Blessings and an Update

Hi Friends,

We want to give you a quick update. One of the blessings we received yesterday was a big gift toward our account for our trip to Jordan. We are thankful for every gift we receive. We also treasure these because they are signs that people are praying for us as we get ready to go.

The second blessing was the commissioning service last night. Simpson University held a service to introduce and pray for each of missions teams going out this summer. It was a blessing to see students going to Cambodia, Chile, Haiti, Hmong churches in the US, India, Uganda, Ride for wells in Africa, and our team to Jordan. Forty-two students and three sponsors! Each team shared, and there was a time for prayer. It was a precious time as all of the teams were held up in prayer.

This morning I spent time praying about our trip and our team. I am reading through a collection of essays by A.W. Tozer titled The Cross. I am planning on leading devotionals for the team each day. I want to focus on the themes that are distinctive about our faith in contrast to Islam. One difference is the cross. The Qur'an (or Koran) reads, "They (the Jews) said, 'We killed the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of God.' They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but the likeness of him was put on another man (and they killed that man)... ." (Qur'an, 4:157) I want to make sure we realize the distinctiveness and importance of the cross to our faith. Pray for me as I spiritually prepare for the trip.

I trust God will reveal the importance of the cross to you today,

Michael