A Missionary Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 13

If I have the language ever so perfectly and speak like a native and have not His love, I am nothing.
If I have diplomas and degrees and know all the up-to-date methods and have not His touch of understanding, I am nothing.
If I am able to argue successfully against their religions and yet have not His wooing note, I am nothing.
If I have all faith and great ideals and magnificent plans and have not His love that sweats and bleeds and prays and pleads, I am nothing.
If I give my clothes and my money to them and have not His love for them, I am nothing.
If I surrender all prospects, leave home and friends, make the sacrifice of the missionary career, and turn sour and selfish because of the daily annoyances and slights of missionary life, and though I give my body to be consumed with heat and fevers and have not love that yields its rights, its leisure, its pet plans, I am nothing.
If I can heal all manner of sickness and disease but wound hearts and hurt feelings for want of His love that is kind, I am nothing.
If I can write articles or publish books that win applause but fail to transcribe the Word of the Cross in the language of His love I am nothing.

The Long Way Around!

As missionaries, we always appreciate mail. We are very blessed that we have family and friends that send us mail on a regular basis. One amazing thing about Ghana is that our post office is more effective than the United States post office.

But, we do still have problems receiving our mail at times. We have come to learn, though, that most of our mail delivery problems are caused by ignorance. For example, in my small home town of Northern Michigan, the post master has sent my sister's packages to Guyana, South America, instead of Ghana, West Africa. He would label it with the computer, not knowing that these two places are very different indeed. Once a letter is sent to it new location, it disappears to the unknown world of lost mail. We even had a letter marked Ghana, South Africa, that made it to us.

Yesterday, I went to my post office box to check mail. When I checked my box I found a surprise. The mail men in the States had done it again. Here was a letter sent from Saginaw, Michigan, on the 3rd January, that instead of being sent straight to Ghana, it had been misdirected and was sent to... wait for it... Thailand! Yes, that is right, Thailand, southern Asia. Lucky for us, a nice postal worker over there in Bangkok, knew that Ghana was in Africa, and sent it to us.

So I believe that we have now made a record. I think that this letter has traveled farther than any other letter to arrive at its destination. We want to thank the people in Thailand for the forwarded letter, and we want to thank our friend in Saginaw that sent us the letter and pictures.

I have attached a picture of the letter so that you can see.

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!

Baptisms

Yesterday at the Bible Study we where able to baptize our first three converts. It was a long saga, that I will not take the time to cover, but lets just say that finally after waiting for three weeks for the public water to flow in the pipes, we decided that we just needed to find a local river that we could use.



The Lord provided a great location, and we all had a wonderful time. Our first person baptized was a young man named Inusha. Inusha used to be a Muslim (one of his jobs in the mosque was to call out the prayer calls to gather people to daily prayers). He was very eager to be baptized, and rushed out to be the first person.



Our second person was Maybel. Maybel is a young single mother, that Patty led to Christ, and has been disciplining. She is Asante, and has never been in water over her knees. We explained everything to her, but still when I baptized her, she got sacred. But everything went well, and overall her baptism went well.





The last to get baptized yesterday was Joe. Joe is a young teenage guy that I led to Christ. He lives very close to the church and is very faithful to the Sunday services.



It was very exciting to see these people baptized, and publicly display that they have put their faith in Christ! Please continue to pray for each one of them, that they will grow, make good decisions, and become committed to Christ!

Just a few pictures of the areas that we visit in our Salvation Bible Studies:

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!

New Year, New Missionaries, New Paperwork!

Wow, it has been a busy new year! A lot has happened since my last post! We have a new president in America and Ghana. We have new missionaries with us, the Andrew Aaron family. They have been here about two and a half weeks. In three weeks I have been to Accra five times. We have new passports (at least they are in the works), new Ghana government paperwork, a new phone (our old one just died), and new responsibilities! All this new stuff amounts to a lot work!

We are having a great time and are trying to find time to remember to breath! Today was another day packed full. We had our second youth activity tonight. We had 25 teens there and about 20 kids came to watch. The teens had a blast, and Andrew did well with his preaching. Overall it was great! We got home about 10:00 at night.

We have enjoyed the newness of this year, but are very eager to get back into our normal routine!

The Days before History is made...

I think that I have been blessed to see what it is like a few days before great events happen. I wonder what the framers of the Constitution saw and experienced, what the the mindset and feelings where of the people involved in the first Apollo mission, what fear and wonder the crewmen of Christopher Columbus ships felt... what where those days like just before history was made and the world was changed. In those days before history was made, important tiny decisions where made. The little things that they decided moved them closer to the golden moment, the one immortalized on the pages of history. The great moments in time are marked by those decision: to for go comfort, release fear, to take steps of faith.

But what about all the other moments in history... when people faced their Rubicon... but did not cross over. How many countries and lives could have been helped and changed if people crossed over. How many Rosa Parks did not sit down? How many Wright brothers stopped before they went to Kitty Hawk? How many Arthur's have stood before the cold stone of facts and refused to pull at the sword of hope. We will never know, but what I have seen these last few days in Ghana, is that decisions do make history.

The people of Ghana stand at a doorway right now. They have decisions to make, doors to open, and these things will determine what happens. The 2008 election in Ghana have been peaceful so far, but now they are moving into their third round. As I sit here, I wonder what history will say about these days. Will the past be defied? For the first time in Sub-Saharan Africa history will an African nation rise to the heights of democracy and allow a second change of power to come peacefully? No one but God knows, but today we are writing history. The next few days men from both political parties will make decisions and these decisions will bring change!

I hope and pray that the words of Kwame Nkrumah will be listened to: "Countrymen, the task ahead is great indeed, and heavy is the responsibility; and yet it is a noble and glorious challenge - a challenge which calls for the courage to dream, the courage to believe, the courage to dare, the courage to do, the courage to envision, the courage to fight, the courage to work, the courage to achieve - to achieve the highest excellencies and the fullest greatness of man. Dare we ask for more in life? " Address to the National Assembly. 12 June 1965

"Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another as a gift. Thy claim it as their own and none can keep it from them."