One crazy souped-up week

Well, I know that it's been way too long since I've posted an update here, but I finally have a moment of respite and can give an adequate update to what has been a jam-packed week.

My time in Lake Almanor with the faculty, students, and parents of St. Andrew's Academy was fantastic. Not only was I able to preach and share about the mission to Argentina on Monday, October 18th at a service for the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, but I was able to spend time with those associated with the school and congregations and observe how their community lives and their school worships and instructs. I was refreshed and encouraged, and left with the bittersweet feeling of having left behind good friends.

Having left Lake Almanor, I headed back speedily to San Diego, where the following day (Friday) I headed off on a middle school youth retreat for the Anglican churches in our area called FLAYM (Following the Lord in Anglican Youth Ministries). These weekends are encouraging and exhausting all wrapped up together, but I was glad that I was able to be there filling in pastorally and musically.

Very meaningfully, Fr. Russell Martin, the minister on charge during the retreat, asked the youth to lay hands on me after the closing Holy Communion and commission me as I depart for Argentina. I know it meant a lot to me, and I pray that the Lord will burn into the memories of those children the image of a missionary being commissioned joyfully by the body of Christ to go and share the Gospel abroad.

I plan to be in the San Diego area for just over another week ... if anyone around would like to get a hold of me to catch up and/or talk about the mission, give me a call or shoot me an email, both of which can be done through the website here if you don't have my number or email address. I look forward to spending time with you whenever we can manage it!

An Oregon Trail, Part 2

"I will be brief ..."

Today was great. I was able to visit St. Matthew's (Portland) this morning for worship, and thoroughly enjoyed being with the congregation in the Lord's presence, hearing his Word, and getting to know the people of the parish. I was amazed at the sheer number of ex-missionaries and Christian college and seminary professors who are a part of that church. My hope is to continue a strong connection with what is the only ACNA congregation in the state of Oregon.

Immediately after wrapping things up with St. Matthew's, I booked almost 500 miles as I headed from Portland, Oregon to Lake Almanor, California, where I am visiting Christ the Redeemer and St. Thomas churches and St. Andrew's Academy. The drive was hard, but traffic was light on a Sunday evening and I made good time. The very hospitable rector and headmaster Rev. Brian Foos and his wife have kindly taken me into their home, and I am hoping to be refreshed even as I share about the mission to Argentina.

Please pray for me as I preach and talk about my mission this Monday, October 18th, on the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist. Pray that God will open the hearts of the men and women of these churches to partner with me, in prayer and possibly also in finances.

The Canadian Connection

Here's a prayer request for you all ... but first a little background ...

While I was in Canada raising support among churches and their leadership, I was often asked why I had come to Canada to raise support. While there may have been a considerable bit of (what Dr. Horrible calls) "crazy random happenstance" involved in making the decision, in retrospect I consider it a providential visit to raise support in Canada.

See, though an international support team made of partners from all over the world can complicate matters (particularly in the realms of finances and cultural translation), there's something incredibly biblical and empowering about having a truly global missions team. The Lamb-that-was-slain has redeemed a people for himself "from every tribe and tongue and nation" whose call then is to take his Gospel to "every tribe and tongue and nation." And the more that not only the mission team's objective but the mission team itself is cross-cultural, the more I think that this mission will be reflecting God's design and intention for his church.

So you can imagine, as the possibility of building a truly international and multicultural missions team has presented itself, I've been pretty jazzed about pursuing it. Of course, we're not just talking about Canada. Not only have military servicemen begun praying for me from as far away as Afghanistan, but believers from Peru have signed up to receive updates and be counted in on the prayer team, and despite the language barrier, their emails since have been some of the most encouraging that I have received!

So, in the wake of my trip to Canada, I have asked SAMS Canada to set up ways for Canadian churches and individuals to give financially to my mission through their agency. Please keep this process in prayer, the result of which Lord willing will strengthen not only this ministry but his church around the world and will resound to the praise and glory of his Name!

An Oregon Trail, Part 1

The adventure continues! After saying my goodbyes to hospitable friends in Everett, Washington, and a hearty lunch with an old friend of mine from seminary who is serving at a Presbyterian church in Seattle, I have headed down to Portland, Oregon, where I am looking to visit with anyone who might have an interest in learning about or sharing in my mission to Argentina. However, tomorrow (my day off) I am looking forward to paying a visit to George Fox University with an old family friend and to enjoying a glimpse into the world of a dynamic academic institution dedicated to serving God in excellence.

Continuing with the Oregon trail theme, I must ask your prayers as I have contracted a rather frustrating illness. No, I am not dying of dysentery. However, a throat and sinus infection of some kind has found me a useful host in which to develop and express itself, and I am feeling pretty worn-down and crummy. Please pray that I would feel better quickly, particularly before my visit to St. Matthew's Anglican Church this Sunday, where I hope to articulate a vision for ministry which exudes passion for God apart from anything else.

Throughout this trip, I have been bowled over by the tangible, sacrificial acts of hospitality that I have encountered, both in the homes in which I have been staying as well as in the churches which I have visited. We so often do not realize the power that comes in opening our lives to others, and my prayer is that those who have opened their homes, hearts, and churches to me will have been enriched and strengthened in the process by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ubi caritas et amor Deus ibi est. 

The West Coast Jig Continues

Wow, I cannot believe that it's been a week since I have posted an update on here. The Lord has been good and has been showing his prevenient hand as I write from the cloudy city of Everett, Washington. Here is a review of the past week!

Transition back to work has gone well! I have been in touch with my sending church, the Anglican Church of the Resurrection, and though I may be thousands of miles away contact has been resumed and I am back on the clock!

My meeting in Victoria with the Anglican clergy from around Vancouver Island went very well. After meeting with the Rev. Rod Ellis at Church of our Lord, Victoria, we headed out and had lunch with eleven other clergy from around the area. I was able to present my mission to them and ask for their prayer and financial support, and at the very least some good connections were made.

Having been actively seeking connections for the mission in Canada, I have been pursuing setting up a connection with SAMS Canada in order to allow our Canadian brothers and sisters to easily give financially to the mission.

Last Thursday, I headed back across the border to stay with friends in Everett, a little city thirty minutes north of Seattle, and to seek to link up with churches in what is known as the Diocese of Cascadia, an ACNA diocese in formation centered around the Pacific Northwest. The folks have been great and I've been loving every minute of it.

I spent most of the last part of the work preparing to preach the Gospel and share about my mission at St. Stephen's Anglican Church in Oak Harbor. What am amazing congregation, full of life and friendliness and the power of God! Rev. Paul Orritt, the rector, was gracious enough to allow me to give the sermon on Luke 17:11-19, and to host an interview with me between the services. I was humbled and blessed to be with them on the 10th, and I hope our connection can continue.

Yesterday I took the ferry to Kingston to grab coffee with the Rev. Duncan Clark, rector of St. Charles Anglican Church, Poulsbo, and came away very encouraged. On the agenda for the rest of this week, I am planning to get coffee with the Rev. Dr. Harley Crain, the dean of the REC Cathedral in Seattle, and we'll see what other appointments the Lord ordained for my path before I head south to Portland, Oregon on Thursday, where I plan to visit St. Matthew's Anglican Church.

Thank you all for your prayers! The adventure continues ...

Prayer Needed: Mission from Buenos Aires

I received an email today from Rev. Daniel Genovesi, the minister, Lord willing, with whom I expect to be working initially during my time serving as a missionary in Argentina. Of course, while we often think of sending missionaries to Latin America, we sometimes forget that churches and individuals outside of North America, Europe, and Australia can and do send missionaries.

This morning, Rev. Daniel's church, St. Mark's, commissioned and sent two women, Mercedes and Carolina, out as short-term missionaries to the Wichi tribes in Northern Argentina. They will be putting on workshops for children, women, and Sunday school teachers. He has asked for our prayers, and gives this commentary:

How can we support them from a distance? By remembering that each one of us is also a missionary, that we have an area in which to complete the specific task with which the Lord has entrusted us. We must conceive of St. Mark's as a community of missionaries dedicated to schools, clinics, stores, businesses, police, churches, fire stations, gardens, laboratories, embassies, university faculties, banks, gymnasiums, etc. We have a mission in our families, in our jobs, in our friendship and in the transformation--by way of crisis, sickness, changes, joys and pains-- of our own selves. Ora et labora: pray and work, the best way to support and grow.

Please join with St. Mark's and others in prayer for Mercedes and Carolina for the next two weeks (they return October 26th) as they serve as representatives of their church and, in a very real sense, of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Saludos y Bendiciones

Among the other videos that Rev. Ed Hird made of me yesterday, we also recorded a greeting in Spanish for believers and churches in South America. While I was thinking on my feet as to what to say, it expresses well my sentiments and affection for our fellow Christians on our neighboring continent.

New Videos: The Proverbial Skinny

I had a wonderful lunch and chat with the Rev. Ed Hird, rector of St. Simon's Church (North Vancouver), and he was gracious enough to record some brief interviews with me on his iPhone. They are overviews of topics related to the mission which might interest some and answer the questions of others. Please pass them along to anyone that you think might be interested!

Some Thoughts on Missions in a Chinese Restaurant

My Testimony in Brief: Conversion and Call to Missions

Hope and Vision for Argentina

Dominion and Regent, eh?

Less than ten minutes across the border, it hit me with all the speed of a Peruvian microbus: I'm not in the United States any more. And from the name of the roads (King George St.) to the traffic layout (tiny signs with tiny letters) to the unassuming friendliness of her people, I know that I am no longer in the Federal Republic of my birth, but in her Majesty's Dominion of Canada.

I am sitting in the computer lab at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, recovering a bit from my travels the past few days and enjoying my time with old college friends before I continue searching for partners in this mission to Argentina.

To be honest, the two days of my travel to get to Vancouver from San Diego were long and aruduous, and I have much for which to thank God and give him praise. For starters, on the first day of my travels (from San Marcos to Redding), I encountered two major difficulties. First, I had to get my car's registration renewed, my hair cut, a razor bought, and the car's oil changed before I could make the 12 hour trip to Redding. The Lord graciously helped me expedite all of that, and I was off on the road before 11 AM.

Second, and what was more difficult, Southern California experienced record highs the day before and the day of my travels through the center of California. My trusty automobile does not have air conditioning, and the Lord protected me during my travels as I made it through the strong heat of the San Joaquin valley.

The following day of travel was longer than the first, but the heat was by no means equal to the first day's magnitude. The big concern of the day occurred at the beginning: would my car start? It had not the night before. But the Lord showed his goodness and she started right up and purred all the way to Vancouver.

So, I thank God for his provision, for his protection, and most of all for his "pre-vention" (in the old sense), his going before me on this trip. As I round out my vacation and return to my vocation (to borrow my friend Alex's turn of phrase), I know that he is with me, before, behind, and beside me, and that though I may have left a Republic and entered a Dominion, I have never left his Kingdom.

Recommended Reading

I often have people asking me about what they should be reading with respect to this mission. What do people need to know about missions, cross-cultural dynamics, Latin American culture, Christian ministry, or the Christian life?

What I have done is to create a short Recommended Reading List for those interested in some of the basics of this mission to Argentina. There's plenty to read and take in there, but if you're looking for even more information please don't hesitate to email me and ask for more material!