Happy Thanksgiving!

As an American, I have always had enough.  During Thanksgiving, I could recount the visible and physical blessings God had provided.  Times are tougher.  The future looks bleaker.  Our family, like millions of others, is facing a tough 2010.  In this setting, Thanksgiving has become more real than traditional.  Can I be thankful in the absence of material blessing?

Yes, of course, is the Sunday School answer.   But, I am not looking for the right answer from my mouth, but to experience a thankful heart in my life, even if times are tougher than normal.  I would like to say that all I need is God and I will be thankful.  My guess is that is much easier to say on this side of difficulty than in a real experience of nothing.

So, this year, I want to wish you Happy Thanksgiving based not on stuff, or big account  balances, or a bright future, but because we know the one who knows and holds the future.  May that be enough for each of us this Thanksgiving.

Check out this article on the theological nature of Thanksgiving by Al Mohler.  Good stuff!

Believe it or Not

Last year, we keep you closely informed about our visa status.  This year, we have not done so.  It is the same thing every year - new requirements that are really hard to meet and we push right up to the deadline.

We are there again.  Monday, we won't have a legal ground upon which to stay in Croatia.  We need a "permission" paper from the police.  It says we have turned in all the needed paper work and are waiting on the police.  This year, the difference is that we have not turned in all the needed paper work.  Our organization is working hard to put it all together, but it is a very difficult and costly new requirement.

Ask simply for God's will to be done in this.  It does not make sense to us for Ryan to change high school in the middle of his senior year.  However, God is not going to be caught unprepared for whatever it is He allows to happen.  His peace has guarded our hearts.  Ask for that to continue.

Sect of the Devil - Baptists!

A wonderful story and video of God's work around the world.  It fills me with hope as we look to work in areas that seem impossible!

Encouragement!

Work in Europe is hard at times.  Governments are fickle, at best.  Response has been slow over the past decade or more.  However, there seems to be a growing responsiveness to the gospel in this part of the world.  Of course, almost any response equals massive growth!

I got the following message from one of our central European team leaders yesterday and wanted to encourage you with it!

we had 22 at the church start Sunday night (including kids) and 25 at the Bible study last night. Saturday we had a "party" with volleyball, pumpkin carving, games, homemade pizzas, etc and had around 40 people. It is awesome to see God doing things around ...us. We have two new believers at the Bible study."

Be encouraged.  God is doing wonderful things and people are hearing of His love and the sacrifice of His Son for our sins.  Pray for this new church in the country of the Czech Republic.

Team Leader Training and Visas

I would appreciate your prayers over the next four days.  Thirteen of us will converge at a small town in western Hungary to have the first team leader training meeting that I have led.

• Pray for wisdom, safe travel, and that we would be a great encouragement to one another.

• Remember to pray for Elise as well as she holds down the home front.

It seems like we just did our annual visa prayer request saga, and that one did not finish until last April, though the visa ends on November 23rd.  So far this year, the process has gone very well; however, there is one new requirement that is expensive and requires a lot of work in other countries.  To put a positive spin on this requirement would be to call it crazy.

• Ask that our support personnel and leaders in other countries can help put together the needed paper work to satisfy the police for another year.

Last, Bret seriously sprained his ankle last week.  It was the third time in three weeks and this one got it good.  Or bad, I guess describes it better.

• Pray for his healing and for the doctor visit he has on Tuesday with a local orthopedic doctor.