Singapore and Malaysia

Before the summer began, George and I made out way to Singapore and Malaysia for our last trip together. As we had many times before, Drena, myself and George had breakfast with one another at the airport before our departure. This would be the last breakfast of its kind, so I captured the moment. Upon arriving to Singapore, we were settled in and began a mission conference at a dynamic Church in the city. I soon found out that Singapore is a very different place than I'd ever been to. You are not allowed to chew gum there at all. It is illegal. There are actually people who smuggle in chewing gum and sell it on the black market - I think that is what you call it. Anyways, Amazing country. Their military is trained by the Israeli military because of thier similar circumstances. I also found out that the "Boogie Man" term came from this region of the world. If you email me, I'll tell you why.

Next we were off to Malaysia to greet the Doulos as she docked into Port Klang. What a privilege to share this experience with George for both of OM's active ships. We ministered together on the ship for a couple of days as George spoke and had a wild book bananza. Then it was our last parting period on a trip together. For me it was the end of a year long mentoring relationship but the start of a lifelong mentoring journey. I will always carry in me the mark that George made on my life and heart and it will grow I'm sure as our year together begins to be unpacked for me. The time on the Doulos was priceless except that I didn't get a chance to work because out of all the weeks that I could have showed up, they were just starting their sabbath week (one week of rest and vacation) and it only ended the day I left to fly back to London. I guess God knew that I needed it. We visited a wasterpark and went into the city and rested a lot while I joined the Americans on board to celebrate the 4th of July. That was special as we barbecued and threw the old pig skin (football) around.

I'm talking to you.

I tried speaking with the wildlife whilst visiting Australia, but they weren't too impressed with this Canadian/American. This lady with her little baby kangaroo behind her avoided me and apparently she can be pretty dangerous. At the same time that I was there, Steve Irwin, our beloved Crocodile hunter died or was killed by the wildlife there in Autralia. Maybe I should have taken the hint but apparently it wasn't enough. Thankfully I was spared from being mauled by the hopping terror. Very cute babies!

Best Man!

What does it mean to be a best man? Does anyone out there know the history of "the best man" or anything about the bridal party, the maid of honor, throwing the bouqet, etc...? Where did we get our wedding customs from and why do we do them? I know it was a huge privilege for me to sign as Dan's witness for the legal documents. I guess being a best man means different things to different folks. For me it means a lot since I have been looking forward to being Dan's best man for years now. Dan and I have know each other for four years now. We first met on Dryer 3 at Moody Bible Insitute in August 2002 - almost exactly 4 years ago. I walked into his room as he was organizing his stuff and discovered that he was an aviation major, destined for the dangerous jungles somewhere, but I also found a man whose heart was beating only for Jesus. I knew immediately from our first conversation that God had brought Dan into my life to be my best friend. That may not be completely true but it feels like it now. All I know is that from early on, we connected and have been going strong ever since. He is a great man with a passion for God that I rarely get to spend time with. In our fist month of knowing each other he had already chosen a "little brother" from the projects next to Moody along with me, in fact the boy, "Heavy", that he'd been led to was the cousin of my little brother, "Toof". The next two years were spent chasing down these two yung-uns as we ministered to and loved them through wrestling, eating out, doing Bible studies, taking them to camps, disciplining them and sharing our lives with their families. Our favorite place to get breakfast was "The Original Pancake House" on the Gold Coast in Chicago and our favorite professor who will always have an indelible imprint on our souls, the honest profound, Dr. Rim - all heart! Our favorite past time was to wake up Dan's roommates late in the evening as we always met up after our long days in school to catch up on the what God was teaching us, what our latest escapade was with "the boyz" (Toof and Heavy) or the ever present girl problems. Usually there was some laughs and a "rassle" or two and then we'd lay our day before God and thank him for His love, for the gift of blessing and loving us first and once in awhile, we'd weep before our Savior together for our family, our struggle, our brokenness... I have found that in my visit here with Dan, I have assumed so much in my relationship with him, but they are good assumptions, assumptions that are rooted in a trust that has grown over a long period of time. I like having a best friend, I never had one before I met Dan. When I am around him I feel like we could take on the world and nothing will hold us back - free to worship, pray at any turn and at any moment - there much more to be discovered - the journey continues...

August 27th, 2006

This was the day that my best friend, Daniel Pennington married Catrina Van Dam. Now they are Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Pennington. I have many good friends, some just like blood but the difference I would have to say is that Dan was given to me by God - very specifically - to be my best friend. I know that with out a doubt. I had the distinct privilege of taking part in his wedding as his best man which put me in charge of the bachelor party, being the MC at the reception, holding the ring and driving them to their honeymoon spot. What a privilege. It is a day that I have been waiting for for ages and will remember for many more. Please pray for this couple as they launch out into life together. They trust God. They are wholly committed to serving Him for the rest of their lives together.

The 1st Lesson

1. Hard work, because there is no lion in the street (Proverbs 22) and even if there is we may be called to slay it with our bare hands like David or sit amongst them like Daniel or tame it like the Ringling Brothers. Prayer is hard work. There is no formula or easy way around it – it requires commitment both to prayer and to being in right relationship with God – both of these require a lot of work, over and over again. Last summer I spent a week in Western Canada ministering with my parents at “Bush Camp”, our annual outreach to the children of our Native community. An old friend of the family and respected man of the community, Sam Adolph, was there teaching children how to make drums and other Native crafts. I sought him out to have a drum made so that I could give it to George and Drena as a gift for giving me this year with them. Next time I will be careful what I ask for, because as I discovered, the brunt of the work happened to be skinning the fat, the extra skin and the hair off of the hide to make this wonderful idea of a drum. After an hour of this agonizing, back wrenching work, I had formulated many different ways to make this job easier in my head and I share them with Sam. With a wise grin and a slow start he said, “You know Nathan… I’ve tried every trick in the book and none of them work better than elbow grease. That’s all it is, elbow grease” And then he let out a reassuring chuckle. Something told me, he knew what he was talking about. The famous of author of “Orthodoxy”, G.K. Chesterton shared his thoughts about “elbow grease” by stating, “The Christian ideal has not been found tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried”. Paul Little has said, “The most crucial battle in our lives is the continuing one of securing enough time alone in the presence of God. Our spiritual vigor and vitality in everything else depend on the outcome of this battle.” I finish this point with a quote from John Stott - “The thing I know will give me the deepest joy – namely, to be alone and unhurried in the presence of God, aware of His presence, my heart open to worship Him – is often the thing I least want to do.” The fact that it is just a lot of hard work makes it easier to embrace because I know that I don’t have to wait for the magic formula to hit me. It’s not that there is something necessarily wrong with me, I just need to keep at it and work hard. There’s freedom in that – to just go for it.

The 2nd Lesson

2. Risk taking – fixed results give fixed results – risk gives you something you could have never thought of. It may require some encouragement and a good company of like-minded individuals that really are a team. Many like to think of courage as done by the lone-ranger but more often it is done in the midst of fellowship with those who encourage you to go for it, to take the chance. Remember, “en-courage” means “to enable courage in someone else”. God consistently is speaking these words to us, but many times they are drowned out by false guilt, lies of the enemy, or bad company who only see as Lot did, with his senses, and not like Abraham did, through the eyes of faith. This is to see what is already, but not yet, what could be and what will be. Risk taking is necessary, without a challenge, there is little or slow growth.

The 3rd Lesson

3.Patience and long-suffering. We are to be a people that are not driven by results. We cannot only orient ourselves to our expectations – God wants so much more for us and this requires waiting at times. The suffering our world is facing is already impossible, so it requires a hope that cannot and will not be based on results if anything is to be done. Many good missionaries leave the mission field because they didn’t see the results they expected. We see this in broken marriages as well. As the bride of Christ, be ready to love based on principles, upon character, and upon what you have received freely from God, not on results. Nothing else will do and then be prepared to be disappointed.

The 4th Lesson

4. Anguish. It is a high calling. If you want to be invited into the heart of God, right into the center, embrace anguish. Don’t believe the enemy of our souls when he tells you to protect your heart from hurt, from pain, when he tells you not to care and to transcend the circumstances. You don’t need to look for pain, it will come, but when it does don’t hide from it, let it do what it is supposed to do. God endures pain all day, it’s like a full-time job to Him. If God were to talk about what He did all day, like most of us do after work, I’m sure He would share from the deep anguish of His heart (although not only). I shiver to think what would happen if God disconnected from the pain that we cause Him and decided to care less about us or not at all. Anguish is a stewardship and I personally find it very easy to not be a faithful steward of pain. It is a part of life – we have to accept it and the more that we give ourselves to loving others truly with the love of God, the more painful life will become. C.S. Lewis has said, “The opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference.” So if you want to know God, know anguish and let it steep you in His love. Many are looking to replace anguish with happiness but only true joy comes in the midst of Anguish. George often quotes Billy Graham by saying, “Life at its best is filled with sorrow.” Many have experienced this and know it, and yet more are trying to escape it and as a result they are missing the blessings that their hearts so long for. The very actions that we make to reduce pain and suffering are the same actions that are stealing from us the very thing we desire from those actions.

The 5th Lesson

5. Complexity. The world will always be more complex than we want it to be. Embrace complexity, don’t look for the black and white so quickly. Expect that there is more to the story than what is reported or what meets the eye. Stop looking for the singular bad guy and look to your own sinfulness to tell you who is at fault – it may not be you, but you’ll at least be looking at the same thing that God is looking at, in each of us. There are always two sides to any story and in my experience from travelling the world, the media truly doesn't give us what we need to hear - the full truth - they tend to give selective truth. I hope to never be a media basher because they give us so much to pray for but our view of reality should not be solely influenced by the media - that is our job and it is not easy to keep up with - but it is our stewardship with all the access to information that we have. We are called to live in the practical of Proverbs, the singing of the Psalms, justice of Job, and the collision and confusion of Ecclesiastes. Wisdom seeks balance of them all and doesn't raise one over the other. It embraces the tension of meaningful and meaningless, of veracity and vanity. It’s really a complex subject so I’ll just move on.

The 6th Lesson

6. Lightheartedness. Look for lightness. In such complexity, longsuffering, hard work, pain and stress there is a need to just let it go at times and escape. This being true, we are not called to look for Heaven on earth, but to bring Heave to earth. I struggle between trying to experience a life without sorrow and a life engaged with sorrow. It is true that in Heaven there will be no more tears, no more crying – pain will cease. Now is the time for pain – it will never happen again, so let’s embrace it before it is gone, it is our last chance to step into what God is doing 24/7. So even though I wrongly look for a complete release from pain and hard work and from being responsible to the growing needs of our broken world, it isn’t wrong to seek the place of solace, humor, laughter and laid back nothingness on a regular basis. But only to be viewed as fuel for the race ahead and not as the final destination- that is replacing Heaven and is an escapist mentality. Many work all year for their 2 to 3 to 4 weeks of vacation to go and do something special or they are waiting for retirement to not have to work anymore. Many make great sacrifices for this kind of lifestyle, but it is completely backwards. Laughter, rest, doing nothing, practicing a hobby is necessary to make it through life, but it is not the point of life. George just came back from Disney France with his grand children and from riding as many roller coasters as he possible could (one he rode 4 times straight) and this all at the age of 67. We need fun, laughter and relaxation but remember what its purpose is; it is not the purpose. A long-haul, long-term, entire life view of living for Jesus is what is required and therefore we need rest in order to make it. It needs to be regular, consistent and focused on rest. This can then give us the fuel for the second greatest commandment, to love others as we love ourselves. One cannot give what one has not first received. Sometimes we are required to arrange for the receiving. This all feeds into the greatest commandment as we steward our body and our time for Christ. Love the Lord your God with all you heart, mind, soul and strength. So take it easy once in awhile. This also requires us to discern the voice of God apart from the voice of our own sinful nature and from the devil’s voice and from the world system (which is completely antithetical to grace). Many times, God is saying rest and the rest of the crowd is saying work harder, longer and never feel like you’ve done enough and then suffer from the guilt until you start working again. This is an on-going battle and the balance is difficult. Work hard at resting right and hearing right.

The 7th lesson

7. Jesus. He is central, the focus, where all eyes should be centered and where all hearts can rest. I don’t know the depth of this but I am finding it more and more as I read the Scriptures and experience so many different cultures. Making Christ central is a must but to be honest, I’m not sure I understand that at the level that it is spoken of in Scripture. I know that I could come up with a lot of things to say and write but I am at a place where it is a principal that I believe and that I only feel like I’ve recently begun to grasp it on the level that I am being asked to grasp it at. Jesus has always been my Sunday School answer. An 8 year old who exclaims that they love Jesus is thinking much different (yet not so different) things than a 98 year old is thinking when he says the same thing. I guess that is where the pilgrimage never ends. Right now I know that Jesus is the center and in my life I feel like I am on the edge of the forest with the enormity of what that actually entails. Once the disciples grasped it, they turned their world upside down for Jesus and were all killed on account of his name. I don’t want to die, but if I could be killed for Jesus that would be incredible. For now I’ll just die daily as best as I know how and pick up my cross. Jesus wants to bless us with his intimacy and his presence I know, but as George has said, “The blessing without the cross only results in chaos.” We are called to many things in Christ, to many places for Christ and too much suffering on behalf of Christ but at the end of the day the 8 year old and the 98 year old are simply called to Christ. So after 7 points I have to ask the question again, “Where will our dreams lead us?” – I believe no more than ever they lead us to Christ who holds the supremacy over all Creation, sits at the right hand of God and carries our burdens and gathers our sorrows and asks us to only join Him in making His Daddy look good.

Vroom flippin vroom

These are the beautiful cars that I had the privilege of riding in when George and I visited Ben, his son and family in Idaho. Very fast and living in Idaho gives the distinct impression that the road never ends so you feel like driving fast all the time. Not me of course!

Prayer = Hard Work

I think it will always be more difficult to pray than it will be easy - but as it has been said, "nothing worth having is easy!"

Please join me as I prepare to leave London and fly to Singapore to minister on the Doulos for two weeks and then return to London for 24 hours to again leave for the Middle East. While there I will be ministering in a difficult country with much sorrow. These are my prayer requests.

1. To meet with Jesus everyday on my own - to feed from His Word

2. To be a servant, to be challenged with a servant's heart, to serve wholeheartedly

3. I want to have the chance to share the Gospel a lot this summer with unbelievers in the Middle East and to see some come to Jesus right there on the spot.

4. To see the needed funds come in for this summer and for next year's committment

5. Please pray for two men here in London that I have connected with, both from Cyprus and nominally Muslim. I've had the chance throughout the year to share my life and the Gospel with one and recently spent an entire evening with him. That night he gave me the opportunity to lay out the Gospel very clear to him. He doesn't believe that we are born with sin - to him a good life is good enough.

6. Please pray for a Vietnamese girl that I shared the Gospel with through Skype (www.skype.com) in Hanoi

7. There will be a lot of travel for both Geroge and I this summer. Travelling mercies!

8. Pray with me for Iraq and India (India is the country of the day right now on www.operationworld.com).

9. Pray with me for the group of teenagers in my parent's mission that I will be speaking to in August at their yearly Staff conference. I have sensed a leading to go through the book of Ephesians with them. Please pray with me as I prepare and seek to know what God would want to say to their mind, heart, conscience and will.

10. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, the peace that is needed in all hearts globally.

There are always a lot more, so thank you for taking the time and let's believe that in prayer we move mountains, things change and God moves through our prayers. Bless all of you.

Nathan

This is Dion. He's my little brother.
We've been friends since '99. He's got one sister. He's got 2 brothers. His mom's name is Eloise. They live in Cabrini Green, Chicago. I was just there for Mother's Day.
Amazing story

We went to buy flowers for his mom to ssend to her work with the approximate value of about $25-$30. The lady was so inspired by Dion's desire to buy mother's day flowers that she gave us the arrangement for free and the delivery too. What a gift from God. I told him that and we thanked the lady and God and then went to G's greasy burgers and fries to celebrate. Please pray for my friend. I love him lots. His siblings are struggling through some heavy stuff right now. They say you either in trouble, leaving trouble or getting ready for some trouble. Multiply that by 10 and you got his family figured out. They've been fixin' to leave the projects for years but it ain't happened yet. Please lift him up to Jesus with me. They call him Toof, I call him my brother, Jesus calls him something that none of us knows. Peace

John Stott

In April I was able to go to All Souls and hear John Stott preach for the first time. His p.a. came up on stage and shared with us because apparently, that day (April 19th) was the 50th anniversary of working for John Stott. She sounds like an amazing woman and has been very committed over the years. John Stott preached on the importance of the deat but also the burial of Jesus. The tomb burial apparently is important for the purpose of the Resurrection. Very insightful. He had to be helped to the pulpit and then down the steps and into the foyer where he stood and greeted people on their way out. Very humble servant of God.

Chicago

I was able to spend an evening with my brother and sister in the second week of May. Chicago is still one of my favorite cities in the world after traveling to almost 25 world class cities on five continents and these are two of my most favorite people, Kamie and Lonnie. They both work at the same job and are very tall. Kamie is only about 1 inch shorter than me. We hung out at Denny's watched a movie and talked at the train station before I went back to my abode. It was special to see them. When you read this, please pray for my bro and sis, they are much loved by many. Enjoy your family and take them to Denny's, it's rock'n'roll.

Latest trip!

George and I recently returned from five days in a central Asian country that is little known ( it seems most of central Asia is) in the world today. George spoke in 7 different Churches in a city that only has about that many Churches (actual congregations) and we saw all the pastors come together and pray together and work together for this missions conference. What a great feat that is. In many cities across America this would be difficult, but maybe under the duress of being an Islamic country they can seem to lay aside differences for something bigger than themselves, Baptists, Pentecostals, 7th Day Adventist, etc... all supporting the same mission vision. It's not perfect and there is division but that will always be somewhat of a reality, the important thing is that there is always something more important - God's mission for the lost and redeeming all things to Himself and His Glory!

Being Rich...

Please pray for Richard with me and our team. He seemed to have been a homeless man before coming to the camp we worked at but his legs were badly swollen and scarred and he has congestive heart failure and diabetes. He only gets $250 a month from the government but it is probably from a life on the streets and not being concerned with the future, but who knows - blame isn't a cure.