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My husband and I have had a heart for missions for a very long time. Jimbo went on his first foreign mission trip almost 20 years ago when he was blessed to be able to spend a month in the Philippines serving the Lord.  I was still raising 3 young girls at the time, so I was quite content to stay home and be the prayer warrior while he was ministering overseas. He has since been on trips to Romania, India, Africa (3 times), Nicaragua and Costa Rica. 

In November of 2007, I was led by the Lord to go on my very first mission trip to Nicaragua. It was a huge thing for me due to my intense fear of flying (or crashing). I knew that the Lord had stirred my heart with a desire to be part of this trip, so I put all that aside and was simply obedient. That trip began a process of longing in my soul for more. More of Him, more of the work of the Holy Spirit and more missions. Since that first trip in 2007, I have been back to Nicaragua 4 more times as well as Honduras and Africa. God has done a tremendous work in my life as He enabled and empowered me to overcome some very large obstacles along the way. He did things that only He could do.

So, here we are in 2015 with a new story. A new journey. One that really began almost 20 years ago, but one that started to really come to fruition in August while my husband and I were in Africa. God began speaking to his heart about full-time missions. A place where his heart had been for awhile but a place that didn't seem feasible or possible. As the Lord continued to speak to him, He also began tugging at my heart. A tug that I tried to ignore and tried to avoid. But that tug grew stronger and it wasn't long before I knew that my heart was joining my husbands heart for a change in our lives. An enormous change.

When the Lord does something, He does it in a mighty way. Within weeks after we returned home, we both knew that God was calling us into full-time ministry and evangelism. We weren't sure exactly what that looked like, but we knew that it was going to be a dramatic change for us. It was going to be a giant step in faith as we began intently listening and heard His voice and His instruction for our lives. 

My husband had been a pastor for 20 years and we had been at Goodwill Baptist Church for almost 8 years. All of the sudden, God was telling my husband that it was time to resign. It was time to leave the church and step into our new calling. I was like, 'Wait a minute, Lord. Surely you don't mean right now. Surely you mean later on. Down the road. After we get things all figured out and get our finances together!". 

No, that is not what God meant at all. He was leading us to resign our pastorate which promptly would leave us without a paycheck or a place to live. We lived in the parsonage that the church provided and it was a very nice and very large home that we had grown to love. Yet, that's exactly what God was asking us to do. Leave our church, leave our home, and trust Him.

So, here we are almost 3 months later and we are surviving.  We stepped out in faith and God has not been anything but kind to us. He has loved us and He has provided for us and He has walked step-by-step beside us on this journey into the unknown. We have been on a short trip to Nicaragua which opened up several new doors for us in ministry and we are preparing to head back there in about 3 weeks and will stay for a month.  He is showing us each day that He will take care of our needs. He is showing us each day that it isn't about us at all, but that it is all about Him.

When we open our hearts to fully trust, God will open His arms and fully protect and provide. I don't know why we don't comprehend that He is the provider and He is the giver of all things. So, why do we worry? It's our human nature to doubt. It's our human nature to feel a lack of control. Over and over our God has provided for us in ways that only He can orchestrate. He works out the details in ways that leave us with our mouths hanging open. What a mighty God we serve! What an amazing God we get to worship! What an honor and a privilege it is to be His child. 

I don't know what God has in store for us next. But, I do know this. He is already working out the details and all we have to do is stay deep in His Word, listen for His Voice and respond in loving and eager obedience. All we have to do is be available. The rest is simply up to my God. 

"And Jesus, looking upon them saith, with men it is 

impossible but not with God; for with God

 all things are possible" (Mark 10:27)

Glory, Hallelujah. 

To Die is Gain? Is it?

My thoughts are going all over the place this morning, so if I am not making any sense, please forgive me!

Monday night, Jimbo, Melissa and I watched a movie called "The End of the Spear". It is a true story and I know many of you have heard of it or have even seen it. It is basically about Jim Elliott and a group of missionaries in Ecuador. Five of the men are speared and killed by tribesmen but their families remain to carry out their calling and spread the gospel. This movie just touched my heart and made me come face to face with some realilities in my own life.

My family is very mission minded. My husband has been to the Phillipines, Romania, Africa and Nicaragua (2 times). He is going to India in August for 3 weeks. I have been on one mission trip to Nicaragua. My daughter Melissa has been to Bolivia, South America once and 10 days after she graduates Friday (yay!) she will head back to Bolivia for almost 5 weeks. She is also scheduled to go to Camaroon, Africa this fall to work at a medical missions for 3 months. So you see, I LOVE missions and I understand what missions is all about.

"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21)

But....As I watched this movie and was just horrified at the brutal killing of these men, I thought to myself - "Would I be willing to go somewhere knowing that I could be killed just like that?" I mean, anytime we go to another country there is always the possibility that we could lose our life for the gospel of Christ. But would I be willing to go if I knew that it was more than just a possibility and more like a probability? If I knew that people had been killed there before? Would I?

I was a little disappointed in myself at my first answer. I am not sure that I would go KNOWING that I was more than likely going to lose my life and that thought scares me. It brought me to tears just realizing that I am not that strong in my faith. I can honestly say that it scares me to think about it and that is just pitiful! I should be MORE than willing to die for my Savior after everything that He has done and continues to do for me. What an eye opening revelation for me.

I have a long way to go in my step-by-step growth in the Lord. I am just trodding along and trying my best to keep my focus on Him. I love Him more than I could ever imagine. I am so thankful for the mercy He has shown me in my life and that He continues to show me. I desire to draw closer and closer to His heart. I want His praise to be continually on my lips.

You know what my problem is? I haven't let God truly be the Lord of my life. I still have my hand on the end of the reign and haven't quite turned it all over to Him yet. Oh, I love Him. I love Him more than I can even begin to tell you. I want to serve Him. I want to KNOW Him more. But I haven't quite let Him have it ALL. I need to surrender it ALL. He is worthy.

We all want a Savior. But how many of us want a LORD?

Thank you for praying for my husband last night. He could barely talk, but PRAISE GOD when he got up to preach, the Lord just reached down and touched his voice and he preached a powerful sermon! The Lord reached back down and had mercy on a grown man's soul as he came forth for salvation. Praise God for Robert Williams' salvation last night.


The more I seek You, the more I find you and the more I find You, the more I love You,

Wanted: Workers for the Harvest

We spend a lot of time - no, too much time - making sure that our homes have just the right decor, the right furniture, the newest and biggest tv's etc. We paint and wallpaper and repaint. We arrange and rearrange. We seem to think that is where our security lies and we tend to exist solely within those "four walls" we call our home. That is our comfort zone.

Truth is, God gave us a mission that extends beyond those walls. Let's look at the very familiar passage in Matthew 28:18-20. "Then Jesus came near and said to them, "all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

As Christians, we are supposed to do what we believe in. If we took this seriously and cared as much about the outside of those "four walls" as we did about the inside, people wouldn't have to wonder about whether God was real. They would SEE that He was real. They would see it from us.

In Matthew 9:35 it says "Then Jesus went to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news...". You know what the first thing I noticed in this verse? That Jesus went to ALL the towns and villages. It didn't say that He went to the ones that would welcome him or the ones that would be the easiest to get to or even the nearest ones. It says all.

If you read on to verse 37, "then He said to His disciples, 'the harvest is abundant, but the workers are few'". The harvest is abundant. That means there are many people who need the saving Grace of our Lord Jesus. Abundant harvest means that we have a lot of work to do. Abundant harvest means that we won't run out of people to witness to.

But the next part is the kicker - "the workers are few". We KNOW this is true. How many people do you actually know that are working? It is not just the responsibility of a select group of people. Don't just leave it up to the preachers. It is up to ALL of us. We all need to have the compassion of Jesus and see the needs of people and see their weariness and see their hunger for SOMETHING! We, as Christians, have the answer to what will satisfy that immense hunger in their lives. But they will never know if we don't tell them. If we don't "go" they won't "know".

In Romans 15, Paul writes to the church in Rome asking for financial assistance so that he can continue on with his missionary work. He wasn't apologetic about it. It was just a necessary request in the natural scheme of things. He was willing to go and others had to be willing to make it possible. That's how it is today. We not only need to have a heart for missions, we need to have a mindset for missions and be willing to open our wallets and put our money where our mouth is! It takes money to reach others. We need to welcome the opportunity to give and do it cheerfully. It should be our privilege, our passion and our pleasure.

I have been on both sides of missions. I have given so others can go and I have been the recipient of gifts so that I could go. They are both rewarding. I challenge you to pick a country or nation and begin praying specifically for them. Pray for the people there to have exposure to the gospel of Jesus Christ and that it will create such a hunger in them for the Word. Pray that it will bring salvation to many. Let's go out into that abundant harvest and work! Let's put some feet to our faith. Let's work till Jesus comes.

In the Grip of His Grace,
Beth