Thanking Him for His Goodness

I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart;

I will tell of all your wonders

Psalm 9:1

             Thanksgiving happens to be one of my favorite holidays. It is a time to reflect and give thanks to the Lord for the many blessings he has bestowed upon us. However, a wonderful surprise occurred today that made my heart soar with praises and thanksgiving. For weeks, we had been praying that God would grant us our first supporting church. “Lord, please bring us a church that will partner with us. Let one of the many churches we’ve contacted and presented, come alongside us,” was my heart cry during my morning prayers.

             How my heart swelled this afternoon when I received news that the very first church we ever presented our ministry to back in September was the one the Lord had chosen to be our first partnering church.

             It is not by chance that our partnership came to be. The Lord has been clearly working ahead of our present circumstances. Whittier Hills Baptist Church supported the ministry of the Good News Club at Sierra Vista Elementary since its inception in 2008. Although I was a trained Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) teacher and appreciated the support of WHBC, the Lord was orchestrating our partnership way ahead of anything I could have ever hoped or imagined. Little did I know that the church who had prayed and supported the ministry of sharing Bible stories with public school children at my former school, would in turn be the church who would share our vision to share the gospel with remote and isolated people.

             The amazing lessons that Tony and I are learning concerning God’ provisions and timing can only come about because of His great love and mercy. As we continue to process God’s marvelous deeds, let us give praise to the Lord for His goodness and faithfulness in every season of our lives.
-Laura

Matthew 25:14 - The Least of These

 

This is a short film shot by our Learning Technologies teammate, Brendan, in Costa Rica. Pastor Francisco is just one of many remote pastors that  MAF Learning Technologies partners with throughout Latin America. Laura and I thought it would be a good idea to share the story of one pastor, where he lives, and the types of responsibilities that he has beyond leading a local congregation. Through our partnership with pastors like Francisco (and your partnership with us), isolated church leaders have opportunities to access resources and training that will enable them to growth and lead strong healthy churches. 

                                                                                                                                                            

Mobile Missions

As Laura and I move ahead in our presentations,  people have asked us about the impact that cellular/mobile phone technology can have in missions. Currently, there is a mobile phone revolution taking place in the developing world (The part of the world where we will be serving.) Statistics show that 4 - 4.5 billion people have a mobile phone. By 2013, there will be cellular phones in the hands of 5 billion people. That is nearly 75% of the entire world. Most of that growth will be in the developing world where access to pastoral training and biblical resources is needed.  According to research, the reason mobile phones are growing so quickly, is because a mobile phone is an electronic device that has multiple functions, and it is easy to transport. At MAF - Learning Technologies, we are exploring effective methods for providing access to training and resources to pastors in the developing world through the use of mobile phone technology. One way that this is happening is through the use of an open source program called "Poodle". Poodle can be used to deliver distance learning courses offline. One way to deliver these courses can be through the use of the mobile phone. The phone delivers God's Word to remote locations and it can overcome many of the barriers that remote pastors face: geography, cost, and security. How great is that!  Looking forward to seeing more and more of you as the Lord leads us. Thank you for your prayers, support, and encouragement. It means the world to us.

Tony and Laura

Missionary Talks Interview

www.missionarytalks.com

This past Friday, October 22, Laura and I had the unique opportunity to be interviewed on a podcast called "Missionary Talks with David Peach". David is a missionary to the deaf in Argentina and he is also a podcasting enthusiast. When Laura and I had returned from our one month stay in North Africa during the summer of 2008, Laura heard an interview with an MAF missionary involved in learning technologies (the ministry that we are now a part of!) After listening to that podcast interview, we sensed that learning technologies might be the ministry that was a perfect fit for the gifting and talents that the Lord had given us. Well, the rest as they say is history. Without giving too much away, here is the complete 20 minute interview with David Peach.

http://www.missionarytalks.com

Hope you enjoy!

Tony and Laura

Psalm 115:1

Psalm 115:1
Not to us, O Lord, not to us
But to your name be the glory
Because of your love and faithfulness

I was listening to Chris Tomlin sing this chapter and verse on my iPod playlist during my devotional time with the Lord this week. As the words replayed in my head, I sang it back to God as a form of worship recognizing that He alone is worthy to receive all glory and honor.
It has been a remarkable week for Tony and me. We have reached 25% of our monthly ministry support and 10 % of our outgoing support. We are incredibly grateful to the Lord for His provision & He deserves all the praise for allowing us to reach this important milestone. In addition, I am humbled by the prayers and generous hearts of so many kind people. The encouragement that we have received by those we have met and presented has been astounding. Tony and I have been blown away by the eagerness of those we meet to be part of our ministry team through prayer and finances. Our hearts are full and we are extremely grateful.
While things couldn’t be better in the area of financial support, we are also experiencing a new wave of spiritual attacks since reaching our quarter mark. Since the devil cannot be pleased with our progress, he has gently whispered in our ears that our obedience won’t make a dent in eternity since we are not church planters, evangelists, Bible translators, etc. You are just teachers…. that’s all. Teachers don’t preach, teachers don’t make altar calls, teachers just TEACH!
It is the word of God that comes to my rescue when Satan comes and plants a seed of discouragement in my thought life. Romans 12:7 reminded me that we are members of one body and each member has different gifts, “if a man’s gift is to teach, let him teach.”
So although those thoughts may not linger for long because his Spirit abides in my heart and mind, once again I find myself quietly singing: Not to us, O Lord, but to your name be the glory.
-Laura

Making Christ Glorious Among the Nations

  These are great and exciting days to be alive. In less than a week, 4,000 participants from 190 nations will arrive to Cape Town, South Africa, to strategize about how to reach the world for Jesus Christ. The Third Lausanne Congress on world evangelization is just days away and I am excited that MAF’s CEO and President, John Boyd has been invited to attend.

            The Evangelism Conference will draw leaders together in prayer, repentance, dialogue and action. The aim of this year’s gathering is to discern where the Body of Christ should spend its efforts and energies to respond to the call Christ made to take the gospel into the world and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19.)

            Although I won’t be able to attend this fascinating event, my prayers are with the thousands of participants that will descend upon Cape Town this weekend. I must admit I would love to be one of those participants, but I know that much can be accomplished in my own backyard.

            While the world’s leaders gather and seek the heart of God in our broken world, I can play a part by interceding in prayer and confessing my sins before a holy God.

            May the Lord teach me & teach us how to make our Heavenly Father glorious among those around us.

            For more information about the Lausanne Conference, please visit: http://www.lausanne.org/cape-town-2010.

 - Laura 

Why MAF Sunday?

   MAF Sunday, October 10, 2010, is about bringing awareness to the difficulties of sharing the Gospel to remote areas and the barriers that must be overcome to do so. Through aviation and technologies, Mission Aviation Fellowship is overcoming these barriers.

Every day, MAF deploys a range of communication, distance education services, and aviation to support and advance the Gospel and ministry efforts throughout Africa, Asia, Eurasia, and Latin America.

Some 3 billion people representing 7,093 people groups live in the countries where we serve. Of these, 3.891 groups have been identified by the Joshua Project (joshuaproject.net) as among the “least reached” in the world.

To nurture the growing number of indigenous churches, national pastors and church leaders, MAF-Learning Technologies provides the needed delivery systems and tools that strengthen churches and maximizes the ministry of missionaries and indigenous evangelists.

This coming Sunday, Tony and I will have the privilege to speak on behalf of millions who live behind physical and spiritual barriers without hope of hearing the Gospel. We will be sharing our ministry with a Sunday school class and a women’s bible study group in Fullerton, CA.

Not every one is called to go to the ends of the earth, but God does call each of us to care for the poor and the needy, and He calls us to make disciples of all nations.

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.” Proverbs 31:8

-Laura