What Village?

So one of the things about our mission trips is that students…and adults say things that everyone tends to find funny. Yesterday was no exception. And every night of our trip we have a debrief time where we get together and share about what God has done throughout the day. I ask questions like, “what was your highlight?” “What was the hardest part?” “How did you see God work?” “How was your faith tested?” “What did God teach you?” “Who did you appreciate today?” and the final one, “Did anyone say anything quote-worthy today?”

I tend to use the “quote of the day” as blog titles. It is an inside joke that I can share with our family and friends. I have already heard some myself today. Well today’s quote comes from one of our students named Amy. Last night, as we were beginning our time together, I asked how their day in the village was. Amy turned to some of the other students and asked, “What village?” Now we were only in one today…and Amy was with us. It did make the top “quote of the day.”

So this morning we awoke, spent time with God, and then headed to New Vision Ministry. This is the mission/orphanage that Stephen and Autumn serve. We arrived shortly after 9AM. We were able to intro all of the kids in the orphanage to our team and Autumn shared a little of their stories of how they arrived at the orphanage. When Christa and I came in November, we were able to spend a lot of time with these kids. They are precious and many of their stories will break your heart. In some cases these kids were left at the mission because their parents did not want them or could not take care of them. Some kids had parents who died and others were just neglected or abandoned. 2+ years ago God gripped my heart towards my response to orphans. I knew that I had been adopted into His family as a result of Him saving me. But I never really thought that I could love a child the way I love Tyler and Taylor. But at a conference in Atlanta in October of 2009, God spoke directly to my heart and told me that I was to bring a child (or children) into my family by way of adoption. He told me that He has created a child just for our family. This was something that He revealed to Christa several years ago, but I wanted nothing to do with it then. Last November, God revealed to us that we would be adopting from Haiti. And perhaps it will be from the orphanage in which we have served in today.

One thing that is difficult is not knowing which child has been created for our family. Christa and I have felt a connection with a few kids in the orphanage and we have been praying hard for God to move. Our US home study is nearly complete and once we have approval it will move to the Haitian side of things. That is where things will be more difficult and we have no idea how long the process will take.  Christa and I will be creating another blog soon to keep you up-to-date on the process.

So back to our work there today. The mission houses 12 children. The youngest is almost 3 and the oldest is 18. All of these kids had so much attention today. Being that there is 35 of us, we were able to pour so much into these precious kids. They are full of energy and play hard. The girls love to be pampered. Painting nails and doing hair was fun to watch…even some of our guys left with braids. The boys in the orphanage play, and play, and play. They wore us out. We were able to share Jesus and pour so much love into these children that God created.

We arrived back at the hotel a few moments ago. All of our VBS teams (Teaching, Music, Crafts, and Rec) are all working with their translators preparing for Monday. We want to be sure that the translators understand what we are planning to do and be confident to communicate God’s Word. Once they are all finished we will have some down time. They will be able to hang out and get ready for dinner.

Tomorrow we get to go to 2 different church services. The early service is the Haitian Church and the second on is the American missionary church. I am so excited to worship with our Haitian brothers and sisters.

Please continue to pray! We need it. Today was incredibly hot. We have had a few students and adults become light headed. I thank God that we have 3 nurses on our team. God truly has blessed us. Everyone is seems to be feeling better now. Just pray that we are able to push through and that God would protect each one of us. Also pray for our time tomorrow as we do church a little differently than we are used too. And begin to pray for Monday-Thursday…those are the day we go back into the village to do VBS, train teens in God’s standard of purity, and have 2 worship gatherings for the entire village. I have the great opportunity to preach at both of those gatherings. May the Name of Jesus be lifted high and that He would draw people to Himself!

We love you all!

Pressing On,

Dale

Sak Pase’ (What’s up?)

Wow! What a day. God is absolutely amazing…but many of you reading this already know that. First off, we were all able to get a really good night’s rest leading up to today. We were all moving around by about 7AM. We were able to eat a little and get ready for our day.

I want to share this with you as we begin this blog. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. And the village we are in is an incredibly poor village. Those who fish are looked down upon in this society. It is a trade/skill that is not respected. That being said, we are working with “the least of these.”

At 8AM, we prayed over our day, loaded the bus, and headed to the fishing village. We spent the first part of our time there praying. We prayed over the Fish House (a house where Stephen and Autumn lead Bible studies and base much of their ministry out of). We prayed that it would be a lighthouse…a place of hope. We prayed for our translators Wesner, Franz, Colas, Naygo, Jonas, Baz, Simeon, Paul, and Kevins. We ask that as you pray for us, you pray for them. Pray that the message that we have been given to share would translate to the children, teens and adults in a mighty way.

We walked to the school and prayed over it and the Headmaster, Carrenard. We broke up into VBS teams and spent time praying over the space that each would use this next week. We then sent the students, adults and translators out to talk with people in the village, share the Gospel, and pray over their needs, both physical and spiritual.

Once we walked through the village, we had some lunch and played with kids in the village. There were a ton of kids! It was exciting to see such joy. I was reminded of the passage in Luke 18 when Jesus scolded the disciples and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” The children were coming from everywhere and were soaking in the love and attention of our team. It was awesome to watch!

After about 6 hours of praying, sharing, and playing we walked back to the Fish House. We were able to spend time with many of the ladies that Stephen and Autumn pour into. These women are relatively new believers. They have incredible struggles and are learning what it means to follow Jesus. I met most of these women when Christa and I came to Haiti in November of 2011. There is a change taking place in them. They are growing. It is awesome to see Matthew 28:19-20 being acted out. Stephen and Autumn are making disciples. Not just leaving these women to figure out this life on their own. We celebrated with them today. Many of our team members shared their story of how Christ has changed them and how He is working in their lives. And then many of them told stories of how God saved them and how they are learning to live like He desires. In November, these women would not share with Christa or I because of nerves. Today they professed Jesus boldly with nearly 50 people in their presence. Great things are happening!

We arrived back at the hotel around 3:15PM. As I am writing and working on some other things, our 4 VBS teams are continuing to prepare for what will take place Monday through Thursday. Seeing many of the faces they will see on Monday has given them a fire to be sure to be ready. They do not want to miss opportunities to share Christ the best they can.

In a little while we will get ready for dinner and then have our team share time. I’m sure that many stories will be told and that Jesus will be honored and glorified. I will be sure to update after hearing testimonies tonight.

Tomorrow we spend the day at the orphanage. It is the mission that Stephen and Autumn serve. It is the orphanage where Christa and I are praying about adopting through.

We love being in Haiti. We are excited for this opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We covet your prayers and ask that you continue to lift us up so that Jesus may be praised!



Pressing On,

Dale

Lots, Lots, LOTS Going On!


I know that it has been WAY too long since I last blogged. My life in the last several weeks has been so incredibly busy. But I wanted to take some time and bring you up to speed on what has been going on…and what’s to come.

Over the last month we have seen some really cool things take place at IMPACT. About a month ago was our Morphis weekend. The theme was “Rooted” and Justin Hanneken did an amazing job bringing the Word and the guys of Fever Fever led us to worship our Great God. The weekend was one of the best weekend retreats I’ve been a part of. There were many challenges issued throughout the weekend and we are asking the Lord to continue to move. If you were a part of Morphis…THANK YOU! Whether you were a student who took part in the weekend, a parent who allowed your student to come, an adult who came and served with us, you opened your home, or you spent time praying. THANK YOU.

We have also been getting prepared for our trip to Haiti. In a month and a week, 25 high school students and 10 adults will be serving alongside of FBCV missionaries, Stephen and Autumn Byxbe. We will be leading a 4 day VBS for children ages 5-12 in a local fishing village. We will also be working with Haitian teens and teaching them about how God has called us to be holy and to honor Him with our purity. We will lead 2 revival/worship services in the village. We will also be spending time with children in the orphanage that the Byxbe’s serve in. There is still so much to do as we prepare for this mission. Please continue to pray for us!

On a not-so-side note, there is a great opportunity for you to encourage those on the team. You can write an encouragement note/card to members of the team. Turn in your cards with the team members name on the envelope at the Haiti Missions table in the foyer no later than Sunday, June 24. There are 35 team members and we will be having “mail call” each of the 9 days we are in Haiti. If you have any questions please contact Christa Puckett 937-424-7675/ythwife@yahoo.com. Christa has led the charge in this endeavor for many of our trips and it is amazing to watch students faces light up when they get that special word of encouragement and to know someone is praying for them.

Yesterday was an exciting day as well. We had the opportunity to honor our high school seniors. They are a great group of young adults and I am excited to see how God will be using them in their next stage of life.

There are also some things I want you to be aware of.

This Sunday (May 27) is the last day to get your student registered for our Youth Summer camp at Seneca Lake. The deposit is $50 and the total cost is $160. Camp is July 16-20.

Last summer we gave our middle school students a chance to go on mission too. The dates and registration for MX78 (Mission Experience for 7th/8th Graders) will released in the next week. Be on the lookout for more information.

We are looking to re-schedule a summer picnic that was scheduled for June 2nd. We want to ensure that we can have it at a time that doesn’t conflict with grad parties or weddings. So once we get a date, we will let you know.

For Wednesday nights…Wednesday, May 30th will be our last Wednesday night Bible study until the fall. With everything we have going on during the summer, we are unable to be consistent on Wednesday nights. We may look to schedule Bible studies now and again during the summer. Once we have some dates in place we will let you know.

Keep praying for our ministry.

Pressing On,

Dale

It’s Monday!

Today has been an interesting day. It’s like our weather is a little bi-polar and can’t figure out what it wants to do. This weekend was beautiful and today starts off rainy and gloomy. However, the rain and clouds cannot foil my excitement from the last week and a half! God is so good!

 

I first just want to share about Morphis 2012. Morphis is a discipleship weekend for the IMPACT Student Ministries right here at FBCV. It is a weekend packed full of worship and Bible study. Yesterday opened our first day of registration for Morphis. Our theme this year is “ROOTED.” In Isaiah 61, the prophet is sharing what God has called him to do. He is doing all of these things so that God’s people will be "oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that HE may be glorified." That is what this weekend is about…preparing students to be oaks of righteousness, bringing glory to God.

 

The cost for Morphis is $40. Our speaker this year is Justin Hanneken, who is an incredible friend, and brother who desires to see students raised up and fulfilling the Will of God. Our worship will be led by the band Fever Fever. The lead singer for the band was in my first youth group a long time ago. They have a passion for music, ministry and missions. I believe that it will be an awesome weekend!  You can see our promo/teaser here - http://vimeo.com/37994941

 

You can get registered in the Hangar, in the main foyer, or by seeing me.

 

I also have some needs when it comes to the following areas: Offering to be a host home for a group of 6-8 students and 1 adult leader (we provide most of the food for them and can help with transporting them to and from your home), transportation throughout the weekend, and food prep. Please let me know if you are willing to help!

  

So what else has me pumped? Well in the last week I was able to take 30 students and adults to a conference called “Dare2Share.” It was incredible! During the weekend the folks from D2S were able to pour into us and share with us some great techniques for sharing the Gospel. They used the acronym GOSPEL in such a cool way. They shortened it so that students could grasp it.

 

GOD. OUR. SINS. PAYING. EVERYONE. LIFE.

 

• GOD created us to be with Him.
• OUR sins separate us from God.
• SINS cannot be removed by good deeds.
• PAYING the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again.
• EVERYONE who trusts in Him and Him alone will have eternal life.
• LIFE with Jesus starts now and lasts forever!

 

They gave time for students to text and call friends with this Good News! Many of them were incredibly nervous, but they were able to start some cool conversations with friends. Keep praying that God continues to use them as they share with their friends.

 

Our Sunday night message series has continued in the Fruit of the Spirit. Last night I talked through Goodness. I’m hoping that the audio will be up today or tomorrow at the latest. I’ll send a link once it is.

 

Here are some of the main points from last night’s message.

 

1. Goodness is doing the right thing for the right reason.

 

2. Jesus is our example of Goodness

 

• He was tempted to be selfish, to compromise, and to win popularity, but He ultimately chose goodness because He knew the Will of the Father.

 

3. Ways to Display Goodness

• By being FORGIVING
• By living a life of PURITY
• By being GRACIOUS
• By showing GENEROUSITY

 

Take time to listen and have conversations with your students about what they’ve learned!

 

Thanks for your prayers! I am so thankful that the Lord has called us here to serve. If there is anything that Christa and I can do, or ways to pray, please let us know!

 

Pressing On,

 

Dale

 

A Really Good Week

So I’m excited about some of the things that took place this week. One of the things we do to begin our Tuesday morning staff meetings is share our “wins” from the last week. I had a few to share. So I want to share with you today.

Our Sunday morning went really well. I was a little concerned with how the Sunday School lesson would go. Remember that 2 weeks ago I talked about how the Bible was put together – the canonization of Scripture. I knew that it would be a little on the lecture side (which I try to steer from), but it’s so important for us as Christians to know how we got the Bible.

Well this week I talked about how we can know the Bible is reliable. Not only do we need to know how we got the Bible, but we also need to know that the Bible is reliable. Faith is definitely part of that, but we also have some incredibly valid facts to draw from. We have 3 ways to know that the Word is truth. We have Fulfilled Prophesy, Archeological Support, and Historical Evidence. All 3 provide ways that we as Christians can defend our faith (Apologetics). I will create a copy of what I talked about so that you can have it too. I really think it’s so important.

My win from that is hearing the excitement many of students had toward the lesson. Some were really struggling with how to know for sure that the Bible is reliable. God answered them! Huge win!

Sunday night was great as well. We continued the series on the Fruit of the Spirit. This week we focused on Peace. Please take some time to listen to what your students are hearing - http://www.fbcvandalia.net/media.php?pageID=44

This Sunday night we will be looking at Patience.

On Tuesday morning I had the great opportunity to go to Bethel HS and lead the morning devotion for a group of students. There were about 15 in attendance. The focus that morning was on “Where is God in Your Life?” I asked them if God was the main priority in their lives. Many people say that God is number 1, my family is 2, my church is 3, my job is 4…etc. But ultimately when we live that way we tend to put everything in its own box. And sure we may spend time with God, but He is soon forgotten. Instead, God must be in everything and every area of our lives. So instead of God AND my family, job, school…make it God IN my family, job, school. Spending time there was a great encouragement to me. I got a chance to meet some new students and give them encouragement too. It was a great morning.

I want to continue to encourage you to ask your students questions about what they are learning. I am beginning to do that with Tyler and it’s important to talk a little deeper about what’s going on.

Just a reminder that this Sunday morning is “United We Worship” at Butler HS Student Activity Center starting at 10AM. I am really excited about worshipping together under one roof at one time. Come prepared to worship our great God together! (We will not have any Sunday morning Small Groups/Bible Study for Students or Adults. However, Sunday night is on as usual) It’s also WOW Sunday. The offering we take up on Sunday will go to help those going on mission this year. Ask the Lord to reveal to you what you are to bring this Sunday!

We also need a little more help with transporting and setting up staging for this weekend. If you are available please show up in the main building/sanctuary at 1PM on Saturday. The load up will begin and then the setup will happen about 3PM in the SAC. I hope you can help!

Thanks again for your prayers! Continue to pray for all of leaders in our ministry! And remember that the Hangar is open on Sunday and Wednesday nights for you to come and pray!
Pressing On,

Dale

How are we today?

“Today has been a pretty good day so far! Thanks for asking.” I know that the day is still pretty young, but it’s already been good. I’ve felt love from my family, have spent time in the Word, and had a pretty in depth conversation with a student about how I interpret a portion of Scripture out of the book of Hebrews…good start!


So let me bring you up to speed over the last week or so…

Three Sunday’s ago, Pastor David preached in our IMPACT service. He did a great job challenging students to step it up and be an example for the Lord. His message was uploaded to our server so that it could be posted for you all to hear… Unfortunately, it’s now nowhere to be found. :/ If we do stumble upon it, we will let you know and upload it for you to listen to.

Two Sunday’s ago was Super Bowl Sunday. During the morning Bible study, we watched a sermon from Francis Chan called, “The Biggest Lie in Your Life” If you have a chance, please watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5ILptT_CRo.  He talks about the fact that there are Christians who think they are something they’re not. He refers to Revelation 3:1. “I know your works. You have this reputation for being alive, but you are dead.” Tough words from Jesus to the church of Sardis…but equally challenging to us as well. How many of us have this reputation for being alive, but on the inside we are spiritually dead? We may have the ability to make others think we are better than what we are. We can put on a good show when we are at church, in small group, even hanging out with church people, but on the inside there is nothing in us that looks like Christ. He asked the question, “Are you more concerned with your reputation than with your character?” “Are you more concerned with stuff or with Christ?” In Philippians 3, Paul says that he wants nothing more than to become like Christ. Nothing else matters. He counted everything else as a loss. It is a challenge every one of us needs. To be asked those difficult questions…and to respond honestly. So what are you pursuing? Stuff or Christ.

That night we had a focused time of prayer. We had a number of students who were attending Super Bowl gatherings, so I did not want to jump right back into the Fruit of the Spirit series and have many of our students miss. The time of prayer was awesome. We had students and adults pray and we had a great time worshipping our Great God!

This past Sunday was a great Sunday as well. In the morning Bible study we looked at how we got the Bible. I was able to ask some questions about the Bible and then go into a direction of how the books were chosen…a little history in the canonization of Scripture. It was fun. Did you know that the Bible was written over a period of 1500-2000 years by roughly 40 writers? It’s important for us to know the history of the Word. If we are going to defend our faith in Christ, we must know how the Book was put together. I also provided a handout of authors, themes, and dates of each book. We still have some of those handouts available, or if you would like, I can email it to you. Just let me know. This coming week are going to look at how we know the Bible is true.

Sunday night we jumped back into the Fruit series. We look at the Fruit of Joy. We had a great time of worship and then teaching. I was able to share that Joy is different than happiness. Many times we confuse the two.

Here is my intro the message…the audio should be up today.

The Greek word for 'joy' is chara. Chara comes from the word charis. And charis is the Greek word for 'grace.' This is important to note, for chara (joy) is produced by the charis (grace) of God. This means 'joy' is not a human-based happiness that comes and goes but, rather, true 'joy' is divine in its origin. You see happiness comes and goes based on feelings. But joy is a Spirit-given expression that flourishes best in hard times. Paul talks about this in 1 Thessalonians 1:6. You see, the Thessalonians were under great stress due to persecution; but in the midst of it all, they continued to experience great joy. The Greek strongly implies that their supernatural joy was due to the Holy Spirit working in them. Paul even called it the "joy of the Holy Ghost".

You see, joy stands even in the times of trials and difficulty. Why? Because Joy comes from God’s grace. He provides us with the ability to be joyful in those hard moments. Happiness goes away. It’s based on our feelings. I can be joyful without being happy.

Take time this week to listen to the rest of the message.

It’s been a good couple of weeks. I’m excited about where we are and where the Lord is taking us. Keep praying for the leadership in our ministry. We are seeking to do what the Lord is calling us too, and we ask that you continue to lift us up!

Here are a couple of things to be aware of…

• This Friday night we are having a Board Game Night in the church fellowship hall. The time will be 6:30-9:30PM. Students and leaders are to bring their favorite table/board game, as well as a snack to share and something to drink. There is no other cost. Let them come and hang out with us.

• Sunday is the deadline to register and pay for Dare 2 Share. D2S is a conference that trains students to share the Gospel. The cost is $45 + 3 meals. The conference is March 2-3 at Hara Arena. We will be sleeping at the church on that Friday night. Once they are registered they will need to fill out a waiver and I will be providing a list of what to bring and not bring. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks for trusting us with your student!

Pressing On,

Dale

Where did this week go?

So title for this week says it all.  I'm wondering where this week went.  Well, I kind of know...but that doesn't make it any easier.

This week started off really busy and ended with me battling being sick. There were a few meetings on Monday, one at Butler HS that had some great results.  I am loving the partnership with them over the last year and am excited for what's to come.

The rest of the week...well that's another story.  I started to get sick on Tuesday...which I found out on Friday that I have bronchitis.  It's not been fun.  However, it's one of the main reasons for the delay in this blog post.

Last Sunday night was a great night of worship.  The students were singing praise to God with everything.  There was such passion in their voices.  I am continuing to pray that this is genuine heartfelt worship to our great God.  Please pray with me!

The message Sunday night was brought from Pastor David.  He challenged our students to be an example to others in the way they speak, live, love, faith and in purity,  His challenge came from 1 Timothy 4:12.  It was great for our students to hear from our pastor.  We have a number of students who are coming on Sunday and Wednesday evenings, but not Sunday mornings.  I have strongly encouraged them to do so, so it was good to give them the chance to hear from David and to know that they have an important role in our church as a whole.  It was a great night and the message will be up soon.  I encourage you as parents to listen so you know how your student was challenged.  It'll also give you some talking points with your student.

This Sunday night will be a night of prayer.  I am not going to be jumping right back into the Fruits of the Spirit series.  I will restart that on 2/12.  I know that this week is the Super Bowl and that some of you are having small group gatherings and you are having your student stay with you.  I know that some students are gathering together too.  I really do not want them to miss out on our series and due to my illness as well, my prep time has been limited this week.  As I prayed through some things...talked with Christa and Zac, I made the decision to have a night of prayer.  We have a lot to pray about...and I'm excited to see where the Lord takes it.

Following our service, we will have the tv's in the cafe, college room and maybe another area with the big game on.  So if you and your student will be around, we can watch the game together.

Just as a reminder...the worship room will be open from 5:25-6PM on Sunday evening if you would like to come and pray.  It is open to all parents...or anyone who feels led to pray for our students and leaders.

Pressing On,
Dale