Well hello! It certainly has been some time since I last posted. I apologize! But now I'm back in the swing of things after a lovely Christmas season. I'll blog more on the holidays soon, but for now I'd like to post my first online monthly prayer letter. This is the ministry update letter I send each month to partners in the ministry -- specifically, people who support Great Commission Ministries for the staff position I have on campus at WVU. I am now making this letter available here each month. It will generally appear about mid-month. So if you're a praying person, you can certainly feel free to lift up the things in the letter if you like!
My letter, dated December 19, 2005:
'As we enter this wonderful season of giving, I’m reminded again of your generosity in partnering with GCM and me in making a difference in the ways that we can in this world. I am so grateful for you in my life, and I think of and pray for you often. Please remember that if you want me to pray for anything, I’m always available and would love to; just let me know.
We also remember the miracle of our Rescuer’s entrance into our world this month; we acknowledge the great love his Father poured out in such an act of grace; and we celebrate the ‘beautiful collision’ of his Divinity meeting our depravity (I’ll give credit to David Crowder for that last thought!). Let’s not forget what this season is all about, especially in light of all the news articles we’ve seen about many large retailers banning the word ‘Christmas’ from their stores. Though it’s sad, it’s no surprise to me that the word ‘Christ’ is still one of the most controversial terms in our language and continues to ignite fiery emotions among many people. It recalls to me the comfort Jesus brought his disciples toward the end of his life and the end of the gospel of John: ‘If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first (John 15:18).’ It is a consolation that Christ has gone through all we do and more than we can imagine. And it is an honor and a blessing to receive any persecution for his name: ‘Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me (Matthew 5:11).’ In fact, Jesus promised his followers that this life would not always be easy: ‘In this world you will have trouble (John 16:33b).’ But in the same verse, just after that, he says, ‘But take heart! I have overcome the world,’ and just before the promise of trouble he gives another, wonderful promise:
‘I have told you these things,
so that in me you may have peace.’
What a gift! That through it all, when we remember Jesus’ words and love, we can know peace. This reminds me of the oft-quoted verse in the traditional Christmas story of Jesus’ birth in Luke 2, when a heavenly host appeared to the shepherds in the fields, ‘praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (verse 14).’ Please pray that amidst the craziness that regularly accompanies this season, the peace God intended for you finds you (and me!) as you take time to contemplate His highest glory.
My letter, dated December 19, 2005:
'As we enter this wonderful season of giving, I’m reminded again of your generosity in partnering with GCM and me in making a difference in the ways that we can in this world. I am so grateful for you in my life, and I think of and pray for you often. Please remember that if you want me to pray for anything, I’m always available and would love to; just let me know.
We also remember the miracle of our Rescuer’s entrance into our world this month; we acknowledge the great love his Father poured out in such an act of grace; and we celebrate the ‘beautiful collision’ of his Divinity meeting our depravity (I’ll give credit to David Crowder for that last thought!). Let’s not forget what this season is all about, especially in light of all the news articles we’ve seen about many large retailers banning the word ‘Christmas’ from their stores. Though it’s sad, it’s no surprise to me that the word ‘Christ’ is still one of the most controversial terms in our language and continues to ignite fiery emotions among many people. It recalls to me the comfort Jesus brought his disciples toward the end of his life and the end of the gospel of John: ‘If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first (John 15:18).’ It is a consolation that Christ has gone through all we do and more than we can imagine. And it is an honor and a blessing to receive any persecution for his name: ‘Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me (Matthew 5:11).’ In fact, Jesus promised his followers that this life would not always be easy: ‘In this world you will have trouble (John 16:33b).’ But in the same verse, just after that, he says, ‘But take heart! I have overcome the world,’ and just before the promise of trouble he gives another, wonderful promise:
‘I have told you these things,
so that in me you may have peace.’
What a gift! That through it all, when we remember Jesus’ words and love, we can know peace. This reminds me of the oft-quoted verse in the traditional Christmas story of Jesus’ birth in Luke 2, when a heavenly host appeared to the shepherds in the fields, ‘praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (verse 14).’ Please pray that amidst the craziness that regularly accompanies this season, the peace God intended for you finds you (and me!) as you take time to contemplate His highest glory.
Here’s a shot of our next-to-last h2o for the semester on December 11 (notice the angelic shine on my New Balances as we sing ‘Glory to God in the highest’ in Latin as part of the Christmas carol ‘Angels We Have Heard on High’!). The picture was taken by Sarah Meehan, a fellow GCM missionary who was in my staff training class this year and who gave her testimony at this h2o. She had gone to WVU a few years ago and never knew Christ while she was here. But the Lord reached her through a friend of hers and His Word; it’s an awesome story! I’ve actually written about it in more detail on my new ‘blog’ (which is the shortened lingo for ‘weblog,’ an online journal of sorts where one can post writings and photos), which I want to tell you about. Billy and some of our other friends had these blogs of theirs set up, and from time to time I had gone to the sites and read their thoughts for the day, week or whatever frequency they had posted. Lately I realized what a neat outlet this is for creative and essay writing, as well as for ministry, and so I looked into it and set one up around Thanksgiving. Here’s the website:kingfriend.blogspot.com
You don’t even have to type ‘www’! Please check it out from time to time; it will help you get to know my heart and mind a little better. I’m also going to post these monthly prayer letters there from now on for those of you who are on the Internet a good bit. In fact, if you would like to stop receiving the mailed letter and want to just view my website around mid-month to read my letter that way, please let me know (all my contact information is now listed below). I will, of course, continue to send the ‘snail mail’ if I don’t hear from you. Please pray that my blog helps increase my skills as a communicator and that it is effective in encouraging people that the King has landed and is coming. Tell anyone who may be interested about the site!
So the December 11 service was a blast, being our annual Christmas service (the students leave town for break that week after their final exams) where we sing carols and share a meal afterwards. We had about 70 in attendance, which made us quite happy! Sarah Meehan visiting was a special treat, and she touched hearts with the way God touched her life. Please pray for her as she finishes up her own support raising and will soon head out to El Salvador to minister to a Hispanic culture.
We had one last h2o this week, on the 18th, before breaking for Christmas and New Year’s. Billy asked me if I’d like to give the message for the service, and so I did! It was the third part in a series ‘The Coming Messiah’ Billy had spoken on the last two weeks in which we examined various responses to Jesus’ birth. I looked at Mary’s Song, Magnificat, in Luke 1:46-55. I rather enjoyed studying and preparing for the talk, and I hope to have more opportunities in the future. Please pray that I not only rehearse the words I’m going to speak when I teach, at h2o or in Bible study, but that I take the time to internalize them and meditate on the Word for the value in itself as a very important part of my life.
Sarah and I had a fantastic year 2005, obviously in part due to our union as one flesh, starting our new life together. The year has gone by quickly for me; it began with us being newly engaged and beginning to work out the massive details of the wedding ceremony and subsequent joining of two lives. Most of the spring was consumed with preparation, though Sarah managed the second of a two-semester run of straight ‘A’s (she finished this fall semester nearly perfect, with only one ‘B’). The summer saw our beautiful wedding and honeymoon to South Florida and the Bahamas, as well as Sarah’s Young Life camp trip to Lake Champion, NY and my GCM new staff training in Orlando (which I had to leave early to participate in my older brother Christopher’s wedding, a week before mine). Since then we’ve enjoyed being mostly at home, with me doing support raising and h2o and Sarah doing Young Life and school. Please pray for Sarah’s upcoming GRE as part of her application to grad school here in social work. And pray for us as we, amid seeing family, take a little holiday vacation! :o)
In Christ,
Cameron'
Alrighty! Letters make for long posts. Talk to ya again soon!
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