The Next Step

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:

I now have my US passport in my hand just in time to begin my four-week trip home for vacation next week! The officials in La Paz had already returned the passport to the immigration office in Sucre even before I went to request it to be loaned back to me for the trip. When I return to Bolivia after vacation, I will have to send the passport and one more piece of paperwork to La Paz, but the visa should be complete soon thereafter. Thanks so much for your prayers! See y'all soon! Just to get you in the mood, here are some pictures from last year's vacation: Me with my parents and me hanging out with my friend Amy at the beach. :)



Prayer Necessities:

1. Please continue to pray for our friends Simon and Daria and the church that is meeting in their house. We have still not been able to participate in one of their meetings, but they continue to be faithful to meet every other Saturday to study God's Word and to pray. Ask that the Lord would continue to grow them in the faith and in numbers.

2. Pray for Leah as she returns from her vacation next week. She is a little concerned about being in Sucre alone for so long while I am out of the country. Pray that she would have wisdom to know how the Lord would have her use the time in the city and that she would feel safe and secure knowing that she is well cared for by our Lord.

3. Please continue to be in prayer for Ayuma's church. Ask that they would love one another and that this extraordinary love would be noticed by the non-believers in the village, making them want what the church has.

Inquiring Minds Wanna Know:

As time seems to fly by us so quickly, and especially so for those of you living life in the hyper-paced United States, many of you may not realize the length of time I've been overseas. Well, it's been 2-1/2 years and, if that shocks you, let me ease your mind by saying that it blows me away, too. It just reinforces for me the truth of this verse:

"You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath." (Ps. 39:5)

The IMB requires its missionaries to go for a period of assignment in the US after 3-5 years of overseas service, and my period of eligibility for that stateside time begins in October of this year. My partner Leah and I have decided that we will heading home around the 3-1/2-year mark in May of 2012.

With my first term as a career missionary nearly complete, I have had some decisions to make. The IMB has recently undergone some major organizational changes, with the end result being that the majority of its missionaries will focus almost exclusively on unreached people groups. For Board purposes, an "unreached" people group is defined as a group with less than 2% evangelical believers. I am in complete agreement with the new strategy, but it means that our work with the Quechua (who, as a whole, are about 5% reached) will end when we leave after this term.

All of that brought me to a place of decision before the Lord regarding what I should do after this first term overseas. Should I return to South America, but in a different capacity and in a different place? Should I go to another foreign country, perhaps somewhere in Asia? Well, after much seeking of the Lord's face and receiving confirmation from other believers who have sought Him alongside me, He has shown me that my next place of assignment is back in my home country, though now on the opposite coast.

My next step in this nomadic life to which the Lord has called me takes me to Seattle, Washington.

At first, my response to that was resistance. I mean, really? Seattle? I have never lived anywhere west of the Mississippi River, nor have I ever had any desire to do so. And, honestly, it rains there something like 360 days a year! :)

Plus, leaving the work overseas means leaving the IMB and all of the financial security that it entails, but that just lends another aspect to this step of faith to which God has called me. Thankfully, I do have a skill in being a pharmacist that allows me to have a job nearly anywhere in the country, which gives me an effective tentmaking plan (see Acts 18:1-3). So my tentative plan is to work part-time as a pharmacist and full-time making disciples.

And, in time, the Lord has given me a peace and even an excitement about following Him there.

Seattle is, if not quite an unreached people group, at least an unreached city. Only about 4% of the people there are followers of Jesus Christ. That means that, in this city with a metropolitan area population of nearly 4 million, only about 150,000 belong to Him. And it is not a city that was once filled with His people but that has now grown cold. It has actually NEVER followed Him.

It is a very multicultural city, with some 190 languages spoken there, but that also means that there are a variety of world religions represented. Most people would classify themselves as "spiritual but not religious."

Have you ever wondered if it was possible that there could be a city in the US where the people haven't heard of Jesus? Well, this is it.

But, despite the spiritual darkness - or perhaps because of it, I am excited to go to this new place where the name of Christ is not yet exalted. I want to see the Holy Spirit move there in a mighty way to claim for Himself this modern-day Athens (see Acts 17:15-34), these people who worship so many false gods but not yet the One True God. I long to be a part of His work and to help harvest what He brings to bear.

But for now, my work remains here in Bolivia. He has called Leah and me to make disciples among the Quechua here, and we strive to be faithful to that calling. I have not been distracted from that by what God is calling me to do in the future, but I did feel it was time to let those who have so faithfully supported me in this journey know about where He is taking me next. My hope is that you will add the people of Seattle to your prayer list without removing the Bolivian Quechua.

I'll be in the States on vacation from late May until late June if you would like more information or clarification on this next step in my somewhat nomadic life. Or you can always feel free to shoot me an e-mail at dogfight17@hotmail.com.

I'm looking forward to seeing many of you during my time at home!

A few fun facts about Seattle:

• Highest percentage of college graduates of any major U.S. city
• Home to Microsoft, Boeing, and Starbucks
• Population is about 30% non-Caucasian, including 14% Asian and 5% Hispanic
  
• Average yearly rainfall is 36 inches, as compared with 39 in Washington, DC, and 40 in New York. The least amount of rain falls in July. On average, there are 226 cloudy days per year (not 360, as originally assumed :)).
  
• High cost of living, with an average 1-bedroom apartment costing slightly over $1000 per month and an average family income around $85,000 per year
• Is the same distance from both London and Tokyo
• Approximately 18% of its population is foreign-born
• Has four professional sports teams: The Mariners (MLB), Seahawks (NFL), Storm (WNBA), and Sounders (MLS)
• Major export, by far, is aircraft parts
• Is about 85 square miles in area
• Most famous landmark is the Seattle Space Needle
• Nickname is The Emerald City
  

Becoming All Things to All Men

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:

Leah and I were recently able to attend an evangelical conference in the small town of Pocoata. Though it was a slightly overwhelming cultural experience, it was a blessing to get to meet and spend time with a number of believers we did not know before. We were also able to advertise our upcoming women's evangelism conference, and we have a number of people who have expressed interest!

Prayer Necessities:

1. Leah recently left for a three-week vacation in the States. Please pray that I would have wisdom to know what to do during this time in Sucre and that I would make disciples here.

2. Please pray for Nelly and the remainder of the believers in Ayuma during this time when we are not with them. Pray that the stories we have taught them would come frequently to their minds and that they would meditate upon and obey the teachings in them. Pray that they would share those truths with others.

3. Pray that Leah would be encouraged during her time at home and that she would be able to encourage others as well.

Inquiring Minds Wanna Know:

So, as you can probably tell from the title, I've been thinking a lot lately about Paul's words to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 9:19-23:

"Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."

In context, he is talking about how, as an apostle, he has the right to receive financial support from the church at Corinth, a church he himself planted, though he has never demanded that they fulfill this right. Instead, he has freely given himself to the Corinthians, sacrificing any rights he may have had, so that the Gospel would may be advanced.

What has me thinking so much about this lately is wondering whether it's alright to lie about things in order to "become all things to all men." Here's my situation:

We go into the Quechua village where we're working and there for up to a month at a time. During that time, we dress in clothing similar to, though not EXACTLY like, theirs. We normally cook for ourselves but, from time to time, they bring us food which we, of course, are obliged to eat. We work alongside them in the fields or pasturing their animals and, at times, we are invited to watch Quechua music videos with them as entertainment (here is a typical church service, complete with an impromptu concert :)).

But here's the thing: I don't like Quechua music. No, it goes beyond that. I absolutely LOATHE it with every fiber of my being. It's screechy and uses too much off-key accordion, and I'd just as soon drive a stake through my right eye as spend an evening listening to it. And there are certain things that they eat that I'm not crazy about either, though most of the food is very good (pictured here is our friend Gabriel eating a normal meal).

So what should I do when they ask me whether I enjoy watching their music videos? To tell the whole truth would be offensive, which would hinder the advancement of our work here. But I wonder if my enthusiastic, "Of course, I absolutely LOVE your music!" is leading me down a slippery slope towards the justification of dishonesty in the name of a higher cause.

So I just wanted to ask what y'all thought. What does it really mean to "become all things to all men"? Surely Paul didn't necessarily enjoy everything he ate or every song he heard, so how did he handle it? How did he do all of that for the sake of the Gospel, so that he could share in its blessings?

Would love to hear your input!