Missions Minded

Last year, in March I was able to join our church on a missions trip to Croatia. It was an amazing trip, building connections with the people there, getting immersed in a new culture. My long-shelved call to be a missionary encourager sprung to life that early spring in Split and Trogir. Many short-term missions participants go, experience, and then move on 'back to life' once they return. But it seems God is working (as He always seems in me) in a different way.

If you followed my blog (http://bobariicroatia2010.blogspot.com/) while on the trip (or visit it now), you will know that I fell ill the Wednesday we were to go to Bosnia. As I later discovered, after my return home, I was having a severe bout of low blood sugar or hypoglycemia. Even though I was unable to go to Bosnia, Trent and Nikki Nettleton (working in Bosnia), spent some time with us in Trogir, and excitement rose in them as we discussed topics in education and Carrie’s nursing skills in asthma management. Nikki’s excitement continued as she learned I had done many in services for teachers in the US asking if I might join them this year as they host another teacher conference for teachers in Livno, Bosnia.

Two opportunities have arisen, one, in the immediate future, March 5-12 (a teacher conference), in Livno, Bosnia, and the other a follow up and encouragement trip in November. At the teacher conference I will participate as a visiting presenter, coming alongside with Education Professor Brad Garner instructing in principals of engaging education. I will have the opportunity to observe and learn how teachers instruct in the schools there, and the culture of education in Livno. My total expenses for this trip will be $1585.00.

On our trip last year, it became evident that one of the primary reasons God sent us to Croatia, was to encourage Kent and Cheri Pixlay as well as Trent and Nikki. Our continued conversations through the year as a church, and my conversations with them personally, demonstrate a deep connection of care to these two couples who serve the people there in meaningful ways. In many ways, my heart is still pulled toward that country and all that developed in me, while I was there.

It is not fully apparent that Carrie is to go with me on this trip, as she is on disability suffering from medical issues. If you would like to continue in assisting me in these endeavors, you can first pray for me to have the wisdom I need as I plan to go, and follow as God’s will provides. Contributions to the immediate trip, will need to be directed to:

New Heights Community Church(see address below), with
Bosnian Teaching Mission in the memo.

The financial needs for this trip are fairly urgent as I need to purchase my airfare soon. I feel compelled to go, and trust our Lord that He will provide, for He owns it all. This year, as I find myself ‘unemployed’, God has inspired me with old vision and new, as I am enrolled in classes, heading toward ordained ministry as He leads. God provides miraculously for Carrie and I in these times, and we are blessed in so many ways. Our Lord, through my friends and family provided all that I required financially and spiritually to go to Croatia last year, and I know, if He desires my participation in the teacher conference and encouragement trip He will provide finances again as part of the confirmation of my participation.

My heart still swells in fondness of all who supported me with their prayers and financial means in my past trip to the Balkans. The memory of the relationships and investments our team were allowed to make with the people in Croatia was sweet and lasting. It seems evident to me that God is asking for a continuation of what He built while we were there, using the many teaching skills He has developed in me here to assist teachers there.

Will you continue joining me in prayer? Will you ask God to lead and guide in this next opportunity? Might God be leading you to participate with me, in this missions endeavor? Thank you for taking the time to read and participate with me, as we share together in this opportunity.

Trusting In God’s Leading,

Send your encouragements and support to:

New Heights Community Church
10701 N. Magnolia Avenue
Santee, CA 92071

Memo: Bosnia Teaching Mission

Diligence In Spite of Despair

These weeks have be a bit numbing. Struggle after struggle, and I'm not complaining! I have plenty of friends facing incredibly greater strife and trials than mine! Yet, still, in the midst of my struggles, stinging leads to numbness with my countenance waning. As I left to try to continue to solve the tech issues at church this Santa Ana Sunday afternoon, Carrie sent me off with a pat and a hug sensing my dim demeanor and struggle. It hit me this afternoon, while sitting and pondering that a potential solution for my previous struggle might be on the horizon. I did a little more internet research and discovered that using another program, we might be able to accomplish the tasks we needed to do for church. Returning back to the sound booth, I fired up the computer and started down the path, remembering that it didn't work at my other church, for various reasons. But we had a few extra pieces of hardware that they didn't.

After working on it for about a half hour, it worked! My spirit rose within me, I found a numbing joy returning. Needing to share my success, I called my wife, who responded with excitement at the accomplishment of the new task, and the success she heard in my voice. Not understanding the detail, as she isn't computer savvy, she could heard in my voice new hope, and the rising satisfaction of finding the new way.

I will admit, it is difficult to slog away, continuing to look for a solution when it seems you have completely exhausted all the possibilities. I have found myself at these junctures with plethoric regularity. As the number of struggles pile up on me, I find myself nearly buckling under the load, and it is here, I find myself where I should have been at the start, empty, willing to listen, and available to receive any help that will come my way.

Psalm 121:1-2 says: My eyes look up to the hills— where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, He who made heaven and earth.

When I have exhausted all my own ways, my own thoughts to solve my own issues, it is here I realize that I haven't given or fully surrendered the situation to God. I still am working in my own strength, trying to solve my own issues. Frequently, okay, always, I am not smart enough, nor have the resources, to do so. Like Moses being asked to lead the Israelites, like Peter stepping out on the water, like the blind man hoping to be healed, I have no power, not even a potential to accomplish the task. I still have several unsolved problems, and will have plenty more.

Carrie is still on disability and we still are not sure when she might be able to return to work. Yet, I am thankful that she isn't in a lot of pain and discomfort, but there will be challenges ahead, unsure of what they are or what answers will be to remedy her pinched nerve.

As I examine the priorities along with all that needs to be accomplished, I wait and work on the things before me, in the manner and time I have in a day. Many things must wait, and even some urgent ones are held hostage by situations beyond my control. So, I wait and listen. I seek and press ahead. I have learned that diligence in spite of despair brings answers, with a few of those answers being, no. How hard are you working? What do you do when you are stuck and answers seem elusive? I have found great wisdom and direction as I listen to my Lord. I hope you find He who brings me comfort, wisdom, and eyes to see myself in the midst of my struggle. For He helps me be diligent in spite of despair.

Failure is an Option, a Good One

I am not used to 'failure', but every now and then, I get 'bit' by it. When you risk much, and are adventurous, failure is a option, but as one continues, and learns resourcefulness and the humility of asking frequently for help, one discovers that frequency of failure wanes. But, as it's frequency becomes rare, when it does hit, it hits hard. I've heard it said that the overall amount of pain in delivering a child (for the mother) is a given, and that if you have a long delivery, that pain is spread out over a longer time than a short one. Not sure the statement is true, but just like in delivery of a child, the pain, and it's remembrance fades, with the joys of the the beauty of new life warming a mother's heart...at least until the teenage years.

It isn't important what it is that I've failed in, and most might think it 'not a big deal', but I am stuck, and need to hand it off to another, as it is impinging on what I am really called to, ministering and caring for people. To get it off the plate though, because people are curious, I have hit a wall in a computer program that our tech team uses for media presentation at church on Sundays. We had our old server crash, and were almost ready for it with a new one, but the old software won't work well on it, (never really did), and I am done with it.

This said however, the reason why I have worked so diligently in fixing and getting everything working again, is because it's absence (the server's)has caused great difficulty in the life of the staff. Being unemployed, and having past knowledge of servers and computers, I took it on to help my friends. Enlisting my sons, who know more about computers and servers than I do, along with other, more experienced cohorts in the industry, we have managed to get things back up and almost finished, except for this one piece of crucial software. Other software packages have been updated to work with the new server, and some others 'killed', no longer used, but I'm not sure updating this software will be worth the expense of updating...and research shows a lot of dissatisfaction with the newer versions, other software being more robust, but also more challenging to use.

It may be time for us to rise to new challenges.

No one 'likes' to fail. I being king of those who used to loathe failure. But failure is made most hideous when lessons are not learned, and growth is not forged within. We all know some who never seem to learn the lesson and revisit failure after similar failure. Eventually we loose sympathy, empathy, and care that they continue.

This failure speaks volumes in my life. I am able to help and do much and thankful for the grace to do so. As I age, I have also come to learn that just because I can do it, doesn't mean it is mine to do. In addition, just because I start it, it may not be mine to finish. How do I know? Truly it comes as I sit with my God and wrestle with the things in my life. His direction and urgings point me, comfort me when afflicted, and help me see what is valuable in life.

As I walk through this life, a simple man, I have come to see that unfolding around me is God's heart of grace, seen in and through His people,of whom I am but one. We all fail, we all wrestle with finding solutions, we all get hurt and healed, grow and die. Failure is an option, but doesn't have to mean the end. It is the door to learning and a way to help us understand our shortcomings. A man of humility will accept and learn from them. A heart bent towards God will allow Him to guide us and comfort us in the affliction of failure. He will use His people as part of that comfort...and part of the affliction. But if we are people of grace, we will see all as His glory added within us. As we mature, even when others add affliction to our lives, we will remember that we did and do plenty of it ourselves. Here's hoping we all learn, from our failures.

Listening: Longing, Learning and Leaning

The act of listening reaches far beyond just the hearing, for in our days, our moments and even our sleep, our ears are active in the act of hearing. Listening is the discerned discipline of hearing. It is focused hearing, the application and discovery of precise answers, meaning and direction in the living. The first occurrence of the word listen in scripture is found in Genesis 4:10. This clearly demonstrates that listening is far more than actual hearing, for Able’s blood surely was not audibly moving molecules of air, as a scream emanating from the ground. Listening then, must be much more than pure physics. In fact, listening and active hearing need not require sound at all! We need not belabor the fact of ear hearing and air vibrating as a method of hearing, but it remains true that hearing must occur for listening’s success, with hearing occurring in many ways. Listening requires reticent rumination. Listening compels compassion. Listening demands disciplined discernment. Listening requires response. Successful listening requires attendance, and, with increased attendance exponentially increasing return as we discover exactly what it is God is saying, wants to do or particularly in counseling, what He wants to say or do with regards to the individual, helping them learn to listen to the Only One who can help them, God alone.

The world, our world riddled with media, clamors for our attendance, entices us with desires, tempts us with a surreal ‘near truths’ of life and living. We are desensitized to evil, resensitized to the importance of offensive living such that little wholesome challenge, and no depth of Godly living remain. Our ears these days seem enticed only to hear that which tickles, brings joy and even a false sense of peace into our lives, and many have bought the lie. The pursuit of happiness, self-worth, and success has become the poster child for listening, leading us to where we walk today, in a mostly shallow world rarely wrestling with angst and truth well. We have been lulled into languish and leisure as the salvo for disappointment and pain, with entertainment and any other escape as the new drug of choice.

Removing the dumping of the clamor requires diligence and fortitude, as one digging their way into a collapsed mine to rescue the trapped within. A renewed drive and daunting determination remains crucial to the task of successful, high quality listening. While truth, absolute truth is being buried by lies, I have found that we must break away from joining in the shoveling on, to the uncovering of that which has been and is trying to be buried; revealing the joy of truth, Godly truth and understanding.

The truth, the absolute truth, can only be found in one being, God, and one book, the Holy Bible. This book has been relegated equal, by even it’s deepest and best proponents, with all other books, getting tossed on the floor, or placed in the part of our cars reserved for feet. But for me, a change is being steeped in my heart. Something wonderful has happened since I have purveyed the pages, and wrestled with the Holy Spirit. In solitude, with God’s word closely at hand, I now find instruction, consolation, healing, truth, power, solace, joy, and purpose within my existence, not 40 days of purpose, every day with purpose. Now, rather than listen to the world, I find greatest peace in listening to God; seeking His face, his righteousness and all I require will be added to my life (Matthew 6:33). I have come to love a world, my daily world, filled with the absence of sound rather than the raging cacophony. Often I find myself not turning on the plasma media god, the digital air wave transponder, or even the mini plate spinner and it is then I can hear, listen and attend to the still, quiet voice of God. I have also found that as I attend to His voice, He gives me ears to listen to the voice of others, becoming an effective tool for His kingdom.

Listening is only valuable listening when vital pieces of information or learning gets placed in proper perspective as consignment in our lives generating wisdom for myself, and others. There are times when we need to put out fires and times when unrequited clamor is the best action. There are times for planning and replanning and times for learning by doing. And between these all is the ever vacillating tension of the in between, neither one extreme nor the other, yet without the discernment, without the practice of listening, insight might as well fall on deaf ears.

The active practice of listening is accomplished through a plethora of means, some appearing as inactivity through waiting, quieting our hearts in anticipation, leaning back in a chair, bowing a head, closing our eyes, taking deep breaths, contemplating, which could also lead to napping or the appearance of sloth. Vigorous listening also includes looking into the eyes of the speaker for nuances and nudges that aren’t fully reflected in their act of speaking, or for nonverbal forms of communication, taking a moment or hours to muse, reflect, wrestle, or extract the heart of the information being transferred into me. However, above all, listening is not the hearing from the individual, but rather hearing from God, what He is doing in their lives, or wants to do. All of us can listen and feel good about feeling bad. While compassion is important as we attend to sharing of where they are, God is doing a work in them and through their angst before us, to stir our hearts in response. Ours is to understand God’s requirements for the development of our collective hearts before Him, and in response to Him.

When our esteemed leader walked the earth in the midst of a huge crowd pressing on Him, Jesus felt His Father’s power exit from his robe into someone. He could have easily continued on His way but because His Father wanted Him to stop, and find out who it was who touched Him, he listened and demonstrated to all of us that He was listening to His Father. When a small crowd brought before Him a woman caught in adultery, yet again He listened to His Father, exposing the evil in each of her accuser’s hearts in such a way that their accusation was turned upon themselves and one by one, no longer remained as her accuser. Yet to that woman, with love, gentleness and the same deep caring, called her to also stop in her sinful ways, giving her the power and charge of Himself to accomplish it.

Listening requires focus and discernment. Often it also requires silence and absence of clamor. Simply established, effective listening is longing, learning and leaning. Longing to hear the still, quiet voice of our Holy Father, His son, Jesus Christ, and the leadings of the Holy Spirit. Learning that which will be uncovered by the engagement of the conversation, leaning on God’s shoulders in such a way that we hear what He is saying to us, on the behalf of others, assisting them in the same act of listening to the only one who can make a difference.