Things Do Not Always Go As Planned

One of our favorite Bible verses is found in Proverbs 16:9
A man's heart plans his ways,
But the LORD directs his steps.

A year ago, things seemed to be rolling along as we were adjusting to life in the Springs. November hit and we found out that there was trouble brewing in the congregation. Long story short, we experienced our first true church split. After 31 years of walking with the Lord, we had dodged the bullet.

Was it hard? Yes!
Were hurtful things said about us? Yes!
Have we been & are we being stretched? YES!
Are giving up? NO!

I think of Peter when Jesus asks them in John chapter 6 if they were going to leave and Peter said, "Where can we go? You hold the words of life!" We are adjusting. God is in control. Psalm 139 says every day was fashioned for us at the foundation of the world.

So we make our plans, God directs our steps, & we learn of grace, love, peace, joy, goodness, kindness, gentleness, etc. etc. etc! All for the glory & by the grace of GOD!

Still serving & worshiping the Master!
Wayne & Brooke

Loving the Fellowship of Believers

We are now going into our 5th month at Calvary Chapel True North. The Lord is at work and we are being poured at for His glory! Things are not perfect because God has chosen imperfect vessels to minister to imperfect vessels.

I was reminded the other day that I have been called to be an under-shepherd of Jesus Christ but I am also a sheep. As an under-shepherd I am not better, more righteous, nor perfect but I am more responsible and accountable to the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ. James says, "Let not many of you be called teachers because you fall under a stricter judgement."

We are really enjoying the fellowship of the believers. We have missed the consistent preparation of study for teaching & the fellowship of the believers. Brooke is leading the Women's Bible Study with a series this Summer called a walk through the Psalms. The women are enjoying it very much! She is also heading up the Worship Ministry and I am REALLY enjoying her worship sets!

We are chronologically going through the Gospels on Sunday morning so we are jumping between Matthew, Mark, Luke & John. I have had the opportunity to teach this series a couple of times and enjoy it very much! I learn something new or am reminded of things I have not thought of in a while every time I teach. I felt like the Lord was telling me to take the church through the Gospels so we can see what Jesus did & imitate Him in our daily lives.

I am also doing the one thing that I enjoy most; discipleship! I meet with several men during the week & attend the Friday morning Men's Study as a participant. We just started Tuesday Night Discipleship Training & currently going through a Foundations series. After this series I will teach A Survey of the New Testament & then A Survey of the Old Testament. My prayer is that a couple of others will also teach classes so that at some point we will have 3 or 4 classes running concurrently every Tuesday evening. Thus the body of Christ @ CCTN will grow in the grace & knowledge of Jesus Christ!

This Sunday we are looking at three of Jesus' first parables; 1. The friends of the bridegroom 2. New cloth on old garment 3. New wine and old wineskins. Jesus was being questioned by the religious folks why His disciples did not fast & pray like the disciples of John the Baptist & the Pharisees. His parables show us that the old religious system was not compatible with the new dispensation of grace in the coming church age.

I think we have to look at our relationship with the Lord & our acts of worship & ask ourselves if we have become old wineskins that cannot take in the new wine. Now I admit there is nothing new under the sun. And if someone says they have new revelation that it is more than likely just an old lie of the enemy wrapped in a new package.

What I am talking about is how we can get stuck in traditions of man rather than being agents of the transforming Gospel. Jesus was accused several times in Luke of being a winebibber (wino), glutton & friend of sinners. My feeling is this, "Lord help us to get out of our comfort zone that others in the body of Christ might accuse us of such things because we are not concerned or worried about being with sinners." That we are willing to sully our reputation because we have a heart & love for the least, the last, & the lost.

Lord, help us to hear & obey Your Spirit! Help us to get over ourselves & love the lost; to REALLY love the lost! We need You to lead us & guide us to those You have chosen, to those who are seeking You, to those who are in search of the truth! Give us Your heart & Your mind that we might know Your will! Get us out of our comfort zone & give us the strength to pick up our cross & to follow You daily! We love You, we need You! Thank you for Your grace, mercy, judgement & truth. Lead us on!
In the name of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ!
AMEN!

Please continue to pray for us! The Beard Family (our daughter Marillyn, son-in-law Jon & 5 Grands!) just moved in with us, so they need prayer as they transition from the past 10 years of life in the Honduran Mission Field to the USA!

We Give Thanks ...

We Give Thanks to God for ... There are many things to be thankful for as we seek and serve the Lord here in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. The following are a few things we are thankful for: 1. The grace of our loving Father. He is so patient, loving and faithful! His Son died for our sins and He sent His Spirit as our Helper. 2. Each other. The Lord has brought Brooke and me through many things over the years and we see our love growing deeper as a result of the difficult times. 3. Family. Our one daughter has given us 5 beautiful grandchildren. We could not imagine our life without them or their amazing parents. Also my father and mother because they had to put up with a lot over the years and they still love me! 4. You! This is a last but not least item because without your prayers, encouragement, support and love, we would not have the privilege of making disciples.  Thank You, which can never be said enough! 5. Puerto Morelos. It amazes us that the Lord allows us to live in such a beautiful place as we go and make disciples. There are so many more people and things for which to be thankful! Prayer Request Please pray for the outreach dinner that we are hosting on Thanksgiving; 50 people are attending. We know only a handful of them so we are excited to get to know more people from this community. There will be people from the USA, Canada, Mexico, France, South Africa and Germany, so it should be a very interesting & fun time! Thank you for thinking of us as you gather to give thanks this coming Thursday! We covet your prayers!   May God richly bless you! Wayne & Brooke

DIVINE APPOINTMENTS By Brooke

I wish I had the space and you had the time so I could share all the divine appointments God has brought about in just the past few weeks. Honestly, I have seen God move many times and in many ways, but usually at a pace that I find too slow and I have to reign myself in, or my husband does! However, this time He is moving at a pace where we find ourselves running to keep up. It seems that every day there is a divine moment, a conversation, an unexpected meeting, an event that can only be of God.


For example, two days ago a "chance" meeting brought us into contact with a family here. I heard they home-schooled and wondered if they were Christians. My friend and I went for a visit yesterday which turned into another God event. This Christian family from Colorado has been living in Puerto half the year for the past 10 years. They currently travel to Cancun for fellowship and have been praying for years for the Lord to bring someone to Puerto to shape a Christian community. They are as excited that we are here as we are that they are here. They have a wealth of knowledge about the community and the culture of Mexico which will be a great blessing for us as we set down roots. Plus, I will have a friend with a kindred Spirit in Christ!

The best part of the pace with which God has chosen to build is that we don’t even have the chance to get our hands on it. What I mean is, so often, because God does move slowly, we think we need to help Him out. Kind of like Sarah did with her maidservant, trying to force or make things happen! When Wayne and I moved here to Puerto, we made a covenant with God and each other that we were going to let God do all the building. We simply wake up each day, pray, avail ourselves for His use and see what happens. So far everyday something happens. Life happens, people happen and God’s Love happens!

Look around the fields are white for harvest, so many searching for answers and we can provide those answers. Thanks for being a part of this divine journey!

When Change Happens

The main event this past month (May) has been Brooke’s accident. She fell from her bicycle and damaged some discs in her back. We had enough frequent flier miles to send her back to Iowa so our chiropractor could help “put her back together”. Please take a moment to read her thoughts posted here in her new blog, "Fun And Faith"



The building for the Coffee House Ministry did not materialize, but we know the Lord will open up another opportunity in His time. We are in no hurry to “make something happen”. Until that time, we realize that our home is in a great location to use it for ministry. We are already meeting here for home church on Sundays and when we return in July, we want to open up our home a couple of days a week for people to receive prayer and have conversations. We will "hang a shingle" outside, post our intentions on FB and see what the Lord does. Please pray for many divine opportunities.




We are heading back to Iowa for the month of June to deal with our remaining worldly possessions. We will also be speaking at several churches so please come see us if you are in the area! One of the best things about this trip, however, is that our two oldest grand-daughters, Naomi and Tabitha, will be with us. We have many fun things planned and we are all (them & us) very excited about our time together. Marillyn is travelling with them into Chicago so we will also be with her and Mathias, the newest Beard addition, for a few days!

When Change Happens by Wayne
I read a good article the other day “The 7 Ways we Secretly Rank Each Other”. It talks about how we judge a ministry and its effectiveness; Is it on the front lines? Does it add up to our paradigm of what ministry should look like. Etc. So take a moment to click on the title above which is linked to this article.

Following are some ideas I posted on Facebook regarding our journey and the subsequent changes as a result of the accident I had in Honduras in December 2014 as it relates to this article. Please take a moment to read and hopefully this will reveal more of our heart and philosophy of ministry.

For several years, we were traveling 9-10 months a year. Now the Lord has settled us for a season in Puerto Morelos, Mexico. We used to minister to hundreds of people every year. Now we have the beginnings of a church plant and there are less than a dozen people that we minister to on a semi-regular basis. We used to see a lot of really cool places. Now we are in a very little fishing community. So it is easy to wonder at times if we are "being effective". But we know the Lord is using us and will use us because he has always used us for His kingdom. We have pioneered several ministries, this one just looks different!


This is a very different but exciting season for us because we are in a community where people are seeking truth, peace and joy but not truly finding it. They are looking in the wrong places; Buddha, meditation, self-actualization, mysticism ... you name it, total New Age but seeking after all of the old lies.

I believe Jesus told us that if we want to be somebody in the kingdom, we need to be willing to be nobody! We are told not to neglect the days of the small things. We are also told not to grow weary when we are doing what the Lord has called us to because in His time there will be a harvest.

So press on my friends! Let us keep our eyes on the prize of the upward calling in Christ Jesus! ¡Dios les bendiga!

THE WAITING IS OVER!!  We are so excited to share that God has finally shown us the next step and released us to go. We spent last week in Puerto Morelos, Mexico and our spirits leaped within us! There is so much ministry opportunity, first with the Expats who come from, literally, every corner of the globe. We met French, German, Canadian, Swedish, and of course Americans. There is a strong sense of spiritually. Many people are into various types of meditation, Zen, Buddhism and everything in between. The exciting thing is that the people are very open to engaging in conversations with differing ideas. It reminded us of the story in Acts when Paul was in Athens conversing with the philosophers and religious people. He named their unknown god for them and that is the feeling we had in Puerto Morelos. The town is set around a beautiful central square in front of the beach. People just wander in and start playing music, selling artisan goods and performing. What a great place for outreach; short term teams doing skits, kids clubs, skate ramps, music and the list goes on. Every weekend the square fills up with tables as the artisans sell their wares, locals sell food and people just hang around and engage in conversation. Our vision to open a Coffee House/Ministry Center fits perfectly into this atmosphere. In fact, we came upon a little coffee shop that is doing many of the things we envision, but ours would have a Christian perspective. They have conversation nights where they announce a subject and people come for discussion. They have movie nights. They offer palates and yoga classes and they have music nights. Our desire is to engage people one by one, one on one with the love and good news of Jesus Christ. We envision Bible studies, music events, classes, a place for prayer and just for someone to listen. We saw several buildings that might work but we know first we need to get settled, familiarize ourselves with the territory and build some relationships. So please pray for us as we continue to seek His direction and timing for all these things. It would be easy to jump but we don’t want to get ahead of the Lord. The other wide open ministry field is with the Mexican population and the foreign working class. Just up the road is a little colonial town. Many of the people who work in Puerto Morelos live here. There is a huge housing complex called Villas La Playa. There must be over a thousand apartments and another 500 townhouses. Although it sounds kind of scary, it is actually nicely done and maintained. They have lovely greens and several parks. There are tons of kids and youth and of course just people from everywhere. We found out about it from a Puerto Morelos restaurant manager who is from Ireland. He and his family live here because it is inexpensive and they enjoy the other families. Our desire is to engage the people here as well. We imagine Kids Clubs in the park for both English and Spanish speaking children, ladies and men’s bible studies, helps ministries and whatever the Lord shows us is needed. I know…how can we do all of this? We have been praying for God to raise up others to come along side. We just received news that our dear friend, Leticia Acosta, is going to join us. She is actually the one who suggested Puerto Morelos! The awesome thing about Leti is that she is a mature Christian with experience. She has already been a missionary, is an older (40’s) gal with lots of wisdom and best of all, she is Mexican American and speaks both languages fluently. We see her engaging with the people in Villas la Playa. Her daughter just graduated from Calvary Chapel Bible College and is also praying about coming along . How awesome would that be? We continue to pray for more ministry partners as God unfolds His plans. So what is the next step? God has provided us a little one bedroom apartment for April and May. Our plan is to attend language school and commit 100% to finally learning conversational Spanish. We desire to speak it well enough to share the gospel effectively! While we are there, we will begin to pray and search out where we might live longer term. We will also spend time getting familiar with the town and people. In June we return to Iowa to rid ourselves of the rest of our accumulated stuff from our house we sold last year. We will also visit with family, friends and several supporting churches. Our hope and prayer is that in July we will be returning to PM to begin our new ministry! Let us end with this. We never want to be presumptuous with God. So although we feel pretty certain this is it. We also know that even in the next couple of months He could show up and change our direction. Remember, A mans heart plans his ways but the Lord directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9. So, we are moving forward but continuing to pray for final confirmation as we are on the ground there. We would appreciate your prayers for clarity and direction in all of this. We also hope many of you will come and serve with us. It is easy to travel there from the States, very safe and inexpensive. We are 30 minutes south of Cancun on the highway. God bless you all and again, thank you for the years of support and encouragement. The Lord is good always and all ways!

¡Felize Navidad y Felize Año Nuevo a su familia a la nuestra! 
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to your family from ours!

Brooke and I thank the Lord for your faithfulness over the past years to pray for us, to encourage us and to give towards our ministry and personal needs! Thank you for being faithful partners!

We just returned from Honduras for the birth of our 5^th grandchild, Mathias Caleb Beard. He was born on December 9 at 5:18 pm just one day before Brooke's birthday. She was there to catch him at this home water-birth with his eyes wide open coming into this world! He has captured all of our hearts and we are excited to see what the Lord does in His life as well as the four elder grandchildren!

The end of the year closes with us traveling to the West Coast to spend time with friends, to attend the Calvary Chapel Missions Conference and to seek His will for our future. From the end of December through January we will travel from Baja California to Washington. We are excited about spending time with our friends in the Pacific Northwest because we have not seen many of them for years and because we have never been to this part of the US.

The end of January will find us in Peru until mid February. I am teaching a three week class on Romans at the Calvary Chapel Bible College in Cajamarca. We were here several years ago and loved our time with the students and staff so we are looking forward to this once again.

Please keep praying for our direction in ministry. We know there are many good things within God's permissive will that we can do, but in our latter years we desire His perfect will for us. Romans 8:27; 12:2
Ephesians 5:14-17

We love Costa Rica so we would love to stay in country. There is a small group of believers in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua without a church family so my heart goes out to them. There is a need to disciple believers in Cuba and raise up church leaders. We love Mexico. We love Peru. The world is our pallet and God is the artist swiping the brush (us) where He pleases. Our vision and purpose has always been to pour into the next generation so we are asking the Lord to bring them into our path so we can journey with them to plant English/International churches, ministering to the nationals, reaching out to the least, the last and the lost.

We have prayerfully put our vision to print and would love to share it with you. Please click here if you desire to read it!

So your continued prayers, encouragement and support are appreciated as we make this journey!

Blessings!

Wayne and Brooke

Strength for Today

by Wayne Goranson

Thank you for taking the time to stop and read this latest Update! Your prayers, financial support and encouragement have been a blessing to us on this journey to recovery.

My orthopedic surgeon gave me a good report this past month; I am healing so the aches and pains I am experiencing are normal for this type of injury. Some bones in the hip are still broken but healing. The ankle bone is totally healed. So he does not need to see me again unless something comes apart. There is no need for the use of a cane and he wants me to exercise often. So praise the Lord for His healing power!

I did not realize how much this was weighing on my mind until I felt a sense of relief and calm fall on me after the appointment. I have been taking it real easy over the past few months because the hip was popping and creaking and the last thing I wanted to do was re-injure it. 

So now we press on to the new normal. There is no going back to pre December 2014. There will always be some kind of limitations but praise God I am able to do the things I can do!

Moving On
So where do we go from here? As I mentioned last time, we believe the Lord has been directing us tochurch plant here in Central America. Costa Rica seems like the natural place to start, but we also have an invitation to come to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. We visited our friends in San Ramon de Alajuela before going to spend time with our grand children in August. Our friend, Pastor Federico Acuna, has invited us to come and start an international church there. His church is Iglesia Olivo Verde  (Green Olive Tree), which is located across the street from the University of Costa Rica. Pastor Federico translated Inductive Bible Study Seminars for me back in 2008 and 2009. He is now teaching the seminars throughout Costa Rica and other parts of Central America. We also have a heart for Mexico and would be open to plant a church in Ensenada or Guadalajara, two places with large expatriate communities.

The world is our drawing board and we are willing and able to pretty much go anywhere the Lord directs. Our ministry verse for the past 8 years has been;  A mans heart plans his ways,but the Lord directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9 

So we pray and ask you to pray with us for the Lord's direction. Pray the Lord will bring us in contact with young men with a vision to plant churches and a desire for an older couple to come along side to help them. Specific to now, please pray as we travel around in Oct/Nov and visit locations to discover God's plan for us.

I have also been asked to lead a Men's Bible Study at Horizon Church. We will be going through the book of Proverbs. Please pray for the men that need to attend and that will attend!

August and September
We had a great time with the grand children in Honduras in August while Jon and Marillyn travelled to the States to share with a few supporting churches and have a "baby moon" before baby Cinco arrives. (No that is not the name. It just means 5 in Spanish!) I also spent time directing the Honduran crew while they installed the roof on the new staff residence, Casa de Apoyo (Support Home). The kids also participated in the first ever RO4Y summer Olympics; javelin toss, grape fruit toss, soccer ball control, 50 meter dash. What a blast!
                                          

In September we went back to Iowa for doctors appointments. while there we also spent time with family and spoke at 3 supporting churches (CC Des Moines, CC Mason City, Britt Free Church). Here is the message I taught at CCDM, "Live Like You're Dying!" Thank you to everyone who welcomed us into their homes and churches and made us feel so loved!
 

One Flesh
I realized as I am typing this Update that I rarely share what a blessing my wife, Brooke, is to me. She has left many of her creature comforts to follow me around different parts of the world. She has experienced many things that would take out a much weaker woman; malaria, bugs galore, funky food, bad beds, jet lag, etc... not to mention having to put up with me. So I want to take this time to let you all know how much I love this woman and I am blessed to have her by my side and also venturing into the areas of ministry in which the Lord has gifted her. She has taken up so much of the burden these past 2 years as I recovered!

This month we celebrate 33 years of marriage and 27 years in ministry! Thank you Brooke Emily Goranson for being my help mate!

Direction

Greetings Friends!
These past few months have been a time of much contemplation regarding the future direction of our ministry, Water, Worship & the Word. I am gaining strength daily now and understanding more clearly the physical constraints of my new normal. Brooke and I have also been diligently seeking to hear God clearly on what, where and when! Just recently, we found ourselves talking about planting an International Church* somewhere in Central America. Part of this stirring was the remembrance of several prophecies I have received over the years, that I am to be planting churches, not just one but several. The first one was way back in 1993 while on a missions trip in Australia and the most recent was just this past February.

As I look back over the years, I can see where I have been considering this call and then find myself off doing other things; coming along side ministries to build, teaching at Bible colleges, training foreign Pastors. All good things but perhaps not God’s best. One of these things I love to do and do well is construction, so it is easy to find myself sidetracked and saying yes, especially to my daughter for whom I have built several projects at their ministry, Rancho Oasis 4 Youth in Honduras. But God in His sovereignty, in December of 2014, while I was in fact building a home for my daughter’s family, allowed my life course to change radically. As a result of that day, that accident, I am no longer able to construct much of anything. I can no longer squat, bend down, climb a ladder, get on my hands and knees or lift heavy objects. Hence, this has become less of a distraction for me. Granted I can still supervise and will be doing so with the installation of a roof at Rancho Oasis in August and other things through December, but I do not see myself actively involved in constructing and building on the mission field any longer.

Although I could be disappointed because I love it, I am actually excited that now perhaps I can focus wholeheartedly on what I believe is our call moving into 2017. God has already revealed locations that we are praying over and we trust He will also bring the confirmation of where the first church plant will take place. Additionally, He has shown me that I am to involve young married men in these plants, one Spanish speaking and one English speaking, with the purpose of training and raising them up and then when they are ready, passing the church on and moving on. How all of this will come to pass I do not know, but I know it is already planned out and now we must walk forward and watch God open doors and do what He does best, accomplish His will! I will be teaching at a few Calvary Chapel Bible Colleges in Latin America until we get clear marching orders. Perhaps out of these colleges will come partners for planting.

You, our many supporters, have been such a big part of this. Your words of encouragement and prayers over the years and especially this past year, have kept us going and looking and making ourselves available. All God wants is an available heart, one that will say yes! We just sold our home in Iowa so we are once again unburdened and ready to go whenever and wherever. Please pray that we would place our feet rightly behind His and let Him lead us out!

*For those who are not familiar with the term, International Church, it is an English speaking church partnering with, in our case, a Spanish speaking church. There are many places where people from the USA and Canada have moved to retire (or escape) and this type of church reaches out to these people as well as the locals. There is a growing need in many areas of C. A. for these International churches.

Thank you for standing with us through this past year and a half! It has been an amazing journey! One that I would have never asked for, but also a journey I would never want to change! Praise the Lord for His faithfulness and loving friends and family like you!

In His grace,
Wayne & Brooke

While I'm Waiting

By Brooke Goranson

The psalmist says “As I wait upon the Lord I grow stronger”. There are two words here that are so important…grow stronger. The only way to grow stronger is to do something. Often people say they are waiting on the Lord but when I ask what they are doing while they wait, they don’t understand. They are waiting! I ask them what they are waiting for; confirmation of course. Then I ask how they think confirmation will come.

There is an old saying that you can’t steer a parked car. This holds true when waiting on God as much as in any other arena. God cannot bring confirmation if we are not taking steps, taking action, moving. He will not be calling my cell phone, although I wish sometimes He would! What He will do is guide me as I continue to move forward. To do what is right in front of me. To make plans and take steps and allow Him to close one door and leave another open. I am reminded of the priests who were to cross the Jordan in Joshua Chapter 3. This story is such a great picture of moving forward and trusting God to take care of the details. He wants to lead us. He wants us to find His will and our place. He is not trying to trick us but He does expect us to play a role in the finding.

The reason I bring all this up is to say that this is where Wayne and I continue to find ourselves. We are waiting; Waiting on God to restore Wayne’s strength and health. Waiting for God to confirm when, where and what is next. In the meantime, we are growing stronger. We are busy about His business. We are serving and doing what is right in front of us to do and we are moving forward in various directions trusting that He will close those doors that are not His path for us and open others that we might not even know are there yet.

There have been other seasons of waiting in our past but none to the extent of this one. We have been told by many, who have been down this path of recovery before us, that Wayne will need at least two years after surgery to understand his new normal. To know his limitations physically and how this will affect ministry moving forward. His Doctor has also encouraged him to give himself two years. We are, as of July, one year from the final surgery. So we press on and keep seeking and serving and sharing and being faithful to the gospel. We have several thoughts as to what we would like to do but for now we wait upon the Lord and grow stronger.

We are so grateful to have such a strong partnership team. We know God is our provider but we know too that He likes to use His people to join together and accomplish His will. So we thank all of you who pray and give and encourage us on this journey. I won’t say we could not do it without you because this would not be true. God will have His way and His plans will be accomplished but we are glad you have chosen to be part of that plan. Please we would appreciate your prayers as we seek His direction and timing beyond the season we are in. We are blessed to be here in Costa Rica right now. God has us busy in a community that is in great need of discipleship and the love of Christ so we are at peace.

In closing I want to encourage you….are you seeking the Lord for something? Don’t just sit there waiting, get up and go. Make that call, fill out that paperwork, make that need known, ask others to pray for you and suddenly you will see Him right there in front of you leading the way. Things will start happening and suddenly you will find yourself fulfilling His will and plan for you and it will seem almost effortless. Let us know how we can pray for you. We would be blessed to partner with you as you seek Him.

Today's Faith

Brooke had the opportunity these past 2 months to speak at two Women's events; CC Pastor's Wives Retreat & CC Costa Mesa Women's Retreat. It is such a blessing for me to see how the Lord is using my wife. For so many years, she under girded me so I could minister and travel to share the good news of Jesus Christ, but now the Lord is using her in a different way. She also has 3 speaking engagements scheduled for the first quarter of 2016.  We see His hand in all things in our life!

During her last trip to California, she was interviewed by Cheryl Broderson on Today's Faith. If you take the time to watch and listen, you will get to know us a little better as you hear of God's faithfulness in our lives. God works all things to His glory! Please click on this link: Today's Faith

God bless you for listening. We invite feedback, so please let us know what you think.

Trusting in the Faithful One,
Wayne

Pruning

Jesus says in John 15 that we are the branches and He is the vine. He exhorts us to abide in the vine. And then He explains how the vine dresser cares for the branches. Some He lifts up and others He prunes or cleans.

This past year has totally been a year of being lifted up by the Lord. All through this trial of the accident and multiple operations, He has lifted me up so that I might continue.

Now as I recover, my body and mind seem to be much stronger than any time this year. So now is His time to prune, to clean. He is going deeper once again to prune out the sin in my life; covetousness, lust, pride, critical spirit, etc., etc., etc.

I think this is all a part of His process of maturing me for His good pleasure. Last May 2014 while in Ensenada, Mexico He said He wanted me to answer the call. Not sure what that meant nor do I know exactly what it means even now. But I know it was His voice. In September 2014 He told Brooke and me that we were to go back to Iowa in 2015 and wait on Him to reveal what He wanted to do next in our lives. Never in a thousand years did I think that would equate to a major life changing accident and three operations. But He has been faithful to sustain us spiritually, materially and physically.

We are not sure exactly how the Lord is going to use us in 2016 but we know that this has been a year of testing, trying, molding and shaping. We know that what ever He calls us to and where ever He calls us to, it will be for his glory; to spread the gospel, to go and make disciples, to equip and send.

Thank you Lord for counting this unworthy servant able to to accomplish Your will for Your kingdom!

We covet the prayers of the saints!

GAP Ugaanda 2014 from Wayne Goranson on Vimeo.

Things I Take for Granted

We just returned from 3 weeks in Uganda. It never ceases to amaze me how many things I take for granted living here in the USA. We have so many conveniences like:

Road side food some place between Paidha & Kampala, Uganda

1. Hot water on demand.
2. Water pressure above a fast trickle.
3. Gas ovens and stoves.
4. Cars that do not bellow high sulfur diesel smoke.
5. Interstate highways.
6. Roads with minimal pot holes.
7. People obeying traffic signs and not just regarding them as suggestions.
8. My Sleep Number Bed!
9. Electricity on demand that generally only goes out during a storm or someone knocks down a power pole.
10. Air that does not always smell like burning plastic.

It is so easy to complain about this country but when I leave and return after an extended time, I realize it is not all that bad!

America, bless God!

Off to the Congo

They have conquered the world

Boda-Boda taxi ride

Simple Obedience of Grace

And here is the little Angel!

Another Papi Adventure with the Beard kids!

The past 2 months were a total blessing, being with the Beard family in Honduras...planning & overseeing the construction of their home, building a pole barn, walking with grand-kids & just being another set of hands to do what ever is needed to live in the mountains of Honduras! Many people ask me if I enjoy going there & my response is always the same, “Yes, because my daughter & grand-babies live there.” Other than that, it is a very difficult country to live in. I know my “Kids” are called to live there so it is the best place to be … right in the middle of God’s will.  

Not actual picture of our tent but close!

I now also know what it means to be a tent dweller. Brooke and I lived in a tent for the month she was with me and then I bachelored it for a month. It was great! 14' x 10', queen size air mattress and chickens living next door. After the first night with 5 competing/crowing roosters the second night was much better ... 4 of the 5 ended up in the freezer ... if you know what I mean! ;-)

  A couple of things over the past couple months have caused me to once again asses my relationship with the Lord as it relates to ministry. One of the groups that came down to help was from our old church, CC Des Moines. One of the gals, Diana, blogged about her experience on her first short-term missions trip. She said she just wanted to be able to love on one person down there. This really struck a chord because that is what the Lord impressed upon me when I was preparing to go. He said, “Wayne, extend grace to everyone in every circumstance.” So I did & my son-in-law gave me a back-handed compliment the last week I was there. He said, “Thank you for being here to coordinate things the past couple of months. I really enjoy the new Wayne!”

  The “new Wayne”. What did he mean? Obviously I was not always the bearer of grace in the past. Pretty humbling but awesome at the same time. God told me to come to serve with grace & it is apparent that I was obedient in this simple but complex command. You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2Tim 2:1

  Another missionary friend from Peru blogged about our attitude in serving as missionaries. Many times it is easy to be doing stuff & justifying ourselves because we are “doing good stuff for God.” So why am I doing what I am doing? Is it out of grace & gratitude for all He has done, for giving His Son, His life? Any motivation other than Jesus is dung!

  I am also preparing to teach Jeremiah this coming month at CC Bible College in Ensenada, Mexico. As I have been studying it hit me that God told Jeremiah that if he thought it was tough now in his ministry, wait until it gets worse because He promised Jeremiah he was only at the tip of the iceberg. So the cushy, trouble free, everything is beautiful, kumbiah Christianity so many look for really does not exist if we are willing to put ourselves in the hands of the Almighty. 

  So the morale of the story is zip it, love the Lord and serve!

Running with grace,

Wayne

PS
Here is a brief presentation of the "birth" of an adobe house over about 5 weeks.

GAP Student Update

GAP Testimonials

We thought you all might be interested in hearing from the GAP Students; now that they have had time to process the past six months.

Madison Soy

“God surely has done a lot in my life due to my training in the GAP discipleship. Now I am much more confident in my faith, whereas before GAP I was questioning. Being confident in my belief in Jesus Christ helps me to stand on firm ground, allows my prayer life to have more meaning, and helps me to do ministry with a purpose for furthering the Gospel. I can say that  I have built my house on the rock (Luke 6:48)”

   Madison is preparing to serve in Uganda at an orphanage, Otino Waa. Please pray for her as she raises the support to serve for 5 months.

Andrea Boyce

"From the start, God has been showing me that when He says go, to actually go. At first when I heard about GAP God was telling me to go but I didn't hear it. Not until my pastor stood in church and talked about having faith in the Lord and to follow His will. It then hit me that God was calling me to go. I now continue that calling as I prepare to go to Honduras for 3 months. It is so great how God uses us for His purpose! Even if I don't see His calling I know that His will be done and He will use me either way! As they say in Lira, Uganda- 'Apacarote' which means 'Praise the Lord!'"

   Andrea is going to serve 3 months at RO4Y in Honduras, the ministry of our daughter and son-in-law, as a missionary nanny for our grand-babies. We are excited for her because we know she has her work cut out for her!

Eric Stephenson

“I'm excited to share what God has spoken to me about myself, and how it relates to His character. I've been so blessed to have been able to spend time with people in different places in the world. From meeting strangers, hanging with people in the Church, and ministering along with our team, I've been able to listen and share and be involved with people. When my motive was love centered in Jesus & His word, the Father was pleased.  Its about God and People. thanks again.  Love Eric”

   Eric is serving at his church, Calvary Chapel Sioux Falls, and a men’s shelter. We know the Lord will use him in this environment and grow him here!

Rebekkah Nelson

“God showed me what surrender truly means, what the Christian daily walk needs to look like. That it’s not about what I can do for Him in this life but what He has already done for me on the cross. He is sovereign in EVERY situation, and faithful to fulfill His promise to ..."work all things for our good.." All I have to do is wake up, and choose to love a God who loves me unconditionally and trust that He is guiding me even when I don't see it.”

   Rebekkah is serving along side of her mother in Des Moines, IA as a teachers assistant in an inner-city school. She has a great heart for kids and we know the Lord is at work in her life!

GAP 2014

We have two young women signed up for this coming year and several others praying for the Lord’s direction. Would you please pray with us? Would you pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest field? We know this is a huge commitment, but we also know there are great rewards for those willing to make the commitment.

2014 Begins

It is the first day of a new year! So many things to think about...what do I want to do different this year? What do I want to do better? What do I want to avoid? Then it occurs to me that I can't do anything, it is God who works in me to will and to do for His good pleasure. So, the thing I must do is surrender my mind, heart, soul and body over to Him and then my year will be what He wants it to be which will make it a great 2014 no matter what happens!! Whew...now I can stop fretting and start rejoicing that God is in control! Today is what I have so I will enjoy it! 

Thank you all for being part of my life! I pray that all of us will seek Him with all we are. Love and blessings to each of you in abundance!

In His Love!

Brooke

GAP

We are getting ready to temporarily move to Morgantown, WV to get ready for this coming 6 months of travel with a small group of students who desire to be discipled and to see how they can fulfill the Great Commission as missionaries. Right now we have 2 committed and 2 more potential students.

A friend from Des Moines emailed us this link, "Advocates of 'gap year' say time away from school builds confidence, expands worldview", about the benefits of a GAP Year.

Please pray for us as we pack and head into another chapter of this fun and crazy life the Lord has us living!

Here is our tentative schedule:
July to August - training in Morgantown.
September - Paidha and Lira Uganda
October - Inner City US ministry
November to December 15 - Central America; Honduras, Guatemala & Belize.
January to June 2014 - Students are placed with missionaries and we will be visiting to see the progress.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!

If there are still people out there praying for God's direction in this...it is not too late to say yes to an exciting and adventurous year serving the Lord!