Some Things I Have  Done By the Grace of God

                                              ( Read…’by the Grace of God’ ending each statement)*

        1. I made a serious commitment to put God first in my life and kept it so far… by the     

         Grace of God.

2. I fathered and raised 5 children with the help of a spouse…

3. I lived an example of Christian faith and life that encouraged my children to make the same commitment I did…

     

      4. I served happily two years in Canada as a volunteer in missions and gained some           experience in cross-culture living with the Indians there…

5. I graduated with two degrees to prepare myself for a life of service in the church                  

          and for Christian ministries where ever I would go….

     6.  I served a small church for 12 and a half years as pastor, planting seed and faith and love in the hearts of people… 

    7.  I was a witness in the community… where I pastored so that I would later occasionally meet people who were encouraged to faith by that ministry.

     8.  I bought and paid for our first house while I was in training or shortly there after…

     9.  I served with satisfaction and a sense of ministry at Elkhart General Hospital for 6 years...

     10.  I became a real estate broker and at least got a feel of the business world in that area…

     11.  I accumulated real estate rentals mostly at bargain costs that have provided for my later life of service and to help many families and students…(See Appendix B)

    12. I lived a life of frugality and Christian stewardship in the tradition of my father which also instructed my children and enabled us to adapt to a poorer culture and help many people to a better life…

                  

13. I became an internationalist, a citizen in another Kingdom where I can feel at home where ever I roam in another human culture…

14. I taught lay members and young church leaders in Belize for 5 and one half years.

15. I gained many friends in a new culture that are bonded as closely as members of          my original culture and family…

     16.  I made many friends of children, youth, and older people in Belize who will always be in my heart, and leaving something of my love for them in their hearts…

      17. I overcame a youthful life of insecurity, feelings of inferiority, and low self-esteem …by meeting many people and God who loved me and believed in me before I accepted myself.

      18. I found church homes where I could grow in my personal and Spiritual life in the Mennonite Church, first at Walnut Hill and later on at Trilakes Community Church…

      19.  I have become what many people describe as a loving person… after growing up with minimum affirmation and limited outward expressions of love from parents.

      20.  I have become financially secure in and by God’s design and by relinquishing the right to become rich in this world, seeking rather to be rich in God...

       21. I have found peace and joy in my life by committing my life to service and sharing the manifold Gospel to persons with many needs…

       22. I have found forgiveness many times for my many failings and the courage to continue serving God…

       23.  I have found some meaning in a life of many burdens, recognizing them as God’s special desire for me to grow into his likeness in ways I am still seeking to understand…

24. I have found a satisfying life in the service of God without the comforts of the American way of life…

25.               I have continued in a mentality of learning where I am curious of many things and hoping to maintain that desire to learn as long as I live… 

                                                  

26.  I have learned to say yes and no to needy people in ways that usually meet my convictions, resources, and needs, and still maintains respect from them…

27.  I have grown Spiritually by climbing by faith in many kinds of terrain…

28.  Many times I have found myself calm when around me swirls the confusion of too many kids in Belize…

29.   I have learned to be content alone for periods of time…

30.    I have become able to look at my original culture and another culture and see the strengths and weaknesses in each, and choose to live by a Higher Culture, the Kingdom of God, unfettered by any human culture …

31.   I have become both content and craving in my Spiritual life so that I desire to always press on in God’s way for me…

32.  I have earned the respect of many youth and children and adults so that they will respond to me in their pain and needs as well as for fellowship…

33.    Even in my years over 70, I have learned in Belize…to relate in confidence with even pre- scholars, comforting them in their crying so that they are strengthened to bear their big/little burdens, and trust me, winning their friendship and bonding with them so that they rejoice in my appearing like any birth children to their father…

     

34.  For several years I preached at Lynom prison by the Grace of God, and later a man came to our house who was leading evangelistic meetings in town saying he came to bless me, testifying that I planted the seed when he was in prison about 1991 and later he has dedicated his life to spreading the Gospel throughout Belize.

35. I have learned to handle material blessings without letting them control me…especially when living in a culture of poverty, sharing rather than hoarding for a comfortable life, and still be happy by the grace of God.

36.  I have learned to trust God to some extent for the security of our home  in Belize…even though we have been broken into several times.

37.    By the grace of God, I found a place and country of work in his service that has been

              meaningful for over 20 years so that it was hard to leave it without another call of    God.

 38. By the grace of God I retired from a meaningful life in Belize, believing God was leading us on to a life in the States where he has rest and new work for mylife

 * I would never have thought to make this list except that a missionary couple from Guatemala visiting at our house in Belize thought I should do so. It was only in recognizing the special favor of God in my life that I permitted myself to write these things. (cf, II Cor. 4:1