The waiting game...

...for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.

Several people have asked "So, what are you doing now?" That's a great question.

After meeting with Church and ministry leaders to map out a long term plan, we really have two hurdles to clear before we can set out on our journey.

First we must sell the farm. We've had an appraiser come out and are working to get that written out. Unfortunately, we still have a mortgage on the farm, so we can't head out until that is cleared up.

Second, we must raise support. We're in contact with the IMB (update, the IMB has not worked out), and are also looking at partnering with Churches. If none of these options work out, we will look at raising support from individual contributors. The problem with depending on support from individuals is that each year a number of donors will drop out. The couples I know who depend on individual giving must return to the US at least once per year to raise support. The cost for my family to do this would be $12,000 per trip, making it a very ineffective way to raise support.

Those are both financial hurdles. We're not worried about those, because our Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He can just sell off a few and send us to Lebanon. The bigger hurdles, spiritual, emotional, commitment, attachment -we've already cleared those.

In the meantime, we're working to be prepared on other fronts.

Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’

I spend hours each night listening to sermons in Arabic. One of my favorite sites is Badaro Baptist Church. Pastor Tony Skaff is an excellent expository preacher, and his focus on the Biblical text makes it easier for me to follow his sermons. Drop by and listen to one just for fun!

He normally starts out with a prayer. Listen for "Rab" which means "Lord", it will end with "Ah-meen" which is just their pronunciation of the word we say as "Amen". He will then give the passage for his scripture reading, and after reading it launch into his sermon.

There are other good preachers in Arabic, but most of them are Egyptian, and the language and pronunciation that they use is not what I need to learn. I already have an Egyptian accent and verbiage to my Arabic and I need to get rid of that and learn the Lebanese.

The children are also learning Arabic in home school. Even Olivia speaks a little of it. They'll be glad to share a few words with you if you ask. They are learning to read and write, as well as speak.

I'm also praying privately in Arabic. Why ask for a blessing on our missionary vision in English? I'm hoping to teach Kim and the kids enough words to allow us a brief prayer together.

We're in contact with Pastor John Constantine, who leads an Arabic congregation in Birmingham which meets at Dawson Memorial Baptist Church. I'll be heading that way once per month to participate in a Wednesday night Bible study in Lebanese. If you're interested, come along one night!

We're not in this to get halfway there. We're totally committed to this and will see it through to the very end. This is God's purpose for our lives.

If you want to help, please pray! English is just fine. Please pray for our farm to sell, and support to be raised. Pray that Jesus Christ will be glorified in the Arab world.