Merry Christmas! We hope you all are having a blessed holiday season. Lena and I have been enjoying ourselves so far. We have been able to finish up several tasks that pertain to our apprentice term. We have even finished up our final apprentice projects. Lena submitted her final language evaluation for assessment. I was able to complete two seminary courses. Now, we are mostly waiting for Christmas and for the birth of our new baby boy. Lena is currently 34 weeks pregnant. Lena’s pregnancy continues to progress well. We are grateful for all those who have been keeping her in their pr@yers. We cannot wait until baby Simeon gets here. Not only do we have the new baby to look forward to, but we are also looking forward to coming back to the States for our first stateside assignment. We will be flying back to the United States around March 18, 2013. We will have 6 months to enjoy being with our family and our ch*rches. We have served overseas now for approximately 3 years (excluding the 5 weeks we spent in the States back in 2011 due to visa issues). We are looking forward to seeing everyone. I am sure that Silas and Simeon will be excited also. 

You guys may remember me reporting a few months ago about 3 South Asian men who pr@yed to receive J and were b@ptized. I lost contact with these men because they moved away from us shortly after coming to J. I got to see one of these men a few weeks ago and I discovered from him that he had taken a trip back to his home in South Asia. Little did he know that a M*slim from our community had made a phone call back to South Asia to spread a bunch of ugly rumors about him. Upon arriving in South Asia, our brother was beaten up, disowned by his family (including wife and children), and accused of blasphemy (irreverence towards the pr*phet Moh*mmad). The penalty for blasphemy in his country ranges from a fine to the death sentence. Our brother returned to Europe after suffering this persecution and applied for asylum. Our Father spoke to me when I learned about what had happened to this man. I was very disturbed by how his family abandoned him due to his newfound f@ith. There is nothing worse that can happen to an Asian man than to be cast out of his family. There is nothing more important to an Asian than family. It is very difficult for an Asian to survive once he is disowned. The family is one’s sole support system for dealing with all of life’s challenges. To lose one’s family is to lose everything. Western families often maintain close relationships, but Asian families rely upon one another for survival. However, if a member of the family decides to reject Isl@m then that person is seen as a traitor and is treated as an outcast unless he decides to return to Isl@m. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to be treated as an outcast by your wife, children, parents, and siblings? As I considered our brother’s predicament, our Father reminded me that those of us who belong to him are apart of a bigger and more important family than merely an earthly one. I encouraged our brother with these words. I told him that I am his brother and that I will do everything I can to introduce him to his other brothers and sisters who know our Father. I told him that he is far from being alone. In fact, he has a bigger family now than what he ever did before. If M*slims are threatening one another with disownment to ensure that their people will not have the freedom to determine their own beliefs then how dedicated should we be to providing for those who have been abandoned? I also had to come to terms with the effect of our ministry among M*slim people. If we are going to encourage others to become followers of J then we must also be ready to provide support if they are disowned. The best case scenario would be a new believer being able to maintain a relationship with his family regardless of his new f@ith. Maintaining a relationship with one’s family provides a bridge over which the g0spel can cross resulting in salvation. However, new bel*evers are often unable to maintain such a relationship due to their family’s intolerant reaction. Leaving these brothers alone and in destitution is simply not an option. This brother eventually became homesick and he desperately wanted to return to his home country. He bought a plane ticket before I could even talk to him about his decision to return. I accompanied him to the airport and a group of us pr@yed for him before he left. My pr@yer for him is that he will not compromise his f@ith. I also pr@y that he will be able to reconcile with his family.  

I met another bel*ever this month who came from a M*slim background. I soon learned that this man had been living the past several months in a tent beside a local canal. I was shocked to learn that this brother was highly educated. In fact, he holds a Master of Engineering degree. He shared with me how he came to believe in J. He had some friends who were telling him about salvation, but he dismissed everything that they told him. One night he had a dream about J. J was pr@ying with him in his dream, but He was not facing M*cca and pr@ying in the positions that M*slims typically use when they pray. This dream caused our brother to start doubting what he had been taught about J. He later pr@yed to receive J for salvation. After coming to faith, his family disowned him. He has been living on his own for quite a while now. He could not find a job because he has no connections. I only got to work with this man for a couple of days because he was in the process of relocating. I tried to help him retrieve the tent that he had been sleeping in. We drove out into the countryside and parked along side the road. Then we hiked out beside a canal that had overflowed due to flooding. We trudged along in the mud for awhile before we all decided to leave the tent behind and we turned back around. I could not image living in a tent for as long as he did. You do not want to live in a tent in this country. In the winter it is bone chilling cold and it is constantly raining. I was told that this brother had spent the night in a M0sque a few days before I met him. I was told that he was considering going back to Isl@m because he was so lonely and destitute. Once again, I asked myself what are we doing to support former M*slims who have been disowned from their families. I do not believe that we are representing our Father well when our brothers are living beside canals in tents in the freezing rain when their only crime was listening to the message we came to bring them. 

Christmas is a wonderful seasons for many reasons. One of the reasons it is so special for S0uthern B@ptists is because of the L0ttie M0on Christmas 0ffering. This 0ffering provides us with the opportunity to contribute to the work that the Father is accomplishing in the world through the many workers who are with our company. The Gre@t C0mmission is a responsibility that we all share as children of our Father. Not all of us are called to go, but all of us are called to participate. If your calling is to pr@y and give for the task then please do so with a generous and joyful heart. In this blog entry I am going to include a link to a tool that will help you participate in what our Father is doing. It is call “10 Days of Sacrifice.” Please go to the following link: http://willyoucare.org/10-days/. After you have clinked on this link, look for a graphic on this page that resembles a book and says “10 Days of Sacrifice” in orange and click on it. Clinking on this graphic will take you to a downloadable PDF document. Study this document and commit to making a small sacrifice for the millions of unreached people in South Asia.

Pr@yer Requests:

1. Pr@y for the brother that I mentioned in this blog entry who flew back to South Asia to be with his family earlier this month. Pr@y that he would not be ashamed of the g0spel. Pr@y that his f@mily would be more tolerant of his decision to follow J. Pr@y that the relationship he has with his family would serve as a g0spel bridge resulting in salvation.
2. Pr@y for the brother that I mentioned in this blog entry who was living in a tent. Pr@y that he would not be ashamed of the g0spel. Pr@y that he would be able to find employment so that he can provide for himself. Pr@y that he would find a good ch*rch who would surround him with love and support. Pr@y that our Father would use him in a mighty way to testify about the greatness of J.                                    
3. Pr@y for Lena’s pregnancy and upcoming delivery. Pr@y that our Father would grant a healthy delivery for Lena and baby Simeon.
4. Pr@y for the L0ttie M0on Christmas 0ffering. Pr@y that the Father would use what his children give to expand His Kingdom.