27jan16 SOLDIERS

2 Timothy 2:3
Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus

To be a soldier means you have to be in conflict with someone.  Even peace time soldiers exist only because of the possibility of war.  They endure lots of trials trying to prepare them for the horrors of war.  The only people that can train soldiers, and that can lead soldiers, are other soldiers.  The only adequate way to prepare you to become a soldier is to actually be one.  Military schools don’t make you a soldier, they make you a trainee.  Not even in boot camp are you a soldier. You are only a soldier when you are actually a soldier.   Training and schools mainly weed out the weaklings.

I used to resist songs like ‘onward Christian soldier’ because of the militancy of the word ‘soldier’.  The little I can remember about being a soldier doesn’t bring very good memories, except of course the other soldiers!  They were a blast, but actually ‘soldiering’ wasn’t.  There was something about ‘enduring hardships’ that bring people closer together.  Being a soldier to me means enduring hardships, as Paul said.

There is one big difference between being a soldier in the Lord’s Army and a soldier in the US Army.  Lots of time as a soldier in the US Army is boring.  The only way you know you are a soldier is because of a uniform.  3 years of boredom spotted with 3 seconds of unadulterated terror.  MOST of the time, you are just existing.  As a true soldier in the the Lord’s Army you are NEVER bored.  We are soldiers because we are at war with the powers of darkness.  (NOT PEOPLE WHO AREN’T CHRISTIANS)  We are trying to help people to escape the flames of death.  We are trying to introduce them to the Tree of Life, Jesus Christ our Savior.

True soldiers endure suffering in both armies.  In the Lord’s Army though, although we have to endure many things, it isn’t so difficult.  It’s a delight actually, even the suffering.  One of the sufferings that you do not have to endure as  soldier in the Lord’s army is boredom.  It is impossible to be bored.  When you think of yourself, or your children, or anyone you are in contact with, the first thing you should be praying about is that no one misses the mark!  That no one falls short of the glory that awaits us.  That alone is a full time job, that is never boring.  More, it’s a time of motivation to get on your knees, to wake you up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat.  I panic even if it looks like someone you know is rejecting Christ.  Some do, right up until the end, and there is nothing you can do about it but fight.  You need tact, you need wisdom, but mostly you need to be in prayer to be guided.

Serving in the Lord’s Army I think is the only way to live, because you are living it for others.  To be in the Lord’s army all you have to do is die to yourself, and to let Christ live through you.

Onward Christian Soldier!

Here is me walking the kids to church, singing the ‘we are soldiers for Jesus’ song.

Prayer Requests:

501c3 progress

Our kids, they have endured a lot on the mission field

Our 501c3 Vision

Our 501c3 Direction

Energy

Health

Staff

Finances

Naghmeh and Saeed Abedini’s reunion after 4 years

PROJECTS:

Finish the last room of the winner home

Finnish the upper deck of the Winner home

By LAW we have to have ANOTHER stairway on the second floor

NEEDS PHYSICAL AND FINANCIAL:

My liver

My broke tooth, I pulled the last bad tooth myself, won’t do that again, EVER!

Winnie Joy’s schooling *we are behind on the payments*

Mandatory health insurance for all staff and mandatory salary increases for all the staff *DOUBLED*

Refrigerator *Industrial sized*

Washing maching

Dishwasher *industrial sized*

Oven and Stove *industrial sized*

Cooking Utensils *industrial sized*

Cushion for where the cooks stand *they are developing serious health problems with their feet*

DREAMS and VISIONS:

Help the dad’s. Right now they are unemployed and problematic. I want to help them get a job.

Vo-Agriculture school (the land, livestock and everything that goes with it)

Vo-Tech (wood shop, auto shop, industrial electric, HVAC, power plant repair, paint shop)

We have the instructors and auto shop already set up, just need the salaries for the staff.

All the materials that go with those schools, volunteers and instructors)

Container drives organized in the states to be shipped to us*Containers are buildings upon arrival*

Expand Astrubal’s church and building *2nd floor*

OR buy another building there.  The houses in Via Guadelulpe cost around 5000 dollars

School Bus *Mini or full sized*

Driver

Teachers

Teams

Volunteers

PRAISE:

We seem to be passing all the ‘test’ and training to continue to be soldiers for the Lord

Faithful supporters and prayer soldiers!

The Winner Home, full

501c3 staff and unity

Corazon Puro staff and unity

*All of this is like playing in a huge sand box with my best friends*

New stateside phone direct to my google, 1 (720) PRAYERS

We raised the basic threshold we needed for this month in donations IN SPITE OF THE CHANGES.

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