Just before Christ ascended to Heaven, He commissioned us all to “go, make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19-20). This means that for anyone who is a believer in Christ, being involved in world missions is not optional…..we have been called! Bernal’s Global Ministry Team is committed to inspiring and challenging every member of the congregation to follow God’s passion for spreading His gospel throughout the world.
The team is now home safe and sound, and what a fantastic trip!
Friday was our last devotion time with the CAM team before heading to the Olive branch and our last day of working. There was a final bit of mudding left to do in the main room before getting the sanders out and by the end of the day the ceiling had been partially painted and primer was going on the walls. In the meeting room all the walls and ceiling had been painted and the trim painting begun. There was some time, in amongst all the hard work, for us to experience the off road driving course that they use to teach missionaries how to drive on the most difficult and dangerous terrain that they may face in the field. It was great fun but it really does serve a purpose. That evening we got to go into downtown Waxhaw for dinner as a team and just spend time together swapping stories and talking about what God has taught us while we have been here. The day was also spent saying final goodbyes with all the people we have met and worked with on this trip, and what amazing people we have met, especially Beth, who organized all the housing, trips, tours and dinners for us, and Vernon (from CAM) who worked alongside us everyday to keep us in line!!! Here at JAARS they really try and prepare their missionaries in all aspects of living overseas from communication to driving to vehicle maintenance to construction. Everything they do here has a purpose and that is to enable the translation of God's word into every language of the world, and each department has a part to play in that.
Saturday morning the guys got to go and have breakfast and Bible study with the high school boys, and then it was cleaning and packing before heading off. There was just enough time to go to the Billy Graham Library with the Taylors before heading home.
It really has been such an amazing trip. To get to spend time with Bret, to see his ministry first hand and to help in some way was such a blessing, but more than that....to see God's work first hand and to really have our eyes opened to what missions TRULY is, was an honor and blessing.
Thought from the trip: Matthew 28:19-20 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Jesus did not issue a suggestion, but a command! We may not all be called to go to another country but we are ALL called to serve in God's "mission" in some way whether that be preparing people to go, prayerfully, practically or financially supporting them while they are overseas, or supporting families coming back!
Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. It is amazing what we have been able to achieve in 5 days and we were all kept safe. Please continue to pray for Bret and Mindy and their ministry in JAARS. We have seen first hand just how important it is and what a blessing they are to the families of Wycliffe.
Well, it's become very obvious just how big a project this is and we are working hard to get as much done as possible before we leave. This morning Nick and Phil started the day super early down at the Olive Branch, sanding and mudding the walls and hoping to get ahead. The rest of us joined them at about 7:30am (so pretty early too!!!). Tasks were just to carry on painting, mudding and sanding....our usual daily tasks. At 9am we met with all the leaders of the mission kid’s ministry for an hour of prayer. It was a great time to really hear some of the struggles that these kids face and to be able to pray with the team for them was a real privilege. It has become very clear just how important this ministry is. These kids face very different challenges from any other kids while going through all the normal trials of growing up. The staff here are so dedicated to coming along side them, mentoring them and just supporting them through all of those challenges.
After prayer we headed back to the main JAARS building to see a demonstration of the Venicular media services. This includes all the audio and video recording that they do and how that is used around the world to spread the Gospel of Christ. It was amazing to see all the different ways they get audio and visual recordings to so many people in their own language and we were able to take part in a demonstration showing how easy it is to record different voices over the same video in as many languages as possible. These movies can then be sent anywhere in the world by many different means, they can even be downloaded and shown on mobile phones! It is incredible how God is using technology to spread His gospel to the corners of the earth! After that we had the chance for a quick trip to the alphabet museum here, which tells the history of language and the written word from it's very beginning, and how that is used to translate God's word today.
After lunch it was back to the Olive Branch to keep plowing on with the job in hand and things are really coming on. We are all pretty tired but God is giving us all the strength we need....although someone (Caleb) was caught napping by the pool!!! We have almost finished painting the large room and almost all the mudding and sanding is done in the second room!!
In the evening we had the chance to host a BBQ for all the High School kids that Bret and his team minister to. There were about 60 of them and they were loud and fun! We got to eat and eat before joining them in a variety of games including sand volleyball, basketball, whiffleball and ultimate Frisbee, and then there was a short devotion before heading back to the apartments. It was such a great time and we had a so many opportunities to chat to the kids, hear their stories and just get a sense of what it is like to be a missionary kid and all the opportunities and challenges that it brings. They are a unique and amazing group of young men and women and it was a joy and privilege to spend time with them. It was a fantastic night.
Thought for today: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: 2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; 3 A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; 7 A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; 8 A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.
God tells of so many different things that there are times and seasons for but He never mentions that there are specific times for worship, service, or obedience! That is because were are to always obey, worship and serve Him whenever and wherever we are, in all times and in all circumstances.
Thank you for all your continued prayers and support. Colds and allergies continue but God is giving us all the strength we need.
It was another beautiful day here in Waxhaw, sun was shining but not too hot...perfect for a day of work! Work! Work!!! That's what we did all day and hard at it too. The guys working in the main room finally got the last of the sheet rock up and almost all of the mudding done and the rest of us got a huge amount of painting done in the meeting room. Caleb continued to spend most of his time at the top of the scaffolding which was awesome since the rest of us painters were too scared to be up there!
After a hard day we quickly got cleaned up before we headed out for the evening. Last night we spent the evening in an area of JAARS called the Jungle Jump Off. This is an area in the woods where they have built wooden huts and clay ovens and it's here that people can spend time learning and preparing to go out into the field. This evening was spent focusing on the work in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and that meant donning the traditional "Laplap", a wrap around skirt that everyone, including the guys, wear. Proud to say our guys really entered into the spirit and looked fabulous!! After hearing a bit about PNG as a country we got to meet the Littlefield family over a traditional PNG meal. Mike and Tippy Littlefield have 4 beautiful girls (aged from 5year to 6months in age) and they are going to be heading to PNG in January 2012. They are here at JAARS for Mike to complete his special training in airplane mechanics and flying and he will be serving as a pilot and plane mechanic in PNG. It was incredible to hear their story and their heart for God and His gospel and it was really challenging. After a great evening we headed back to our apartments for a short card game and then an early night for all!!!
Thought for today: Ephesians 2:4-7 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
God has just showered us with His mercy, grace and kindness and what goes on here is all about being able to share that with ALL nations in their own language. How fortunate we are to have God's word available to us in our own language so that we can learn all about that mercy and grace and yet how often do we take it for granted!! There are millions around the world that are hindered from hearing of God's love and mercy because they don't have God's word in their own language!
Please continue to pray for us here. Some of continue to struggle with colds and allergies, and we are all pretty tired. Pray for healing and strength, that we can get as much of this work done as possible.
Day 2 arrived with a stunning sunrise after rain in the night. We had a slight sleep in with devotions not starting until 8am and then there was just time to have "official" pictures taken by the JAARS sign before getting straight to work. The morning tasks for Nick, Phil and Steve were more sheet rocking and mudding, while the rest of us got our rollers and paint brushes out to start painting the ceiling in the meeting room....easier said than done with how high it is! Once again Caleb spent the day up on the scaffolding.....he's decided he wants to bring it home! We all worked super hard this morning before heading up to the cafeteria again for lunch. This time is such an opportunity to mix with so many different people who work for Wycliffe, here at JAARS. They all have such amazing stories of God's work and they are such an inspiration.
After lunch we were given a tour of the whole JAARS facility here and learn about all that goes on here. There is so much more than you could imagine! These folks may not be overseas but they truly are missionaries. Without the work than goes on here it would be impossible for the translators overseas to do their jobs. We saw guys working on planes, getting them ready for transport to Kenya and another guy working on making a boat that could carry a motorcycle across lakes in Africa and then be towed by that motorcycle once on dry land! The creativity and imagination that these people have to engineer things for remote places really is a gift!
Once the tour was over we were give the chance to take a helicopter ride over JAARS, which we all jumped at. It was so much fun and great to see JAARS from the air in amongst the beautiful countryside. After all the fun it was back to the job at hand! In the evening Bret and Mindy opened their home to us and we had the chance to just hang out and chat over a great meal, and spend time with them, their 3 children and the dog. It was a really fun evening of fellowship and it was great to just kick back and rest. Once we had finished we headed back to JAARS where a few of us went back to the Olive Branch to try and get a bit more work done before bed.
Main thought for the day was from Jeremiah 29:11-13: 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Yes God does have a plan for all our lives, and that plan was set even before we were born, however, He wants us to seek out that plan from Him whole heartedly. Please keep praying for us, especially since a few of us are struggling with allergies and colds. Please pray for healing, strength and protection.
Yesterday was our first day of work. We started the day bright and early with 7:45am devotions with the Construction and Maintenance (CAM) team. There we met Vernon Miller our CAM coordinator for the week and we were shown around the CAM facility, including construction stuff, motor and aviation mechanical facilities! From there it was over to HR before heading over to the Olive Branch building to start the work we are here to do. Once there it really became obvious how big a project this really is. There is a huge meeting room to completely paint and then there is a second room that has been constructed from two rooms where all the insulation needed to be put in and sheet rock put up before we can even begin any painting. We soon got to work and boy did we work hard! Steve, Phil and Nick were set to work putting in insulation and sheet rock and Caleb, Mary, Eric and Sarah started on the prep work in the meeting room. Caleb and Eric spent most of their time on scaffolding spackling the ceiling while Mary and Sarah kept their feet mostly on the floor! Lunch time came round really quickly and we had the chance to go to the main cafeteria and meet with other workers from here at JAARS. They all have such amazing stories and it's just amazing how talking about Christ and His work is always at the front of every conversation. It's was a real challenge to think how often is Christ the center of our conversations...how ready are we to talk about Christ to anyone and everyone we meet?
The afternoon was pretty much the same as the morning....work! Work! Work! But there were plenty of laughs and conversations along the way. This really is a great team and we are working great together under the leadership of Bret and Vernon.
Once the work day was done we got cleaned up and then headed to the retirement village here at JAARS where we got to spend a meal together and then we had the privilege of meeting a lady named Lorrie Anderson. Lorrie is 88 years old and went onto the mission field with Wycliffe in the 1940's. In 1950 she was sent to work with an Indian tribe in Peru to work on learning their language and begin the translation of the Gospel. Now she lives here in JAARS where she still mentors and encourages Wycliffe missionaries and their kids! Her stories were amazing and she was such and encouragement and blessing to us. Her interest in us as individuals and our team was humbling and a true testament to how God's work in our lives is never done! No matter how old we may be or how many physical difficulties we may have we have all been commanded to be disciples of God and tell His gospel wherever we are called! After a fantastic evening we headed back to the apartments where the daily card game was completed before heading to bed.
Main thought for today is from John 13:12-17:
12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
What we are doing here may not be glamorous work, it is hard and dirty and humble work but we are following the example of our Lord and in doing so we are blessed. How amazing is that and how great is our God!!
We arrived safe and sound at Charlotte airport at around 3pm local time and Bret and a guy called Jim were here waiting and excited to see us. We then had a 40 minute drive through South Carolina to get to the JAARS facility in Waxhaw, NC. (two states ticked off in 40 minutes!) Once we arrived we were quickley shown to our accomodations which turned out to be really nice 3 bedroom apartments! The facility here is set in fantastic countryside and is really beautiful. As soon as we arrived we spotted a group playing soccer out on the JAARS soccer field. Nick and Phil couldn't resist the temptation and were soon running around in what became an epic game...at one point there were over 28 people on the field and no one really knew who was on what team! After a couple of hours they were finally enticed off the pitch by pizza! We had a chance to settle in and then walk to the Olive Branch building which is the missionary kids (MK's) building, to have a look at the work that needs to be done...there is a LOT of dry wall and painting to do. We will be working alongside the construction and maintainence (CAM) team from JAARS. They already have a full itinerary set for us for the week, including evening activities, so we are looking forward to a full, fun, and defintely busy week. After all that we settled in for a good "friendly" and competitive game of cards before getting an early night. Morning devotions start at 7:45am! Before we went to bed, we had a chance to sit down as a team and Steve has challenged us to spend the week allowing God to challenge us both in our personal lives and with our world view of what missions is. We thank you all for your prayers and support. The staff here are all so excited and so encouraged that we are here and we praise God for bringing us here. The week is going to be full of challenges and we ask you to pray that God will sustain us, give us strength and safety, and that will will gain a greater understanding of His work throughout the globe. Yours in Him The North Carolina team
The missions trip to North Carolina got underway this morning as the team members met at SFO at 5:30am! Despite the early hours, they were all smiles. Their flight left at 7:30am and landed just after 12:00pm. Please pray for the team as they begin the work God has put before them.
