Tuesday, September 28, 2010

ONE Weekend

Picture courtesy of One Mission Society
Have you wondered what it is to be a missionary?  Perhaps you wondered if you had what it takes to be a missionary?  I would recommend you checking out a new event to One Mission Society called One Weekend.  Click on the title "ONE Weekend" to link to more info.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Sharing with friends


I remember when Briyana and I got engaged.  We were down in Austin with her parents when we got engaged, and on the next day we had to drive back to Fort Worth.  We were so excited to share the news with our friends and family.  We would look at each other and immediately smile and giggle.  We t were on cloud 9.  I will never forget those feelings.

Yesterday we had the chance to share our ministry with several couples.  In the morning we shared with a ministry called LAUNCH, and the evening we shared with some close friends at their house.  Both times, couples were so excited to see what we were doing.  They were encouraging, and genuinely interested in the ministry.  It reminded me of how Briyana and I felt when we got engaged. 

We left our friends house late in the evening and praised God for his provision and encouragement.  It's fun to see others get excited about your ministry and want to participate in it with you. 

God Bless,


Brent & Briyana

Briyana and me at the URBANA '09 Missions Conference

Monday, September 20, 2010

Church Multiplication

A couple of years ago I read a book called "Operation Multiplication." It was a great book that encouraged believers to develop a Paul/Timothy relationship with a younger believer. The idea was to disciple the younger believer until they were ready to disciple their own young believer. It was encouraging and fun.

This past month One Mission Society did something similar, but on a much larger scale. They had 40 pastors, from all over the world, come to headquarters in Greenwood, Indiana. While there, these pastors learned techniques to use back at home to help plant churches in areas that have never heard the gospel. The last week of the class, pastors diagrammed their plan and allowed others to review their plans and give feedback.

Today those pastors are hard at work, fulfilling their plans and allowing God to work in the hearts of nationals throughout the world.

I read this quote yesterday and I think it helps us realize the significance of missions and the desire God has for each and every individual to hear and accept the gift of salvation.

"We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God."- John Stott

As far as a personal update, Briyana and I are excited about what God has for us in the coming week. This coming Sunday Briyana and I get to present our opportunity to a ministry of Christ Chapel Bible Church called LAUNCH. LAUNCH was created to help people learn about missions and help them get involved in missions. We are also hoping to get together with a few couples during the week.

Brie is hard at work on her thesis and is excited to clear several hurdles this week in regards to research. Please pray for her as her schedule often makes her feel overwhelmed and stressed.

We write this often but we really do appreciate your support and prayers. Please let us know by leaving a comment or by emailing us if you know of anybody that would be interested in hearing about our ministry. Perhaps the Lord is challenging you to participate in ministry? Like my friend recently said, "Have you ever considered the fact that your obedience of acting in faith could be someones answer to prayer?"

Blessings,

Brent and Briyana

Friday, September 17, 2010

Power of Prayer

Briyana and I want to thank everybody for their prayers this past week. Much of last week I was on the road meeting couples and churches and sharing about our ministry. The trip was amazing. Your prayers were heard by God and he answered them. Thank you!

So often people think that writing a check and praying every now-and-then is all they can do to help their missionary. But that just isn't the case. God has designed the church body in such an amazing way. Some people are called to go into the field of missions, while others are not. If it weren't for those people who stay at home, missionaries would not be successful. God has given each person a special gift to use for extending the Kingdom. Some might be good at making money and choose to support missionaries. Others might have the gift of hospitality and allow missionaries to stay with them when they come back home. Still others might of a gift of encouragement and write an encouraging note to their missionary at a time when an encouragement is greatly needed. We all come together to form the body of the church. When one takes a look back and realizes how amazing this blessing is, one can't help but be awestruck.

Here is a story of how prayer has recently had a major impact in the missions field. I received this email from a missionary of ours down on the field of Haiti just a couple of days ago. Here is an excerpt of the email.

My mind is just whirling from the past days...no electricity has meant no internet, but I am praising the Lord this morning for some city power, some water, and a chance to share with you! You all must be praying, because these past stretching days have brought some beautiful things to pass.

While we've had some hot days and some shower-less nights, everyone's attitudes have been brilliant, and not one complaint has fallen on my ears. Lily is happy to not be bathing, we've had enough city power at times to pull all the drinking water that the 70+ of us need, we are the only Seminary I know of that now has a designated "pee in the garden" rule, and last night was SO uncharacteristically cool that everyone slept well without fans. EVERY time the situation has neared "urgent", city power has popped on, something our dear friend and maintenance man Abel marvels as a complete miracle. "I have never seen such consistent city power in my life!"

And finally, and perhaps the biggest gift because it is that which only HE can provide, is, in the words of Nicole (3rd year student), that "last night, God came down and dwelt among us. It was AWESOME." Around 7:30, Matt, Lily and I checked in on the students to make sure everyone had enough drinking water, and everyone was happily hanging out in the cafeteria with a few flashlights. The plan was for everyone to go to bed early, then get up early with the sun to study for classes that they had been unable to study for that evening. But despite early bedtime, this morning my guys were noticeably exhausted. They did indeed all go to bed at 8 pm. However, at 9:30, Junior (1st year student) was shaken awake by "hands that gripped my face and were chocking me! I was scared, and I couldn't breath or move, and in my mind, I called, 'JESUS!' and I heard his voice clearly tell me to pray." Junior lay in bed praying desperately for several minutes, until he heard Jesus speak again. "Now, get up! Pray!" So he did, bounding out of bed and quickly shaking awake all of his room-mates. They all began to pray, and several heard a voice telling them to "Pray, Pray." They woke up all the men in the dorm, then all the women, and from 9 pm until 1 am, our beautiful student body did just that...PRAY.

They prayed and shared, read and prayed, in deep darkness with only a few flashlights, and all testify this morning to feeling the intimate presence and urgency of the Lord to be praying for Emmaus Biblical Seminary, for Saccanville, and for their Haitian people. They testify to feeling the Spirit intimately with them as they prayed and shared together, and this morning, we have a different student body. Tired, but bound...excited, but burdened...urgent, but full of hope and praise.

Thank you for joining us in prayer for power, for Emmaus, for Haiti...for the world.


Brie and I really do covet the prayers you send out. Thank you again for your support and prayers!

Brent and Briyana

TWIST 09-13-2010


This Week In Short Term

Haiti
We have a work team of 10 going to Haiti September 23-30

Philippines
We have a team of 10 going to the Philippines on a Dynamic Women team from September 16-27.

Burundi
We have a team of 3 going to Burundi to do Literacy Training from Sep. 23 - Oct. 2

Hungary
We have a prayer team of 3 going to Hungary from Sep. 26 - Oct. 4

picture courtesy of http://mysinglemomlife.files.wordpress.com

Monday, September 13, 2010

Guilty Pleasures

Football season is back, much to the dread of Briyana. I love watching football and every now and then can get Briyana to sit and watch it with me. I guess you could say watching football is a guilty pleasure of mine.

Another guilty pleasure Briyana and I share is sharing with couples our heart for ministry. This past week we had a couple meetings with friends. It was very encouraging. One of the couples asked how we felt about being in a transition period, while knowing God has called us to the mission field. We get that question a lot. Briyana and I feel that raising support is a ministry in itself. We get to share with our friends and family about what God is doing overseas and giving them a chance to participate in our ministry. It is fun to see people excited about missions. Though we long for the day when we are 100% funded, we know that God has us right where he wants us. He's preparing our hearts for ministry as well as helping us raise a support and prayer team.

This week I will be traveling to several cities in Texas. I've mentioned this before, but Briyana and I would greatly appreciate your prayers while I'm traveling. God willing, we hope this travel will be fruitful to our ministry.

In His Service,

Brent and Briyana

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Homes For Haiti Update

Labor Day weekend is over and we are getting back in the swing of things. Brie is hard at work on her thesis for her masters degree and I'm working hard at getting together with people to share about our ministry. Next week my bosses, Kent Eller and Warren Hardig, will be in town. We will get a chance to travel around Texas sharing with people. If you know of anybody we can share with let me know. We would love to share with anybody willing to listen. Both Kent and Warren have amazing stories and a passion for what they do.

Our first house down in Haiti is finally complete. Here is the update I received yesterday.

Hi all:
Hope all is well at home. The US team finished its last day of work
on the house today! We had a lot that we wanted to get done, so today
was a long day. We worked on the roof system, installing the
remainder of the rafters, then the perlins and metal. We also worked
on the doors and started the ceiling. We went through the batteries
for our power tools quickly today, so that slowed us down a bit. In
the afternoon, we had a small generator available to recharge
batteries. There is a bit more work to do on the doors, one more small piece of metal to install on the roof and most of the ceiling still needs to be installed, but
Gabriel said that they can finish those things tomorrow. We had about ten
people working at the site today.

At the end of our work day, we gathered with the family and some of
the workers to pray and dedicate the house - it was a special time!
The family is so grateful and the team was a joy to work with.


Praise God for what he is doing all over the world. We hope you have a blessed week!

Brent and Briyana