We had a little birthday party a few days before his actual birthday and enjoyed breaking the fire code in our condo with all the kids and families. It was a sports themed party and we had funny taking “baseball card” photos of all the kids. Here’s a few photos of the day.
TWR: Speaking Hope to the World from TWR on Vimeo.
Using technology to reach the lost is obviously not a new idea, but it’s something that I believe the church is still learning how to do, and how to do effectively. A classmate of ours from The Master’s College created the above video for the missions organization TWR (Trans World Radio) (who he and his wife also serve with). TWR’s desire is to use mass media to proclaim Christ to the nations and provide discipleship materials around the globe. This is exciting and if the work they’re doing is as good as that video, then I’m excited to see how God uses their ministry.
One of the ways that our family will serve with Josiah Venture is in the area of creative communications, which includes using mass media in creative ways to help support local churches and the ongoing ministry of JV in Central and Eastern Europe. God is raising up talented people around the globe to bring the gospel and provide materials to those who don’t have them. With the Internet, social media, video, radio, or whatever tools we have, we can continue to find new ways to communicate the Greatest Story ever told. We’re excited to help JV do just that and it’s always a joy to see this going on in other areas of the world as well.
P.S. One fun fact: the African man who narrates the video is a friend of ours named Peter. We were also classmates with him at The Master’s College and while he was in school we attended the same church. Peter is a man who loves Christ and it’s just a blessing to see his face and hear his voice on this video.
We spent this past weekend up in the northern California area with some great friends of ours, the Murrays. They moved away about a year ago and we’ve wanted to catch up with them ever since. Though it was a quick weekend, we made it up there late on Friday and enjoyed some time in San Francisco and just hanging out at their house.
Here is a photo of our son Titus with their son Jacob. It’s just amazing to me that no matter how much technology advances with social media or video chatting or whatever, you can never replace spending time face-to-face with your friends.
A few more photos from our trip.
It’s our first day in Hawaii and we’re having a great time hanging at our friend’s place right here in Oahu. I’ve never been to Hawaii before and one thing I’m realizing is that no one has ever really told me how this place smells. It’s fantastic. So clean, so fresh, and kind of sweet smelling.
Alright, here’s some photos from the first part of our day today. It’s only 3:50pm right now so there’s plenty of time left for more shots, so hopefully more to come. Photo captions are below each shot.
Here’s our legit, REAL leis that Megan greeted us with at the airport. The smell nice, and they make the whole room smell good. Bethany’s is on the left and mine is on the right.
Just a quick shot of Bethany and Titus, my two favorite people.
Family shot. Apparently Titus thought Hawaii was more interesting than this photo.
I just love his big blue eyes.
A shot of our friend’s daughter. She’s fun.
Titus with my lei on.
Our friend’s son with his “Automoblox”. They’re like the legos of cars or something. I’m way too stupid to understand it.
“Sorry dad, no more pictures.” – Titus
A long week came came to a close tonight with the above photo. Hands down it was the hardest night I’ve had a in while–surprisingly hard. We all look happy, and we are, but just a few minutes later everyone in this photo had tears in their eyes (minus the babies). Happy hearts turned to bummed hearts because we had to say goodbye to one of the families. Due to a great new job opportunity for the husband, the Lord has willed that they move across the country. We really don’t know if they will every move back to California or what the Lord would have, all we know is that tonight would be the last night we would really see them for a while.
I actually didn’t think saying goodbye to them would prove to be so difficult. It’s not that we haven’t known for months what God’s plan was. We even made arrangements to spend the last four days with them, just to get our time in. And it’s not that we don’t trust God’s sovereignty, because I believe we all do. The truth is we are friends, and in many ways we are closer to these people than our families. We have grown together, laughed together, worshiped together, camped together, ministered together, and enjoyed our families together. These are the kinds of people you let watch your kids, and you do the same for them. They are kind of people you give your house key to, and the ones that loan you their truck when you’re moving across town. They are ones that let you live in their place for six months before you get married (rent free) just because they want to bless you. They are the ones that open their home up once a week so a college-aged Bible study has a place to meet, complete with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. They are ones that invite you over to watch the World Cup and cook bacon wrapped hot dogs. They are the friends who you share struggles with, joys with, and the unknown with. They’re the ones you ask to pray for you and know they will. They are friends who love God and love people, and the kind of people you want to be around. That’s why it was so hard.
I don’t know what the future holds for my friends, but I know that I can’t be selfish with them. I’m sure there are other people across the country who need them and maybe God has sovereignly moved them just for that? Sad or not, I have to be OK with God’s plan. I need to learn more and more to trust Him even when it’s hard. I hope and pray God will use these good friends in their new home and new community to bless others the same way He has used them to bless me.
Spent some time on Saturday with some of my favorite people. What did you do?
