Minnesota and beyond...

Tomorrow we are going to be driving up to Owasso, Michigan. Over the weekend Tom will be speaking at a Missions Conference at a church. This will be the first time i will ever be in Michigan. Hopefully after i will stop confusing it with Minnesota.... Well they both are next to each other and they both start with an M, right?

Owasso, i know is a town in Oklahoma, so maybe i have the name of the town wrong. Expect a summary of the trip when i return.

Missions to the Max...

My day started with chapel at 7:57am. The Department of children's ministries made a presentation on some of the stuff that they have been working on. If you would like to know click here. Their goal is to inspire in kid's a missionary's heart, and make tools to put into the the hands of teachers in churches and private schools that would teach kids about missions. During the presentation i kept thinking how alma heights, highlands, and my home church would be blessed by this material.

Today we started going through the book of Collosians, starting with a survey of it as a whole, and trying to get into the mind of Paul and why he wrote it. Then we broke for lunch, and when we came back a part of our office in the basement (batcave as we like to call it) was flooded with water . I'm not sure if it is from a backedup drain or a brocken water heater. Good times!

The Exodus Decoded

I saddly came in second in the monopoly game. I got a humongous early lead early on. I was the first to place houses on the green monopoly. I had boradwalk and park place also, and i even had the most money. I don't know want happen. Eventually i lost to my friend from Spain named Jorge. The game didn't last as long as we expected.

Today i went to church at Southport Presbyterian nearby. I attended a class on C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, and went to their contemporary service after. In the class we watched a documentary that was recently on the History channel hosted by James Cameron called the Exodus Decoded. It was amazing. If you like archaeology you need to see this. I am not sure when the History channel is going to show it again.

Monopalooza

I am about to go take in a monopoly tournament. The missionary couple is opening their home up from 1pm to 11pm. I'll let you know how i do.

Tales of a Columbian "Sicario" ...

Today i was extremely blessed with a few others to sit down with Dr. Wesley Deuwel and discuss his book we have been reading. This to me was the equivalent of doing a book club with others on Mere Christianity but having C.S. Lewis in attendance. Dr. Duewel would be humble enough to say that he is no C.S. Lewis, but at 90 years old he is still as sharp as a tack. We sat in his office and discussed for about two hours. Each question would bring up a life story, some long/ some short, that would always apply. And it was great also to get insights on points we were not clear about.

He showed us copies of his book printed in other languages like "Mighty Prevaling Power" to the left and told us how he was humbled to see people in China give thanks before hand for receiving a copy or cry after. Then he related that people in some other countries do not own many books, and at that books with a steadfast Christian message. Here is a link to other books written by Dr. Duewel at amazon. "Heroes of the Holy Life" is one that i look forward to reading.

Yesterday i had the opportunity to transcribe the life testimony of a prisoner for my friend Sarah. She had just gotten back from a two week trip to Colombia where she had been working on a documentary on the amazing transformation by the power of the Gospel of a prison in Medellin, and the prison ministry that has continued after.

I know i am going to mess up some details, but basically through political unrest relating to a man named Pablo Escobar, 15+ years ago, after his government placed a bounty on his head in turn promised every prisoner at this jail $2,000 for each guard they killed. It got so bad that an average of 20 men died each day and the guards would lock the doors and refuse to go anywhere near the prisoners. Statistically it was the second most dangerous prison on the planet.

About this time God put a burden on the heart of a man to daily walk the cells and pray for the prisoners (He might have been a local priest). Then one day the violence and killing suddenly stopped. The death toll dropped from 20 a day to 20 in the past 10 years, and 1 in the past year from natural causes. What happened? The prisoners were led to Jesus by OMS missionary, Jeanine Barabon, and a team of Colombian evangelist and thereafter she started her ongoing ministry at the prison. In 1992 Jeanine started the Bellavista Prison Bible Institute. Through this discipleship program, over 400 prisoners have graduated and now minister to other inmates all across the nation in the penitentiaries where they are. What is great is that the Columbian government is pleased about the results (their guards not being killed), and is encouraging similar ministries to be started at their 50 other prisons.

The testimony that i was transcribing was of a man who as a child was raised to be a "sicario," hit man, and ran in child gangs for hire. He was sent to prison at least five different times for gun trafficking and other things i forgot. At one point he said he wanted to die, but didn't want to kill himself. So he strived to put himself into situations that would.

Eventually he ended up at the Medellin prison where a younger inmate offered to read the Bible to him. He chose to hear a story over a psalm and was told the story of Job. While listening the man started to cry, and when asked why, he tried to downplay it. As the young inmate continued to press the question he relented and related through his tears that he was struck by the fact that Job through terrible circumstances of losing his health and everthing he held dear did not blame God. The man found that through all the garbage in his life found he could relate to Job's circumstances but not his mindset, and this struck him to the heart. The young inmate than proceeded to tell him the good news of Jesus Christ, and the man today is a living testament of the life transforming power of the gospel of Christ.

Sarah says there are several reasons she wants to make the documentary:
1) Its an amazing story that needs to be told
2) To help Jeanine Barabon raise support for her prison ministry
3) Its a testament that if Jesus can transform the life of the "scum"of the earth(as the world might see them) he can do the same for you and I.

Roller Coasters and Reading...

This past weekend a group of "younger" people who work with OMS went to an amusement park outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. We were given free tickets and drove two and a half hours to reach it. It was very similar to Paramount's Great America and is called King's Island. We had a blast on the many attractions and rides and it was also a good time of fellowship. Pictured to the right is the "Drop Zone" thats sits 40 people, unlike the one back home thats sits half that.

There is a man who you will find here at OMS Headquarters named Wesley L. Duewel. He is a successful author and has published almost 2 dozen books. Whats even more amazing is that he is 90 years old, and every now and then you will pass him shuffeling down the halls. In his early 20's he was one of OMS' first missionaries to India, and was the driving force in opening India as an OMS missions field. His books have been published in many languages and are widespread throughout the world. We are about to start reading one of his book's called "More God More Power" and will be sitting down and discussing it with him.

On the back of his book you will find this: "Wesley L. Duewel has been an evangelist, pastor and missionary for more than fifty years. An accomplished author who has specialized in revival and the deeper life, Dr. Deuwel lives in Greenwood, Indiana."

Stocky, no neck, and blue in the face he was...

Today was a half day of prayer. It is something the headquarters staff do every month, and was a blessing to be a part off.

The seminar went well last night. The group is called Crosswinds and is a loose orginization of a handful of missionaries unaffiliated with OMS. The focus of the seminar is to be an encouragemnt through Scipture to each person in their ministries. The people who atteneded are from all over the United States, and have worked in India, china, Thailand, Malaysia and various other countries.

It went well. I ran the sound for the sessions and recorded onto a cd all that was said. The group is rather charasmatic and one of the speaker's face only turned a purplish red 4 times.

The Seminar will continue tonight,all day tomorrow, and the first half of Saturday. Saddly i will be missing the second episode of Lost tonight because of it. If you can't relate i am sorry for you. :-)

Fall is in the air...

Fall is in the air here in Greenwood. The leaves of the trees are turning orange and red. This statment might not phase you, but having grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area surrounded by evergreens and eucalyptus this is a semi-new experience.

We have taken a break from our studies having just finished "Missionary Warrior" a biography on the life of OMS International founder Charles Cowman. On it we had an essay test that i did so-so on. If i had more time i could have written alot more, oh well.

Last week we went to a prayer meeting with a handfull of other pastors in the area. It was a pretty sweet to see these men being accountable for each other, and lifting each other up in prayer.

Today a seminar/conference will be starting for the next three days that i will be running the sound for, just like i use to do at my home church in Pacifica. Stay tuned to see what the conference is about... i'm currently not sure.