Update on the fly/Rachel's blog

Diane and I are sitting in the Calgary airport, having cleared US customs and with 2 hours to kill before our flight. We're on our way to East Africa for 2 1/2 weeks on a tour with my mother and my aunt Lois. We're really looking forward to it - our first time "over" seas if you discount Hawaii which doesn't really count in my book as it's not foreign enough.

We'll be spending 2 weeks in Ethiopia and 4 days on a short safari in Kenya. Returning March 20 to Washington and then touring around Virginia for a few days before flying home Mar 23. By then it should be spring (or close enough) and time to bring my motorcycle out of storage. My long deferred return to riding - I can hardly wait!

......we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

1 John 1:2-4

Rachel has finally got a blog of her own at http://www.clayinthemakershand.blogspot.com./










In her first post she discusses her evolving vision of ministry:

This last week I was translating for a medical team and had the privelage of working with doctor Kit who works in Cambodia. I was so amazed by the openness of all the people who came to see him. We were able to share the gospel with some of the patients and have some meaningful discussions and prayer times. This really opened my eyes to how much people really are searching. I honestly was expecting more rejection but instead all I saw were people who were hungry for God. What an encouragement that was!

It was also neat because one of the things that I have been praying about is doing more relational and discipleship ministries. It’s like God was telling me to feed them. They were coming with different health concerns but there was this intense spiritual hunger that I saw. God really used this time to encourage me and helped me to focus more on the reality of the spiritual struggles that people are going through. Perhaps the biggest lie is the assumption that people don’t want to hear.

I feel blessed that God is leading Rachel in this direction. I have long felt that as important as it is to minister to peoples' material and social needs, social ministry without a spiritual component is ultimately empty. By spiritual I mean a ministry that shares the gospel of salvation and spiritual wholeness through Jesus Christ with aim of bringing others into that fellowship with us which transforms them from subjects of ministry into brothers and sisters in Christ. So the proper end of mission work is to birth (or midwive?) new life in others which will allow them to minister to us and each other as we have ministered to them.

I'm not sure that adequately explains what I mean but I'm too tired to improve on it so I'll stop now. In any case I encourage anyone interested in Rachel's ministry to check it regularly. It is really worth a read!