Friday, April 27, 2012

Calling the Shots


Yesterday I made 200 Prayer bookmarks to hand out with letters asking for support to possible sponsors. Today I called the Health Dept. to get the necessary shots for travel in Uganda. The only mandatory shot is yellow fever, but to be on the safe side I am including typhoid, hepatitis A, and a prescription against malaria. I had been informed that shots would be $1,000 or more, hence the $4,500 on my handy-dandy thermometer. The total is actually $251 making my new goal $3,751! Wow, Uganda gets closer every day. Please continue to pray for me as I make my preparations, and while I am on the field. Thank you.

Typhoid - $64  one shot
Hepatitis A – 2 shots 6 months apart $38 a piece
Yellow fever – $101 one shot
Malaria prescription – $10 per fill
$251- Total

Phil 1:19-26 says
- For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. 24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. 25 And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, 26 that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again. - NKJV

In Christ,
David Greene




Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Created to Create


Lately, I have been given a large amount of time to myself. My mother made the comment to me last week that this is the first time in my life that I don't have to do anything. In school I had to do schoolwork. In college I had to do college studies. At work I had to labor, but now though still employed, just unused for the past few weeks (till the boss finds more work for me to do) I have been given 'time'.  I have been led by God to discover the meaning of time, the time that is given to us. I want to be a good steward of my time and the goods God has given to me. We were made in the image of the creator and so we are called to create, as in the beginning when God gave the garden to Adam and said for him to work in it. We are made to work, and now it is left to me to decide where to place my time, whether to glorify God or to glorify self. If I glorify myself, I am given just that, self... and all that evil that comes with it. I don't want this to be my end prize. This unused period of time comes in week long spurts and has happened before at TAG with me. I used to panic and run out and grab all the applications I could and fill them out, but before I could turn them back in, my boss Travis, who is also my older brother, would say he needs me back at work. A month later the process would happen again and now the third time. I just anticipated the same... for the first week at least, now Wednesday of the second week I realize that I have been given this time to learn. To learn what to do with my self.
 On Monday I woke up early and set out to take my time by the horns, and I did. By the end of the day I had made several life changing decisions about a large quantity of the money God had given me and about my future time. Then at the end of the day I looked out at the waning purple and deep black of twilight over the mountains and thought to my self. "At what point did I ask God what he wanted me to do?" Wow, what a powerful mistake I could have made! The feeling sunk into my gut. I realized that when I mess with the amount of money God has given me for this trip, I mess with the time that I leave, and that is God's time! Not mine to mess with. The next day I never left the house; it was spent in dedication of Christ, to peruse and to listen. With that, I spent my time far, far more productively being subject to God than by taking instant initiative, possibly in the wrong direction. The choices I made on Monday I now feel were the right ones, but I have prayed that if they were not that I may still be able to change them. Now if only I can blend the initiative of Monday with the obedience of Tuesday... He is still working on me.
 My time has gone now into The Truth Project, The Federalist Papers, upkeep of a home, time in prayer, and seeking to send out prayer letters. This is Wednesday and I am looking for something to create. Pottery, painting, a short story perhaps. We were created to create and I feel that desire today. There is a deep fulfilling pleasure that comes with being a good steward of what God gives.

Gen 2:2-3
-And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 

Gen 2:15-16 
- Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 
 NKJV


Soli Deo Gloria
In Christ, David Greene

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Finance and Recent Events


Well, ladies and gentlemen, it’s starting to hit home - the reality and grandeur of the life to which Christ has called me. I have taken my own initiative to see his purpose out and am currently in his will. I had about 45% of my expected $4,500 raised. Half of that is sponsor money which I don't touch. That amount stays current and is at $1,100. Today I am about to create letters to hopeful sponsors. So I anticipate that number to rise as the Lord puts his call on individuals. I, this year, have earned $3,000 in labor with TAG contracting, but $1,000 has gone to fix my car and another large sum has slipped into the gas tank and gone for food and other necessities. I did buy a knife from Dick's Sporting Goods for $70. This is the only superfluous purchase I can recall. The rest has gone to pay for C.H.E training ($550) and Water Pumping ($500) courses at Equip Intl. I now have $434 set aside for my three month trip. So that's the financial side of my endeavors.
          Now let’s talk current events. On May 13th I will take a week-long water pumping tech class from Equip, the second part of preparing myself for a lifetime of missions wherever I am. CHE, the first class I took, opened my eyes to a greater worldview and taught me how to evangelize. It gave me set models for community evangelism to use as a tool for Christ. I'm hoping the second course will give me something to bring to the table as a contributor. People have drilled wells all over Africa, but when those wells break no one locally knows how to fix them.
          One day I was praying that the Lord give me someone to share the gospel with and in a few minutes after I had stopped at a store for a sandwich, I met an old friend who currently works there. I have watched this young man turn from a life of sin and drugs to a fervent pursuit of God. He used to read the Bible constantly in class, to the dislike of everyone, but the called. It is unusual and I don't know if he had a walk with Christ or liked to present himself in that way for attention. He is a most depressed youth then and now. Please keep him in your prayers as he has rejected the Lord for himself and is depressed. I shared with him until I felt the peace of the Holy Spirit. I have returned to the store to follow up on his spirit. Would you take a moment to pray for the enlightenment of this individual? It is a deep concern for me that I may be used to proclaim liberty to the captives and open the prison of those who are bound.

Isaiah 61:1-3 says
 "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn, 
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified." - NKJV

 At TAG Contracting I always took time to share some level of the gospel with the other workers, asking if they knew Christ and having a time of prayer before starting work in the morning. Now, however, due to cutbacks, my future with the company seems unstable and I have applied elsewhere. I feel I may be called to work somewhere else so that Christ may use me and teach me other skills. This past week I have not been needed to work, so I’ve put my time in the most useful places as possible. I have discovered MIT's open course ware, or classes free online without a teacher or credit. I have taken an interest in the foundation of America and have been reading the Federalist Papers. I desire to get my hands on a copy of the New England primer. I have been watching the Truth project with Dr. Del Tackett and Focus on the Family, as well as fellowshipping with my church and Equip’s personnel. I plan to plant in my perma-garden when it warms up and perhaps see what other missionary projects I can learn. As well, I went on my first date this Saturday, nothing serious though, but it was a fun evening.

Isaiah 61: 1-3

In Christ, 
David Greene

Friday, April 13, 2012

Thank You, Grace Community Church For Supporting Me


Grace Community Church's Finance committee has donated to Equip for my trip to Jinja! Thank you so, so much. I will be writing them a weekly update on Wednesday afternoons during my three month stay with Chris Spearling. May God bless and keep this amazing Christ-centered, evangelistic hearted church!

My Church Site!


 - 1 Chronicles 16:34 "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever." - NIV


In Christ,
David Greene

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Peregrinatio



Peregrinatio:
- a leaving of one's homeland; a self-imposed exile and wandering for the love of God.