Adive To New Missionaries

This is shared from Austin Gardner's blog here. It was a help to me so I thought I'd pass it along. Enjoy and God bless!

-Aaron


Advice To New Missionaries...
"Missionaries often mistake plunging into ministry for plunging into culture. They pay for a fast trip through language school by enduring years of slow and pain filled ministry. Some are disillusioned and discouraged when what were great ministry skills and experience in the US are not immediately useful overseas.” Let me add you must pay the price to learn the language. Decide now that if it means two years of language study that you will do it. Pay the price. Spend time with the people. Learn to laugh at yourself. But by all means get the language.
"I would strongly like to suggest to each of you that you find someone who knows how and what to do and learn from him. For those of you who believe that God has called you to missions you need to become your pastors right hand so that he can train you and help you to mature and develop your character. Then once you arrive on the mission field I strongly suggest that you get personally involved with a veteran missionary who can really help you and train you. Things are different on the mission field. Be willing to learn.
“I just read about a young lady who was willing to pay the price to adapt to the culture where she was and so she learned to eat hot sauce on rice by adding one drop each day, but she learned. It wasn’t necessarily what she wanted but the price she paid to be able to win her adopted people.”

How Deep The Father's Love For Us!

I can't seem to get this song out of my head this morning so I am going to share it with all of you also. What an amazing thought about an amazing God. His love is deeper than we can ever imagine! Enjoy...

How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He would give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross
My guilt upon His shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no powr's, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Life

In the blogging world, there are many types of writers. There are those that post up to the minute news announcements, these can be referred to as the Minutemen. Then you have those that post a daily dish of deep insight, you can call these Deep Thinkers. Of course, you can't forget the weekly update type, these go by the title Just-The-Fact'ers. Then you have people like me--The Oh-Yeah-I-Forgot-I-Have-A-Blog'ers. Yes, it really has been since April since I've posted anything at all. Wow.

Brief update:

•I was married in April to my wonderful wife, Aubrie. I know, it's hard to believe she actually said "Yes!" God really gave me what I needed in a wife! She has been a huge blessing and is a big help and encouragement to me each day.

•In June the Lord finally came through with a job that I have really been enjoying since. I have been working under the Public Health system, working with Hispanic families with special needs children. This job definitely fits the bill for what was necessary for us to continue working at Lighthouse Baptist Church as Spanish Pastor ( www.ibelfaro.wordpress.com ), and has actually taught me many things about ministering to people, organization, Hispanic culture and life. I have the great opportunity to share my faith on nearly a daily basis with people, both coworkers and clients' families. Not to mention the hours are wonderful. Thanks, God!

•In August--on my birthday no less--my wife broke the news to me that we are expecting!! We are thrilled that God has counted us faithful and worthy to be parents, and we ask Him daily to give us the wisdom to be the parents we need to be. We actually found out yesterday that we are having a GIRL! Praise the name of Jesus! I'll (try to) keep you updated with how this is going.

•In October we celebrated our Third Anniversary in the Spanish Church, Iglesia Bautista El Faro in Dawsonville, GA. It is hard to believe that time has flown by as quick as it has. I suppose that this is life in general -- just a vapor. We had a wonderful service with around 30 people in attendance and a great day at the park afterward. God has continued to bless our efforts and we are seeing new visitors almost on a weekly basis. You can keep up with what is going on at the church at my other blog, ibelfaro.wordpress.com . It is in Spanish, but I'll be posting pictures there too--those can easily span the gap if you don't know too much of the language.

•November has been a great month for us as well. Aubrie is doing well in her pregnancy and is not quite as queezy as she was during the first few months. Keep praying for us as we continue this awesome journey called life, and now with our new little passenger along the way.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates in the life of the Vances. Maybe the next post will be sometime before the baby is born in April. ;-)

May Christ Be Magnified,
Aaron Vance
Philippians 1:20-12

Time Flies!

It is official. I am a bum. Seems time flies when you're having fun. And when you're super busy I suppose. So much has happened since my last post. Here is a brief update of my life.

First of all, I'm am pleased to announce that I will be leaving tomorrow evening for Ashland, Ohio where I will gain a teammate in this game called life. I'm getting married this Saturday!! Can you believe it? There really are too many stories and not enough time to really enumerate all that God has done in the past couple weeks. To make a long story short, I haven't had a full time job since february and Aubrie's job isn't that hot, but the Lord has really provided in amazing ways! Just seeing his hand work in our lives makes me so excited to be called his child. We've seen him provide financially and spiritually countless times. I can't wait to see what he's going to do next!

Spanish church is going well and we had a great Easter service a couple days ago. Many were able to participate in the Lord's supper for the first time and it was such an exciting time. Keep praying God's will is done there, and that he would give me the wisdom to pastor and lead as I should. I'm growing, learning and practicing and I love it!

OK, that should be all for right now. Be sure to pray for Aubrie and I as we travel this weekend. Not only do we have a 12 hour trip to Ohio, but we've got a 20 hour trip to Miami for our cruise then another 11 hours back home. Good thing I'm a fan of road trips. I'll be sure to update you all when we return. God bless!

Now Introducing...

I'd like you to meet my beautiful fiance, Miss Aubrie Jade Bernard. For those of you who do not know yet, we will be getting married on April 18, 2009 in Ashland, Ohio. Praise Jesus!


...And, it really is Jesus that deserves the praise here. He has done many great things in order to bring us together, not all of which make sense, but all of which are a tribute of His majesty.

Aubrie is the finest Christian young lady I've ever met. She comes from a not-so-ideal childhood, but God has kept her and protected her in a very special way. Since she never really knew her
biological father, God has really been a true father to her over the years. She was saved as a child and was faithful in church all through her youth.

In August of 2007 she went with her home church, Calvary Baptist Church (Ashland, OH) on a missions trip to Arequipa, Peru. There, they joined a team of 100 people in order to do a medical clinic in the city. They were able to treat thousands of patients, each of which had a personal session with a counselor from the Peru Bible College before receiving treatment. In all, they saw just under 1,400 people trust Christ! Amen!

I lived in Arequipa and even worked with that same ministry during 2004 as part of my missions training in Bible College. Since I knew a lot of people there, and even some that were on the trip, I heard a lot about what God did during that time. I also heard about Aubrie. We got into contact shortly thereafter, God knit our hearts together, and here we are. Engaged. Crazy, is it not?

For about a year we maintained a long distance friendship/relationship, making lots of trips back and forth to Ohio, Georgia, and other states for conferences and such that we both attended. I became quite familiar with both Interstate 75/71 and the Atlanta International Airport during this time. I also racked up a lot of minutes on the cell phone (thank God for Verizon's free in-network calls haha), and became quite familiar with Skype and the US postal service. It was in June that God confirmed in my heart that she was the one. There was no doubt in my mind.

In October of last year God made it possible for Aubrie to move down to GA. She lived with a widow from LBC at first, and later moved into an apartment with two other singles from the church. I was able to see even more clearly that this girl was truly the sweetest, smartest, most caring, most God-fearing, most precious and not to mention most beautiful girl I've ever met. She has been a help to me in the Spanish Ministry at Lighthouse, an encouragement to me in my leadership, a compliment to who I am and she has become my best friend. She makes me a better person. She has changed my life and I love her with all of mine, only second to Christ himself.


I proposed on Thanksgiving Day. Without a doubt, there is nothing and nobody I am more thankful for, apart from my salvation, than Aubrie Jade Bernard. God has brought many influencial people into my life over the years, and I thank God for them, but my biggest blessing has been Aubrie.

Please be praying that God's will would continually be done in us and through us--that we would follow Christ through each step of life, both here in the US as we serve at Lighthouse Baptist Church and down the road when we are in South America. The wedding is coming up soon, and as no doubt you can guess, I am very excited. Not to reach the "Goal" of being married, but to reach the proverbial "Starting block" of this new phase of my life.

What is "Be Magnified?"

Some may be wondering, "what does he mean by 'Be Magnified' anyways?" Simple. I desire nothing more than that Jesus Christ would be lifted up and magnified in my life. I want to be a magnifying glass for the Lord Jesus. What does a magnifying glass do? It just makes whatever is on the other side appear larger to the viewer. My life, my body, my actions are to be nothing more than a looking-glass so people can see what is on the inside--God. And God, magnified.

Paul writes something along these lines in Philippians 1:20-21:

"According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

We live in a day where SELF is exalted. My job. My money. My life. My family. My time.... You get the picture. This egotistic lifestyle, though halfway gratifying for a small portion of time, will fade away. It is a life that remains empty of purpose, of no value to society, and worthless to God, the very one that created us. Ephesians 2 tells us that he has made us for something greater:

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

So, why do so many choose to live for less? Because though amazingly gratifying and rewarding, it is a life that requires sacrifice. That is why Paul so blatantly states, "Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death." God calls for us to die. Not always physically, but always in our Will. The magnifying glass must realize that his purpose is not to be admired for his handiwork or beauty, but for people to SEE clearly what's on the other side. Self-pride is not an option. Hence, the name, "Be Magnified." That is my prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll end with the words of John the Baptist:

"He must increase, but I must decrease."

First Sign of Life

Just as I thought I had technology beat, a sense of urgency seemed to be calling me. Every day, I get up, get ready, get going, get busy, get serving, get blessings, get home and get sleeping and as the world turns around me, the majority of them have no idea. Is this such a big problem? Perhaps no, but what if? What if somebody wanted to know what I ate for breakfast, or how many we had in Spanish Church, or how my wedding plans are going? How would they find out? Well, the average person could just give me a call or ask me in person, but what if they don't have a phone? Or a car to come see me? This screams a potential need. So what is the answer? A blog. My own personal soapbox--a podium to broadcast what is going on in my head to the outside world. Will anybody ever read it? Who knows. I do, however, plan to enjoy myself here, so if you are up for it, subscribe, visit often and brace yourself. You are about to enter into my life.