Two questions were asked of me recently (one this past week in China and the other about 10 minutes ago): 1) When Michigan loses a game, does Sunday worship service get affected? 2) Honey, do you remember when you used to get so depressed when the Chicago Bulls lost a game? My response to both […]
Balancing Life
One of the things I enjoy doing when I get back from my missions trips or conferences is to reunite with my family over dinner. I guess it has been an unspoken tradition over the years. Today, I allowed the kids to choose where they wanted to go and eat with dad. I try to […]
Trip Update
It was a bit difficult to get on a computer due to security reasons. The last two days have been crazy. As soon as we arrived in town, we checked into the hotel. Then the next morning, we did a quick tour of the city. It is incredible how quickly the city keeps on changing […]
Vietnam Update 7
We are headed out for Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in a couple of hours. Pastor Ben will be coming back to the States while some of the other AMI pastors and I will be going to Shanghai. Yesterday, as we were waiting for everyone to meet downstairs for dinner, I struck up a conversation […]
Vietnam Update 6
First of all, I just wanted to thank all of you who have been praying for us. God is good and He has been answering your prayers. Yesterday, Pastor Keith met up with the former Ambassador of France. It was truly a God thing! The ambassador has committed himself in opening doors for us, as […]
Vietnam Update 5
We walked around the city of Hanoi this morning and afternoon. Hanoi is definitely a different city than Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). Hanoi is more of a governmental city, while HCMC is the business center of Vietnam. There is unquestionably more openness to spiritual things in HCMC. But as some of the team members […]
Vietnam Update 4
We landed in Hanoi this morning and we were greeted by some workers in the unregistered church (underground church). We quickly checked into the hotel and then went out for lunch. The place that we went to was a culinary school that was run by a person who was open to Christianity. It was encouraging […]
Vietnam Update 3
Last night we had a great service with an underground church. I preached from Joshua 5. I talked about how God is a God who provides change, covenants, and courage. It is so encouraging to see the Church here in Vietnam on fire for the Lord – their heart of worship and their passion in […]
Even Thousands of Miles Away
This morning, I lifted up a prayer for the funeral service that our church will be having for Andy. There will be people attending this service in Ann Arbor before his body gets buried in Arlington Cemetery. Pastor Dave will be leading the service and people are expected to gather together to pay their last […]
Vietnam Update 2
Today was a day of saturating ourselves with Vietnamese history. It allowed us to experience the history from the perspective of the Vietnamese people. First of all, we had the great privilege and opportunity to visit the Vietnam War Museum. The story of the Vietnam War was told from the perspective of the Vietnamese… it […]
Vietnam Update 1
After our long flight from DTW to Japan and then Japan to Vietnam, we met up with the rest of the AMI team. There are about 10 of us here. It has been pretty exciting so far… by the time we got to the hotel it was already 12:30AM and we had to get up […]
Asia Trip With AMI
I will be heading out to the airport soon. The AMI Trans-local Team and some of the other leaders from the various AMI churches will be going to Vietnam and China. We are trying to open up doors for Vietnam and in China we will be visiting some of the AMI missionaries. I am excited […]
Last Home Game of 2006 Season
The boys and I decided to go to the last home game of this season. Some people told me that we would be able to get tickets for $5 or $10 since the game was against Ball St. Also, I was told that if the game is already underway then the sellers will be willing […]
Don’t Forget to Vote
Since I will be out of the country next Tuesday, I went into the courthouse today and voted in an absentee ballot. This is a mid-election year, but there is a lot at stake in the State of Michigan. There are many Proposals that are trying to pass this year therefore we have to speak […]