About a month ago I received an email from a journalist in Australia. He does freelance writing for the Ipswich Queensland Times, the local newspaper in the town we're moving to. I read the paper online almost everyday to get an idea of what's going on in Ipswich. In his email he said that he'd been reading my blog and wanted to know if he could interview our team for an article in the paper. We were totally excited about the possibility, but nervous at the same time. What would he ask? After us submitting our questions, would he twist our words? No offense, but with us moving over there to share the Gospel and being so physically far removed from Australia at this point, he could really bash us and we wouldn't have much opportunity to do anything about it! However, the more we thought and prayed about it the more we thought it would be a good idea. The way we saw it, if even one person read our story and got excited about us coming and sharing the love of God with them, the article would be worth it. Even if everyone hated it, we were pretty confident that people would forget about us and the article by the time we got there!
The article posted last week, here's the link: http://www.qt.com.au/story/2009/07/09/americans-team-god-church/
Overall, we think it was a good article. He kept most of our comments true to what we said and the context, so we can't complain! As of today there is only one negative comment on the article, so we can't complain about that either! I joke, but this really was a big deal to us. We're well aware of what a lot of people will think when we go to Australia. Many will think that we are self righteous, proud, or think we are better than those around us because we are Christians. What's sad is that Christians have done some things to make a really bad name for ourselves, so when people hear the word "Christian" they no longer think about what's important about it--Christ. We're not going to Ipswich because we have it all together and are going to stick it to everyone. We're going because God loves the people of Ipswich (just like Abilene, Africa, Alaska...you get my point). Just like so many people throughout the history of the Bible, God has called us to embark on a journey that we don't fully understand. All we're trying to do is be faithful to what He's asking us to do, and that leads us four to Ipswich. Personally, I think He's going to do some awesome stuff in people's lives, and I'm excited about being able to be a part of it.
Wow, that's enough of that! I could go all night, but I have to get on with my story. The day our article came out in the Australian paper, someone in Abilene read it. I have no idea how all of that happened! Either way, one of the local television stations wants to do a story on our team and what we'll be doing in Australia, so we will be doing that interview on Wednesday. As if those two things weren't enough, there is a person from ACU who wants to put our story on the school's website. Wow! God has connected all of these things in a matter of days! We don't know where it will all lead, but here are a few things I'm praying about regarding all of this craziness:
-I'm praying that this is one of the ways our supporters find us. We have had a tough time raising funds, and I really believe that someone is going to see our story or read our article and hear the call of God to help us out.
-The more important thing I'm praying about is this, that people will hear about us and find hope. These stories are not about us and all the stuff we're doing. There are plenty of people around the world doing the same exact thing right now, and we just happened to get noticed. These stories are about what God is doing, and about Him calling out to the people of this world to turn to Him and find a new life in Jesus. We want people who don't know God to get excited about the thought of who He is. We want them to imagine the possibilities of what life looks like when they follow after Him. We want people to pray for us to get to Ipswich so we can share this message of eternal hope with them.
It seems like I want a lot...and I guess I do. I just know that God is capable of all these things and more, so I'm not going to stop asking because I know He is not going to stop listening!
The article posted last week, here's the link: http://www.qt.com.au/story/2009/07/09/americans-team-god-church/
Overall, we think it was a good article. He kept most of our comments true to what we said and the context, so we can't complain! As of today there is only one negative comment on the article, so we can't complain about that either! I joke, but this really was a big deal to us. We're well aware of what a lot of people will think when we go to Australia. Many will think that we are self righteous, proud, or think we are better than those around us because we are Christians. What's sad is that Christians have done some things to make a really bad name for ourselves, so when people hear the word "Christian" they no longer think about what's important about it--Christ. We're not going to Ipswich because we have it all together and are going to stick it to everyone. We're going because God loves the people of Ipswich (just like Abilene, Africa, Alaska...you get my point). Just like so many people throughout the history of the Bible, God has called us to embark on a journey that we don't fully understand. All we're trying to do is be faithful to what He's asking us to do, and that leads us four to Ipswich. Personally, I think He's going to do some awesome stuff in people's lives, and I'm excited about being able to be a part of it.
Wow, that's enough of that! I could go all night, but I have to get on with my story. The day our article came out in the Australian paper, someone in Abilene read it. I have no idea how all of that happened! Either way, one of the local television stations wants to do a story on our team and what we'll be doing in Australia, so we will be doing that interview on Wednesday. As if those two things weren't enough, there is a person from ACU who wants to put our story on the school's website. Wow! God has connected all of these things in a matter of days! We don't know where it will all lead, but here are a few things I'm praying about regarding all of this craziness:
-I'm praying that this is one of the ways our supporters find us. We have had a tough time raising funds, and I really believe that someone is going to see our story or read our article and hear the call of God to help us out.
-The more important thing I'm praying about is this, that people will hear about us and find hope. These stories are not about us and all the stuff we're doing. There are plenty of people around the world doing the same exact thing right now, and we just happened to get noticed. These stories are about what God is doing, and about Him calling out to the people of this world to turn to Him and find a new life in Jesus. We want people who don't know God to get excited about the thought of who He is. We want them to imagine the possibilities of what life looks like when they follow after Him. We want people to pray for us to get to Ipswich so we can share this message of eternal hope with them.
It seems like I want a lot...and I guess I do. I just know that God is capable of all these things and more, so I'm not going to stop asking because I know He is not going to stop listening!
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