12 Jun Adventure to East Africa

The term ALL IN can have a few different meanings. It can refer to extending yourself physically to the point that you are exhausted. Or, more commonly, it can refer to someone pushing everything they have to the middle of the table as a last ditch effort to stay in the game.
The PennDel Network has ministers that are ALL IN, ALL OVER the world. They are working hard to share Christ with those who know nothing of Him. These missionaries, rather than pushing all their resources into the middle for themselves, are instead pushing everything to the edge for the unreached people of the nations.
This past January I, once again, had the privilege to get an up close and personal look at our Assemblies of God global teams. I had the opportunity to speak at the annual retreat for the East Africa Indian Ocean Basin world missionaries and their families. We experienced great services with a strong sense of the presence of God as well as times of rich fellowship. It was such a blessing to preach God’s Word among these amazing servants of Christ and to hear the fresh accounts of God’s faithfulness as He works through these leaders and the amazing people they serve.

My son, Bryce, and I were ALL IN as well, experiencing on this trip many of the challenges that missionaries often face. We spent many hours on planes and in airports. We both got sick and I had lost ninety percent of my voice by the first day I was to preach. Then, after we had a couple of days of ministry under our belt, we were on our way to dinner with Steve Pennington, his wife, and his son. As we were driving in Nairobi, a Peruvian physicist suffering from jet lag put his turn signal on but didn’t turn his steering wheel and plowed into us at about forty miles an hour. Fortunately no one was hurt! Despite the seemingly difficult time we were having on this trip, what hit me was the fact that this is what our missionaries face daily in their ministries.
Our missionaries deeply appreciate the financial support our churches provide for them, because without it they could never get to the field. However, they also know that without our prayer efforts, they could never stay on the field. Here are just some of the things we can lift in prayer for our missionary leaders. This list was given to me by Steve Pennington who is the Area Director for the EAIOB.
We are praying that we will finish strong in the final year of our commitment to the East Africa region through the PEOPLE LIKE YOU REACHING – PEOPLE LIKE ME vision which involves our prayers, financial support, as well as our personal interest and relationships with our missionary teams. If you have made a pledge we trust that God will help you in fulfilling it. If you haven’t had a chance to make a pledge, yet, we encourage you to do so as your resources will help us to reach the many unreached people groups of East Africa.
Oh, and by the way to wrap up our adventure to East Africa… the place where Bryce and I stayed during our trip caught on fire the day we left. So I guess we are glad that we were ALL OUT!
As printed in the 2015 Network ConneXions