God Hears Us

Just a fun story I thought I’d share….

Over this past weekend, I got a call from my sister, Angie. She was calling from California to let us know that Peanut, the tiny dog owned by our brother and sister-in-law, had run away! Peanut’s very loving owners, Josh and Shannon, were out looking around the neighborhood frantically for their beloved pet. My sister and her dog, Kona, joined the search party and called us to request that we start praying. We were just coming home from dinner, and started praying together in the car. I had no idea how specifically God would answer our prayers that night!

After a couple hours went by, I called Angie to see if there was any update. The pup was still lost, unfortunately. As it got later, I said a very simple prayer and asked the Lord for Peanut to have a safe home for the night, a nice place to sleep, and that whoever had discovered her would bring her back to Josh and Shannon first thing in the morning.

The next morning I got a call from a very delighted Angie. Peanut had been returned safely! They had put up “missing dog” fliers around the neighborhood (laminated, might I add, because it was raining!!) and only 15 minutes after doing so they received a phone call from a kind lady who had found Peanut. The night before she had been driving nearby and saw a very disheveled doggy on the street. When she opened her car door, little Peanut jumped in! She brought Peanut into her home, gave her a bath and a place to sleep, and then saw Josh and Shannon’s fliers the next morning. Oh, what an incredible answer to prayer! I am so thankful that God hears us. He responds, and even our detailed prayers are answered. This is the God we serve! This is the God who first loved us! How incredible He is!

Whoa, that was fast

Ok, well, the time has come. Outreach teams begin leaving this week! The quarter has flown by. It’s hard to believe that the hours and days and weeks have passed this quickly and now we are at the brink of saying goodbye to nearly 250 DTS students. They will be going to locations all over the world to share a sincere message of hope, Christ’s love for all people.

We are so honored to be working with Youth With A Mission, and to be surrounded by the people who are here in Kona in this season. We find it hard to convey exactly how we feel, but wanted to say we are so thankful and so blessed.

Here is a photo of us at
a wedding we went
to this past weekend!
It was at the same church
where we got married
just about a year ago!
☛

I thought it would be fun to connect you to the websites of a couple of our fellow YWAMers so you can see other amazing things that God is doing!

Liam and Rachel Byrnes- Liam is Johnny’s best friend. He and his wife are here from Scotland, taking DTS, and are about to go to South Africa for three months.

Jeff and Beth Reid- This is an amazing family! And they are part of our family, which is incredible. Beth, Johnny’s sister, and her husband Jeff, along with their two sons, Elijah and Carter, have been serving on staff in YWAM for several years. (Their website should be updated soon!)

Calvin and Camille Hanson- Another married couple here, taking DTS. We love them and are so excited to see what God does through them on Outreach in scandinavia!

Andy and Holly Byrd- This is the family we live with. They are simply amazing and we have learned so much from them! Check out their site and see what they are up to.

…simply breathe

Hello everyone!

We wanted to take a minute, pause, and write an update in the midst of a non-stop week! The DTS Outreach teams will start departing next Friday and there are so many details to look after as we prepare to send them out. That’s why it’s important for us to stop and simply breathe.

I took some
dear friends
out for coffee
last weekend
and it was just
so nice, so I
thought I’d
include a
photo

I find it hard to believe that 2009 is nearly over. As we prepare for Christmas, we are making sure to spend time reflecting on our past year; looking at the growth we have seen in our lives and the lives of others, remembering the hectic moments as well as the joyful ones, and acknowledging God’s provision for all our needs (and beyond). We also have great expectation for the year to come, and we look forward to it with much anticipation. Please join us in thanking the Lord for all He has done and all He will continue to do!

We love you all and are very, very grateful for your presence in our lives.

All our love,

J & j

Giving Thanks

We are thankful for so many things. Good health, delicious food, Apple products, and most recently…

…our car, here in Hawaii!

That’s right.

We shipped our car out to the Big Island, and we already enjoy having it here so much! (In the photo above, it’s the silver Saturn behind us and to our to our right.)

In addition to having our wonderful car out here, our Thanksgiving Day was perfect, from start to finish. In the morning, John hosted the campus’ Thanksgiving service…complete with Korean-family-singing-performances, young children announcing what they’re thankful for on the microphone, and a Thanksgiving message from a gentleman named Brian Brent. In the afternoon, we joined family and friends for an unbelievable meal together. Here are a few photos from our day.

Oh the Places We Went!

Yes, this past week has been non-stop adventure, basically! Not only did we have family and friends visiting from England, but we also hosted Winn and Lindye Galloway (Lindye is my cousin!) for a couple days in Kona. It was amazing how much activity we were able to fit into just a couple days, to say the least.

We had so much fun cliff-jumping, surfing (well, Lindye and I just watched the boys do those things), snorkeling, jumping in the sea with dolphins, hanging out at the beach, and eating wonderful food together. We really enjoyed our time with the Galloways! We look forward to more visitors coming out here!

Looking ahead to April!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA02vt6BdzQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

Greetings fearless friends and supporters! Come look at our (semi-wooden) interview/trailer for the April Spring DTS here in Kona that Jenni and I will be leading! We’re excited to see what the Lord is going to do with what we offer him! We made the video as part of a publicity campaign that we ran last week…. Not too good at standing in front of a camera yet! Please view it and pass along the link to anyone you think would be interested! To view the website for our school click this link or the picture below!

DTS – Lives Being Healed, Hope Being Stirred

We Love Our Family

More of our family is here!

John and Tessa (Johnny’ parents) and Ben (his youngest brother) are in Kona for the week. Johnny’s dad is speaking to the Community Transformations DTS, which has been outstanding so far. Another friend of ours from England, Kate, has come for a visit as well! The Lord is so faithful to keep bringing us opportunities to spend time with the people we love. We are incredibly blessed.

The last couple nights we’ve been able to sit around the dinner table with everyone together, telling stories and getting caught up. Those simple moments are so sweet. We really love our family.

And to all of our other family and friends out there- we love you too, very much!

Reception Photos

Here is a link to the photos from our Reception in California!
Keary did an amazing job, so check them out when you have a few minutes.

We want to thank everyone for
showing us such love at our
special reception in California.
It was wonderful to celebrate
with so many of you!

A special thank you to my
mom, Lynda,for putting it together
and blessing us! And the Jaquets,
who graciously opened up their
gorgeous home for so many events
that weekend! We are so blessed.
And Keary, thanks for capturing
the day.

Enjoy the photos!

Goodbye Duke. You will be missed.

This week my family said goodbye to a dear, dear friend – our dog Duke. He was a beautiful thoroughbred Golden Retriever, who we’ve had since 1993 (yes, he was almost 16 years old!). I spoke to Dad on Thursday, the day after we’d had him put down, I had a conversation with Dad about Duke – his life, fun memories, how the Lord totally led us to the right dog, and how it went on Wednesday when we had him put down. He really was the best dog we could have asked for.

I wonder. Will our animals be in heaven? CS Lewis postulates that pets may have some eternal existence subject to the merits of their earthly owner. I’d like to think so – I was hoping that I’d get to be around for the day that Duke would die. Either way, God totally blessed us with a rad dog, and Duke will be sorely missed not just by my family, but by everyone who knew him!

Dad wrote an insightful pastoral letter this week about Duke and the moral justification for putting down an animal, vs. the debate about euthanasia. It was interesting. I’ve included it here. Let me know what you think! Blessings.

Dear Family in Christ,

The following Pastoral letter is a good bit longer than most,
and deals with a sensitive matter. I trust you will receive it
with a generous spirit.

JG

Meditations on Putting My Dog Down
And Wanting My Sick Mother to Live

As many will know, my family and I said goodbye this week to our long-time faithful
dog and friend Duke. Many of you will understand that the word “pet” is insufficient to
describe the relationship which can develop between a good dog and his master. Duke
will be warmly remembered, not only by me and my family, but by many of you who
knew and loved him. We together are most thankful for his 16 years of life.

As a family, we decided together that it was time to have Duke “put down”. In reaching
this decision, I had to do some Biblical thinking, basically grappling with the question:

“What gives me the right to decide that it is time for an animal, which
God created, to die?”

In the process, another question cast a shadow over me, and refused to let me ignore it:

“How can you be merciful in not wanting your dog to suffer, and then be
willing to have your own Mother, a person, suffer, refusing her a ‘dignified death’ ?”

In other words, why is it right to “put a dog down”, and wrong to perform euthanasia?
Should people be allowed to suffer pain and distress where we would, in mercy, not allow
an animal to suffer?

These two questions are joined at the hip, and it is really important that Christians be able
to give a clear answer to both. We regularly hear in the news of families flying overseas
to give their loved ones the opportunity to end their pain-filled lives in ways not
dissimilar to the way in which a vet ended my dear dog’s life. There is increasing
pressure upon our society to embrace the “merciful” killing of the aged and infirmed, and
to view those who oppose such actions as lacking compassion.

The first question is very easy to answer from a Biblical standpoint. At Creation God
ordained that man should have dominion over animals:

Then God said: “Let us make man in our image…and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the
birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the
ground.” (Genesis 1:26)

This Creation Ordinance means that God has delegated His rule over creatures to

mankind. As God’s vice-regents, we are finally accountable to God for the well-being of

every creature on earth. But we also have sovereignty over them. A good master is

responsible for his animal’s life. This implies a delegated authority to decide when it is

time for his animal’s life to end. Never forgetting his accountability to God, the Man,

made in God’s Image, has dominion over the animal. It is as simple and as profound as

that. When I decided that Duke was beginning to suffer in a way that would be

detrimental to his overall well-being, and beyond my finite ability to cope (God’s ability

to cope is infinite), then, with a thankful and reverent eye toward my Lord, I presided over

his death.

No-one has suggested that my family and I have been anything but prudent and merciful.

Why, then, can I not suggest the same course of action for my long-term ill, “invalid”

(horrible word!), pain-filled mother? Why do I, along with my family, applaud the

efforts of the doctors to give her every chance to live another day, as we wait for her life

to end naturally? Why have some of you chosen palliative care for a pain-racked relative

rather than succumb to the mounting pressure to “mercifully end their life”?

I want to give four reasons why it is wrong to perform euthanasia, and not unmerciful to

patiently endure with a suffering human who himself is patiently enduring as they await

their own death. The following is by no means an exhaustive treatment of the subject, and

I am well aware that there are many “what ifs” that arise in situations where tragic

suffering is found.

1) While God has bestowed upon us a delegated sovereignty over the animal kingdom,

He has retained sole sovereignty over those made in His Image. Euthanasia is an act of

insubordination on our part. The Bible makes it plain that “our times are in His hands”

(Psalm 31:15), and that God has “ordained our days” (Psalm 139:16). To stretch mercy

for animals which ends in “putting them down” to a justification for the “mercy killing”

of suffering humans is to confuse categories within the basic order of Creation and to

usurp our place as creatures under the Sovereign Lordship of God.

2) Suffering has a redemptive purpose for humans which it can never have in animals.

Animals have not bee created in God’s Image. They were not the immediate objects of

Christ’s Atonement. They are not rebels in need of salvation. The Bible never speaks of

them being justified by grace through faith, and they cannot grow in holiness. But for

people, it is a different matter. God wills our sanctification, our transformation, our

growth in holiness. As such, it is a plain fact both of Scripture and experience that

suffering often does a work in the soul of the sufferer that pleasure cannot. Peter boldly

writes:

“Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the

same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a

result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires

but rather for the will of God. (1Peter 4:1,2)

Euthanasia can cut off the sanctifying work of God in the child of God before God would

have it cut off. It is not hard to imagine that it could even prevent one coming to Christ

by cutting their life short before conversion.

3) Suffering Christians can be powerfully used of God as Gospel witnesses and workers.

David Brainard, Amy Charmichael, Joni Ericson-Tada…the list goes in and on. There

are many in our own fellowships who bear powerful witness to the grace of God through

their pain and suffering. The apostle Paul reminded the Galatians:

“As you know it was because of an illness that I first preached the Gospel to you” (Gal 4:13)

I know of very ill saints, suffering long-term illnesses, leading others, including sick and

dying unbelievers in hospital, to Christ. Jesus Christ uses saints, often in weakness and

infirmity, to manifest His manifold mercies.

Grace is also remarkably manifested through those who care for the infirm. Pain affords

a remarkable opportunity for the nature of God to be manifested in the hearts and lives of

those who love and support those who suffer. What an opportunity suffering affords to

prove that indeed he does “give strength to the weary” and “increase the power of the

weak”.

4) Because we are a sinful and fallen race, we can get it wrong with euthanasia.

Conceivably, I got it wrong with my dear dog. Perhaps he would have rallied next week

and gone on for a year or two. But where people are concerned, we cannot afford

ourselves the luxury of being right “most of the time”. I personally have been pastorally

present in tragic cases where there has been no glimmer of hope…only to see people defy

all odds and confound all expectations and recover. Moreover, we fallen ones cannot be

trusted with the power of life and death over the weak…It is too open to abuse in our

hands, and therefore best left in God’s. It is by no means beyond conception that any of

us could be tempted to “bump off Granny” because we could really use her flat. Sorry if

that offends, but I fear it is too true.

Authority over Duke was delegated to me by the Sovereign Lord. I exercised it in

determining that it was time for his days to end. Authority, in matters of life and death,

over my mother, and every human being, belongs to God alone. It is our place to humbly

wait, worship, alleviate, and care for the weakest in our midst. May God have mercy

upon us as a culture as we are increasingly challenging where He has placed us in His

Created Order.

Well, I warned you of a long and sensitive letter. I trust we see more clearly the
importance of understanding what it means to have dominion on the one hand, and to be
under Christ’s Lordship on the other, and how vital it is that we understand the
difference.

May the Lord lead us to live in these days as wise and effective disciples.

Yours, But Only For His Glory,

John Gillespie (Snr.)