November 2010

Thanks for praying for us this past month. Since our last update, we had our neighbors over for an Oktoberfest. It was a good time with good food and we had a good opportunity to talk to the girl across the street. We also held some discussion evenings for some of the people we had contacted doing the survey. No one showed. So, as Edison said, now we know what doesn't work. Rather than being discouraged, I sense the Lord's preparing us. When He's ready, He'll open doors. For now, we're seeking Him and getting ideas.

We took some time off doing the survey of our target area around election time. We figured that since we were getting irritated by calls and knocks at the door, we'd just be asking for trouble. In the meantime we, but mostly me, have been filling out questionnaires to become part of the Acts 29 church planting network. This would provide us with good "idea" resources and some advising.

Then, realizing that someday, we actually might hold services and will need to have people trained in working with kids, I contacted the local Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) office. It's been almost 30 years since I worked with CEF in Dallas and what an education I got. I don't think I've ever sweat as much teaching adults as I did doing a birthday party for Jesus in a Baptist church or when I did the Bible lesson for a 10-day day-camp for BEE. I will be scarred until the resurrection from those two things. But, actually, I never learned so much, and my CEF training was a huge part of the work I did in 2 church plants in Germany.

Laura and I went to a one-day seminar for beginning Good News Clubs in public schools in our area. It was the classic, standard, simple, brilliant CEF training and method. Of course, CEF is old school for a lot of people, but as someone who has set up the children's work in 2 churches, you can't ask for a better foundation. Most people don't have a clue how to teach kids, much less lead a person to Christ, much much less, lead a child to Christ. Once again, I got sold and excited, especially at the possibility of doing this in an elementary school in our target area. Since I've done this before and have already been scarred (and scared) I have, like, no fears or hesitations. Pray that we get a team of people together to do this. We need at least four people to go through this training and get background checks. Pray, too, that through this, we can begin to have some impact on the lives of lost people in our community.

One of my challenges is "experimenting" in plain sight. If you do something in private and let every-one know when you have the finished product, that's great. If you "fail," who knows? But working, trying, failing, regrouping, "publicly" is another test of faith and following. I think of Paul saying, "We have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for the sake of Christ." Well, that doesn't "sound" bad only because we weren't standing beside Paul, ducking eggs. Now, years later, Paul is a hero, and so it was all worth it. But what compelled the real-time Paul to live like that? Love and forgiveness. This hit me as I was going over the story of Jesus' foot anointing by the sinful woman. Imagine the embarrassing spectacle she made of herself, going into a Pharisee's house. In total humiliation, standing behind Jesus, crying so hard that she could wash his feet with her tears. Jesus says simply, she did this because she realized how much she was forgiven, therefore she loved much. So there's Paul's secret. Unfit to be called an apostle because he persecuted the church of God, he was a slave of Christ and a slave to all that he might save men with His Savior's message. Two common words for worship mean " to kiss the feet" and "to work." Really, they are the same thing. One is adoration in gratefulness. The other is service in gratefulness. Jesus even told Satan they were one thing, the natural cause and effect.

So why bother getting messy publicly, in the harvest, walking by foolish faith? Forgiveness and Love and Gratefulness and Worship are the only reasons I can come up with. On a bad day it is raw obedience, but normally, it is because He saved me and I didn't deserve it, and neither does my neighbor, so in worship to my Savior, I've got to tell him of Him.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, this will be one of our first where everyone is scattered. As I write this, Gary, Helena, kiddies, Alisa and Janae are all together in England staying with Gary's parents & other assorted Witheralls. But for Thanksgiving it will be Helena &Co. and Janae in Germany. Alisa, and whoever she delivers, will be in Atlanta. Greg and friend will be visiting us the Monday before Thanksgiving, so we'll do a Kachikis thing here with Greg & friend and my Mom and then for real Thanksgiving, for the first time in 7 years we will be with her family. We'll drive to Memphis and enjoy ourselves with Laura's sister, Sally, and her two nieces, Maeve and Aislinn. Confusion? No, it's really just preparation for Christmas.

Pray for us, for faithfulness and encouragement. This month the "Ravens" didn't fly in, so we'll probably be hearing from GMAC soon. Pray for all of us as we reach out to our neighbors. Jeff and Michelle and the Kachikises will each be trying a "white elephant" neighbor party. Pray that the Lord will bless our contacts with neighbors and with people we'll be meeting doing the survey. Pray that the Lord would open the door for us to work with CEF in one of our local elementary schools. Pray, too, that we would find some space to begin youth work in the community. And pray for some funding. Not only our expenses, but if we begin doing the clubs in the elementary school, it will mean needing to buy materials and "stuff." If you can and want to, anything made payable to "New Song Community Church" is tax deductible.

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving.

In Christ, Dan & Laura