Let's Evaluate

Well, we have been here almost five months. In those five months we have had

a broken wrist…

a busted chin (not from the motorcycle)… and two amoeba/parasites (there is no way there is a photo of Kenny nor I over the past four days!).

It could make one wonder, "What in the WORLD have we gotten ourselves in to!?" However, in those same five months,

we have been blessed to be able to help Lasmi and her family and hopefully show her the love of JC before we could speak it,

we have had the honor of working with a man who is showing us how to share the Truth with locals by coming to our home and teaching us how he shares with great boldness, and

Kenny has had the privilege of going up into the hills many times and seeing, first hand, how the Truth is shared in a "culturally appropriate" way through storying the Book in the homes of these farmers.

I know a lot of people who are afraid of sharing their faith for many reasons. Maybe we are afraid we don't know enough scripture or that they will ask something we don't know the answer to or they will laugh at us or be cruel to us. Or maybe it is just that you are an introvert don't like to step out of your comfort zone and strike up a conversation with a stranger. I must admit, that is the category I fall into. We make it so much more difficult than it is. How many of us have stood in the check out line for more than five minutes? We all have. You have a captive audience. Just strike up an idle conversation with the person in front of you or behind you. Listen closely for that one thing that you can tie into a story from the Book. You don't have to give great detail or quote it word for word… just get the truth out there for their ears to hear and their hearts to understand. Believe it or not, you can tell the story of Creation through Christ in five minutes. Of course that is a lot to learn and you don't tell every story. You tell the stories that deal with sacrifice so that when you get to the end JC makes so much more sense. Or, you can just start from the beginning and tell about the fall of man in the garden or Noah or Moses or Joseph or Abraham… pick your favorite story and start there and tell it to someone. It's just a story. You're not "cramming your religion down their throat," you're just telling them a story… just make sure you make it interesting!

I must say I cannot remember the last time I was this sick, but when you count the cost, this does not even seem like it should be figured into the equation. Father will take care of us and we will count it all joy!

²Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,

³knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.