Pastor's Blog

Dear Family,

God's blessings be to us today so that we will be able to be a blessing to those we meet and touch today!

Lord-willing, I will be home in time for Marge Shaaf's funeral on Thursday. (I arrive in Minneapolis at 5pm Wed. and Beth gets in at midnight)


his morning I would like to share part of an email which I as a member of the Foreign Mission Board received yesterday. It is from Alica Magola who lives and serves in Africa and is associated closely with our Mission there.

"I thank God that He has been faithful to all of us including everybody reading this report. Many of you will be touched in one way or another. My trip has caused me to compose a song though my son says the type of tune was not going to attract the young listeners so he is changing it here and there. The song is all about knowing that though some of the people in this world might not be directly affected by HIV/Aids, we are in one way or another affected. If a neighbor, work mate, a relative to us or someone we know – and the list goes on – pass away due to Aids, surely we are affected. I for one have badly been affected as quite a number of my relatives and some friends died untimely deaths due to Aids. Some it was due to not living right but some were innocently infected by either spouse or blood transfusion. This is the sad part of this disease. I have chosen therefore to turn my pain into something that can change somebody’s life. To show the Agape type of love – and I pray that God will always help me not to judge why people are in that situation. I just want to show them to the Cross of Jesus. Hallelujah!!"

Dear Alice,

May the Peace of God be with you always!

Thanks for the report of your activities in your country.

Your words were inspiring to me as you wrote about the pain that you feel concerning the devasting effects of Aids, but that you have chosen to turn your pain into something that can change somebody's life. (I would be very interested in getting the translation into english the song that you have written). That is so true, that we are all affected by Aids, even if it is not directly. In a sense, this truth may be applied to sin in general, in that it does no good to judge why people are living in sin, but only to conclude that they are blinded to the truth:

NIV 2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

People will not be converted to Christ until they see the graciousness of our Saviour and that message is not only preached by us, but it is lived out by us in physical ways. As you so aptly put it, we must take them to the cross where they will be able to see the "better way."

Did you ever meet my Uncle Gust Kandoll? He made many mission trips to Africa and he told me one time to never knock from one's hand that which they were leaning on (like a cane), but he said to show them the "cane of the gospel" and when they grasp and understand the meaning of it, they will throw their old "cane" away themselves.

Thanks for the reminder and the encouragement to extend the compassion of Jesus to all those around us.

In Christ' love

Pastor Orval

Good Morning, Dear Family.

May this day find us all living in the knowledge of the favor of our Heavenly Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

It is a beautiful morning here in Zacapa as we prepare for the Sunday gathering in the church in this city. We have received word of Marge Shaaf's passing from a couple of you and do thank you for letting us know so promptly. Marge had a lot to contend with and the loss for her husband Ed is devasting, I am sure. He loved her, cared for her and will surely miss her. May the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ lead us as arrangements are made to remember her life, to comfort the grieving and to glorify our God through Jesus in the time together in the Word at her funeral service.

Yesterday was a very blessed day as we cleaned the Zacapa church iin preparation for today, walked through a very poor village ministering to some of the most needy, Sven shared Jesus as the fountain of living waters, I shared briefly about the importance of knowing the difference between that which is good and bad and illlustrated this by using a banana, contrasting the peeling and the actual fruit itself. It was amazing to me that when I mentioned to Beth that I was going to illustrate with a banana, she (to me it seemed kind of matter of fact) told me that they had bought banana's and were going to pass them out to the children present. Wouldn't you know that there were just enough bananas for everyone!! The Spirit always brings us together both in the planning and in the working out of the details.

From there we went to Piedras Azules (pictures enclosed) where a many of us shared and many of the messages shared centered around the body of Christ and how it works out in an actual church. I was asked to baptize two boys, Carlos and Caesar, who are now also Beth's and my godchildren, and mention was made by various people of how fitting and appropriate that the baptism seemed in light of the "revitalization" of the Piedreas Azules church and congregation. The Lord sure has given to us while here the message of the meaning of the body of Christ and how it works out in practice within a congregation.

We continued on to Juan Ponce where again the topic was the body of Christ and how it works within a congregation. But there was a different focus as in this place they have been meeting for many years in a home, but recently have felt the calling of the Lord to construct an actual church building on a piece of land and which is in the process of being purchased. We gave a brief outline of the scriptural foundation of a church organization and how it fits together, especially the relationship between the pastor and the congregation. After this we all went out to the piece of land which is next to the house we were in, and as we held hands, we prayed to our Great God and Provider for his wisdom and provision toward the building of the church building as well as the congregation in Juan Ponce. It is harvest field that is ready for the Lord to gather into his kingdom through the preaching and living of His Word. May the Lord give His blessing to the work there.

So, in one day, we experienced many different aspects of the work of the Lord's kingdom here on earth as is evident from the account above.

May you have a lot of fun at the Sunday School picnic today. We wish we could be there, as that always is a time of fellowship in the Spirit as well as a time to have fun together. We miss you all and may the Lord be with you today.

In Christ's love, I love you!

Pastor Orval