Confirming God's Will

Sorry I haven't been around. Since Shannon returned home we have spent time getting back into our schedule of busy! We have had two birthdays in our family this past week and one coming up tomorrow. I have been catching up on work I didn't finish while Shannon was away and have started my new cases for the month of October. Last year after Shannon and Collin returned from Tanzania we dedicated quite a few posts to giving our readers a synopsis of their trip. Due to our almost daily instant messaging on this trip there is a lot less to share but we do still plan to sit down and do a post together.

I started a new Beth Moore bible study early in September. This will be the third study by her I have done, the second group I have led. I had tried to do a couple of her studies many years ago but was not committed enough to keep up with the daily work at that stage in my life. We are studying the series titled "To Live is Christ" about the missionary journeys of Paul. Anyway, last weeks lesson talked about several ways to confirm God's will. Being within God's will is something Shannon and I take very seriously in our daily lives and in regards to moving to Mwanza, we know we have to be in God's will to be able to minister effectively.

The first question was, "Is this command congruent with God's character?" Throughout the bible God has asked His followers to not just accept him but to tell others of Him, to care for the less fortunate and to love others as themselves. Throughout the bible He has asked average people to do extraordinary things in His name and with His help. One huge concern in our situation has been that we have an adult severely mentally disabled son that is unable to travel with us to Tanzania. Is leaving him behind consistent with God's character? Shannon and I feel it is. Again, throughout the bible, God has asked His followers to leave behind friends, family and belongings to follow Him. And in the case of Abraham, he was asked to kill his son Isaac. Abraham acted in obedience and was spared from actually committing the act but the point is that he was willing to obey. We will leave Brandon in a group home with loving caring staff and assign a legal guardian in addition to us who is in the area.
Friends and extended family members in the area will be here for him as well.

The second question, "Have you received reconfirmation?" Both Shannon and I feel that we have. Through dreams and visions we have each experienced, through words given to us, in some cases by people who do not even know us, through "coincidental" circumstances that have put ourselves or others in the right place at the right time.
The curious way in which our vision for the ministry matches up almost exactly with Rev. Debra and Wayne and the rest of the End Time Glory Ministries team is just another huge confirmation for us.

And the last question, "Have you received sound counsel?" Early in this process we spoke with several people we knew and trusted to give us wise thoughts. Pastor Keith Kerstetter from our church was one of them. I wrote a bit about our conversation with him here. A good friend of ours, Dan Mitchell, was also on our list of people to speak with. Shannon had a couple of phone conversations with him and we spoke with him in person once. Of course, we have many other Christian friends that we have spoken with about the situation and nearly all are encouraging us to move ahead.

Shannon and I will be meeting with Rev. Debra and Wayne again in November to discuss the ministry further. I want to speak with them and the End Time Glory Ministries board about all of these things, all things I feel they know to ask themselves as well. We know that God puts dreams and visions in people's hearts and joins those people together later to accomplish His work. We can't wait to see what He has planned next!