News From Nepal
Jaimashi! (Praise the Messiah!)

Dear Friends,
In March my wife and I had to rush home to Mizoram, India as my sister was on her
death bed in the hospital suffering from kidney failure. She had dialysis in 2009. We were able to spend five days with her at the hospital. Although she was unable to talk much we sensed that she was really glad to see and have us there. We thank God for giving us a great opportunity to be with her during her last few days. My sister knew the Lord, and before she died she prayed and dedicated her two children to the Lord. She said she saw the place where she is going, which is beautifully bright and peaceful. She also saw our parents and brother who were waiting to welcome her in heaven. She told us not to cry
for her because the place she is going is better than this world. When our parents and my younger brother died, we were on the mission field, we could not even bid farewell to them. We know our loved ones are in heaven at peace with the Lord. This comforts us more than can be expressed with words. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. Romans 8:28. We appreciate your prayers greatly.

Living it up

I am often asked if I miss Rwanda! The answer is (in case you were
wondering too) YES! I miss the weather, the people, the drums, and even the
food! But life, like most things, is not that simple. I find that being a
missionary is a paradox. I want to be here in the states visiting family and
friends, but I miss working and living in Africa too. So, my prayer for this
year is to be as present and as focused as possible on being here in the US. I
don’t want to miss out on what God has for me in this time of preparation.
Over the past few months I have been many places and seen so much. I have
been to Kansas (three times), Oklahoma, California, Washington, Oregon,
Arizona, and I even made it over to Idaho! I did some local speaking in a few
Texas churches and events. What an enormous blessing to meet so many
people and see all God is doing across the US. During my travels I spoke in
all types of services, everything from a Bible quiz meet, to small groups with
youth, to Sunday morning services. I spoke about what God is doing in my
life and in the lives of Rwandans. My hope was to share with people about
Discipleship for Development and my role in that ministry upon my return to
Rwanda. Each trip was so different and so encouraging! I was greatly blessed
by the people who graciously hosted me in their homes, took me out to lunch,
and shared their lives and passions for missions with me.

We continue to give thanks for your prayers and support for the work God has giv-en us. Together we strive to see Christ revealed in the Muslim world. Our confidence is not in anything we have done or will do, but in the Lord Jesus. He has sent us his Holy Spirit and promised to complete his work as spoken in Hebrew 13:21, “Make you full of every good work and ready to do all his desires, working in us whatever is pleasing in his eyes through Jesus Christ; and may the glory be given to him forever and ever. So be it.”

I continue to help the two sports ministries that have started here, SportQuest and Upward Basketball. Done some camps for one and coached a team during the Upward season. Always nice to be able to share your faith with young people and help them to understand what Jesus has done for them. Have also been able to use Meet My Head Coach in both of these as well as my basketball.

Dear Friends,
On the front page is a fun lesson I developed and Ugiriwabo facilitated in our Musovu church community. It visually helped us see where we have come from, where we are now, and where we want to go this next year. There was a good sense of excitement and accomplishment as we saw all that has been done.

My colleague Brad Carpenter and I spend a day a week in Musovu including two and a half hours of travel and five hours in the community. We are focused on mentoring Ugiriwabo, the local pastor, as well as a group of seven leaders whom the church chose for us to disciple. We usually meet with Ugiriwabo in his house, then we go with him to the house of one of the seven to give individual discipleship. Others in the group come during this time, but our focus is on the life of the one we are visiting. Then all the others come together for the last hour and a half for a couple D for D lessons. They take these lessons and use them for mentoring others in the church throughout the week, and on Sunday. Brad and I visit the church two Sundays a month.

During the fall of 2010, I had an idea for an outreach to our community. It was featured in the 2010 EFM Christmas brochure. The idea was simple; providing a 40Kg (88 lbs.) bag of coal, no strings attached, no hidden agenda, just providing a source of warmth to those who needed it. Through a series
of events, we put off the distribution of the bags until this year. As the first pallet of coal arrived at our house, I was asked the question that has been asked from every single recipient of one of the bags. My neighbor looked at this massive pile of bags and asked, “Why are you doing this?”

As the first pallet of coal arrived at our house, I was asked the question that has been asked from every single recipient of one of the bags. My neighbor looked at this massive pile of bags and asked, “Why are you doing this?”

Brad and I had a great Christmas that started with a party with Agnes family and Joyce’s family (our house worker and lan-guage helper, but also our friends). They had eight children between them, and we had a blast introducing them to the slightly more American activities of decorating sugar cookies (and eating them!), making ornaments, and watching The Nativity Story. We all laughed looking at the face of the youngest girl by the end of night: it was covered in glitter! It was also fun when our guard Francois joined us and jumped right in with the rest of them making his glitter-covered Christmas tree. We were all touched by seeing the movie about Mary, Jo-seph, and Jesus, and had a sweet time of prayer af-terward.

We give praise and honor to God for our children; they are excellent students. Faviola has passed all her academic exams required by the state of Nevada to be able to graduate from high school, and she is prepar-ing for college. Edwin Isaac works harder each day to im-prove his writing skills in Eng-lish. Read-ing is one of his passions. His level of reading has advanced in-credibly. Thank you so much for praying for our children, because although they have to stay in Las Vegas while Dad and Mom travel to visit churches, they are healthy and content.

At my home church in Friendswood I taught a few classes; one was a book study on When Helping Hurts by Fikkert and Corbett. And I started a small group of young adults. These have been two great ways for me to reconnect with our church body and to find fellowship.

These past months have also consisted of many trips to the doctor’s office. As you know I have often been sick this past year. When I came home to the states things were better, but in late October I began to get sick again. So, we ran tests and worked with a team of doctors to figure things out. We finally found, not one large problem, but many small issues. We started treatment for those and these days things are looking much better. My energy and health have almost fully returned. It has not been an easy road but I praise the Lord for His faithfulness. This trial has deepened my faith and caused me to draw nearer to the Lord. I wasn’t always sure why I was sick but I am beginning to see! Thank you again for your prayers.

“. . . But who do you say I am?”

On Monday nights and Tuesday mornings two groups have been studying the book of Mark. We began in September and it has been a slow steady time of learning about who Jesus was and is through His miracles and His parables.

When we got to Mark 8 we found that Jesus questioned His disciples saying, “Who do people say that I am?” We asked the same question about the people they know and what they think and say about Jesus. The discussion got personal when Judy asked. “But who do you say He is?”