Oct 23 2011
Houston Trip Report, four days in Colorado, M28 is gaining traction
We’ve had a couple of weeks of good ministry since our last post but also we feel some tiredness and spiritual warfare. But God, at just the right time, took me (Roy) to an ISI Regional retreat in Colorado.
During this time, God has answered prayers for Roy, Lisa and the kids that you all lifted up. We very much covet and appreciate your prayers. Lately, we have been putting more focus on prayer in our lives and ministry and I have heard and am experiencing that when one does, especially in areas that break new ministry ground that there is generally MORE spiritual opposition than less. So we need you all covering our backs especially now. You don’t know how much it means to us to know your all are behind us.
Here is a quick report of the last couple of weeks:
The Houston trip went very well. All the students went and came from Houston safely. We were concerned that there was no astronaut to speak to the students. It wasn’t a problem. The students truly enjoyed their time at NASA and afterwards they heard from a NASA team partner who arranges for HAM radio demonstrations with schools where kids get to talk to the astronauts up in the International Space Stations. There was a great “live-looking” video from the space station itself where we watched an astronaut give a tour and then talk to some HAM radio operators. The students really mobbed the speaker, taking pictures and asking for autographs. It was great. We also experimented with more students staying at each host home and it was a rousing success. I had a couple of Russian speaking students and family members in my car and many of the NASA people spoke Russian. The students felt so special because they could talk with the space program people in their native language. The students also attended churches and met even more NASA people there. No doubt they see that rational, highly educated people could be followers of Jesus too.
The week after the NASA trip, I was feeling very exhausted, with little enthusiasm and with several problems I had to deal with. (small things that the enemy often shoots our way). God blessed me as as we had our ISI Rocky Mountains and Plains regional retreat in Colorado Springs and He used it as a tool to heal and restore. It was incredible being up in the mountains. Normally, I am very social and stuff at these retreats – learning from other staff different things God uses to reach international students. This year, I spent a lot of time in my room. I rested some but also I was supposed to give a talk on the “Gospel of the Kingdom”, a HUGE theme in the gospels, the New Testament and much of the Bible. I spent much of the weekend immersed in the Word in the beautiful scenery of Colorado and it was just what the doctor (or Lord) ordered. It didn’t feel at all like work. Praise the Lord for times like these.- Praise the Lord that the M28/CPM project is starting to gain traction outside of the just the Metroplex and spilling into our region. Praise also for a wonderful Skype discipleship opportunity I had on Friday, filling in for Ron with a couple of former students who now live in East Asia. Wow, God is working powerfully in their lives.
The new school where Lisa works changes terms every 8 weeks. It is not always certain her classes would have enough students and she would have the classes she wants or if she will even teach. The second eight weeks started and she was concerned about teaching and and that she didn’t hear if she would have a class. At just the last minute, God provided and continues to provide enough classes for her to teach.- At UTA they had a 72 hours of prayer group effort and God blessed and God we still feel the residual effect of that ministry at our groups and events.
Wow your prayers were huge this week. The Tarrant County Space Weekend trip went well. Many of the Spiritual Warfare skirmishes were dealt with and God opened up some doors with students in surprising ways. Also, Lisa was on fall break at her work and we had a lot of time together. Praise the Lord.
Before and during the meetings, I had to manage the registration and the Dallas side for Houston Space weekend trip that Jeff Newpher, our Houston colleague, hosts for our Dallas team three times a year. I did not personally go, but our TCU, UTD and UT Tyler campuses sent 30+ students with other volunteers on this trip to Space Center Houston and to home stays nearby NASA. They even got to meet a astronaut who shared his story with Jesus as it relates to his space experience. All reports indicate a great experience had by all with terrific conversations about spiritual and heart things. Prayers were important as the weather coming back was bad but everything turned out okay. The difficulty was in the many last minute changes and moving pieces. Praise God for the outcome of it all.
This last week was unusual as my parents arrived on Saturday, the weather took a turn for the worse and so the kids stayed home Tuesday through Friday because of the ice and snow. We had much cabin fever. Still what a blessing for grandparents to have total access for a whole week during what is normally a school week. I love Texas. But the one thing I miss the most of California and the thing that makes me sad is not having my parents near by during this stage of theirs and our kids lives. So this was special. Praise the Lord for His planning. Dad also turned 75 during this time but he insisted on cleaning up and building shelving for my garage during much of this time in the cold. He is awesome and he makes me so proud and appreciative on so many levels.
(
was a wonderful opportunity to talk about Texas history and the type of man that Sam Houston was. (He was an incredible general)
We were able to go to Galveston by early afternoon and our plan was to go to the beach. None of our kids ever swam in the ocean before. We passed the really crowded beaches around the Galveston Strand and drove a little further up the island to Galveston Island State Park. It was wonderful there. The water was not too rough and was very warm (thanks gulf), the sand was very fine and soft, the beach only gradually sloped into the sea. Honestly, it was a better “beginner” beach than anything that we grew up with in the LA area. The kids had a blast! They swam, they built sand castles, they ran, they dodged waves. One especially fun activity was digging up live sea shells and then watching them dig themselves back into the sand when the water came up. It was great… the wonder in their eyes… I was never a beach guy… sand gets everywhere. 
But this day was especially nice. After a filling meal at Olive Garden (the incredible sea food restaurants in Galveston were incredibly full this night…), we drove up near NASA to spend the night (and lots of showering off the sand) with everyone extremely tired but very happy to be together.
After visiting 
After a long day of exploring the outer reaches, we went below the sea as aquanauts as we had dinner at 
The next day, after a dose of late morning TV cartoon, we piled into the car and headed home. I remember on the last evening as the children slept, I was reflecting on how nice it was to be able to get away from computer, phone, and all the stresses of the typical week and just spend time together. It really was a huge blessing in so many ways. In some ways, it is during these vacations that we see the progress that our kids make: physically as well as as a person. It was fun seeing how much they have grown but also how much they (and we) need to grow.
“awesome trip!!!!!” - Student
about the space program and then the Pastor of the church gave a very well done presentation of the story of the Bible leading to talking about Jesus and who He is. It was genuine, gentle and yet all truth. The students were presented with the opportunity to receive a video about Jesus and we were touched by how many of the students took them. It was very encouraging. You could also see how the host families were already bonding with the students as they sat together and the “parents” really made sure the students know what was going on. This translated to some wonderful contact time between he students and their host families and they all went home after the presentation. I wish we all could have heard some of the conversations. The next day, when we all met together again, it was clear really bonding was happening.
The next day, after visiting the host families’ the students visited the churches of their host families and were exposed to “regular church” and we all went to the beautiful bay boardwalk city of Kemah to enjoy more time together and for lunch. As I walked with friends, it was fun watching the students and American hosts almost operating like one family. Finally, we met, took a picture and boarded our buses and cars to go home. One of the cool things that happened at Kemah… I was waiting with the host families coordinator and some of our team to be seated for lunch. The coordinator got a call from her daughter as we were talking. She took it and we found out one of the Korean students who was a regular part of fellowships had prayed to accept Christ with her host families. WOW! It really reminded us about what this is all about!
Another interesting story… The trip started in an interesting way. Before we even left, we weren’t sure we would have enough housing or rides for all the students. As late as Tuesday, I have seen God work in miraculous ways in this regard in the past but it is always nerve racking until the very last minute. This was no exception. The Tuesday before the trip itself, we had only enough beds for 80 people with 120 people signed up. We were prepared to have our staff and volunteers sleep on floors of people’s homes and in church gyms but we were still short on housing for the students. I even reserved a motel room for a few of our staff. By the time we arrived, we had enough room for all the students AND volunteers with some space to spare. I even HAD TO cancel the motel room…:-) It was amazing. The transportation issues were just as amazingly taken care of. As many of our partnering ministries, including BSM, Salvation Army, Church ministries, Campuses without even a student, student volunteers etc. came together and provided the needed transportation to bring these 100+ students down. It was truly amazing to see the Body of Christ working together to be the Body of Christ.
Powered by FireStats