Transition Through the Eyes of a Child

Rees Many, Missionary Kid, Kenya
April-June 2016

Rees Many serves at Tenwek Hospital with her parents, Heath and Angela. As the Many family prepared to serve in medical ministries in Kenya, they went through a series of transitions that are normal for the missionary lifestyle. Rees shares with us what packing up your home and moving overseas feels like for a missionary kid.

Moving from one country to another can create a sense of both happiness and sadness. I experienced these contrasting emotions when our family moved from America to Kenya. One enjoyable occurrence during our move was discovering what our house looked like with nothing in it. When it came time to go to the airport, I felt incredibly excited! We would land in our new home in 24 hours! Upon arriving at the airport in Nairobi, I became so joyful. When we got to Tenwek, I made new friends I could play with every day!

But even though moving was very enjoyable, it also brought sadness. Because I had to give away some of my special things, it became emotionally tough to pack our belongings. Once we reached Tenwek, we could not have a house of our own until after our first two years here. Living in a house belonging to others made Tenwek feel less like home.

The most difficult aspect of moving was leaving my best friends. Three hard months passed before I made new ones. Moving from one country to another creates paradoxical feelings. Though moving felt happy and sad, I love it here in Kenya, and I am glad that it's my home.

PRAY: Pray for missionary kids like Rees who are both happy and sad about the missionary calling their family has. Pray that God will bless them with feelings of home and great friends to enjoy the journey with.

Prayer Calendar April 24-30,2016

Rees Many serves at Tenwek Hospital with her parents, Heath and Angela. As the Many family prepared to serve in medical ministries in Kenya, they went through a series of transitions that are normal for the missionary lifestyle. Rees shares with us what packing up your home and moving overseas feels like for a missionary kid.

PRAY: Pray for missionary kids like Rees who are both happy and sad about the missionary calling their family has. Pray that God will bless them with feelings of home and great friends to enjoy the journey with. 

Bumpy Road Ahead

Rachel Kerney, Advance Volunteer Network
April-June 2016

Big changes ahead! That is what David and I both felt in Argentina in 2011, but at that fork in the road, we weren’t exactly sure where God was taking us. God directed our journey to serve with the Bolivia missionary team. Now, in 2015, He has guided us through an open door to minister in the United States as a pastor and director of international missions for Refuge Ministries in Copperas Cove, Texas. Those changes have had many layers of transition. Some of the recent ones have been adapting to the status of Advance Volunteer Network after 24 years as career missionaries, adapting to the culture of Texas, adjusting to an empty nest, and living in a home remodeling project.

The funny thing about transition is that you see it coming and you think you know what to expect. Life as missionaries has conditioned us for many changes and made us pretty flexible. Even though we may think that we are ready for the changes, there is something somewhere that catches us by surprise and throws us off balance. Then we are in the spinning mode, sort of out of orbit. That trigger can be as simple as getting a fine for not sorting trash correctly, trying to figure out your new banking system, or undefined expectations.

Transitions are charged with emotion. There is the sadness of what has been left—ministry and friendships. There is the frustration of the hundreds of little changes along with the big ones. There are great opportunities of seeing God touch peoples’ lives and experiencing personal growth. It is exciting to think of the possibility of going back to school to learn a skill. All these emotions seem to be magnified in transition, and they change quickly from day to day. So how do you get through this very bumpy season of life’s journey?

• God’s Word! I joined a Bible study at one of the Refuge Ministry locations. I wanted to get to know some people, but God knew exactly what I needed. The study has taken me deeper into God’s Word and is equipping and strengthening me for the challenges. 
• Finding good activities is important. I have been trying to learn some things about American football, since they tell me there is more to it than guys wrestling over an oval ball. This is Texas! I have learned quite a bit, thanks to the patience of my family to explain things to me.
• Let people know that the changes you are going through are a big challenge. You will find they reach out to encourage you in your turbulence. One friend invited us to his garden for “poppers.” I imagined some kind of microwave pop in, pop out food. Texan poppers are jalapeño peppers cleaned and filled with cream cheese and onion. They are wrapped in bacon and grilled. Texas food is great! The steaks remind me of Argentina!

I understand better now that transitions are a part of life; all people in all cultures experience them, not just missionaries. I believe that God wants me to use these lessons to help others slow down and recognize transition as the emotional upheaval that it is. I can help them see how God can turn it around for good in their lives just like He is doing in my life.

What can you do this month to help someone going through transition? Invite them to a Bible study, over for dinner, or to your favorite activity.

Prayer Calendar 17-23,2016

Coming to The Call blog tomorrow:

Big changes ahead! That is what David and I both felt in Argentinain 2011, but at that fork in the road, we weren’t exactly sure where God was taking us. God directed our journey to serve with the Bolivia missionary team. Now, in 2015, He has guided us through an open door to minister in the United States as a pastor and director of international missions for Refuge Ministries in Copperas Cove, Texas. Those changes have had many layers of transition. Some of the recent ones have been adapting to the status of Advance Volunteer Network after 24 years as career missionaries, adapting to the culture of Texas, adjusting to an empty nest, and living in a home remodeling project.

PRAY for someone in your life who has made a recent move and is in the midst of transition. p. 6

A Leader Leading

Carolyn Wade, Missionary, Kenya
April-June 2016

In January 2004, Hubert Harriman, president of World Gospel Mission, was the Holiness Emphasis Week speaker at Kenya Highlands Evangelical University (KHEU). After a service one evening, my husband, Ken, and I asked to speak with him. 

 

As we met in our back garden area, we explained that we had a growing desire to be out in the villages with the people, sharing Jesus and encouraging Christians to surrender their lives to Christ. 

 

Hubert stated that this was for sure a need in the Africa Gospel Church. At that time, WGM did not have a couple working in such a capacity as the church had earlier experienced. He encouraged us to follow God’s call on our hearts. When we shared this with the Kenya country director, he, too, encouraged us to follow the Lord’s lead. 

 

KHEU graduation in July 2004 closed a chapter in our lives. We returned to the United States for homeland ministry assignment with plans to begin a holistic, grassroots ministry. The Lord built this by supplying donors, providing a new truck, and locating an apartment for us in Kericho. 

 

Through the encouragement of a missional leader, we moved forward in God’s timing and through His resources to reach out to people who had never seen a WGM missionary, to others who had never understood what a Scriptural marriage looked like, and to yet others who had never understood what a full surrender to Christ was. 

 

Only eternity will tell what has been done through AGC Enhancement Ministries! God will reward all who have prayed and given to help this ministry stand. May we always have missional leaders who will encourage missionaries to follow God’s lead.  

Take this month to focus prayer time on the leaders of WGM. God’s wisdom and direction are necessary in moving forward.

Prayer Calendar April 10-16,2016

In January 2004, Hubert Harriman, president of World Gospel Mission, was the Holiness Emphasis Week speaker at Kenya Highlands Evangelical University(KHEU). After a service one evening, my husband, Ken, and I asked to speak with him. 

 

As we met in our back garden area, we explained that we had a growing desire to be out in the villages with the people, sharing Jesus and encouraging Christians to surrender their lives to Christ. 

Ask God to be with Ken and Carolyn Wade in their wholistic, grassroots ministry in Kenya. p. 4 

Offering Hope in the Midst of Transition: Responding to the Refugee Crisis

Mark Landerholm, Missionary, Hungary
April-June 2016

“And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!” (Mark 13:17 ESV) 

These difficult words of Jesus echoed in my head as I stood in a refugee camp in Croatia watching pregnant women and nursing mothers come into the camp, one after another. I thought of my wife, Eszti, and my 13-month-old son, Samuel, and imagined having to decide that it was in their best interest to leave our home and everything we had and put them on a raft for a highly perilous sea crossing. And then to make them walk across unknown and often unfriendly countries to settle in a country that doesn’t want us. I cannot fathom the difficulties and fears that such a journey would entail, yet I have encountered thousands who were on such a journey. Thousands who have no homes, no beds, and no ability to provide for their children.

These mothers have stuck with me, as have these words of Jesus, and they have shed light on one another. I always looked at these words of Jesus as simply being practical: being pregnant or having a nursing baby would make fleeing much more difficult (Jesus spoke these words about fleeing Jerusalem before it was destroyed). However, these mothers had conquered great dangers and difficulties; they had successfully fled with their nursing babies—some had even given birth during their journey (one night, a 13-day-old baby arrived in camp). I saw desperation in their eyes: fear of how they were going to provide nourishment, warmth, and life to their little ones. Despair as to whether or not they could be the mothers these children they love more than life itself need. I saw that the extreme evilness that humanity is able to perpetrate can pervert even life’s greatest blessings. Jesus’ words say to me that to have children in the midst of extremely evil days is equivalent to a mother (or father) having their heart ripped out and stomped on. This is what I saw mothers and fathers experiencing as they feared for the provision, future, and very lives of their children. My heart ached and continues to ache.

However, the fear and despair were not the only things I saw in their eyes; I saw hope! As I handed apples to them and their children, a spark of life came into their faces; they had reason to believe they could go on, reason to believe their children’s needs would be met, and reason to believe the future might be brighter than the past.

Thank you for your generosity in responding to the refugee crisis. Your gifts have contributed to this hope. You helped purchase apples, bananas, granola bars, juice boxes, blankets, winter jackets, shoes, baby carriers, winter hats, gloves, and more. You helped to enable lunch bags to be made and distributed to the migrants for their journey. You helped the love of Christ reach these desperate people. Because of that love, hope is conquering the despair.

While our interactions as refugees enter Europe are few and brief, we strongly believe that how we receive these desperate people—the majority of whom have never encountered the gospel of Jesus—will make a huge impact in both how they integrate into life in Europe and how they respond to the gospel. We are excited at hearing news that many in Germany are coming to Christ, and have been encouraged to have the opportunity to look at Scripture together with a group of refugees that have settled here in Hungary. Responding with the love of Jesus isn’t to be manipulative or conditional, but His love always moves us to point to the ultimate hope and life in Him. 

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me... ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25:35-36, 40) 

GIVE: You can partner with Mark, Eszti, and Samuel as they continue to show Christ’s love to refugees by making a financial gift. 

PRAY: Ask a close friend to join you this month in praying for the refugee crisis. Pray for God’s grace and peace to be with the refugees who are fleeing violence and poverty. Pray for missionaries as they reach out to them in Christ’s name. 

Prayer Calendar April 3-9,2016

“And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!” (Mark 13:17 ESV) 

These difficult words of Jesus echoed in my head as I stood in a refugee camp in Croatia watching pregnant women and nursing mothers come into the camp, one after another. I thought of my wife, Eszti, and my 13-month-old son, Samuel, and imagined having to decide that it was in their best interest to leave our home and everything we had and put them on a raft for a highly perilous sea crossing.

Pray for WGM missionaries in Hungry as they offer hope to refugees on their journeys.

In This Issue

“Change is inevitable. Progress is optional.” Tony Robbins World Gospel Mission has experienced a fair amount of change in its history. Change is rarely easy, but the progress makes it worth it. This issue of The Call will mark the last time that President Harriman will write to us from the President’s Perspective. As we anticipate a leadership transition for the organization on July 31, the theme of transition seemed appropriate.

Change and transition are part of life. We have all experienced it in some form or another. Sometimes we handle it better than others, but, undoubtedly, transition evokes emotion.

Missionary life has its own set of transitions that families navigate. In this issue, we explore some of those transitions and the emotions that come with them. We also wanted President Harriman to be able to share his own feelings about his transition into retirement.

Let’s take some time to learn from each other. As you read about these issues, think about how you can best support, encourage, and love someone who is in your sphere of influence and going through transition. The action items listed at the end of each article will offer practical helps for loving you neighbor.

Choose progress,

Kristi

Let's Meet on the Highway

Hubert Harriman, President
April-June 2016

As a missionary kid, my life was a steady stream of transitions—from Bolivia (my birthplace) to the United States (for my parents’ deputation) and back to Bolivia several times as my parents moved from one ministry to another, to boarding school and back several times, and then on to college. After college, I did graduate work in Israel and then finished in Anderson, Indiana. That’s where Sarah and I met and were married. We soon went to Argentina for a year of missionary service, then to Ligonier, Indiana, where I pastored a church for the next 26 years. I’ve served as president of WGM for the last 13 years. And now, here we are, looking at another transition. The Lord willing, July 31, 2016, Sarah and I will enter into a new phase of life—free to do whatever we want! Wait a minute. Did I say “free”?

The apostles Peter, James, and Paul introduced themselves as “bondslaves” of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:1; James 1:1; Romans 1:1; Titus 1:1). This was an Old Testament concept—one who had willfully given himself back to his owner after given his “freedom.” They were free from living for themselves, and free to live for another with all their heart. 

The most pathetic kind of bondage is the bondage to self. A bondslave knows the freedom of love—a freedom, like that of a husband and wife, that says, “I joyfully choose to give myself to you!” They enter into this constraint on their lives with full, glad abandonment. This love doesn’t feel any bondage. All they see are the great advantages and adventures of life together. Until one knows a complete love—with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength—for the LORD, they will never be free to know the joy of a bondslave lifestyle. They will always be chained to self-centered drives that shrivel into nothing more than “me.” Now, that’s pathetic.  

I’ve been marked! I’m not my own. I’m bought with a price, and I want to spend my life “repaying” the debt I owe Him. This is one debt I know I can never repay, but I will die trying—because I count it all joy. I love Him because He first loved me—even me! I’ll never forget that moment of transition from “my way” to “His way” and, believe it or not, it’s called a “highway”—the highway of holiness. I aim to stay on that way wherever it may take me. It’s the best way—it’s a complete oneness with the One. It’s where Jehovah God blesses and keeps you. It’s where His face shines on you and is gracious to you. It’s where He lifts His countenance on you and brings peace to you.  

Transitions? I’m free! Free to do whatever God wants. Meet me on this highway and let’s see where our God takes us. 

Pray for World Gospel Mission during this time of leadership transition. Ask for His blessing on the organization and on the new president.

Prayer Calendar April 1-2,2016

Pray for God's blessings on World Gospel Mission as we prepare for a new president.

As a missionary kid, my life was a steady stream of transitions—from Bolivia (my birthplace) to the United States (for my parents’ deputation) and back to Bolivia several times as my parents moved from one ministry to another, to boarding school and back several times, and then on to college. After college, I did graduate work in Israel and then finished in Anderson, Indiana. That’s where Sarah and I met and were married. We soon went to Argentina for a year of missionary service, then to Ligonier, Indiana, where I pastored a church for the next 26 years. I’ve served as president of WGM for the last 13 years. And now, here we are, looking at another transition. The Lord willing, July 31, 2016, Sarah and I will enter into a new phase of life—free to do whatever we want! Wait a minute. Did I say “free”?