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Godard Newsletter April 2008 |
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Dear Friends:
Recently I (Trever) felt compelled to study Joshua so I returned to it this morning. I sensed God telling me a few things regarding the ministry of training missionaries for the nations and the purchase of a Matthew Training Center building. I wondered what Joshua was thinking about that first night after being told his new assignment. Was he scheming all kinds of plans to conqueror that difficult land? Could he even sleep? Maybe he focused on all the promises: "I will give you every place where you set your foot." "No one will be able to stand up against you" (for us- not the devil, nor government leaders who issue permits and visas, nor ourselves, nor the owner of this building - NO ONE!). "I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you." "...that you may be successful wherever you go."
On the other hand maybe Joshua zeroed in on the commands: "Get ready..." "Be strong and courageous" "Be careful to obey all the law...meditate on it day and night" "Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged." The excitement of stepping out in faith, of seeing the Almighty God of this universe do something that only He can do, the fear of failure and the responsibility of the task all create a wide variety of mixed emotions. But the word that caught my attention this morning was a simple two letter word - "So". "So Joshua ordered the officers of the people. Go through the camp and tell the people GET YOUR SUPPLIES READY" (Joshua 1:10).
Joshua received the promises and the commands; so he acted on them. He gave a command to get things rolling. The word "so" in this case indicates that a person believes something to the point of acting on it. Have you had any "so" moments where you finally decided, "So, I have to do this" (phone somebody, give something, visit somebody, change something)?
That is what I felt this morning. The action God nudged me to take was to write you - to ask you to "GET YOUR SUPPLIES READY." I realized that our army consists of all of you - many individuals from several different churches and even countries - all of you who have prayed for us, encouraged us, invited us into your homes, and supported us financially. We are inviting you to GET YOUR SUPPLIES READY if you would like to join us in this mission. There are many barriers for which we will need you to help us cross over to the other side of this mission. What supplies do YOU have for training missionaries for the nations and for providing them with a building for their training? We will need a team of people; some with teaching skills to help train the missionaries; others with labour skills (painting, renovating, landscaping, architecture, interior design, media support); and others who want to help financially. We have a meeting on Tuesday with the administrator of the house that is for sale, to inform her that as soon as we get enough money for a down payment we will make an offer. For those of you who have prayer supplies in your storehouse, please pray for this meeting.
We had an awesome time visiting many of you in Saskatchewan - God has given us a great army to go forward with. Thanks for inviting us into your homes, encouraging us, praying for us and giving towards our personal support account and the Matthew Training Center.
A fun announcement: Our son Aaron, and Carly Ballantyne got engaged last month, to be married on Oct 11. We are very excited for them and look forward to this day with much joy. It is very special to have both of them, as well as Silas visiting us here in Mexico for a couple of weeks.
Together to train for the nations
Trever and Joan Godard
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