off as it feels. But, it reminded me again that I need to live, not exist!

Life is made up of moments! The greatest lives are ones that the moments are used to the honor and glory of God, and are truly enjoyed!

Robbery and Protection!

Divine protection is always around. We might not always see it...but it is.

I heard a story once about a famous preacher who was riding in a carriage that was traveling down a country road. The carriage was traveling at a high rate of speed and passed a sharp corner without any problems. The pastor saw a wrecked carriage at the bottom of a ravine near the turn. As the carriage left the scene, the other passengers heard the pastor praising God under his breath. They were surprised! What was there to be thankful for? After they asked him, the pastor gave this answer: "I pass by this road everyday, and everyday for years now, the carriage has taken that turn at a fast speed, and all this time I never knew God was keeping me safe, friends. I am thanking God for the protection that he has given me all these times!"

This last few weeks God has allowed me some reminders of His divine protection! About three weeks ago I was coming from the school building on Saturday. It was about 1:00 in the afternoon, and I was just following my normal routine. My family and I do not have a car so we use public transport, which is very safe and almost never has problems. As I was waiting by the roadside, a taxi stopped. It was loaded, but had one seat available, and like normal, I joined the car to continue to the stop that I needed to get to. The fun started once I entered the car. Inside the car were four Ghanaian men. (Understand that I am 6 feet 4 inches tall, and this was a tiny little Tigo car, roughly the size a tin can.) Right after I sat down, the guy in front rammed his seat into my knees. He told me that his seat was having problems and that I needed to help him push it back up for him. (This is one of those really "smart" things that taxi robbers do here. They hope while the person is helping the guy in front, the guy next to the person will steal his wallet.) The nice thing was that they did not know that I spoke Twi! So to make a long story short, after a few really pitiful attempts to take my phone, wallet, and money, (which by God's grace had all been left at home that day), I got out of the car. I left behind four very frustrated thieves and did not have to pay any taxi fee. I will be really honest, I kind of felt sorry for the guys!

Sometimes God protects and nothing is allowed to happen, but this last week the Lord also reminded me that even when the bad does happen, the protection of God is still there.

Gifty is a young college student that our family is very close to. Gifty helps my wife with Sunday School, children's programs, and soul-winning. This Thursday we were waiting at the junction for Gifty. She did not come at her normal time. We tried to call her phone, but no one would answer. Since we had Bible study to go to, we left and figured that she had somehow been detained. After we got to the Bible study area I got a call. It was Gifty, and she told me that she had been robbed. The men had taken her phone, money, and had slapped her and her friend. After robbing them, they drove them to a bushy spot and tied them up with their clothes.

Though Gifty had to face the robbers, she said something that was very true -- God had kept her safe. The men could have abused her, but God kept her safe! She said that she was just praying the whole time! I do not know many criminals that will undress a young woman, tie her up, and will not hurt her. She said the whole time she was praying, and God kept her safe!

So this time I just want to thank God for keeping us safe. Even when bad things happen, He keeps the worst from coming! So Lord, thank you for your protection!

Trust

That seems to be the word that God is trying to teach me lately. In this new church that seems to be my biggest problem. I want to do it! I keeping struggling with this thought, "Well, things are not moving, you are not winning, because...!" Then follows the list, all the things that I have not done that week, all the sins that I have commited, all the ways that I have failed. FEAR moves in...

So there I am, with God people before me, trying to lead music, waiting for people to come, and I cannot really focus, give my all, because I am wondering, 'Where is everyone, so-and-so is not here?' Then I start to worry, faith goes out the window, and I am defeated by Fear!

But God hit me with something Sunday. 'Isaiah 43:1...Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine'. I was so full of fear, I would not trust! God seemed to say, 'How about you just trust Me, and stop trying to do my job!' To quote "Facing the Giants", "Do your very best and leave the rest up to God. If we win, we praise Him. If we lose, we praise Him!"

So, I finally let go. All I am responsible with is doing my best. I did what I could, the best I could. You know, church was wonderful. God finally had freedom to do what He wanted.

I thought of this verse this morning: Luke 17:10 "So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do". God does not bless because we have all our ducks in a row. In truth, most of the time I try to obey because I figure than I can twist God's arm into blessing me. It's like I think 'Hah, I have done it this week, God! I crossed all the t's and dotted all the i's. So you've got to bless me!' But you know, He is showing me that that is not why He works. It's not about us. Sure our sin can hinder what blessings we see, I know, but God is bigger than that. Even if I did everthing right, all the time, I still am unprofitable! God is doing what He is doing because He loves all men and wants them saved. He cares for them much more than I do. He is in control, He has a plan, and He will do what He wants. I am just blessed that I get to be a part!

So what did I learn this week? Do all that I can... and trust God with all of it!