Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Called By God

As many of you know, we have a team of 10 people traveling to Quevedo, Ecuador from April 9-17. We will be joining a larger group from around the area. All of our missionaries feel called by God to travel and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our Ecuadorian friends.  Our missionaries have been training and preparing for this trip for the past months.

Our mission is to help already established churches start new churches. During the 2009 trip, the missionaries from our church started 2 international churches. The whole 2009 group started 5 new international churches.

When we go to Ecuador, we use the EvangeCube to evangelize. Once a person accepts Jesus Christ into their hearts, we then disciple them. The discipling takes place over several days and it is an ongoing process. During the stay, we work with our translators and host churches to accomplish this work. At the end of our trip, we will have many new people who are hungry to know more about Jesus Christ and connect with their new church.

It's a wonderful thing to see people come to the Lord. The trip cost $2,100.00 for each missionary to go. If you would like to help support this trip and our missionaries, please write a check out to e3 partners and place it in the offering plate. Your gift is truly appreciated!

Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Welcome Home

Family time is so important for Annie and I. Though our house can be crazy at times, we enjoy the time we have with our children. I have said in the past, if you want to know how fast time goes by, have children. Time seems to go too fast and I am sometimes saddened by the speed in which our children develop. I sometimes wonder if my experience as a parent was similar to Mary and Joseph's experience.

This Christmas season, I welcome you to look at the "First Family" of Christmas. No, I am not talking about the Obamas. I am talking about Mary and Joseph. These two, young individuals followed the hope and promise of God. And they raised a child who was and is Christmas. No matter how busy and crazy this time of the year may get, Jesus is what it is all about. 

Jesus is a member of our family. Happy Birthday Jesus. Happy Birthday Lord.