On the Road Again.

I was going to head down to Iowa late Wednesday night to stay with my pastor friend John before we head out Thursday morning. But as the weather was coming in I left earlier and I'm very thankful that I did. Not that it was a huge decision but I think it was the right one and I'm thankful for your prayers as we make simple decisions. We got to the airport 2 hours early and I think we were at our gate in less than 15 minutes. Uneventful flight to Chicago and now about five and a half hours here while we wait for our overseas flight. We've been able to do some planning and that's been good. Also great to catch up. We also were able to see Damien and his wife last night. You might remember that Damien went with me last time. 

Pastor Nicodeme mentioned that we will be at some church far out of the city on Sunday morning. I assume one of us will be preaching. 

We fly to Brussels and have a few hours there and then on to Kigali. Friday night at 7:30 we should land in Kigali and then Saturday at 9:00 or 10:00 we will take a bus up the mountain and get to Musanze. Thanks for praying

I have a slight headache and my nose is running a bit.

Pray that I sleep a good bit on the plane. 

Preparing To Go To Rwanda - August 2024 (Pathways - EFCA)

 

A picture from the Training John Nett did in May.

I'll be updating my trip with details here - though some basic updates will be done on Facebook.  If you want to pray specifically and here more about what God is doing, this is the place to check.

Preparing takes on many forms.  I've been preparing my by communicating with Pastor Nicodeme (our Master Trainer Leader there) about dates and plans and needs.  He translates all the material into Kinyarwanda and Pastors in Musanze, the town we'll be training in.  I've been communicating as well with Damian Peasley, a youth pastor friend for 19 years and now a Pastor friend.  We worked closely together for many of those years in the Central District while I lived in Eagle Grove.  This will be his first trip. 

Part of the preparation is logistics.  I work hard to be as cheap as possible but this time the tickets were more expensive than expected.  We need Visas and have to make sure we have all our meds and such up to date.  

I have to do all the Psalms homework so I can teach it.  I've never been through the Pathways Psalms training so I have all the lessons to work on (a lot of it is basic sermon preparation).  I do have to prepare a closing demonstration sermon from the book of Psalms as well.  

I am also preparing for life at home while I'm gone.  My wife and kids handle it quite well, but I definitely have many pieces to prepare at church while I'm gone.  A simple prayer request is that God will provide someone to lead worship on August 18th. 

I will drive down to Damian's house (near Des Moines) on August 7th.  We'll be at the airport August 8th before 6.  We fly to Chicago, then Newark, then Brussels, then Kigali.  We'll spend the night in Kigali and then on Saturday we'll take the bus up the mountain for 2 to 3 hours to get to Musanze.  Thankfully costs in country are incredibly cheap (comfortable hotel with air conditioning will be less than $25 a night = and that includes breakfast).  A meal at a restaurant will likely be about $6.  The bus ride is about $5.  We'll preach Sunday morning at different churches.  Monday morning our training starts around 9.  We'll finish around 4.  This continues through Thursday noon.  We'll take the bus back to the Kigali and fly out that evening.  Brussels, Chicago (long layover), and then Des Moines.  

One thing I always do is bring a lot of things to leave with the Pastor there and tell him to use as he wants to.  I bring an extra suitcase (still need one) that I will leave there.  I get most of my clothes from Goodwill and leave them.  I also like to bring soccer balls and sometimes a few extra Bibles if they are available.  It costs so little and is a way to bless them.

One of my favorite parts of the trip is walking around in the evening and just meeting people on the street.  I don't want to do touristy things, but I love to make friends and get to know the country.

You might remember the story of great genocide back in the 90s in Rwanda.  We are not allowed to ever ask about it and they themselves don't talk about it often.  

Top Prayer Request

- The preparation mentioned above

- That the pastors we train have passed on the previous training

- The the pastors we train will come with their homework done 

- To be a blessing to those Pastors in more ways than just training

- And I'll always take prayer for travel mercies and for God to work in my heart 

- That Nicodeme will be able to help find an extra translator that I can use outside of training 

Creative Theology? Speaking In Tongues

I don't ever want to be accused of being creative in my theology. That's another word for heretic - which can lead to being burned. But... I've been thinking a bit about the gift of speaking in tongues. I haven't done the research yet - so don't burn me at the stake - but it seems to me that the Acts 2 (day of Pentecost) speaking in tongues was not at all the "gift" of speaking in tongues that Paul writes about in Corinthians. Maybe that idea isn't heresy; maybe it is a normal teaching - but I have not heard it as far as I can remember.

A few reasons for this. There were no interpreters. The disciples were not speaking gibberish, but were rather speaking a known language. It wasn't that just tongues were done just 3 times (as taught by Paul). It does not surprise me that when the Holy Spirit is sent, crazy-big things happen. This does not seem to be what Paul is writing about in Corinthians. I am sure there are many more reasons why Acts 2 does not seem to be the gift of speaking in tongues.

I ramble about this because I am in the process (slowly) or writing my paper for licensure in the Free Church. I have to state my position on different issues - including the cessation or the continuance of the gift of speaking in tongues. By the way - I see no Biblical argument for cessation - at least none that isn't creative with God's Word. Historically and logically I can make the argument for cessation. BUT - if the gift had ceased, I really believe God would have made it clear. I am not a cessationist (not at this point).

Are the languages being spoken in Acts 2 the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues, or was that occasion the Holy Spirit doing a new thing in an amazing way?

Boy Feed Girl

Once a year our high school youth group puts on Boy Feed Girl. It's a chance for our guys to treat our girls as precious sister's in Christ, rather than a potential date. We do this by planning a fun evening that includes food and some sort of atmosphere and activity that they will enjoy. This year we did a medieval theme and I thought it was fantastic. It was more work than we've ever done - by far. I'm sure it wasn't perfect and certainly parts of it were more to a guys liking than a girls (we did some sword fighting). I love this event (and also the Girl Feed Boy event). I'll get pics on here when I get them on my computer.

Blitz - Junior High Lock In

Our junior high students are going to Blitz this Friday night - all night long. It's Valley E. Free Church's annual Junior High Lock-in - for anyone in the state, I guess. It costs $35 and includes lots of insanity - ice skating, swimming, a band, games, pizza, bowling, chaos, and a guaranteed head ache. I guess for much of the night we'll be bussed around the city to different places for these activities. It's definitely evangelistic.

Sounds like fun to me. I dread the next two days - I'm always pooped after a lock-in. At least I'm not in charge.