Joe's Final Thots
Over the past few years, Theresa and I have been making lifestyle changes which serve to posture us for ministry during our retirement years. Our journey to Brazil was an opportunity for us to personally experience foreign missions. We made this journey fully expecting God to provide life-defining moments and for it to serve as a spiritual marker for what God has planned for us. Additionally, I had several prayer requests that were related to the “success” of the trip from my perspective. First, I wanted to see God at work in Acre, Brazil, and I wanted opportunities to join Him at work. Secondly and related to our small group/home church strategy, I anticipated the need for a network of people who would be critical to fostering this strategy in partnership with the Epps and EBC. So I found myself asking God for clarity about our strategy and recognition of those persons who would serve critical roles in what He wanted to do through us in Acre.
God was fully faithful! My earlier blog entries (www.ebcbrazil.blogspot.com) provide insight into what we encountered and the take-aways from those experiences. Overall, this trip was a rich time for me spiritually as we planned, executed, responded to circumstances, and experienced God at work in us and others. The significance of this journey continues to unfold in my daily life but I wanted to share one personal experience as an example.
My return home was quickly greeted with the normal challenges of life and from all appearances me and my life look very much like we did before this trip. But in my soul things are different. This became very apparent as I was trying to return initial greetings from friends and co-workers. My response to the normal “good to see you home” or “glad you are back” came with a hesitancy that surprised me and may have even been apparent to my greeter. I found that, in all honesty, I couldn’t casually say that it was “good to be back” because I was being strongly influenced by what I had left behind in Acre. As I pondered my feelings I realized that I had not spent my time in Brazil in anticipation of returning home but rather I had a “time flies” experience through personal relationships and activities that were tremendously meaningful. The difference is black and white for me…thriving versus surviving. You see, I didn’t survive the trip to Brazil, God had placed me in an environment where I thrived…and the difference is awesome! It is what God desires for us on a daily basis as we make ourselves available to Him and surrender all situations to Him.
In closing, I want to express a heartfelt thanks to all who partnered in this endeavor. Only through your financial support, encouragement, and prayer support was this work possible. I believe we were a part of an immeasurable work that will have an impact across eternity in the lives of many peoples. I remain in awe that God would choose to use me on another continent, in another culture, through the efforts of various enablers, to have a role in changing the eternal destiny of others. I remain indebted to Him for His goodness.
God was fully faithful! My earlier blog entries (www.ebcbrazil.blogspot.com) provide insight into what we encountered and the take-aways from those experiences. Overall, this trip was a rich time for me spiritually as we planned, executed, responded to circumstances, and experienced God at work in us and others. The significance of this journey continues to unfold in my daily life but I wanted to share one personal experience as an example.
My return home was quickly greeted with the normal challenges of life and from all appearances me and my life look very much like we did before this trip. But in my soul things are different. This became very apparent as I was trying to return initial greetings from friends and co-workers. My response to the normal “good to see you home” or “glad you are back” came with a hesitancy that surprised me and may have even been apparent to my greeter. I found that, in all honesty, I couldn’t casually say that it was “good to be back” because I was being strongly influenced by what I had left behind in Acre. As I pondered my feelings I realized that I had not spent my time in Brazil in anticipation of returning home but rather I had a “time flies” experience through personal relationships and activities that were tremendously meaningful. The difference is black and white for me…thriving versus surviving. You see, I didn’t survive the trip to Brazil, God had placed me in an environment where I thrived…and the difference is awesome! It is what God desires for us on a daily basis as we make ourselves available to Him and surrender all situations to Him.
In closing, I want to express a heartfelt thanks to all who partnered in this endeavor. Only through your financial support, encouragement, and prayer support was this work possible. I believe we were a part of an immeasurable work that will have an impact across eternity in the lives of many peoples. I remain in awe that God would choose to use me on another continent, in another culture, through the efforts of various enablers, to have a role in changing the eternal destiny of others. I remain indebted to Him for His goodness.
posted by "Deus esta conosco" at 4:37 PM
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