Saturday, December 6, 2008

Missionaries Call Unshaken By Economic Crisis

12/3/2008
By Don Graham
RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--Somewhere in a Texas storage shed sits a reminder of the reason Mark Moses left home and headed overseas. It’s a paper that the then 11-year-old Moses wrote for a school assignment. The first line reads: “I want too be a misiunary wen I gro up.”
“I tell folks my spelling has changed but my calling has not,” jokes the Fort Worth, Texas, native, who has spent the past 22 years as a Southern Baptist missionary in the Philippines.
It hasn’t been easy. Between the joys of new believers and churches starting, Moses also has endured bitter disappointments and devastating personal tragedy — including the loss of his wife, Jan, to cancer last year.
It’s this deep sense of calling that helps drive and sustain Moses and the more than 5,500 other missionaries who serve with the International Mission Board.
CALLING TO PERSEVERE
Today these missionaries must hold fast to their calling as they experience the fallout of a burgeoning economic crisis. That’s because missionaries’ ability to live out the Great Commission on the mission field depends on the generosity of Southern Baptists’ gifts through the Cooperative Program and Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.
“It’s the umbilical cord that keeps our heart pumping, our feet moving and our hands serving,” Moses says. “I used to wonder what I would do if, for some reason, my support from Southern Baptists dried up. I’ve watched other missionaries who don’t have the support structure we’re privileged to receive. They spend so much of their time focused on raising support that it limits their effectiveness overseas.”
Earlier this year, the U.S. dollar lost an average of 12 percent of its value in the world marketplace — a daunting drop given that 85 percent of the IMB’s $300 million budget is spent overseas. Though the dollar is rebounding, it has not yet achieved parity with its buying power prior to the decline.
“This means that the $150.4 million given to the 2007 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering spends more like $132 million — a loss of more than $18 million in purchasing power,” explains IMB financial chief David Steverson. “To make matters worse, Lottie Moon giving isn’t keeping pace with inflation (3 percent to 4 percent annually). … In accounting terms it’s what we would call a ‘double whammy.’”
Missionaries serving in Western Europe are among the hardest hit. Each time they exchange a dollar for a euro — the currency of the European Union — they’re losing 20 percent of that dollar’s value.
Christopher Watts and his wife, Colleen, are Southern Baptist missionaries from Georgia who’ve served in Rome since 2004. Less than 0.1 percent of the city’s population of 4.1 million is evangelical Christian. Watts calls this a “tragic reality” given that the Apostle Paul himself helped lay the foundation of the church in Rome.
“The last two years have been pretty tough for us,” he says. “The exchange rate is killing us, and while the IMB has done a fantastic job trying to keep up with it, it’s made life harder. … I just hope people are able to recognize the priority that missions should take in the life of every Christian and find a way to continue to give. We can’t accomplish the task without them.”
HEART FOR THE LOST
Southern Baptists’ goal for the 2008 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is $170 million. Though the figure may sound intimidating in light of America’s struggling economy, IMB President Jerry Rankin encourages churches to rest in God’s providence and continue their 120-year tradition of faithful Lottie Moon support.
“I know that a rough economy hasn’t changed Southern Baptists’ heart for the lost any more than it has changed missionaries’ call to reach them,” Rankin says. “Difficult circumstances don’t excuse us from fulfilling our Great Commission mandate. Hardship and sacrifice, even danger, are all part of the task that Christ has called us to. We are asked only to obey and entrust the rest to our heavenly Father.”
Whatever the outcome of this year’s Lottie Moon offering, Watts offers his heartfelt thanks for Southern Baptists’ support.
“There are no words that can express how much my family appreciates how well our Baptist brothers and sisters take care of us,” he says. “Their prayers sustain our ministries, our spirits and our health, and their financial gifts put a roof over our heads and food on our tables, not to mention Bibles in the hands of the lost and medicine in the hands of the sick and suffering.
“Without their prayers and their gifts, the whole thing falls apart. Our churches in the States are truly the solid ground upon which God builds our ministries.”
Don Graham is a writer with the International Mission Board.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Pre-Conference Thoughts

Well we are just 5 days now from Virgina and our Candidate Conference.

Continue to be humbled by Gods providence and am overwhelmingly aware of His plan and His provision. Almost daily He reminds me. Even Kim's daily devotion is speaking everyday to us.

Today's,"You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet. Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control.Hebrews 2:7,8a

Jesus is the only one who can claim having had human form and having complete control. So, if we're trying to control situations, people, or our future - we need to stop. Not our job. Do what God shows us to do and let that be all. Not try to do His job. He is clearly more qualified than we.

God has shown me what can truly happen when we submit to His will and way.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Urgent Plea

IMB trustee chairman: History suggests sacrifice needed now to support missions12/1/2008
By Paul Chitwood
RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--In my seventh year as a trustee of the International Mission Board, I continue to stand in awe of the incredible thing God has done by bringing together Southern Baptist churches. The largest missionary-sending agency in the world is not our invention. It is an act of His grace. This work, however, has required the enthusiastic and sacrificial support of Southern Baptist churches from day one. With very few exceptions, Southern Baptists have provided all the resources needed for every called, qualified and willing Southern Baptist missionary candidate to be appointed.
The only recent exception to that fine record occurred about seven years ago. After 9/11, the downturn in our nation’s economy and the resulting drop in charitable giving caused us to restrict the number of new missionary appointments. When Southern Baptists received that news they responded as never before. Within one year, all restrictions were lifted and workers once again began to flow to the harvest fields. Still, the fallout of that financial crisis continued for several years. What did we learn? Two lessons stand out.
First, we learned that restricting missionary appointments is not a temporary move with temporary consequences. It takes a long time to regain lost ground — years. The seriousness of the decision to restrict appointments cannot be overstated. Every time a missionary is delayed, a witness among an unreached people group is delayed, new church starts are delayed, baptisms are delayed and salvations are delayed. For the sake of those dying without Christ, we cannot miss that lesson.
Second, we learned Southern Baptists respond to needs when they know about them. As reports of insufficient funding and delayed missionaries began to circulate among our churches, we witnessed an immediate and unprecedented response. Record gifts began to pour in from our churches. In one year’s time, gifts received through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering increased by more than 18 percent!
Why do I share these lessons with you? Because we are on the verge of repeating history. With a record number of missionaries depending on Southern Baptists for financial support and the ongoing worldwide financial crisis, the 2009 IMB budget is now under strain to support growth in our missionary force.
I am sounding the alarm. If nothing changes, we will do well to support our current missionaries and replace those who complete their service and choose not to return to the field. Growth will be restricted as new missionary appointments are slowed for want of funding. This news comes at a time when we are seeing record numbers of missionary candidates attend candidate conferences to learn about opportunities to serve overseas.
In a step of faith, the IMB currently has placed no restrictions on new appointments. The dilemma is obvious. With more missionaries ready and willing to go than ever before, but no money readily available to send them, Southern Baptists have a decision. Either we will say no to the missionaries, no to the unreached, no to baptisms and salvations, or we will say yes to unprecedented, sacrificial giving to the 2008 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. The consequences of saying “No” are too great. Join me in saying “Yes!” Paul Chitwood is pastor of First Baptist Church, Mt. Washington, Ky., and chairman of trustees for the International Mission Board.

I have challenged my church who which is already in the top 1% of all Southern Baptist church's in IMB giving to give like never before. Anyone who visits this blog may also give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Mission by sending your offering made out to Faith Temple Baptist Church, please put Lottie Moon on the check. FTBC 11214 FM 1565, Terrell TX 75160

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Thoughts before Conference

I know I have not posted in a while and really probably will become much more active after our Conference next week. I ask you for prayer this week as we seek to prepare ourselves. As I have prepared to go into the mission field I have been preaching on the Disciples and their time with our Lord. This is the result of having gone through a sort of metamorphosis myself in what it means to truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

One thing that has become so apparent is that God is truly speaking to me as I dive deeper into the time when Jesus called and taught these 12 men. The past few months have been spent searching the Come and See stage of Jesus' ministry found in John 1-4. I now am exploring deeper the Come and Follow me stage and for maybe the first time truly understand what was going on here in Mark Chapter 1 and Luke Chapter 5.

Andrew, Peter, John, Phillip and Nathaniel had been with Jesus for four months and gone back home to their fishing. And now Jesus has come to them after giving them time to consider their calling. They had tasted new wine and now the fish stunk and the net cleaning and mending which was their life before all seemed so trivial. He approaches them with the ultimate choice, "Follow Me."

I have known the Lord for many years. But it has been in a very real sense never beyond the Come and See stage. I have sought the Will of God and answered His call, but in many ways only as those first five did in the first four Chapters of John. I continued to fish and mend nets in my life.

I now find myself on the banks of the Sea of Galilee, tired if fishing and mending and fishing and mending, and Jesus is saying Greg, go out into the deep, and cast down your nets once more. And I'm ready. Ready to be faithful. That is what next week is about for us.

Pray for us. The closer this reality comes the more I find myself forced to fish and mend nets. That is what happens to us all. We are called by Jesus to "Follow Him" and we keep going back to our fishing and net mending. In a few short weeks I will be homeless, car less, furniture less, probably even job less for a while. Might even be money less. But I know for the first time in my walk with Christ I will truly have forsaken all, to follow Him, and become a fisher of men.

Who will go with me.....

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

4 MONTHS

Today marks 4 months in our journey to become International Missionaries of the 10 it will take. That is 2 months less than normal. (Harder than adoption, but much quicker, unless you count Emma Jane's unheard of adoption!) We are currently getting our reference packages into the hands of those who will be sharing what they know of our lives with the Trustees of the IMB. We have prayed over them and we have only two left to give out. Many will probably wonder why they were not asked. Well, for many we have not known you long enough.The IMB was specific in the length of our relationship, and many of the 34 we had to hand out were very specific people. It was actually very very hard to get all 34 and meet their criteria. We also could not use family.

Next up is to spend the next two months getting things organized and then in December we go to Richmond.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Reference Questionaires

We received our package of 30 reference questionnaires today. We will be asking many of you to take the time to answer questions about us and our children over the next week. This is the final step besides our Candidate Conference in December before Trustee Vote on January 27th.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

WHY PUEBLA

When we began our application with the IMB there was a job in Belize that I had thought was the perfect job for me. It was in the area of Theological Education and the job description described all these Baptist church's that had drifted away from proper doctrine and had lost their power and presence in the community. This excited me and I was sure this was the job for Kim and I. The setting was safe and secure with a missionary owned home and the teaching setting was one of a classroom and there would be contact with and interaction with seminary professors here in the states. I was very excited.
Then one day I read about the work in Mexico. A work that was not so safe and secure. The "Urban Transformation Initiative" The IMB has launched this initiative on the largest cities in Mexico. Puebla is the fourth largest. I read the job description over and over. It had hold of me, let me share a bit of it.

"This is one of several requests that are on the leading edge of our work. The requirements should be taken very seriously-counting the cost-before entering this work. The commitment required, the trusting faith required, and the potential for spiritual breakthrough are all at the highest level imaginable."
"Less than 2.5% know Christ at this time. Responsiveness to clear Biblical expression of the Gospel is expected to be high. Poor evangelism has resulted in expressions of a superficial faith in Christ. We must be thoroughly Biblical in all we do. Puebla is an incredibly influential city; when it is reached, the impact will be massive within the country and beyond!"
"In the job description addendum there were some further clarifications of the expectations. These caught my heart. "We will release personal dreams of position and status. We will make a break and will not plant 'traditional', churches. All churches we plant are radical agents in the world-Salt with Saltiness!"


On Saturday night June 21st, I read the job posting many times and prayed over it. I had also searched myself and asked does my choice utilize the gifts and capabilities the Creator God gave me? Would I be utilizing them in my service to Christ? And the answer for both jobs was yes. Then I searched myself further and my desire and wants and needs. I then asked myself, am I willing to tune into God's inner voice and ignore my own. Am I willing to follow God as He opens and closes doors in accordance with "His Calling."
In the middle of the night I awoke and Acts 11:21 was on my mind. I thought Acts 11:21, I have no idea what it says. I tried to fall back to sleep, and could not, I turned on the light and looked it up, then ran and woke Kim up and read it to her. Acts 11:21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.

God had given me His answer. The Belize Job was filled by another and Kim and I reserved the position in Puebla. Why Puebla, because God said Go. Go tell the world that Love has come.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Time To Catch Up

After my last post we have since completed our dental clearances, our mental health evaluations, our children's educational and development evaluations, done our Life Sketch, statement of beliefs, our autobiography, our background checks were done, and we completed our reference lists. My College and Seminary transcripts were sent, and we reserved a specific job in Puebla, Mexico and today.....We had our In Depth Interview.

And we were told all the hard stuff was now behind us. Amen!

We were told today, I guess amidst all this financial crisis, that the IMB would not allow us to have any debt when we leave. So that made very clear some prayers on how to handle our home. But as you know after Sunday we are so ready to be free of everything. Debt and possessions. We are relatively debt free so it was really simply a confirmation. Anybody looking for a babied Mustang!

Thanks for your prayers.

I will get back up to speed soon on my blogging.

Tomorrow, Why Puebla?

Monday, June 23, 2008

Medicals

Information Form, Part 2. reviewed by our candidate consultant. At this time, we complete the comprehensive health questionnaire, dental health questionnaire, and children's comprehensive health questionnaire.

A comprehensive health questionnaire needs to be completed for all dependent children age 15 or older, whether or not they are going overseas.
Once they have received preliminary medical clearance, we will be contacted about the next step in the application process. This will take 6-8 weeks.

This questionnaire takes 1-2 hours to complete for each family member.

They were so Fun!!!!

Friday, June 13, 2008

1st Meeting

We had our first meeting with Ray and Tina Anderson. We shared our hearts desires and they were able to collect the information for our consultant that he would need to proceed. Every step of this process is designed to be a confirmation and an opportunity to make sure that this is God and not man.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Information Forms Part 2

Today We completed Information Forms Part 2

Still No Problem!

Monday, June 2, 2008

Informantion Forms Part 1

Today We completed the first wave of forms.

No Problem!

Friday, May 30, 2008

The Call

After much prayer I made the call I was meant to make before God even created me. Today I called the International Mission board of the Southern Baptist Convention.

While sitting with Kim discussing a situation at church I asked her if she thought it was time for me to leave Faith Temple. If it was me holding back the church. Kim made a statement that really brought home what I believe is making me struggle. She said Greg, you know just going to another church or ministry is not going to make you happy. Then she said that I would never be happy until I was doing what God wanted me to do. (Make Disciples!) This really landed on me hard. Because she is right.

As many of you know I have felt since last April that it was time for a change. That God had something else in mind. As I have told you Kim and I have prepared ourselves to go anywhere God wants us to go. But as many of you know, we have limited God to any church or ministry in the US that he wants to send us to. Well I believe now I see why nothing has happened We were limiting God.

I made the call yesterday to the IMB and made the initial contact to begin the application process for Long Term Missions. And, I felt just like I did the moment I gave my life back to God 8 years ago for service. It felt like a huge burden was lifted.

As I look back now over the past 10 years, since we came to FBC Rockwall I think I can see why. The Church opened my heart for missions. I thought it was by helping me to understand the need for money. And as a pastor I have led a church who gave little to Lottie Moon to one that is in the top 3% of all SBC churches in percentage of giving. But that was not it.

God has given me a great gift. It is a teaching gift. Also an ability to learn and use languages. And a great passion, make disciples. I truly believe God is calling me to go and make Timothy's and Titus's in places where they live.

I simply want to make myself available to be used anywhere in the world God wants us to go.

IN CHRIST

Greg