Pastor AND Wife Punched in Their Faces !!

Pastor AND Wife Punched in Their Faces !!

Today a funeral led to a rather unusual situation. In Maya Center, 2 men died unexpectedly. 1 was a 73 year old who basically drank himself to death. His family found him, but it was too late. This man was the father of our pastor from Maya Center.

The second death was a 20 year old who had recently tried 3 times to stab his own father. The parents are Christians and attend the Nazarene Church. The young man only occasionally attended but obviously had some serious issues. In his string of bad choices, he was riding his motorbike on the wrong side of the road and struck another vehicle. The casket was not opened at the funeral due to the horrible condition of his body from the accident. 2 Timothy 3 talks about this kind of young man, who is ‘”a lover of himself, lover of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited…”

The Bible warns us that in the last days, this kind of activity will only increase. It remains sad to see however, very sad.

Both funerals affected the people in this church. Both funerals were held this morning. Other pastors who helped start this church were there for support. After a common meal at the pastor’s house, he directed one of the visiting pastors and his wife to get into a vehicle so they could take them back to their village.

Suddenly, another woman came to the vehicle and punched the pastor’s wife in the face! Then this irrational woman grabbed the pastor’s wife and dragged her out of the car, dumping her on the ground. She then went around and punched the pastor in his face! He did not retaliate but turned his other cheek to her. (Wow!) She then pulled him from the car.

The pastor asked what he had done to cause her to punch him in the face. Whatever could he have done or said to make her want to do this? She had no response to him. She then began to breathe very heavily and very rapidly and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

The pastor, still confused as to what could have ever brought such a reaction, gathered the other pastors who were there and began to pray over the fallen woman. They prayed for her protection and care and salvation, as she is not a Christian. Her husband is a believer who attends the Nazarene Church, so they left her in his care and found a different ride back to their village.

Becki and I had arrived at their home just minutes before they came back home. Unaware of anything that had happened, Becki was surprised when the pastor’s wife came straight to hug her and began weeping. The pastor then relayed the story to us. By the time he finished, he himself was crying hard, unable to understand why they were attacked.

This pastor and his wife are 2 of the most gentle people we know. They would not hurt anyone, for any reason. Even while sharing this incident with us, the pastor’s concern was that maybe God would use this somehow because this woman is not a Christian. Such faith, such hope.

Through deep, racking sobs he asked for prayer.

Becki and I put our arms around this pastor and his wife and prayed for God to take away their fear, to calm their concerns, to give peace in the midst of this situation, to not allow the enemy to prosper in this in any way and that they would all see God at work in the midst of their suffering.

What a challenge in the midst of a day.

What a blessing to be at the right place at the right time, to be able to pray for a precious family who was in such distress.

Pray for the woman who attacked them to surrender to Christ as a result of this.

Pray for the pastor and his wife to continue to stay strong in the midst on such unknowns in the ministry.

Pray for the church in Maya Center, as they continue to minister in an obviously needy village.

God’s Word is clear. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but would rather that they turn and repent and be saved.

Please pray for those who are still living, that they may all come to know Christ as Savior.

Happy to be a blessing to someone today,

Ray & Becki

Joshua Learns a Lesson...

Recently the Spirit directed me to read Joshua chapter 6.

My initial thought was “Why?!”

I’m so obedient sometimes…

I did read it though and was mildly amused at what I saw as God’s sense of humor in verse 2. The situation in verse 1 is that Jericho is shut up tight. This fortified city with its high walls is completely secured so that no one is coming out and no one can get in. It is then that the Lord says to Joshua, “See, I have given you this city, along with its king and all the fighting men.”

I would probably not actually say this to the Lord but I certainly was thinking this as I read what the Lord said. My thought was, “Are you kidding me?! It looks pretty secure to me, nobody coming in, nobody getting out. How is it that you have “given” this to me??! It looks like they still have pretty good control over it!”

As I kept on reading, I read God’s highly irregular combat plans for Joshua to follow in order to defeat this well fortified city. March around the city once a day, saying absolutely nothing, just have the priests blow the horns. On the 7th day, march around it 7 times, then SHOUT! Then go take the city when the walls fall down.

And even though I know the story, I’m trying to think as Joshua might have been thinking when he first heard these directions. So my thought was, “Um, oh-kaaaay… and “that” will work you say?!”

Of course, the story goes on to tell that Joshua followed all that the Lord told him to do and we do see just how well God’s plan does work.

Something in me was a bit dissatisfied though. It all seemed too easy. Unusual yes, but it seemed that Joshua just gave in to his whole idea rather effortlessly. I mean, come on! This is a bit crazy!

So I decided to look into it a bit more closely. I read the latter part of Chapter 5 and found that “aha!”

Just shortly before chapter 6 started, Joshua sees a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua boldly approaches the man and asks “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

The man replies, “Neither. I am the captain of the Lord’s army and I am here.”

That answer puts a little fear in me, to realize that God’s angel is not choosing sides. I have the thought that if he is nor for us, then he could be against us…and that would be baaaad!

Joshua bows with his face to the ground in reverence. Great move Joshua.

The next words spoken by the captain of the Lord’s army changed everything for me. The angel tells Joshua, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

“Aha!” Now, I see….Joshua is on holy ground before the Lord – in reverential worship. He is awestruck that he is seeing the angel of the Lord face to face.

So, THEN when he hears what the Lord has to say…it is not a struggle to believe it. In fact, ANYTHING that God would have said then would have been very easy to accept because Joshua’s heart was fully yielded to God in worship.

Aha. The connection is now clear for me.

Perhaps the actual title of this piece should be: Ray learns a lesson!

Bible Story Telling Training

Whew...let me say that again...whew!! Okay, I feel a little better.

It is a good kind of weary but weary nonetheless. 2 weeks of class and a weekend of teaching squeezed in between. But - I am sitting here now trying to process what has been an amazing run!

Most of you will not be able to appreciate what I am about to share.

Some of you have experienced the Bible Story Telling, either on one of your trips to Belize or on one of our trips back to the U.S. So you will have some idea what I am sharing here.

A few of you have seen this being shared in direct ministry context. YOU will be the most blessed by what I am about to share.

In fact, I face a dilemma right now. The trouble with sharing this is that if you have not experienced Bible Story Telling, you won't really 'get it'. So, some of the impact and the wonder will be lost on you - but let me share anyhow, hoping that it will intrigue you enough to want to learn more.

Bible Story Telling is a system of discovering the treasures that are in the Bible for us to find.

It is simple. It is practical. It is POWERFUL.

It is so simple, even in its name, that many people do not give it a chance, until they experience it firsthand, THEN they are amazed!!

We saw that here in Belize this week, not only in class, but also as one of the students taught a Bible Story Telling session to a visiting Youth Group from Florida. They were astonished that the discoveries they were making from just 5 short verses took them nearly an hour! The time flew by so quickly that they did not realize it. (This always happens!) They also were aware that there were many more discoveries to make still !

The pastors who came to this 2 week class were a diverse group. They came at my invitation to an "experiment". From their responses at the end of these 2 weeks, I can only determine that the experiment was a HUGE success !

In short, we spent each day digging into one Bible Story after another, learning them by heart in order to repeat each story without reading it. Then, working together, as a group to search for treasures in each story. This simple process is the key to this amazing system. Seeking treasures, as if walking slowly down a path, makes each story COME ALIVE!

Without going into all the details right now, let me just share some of their thoughts with you.

"I have been praying for the last 3 months for God to lay it on Pastor Ray's heart to teach us this Bible Story Telling. I am very excited that I learned this and I will use it in my church this Sunday." (This from a pastor who did not know I was thinking about doing this - nor did I know that he was praying such a prayer! Oh, and guess when I started planning it? 3 months ago! Yeah God!!)

After the first week, a new pastor spoke up and said, 'Before when I preach, some of the people hang their heads like they are not listening or they are bored, but now they sit up with their eyes wide open! And 2 young men now want to come to the class!'

One shared a Bible Story at a bus stop where 9 people were waiting for the bus. They all got excited and wanted to learn more!

One dear older pastor who cannot read or write shared how grateful he was for this. (You can learn it without knowing how to read or write.) He feels this was made just for him. He wants his whole church to experience it.

One lady shared that she had a heavy heart now that she learned from Malachi that God would rather have the church doors shut because of unacceptable worship and how God would move on to other nations that honored His Name. She prayed - through the night - that Belize would be a nation that honored God's Name!

Several shared that they sense that God will use the Bible Story Telling to spread across Belize and really make a big, big difference in their people, especially because it can be done in their own languages. (More on this later...)

Still another veteran pastor said: "I am going to teach this in my church and send people out 2 by 2 to teach it throughout the village and in other villages. We are excited to go home and use this!"

Personally, I was driven to tears and humbled by the raw vulnerability and heartfelt words shared by so many who were here. I told them that I grew to respect every one of them in new ways after seeing their hearts so clearly.

They all agreed that they want to do a class like this for one week every month!

THAT - is encouraging, AND challenging. The funding for these 2 weeks came by a special gift from some who had experienced the power of this amazing system.

I believe that this model will revolutionize pastoral training, not only here in Belize, but "Beyond Belize" as well. I have not in the past, requested help for projects here but this is SO POWERFUL in the lives of these pastors that I cannot help but do all I can to meet their request.

I am willing to make the time to teach them and literally, pour myself and this system into their lives. Would you be willing to help? Would you be willing to give to support their training? We worked hard to keep costs low yet the reality is that we needed to help with transportation, food and lodging in order to make the week happen.

We discovered that it cost a least $75 US per week per pastor to run this Bible Story Telling School.

The first 2 week Introductory Course just ended today. Would you help us make sure their wish for an ongoing school does not end? God bless you as you search your heart.

Write us for details on how you can help.

Blessed, blessed, blessed...

Ray & Becki

You know you live in a foreign country when...

You know you live in a foreign country when...

~ when you hear your wife shout out "Woohooooo! Green beans!!" (there has been a shortage)

~ when you see your wife kissing the can of green beans, you understand

~ when taking the trash out means setting it on fire since there is no garbage truck coming...ever.

~ entertainment for the night involves counting bug bites

~ the price of a bag of chips means you really can eat only 1 Lay's potato chip!

~ you're not surprised when dinner comes wrapped in a banana leaf...

~ you get excited when dinner comes wrapped in a banana leaf !!

You know you live in a foreign country when...

~ a trip to town means

doing all the shopping for the week,

stopping at the post office,

getting gas in the truck,

saying hello to all the people you see in town

taking time out for lunch (maybe in a banana leaf!)

checking the bank to see if your paycheck arrived yet

changing a flat tire

getting a flat tire fixed immediately (never know when you will need it again!)

double checking everything because you're NOT coming back if you forgot anything!

You know you live in a foreign country when...

~ shopping in an ethnic store is your ONLY choice!

~ you look up at the stars and cannot find the ones you know

~ Facebook is your best friend

~ a phone call from the states is a BIG deal !

~ a visit from friends in the U.S. is a BIG deal !!

~ a visit to go SEE friends in the U.S. is an even bigger deal !!!

~ U.S headlines aren't that big a deal...

~ you drive by a forest fire with flames taller than your truck - and it's no big deal...

~ box office release dates mean nothing...

~ price roll backs mean the expiration date is very near

~ you don't have to go to the zoo to see monkeys, or crocodiles, or armadillos, or polecats

~ many of your friends have names that are hard to pronounce, let alone spell

You know you live in a foreign country when...

~ you already knew all the stuff on this list !

~ and you feel blessed to live where you do !!

We sure do!!!!!

Ray & Becki

It's a Beautiful Thing...to see the Lord Work!

I went to church tonight in San Pedro Columbia, a village in southern Belize. Honestly, I did not really "want" to go since it has been a busy week of teaching the pastors. Frankly after teaching all day for 3 days in a row, I'm sort of talked out and not in a hurry to be in another social and often "up front" situation.

However, I went and became so glad that I did. Darin Pound, our new DS preached a very good message from the encounter of Jesus and Zaccheaus. As he shared his insights I ruminated on some of the thoughts and wondered how the message was reaching the near capacity crowd on this Wednesday night.

As he drew the message to a close, Darin also opened the altar for prayer, reminding the people that just as God knew all about Zaccheaus, He knows their needs also.

I was encouraged to see such a good number of people move out right away to go forward for prayer. Darin called me to come help pray for people gathered before the Lord.

I went first to one young man, only after I began speaking to him did I realize that it was one of the young men who had just started pastor's class this week! We prayed together for God to teach him and to make him strong in his faith. His desire is to be a Youth Missionary - how exciting!

Then I felt led to move down past another to pray for man on the end. I asked him how I could help pray for him. He said he was there to pray for his son, who had recently decided to study the Bible and try to help others. I asked his son's name - and by now was not real surprised to find out that this was the father of the young man I had just prayed with! How wonderful!!

After the service, I had an opportunity to speak to the young man as we waited outside. I found out that his parents had at first been against him and were not encouraging him. He had expressed his desire but did not think that they supported him. What a privilege to tell him that I had just prayed with his own father, who was asking God to make his son strong in his faith and teach him the way!

God is so fun to work out things like that!

Another bonus tonight was to watch a lady whom I know, go over to a young lady seated across the aisle, invite her to go forward for prayer, and then lead her to the Lord!

The angels are rejoicing this night!

And so am I!!

Blessed to be in Belize!

Ray

Watching Pastors Get SKINNY !

It's NOT a diet fad...

It's NOT the latest workout craze...

It's NOT a political statement...

It IS the result of a seed planted.

A seed planted some months ago as I taught on Fasting & Prayer.

This seed took root in the hearts of some of our Indian pastors and it is showing.

Some of our pastors are getting skinny!

When you see dramatic weight loss, it is natural to inquire as to why this is happening, which I did. I was most pleased to hear the answer. "I've been fasting, brother."

The seed from class has taken root in several hearts. Fasting is for them, becoming a more natural part of their week in and week out lives. To hear them talk about it is encouraging as well.

"I called my church to fast and pray and meet at the church every night for a week. We met from 8:00 pm till midnight. Some things are happening brother!"

"Since I started fasting, things have gotten very difficult for my family, but we won't stop. We know this is the right thing to do."

"I am committed to fasting every week. I know God will use it to build the church."

"My wife and I are fasting every Sunday now and we will not stop."

Some have committed to getting up at 3:30 AM daily for prayer!!

The Holy Spirit is stirring in their hearts. As they pray, those prayers, along with their faithful fasting will stir the heart of God. That in turn will cause more hearts to turn to God, which is the whole point after all!

These people have learned that there is a physical price to pay in order to see spiritual results.

They are willing and obedient to the seed which was planted.

The 'getting skinny' part - well, that is just a side benefit !

Blessed to be in Belize,

Ray & Becki

Grandparents - gotta love 'em & those grandkids !!

For the grandparents!!!!

1. I was in the bathroom, putting on my makeup, under the watchful eyes of my young granddaughter, as I'd done many times before. After I applied my
lipstick and started to leave, the little one said, "But Gramma, you
forgot to kiss the toilet paper good-bye!" I will probably never put
lipstick on again without thinking about kissing the toilet paper
good-bye...

2. My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy Birthday. He
asked me how old I was, and I told him, 62. My grandson was quiet for a
moment, and then he asked, "Did you start at 1?"

3. After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother changed into old
slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair. As she heard
the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin.
Finally, she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room,
putting them back to bed with stern warnings. As she left the room, she
heard the three-year-old say with a trembling voice, "Who was THAT?"



4. A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own
childhood was like: "We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing
made from a tire, and it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our
pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods." The little girl
was wide-eyed, taking this all in. At last she said, "I sure wish I'd
gotten to know you sooner!"

5. My grandson was visiting one day when he asked, "Grandma, do you know how you and God are alike?" I mentally polished my halo and I said,
"No, how are we alike?'' "You're both old," he replied.

6. A little girl was diligently pounding away on her grandfather's word
processor. She told him she was writing a story. "What's it about?" he
asked. "I don't know," she replied. "I can't read."

7. I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I
decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what color it
was. She would tell me, and was always correct. It was fun for me, so I
continued. At last, she headed for the door, saying, "Grandma, I think you
should try to figure out some of these, yourself!"

8. When my grandson Billy and I entered our vacation cabin, we kept the
lights off until we were inside to keep from attracting pesky insects.
Still, a few fireflies followed us in. Noticing them before I did, Billy
whispered, "It's no use Grandpa. Now the mosquitoes are coming after us
with flashlights."

9. When my grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly replied, "I'm not
sure." "Look in your underwear, Grandpa," he advised, "mine says I'm 4 to
6."

10. A second grader came home from school and said to her grandmother,
"Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today." The
grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. "That's
interesting," she said, "how do you make babies?" "It's simple," replied
the girl. "You just change 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'."

11. Children's Logic: "Give me a sentence about a public servant," said a
teacher. The small boy wrote: "The fireman came down the ladder pregnant." The teacher took the lad aside to correct him. "Don't you know what pregnant means?" she asked. "Sure," said the young boy confidently. It means carrying a child."

12. A grandfather was delivering his grandchildren to their home one day
when a fire truck zoomed past. Sitting in the front seat of the fire truck
was a Dalmatian dog. The children started discussing the dog's duties.
"They use him to keep crowds back," said one child. "No," said another.
"He's just for good luck." A third child brought the argument to a close.
"They use the dogs," she said firmly, "to find the fire hydrants."

13. A 6-year-old was asked where his grandma lived. "Oh," he said, "she
lives at the airport, and when we want her, we just go get her. Then,
when we're done having her visit, we take her back to the airport."

14. My grandparents are funny. When they bend over, you hear gas leaks,
and they blame their dog.