Six-Legged Teachers in the Bathroom

Ok, so there’s this proverb that says to go to the ant, consider her ways and be wise. (Proverbs 6:6) I’ve been “blessed” to have much occasion to practice this. I’m overseas right now and often entertain the little critters.

Did you know that there are ants in every continent? In fact, the only way to escape them is to go to certain parts of Antarctica (ironic, right?). 😉  As one brother here pointed out recently, the above-mentioned proverb is addressed to sluggards, and God knew there would be lazy people all over the world. So He used the ant as an illustration that all could see! I’ve actually been learning good stuff from their principles of work and discipline. But this evening I gleaned a different lesson.

I’ve been having a problem with a strange-looking bee in my bathroom lately. He started building a nest behind the hot-water heater. When I would get up to get ready for work, he’d already be up and working. You can laugh at me, but I’d go to brush my teeth and then run out and shut the door fast when I heard him buzzing. I’d finish brushing in my bedroom, pop back in to spit and then hurry out again!  (Wondering what in the world this has to do with ants? Just wait.)

Finally I got around to telling someone who could help. They came while I was gone for work today. When I came back to my room this evening, the nest was effectively destroyed, but the place was crawling with hundreds or thousands of tiny ants! Some of them were after the prize of what I think was the remains of the dead bee. I’m not sure what the rest were doing. So I started sweeping, focusing on getting the treasured bug-remains out of the way. (In my dealings with ants, I’ve learned to remove what they’re attracted to. Then they’ll leave on their own.) They scattered and things calmed down. I was pretty happy with myself. And since I was already into it, I decided to clean the bathroom.

All of a sudden I realized that the stubborn little things hadn’t actually left. “Aiyo!” I said, using the local exclamation roughly translated, “Oh man!” The ants had migrated to a corner connecting two walls and were all concentrated there. They looked like they were strategizing about how to react to my original attack. Now what? I didn’t want to sweep them to the floor because it was now wet since I was cleaning. (Besides, I really don’t like them crawling on me with their ticklish feet!) I thought about drowning them (sorry to any insect fans out there), but was a lot of ants to send down the drain. Too many. Again, laugh if you will, but I started blowing in the direction I wanted them to go (out). The airstream scared them and after the ensuing chaos, they eventually all left.

After all that, here’s the lesson.  It has to do with something I read yesterday in a chapter of Incredible Christian by A.W. Tozer. He writes, “The devil’s master strategy for us Christians then is not to kill us physically…but to destroy our power to wage spiritual warfare.” In other words, the enemy doesn’t necessarily want us to be dead, just out of his territory. Like I didn’t care so much about killing the ants – I just wanted them OUT! So, I removed their motivation and put pressure on them to leave. The devil uses similar tactics. He makes us think that there’s no reward. We feel dry spiritually so we considering quitting. We don’t want to keep trying. Or pressure comes; circumstances discourage us and make us want to leave.

Unlike those pesky ants though, we do have a reason to stay in the battle. Glory and honor await those who do. Keep going, it’s worth it! I will conclude with Tozer’s closing thought; “the cost of quitting will be a life of peaceful stagnation. We sons of etenity just cannot afford such a thing.”

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What Does A Skunk A Bad Internet Connection And A Power Cord Have In Common?

What do a skunk, a bad internet connection, and a missing power cord have in common?  I’ll get back to that.  In the mean time I’ll let you know about a few things that I’ve been doing lately.

About a month ago God made it clear to me that I was supposed to join staff at Gospel for Asia.  Yes!  Now I’m support raising at home so that I can get back to Texas and keep serving at the home office.

I knew it was going to be a battle to raise support and stay connected to the ministry but I was sure I’d conquer it all!  It turns out some things can be a little harder to get done in the country than in the city.  For instance, where I live in Michigan it’s all forest and well, cold.  I have a few oddities I’m dealing with.  One is that my family doesn’t have high speed internet – it’s not that bad, there are just a few things I can’t do at home.  I was very excited to live stream a Gospel For Asia prayer meeting once I got back.  (Gospel For Asia streams a prayer meeting every first Friday.  Join us!)  The first time I went to a prayer meeting I had to drive 6 miles through the wilderness to get to a connection I could watch the meeting on.  Everything was wonderful!  I really enjoyed praying with the Gospel For Asia family and felt like I was back at home (the TX one).

When I got home I was worn out – ready to hop in bed and sleep.  I came through the driveway but discovered that there was a skunk by the front door!  There was NO way I was getting out now.  I thought about getting grumpy but decided it was the first adventure of support raising in the country.  I called a friend and we talked for a while.  Then I talked to another friend till I was sure the skunk was gone. 🙂

Well, I was trying to watch another prayer meeting one day.  I’d been a little discouraged that day but was really looking forward to hearing the message and uniting in prayer with everyone.  My connection didn’t work.  I’d get a few words – maybe a sentence – then the video would freeze.  I finally gave up.

Another prayer meeting arrived… I was sick but determined that though I was tired I was not going to stay home.  I wanted to have dedication and not just decide to sit on the couch at home.  I drove myself back out to the internet and set up my computer.  Suddenly I realized that I did’n’t have my power cord with me.  I had 43 minutes of battery life left.  True to its word my computer turned off from a low battery 43 minutes through the prayer meeting.  Well at least I got to go to bed a little early…

So, the question at the beginning of this was, “What do a skunk, a bad internet connection, and a missing power cord have in common?”  The answer is prayer meetings of course!

There’s always going to be something that will draw your attention away from what is best.  I’ve noticed that wacky things happen when I try to get to a prayer meeting.  For you it’s most likely something else that the enemy doesn’t want you to be doing.  Maybe it’s reading the Bible.  There are 101 things that will come up and seem like they need your attention.  When those things happen just purpose in your heart that God will come first.  I laugh when I think that God used a skunk and a power cord to teach me a lesson.  Maybe it just takes more to get my attention than other people…

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Packing, Packing and More Packing!

On Saturday morning I felt excited–not because anything particularly eventful was going on in my life, but because I knew that my friends from the School of Discipleship January class were leaving for Asia that day! Memories of my own long-anticipated vision tour to Asia eight months ago flooded  into my mind as I knew it was the January class’s big day to hop on a plane at DFW International Airport for the first leg of the journey to Asia.

Some of my memories of the vision tour were actually intertwined with memories of the January class. The current January class arrived to Texas to start School of Discipleship just as my class (the August 2010 class) left for Asia! During the frenzy of packing that happened on Friday night, January 21, and Saturday morning, January 22, I got to meet two of my future house-mates, Christina and Jolie. I remember how happy I was that they actually wanted to meet us, even though I was a little stressed–especially Saturday morning when Jolie and her family arrived to move her into the apartments! Thankfully, they were very understanding of me as I frantically tried to stuff things into my suitcase and wore the expression of a deer in the headlights 🙂

Anyone who has been on a Gospel for Asia tour to Asia can tell you that it’s a lot of work! Aside from taking care of travel arrangements like applying for passports and visas, practicing songs to share with the Bridge of Hope children and Bible-college students, and learning about cultural do’s and don’ts, the week before the trip includes the inevitable chores of buying last-minute items, packing, packing and more packing. If you’re like me, you decide to do the vast majority of this the night before your departure, hence the deer-in-the-headlights look on Saturday morning.

When you finally make it to the Gospel for Asia office so that all the staff members and families can pray for you before you leave for the airport, you can finally breathe a sigh of relief (unless you’re me, who realized after I got there that I had forgotten my camera. By the grace of God, a very kind staff member offered to drive me back to the apartment so I could get it.) At about 8:30 last Saturday morning, the January students made it to this point. Back home , I thought of them as they gathered at the office for the prayer-bathed commencement of their Asia tour!

Having read their posts on Facebook counting the days before their trip, I knew that they were excited to see Asia, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit of that same enthusiasm–and wish I was there with them.  I know that they are not only going to have the privilege of seeing another country in all its beauty and diversity, but they are also going to draw closer to God and to each other. They will have the joy of actually getting to see what a Bridge of Hope center or a Bible college is like. Their hearts will melt as they watch the Bridge of Hope students perform songs and dances and recite Scripture memory verses. They might get to pump water from a Jesus Well. (Hopefully, they will not have to use the Jesus Well to wash their feet after accidentally stepping into a sewage-filled gulley, as I did.) And one of the best parts of the trip is getting to spend time with some of the national works on the mission field. This gave us a chance to see that they are not only godly servants who inspire our humility and awe by making huge strides in advancing Christ’s kingdom, but they are also PEOPLE. As they share their lives with us for a few days and educate us about their culture and ministry work, we realize that they have families, they laugh and make jokes, they know how to get the best prices on souvenirs, and they have unique stories of God’s faithfulness in their lives. Their examples of love and hospitality make a vision tour unforgettable. So all the preparations for the trip–like packing and attending after-work meetings and overcoming one’s fear of bugs and/or cultural blunders–are worth it.

I thank God that my classmates and I had this experience–and that the January students are currently having it! What a gift: He gave us the chance to partner with our brothers and sisters in Asia, and He has also allowed us to meet them face-to-face.

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