When Things Fall Apart
Sometimes, even in ministry, everything just falls apart. The foundation has crumbled, the walls have collapsed, the seed has rotted, and the sprouts are choked by weeds and burnt by the sun. Sometimes by the end, there’s nothing to show for our years of efforts.
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Our Double Lives
Where we are now is about as close as we can come to being on the exact opposite side of the world from where we were just a month ago. Sometimes that’s what it can feel like, going from one side of the planet to the other – like we’re standing upside down…
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Treasure
How could I take a 9-month-old, and a 2 ½-year-old and a 4-year-old to a place where they could get sick or hurt and be days away from medical care? A place with no schools, where my wife and I would have to struggle to educate them, where they would be exposed to demonic activity and where child trafficking happens? I was ashamed of myself that I was not strong enough to pay that price.
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Visiting the US Next Year!
That’s what our last few years have been like here on Nosy Mitsio: exciting! Challenging! Full of promise, hope, struggles, loss, and gain. In it all we see God at work. He’s maintained us, given us strength and perseverance when we’ve needed it most, and he’s opened our eyes to see…
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As a Child
Can you imagine being born again? Everything you see is for the first time. The world is bright and the sights are strange. Everyone’s talking at you and they’re clearly excited to see you, but none of it makes sense: it all just sounds like gibberish…
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The Faithful Foreigner
The past year and a half has been a life of transience for us. During this time we’ve traveled over 40,000 miles! We’ve stayed for over a week in 11 different places including 5 different countries, traveled in 15 planes, 4 boats, hiked probably a hundred kilometers, and have…
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Back and Forth
We stepped off the taxi, three of us this time, back in our village in South Africa. We began...
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Transition to Madagascar Photos
Pictures from our move to Madagascar. They’re mostly from South Africa, in Pretoria, Dumphries, and Kruger, where we stopped for a few weeks along the way to visit friends and “family”. But the last 10-15 are from our arrival in Madagascar. 139 photos
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Latest News
Six years ago, I first took this photo of "Port St Louis" (essentially the "gateway" to Nosy Mitsio). It's still one of the most beautiful photos I've ever taken! Even from the start, we really put a LOT of effort into getting started and initiating ministry on Nosy Mitsio. Of course, that makes it even more sad how things turned out at the end of our time there. But God is good and we know he has good things in store for the future! He's not done with us or with the Antakarana people of northern Madagascar and we look forward to continuing to work alongside God in reaching them. Faithfully following Jesus is full of both beauty and sorrow, painful struggles and hopeful anticipation - just like Jesus's own life. We're pressing on!
This is a great little article, written by some missionaries working with a remote tribe in Papua New Guinea. They do a good job stating some of the common criticisms of missions and also provide a good response from direct experience. Many of the things he writes about are also criticisms we've encountered and his responses are similarly true!
Five Secular Myths about Missions
fromdanielsdesk.com
This is a guest post by my friend Trevor Johnson, a missionary to the remote Korowai people of central Papua, Indonesia. Please enjoy his unique perspective on modern mission work! April 1874 R...We've had a great first month at YWAM Ozarks! We've enjoyed the relaxing environment, participating in the community activities, and the good times of fellowship. We've also had many opportunities to spend time with family, which has been great for all of us. This week we're in Tulsa! We'll be visiting our home church Sanctuary Tulsa tomorrow, spending time with family and friends, and celebrating my birthday and Independence Day. God has been very good to us during this time!
Please pray for us as we consider dates for returning to Madagascar. Pray also that all the arrangements and things necessary for our continuing visas would be taken care of as God wills and in his timing.
We've had a great first week back in the US, enjoyed spending time with family, and celebrating Matimu's 8th birthday! Tomorrow we'll be heading to YWAM Ozarks to begin the second part of our sabbatical there. Excited about it!
We had a great time in Dumphries last week (our former village in South Africa during our time in the Peace Corps)! We were showered with generosity and hospitality. It was so awesome to see how everyone's doing and how so many of the kids we worked with are growing up. We enjoyed visiting the schools we worked at and we also enjoyed catching up with our host family. God has blessed us with a great time and great relationships in this part of South Africa! Here are a few of our favorite photos (and our favorite people) from Dumphries.
Tomorrow we board the plane to return to the US to continue our sabbatical for a time there!