53rd Birthday Reflections

Today is my 53^rd Birthday.   I’m a missionary to diaspora people so on social media my birthday will last 43 hours. The first well wishes typically would come from Australia, and the last ones typically come from America’s west coast.   I’m very fortunate.  God has been kind to me.  Besides the well wishes several will ask, “What do you want for your Birthday?”

Frankly, I just want to thank God for His goodness, and continue to be a missionary.   If you’d like to give something today, can you give to our mission?

Let me list some matters that I continually thank God for:

1. I’m in great health.   Yes, I wear bifocals.  My hearing is declining, I’m slower and less flexible.  I struggle with measures of daily pain.  Yet, I can bench press 9 times my weight, and swim a mile in 45 minutes.   Most of my peers can’t keep up with me.  Many men much younger can’t either.   I do feel like God is asking for me to keep going forward in faith the way He asked Joshua and Caleb.

2.       My family is well.   Yes, we’ve been at the poverty line for years.  Yes, cultural transition has been hard, and we’ve spent many days just sitting in tears.  Yes, we have a disabled child.  Yet, Jana and I have been married 29 years.  The kids are all doing well.  Two are married.  We have a grandchild.    Three have graduated from college.  Two are in graduate school on scholarships.   One is a stunning beauty and artist.  One was named to a Paralympic High School All American Track team.  All are wise.  I believe God would want to me to share how this has happened.

3.       I live in North Dakota.  I’ve always wanted to live here.  I can’t believe it has happened.   The sunrises and sunsets are beautiful.  I constantly see deer and hear geese.   During reasonable weather this a great place to bike and run.   I hope to eventually get back to my youthful pursuits of hunting and fishing.   The economy is doing great.   I intuitively fit with many of the rhythms and culture.   This is the type of place I wanted to grow old as a grandfather.   I know most efforts in North Dakota have failed so in great humility I thank God for each day here and work as hard as I can to stay.  

 4.       I’m amid a surge of African migration to America’s heartland.  All I must do is go to Walmart, listen, and watch to see African migration.    I don’t have to look hard to find it.   I worship in Kiswahili and Kinyarwanda every week.   I provide some leadership in the African communities and churches.  Each week we visit Africans in our or their homes.  This surge is getting noticed in the media.  I find stories in the Al Jazeera, the B.B.C, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post about this African immigration surge.   I sense God wants us to pastorally nurture people we know well through transitions to Post-Christian America so they can be effective missionaries. 

 5.       I’m pastoring again.   I love Revive Christian Church.  I like not being the lone vision bearer and serving with others.  I enjoy young families, and just can’t help but to giggle at all these little kids in our midst.   I thrive in ministry environments where matters are still being formed, and we can create.   It’s both humbling and inspiring to realize Revive is made up of people more talented and educated than I.   I sense they deserve my very best preaching and pastoral care.

Wow.  So much to be thankful for.  And I’m getting to do this as a missionary fully dependent on God and His people.  Revive provides enough salary to pay our housing.  Everything else comes down to God’s people’s support.  Sometimes it’s nerve wracking.  Will we have enough to buy groceries, fuel, and pay bills?  Yet, it’s always a reminder of God’s daily care.   

Today, for my birthday can you contribute to keep us in North Dakota as missionaries.  If you would like to please either send a check to:

East Africa Diaspora Community,

P.O. BOX 480,

Wheaton, IL 60187

Or give online at https://secure.egsnetwork.com/donate/C0AF312B0E28441.

Asante sana.  Webale nyo.  Murakoze cyane.  Thank you very much,

Dave