Here's a recent conversation I had with a friend that sums up how God has been working lately and the glimpses I have had of it.
(09:29:37) Peter: hey shannon
(09:29:41) Peter: you can't possibly be on right now
(09:29:46) Peter: but if so hello :)
(09:29:59) Shantasmagoria Wittow: you can't!
(09:30:03) Shantasmagoria Wittow: hello :)
(09:30:09) Shantasmagoria Wittow: how are you?
(09:30:10) Peter: goodness
(09:30:16) Peter: what time is it there?
(09:30:24) Peter: must be like 5:30 am
(09:30:29) Shantasmagoria Wittow: 4:32?
(09:30:30) Peter: i'm doing well and yourself?
(09:30:40) Peter: it's 9:30 am here
(09:30:42) Shantasmagoria Wittow: good
(09:30:46) Peter: God is so good
(09:30:54) Shantasmagoria Wittow: :D
(09:31:00) Shantasmagoria Wittow: do you have a story?
(09:31:01) Peter: there are so many things to say
(09:31:03) Peter: oh yes
(09:31:13) Shantasmagoria Wittow: well, please tell
(09:31:16) Peter: do you ever read my blog? I may have put some of it on there
(09:31:19) Peter: I will tell though
(09:31:29) Peter: it started last july
(09:31:46) Shantasmagoria Wittow: okay :)
(09:31:47) Peter: i was thinking of vacation, not wanting to talk about myself and what I'm doing the whole time I was at home
(09:32:05) Shantasmagoria Wittow: oh yes!!!
(09:32:10) Peter: so I asked God what I could do and he gave me the idea to make a dvd showcasing various missions here
(09:32:22) Peter: so a couple friends of mine and I put it together
(09:32:28) Shantasmagoria Wittow: :)
(09:32:46) Peter: had the song "his eye is on the sparrow" as the theme as we let each of these groups tell their story and needs
(09:33:05) Peter: anyways, I was determined to show it to anyone that would sit down for 10 mins and watch it, then see what God did
(09:33:18) Peter: well the first day home, I showed it to Pauline...good Pauline :)
(09:33:38) Shantasmagoria Wittow: she's great
(09:33:39) Peter: she is affiliated with a new non-profit group called "rivers of life"
(09:33:51) Shantasmagoria Wittow: and a connection was born
(09:33:59) Peter: my goal in this video was to connect people/churches to missions in need
(09:34:14) Peter: to build relationshipsand offer a way for people/churches to give to reliable sources
(09:34:26) Peter: or if they were thinking of doing a missions trip it would spur that on
(09:34:30) Peter: etc
(09:34:38) Peter: well this rivers of life group has the same heart and goal
(09:34:46) Peter: and they are doing that with people in madagascar
(09:34:57) Peter: anyways they were having a board meeting the next day
(09:35:09) Peter: Pauline said they would be interested in seeing this and offered to arrange it
(09:35:11) Shantasmagoria Wittow: and...
(09:35:13) Peter: I happily said yes
(09:35:20) Peter: went out there, showed the video
(09:35:26) Peter: they got excited, asked what I wanted from them
(09:35:36) Peter: told them I would like them to be a conduit for resources to the DR
(09:35:42) Peter: they said they would pray about it
(09:35:50) Shantasmagoria Wittow: you flew?
(09:36:08) Shantasmagoria Wittow: oh wow!
(09:36:08) Peter: they prayed for me, received visions that I was going to have a new perspective on the DR when I returned here, that God was going to pour out blessing on the DR
(09:36:23) Peter: 2 hr later they called me and told me the answer was yes
(09:36:25) Shantasmagoria Wittow: I heard a little bit, this is more, and more fantastic
(09:36:30) Peter: and this is where it gets exciting
(09:36:39) Peter: they wanted me to be their "field officer" down here
(09:36:45) Peter: eyes/ears open for opportunities
(09:37:07) Peter: have me as a joint signer on a checking account to disburse any funds that come in
(09:37:29) Peter: and they want to send a few people down here on an exploratory trip sometime (possibly this month by now)
(09:37:34) Peter: I was home in october btw
(09:37:41) Peter: there's funny thing about that too
(09:37:48) Peter: I was planning on coming 10 days later than I did
(09:38:05) Peter: but my drivers license was going to expire and I was going to lose my CDL certifications for bus driving, etc
(09:38:17) Peter: and I wanted to keep them, so I needed to come back by a certain time and take this test
(09:38:26) Peter: so I came home a week early, lining all this other stuff up
(09:38:34) Peter: it "just happened to work out"
(09:38:35) Peter: ;)
(09:38:38) Peter: anywhoo..
(09:38:49) Peter: I came back here, and have been sharing with them when I see needs
(09:38:59) Shantasmagoria Wittow: wow
(09:39:03) Peter: I'm on two committees with our church here, benevolence and missions
(09:39:15) Peter: benevolence distributes money/resources to people in need
(09:39:22) Peter: and missions helps with missionaries on the island
(09:39:29) Shantasmagoria Wittow: this is so awesome Peter
(09:39:30) Peter: a man came to the benevolence committee
(09:39:46) Peter: who wanted concrete for a floor on his house
(09:39:50) Peter: he was building a house
(09:39:59) Peter: renting an aprt at the same time for his family
(09:40:06) Peter: couldn't afford the rent anymore
(09:40:13) Peter: so they moved into this house early
(09:40:28) Peter: no concrete floor, just dirt covered with carpet
(09:40:33) Peter: we went out to examine the site
(09:41:23) Peter: the house, it's a wreck...building the walls with scrapwood(basically bark), the ground isn't level
(09:41:42) Peter: and on the way out, we saw 14 other houses that hadn't finished their construction
(09:41:49) Peter: half finished houses, lined up in rows
(09:41:59) Peter: I asked the man what was going on with those houses
(09:42:15) Peter: said the property was donated by the gov't, and that the people needed to build the house on their own
(09:42:32) Peter: while I was out there I kept getting the thought, "build 50 houses"
(09:42:39) Peter: "in one year"
(09:42:43) Peter: thinking this is crazy
(09:43:01) Peter: kept praying about it, received confirmation through prayer and other people committing to help with the project
(09:43:20) Peter: talked with habitat for humanity today, someone from habitat is going to come here to meet with me and look at the sites, etc
(09:43:26) Peter: to possibly partner with us
(09:43:33) Peter: like I said earlier, God is good!
(09:44:09) Peter: so how do you like them apples
(09:46:09) Shantasmagoria Wittow: I LOVE THEM APPLES!
(09:48:23) Peter: please pray for Habitat, for Jose Abreu (the man who is coming here to see the project)
(09:48:31) Peter: check out http://www.theschottfamily.org/missions
(09:48:36) Peter: and pray for Vicente
(09:48:59) Peter: pray for the 14 owners of the houses and others that are homeless or living in substandard housing
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Monday, January 02, 2006
Luke 6 - bravery in action
In Luke 6:8 Jesus sees a man in the synagogue on the Sabbath with a withered hand. The Pharisees were watching him to see if he might heal the man, breaking the law so they might accuse him. Jesus, in boldness, called the man forward (also helps that he knew what they were thinking!) He then responded to the Pharisees by asking in verse 9: "I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or destroy it?" He then restored the man's hand.
What would we do in a similar situation? Not saying we are going to heal a withered hand, though I believe God has given us the power to ask him to provide physical healing for others. Situations like this are becoming more commonplace, where the "letter of the law" is diverting from Christian beliefs. I hear the debate all the time with prayer in school, children getting in trouble for telling their classmates about Jesus, and on and on...will we have the courage to stand boldly? Yesterday I watched the story of Daniel with the children for Sunday school. Daniel had the courage to pray publicly despite it being against the law. God protected him for his faithfulness. After all, I think Daniel knew he had nothing to lose! If he did die, he would be in heaven with his father. Look at Paul, he specifically requested to be seen by Caesar, even though he had the chance to be released. What lead to his eventual imprisonment and death became an opportunity to witness to many, including high government officials in Rome.
Would we have the same courage and faith?
What would we do in a similar situation? Not saying we are going to heal a withered hand, though I believe God has given us the power to ask him to provide physical healing for others. Situations like this are becoming more commonplace, where the "letter of the law" is diverting from Christian beliefs. I hear the debate all the time with prayer in school, children getting in trouble for telling their classmates about Jesus, and on and on...will we have the courage to stand boldly? Yesterday I watched the story of Daniel with the children for Sunday school. Daniel had the courage to pray publicly despite it being against the law. God protected him for his faithfulness. After all, I think Daniel knew he had nothing to lose! If he did die, he would be in heaven with his father. Look at Paul, he specifically requested to be seen by Caesar, even though he had the chance to be released. What lead to his eventual imprisonment and death became an opportunity to witness to many, including high government officials in Rome.
Would we have the same courage and faith?
Sunday, January 01, 2006
You have got to be kidding me...
For those of you who thought something like this would never happen...
Woman Weds Dolphin
Tel Aviv, Israel
December 30, 2005 - 6:34AM
Woman Weds Dolphin
Woman weds dolphin
British tourist Sharon Tendler has finally made her dream match - by "marrying" a dolphin she has been visiting for 15 years in the Israeli resort of Eilat, the mass-circulation Yediot Ahronot daily reported today.
Ms Tendler, 41, has been visiting the city on the Gulf of Aqaba two or three times a year to spend time with her 35-year-old underwater sweetheart.
"The peace and tranquility under water, and his love, would calm me down," the Israeli daily quoted her as saying.
Last week, Ms Tendler finally plucked up the courage to ask the dolphin's trainer for the mammal's fin in marriage.
The wedding took place on Wednesday, with the bride - wearing a white dress and watched by amazed spectators - walking down the dock to where the groom was waiting in the water.
She kissed him, to the cheers of the spectators and then, after the ceremony was sealed with some mackerels, was tossed into the water so she could swim away with her new husband.
"I'm the happiest girl on earth," the bride was quoted as saying.
"I made a dream come true. And I am not a pervert."
- DPA
Luke 5, New Year's Res (yes I'm actually doing one)
So I was reading in Luke today, and got convicted. Funny thing about that darn Bible, it tends to do that to me from time to time (namely any time I open its cover.) The Pharasees were asking Jesus why he was eating with the sinners and tax collecters. Jesus eloquently responded: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
Gosh how many times do I expect the kids I work with to be perfect, or not misbehave so much! Look past the kids and move on to my friends or my wife...the bar gets higher. (Shame on me.)
On to the New Year's Resolution...(my official one) is to read the bible through in one year! I'm using the online one at crosswalk.com to get the references, then read it in my bible. I find it better to read the word on paper rather than a computer screen.
My other res is to do an average of 25 pushups and situps each day.
Here's an unofficial toast (with a non-alcoholic sparkly grapejuice, of course) to New Year's Resolutions, and the God that will make it possible for us to fulfill them.
To him be the glory, now and forever. make this year a meaningful one, and when I say that it is my hope that the meaning be found in a deeper, more intimate relationship with your creator. speaking of which, a random closing thought. The other day I was walking to work and decided to pray for everyone I came across on that walk. It wasn't *too* bad right away (read:the first five mins) but started to become overwhelming. Even early in the A.m. in a small mountain town, there are a lot of people to pray for! Houses filled with people that I've never met, scraggly concho drivers, etc. I got to thinking (dangerous habit, by the way) that God knows each of these people in a way that is more intimate than I will ever know my wife. Amazing! Praise God for his power...hey I'm glad he's the one in charge, not me...though I do try to usurp his authority from time to time (read:too many times in a day to count.)
good night all, happy new year.
feel free to post comments sharing any new year's res or how you spent your new years eve and day!
Gosh how many times do I expect the kids I work with to be perfect, or not misbehave so much! Look past the kids and move on to my friends or my wife...the bar gets higher. (Shame on me.)
On to the New Year's Resolution...(my official one) is to read the bible through in one year! I'm using the online one at crosswalk.com to get the references, then read it in my bible. I find it better to read the word on paper rather than a computer screen.
My other res is to do an average of 25 pushups and situps each day.
Here's an unofficial toast (with a non-alcoholic sparkly grapejuice, of course) to New Year's Resolutions, and the God that will make it possible for us to fulfill them.
To him be the glory, now and forever. make this year a meaningful one, and when I say that it is my hope that the meaning be found in a deeper, more intimate relationship with your creator. speaking of which, a random closing thought. The other day I was walking to work and decided to pray for everyone I came across on that walk. It wasn't *too* bad right away (read:the first five mins) but started to become overwhelming. Even early in the A.m. in a small mountain town, there are a lot of people to pray for! Houses filled with people that I've never met, scraggly concho drivers, etc. I got to thinking (dangerous habit, by the way) that God knows each of these people in a way that is more intimate than I will ever know my wife. Amazing! Praise God for his power...hey I'm glad he's the one in charge, not me...though I do try to usurp his authority from time to time (read:too many times in a day to count.)
good night all, happy new year.
feel free to post comments sharing any new year's res or how you spent your new years eve and day!
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