Dependent on Who?

This past semester was a great time of learning the skills that I will need to be an effective church planter in a remote village. Through all the classes and interactions with staff and new friends I would have to say the two biggest lessons that I learned are dependence on God and dependence on the body of Christ. I remember one of my instructors telling us that even with this training, we will be equipped just enough to fall flat on our face once we get to the field if we are not relying on God. There were four or five different things that we were told “this will be the hardest thing you will do in your life” which as intimidating as that can be, it is comforting to know that I don’t need to depend on myself, but rather I find my dependence in God.

This next semester will continue to test my dependence on God and the body of Christ. Classes are already underway and we will be covering many different classes such as; Animism, Field Health, Missionary Technology, Romans, Folk Islam, Field Safety and New Testament Church Principles to name just a few. This semester is really going to stretch me in ways that I never imagined.

I am hoping that by the end of this semester I will have all the possibilities of where I may be serving narrowed down to my top three county choices. Join me in prayer this semester as I continue to learn the skills necessary to be an effective church planter among the unreached.

In Christ

Dan Thannum

A New Kind of Resolution

7,114 That’s the number of unreached people groups currently in our world, that equals 2.86 billion people. That is 2.86 billion people that break Gods heart daily and 7,114 people groups that one day will be worshiping around the throne of our Victorious lamb Jesus Christ that currently have nobody walking in the light. These people show a great darkness in our world but there is a greater hope that is about to encounter many of these people for the first time this very year.

This is a time of year where everybody is making resolutions about what they are going to try to do to make their life better over this next year. Why don’t we, as members of the world wide Church, resolve to do something to bring one unreached person into contact with the amazing news of our Lord Jesus Christ this year. While it is admirable to try to lose some weight, or read more or whatever it may be, just imagine how rewarding it will be to one day meet someone in heaven and have them say “I don’t know if I would be here if it wasn’t for you, thank you!”

This year let’s resolve to not do even the good things if they get in the way of the best things. Let’s resolve to make the focal points of our lives the one who gave us life. Let’s resolve to see people how God sees them, and have the things that break Gods heart break our heart. Let’s resolve to make a difference in the life of one person, not just the kind of difference that will make a bad person into a good person, but the kind of difference that will make a person who is dead in sin, alive in Christ!