Update from SE Asia
January 27, 2010
PIPELINE UPDATE 2010-01-27
Phew!! This turned out to be an extra long one!! Sorry for the big gap in communication. I hope you find this helpful in praying and keeping track with us.
Blessings,
Tony for the family
Ministry: Busy, busy, busy…
National Network gathering: I hit the ground running as soon as we got back from our vacation by leaving the next day for an overnight trip to the capital for some important meetings regarding the National Network of orgs working together to reach the Unreached People Groups of the country.
Prayer ministry training: Today I just started watching a video training series on prayer ministry. It’s pretty intensive involving 2.5 hours of seminar/lectures per week and a couple of books to read over the course of 8 weeks or so.
Church Planter mentor network: in Feb, I am facilitating a workshop for the network of CP mentors that I am overseeing to help some of them be more effective in starting and conducting businesses that make a profit but also gives a solid platform for identity and security in their respective areas of ministry
I also need to facilitate another gathering of the mentors for prayer and fellowship. The time we met, we tried to involve a brother who lives on another island through a conference call but the quality of the call was not very good because of the quality of the phone connection. We will try again next month. In the mean while, please pr. for this brother (Mr. N) who does not have many like-minded people near him that he partner with.
I need to look into a cell phone that has good speaker phone capability so we can dialogue with our brother on island K. Pray that I’d be able to find a good cell phone that can facilitate better communication and encouragement to Mr. N.
Short term team this summer: I’m starting to dialogue with my ministry partners here and our home church about sending a short term team here. It will involve a lot of logistical coordination so pr. for clear communications via email, skype, text messaging and phone conversations that will lead to a meaningful and fruitful ministry partnership with the local CP work going on.
Tony becoming the team leader: I have been asked to transition into the team leader (TL) role starting some time early this year. We have a unique situation on our team where the different responsibilities are shared by the 3 men on the team. So now it’s “my turn” to take on a little more than my usual portion. Pray for wisdom and grace to lead the team to where God wants to take us.
There are other meetings and trainings that I need to facilitate in the next few months but I’m starting to sense that my time management will be stretched.
Pray for wisdom and discernment to know what meetings and trainings to focus on for this year.
Pray for the discipline to continue to graciously say “no” to “good” things that I like to do or be involved in but are not part of what God wants me to be faithful to and focus on right now.
Team issues
Thanks so much for praying! We had a great but exhausting week last week praying and discussing various issues in the team. I really felt God’s guidance as He used various members from our org. to minister to us and speak words of truth and wisdom in our lives. I personally felt a deep sense of peace after one particular meeting with the team with the pastoral couple that came from the states.
One of the key things that spoke to me was the fact that I can trust God’s sovereignty about decisions that were made in the past that ended up bringing unhealthy things up in the team because He is able to redeem those things and actually allow those things to accomplish His greater purposes… possibly for deeper character growth in me… in the team… deeper experience of His grace and love personally and as a team… to allow conflicts and opportunity for reconciliation and grace… or things yet unseen. As one person shared shared in the meeting, “If that was the reason, I can live with some of the bad decisions that were made.”
It was a much needed reminder not to look at situations in light of what I think is right in any given situation but to look at things from God’s sovereign perspective that He will allow mistakes and bad decisions to be made by us, our spouses as well as by others that we work with so that we can experience His redemptive power to “work all things for the good of those who love Him” Rom 8:28. I was reminded in one meeting that we need to intentionally believe and trust that His intentions towards us are always good even though it may not “feel” good at any given time and point but that ultimately, it is good. With this perspective, I feel more free from trying to control things to go the way I expect it should go or the way I want it to go or sometimes under the spiritual guise of “the way I feel God is leading” or the “wisest” thing to do… etc… I really thank God for the things learned this week. For me personally, I really have a sense of peace and look forward to how God will work out some of the details in our team situation.I really thank God for the things learned this week. For me personally, I really have a sense of peace and look forward to how God will work out some of the details in our team situation.We’re scheduled to have our last meeting with the pastoral couple from our organization this Thu from 10am-12pm (Wed, Jan 27, 10pm EST).
God wants unity NOT uniformity so we don’t expect everyone to have the same values or expectations as we do but we hope to understand where people are and to set goals in light of peoples’ expectations.
Pray for the meeting this Thu,
Pray for the peace of Jesus Christ to guide and lead our discussion so we can, if needed, to agree to disagree on things that need to be discussed and not take things personally.
Pray that God would give clear direction about defining what “team” is and how each of us are to be involved.
Family update:
On Sunday, Jan 31st, Sarah and the girls will be leaving for 6 days for a homeschooling conference in Thailand. I will miss her and the girls. Pray for me and the boys!!
Pray for all the connecting flights and traveling mercies
Pray for the girls to do well in the testing that they are scheduled to do to evaluate how they are doing in homeschooling.
Pray that Sarah’s time in Thailand would enable her to come back… encouraged, challenged and blessed to press on in her role as a wife, mother and teacher in the home.
By the grace of God, we’ve been able to have some good family times (individual dates with kids) and both Sarah and I feel that our marriage of almost 15 yrs is doing pretty well in light of all the things going around us at what feels like a hundred miles an hour! I was sharing the other day how much I love her and value her as my supporter in ministry and best friend.
Pray that the gospel would continue to be the foundation of our marriage and family so that we would be able to walk in the freedom that Jesus Christ came to bring through His truth and grace.
Tony
