About Grandpa Mac

My grandfather died last week. He was 89 years old and had been anxiously waiting his turn to go to heaven for years. If funerals can be good, Grandpa's definitely fell into that category. Of course there were tears and sadness as Grandpa's six surviving children mourned the loss of their father, but overall, his funeral was a celebration of a life that pleased God, a life not wasted.

When Grandpa was a teenager, he hitchhiked across the US during the Depression in search of a job. He made it out to California from North Carolina by hopping trains and had many adventures along the way. He wrote a book about it, and if anyone is interested in having a copy, let me know and I will send one to you. Grandpa wrote several books after he retired and would give them out as a personal ministry.

In his early twenties, he married my grandmother and the two of them prepared for ministry at Moody Bible Institute. He missed serving in the war because of this, but he was preparing for battle to be waged in a different war. He and Grandma served in the West Indies for forty years as missionaries. I don't know how many churches were started under their ministry, but I know some of them are still thriving today.

My grandparents may have retired from the mission field in the Caribbean, but they definitely did not retire from serving God. Their pastor who spoke at Grandpa's funeral said that if a church were filled with people like my grandparents, the pastor of that church would be like the Maytag repairman -- nothing to do. After Grandma died in 2005, Grandpa moved into a retirement home. He said that God had placed him in another mission field, and he was very open and vocal about his testimony and about the Gospel. In fact, because he was known as Gene and his room number was 316, he earned the nickname of Gene 3:16.

As I grew older and got to know Grandpa better, I was reminded of the rich spiritual heritage God has blessed me with. Grandpa loved God and His Word, and this fact defined his life. He loved to study and there are boxes of books from his library that he left behind. My dad mentioned that some of the books were dated after my grandparents' retirement, and he was challenged by the fact that Grandpa never stopped growing spiritually and studying God's Word.

My sisters and I liked to take Grandpa out when he was living at the retirement home. He loved good food and ice cream and we loved to laugh at his very blunt statements. One thing that was said about him at his funeral was that he understood the balance between being a missionary, a husband and a father. He definitely loved his family dearly and he liked to tell people how many grands and great-grands he had. My baby will be great grandchild number 26, and a couple of my aunts told me that they watched Grandpa get a smile on his face when he saw me and my growing tummy the last time he was at a family function, just two weeks before he died. I think he was happy that his family would go on after he left. As part of the family he left behind, I pray that I will honor his legacy by telling my children of this great man who was their great grandfather, who loved God with all of his heart, who was always kind and humble, who longed to be with God in heaven and lived his whole life as a testimony to that truth.

My mom found this statement written in one of Grandpa's Bibles, and David and I were both challenged by it: "I have no personal plans for the future except to teach and preach the Gospel to more people in more places, villages and islands." That he did to the very end of his life.

I Love My Family

We just spent a few days with my sister and brother and family. How fun to be able to surprise them for a five day visit. Interestingly - they were on the road at the same time we were. I called and spoke to my brother for an hour - only a couple hours away from each other. One of my last comments was: "I wish we could just be able to chat in the same room!" We arrived about 20 minutes before they did and were waiting for them upstairs at Christen's parents home where they are living. When they showed up - they were extremely surprised and we were very excited! James and Christen are headed to Brazil soon, and we wanted to spend some well needed time with them. Our intention was to show up and do whatever we could with them and that's what we did. James and I spent some time at the consulate taking a stab at getting some visas. The trip there gave us an opportunity to have good spiritual conversation. What a blessing to have talks like this with my own brother. That evening we went for a 6 mile jog - something we have done individually, but rarely together. The next day we took off to the beach in Galveston. This was a fun time all around. Feeding birds and ... well that's mostly what I remember about that. On (Wed - nes -day: inside joke) we watched "The Last Sin Eater" - an excellent Christian new release! That afternoon in talking with Rachel a bit - we decided we needed to stay in Texas another day and help her purchase a laptop as she was in desperate need of one. We were successful and Rachel is the proud owner of a laptop computer. These events stand out in my mind, but not as much as just the simple times on the couch or around the table talking and fellowshipping. This is a gift from heaven that I'm sure many families would covet. I love my family and I love God for drawing our hearts to Him which has produced edifying and encouraging conversation and fellowship. I thank God for Rachel, James, Christen, Daniel, Hannah, and little Jeremiah, as well Christen's Godly parents - Albert and Patty Armitage. They treated us as family and we are grateful for their hospitality - something that cannot be repaid.

A Journey to Victorious Praying - Bill Thrasher

I was reading through this book given to me by my friend Josh.

The following thoughts were helpful:

"Thy typical evangelistic prayer focuses on praying for the lost. This is certainly appropriate, but the clear emphasis in Scripture is to pray in a different direction. Jesus' burden for the lost multitude resulted in His instruction to pray that the Lord would send laborers into the harvest field (Matthew 9:38). In His deep burden for the unsaved He commanded prayer for the saints instead of the sinner. Likewise Paul requested prayer for both the opportunity to witness (Colossians 4:3) and the courage to present the gospel (Ephesians 6:19-20). To pray for our lost friends is a naturally loving instinct, but it is God's Word that guides us how to do so."

Good Observation!

It's a Miracle!

Ultrasounds are the show! I'm going to be a daddy for sure! Unbelievable! It's amazing to wake up in the morning and to feel Sharon's tummy lopsided - all hard on one side! I am appreciative of the cravings that pregnancy produces. The way that works is that if I crave something and suggest it - Sharon craves it too - and you gotta get it. The emotions are a bit goofy right now. We can't wait for Sept. 14th, but then again...

Tears of Sorrow - Tears of Joy

Brazil Missions Trip

Thank you all so much for your prayers and financial contributions! The past two weeks were very encouraging and once again reaffirmed God's call on my life!

13 members from various churches went down to Fortaleza, Brazil for 2 weeks. While there, we were involved in 4 ministries: manual labor, public school evangelism, soccer evangelism, and local church ministry. God used the team mightily despite the language barrier for most.

My part specifically on this trip was to serve the team by translating. I had opportunities to work, preach, and even play - but God used my MK (missionary kid) background for His glory.

There were two events that struck hard in my heart on this trip. One involved tears of sorrow, and another tears of joy.

One Wednesday during prayer time at church - Sr. Chico began to share his testimony. This man had come into the church in a drunken stupper - and God used that first service in this mans life. Chico proceeded to share the things that had happened in his life to build his faith. My heart was sorrowful - because this mans faith was so strong. I was jealous for his faith minus his trials. God showed me a truth from the book of James - but in living color - Chico! His testimony moved me to tears. Oh God - build my faith!

The tears of joy came late in the trip. God gave me a neat friendship in the bus driver - Kleber. He and I talked several times while riding to our next ministry. I shared the gospel with him and things made some sense to him. He told me had chosen to leave the Catholic church because it seemed foolish to him to have to pray to a priest and not directly to his Creator. I preached one Sunday evening and he heard the evangelistic message. After the service he had questions about the Trinity. I told him we would get together to talk about it, but things didn't seem to work out. Two days before we are to leave he hurts his ankle and cannot drive the bus! Oh, Lord - what now - we didn't get another opportunity - was what I was thinking.

On the last night we are there - Kleber gets in his car with his wife and his Bible and drives 20 kilometers to where we are staying! Everyone on the team greeted him with joy. He caught my attention and said: Can we sit down and talk? Uh - Yeah!!!

We went through John 14 - Great chapter on the Trinity - Great chapter on the Gospel!!! As we wrapped up I asked Kleber if he had repented of his sin and put his trust in Christ! His reply was: I think I have done that this week. I encouraged him to talk to the Lord about this and so he prayed with me. His wife was listening - but I could sense she was not where here husband was. I encouraged Kleber to continue to share these verses with his wife and wait on the Lord for his work in her life. Will you pray for Kleber, Lucianna, and Leticia - his 15 year old daughter. His new life has just begun! He needs to grow! Tears of Joy!!!

The picture is of Kleber, his wife and Joel Johnson - our group leader.

Praise God - What a cap on the end of this trip.

Thank you all again,

God Bless