tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52572549816296997162024-03-14T00:33:17.675-07:00Destination ZambiaPartnering together to fulfill the Great Commission in ZambiaYou can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-868635325074781502016-05-28T21:35:00.001-07:002016-05-28T21:36:39.682-07:00<br />
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Because You Prayed and Gave</h1>
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<span class="sep" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Posted on </span><a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/because-you-prayed-and-gave/" rel="bookmark" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="11:19 pm"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2014-11-18T23:19:18+00:00">November 18, 2014</time></a></div>
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As we prepared to leave Mongu, we were overwhelmed as we reflected back on all that the Lord had done in just 12 months. We want our supporters to realize that we did this together. We thought it would be good if you heard some of the impact you made from the perspective of a Zambian Pastor and how he saw God working through our ministry so we asked our dear friend Pastor Lubinda Sikufele to share with you the impact YOU have made. The following is his letter to you.</blockquote>
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To all the supporters of Paul and Velda Rikel – My names are Pastor Lubinda Sikufele working as a Regional Coordinator for Kids Alive Zambia as well as serving the people of God at Imwiko Church of Christ as well as overseeing some church outreach program in the far flung area of the Baroste plain. I also serve a vice- secretary for the Mongu Pastors Fellowship. Since the arrival of Paul and Velda in our town we have hit as good friends in spreading the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ here in Mongu of the Western province of Zambia. The revival that is sweeping the other part of Zambia’ main cities unfortunately has not yet reached the Western part of Zambia which is neglected as only less than 2% of the population are Evangelical Christians out of the population of over 1 million inhabitants. Geographical barriers and the general lack of development has hindered the spread of the gospel as many people are under the influence of cults, witch craft and superstition, HIV/AIDS and poverty is on the increase with a high number of girls getting pregnant thus falling away from school.<br />
With the spiritual gloomy scenario it has pleased our father in heaven to impress upon the hearts of the Rikels a burden to leave the USA for Zambia to join hands with the locals in evangelization of our town and villages. Since the arrival of the Rikels we have seen a tremendous change and another shift in ministry and a few of the following has been accomplishments.<br />
• Done every Thursday discipleship course to local believers where my wife also attends<br />
• Preached in various churches where he has been invited apart from the Reformed Baptist e.g Church of Christ, Vineyard Mongu, Union Baptist, Evangelical Church in Zambia<br />
• Preached at various government forums where officials assemble for various national duties<br />
• Preached at various Interdenominational gatherings of New Vine and Mongu pastors’ fellowship- New Vine is a conglomerate of various church groups in our town<br />
• We have done ministry together in the Villages – outskirts of Mongu<br />
• Paul and Velda have supported financially, materially and opened their home to our orphans at Kids Alive Zambia and NOAH’s little home<br />
• They have preached at various overnights which is very rare for many Missionaries I have known to attend as nights are inconveniencing<br />
• Have helped many with their car for evangelism as well as many times an ambulance for sick brethren<br />
• Paul has repeatedly preached at Zambian works an American funded Micro finance scheme to their workers on spiritual development<br />
• Have been involved with Youths at Mongu Youth Centre where youths gather for activities<br />
• They have been prayer partners to many of the saints here in our town.<br />
• They have preached at various government Schools in our town<br />
• Conduct Monday bible study for events committee of the MYC<br />
• Host kids and other adults for meal fellowships at their home<br />
Brothers and sisters I mention these things not to add butter or speak well of our new friends but its truth and real stuff from my heart endorsed by heaven. Paul and Velda are very dedicated pair who loves the natives and loves God very much as seen in their daily devotion and faith in Christ. In fact many pastors and even Christians have mentioned that the Couple are among the most lovely and well accepted pair in our community. I know they can’t do it alone without your financial and prayer cover. May God richly bless you abundantly.<br />
Pastor Lubinda Sikufele</div>
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You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-83080875720006491972016-05-28T21:34:00.000-07:002016-05-28T21:34:04.495-07:00<article class="post-476 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-uncategorized" id="post-476" style="border-bottom-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 1.625em; padding: 4.875em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><header class="entry-header" style="margin: 0px auto; width: 600.40625px;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: 36px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 48px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 15px 0px 0.3em; vertical-align: baseline;">
More Than Amazing</h1>
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<span class="sep" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Posted on </span><a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/more-than-amazing/" rel="bookmark" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="5:12 pm"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2014-06-28T17:12:27+00:00">June 28, 2014</time></a></div>
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I am in way over my head. That thought comes to me on a regular basis these days and although it is a bit scary, it is a very good thing. I pray that I stay in over my head so that I will remain desperately dependent on God. Most of the time this desperate dependence comes right after I hear the words, “They would like for you to preach”. That has definitely been the case over the past couple of weeks. I want to share two of those times with you.</div>
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We had heard about a crusade that the Mongu Pastor’s Fellowship had been planning and were very interested in attending. The local Pastors here have a wonderful relationship with each other and they put aside denominational differences and work together for the cause of Christ in many ways. We inquired about the details of the crusade with one of our Pastor friends and He told us it would be held at a location in Mongu known as Dark City. He told us it is called Dark City because of all the drug use, drinking, and witchcraft that goes on in that area. Then he said, “We discussed it at the Pastor’s Fellowship and we would like you to preach one of the nights of the crusade.”…Desperate dependent time!</div>
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It was Friday night, the third night of the crusade and the praise team was leading those who had come in a very energetic worship session. I stood behind the reed walls that I had helped put up just a few days before at the edge of an open area in Dark City. The walls were put up to give those who were intercessors a place to pray while the crusade was going on.<a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Crusade-venue.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Crusade venue" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-477" height="168" scale="0" src="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Crusade-venue-300x168.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0.4em auto 1.625em; max-width: 97.5%; padding: 6px;" width="300" /></a></div>
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As I was standing there praying the realization of what was happening was overwhelming. I was asking God, “Why me? Here I am thousands of miles from home in a culture so very different from my own, I have no formal training in preaching, this is so big, this is so important, there are so many others who are more qualified who could be doing this, Why me?” I looked to the heavens and saw a full moon and stars that filled the sky with a brightness which lit up the Zambezi floodplain before me and I was once again reminded of the greatness of our God. Now I was no longer overwhelmed by the magnitude of my situation but overwhelmed with the magnitude of my God. He spoke to my heart saying that it is not about who I am, it is all about who He is and that it is not about what I can or cannot do, but what He wants to do and will do. About that time someone came to me and said it is time for you to preach. They also told me that the pulpit was to far from the people and that I just needed to come out front and preach. So much for the notes I had prepared. I took the microphone and felt led to say, “To the rulers, authorities, and principalities of darkness. Consider this your eviction notice. The children of God have come to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and tonight the captives will be set free!” I continued the with my message on Jesus is the way and concluded by saying if anyone is tired of being a captive, if they are tired of their addictions, if they are tired of being in bondage to darkness, tonight Jesus is telling them, He is the way. Before I could even finish saying that a young man was standing before me and as other began to come to the alter, I could see that this young man was truly being broken by the Holy Spirit and I closed my eyes and began praying for him. When I opened my eyes there was a large number of people standing before me with their heads bowed and their hands lifted in surrender to the Lord.<a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Crusade.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="Crusade" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-478" height="225" scale="0" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" src="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Crusade-300x225.jpg" srcset="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Crusade-300x225.jpg 300x, http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Crusade-400x300.jpg 400x, http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Crusade.jpg 960x" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0.4em auto 1.625em; max-width: 97.5%; padding: 6px;" width="300" /></a></div>
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That night a young lady surrendered the items she had with her that she used for witchcraft and a man came forward surrendering the drugs he had on himself both giving their lives to Christ. It was more than amazing because I new God had done it all. 1 Corinthians 2:4-5″ And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” Praise God!</div>
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Stay tuned for “More Than Amazing Part 2”</div>
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<footer class="entry-meta" style="clear: both; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px auto; width: 600.40625px;">This entry was posted in <a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/category/uncategorized/" rel="category tag" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Uncategorized</a> by <a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/author/admin/" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">admin</a>. Bookmark the <a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/more-than-amazing/" rel="bookmark" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Permalink to More Than Amazing">permalink</a>. </footer></article><div id="comments" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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ONE THOUGHT ON “<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">MORE THAN AMAZING</span>” </h2>
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<li class="comment even thread-even depth-1" id="li-comment-109" style="background-color: #f6f6f6; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.625em 102px; outline: 0px; padding: 1.625em; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: auto;"><article class="comment" id="comment-109"><footer class="comment-meta" style="color: #666666; font-size: 12px; line-height: 2.2em;"><div class="comment-author vcard" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<img alt="" class="avatar avatar-68 photo grav-hashed grav-hijack" height="68" id="grav-7a075135413eba4e7fd3503363eb6fa2-0" originals="68" scale="2" src-orig="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/7a075135413eba4e7fd3503363eb6fa2?s=68&d=mm&r=g" src="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/7a075135413eba4e7fd3503363eb6fa2?s=136&d=mm&r=g" srcset="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/7a075135413eba4e7fd3503363eb6fa2?s=136&d=mm&r=g 2x" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 0px 1px 2px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 0px 1px 2px; left: -102px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px;" width="68" /><span class="fn" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kevin LeNeave</span> on <a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/more-than-amazing/#comment-109" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><time datetime="2014-06-30T12:20:31+00:00">June 30, 2014 at 12:20 pm</time></a> <span class="says" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">said:</span></div>
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It is great to see your willingness to be used by God and the results from that commitment as God uses you to reach his children. God is good.</div>
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You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-6958891587547310122016-05-28T21:31:00.001-07:002016-05-28T21:31:08.399-07:00<article class="post-473 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-uncategorized" id="post-473" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border-bottom-style: none; color: #373737; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 1.625em; padding: 4.875em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><header class="entry-header" style="margin: 0px auto; width: 600.40625px;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="border: 0px; clear: both; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 36px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 48px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 15px 0px 0.3em; vertical-align: baseline;">
Blessings and Burials</h1>
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<span class="sep" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Posted on </span><a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/blessings-and-burials/" rel="bookmark" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="6:20 pm"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2014-06-24T18:20:27+00:00">June 24, 2014</time></a></div>
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The past few days have brought new opportunities to Paul and I. God sometimes puts us in situations we are not comfortable in but He will be glorified through it. This is one of those times.</div>
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It began Tuesday of last week. Our friend Mr Imwaka, the caretaker at the Youth Center, ask us if we could give him a ride to the hospital. His daughter had become very sick recently so they admitted her just a few days before. Mr Imwaka’s wife, Lumba, was there caring for her. He needed to take them some food. He said his daughter had stopped eating and had become very weak with a high fever. The doctors had not yet diagnosed her.</div>
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We had not yet been to the hospital in Mongu. I had hoped we wouldn’t have to but Mr Imwaka needed our help so of course we agreed. It’s difficult to describe the conditions there but they are doing the best they can. So as we walked into the ward of about 200 beds, I put my head down and just prayed for the patience and the hospital personnel. We finally got to the daughter’s bed. (We don’t know her name, they call her the daughter). She was so very thin. I had mentioned to someone about a month ago that I thought she was much to thin but they just said she was thin like her mother. Unfortunately I was right. We gave them the food, prayed, and said goodbye. But I had a feeling, something about the look in her eyes…</div>
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Then Friday, Mr Imwaka ask us to go again to take food to the hospital. We were busy doing something so we told him we could go in about an hour or so. He graciously said that would be fine. When we got there he told us that visiting hours were over and they might not allow him to enter. We apologized. We were not aware of the visiting hours. We let him out at the gate and he explained to the gate person he had food, thankfully, he let him through.</div>
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Lumba came out to the truck to tell us thank you and said the daughter was better. Mr Imwaka said they had diagnosed her and had begun treatment for meningitis. We didn’t think that sounded like good news but he was confident she was on the mend.</div>
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Sunday morning, 1:00 a.m., the hospital called and ask us to pick up Lumba and take her home, the daughter had passed away. Paul called a pastor friend of ours, Pastor Lubinda, who pastors the church Mr Imwaka attends, to go with him. Of course, Pastor Lubinda went with Paul.</div>
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Monday, we went to the Imwaka’s to bring food, love and prayers. In Zambia when someone dies, all the family comes to your house and you have to feed and house them until after the funeral. We drove up and people were everywhere. It is a great burden to have to care for so many plus how can you properly grieve? We gave Mr Imwaka the food and went into the house and I knelt down to Lumba, who was sitting motionless in floor, gave her a hug and prayed that God would just hold her in His arms. She looked at me but I am not sure she even saw me.</div>
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On the way back to the truck, Mr Imwaka ask us to pick the body up at the mortuary and take it to the graveyard Tuesday morning. We opened up the back of our truck and with the tailgate down, we could fit the coffin in the back. We had lots of first, first trip to the hospital, first Zambian burial, and now our first time delivering a body to its final resting place.</div>
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So this morning we arrived at the mortuary to pick up the body. The daughter’s body had not been prepared for burial. They were waiting for the family to arrive with the burial soap. Also the coffin was not there either. Someone asked us if we could go pick it up at the coffin shop. When we got back with the coffin strapped in, the family went inside the mortuary and began preparing “the daughter” for burial. Pastor Lubinda said the family always has to prepare the body. How hard that must be! I cannot imagine such a thing. Of course before during and after, there was lots of beautiful singing and then as you can imagine, lots of crying.</div>
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The women bring the coffin out and set it in our truck. Then they climbed in the back with her. As we traveled to the burial site, beautiful songs could be heard from the back. The grave yard is on Chisonga road just opposite the Youth Center. The children on that road, know our truck well. They run, waving their little hands, smiling ear to ear, yelling “hello, how are you”. Today, our mission was different. One of grief and sorrow for a young lady who had died way too soon. Someone said she was in her early 20’s.</div>
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We arrive at the graveyard and was asked to drive closer to the burial site. Our truck is not four-wheel drive and of course the ground is sand. At first we weren’t sure, but God pulled us right to it with no problem. We were so thankful.</div>
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The preacher spoke, prayers were said, songs sang. Of course all of it in Lozi so we didn’t know what was being said exactly. They opened one end of the coffin so the family could view the body. As Lumba tried to pass she had to have people on both sides of her to help her look at her childs face for the last time on earth. They closed the coffin, placed it in the ground, and began covering it with sand. They continued mounting the sand over the grave until it was built up a couple of feet. Then the women who had prepared the body began singing, knelt down around the mound, and began lovingly patting the sand until it was firm. It was so sweet and compassionate. The family had single silk long stem roses and the Pastor would call certain people to place one in the sand, standing up right on her grave. Like I said, we can’t really understand anything being said and all of a sudden we hear the Pastor call, “Bo Paul and Bo Velda”. The Imwaka’s had requested that we have the honor of putting a rose on the grave. How beautiful and humbling. After the funeral was over, Pastor Lubinda said that the Pastor told the family that the love we had shown them in this time of difficulty, was what love is all about. Wow, God, really? How awesome is He that He should use us to show His love to hurting people in such a way. We show the love of God to people and what do we receive, His love ten fold!!! Glory Be to God Forever!!</div>
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You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-4421818449935752162016-05-28T21:29:00.001-07:002016-05-28T21:29:17.863-07:00<header class="entry-header" style="margin: 0px auto; width: 600.40625px;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: 36px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 48px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 15px 0px 0.3em; vertical-align: baseline;">
Awesome Aussies and Fireproofing Marriages</h1>
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<span class="sep" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Posted on </span><a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/awesome-aussies-and-fireproofing-marriages/" rel="bookmark" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="8:25 pm"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2014-02-18T20:25:39+00:00">February 18, 2014</time></a></div>
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Wow! We have had so much going on since our last update it is hard to know where to begin, so we will just jump right in. In early January we received a team of 10 young professionals from Australia who spent a week doing ministry at the Mongu Youth Center. Every afternoon and evening they led sessions on a variety of topics such as dating and relationships, Excel, film and theology, photography, and team building games. They were such a blessing to us and generated much excitement at the youth center. We heard many of the youth who had attended every day say that after the team left, they felt a void in their lives. The impact they had and the momentum they generated will continue to be felt for months to come as we continue to build into the lives of the young people here.<br />This past weekend we hosted a marriage enrichment seminar at the Mongu Youth Center led by our dear friend and local Pastor Lubinda Sikufele. Friday night we viewed the movie Fireproof followed by a time of discussion, and then all day Saturday participants were taught biblical principles on having a godly and fireproofed marriage. Afterwards we heard testimonies of how God had spoken to hearts and changed lives through the film and seminar. One lady reported that after the seminar, her husband cooked nshima for her for the first time in their marriage.<br />In addition to the youth center activities, we have been invited to be a part of a local youth ministry called New Vine Ministry. We were given their calendar of events and told we were invited to all of them and would always be given the opportunity to speak if we want. This will give us the opportunity to speak to hundreds of young people every month and provide a good connection between Mongu Youth Center and New Vine Ministries as we work together to transform lives by empowering young people to be all that God has created them to be and to live for Him.<br />Our Bible study group continues to meet every Monday evening and we have begun another bible study in our home on Thursday evenings. Four attendees of the Thursday evening group are students at the Bible College. As Paul was taking them home after our first meeting, they were almost giddy with excitement about the things we had learned and discussed in the group and continued the discussion all the way to their homes at the school.<br />In addition to all this, we have spoken at a Sunday School workshop for teachers, a Family Matters training graduation, preached at a couple of churches, worked on getting our driver’s license, spent a few days with the Australia team in Livingstone and visited Victoria Falls, played with kids, visited our friend who sells ice cream a few times, and had friends over for movies, games and dinners. Whew! God is so good and we stand amazed at all the opportunities He is giving us to serve Him here.</div>
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You Have Made It All Possible</h2>
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<img align="none" alt="" height="56" scale="0" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/6822f04dff07ff6ebbd912d60/images/Velda_Loving.jpg" style="margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 100%;" width="100" /><img align="none" alt="" height="56" scale="0" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/6822f04dff07ff6ebbd912d60/images/20140114_154130.jpg" style="margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 100%;" width="100" /><img align="none" alt="" height="56" scale="0" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/6822f04dff07ff6ebbd912d60/images/20131206_155427.jpg" style="margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 100%;" width="100" /> <img align="none" alt="" height="133" scale="0" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/6822f04dff07ff6ebbd912d60/images/Paul_Preaching.jpg" style="margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 100%;" width="100" /> <img align="none" alt="" height="133" scale="0" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/6822f04dff07ff6ebbd912d60/images/Velda_Spin.jpg" style="margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 100%;" width="100" /> <img align="none" alt="" height="100" scale="0" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/6822f04dff07ff6ebbd912d60/images/p_and_friends.jpg" style="margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 100%;" width="100" /><br />It is hard to believe that we have been in Zambia for five months. In some ways it seems like we just got off the plane and in others it feels like we have been here much longer. We have had so many opportunities to share the love of God with the people of Zambia and have touched many lives, but none of this would be possible without the prayer and financial support of so many of you. We receive a lot of likes and comments on our Facebook page from pictures we post of our lives in Mongu. As we try to tell the story of what God is doing here we want you to know that you are part of that story. When you see pictures of Velda holding and loving a young child, those are your arms and your love holding that child as well. When Paul stands to preach or share the Word of God, he stands with all of you and in the power of your prayers. Please know that you are making an eternal difference in the lives of many people as we serve together. Thank you for all the love and support and may God continue to richly bless you.<br />Please contact us at paul.rikel@sim.org for information on how you partner with us.</div>
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You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-20906666250468061582016-05-28T21:26:00.001-07:002016-05-28T21:27:42.015-07:00<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border: 0px; color: #373737; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Children are little sponges, we all know that. They are listening and watching everything we do and their little hearts and minds are always learning. We dare not lead them astray. McKinley learned about Jesus from the time he was 2 years old. At age 5, he stepped out into the long isle at Lone Oak First Baptist and headed toward Brother Henson. For those of you who don’t know Brother Henson, he is a large man in stature and voice! The Lord led McKinley to the front of the church where he gave his life to the Jesus!! God called Paul and I to impart His love into our home. McKinley witnessed, and was a part of, honoring God in all our ways. Was our home perfect? No! But God, in spite of our mistakes, used us to lead McKinley to Him.<br />So I ask you, what are your children seeing in your home? Do they see the love and peace Christ brings to your life? It is our responsibility as Christian parents to instill in our children truth about the gospel. That responsibility is a gift from God and we should cherish it.<br />We have been blessed countless times to hear of parents and children praying for us. My friend Dena was teaching her daughter Brooke the continents and the moment she showed her Africa, Brooke exclaimed with excitement, “That is where Paul and Velda live!” We have heard story after story of children asking their parents about Paul and I living in Africa. Some of the questions are quiet funny while others are remarkably mature. We are blessed beyond measure to know that God is working in their hearts!!<br />This is a message we received this week on Facebook:<br />“On the drive in to school this morning, out of the blue, Owen asks me, “Mom, you know Paul and Velda that live in Africa, do they have different voices now? And are they ever going to come back?” He was asking if you spoke in a different language. So that prompted a 15-minute story-telling session on what language you are learning to speak, having to go to school to learn it, the waterfall you visited, the children you’re working with, the crazy animals you see on the side of the road, whether or not the kids have any toys, what type of truck you drive on the dirt road…. and all for God’s glory! What a great lesson we had in the car this morning! Love ya!” – Kindra<br />Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”</div>
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You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-59418411838185700482016-05-28T21:25:00.002-07:002016-05-28T21:25:40.705-07:00<header class="entry-header" style="margin: 0px auto; width: 600.40625px;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-size: 36px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 48px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 15px 0px 0.3em; vertical-align: baseline;">
2013 – Blessed Beyond Measure</h1>
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<span class="sep" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Posted on </span><a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/2013-blessed-beyond-measure/" rel="bookmark" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="7:00 pm"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2014-01-01T19:00:39+00:00">January 1, 2014</time></a></div>
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To view our year in pictures, <a href="http://youtu.be/-LPWfpSF-ug" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">click here</a></div>
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What a year 2013 was for our family. It was by far one of the most difficult years we have faced, yet at the same time on of the most blessed. We saw the hand of God working in so many incredible ways. In the good times and bad, he was with us every step of the way. This morning as we looked back at all that happened in 2013 we were overwhelmed with thanksgiving for what He has done. Here are just a few of the events of our year:</div>
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<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The passing of Paul’s mother </strong>– Last January, Paul’s mother became very ill and passed away. Even though it was a very difficult time, we praise God that we were able to care for her while she was in the hospital and be with her in her final days. I blogged about it here <a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/strength-for-today/" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/strength-for-today/</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Raising our support </strong>– We began the year with only 30% of our support needed to move to Zambia and yet we knew 2013 was the year we would go. As we met with people and shared our heart and vision for serving in Zambia, we were so encouraged to hear how God was working in their lives as well. Through the process, we reconnected with friends that we had not seen in years, got to know others much better, and made some new ones along the way.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">McKinley graduating </strong>– McKinley graduated in early May and began the next chapter in his life. Velda blogged about the prospect of leaving McKinley. You can read more here. <a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/i-aint-grievin-til-im-leavin/" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/i-aint-grievin-til-im-leavin/</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Trip to Chicago </strong>– We wanted to have one last vacation as a family before we headed to Zambia, so we asked McKinley where he wanted to go. Expecting to hear something that involved sandy beeches, we were surprised when he said Chicago. What a great idea! We had so much fun and are so thankful for the time we had enjoying the city and each other,</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Quitting our jobs </strong> – Both of us resigned from our jobs before we were completely funded.That was quite a step of faith. Here is a quote from our blog about that, “So there it is. 53% funded May 7th. Resign from city July 5th and we are believing to leave for Zambia some time in August. Plenty more reality check points ahead; stay tuned.” You can read how God lead us to this by <a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/reality-check-points/" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">clicking here</a>. Velda also gave a heartfelt farewell to her co-workers here <a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/veldas-farewell-to-her-co-workers/" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/veldas-farewell-to-her-co-workers/</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">CIT training </strong>– In the early May, we had to make a decision. We were required by SIM to take a second language acquisition course at the Center for Intercultural Training in North Carolina. The courses were filling up fast and there were only a few openings left for the course being offered in July. SIM suggested that we not take the course until we were 80% funded, so that what we learned would still be fresh on our minds when we got to the field. On top of that, I did not have enough vacation time to cover the 2 week course. So we trusted God, set my resignation date from the city for July, and enrolled in the class. When we were at CIT, we reached 78% funding. It was a great course and we enjoyed our time there with some great people who are now serving all around the world.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Moved McKinley into his own house </strong>– This was another hard day. The realization that soon we would be leaving our sweet boy behind and moving to Zambia became all to real. We had several rough times in the following days, but God was always faithful to remind us that we could trust Him. Here is an amazing story of how He did just that .<a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/from-the-pit-to-the-petals/" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/from-the-pit-to-the-petals/</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fully Funded </strong>– Our bags were packed and our airline tickets were purchased, all we needed was the remaining 10% funding. Just days before we were to leave, we reached 100%</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The passing of Velda’s father </strong> – This again was one of the hardest times of our lives. He had been suffering from dementia for some time and in August finally took his life. Although it was a difficult time, we were so thankful that we were still in the US and were able to be there for Velda’s mom and family.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Boarding the plane </strong>– The day had finally come. All the packing, all the goodbyes, all the preparing was complete and it was time to board the plane. Tears filled our eyes several times from so many mixed emotions as we left all we knew and headed into the relative unknown <a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/mixed-emotions/" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/mixed-emotions/</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Arriving in Zambia </strong>– Lots of adjustments and new things to say the least. <a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/oh-yeah-i-know/" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/oh-yeah-i-know/</a> Began doing ministry <a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/happiness-is-a-wet-blanket/" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/happiness-is-a-wet-blanket/</a></li>
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All in all it has been a great year and we look forward to seeing how God works in 2014. Thank you to so many who have prayed for us, financially supported us, and encouraged us in so many ways. We are blessed to walk this road together.</div>
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You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-67597883828447412512016-05-28T21:24:00.001-07:002016-05-28T21:24:42.782-07:00<article class="post-409 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-uncategorized" id="post-409" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border-bottom-style: none; color: #373737; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 1.625em; padding: 4.875em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><header class="entry-header" style="margin: 0px auto; width: 600.40625px;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="border: 0px; clear: both; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 36px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 48px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 15px 0px 0.3em; vertical-align: baseline;">
Some Things Don’t Make the Book</h1>
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<span class="sep" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Posted on </span><a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/some-things-dont-make-the-book/" rel="bookmark" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="12:22 pm"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2013-10-25T12:22:30+00:00">October 25, 2013</time></a></div>
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One of the things we enjoy reading are stories of great missionaries from the past. Stories of struggles and great victories on the mission field. Stories of incredible miracles and the moving of God among various people and in various places. We read of days filled with a great harvest of people coming to know the Lord. But you know what? I am sure there are many days that didn’t make the book.</div>
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We would love to write a blog and send an update about the great move of God we saw among the people of Mongu or about the hundreds of souls saved as the result of a big evangelism crusade we put on or about the converted witch doctor who is now the leader of his church and, while we may write of such things some day, there will be many more days which don’t make the book. Days like today.</div>
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Today was not a glamorous day on the mission field. Today was about doing the work. This morning Paul went to work with students from the Bible College. They weren’t doing door-to-door evangelism, but making concrete blocks. Digging sand out of the ground, shoveling it into a trailer, shoveling the sand out of the trailer, mixing it with bags of cement, adding water, and shoveling the mix into block molds.<br /><img alt="20131023_100551" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-406" height="168" scale="0" src="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/20131023_100551-300x168.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-right: 1.625em; margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 97.5%; padding: 6px;" width="300" /></div>
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From there, Paul and Rich went to help a group of men from a local church move a wood planer from out of the church sanctuary to a small building just a short distance away. The planer weighed close to one ton and had to be rolled on poles and maneuvered out the door onto Rich’s trailer.</div>
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Velda’s day was similar. Today was laundry day. Before we came to Zambia, laundry day was quite the chore. Now that we are here and do not have a washer or dryer, laundry day is work. Once the clothes were hung on the line, it was time for language study and trying to remember the difference between greeting someone in the morning as opposed to greeting an elder person in the afternoon. This followed by the sweeping up of the sand that always finds its way into the house. Our day was filled with the kind of stuff that doesn’t make the book.<a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/20131023_113539.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="20131023_113539" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-404" height="168" scale="0" src="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/20131023_113539-300x168.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-right: 1.625em; margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 97.5%; padding: 6px;" width="300" /></a></div>
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But here is awesome thing about today. Those Bible school students making the blocks….they are on break from school and the money they are getting paid to make blocks is helping pay their fees for the next term. These are young Zambian men called to serve God who are being trained to be the next generation of pastors and possibly missionaries themselves. And the blocks that they are making…they will be used to build the Mongu Youth Center, where young lives will be transformed as they are discipled, taught life skills, and they hang out in a Christian environment. The local church with the one ton planer…I don’t know why the planer was in the church and what purpose it will serve in the other building, but we did get to work together with these brothers as we pushed and pulled as a team to accomplish the task, then celebrate with clapping and cheers of congratulations to one another. And learning the language…the more we know of the language and culture, the better and deeper relationships we will build, enabling us to better evangelize and disciple the people God puts in our paths.</div>
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That’s the thing. Not all days are going to make the book. Jesus had days that didn’t make the book as well. John 21:25, says “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they *were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself *would not contain the books that *would be written.” But those days and things Jesus did that didn’t make the book were no less significant. When you serve God, and He asks you to shovel sand or do laundry it is not insignificant—it is extraordinary.</div>
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It’s not the size and scope of the task, but the size and scope of the one who you are doing it for. To me that is why the Bible says in Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.”</div>
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6 THOUGHTS ON “<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">SOME THINGS DON’T MAKE THE BOOK</span>”</h2>
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You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-25634411153483429452016-05-28T21:23:00.002-07:002016-05-28T21:23:45.162-07:00<article class="post-409 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-uncategorized" id="post-409" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border-bottom-style: none; color: #373737; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 1.625em; padding: 4.875em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><header class="entry-header" style="margin: 0px auto; width: 600.40625px;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="border: 0px; clear: both; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 36px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 48px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 15px 0px 0.3em; vertical-align: baseline;">
Some Things Don’t Make the Book</h1>
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<span class="sep" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Posted on </span><a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/some-things-dont-make-the-book/" rel="bookmark" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="12:22 pm"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2013-10-25T12:22:30+00:00">October 25, 2013</time></a></div>
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One of the things we enjoy reading are stories of great missionaries from the past. Stories of struggles and great victories on the mission field. Stories of incredible miracles and the moving of God among various people and in various places. We read of days filled with a great harvest of people coming to know the Lord. But you know what? I am sure there are many days that didn’t make the book.</div>
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We would love to write a blog and send an update about the great move of God we saw among the people of Mongu or about the hundreds of souls saved as the result of a big evangelism crusade we put on or about the converted witch doctor who is now the leader of his church and, while we may write of such things some day, there will be many more days which don’t make the book. Days like today.</div>
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Today was not a glamorous day on the mission field. Today was about doing the work. This morning Paul went to work with students from the Bible College. They weren’t doing door-to-door evangelism, but making concrete blocks. Digging sand out of the ground, shoveling it into a trailer, shoveling the sand out of the trailer, mixing it with bags of cement, adding water, and shoveling the mix into block molds.<br /><img alt="20131023_100551" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-406" height="168" scale="0" src="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/20131023_100551-300x168.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-right: 1.625em; margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 97.5%; padding: 6px;" width="300" /></div>
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<a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/20131023_093011_17.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="20131023_093011_17" class="size-medium wp-image-407 alignnone" height="168" scale="0" src="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/20131023_093011_17-300x168.jpg" style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 1px solid rgb(187, 187, 187); height: auto; margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 97.5%; padding: 6px;" width="300" /></a></div>
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From there, Paul and Rich went to help a group of men from a local church move a wood planer from out of the church sanctuary to a small building just a short distance away. The planer weighed close to one ton and had to be rolled on poles and maneuvered out the door onto Rich’s trailer.</div>
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<a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/20131023_105328.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="20131023_105328" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-405" height="168" scale="0" src="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/20131023_105328-300x168.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-right: 1.625em; margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 97.5%; padding: 6px;" width="300" /></a></div>
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Velda’s day was similar. Today was laundry day. Before we came to Zambia, laundry day was quite the chore. Now that we are here and do not have a washer or dryer, laundry day is work. Once the clothes were hung on the line, it was time for language study and trying to remember the difference between greeting someone in the morning as opposed to greeting an elder person in the afternoon. This followed by the sweeping up of the sand that always finds its way into the house. Our day was filled with the kind of stuff that doesn’t make the book.<a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/20131023_113539.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="20131023_113539" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-404" height="168" scale="0" src="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/20131023_113539-300x168.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-right: 1.625em; margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 97.5%; padding: 6px;" width="300" /></a></div>
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But here is awesome thing about today. Those Bible school students making the blocks….they are on break from school and the money they are getting paid to make blocks is helping pay their fees for the next term. These are young Zambian men called to serve God who are being trained to be the next generation of pastors and possibly missionaries themselves. And the blocks that they are making…they will be used to build the Mongu Youth Center, where young lives will be transformed as they are discipled, taught life skills, and they hang out in a Christian environment. The local church with the one ton planer…I don’t know why the planer was in the church and what purpose it will serve in the other building, but we did get to work together with these brothers as we pushed and pulled as a team to accomplish the task, then celebrate with clapping and cheers of congratulations to one another. And learning the language…the more we know of the language and culture, the better and deeper relationships we will build, enabling us to better evangelize and disciple the people God puts in our paths.</div>
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That’s the thing. Not all days are going to make the book. Jesus had days that didn’t make the book as well. John 21:25, says “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they *were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself *would not contain the books that *would be written.” But those days and things Jesus did that didn’t make the book were no less significant. When you serve God, and He asks you to shovel sand or do laundry it is not insignificant—it is extraordinary.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It’s not the size and scope of the task, but the size and scope of the one who you are doing it for. To me that is why the Bible says in Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.”</div>
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6 THOUGHTS ON “<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">SOME THINGS DON’T MAKE THE BOOK</span>”</h2>
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You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-5121283866871072942016-05-28T21:21:00.002-07:002016-05-28T21:21:56.261-07:00<header class="entry-header" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #373737; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px auto; width: 600.40625px;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="border: 0px; clear: both; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 36px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 48px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 15px 0px 0.3em; vertical-align: baseline;">
Just a few observations</h1>
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<span class="sep" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Posted on </span><a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/index.php/just-a-few-observations/" rel="bookmark" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="8:46 pm"><time class="entry-date" datetime="2013-10-21T20:46:06+00:00">October 21, 2013</time></a></div>
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Well, we have been in Mongu for almost a month now. Here are just a few observations:</div>
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<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">You can get two T-Bone steaks for about $3 but a can of shaving cream cost about $10. I may be growing a beard as soon as it cools off some.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The kids love to ask, “Hi, How are you?” to which I love to reply, “I am Fine. How are you?” To which they reply, “I am fine. How are you?” to which I reply, “I am fine. How are you?”…and it goes on and on. Occasionally I like to throw in, “I am FANTASTIC!” just to help expand their English vocabulary. <img alt=":)" class="wp-smiley" scale="0" src="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-includes/images/smilies/simple-smile.png" style="background-image: none !important; background-position: initial initial !important; background-repeat: initial initial !important; border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; display: inline !important; height: 1em !important; margin: 0px 0.07em !important; max-height: 1em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px !important; vertical-align: -0.1em !important; width: 1em !important;" /></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There are a lot of cashew trees. I love me some cashews and have enjoyed them as an evening snack.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Staying clean is an impossibility. They say to wear light colored clothes in hot weather, but by the end of the day whatever I am wearing is usually gray from the black fine soot that is in the sand.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Locally grown pineapple is a whole new ballgame!</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There is the Atkins Diet, LA Weight-loss, but I am on the, “It’s too hot to eat, Mongu Diet. Not sure how much I have lost, but my pants button a lot easier. <img alt=":)" class="wp-smiley" scale="0" src="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-includes/images/smilies/simple-smile.png" style="background-image: none !important; background-position: initial initial !important; background-repeat: initial initial !important; border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; display: inline !important; height: 1em !important; margin: 0px 0.07em !important; max-height: 1em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px !important; vertical-align: -0.1em !important; width: 1em !important;" /></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Driving is always an adventure. I have learned where the majority of the 237,491 potholes are and actually miss a few of them occasionally.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Language learning is a challenge. Good news is, “Eni Sha” and Ni itumesi” go a long way. (Yes and I Thank you) And people really appreciate you trying to learn their language. We laugh at ourselves and they laugh as well, but when we finally get something right, they are so happy for us.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hospitality and fellowship of the Zambian people is wonderful.</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">God is working! We see all around us, God working in the lives of men and women in various ministries. We heard a sermon this Sunday from a Zambian layman who challenged the congregation to truly be the image of Christ to the lost people in the community. We have taken a group of local Pastors out to the villages, where they spent 4 days teaching and evangelizing. We attended a banquet at an orphanage called Kids Alive and saw and heard how God has provided for them and how they are caring for 51 children and their vision for building a school, not only for the orphans, but for the community. We have seen lives touched by the events we have held at the youth center and how the youth are getting involved in the building and development, so that they can have a safe, fun, Godly place to hang out and grow in their faith. God is doing great things here in Zambia and we are humbled and excited to be here joining Him in what He is doing.</li>
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You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-35318052003259932892016-05-28T21:20:00.001-07:002016-05-28T21:20:52.412-07:00Oh yeah, I know.<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; color: #373737; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I am learning rather quickly that I do not know as much as I think I do. It’s going to be hard living in Africa…oh yeah, I know! Mongu is extremely hot…oh yeah I know! You will miss your family…oh yeah, I know! Guess what…I didn’t know. Experience is the best teacher. Only people who have been married know the commitment it requires to stay married. Only women who have been in labor know the pain/happiness it brings. Only the ones who have nothing to eat know, starvation. I am realizing that even as I witness the poverty here in Africa, I can’t honestly say that Americans are any better off. I haven’t ever been to the deep Louisiana bayou, or the slums of Detroit, or the inner city of New York. What do I know? My prayer is this, I will love people no matter how they live or what they believe. I will not make assumptions based on ” what I know”, but I will love people based on who I know!! Jesus loves us, this I know!!</span>You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-89408727404886690212016-05-28T21:18:00.001-07:002016-05-28T21:18:14.000-07:00<div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.625em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
What a beginning! We have been in Zambia for 18 days and each one of them has been rather unique. In the past 18 days, we have visited and shared in two different orphanages, were welcomed by a Zambia Government Cabinet member, purchased a truck and learned to drive in Zambia, saw a few elephants,<a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/DSC00033.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="DSC00033" height="225" scale="0" src="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/DSC00033-300x225.jpg" style="border: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 100%;" width="300" /></a></div>
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moved to Mongu, helped with a big event with over 80 youth at the youth center, ate a traditional Zambian meal as well as Chinese, Korean, and Curry (serving with a multi-cultural team has many advantages), celebrated a birthday, our anniversary, attended some great church services, and got extremely hot…</div>
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The heat has been one of the biggest adjustments for us. The two weeks we were in Lusaka, were not too bad as the elevation there is high and the temperatures are cooler. But now that we are in Mongu, it is a different story. Saturday, during our big outdoor event at the Mongu Youth Center, it was over 108 degrees. Mongu is located just on the edge of the Kalahari Desert and is very sandy and dry. It hadn’t rained here in many months, so it just draws the moisture out of you. When we got home, because we have no air conditioning, the only relief we could find was to wet a Chitenge (a piece of material women wrap around there waste and wear as a skirt) and lay in front of the fan. I have heard people say, “You’re about as fun as a wet blanket.” Just let me say, we were thankful for a wet blanket that day.</div>
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Setting up for the Skills Challenge event at the youth center</div>
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Trying to provide protection from the sun</div>
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<a href="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/velda-playing.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #1982d1; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="velda playing" height="150" scale="0" src="http://rikels.with.sim.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/velda-playing.jpg" style="border: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 100%;" width="150" /></a></div>
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Today we were waiting for Laurie while she did some work at the Bible College and Velda quickly made a few new friends and began to play. Children seemed to just come out of nowhere and began marching, jumping, twirling, and saying, “I love Jesus!” as she invented new games to play. I am always amazed at how although their is a language barrier, the children can understand Velda’s heart and love for them. It’s a beautiful thing. I am a blessed man!</div>
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You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-25457709646974416582013-02-11T19:32:00.000-08:002013-02-11T19:32:03.213-08:00jacksons<iframe frameborder="0" height="320" src="https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=505264316181470" width="568"></iframe>You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-72715786590701641082012-08-13T19:43:00.000-07:002012-08-13T19:43:37.306-07:00Another Step Forward; One Huge Step Ahead<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's still hard for us to believe...in less than a year we plan to be moving to Zambia to serve with <a href="http://sim.org/" target="_blank">SIM</a> as Coordinators of Short-Term Associates. When we started this process a little over a year ago, that seemed like some distant reality. With each step in the process however, it has become more and more real. Last month we took a big step toward that reality when we spent two weeks in training and orientation at <a href="http://www.simusa.org/" target="_blank">SIM USA</a>. It was an awesome time of meeting other folks who are of the same heart, going through the same things as we are. (This includes our new friends Randy and Mary Anna, who will be serving in Lusaka with us, and Missy who is a Doctor who will be serving at Mukinge Hospital in Zambia. See the picture) The experience, training, and wisdom of the staff there was great and we learned a lot about working in a multi-cultural environment, field safety, how SIM cares for its missionaries, and how the whole shebang works. It was a lot to absorb, but we came away feeling well prepared for the <i style="font-weight: bold;">HUGE</i> steps that lie ahead.<br />
So, what are these huge steps? We are glad you asked. You see God has called us to the most awesome ministry. We will help people come to Zambia from all around the world to serve anywhere from a few weeks up to two years. Doctors, nurses, pilots, aviation mechanics, teachers, construction teams, evangelism, youth outreach, HIV/AIDS education and ministry, Bible college teachers, orphans and at risk children ministry, discipleship, and so much more...coming to make and impact in countless lives and we get to be a part of all of it. Is that cool or what? As if that were not enough...building relationships with the people of Zambia, encouraging those on the field, working in the local church, and handling all the required administration of getting a short-term missionary to the field. (Whew, I just realized how busy we are going to be.)<br />
When we get on that plane and takeoff for Zambia, that is going to be a big step . However, we have a <i style="font-weight: bold;">HUGE </i>step to take before we can do that. While we were at training and orientation last month, one of the things we received were our support requirements. You see SIM is what is historically known as a "faith mission". What does that mean? Here is the description we like: “The Mission looks to the Lord for the provision of its needs. Each missionary acknowledges that his or her dependence is upon God and not upon the Mission. Recognizing the biblical principle of stewardship, the Mission and its missionaries make such needs known to God’s people so He may guide them in their giving. Whatever is received toward an approved need is accepted as a provision from the Lord.” Thus, as missionaries sent by SIM, we are looking to God to meet our needs through His moving in people’s hearts to give.<br />
So what are those needs? We have two major kinds: Monthly Support and One Time Needs.<br />
Our monthly support requirement is $4675. That includes the following;<br />
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* Salary–This is the amount of money we can spend on living expenses each month. These expenses include food, clothing, toiletries, and household items from cleansers to bug spray (very important!) <br />
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* Insurance–This includes medical emergency evacuation insurance in the event that we need to be evacuated to a country with better medical care in an emergency. Co-pays and deductibles are paid out of our salary.</div>
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* Retirement–This is a small amount to be contributed to a 403b. This is something the mission encourages as retirement savings become necessary in the U.S. </div>
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* Taxes–Missionaries pay something equivalent to FICA, called the SECA tax.</div>
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* Travel–This portion of our monthly support is set aside
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* Administration & Services–This includes many things, like help in navigating the world of visas, passports, and other legal aspects of international travel and living, team training and consulting on the field, operating expenses for seven international sending bases and an international headquarters office, resources to help us share our vision and the vision of SIM, and attention to our emotional and spiritual needs in the event of a political or medical evacuation…to give you just a sampling! </div>
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* Housing–This amount is for our rent, both for a home on the field, and provide for renting a place to stay during assignments in the States. Utilities and repairs are paid out of our salary. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Our one time need is $42,000. That includes language school and language acquisition course, our first months salary, airline tickets to the field, purchase of a 4-wheel drive vehicle so we can travel to all the various places of ministry, and setup of our home as we have sold everything we own and will have to purchase furniture, household items, linens, appliances etc. It's more economical to purchase the items there as opposed to shipping them over from here. (It's like starting from scratch)</div>
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Well there it is.One <i style="font-weight: bold;">HUGE </i>step for us, but the smallest of things to our <i style="font-weight: bold;">ENORMOUS GOD</i>. We have a target date of June 2013 for getting on that plane, but that doesn't happen until we have faith promises from people that total $4675 a month and have met the one time need of $42,000.</div>
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So how do you get involved? How do you join in what God is doing and the impact we can have serving together? We are extremely glad you asked! First and foremost <b>PRAY!</b> We need at least 400 people committed to pray for us regularly. You can sign up for our prayer letter and updates at </div>
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<a href="http://eepurl.com/nmHgP">Subscribe to our newsletter</a><br />
We also ask that you prayerfully consider being a financial partner as well. You can make a faith promise of whatever God lays upon your heart and be a part of our monthly support. We would love to hear of your commitment at <a href="mailto:paul.rikel@sim.org">paul.rikel@sim.org</a>. Better yet, we would love for you to start that commitment now. By starting now, your gifts go to meet our one time need until we leave for the field and then it switches to monthly support. You do all this by <a href="https://usanet.sim.org/SIMGift/index.php?FundID=035175-001&LNme=Rikel&Dsg=Support" target="_blank">clicking here</a>.<br />
Maybe you want to help meet those one time needs, you can do that by <a href="https://usanet.sim.org/SIMGift/index.php?FundID=035175-050&LNme=Rikel&Dsg=Ministry">clicking here</a><br />
Thank you for praying, thank you for giving, thank you for helping us respond to needs, proclaim the gospel, and equip the church in Zambia to fulfill the Great Commission.<br />
Radically Dependent,<br />
Paul and Velda<br />
Like us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rikels.withSIM?ref=hl">Facebook</a></div>
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You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-91883855932774446942012-06-23T13:41:00.001-07:002012-06-23T13:42:24.853-07:00God's Gift: The Desire of Our Heart - ZambiaPsalms 37:4-5 Says "Delight yourself in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.<br />
Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass."<br />
Throughout the years, God has used this verse to speak to Velda and I. In 2007 God put a desire in our heart to serve Him as missionaries and a love for the people of Zambia. Since then, we have been waiting on the last part of this verse, "And He shall bring it to pass". If we delight ourselves in the Lord, trust in Him, and commit our way to Him, why would He delay in bringing it to pass? You see, when we become His children, He gives us many desires; serving Him, worshiping Him, glorifying Him, desiring others to know Him, etc. These are all good and noble things, but I do not believe these or any any other desire is what this verse is talking about. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus says "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.". I believe God will not only provide for our needs, but He also delights in giving us our desires. Now before you throw me under the "Prosperity Gospel" bus, let me say that He delights in giving us our desire when we delight in the things that He delights in. (i.e. worship, serving Him and others, glorifying Him,...) It is not a matter of desiring these things more, it is a matter of desiring Him more! I realized that serving in Zambia, should not be the desire of my heart, God should be. The first part of of both these verse say " delight" and "seek", if I delight in Him, if I seek Him, if He is the desire of my heart, He will give me the desire of my heart, which is more of Himself to delight in! Isn't that a beautiful cycle? If God is <b>THE</b> desire of my heart, then God's desires become my desires, and all that God desires comes to pass.<br />
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So what does this have to do with us going to Zambia? When we started this whole process, we always said we would love to serve in Zambia, but we want to go where God wants us to go. We did not want to choose Zambia, we wanted God to put us there if that is was the desire of His heart. So when asked by SIM where we felt called to serve, we stated we loved Zambia, but we just want to go where God wants us. As we began the placement process we started with Zambia and how we might be able to serve there. Initially it did not sound too promising due to different circumstances, but then SIM Zambia expressed interest in us filling the position of Short-Term Coordinators. We were excited about the possibility of serving in Zambia, but were apprehensive about filling a role that was not what we had initially envisioned. We envisioned being church planters, so we continued exploring other countries and opportunities. That exploration led us on a vision trip to Malawi. It was an eye opening trip for us and you can read about it in a previous blog post, but in a nutshell, God used it to show us that He had another role for us. We were now faced with the realization that we not only needed to be
obedient to "where" God wanted us, but also to "what" He wanted us to do. As we prayed about the where and the what, God kept pointing us back to Zambia. While in Malawi, we got to have a long talk with the Short-Term Coordinator there and got good insight into that position, we met some wonderful short-term missionaries and saw how God was working in and through them. We also realized how well we were always prepared and taken care of on our trips and how short term missions impacted our lives. We asked the Zambia filed to consider us again for the position of Coordinators of Associates, and they graciously accepted us. Now we get to do another desire of our heart and that is seeing the impact God can have in and through short term missionaries and teams.<br />
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So what did I learn from this? When we delight in the Lord, when He is the desire of our heart, He brings to pass all the desires He has placed in our hearts. In His time, In His way and for His glory.You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-49320210960024944132012-05-31T19:45:00.000-07:002012-05-31T19:45:23.711-07:00Officially Appointed Missionaries!!!!So where in the world are you guys going you ask?....Well, in 2007 we made our first mission trip to Zambia, Africa. We fell in love with the wonderful people there and our hearts were burdened to stand in the gap for them. When we left, it was as if we had left a big part of our heart behind. Over the next four years we made an annual trip to Zambia, and each time, we seemed to leave more and more of our heart behind. God is good and we are excited to announce that God is going to unite us with our hearts as we have been appointed to serve Him in ZAMBIA!!! No more leaving a piece of our heart behind, but serving Him and the people of Zambia wholeheartedly for what we hope to be many years of fruitful service.<br />
Please pray for us as we begin this next chapter of our God adventure. We have much to do in the next year as we prepare to leave in June 2013. More on that to come...<br />
Please remember not to mention anything to Velda's father about us moving to Africa due to his struggles with dementia. Please pray for our parents as well.<br />
Stay Tuned For:<br />
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<li>How God placed us in Zambia</li>
<li>How we will be serving in Zambia</li>
<li>How God will get us there</li>
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Thank you for your prayers, love and support,<br />
Paul and VeldaYou can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-2926052804602370962012-05-19T18:50:00.000-07:002012-05-19T18:50:11.953-07:00WE HAVEN'T LEFT YETVelda and I want to apologize for not doing a good job of keeping everyone updated on what is going on with our quest to serve as missionaries. We realized how poor of a job we had been doing when two times this week we had people tell us they thought we had already moved to Africa. To make a long blog short, I will put it this way, "We are still here". To now make a short blog longer, we have sort of been living in limbo over the past few months as we prayerfully seek the place of service God has for us. When we began this process, we told people we had hoped to be on the field by now, but as happens many times, our hope and God's plans were not the same thing. This, along with our two week vision trip to Malawi and the fact that we sold our house last summer has added to the confusion of whether or not we were still here or in Africa.<br />
Once again through this time of waiting and seeking, we have seen the sovereign hand of God at work. After selling our house, we moved in with my mother. In January she became very sick and spent several days in ICU. When she returned home, it was a blessing for us to be able to take care of here while she as gone through the past few months of strengthening. As I mentioned in our previous post, we have learned a lot about what it takes to be missionaries in a third world country, thanks to our vision trip and talking with others who have done it. We have been able to complete some required training in this time as well. But most importantly, God is teaching us that we are to focus on Him daily and serve Him where we are. We realized that He has told us to "Go" but He never told us when, He never told us where, and He never told us for how long. As much as I may want Him to, it is not in my best interest for God to spell out His plan for our lives in detail to me. We do not need to know where we will be or what we will be doing in Two weeks from now, two months from now, or two years from now. He wants me to seek him for right now, today. I know me...If God were to spell it all out for me, I would hit the ground running and focus on the plan and not the one who gave me the plan. We hope to be able to officially announce our place of service in the next few days. We will know the "where" at that point. The how long?...We hope to spend many years of fruitful service on the mission field, but that is God's call not ours. He has the right to keep us there 1 year or 20. As for the "when"?...Well, that is up to Him as well. We go to for training at SIM in July at what they call SIMGo. It is there we will find out what our support requirements will be as well as receive other vital training. When we return from that we will begin raising our support team, those who God lays upon their hearts to partner with us as we serve together to fulfill The Great Commission.<br />
<br />
We look forward to our official "where and what" announcement in the coming days, our training in July, and then seeing God build up our ministry team of supporters. Will you pray for us?<br />
<ul>
<li>Pray that there will be know last minute hiccups in our placement and that we will be able to move from "candidates" to "appointees" </li>
<li>Pray for our faith to remain strong</li>
<li>Pray that God will continue to speak to the hearts of those friends, family, brothers and sisters in Christ, and Churches who will become supporters through giving and/or praying for us.</li>
</ul>
Thanks to so many of you who have been encouragers to us over the past few months and years. Your prayers have been heard and felt, your notes, emails, cards, and facebook post have been used by God many times to strengthen us. We love you and look forward to continuing this journey together. Please let us know how we can pray for you as well. We are always blessed to be able to lift up our friends in prayer.<br />
Serving Together,<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mcAUcEHA9HY/T7hNdM_RGbI/AAAAAAAAA90/_Gn1r_3dL_U/s1600/blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mcAUcEHA9HY/T7hNdM_RGbI/AAAAAAAAA90/_Gn1r_3dL_U/s320/blog.jpg" width="320" /></a>Paul and Velda <br />
<br />You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-2404974653538413872012-03-19T18:30:00.002-07:002012-03-19T18:30:17.612-07:00So, are you guys moving to Malawi?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dear Friends,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Velda and I want to express our thanks to each of you for
your love, prayer, and support over the last few months as we seek the place
God would have us serve as missionaries. We recently made a vision trip to
Malawi, Africa to explore the possibility of serving as Church Planting
Supporters to the Yao people. We asked you to pray with us, that God would give
us a clear vision as to how we might be a part of the ministry there. SIM’s
vision for reaching the Yao consists of having a base of operations in the town
of Mangochi where missionaries who live in the rural mountains can come back to
every few weeks and restock and rest after living in very harsh conditions.
Currently the missionaries there spend most of their time and energy just
trying to live. The homes are in need of constant maintenance. The Guesthouse
SIM has in Mangochi needs managing. Administrative issues need to be handled.
Vehicles need maintaining. Etc. There is no Home Depot, there is no Auto Zone,
there is no skilled labor. They need someone there to help take care of these
things. There would be opportunities to build relationships with local people
as you train people to help in these matters or get to know those in market who
may have some building supplies and things like that. It is a very spiritually
dark place and a very challenging place to live and serve. The missionaries
that live there say they need someone passionate about maintenance and they are
correct. There is where our answer from God came. Velda and I are <u>not </u>passionate
about maintenance. We did not feel this was the position God had for us. We
thank God that He answered our prayers and gave us a clear vision of that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We definitely saw God’s hand at work in our lives and
discovered a lot while we were on our trip. We got to see first-hand what it is
like to live and serve in Africa. On our short term trips we have taken,
everything was task oriented and scheduled. We had seen very little of the day
to day challenges and struggles of just living in Africa. We got a real sense
of what that is like. We got to see how SIM operates on the field and the
support they have for one another. We got to meet some incredible missionaries
whose great faith has inspired us to be more faithful. We learned a lot about
ourselves and how God can use us in ways we had not considered before. We hope
we were an encouragement to the missionaries and the Malawian brothers and
sisters in Christ. We also got to experience traveling by bus in Africa. (That
is a story of God’s grace for another time)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Please pray that God will send the right person to help the
missionaries in Mangochi. The missionary couple who are retiring after 21 years
in Mangochi have seen 117 missionaries from various missions and denominations
come and go. The missionary definitely needs to be called to that place to
serve there. Thanks to the work of that couple, the Bible has now been
translated into the Yao language and will soon be printed. Finally the Yao will
be able to hear God speak in their heart language. Praise God! Pray that His
word will go forth with power and many Yao will come to know Him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pray for Velda and I as we continue to seek the place God
has for us and explore new and exciting opportunities to serve.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
May God richly bless you and thanks for partnering with us
as we serve together to fulfill the Great Commission.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Paul and Velda Rikel<o:p></o:p></div>You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-811255574861556532011-11-14T11:27:00.001-08:002011-11-14T16:55:13.108-08:00Where in the world are we going?When Velda and I set out on this journey, one of the questions we were asked the most was,"So, where are you guys going to go?" Our answer has always been the same," We don't know. We just want to go where God wants us to go." Basically, we had it narrowed down to this planet. We know we love Africa. We know we love Zambia. We know we love the Tonga people of Zambia, but what we didn't know was, is this where God wants to use us. We knew we had to proceed with caution and try and be neutral to where we would serve. We did not want to go to Zambia and work among the Tonga people, because it was what we wanted to do, if we were to end up there, we wanted it to be because God put us there. We made inquiries with the SIM personnel in Zambia about opportunities to serve there, but after gaining some information and praying about it, we realized that Zambia was not the place God had for us. Why is that? We had already been there, we were familiar with the people and the land. We had a burden for reaching the people there. Why would God not send us there? My answer is I don't know, but I do trust Him. I do know that we have to be desperately dependent upon Him to figure out where in the world He wants us to go. I do know that He wants us to passionately pursue Him, that He will make known His will. So Velda and I sat out on that pursuit. We looked at different countries and the needs listed in each one. I have to admit, it can be quite overwhelming sometimes. Velda kept telling me that she didn't want to pick a job, she wanted God to pick it. I kept searching and reading various opportunity descriptions, but nothing really seemed to be a fit for us. Then Velda suggested we go away for a day and just be with God. No seeking placement, no agenda, no supplications, just seeking God and His presence. I knew she was right. We went away for a day and just spent the day with God in prayer, in His word, and in worship. It was when we quit seeking "where", and just sought "Him", that He gave us what we had been seeking. Through a remarkable chain of events that we see His sovereign hand behind, he opened the door to us to serve in Malawi as pioneer church planters to an unreached people group known as the Yao. It is not yet official, we are planning a trip to Malawi to meet the SIM team, Yao people and seeking affirmation from God. We will continue to seek Him and we know that if it is to be Malawi, that is where we will be, if it is not Malawi, we have learned much about seeking His will. His will is for us to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." and you will be where he wants you.<br />
Please continue to pray for us as we seek His will for us, SIM, the Malawi team, and most of all for the Yao people and that they would be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.
<a href="http://malawi.sim.org/"></a><br />
<a href="http://malawi.sim.org/">http://malawi.sim.org/</a><br />
<a href="http://sim.org/index.php/country/MW" target="_blank">http://sim.org/index.php/country/MW</a>You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-16369397724990049282011-08-30T20:28:00.001-07:002011-08-31T04:24:52.221-07:00So What in the world is going on now?At the end of our last blog, I told you to stay tuned for "Why in the world do they want to know that?". Well, let me just say we had to send a lot of information to SIM (www.sim.org). From a 6 hour psych evaluation, to a extensive doctrinal survey, training and experience form, physical forms, medical release forms, and personal reference forms, it is quite possible that Sim know more about us than we know ourselves. The good news is, all of that is behind us now, and apparently we haven't scared SIM off. We received word that our medical condition was approved for service overseas. Our psych evaluation was approved.(Or they want to tell us we are nuts to our face). Our doctrinal survey was met with good reviews, and our training evaluation suggested that we only have to take a few specific classes in preparation for cross cultural ministry and language acquisition. Then finally after the sea of paperwork, we got invited to attend SIMStart. SIMStart takes place on Sept. 7-11 in Charlotte, N.Carolina at SIM USA headquarters. It is at SIMStart that we get to know SIM better and they get to know us better, and together we seek the Lord in serving with them. If we feel God affirming our serving with SIM and they with us, we will leave that Sunday with final approval and a better idea of when and where we will be serving. We will begin some online courses and training and prepare to attend SIMCO in November, where we will get more extensive training and placement.
<br /> But here is the really cool part. Even though we have not officially been accepted by SIM, we felt like God was telling us to sell our house. For a few weeks we had talked about and at Velda's urging, I began to pray about it. At first I was apprehensive about selling before we were approved, but as we prayed, we believed God was telling us to sell now. We talked about how to sell the house and decided that we would not use a realtor and try to sell it ourselves and use the money we would save on realtor commission to drill a well in Africa; something we have always wanted to due but could never afford. So, off to sell a house we went. We had contacted a dear friend to ask if he knew of a Godly real estate agent before we decided not to use one, and he had expressed interest in buying our house when we decided to sell. We called our neighbors and told them we were going to sell our house. Then we asked another friend, who has investment property, to advise us on how to sell and he ended up interested and told us to give him a price. Just a couple of days later, we set a price and let our friends know. Two days later they both let us know that they were not going to be able to buy our house. I had just set the phone down from hearing from the second friend when it rang again. It was our neighbors daughter, and she wanted to know if we were still going to sell our house. To make a long story not so long, we agreed on a price and sold our house. they were getting ready to build on the other side of our neighbors and the timing of our selling our house was perfect. (God's timing always is) We close on September 23 and have already moved out, and moved in with my mother, where we will stay until we depart for the mission field. and the best part, in a few days, we will get to write a check to fully fund the drilling of a well that will bring life giving water to generations to come. Bad economy, slow housing market and uncertain futures are know match for God. i would highly recommend him as your real estate agent.You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-28568456594072602332011-07-08T18:19:00.000-07:002011-07-09T05:18:20.680-07:00So why in the world are we still here?So Why in the world are you still here? If you read our previous blog, you may be asking that very question. I will do my best to explain. After Velda and I began seeking the Lord together about being called to the mission field, we did what every good Southern Baptist does, we contacted the International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist convention (SBC)and began applying for service with the division of the IMB known as the International Service Core.(ISC) (Gotta love those acronyms. "Hi, My name is Paul Rikel, I am part of the ISC with the IMB of the SBC." Just rolls off the tongue doesn't it?) Anyway, enough of that, The Morreaus were serving with the ISC/IMB/SBC so we pursued that same avenue because it was the only opportunity for people to serve who have had a divorce. So we made contact with them and filled out a few forms, prayed, prayed some more, waited, prayed while we waited...Then we got the news we had been waiting for. Only problem was, it was bad news. "Dear Mr. & Mrs. Rikel, Thank you for your heart for missions and intrest in the ISC of the IMB of the SBC. However at this time we are electing to cease the application process. We see that you and your wife have a history of divorce and we have found that divorce does not bode well in certain cultures. Thank you for your interest...etc." WOW! I must say that one stung a little. We had a ton of questions like "God, why would you put this call, passion, and heart for the people of Africa like this and then shut the door? Where in the Bible does it spell out "Thou shall not Be Missionaries if thy havest hadeth a divorceth? (Lil' rusty on my Kings English) What now?<br /> Well, we went to Brother Dan, Jeff Wallace, Tommy and Cyndi, Wes and Laurie, and others and sought wise council. All of them told us the same thing, "Keep applying!" So that is what we did. We contacted the IMB and asked them to prayerfully reconsider our application. After a few days we received the news we had been eagerly awaiting.Once again it was bad news. I can not remember the exact wording but it went something like this, "Dear Rikels, Did you not understand the email we sent you a few months ago that said Noooooo? What part of Noooooo don't you understand? Don't make us tell you again!" You get the idea. (OK, i have to stop here and say we have the utmost respect for the IMB and harbor no ill feelings toward them whatsoever.) So what do we do now? Well I suggested we look into other missionary agency and we did check into a couple of others, but basically got the same reply, the divorce issue was a problem. On a side note, the ISC of the IMB was a 2 year commitment and after your term ended you had to reapply. Two years after we were turned down, the ISC program was suspended due to financial reasons and remains suspended today. God shut that door because that was not the right door at the right time.<br /> So after a couple of rejections, we realized that yes, God had called us, but it just wasn't time yet. McKinley was in Junior High school and that is probably not the opportune time to move a child to a third world country and we realized God was wanting to do some things in our lives to prepare us before He sent us, so we prayed and waited. Over the next few years we returned to Zambia 3 more times. Each time we felt reaffirmed and fell deeper in love with the people there. In between trips we did anything we could to be an advocate for the people of Zambia and speak about them and missions to anyone who would listen.<br /> After a while we began noticing God was moving us to make some changes in our lives. God basically started making us uncomfortable in our little world that we had become so comfortable in. I wont go into all those ways he was shaking us up, but I will tell you that the book Crazy Love really got us examining our lives. Not only that, but we felt like He was calling us to leave our big comfortable church. (Not that the church was comfortable, we had just become to comfortable in it.) That took some doing on God's part. But after seeking God for along while, it became clear He had another place of service for us. <br /> At the beginning of this year we began visiting other churches. One of the churches we visited, and ended up joining, was Oak Grove Baptist Church. After our first couple of visits we began to feel that this may be the church God was calling us to, so we asked the Pastor, Michael Durham if we could meet with him one evening and ask him about the church and let him know a little about us. Early on in the conversation, we shared that we had been called to the mission field. Hey replied, "If I may ask? If you have been called to the mission field, why are you sitting here in my office?" Velda and I both looked at each other as if we new that was a very good question. We gave him the standard waiting on the Lord's timing answer, but we both sensed that the Lord was saying "It's Time." We talked about it and agreed that we needed to get the ball rolling. We had made contact with a ministry called World Venture a few months earlier and had made initial contact and they basically told us that we would be accepted by them, but for lifetime service with them, you have to have a bachelor degree with a year of Bible college. They even offered to give us a 2 year assignment and allow me to meet the education requirements while serving on the field. Velda and I discussed it and decided that sense we would have to rely on the financial support of other while on the field, we did not feel right about then having to pay for my education. So we came up with a plan. I would enroll at Mid-Continent in the Adult Advantage Program and get my degree. This would put us on a time frame of me finishing my education requirements about the time McKinley started his second year of college. He would stay here and we would go to Africa. Good Plan Right? Notice I said, "We decided, we discussed, we agreed"? Once again we were meeting with our Pastor for membership classes at Oak Grove. We told Him of our plan and he asked, "Are you going back to school because that is what man says you have to do or because that is what God told you to do?" Once again Velda and I looked at each other and realized we were making logical choices and not seeking God. That is when we earnestly began seeking the Lord's will and realized he was telling us to "GO". So we prayed about with who and believe we were led to SIM. They have a great organization and do a lot of work in Sub-Saharan Africa including Zambia, somewhere World Venture was not currently working. <br /> With that being said, We have by no means been accepted yet. We may have the door shut any day. We realize that. In fact for us to get from here to the mission field will only happen if God does it. We are trusting Him. We are learning to listen to Him and not the world. We believe education is important and so does SIM. In fact I will probably have to take some classes tailored specifically for missions and cross culture evangelism but when i finish this term at Mid-Continent, I probably will not re-enroll. Instead, Pastor Durham has agreed to disciple and train me to help prepare us for ministry and I will probably take the classes recommended by SIM, online, in order to serve with them.<br />So why in the world are we still here? God wanted learn to trust Him more. And we have. In fact, we will have to trust him for everything if we Go with SIM. They do not pay us a salary, we will be totally relying on the support of ministry partners, friends, family and churches. He wanted us to start doing what we wanted to do in Africa in our lives everyday here in the U.S. He wanted to teach us some things about his sovereignty. He wanted us to be more mature in our faith and sound in our doctrine. He wanted us to learn to Let go and let God.<br />Stay tuned for; "why in the world would they want to know that?" <iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzUSawqJEVP4gvHJ1gSp83RRHePE9zKK5P9H_bgcOc9eJO3Dogf1LkpOHmU_lovq2nzqt2D3spWFWlkswoC' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-15059334469719694372011-07-05T17:17:00.000-07:002011-07-07T14:53:29.529-07:00How in the world did this happen?As many of our friends and family know, we are currently seeking acceptance from SIM missionary organization as full-time missionaries to Africa. You may be asking yourself, as am I, "How in the world did this happen?" Well, here is the story.<br />One fall Sunday night in 2006, I was sitting in church minding my own business when God did something I was not expecting. Isn't that just like Him? Anyway, I had sensed God preparing me for something for a couple of years, but was unsure what it was. I had been Director of men's ministry for our church and really had a heart for discipleship of men. I thought maybe God wanted me to write a book, or begin speaking at Christian men's events. Missions were not even on my radar. No, that was Velda. She was GA director and was always talking about missions, missionaries, going on trips, being a missionary someday. I remember thinking, "You go ahead, I got work to do right here." That was true, however God has work to do all over the world and I we were about to be a part of it.<br />That particular night, a vision team had returned from Zambia where Tommy and Cyndi Morreau, members of our church, were serving with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. (That is the IMB of the SBC. Baptist love them some acronyms!) Tommy was someone I very much looked up to, respected and admired for his walk with God and always considered him to be a mentor. So as the team was giving their report, I was listening to hear what our friends were up to in Zambia. Then they showed a video. Suddenly I was heartbroken for what i was seeing on the screen. Not heartbroken like you get when you see the feed the children videos of the starving kids in Africa, but a broken heart that can only be done by God opening my eyes and breaking my heart. I remember thinking "I am supposed to go to Africa! God, I cant go to Africa. Why me? But there was no denying it, He wanted me to go.<br />At the conclusion of the service, I told Velda "God wants me to go to Africa!" She looked at me and said "God is telling me to go to Africa! We both can’t go, someone has to stay here with McKinley!" We decided to talk to Jeff Wallace, Dir. of Global Outreach, about going on the upcoming trip to Zambia. After speaking with Jeff, two things were evident. One, we could not afford for one of us to go, let alone both. Two, I was the logical choice if one of us were to go. We expressed concern about the cost to Jeff and he assured us that if God was calling us to go, He would provide a way. We left the church that evening trusting God to provide for my way to Zambia. Later that night as Velda and I were laying in trying to go to sleep, I noticed Velda was sobbing. I asked her what was wrong and she said "I have to go to Zambia and love on those kids; I know it is what God wants me to do." Bottom line was, we were both going and we were going to have to trust God to provide for both of us. And provide He did, but that is a story for another time.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8Jsc8BB0_qo/ThYqC_f0IHI/AAAAAAAAA8k/oFEsP1NnzIk/s1600/100_0735.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8Jsc8BB0_qo/ThYqC_f0IHI/AAAAAAAAA8k/oFEsP1NnzIk/s320/100_0735.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626731015338991730" /></a><br /> After months of planning, preparing, and praying we finally arrived in Zambia. We were blessed to be part of a great team made up of people from Lone Oak First Baptist and Friendship Baptist. The team was fantastic and having the Pastors of both churches on the team as well was awesome. We were working with Tommy and Cyndi as well as Wes and Laurie Wilcox, also IMB missionaries, in training local church leaders. I immediately hit it off with Wes and off course it was great to see the Morreaus as well. Bur more importantly, I could tell that God was doing something in and through me like I had never experienced before. As I preached, taught, and visited with the Zambians, I felt God's anointing like I had never felt before. For the first time ever I felt like I was doing what God had created me to do. Even Velda said that God's anointing was upon me visibly, that she had never seen me like that before. The whole time I kept asking God "Is this it? Is this what you have been preparing me for?" Over and over I sensed he was telling me "Yes". I knew I had to be cautious and not get caught up in the Spiritual high and let my emotions lead me so I had just concluded a lengthy story where I had completely retold the story of Joseph in Genesis and I had sat down as Wes had taken over the session and we were getting ready to dismiss and I began to pray "God, help me to know your will. If this is it let me know. Help me to see past my emotions to hear you. We dismissed as I was finishing my prayer. As I was walking out the door, I was stopped by a wonderful Zambian Chief named Bo Nelson. He was in his 90's and was just an amazing Christian man with a love for God and His word. As I passed by, he took me by the hand and looked into my eyes and said "Mr. Paul, You are truly a man of God. You are a great help to the people of Zambia." Now he may have said that to everyone he met, but i know that it was God's answer to my prayers and a peace came over me.<br /> After 10 wonderful days in Zambia, We were on the plain waiting for takeoff and I was still trying to process everything that had happened. i had not told Velda of what I had experienced because i feared she would think I was just being led by my emotions, something I had been guilty of in the past. As the plain began to lift off the ground Velda and I sat quietly as tears filled our eyes and i looked at her and said "We will be back" and she replied softly "I know".<br /> In the days following our return to the U.S., I had confided in our Pastor, Dan Summerlin, and with Tommy and Wes about what I had experienced while in Zambia. Tommy and Wes both said that they were not surprised and i believe one of them said they were expecting to hear from me about it. Dan was very encouraging and it meant a lot to me to have the support of my pastor and he helped me tremendously through the whole ordeal. One thing they all told me was to pray that God would call Velda as well and that way it would be our call and not just my call. So for the next couple of months I prayed that God would call Velda. I started to get frustrated and even began to question my call when she didn't seem to be hearing anything from God. So one day we are sitting in the swing in our yard having a cup of coffee, when Velda says "So what has been bothering you the past few weeks". I said "Nothing, why do you ask" (I lied) She said that she knew better and that I needed to talk to her. So I shared how I felt like God had called me to the mission field while we were in Zambia and that i had been praying she would here the call as well. She looked at me and said "God called me three years ago and I have been praying that he would call you ever since." Talk about the power of a praying wife, there you go!<br /> Well, that's how in the world it happened. Ever since that time we have been waiting on the Lord's timing. Almost 5 years of waiting. Now we are hearing Him say "Go". Can't wait to see how He pulls this one off. More of that to come so stay tuned!You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-37751980169379270582011-01-15T07:41:00.000-08:002011-01-15T08:18:58.910-08:00The Dessert RoadSometimes, (let me change that) A lot of times God ask us to do something that we do not really understand and may not really want to do. I find myself in one of those times right now. It is much like in the book of Acts chapter 8, I read where Phillip is in Samaria and God is doing some amazing things in that area. Phillip was seeing people coming to Christ, the lame being healed, he even led a magician to the Lord. the Bible says "there was much rejoicing in that city." They were preaching the Gospel to many in Samaria but and angel spoke to Phillip "Get up and Go South to road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza, (this is the Dessert Road), so he got up and went."<br /> Just a couple of observations;1.) Why did this road get the designation of the dessert road? didn't all the roads around there go through a dessert? To me, and I am probably wrong, Isn't that like saying "Take the corn road" to someone in Nebraska?<br />2.)Phillip just got up and went. Wouldn't be easy to say "Whhaaat? Good things are happening here. I am so comfortable, God is moving and i am a part of it. the people here are great the people are listening to me. etc..." But no. Even though it probably did not make any sense to Phillip, he got up and went. WOW! what faith, what obedience. And I notice that just like Abraham generations earlier, he just got up and walked because that is what god ask them to do.<br /> That is where Velda and I find myself at this time. Now we are no Phillip or Abraham by any stretch of the imagination, but we find ourselves in a similar situation. We have been a part of Lone Oak First Baptist Church for about 15 years. It is the only church home I have ever had. I have experienced God moving and working in unbelievable ways and even on occasion I have been blessed by being used by Him in some small way that He might be glorified through a sinner like me. I have had opportunities of service and blessing that are indescribable. I have had people bless My family, love my family, encourage my family in more ways than I can recall. I would be crazy to leave there. But that is what I must do. Because I know that is what God is asking us to do. No, an angel of the Lord has not appeared to me, but His word has. In fact, I have had to ask His forgiveness for not being obedient to His call. You see He told us this a while ago, but because of our love for our church and its staff and people, we did not want to go and those are all noble things, but disobedience is disobedience regardless of the motive, and disobedience is sin.<br /> People have asked us "What happened?" as if there is some ill reason why we would leave such a wonderful place, and my response is simply this. "God happened." He said walk and we are walking. Don't know why, don't know where, but do know God has a plan and a purpose and we can not wait to discover what it is. Please pray for us as we walk this road, that we will find our way of bringing Him Glory.You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-82384842708743247172010-02-20T21:34:00.000-08:002010-02-20T22:10:40.559-08:00Lessons of the LameBack in December I had some long needed surgery done on my ankle. Since that time I have pretty much become just a large gelatinous mass whose soul purpose is to consume mass quantities of food and then lie around and hear the fat cells popping into existence like Jiffy pop popcorn burning over a campfire. (Try as I might I have never successfully popped jiffy pop over a camp fire.)<br /> I am trying to workout everyday....on one foot....on arms and upper body, which ironically is the only thing that has had any use in the last two months. Crutches seem to build the muscle under the arm (the pitisamus) and other rarely used unknown body parts. Right now I am just trying to keep from having to buy an entire new wardrobe. To make matters worse, the other day Velda and I go to Wal Mart and I get into one of those power chair cart things and we start rolling down the aisle. I was thinking "Boy I always thought these thing were for the obese, the lazy, or the old people". It was then i realized I was all these things. To make matters worse, I put the thing in reverse and it started beeping. Velda looks at me and said I wondered when you were going to get one of those back up beepers.<br /> Not only am I getting so much mass that it will only be a matter of time before things start orbiting around me, but I am also noticing some other harmful effects. Because I am at home most of the time with nothing to do, I have been doing extra housework, a lot of cooking,and I am doing a Beth Moore Bible study. Let me just put it this way. I have to get back to work soon because I have had enough of my feminine side. I turned on the TV the other day and Oprah was on and I found myself watching it for about 5 minutes before I realized what was happening. I had all I could take and ran from the room before I started having hormone problems. I quickly turned on the XBOX and started shooting some stuff and then followed that up with a couple of hours of Sports Center just to get the testosterone flowing again.<br /> Its not all bad though. God had taught me some things. One is, all that time you say I dont have time to spend with God, will you spend more when you have time or will you fill your time with other meaningless things. I have learned that God provides. All those times i despised my job, i was accumilating sick days that allowed me to not miss a check yet. (Missed out on a lot of overtime though)I learned how hard my wife works as i have seen day in and day out what her days consist of. (She is an Angle) I just pray that as I continue to heal God will continue to conform me to His image. I doubt that Jesus was this fat however.You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-13584158754827116952009-08-24T20:31:00.000-07:002010-09-15T20:46:42.755-07:00Hammer TimeAs a part of my job, i get the wonderful opportunity to do some amazing things. One of them is occasionally I get to spend all day operating a compressed air jack hammer. I know, I know, you are all thinking, "you lucky dog you.", but it is not quite as glamorous as it may sound. Sure, on the back ache and pain reliever commercials it looks great, but you can't believe everything you see on T.V. It really is quite tasking. Despite its apparent technical difficulty, when you spend as much time as I do operating one, it takes very little mental capacity to bust concrete into small pieces. As a result, my mind usually tends to wander. I find myself contemplating life's small mysteries like, "I wonder what is for supper tonight, why do some people say supper and others dinner, chowder is a funny word, if ants could talk would they still call their father's sister Aunt, Is that something shinny, wasn't Jack Nicholson in The Shinning?" you get the idea, not a whole lot going on in the upper room of the Rikel cranium. <br /><br />Today, however, was different. The concrete I was pulverizing was being replaced because the people who originally poured it, poured it on mud. The most important part of constructing with concrete and almost everything else is a good solid foundation. So, concrete is usually poured on a good base of compacted aggregate. Now I am no engineer, but I learned enough about mud as a kid trying to catch tadpoles in our farm pond to know that something that will squish between your toes is probably not a solid foundation, although it is good for grossing out your older sister.<br /><br />As i continued to hammer away at the concrete, I was reminded of Jesus talking about the wise man who built his house upon a rock and it stood against the storms and waves, and how the foolish man built his on sand and it came crumbling down. I am sure from the outside, both houses looked pretty much the same, but it was what was underneath that made the difference. i think that is the way we are a lot of times. People can look like they are as solid as concrete on the surface, but that is just a facade. Underneath their foundation is not built upon their relationship with Jesus. It is built on Pride, Materialism, Greed, Selfishness, and when things hit us we begin to crumble. I know there has been times when my foundation has not been made of what it needed to be and God took His jack hammer and pounded away what seemed to be a good surface until he got to my foundation and replaced it with "The Rock" a is in the process of building the man He desires me to be. One set upon the rock. And just like the concrete I will pour onto that solid base tomorrow, I may get run over, beat on, stormed on, but I will not be moved.You can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5257254981629699716.post-59272084981040353272009-08-24T19:52:00.000-07:002009-08-24T19:53:14.183-07:00Crazy ManAbout 10 years ago I was walking down the street in Nashville Tennessee after just coming out of a Promise Keepers event. I had just had an incredible experience with the presence of God. As we walked out of the arena, we were faced with the usual protesteors and demonstrators on the sidewalks. Feminist, Pro-Choice, pro-life, save the ameoba, all sorts of people trying to shout out what they thought I needed to hear. I however breezed right by them all and continued my stroll back to the van. As we walked past a Bar and grill with a little live country music spilling out into the evening air. I looked through the window at the people dinning and socializing and I thought, I wish all these people could experience what I had just experienced. So distracted by what I was thinking, I forgot to look ahead at where I was walking and quickly found myself about to run face first into someone. thanks to perifial vision, I was able to stop just in time to prevent knocking some unsuspecting soul to the concrete. As i looked up at my near victim, I saw a man standing on a crate with a bible in his hand. As if that was not enough to make me do a double take, the guy looked just like the crazy old Parson on one of the Poltergiest sequals. He was wearing a plain brown suit with one of those little string neck ties with some kind of big coin looking buckle around his neck. (Never understood those little things) He wore one of those" Little House on the Prairie" flat rim western hat, with kind of gumball machine center. (Not quite a Hawse Cartwright 10 galloon, but similar) He had long skinny teeth with a noticable gap between his front two, only to be highlighted by the fact that one of them was half missing. He looked at me with one eye, mainly because he had one of those crazy Marty Feldman eyes that just sort of revolved around like it had a mind of its own. He raise a bony finger toward my face and said "You will never be able to keep any promises (Going with the whole Promise Keepers theme) unless you Repent and Believe. Repent I say and be truly saved." I remember thinking "what a wacko" and just proceeding with my trek back to the van. Something about that man has always stuck in my mind. I remember thinking that he was over the top and no one could everpossibly take him seriously.<br />Now fast forward to present day. I was doing a little reading the other day about John the Baptist, and how he was quite the ecentric. the whole camel hair wardrobe, diet of locust and honey, living in the wilderness preaching "repent and be baptized." Who could ever take him seriously. Then I got to thinking about Paul. Whipped repeatedly, beaten, stoned, snakebit, shipwrecked, imprisoned, and the list goes on. I wonder if anyone ever had a near collision with him on the streets of Jerusalem and thought "What a wacko. Matthew - Tax collector, Peter - Fisherman, Elijah - taking on all the prophets of Baal and talking trash, running from Jezebel, being fed by Ravens, drought causing, dead child raising bonifide wacko. Noah - boat builder on dry land, flood predicter in a time that had never seen rain, STRANGE!<br />It seems all these guys in the Bible who were used by God to do great things, all seemed to have one thing in common. They probably looked off their rocker to the people around them. Despite being odd however, they all spoke the truth of God in their lives and God used them to fullfill a purpose. The funny thing is, I find myself wanting to be a lot more like the guy standing on the crate in Nasville, who at least was telling people how to experiencing God by repenting and believing than the guy walking down the street wishing people could experience God and doing nothing about it. I have become uncomfortable being the "run- of- the- mill Christian."mainly because I dont belive such a thing should exist. i no longer will be satisfied with not doing something about it. I think that following God will make you look like a crazy man. i believe it will make you be outside of the box, that you may actually end up standing on it shouting "Repent and Believe!"<br />So if you see me in the coming days and years doing something and you think "Paul has finally gone off the deep end." you are probably right, but thats ok. I would rather be nut from the tree of life, than a fungus on the trunk that just sits there and leeaches off the tree.<br />I guess I am just a crazy manYou can't be serioushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13230990928715883934noreply@blogger.com0