#WhyBible – Hearing for the first time

Posted on September 12, 2016 by David

We’ll never forget the impact The Jesus Film had on Sophie in her mother tongue, Ewondo. She was literally sitting on the edge of her seat, eyes glued to the television completely entranced.

She had tears of joy filling her eyes as she explained that hearing and watching the story of Jesus in her mother tongue touched her heart profoundly. She understands French, but for the message to be in her mother tongue was much more profound, she said it was difficult to use words to describe how deep it touched her. At the end of the film there is an invitation to accept Jesus as your Savior and she recited the prayer. She had never been asked before in her mother tongue to accept Jesus as her Savior. She is a Christian and was before the film, but she said by reciting the prayer at the end and accepting an invitation in her mother tongue was a deeper commitment for her.

Sophie has been a Christian for many years and has been persecuted by her family for her faith. Her husband left her and took their children when they were young because of her faith. Her family mocks her for not participating in the things they participate in because of her faith. Her family blames her when bad things happen in the family because of her faith. She told me she wants to show her family the film because in the film people were mocking Jesus and in the end were convicted and she wants them to see that Jesus is victorious regardless of mockery. She has humbled me many times throughout the years and she’s been an example for me in many situations.

Sophie with the DVDShe did take the DVD home, along with a DVD player, so she could show her children, her children’s significant others, her grandchildren and hopes to travel to her village to show her extended family.

This blog was first shared in May 26, 2014.  Sophie is one of our Cameroonian family members who we miss dearly.  She did show all her family members The Jesus Film and her brother did accept Jesus as his Savior.

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#WhyBible – Discovering God’s Love

Posted on September 8, 2016 by David

(Guest post Author Paul Anderson, you might have seen his comments on this blog under Pop-pop)

#whybible

The Bible changed my life!  There can be no doubt.  It was in reading the Bible with my mother during morning devotions before I went to school when I was a teenager that I discovered God’s love for me went beyond what I could begin to imagine.  It was during those devotional times I learned there was no limit to God’s sacrificial love.  But reading both the history of Israel and observing God’s providential care, and then studying the life of Jesus in the Gospels convinced me that God cared about me.  Absolutely amazing!

My problem:  no matter how much I read His word, no matter how many times I would read about His perfect plan for my life, I somehow always managed to fall short.  I love the Jesus I encountere in the Bible, and I loved the Father who cared for me, but I never felt I measured up.  I always felt like I had something to prove – and I was not very good at accomplishing that task.  As much as I wanted to please God, I was convinced I could not.

Romans 7:15-18 seemed to exemplify my life:   “I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do . . . I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.”

Living under the constant state of failing to please the one I wanted to please the most was a recipe for disaster.  (And note, the apostle Paul struggled with this too).

Thankfully the story does not end in Romans 7.  One day I read Romans 8:1 and was given a new clarity through the Holy Spirit.  “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  No condemnation?  Even if I fail?

What liberation!  To understand God is not up in heaven keeping a running tally of all my sins (He’d need a large notebook for that – with pages that could be added daily).  What He has promised is that if I come to Him in faith, and trust Him to lead me – He will.

The Word of God has reminded me that God is not out to get me like the villain in some novel.  Instead, God desires to get me to bring me into His family.  He hasn’t given up on me.  And He won’t give up on me.  Like the Prodigal Son’s father, our Heavenly Father leaves the light on for us, waiting with arms wide open.

How has the Bible impacted me?  It changed my life.  It brought, and continues to bring, hope in a world without much hope.  It reminds me on a daily basis that not only has God not given up on me – but He has not given up on the world He created.

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#WhyBible – The Sufficiency of Scripture

Posted on September 6, 2016 by David

#whybible

I (David) was recently reflecting on the sufficiency of Scripture and there are two verses that really had an impact on how I view the Bible and why it matters so much to me.

Deuteronomy 32:47 NIV – They are not just idle words for you – they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

When I read this I wrote the following in my journal:

Do I still look to the WORD for life? It is easy to get discouraged when things don’t seem to be going well. (Like when your support level has plateaued and it doesn’t seem like the next step is known) But God is still the ROCK, he is my ROCK. He is faithful and all he does is upright and just. When things don’t go the way I planned or hoped why do I get angry and blame God? He is good all the time. Oh that I would have eyes and a heart to continually read His Words, because they are not just idle words but they are my life.

Psalm 119:97 NIV – Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.

The WORD of God is Eternal

The WORD of God heavens stands firm in the heavens

The WORD of the LORD shows God’s faithfulness

The WORD of your laws endure to this day

The WORD God is my delight

There is no limit of perfection to the WORD of God

#WhyBible, because there is no other way!

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#WhyBible – Impact through reading

Posted on September 2, 2016 by David

#whybible

The Word of God has been part of my (David) life since I was a small child, going to church and being involved with different ministries the Word of God has always been there. I didn’t realize though until I was older how many people did not have this blessing in their life.

My mother once wrote an article for a Church magazine for a missions “contest” and she won an all expense paid trip to Haiti in 1969, the title was “Every Christian is a missionary”,  below is a small excerpt from this article.

Reading in the Bible, I discover that other men, too, were bothered by the commandment, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” One day a lawyer questioned Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” After relating the parable of the Good Samaritan, the lawyer understood that everyone was his neighbor.

…

God lovingly gave His Son to the world, in order that my sins might be forgive, Since He selflessly shared of Himself it is my mission in life as a Christian to share myself and my abilities with those less fortunate.

God shows us His plans when we read His Word and we let it bother us to the point of changing our actions, #WhyBible was important to my mother early in life and it was God and his Word that led her to share herself and her talents with not only her family but everyone that she had influence on throughout her life. She didn’t seem to question, “Who is my neighbor?”,  she just showed them God’s love.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice — the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Romans 12:1 NLT

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#WhyBible

Posted on September 1, 2016 by David

#whybible

Throughout the month of September, we are joining with other organizations and people around the world to share why the Bible matters. We have guest’s posts coming and we are hoping that we will inspire and encourage you to share with us why the Bible matters to you.  If you would like to share a guest post of why the Bible matters to you, please send your post to us so we can share it on the blog.

We are going to dig back into the archive of this blog and share some of the amazing stories about why the Bible matters and how we have seen God’s Word have an impact on us and on other people’s lives. I hope you will join us in this conversation.

hands

Posted in Wycliffe | Tagged | 1 Comment

Wow!

Posted on August 30, 2016 by David

Yesterday Jonah came home from school and shared that one of his music teacher’s has been to Cameroon.  My first thought was he must of misunderstood and she really said Cameron, MO.  We live in a small town and usually when we say Cameroon, we are looked at in a confusing way and I’ve been corrected more than once by people asking if I meant to say Cameron, MO.

Jonah went on to say she asked if anyone knew the numbers three and ten in French.  Jonah knew and said them.  She shared that she learned those numbers in Yaoundé, Cameroon.  What!?!  Jonah said he spoke with her after class and she said she stayed at a place in Yaoundé and she described the CTC Annex where Jonah & Joshua attended school that also has housing on the other side of the compound.

I wrote her email last night to follow-up on this because I was in awe that someone in our town besides us has been to Cameroon.  She wrote back and said she was there the summer of 2009 with Campus Crusades and she stayed at the CTC Annex.  My eyes are filled with tears of joy and amazement!  How incredible!

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Love Each Other

Posted on August 16, 2016 by David

Last night I watched a television show for the first time called My Secret Job.  My first impression was, why didn’t I think of that or I could’ve done that if I only knew there was a demand for that.  Some of the jobs were a new mom selling her extra breast milk, a young woman who would tickle people or clean someone’s house in a kangaroo costume or just sit and listen to someone and another one was a person who cuddles and hugs people.  These individuals featured make hundreds and sometimes thousands per month doing these odd jobs on the side.  Other than the breast milk dealer, the other services boiled down to human touch.  In a society where everyone feels the need to stay in his/her personal space bubble, where people try to keep human interaction to a minimum through social media/texting/etc…., isn’t it interesting that people are craving and paying strangers to interact with them, give them a hug, etc…

I’ll admit that I’m not a hugger.  I learned several years ago an important lesson.  One day I was actually trying to avoid a certain person because she hugged me every time I saw her.  I thought if I walk around this way or that way maybe she won’t see me.  Before the time was through, she spotted me and gave me a long, bear hug.  She said something to me while hugging me.  She said the best thing about hugs are that when you give a hug, you get a hug.  That statement hit me like a ton of bricks and stuck with me.  In that moment I realized she hugs people so often because she craves and desires a hug.  After that experience I made the decision to hug those who came up to me with their arms opened wide.  It’s not about me, it’s about the other person.

Greet each other in Christian love (with a holy kiss).  Romans 16:16

Years ago I read the book The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman.  Ever since then when I work around or start friendships with others I try to figure out their love language.  I know Gary Chapman isn’t equivalent to the Gospel, however, for my mind it’s a great starting place being a detective trying to discern someone’s love language than to read, love others in the Bible.  Chapman’s book helped me to how to practically show love to others.  Christ followers are commanded in John 13 to “Love each other.”

At the latest 4H meeting, the community service idea that was presented was to make a Christmas store setting in a nursing home so the residents could shop for Christmas gifts to give to others or for themselves.  The person presenting it has been doing this for years and shared that one lady wanted to pick something out for her granddaughter in hopes that if she had a gift to give her granddaughter, her granddaughter would come visit her.  Another resident was skeptical of the whole thing, but ended up getting two gifts so he would have something to unwrap at Christmas because he hadn’t had a visitor or a gift to unwrap on Christmas for years.  The able bodied loved ones get so busy and many times forget their loved one is in the nursing home craving to be shown love.

In thinking of the television show, the people who are hiring others to hug them, tickle them, listen to them are all people who are craving someone to speak their love language to them.  Either through quality time or physical touch or acts of service.  We are all hard-wired to crave love and to need friendship.  None of us are truly made to be a lone wolf, even wolves stay in packs.

a real friend sticks closer than a brother.  Proverbs 18:24

I’m a work in progress, I don’t have all the answers, I’m not a good role model in all this, however, wouldn’t it be refreshing if all of us take the time to try and show love to someone today – maybe it’s a co-worker or a patient or a client or a familiar cashier, etc…

hugs

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Thank You

Posted on June 8, 2016 by David

Today I went to the mailbox and found a box.  Who doesn’t get excited about opening a box!?!  The box contained a purse made by the widow group (Seheco) in Cameroon that I shared about in a previous blog.  The box didn’t have a return address, there wasn’t anything inside the box or purse indicating who the purse is from.  So, I want to thank my anonymous gift giver – THANK YOU!

It’s funny because this morning as I was waiting for our minivan to be inspected for a registration renewal, I walked around Walmart.  While I was walking around, I looked at purses, toted them around as I walked around Walmart to get a feel for the purses and ended up putting them all back because none passed my test.  It’s amazing when I get home the mail contained a purse.

I’m tickled!  Thank you!

new purse

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Anniversary of Sorts

Posted on May 31, 2016 by David

On May 31, 2012, Jonah had his accident which led to his amputation.  On May 31, 2015, our family boarded an airplane with our all our worldly possessions (eight suitcases) and one cat to return to the USA.

It was hard to leave the USA in 2009, however, we knew we would be coming back to visit, for furlough’s, to see family & friends, etc…  It was hard to leave Cameroon because we don’t know if we’ll ever step foot there again.  Cameroon was our home for five years and that’s where the boys call home.  We don’t know if we’ll ever see any of our Cameroonian family & friends and our expatriate friends again.

After Jonah’s accident, the struggles with health in our family, the deaths of colleagues in Cameroon, the crazy amount of stress David was under and so much more, I really struggled to say, “God is good.”  Last year in a trough period of struggle, I started to search Scriptures, my heart and through prayer the statement of God is good.  What I found in myself is that I was defining good through my human mindset of being nice, not causing harm, kind, useful, pleasant, enjoyable.  Enduring the things we’ve been through weren’t pleasant, enjoyable, kind or nice and I was steeped in disappointment and anger.  My eyes were fixated on the above and my perspective was self-focused.  I was defining good meaning when I’m made happier, when I’m more content, when things are pleasant for me.  I failed to see how good in the long term might result from struggles or suffering in the short term.  There are 61 verses about the goodness of God.  When I read those verses that state God is good, it’s who He is – it’s His nature, it’s not something that’s contingent on pleasant, enjoyable, etc… set by the standard of each person, it’s just who He is.  I bring all this up because this morning during my quiet time I read Mark 10:18 with fresh eyes and was reminded of the journey I traveled last year.

Blessings to you on this May 31, 2016.

 

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Rosalie

Posted on May 25, 2016 by David

Over the past two years I’ve shared about my Cameroonian friend, Rosalie.  I helped her with her plantain chip business and we became friends.  Her grandson Joshua Glenn passed away at age ten, he lost his battle with cancer (October 2014).

A few days ago, I received word from an ex-pat friend in Cameroon that Rosalie came to see her and wanted her to get in touch with me.  Joshua Glenn’s little brother, Samuel, age six, passed away.  He was taken to the hospital due to an illness and died a day later at the hospital.  It’s uncertain what illness his body was battling.

Please pray for Rosalie and her family.

Rosalie

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