Catching Up

God has been doing some amazing work amidst our family. He continues to be faithful. He continues to clearly reveal to Jodi and I how completely dependent on Him we truly are. I think of Jesus in the desert rebuking the tempter: “Man does not live on bread alone but by the very word of God”. In my last update ’I’ve Been Meaning to Write’, life was clipping along at an accelerated rate. In fact, I was a bit war torn and weary, leaning on the Bard to express how I felt.

God has graciously moved us through that season (not without lessons learned or without cost). Thank you in advance for taking time to catch up with us, for your love, prayers, and support. My hope is that you will get a better sense of how God is working, not us. How the Spirit is moving throughout God’s people, ministries, and Churches. Grace is on the move.

Seminary
I begin my first Seminary class on May 14th. I want to thank all of you who have patiently counseled and prayed our family over the last couple of years. I want to specifically thank those of you who continue to encourage me to persevere. I kind of feel like Robert Redford’s character, Bill Mckay, in the 1970’s film The Candidate. The film satirically explores the machinations and manipulations of media-age political campaigns, were we follow Mckay (Redford) through the exhausting and often chaotic whirlwind of his political campaign. In the final moments of the film, after just having won the election, Redford looks up and asks, “What do we do now?” After praying and seeking counsel on pursuing seminary, applying, testing, praying, getting accepted, and scheduling classes- “what do we do now?” Well the answer is pretty simple, ‘trust God and show up for class on May 14th’.

I covet your earnest and unceasing prayers. The opportunity to pray for you continues to be one of our greatest privileges.

Ministry: World Orphans
God continues to show great favor towards this ministry. I am excited to share with you that I will be moving into a full-time position beginning May 1st as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President. This means that I will be doing what Paul Myhill asks me to and devoting more time to prayer. (Humor)

We are excited about new opportunities for strategic partnerships which God is providing. We recently met with the President of Compassion International, Wes Stafford, to discuss a strategic partnership between our organizations where CI would identify indigenous churches burdened with the opportunity to care for orphaned and abandoned children and World Orphans would provide the funding of infrastructure, acting as a 'consulting' ministry partner as CI develops an organization wide plan to encourage their indigenous church partners to engage in rescuing orphans.

In addition to Compassion International, World Orphans will be a contributing voice at the third 'Adoption & Orphan Care Summit' organized by Family Life and hosted by Focus on the Family. This year’s summit will focus on how orphan related ministries can better serve the local church as it endeavors to practice pure and acceptable religion. The summit will be held in Colorado Springs on May 9, 10, and 11th. We look forward to meeting church leaders and learning from orphan ministry leaders from across the country.

We continue to develop relationships with established mission agencies and Western Churches. We hope to build a partner network which will identify churches and opportunities to empower them to care for orphans in South America, South East Asia, Africa, India, and the Middle East.

Finally, we have developed a workshop presentation to present at churches, small groups, or organizational meetings. This presentation can be presented in 1 hour or 2 days, depending on the audience and the strategic outcome desired. Whether we are talking to a large organization like or to a small Sunday school class, our desired outcome is the same: that orphans would be rescued and churches strengthened.

Lakepointe Church
In light of my full time role with World Orphans, Lakepointe church has graciously agreed to greatly reduce my role- ultimately phasing out formal involvement. I am still the missions’ leader for the Kurd work and will work on specific objectives for the missions department. I continue to enjoy the opportunities this position has afforded me, but most importantly, the people God has brought into my life through this.

Work
During the month of May, and by God’s grace, I will be leaving a 15 year health-care career to pursue ministry and seminary on a full time basis. Our family will endeavor to raise ministry support to supplement the income I will receive from World Orphans. ‘What we leave behind pales in comparison to what God has already prepared for us.’

Travel
In late June, I am scheduled make a trip to Kurdistan, Egypt, and Germany, to further Lakepointe Kurd initiatives as well as World Orphans opportunities.

In July I will be making another trip to Africa to work with indigenous churches and ministry partners to empower the rescue and caring of orphaned and abandoned children

A Prayer for you and my family
I pray that our lives, yours and mine, would be carried along by the power of the Holy Spirit, and lived as expressions of God’s love and powerful grace. Amen.

A Thought
Dying to self is no more an act of man than regeneration is. For, if a man is reborn of the Spirit by faith through grace, and these gifts are from God [faith and grace], than we WILL be conformed to the image of the Son. And this is ultimately the greatest expression of God’s love for us- that he makes us like himself.

As the Spirit sanctifies and we die to self, I find this quote from Martin Luther very encouraging and challenging: “Faith is a living, unshakeable confidence in God's grace; it is so certain, that someone would die a thousand times for it.”

Mike, Jodi, Max, Veronica and AJ