Deputation Amid the Cornfields

I have had an absolutely hectic time during my first week and weekend in the Midwest. There have been ups and downs, but God has been good and faithful during these hectic days, and he's getting all the glory from me and from others!

My time in Chicago last week and this weekend was well spent. I had a wonderful meeting with Fr. George Kacena, the rector of Church of the Great Shepherd (Wheaton), and with the Revs. George Koch and Rebecca Ann Teguns of Resurrection Anglican Church (West Chicago), and I look forward to cultivating a vibrant and growing relationship with them and with other churches in the emerging deanery and possibly diocese-in-formation.

This past Sunday, I had the great pleasure of worshiping with St. Andrew's Anglican Church (Tinley Park), an historic congregation in Reformed Episcopal Church led by the Rev. Frank Levi. It was a tremendous time of traditional Anglican worship with a warm and welcoming congregation. That afternoon I was able to worship with an emerging Anglican congregation of young people meeting in the heart of Chicago, Redeemer Anglican Church. It became quickly apparent that Redeemer is a community of vibrant college and post-college Christians with a heart to serve faithfully God in counter-commitments to vocation and serious prayer. I will be treasuring the relationships that I formed with so many of them! Finally, that evening I was able to visit the Anglican college ministry's on-campus worship service at Northwestern University, and was heartened by their love for the Lord and interest in the mission. All told, it was an exhausting day, but I left encouraged and with the distinct impression that this is what missionary deputation is all about.

Monday I headed down to Indianapolis where, despite some housing snafus, I will be meeting with church leaders but staying in neighboring town of Richmond. The majority of Anglican congregations in the Indianapolis area associated with the Midwest AMiA led by Rev. Tom Tirman, but I have been unable to get in touch with them so far. Despite this, the headline events for this week are a meeting with former missionaries in Buenos Aires (25 years with the C&MA), a meeting with Bishop Amos Fagbamiye of the Anglican Church of the Resurrection, and a visit to Trinity Anglican Church to preach and share about the mission. Please remember all of these events in your prayers.

This may feel like a lot of detail densely packed into an almost short blog post: if it does, it gives you a taste of life recently. May the Lord bless you all and give you grace to follow him in service for the fulfillment of his counsels and the glory of his Name!

The Classy Town of Chicago

Well, after two weeks in San Diego getting caught up on things at home and at work at the Anglican Church of the Resurrection, I am off on my second major deputation excursion, this time to the Midwest. Thanks to amazing help from a member of my core support team who picked me up at 4:45 AM to take me to the airport, I made a great start and arrived in Indianapolis by mid afternoon. From there I picked up a rental car from MATS, a ministry that specializes in linking up people in ministry with inexpensive rates on vehicles, and proceeded to drive up to Chicago where I am staying with friends and meeting with ministry leaders through the weekend.

It has not been easy to make connections church leaders in Chicago, but the Lord has truly shown his faithful  hand and begun providing some contacts for the mission, and I hope to visit a number of churches on Sunday and even Saturday of this week. You can check out my schedule to see what is on the agenda as things develop.

The next two weekends after this are already getting booked up as well, of which I am very excited. Saturday, November 13th I will be preaching and speaking about the mission at Trinity Anglican Church in Evansville, Indiana, and I hope to be able to visit with Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Webster Groves, Missouri the following morning. Then the following weekend on November 21st, I am scheduled to preach and help lead services at Christ the King Reformed Episcopal Church in Dayton, Ohio, a sentimental time for me to be sure since it was at that church that I first came to the Anglican tradition during my junior year of college.

There will be plenty of other churches to visit around these visits, and I hope to make contact with churches in Indianapolis, Louisville, Lexington, Cincinnati, and Columbus, as well as with close friends and pastors in my hometown of Richmond, Indiana. Overall, it will be a jam-packed three weeks on the road, but I am comforted by the words of an old Fanny Crosby hymn:

All the way my Savior leads me;
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my Guide?
Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,
Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well.

Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Lord's Day!

New Website Page: My Itinerary

I often have ongoing questions about where I am, what I will be doing, for whom I will be speaking, etc. I love getting those questions, but for the inquiring minds that want to know with more immediate precision what I am up to on my journeys and the broader process of deputation, I have started a new part of this website which details a my schedule of missions-related events and my travel itinerary.

Please understand, I do not necessarily list potential visits: these are only confirmed visits with churches, individuals, and organizations. At the same time, travel schedules can be more on the flexible side. All this to say, my hope is that this webpage of my itinerary and deputation events will be regularly updated and useful for everyone who is wondering where I am and what I will be doing!

One crazy souped-up week

Well, I know that it's been way too long since I've posted an update here, but I finally have a moment of respite and can give an adequate update to what has been a jam-packed week.

My time in Lake Almanor with the faculty, students, and parents of St. Andrew's Academy was fantastic. Not only was I able to preach and share about the mission to Argentina on Monday, October 18th at a service for the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, but I was able to spend time with those associated with the school and congregations and observe how their community lives and their school worships and instructs. I was refreshed and encouraged, and left with the bittersweet feeling of having left behind good friends.

Having left Lake Almanor, I headed back speedily to San Diego, where the following day (Friday) I headed off on a middle school youth retreat for the Anglican churches in our area called FLAYM (Following the Lord in Anglican Youth Ministries). These weekends are encouraging and exhausting all wrapped up together, but I was glad that I was able to be there filling in pastorally and musically.

Very meaningfully, Fr. Russell Martin, the minister on charge during the retreat, asked the youth to lay hands on me after the closing Holy Communion and commission me as I depart for Argentina. I know it meant a lot to me, and I pray that the Lord will burn into the memories of those children the image of a missionary being commissioned joyfully by the body of Christ to go and share the Gospel abroad.

I plan to be in the San Diego area for just over another week ... if anyone around would like to get a hold of me to catch up and/or talk about the mission, give me a call or shoot me an email, both of which can be done through the website here if you don't have my number or email address. I look forward to spending time with you whenever we can manage it!

An Oregon Trail, Part 2

"I will be brief ..."

Today was great. I was able to visit St. Matthew's (Portland) this morning for worship, and thoroughly enjoyed being with the congregation in the Lord's presence, hearing his Word, and getting to know the people of the parish. I was amazed at the sheer number of ex-missionaries and Christian college and seminary professors who are a part of that church. My hope is to continue a strong connection with what is the only ACNA congregation in the state of Oregon.

Immediately after wrapping things up with St. Matthew's, I booked almost 500 miles as I headed from Portland, Oregon to Lake Almanor, California, where I am visiting Christ the Redeemer and St. Thomas churches and St. Andrew's Academy. The drive was hard, but traffic was light on a Sunday evening and I made good time. The very hospitable rector and headmaster Rev. Brian Foos and his wife have kindly taken me into their home, and I am hoping to be refreshed even as I share about the mission to Argentina.

Please pray for me as I preach and talk about my mission this Monday, October 18th, on the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist. Pray that God will open the hearts of the men and women of these churches to partner with me, in prayer and possibly also in finances.

The Canadian Connection

Here's a prayer request for you all ... but first a little background ...

While I was in Canada raising support among churches and their leadership, I was often asked why I had come to Canada to raise support. While there may have been a considerable bit of (what Dr. Horrible calls) "crazy random happenstance" involved in making the decision, in retrospect I consider it a providential visit to raise support in Canada.

See, though an international support team made of partners from all over the world can complicate matters (particularly in the realms of finances and cultural translation), there's something incredibly biblical and empowering about having a truly global missions team. The Lamb-that-was-slain has redeemed a people for himself "from every tribe and tongue and nation" whose call then is to take his Gospel to "every tribe and tongue and nation." And the more that not only the mission team's objective but the mission team itself is cross-cultural, the more I think that this mission will be reflecting God's design and intention for his church.

So you can imagine, as the possibility of building a truly international and multicultural missions team has presented itself, I've been pretty jazzed about pursuing it. Of course, we're not just talking about Canada. Not only have military servicemen begun praying for me from as far away as Afghanistan, but believers from Peru have signed up to receive updates and be counted in on the prayer team, and despite the language barrier, their emails since have been some of the most encouraging that I have received!

So, in the wake of my trip to Canada, I have asked SAMS Canada to set up ways for Canadian churches and individuals to give financially to my mission through their agency. Please keep this process in prayer, the result of which Lord willing will strengthen not only this ministry but his church around the world and will resound to the praise and glory of his Name!

An Oregon Trail, Part 1

The adventure continues! After saying my goodbyes to hospitable friends in Everett, Washington, and a hearty lunch with an old friend of mine from seminary who is serving at a Presbyterian church in Seattle, I have headed down to Portland, Oregon, where I am looking to visit with anyone who might have an interest in learning about or sharing in my mission to Argentina. However, tomorrow (my day off) I am looking forward to paying a visit to George Fox University with an old family friend and to enjoying a glimpse into the world of a dynamic academic institution dedicated to serving God in excellence.

Continuing with the Oregon trail theme, I must ask your prayers as I have contracted a rather frustrating illness. No, I am not dying of dysentery. However, a throat and sinus infection of some kind has found me a useful host in which to develop and express itself, and I am feeling pretty worn-down and crummy. Please pray that I would feel better quickly, particularly before my visit to St. Matthew's Anglican Church this Sunday, where I hope to articulate a vision for ministry which exudes passion for God apart from anything else.

Throughout this trip, I have been bowled over by the tangible, sacrificial acts of hospitality that I have encountered, both in the homes in which I have been staying as well as in the churches which I have visited. We so often do not realize the power that comes in opening our lives to others, and my prayer is that those who have opened their homes, hearts, and churches to me will have been enriched and strengthened in the process by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ubi caritas et amor Deus ibi est. 

The West Coast Jig Continues

Wow, I cannot believe that it's been a week since I have posted an update on here. The Lord has been good and has been showing his prevenient hand as I write from the cloudy city of Everett, Washington. Here is a review of the past week!

Transition back to work has gone well! I have been in touch with my sending church, the Anglican Church of the Resurrection, and though I may be thousands of miles away contact has been resumed and I am back on the clock!

My meeting in Victoria with the Anglican clergy from around Vancouver Island went very well. After meeting with the Rev. Rod Ellis at Church of our Lord, Victoria, we headed out and had lunch with eleven other clergy from around the area. I was able to present my mission to them and ask for their prayer and financial support, and at the very least some good connections were made.

Having been actively seeking connections for the mission in Canada, I have been pursuing setting up a connection with SAMS Canada in order to allow our Canadian brothers and sisters to easily give financially to the mission.

Last Thursday, I headed back across the border to stay with friends in Everett, a little city thirty minutes north of Seattle, and to seek to link up with churches in what is known as the Diocese of Cascadia, an ACNA diocese in formation centered around the Pacific Northwest. The folks have been great and I've been loving every minute of it.

I spent most of the last part of the work preparing to preach the Gospel and share about my mission at St. Stephen's Anglican Church in Oak Harbor. What am amazing congregation, full of life and friendliness and the power of God! Rev. Paul Orritt, the rector, was gracious enough to allow me to give the sermon on Luke 17:11-19, and to host an interview with me between the services. I was humbled and blessed to be with them on the 10th, and I hope our connection can continue.

Yesterday I took the ferry to Kingston to grab coffee with the Rev. Duncan Clark, rector of St. Charles Anglican Church, Poulsbo, and came away very encouraged. On the agenda for the rest of this week, I am planning to get coffee with the Rev. Dr. Harley Crain, the dean of the REC Cathedral in Seattle, and we'll see what other appointments the Lord ordained for my path before I head south to Portland, Oregon on Thursday, where I plan to visit St. Matthew's Anglican Church.

Thank you all for your prayers! The adventure continues ...

Prayer Needed: Mission from Buenos Aires

I received an email today from Rev. Daniel Genovesi, the minister, Lord willing, with whom I expect to be working initially during my time serving as a missionary in Argentina. Of course, while we often think of sending missionaries to Latin America, we sometimes forget that churches and individuals outside of North America, Europe, and Australia can and do send missionaries.

This morning, Rev. Daniel's church, St. Mark's, commissioned and sent two women, Mercedes and Carolina, out as short-term missionaries to the Wichi tribes in Northern Argentina. They will be putting on workshops for children, women, and Sunday school teachers. He has asked for our prayers, and gives this commentary:

How can we support them from a distance? By remembering that each one of us is also a missionary, that we have an area in which to complete the specific task with which the Lord has entrusted us. We must conceive of St. Mark's as a community of missionaries dedicated to schools, clinics, stores, businesses, police, churches, fire stations, gardens, laboratories, embassies, university faculties, banks, gymnasiums, etc. We have a mission in our families, in our jobs, in our friendship and in the transformation--by way of crisis, sickness, changes, joys and pains-- of our own selves. Ora et labora: pray and work, the best way to support and grow.

Please join with St. Mark's and others in prayer for Mercedes and Carolina for the next two weeks (they return October 26th) as they serve as representatives of their church and, in a very real sense, of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Saludos y Bendiciones

Among the other videos that Rev. Ed Hird made of me yesterday, we also recorded a greeting in Spanish for believers and churches in South America. While I was thinking on my feet as to what to say, it expresses well my sentiments and affection for our fellow Christians on our neighboring continent.