Today we celebrated as a congregation as Living Waters Lutheran dedicated its charter membership of 113 individuals. This has been an eventful journey for this young congregation. In April of 2010 the initial worship service was held and now only six months later the church officially received its membership.
Emily and I feel very honored to be part of such a Spirit-filled group of believers. They are not afraid to be a "different" kind of Lutheran church that holds tightly to good theology, but is willing to think outside the box and try non-Lutheran practices to reach the lost for Jesus Christ. For starters they called a pastor who was clear to say that he will not wear "liturgical garments"! Even, when I informed them that I tend to borrow from both Lutheran and Baptist tool boxes when preparing sermons, they did not even bat an eye. They are determined to break out of mold and seek to fulfill our call to make disciples of every nation. I am pleased that each time I have preached and asked people to hold up their bibles, almost 90 percent of hands are holding the Word of God. Then, they open their bibles in their laps ready to follow along with the message and use their sermon notes. We are off to a great start.
Emily and I feel very welcomed and cared for by this congregation as well. When we arrived in Peoria our little house was already filled with 15 church members who quickly unloaded our truck, installed our washer and driver, and put together our bedroom. It has been a busy first weekend and now I am enjoying a typical pastor practice, Sunday afternoon football on the couch! Tomorrow I plan to open my first office hours in a local coffee shop, inviting members of the church to drop by for spiritual conversation and fellowship.
God is truly good. Please pray for church unity, energy for mission, and passion in worship!
Mark and Emily
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Start Date Set for Sept 19, 2010
Emily and I are in awe of the power and the work of God. We remember just a few months ago sitting together in our little rented house in San Luis, Costa Rica, wondering, with some anxiety, where God would lead us. At one point we asked the question in faith: I wonder where our mailing address will be as of the middle of September? It was an innocent summation of the way we felt at the time. We had just been researching tickets to fly for Canadian Thanksgiving but realized that we had no idea where we would be flying from! That was a surreal experience.
But God has moved mightily. We came back from our mission year in Costa Rica to find a note on our condo door. It read: "Mark, call Marty, he wants to buy your condo. He is aware of the price you are asking." This was from our condo president who said she had lots of feelers in the community. God used her and quickly we sold our condo without even having to list it! And, even in this market God provided a little equity toward a down-payment someday. Mike Garrett, who served as the pastor of our church in Costa Rica, had said prophetically: God is saying for you two, "trust me." We were starting to see why.
Then we headed out to preach and interview. For months we had felt God's strong leading toward Peoria, Illinois, to an exciting mission start congregation called Living Waters. We spend 10 days with them as part of our interviewing tour of the midwest and pacific northwest. Those 10 days confirmed at every point that God was directing our steps to Peoria. The clincher for me was when I stepped into the pulpit and felt a new presence and a new freedom in the Holy Spirit. The 10 days in Peoria went quickly and culminated in a vote to extend the call of pastor. We were very thankful and humbled to accept.
At every turn during our year of service we have seen God's provision and care in a way that neither Emily nor I have experienced personally before. Prior to our mission year neither of us felt that we had "testimonies" in the way others had testimonies of God's obvious hand at work. Not that we have never felt him at work in our lives, but not in ways that openly shocked us. Now we have testimonies like that to share with others. Truly God is good!
In a matter of a week we transfer into a new chapter in our lives as a pastor and pastor's wife in Peoria Ill, at Living Waters Lutheran. It will be an exciting new life for us. And, a little scary too. This will be our last official blog sent out to our Costa Rican mission supporters. As you see I have changed the name of this blog to "Life and Ministry in Peoria, Ill." We will continue this blog as a journal of our new life so we can continue to give glory to God's work. We won't be sending out reminders to read the blog anymore by email, but we invite you to check it every few weeks and to leave your comments, questions and encouragements. This blog will have far fewer volcanoes, toucans and palm trees....
During this year of mission service you were a comfort to us as we knew you were praying for us and supporting us. Please let us know if there is anything we can ever do for you as you follow God's call. What an adventure!
We remain in Him,
Mark and Emily
But God has moved mightily. We came back from our mission year in Costa Rica to find a note on our condo door. It read: "Mark, call Marty, he wants to buy your condo. He is aware of the price you are asking." This was from our condo president who said she had lots of feelers in the community. God used her and quickly we sold our condo without even having to list it! And, even in this market God provided a little equity toward a down-payment someday. Mike Garrett, who served as the pastor of our church in Costa Rica, had said prophetically: God is saying for you two, "trust me." We were starting to see why.
Then we headed out to preach and interview. For months we had felt God's strong leading toward Peoria, Illinois, to an exciting mission start congregation called Living Waters. We spend 10 days with them as part of our interviewing tour of the midwest and pacific northwest. Those 10 days confirmed at every point that God was directing our steps to Peoria. The clincher for me was when I stepped into the pulpit and felt a new presence and a new freedom in the Holy Spirit. The 10 days in Peoria went quickly and culminated in a vote to extend the call of pastor. We were very thankful and humbled to accept.
At every turn during our year of service we have seen God's provision and care in a way that neither Emily nor I have experienced personally before. Prior to our mission year neither of us felt that we had "testimonies" in the way others had testimonies of God's obvious hand at work. Not that we have never felt him at work in our lives, but not in ways that openly shocked us. Now we have testimonies like that to share with others. Truly God is good!
In a matter of a week we transfer into a new chapter in our lives as a pastor and pastor's wife in Peoria Ill, at Living Waters Lutheran. It will be an exciting new life for us. And, a little scary too. This will be our last official blog sent out to our Costa Rican mission supporters. As you see I have changed the name of this blog to "Life and Ministry in Peoria, Ill." We will continue this blog as a journal of our new life so we can continue to give glory to God's work. We won't be sending out reminders to read the blog anymore by email, but we invite you to check it every few weeks and to leave your comments, questions and encouragements. This blog will have far fewer volcanoes, toucans and palm trees....
During this year of mission service you were a comfort to us as we knew you were praying for us and supporting us. Please let us know if there is anything we can ever do for you as you follow God's call. What an adventure!
We remain in Him,
Mark and Emily
Thursday, August 19, 2010
But Will It Play In Peoria?
The last few weeks in Minnesota have been a blur for us: reconnecting with friends, cabin time, preaching in Portland... We can hardly believe that we have been back that long and that a month ago we lived a completely different life in Costa Rica as volunteer missionaries. We miss our friends and our work there very much. But we are excited to find out soon what our next missionary role will be.... and where!
Tomorrow morning we are headed out to our second preaching and interviewing engagement for this month. We are off to Peoria Illinois to interview at a wonderful new LCMC church. We are excited for a road trip together and nervous for the importance of this trip. A lot is riding on the next two weekends. Of course it is God's leading that we are waiting on. We are conscious that if God intends for us to begin our new ministry in Peoria, he will make that clear to both us and to the church. We have full faith. As Mike Garrett told us prophetically in Costa Rica, "God is telling me to tell you: Trust me!" We have seen that prophetic word fulfilled in many ways.
We ask for prayers for these next ten days as we get to know the congregation and anticipate a vote on Aug 29th.
Tomorrow morning we are headed out to our second preaching and interviewing engagement for this month. We are off to Peoria Illinois to interview at a wonderful new LCMC church. We are excited for a road trip together and nervous for the importance of this trip. A lot is riding on the next two weekends. Of course it is God's leading that we are waiting on. We are conscious that if God intends for us to begin our new ministry in Peoria, he will make that clear to both us and to the church. We have full faith. As Mike Garrett told us prophetically in Costa Rica, "God is telling me to tell you: Trust me!" We have seen that prophetic word fulfilled in many ways.
We ask for prayers for these next ten days as we get to know the congregation and anticipate a vote on Aug 29th.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Our Final Days
This morning we met with Margaret Weir who is the chaplin at Roblealto and has been a missionary here for 39 years. She is a remarkable woman of God and has been an encouragement to us this year. We met at the McDonalds across the street from the office and as we sat down from coffee, a young man came up to hug Margaret. Richard had grown up at one of Roblealto's child care centers and Margaret was a big part of his childhood as she celebrated birthdays with his family and cared for Richard and his sister at the center. He shared with us that his father was a drug-addict and his family had many problems when he was growing up. Richard talked about how much he appreciated Roblealto and how he knows God because of his time here. He now preached about God wherever he goes and is a beacon of light to the other employees at McDonalds. God's joy just radiated off Richard's face and I couldn't help but cry. THIS is why it has been such an honor for us to be part of God's work at Roblealto.
We have been spending the last few days wrapping up our projects, cleaning, packing, and of course, saying good-bye. I thought I would be so excited about going home, and I am, but it is much harder to leave than I expected. The staff and children at Roblealto have become a family for us and I have shed many tears as we've said good-bye. We've been at the houses of our favorite foster homes, we've had coffee and lunch and dinner with people, we've processed our experience and shared that we want to come back to visit. And it is just very hard because we love everyone here so much. They took us into their lives for this year, prayed with us, loved us, and encouraged us. And they are doing such important work with the children of Costa Rica. Mark and I have such admiration for their commitment and love. Not only are they friends but they are brothers and sisters. As Anabelle, the Christian Education director, just prayed for us, we will see them someday in heaven, if not before. This is a promise we are grateful for.
Our flight is on Thursday morning. We return to the whole Goff family being together for the weekend since Laura and Ryan are coming in from California. We are excited to spend time with family and friends in Minnesota and will be doing some traveling for Mark to preach and interview. God willing, we will know soon where He is leading us next! We hope to get to Toronto to see Mark's family in September before starting at a new church.
As always, thank you for your prayers during this year and in this time of transition. We love you all dearly and are grateful for your support of this year of mission. We praise God for what he taught us and how he changed us this year. Hopefully, we will see many of you soon!
We have been spending the last few days wrapping up our projects, cleaning, packing, and of course, saying good-bye. I thought I would be so excited about going home, and I am, but it is much harder to leave than I expected. The staff and children at Roblealto have become a family for us and I have shed many tears as we've said good-bye. We've been at the houses of our favorite foster homes, we've had coffee and lunch and dinner with people, we've processed our experience and shared that we want to come back to visit. And it is just very hard because we love everyone here so much. They took us into their lives for this year, prayed with us, loved us, and encouraged us. And they are doing such important work with the children of Costa Rica. Mark and I have such admiration for their commitment and love. Not only are they friends but they are brothers and sisters. As Anabelle, the Christian Education director, just prayed for us, we will see them someday in heaven, if not before. This is a promise we are grateful for.
Our flight is on Thursday morning. We return to the whole Goff family being together for the weekend since Laura and Ryan are coming in from California. We are excited to spend time with family and friends in Minnesota and will be doing some traveling for Mark to preach and interview. God willing, we will know soon where He is leading us next! We hope to get to Toronto to see Mark's family in September before starting at a new church.
As always, thank you for your prayers during this year and in this time of transition. We love you all dearly and are grateful for your support of this year of mission. We praise God for what he taught us and how he changed us this year. Hopefully, we will see many of you soon!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Final group
Wow. We are down to 10 days left in Costa Rica. I think it is just starting to hit us that this experience is almost over. It is so very bittersweet. We will miss people and Roblealto so much, but we are so excited for this next step of leading a new church (God-willing!)
On Friday, we went to the morning devotions at the Central Offices. Verna Brennaman, a life-time missionary at Roblealto, spoke and shared on the virtues of being happy and thankful. She had us look at Psalm 136 together and reword this psalm so that it was more personal for our own lives. Mark and I have been trying to read a psalm together before going to work every day and we had just recently read this psalm. And we had been talking about how we could write a psalm about all of the amazing things God has done for us this year and how faithful he has been. So, here is my psalm of gratitude for our year based on Psalm 136. ¨His love endures fovever.¨
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good to us.
His love endures forever.
On Friday, we went to the morning devotions at the Central Offices. Verna Brennaman, a life-time missionary at Roblealto, spoke and shared on the virtues of being happy and thankful. She had us look at Psalm 136 together and reword this psalm so that it was more personal for our own lives. Mark and I have been trying to read a psalm together before going to work every day and we had just recently read this psalm. And we had been talking about how we could write a psalm about all of the amazing things God has done for us this year and how faithful he has been. So, here is my psalm of gratitude for our year based on Psalm 136. ¨His love endures fovever.¨
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good to us.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods, who is above everything else in this world.
His love endures forever.
To him who alone has done great wonders in our lives,
His love endures forever.
who made all of Creation for us to enjoy,
His love endures forever.
from the Costa Rican mountains, to rainforests, to beaches.
His love endures forever.
To him who led us to Roblealto and provided positions for us there,
His love endures forever.
who found us renters for our condo and a house to rent in Costa Rica.
His love endures forever.
To Him who provide the funds needed for the year,
His love endures forever.
and friends and family to pray for us.
His love endures forever.
To Him who gave us strength, energy, and a passion for our work,
His love endures forever.
who kept us safe and healthy.
His love endures forever.
To Him who provided us with two churches and wonderful friends,
His love endures forever.
and comforted us when we were homesick.
His love endures forever.
To Him who helped us with the language,
His love endures forever.
and was the reason we connected with the Costa Ricans across culture and background.
His love endures forever.
To Him who is leading us now on our next adventure,
His love endures forever.
who will never leave us nor forsake us.
His love endures forever.
To Him who has provided, is providing and will always provide.
His love endures forever.
We give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
July!!!
Happy belated 4th of July to everyone! We had a fun day at our house having some good friends over for lunch, eating as American as we could with grilled hamburgers, baked beans and homemade apple pie! It was really fun to have some of our closest friends to our house. We are finding that we are starting to say ¨good-bye¨ to people and we are trying to spend as much time with them as we can now that we have less than a month left. We fly home July 29th and the time is flying!
Two weeks ago we had a great group from a new church in South Carolina. God really touched their hearts and we know that they´ll be back to serve again! They really connected with the children and were impacted by their time in Los Guido where they saw the land for the planned 4th child care center. They were excited to help raise money for that project and we pray that they will bring the message of Roblealto and the plans for the new center back to their church.
Mark and I are finishing up some projects as we prepare to go. The children are on vacation for 2 weeks from the Bible Home and are at home with their biological families so we don't have any groups right now. Mark is working on a mission trip video and I am organizing the files from our laptop that we want to leave with our department for future use. We hope some of the things we've started will continue after we've gone! On the 19th of July a friend from Ridgewood, Chuck Webster, his daughters and some of their friends are coming for a week and we will help host them as our last group. We pray, as always, that God will touch their hearts as they see Roblealto first-hand. It's always such an honor to show God's work in the children to people who are new to Roblealto.
Mark has been interviewing around in various LCMC (Lutheran Churches in Mission for Christ) churches in the states and one, in particular, has really stood out for both of us. Although it is outside MN :( we feel that God is at work in leading us there and we continue to pray for his wisdom and direction. We are really excited for this next step! We will be home for August and likely September, so we hope to see many of you then! Thank you for your prayers for our future. God is good!
Two weeks ago we had a great group from a new church in South Carolina. God really touched their hearts and we know that they´ll be back to serve again! They really connected with the children and were impacted by their time in Los Guido where they saw the land for the planned 4th child care center. They were excited to help raise money for that project and we pray that they will bring the message of Roblealto and the plans for the new center back to their church.
Mark and I are finishing up some projects as we prepare to go. The children are on vacation for 2 weeks from the Bible Home and are at home with their biological families so we don't have any groups right now. Mark is working on a mission trip video and I am organizing the files from our laptop that we want to leave with our department for future use. We hope some of the things we've started will continue after we've gone! On the 19th of July a friend from Ridgewood, Chuck Webster, his daughters and some of their friends are coming for a week and we will help host them as our last group. We pray, as always, that God will touch their hearts as they see Roblealto first-hand. It's always such an honor to show God's work in the children to people who are new to Roblealto.
Mark has been interviewing around in various LCMC (Lutheran Churches in Mission for Christ) churches in the states and one, in particular, has really stood out for both of us. Although it is outside MN :( we feel that God is at work in leading us there and we continue to pray for his wisdom and direction. We are really excited for this next step! We will be home for August and likely September, so we hope to see many of you then! Thank you for your prayers for our future. God is good!
Monday, June 14, 2010
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