The capacity of certain types of battery cells are better than others. As I was thinking about the low density of zinc-carbon batteries (often with the misleading advertising: "heavy duty"), I thought of my own brain capacity. With so much information around to absorb and put to use, I wish that I had a brain like a sponge. Unfortunately, my skull is too thick and my brain often feels like it absorbs information like a brick absorbs water. Not very fast.
Today a doctor informed our class about various skin conditions and wounds, including basic information about how to treat them. This forms part of our Field Health class. It is important for us to remain healthy on the field in order to be most effective. Apparently, sick missionaries don't accomplish as much as healthy ones. Tomorrow we will be talking about stress, which happens to be a big factor in a line of work where you may be isolated from your relatives, modern conveniences, and emergency healthcare. I also learned that caffeine has the same effect as stress. It releases a chemical in your body called cortisol, which explains why I felt so stressed when we were discussing it. Life here has been fairly busy, but most of it has been enjoyable. I am privileged to have a career where my business is people. Before moving here, I had a manufacturing job that made me feel a little guilty if I talked to anyone for long when I could have been creating product. That is no longer a concern. My concern now involves people, understanding their worldviews, and presenting the Biblical worldview to them. There are many assaults on it and even Christians can be duped into thinking this way. I was at Cedar Ridge last night where they were watching a show called "My Name is Earl", which is about a petty criminal who turns his life around because of bad karma. All kinds of bad things happened to him until he started making restitution for his past crimes. That is certainly not Biblical. Did Jesus die because of bad karma? Was Stephen stoned to death because of bad karma? In their group meeting, one of the guys was talking about how he didn't have a higher power and another guy said it didn't matter what higher power you had or what 'faith' you followed. Later, I was talking to the guy leading the group and he asked how we as Christians thought we had the truth when all the other religions claim to have the truth. I said, "Do you know what sets Christianity apart from every other religion?" "What?" "Every other religion is about what you must do to earn something. Christianity is not about what we can do, but about what Christ did." "That's a good point," he said. Keep trusting in the One who paid our sin debt in full. Tomorrow we are supposed to get a bunch of snow and people are talking about power outages that could last a couple of days. Maybe I will write about that next wek
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How do you live in a remote tribal location? What commodities do you have to give up? Does it have to be full of suffering? Although these questions will be answered very differently depending on the nature of the place that I serve, there are often ways to make life easier in the jungle. Think about it: how many items do you use every day that plug into the wall? It is possible to live without these, and indeed, many do. However, my job as a missionary is not to live as simply as possible, but to proclaim the gospel to an unreached people. Anything that detracts from that is hindering my job. Time is a nonrenewable resource, because I will never get it back. Urgency is the name of the game because souls are at stake.
This is where Missionary Technology comes in. This class involves teaching us about time-efficient ways to do things in a jungle setting. This involves technology such as solar panels, which require a slight understanding of DC electricity and various practical tips to make them the most effective. We are more familiar with AC power, which courses through the wires in our houses. However, many electronics run off of DC power and could possibly be used in the village. We have labs occasionally, where we practice using various devices. Last week, I was exposed to a novel idea. Did you know that it is possible to solder using a certain kind of soldering pencil and a car battery? We practiced doing just that during the lab section of the class. It fascinated me. The class also includes technology in the broader sense. We also discussed how to build an 'odorless outhouse' (which would be handy, in my opinion). We talked about water filtration and how to ensure clean drinking water. We have an optional class about solar hot water heating and how to make a solar oven. We will also learn practical features to include in a jungle house to keep it from being a solar oven (which an unsuspecting missionary effectively accomplished). If you can't already tell, I'm very excited about this class and the intriguing ideas I have been exposed to. If you don't care about DC power or odorless outhouses, I'm very sorry. Just know that I'm enjoying classes and learning lots. Thanks for your prayers. It is good to be back at the Missions Training Center once again. I had a safe arrival and have enjoyed seeing my classmates and friends again. Tomorrow we kick off classes with some orientation meetings. Later on in the week we will begin a course in missionary technology, where we will learn some basic skills and some knowledge of the technologies that may be essential or helpful in mission work. We will also have a parenting class, which has little immediate application for me, since I am single and have no children. Still it will possibly be good preparation for the future and also help me to appreciate the work that my friends and coworkers must do to raise godly children.
My flights out here were fairly uneventful, which I consider good. I did talk to one university graduate who was on his way to a job interview. He acquired an engineering degree at a Catholic university in Spokane. I asked him about his faith and he said that, although he was brought up Catholic, he wasn't sure what he believed anymore. My analysis was that his faith was shaken by the presentation of evolution through various science classes. It is sad to me to see how much this kind of thinking has taken over our culture and even education at a Catholic university. It is hard to say whether any of the points I brought up will cause him to think and accept the Bible as his final authority. That is what I hope. Thank you all for your prayers as I traveled! If you're wondering when I fly back to Missouri for school, the answer is the 16th of January. If you are wondering when I will go to the mission field, the answer is: I'm not sure. Over the time I have been here in Idaho, friends have asked me many of the same questions. Maybe I have done a poor job of communicating or perhaps my career choice is simply unusual. We are used to people going on missions trips to build a house or help at an orphanage. People with medical professions might travel to a third world country and donate their services to those lacking healthcare. But, although they may be gone for a few weeks or a month, you will probably see them in church again shortly.
My situation is a little different. It is lifelong, because I have chosen missions as a career path. This leads to the second question, which is often not asked directly: why is the training so long? Just as you would need some training to be an effective doctor or teacher, having training related to missions is important. Often, people think I am studying Portuguese there, but this is also not true (although I already speak it fairly well from growing up in Brazil). A language is best learned by immersion, being surrounded by a people group's language and culture. Thus, each missionary will get to his field and learn it's respective national language. After he is fluent in that, he will move into a tribe to learn their language and culture. So what makes the training so long? There are various challenges on the road to planting a church among a tribal people. We have the opportunity to learn helpful tools from those who have been there. These tools equip us to learn a people's language and culture more quickly, to work effectively with other team members, and to live in a remote location. The goal is to present the gospel to the people clearly and to bring the believers to maturity so they, as a church, can function on their own and share their own faith. So how long is the training? For me it is 3 regular semesters, so I will be graduating in December, Lord willing. After that, I will go into full time "partnership development", the support raising phase of my ministry. Once God provides the funds and prayer warriors to stand behind me, I will head off to Brazil. This is all subject to change, of course, since things don't always work as we anticipate. Still, it is exciting to be this close to heading out. Thank you for allowing God to use you to make this possible through your many prayers and financial support! Congratulations to everyone who made it to 2011. This time of year prompts many people to implement changes. It may be as involved as tackling a tough New Year's resolution or as simple as remembering to write 2011 on your checks, but it affects us all. Almost two millennia after our Savior ascended to heaven, there are still people who do not know the truth about Him. The task is not complete. Still, this year represents more time God has given us to allow Him to work through us in proclaiming the good news.
For the New Year's Eve party, we gathered at my cousin's house and had fellowship around food and games. I realized how isolated I have been from the news when we played a game of trivia from events in 2010. Thankfully they were multiple choice, but I still found myself guessing on all of them. I'm not sure whether to be dismayed about that, because knowing that Lady Gaga wore a meat dress isn't really life changing. Either way, it was fun hanging out with relatives and catching up with each other. On Sunday, I had the opportunity to share at Pinehurst Community Bible Church. I shared about the various things that I have learned at the Missions Training Center and the ministries I have had the opportunity to be involved in there. I enjoyed seeing everyone again. Thank you all for your part in my life! Please join with me in prayer and let's make this a memorable year. |
AuthorWe are normal people who believe that God would have us serve Him in Brazil. We are saddened by the existence of people who do not have access to the gospel due to their location and language. We want to live among such a people group and plant a church among them, shepherding the believers as they grow to maturity. Archives
November 2019
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