How to Pray For POMs

How to Pray for Parents of Missionaries

"Is it easier to go to a foreign field yourself or to see your children go?", asked a missionary parent.

Family members left behind like parents, grandparents, and siblings feel a sense of loss when their loved ones go to a foreign field. Some they liken it to a death in the family. Often there are feelings of gratitude for children obedient to God mixed with the real sense of loss when they leave. Yes, even those who have prayed for missionaries all their lives and ask God to send workers into the harvest still feel the hurt of separation when their own go.

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Here's how you can pray for parents of missionaries, and how POMs can pray for themselves and other POMs too.

Pray that POMs will:

1. Experience the comfort the Holy Spirit promises in times of need.

2. Accept and support the missionary calling of their son or daughter.

3. Realize that their acceptance and support will strongly affect their son or daughter's happiness and effectiveness as a missionary.

4. Resolve any issues with their adult child and say good-bye well.

5. Know joy that God has chosen their son or daughter for a particular task, and that their child has been obedient to God's call.

6. Establish and maintain frequent communication with their missionary son or daughter and his or her family.

7. Find a loving support group or network that understands and appreciates them.

8. Be able to speak honestly with their friends about their feelings and to deal with their grief in healthy ways.

9. Take initiative and find creative ways to develop and maintain connection with their grandchildren even across the miles.

10. Consider seeking out other young people at home who need love, mentoring, and encouragement.

(Adapted from an article by Gerald and June McNeely in Parents as Partners, a publication of the IMB of the SBC.)

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Please add our parents (both sides) to your prayer list as they will be affected by our family serving in Chile.

Dying to Self - Delilah Style

Each Friday brings much stress and laughter in our Conversation class. Every week our class has to read through a larger portion of Scripture that surrounds a well know Bible story. This week was the story of Samson and Delilah. Since the class focuses on conversation, each Friday we have to act out the Bible story without notes (but if truth be known, we sometimes use 3x5 cards full of prompts). This exercise, is...well...exercise, mental exercise. The whole point of it is to make us use what we know when under the pressure of the moment (you know...like real life).

Well, to set the scene for you all...my classmates, Paul, Michael, and Phil did their skit first. Towards the end of their skit, there was a small audience that had formed in the doorway to watch. Don't those people have classes to go to? It was hilarious to watch the three realize that there was a growing audience in the hallway. No problem. They will all go away after the first skit is done....right?

Nope...our teacher invited them all in to have a seat for the next skit...ours. Jared and I were not sure what to think of this development. We are all for having a little fun with our all male class, but inviting the girl's conversation class, plus several other office secretaries and professors. I DON'T THINK SO! IT'S NOT SO FUNNY ANYMORE! But we lost the battle and had to do our Samson & Delilah skit in front of our biggest crowd ever!

Jared (who played Samson) put on four long sleeve sweaters to bulk up started up the skit will the scene of Samson tearing off the city doors and carrying them to Hebron. Before class, we popped the door hinges off and used the door from a nearby classroom. Needless to say, with the weight of the door combined with the four sweaters, plus the Samson wig, Jared was sweating profusely.

While I lobbied for the Samson part, I lost due to my body shape (or lack of). Yes...I played Delilah. It wasn't my favorite role, but someone had to do it...hair bow, scarf, earrings and wig. Of course, the added pressure of the expanded audience and the hot wig made our performances sub-par...but we sure had fun.

And just to be clear...Samson did not nestle his head in my lap.
We made that very clear during our practice session.
Above: Jared, after being shaved and realizing his powers were gone.

The skit ended with a big bang...literally. Jared pushed two chairs off the desk, like Samson pushed the pillars down at the party to Dagon, thus killing Samson and all of the Philistines.

Language school is coming to a close here in 5 weeks, but it's days like today that bring some sanity to the details of grammar and phonetics. Our Conversation class is loads of fun, but next week, no one will be allowed to watch. Come to think of it, next week's story is on King David...I hoping that we don't have to act out 2 Sam. chapter 11...you know...that's the one with David and B....well....you understand.

Ten Blessings of Being a POM

POM = Parent of Missionaries

Ten Blessing of Being a Parent (or Grandparent) of a Missionary

1. Working harder at staying connected with your kids than you might do if they lived in the states, and reaping the benefit.

2. Opening up a window on the world that you might not have looked through otherwise, becoming a more globally focused Christian.

3. More reason to pray!

4. Opportunity for personal growth. No one gives up children to missionary service without some sorrow and pain, and dealing with that in healthy ways leads to a better you.

5. Empathy for other POMs and for parents who have experienced similar feelings as well.

6. Reason to travel overseas that you didn't have before.

7. Getting to know many other wonderful POMs.

8. Becoming a point of stability for your grandchildren when they make visits back to the states or return for college.

9. Greater awareness of your need to be a witness right where you are.

10. Knowing that you other people in heaven who are there because your child told them about the Gospel.

List taken from www.pomnet.com
(National Network for Parents of Missionaries)

Please remember to pray for our parents (both sides) as they will also need to prepare for us to serve on the mission field.

In an upcoming post, I will list several ways how you can specifically pray for them.

Día de La Raza (Part 3)

A very important part of Latin culture is FOOD. Good food. Not necessarily always spicy. The celebration of Día de la Raza concluded with lunch in the dinning hall. The school provided rice and chicken, but every family brought a side dish or dessert to fill out the long table of food.

Stuffed peppers.
They were all gone by the time I got through the line.
Bummer.

Salsa Verde (green sauce) is my favorite!

Cold tomato soup (very common in Spain).

And of course, olives.

I have no idea what these are called.
They looked good, but again, all gone by the time I got through the line.

Carol and Andy Patton brought this platter that is typical in Peru.

Eggs, limes, avocados, nuts, and raw fish.

The Pattons also brought this colorful rice, french fries, beef and red pepper dish.

Thanks to Phil and Patty Thurston, we rounded off the meal with some good old American apple pie.

That concluded our day. We were thankful for the break from class and the diversion from our studies. Now it is back to the final sprint to the end of the semester. We will have a couple days off in Nov. for Thanksgiving. We have 33 class days left of school, then finals.

Thank you for your continued prayer for our family. Continue to pray about the many details that need to be accomplished in the preparation of getting rid of most of our stuff here in Texas, then flying back to MN on Dec. 12th.

Come back to the blog soon
and read a two part post on the Top Ten Spanish Lessons I am learning.
You won't need to know Spanish to understand all of the lessons.

Día de La Raza (Part 2)

Above is the missionary group that sang "America the Beautiful" in representation of the USA.
(L to R) Bethamy Anderson - Mexico; Shelly Halloway - Mexico; Amanda Clayton - Bilingual counselor at a Caring Pregnancy Center in Michigan; Corrie Anderson - Mexico; Jared Thomas - Hispanic Ministry in Colorado; David Flinck - Chile; Michael Godbold - undecided

Who are these two shady characters?...well, on the left is Jonathan Tucker (MK from Spain) and Alex Oller. (BI student from Spain). Both are wearing their dew rags in a traditional way from Spain. Kinda looks more like a couple of Harley gang members if you ask me ;) Jonathan and Alex have been a big blessing to me during my time in language school. Alex is one of my tutors, and Jonathan is always fun to talk to about the ministry.

Once the parade was done, we all gathered around the circle of flag poles and each country's flag was raised while the students sang their national anthem.

After the flag raising time, there was a short break until lunch time where we had a HUGE potluck at the dining hall. Each country or family brought a typical dish or dessert to share.

Come back again to see what we ate....mummmm good.

Día de La Raza (Part 1)

There were no classes today due to Columbus Day. Since the thought of respecting Columbus doesn't sit well with the Latin community, RGBI has changed the focus of the day's celebration to The Day of the Race (Día de la Raza). It is an opportunity to celebrate the many countries and cultures that are represented here in the Bible Institute student body.

During the opening assembly, each country was introduced with their flag and national anthem. Each country was responsible to give a short presentation, skit, or video about their culture. I was part of the small group of language students that gave the USA presentation. There were seven in our group, and each read a short paragraph in Spanish explaining the story behind the writing of "America the Beautiful." Then we sang the song.

By far, Mexico had the most representation and enthusiasm. It was like having home field advantage. Many dressed in their national colors and folk dress.

After the presentations, everyone lined up out on the street by their flag. Above: Jordan and Ben with Sebastian from Chile.

I walked with the boys under the Chilean flag for a while. The boys had a great time, but were wondering when the candy was going to be thrown.

Random shouts of national pride would come from the different pockets of the parade. Despite the hot and humid morning, everyone was enjoying the day off from classes.

Come back for part 2 of Día de la Raza

Terminological Inexactitudes

This past week started the sequence of eight written and verbal presentations for our Phonetics class. Each week, we need to prepare a three page paper geared for a different audience or theme. These assignments will test all that we have "supposedly" learned and help us practice speaking in front of people in Spanish.

The first presentation is to give our extended salvation testimony and/or call to ministry. We are encouraged not to write out our first draft in English, since many things can be "lost in translation". These assignments have forced us to think in Spanish (grammar, syntax, & idiomatic expressions).

After we have verbally presented our testimony, our professor, Dr. Johnson, goes through our whole presentation and helps us understand each terminological inexactitude and point out any grammar or syntax errors. While it is often embarrassing to hear ALL of one's errors publicly pointed out in front of the whole class, it is profitable to have this atmosphere of a community of learning a second language. Learning in a group takes some of the pain out of the process. SOME, not ALL.

Dr. Johnson has been teaching Spanish at RGBI for over 50 years...so we give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to grammar and pronunciation :) We are thankful for his patience with us and for his investment in the language students here at RGBI.

In the following weeks I will be presenting the following:

-A Personal Experience
-A Biblical Story
-An Object Lesson (with Application)
-A Devotional
-Counsel on a certain problem (ie. anger)
-A Teen devotional
-An Evangelistic challenge

Continue to pray for me (David) as I desire to do my best on these assignments in preparing to communicate the Gospel and Biblical Truth in a more effective way on the mission field.

Recently at our Spanish Church

We have been thankful for our Spanish church that we attend while here at language school. This post will share some recent happenings with our family and our local church.

Our family was invited over for lunch after church by one of the families. We enjoyed getting to know Ricardo and Minerva better by listening to their salvation testimonies, and how they met each other.

On Wednesday nights, we attend the service and the kids participate in the AWANA program. The boys especially love to make new friends with all of the other children.

Kristi assists in Jordan and Ben's Spark's class by telling a story each week.

After one of the Gospel lessons in AWANA, Ben mentioned to Kristi that he had some additional questions about the story. I was in the office doing homework when all of this was happening. I came out to the kitchen to get a drink, when I stumbled upon them talking on the couch. Thank the Lord for Ben's tender heart. We think he understood the Gospel and his need for a personal Savior from sin. We are praying for him now to obey the Lord and grow in Him.

Jordan and Ben invited their best friend, Jesse (RGBI kid) to AWANA.

The van ride to church and back was full of laughter and squeals.

This past Sunday, J & B's SS class sang a song in Spanish during the morning service. We didn't even know that they were going to do this.

The entire SS class sang the song about 1 John 4:8.

Ben is our little singer and usually sings louder than Jordan.

Thankfully, someone had their digital camera with them and took these pictures. I, for once, didn't take mine that Sunday. These are memories that we will cherish from our time here in Texas at language school.

Continue to pray for our family as we have two months left here in Texas. We will be flying back up to MN on Dec. 12th.

Kaylee and Carena

Last Sunday was a special day for Kaylee at our Spanish church. Why? Well, because Carena was there. Long story short...Kaylee and Carena became "best friends" while attending Puggles together at Valley Baptist Church (our Spanish church).

Last May, we learned that Carena's mom and dad were going to move to Mexico over the summer, since they are missionaries serving with with OREMUNDO Ministries and UCLA (Universidad Cristiana De Las Américas). Kaylee was sad to learn that her friend wouldn't be back at church once we got back to Texas in August. Kaylee talked about Carena all summer long.

But last Sunday, Carena's family was back in South Texas for a visit and attended services. The girls were so happy to see each other. They even happened to be wearing similar dresses.

Another interesting twist in our family's relationship with Carena's family is...when Kristi and I took our first missions trip to Mexico in 1996 with a team from Northland Baptist Bible College, Carena's father (Russell) was the assistant leader. Immediately after the trip into Platón Sanchez, México, Russell married Debbie. Upon arriving at language school, Kristi and I were surprised to learn that Russell and Debbie attended our Spanish church. It was fun to get to know them in a better way during our first semester of language school.

Kaylee will continue to follow Carena's family via their blog.
Who knows, maybe someday they will go to Bible college together.

10 Non-Spanish Lessons (Part 2)

Read Lessons #1-5

Continuing on with the final five "non-Spanish" lessons I am learning at language school...

6. The need from more discipline and organization in my life - Most people would probably think of me as an organized person. Well...that's mostly an unfortunate facade. I love to procrastinate. Matter of fact, as I am writing this there is a ton of homework on the desk next to me that needs to get done. My desire is to have discipline...you know...eat smaller portions, exercise three times a week, turn in assignments early, go to bed earlier, get up earlier...blah, blah, blah. Language school has helped expose some pretty blatant blind spots in the discipline department. One gets in survival mode and stays in a rut. I am often in that rut.

I am thankful for the reminder of the need of discipline in my life.

7. Missionaries are my heroes - The world can have their heroes in the area of sports, entertainment or politics, but I count it a joy to rub shoulders with my classmates and teachers everyday. They truly are normal human beings just like all of us. They go through similar struggles in the walk of faith. Hearing what God has done and is doing in their lives and ministries is a wonderful encouragement to me. Each has different spiritual gifts, talents, personalities, quirks, and weaknesses, but all can be used by God and desire to be used by God. A there is no single missionary model, meaning, every missionary is the same, but there is one God who is worthy of our love, honor, and obedience.

I also love to read missionary biographies. They inspire me. They challenge me. They encourage me to walk the life of faith. My list of biographies to read once I am done with language school has grown to a ridiculous number.

I am thankful for being reminded of men and women of God, both dead and alive, that challenge me to continue to love and obey God.

8. I need my family (immediate & extended) - Let's face it, the rigors of language school aren't the ideal atmosphere for family time. Symptoms include a general lack of sleep, late nights of study, the ever looming assignments, and a dialog always in my pocket to be memorized. My wife and children have put up with a lot these past months. I am thankful for their support, love, and patience with this process of learning another language.

Also my extended family have been a great encouragement during language school. Emails, calls, letters, Skype calls, and care packages have come to our house full of love and concern. Moving to south Texas gave our family a small taste of what's to come when we move to Chile.

I am thankful for being reminded of the importance of my family.

9. The importance of the local church - Is it just me, or do you also sometimes think, "I have so much going on this week, that I should/could stay home from church tonight". During these months at language school, I have been reminded of the importance of the local church in the life of a believer. Christian fellowship typically takes place (or at least it should) in the local church. One should go to church to worship God (although worship isn't limited to just a church building). Our family has enjoyed attending our Spanish church. Friendships have been made. Spiritual lessons have been taught and learned within our local church. We will miss the people when we leave Texas.

I also have been reminded of the importance of leadership (and the training of leaders) within the local church. Leaders need to look for others to mentor. Those especially training for ministry should be faithful attending and have a level of involvement within the local church. Classroom learning is one thing, but "fleshing out" what one is learning in the local church is another.

I am thankful for being reminded again of the importance of the local church.

10. The importance of praying with others (and for others) - We all know mentally that prayer is important, but throughout these months at language school, I have personally been challenged about actually praying with people. Opening and closing conversations in prayer has it's benefits of reminding me to depend on the Lord for the topics discussed. Many have been an example to me in how they ask if they can pray with me and for my family. During these past days after the miscarriage, friends have stopped by just to pray with us. Now there is a novel concept. How encouraging that was. I desire to be someone who does that.

One other example: There is a maintenance worker here on campus who used to be a missionary in Brazil. He is now retired, but has given his remaining years of life to serve on campus in the maintenance department. You see him occasionally walk down the hallways of the classroom building and poke his head into a classroom and ask to pray for the students before class starts. Several weeks ago, our class asked him to pray to start our class. He prayed a wonderful personal prayer to his Lord asking Him to remind all the missionary students of the big picture of why they are here...to learn Spanish to better communicate the Gospel. During the prayer, I and many others "lost it". It was such a blessing to our discouraged hearts and minds. After the prayer, he looked us right in the eyes and said slowly but full of conviction, "Remember...there are many people waiting for you...to come to their country...and tell them about someone they have never heard about before...Jesus Christ."

I am thankful for being reminded of the importance of prayer and prayer with and for people.

Honorable mention: The Love of Learning - Whether that be from a book, a teacher, a classroom setting, a tutor, or an online article, I have extremely enjoyed learning more. The more I learn, the more I realize I have miles to go. Learning doesn't always come with good grades. Most of the time, we learn better when we have struggled, failed, and gotten up again. I would rather be known for asking the right questions, rather than coming across as knowing all the right answers. One key element in being a rookie missionary is reminding oneself to always have an attitude of a learner.

I am thankful for being reminded of the lesson of being a better learner.

In the near future, I would like to post another series entitled, "10 Spanish Lessons I am Learning at Language School". Come back again to read what those lessons entail.

Ben's 6th Birthday

Ben's actual b-day was Sept. 27th. We did celebrate as a family, but it came right in the middle of our recent trial and hospital stay. We are thankful to God for giving us Ben, and for giving him six years of life with us.

Happy Birthday Ben!

Above: Wal-Mart's cakes were on sale and the only "tame" one was the pumpkin.

We took Ben to Mr. Gatti's Pizza for his family birthday party.

The kids enjoyed playing video games and riding some rides.

Despite the "psuedo" frown, Kaylee really did have a great time.

The boys favorite ride was the rollercoster

The following Saturday, we bought cupcakes and ice cream
for a small outside party with all of Ben's friends from around campus.

The above picture includes most of the friends in attendance.

It was a fun time for all the kids.
Ben will miss all of his friends when we leave in Dec.