Merry Christmas!

becky    General    

It is indeed the most wonderful time of the year.  This year we’ve been talking a lot about how Christmas will be different in Singapore.  Obviously we will be far from our family and current friends (we’ll hopefully make some news ones, but will definitely miss the old ones) and our surroudings will be drastically different than anything either one of us has had in the past.  Along with thinking about how different things will be, I’ve been thinking about how similar things will be.  The whole point of Christmas is to relish in the celebration of the birth of Christ who was Emmanuel-”God with us.” Whether we have family and friends near or far, whether it’s 45 degrees or 90 degrees, whether hot chocolate seems appropriate or like an odd form of torture, God is with us.  We can relish in the celebration just the same regardless of our surroundings.  We’re moving so that other people may come to know who God is and find freedom in Him.  Celebrating our Christmases a little differently won’t at all diminish the whole point of Christmas and hopefully, a few more people may be celebrating Christmas because of the work God uses us for.  We hope you have a Christmas full of the love, joy, and hope found in Christ.  Merry Christmas to all!

We’re at 25%!

becky    General    

As of today we are now officially at 25% of our monthly support goal. Praise the Lord!  We are so excited to have met this goal and hope to make our next goal of 50% in February.  In addition to having 25% of our monthly goal ($2262 of the $8834 we are needing to raise for HCJB Global for our monthly needs) HCJB Global has received over $14,000 towards our outgoing expenses, which is 21.5% of that budget.  Six months ago we hadn’t even really started raising support.  We’re hoping next year at this time we’ll be saying that 18 months ago we had barely started raising support and now we’re living in Singapore!  Thanks to all of you who have sent in financial support and to those of you who have been praying for us and encouraging us through this journey.

Missions Playlist

becky    General    

For the past six months or so I’ve been adding to my “Missions Mix” playlist.  At this point, it’s not very lengthy, but these are songs that really speak to my heart about what it means to take the hope and love of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people who are hopeless, hurting, and in need of Him.

1. I Will Go by Starfield: This is the anthem song of what we’re doing.  I REALLY want to make a video (well, have Toffer make a video) with this song as the background music, but we’ll be good and obey copyright laws.  It’s a great song!

2. You Said by Hillsong: I talked about this song in our third newsletter and how it’s been weaved through our years long process of becoming missionaries. I originally heard it at our church’s annual missions celebration several years ago.

3. Give Me Your Eyes by Brandon Heath: I like this one because it’s a reminder that my focus needs to be seeing people the way God sees them, not the way I see them.

4. The Great Adventure by Steven Curtis Chapman: This song has long been part of our lives.  We made mix cd’s (yes, mix cd’s-ipods hadn’t come out yet) when we both went overseas between our junior and senior years of college. This was one of the songs on one of the cd’s and has been one that always comes up when we’re going on a mission trip. It’s a classic!

5. Mission’s Flame by Matt Redman: We heard this one for the first time when we did the missions conference at FBC Powell/Fountain City a few weeks ago. I just liked the lyrics and thought it was a good addition to this group of songs.

6. Here I Am by downhere: I’ve heard this one on the radio a lot. It evokes a lot of the same feelings and thoughts that I Will Go does. I always think of Isaiah 6:8 (which I’m guessing is where the lyrics from the song come from) when Isaiah says “Here I am. Send me!”

7. Hands and Feet by Audio Adrenaline:  HCJB Global’s tag line is “Be the Voice and Hands of Jesus.” I think that says it all.

8. If You Say Go by Rita Springer:  This is another song that I first heard at one of our church’s annual missions celebrations.  The first time I heard it was when we were at a point that God had closed some doors and new ones didn’t seem to be opening. I felt like the song said what was in my heart–that if God wanted us to go, we’d go; if He said to stay, we’d stay.

9. Speaking Louder Than Before by Jeremy Camp:  This song is a great reminder about how we really need to live our lives and how vital it is to reach those around us.  When we interviewed with HCJB Global we were told multiple times that new, younger missionaries are really needed with the mission.  Our generation needs to step up and do what God has called every single believer to–taking the Gospel to people near and far.

10. He Reigns by Newsboys:  I’ve always liked this song.  The idea of people across the world worshiping the God who created them is just beautiful.  Spending time in Kazakhstan with the believers there who had little physically, but were so joyful because of God, was so humbling.  This song reminds me of all the people across the globe who experience joy and freedom in even the most horrific situations because God reigns.

11. Let Your Kingdom Come by Aaron Ivey: I could write a lot about this song.  We originally heard this song when we helped with the AV for a youth camp in 2008 when I was pregnant with Samuel.  The band that week was Spur58 (of which Aaron Ivey was part of) and this song was still a work in progress. The guys were so moved by what God was doing that week, they shared the song with the camp even though it wasn’t finished (when they don’t even share unfinished songs with their wives).  One afternoon they just played it over and over and over.  When Aaron’s album–Between the Beauty and the Chaos–came out, I was really excited!  I had waited for this song for a year! It’s beautiful and amazing and Samuel loved it even before he was born.

12. City on our Knees by tobyMac: When I hear this song I just imagine large groups of Asian people (because those are the people we’ll be going to reach and serve) raising their hands to God and dancing together to worship Him.

13. God of this City by Bluetree: We have sung this at church a few times. When I was eating dinner with Samuel one night in Singapore I remember just singing this song in my head.  At the end of October NewSong did a concert at our church and one of their opening acts was a group called Bluetree, who just happened to write this song during a mission trip to Thailand.  The story behind the song is incredible and made me want it on my missions mix even more.