Thank you everyone for your kind encouraging words. We do appreciate your prayers. We have received a flood of emails from so many different people in response to Jeff's email, some good and some pretty bad, we want to stay encouraged. It has been hard, and I know we have just begun, and without the help of God, we would not have made it this far. He is faithful to give us strength when we need it most.
"From my distress I called upon the Lord;
The Lord answered my and set me in a large place.
The Lord is for me; I will not fear;
What can man do to me?
The Lord is for me among those who help me;
Therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in princes."
Ps 118:5-9
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Update
Hello everyone!
This is an email to all who are in our contact list. Some of you already know what is going on in our lives so this will just be a reminder. For others this is an update on what God is doing in our lives today and a request for prayer for some very specific needs. We have been here in (right now very snowy) Colorado (it's been snowing for two days straight now and we have several inches on the ground and it just keeps coming) for a little over a year, and our Lord has done some amazing things in our life. We have grown closer to each other as a family and have learned how to truly rely on God. If I were to write about all of the miracles that have taken place out here this would be a hundred pages long. To start, God led us to the church that we are currently going to last August through a very specific request Stephannie made in regards to finding a place where we could fellowship with other believers and here the truth of God's Word. Since then God has really been at work and everyday is showing us new things that He would like for us to work on as parents, husbands, as wives, and as His children. He has given Stephannie and I new passions for people that do not know who Jesus is.
Recently an old passion in me flared up for people that are homeless and we are planning an outing soon to take food and other things to people who live on the streets here. My heart has really been burdened for these people. We have had opportunity to share our love to Ukrainian orphan kids here in the Springs. We have met a young couple from Russia/Ukraine that is teaching us the Russian language to prepare us for the mission field. Just recently through an Arms Around the World convention at our church we met Steve Sturtevent who has been a missionary in Papua New Guinea and in Ukraine. He was a huge encouragement to all of us. His son and daughter in law, Jason and Johanna and there kids are currently serving over in Ukraine right now and have invited us to come for the summer to help with 5 vacation Bible schools, a youth camp, and hopefully a backpacking trip into the mountainous region of western Ukraine were some have never seen Americans or heard the Gospal of Jesus Christ. Places where there are no roads. I didn't even realize these places exsisted in Ukraine. I thought such a place would only be in the jungle of South America or Africa. I realize there are people here in the States that have never heard the Gospal and we want to reach out to them as well be we know God has called us to Ukraine.
We are planning on leaving no later than June 10 and would be back around August 25 or so. As of right now we don't know how God is going to provide but we are praying and expecting God to get us there. Tickets for 9 people are not cheap going overseas. Jason and Johanna are already preparing us all a place to stay. We would appreciate prayer for this trip and a future trip to move over there more permanately. We are planning on going on deputation beforehand to earn some support for the time that we are there. It is not about asking for money but giving people a chance to be apart of ministry in a forien field without acctually going over ther. I used to be against this kind of thing because I didn't think it allowed for us to trust God but I see it differently now. We are just thankful for a church and a Pastor and other Christians that pray for us everyday. They say that we have been an encouragement to them but they have really ministered to our hearts these past months. It is likely that AAW (Arms Around the World) will be backing us up. There are still a lot of preparations that have to be made and some meatings with board members that have to take place. It is hard to because we are chomping at the bit right now. But God is patient so I guess we have to be too.
Our wives are also concerned about school once we are over there. The kids are homeschooled but it might be hard for them to stay on track while trying to be in ministry over there. The one thing we want to do is just be involved in the lives of the people around us and be available for service whenever it is needed. One of the hardest things will be being so far from our family in Florida and other areas. It is hard to be where we are now but Ukraine is 6000 miles away. Tickets are about $900 per person round trip. We are so excited at this opportunity to go and to serve God and people who need Him. Me and Jeff Duddek might have opportunity to preach in those areas in the mountains in some small house churches.
With whatever happens we are trusing in God. The same faith that we have in Him that our sins are forgiven is the same faith that we are exercising concerning this trip. God doesn't just snap his fingers to give us more faith. He puts the faith we have to the test and with each time we can look back and see how He did it. It is never the same. And everytime our faith is strecthed to the limits. But God is faithful and promises not to give us more than we can handle. He says if we cannot have faith in small things how can we trust Him for much larger things. He is only limited by how much we believe He can do. What we have to learn is to get out of the way and not have our own ideas about how things should go. It seems that "man's" expectation of what we "should" be doing goes against the grain and the world. We are not purposely going against the tradition of "man" just to be rebellious but I feel that the Lord's ways are not understood by most, even a lot of Christians. If it's not done the way they did it or if it doesn't happen the same way it happened for them than we are automatically wrong. The key is to know what God expects from us, not people. Gal. 1:10 says "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." That speaks volumes to me. The scripture says that we are to be a light to the world but unbelievers are afraid of the light and drink up the darkness. So somewhere along the way we are going to ruffle some feathers. In fact some say if you don't your not getting the message out there. People are offended by the Gospal. Who are we to sugar coat it. Anyway I am done preaching...for now.
Well to conclude I am sorry this seemed a little scattered. It is hard to collect your thought and put them all in order and make it sound ok. We love Jesus with all of our hearts and our goal and desire is to serve him whole heartidly. My spelling may not be the greatest as well as punctuation and grammer. I may not have all the answers to all the questions about where money will come from or where we will stay or how we will get around or other similar thoughts. I may not have all my ducks in a row or have it all together. I may not have a college degree. I may not have a lot of what the world says I need to survive. But I serve a God that is Awesome. A God that knows all, sees all, hears all prayers and petitions, and takes better care of our needs than we realize. All He asks of us is to be faithful servants, willing to do what it takes to get the Gospal message to those who need to hear it...which is everyone. Mark 16:15 "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
With Love from the Appledumlpin Gang!!!
P.S. As more information comes our way we will be updating everyone on all that is happening. If for some reason you do not wish to be updated please let us know. Feel free to check out our blog and if you do make sure you check out the link to the right listed Jason Sturtevant in Ukraine.
This is an email to all who are in our contact list. Some of you already know what is going on in our lives so this will just be a reminder. For others this is an update on what God is doing in our lives today and a request for prayer for some very specific needs. We have been here in (right now very snowy) Colorado (it's been snowing for two days straight now and we have several inches on the ground and it just keeps coming) for a little over a year, and our Lord has done some amazing things in our life. We have grown closer to each other as a family and have learned how to truly rely on God. If I were to write about all of the miracles that have taken place out here this would be a hundred pages long. To start, God led us to the church that we are currently going to last August through a very specific request Stephannie made in regards to finding a place where we could fellowship with other believers and here the truth of God's Word. Since then God has really been at work and everyday is showing us new things that He would like for us to work on as parents, husbands, as wives, and as His children. He has given Stephannie and I new passions for people that do not know who Jesus is.
Recently an old passion in me flared up for people that are homeless and we are planning an outing soon to take food and other things to people who live on the streets here. My heart has really been burdened for these people. We have had opportunity to share our love to Ukrainian orphan kids here in the Springs. We have met a young couple from Russia/Ukraine that is teaching us the Russian language to prepare us for the mission field. Just recently through an Arms Around the World convention at our church we met Steve Sturtevent who has been a missionary in Papua New Guinea and in Ukraine. He was a huge encouragement to all of us. His son and daughter in law, Jason and Johanna and there kids are currently serving over in Ukraine right now and have invited us to come for the summer to help with 5 vacation Bible schools, a youth camp, and hopefully a backpacking trip into the mountainous region of western Ukraine were some have never seen Americans or heard the Gospal of Jesus Christ. Places where there are no roads. I didn't even realize these places exsisted in Ukraine. I thought such a place would only be in the jungle of South America or Africa. I realize there are people here in the States that have never heard the Gospal and we want to reach out to them as well be we know God has called us to Ukraine.
We are planning on leaving no later than June 10 and would be back around August 25 or so. As of right now we don't know how God is going to provide but we are praying and expecting God to get us there. Tickets for 9 people are not cheap going overseas. Jason and Johanna are already preparing us all a place to stay. We would appreciate prayer for this trip and a future trip to move over there more permanately. We are planning on going on deputation beforehand to earn some support for the time that we are there. It is not about asking for money but giving people a chance to be apart of ministry in a forien field without acctually going over ther. I used to be against this kind of thing because I didn't think it allowed for us to trust God but I see it differently now. We are just thankful for a church and a Pastor and other Christians that pray for us everyday. They say that we have been an encouragement to them but they have really ministered to our hearts these past months. It is likely that AAW (Arms Around the World) will be backing us up. There are still a lot of preparations that have to be made and some meatings with board members that have to take place. It is hard to because we are chomping at the bit right now. But God is patient so I guess we have to be too.
Our wives are also concerned about school once we are over there. The kids are homeschooled but it might be hard for them to stay on track while trying to be in ministry over there. The one thing we want to do is just be involved in the lives of the people around us and be available for service whenever it is needed. One of the hardest things will be being so far from our family in Florida and other areas. It is hard to be where we are now but Ukraine is 6000 miles away. Tickets are about $900 per person round trip. We are so excited at this opportunity to go and to serve God and people who need Him. Me and Jeff Duddek might have opportunity to preach in those areas in the mountains in some small house churches.
With whatever happens we are trusing in God. The same faith that we have in Him that our sins are forgiven is the same faith that we are exercising concerning this trip. God doesn't just snap his fingers to give us more faith. He puts the faith we have to the test and with each time we can look back and see how He did it. It is never the same. And everytime our faith is strecthed to the limits. But God is faithful and promises not to give us more than we can handle. He says if we cannot have faith in small things how can we trust Him for much larger things. He is only limited by how much we believe He can do. What we have to learn is to get out of the way and not have our own ideas about how things should go. It seems that "man's" expectation of what we "should" be doing goes against the grain and the world. We are not purposely going against the tradition of "man" just to be rebellious but I feel that the Lord's ways are not understood by most, even a lot of Christians. If it's not done the way they did it or if it doesn't happen the same way it happened for them than we are automatically wrong. The key is to know what God expects from us, not people. Gal. 1:10 says "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." That speaks volumes to me. The scripture says that we are to be a light to the world but unbelievers are afraid of the light and drink up the darkness. So somewhere along the way we are going to ruffle some feathers. In fact some say if you don't your not getting the message out there. People are offended by the Gospal. Who are we to sugar coat it. Anyway I am done preaching...for now.
Well to conclude I am sorry this seemed a little scattered. It is hard to collect your thought and put them all in order and make it sound ok. We love Jesus with all of our hearts and our goal and desire is to serve him whole heartidly. My spelling may not be the greatest as well as punctuation and grammer. I may not have all the answers to all the questions about where money will come from or where we will stay or how we will get around or other similar thoughts. I may not have all my ducks in a row or have it all together. I may not have a college degree. I may not have a lot of what the world says I need to survive. But I serve a God that is Awesome. A God that knows all, sees all, hears all prayers and petitions, and takes better care of our needs than we realize. All He asks of us is to be faithful servants, willing to do what it takes to get the Gospal message to those who need to hear it...which is everyone. Mark 16:15 "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
With Love from the Appledumlpin Gang!!!
P.S. As more information comes our way we will be updating everyone on all that is happening. If for some reason you do not wish to be updated please let us know. Feel free to check out our blog and if you do make sure you check out the link to the right listed Jason Sturtevant in Ukraine.
Monday, April 20, 2009
"I am a Christian"
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting
I'm clean livin,'
I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and
forgiven.'
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this
with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.
When I say.. 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain...
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace,
somehow!
I'm clean livin,'
I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and
forgiven.'
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this
with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.
When I say.. 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain...
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace,
somehow!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
AAW Convention
Well this week was the Arms Around the World Convention our church. We met so many wonderful people with so many prayer requests it's hard to remember them all. Missionaries from Papua New Guinea, Nebraska mission radio, prison ministries, Mexico and so on. But meeting Steve Sturtevant was the highlight for us. His son and daughter-in-law, Jason and Joanna are missionaries in Ukraine. We expressed our thoughts with Steve about our call to Ukraine,our love for the people and he continued to encourage us! This summer Jason is organizing 5 VBS camps! He could use some help!!!LOL And as you all know, we would love to go!!!! Please pray for us, as we pray that we would know God's will in this matter. We would love to go but God would have to make a way!!! Thank you for all your prayer support!!!
-S
-S
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)