Several have asked, ”Why this trip?” So here’s an attempt at an answer….
From the time we began supporting the ministry of Mary Jean Powers (Get The Word Out), I have wanted to attend one of her “Fear of the Lord” intensive studies. This is a key theme in the Book of Proverbs which I’ve loved my entire life.
Last year, when sksimants and I redevoted our lives to the service of God, we explored the opportunity (albeit briefly) of taking a trip with MJP to Estonia. We eventually talked ourselves out of it.
When MJP was here in Little Rock for the “Prayer Intensive” that Asbury UMC hosted, we told her that we’d still like to connect in ministry with her somewhere in the world this year. We knew then (as we do now) that missions was a core element in our own ministry, and further knew that we wanted to be partnered with MJP as much as we could in prayer, finance, and service. Almost without hesitation, she told us that we should go to Mexico with her in May. She then added that she was going to be teaching (almost the entire trip) on the “Fear of the Lord.”
That made it an easy decision for us to make.
We began to pray that God would pave the road for us. There was an outstanding question on whether or not the missionary with whom we would be working in country could accomodate us, so while MJP worked with him to make that part happen, sksimants and I prayed.
A few weeks passed with basically no answer more than “we’re still working on the transportation from El Paso to Huapoca to Juarez.” So, we kept praying.
Finally, on 5 April at about 1am, I was in the “Trailernacle” (AUMC’s 24/7 Prayer Room), and just told God, “Hey, we leave in 19 days. We’re kind of running out of time to ensure good airfare. We’re kind of running out of time to make legal arrangements. An answer would help.”
The reply came instantly: “Read the Book of Daniel.”
Now, this statement is PROOF that God has a sense of humor. Of the books in the Bible, Daniel is likely my least favorite. Can’t really say why, other than I’ve never really gotten anything out of it. Especially, after chapter 6. Don’t get me wrong, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego — Cool story. Daniel and the Lion’s — Cool story. The rest… eh.
But being obedient, I sat down, pulled out my copy of The Message (a bit easier on the brain) and read.
God pointed out a couple of things in chapter 2, and then NOTHING until chapter 10.
When I read:
“‘Relax, Daniel,’ he continued, ‘don’t be afraid. From the moment you decided to humble yourself to recieve understanding, your prayer was heard, and I set out to come to you. But I was waylaid by the angel-prince of the kingdom of Persia and was delayed for a good three weeks. …”
Let me stop right there for a second…. This was on 5 April. MJP asked us to go with her on 14 March — THREE WEEKS TO THE DAY!
“… But then Michael, one of the chief angel-princes, intervened to help me. I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia. And now I’m here to help you understand what will eventually happen to your people.”
So…. Remember, the two key reasons that we wanted to take THIS particular trip was that we wanted to learn more about the “Fear of the Lord” and we felt that this was our time of learning in the wilderness (Galatians 1:16-20). Together with the 40-days of prayer (and the Nazarite Vow) it was a time that we were using to really seek out what God’s next steps are for our family.
HOW COOL IS GOD?!?!
After reading that, I emailed sksimants and MJP and said, “I’m sensing we need to change our prayer focus. The evil spirit that controls the area of Juarez/Chihuahua seems to be holding up the Messenger. We need to pray for God to send a reinforcement to hold back the evil spirit and let the Messenger through.” We shifted our prayer focus.
On 7 April, I was back in the Trailernacle. I was praying for the reinforcements. At one point, I felt the most peace about the trip that I had felt from the moment we were asked to go. I knew it was done, and the messenger had made it through.
12 HOURS LATER…. Let me say that again 12 HOURS LATER… we recieved an email from MJP that was titled: “Mexico, here we come!”
Less than 24 hours after that we had secured 100% of the required budget for the trip — without dipping into our personal bank accounts!
We clearly believe that God has ordained this trip as a time for us to learn more about the “Fear of the Lord”, what our future holds, how to minister cross-culturally, how to trust for God to provide, and how to pray.
So, that’s why this trip.