Bulldozers, Pig Sties and Church Planting

Every now and then I am reminded of the differences between ministry in the U.S. and ministry here. Many pastors in the States have secretaries. For that matter, most ministers their have offices! They don't have to kick kids off of Minecraft or Age of Empires to use the computer! They don't have to make their sermon outlines on Publisher, convert them to .pdf format, and take them to an Office Depot on a flash drive to get printed out in time for Sunday (and probably don't have to pay for parking when they go to Office Depot!).

Probably most music ministers don't have to print out four copies of each song with chords for Sunday, cut and paste the words on to a PowerPoint presentation for the worship time, and make sure their laptop is packed up to take to church the next morning. Oh, and they probably don't have to load their son's drum set into the back of their van, along with the sound system and other instruments!

Another additional aspect of international church planting...support raising (for projects) and the purchase of land with all that such a process involves. Permits. Taxes. Bulldozers. Architects. Support raising requires both the mobilization of the national church and the international church. The purchase and construction phase is rife with new, unlearned challenges. How do you transfer funds internationally without getting killed with a bank-set exchange rate or high ATM withdrawal charges? Still haven't figured that one out yet! How do you purchase a property through a non-profit organization? Or...how do you hire out a bulldozer to clean off a property covered with pig sties???

But in summary, today was a good day of at least gathering information about our son-to-be-fully-paid property for the church, and the process that will follow. We would appreciate your prayers in days ahead!

Quote of the Day: The historical impact of Jesus’ thinking is so pervasive that it is often taken for granted. The record of his life and teaching, the Gospels, have impacted the world so much that they have been translated into 2,527 languages. The second-most-translated book, Don Quixote, has been translated into about 60 languages. The Bible is the bestselling book of all time, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The second bestselling book of all time, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is the Guinness Book of World Records.
Ortberg, John  Who Is This Man?: The Unpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus (pp. 61-62).