Come Let Us Adore Him

Like many of you, we sang the song, Come Let Us Adore Him on Sunday at church. While singing this great Christmas song I thought about one question over and over again. How have I adored Him this Christmas? Have I spent time with Him or have I spents most of my time with the business of the season?  Have I studied his word or have I watched a lot of Christmas movies? Have I really reflected on how God came to earth as a baby and paid the ultimate sacrifice for my sins? If I am honest with myself I often times get swept up by the traditons of the seasons. I am challanging myself and you to really adore our Savior this week as we celebrate his birth. So, how do I adore my Savior? Here is the definition of adore according to the dictionary.

adore (ə dôr′)
transitive verb adored adored′, adoring ador′·ing
1.to worship as divine 2.to love greatly or honor highly; idolize

I will choose to worship Him, I will spend time with Him, I will love Him, and I will honor Him!

Starting over, again?

Welcome to the roller coaster! If you were to ask us what God has been teaching over and over this past year it is that He is and we are not in control of our lives. I suppose this is what happens when we finally surrender everything we are to Him. It would be foolish to say that we have been models of perfection in this process, but God has certainly shown us major areas that we are a “work in progress” especially when it comes to surrendering. Many of you know that we have been in transition from camping ministry and have been pursuing the possibility of moving into serving overseas. Now, after wrestling back and forth with this idea of “surrender” and looking for any way possible to avoid it, God has shown us that regardless of our fears He is still sovereign, He cares and will care for us wherever we may go. I (Bryan) have had the recent opportunity to speak directly with native missionaries that lead the national ministry and student ministry programs for The Navigators in New Zealand. They have a need for a student community co-leader at Canterbury University in Christchurch, NZ. The program is an insider ministry run by The Navigators called “Lifenet”. The purpose of Lifenet is to recruit students each year and provide a place where these students can experience a sense of belonging, receive encouragement and input to their faith, and are encouraged and helped to live as “insiders” amongst their non-believing friends. One big challenge is to help these new young believers relate to a student community that has no interest in or knowledge of Christianity. In Christchurch less than 10% of University aged people attend church. There is also a strong binge drinking culture on the campus of Canterbury. As a result many of the Christian students retreat to their own safe networks. One of the biggest emphases of the ministry is to help believing student to live as “insiders” amongst the lost and encourage them to love and care for their unbelieving friends. This approach to evangelism is very relational and involves us meeting students where they are at by setting up meeting places, BBQs, spit roasts, sports events, parties, adventure activities and camps and then invite interested people to read the Bible or come to an occasional questions night. Another important emphasis within the ministry is to get students grounded in the Bible by studying whole books, or sections of scripture, helping them to read the Bible in context, entering into the biblical story and then relating it to their own current life story.

For more details please visit ucnavs.org.nz

Okay, now what?

Glen Morris (National Director, Navigators New Zealand) and Lynton Brocklehurst (Nav Student ministry and community leader in Christchurch) have invited our family to join them for a week in New Zealand at the beginning of February. They would like us to see the ministry in action as a new semester is beginning at the University of Canterbury. We have prayed about the possibility of our entire family going or just me. Due to finances, at this time, I will be the only one making the trip. I am apprehensive about traveling such a distance from my family. I am praying that God will give me clarity and a good insight of the ministry as well as a confirmation about our family coming along side.

So, what is standing in the way?

We have never made it very far without your faithful prayers and financial support. We are currently facing a deficit of about $7,500.00. We will not be able to transition to the next phase of our journey until that deficit is eliminated. The Navigators will not allow us to move into international ministry until the deficit is gone and we have our full monthly need in place. I can tell you that the prospect of this adventure both excites and scares me to my core. There have been times that I have allowed fear to grip me and it has rendered me useless. I know now that God’s hand is in this and He has and will continue to bring peace to us. He has also chosen to give us great hope through you, our supporters.

Well, what can be done?

I ask that you and your family would strongly consider going above and beyond with a yearend financial contribution that will help to propel us into the New Year. With your financial gifts we can eliminate our debt and begin to focus on the future. Also, I ask for you to pray that God would allow you to continue to support us faithfully for the next 3-5 years. In addition, would you ask God to provide you with the means to either increase your current giving and/or provide you with the means to begin to give on a monthly basis? We count every gift a blessing and no amount is too little. As always, please pray alongside us as we seek to follow God’s calling on our lives. We believe that the work He has begun in us is just starting and we are excited to see the outcome. We know that it is through your prayers and support that He will faithfully complete what He has started. (Philippians 1:6)

Landon's 3rd Birthday!!!

Landon's Birthday is December 18, but we always celebrate it early so it is not soooo close to Christmas.  He got to have his favorite people the Mariens over.  We played games, had dinner, cake, and presents!  A complete birthday.  He was so cute because this was the first year that he totally got that this party was for him.  After each present he would take it to his Auntie and make her open it (perfect for me...I didn't have to undo all those awful ties on toys) and then he would try to hold all of his new stuff as he opened his next gift. Now this was talent because by the end he only had about two fingers left to open the next gift.  It was too funny, but I can see why you have to protect your stuff from your brothers!!!!!