John Simons

Mission Trip - Details

The details are starting to fall into place for our trip to Paraguay. I am learning more about the details of what we will do from chatting with others who will be on the trip. This is both building my excitement, but also helping to remove some of the unkown.

Today, Josh and I will go up to the health department in Gainesville. That is the closest place that we can get a yellow fever vaccination. I suspect that I will get one or two other shots as well. Josh should be mostly up to date.

I think that we have all the travel arrangements in place. We need to start gathering the things that we will need to pack. The real challenge will be to not pack too much.

I am sure that there are many more details that will need to be put into place in the next three weeks. (Wow that sounds soon!) The greater challenge will be to keep our priorities in place and focus on being prepared spiritually. I am trying to pray daily for the people that will on the trip with us, and the people that we will encounter and talk with once we are there.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Tags: Faith, Family, Missions, Paraguay, prayer

Mission Trip - Excitement is Building

We are 23 days from heading to Paraguay.  23 days from today, Josh and I will be on a plane over the Carribean Sea, on our way to Sao Paolo, Brazil, where we will catch a connecting flight to Paraguay.  The excitement is starting to build.  We spend some time tonight reviewing information about the country and about sharing our faith.  We also spent some time praying for the other folks we are traveling with and the people that we will be meeting.

Tonight, I also had the chance to chat online with one of the other guys going on the trip.  That really has built my excitement level.  I got to hear from someone who has been on similar trips in the past just how great the experience can be.  I am looking forward to being stretched in my faith and seeing God challenge and amaze me.

Please pray for the group, and for Josh and I in particular.  I will post a prayer calendar in a few days.

Tags: Faith, Family, Missions, Paraguay, prayer

Mission Trip Prayer Request - Finances

In signing up for this mission trip, we decided to step out in faith.  We did not have enough funds in our budget to just pay for the trips.  Instead we decide that we would pay for part of the trip, but would raise funds from our church, family and friends for the balance.  Our church was very generous and chipped in a major gift.  In addition, we have had several friends and family members make generous gifts.  Because this is two trips that we are doing, we are still around $1500 short of our goal.

I fully expect that the funds will come in.  Josh is just getting ready to send a few letters out.  In addition, I have still not heard back from several people to whom I sent letters.  While I don’t expect a 100% response, some of the people who I have not heard from are people that I expect will be willing to chip in.

Finally, on Sunday, I am scheduled to talk about the trip in front of the church.  The church will allow members who want to contribute to designate a gift toward the mission trip.

If anyone is reading and did not receive a letter, but would like to contribute, it is easy to do.  You can mail a check payable to Christ Community Church.  A couple of posts ago, I posted about the new church website.  You can get the address from there.

Please pray that all of the finances will be taken care of.  I hope that this experience will teach Josh and me about generosity, and about God’s provision.  Pray that there will be no stress about the cost of the trip.

Thanks for praying.

Tags: Faith, mission trip, Paraguay, prayer

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