Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases; He redeems my life from the pit and crowns me with love and compassion. He satisfies my desires with good things, so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
Psalm 103:1-6
Dear Faithful Friends,
Greetings from Omaha where it is unseasonably cold. It is 63 degrees and the temperature is expected to reach a whopping 68! We are enjoying sunny, cool weather in August.
As I write to you, I am overwhelmed with the goodness of God. The psalmist expresses what is in me, better than I could myself. These last 7 months of rest from international travel have proven to be more beneficial than Chris or I could have ever imagined. I'm only 31, but in January of this year I felt much older. Spending eight years among some of the most extreme forms of poverty and injustice had made my body, mind, and spirit weary. I was struggling to understand how Jesus' yoke is easy and His burden light.
Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light . Matthew 11:28-30
In spite of the suffering my friends around the world live day in and day out and in spite of the men, women, and children's lives that ended way too early, I can testify that God is still good. His goodness transcends and penetrates the suffering of this age. Having been tested by the fires of the sin & poverty of this world, I am convinced that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38 -39 ). God's love and His goodness is a mystery to me. Yet it is more real than the air I breathe.
This year God has truly satisfied my desires with good things and renewed my youth. I love this Psalm because the psalmist acknowledges that God's goodness to me doesn't end with me. This passage of praise for how God has been good to the psalmist is then directed to God's righteousness and justice for ALL the oppressed. Immediately after praising God for personal benefits of His goodness, the psalmist directs us to the oppressed and reminds us that God will express His righteousness and justice for them. They are not forgotten.
And so, as Chris and I bring this season of rest from international travel to a close, I am ever more focused on seeing God's righteousness and justice worked out for my beloved friends around the world, not doubting His goodness, energized by it.
Thank you for standing with us and with them all these years.
At the end of September Chris and I will travel to Thailand for the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism. This is the 30 th anniversary of Lausanne and the 4 th World Congress Meeting. There will be nearly 2,000 church leaders from virtually every country in the world. There's a rigid selection process and Chris along with two others from WMF have been invited to attend. Chris will take part in the holistic mission issues group. This is an incredible opportunity for Chris to be a voice for the poor and to influence the changing shape of cross-culture ministry and evangelism.
So this fall we will travel first to Singapore for our dear friend's wedding (Jeelan from Chennai). From there we will venture to Thailand for Lausanne , and following that with a visit to Chennai , India to visit Patrick and Victoria and the children. We're looking forward to seeing the new home WMF-Chennai was able to purchase thanks to an extremely generous donor.
Singapore 9/22-27 Thailand 9/27-10/7 Chennai , India 10/7-10/17
Travel for 2005 is yet to be decided. We're going to take it kind of slow as we consider all that God has in store for us during this next season.
Thank you to all of you who responded with extra gifts last month for our Asia trip. We really appreciate your generosity. The additional cost of Lausanne has put quite a drain on our support account. We still don't have enough money to cover all the expenses. Will you please consider if you might be able to help us out a bit more this month to recover these costs?
As always, we are indebted to you for your friendship, your prayers, and your partnership in the ministry of Word Made Flesh.
forget not all His benefits,
ps. Please go to http://www.wordmadeflesh.com/bodyandsoul.htm to view an article about Word Made Flesh called “Body and Soul” in the magazine Sojourner (July 2004).