A Preview of Heaven...

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Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,

What an amazing time we had in Texas!  For those of you who are new to blog this week, thanks for joining us!  The first thing I want you to see is this video from the end of the service at the missions conference.  Missionaries sang "God is So Good!" in 7 languages.  What a beautiful picture of what heaven will one day be like!


God is So Good! from Daniel Shrader on Vimeo.

This week, I'm going to share the highlights of the missions conference in photos and video.

During the week,  We were fed lots of good food.  One of the ladies said when she returns to China, the nationals will not be shy about telling her she's now fat because she gained 5 pounds during her US visit!

More importantly, we were fed from the Word.  The focus of the week was growing faith in the midst of persecution and suffering.  We were continually reminded of God's faithfulness through the testimonies of those who taught, as well as other missionaries in other places on the mission field.

 Missionaries are real, down to earth people. There is certainly nothing special about them.  And that's how God intends it.  He uses simple people so that there's no confusion about who is doing the work.  We are blessed to be participants in what the Lord is doing. 

Mike Scheer shared a quote from an African theologian who said that it wasn't the missionaries who brought God to Africa, it was God who brought the missionaries.  Missionaries are simply believers who join in the work that God is already doing.  The Lord has called us to join Him in His work, and He get's all the glory. Actually, this is the exact same call he places on the lives of all believers, the only difference between "active missionaries" and regular church members is their job.

On Women's night Meredith got to share about life as a missionary with the ladies of Denton Bible Church.  The theme of the evening was "Same Love, Same Heart, Different Stories".  The ladies who attended got rotated from table to table so they got to interact with missionaries from all around the world, including one right here in the USA!

These are the missionaries and their families who came for the missions conference.  These are men and women who were raised up, equipped, and sent by Denton Bible Church.  They serve with a variety of missions agencies, but they share the tie being part of the DBC family of faith.  This group represent approximately half of the missionaries sent out from DBC over the last 37 years.  In 1976, DBC began with just 15 believers. Since then, it has sent literally hundreds out to the mission field.  It's an incredible testimony to the faithfulness of God.

So you can see their faces, here's the same photo blown up in thirds.

Yep, there we are in the back row!

On Saturday at the missions conference, folks got to attend breakout session with missionaries from the different fields.  Can you explain what you do to a large group of people  in 15 minutes or less?  This was my attempt. 

At the beginning of the service, actively serving missionaries processed in carrying the flags of the 52 nations where DBC currently has ministry partnerships.  It was powerful to see.  You can watch the video below.

Procession of Flags from Daniel Shrader on Vimeo.

At the conclusion of the service, there was a missionary roll call.  Missionaries from across the globe who are a part of the DBC faith family were recognized.  Those present came forward.  Those absent were shown on the screen.  Because some of these families serve in restricted areas,  we can't show you the video online, but it was a powerful time of recognizing that our God is an amazing God who uses simple clay pots to proclaim his greatness and display his glory.

We missed our little one while we were gone, but we're thankful for technologies like Skype that let talk "face to face".

Lily loves books. Even on Skype she wanted to read mommy and daddy a book!

We'd like to say a special thank you to Dan and DeCole Cody who hosted us for our entire two weeks in Texas.  We did a lot of coming and going, and they were super-chill and encouraging the whole time.  

Things you can be praying for this week:

1.  While in Texas we got to interact with some people doing ministry very similar to ours and learn from them.  We know there are area we need to improve in.  Please pray the Lord would guide us as we seek to implement changes in our day to day that would increasingly reflect the goodness of God and greatness of his grace.
2.  Also while we were in Texas, we were given a new strategic planning process to work through as a team as we discuss our long range goals.  Please pray the Lord would bless our planning time over the next month to two.
3.  On the homefront, please pray for Lily.  She's cutting her two year molars, and while she's her normal pleasant self during the day, she's not sleeping well.  She's been up crying multiple times in the middle of the night for most of the last week.  When Meredith went in to get her up yesterday morning, she was crying hard.  Meredith asked if Lily if she could show mommy where it hurt and she opened her mouth WIDE and pointed.  She then said "My top and my bottoms!"  We're keeping the painkillers flowing, but she's still pretty uncomfortable.  At this point, we could all use a good nights sleep. 

Greetings from Denton, Texas!

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Mel and Patty Sumrall at the elders luncheon.  Mel is the founding pastor of Denton Bible Church.  He's a refreshingly humble man whose ministry has touched tens of thousands of lives.  He and Patty have been married 66 years, and he still takes great care of his sweetheart.

Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,
      As I write this, we are almost half way through our trip west.  We arrived in Denton, TX on Wednesday evening.  We were blessed to participate in two conferences led by Paul David Tripp this past weekend.  For the first conference, we learned about our Dangerous Calling and some of the unique difficulties of life in ministry.  He challenged us to consider life in terms of a glory war between indwelling sin and our Creator who deserves all the glory.  He challenged us to consider whether or not awe of our Lord is our driving motivation for everything.  It was a humbling and refreshing time to be reminded of who we are in light of who God is.
    We were also blessed to attend his "What Did You Expect?" marriage conference.  His presentation of God's truth for marriage was humbling and challenging.  We'll go home with plenty to process through, but from the outset, we would recommend the material to anyone desiring to understand and deepen their marriage.  You can find more information about available resources here.

Paul Tripp teaching about marriage.

On Saturday evening we had dinner with all the other missionaries.  There are 51 missionary families represented this week from all over the globe.  It was fun catching up with friends and hearing their stories about serving King Jesus all over the globe.  Sunday after church we had lunch with the other missionaries and the Denton Bible Church elders.  At lunch we got to visit with Mel and Patty Sumrall, the founding pastor of DBC, and his wife, which is always a privilege and a joy. 

Our friends Dennis and Allison Omondi and their daughter Anjela are Serve missionaries in Kenya.  Their son BJ is still in Kenya because the adoption process has been slow.

Today Charlie and I met with Pat Smith of SERVE Denton to learn about ways they're increasing the gospel influence in their benevolence ministries.  We gleaned some ideas about how we might be able to improve what we do at the Storehouse day to day.  The rest of this week is filled with teaching times where we'll be nourished from the Word, and meetings where we'll plan and strategize for the upcoming year.  We are excited about this time of planning and encouragement.   

Things you can be Praying for this week:

1.  This week is filled with meetings and teaching times where we'll have the chance to be fed and nourished by the Word.  Please pray our hearts will be soft and the week will be fruitful. 

2.  We left miss Lily in Tennessee with her grandmother for this trip.  We miss her greatly and the separation is difficult, so pray that the time would pass quickly.  Also, please pray for "Meme" as she takes care of Lily this week.
3.  The DBC missions conference is Friday night and Saturday.  Please pray that the Lord would use the conference mightily in the lives of all of those who are able to attend.
4.  Next Sunday night we'll start the trek home, and finish the drive next Monday.  Please pray the Lord would keep us safe on the road.  

Charlie and Earlene at the What Did You Expect? marriage conference.  Even after 51 years I think there were still some elbows being nudged during the conference!

Missionaries at dinner!

Team TN with Pastor Mel.

At the elders luncheon, there were more missionaries sent out by the church present than there were members when the church opened its doors.  It's amazing what the Lord has done.

2012 in the Rearview

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Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,

thank you so much for sticking with us through another eventful year.  As we embark on a new year, we felt like it would be appropriate to pause and remember with thankful hearts all that the Lord has done for us this year.

In January 2012, we were struggling with some culture shock and adjusting to life in East Tennessee.  We hadn't made many friends here yet, our financial support was a little unstable, and ministry started out differently than we'd expected.  A year later, we've been blessed to have formed some wonderful new friendships with families at church, our financial support has stabilized, and even though ministry is still different than what we expected, it's a good different that the Lord has blessed tremendously in his own unique way.

In February, we started leading the first Financial Peace University class at First Baptist with 15 families.  It was a good group of folks who allowed us to help them improve their financial literacy and start moving towards a debt-free lifestyle.  This month we started praying seriously about buying or building  a house, and I'm blessed to say I'm writing this blog from the living room of our new home.

In March, John and Ngoc Brown flew up from Texas for a visit this month and provided some sorely needed encouragement and counsel.  We are so thankful that they took time out of their busy schedules to come share life with us.  In many ways, their visit was something of a turning point for us that solidified our decision to stay here and put down roots.

In April, we started answering the most commonly asked questions about our ministry on the blog.  In case you missed them, you can check those out here.  Just click the April tab on the right side of the page to see those questions and their answers.  We had super positive response from those posts, and it let us know someone out there actually reads these posts!

In May, Meredith and I celebrated our 5th anniversary.  I surprised her with a two-night stay at a bed and breakfast in Roan Mountain without Lily, and we slept almost our whole stay!  What does that says about us? 

In June, we hosted a short-term mission team from Denton Bible Church, which totaled almost 30 people over 10 days.  They did lots of projects, the most significant of which was a major overhaul of our Storehouse, including building an addition, relocating the air compressor, building an office/counseling space, and installing a drop ceiling throughout.  The long term result of this trip is that our facility now enables us to have more conversations with our clients about their needs, both physical and spiritual.

In July, ministry through the Storehouse continued steadily, and my dad arrived and construction began in earnest on our new home.

In August, our precious Lily celebrated her second birthday.  As every parent says, it's hard to believe how fast she's growing up!  She's become a truly delightful little person who brings a smile to the face of everyone she meets.  She talks a lot, and my mother says Lily uses longer sentences than some of her 8th grade english students.  I wonder where she learned to talk so much?

In September, I started teaching my first class in Christian Growth and Discipleship at the Seminary Extension in Johnson City.  It was a joy to teach, and I was truly blessed to get to know some incredible people.  Meredith started homeschooling Lily and already has her memorizing Bible verses, learning the days of creation, as well as colors and numbers.  They're fun to watch.



In October, we probably had the most "normal" month of the year.  We celebrated Meredith's 29th birthday for the first time.  I'll let you know if we celebrate it again next year.  Daniel continued teaching in the Seminary Extension and ministering at the Storehouse, while Meredith ministered at church to 5th grade girls on Wednesday nights.



In November, one of the highlights of our year was moving into our new home.  It's still not quite finished, but it's definitely home.  November was also an exciting month in ministry, because getting to take Thanksgiving meals to families in need is a unique blessing to everyone involved.

In December, hosted a short-term mission team from Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC, who came and serve with us for a long weekend.  They helped out with our Christmas Store outreach, which blessed families in our community with toys for their children as well as food and household items.  It also meant we hosted our first guests just 2 weeks after moving in!  We're looking forward to hosting many more guests in our home in 2013!


On one hand, it feels like the year passed quickly.  On the other, it feels like the Lord has brought us so far.  In particular, a year ago we felt out of place and somewhat isolated in East Tennessee.  Today, Greeneville feels like home, and the Lord has blessed us with community in through our local church.  Thank you for all of your prayers and support, and for enabling us to minister here in East Tennessee.

Things you can be praying for over the next two weeks:

Next Tuesday, January 8th, Meredith and I will set out for Denton, Texas on our way to the DBC Missions Conference, Treasure in Earthen Vessels.  We'll be gone for almost two weeks, so please pray for safe travels, and that the conference will be a blessing to all of those who are able to participate.  I'll send you an update on what the Lord did as soon as we get back.  Until then, be well!