I have been listening to the New Testament on CD as I drive to and from appointments around town (upon the recommendation of Ed Dobson). As I listened to the entire book of Matthew on a trip to and from the airport a couple of weeks ago, I noticed how often Matthew records that God spoke to people through dreams. Even Christmas would have been different had God not spoken to Joseph about the true Father of Jesus in a dream, or if the "wise men" had not been warned to head a different direction in a dream.
However, I have been in dozens of conversations over the years with individuals who are interested in hearing from God or who believe they have heard from God, but I can count on one hand the number of time someone told me that God spoke to them in a dream.
Why?
Certainly God still speaks through dreams. When the Holy Spirit first came at Pentecost Peter quoted a passage from Amos that indicated that in the present age "Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams." Dreams should be a normal way to hear from God for those filled with the Spirit.
Yet I can't recall a single dream from God.
Perhaps we have lost the art of paying attention to dreams. Perhaps we haven't disciplined ourselves to record the contents of our dreams after they happen. But if we truly desire to hear from God, and wish for Him to speak to us, perhaps we should pay more attention to our dreams.
14 December 2009
12 December 2009
The Car Accident
I thought I would write the full story of the car accident for those who are interested. My car is at the body shop for an estimate so pictures will need to be forthcoming.
I was going to WorldVenture to drop off some checks, travelling northbound on Broadway. As I approached the intersection of Broadway and Grant (with Wendy's and Midas), a car began to creep into the intersection to make a left in front of me. He couldn't see me initially because there was a box truck in my left-hand turn lane.
When I saw him continue to creep along, I hit my horn, at which point he hit his accelerator. I swerved so we wouldn't hit head on, but instead took him down the left-hand side of the car. He hit at the driver's side wheel well and side-swiped me all the way to my back left bumper.
After hitting me, he stayed on his accelerator, jumped the curb, climbed a grass berm and dropped down a 6 foot wall into the Midas parking lot. I watched out of my rear view mirror. It was like something out of Dukes of Hazzard.
I hit my shoulder and head during the impact and still have the lingering effects of whiplash three days later. The elderly gentleman who hit me (and who should not have been allowed the wheel of a motor vehicle) is still at Littleton Hospital. I'm not sure what is wrong with him.
He claimed he didn't have insurance but he wasn't very lucid after the accident. I didn't carry comprehensive on my car since it was pretty old and I am moving out of the country in a couple of months. Oh well. Fortunately I carried Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury.
I was going to WorldVenture to drop off some checks, travelling northbound on Broadway. As I approached the intersection of Broadway and Grant (with Wendy's and Midas), a car began to creep into the intersection to make a left in front of me. He couldn't see me initially because there was a box truck in my left-hand turn lane.
When I saw him continue to creep along, I hit my horn, at which point he hit his accelerator. I swerved so we wouldn't hit head on, but instead took him down the left-hand side of the car. He hit at the driver's side wheel well and side-swiped me all the way to my back left bumper.
After hitting me, he stayed on his accelerator, jumped the curb, climbed a grass berm and dropped down a 6 foot wall into the Midas parking lot. I watched out of my rear view mirror. It was like something out of Dukes of Hazzard.
I hit my shoulder and head during the impact and still have the lingering effects of whiplash three days later. The elderly gentleman who hit me (and who should not have been allowed the wheel of a motor vehicle) is still at Littleton Hospital. I'm not sure what is wrong with him.
He claimed he didn't have insurance but he wasn't very lucid after the accident. I didn't carry comprehensive on my car since it was pretty old and I am moving out of the country in a couple of months. Oh well. Fortunately I carried Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury.
03 November 2009
language learning
"If your children learn the language faster than you, there is something wrong with your language program!"
Our trainer said this line in our first day of language acquisition training and it stuck with me. Most of us have the assumption that kids learn language faster than adults. But it shouldn't be true. And if it is, then there is something wrong with the time and attention you are devoting to the language.
Adults can learn a language just as fast as kids do, but they need to be willing to work at it. That is why Amy and I are so grateful to our new boss at WorldVenture for challenging us to take a whole year to devote to language study. Part of us thinks it is so painful to have to delay our arrival in Mozambique for a whole year. But the other part of us knows that we will be far better off in the long run to apply concentrated study to language for a whole year.
So in the mean time, while we continue to raise support, we are going to be using Rosetta Stone and working with a language helper. I'll let you know how it goes.
Our trainer said this line in our first day of language acquisition training and it stuck with me. Most of us have the assumption that kids learn language faster than adults. But it shouldn't be true. And if it is, then there is something wrong with the time and attention you are devoting to the language.
Adults can learn a language just as fast as kids do, but they need to be willing to work at it. That is why Amy and I are so grateful to our new boss at WorldVenture for challenging us to take a whole year to devote to language study. Part of us thinks it is so painful to have to delay our arrival in Mozambique for a whole year. But the other part of us knows that we will be far better off in the long run to apply concentrated study to language for a whole year.
So in the mean time, while we continue to raise support, we are going to be using Rosetta Stone and working with a language helper. I'll let you know how it goes.
26 October 2009
Arguing with God
I have been thinking a lot about prayer recently as I have been praying more fervently about our needs (and also the needs of many of our friends). I picked up a little book that I read years ago by Charles Spurgeon called "The Power in Prayer". The book is a collection of sermons Spurgeon preached and a favorite of mine is called "Order and Argument in Prayer"
Spurgeon suggests a number of arguments which we should use when petitioning God:
God's attributes
God's promises
The Great Name of God
The Sorrows of His People
The Past
The Only True God
The Sufferings of Jesus
Some of these require some explanation, which is why you should get the book. But I am curious what arguments you might use when you knock upon the door or Heaven and cry out to the Almighty.
Spurgeon suggests a number of arguments which we should use when petitioning God:
God's attributes
God's promises
The Great Name of God
The Sorrows of His People
The Past
The Only True God
The Sufferings of Jesus
Some of these require some explanation, which is why you should get the book. But I am curious what arguments you might use when you knock upon the door or Heaven and cry out to the Almighty.
18 October 2009
Eradication of Poverty
Yesterday was the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. What a sad commentary on our world that we need a whole day to remind us in the West that much of the world is suffering in unimaginable levels of destitution. But why haven't we alleviated poverty yet? Have we failed to give enough?
The answer is NO. In short, we have given more than "enough" over the past 50 years. In fact, the West (North America and Europe) have given trillions (with a "T") in the last 50 years. That is more than enough money to completely pull every poor person on the planet out of destitution, and yet it hasn't. Why?
In short, there are two reasons: corruption and planning.
In case you didn't know, most of the world lives under a government that is corrupt. In other words, when their country is given aid by the West, most of it goes to line the pockets of those at the top of the food chain all the way down to those just above the bottom of the food chain. Why deliver mosquito nets to a village when you can sell them yourself and use the profit to buy better building materials for your house? Why ensure that medicine gets delivered if your boss doesn't really care and you will get paid either way? Why not give cushy jobs to family members instead of people who will actually perform an assignment? Corruption kills the best laid plans.
And that leads us to the second reason that poverty has yet to be eradicated. Plans. You see, capitalism actually works. And capitalism isn't a plan. That's socialism. Socialism attempts to lock smart people into a room and have them decide what is best for the rest of us. Capitalism says that you should decide what is best for you and if you want something, you should be responsible to get it for yourself.
So take for example the release of the most recent Harry Potter book. Millions of copies were delivered in multiple languages to children (and nerdy adults like me) all over the world ON THE SAME DAY! And yet we can't get mosquito nets to children who will die without them this month. If you and I can get a book, why can't we get nets to kids?
And in the question lies the problem. In order to eradicate poverty we need to move from the attitude that WE need to get mosquito nets to THEM, and instead realize that WE need to do everything we can to make the nets attainable by ANYONE who would GO LOOKING for them.
Poverty is not something you and I can plan away. It must be climbed out of by those who are finally given the chance. But you and I can work to give more people that chance.
For more thoughts on this subject read the excellent book "White Man's Burden" by William Easterly. For more on how you can help give people a chance to get out of poverty, email me.
The answer is NO. In short, we have given more than "enough" over the past 50 years. In fact, the West (North America and Europe) have given trillions (with a "T") in the last 50 years. That is more than enough money to completely pull every poor person on the planet out of destitution, and yet it hasn't. Why?
In short, there are two reasons: corruption and planning.
In case you didn't know, most of the world lives under a government that is corrupt. In other words, when their country is given aid by the West, most of it goes to line the pockets of those at the top of the food chain all the way down to those just above the bottom of the food chain. Why deliver mosquito nets to a village when you can sell them yourself and use the profit to buy better building materials for your house? Why ensure that medicine gets delivered if your boss doesn't really care and you will get paid either way? Why not give cushy jobs to family members instead of people who will actually perform an assignment? Corruption kills the best laid plans.
And that leads us to the second reason that poverty has yet to be eradicated. Plans. You see, capitalism actually works. And capitalism isn't a plan. That's socialism. Socialism attempts to lock smart people into a room and have them decide what is best for the rest of us. Capitalism says that you should decide what is best for you and if you want something, you should be responsible to get it for yourself.
So take for example the release of the most recent Harry Potter book. Millions of copies were delivered in multiple languages to children (and nerdy adults like me) all over the world ON THE SAME DAY! And yet we can't get mosquito nets to children who will die without them this month. If you and I can get a book, why can't we get nets to kids?
And in the question lies the problem. In order to eradicate poverty we need to move from the attitude that WE need to get mosquito nets to THEM, and instead realize that WE need to do everything we can to make the nets attainable by ANYONE who would GO LOOKING for them.
Poverty is not something you and I can plan away. It must be climbed out of by those who are finally given the chance. But you and I can work to give more people that chance.
For more thoughts on this subject read the excellent book "White Man's Burden" by William Easterly. For more on how you can help give people a chance to get out of poverty, email me.
11 October 2009
Sardines
**** WARNING *****
Please do not read this post if you are planning on one day attending training at MTI or if you might ever go to training down here. If you read the rest of this post, it will ruin a significant piece of your experience.
*********************
So now with that said, I can continue. As I have popped up into Denver from training a couple of times over the last few weeks, several people have asked me how training has been going. My answer is usually: intense. Why is it so intense? Simply put, the first 3 weeks of training have been the most emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually exhausting experience I have ever volunteered for. Allow me to explain the capstone of the intensity.
I was locked in a 6' x 6' x 8' plywood box with 21 other people for over 2 hours in a simulated hostage experience at the end of which I was one of 5 men who were dragged from the box, pushed to the floor, and executed by a gunshot (they shot blanks) to the back of my skull.
I'm not sure I can type out the whole story with the necessary drama, but it was real enough that half of the people in the box with me were crying by the end, and I was praying with my forehead on the cold concrete because it felt so real.
Amy had a much different and worse experience than me in her box (what's worse than being executed you say? You will have to ask...). I will let her tell the story if she wants to.
The kids were off playing and had no idea what happened to us. But for us, it brought home the reality of some of the more extreme dangers of life overseas.
Although Mozambique has been at peace for over a decade, as Kenya demonstrated to the world just a couple of years ago, even the most peaceful African country can erupt into flames with one bad election.
For me, one of the most profound elements of impact was recognizing I was in the box with people going to Morocco, China, and other places where security is a real risk. It was a sobering experience to say the least.
Please do not read this post if you are planning on one day attending training at MTI or if you might ever go to training down here. If you read the rest of this post, it will ruin a significant piece of your experience.
*********************
So now with that said, I can continue. As I have popped up into Denver from training a couple of times over the last few weeks, several people have asked me how training has been going. My answer is usually: intense. Why is it so intense? Simply put, the first 3 weeks of training have been the most emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually exhausting experience I have ever volunteered for. Allow me to explain the capstone of the intensity.
I was locked in a 6' x 6' x 8' plywood box with 21 other people for over 2 hours in a simulated hostage experience at the end of which I was one of 5 men who were dragged from the box, pushed to the floor, and executed by a gunshot (they shot blanks) to the back of my skull.
I'm not sure I can type out the whole story with the necessary drama, but it was real enough that half of the people in the box with me were crying by the end, and I was praying with my forehead on the cold concrete because it felt so real.
Amy had a much different and worse experience than me in her box (what's worse than being executed you say? You will have to ask...). I will let her tell the story if she wants to.
The kids were off playing and had no idea what happened to us. But for us, it brought home the reality of some of the more extreme dangers of life overseas.
Although Mozambique has been at peace for over a decade, as Kenya demonstrated to the world just a couple of years ago, even the most peaceful African country can erupt into flames with one bad election.
For me, one of the most profound elements of impact was recognizing I was in the box with people going to Morocco, China, and other places where security is a real risk. It was a sobering experience to say the least.
06 October 2009
It's all about forgiveness
I recently applied for a grant from Wheaton College that pays off the student loans of Wheaties who are headed overseas as missionaries. Amy and I had planned to pay off my loans when she went back to work. But now that we are moving to Mozambique and living off from support, the loans are a bit more of a burden than we thought they would be at this stage of life.
If you are in to prayer (and I hope you are), please pray that I am awarded the scholarship. It would be a huge blessing for our family. We can certainly make our finances work without it, but as anyone with student loans can attest, it would be a big deal if they were forgiven.
If you are in to prayer (and I hope you are), please pray that I am awarded the scholarship. It would be a huge blessing for our family. We can certainly make our finances work without it, but as anyone with student loans can attest, it would be a big deal if they were forgiven.
31 August 2009
Week with YWAM
Youth With a Mission (YWAM) invited me to speak at their University of the Nations campus this last week. I spent the week teaching for 3 hours every morning to a group of about 40 20-something students on "The Fundamentals of Christian Leadership".
Besides the joy of teaching about one of my favorite topics, it was great to spend a week with hundreds of people who have committed their life to mission. The entire base seemed to be filled with some of the most passionate followers of Jesus on the planet. It made for an especially fun class as I didn't need to draw students out to help them care. They already did.
Besides having fun and using my gifts, the week forced me to boil all of my leadership thoughts and philosophies down to a just a couple of ideas. I had to ask myself the question: what do I believe are the most important and essential fundamentals of the faith? That was hard work but worth doing. I know it will have lasting impact on the way I think about leadership in the future.
Besides the joy of teaching about one of my favorite topics, it was great to spend a week with hundreds of people who have committed their life to mission. The entire base seemed to be filled with some of the most passionate followers of Jesus on the planet. It made for an especially fun class as I didn't need to draw students out to help them care. They already did.
Besides having fun and using my gifts, the week forced me to boil all of my leadership thoughts and philosophies down to a just a couple of ideas. I had to ask myself the question: what do I believe are the most important and essential fundamentals of the faith? That was hard work but worth doing. I know it will have lasting impact on the way I think about leadership in the future.
14 August 2009
The Problem with Democracy
I have just finished reading the biography of John Adams written by David McCullough (reading and writing is about all I can do today as I am sick and in bed). And after reading about the amazing founders of our nation, I have come to a sad conclusion:
When a government is "by the people" in a democracy, then the nation will rise or fall based upon the quality of her citizens. Those elected are simply the product of the people.
I know that this thought is neither new, nor profound, but it makes me all the more determined on a single point. I will do my best for the rest of my life to not simply complain about my elected officials. After all, they were elected by me and my neighbors.
What I will dedicate the rest of my life toward is helping to transform the lives of my neighbors and myself (here and in Africa). After all, only when the people lead, will those they elect follow.
When a government is "by the people" in a democracy, then the nation will rise or fall based upon the quality of her citizens. Those elected are simply the product of the people.
I know that this thought is neither new, nor profound, but it makes me all the more determined on a single point. I will do my best for the rest of my life to not simply complain about my elected officials. After all, they were elected by me and my neighbors.
What I will dedicate the rest of my life toward is helping to transform the lives of my neighbors and myself (here and in Africa). After all, only when the people lead, will those they elect follow.
13 August 2009
Rhythm and Blues
For the last two weeks I have been in Arizona (for my sister-in-law's wedding) and Chicago (for the Willow Creek Leadership Summit). Now that I am back home, Amy and I are trying to find our rhythm again. It's hard.
I notice that the worst part about being out of rhythm with life is not just the funk of losing your beat. It's that it too easily turns into a self-defeating cycle. Being out of rhythm for working out, putting the kids down to sleep, waking up in the morning, or even reading the Scriptures with regularity makes me depressed. It gives me the blues. And of course these blues don't help motivate me to get back in rhythm.
So I have felt the funk begin to fade over the last couple of days, but it has been a frustrating week trying to get in rhythm. I'm there now, but I felt like I lost a couple of valuable days at less-than-normal efficiency. I've found my groove, but it took too long. Any suggestions on how to keep the groove after a transition?
I notice that the worst part about being out of rhythm with life is not just the funk of losing your beat. It's that it too easily turns into a self-defeating cycle. Being out of rhythm for working out, putting the kids down to sleep, waking up in the morning, or even reading the Scriptures with regularity makes me depressed. It gives me the blues. And of course these blues don't help motivate me to get back in rhythm.
So I have felt the funk begin to fade over the last couple of days, but it has been a frustrating week trying to get in rhythm. I'm there now, but I felt like I lost a couple of valuable days at less-than-normal efficiency. I've found my groove, but it took too long. Any suggestions on how to keep the groove after a transition?
22 July 2009
08 June 2009
Missionary Training
WorldVenture requires us to complete quite a bit of training before we can head to the field. So far, Amy and I have been very impressed with the training that we have received. In fact, the excellence of the practical training that we have gotten from WorldVenture as well as outside contractors has made me rethink training in the church and in seminary. Do we spend too much time on theory and not enough time on application? Should seminaries make students "practice" more skills in the classroom? Should churches spend more time on Bible Study techniques, how to pray, how to counsel friends, etc.?
At the beginning of May, Amy and I went to Chicago to complete a training on how to educate our children overseas. It was awesome. In fact, I came away from the training thinking that we should have a similar seminar for every parent in the church: How to educate your kids, regardless of the schooling choice your family makes.
So far, the skills we have received in training to be missionaries have been great. Let's just hope they work on the field.
At the beginning of May, Amy and I went to Chicago to complete a training on how to educate our children overseas. It was awesome. In fact, I came away from the training thinking that we should have a similar seminar for every parent in the church: How to educate your kids, regardless of the schooling choice your family makes.
So far, the skills we have received in training to be missionaries have been great. Let's just hope they work on the field.
15 May 2009
One of the saddest goodbyes
After 13 years of sponsoring Ashenafi Girma, we had to end our sponsorship today. With our new budget reality, we simply could not make it work anymore. I can't begin to explain how sad it is to say goodbye. I have "known" Ashenafi longer than I have known most of those who read this blog.
Amy and I began sponsoring him before we were even married. I think our sponsorship of him helped to define our relationship from the beginning as being about a mission, not just about us (an idea my former colleague spoke about this last Tuesday).
So if you are reading this and you already sponsor a child, I would like to encourage you to write them. I wish I would have done that more. And if you are reading this and you don't sponsor a child - sign up! It is a life changing experience.
We will miss you Ashenafi!
27 April 2009
Junk Mail
I have received reports from several people recently that my email to them went to their junk mail. If you filled out your information on Tuesday and dropped it in the bucket, please check your junk mail and add me to your safe senders list. Thanks.
daveterpstra@gmail.com
daveterpstra@gmail.com
21 April 2009
Overwhelmed
It takes something significant to make me speechless. TNL did it tonight.
Thank you to everyone in our community who expressed their love and support and encouragement tonight. Amy and I don't even have words to say how grateful we are.
Thank you.
Dave
Thank you to everyone in our community who expressed their love and support and encouragement tonight. Amy and I don't even have words to say how grateful we are.
Thank you.
Dave
22 February 2009
miracle #1
There have been three miracles I have been hoping and praying for over the past year. I call them miracles, because by definition they are something that requires an act of God, and cannot be done by human effort alone. These three miracles are:
#1 - That God would lead someone to TNL as the Teaching Pastor who would actually overlap on staff with me.
#2 - That we would be able to financially survive after I leave my job at TNL and before we head to the field.
#3 - That we would be able to leave this fall.
So miracle #1 has come to fruition. TNL has hired a new Teaching Core Pastor. I would love to give all the details here, but I will let the elders and other pastors have the fun of introducing him. But Amy and I couldn't be more excited. He and his family are a perfect fit for TNL.
A friend of mine met him at the National Pastors Convention a couple of weeks ago, then wrote to me: He's got the TNL vibe!
I totally agree. So in case you haven't heard, God is up to something amazing at TNL.
#1 - That God would lead someone to TNL as the Teaching Pastor who would actually overlap on staff with me.
#2 - That we would be able to financially survive after I leave my job at TNL and before we head to the field.
#3 - That we would be able to leave this fall.
So miracle #1 has come to fruition. TNL has hired a new Teaching Core Pastor. I would love to give all the details here, but I will let the elders and other pastors have the fun of introducing him. But Amy and I couldn't be more excited. He and his family are a perfect fit for TNL.
A friend of mine met him at the National Pastors Convention a couple of weeks ago, then wrote to me: He's got the TNL vibe!
I totally agree. So in case you haven't heard, God is up to something amazing at TNL.
07 February 2009
missionary in-laws
So I have been trying to frame the relationship that we have with WorldVenture and I realize now they are like in-laws.
Let me explain: As I prepare to leave TNL, it is becoming more and more a reality that TNL isn't going to be my home and primary family anymore. My team in Mozambique will serve in that role. So in a way, we are leaving our primary family at TNL and marrying into WorldVenture in Mozambique.
So this begs the question of what sort of in-laws the rest of WorldVenture will be. And we can honestly say, so far so good. We just spent a week with the WorldVenture family for their annual Renewal Conference and we are amazed at these people of God. The first two days of the conference are just spent praying. All day. With coffee breaks and a lunch break. But other than that, just praying.
But beyond the prayer time, we got to hang out with missionaries from around the world (some of whom have been on the field for decades) and just talk. Wow. There really aren't words to use to fully convey the impressive demeanor of these super-humans. Every day they deal with poverty, disease and spiritual darkness, and yet they just keep on going. Meeting some of them feels like meeting some of the early Christians who were reaching those who had never had the opportunity to hear the gospel. Amazing stuff.
But in-laws can be a little quirky as well. It will be weird working for an organization led by baby-boomers. It will be hard to lose the leaness and edge that comes with working at TNL. I will have a hard time when ministry isn't set up by Jared, supported by John, and followed up by Brian. But we will survive nevertheless.
If you would like to learn more about our quirky new in-laws, check them out at www.WorldVenture.com
Let me explain: As I prepare to leave TNL, it is becoming more and more a reality that TNL isn't going to be my home and primary family anymore. My team in Mozambique will serve in that role. So in a way, we are leaving our primary family at TNL and marrying into WorldVenture in Mozambique.
So this begs the question of what sort of in-laws the rest of WorldVenture will be. And we can honestly say, so far so good. We just spent a week with the WorldVenture family for their annual Renewal Conference and we are amazed at these people of God. The first two days of the conference are just spent praying. All day. With coffee breaks and a lunch break. But other than that, just praying.
But beyond the prayer time, we got to hang out with missionaries from around the world (some of whom have been on the field for decades) and just talk. Wow. There really aren't words to use to fully convey the impressive demeanor of these super-humans. Every day they deal with poverty, disease and spiritual darkness, and yet they just keep on going. Meeting some of them feels like meeting some of the early Christians who were reaching those who had never had the opportunity to hear the gospel. Amazing stuff.
But in-laws can be a little quirky as well. It will be weird working for an organization led by baby-boomers. It will be hard to lose the leaness and edge that comes with working at TNL. I will have a hard time when ministry isn't set up by Jared, supported by John, and followed up by Brian. But we will survive nevertheless.
If you would like to learn more about our quirky new in-laws, check them out at www.WorldVenture.com
23 January 2009
database disaster
We have had some computer problems which has slowed us down on contacting people. However, we seem to have sorted the problem out now. If you have yet to hear from us, we hope to be able to call in the next couple of weeks. Sorry for the delay.
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