One-by-One

But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them,
because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
--Matthew 9:36

One thing I love doing is aimlessly driving through the back roads of Lisbon and exploring different areas of the city. This past weekend we drove across the bridge in search of a new beach. At one point we stopped and were able to look back across the river to the city of Lisbon. For as far as I could see there where apartment buildings. Our building alone is home to 24 families and that multiplied by the buildings I could see (and those I could not) is a staggering figure. I was reminded of this verse from Matthew and my heart was broken - there are so many sheep who don't know the Shepherd. Pray with us as we seek to share His wonderful news with the lost sheep of Portugal, one-by-one.

Prayer
*As always, language!!!
*For a team from Kansas-Nebraska coming in June. We will be helping them in an area where a new church plant in developing.
*Pray for our physical needs - strength, energy, and time-management.

Praise
*Andy went to get a haircut this week at a new place. After talking for a while, he found the owner was a struggling believer and she asked him to pray for her business before leaving. Pray we can nurture this relationship and be an encouragement.
*We continue to be amazed at what God can do with our broken Portuguese!
*Our oldest nephew graduated HS this week! Congrats Cody!

As we celebrate the marvelous ressurection of our Lord this week, let us not forget the walk He took on our behalf and all that it means to us today.

Happy Easter from our family to yours. May it be a beautiful time of remembrace and thanksgiving.

Still He Walked
Author Unknown
Apr 7, 2009

"Still He Walked"

He could hear the crowds screaming "crucify" "crucify"...
He could hear the hatred in their voices,
These were His chosen people.
He loved them,
And they were going to crucify Him.
He was beaten, bleeding and weakened...
His heart was broken,
But still He walked.

He could see the crowd as He came from the palace.
He knew each of the faces so well.
He had created them.
He knew every smile, every laugh, and every shed tear,
But now they were contorted with rage and anger
His heart broke,
But still He walked.

Was He scared? You and I would have been
So His humanness would have mandated that He was.
He felt alone.
His disciples had left, denied, and even betrayed Him.
He searched the crowd for a loving face and He saw very few.
Then He turned His eyes to the only one that mattered
And He knew that He would never be alone.
He looked back at the crowd...
At the people who were spitting at Him
Throwing rocks at Him and mocking Him
And He knew that because of Him,
They would never be alone.
So for them, He walked.

The sounds of the hammer striking the spikes echoed through the crowd.
The sounds of His cries echoed even louder,
The cheers of the crowd, as His hands and feet were nailed to the cross,
Intensified with each blow.
Loudest of all was the still small voice
Inside His heart that whispered "I am with you, my son",
And God's heart broke.
He had let His son walk.

Jesus could have asked God to end his suffering,
But instead He asked God to forgive.
Not to forgive Him, but to forgive the ones who were persecuting Him.
As He hung on that cross, dying an unimaginable death,
He looked out and saw, not only the faces in the crowd,
But also, the face of every person yet to be,
And His heart filled with love.
As His body was dying, His heart was alive.
Alive with the limitless, unconditional love He feels for each of us.
That is why He walked.

When I forget how much My God loves me,
...I remember His walk.
When I wonder if I can be forgiven,
...I remember His walk.
When I need to be reminded of how to live like Christ,
...I think of His walk.
And to show Him how much I love Him,
...I wake up each morning, turn my eyes to Him,
.......And I walk.

I Refuse to be Discouraged

I REFUSE TO BE DISCOURAGED

I refuse to be discouraged,
To be sad, or to cry;
I refuse to be downhearted,
And here's the reason why...

I have a God who's mighty,
Who's sovereign and supreme;
I have a God who loves me,
And I am on His team.

He is all-wise and powerful, Jesus is His name;
Though everything is changeable,
My God remains the same,

My God knows all that's happening;
Beginning to the end,
His presence is my comfort,
He is my dearest friend.
When sickness comes to weaken me,
To bring my head down low, I call upon my mighty God;
Into His arms I go.

When circumstances threaten
To rob me from my peace;
He draws me close unto His breast,
Where all my strivings cease.

And when my heart melts within me,
And weakness takes control;
He gathers me into His =rms,
He soothes my heart and soul.

The great "I AM" is with me,
My life is in His hand,
The "Son of God" is my hope,
It's in His strength I stand.

I refuse to be defeated,
My eyes are on my God
He has promised to be with me,
As through this life I trod.

I'm looking past all my circumstances,
To Heaven's throne above;
My prayers have reached the heart of God,
I'm resting in His love.

I give God thanks in everything,
My eyes are on His face;
The battle's His, the victory's mine;
He'll help me win the race.




Written By BJ George, But Inspired By Our Lord Jesus Christ
Copyright@ BJ George

Pocket Full of Seeds

We can hardly believe our time is almost done. One month from now we will be in Portugal!!! The time has seemed so far away, but now it is almost here. As we reflect back on our orientation time, we realize that God has taught us so much.

I am reminded of 2 verses that have greatly impacted me during this time.

Isaiah 42:6 - I, the Lord, have called you for a righteous purpose, and will hold your hand. I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles.

Wow, what a promise! God has called each of us for a purpose and He promises to hold our hand all the way. What a verse to cling to!

Ezekiel 37:3-5 - And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live again?" So I answered, "O Lord God you know." Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones hear the word of the Lord!' Thus says the Lord God to these bones: "Surely I shall cause breath to enter into you and you shall live."

As we learn about the people of Portugal and Western Europe we see "dry bones". So much of our Christian heritage and culture comes from this area of the world and now we are going back to share Jesus with them. Our prayer is that they will "hear the word of the Lord" and the breath of the Holy Spirit will bring them to life again in Christ.

The decline of the church in Western Europe today is giving way to Postmodernism and the belief that whatever you believe is fine and good for you, but maybe not so much for me. There are more people in church each week in China than in all of Western Europe. That fact alone is staggering. However, the good news is that people are searching for truth for themselves. This opens doors to share the truth of Christ, not just religion.

I will leave you with one thought. There is a song that has really impacted me in the last few weeks. It talks about how we sit in our pews and pray for God's word to be spread while all around "there's a famine in the land, and we've got a pocket full of seeds." We pray as we goo that we will share our seeds with the lost souls of Portugal.

What will you do with your pocketful of seeds?

Back Home

Well we returned home about 2am this morning. We thank you all for your prayers. The service for Andy's grandmother was very nice and we were able to see alot of family. We spent the night Tuesday at Maureen's house with Andy's parents and his brothers. They had a good time going through photo albums and such as they reminisced. This was Ethan's first funeral, so he had alot of questions. He was really interested in the casket and how they would put it in the ground. He wanted to stay and watch them lower it. One quick funny. Ethan and I were talking about Maureen being in heaven and that one day we would get to see here again because we would go to heaven. Ethan said, "Mommy you will get to see her first." When I asked why, he said, "because you are old." Nothing like you kids keeping you grounded. Even though loosing a loved on is never easy, we know that Maureen is finally home and we rejoiced in her home-going as we all sang Amazing Grace at the graveside. We love her and will miss her, but we are blessed to know we will see her again.

Quick Update

Hello everyone. Sorry it has been a few days since I've updated, but things have been crazy here the last few weeks. Andy was to leave last Wednesday on a mission trip to Malta, however his back went out on Saturday and he felt it would not be in his best interest to travel when he could not even put on his own shoes and socks. Since he stayed home, we decided to make a quick trip to North Carolina to check on my grandmother before the boys started school. We left Friday, squeezed in dinner for our anniversary while grandparents babysat, and then came home on Saturday. Once home we learned that Andy's grandmother, whose 90, had developed an infection in her blood stream and was in ICU in Jackson, TN. The doctors were not giving much hope. Andy's mom called this morning to say that she passed earlier today. We will leave early in the morning to be with the family. Visitation is Tuesday and the funeral will be Wednesday afternoon. We are so glad that we were able to see her a few weeks ago. She was looking so good and her mind was sharp as a tack. The boys got to tell her all about their summer and she seemed so happy to hear about our journey to Portugal. We're so blessed to have had that time of wonderful memories with her. We questioned when Andy's back went out, but once again God has proved He is so much bigger than we are. It took Andy being flat of his back in order for him to stay home from Malta, and now we know that God knew exactly where Andy needed to be. Please pray for us as we travel, spend time with family and share wonderful memories of Maureen Hopper.

Praise the Lord

Andy and I have both finally gotten our medical clearance. WOO HOO!!! That's one more major step in the process that we can mark off our list. I still have to go on medication for my cholesterol, but that is minor at this point. We would ask you to continue to pray about our house. It seems to be the only major hurdle left. We have until the 1st or 2nd week in September to have a contact on it, in order for us to be invited to orientation in October. Our agent said that the market is almost at a stand-still right now. We are a little concerned, but we know our God is in control and He can do anything. This is one of the few things that we have had no control over and we have had to trust Him completely. This journey has been such an awesome learning experience for us both and we can't wait to see how God is going to shine in this situation as well.

SUBCOMMITTEE - PTL

We received a phone call from our IMB consultant this morning at 10am and the trustees have approved us for appointment in September. I was so nervous and thought we would have to wait all morning, but it is now done. We are praising God for his faithfulness. Thank you for all of you who have prayed with us and for us. Continue to pray for the sell of our house and that we can get the rest of our medical clearance. Andy's is done, but we are waiting on a reply and I have to have my cholesterol rechecked next week.

Update

Just wanted to give you an update on our progress. We are still praying for our house. We had an open house Sunday and we will see if anything develops. This week Andy has a consultation on Wednesday with an oral surgeon to see if his wisdom teeth need to come out before we go. Then we head for West TN on Thursday where we will make the rounds with Andy's grandmother and our friends in Paris. We will end up back with Andy's parents and family. Andy will lead music in revival for his dad and his Uncle Guy is preaching. It should be a good time of fellowship.

God is still in control.

"Unbelief looks at God through the circumstances, but faith puts God between itself and its circumstances, and looks at them through Him." - from Streams in the Desert

This quote was in our devotion today as it talked about Elijah and the brook. As he waited and the brook dried up, Elijah could have decided to make a plan of his own, ask God to bless it and move ahead. However, even in the midst of dire circumstances, Elijah waited on the Lord for direction. This thought has been so timely for our family today.

The contract on our house fell through today due to some issues with the buyers. It was so disheartening after the elation of thinking we had it sold. However, we immediately sought God and He brought us back to the passage in 1 Kings about Elijah. We know that God is in control, even in the down times. He knows what is best and we have to wait and trust Him. Psalms 27:13-14 says "I am still confident in this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." We know that God's goodness will shine through if we wait on Him. Please pray that our hearts will not be discouraged as we wait for His direction in His time.

Blessings - Andy & Michelle

PRAY PRAY PRAY

We have received an offer on our house today. It is less than our asking price, but still a good offer. We have until 5:00p.m. tomorrow to make a decision. Please pray that we will have discernment in our decision. We feel good about the offer, but want it to be with God's direction. The neat thing is that the offer has come from a retired pastor that it moving to town. Please be in prayer with us this evening that we will know beyond a shadow of a doubt what the Lord's will is.

Medical Updates

Andy and I finally heard back from our medical reviews. Though nothing major is wrong, we both have things to check on. Andy's iron level was a little low, so he has to see our doctor, take an iron supplement, and have his blood work redone. I on the other hand have a slightly elevated cholesterol level and I have to get that down and have blood work redone as well. Right now it is the time frame that we prayer for. Our name can still be submitted before the IMB trustees subcommittee at the end of the month, but we can not be officially appointed unless all is cleared up by the 1st of August (6weeks before appointment in GA). Pray that we can get all of this done in a timely manner and without complications.

Passports!!!!

The boys passports came back today. We were so suprised. It had been less than 2 weeks and we never dreamed they would come back so quickly. GOD IS GOOD! Ethan was so excited. He said, "Now I can go to Portugal!" Now if we could just get confirmation on our medical info, we would feel so much better. Please keep praying.

Keep on Praying

Today we recieved our letters from the Dr. that did our physicals. He said Andy and I are both healthy. Now we pray that we get medical clearance from the International Mission Board. Also, we think there may be a family interested in the house. We continue to pray that God will lead the family He has in mind to the house and that both they and we will know it is right beyond a shadow of a doubt. We finally have all our paperwork in (for now) and are taking a few weeks off from sorting through stuff so we can concentrate on VBS and our youth choir trip to Orlando.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Bom Dia (good day)!! We have survived Middle School Team Basketball camp. Three days of running to Sevierville (hour drive) and playing 2 games each day has taken its toll and we are all ready for a day off. Tomorrow we go to get the boys passports started. Please pray that we have not forgotten anything and that we have everything filled out correctly.