Les & Diana Morris

Life does not always follow the path you expect or even the course you’ve charted.  Following after Jesus is an incredible adventure – hard, always; exciting, often; full of R-I-S-K, yup, that is how you spell faith.

All I can say is that this new part of our adventure, called VAYA, has been stretching us in many directions.  Talking the other day I (Diana) told Les, “I feel like in the Chronicles of Narnia I’ve been called to step off the cliff.

Edmund’s eyes went wide as he looked out over the cliff and then stared at Aslan as if he were nutters. “You …want me to just – step off the cliff?” C. S Lewis

So the cloud that we’re currently standing on feels fairly insubstantial.

And then God says: ‘Take another step, you’re doing great!’

and I respond, ‘Did you notice that we’ve already stepped off the cliff and this cloud is NOT feeling very comfortable … and you want us to take ANOTHER step?!’

And He responds, ‘Exactly! Take another step. You’re doing great.’

It doesn’t matter that I KNOW He will catch us. It makes no difference that we’ve lived our whole lives in this way. It just doesn’t FEEL very good right now! So many questions roll through our heads about starting a Leadership Training community living school in Latin America – (How do we pay for this? How do the students pay for this? Why do we want 6 strangers living with us? How will we have enough energy for this? Why us God!! Who are we to do something like this … ad nauseum ….) Hmm – Jason Upton wrote a song quite a few years ago that comes to my mind …. You’re the God and I’m the man is just 1 of the lines: Gideon.

We’re walking the journey, even when it’s spelled R-I-S-K and fighting for all we’re worth to KEEP our eyes on Jesus. Yes, we stumble occasionally (after all, doing presentations in front of a church in Spanish is still not easy for us). We wonder how everything will all come together and yet we are convinced we are on the right path.  Sometimes, we appear quite foolish or at least feel that way on the inside.

There are tons of spreadsheets, book lists – it’s a business plan in many ways.  We almost have all the papers signed to be a legal Costa Rica Viña Association (1 member had unexpected work issues and had to withdraw, another has been in the hospital with a raging infection – you get the picture. We’ve had challenge after challenge – and all the while we’re up against a deadline.  We’ve carried on most of the legal discussion with our lawyer … in Spanish – she’s such a blessing to us. We are so thankful that she has been donating all her time. And the people who have been excited and responding to God’s call are not who we have expected, but are God’s choices and so we are excited about them! This causes us to stretch yet again and even to reevaluate some of our approach.

And then there’s the money – we still need to make up what we lost when Jessie and Shannon (2 of our/Rodney & Cindy’s interns left – yes, we have a shortfall every month at this point) and we have to figure out how our students can afford to pay for this – just at our cost. In Costa Rica, housing is not cheap, food, electric and water are not cheap either (contrary to what you may have heard). There are teachers to pay, transportation costs, books and materials, beds, bedding, larger cooking pans, the need for Dining Room tables.  We’re praying that God will do some miracles here. So, we keep our eyes fixed on the author and finisher of our faith.

But we remember that God is all about the journey and changing US in the process.  He knows the beginning, the end and all of the steps in-between. We’ve been reading Radical by David Platt and Do What Jesus Did by Robby Dawkins. Both are pulling and stretching us.

Let us hold strong to the confession of our hope, never wavering, since the One who promised it to us is faithful.24 Let us consider how to inspire each other to greater love and to righteous deeds… Hebrews 10: 23-24

Through all of this, I’m reminded of John Wimber’s testimony:  I’m A Fool For Jesus. If you have never watched this or if it has been a long time since you watched it, we want to encourage you to watch it again, to be inspired and to be encouraged. And while you’re at it, read the above 2 books – you’ll be in for a lot of stretching!

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/40600736[/vimeo]

Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water?  John 4: 11

There is an interesting phenomenon that is different between men and women. I’ve read about it many times online, although I’m not sure any official studies have truly been done. When men need to take care of something, they stop what they’re doing and take care of it. When women need to take care of something, but are involved in something else, they create a list for themselves of things they must do first and then reward themselves by finally allowing themselves to take care of the other thing … and so their days go.

Of course, one notable exception to fulfilling lists first and doing what is needed is the the story of the 2 sisters, Martha and Mary. Martha had a whole list of “to do” items.  Mary probably knew all about this list. After all, she lived with Martha and being a woman of her culture and time, she would have been very much aware of what her responsibilities entailed.  But, she opted for something else.

Luke 10: 38-42 tells us (The Voice):  

38 Jesus continued from there toward Jerusalem and came to another village. Martha, a resident of that village, welcomed Jesus into her home. 39 Her sister, Mary, went and sat at Jesus’ feet, listening to Him teach. 40 Meanwhile Martha was anxious about all the hospitality arrangements.

Martha (interrupting Jesus): Lord, why don’t You care that my sister is leaving me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to get over here and help me.

Jesus: 41 Oh Martha, Martha, you are so anxious and concerned about a million details, 42 but  really, only one thing matters. Mary has chosen that one thing, and I won’t take it away from her.

As we keep on doing everything we can on the new project called VAYA that God has laid on our hearts, it is amazing how easy it is to get submerged in the overwhelming number of details and things that must be coordinated. We can easily succumb to fears and doubts and questions. It is a huge undertaking and at times, we can feel a bit alone on this stage of the journey.

This week, God sent us a number of different encouraging responses from people – a young man who is interested in training through VAYA, a Vineyard worship leader who wants to help with VAYA and God also opened the door to whole new world of Vineyard churches involved in Latin American missions. We are excited at the possibilities this resource brings (thank you Michael for your timely call and encouragement!).  But, the bottom line is, reflecting on both the woman at the well and the 2 sisters, one thing is abundantly clear – it stands out like a clarion call and reminds us of our Source – there is Living Water available to us … all the time and we want to make SURE we, like Mary, will hear Jesus say that we have, “chosen the one thing that matters.”  We need to … drink more water … living water and HE will be the one to walk us through the thick miry swamp of details and financial needs and finding the right passion-driven students.  HE will direct our paths (Prov. 3: 5). This is one thing, male OR female that should not be put off or be a reward for taking care of other things. This needs to be our highest priority.  Under the law in the Old Testament, God was always to receive the FIRST  tenth as the tithe – not the last tenth after other things were done.  We need to remember to have a Mary heart and …

The path we walk is charted by faith, not by what we see with our eyes. 2 Corinthians 5: 7

We have been praying for all the million and one things that have to take place for the VAYA program Missio Dei Costa Rica will be doing starting next January.  This is a HUGE step of faith for us.  Following God’s leading, we designed a program – including all the nuts and bolts (you can look on the VAYA tab, but it’s all in Spanish!).  Questions had to be answered:

What’s the mission / goal?What curriculum will be used?How will core Vineyard Values be taught?Who will teach – 5 days a week?How much will it cost?Who will take care of day to day details?What does a typical day look like? … hour by hour …. for 9 monthsForm a legal Vineyard Association as part of La Viña FederationFind students – 6 young men with a passion to be pastors/missionaries/equipped leadersLook for a ministry assistant

You get the idea.  Lots of work, lots of details … and lots of faith.

Everything is moving along, but no students.  We’ve been praying, Carlos Chacon (Director for the Federation in Central America sent out an email to all the pastors with an electronic copy of the brochure to all the pastors.  No response. Hmmmm. Did we miss you on this Lord?  Do we just keep walking and taking the next step of faith?

So, we prayed together together last Thursday. Suddenly, we had interest from pastors – We had appointments to meet with 5 pastors, including 2 from Honduras.  We continue to cast the vision and share the excitement. We continue to gather all the necessary information for the lawyer and get commitments for Board members.  We prepare to speak to 2 different church groups.  Most importantly,  we continue to walk by faith.

Please continue to pray for (you can refer to previous posts for more details):

• Manpower needs (intensive teachers, day to day instructors, assistant)
• Financial needs (for us, now that 2 interns are gone and Tito leaves in a month AND for the students)
• Legal needs (lots of red tape and time)
• Material needs (school supplies, add’l towels, sheets, dining table, etc.)
• STUDENTS

And we will keep walking in faith, by grace.