Archive for category life at mabts

José

José jumped out of his vehicle and asked me if anyone answered the door. I had been knocking on his front door while he watched me from his vehicle. I had no idea he was there. As I turned to leave I noticed him talking on his cell phone. He seemed upset. I immediately thought that this might not be the best time to be at this home, so I headed straight for my car. That’s when he jumped out. I told him that no one had answered.

He picked up the phone and told the person on the other end that he would call them back. “Who are you looking for?” he wanted to know. I swallowed. “I am a church planter. I just wanted to meet you.” He looked at me and I could see that tears were filling his eyes. “There are no coincidences.” he said. “Ok.” was all I could muster unsure about what he meant. José began to tell me how he had just been talking to his mother trying to share Scripture with her to encourage her as she was having a very difficult time right now. He then told me that he had become a follower of Jesus, but did not attend a church. “Can you teach us the Bible?” he asked. “I would love to.” I said. He just stood there and waited. “You mean right now?” I asked. “Yes.” he said.

He gathered his family (3 generations) in their living room and set a swiveling desk chair in the middle of the room for me to sit in. We prayed together and applied Colossians 1:15-20 to our lives. The next day José called me and asked if I could come back every week. I will be meeting with José and his family on Saturday evenings. Please pray that José will continue to lead his family toward God. Pray that I will have wisdom in knowing how this family might fit into a new church plant.

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Commissioning

I had the privilege of attending the commissioning of 61 missionaries last week. The International Mission Board currently has over 5 thousand missionaries across the world. In the coming year, however, they have to draw back. They lack the resources to maintain the current deployed workforce.

Some are able to go. Like these.

Four couples from Mid-America Baptist were appointed with this group. Two will be going to South America, one to Romania, and the fourth somewhere else.

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English

María is one of the sweetest people we have met since we started church planting in Memphis. She is around 30-years- old and is struggling to raise Arlette on her own. Arlette just turned two, but is significantly behind where she should be developmentally. She doesn’t speak much. Also, she cannot use her arms or legs. She goes in regularly for therapy and has been undergoing a series of surgeries to help her begin to gain use of her limbs. It has been humbling to see Arlette begin to warm to us. She, at first, didn’t want anything to do with me. This probably had to do with the fact that she was suddenly separated from her father by something very much beyond their control.


(María babysits the girl in the photo during the day.)

María is one of the sweetest people we have met since we started church planting in Memphis. She is around 30-years- old and is struggling to raise Arlette on her own. Arlette just turned two, but is significantly behind where she should be developmentally. She doesn’t speak much. Also, she cannot use her arms or legs. She goes in regularly for therapy and has been undergoing a series of surgeries to help her begin to gain use of her limbs. It has been humbling to see Arlette begin to warm to us. She, at first, didn’t want anything to do with me. This probably had to do with the fact that she was suddenly separated from her father by something very much beyond their control.

Amanda has begun to meet with María at least once a week to study English. María is a very diligent worker and has a strong desire to better her English. She wants to understand what the doctors are telling her about her daughter.

María and Amanda aren’t only studying English, but they are becoming friends. Please pray that Amanda is able to share with María the reason that we love her. Please pray that María will open her heart to the One who turns ashes into beauty.

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Faculty

Dr. Akers and (future) Dr. Baker take time out of their busy day to enjoy some of the MABTS cafeteria’s hot lunch.

Mike Baker is actually a PhD student. He is currently teaching New Testament 2 as a part of his degree requirement.

Dr. Akers teaches several courses and pastors the Hispanic congregation at Kirby Woods Baptist Church.

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Tournament Time

The ‘Spring Ping’ is underway. Hopefully, this year’s finale will be every bit as dramatic as last year’s.

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Teach

One of my favorite things about Dr. May’s style of teaching is that he likes to make us process the material in such a way that we could teach it ourselves. To make sure that we are actually reaching that level of understanding, we actually teach.

Below are Brad Savage and Sarah Byrd in action. As you can see, they are both hanging on to the podium for dear life.

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A Selection

Here are a few of Sophia’s latest letter learning activities.

Amanda has a great community of moms at MABTS housing. They have been an immense encouragement to her as she learns how to be a mom that walks with Jesus.




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Ouch

Each of us has different talents. Some have a gift for interaction with people. Others have a gift for achieving objective goals. All of us who aspire to Christian ministry and service must seek to increase our concern for and interaction with others, or, in Paul’s words, we must seek to share our lives. We need to develop a habit evaluating our priorities, and we need to recognize that the tasks we think are so critical are not more important than the people God has entrusted to us.

Lingenfelter. Ministering Cross-Culturally, 2003. p. 85.

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I’m working my way through this small book for Dr. May’s Contextualization class. It’s good. It exposes some underlying tensions I am feeling as I work with Latinos.

In the book Lingenfelter basically walks the reader through the interpersonal blunders he made as he lived and ministered to the Yapese.

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NT Exam

Nothing like an exam to snap me out of my Christmas Break fog.

I’m taking New Testament 2 this semester with PhD student Mike Baker. I’ll be tested over both the Corinthians, both Thessalonians, and Galatians in a couple of days.

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[ to be filled ]

My life feels like a process of losing myself, so I can find myself. Losing my life in order to find it . . .

I am giving up my rights, dreams, preferences, ambitions. Not just to be willing to surrender those things, but to actually do it.

Funny thing is when I empty myself of me I find myself being filled with what really matters.

Above all I am giving control of my life to God. He has ransomed me and has every right to move me, transform me, discipline me. Giving myself to him occupies the highest priority in my life.

I am also giving myself to my family. God has placed Amanda, Sophia, and Samuel under my watchcare. It is with them that I experience life, the simple and profound, the mundane and extraordinary. My whole life is completely wrapped up in them. Taking care of them is second only to walking with Jesus. The two aren’t mutually exclusive. They go hand in hand.

I am pouring myself out for my neighbor. In this stage in my life my neighbor lives 10 minutes away and speaks mostly Spanish. God has placed compulsion and call in my heart to make myself available to him to plant a Hispanic church.

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