Home Sick

WOW!!! The past few weeks were amazing!! I don't really know where to start. First of all, God is good and He is alive! We went on several different trips this month, working in a mixture of public schools and churches. In the middle of all that we took a couple days to just hang out on this island where we went scuba diving and other stuff. It was a blast! I cannot wait to get home and see everyone. One thing I have to tell you about is this youth camp we were able to be a part of. There were people there from 9 different countries: Canada, Botswana, Nigeria, Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, and U.S.. One of the nights I was given the opportunity to lead this group. I can't even begin to tell you how awesome it was to worship with the nations. I will never forget it.

I am feeling pretty home sick today and I'm ready to come home, but I know that it wont be long til I am back with all of my favorite people in the world. I am praying you while I am here and hoping to hear many great things that God has been doing in and through you this summer. It's so cool to serve the God we serve, because He is the One that is in control. He holds us together and cares for each of us.

I know how it is to get caught up with living, so much to where we forget what we are living to do. We are called to make disciples. We are called to be light in a dark world. Let the Lord lead you and guide your steps. Do all you can for Christ because he did it all for us. Serve Him. Let the world know us by our love, just like the song. Love God and love people. Don't just love when it's easy, love the unlovable. Show love because that's what Christ did for us. Fight the good fight. Keep your faith. Renew your mind with His word every day.

I miss you all and love you too!!!
I am praying for you all.
See you soon.

-Mitchell

Hey

Hello. I know it's been a while since I have posted, but I just moved into an apt with no internet access and everything has just kicked up a bunch. Things are going great. Over the next couple of weeks, I probably won't have much time to do postings, but I just want you all to know that I am praying for you and thinking of you. I will try and update soon.

We Experience God (Tree Down)

Wow! The past few days have been great & CRAZY! The Lord protects His people. The team hear is testimony to God's protection and care. Just yesterday we were all eating lunch near the beach and the weather seemed to be nice. All of a sudden this bad weather started kicking up and the wind was blowing pretty strong. We didn't think much of it because it's around the time when rain season is beginning. So, we were heading out and everyone was getting in the van. We were all in already, except one of the girls, when this tree fell on top of us. It crushed the door that the girl was standing in, but she was able to get away in time. CRAZY!





Last night at Bible Study, we talked about God being the God of all things. We went through so many scriptures that were revelation of who God is. He is so many things. He is everything. All we need is Him. He has made a way for us. He has called us by name. We must be obedient and He will show Himself to us.

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.
John 14:21

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer. We've been playing soccer and doing different things. Continue to pray for us as we are trying to build relationships.
Thank you all for your encouragement and prayers.

1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:1&2

Know God and make him known!
Show love.

Burned

Sorry, it's been a while since I've posted last. I've been recovering from a sunburn. I will be updating soon. I hope everyone has had a great week!

Much Love Peeps

God's Plan!

Hello everyone. I wanted to tell each one of you how encouraging it is to hear from you. I may have told you this already, but you will never know what it means to me and Matt to know that we have such a strong support of people that love us.

God's plan is best! I have known this for quite sometime, but just this week my eyes are being opened to some of my lives questions for the past 3 years. For the past 3 years I have been praying, even begging at times, for God to answer me. We may not always understand His ways, but His ways are best.

In Psalm 119 we see that His words are a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. I didn't ever really think much about this scripture besides the obvious. Just this week I heard a lesson being taught on this (part of God's plan and timing for my life). If you think about this scripture, it doesn't say that God's word will light the entire path, so much that we can see the destination. Instead, we see that His word reveals the path step by step. We may not always see what lies ahead of us. Stay close to Christ and learn to walk patiently with Him. We shouldn't run ahead into the darkness. We must continually deny ourselves to see God. I am and will always be dependant on Christ to carry me.

This is really taking a hold of me today!
4 Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: 6He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. 7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him... Psalm 37:4-7
This is the same verse God used to direct me in a decision when I was 15 and it is the same verse He is using again (also part of God's timing and plan for my life), along with other circumstances, to show me where to put my feet.

To delight in the Lord is to know him better. We find delight in knowing Him. I believe that when we begin to know Him in an intimate love relationship, our desires are replaced with His desires for us. Trust Him and wait for Him.
God's plans for my life are better than my plans for my life!

The Predator

This went through my foot!!

Mission Updated

Hello all!!
These past couple of weeks have been so crazy (awesome)! As soon as we arrived on the island we began preparing for the kids camp, it was great. Originally, there were only supposed to be 60 kids able to come to the camp, because of the limited space we are working with. We ended up with about 180! As soon as we finished the camp on Wed., we headed out for Ipoh.
We arrived in Ipoh around midnight and set everything up for the extreme condensed version of the kids camp we did on the island. The next day we had the camp from 9-3. After that, we had a presentation service for the parents at 8. Talk about a long day!
The very next day we headed out for another town (not sure about the spelling), where we set up to be through Sunday. We played pick-up games with some kids in the neighborhood. That was hilarious! The basketball court was smooth concrete and it had been raining. I think I busted about 5 times. It was all for the kids. On Sat we went to the old folks home. Also, you may not have known this and I didn't either, but Mitchell Shoumaker and Matthew James where in concert on Sat! LOL! It was great. It was really more like an evangelistic worship service. O, I forgot to tell you, on Friday, we started visitation at 9pm, which turned out to be quite an experience to say the least.
On Sunday we had a carnival for the kids in the morning and service in the afternoon.

The whole week was an experience I will never forget. God is good to us. He kept us going when we thought we couldn't. We are truly blessed to serve Him.

Funny Story!!
Last night we were walking back to the apartment and a fish skull pierced through the bottom of my foot. Ouch!! LOL! Please tell me what the odds are of someone getting a fish skull stuck through the bottom of their foot!

Anyway, thank you all for your prayers. I am feeling completely rested. Please continue to pray for our team. Everyone around us seems to be catching some sort of flu-like virus. One of the girls, Karen, is not doing well. Pray for her.

I love and miss you all. Have a wonderful Tuesday! I've already had mine, it was a great Tuesday. I hope you will take the time to enjoy it.


PS: Yes J.D., they do eat cat and dog. Feline on a stick and roasted rover comin right up!

Mission

I will update this post tomorrow.

I just wanted to let everyone know that we just got back from a journey to two towns about 2.5 hours from here, where we did work. I am completely wiped, so I am passing out as I type this. I wanted to let you know that I will fill you in on the journey and the past week tomorrow. I will also be adding pictures asap (for my buddy Sam). Thank you all so much for your posts. You don't even realize how much each one of them means to me. Anyway, I can't hold my head up any longer. From the bottom of my heart, I love and miss you all!!!! I hope you had a wonderful Sunday morning in my most favorite place to be!!!!
Could somebody give Mrs. Billy a hug for me?

PS: Dad, I think I'm having mexican food withdrawals.

Great Day

Hello all. Today was an amazing day! It was great being able to worship with other believers. We are now settled in on the island. There are so many amazing people here. English camp starts tomorrow. Please be in prayer for the children who will be attending. There are 150 kids signed up and many have been turned away because of the lack of space to work with.

• Remember the importance of praying in Jesus' name.

Philippians 2:10&11 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Revelation 5:11-14
11Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,
12saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing."
13And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever."
14And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen " And the elders fell down and worshiped.

• There is power in the name of Jesus! Believe it!

Pictures

Mosque

This is one of the Muslim mosques in KL. We were not allowed in, but we were able to walk around the outside. You can hear the depressing tones of chants and songs from these places all over the city throughout the day.

Travel and Friends

Matthew 28:19&20

God is the same God everywhere. Thank you God for sending me. Thank you God for using me. I am Your servant and my life is in Your hands. Use me.

Yesterday I learned a lot about the culture of Malaysia. I traveled to a muslim mosque, a hindu temple, the petronas towers, and the batu caves. The batu caves are a place where the Hindu keep many of their gods. It is so sad to see such devotion to lifeless idols, in hopes of being carried by them, when in reality, they are the ones carrying their gods. Isn't it amazing that we get to serve a God who carries us!! He is the only One worthy of our praise. It makes me wonder though, do we try to carry our God sometimes? We have to continually deny ourselves to see God.
Yesterday and today I was able to meet some Chinese students here. Some are believers, but most are not. God has really been working through us. Music is such a great bridge builder. I let them teach me songs and then I am able to teach them, which leads to questions about the lyrics and the meanings behind them. It has been so amazing. Anyway, we leave for Penang in about 6 hours, so I better get some rest for the trip. I'm going to try and post some pictures I took while we were traveling around. I love and miss you all!!

Long Trip

Well, we just arrived. WOW!! That was quite a trip if I do say so myself. I am sitting in the condo in KL where we will be staying until Saturday. Already missing home. Just wanted to let y'all know we made it. We are about to go ride around the city for a while, half awake, until about 8pm so we can reset our internal clocks for Pacific Rim time. Ooo Yeah, gotta love it. Well, there is so much to say and my battery is dying and Mr. Rodney (project coordinator) is ready to take us out and keep us awake in order to help us adjust.

Welcome!!

Hey guys this is where all my info will be this summer. You can check out what will be happening this summer from the field. Also, you will have the unique experience of looking into the future (or a steady 13 hrs prior to what will be going down in BR) since my timezone will be 13 hours ahead.