John Simons

Mission Trip Prayer Request - Relationships

One of the great things about this mission trip is that I am going with my son, Josh.  We will have 10 days of time to spend together, while we travel which allow us to build a stronger father-son relationship.

In addition, we will be travel with a group of four others, from across the country on this trip.  This will be an opportunity to develop relationships with others who are pursuing a common goal of sharing the gospel.

Once we arrive in Paraguay, we will meet Christians from a local church who we will be helping to plant a new church.  These relationships will be critical to the work that we will be doing during the week.

Finally, throughout the week that we will be there, Josh and I will be meeting and talking with people in the target area for the church plant.  These relationships are the whole purpose of our trip.  We will be spending our days with the local Christians meeting people in the target area.  We will be sharing our faith with these people, and we will be meeting again with those who express a faith of their own to teach them some of the fundamentals of Bible study and prayer.

Please pray for all of the relationships that are part of this trip: father-son, new friends - both American and Paraguayan, and relationships as we share our faith.  Pray that we will have attitudes that will foster good relationships.  Pray that the relationships will be bring glory to God’s name.

Tags: evangelism, mission trip, Paraguay, prayer, relationships

Mission Trip Prayer Request - Health

Any time that you travel to a foreign country, there are health concerns. The travel and new environment can lead to a lack of sleep. Different food can create havoc with the digestive tract, not to mention the presence of different bacteria in the local water system. In addition, there are more local concerns.

In the case of this trip, the local concern is a recent outbreak of yellow fever in areas near Asuncion, Paraguay. I have mentioned this to a couple of people. The nearly universal response is that it is a disease not to be taken lightly. The mission agency has recommended vaccination. I am waiting to hear back from my doctor on the issue. Josh, for one, is not particularly happy about the prospect of having to receive any shots. My wife has informed me that it will be my job to take him. It seems the last time he had to get a shot, he had to be restrained because he kicked the nurse.

Please pray for our health leading up to this trip. Pray that we will be well rested between now and when it is time to leave.

Pray for health throughout the trip. Pray that food will not upset our stomachs, and that we will be able to sleep.

Finally, please pray regarding the issue of yellow fever: that we will be at peace, and that we will be safe.

Thanks.

Tags: mission trip, Paraguay, prayer, yellow fever

Mission trip update

We are well into the planning phase for the missions trip to Paraguay.  Josh and I are working on raising funds, are we are making progress.  We still have some more funds to raise, so let me know if anyone is interested in helping out.

 We received our itinerary last week.

 On April 5th we have an overnight flight from Miami to Sao Paulo, Brazil.  Then we catch a flight into Paraguay.  We arrive in Asuncion pretty much 12 hours after we leave Miami.

We fly back on the afternoon of April 12th.  We again connect through Sao Paulo, Brazil.  The return trip will be about 13+ hours.  We return to Miami at 6am. 

 Josh and I need to decide how we get to Miami.  The last time I flew from Miami for a missions trip, we drove down as a group.  Is definitely less expensive to drive to Miami, but the 6 hour drive home at 6am after a 13+ hour trip will be really hard.  So, we may break down and buy some airplane tickets.  But, I also like the idea of having 12 hours with my son to talk in the car.

 Over the next few weeks look for a series of prayer requests for the trip.

New Study: Young Adults Leave the Church between 18 and 22.

According to LifeWay Research, two-thirds of young adults who regularly attend church stop attending between the ages of 18 and 22. First off, they had to do a study to figure that out?

I found a link to that article today at the NAMB Center For Missional Research. It reminded me of a conversation I had this past weekend on a related topic.  I was talking with a local youth pastor about his youth group (my son attends — he is the only middle schooler at our church).  We were talking about how different his group is than many others in town.  His Wednesday night event centers around Bible study.  They are currently working their way through Romans.  Most of the youth groups seem to focus on entertaining kids, and throwing in a quick devotional to “sanctify” the evening’s event.  The entertainment model was what I saw at several churches when I was in high school (and even college).
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Tags: Church, youth group, youth pastor

Christmas

Yesterday was Christmas. When we opened presents with the family, my youngest told me that her present was at her Grandmother’s house, and that I would have to wait to get it until we got there. She had apparently made it for me the last time that she was there, but forgot to bring it home with her.

When it was present time at her Grandmother’s house, we opened most of the presents. Finally, she remembered that she had not given me her gift. She ran off to the garage to fetch the present. Her grandmother said something to the extent, “Oh, I am so sorry, John.” I was told to close my eyes as she brought the gift in. Moments later, I was holding my very own coat hanger, made with love by my seven year old daughter. The coat hanger is pictured.

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Tags: Christmas, Family, gift