August 30, 2020

 

Caleb, the defender of the living room!

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. – Colossians 2:13- 14

          At our church in Kansas City they have spent the last few weeks preaching through the book of Colossians. In our community group the week after this passage from chapter 2 was preached we had a good discussion about sin in the church and our attitude towards it. We talked a lot about the benefits of “confessing your sins to one another” and what it means to be truly, vulnerably honest with each other and what that contributes to keeping each other accountable. We also talked about the passive and unintended effects of keeping things secret, things like “I’m the only person here struggling with this so I won’t bother them with it.”

             The statement made by one of our pastors that has stuck with me since then was “Don’t despise your neediness.” The starting point of the gospel is that there is something wrong with you that needs fixed, something which you have no power to fix yourself, which is why we need a divine savior. If that is our beginning, why is it so hard to admit later? To admit that I need help with this sin.To admit that I need help with my kids. Help with my bills. Help with my inability to make friends. Help with my loneliness. Help with my anger. Help with my addiction. Our temptation is to say “It’s not that big of a deal” or “They might judge me” or “I won’t bother them with it.” Sometimes we’re tempted by the need to keep up appearances or persona and don’t want to take the risk of showing our faults. That is despising your neediness. The body of Christ shouldn’t be a place where our struggles become harder, it is a place where we can freely bring our struggles, acknowledge our faults, and find help and restoration for the shortcomings which we freely admit because Christ has already accomplished for us the redemption for which we’re striving!

          We’re still here in Kansas City. Still doing the counseling process. Still not hearing much from Lohutok because nobody is around to help us communicate with Paul or Teresa or anyone else. Still waiting forGod’s provision and timing, but we’re far from unique and far from the only people having the same struggle during this season. Thank you for standing with us and praying for us. As always, we love hearing back about how we can be doing the same for you!

Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb 

He's actually focused on reading today!

July 31, 2020

 

          We’ve had a somewhat eventful month. We started going to a small group at the church we’re attending, it’s been a huge blessing to make some new friends and be connected with people who live near us. A few weeks ago we met at a park, and while the kids were playing under the playground equipment Ezekiel got stung on the head by a wasp! He complained about it hurting for a while and then seemed fine. Caleb, being who he is, found the rest of the wasps and killed them all… 

          The next morning Ezekiel woke up and told Amy that he couldn’t open his eye and it hurt to take a deep breath. Now we’re an epi-pen family! He went to the hospital to get checked out and then came home, he’s now fully recovered and fine. 

          I got a message yesterday from Robert, one of our team mates in Lopit. He was giving me updates on a bunch of things, but one of those was about Michael. He said “I went to Lohutok briefly and I talked to your watchman, he said they’re continuing with the book and have almost finished.” Many of you may remember that when I was in Lohutok earlier this year, I found out that Michael had been reading a book I gave him called “Following Jesus.” He had finished reading and filling out the book and was ready to talk about it with someone. I encouraged Paul to go to Lohutok and meet with Michael, go through the book, explain the gospel, and encourage Michael to repent and believe in Christ. I wasn’t sure if Paul would actually manage to make it to Lohutok regularly and do this, but apparently he has, and I can’t get a better update than that! 

          Please pray with us that Michael would fully understand his sin and need for Christ and that he would repent and cling to Christ for salvation and growth. Michael is a dear friend of our family, and is also an important member of the Lohutok community, we have been praying for a breakthrough with him for years. 

          Feel free to reach out if you want to talk, get together or if you have any questions about our current plans and situation. We always love hearing from people! 

Thanks! Justin, Amy, Ezekiel,

It's...armour?