Back in Canada

Hello everyone,

Well we are back in Canada and have survived the extremely long flight! The kids are no longer jet lagged, but unfortunately they are still trying to adjust to the colder weather here.

Just today Darryl asked me what all the little bumps were on his legs. He was covered in goose bumps from being cold! It just made me realize that my kids truly are getting different experiences overseas.

THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS

I recently listened to a sermon out of Luke 15 - the prodigal son. This is a passage that I have read and heard preached many times in my life and I have always thought that it is a great passage, but I have never heard it explained the way this pastor explained it.

The basic premise of the three stories, as I have always understood, have been about the celebration that happens when someone that was lost is now found. For me, the focus has always been on the fact that God celebrates when sinners repent. I thought that Jesus told three stories in order to reiterate this fact, but I believe that there is more to this section.

The passage starts out with the pharisees and teachers of the law criticizing Jesus for eating with tax collectors and notorious sinners. Basically, he was hanging around with "bad" people. Jesus, knowing the hearts of the people criticizing him, addresses the main issue without there even being a question. The main issue is: How does God deal with bad people?

According to Luke 15, there are 4 types of bad people. We see this by the types of stories that Jesus tells. The first story is about a sheep/person, that is bad because they are careless and wander away. Jesus says that he will search for that person and carry them back to him.

The second type of bad person is the irresponsible person - someone who loses their most precious belongings. Jesus says that he will look for them until they are found.

The third type of bad person is the one who is willfully rebellious, like the son that told his dad that he was tired of waiting for him to die. This type of bad person is rude, disrespectful, and does things to hurt themselves and others. The story shows that nobody follows and tries to find this person, like in the other stories. Sometimes people need to realize things for themselves. When that person finally does come home, there is no rejection, the father is waiting with open arms!

The fourth type of bad person is reserved for those who already know Christ. This special type of bad person is the christian who has been good his/her whole lives and were responsible and didn't wander away. This type of bad person is the self-righteous person who judges the one who was lost and begrudges those who get a party. It's like the movie "Family Man" where the father is shopping and doesn't get anything all day and finally asks, "where are my Mary Janes?"

I am not sure if you can rate these bad people as best or worst, but it seems to me, and scripture kinds of slants this way also, that the last kind of "bad person" is the worst kind. In fact, Jesus doesn't even finish the story because He wants us to realize that the whole story is about us, the fourth type of person. The story isn't finished because He wants us to realize that we can change the way we respond to those other "bad people".

For me, this story has always been about how much God wants the lost to be saved. Now I realize that there is much more to this story - it is about how the saved respond to the newly saved.

I want to encourage you to re-read this story with new eyes and some new insight. Maybe you will feel Christ speaking to you as as I did.

Blessings,

Paul



Blessings,

Paul

The Links of an Unbreakable Chain

One of the struggles that I, Karen, have living here in Indonesia is the role I play as an individual. God has a way of keeping us humble and in doing so Satan can make my daily tasks feel mundane and purposeless as a wife/mom. As I am home with my children, changing diapers and cleaning up after lunch when it looks like a rice bomb went off in my kitchen, I am reminded that even though I want the glory of a 'job well done', all of the the glory goes to God. So as I go through the routine of my daily tasks and give to my children, husband and others around me, God taps me on the shoulder and says...."here my child, this is what you are part of, this is My purpose for your life". I look at the smiles on my kids faces, sit down to check email, and I see this note from a pilot that lives just a couple of doors down from us. This note brought joy to my heart and in turn should bring joy to yours. When there are missionaries living in the jungle, they cannot get there without the help of MAF. The pilots flying the planes cannot do their jobs and the missionaries in the jungle cannot do their jobs unless someone is teaching their children. Their children are not taught unless there is teachers living here in Indonesia, and the teachers could not be living here unless, you, our supporters, were not praying and donating to this ministry. We are all links in a chain, and by following God's purpose for our lives and by working together to further His kingdom we are blessed with joy by seeing victories such as this.
May God bless you all as we are all on His team and part of His everlasting chain.
Samuel was starving and unable to get proper nutrition from his mother who was lacking a basic diet to produce milk for her baby. Missionaries living in the village of Tumdungbon, where there is no airstrip, asked MAF to drop a box of formula to try and help this baby. Just a few weeks after the successful airdrop, Samuel's health had improved drastically and he has put on lot of weight. In the following pictures you can barely recognize him. Praise be to God!

The "Be" attitudes

I, Paul, would like to share with you a little of what I have been learning over the last few months here in Papua.

A good friend of mine challenged me to read some of the top 50 influential evangelical books. This is quite a daunting list of books and they all look quite interesting. We decided that we were interested in books that would help us become better practical Christians. We decided to read Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book, "The Cost of Discipleship". I have not yet finished this book, but it is very convicting. The section that I am slowly working through right now is on Jesus' sermon on the mount - in particular, the section on the Be-attitudes. It was explained to me that these be-attitudes are attitudes that are to help us be, or exist in the world.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit ..."

This is one of those attitudes that we are supposed to "be". I have always understood this to mean depressed or sullen, but Bonhoeffer suggests that it isn't about depression at all but about a person's realization of their sin. Once a person realizes and acknowledges the fact that they are sinners and can't attain salvation alone, they realize that they are not spiritually rich, but spiritually broke. On their own spiritual income they can afford nothing. It is when we realize that we are in this state of spiritual poorness that Jesus calls us blessed because at that moment we are open to receiving all that God has to offer us in the kingdom of Heaven.

With the start of school at HIS also comes an annual high school trip to the beach for 3 nights. During this retreat, our guest speaker also spoke on the beattitudes and shared his thoughts on the exact same topic that I had been reading over the past month. I guess God is trying to teach me about the attitudes that are required if I truly want to "be" like Christ. I am listening, Jesus!

I have a good teaching load this year and I must admit that it feels great to be back in the classroom. I am teaching Grade 8 science, Grade 9, Biology, Chemistry, and Anatomy & Physiology. It has been a few years since there has been a career science teacher at HIS and as a result lab equipment, supplies, purchasing, and forward planning don't get taken care of with the same intensity as that of a career teacher. So, on top of the classroom work, I am also trying to sort, inventory, and purchase equipment to ensure a well equipped and functional science lab. This may take a few years as shipments come once a year.

I am also assistant coaching volleyball this year for the junior and senior boys. Busy, busy, busy!

We are going through a phase of missing home. With the closing of summer and the ensuing harvest, we miss the family get-together's and the changing of the seasons. Please continue to pray for us as we are adjusting to life here in Papua. As on now, the plan is to return for a brief 2 month furlough over the summer holidays. We are looking forward to that!

Serving together in Christ,

Paul