A Grandson Surprise!

Early on the morning of December 19, our daughter Cara called us from California saying that her water had broken and she was in the hospital ready to have her second baby 5 weeks early!  Aubrey was already at the airport ready to fly out for Christmas, and thanks to no change fees with Southwest, we got Dayna on a plane that left at 9:45 am!  They were both able to be there to help with everything, and Dayna stayed for two weeks.

While he was “late preterm,” he only spent 5 hours in the NICU.  Overall, Titus Matthew is doing well and gaining weight.  We sent Macy out to help for 10 days, and Catelin will fly out for a week this month also.  

Luke was home for Christmas, but he didn’t get to see Dayna because he had to leave before she returned. So, it was a very different Christmas for us, but exciting and happy, and tiring!  As you think of them, we appreciate your prayers for continued growth and health for baby Titus. 

Zeke meets his new brother Titus

Succession Strategies

A couple of years ago, Cru’s Board of Directors asked our Global VP’s for a succession plan,  and I helped create an assessment and process to identify potential leaders.  This fall, the JESUS Film Project director asked me to assist his team in creating a succession strategy, and last month, also because of a Board request, Athletes in Action asked me to help them in the same way.  Will you pray for me this month to prepare a process and tools that can be used by Cru globally? 

I’m also in Dallas this month to continue facilitate Global Aid Networks’ strategy development and team building.   Thank you for your prayers and support in helping us impact Cru and the work we do around the world.

With love and thanks,

P.S.  More baby info:  Cara and Perry have had lot of visitors and help over the last month.  Aubrey and Dayna were there the day he was born, then Perry's family joined for a week, Macy spent 10 days there, and now Catelin is there this week.  It's great to see how everyone has been able to meet Titus so soon!  Titus is now up to 7 pounds and growing!

The Foundations of Trust

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,  not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:3-5

After a talk I heard this spring by the leader of HR for Intervarsity and the director of True Face, I’ve been pondering repentance and forgiveness this year.  I want to share a bit about what I am learning.

Repentance is acknowledging something that we have done which is sinful, or negatively impacting another person or our relationship with God.  It’s the idea of “changing how we see something.”  Repentance also includes these ideas: “to perceive afterwards;” “to reconsider;” “to be very observant;” “to be acutely aware.”  Repentance depends on us taking time to understand our impact on others…taking time to listen and understand.  For all of us, being understood is close to the feeling of being loved.

We are commanded to extend and express forgiveness to someone who has done something that has a negative impact on us.  But to help us forgive for that impact, we need to talk about what was done to us and the consequences and losses we experienced.  And we need to forgive for these consequences as well as the act itself.

What struck me with this is that both repentance and forgiveness require that we consider the impact we have on others, as well as consider the impact of sin against us.  I am not always aware of how my actions impact others.  I’ve been considering “how am I doing at forgiving others?,” and “how am I impacting others?”

One major point of the talk I heard is that these two acts are the foundations for trust in relationships and organizations.  I am trying to take steps of faith in both of these areas.

Thank you!

This month we celebrate God’s blessing to us by setting aside time to acknowledge and thank Him for everything we have.  We cannot do that without counting the incredible miracle and blessing it is to have a team of financial supporters that allow us to serve with Cru.  There is no way for us to adequately express how grateful we are for your sacrificial investment in our lives and ministry.  It is humbling, and yet the whole way this works glorifies the Lord.  It is an amazing to experience the body of Christ working in unity to help fulfill the Great Commission and see others come to experience Him.

Thank you.  We are imperfect people who are are asking God to use us, and He has led you to help us be able to do this for almost 34 years.  It is at times beyond comprehension that he has brought us together to do this.

We are so grateful for you,

Making a Difference and Stepping out in Faith

Your Impact

As I have mentioned before, I continue to assist the GAiN leadership team with strategic planning and helping them follow through on strategy initiatives.  The simplest way to describe what GAiN does is help Cru ministries around he world have access, gain credibility, and increase their effectiveness through Food and Agriculture, Clean Water, and Critical Aid programs. I received the following story last week from their Communications Team.

“Traumatized by war and living away from home, refugees in East Africa struggle to find food. Thanks to a recent shipment of GAiN meals, 980 refugee families, along with prison inmates, orphans, and university students, joyfully received nourishing meals made possible through the support of partners like you. 
But they were not hungry for food alone. They were also starving for hope. As the meals were delivered, GAiN field partners had the opportunity to minister to many and introduce them to Jesus. As a result, 235 people responded to the eternal hope of Jesus, 89 of them joined a discipleship group, and a church has been established for this refugee community. God worked in the worst of circumstances to meet immediate physical needs — and to give suffering people hope for eternity. As the humanitarian partner of Cru®, Global Aid Network® (GAiN®) expresses the kindness of Jesus in the toughest places on earth by relieving suffering, restoring dignity, and revealing hope.”

Many times the drilling or repair of a well will open up opportunities for our national staff to share the gospel, and multiple churches will be established in a new region of a country.  The work we do to help GAiN is increasing their capacity to go to more locations and serve more people.  Their goal is to increase the number of countries they serve from 31 to 50 and to increase the number of containers they ship from 44 to 150 by 2023.

GAiN has also been implementing a name change this year.  Because GAiN is a global brand, with Cru having GAiNs in Germany, Canada, and other countries, the US team has been limited in how they can talk about the ministry connection as openly as some countries are comfortable with.  By changing the name to Unto, they are able to be talk more about how their work brings people to Christ.

Trying something new

This is Macy’s softball team, the Vipers.  Of the 11 girls on the team, two are brand new to softball, but only 2 have played more than a couple of years.  And, we have no pitcher, which is softball, is kind of a major deal.  So, I set expectations low, and we focused on different kinds of success.  So far, 3 girls have tried pitching in games, and everyone is getting opportunities to try something new.  Despite our lack of experience, we did win a game and took this picture to celebrate!  

I always learn life lessons while coaching.  Like being willing to try something even if you are not sure you can do it.  We minister to others by taking a gulp and stepping up and saying the first word.  We trust God for things we can’t see how He will provide.  Thanks for investing in us as we walk by faith.

We are glad to be on the same team with you!

This week we had practice in costume.  I'm the horse monk.  Yes, I know it makes no sense.  Macy is the banana.