Briefly...

So, the Bible is pretty amazing.

Exodus 9:29
Egypt is experiencing a hailstorm from God that they have never seen not as a generation, but as a nation. All that is in the open dies from the hail. Pharaoh calls for Moses to come to him so he can ask him to pray that God would have it stop. Moses miraculously makes his way to Pharaoh's palace and back out of the city IN the hailstorm unharmed. Matthew Henry puts it well in his commentary in saying that peace with God, makes men thunderproof. Those whose sin has been dealt with already by the cross of Jesus Christ have no fear of God's judgment and wrath:

Observe, the place Moses chose for his intercession. He went out of the city (Exodus 9:33), not only for privacy in his communion with God, but to show that he durst venture abroad into the field, notwithstanding the hail and lightning which kept Pharaoh and his servants withindoors, knowing that every hail-stone had its direction from his God, who meant him no hurt. Note, Peace with God makes men thunderproof, for thunder is the voice of their Father.

A Joyful Busyness

Consisting of (skip the first 2 paragraphs if uninterested in my personal reflections...I won't be offended, mostly because I won't know):
- Reflections of my childhood
- Busyness & Availability
- Denton Bible's Missions Conference
- Support Raising

The last month has been very busy. Which is strange considering it consisted of my Christmas break from Missions Training. I've never really been the type to fill my schedule with my own goals or aspirations. I grew up being much more of a follower. I remember one birthday of mine when I was young where a few of my friends came over, spent the night, and on my birthday we had a Back to the Future marathon. As soon as they all left, I remember telling my Mom 10 minutes later, "I'm bored." She replied, "Ben you just had your friends over for almost 24 hours! You need to figure out how to occupy or entertain yourself." Well, I suppose that time has come.

However, I don't want to go too far on the other extreme of to-do lists, minute-by-minute day planners, and never having a moment of availability, silence, or rest. Ah. Availability. To whom? A friend - The telephone rings - hey, do you want to get coffee? - Yeah, let's do it. What about the Holy Spirit? We need to make sure that we are available to the Holy Spirit's leading for us to share the gospel, go to a coffee shop, be and live in an unhurried manner that allows us to have impromptu conversations and interactions. I think it's important, and if we don't make intentional efforts to stay available, the current of our culture will sweep us away into everlasting schedules.

I want to be available to my friends

I want to be available to my family

And I definitely want to be available to the Holy Spirit. I suppose it just requires the attempt at being unhurriedly occupied without being anxiously busy.

Well, on to other things. This last week I got to spend an entire week with many of Denton Bible's missionaries who came back for Denton Bible's first Missions Conference (click here for pictures). It was amazing to fellowship with them, learn from their many years of experience and wisdom on the field, and learn about the importance and priority of prayer. It was a really encouraging time and after the week, I felt like I was part of the team there at Serve. I am really excited and encouraged to be going out as a missionary from Denton Bible Church. There is a feeling of intimacy and support that goes with being sent out by a congregation. Although, I cannot compare with what it feels like to be sent out by an organization and I'm sure it is fine, but I feel very happy to be where I am. It was exciting to see the entire congregation become passionate and excited about world missions and great to see the church as a whole supporting what we do.

On another note, one of the things that was a major goal of mine over the Christmas break was to begin support raising. I wanted to raise enough financial support through monthly contributors to be able to spend my work hours of the semester giving my time to Denton Community Church as an intern. In order to do that I had to have enough money coming in through support that could meet my bills and God has provided within a month! Isn't that incredible! God is so good! I have also been able to send out postcards asking people to pray for me as I continue my preparation and training for Kenya. This has been exciting because it has allowed me to really place prayer as a higher priority than finances which is something we all SHOULD do, but all struggle with. Without your prayers, I can do nothing; if I am doing and doing out of my own strength nothing will come of it, just as David said, "My goodness is nothing apart from You." (Ps. 16). Missions Training classes will start soon as well as my work with Denton Community Church. During this time I will also be slowly having support appointments so that I can build my monthly support up to where it needs to be in time for my two-month trip to Kenya in June. If you are interested in a meeting, please email me (rollinwaren@gmail.com) and I will bump you up to the top of the list.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.

ben

Pray for Kenya

Please pray for Kenya that the violence will stop soon. After the current president was re-elected, violence broke out from the opposition and claims of fraud in the counting of the votes were spoken. 100 are dead mostly in Nairobi and western Kenya, Kisumu. Please pray that this will stop immediately. All the Denton Bible Missionaries are here in the states for a Missions Conference - good timing.

Thanks

Ben

BBC News Article

Denton Community Church

In my last update I said I'll be working with Lifeline Church. Well, after some good advice from my teachers and talking to several people I have decided to work with Denton Community Church mostly because I need to branch out from College ministry. I love Lifeline, but right now it consists mostly of college students and I'd like some more ministry experience among adults, families, and youth.
The great part about all this is that by the time I get to Kenya full-time there is a high possibility that Dennis Omondi will be pastoring a church and need me to do a lot of work within that church. God is good and He has a definite purpose for me working with Denton Community Church. I am going to find out all the things that Dennis would like me to have more experience in and then attempt to get as much experience in those areas at Denton Community Church.

I'm very excited about this next year.

Thank you for praying!

Missions Journey

The above diagram comes from a highly respected man with 30 years of missions/ministry experience. When asked in our Missions Training class, what he feels the most important thing to tell us as we prepare for the field, he gave us this.

Why is it that we so often seek to find the specific country God wants us to go to first? Have we gotten into the habit of doing things a little backward? Here, he says that the vision is the first priority, the vehicle the next, and then the venue can be addressed. As you make these choices in your journey towards the mission field, the question of where is actually narrowed by the answers of the first two. If you know why you are going (vision) and you know how you are going (vehicle), where you will go simply takes care of itself.

This has been my experience: Vision (discipleship and evangelism); Vehicle (Denton Bible, MTI, and Serve); Venue: Kenya. Why Kenya? It just got narrowed down and I feel that Kenya is the place and the team that God wants me to join above all the others that DBC has on the field. God's will became much more obvious as I narrowed down the choices.

Something to think about if you are currently on this journey.