R a i s i n g C a n e y . c o m

There were regional experiences representing the missionaries all across the world.  Europe and it’s harsh post-Christian culture, Africa and the AIDS epidemic and poverty and education crisis, China and it’s unreached masses.  There were even sessions on reaching Muslims and Hindu people here in the United States.  Every meal we had the opportunity to sit with missionaries from various places around the world.  At these meals, we got to learn about the personal struggles, motives, experiences, and excitements that these people face every day.  I ate with missionaries from China, Algeria, Lithuania.

There were some amazing times of prayer and worship at the summit…

When we found out about the trip to South Africa for this summer with our Chi Alpha group I felt God calling me to go.  The trip is 3 weeks long in late July-early August.  Canaan will be about 3 months old…  So I thought, and everyone I spoke to agreed, that this was a legitimate concern and reason (excuse) for not going on the mission trip.  Also, Tasha and I are on a pretty tight budget as a young married couple going through college, about to have a baby, and taking the world by storm.   People also agreed that this was an acceptable reason to not go on the trip.

This was all wrong though…

God spoke to me at the summit…  If GOD tells me to go somewhere, there is NOT legitimate excuse not to go.  If GOD tells me to go to Africa then God will make a way for me to afford getting there.

So while my selfish desires and conventional wisdom say that I had a pretty sound reasoning for NOT going, God has made it clear that as the Bible says… His foolishness is above man’s wisdom.

So I’m going to South Africa this summer.  So, many of you may be receiving (or have already received) letters requesting financial support/sponsorship to help me pay for this trip.  This will actually be my first mission trip…

I’m scared and sad about leaving my girls, but I’m leaving the camcorder with Tasha so she can record evvvvvery waking moment that I’m gone.

I know and understand that not all of you that I’ve contacted for support will be able to support me financially.  Where this is the case, I ask that you support our family and the mission team in prayer.  We believe that God will be faithful to provide, and we believe that your prayers help.

-Cy

So, as most of you know, Tasha and I are members of Chi Alpha. Chi Alpha is one of the campus ministries here at Louisiana Tech. The body of believers in Chi Alpha varies greatly as far as the background denominations of its members. The organization itself though, is sponsored by the Assembly of God (AG) church. AG hosts the World Missions Summit (WMS) every 3 years.  At WMS, Missionaries from all over the world come together to recruit, train, educate, inspire, and minister to (primarily) college students interested in being missionaries (long term, short term, etc.).

Over New Years holiday I had the opportunity to go to Cincinnati, Ohio  for WMS with a group of people who are in Chi Alpha with us.  Unfortunately, Tasha could not come, as her doctors advised her not to do any extended traveling as long rides and such can cause blood clots in her legs (and would be uncomfortable in general).  Soooo, Tasha and I spent our first married New Years apart …  The bus ride was about 13-14 hours I think, and I slept probably 12 of those hours.

There were big praise/worship and informational services and skits throughout the WMS.  In between these services we had breakout sessions and meals.  The breakout sessions were AMAZING.  The most popular one was probably the Eurasia Experience.

The Eurasia Experience is a tour of a fake “country” called Eurasia (referencing the geographic region, of course). Each visitor is issued a fake “passport.”  As we waited in line, customs workers came and separated us having men stand on one side and “women and the unclean” on the other.  Also, we were required to remove our shoes.  We were warned not to have any religious materials for distribution and that in Eurasia cameras and videos were not allowed.  As we waited to enter, the customs agents came through interrogating people about their religious materials and “arresting” people who had materials for distribution.  You enter the room, and men are issued a traditional ethnic hat from various Eurasian cultures.  The women are given scarf head-coverings.  You begin by walking through a “bazaar” where vendors are shoving “fresh meat” in your face.  The skinned goat’s head reeked, but it looked…plastic.  I touched it thinking it was fake.  It was real…and gross.  There were people “pickpocketing,” and there were so many people that you couldn’t tell who was doing it.  There were people selling women into prostitution/etc.  Then you get to a big room where we all sit on the floors.

People who are arrested are placed in a guarded mock jail-cell to the edge, but when everyone is seated the show begins.  There’s a man dressed in religious Hindu attire who dances through the crowd placing a red dot on the forehead of the women.  There’s a Buddhist who goes through the crowd performing a religious ceremony.  There’s an Orthodox Jew who goes through doing a ceremony. There’re Muslims on the center stage praying toward Mecca on mats.  Then, person after person comes through describing the violence, aggression, persecution (reasons NOT to go into missions) and finally, the breakthroughs (the reasons WHY to go into missions) that they experienced in different cultures or parts of the world.  These people are making a huge difference in the Kingdom of God, reaching people who would never have heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ, were it not for their selfless sacrifice.  It was…amazing.  The reason why cameras weren’t allowed was really “for security purposes.”  Some of the missionaries are in closed countries, places where they would be kicked out if discovered to be missionaries.  Even more unsettling, in some of these nations, missionaries can be arrested and ultimately executed.

It was…an amazing experience.  Also, we got to keep the hats!

This is only the beginning of the amazing things God did during this trip, but I’ll save that for the next post.

-Cy

So, we had our doctor appointment yesterday, and all was well.  It’s always comforting and exciting to hear Caney’s little 148 bpm heart thumping along.  We did that yesterday, and they started measuring from top of the pelvic bone to the top of the belly.  Tasha is currently 23 inches, and Dr. Flores said that’s right where she should be.

Source: blog.mlive.com Obama and McCain

In other (personally, less important but more data-rich) news, when Canaan is born (if God’s timing is the same as nature’s), America’s first African-American president (President-Elect Barack Obama) will be in office.  I didn’t vote for Mr. Obama.  I voted for Senator McCain.  I’ve seen many different responses.  Most of the people I know on Facebook have left comments ranging from “how stupid Americans are” to “plans to move to Canada.”  It amuses me.  I seem to recall the exact things being said by most of my more liberal friends when President Bush was re-elected.  The really funny thing is that Canada is a very socialist country, and people are threatening to move there to escape Senator Obama’s socialist-leaning presidency.  What scares me the most, though is the Congressional elections in conjunction with the Presidential election.  The Democratic party is nearly filibuster-proof.  They control the House, the Senate, and the Presidency.  Also, two Supreme Court Justices will probably be retiring/replaced by liberal judges.  This means that the whole “checks and balances” thing will be very iffy this time around (if present at all).  It seems as though any liberal agenda would EASILY be pushed through the legislation process.  This concerns me because I tend to be more conservative.

BUT…

Hebrews 13:17 says:
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

and

Romans 13:1-2 says:
1) Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2)Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

God has a plan and has a will in whoever and however a nation is ruled.  We may not understand how or why, and it may not necessarily be what would be considered “good” for a nation.  However, the authority that exists (and will exist with the next Presidential Inauguration) does so by God’s establishment.  That having been said, as a military man, I am obligated to support my Commander-in-Chief and His policies, directives, and lawful orders.  That being said, congratulations to President-Elect Obama.  May the Lord be with you, and may your will be His.

-Cy