I really enjoy stories about time travel. The plots can get pretty complicated, but the idea of being able to see things in the past interest me. What historical event would you like to see? I’d love to see some of the events in the Bible: the feeding of the 5,000, the baptism of Jesus, the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. There are other times that I’d like to visit. I’d like to see what some areas of the country looked like before development. I’d like to be able to witness some of the events around the founding of the United States: the signing of the declaration of independence and the adoption of the constitution. More recently, I’d love to be able to see some of the revivals of history, especially those following the Welch revival in the early 1900s.
Time passes. We all know that we can’t go back and redo something that’s already been done. As is said, “you can’t unring a bell.” We even talk about the unfairness of evaluating someone’s decision on the basis of information not available to them at the time. We call this “Monday morning quarterbacking.”
Time has gone fast for Suzanne and me. Last year we were in Central Asia celebrating Christmas with our ministry partners. This year we’re in Keizer, OR and were with part of our family and friends. The climate is different, the setting is different, the languages and customs are different. Yet, in the midst of all the change, there is a lot that is the same. God is still alive. He’s still on the throne. He is still good all the time.
We’re tremendously thankful for all that God has allowed us to experience in these last few years. We never dreamed that we’d have the opportunities of the variety of adventures we’ve experienced. We’ve been thrilled to visit the many countries we’ve seen in the last few years: Brazil, China, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and Central Asia. We’re more convinced than ever that the good news of Jesus Christ is what can change the world – the present conditions people live in and the hope they can have for eternal life.
2010 holds a lot of challenges for us. We’ll continue to work on building our support team as we endeavor to develop the work of OMS in the Northwest. We’re also planning three trips to Asia this year: March, June and September (?) to assist the national churches in their efforts to plant new churches.
Though time travel is just a dream, what God is doing among the nations is very real and it’s exciting to see what He is doing to build his church. Thousands of new churches were established last year through the efforts of OMS and its partners. Hundreds of thousands of people found a new life in Christ. We might not be able to go back into history and watch events of the past, but God is doing some great things that we can watch in our own time. PTL.
