The Best...........really!

A number of years ago I stood in front of our church and declared for all to hear, "Lord, I don't want to be a checkbook for missions......I want you to come and choose our best to serve you in the cause of the great commission!" Some time later a couple came into my office to tell me that they had just returned from a short term mission trip to the Amazon Basin in Brazil and were planning, with our blessing to return as full time missionaries with Project Amazon (PAZ). Their names: Don and Betty Best. Well, the Lord heard me and he came and got our Bests. Don is an elder at Agape Christian Fellowship. Their youngest son, Jonathan is currently training to become a missionary pilot. He most likely will return to Brazil to work with his mom and dad as a pilot for Project Amazon.

Don and Betty were recently home on furlough where they spent some of their time in the apartment we keep for visitors and missionaries when they're home. They left yesterday to return to Brazil, but what a blessing it was to have them home.

What a much greater blessing to know that they represent not only the "best" that we have to offer, but are what I believe just one segment in a long string of investments in the ministry of worldwide evangelism that God has graced our little church with the opportunity to make. For many years Elder David "Doc" Baldwin and his wife Phyllis served as missionaries to the British Virgin Islands. Their daughter and son-in-law Jon and Diane Post worked with Pastors in Kaliningrad, Russia. Steve and Pat Copple have served in Indonesia and other parts of southeast Asia for many years. Another Agape elder, George Meyers and his wonderful wife Janet serve with Calvary International out of Jacksonville, FL and send missionaries around the world. Carl and Verlaine Brown (Carl is also an elder at Agape) served for a number of years in Guatemala and Oaxaca, Mexico. Jon Edwards, who we consider to be a blessed part of our church family is currently working with children in Peru and the list goes on. Joyce Thompson in Turkey, Sara Bickel in Tanzania, D'Andrea Weeks in Uganda, William and Hannah (Kirkman) Levi in Sudan.

It just keeps getting better. I'm meeting regularly in a mentoring relationship with a 23 year old man from our church who is preparing to go to the mission field as a missionary pilot.

Over those years God has allowed me to train leaders and initiate church planting and economic development projects in Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Kenya giving me access to literally thousands of bright and energetic young men and women who are committed to taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. As a church we have regular short term teams that go to Brazil, Cameroon, Kenya, Mexico, and Peru.

Someone has said, "Be careful what you pray for you might get it." I would, in fact, like to ammend that little proverb to say, "Be bold in what you pray for, you might just get it!" Many years ago I asked the Lord to send committed believers from our little fellowship to the ends of the earth. I didn't just want to "mail it in;" I want us to be a vibrant, effective part of the program of reaching the world for Christ. I asked for a bigger tent, for larger borders, for a greater trust from the throne in the affairs of the Kingdom. As a matter of fact, our Statement of Purpose reads: "The purpose of Agape Christian Fellowship is to win, equip, and send committed followers of Jesus Christ who will be able to share His gospel from Brattleboro to the uttermost parts of the earth."

As I embraced Don and Betty yesterday and watched them drive down the street toward Boston and the airport from which they would return to Brazil it is difficult to explain the sense of awe and thanksgiving that swept over me. That God would from the heart of spiritually dark New England, allow a little spark of light that would shine to the uttermost part of the earth - is just the best!

Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim it!

I kept thinking about the words to that old hymn as we were winding our way down into and across the Great Rift Valley in October. We had just spent a week at the Immanuel Christian School for the Deaf in Ringa, KENYA. Those of you who know me, or who have followed this blog know that just over a year ago I visited the school where I have invested so much time (mine) and money (mine and others) to find that our trust had been betrayed, the children were not being properly cared for, and a great deal of money missing or unaccounted for.

The school has been relocated and under a new administration. I was so blessed to find 53 happy and very well cared for children in their brand new location. There is much work to be done, but we have a good foundation on which to build. Thanks to the generous donations of many people here in America and others in Australia (we met up with a team of Aussies) the children and staff received new shoes and socks, new clothes and underwear, new mattresses and blankets for their beds. Thanks to the generosity of the Austine School for the Deaf and Staples Office Supplies in Brattleboro, Vermont they also received an abundance of school supplies, teaching aids, and curriculum to assist them in their teaching tasks. We were also able to purchase additional notebooks, sports equipment, and toys for the small children, some medical and first aid supplies. While we were fitting the children for shoes we were able to examine for sores, etc. and Mark Hardy oversaw the installation of new window panes to replace many broken ones. Sheri Parker and Alexa Morrell sewed buttons and fixed hems and zippers on most of the school uniforms and I was able to make significant progress on re-establishing our economic development program in the school we began over a year ago. Over all, it was a very fruitful and productive trip.

Currently, they are cooking for 60 people over an open fire in a tin out building, but new stoves are on the way. A local donor was contacted to fund the fabrication the new stoves and I will be sending the funds to finish the job, transport the stoves from Nairobi (about a 6 hour trip) and install them in their kitchen which will be upgraded as well.

The children are safe, fed, clothed, and bedded securely. They are being taught by competent teachers and they are being cared for with compassion and mercy. It is not a perfect situation, but it is a situation in which the children have a chance - an opportunity to be happy and safe; and in a place where they are not being exploited for the selfish gain of others. A situation which was bad; very bad - has been redeemed. It has been redeemed by the great mercy of God who led us to get involved so that their exploitation could be exposed. It has been redeemed by the compassion of God to bring merciful and generous people into their lives. It has been redeemed because of hearts and pocketbooks which have overflowed with generosity to reach out to meet the desperate needs. I assure everyone that I am "proclaiming" this redemption to anyone who will listen. To those of you who have opened your hearts and your pocket books - I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

We will begin now to develop a new sponsorship program in which we hope to "double" sponsor each child. Each student is currently sponsored families in Australia. I have accepted the challenge of finding matching sponsors in the US. When each child is "double sponsored" (a monthly sponsorship is $37 USD) the school will be completely funded for its monthly operating budget. I haven't worked out the details of the sponsorship program and set up the sponsorship accounts yet, but hope to by the first of the year. If you have any interest in sponsoring one of these wonderful children, please contact me (twomichaels@verizon.net) and I'll notify you as soon as our sponsorship program is in place. Blessings to all.