March 28, 2008 - March Update

***************************Cliffnotes available at post bottom*************************************************

It seems like a long time ago that we were waiting in Oregon for our visas to come so that we could come to Brazil. And now, after so many experiences (moving to a different hemisphere, learning a new language, learning what it means to start a church, having a baby..just to name a few) we sit at the other end of the spectrum. Waiting in Brazil for a visa to come so that we can go home. No, it's not that US immigration policy has clamped down so much that they won't allow us back in the country, it is that we are waiting for Marla to be granted her permanent visa (green card) from Brasilia, so that after leaving Brazil, we'll be able to get back in; hassle free! But I will say that the waiting is getting easier. Looking back at each of the other times that we have been delayed, we've been able to see God's hand behind it. So this time, we have confidence that when God is ready for us to leave Brazil, we'll have our visas; and until then we won't. It doesn't make making long range plans easier let me tell you, but it does take the stress of the "what ifs" out. I guess this growing confidence that God will take care of us, in one sense, could be linked to a faith that is at least starting to mature. I remember that before I started this journey with OMS almost 8 years ago, I really didn't really feel like being involved in missions, either short or long term. I mean don't get me wrong, I liked the idea of an adventure, and I liked the idea of traveling and seeing other places, but lets face it, in my experiences...missionaries were weird. Those missionaries that came to our churches, came and showed slides of themselves in some strange place, standing in the middle of strange people, looking and even feeling comfortable in their midst. But when they came back to their "home" they stood before our churches looking a little lost. Usually their clothes were a bit out of style or they didn't know many people at the church. Most times they had that "fish out of water" look about them. Short term missions sounded great to me, at least at the start. The travel, the adventure....all without having to loose your own cultural identity as the "long-termers" had. But then I went on a couple one week mission trips to Mexico. The trips were great, a definite spiritual highlight. Our group bonded, we sang songs, we sought the Lord, our points of- views were changed. But when we returned, real life set in. And for me, it became too easy to compartmentalize that experience from the rest of my life. Sure the trip was a great experience, but it did little to change my daily life, and I felt guilty for that lack of change. I didn't want to develop a compartmentalized Christianity. If I were to be changed, I wanted to be changed for good. So there I was 8 years ago, not wanting to loose my cultural identity as many of the long-termers had, and not wanting to compartmentalize my spiritual walk as I had already done, being "available" to God. Since then, I can see that God sure has a sense of humor calling me into long term missions through a series of short term experiences. Those things that seemed so important then have started to be replaced with a new set of priorities. I'll never forget a question that was asked of us new missionary candidates during my first training session in July of 2000. The trainer asked the group of us "why are you involved in missions." He patiently listened to all of the answerers that each person gave, and then he said "you are all wrong." He said, "The reason that you are involved in missions is because God wants to do something in your life, and the only way he can do it is through this mission experience." In my mind there is no such thing as "a high calling" professionally. Being a preacher, a missionary or an evangelist gives no one more spiritual weight than anybody else. The central issue isn't to what you have been called, the issue is being faithful to that calling. If God has called you to be a great teacher, than do that to the glory of God. If it is to paint, to fight fires, to drive a bus, to be a great father...do it for the glory of God. The issue is being faithful to that to which you have been called. And then through that step of faithfulness God can do something in you that He could do no other way. God has been using this missionary experience to change the priorities in my life. And as these priorities in my life have started to shift and align more to what God wants for me, my peace, confidence, and excitement for what God has, has started to become more of a constant in my life.

I was in a worship service the other day just praising God for what He has done in our lives, feeling truly honored and blessed to be here. Feeling lucky to be doing what I get to be doing. Feeling the joy of the Lord. It is this joy that the Bible says is to be our strength. Then it hit me, that this joy that I was feeling wasn't because of a certain situation. In fact many of the situations in my life have started to become more and more complicated. There is more and more responsibility. More problems, tough problems...and yet, I am not as burdened by those problems as I used to be. There is an emerging trust. A trust based on what God has already done. And because of that trust, I can become excited about what the future holds without knowing in advance what the details of that future are. I look into the future and for the first time in my life can see something that resembles a long term plan starting to emerge. There are many details that need to be arranged first before I go into it, but for the first time in my life, I don't have a big question mark when people ask what I want to be doing in the next ten to fifteen years. And I gotta say, looking dimly into that future, I'm pretty excited to get to be a part of what God is going to do.

So anyway, what have we been doing lately? It sure seems like a long time since we last wrote. So I'll try to cover a lot of ground quick. In the end of January, our pastor Diogo was married and took about a month of vacation time for his honeymoon, and to adjust to married life. During his absence my responsibilities with the church grew. I was asked to preach (this time without a translator), and fill in various roles. Since Diogo has returned we have been doing some pretty massive restructuring of ministries within the church. Because of the restructuring, I'll start preaching more, and start teaching a type of adult Sunday school class. I have also began to sing on the worship team (something I really never pictured myself doing). My responsibilities within OMS have also been increasing. Marla and I have volunteered for the job of orientation for new missionaries. A family of 5 arrived about a month ago, and we have been pretty busy orientating and supervising their work / language school / housing search / car search / and basically just getting adjusted. There have been a few other interpersonal issues that have been brought up these last few weeks, that God has really used to make us missionaries more of a family. It wasn't easy or fun, but the end result was good. Since we last wrote, Marla's involvement at church has also increased. She continues to direct the Sunday school program (about 7 rotating teachers and 25 kids), but the curriculum has changed. This new curriculum has been great for the kids, but has added a huge challenge. Marla and I also shared at our first mission conference a week and a half ago. The church we shared at was packed, and we were the opening speakers. We used the time to show pictures of some of our other trips, and tell stories. We finished our time up front with a challenge to become more involved in world missions. After the service, we both went into a large class room to talk more informally to anybody who was interested. There were about 20 people who stayed after for a question and answer time. It was greatly encouraging to us. Missions or ministry outside of the context of the local church is an idea that is talked about little and promoted little in our churches here. The denomination that OMS has worked to found almost 50 years ago has yet to send it's own missionary, so it was great to see such interest in missions on a grass roots level. And that is something I have dreamed to see since I first arrived in Brazil. God is doing something here, and it's awesome to have part in it. And folks, don't think for a second that we are here on our own. We are only here because you are praying and supporting us. We consider ourselves your representatives here in Brazil. And what ever God chooses to accomplish through this ministry, you too have a part of it. So thank you

In our preparing to speak at this mission conference, we came across some very interesting data. The first piece was the global population explosion that has been happening the last century. Experts project that the world population that is now at 6.7 billion will pass 9.2 billion in a little over 40 years. This is substantial when you stop to consider that global population for thousands of years sat constantly around 1/3 of a billion. It wasn't until the 1800's that we passed the 1 billion mark. What that means practically for us today is that more people are alive in this generation who don't know Jesus, than all other generations combined. That's pretty heavy. And at a time when we as a church should be doing our maximum to reach these people mission organizations are dwindling. 3 years ago, when we started to fund to come to Brazil, it was projected that 44% of all OMS missionaries would be retiring in 10 years. All of our fields within OMS are hurting for personnel. Marla and I have also been reading (actually Marla does the reading, and I do the listening) the book The Heavenly Man. It is a biography of Brother Yun, one of the founding fathers of the modern house church movement in China. He had been beaten many times to the point of death, spent 7 years on different occasions in prison, and preach courageously through out China and now throughout the world. With a background like he has, he had some interesting commentaries on the Western church. In one of them he writes:

"I've seen people in Western churches worshipping as if they're already in heaven. Then someone invariably brings a comforting message like, "My children, I love you. Don't be afraid, I'm with you." I'm not opposed to such words, but why is it that nobody seems to hear a Word from the Lord like, "My child, I want to send you to the slums of Asia or the darkness of Africa to be my messenger to people dying in their sin"?

A few paragraphs later he writes: "The Great Commission has not changed. There are many churches trying to create a heaven here on earth, but until the Western church obeys the Great Commission and takes the gospel to the ends of the earth, people are just playing with God and are not really serious about the truth. Many churches look beautiful on the outside, but are dead where it counts, on the inside. If you truly want to see God move, the two main things that you must do is learn the Word of God and have the obedience to do what God tells you to do."

These are strong words, and have challenged me greatly, and it is with them that I leave you today.

Thank You for all that you do,
in Him for Him,
Micah, Marla and Samara.
ps. oh yeah, prayer requests: Please continue praying for Marla's Visa, that God would grant it in His perfect timing. Please pray for me as I preach next Sunday, and get ready to teach a course on "the Family." Pray also for a church planting / cell group conference that I'll be going to in a few weeks. Pray also for our support account, that it will stay in the black. Pray for the group that I disciple, some of them have encountered really hard personal and family times.
pps. photo descriptions


**********************Cliffnotes: March 08 Update*************************************************************
In this e-mail I wrote a bit of how God has been using this mission experience to grow us into the people He wants us to be. Our faith is growing and starting to mature. We also shared a little bit of some of the activities that we've been involved in lately. We finished with some information and a commentary that really challenged us this past week. If you've skipped down to the bottom of this message to read the cliffnotes, it's because you have little time to read, but I would encourage you to at least read the last three paragraphs of this message. Start with the paragraph that starts "In our preparing to speak..."
thanks
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