"The terrible-but-wonderful, humbling heart-link…"

Been doing a bit of wrestling with God these days…

~ Since last summer, we have been seeking Him for His plan for our lives in this season & have taken a a new step to live by faith & go full-time with Operation Nehemiah

~ We have been crying out for our boys in lands far away - Josh serving with the Army in Afghanistan & Jon serving with Operation Nehemiah in South Sudan & those serving with them

~Also crying out for God to heal relationships & we are seeing His hand 

~Also trying to solve Rogers's health issue and the way is getting clearer!

With much out of our control,  our only recourse was to look up!   He has proven Himself so patient & faithful. Though many things are still in process, we are trusting that He is faithfully completing the work He has begun in our hearts and lives and that of others as well.

One of the things He is putting his finger on is the area of finances. For almost 3 years of the past 4, we had no promised income, no savings,  no credit card & without making our needs known, we only asked our heavenly Father and He has so faithfully provided… AND He certainly fine tuned our hearts in the process of waiting on Him. [see some of our MANNA posts]

As we have joined Operation Nehemiah & have stepped away from employment again;  William Levi, who lives by faith,  has urged us to raise monthly support so that we can run the East office of Operation Nehemiah... but we have resisted, wanting to continue solely waiting on the Lord.  Until we recently read something that we have since been wrestling with…

“God has various ways to support those in full-time ministry. Don’t try to dictate to the Lord the means by which you will be supported. Some are unable to bear the sacrifice of their pride to rely on the gifts of others. They decide they will only minister if they can pay their own way. Others fall into the trap of spiritual pride believing that the only way to do God’s work is to have Him tell people to give to them, without their making their needs known. [Ouch!] Still others rely too much on people - they look more to their contacts than to God. If He were to lead them to do otherwise they would have trouble trusting Him...

"We need to get God's way of looking at ministry and money firmly in our minds. We are concerned with what work is getting done and getting the money to see that our goals are accomplished. They are, after all, goals for God's work, aren't they?

“However, the Lord has a far different bottom line. His primary concern is restoring relationships-- between us and Him and between us and each other. This is why He has designed it so that we rely on others for financial support while we do His work.

“Jesus modeled this for us. He supported Himself through as a carpenter during His early adult years, but during the three years of His full-time ministry, He and the disciples had "Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their own means. (Luke 8:3)

“As people give to the work of the Lord, many wonderful things happen… "  ~ Cunningham

This has certainly been true as God has provided through others & in all sorts of creative ways through the years, but we are wrestling with the fact that we do not have the opportunity to freely share the stories of His faithful provision, because we have kept our needs a secret.   

As we thought about this and wondered if God were leading us to share more openly, I saw what rose up in my heart and realized that I [Patty] had become proud of the fact that we have looked to God alone. It has been an amazing adventure living on manna quite literally as day to day, we look to him for bills, or the gas money to get to somewhere He wants us to go, or for food to see us through the next day or so, or to call Jon in South Sudan, etc. etc. and each day He sees us through. But now I see that in the process, no one can appreciate how faithfully He has provided for us. So here I am struggling with letting people know more fully, for fear of what?  I’m honestly not quite sure... but having admitted my pride, I am so thankful I can repent & listen. So we are being compelled to consider making a change as He leads.

We would rather be self-sufficient... but we would miss the terrible-but-wonderful, humbling heart-link that occurs... There is a special bond forever between you and the person who gave to you. You care about them and you pray for them... and naturally want to share news with him about your ministry, reporting what the gift has done in the work of the Lord... [This has been our experience as friends have shared with us & vice versa, but then we read on and we are compelled...]

It may not seem so for a struggling missionary or pastor, but if a giant foundation were to fund his work or some billionaire were to write a huge check, it could be the death knell for his ministry. Missionaries need more than money. They need people praying for them and for the extension of God’s kingdom, engaging with them in spiritual battles through prayer and giving...  At the same time the ministries needs will be met, people will have their personal vision enlarged and will come to see the world more as God does - all because of their giving and the reports they get back from their personal representative “out there”.  And prayer will go up on all sides, doing the work of spiritual warfare that is necessary for anything to be accomplished. None of this would happen if we didn’t depend upon God through others to keep the work of God going...”

“Ask the Lord what steps you are to take.  At times, He may have you tell others about your needs, obey Him. At other times, He may tell you to keep quiet and only make your needs known to Him, obey Him... don’t rule out creative alternatives either, or try to force the Lord to provide for you in a certain way. [as if we can!] All miracles of God’s provision start by heeding Mary’s advice at the wedding of Cana: “Whatever He says to you, do it.” ~Loren Cunningham, Daring to Live on the Edge:The Adventure of Faith & Finances

This quote confirms what Rog said  some caring leaders shared with him recently as he shared our George Mueller stand on finances...   So that is where we are... convicted and course corrected... realizing that God wants us to look to Him for what he’s about in each situation.  

This has been such a helpful and humbling process.  We are so thankful to all our dear friends/family who have prayed for us, and loved us though they may wonder about us. This humbling love of our Lord and from you is what we ask God to fill us with for others  The Lord is humbling His people as He unties His body!! [Ephesians 4:11-13] All glory to Him!

As we all talk to God,  He is bringing us into what He has already planned to do and we get to see Him work in power and love through circumstances we are praying about. As we join together in prayer as the Lord leads, we can celebrate together how God has faithfully intervened!! 

We do have needs here in order to have this office running here in western MA, as well as needs for training this summer, travel so we can share with others about the vision of Operation Nehemiah, and for needs of the people of Borongole.  As His body unites it is amazing what God is doing there! 

If you would like to be a part of our prayer support or monthly support team, as we serve with Operation Nehemiah, please let us know. We will keep you informed of needs and praise reports as He answers "our" prayers. 

Thanks for listening. We are humbled by His love an patience with us.

Roger & Patty, Jonathan & Emma

Humbled by God's help through His people

 We want to testify further of God's faithful hand through relationships.  
We were waiting on God and asking His provision for May rent, which was overdue and graciously a gift came in through Operation Nehemiah which covered 1/2 of it!! We also had dear old friends visit overnite and they had received a generous unexpected bonus & instead of tucking it away for a rainy day, they gave some of it to us! We were both humbled and very grateful, as we had been praying for their finances & God blessed them to bless us!!!  But we still needed $300… We had been talking to God about this and many other things that He brings up as He has you in this place of waiting on Him and that is when we were remembered again something we read, that we since have been chewing on:

"We need to get God's way of looking at ministry and money firmly in our minds. We are concerned with what work is getting done and getting the money to see that our goals are accomplished. They are, after all, goals for God's work, aren't they?

However, the Lord has a far different bottom line. His primary concern is restoring relationships-- between us and Him and between us and each other. This is why He has designed it so that we rely on others for financial support while we do His work.

As people give to the work of the Lord, many wonderful things happen… " 

As we continued to pray earnestly, the Lord provided exactly the remaining amount through a dear family member whom we had not spoken with in a very long time. It brought conviction about having neglected this relationship and an renewed desire to pray more for him and others, trusting the Lord to meet our needs as we do… Much of our time can and has often been taken up praying about own needs, but as He faithfully supplies in unexpected ways, we are encouraged to trust that He sees our need, and He wants us to care about others more in prayer.

So again I ask HOW CAN WE PRAY FOR YOU?!!! 

How can we pray for you?

Each day we look to the Lord for the direction for the day's activities and for what we need to follow Him where He is taking us. On this day, we had our usual morning time and later we were emailing an update, but several of the emails got kicked back again, so I felt I should take the time to contact these dear friends to see if I had there updated info.

The first call was to an old friend from over 30 years who I had reconnected with a year ago. She was doing well back then in spite of having lost her husband, but this time when I called she declared "It was God that you called, I really needed to talk with someone." She had been through trial after trial (as have we) since our last conversation, so we had a lot in common and it was so wonderful to pray & look to the Lord together! Thank You, Lord, for using even emails not getting through to connect us on a personal level… we still can't figure out why her email will not work for me, but I surely do not mind picking up the phone and having the opportunity to pray together!

The second contact confirmed a change in email address, but also brought us into a friends life when they were at a place of having done all that they could and desperately needing God to intervene on their behalf. We have been able to go back and forth sharing scripture and things the Lord has given each of us as encouragement, as we all wait on God for things that are totally our of our control!

It was becoming very clear to us that our volunteering to help get the word out about the needs in South Sudan, involves a lot more than just that... God intends for our contact with others to be mutually beneficial!

So on this day we were course corrected in our focus.  Yes, we are called to share the needs and trumpet what God has done and is doing in South Sudan through Operation Nehemiah, but those we contact have needs as well, and we have the awesome privilege of taking time to pray for that which concerns them. We are being brought into the adventures that God is doing in a country far away, as well as in the lives of people we know right here! Oh, what a blessing to see a need, bring it to our heavenly Father, weeping with those who weep both near and far and then celebrating what He does in answer to those cries.

SO TELL US… HOW CAN WE PRAY FOR YOU??

"His primary concern is restoring relationships - 

between us & Him and between us & each other. 

This is why He has designed it so that we rely on others… 

while we do His work." 

~ from DARING TO LIVE ON THE EDGE: The Adventure of Faith & Finances 
by Loren Cunningham

MANNA - Look to God alone!

I had to repost this testimony of God's hand in our lives… This has become a marker… a reminder of God's faithfulness and the reality that He sees and knows and is on the job!!

On Wed. Sept. 18th, two days before we had to take Jon to the airport on his second trip to South Sudan, we had two options to take Jon and his four duffle bags of donated items and one of personal belongings to the airport on Friday. Our van had died the month before and God had faithfully provided various options to get us wherever we needed to go and we had not missed a venturing out since we lost our van. Later that morning, I found out we could not use my sister's car b/c my mom's car was going into the shop for repair on  Friday.  Later on Wed., our friends who weekly left their car here for us to use Thursday thru Monday let us know they had to take their car back to Maine for the weekend. So I was simply going to let folks know via email, that we needed help getting Jon to the airport Friday morning, but I suddenly felt strongly that we should not share our need and just ask God. 

Later, Wed. evening, I was tempted to let folks know,  I even composed an email, but before I could push "send", I felt strongly that I should not send it, & to LOOK TO GOD ALONE! 

Thursday morning after Roger left for work and Jon and Em left for the last day of working at the organic farm, some one came to the door!……………… and it was Josh!!! 
(who is stationed about 6 hours away at Fort Drum)  I screamed and cried, and I could not believe my eyes!!! Then it took me about 10 minutes to realize that Josh was our ride to the airport!!! So while I was composing that email the night before, Josh was actually on his way to surprise us!!

Here is his story: 
On Tuesday, Josh realized that it was possible that he would not see Jon for at least 11 months and could be longer, since when Josh returns from Afghanistan, Jon could be spending months in Africa again. Since he had not put in for a pass a week ahead as required, he thought of getting off work as early as possible on Thursday, driving 6 hours home to spend a couple of hours here and driving back to report on Friday am. He pitched this to his sergeant who suggested he still try to put in for a pass. So they submitted it Tuesday night. Hopeful, Josh looked into getting a rental car in town, but there were none available! So he looked into an on base rental, but the cheapest was $400 and Josh only had $300 to his name, so he waited. On Wed. around noon, a friend told Josh that if he got a pass, he could use their car! Later Wed., he was at a platoon meeting and his sergeant was assigning him work for Thursday and Friday and he thought to himself, "I did not get the pass." The next thing he knows is that his sergeant is yelling at him, saying, "Lueken!!! Get out of here! Go home! I don't want to see your face!" Josh was stunned and wasn't sure what to think & his other sergeant said, "Do you want me to make you low crawl all the way to the parking lot?" So he ran out of there, gathered his things, got the vehicle and was off and on his way at the same time I was composing the email to let folks know we had a need of a ride.   He did not tell us he was coming as he wanted to surprise us, so he contacted my brother, Jeff, who lives next door. He arrived very late while we were in bed and stayed at their house till morning, when he wandered over to our house, giving me the shock of my life!

I said to Roger that a million dollars and a limousine ride would not be as great as having Josh with us and all going the airport together as a family!!  God is so good! and He sees and knows our need! Even when there is a simple human solution to meet our needs, waiting on Him first is far better!! I often need to recall this to mind as the children of Israel did.

"I remember the days of long ago; 

I meditate on all Your works and 

consider what Your hands have done." 

Psalm 143:5

MANNA - Silver and gold have I none...

William Levi, head of Operation Nehemiah  www.operationsnehemiah.org,   had called us from South Sudan early Saturday morning, May 10th , but we had missed his call. 
When we finally realized he had called, we were heading out on a prayer walk… so we listened to his message and heard that they needed $3500 in order to finish helping to build the sister church in another village and for other projects they wanted to complete in the next two weeks before they return to the USA on May 26th.  In his message he asked if our East Office had any funds, but we did not have anything to help, so we decided to take our prayer walk and call after we had prayed. We also talked with the Kirkman's who were keeping an eye on donations coming in at the West Office.  They had received a call from William in the middle of the night, so they knew the need and after checking the mail for new donations they determined there was $700 available, so after much prayer, we called William to report that. When we finally reached William in the early afternoon here/ evening there God had already provided all that they needed!! (we believe from there in South Sudan!)

Oh what a joy to not have everything we need, so that we are forced to look to God alone and find Him more faithful than we ever hoped. 

YOU ARE FAITHFUL!! 
That reminds me of a new favorite song… FAITHFUL
by Steven Curtis Chapman

I am broken, I am bleeding, I'm scared and I'm confused,
but You are faithful. Yes You are faithful.

I am weary, unbelieving. God please help my unbelief!
Cuz You are faithful. Yes You are faithful.

I will proclaim it to the world. I will declare it to my heart
And sing it when the sun is shining. I will scream it in the dark.

You are faithful! You are faithful!
When you give and when You take away, even then still Your name is faithful!
You are faithful!
And with everything inside of me, I am choosing to believe
You are faithful.

I am waiting for the rescue that I know is sure to come,
cuz You are faithful. Yes You are faithful.

I've dropped anchor in Your promises, and I am holding on,
cuz You are faithful. God You are faithful.

I will proclaim it to the world. I will declare it to my heart
And sing it when the sun is shining. I will scream it in the dark.

You are faithful! You are faithful!
When you give and when You take away, even then still Your name is faithful!
You are faithful!  And with everything inside of me,
I am choosing to believe You're faithful.

So faithful…

Though I cannot have the answer that I'm wanting to demand,
I'll remember You are God and everything is in Your hand.
In Your hands you hold the sun, the moon, the stars up in the sky,
for the sake of Love, You hung Your own Son on the cross...to die…

& You are faithful… Yes, You are faithful...
When you give and when You take away, even then, 

great is Your faithfulness!   Great is Your faithfulness!

And with everything inside of me,
I am choosing to believe You're faithful!
Oh, oh, oh...
Oh, oh, oh...
When you give and when You take away, even then still Your name
is faithful! You are faithful!
And with everything inside of me, I am choosing to believe...

...You're faithful…

Songwriters
MOORE, GEOFF / CHAPMAN, STEVEN CURTIS

Read more: Steven Curtis Chapman - Faithful Lyrics | MetroLyrics 

MANNA - Thank you Jehovah Jireh, our Provider

God has daily provided just what we need… here is an example of His overwhelming faithful provision:

Emma and I headed out one Sat. with family to a annual Boy Scout huge yard sale held in Plainville in early May. Emma had $20 when we set out and we hoped to get curtains and whatever else we could find.   As we left, Roger yelled to us to keep a look out for a cell phone, as his had broken months before (we had to suspend his plan for limited number of months, and it had just been reinstated a few days earlier, though he did not yet have a phone).

We found some great books that Emma loved and were looking in a pile of material and linen and a lady called to another as she reached into a bag full of stuff and pulled out 3 sets of lace panels and the other lady snatched them up. After they were done I reached into the same bag and found 3 more brand new lace panels… just what I wanted and the perfect size for our living room and they were only $1 each!

Later I set out to look through the electronics as this was a well organized rummage sale. Scanning through the various items I actually saw one lonely cell phone, but it was pretty beat up and had the tiny keyboard that Roger's big hands could not manage & I had no way of knowing if it was a phone that was compatible with Verizon. As I continued to rummage, at the end of my search, I found a really cool woodland camo cell phone holder, but I did not have money on me to buy it. I found Emma and brought her back saying we should get this for dad in faith that the Lord would provide him a phone. She worried that it might not be the right size for the phone that he eventually got, but we knew he wanted a flip phone and we decided to step out in faith and get the holder for him. As we went to pay for it, she asked, "So there weren't any other cell phones?" & because she asked that I pointed out the one that they did have & immediately next to it, IN THE BOX, was a BRAND NEW VERIZON cell phone!! That phone could not have been there before and it even said it was a Verizon phone.

I was amazed and so thankful that we came back for the phone holder! Wow!  We went to pay and the guy said, "How about $2 for the phone & I'll throw the holder in for free!" Yay!!!! I was overwhelmed. You prove you are Jehovah Jireh, our Provider over and over again!

So give Roger a call and praise God with him  774-210-2800

MANNA - God knew!

I have to share the ways that God regularly intervenes right in time to keep us from falling and to keep us going…

As I had promised to help a friend in need, I got in our car only to see that the gas gauge was on empty.  At that time I expected a $60 automatic withdrawal to clear our account that day, and we did not have the $60 to cover it. I prayed that the Lord would keep me going and resolved that if the gas light went on then I would stop and get a couple of gallons.  I made it to my friends and the gas gauge was below E, but I had peace.

In my enjoyment with my friend's children,

they asked about all the zippers on my backpack purse and I proceeded to open them up in answer to their inquiries and lo and behold I found a hidden $26 in one of the little pockets in my purse! My friend said, "Gas money!" and I smiled… little did she know. But I rejoiced that God knew!

So after I left I stopped at the first gas station and put $6 in our tank. I brought home the $20 and when we checked our accounts, we discovered money in Emma's account that she did not remember she had and another amount in another acct. and $4 in our savings. I almost left the $4, but decided to transfer it all… $64 in total. Do you know that that night the $60 transaction cleared plus and unexpected $4 one that I thought had already cleared… God knew and we avoid bouncing any transactions.

And do you know what else? ... When I told Roger my story and my plan to wait till the gas light came on, he told me that our little car does not have a low gas indicator light!  But God knew!!