Finishing the Race #1

December 18, 2016

It has been over four years since my last post and it’s time to bring things together.  My plan for these last, final posts is to first share how our attempt to plant a church in Butte came to an end – and let you see God’s grace in that process.  I’ll share a little of where our life has gone since then, but I want to end by spending some time talking about an aspect of spiritual warfare called spiritual mapping.  I have shared much about Ruth’s and my life as this blog developed, but that is not its focus or goal.  I want to remain true to its original purpose which is to serve as a primer on spiritual warfare. 

I shared how in 2009 our oldest son had come to Butte to help us with planting Living Water Fellowship.  What a blessing that was!  Ruth and I had been struggling with that burden for quite some time and to have him come to help lifted so very much of the load off our shoulders.  I especially valued the fresh/different-angled perspective he brought.  Being of the younger generation he helped us see how younger people reacted to and viewed faith and Christian ministry.  That viewpoint was deeply valuable to me because…well I’m an old guy and see the world through old eyes.  He was also fresh from Bible college and brought with him new views and innovative ideas that refreshed us.  I especially enjoyed having long, theologically-oriented conversations with him or discussing the state of the church in America or just talking about politics…the list goes on.  During that time our relationship was able to move from one of parents directing the life of their child (an aspect of parenting that doesn’t fully come to an end until your child marries) to include a level of friendship we hadn’t had before.  However, perhaps the greatest benefit to having John (JC) come to be with us was that it lifted the loneliness.  Most people don’t realize just how lonely it is for church planters.  (This must be especially true for missionaries who have not only left home and family to follow God’s lead, but have been uprooted from their culture.)  We draw so much from our church families!  To have a pastor to lean on and a church body to turn to in crisis gives us strength and keeps us safe.  More than that, you have companionship.  Ruth and I had none of that.  The circumstances surrounding our move to Butte prevented us from gathering a team beforehand.  We did not have a “sending church” to help us.  All we knew was that this was what God wanted us to do, so that was what we were doing.  We still had a few friends left in Butte, but they had moved on in the years since we left and, in the end, chose not to join us.  So, from July 2007 until JC came in June 2009 we were all alone in our quest.  Our son eased our loneliness. 

He was with us for two years and then his life took a different direction – he met a young lady.  Well, such things happen, you know.  It was a joy to us to know that our son had found someone to love, but she lived in Canada!  He asked her to marry him and in June 2011 moved north (way, way, way north!) to be closer to her and begin the process of obtaining his Canadian work visa.  We rejoiced – but we were sad as well.  Once again Ruth and I were alone in our work, a work that to date had shown no sign of success.

To give you a good perspective on all this I have to go back to the beginning and share with you a prophetic dream the Lord gave me.  That will be the subject of my next post.