"For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for 'WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.' How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, 'HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!'"
And, so we're off! (This is Adam by the way...I'm in no way as talented at blogging as my PHENOMENAL wife, but since she is getting ready for bed, I figure I'd give it a try!!!)Emily and I are excited about this opportunity...it kind of brings our relationship full circle. We will be "leavin', on a jet plane" tomorrow (Saturday) morning for Nicaragua to work with our dear friends Loren and Karen Dickey who run the "Operation: GO" ministry for the International Missions Board. Emily and I are tagging along with a group from Fredonia Hill Baptist Church in Nacogdoches, TX...a great church with wonderful people that I got to work with last year during my time as a summer missionary in Nicaragua.
So, the "full circle" bit...in the spring of 2006, Emily and I both went on Living Hope Baptist Church's (first ever!) mission trip to Nicaragua. We had never met before, had never heard of each other before, and we not interested in anything more than friendship. Long story short...God had other plans! So, although not your stereotypical, Hollywoodized-version of romance, we are returning NOT to the place where we first fell in love, but to the place that God began to intertwine our hearts together. [Enter sappy "ahhhhh" sound from our female readers here]
So, as I said, Emily has been to Nicaragua once before, and I have been three times - once with Emily, again the next Spring Break, and then the summer after I finished grad school. Operation: GO stands for "Gospel Outreach," and its premise is to saturate a village/area/country with the gospel. Yep, that's right...I'm talkin' about door-to-door, in your face, even if we speak different languages type evangelism. Each day, we will be walking in groups of 3 or 4 (gringos and local Nicaraguan believers) going to each and every door/person we see and handing them a book of Luke. During each conversation, we will invite them to central location where we will show them VeggieTales and the Jesus Film (both en espanol, por supuesto!!!). Each night after the film, a local pastor will give a short message and alter call. It really is quite an amazing experience...
Anyhow, as with any trip/project/endeavor that is focused on spreading the loving compassion and truth and eternal life that lies in Christ Jesus, this trip for us has been mired in spiritual battle almost from the beginning. I don't have time to go into ALL of it, but the clearest sign of this is that Emily (who is carrying Baby Williams) has been experiencing her worst bout of sickness/nausea THIS WEEK. It got SO bad, that we were seriously considering having her stay stateside. But, our God is so good, so powerful, and so in love with us, that He has provided us with several ways of controlling her nausea and really has given us peace that she is supposed to go. Exciting stuff, huh!??!
Well, since you're reading this you are either a friend who cares about us or it was Divine Intervention that you stumbled upon our blog talking about missions (this is where the Holy Spirit does His thing in your life...some friendly advice...LISTEN!). In either case, Emily and I would ask that you pray for us (and our team and Nicaragua) this week. OK, here are some specifics:
- Pray for team unity - we've all never met before!!!
- Pray for each team member: George M. (team leader), Mindy L., Kathy L., Alli G., Brian F., Jeffrey A., B.J. M, Emberlen B., and us.
- Pray for Loren & Karen Dickey - they have each had some physical setbacks the past few weeks (she had a nasty parasite and he separated his bicep from his elbow)
- Pray for Emily, especially her nausea. She is SO GIFTED in Spanish and has been looking forward to this for some time. Pray that she gets the right balance of food, sleep and medicine to help her ministry.
- Pray for me, that I would have wisdom in how to help my lovely bride accomplish our joint desire to see Nicaragua reached for the Kingdom of God
- Pray for physical stamina for the team...it's HOT in Central America
- Pray for BOLDNESS for each of us, that each of us would allow God to speak to us and stretch us in ways that bring Him in glory (for example...pray that I would step WAY out of my comfort and speak more Spanish that is "required")
- Pray for softened hears among the Nicaraguans to whom we will be witnessing
- Pray for the local Nicaraguan church with whom we will be working...they are SO inspiring with their hearts to serve the Lord
- Pray that each of us (yes, even you, our dear readers) would grow closer to God, learn how to communicate with Him more intimately, and have our lives RADICALLY changed for the furthering of His kingdom
Dios Le Bendiga! (God Bless You!)
ADW
3 comments:
Adam and Emily! i am so stinkin excited for ya'll. i cant wait to read about how amazing your trip is, and i will definitely be praying for everything. tell uncle george i said hello, as well as lorenzo and karen :)
lydia
Of course, I'm praying for Team Williams. All three of you! Have an amazing week watching God move!
jenn
Adam and Emily, Russell and I are praying big for all THREE of ya'll as you travel to share about Him. What ya'll are doing is awesome, keep it up!
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