Diverson

Act 16:6-10

Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

(show map of area and describe the geography)

There is a term that military members dislike. It primarily is loathsome for those returning from a mission to their base or headed for R & R (Rest and Recreation).

Diversion

In essence, it means a "change of plans." Those in decision making positions have determined that you are needed in a different location than the one you are at or headed to. Once in a while it may mean a break from the battle, but that is an extreme rarity. More often than not, it means additional work and toil and less rest.

Over the last couple months, Paula and I believe we have received a diversion in our mission.

For 2 years we have been committed and engaged in the prospect of going to Papua New Guinea to serve with Wycliffe Bible Translators. Our drive, focus and energies have been spent in anticipation of that goal.

At the beginning of December, we were becoming anxious since our support level had only reached 50% of our goal with only 1 month to go, yet we knew God could still open the floodgates, so we continued the walk of faith. We had high hopes for our gospel concert, yet it did not have the turn out we had hoped. Then we were invited to a church, but not given the opportunity to speak, but just have our table set up. Anxiety grew….

We wondered what God was doing,.. or even if he had forgotten about us (as silly as that sounds...)

Then one day we were talking with Rick Wiedner, who co-ordinates the ARC missions, and Larry. Expressing our frustration and non-understanding of what was happening. Rick mentioned that Tom and Kathy Padley were going to be back in Ohio for a few weeks in Dec and would we like to talk with them?

Well, we met for breakfast at 9:30 one morning, and by the time we got up to leave, it was almost 1. During our talk, Tom mentioned that he had been praying for a technician for over a year. They also said that Paula's abilities and talents as an artist would also be very helpful in their work. Would we be interested in coming to Brazil to visit and see in depth the work that they were doing?

Paula and I started to become excited again, but confused. Weren't we call to serve with Wycliffe? Hadn't we been through all our training for a single purpose? The Lord reminded me of my prayer and request that He allow me to use my talent and knowledge for His work, "Where-ever that would be."

We made a special request of our prayer team. We asked them to pray intensely over this situation and to offer us feedback on what they feel is God's will for us. Overwhelmingly, the response was that we should consider visiting Brazil, even if we were to stay with Wycliffe.

Since we had already been given an extension from our original Oct 1 deadline for raising our support, I believed God had called a "halt" to our support raising to get our attention. Wycliffe offered to grant us an additional extension until March 31, but my heart told me that the Lord had another direction for us. A Diversion. So with that in mind and heart, Paula and I have tendered our resignation with Wycliffe and joined IAM (International Association of Missions), who oversee and administrate the ARC missions in Brazil.

All the training we've had up to this point will NOT be wasted, it is very applicable to the work in Brazil. We have learned the breadth of needs in the mission "world" AND we have made a large amount of friends within the missionary community that will continue to sustain us as well as our supporters.

We hope to leave for a 30-45 day visit to Brazil in February and have prepared our paperwork for a tourist visa. We will come back in April and report to you of the work that is being accomplished in Brazil and whether we feel God has called us there to use our talents and abilities to HIS glory.

Thank you for your support up until now, and we pray you will continue to support and pray for us in this work.