A dollar is not a dollar

On the road meeting with supporters, I keep having this recurring image/dream of a Daddy Warbucks type who strolls up and introduces himself at the end of one of our presentations and reveals that God has just spoken to him through our words and now he would like to cover all of our expenses for the next 10 years.  All of the sudden, he whips out a really large cardboard check, one like you see on television (when the donor really wants everyone to know who they are and how much they’re giving).  Written in the exaggerated box on the right hand side of the check is a number with endless zeros.  All of this is followed by a firm pat on the back and an assuring word from my smiling Albert Finney look-alike,”Your financial worries are over, my boy, so just get out there and focus on your job.”….. And then I wake up.

With few exceptions, deputation and the search for supporters, is probably the least esteemed aspect of the life of any missionary.  That’s not to say that other missionaries are having visions like mine, but I’m guessing that most missionaries would be willing to accept funding from the man in my dreams.  Our personal experience however, has not involved a Warbucks type.  Instead what God has used to fund our work thus far has largely been individuals writing small checks.  Some of these folks have shared with us recently that they are struggling to make house payments.  And yet they continue to give to our ministry.  I can’t imagine someone releasing the last dollar from their hand with no assurance when they will find another with which to make their mortgage payment.  I am blown away by this kind of faith.  It reminds me of a well known passage from the Gospel of Mark that actually affirms this type of giving.  Of the poor lady that placed two small copper coins in the offering at the synagogue, Jesus said that she gave more than all the others who had actually added more to the treasury.  The reality is that Jesus assigns more value to money given out of poverty than that given from riches.  I think Jesus likes to see us give from a position of financial need as an act of faith.  He wants us to be willing to personally sacrifice to see the kingdom of God advanced; God’s priorities over our own.  Think about what such an act declares to the heavenly hosts.  The powers, authorities and principalities must literally shake in their sandals.

 

Trent

Practicing, not just preaching.

One goal of our furlough time is to encourage people to take an interest in global missions.  So as you might imagine, the question of how to stimulate such an interest comes up quite often in our discussions.  This past Sunday, while driving to speak at a Church in South San Francisco, Tabby and I once again returned to this familiar topic.  But this time I was convicted that I was not practicing the very thing that I was aiming to preach.  The most important means of engaging in global missions is by praying for fieldworkers.  This is something that both Tabby and I affirm in almost every conversation having to do with our ministry.  However, when I examine my own behavior I have found this activity conspicuously absent.  As fieldworkers for Christian Veterinary Mission, we receive a packet of 50 plus prayer letters every other month.  In 10 years on the field, I have rarely found myself consistently reading any missionary family’s prayer letter.  Nor have I found myself praying for any family from the packet with consistency.  Now that I have discovered this terrible oversight, I am now looking for a way to correct my hypocrisy and here’s what I’ve decided to do.  Starting this week, I am going to pick a missionary family to pray for in the year ahead.  I am also going to read every letter that comes from this family and learn what are their greatest prayer needs.  This family will be like my own project.  I can email them and ask how their prayer requests were answered so that I can rejoice with them when God answers my prayers.  I am going to take ownership of their ministry goals and I am going to rightly claim a part in their work as God expands His kingdom through their ministry.  After all, we are partners in the ministry.

Now let me end this posting by issuing a similar challenge to you.  Pick a missionary family.  Go to the back of your Church sanctuary and pull a prayer card off of the bulletin board or stop by the Church office and get a name from your missions pastor.  It’s easy really.  You can even go online and search for missionaries where you’ll find hundreds if not thousands of options.  Next, commit to praying for one year for this specific missionary/or family.  Most missionaries send out prayer letters quarterly or at the most monthly, so you’re not looking at a great investment of time.  It should take no more than 10 minutes to read and pray for these folks.  Just think, 10 minutes invested in prayer for global missions so that you can play a part in hastening the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Who could refuse such an opportunity!

Blessings,

Trent

Travel plans…

Hello there, friends.  It’s been a long time since I’ve picked up the pen to write, or shall I say keyboard.  Thankfully Trent has taken it upon himself to write some posts since we’ve been home, but I thought I’d take the chance today to give you a bit of a family update.

It’s been a busy 3 months since we arrived in the states with countless new sights, sounds, and tastes for the kiddos.  The adjustments have been many, but Jack and Lily have taken it all in stride.  And been hugely blessed along the way with many new friends.

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We’re currently in Redwood City visiting friends and supporters from our home church, Peninsula Covenant.  It’s been so great to reconnect with folks face to face.  We will be here through the middle of March and then make our way south to Los Osos, LA, San Diego, Arcadia and San Bernardino.   The last week of March, we head back to TX via Phoenix and Alamogordo, NM.

April will find us traveling to all the major cities in Texas: Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and of course, Bryan/College Station  May will take us to Oklahoma and Kansas and then May 30^th – June 2^nd we’ll be in New Orleans for the ACVIM Vet Meeting.  Whew!  I’m tired thinking of it!  And excited at the same time.  Be sure to give us a shout if you’d like to get together.  Visiting with folks is definitely the highlight to all this travel and the singular reason we do it.

Here’s hoping we see as many of you as we can in the next few months,

Tabby

Pray for the Horn of Africa

Hey folks,  I can only guess how busy your April will be with the Spring arriving and flowers blooming.  How about joining us for a month of focused prayer for the Horn of Africa.  The following website will give you some prayer ideas: www.prayforthehorn.com

When you pray for the Horn of Africa, you are praying for our area as well.  May God give you the heart to commit to this and may He change our part of the world because of your earnest prayers.

Blessings,

Trent

Micky D’s and Red Box

If you think sitting in a car for 10 hours a day traveling across America is challenging, then try doing it with a 5 and a 2-year old.  Children this young were just not made to sit strapped in a car seat for that many hours.  Thankfully, here in the good ol’ US of A, there is McDonalds and Red Box.  I have not always been a fan of the fare of the “home of the golden arches”, but when it comes to breaks there is not a more welcoming site on the road.  Driving across Nevada, where there are mile after mile of wide open empty spaces, you can find a McD’s just about every 50 or so miles.  And now there is the equally ubiquitous Red Box.  So, after 30 minutes of fun and exercise in playland, the kiddos can pile back in car and enjoy the latest in family videos to help pass the next two hours of travel.  Oh, and did I mention the bathrooms and $1 coffee.  Now, I am the kinda guy that can tune out the passing traffic on any thoroughfare as I dampen the roadside shoulder, but my wife on-the-other-hand, tends to be more self-conscience about such things.  So as the expert in bathroom affairs,  she gives a hearty thumbs-up to the McDonald’s toilets.  She regularly comments about how consistently sanitized are their potties, in fact she can hardly pass the place without needing a break.  Finally, who needs Starbuck’s when you can find an equally delicious caffeine fix For a third of the price.  So, as we depart the Micky D’s in Elko, NV, I leave you with a picture that says it all about my children’s attitude toward their new favorite restaurant.  BTW, I would’nt be able to send this blog post if the aforementioned didn’t have a wifi at every eatery as well.

Blessings from the road, Trent and family

Meeting in Montrose

Tabby, the kids, and I arrived in Montrose, CO on Tuesday of last week.  Our dear friends Howard and Liz Davidson took us in and made us feel quite at home in their beautiful country manor.  On Friday evening, the Davidsons invited several of their friends and neighbors over for dessert and an evening of hearing the Coxes sharing about their ministry in Ethiopia.  It was a great evening with lots of inquisitive listeners with loads of thoughtful questions.

This week has really been a treat for us as a family.  The fellowship with Howard and Liz was enough to make the whole time worthwhile, however the trip turned into a once-in-a-lifetime event  after we talked John and Joyce Cox into driving to Montrose for a few days of skiing in Telluride.  I’ve been wanting Jack to experience skiing for some time, but the timing has never seemed to work out.  Thankfully I finally got my wish and I have included some video below to prove it.  Like most 5 year olds, Jack took to the snow like a fish to water.  We are so thankful for the opportunity and maybe next furlough we can give Lily a chance to learn as well.  Not to be outdone, I’ve also included a picture of Lily below.  She was quite the spectacle in her marshmallow white snow suit.

Please keep us in your prayers as we head to CA tomorrow.  We have a luncheon meeting on Sunday at Peninsula Covenant Church, our home Church in Redwood City.  Please pray for the words that we’ll share, and for God to bring the right people and that he would begin preparing their hearts now.

Blessings, Trent

Jack skiing

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