“There and Back Again” August 2014
To England: London, Bristol and
Oxford
My
wife, Eileen questioned: “Why do you get to go to England when I’m the Downton Abbey fan?” Little did she know I already had plans. It was our 20th anniversary and so I bought her a ticket after the grandparents agreed to
care for our children! Eileen and I had
6 days in London and Oxford together, then she flew out on the day the students
arrived. Eileen and I visited John
Wesley’s home and Chapel in London as well as having high tea at Kensington
Palace!
I
drove to Bristol to see ‘the New Room’ when Eileen flew out. This was the headquarters for John and
Charles Wesley for their Christ centered renewal movement. I spent the day with David
Worthington, the Director, touring the site and talking about how God used this
movement in the 1700s to bring tens of thousands to saving faith in Christ!
You can check out the New Room online at: www.newroombristol.org.uk
This is no mere history lesson: an understanding of how God worked, how the
people responded and the Biblical principles applied can help us in awakening
the church today and leading the lost to new life in Jesus!
Nicaragua ~ Trip #
4 with the College
We had another tremendous mission trip to
Nicaragua this Spring, with a vibrant team of 14.
Again our time at the House of Hope was a great blessing. It is painful to hear the stories of the
women and children’s lives who have been damaged by prostitution, abuse and
neglect. However, it is always a story
of redemption at the House of Hope. “The
light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5),
is still true today!
On the left are Samantha, Mindy, Taylor and Gabriella working hard. Gabriella is the daughter of Gioconda and
Wilfredo, dear friends
We spent 2 days serving with Youth with a Mission (YWAM) outside of Managua. They taught us about sacrificial living –
laying down our lives for the Gospel.
The YWAM base is in the moutains in the town of Diriamba. They have a vision to launch another base on
the east coast of Nicaragua where centuries ago the Moravian missionaries from
Europe came to share Christ with the those who had been enslaved by the
Spanish. The goal is to help the church
recover the passion for the Great Commission that the Moravian Church had in
the 18th century. LORD, let
it be!
Thank you! What
your giving makes possible . . .
Wayne
Credle Jr. on the far left received a
scholarship last this year for his 2nd year at Duke Divinity
School. The Board of Life in His Name
decided to support students who have a heart for evangelism and building the
Kingdom of God. Also in the picture are
two other Virginia Wesleyan College graduates, Brandon Nichols who is also at
Duke Divinity and Devon Blair who is pursuing Chaplaincy in the military.
The
LIHN Board is meeting at the beginning of September and will consider a second
scholarship candidate who is a part of Rev. Brian Sixby’s congregation, First
Fox Hill in Hampton, VA. The student is
currently attending Asbury Theological Seminary and has a desire to serve as an
Evangelist.
In
2013 our YWAM partners introduced us to Lillian and her family who were living
in a shack that barely gave them shelter.
Life in His Name and the team from Virginia Wesleyan made it possible
for Lillian and her family to have a new home.
The picture above is from this year in front of the new home. Actually 2 homes were built because of the
partnership between LIHN, VWC and YWAM.
The cost of each home is a mere $3,000.
They are simple, but sturdy, dry and a vast improvement from what they
were living in!
Lillian
cried when she saw us this year. She
shared the story of the new home being built with so much gratitude. She and her family are involved in ministry in
Diriamba with YWAM. Tears of joy. Thank you!
Dr.
Terry Lindvall and Dejha Crudup on the path where C. S. Lewis came to faith in Jesus. Dejha was the recipient of the Marlin
Ministries Servant Leader Award this year.
Life in His Name gives $100 each year to a student whose life models the
life of our LORD.
A
walking tour of Oxford with the students and Terry. Tolkien and the others that befriended Lewis
and gently led him to Christ is a great model of evangelism for us all.
We’ve Moved! The West family has moved to the King’s Forrest neighborhood of Virginia Beach this summer. I’ve wanted Eileen and the children to be involved in the ministry to College Students at VWC. This enables us to have a much closer reach. The new students arrive next week! We welcome your prayers as we make disciples of Jesus this fall.
“Whoever does not love does not know
God, because God is love. This is how God showed his
love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live
through him. This is love: not that we
loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an
atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
1 John 4:8-10
