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.

Life Updates Pt. 1 & 2

If you are on my update email list, you've already received these.

11/12/07
Life Update (pt. 1 of 2)

This is my first update in a long while, but I will begin sending these out more frequently. I just want everyone to know of all the big changes that have been occurring in my life recently.
This last semester has been a big transition for me. I quit my full time job as an Assistant Hall Director at Kerr Hall, moved out of the dorms at UNT and into a lower-income neighborhood consisting of a lot of apartments and very little grass (thus dubbed “Cement City”). I began my first semester of the Missionary Training Institute (MTI) at Denton Bible Church (DBC), and made my decision of where I will serve after the training is over: Mombasa, Kenya. This first part of the “Life Update” will consist of the missions side of things, while part 2, coming soon, will be on the ministry side of things.
The training I have received at MTI has been phenomenal. It was a difficult transition at first, but God has given me grace in learning new ways to manage my time and devote myself to my studies. The missions staff of DBC are incredibly gifted and educated men with great devotion to Jesus Christ and His church. I have learned so much about the life of Christ, details of Christian Doctrine, and the intricacies of how to deliver a sermon effectively. I have also been meeting with Dennis Omondi, the field director of Serve Kenya every Tuesday morning to talk about life and ministry in Mombasa, Kenya. When I started meeting with Dennis I was fairly certain I wanted to serve in Kenya, not so much because I feel a specific calling to Kenya or even East Africa, but simply because I feel like I have a place there. I fit in with the team and the ministry work of pastor training, college ministry, leadership development, and possibilities for Muslim evangelism. I can see no better place for me to build a foundation of mission work for my life. After a few weeks of meeting with Dennis, I saw we had very similar hearts, visions, and ministry desires. We are both fairly convinced that Kenya is the place that God would have me commit to for at least one term (four years). This summer I plan on spending two months in Kenya along with my friend Josh Smith; during those two months we will be able to work under Dennis and experience life, ministry, and culture in Kenya in a deeper way as well as lead/host the College Life summer mission team coming to Kenya in July. I will be meeting with this team as their leader starting in February or March.
I thank you for all your prayers, encouragement, guidance, advice, love, support, and friendships. I am very blessed by the Lord to be surrounded by such great groups of people so devoted to God and His purposes. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you.

Life Update: Ministry (pt. 2 of 2) – 11/26/07

We are not very balanced people; we like to see-saw between extremes rather than stand in the middle, balanced & steady. I have found it difficult to balance ministry with my studies. I could easily spend all my time just working (20 hrs a week for UNT Housing), but I know that God desires faithfulness in ministry during my time of training. This semester, most of my ministry has taken place in the context of my neighborhood, “Cement City”, a mostly Hispanic, lower income neighborhood right next to the UNT campus. I joined a group of friends from College Life who intentionally moved into a lower-income neighborhood in order to build relationships, meet physical needs, and meet spiritual needs by sharing the gospel and serving the community. It has been slow and at times frustrating, but there are moments where I am affirmed why God has raised up this team of people to pray and serve this community. Just this month, Carlos, one of the kids across the street accepted Christ as his Savior and his siblings, Roberto & Stephanie, are being prepared day by day for the same! We’ve also been able to incorporate a system of telling stories of Jesus’ life every time our neighborhood kids ask to borrow our bike pump! Most of our time is invested in the kids and we pray that our love for the kids will earn respect and an ear open to the gospel from both the kids and their parents. We need lots of prayer because we are constantly evaluating what should be changed about our focus and our actions in this community.

Starting at the turn of the year, I plan on working for Lifeline Bible Fellowship, a church plant of DBC focused on reaching out to the urban & hip/hop cultures. In this, I hope to learn some areas of church ministry and administration that will help me as I prepare for the mission field; I also have a great respect for this church, their vision, and their strong emphasis upon discipleship. After 3 ½ years, I will be quitting my job with the Department of Housing. This semester I have only worked enough to pay my bills and plan on raising monthly support in order to meet those needs since Lifeline is a volunteer position. I am looking for monthly commitments from people who are interested in partnering with me both now as I prepare and train for the mission field and in the future work God is calling me towards in Kenya. If you are interested in setting up a meeting in regards to this, please send me an email so I can share more with you about the ministry. Otherwise, I will begin by contacting certain people that have already expressed interest in my support raising endeavors.

I thank you all for the joy of being partners in the work of Christ and for your support and prayers while God continues to take me on this journey towards Kenya.

Your fellow servant in the Lord,
Ben