Weakness & Strength
What an invitation, to contemplate my weakness and God’s power displayed through me. Paul poses the question, “Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish?” The example of strength through weakness displays the greatest example of the wisdom of this world becoming foolishness to me. We usually look to the perfect American family... [Read more]
Making Disciples
“The American church is ignorant of unreached peoples.” Joel made this statement a couple weeks ago during our Wednesday evening Bible Study time. He was finishing a series on Discipleship. The last words, the last instruction of the Lord Jesus to His church was this: Make Disciples. In today’s world of internet, travel... [Read more]
Praying for Others
A church is about fellowship, friendship, and caring for one another. One very important way we can care for one another is through prayer. We must always remind ourselves that the church is not about the building. The church is about the people. We can have a building and have no church, but we have to have people to have a church. A church... [Read more]
What now?
Less than 48 hours ago the results of the CT scan were read to me: “Two enlarging pulmonary modules compatible with progression of pulmonary metastases” Metastases. The medical term for spreading. My uterine cancer was now spreading to my lungs. “But Lord, I thought I would get a rest now. I thought now I would have at least 6 or 8... [Read more]
Robotic Prayers
“Robotic”… That’s how Joni described many of our prayers. Automatic responses, pre-programmed by our church culture & tradition. ”Dear Lord Jesus, Thank you for this food. Bless this food to our bodies & us to Thy service. Amen” “God is great. God is good. Now we thank Him for our food.” “Thank... [Read more]
On Elders, Part Three: Details of the Pre-requisites
“He who desires the responsibilities of an Elder, desires a noble work.”….so said the Apostle Paul. ”A noble work requires a noble man.”…so said Elder Jason, teaching the Scriptures. Sunday morning the passages to be taught were I Timothy 3:1-7 & 14-15, Titus 1:5-9 and I Peter 5:1-3. These lessons... [Read more]
On Elders, Part Two: What they are and are not….
“A life that is not focused on the Gospel is a wasted life.” Loud & clear “Amen!”s came from all over the auditorium. It was obvious that the Lord had done His work in the lives of many people listening to Joel. It is the work of the Lord to break us, and to prune us, and to lead us away from other things into living... [Read more]
On Elders, Part One: Paul & the Ephesian Elders
Preaching through the book of the Acts of the Apostles, Joel & Jason have subtitled this series: Recovering the Biblical Model of Church Leadership. Several of the Sunday teaching times have been written up on this blog…and more are “in the hopper.” We’ve come to Acts 20 for a discussion of the apostle’s teaching... [Read more]
Family News
We’re now heading into the last of the summer months. Before we know it, the cooler weather will arrive, and the leaves will begin to turn that beautiful color of yellow, red & orange. Folk from all over the USA will come to our area, or roam over to the Blue Ridge Parkway, to just soak in the colors that God has made for us to enjoy. Though... [Read more]
Ethiopia Prayer Itinerary, Part V
Sun-Sun, July 18-25…Ministry days. In the Alaba Team, Alan will be teaching I Corinthians to all the church leaders, Danny will be teaching I Timothy to prisoners, and Dave & Danny will be going village to village teaching. On Sundays, they will each be preaching in various churches. Pray for good receptivity, for organization (Alaba’s... [Read more]
Ethiopia Prayer Itinerary, Part IV
Wed, July 14…Return to Addis guesthouse. The long road back, we basically sleep the whole way! Few people ask when is the next potty stop Pray for safe travel, for Demissie, for the bus operation…and also pray for the Alaba Team & the Ultrasound Team that are departing USA today. This is the day to pray for safety and wisdom... [Read more]
Ethiopia Prayer Itinerary, Part III
Fri, July 9…Shifting around. On this day, the Gomeda Village team returns to Soyama and splits up. Pray for safety in travelling the long, rough road back to Soyama. Nicole & Kaleigh will swap places with the Humphries family on the Nedele Team; the Humphries family will join the Construction Team, which will begin work in earnest on... [Read more]
Ethiopia Prayer Itinerary, Part II
Teams: Medical..Dr. Rick, Lynette, Dale & Becky Nedele Villages.. Jon, Matthea, Humphries family/Nicole&Kaleigh Mountain Villages.. Cindi, Kevin, JasonH, Kimberly Gomeda.. Dave, Ben, Jamie, Nicole, Kaleigh Construction.. Ed, JasonE, Danny, Humphries... [Read more]
Ethiopia Prayer Itinerary, Part I
Tues-Wed, June 29-30…Dave Black flies ahead of the team. Pray for airline connections (he is flying standby to Frankfurt); pray that his luggage will not get lost (last time Lufhansa lost his bag); pray for him as he runs many very important errands to prepare for the Team’s ministry. Wed-Thurs, June 30-July 1…Travel of Burji... [Read more]
A Report of the SBC Convention
One of the Family went to the SBC Convention last week in Orlando. A big issue of the Convention was validating the Great Commission Resurgence proposal. Here’s the report of Dave Black, excerpted from his blog at daveblackonline.com. Incidentally, Dave will be going to Ethiopia for the 12th time in 6 years…he departs (along with... [Read more]
“Home Missions” and “Foreign Missions”
This blog post has been ‘brewing’ in me for quite a few months. We often divide outreach into “over there” & “here”, “foreign” & “home.” But is this biblical? Here are 3 thoughts on the subject. 1) All national boundaries are man-made. A war, a political convention, a treaty,... [Read more]
I was regretting the past….
….and fearing the future. Suddenly my Lord was speaking, in His gentle, quiet, authoritative voice. ”My name is ‘I AM’,” He said. He paused; I waited. He continued. “When you live in the past, with it’s mistakes and regrets, it is very difficult…..I... [Read more]
Confessions of a Gentle Giant
That’s the way Joel described the testimony this morning of Marshall Humphries. Standing beside Marshall was his son Thomas….the first child the Hillions are sending to Ethiopia. Thomas’ testimony was simple: “Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.” (Proverbs 20:11) ... [Read more]
“And now, a word from our Sunday School sponsor…”
BHW: Stacey, thank you for taking time with the Website readers. We want to get to know you, since you have been chosen by the Lord and our Family as our new Sunday School Director (with the capable help/oversight of your husband, Jason.) First, tell us a little about yourself…where you were raised, how you met your husband, what... [Read more]
Notes of Thanks, Welcome and Repairs
From Laura Woody comes this note to the Family: “Your loving kindness during the sickness & death of my Daddy was truly overwhelming. I felt the presence of the Lord many times during these past few weeks. Thanks for your prayers (to) a gracious heavenly Father. So many of you brought food to the house, came to visitation and did... [Read more]