I distinctly remember saying that I was willing to be a Bible translator but I was unwilling to translate the Bible for a tonal language, because that would be just too hard. But after support raising, French school, culture shock, all with four young children, a tonal language did not seem so bad. Every stage of our missionary journey has seemed impossible, so why not add learning and analyzing a tonal language to the list? We have sought not to focus on the life task of translating the Bible, but instead have tried to just conquer what is just ahead…

I cannot tell you how I felt when I first heard the news. Like, you know you should be feeling loss, but in reality all you feel is complete disbelief. She was only 36. She was a wife and a mother of six children. And she was gone. Even living here, in Cameroon, this would be surprising. But I am not talking about my neighbor. Lynn Shreve, a young American living in Louisville and attending every week our main sending church died in her sleep Thursday night. This is a tragic loss for her family and for our church, and…

For various reasons throughout my life I have heard people talking about the virtues of “village life.” I generally do not say much on these subjects, as they tend to be a bit touchy, and to be honest, I did not have a lot to say. However, I realized that after living for a while in an African village, I can offer some facts regarding village life that most people would not know. My goal is not confrontation in this blog, but just information. As you are making decisions regarding your family, raising your kids, and how you counsel others,…

This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those…who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing…For the present form of this world is passing away. 1 Corinthians 7:28–31 There are two main burdens weighing on me right now. The first and foremost being the fact that my mom has stage 3 ovarian cancer (as we have written in our previous blog posts). This is a deep sorrow that is just always there. The second burden has been the growing hardness of…

We are facing a situation right now that is no doubt very common for missionaries, but very difficult. As you may have read in our last post, Stacey’s mom has cancer. We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and prayer that we have received. Stacey is frequently in communication with her parents and they also are receiving much love. Thank you for those who have reached out. Beyond encouragement, we have also received counsel from those who have contacted us. Thank you for those of you who have recounted your experiences with sick parents and helped us think…

This week I received hard news from home: my mom has cancer. And it is in an advanced stage and is very serious. As can be expected, this news has brought a flood of emotions and many, many tears. My oldest son Kaden just sat on my lap and sobbed. He said that he wanted to see her soon “in person” and that he was really concerned for his Grandpa’s feelings through all of this. Makyra stopped a stranger on the street and asked them to pray. And Elias is fervently praying that God will take away Grandma’s “cancer ball”…

I once heard a presentation arguing that the only New Testament method of missions is church planting. The missionary explained that, biblically speaking, the Great Commission is best fulfilled by Christians working to create not just disciples, but churches. This thinking has lead to the Church Planting Movement (CPM) which has sent (and is sending) many missionaries with the purpose of planting churches. One consequence of this movement is that it has led some missions agencies to only send out pastors/teachers/disciplers. The idea is that the only real missions is church planting, so the only real missionaries are church planters….

I did a Google search for “things you should never say” and there were over 36 million results. Here are some of my favorites: 10 Things You Should Never Say to a Nun 10 Things You Should Never Say to a Canadian 300 Things You Should Never Say to a Woman (300!) 16 Things You Should Never Say to a Great Dane’s Face (can I say it to their tail?) The blogs that I usually read are the ones that apply to my life like: “10 Things Never to Say to Families with Adopted Children.” They are usually humorous and…

There are a lot of really thoughtful, important questions to ask when considering if one should or should not spend their lives in a foreign culture as a missionary. And yet, there are some questions that are more-or-less irrelevant because the Bible already has answers for them. For instance: 1. Will I Hate my Life? Yes. I think it is safe to say that if you become a missionary, you will hate your life. While there are joys, there is also added stress that would not be experienced if one stays in their home culture. But, I do not think…