Back at it.

Okay, when I started this blog I knew it was going to be a challenge for me to keep it current. I thought if I put pressure on myself by giving the address out to people that I would have better follow through. Well, it's been 7 months since my last post so I don't know what to do about me.

Many of you know the big missions news for me right now is that I'm preparing to go back to Russia for another one-week adventure this August. (12 days total, including travel) This time we will be teaching English classes and through these will be sharing our testimonies of what God has done in our lives as a witness to those attending, most of whom are from a nominal Muslim background.

I'm reading a book right now called "The Missionary Call: Find Your Place in God's Plan for the World." I recommend it to anyone who's given any thought to missions. I like his balanced approach, recognizing that missions is the whole Church's job, but also that there are many legitimate ways to be involved and not everyone is called to go. Even those who are called to go may not be called to spend the rest of their lives doing it. Another thing I really like about it is how he emphasizes the sovereignty of God. People (like me) stress out about finding God's exact will and suffer from the "paralysis of analysis." The author doesn't deny that God has a very specific plan for a person's life but insists that God is completely capable of leading His children into the way He has planned for them without their having to understand it all ahead of time. He includes practical advice about preparing for missions and some of the challenges involved. I'm not finished with it, but I have found it very helpful so far.

I took the summer off from classes and I still seem to have more to do than I have time to do it. I guess I'll wrap up for now and hope that I'll get around to writing something more before another half of a year goes by.

Grace & Peace

Prayers appreciated!

Anybody who happens upon this site from now through the next few weeks is invited to pray for my sanity and endurance as I get through the end of the semester, finals, and a lot of work-related stuff as well. It's a busy time! In addition to all of that, my laptop has a computer virus and is unusable at the moment. Inconvenient timing!

Grace and peace to all of you!

The Lost Boys of Sudan

Went to watch a movie tonight about the "lost boys" of the Sudan called "God Grew Tired of Us" with a group from church. Actually I missed a lot of it because of car problems, but what I did see was really informative and gives some perspective on how much we can do to reach the world for Christ right in our own neighborhoods. I encourage anyone in a metropolitan area to see how they might be involved in even a small way with some of the refugee populations. This movie is great to watch to understand how significant their needs are. Let's pray about what we can do to be His hands & feet and then let's do it.

Introductory post

Whether you found this because I told you about it or you just stumbled onto it, welcome to my blog! I thought this might be a good way of keeping people informed about what I'm doing, since I'm notoriously bad about that. I am currently in my second year at Dallas Theological Seminary in the Master of Arts in Cross-cultural Ministries Program. I am enjoying my studies and getting to know others who are excited about taking the great news about salvation in Christ to the nations. I am also continuing to work part time as a physical therapist and am now working for a great company called THERAPY 2000 providing home health therapy services for the pediatric population of Dallas. I'm hoping to try to update this site fairly regularly to keep it current. Tonight I got to enjoy some great food & fellowship at a dinner hosted by the DTS Student Mission Fellowship at the home of one of our profs. It was fun!