+ 1 - 0 | § ¶August Newsletter 2008
August...it’s vacation month in Ukraine!
If you didn’t know, most of Ukraine takes a whole month of vacation...during August. Can you imagine that? Of course, while working construction, this is one of the better months of the year to make money and take no vacation. My wife and I are surviving in this tough time of rising prices and constant work, but for a moment I dreamed of being in Ukraine again...with a whole month of vacation! I know we “glorify” work in America and we are certainly not afraid of it, but there needs to be time for family and relaxation, at least once in a while. This month I officiated Paul and Cara’s wedding, my cousin got married, and I preached every Sunday (expect the first Sunday of the month, which is always in Lancaster) at Blue River Valley Church. It has been a busy month, but I am thankful to be taking some time to think about UA...
Where are We Going...and When???
This August...I am heading out on “airline miles” to Portland, OR. My life-long best friend from ORU lives there (Jeremy Wallace) and my Ukrainian missionary friend Oleg (shown in the picture below, on the left side) is visiting Portland with orphans from the “Father’s House” that we do Christmas projects at. This will be a great weekend to plan the future and reunite with Ukrainians and people I believe in.
In October, Tanya and I have been invited to a Missionary Conference in Switzerland! Yes, that sounds like a great place to meet other missionaries and pray and seek God’s face for the future. Again, we have saved up Airline miles to enjoy this trip at a small expense, and the organization putting on the conference is supplying a hotel and food for us. Our desire is to come back with a renewed focus to know exactly how to proceed with our lives as missionaries.
Next, I have been getting some questions as to “when” we will be moving back to Ukraine. To tell you the truth, we still don’t know the exact time or date. However, we have been pressing hard to know from GOD which direction, organization, or way to raise funds to get back there. The past several months I have been preaching regularly at churches that need pastors...Blue River Valley Church, Lancaster Congregational, and Bethlehem E & R to name a few. It seems like Southwest Wisconsin has several churches that are in need of pulpit supply for one reason or another at this time (this could be a part of the reason God brought us back at this time).
If you didn’t know, some supporters have dropped, probably waiting until we go back, in order to start supporting again. We were hoping support would stay at the level as before, SAVE THAT MONEY, and INCREASE IT, so that we could move back. However, now we are working hard to find the CORRECT, GOD-LED way to get back without interruption in Support. My Ukrainian friends tell me living cost are up 40% this year there...so as you can imagine, we are praying hard and working hard...to let God teach us the time and way to return!!!
Current prayers!
Ukraine...pray for all the people to see the TRUE JESUS and turn to HIM!
The English Club Members that I speak to on my Russian website which is kind of like “MySpace”.
Pray for Victims of dictatorships who everyday have to fight to survive because of their ignorance!!!
Keep Praying for AMERICA—and our elected officials that need Christ and wisdom to lead us in the right path, and for all the upcoming elections.
Pray for money to pay for the Car and my wife’s teeth that are bad!
THANKS for your prayers, we are focusing on how and when to go back to Ukraine, but need so much help and funding, that we need your continued prayers...everyday!!!
Pray for the preaching and reaching out to people in Wisconsin!
Pray for travel in August…
THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!!!
+ 1 - 0 | § ¶July Newsletter 2008
Happy 4th of July—Independence Day!!!
HOTR (House on the Rock), that is where the famous, “Infinity Room” is located. We all build houses for different reasons. Some of us build because it is interesting, like Alex Jordon, who built the HOTR, and people from all over come to see it. Most of us build our houses to live in, create a family atmosphere and to help others. However, some houses are built for God’s use, as a testimony of His Goodness and a reminder to worship Him alone (like St. Andrews above).
The USA and much of the world is in what economists call a “housing crisis”. Basically, prices have dropped, often well below what people owe on their homes...so some simply walk away, others struggle to keep what looks like a “bad investment” and others...aren’t affected and can wait out the “housing crisis”….
The Thing about Life is…
We are not meant for EARTH to be our HOME!!! Of course, it is sad when I hear about the suffering people feel in any crisis...especially the recent victims of the floods, heat waves, earthquakes, and typhoons, but I am reminded again how fragile this earthly existence is. Oddly enough, no one can promise anyone; tomorrow!
So I’ve been thinking, what have I been doing lately to build my home (or place) in heaven? What has the American church been doing? What are the churches in Grant County, WI doing? I have to admit, I am not doing all I could be doing...I don’t always have God and His Kingdom’s business on my mind...I don’t always remember the #1 relationship I need to maintain through prayer, silence, study, and time.
When I glance around me, often I am saddened by the spiritual atmosphere here...as I am about Ukraine, Cameroon, and other places of spiritual importance to me. It seems there are so few Spiritual Generals, leaders, and even fundamentally-sound lay leadership putting in the time to build the Kingdom. It’s a sad state of affairs when the Church is often the last “institution” to react to CHANGE and CRISIS. Sometimes, we are decades behind in reaching out to the “felt needs” of the lost and hurting (even in our own congregations).
Recently a man asked me, “How would you “run” [or set up] a church then?” Well, I don’t have all the details hammered out, but it certainly would be different than 95% of the churches out there. Why? Because what we are doing now is (most often) decreasing in numbers, effectiveness, and relatablity to the lost. What must we do? How then shall we live???
Oh that we would take a look again at WHAT HOUSE/KINDGOM we are building! So often we have not sacrificed enough when kids in Pastor Charles’ village still drink dirty water, or when missionaries don’t have enough to live on, or we don’t speak up any more about Christ. So prices are on the RISE...so our STOCK in the KINDGOM of GOD should be on the rise all the more!
Current prayers!
Ukraine...pray for all the people to see the TRUE JESUS and turn to HIM! The English Club Members that I speak to on my Russian website which is kind of like “MySpace”. Pray for Victims of the recent FLOODS and HEAT WAVES! Do what you can to help, Amen!!! Pray for AMERICA—and our elected officials that need Christ and wisdom to lead us in the right path, and for all the upcoming elections. Keep praying for our military and Pastor Mark who is serving in Iraq. THANKS for your prayers, God has provided me with some “divine appointments” - pray that more will happen and that wisdom will be used in all circumstances! Pray for the preaching and reaching out to people in Wisconsin! Pray for the Weddings in July! Tara and Chad, July 19, 2008 and Cara and Paul, July 26, 2008THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!!!
+ 1 - 1 | § ¶February Newsletter 2008
February 2008: Happy Valentine’s!
Can you believe it? It’s Gone! For some reason January is always one of the fastest months of the year! Now we have the privilege of looking back and seeing if we improved our lives like we planned at the end of 2007. My dreams are off to a slower start than I desired. I haven’t lost as much weight as I wanted—I haven’t raised as much money for Orphans or for our future mission in Ukraine—and even construction work has been slow. However, none of that is cause for despair. In fact, hope is growing as I search the Scriptures to understand Jesus’ ways of living and thinking. We always race against the clock but realize that life and ministry is a process. Step-by-step we move towards our goal of securing financing for ministry overseas while growing in our relationship as newlywed’s and our relationship with our Father in Heaven. Keep praying and believing with us...
A Lesson in Discipleship
America the Beautiful...or Busy! One thing I noticed about Ukrainian culture that is different—people are never too busy for friends! After we arrived in America, I started calling people as I drove through cities where friends live...and if I was lucky enough to reach them on their cell phone—I would ask them, “hey, we are in town for a few hours, want to do something?” I soon remembered that Americans like you to schedule at least a week in advance, but usually a month. In Ukraine, a quick call, or just stopping by...friends always welcomed us!
Do you remember the story of Mary and Martha? Martha was serving Jesus and asked him to scold her sister Mary for just “sitting at the feet of Jesus”. We naturally would think Jesus should have scolded her—after all, Martha wanted help and she was serving Jesus and guests. However, Jesus’ shocking answer was, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed and Mary has chosen that good part”. Wow!
As we head up the path of discipleship, we do right to remember what is important. TIME with Jesus and TIME with people! How often do we put tasks, cleaning our house, or even serving Jesus above spending time to actually KNOW HIM! Ministry is only the OVERFLOW of your relationship with Jesus. We, task-oriented individuals, would do well to start CHOOSING the “good part” and spend more time with our Lord and friends!
Current prayers!
Ukraine...pray for the best methods to help reach Ukraine for all missionaries there.
The English Club and my Russian studies.
Pray for future churches and individuals to support this ministry in all areas—prayer, moral, and financial.
Pray for our Discipleship meetings that started in January—as we begin the new journey of personal discipleship with people in Wisconsin.
Thanks for prayers...for Catherine’s continued healing from cancer and her husband Mark who is shipping out to Iraq very soon.
Prayers of thanks—for the over $1,800 raised for Kid’s projects overseas!!!
Continued prayer for decisions that we are making in ministry!
Keep praying for baby Noah Schwendinger, his skull needs to be formed back into shape, from birth, so he has a correcting helmet now.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶January Newsletter 2008
January 2008: Happy New Year!
Welcome to your New Life...right? Maybe you have some new goals this year, whether it be financial, physical, or spiritual—you know it is time to reevaluate your life. Of course, we can change anytime we want to—but this is the “fresh year” and you might want to take it a step higher with the Lord’s Help. We have a few new goals—spiritual disciple leadership teaching—as well as, physical and financial goals. However, our ministry needs to take steps to be more productive and financially sound. Our prayer for the New Year to have God’s perfect direction in ministry, fund raising, and helping people. This will include reevaluating our Newsletter. Next month, we need to cut down on the 215 Newsletters a month. Some people I know pray for us, some pray and support, but some might not want it—please let us know if you want to keep getting a paper Newsletter.
This January 2008
We will be speaking at a few places this month, including:
January 6th—Blue River Valley Church
January 13th-Lancaster Cong. and Bethlehem E&R
January 20th—Lima Union (Hailey Jo dedication)
January 27th—Christ Community Church
The Orphan Christmas Project 2007/8
This is the LAST MONTH—you can give Christmas gifts to kids! Yes, I know you’ve probably given more than you thought you would at the beginning of the season—but, if you just forgot and wanted to give to an Child who has no parents or relatives—you still can!
We have planned projects for late January as we anticipated later gifts. Also, kids in Ukraine are happy anytime that they get celebrated, not just specifically on Christmas day (as Ukraine “can celebrate” Christmas on 3 different dates). Yes, it’s too complicated to explain. Therefore, if you want—gift $20, $40, $80 or $100 to a Orphan Christmas Project today!
We have raised over $1,000 for kids so far, which means we are able to do 2 kids projects, we would like to do 3-4 more, if the money comes in. Thanks so much for your support—your PRAYERS and FINACIAL support makes it all possible. Jesus will reward you openly!
Current prayers!
-Ukraine...they have a new Prime Minister - pray for the transition.
-The English Club—keep them in prayer as the move to the new “Coffee House” style.
-Russian Studies—pray for me to find routine with Studying Russian here.
-Keep praying for financing for ministry overseas and God’s work!
-Thanks for prayers...for Catherine Dieter who is doing better, after being diagnosed with cancer, please keep praying for complete healing.
-Pray for people’s compassion to rise this Christmas AND gifts to kids around the world to flow!
-Pray for all the decisions and work of the ministry that we are currently doing!
-Keep praying for baby Noah Schwendinger, his skull needs to be formed back into shape, from birth, so he has a correcting helmet now.
+ 2 - 0 | § ¶HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Hey firends...just letting you know, I want to update this site, but have been really busy, of course. Anyway, I should update my December and January newsletter here soon, plus we have many more pictures to share with you all. Blessings and again Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
+ 2 - 0 | § ¶Discipleship...the art of...
How do you make a Christian???
Of course, it all starts at accepting God's free gift of salvation through the Lord Jesus' Sacrifice on the cross...
But where does it go from there? I can count only a handful of Christians that I know that are SOLID Christians, making a difference, selling out for Jesus, giving until it hurts. However, I can't even begin to count all the Christians that are an inch deep into the river of God - and who live for themselves, don't know what the word "Fasting" means - have never spent a 'weekend alone with God' - only pray when they really want something or someone is really in pain, and then only for about a day or week...
So, are we doing the great commission? GOING into ALL the world and MAKING DISCIPLES???
This has been on my heart since my first days as a youth pastor...now, 10 years after that first Pastorship...God is telling me to get back to it...
more to come...