November 27, 2013

One true joy of Stateside Assignment -
new creations from our granddaugther
to place on the fridge in our mission home.

During devotions yesterday I finally figured-out a puzzling quandary I always face during our Stateside Assignments (once called furlough): How I can truly love sharing with friends and Southern Baptist churches what God is doing among Sub-Saharan African Peoples and how others can join in His work, yet often end-up uncomfortable?

A joy of the last week - meeting with leaders
of NC Baptist Men, who send lots of men,
women and youth to partner with us! 

While reading Paul’s words to Philemon, I realized that when I use these verses to share our thanks, I quote Philemon 1:4-7 this way:

“I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love… Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you… have refreshed” our hearts.

We also enjoy opportunities
to visit mission fairs, such as
the one Sandy Branch Baptist
Church last Saturday...

Did you catch the word I always omit not once, but twice? The omitted word, which explains my recurring discomfort, is SAINTS! Trust me, Jack and I know that we are not SAINTS, thus when you begin thanking and praising us for what we do, we become uncomfortable.

As I read from Philemon this morning, I realized that as I receive your thanks, I must remember how truly blessed Jack and I are! Thanks to the financial, personnel and prayer support of Southern Baptists, we have been able to do work we love for more than 35 years. More accurately we've been able to continually see God at work and experience the joy of being a part of His work thanks to your support.

... which included another display that looked
very familiar - a table selling items crafted by
women in Rwanda, who are seeking
to help their families survive.

AND there is something Jack and I want you, our supporters to remember, once again words from Paul to his supporters. “I thank my God for all of you, I always pray with joy because of YOUR PARTNERSHIP in the gospel” (Philippians 1:4,5). We want you to remember that we are the ones who are blessed to work ‘full-time’ with the IMB in Kenya, but YOU ARE OUR PARTNERS is this work. Without you, without your financial and prayer support, without you sending short and long term workers to partner with us or coming yourself to work beside us, we could not do what we do!

A true joy of the week - the opportunity to share
what God is doing in Africa at Askewville Baptist
Church this past Sunday and the opportunity
to enjoy this 13 layer chocolate cake as we
shared lunch with church leaders!

Some of you may be asking at this point – BUT, you have shared many things this past year that can’t be described as moments of joy. What about those times? Yes, there are times that we are frustrated and discouraged, but God is always able to break through our un-saintly reactions and responses to these difficult times and give us His strength and bless us with peace (Psalm 29:11), and we are certain this occurs because you, our PARTNERS, have been praying and supporting us in other ways!

Remember that new Lottie Moon Christmas Offering/
SSAP Nudges to Action are posted daily at
https://www.facebook.com/LMCO.SSAPeoples.

I wish I could only share joy today, but we have one request in need of extra prayer support. Please join us in praying for peace and comfort for the wife, children, church members and friends of our friend in Kenya, Pastor Charles Baraza. Charles, who died on Monday while on a trip to the US with other Kenyan Baptists, was discipled as a youth by good friends, was a graduate of Mombasa Baptist High School and the Kenya Baptist Theological College, and as an adult he has been a valued and loved co-worker.

Did you know you can be a partner in Strategic Giving to reach

the nations by giving to the GLOBAL BIBLE FUND?

Information on this  and other IMB strategic projects, can be

found at  http://subsaharanafricanpeoples.imb.org/give . 

Thank you for praying for this need. Thank you also during this Thanksgiving season and the Lottie Moon Christmas season for strengthening and encouraging us as we partner in engaging lostness together! BERT YATES
---   ---   ---   ---   ---   ---
The special Lottie Moon Christmas Offering/ SSAP Nudges to Action page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/LMCO.SSAPeoples.
For more on ways to give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and the SSAPeoples Affinity Lottie Moon Challenge projects, visit http://subsaharanafricanpeoples.imb.org/give/.

A view shared for my African friends - geese spotted last week
roaming in the parking lot at a mall!