Celebrate // Ethnos360 - 75th Anniversary

It's all in a name they tell me.  Last year at this time New Tribes Mission had carried their name for 74 years and it served them well.  But like all things,  sometimes a change is needed to further the goals of an organization.  This past year a new name was designed to do exactly that.  It does not take away from the old name because the goals are the same, reaching people tucked away in remote corners of the world.

Ethnos means a race, a people, a nation which is exactly why New Tribes was founded.  There were pockets of people all over the world without a gospel witness.  360 means a complete circle. Our earth is a complete circle, put together Ethnos stands for races, people, nations all over the world.  And that is what we are about.

                          
    One more little note on the number 360. The expression, "do not fear" is used 360 times in the Bible according to R. Wurmbrand.

Men and women all over the world are hearing the gospel because some have taken to heart those three little word, do not fear and went to tell the whole world.    Happy Anniversary Ethnos 360
(New Tribes Mission)

Why

 Thank you all for praying for my nephew's family.   All deaths are hard to navigate through but not all leave us with hundreds of questions. When my mother died, I did not ask why, she was 89 and her dress of flesh had seen it's better days.  She was ready to take it off and put on her robe of white which made it easier for us to let her go.

But suicide takes on a different color, it goes deeper than the deepest darkest blue and leaves the mind totally unable to retain a clear sweet thought.   Just the word,  "suicide" brings a shudder to our hearts.  My nephew wife, Amber,  was able, only by the grace of God, to read something she wrote about Lee.  She told about their love, his love of being in law enforcement, his love for his children, hunting and even his love for God. In a couple of place there was laughter as she recalled some humorous memory.  Then she spoke the most powerful words I have ever heard.  Words that can start the healing and stop the questions from nagging the mind.  She ask us not to let Lee's last decision define him.  He was so much more. 

Lee's pastor built on that message.  Reminding us that there was a million great decisions before the last one.  Lee was in deep depression caused by a number of sources especially the enemy of his soul.  Losing his job in law enforcement probably caused the first decline in his mental health, then their marriage took a hit and for a few years he had been struggling with constant pain from a wreck.  His hope that things would go back to how it use to be decreased on a daily bases.  Hope deferred makes the heart sick the bible says and sometimes the lack of hope screams louder than any other voices. 

  Irvin Berlin said, the song has ended but the melody lingers. 

   Lee's song has ended but for those of us left behind we can choose to remember his last decision or let the melody of his life linger in our hearts and hum  that melody to each other. 

Philippians 4:8 Finally , brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.  
  

                         

Suicide/Prayer

In a recent piece written by Rich Larson, “It’s Not What You Think”, he poignantly and skillfully describes the misunderstood and unpredictable nature of depression and suicide after the death of an adored musical artist, Chris Cornell. In this piece, Larson writes:

…it’s really about depression and cynicism. Those two go hand-in-hand, along with their nasty little sister, anxiety. When the three of them get going, they just eat hope as quickly as it can be summoned. That leaves despair and despair is exhausting, not just for those who experience it, but for the people around it as well. So we keep it to ourselves because we don’t want to be a burden. And then it gets to be too much. Doesn’t matter if you’re a student, a mom, an accountant or a rock star. It doesn’t matter if you’ve written about it your entire life as a means of keeping it at bay. It doesn’t matter if the music you made about it brought in fame, respect and millions of dollars. It doesn’t matter if your entire generation has suffered from it. Depression makes you feel totally alone. You hit the breaking point, and then, like Chris Cornell, you die alone in the bathroom

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Last night my brothers son, Lee, 37 years old shot himself to death.    Lee was a deputy in our small home town in Illinois for years but because of some issue he had quit recently.  He loved being on the police force, was being trained to become a Federal Swat team member.  He has a wife and two children but all was not well on  the home front and yesterday they served the divorce papers and everything was downhill after that.  He became highly upset, the police were called, he barricaded himself in their little house where they brought their two babies home and sometime early this morning, depression, cynicism and anxiety ate all his hope up.   Thank God the wife and children were not in the house when he killed himself.  
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They say suicide is a scar that doesn't heal. It removes one person's pain, but for survivors, grief, guilt and utter sadness linger. In the wake of a loved one’s death by suicide, families often disintegrate, unable to deal with the intense grief and the difficult, painful, and often unanswerable question of “Why?” For every suicide, it is estimated that at least six persons are affected. These include family members, co-workers, neighbors, classmates and close friends. 

I come asking you to pray for Lee's wife, Amber and their two children, my brother and his wife, (Larry and Ann). For the brothers and sister and the rest of our family as we love on each other during this difficult time.  


Thank you prayer warriors. How comforting it is to know people will be praying.  

In The Ministry

Ezra was called to be the preacher of his day which was a full time ministry.  Sometimes   that term, "full time ministry" is confusing  because most put  the job to a box.  What comes to mind, is a preacher, missionary or an evangelist.   As a Christian, we're called to tell the world about Jesus Christ and share the good news of the Gospel.  Those jobs are great options, but God doesn't call everyone to be pastors or to go to a third world country. That doesn't mean God isn't calling you to work in full-time ministry.

Because my husband and I get our income from individuals and churches who believe in what we do in Etnos360, new name for New Tribes Mission, we are considered, "full time in the ministry".    Even the IRS considers us, in the ministry", self employed. 

God has  given all of us gifts and talents to use for His glory, in and outside the church.  Most of the time, God has us use our gifts at random moments that we would never think about. That is part of ministry. And if you keep your heart open to God, He'll use you every single day. My friends, that is what full-time ministry is. 

A lot of people work  in an office building of some sort.  Most  are not even a Christian organization or  faith-affiliated.  Well, there's your chance to be "in the ministry". You could talk all day about how God loves everyone, but when it comes down to it, it's your actions and attitude that speak louder than anything you could ever say to anyone. Walk Jesus before your fellow workers, that's a full time ministry.  

Sure God does great things overseas with missionaries and in the churches back home. Don't be so specific in the plans you make because  God does some really amazing things through situations that you may not think it possible. There are no limits to what God can do. 

I wish you could have been sitting in the last Bible study I went to so you could hear how God is using us "older women" in others lives.  Most do not work full time anymore, some part time, most are retired, yet each is  rubbing shoulders everyday with people who are not saved.  Ace and I work full time with saved people, missionaries from all over the world so we have to "keep our ears and hearts open" when we are out. That waitress where you and your christian friend go for coffee, the one who works on  your car, the cashier in the store, the person sitting on a park bench, the nurse or even doctor you go to. I have had some great conversation with my pain therapist who is a lovely younger women but not a believer.   The lost are everywhere, everywhere.  

Want to be full time "in the ministry"?  Look around you, ask God to show you someone who needs a touch of a Godly person.   Share Jesus today.  

And while I am on the subject of being in full time ministry I want to say a hearty thank you to all who support financially your church and its staff by tithing. Also those of you who give to missionaries  and organization that helps others like the Red Cross and so many others.  This last month so many have pulled from their own finances to help those who lost so much in floods, hurricanes, tornadoes.  As a person who functions by the financial gifts of others, thank you.  In the name of those we minister to, they thank you also.