Here is video of day1 (27-Sep-2008) of our road trip.
Sunday we enjoyed leading Sunday school and in the morning service. Community Bible Fellowship is a friendly bunch and healthy growing church.
The church has "recycled" and is currently using a building that used to be part of a lumber company. Pastor Paully's teaching is both encouraging and challenging, and spending time talking him reminded me of that quote from Proverbs, "iron sharpens iron". I'm not sure how much I sharpened him though.
Pastor made it clear that we were stuck with our car and the congregation provided for our meals, The Slammer let us come back for another night(is that good?), and several members of the congregation helped us make arrangements for repairs. They have been an example of hospitality.
It was disapointing to find out that we would have to spend Monday in Aledo as I needed to get back to work. But, this morning we made all the necessary arrangements, and are preparring to go straight from Aledo, IL to Ludington, MI if need be.
God knows what's going on. This is a time to learn to just hang loose and treat it like an adventure.
Adam
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Parmenter's Back in the Slammer
We set out on Saturday for an easy 5 hour drive from our house in Kalamazoo, MI to Aledo, IL so that we could be rested and ready to speak about missions Sunday morning (today) at Community Bible Fellowship . Well, about 45 min. outside of Aledo our engine sputtered to a halt and we were stranded on the side of the interstate.
Thankful for cell phones, I called Pastor Paully from CBF and he brought over a trailer onto which we pushed the car. Check my blog in a couple days for video. The plan was to drop us at pastor's house and then Pastor Paully was going to drop the car and trailer at the mechanics. On the way to his home he said, "We've made arrangements to put you up in a hotel here in town. It used to be the local jail, but now it's a bed and breakfast that the locals call The Slammer.
We had a great day today telling the folks at CBF about the Czech and also telling them about missions all over the world. It was an opportunity to encourage individuals to consider a career in full time missionary service.
After church today, we were informed that we needed a new fuel pump, and that it should be installed and ready to go by late afternoon on Monday. Happily, it looks the full costs of the repairs will be covered by the offering that folks at CBF took up this morning. We will be able to pay for the repairs in cash. How God provides. They are also working to provide us with meals.
So after a lunch at Doug's Diner, Michael has run off with Pastor Paully's boys to explore the woods, and Marge, Maryellen, and I are back in the slammer for another night.
Lord willing we will be home sometime Monday night. We'll repack and head for Calvary Baptist in Ludington, MI where we are speaking on Tuesday and Wednesday night.
We wanted to give this quick update so that you can remember to pray for us and . . . well. . . I've never stayed in a bed and breakfast that also once served as a jail.
Adam
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Saturday, September 27, 2008
On the Road Again
Well, right now we are just West of Watervliet on I-94 heading for Community Bible Fellowship in Aledo, IL. I feel like it's our very first presentation. We went for several weeks with no presentations, then I spent two weeks painting and getting the house ready for sale, and then vanished into a time freeze the week my father died.
A week ago today was my father's funeral. It doesn't seem real yet.
Frankly, what I want to do is hide somewhere and watch TV.
Instead I'm doing a new presentation for the first time. It's called "God At Work Around The World" it talks about ABWE missionaries all over the place, and how individuals can be part of what God is doing. I'm excited about it, but not into it. If that makes sense.
I miss my dad. I'm not sitting and weeping, but I feel sapped of energy. I bet it's normal, but it sure feels weird.
Adam
A week ago today was my father's funeral. It doesn't seem real yet.
Frankly, what I want to do is hide somewhere and watch TV.
Instead I'm doing a new presentation for the first time. It's called "God At Work Around The World" it talks about ABWE missionaries all over the place, and how individuals can be part of what God is doing. I'm excited about it, but not into it. If that makes sense.
I miss my dad. I'm not sitting and weeping, but I feel sapped of energy. I bet it's normal, but it sure feels weird.
Adam
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Changing of Times and Seasons
Late this past Monday evening, Adam's father, Allen Parmenter, passed away at the age of 86 and came into the presence of our Lord, Jesus Christ. He has had numerous health issues this past year and was in rehab at a local nursing home for recent surgery for an amputation of his leg. We believe that his heart just stopped and he quietly went home. He had recently rallied and was doing better, so it was a bit of a shock although we thought he was preparing for his final days. We are both sad and rejoicing at the same time that he is with the Lord and we will see him in eternity. The visitation is this Friday and the funeral is Saturday, both at the Church of God in LaGrange, IN. You may view his obituary, get details about the services and send condolences at www.fruripmayfuneralhome.com. Please pray for us as we walk through this time of sorrow, remembering and rejoicing in the godly life of our dad and grandfather. It has been tough to lose both of our fathers this past year.
We indicated in our last prayer watch that we may have roof problems. Well, after 10 inches of rain this past weekend, we know we have roof problems for sure as a number of other spots are appearing on our ceilings. We have two roof estimates this coming week, so pray for wisdom so we can be good stewards of our house and prepare it to sell. We will be having carpeting put in as well this week. It is strange to fix up the house, knowing our days here may be short. We are grateful that we did not get water in the basement as many others did around us. Adam and Michael went outside and dug a trough to drain a big puddle down our hill away from the house and saved our basement.
We continue to feel the challenge of pre-field activities amidst all this other stuff, so pray we can still focus on the needed tasks at hand. We have a number of presentations coming up in the near future and need to prepare for them. We will be visiting a church in Illinois the last weekend of September and also are doing two days of a missions conference in Ludington, MI at the end of the month. Pray that we can overcome all the distractions and concentrate on what the Lord wants us to share with these churches.
Michael and Maryellen have had a great start to their school year. Michael is taking three classes with other area homeschoolers and really enjoying it. That also relieves me (Marge) of much of the preparation for these classes. Maryellen has adjusted to middle school and is very motivated. She is also in band, jazz band and piano, so is busy practicing every day. Pray that they both can focus on their studies, especially as they grieve their grandpa's homegoing.
I am buried in the closets and corners of my house, trying to organize things into boxes - what to save, what to throw away, what to keep as we prepare to leave this house. After 15 years in this house, it is quite a job and a bit overwhelming. Pray that I can focus on what I accomplish in one day, rather than just look at what's not done.
We are continuing weekly to disciple a young couple and I am discipling a new believer. These times of bible study and prayer are rich, and encouraging to both of us as we watch others grow in their daily walk with Christ. We are studying prayer and learning ourselves to depend even more on our Lord. Phil 4:6 has become my life verse this month--"be anxious for nothing...."
We appreciate your prayers so much. We need them and desire to trust our Saviour as we go through all these transitions. Thank you for your support.
Marge
We indicated in our last prayer watch that we may have roof problems. Well, after 10 inches of rain this past weekend, we know we have roof problems for sure as a number of other spots are appearing on our ceilings. We have two roof estimates this coming week, so pray for wisdom so we can be good stewards of our house and prepare it to sell. We will be having carpeting put in as well this week. It is strange to fix up the house, knowing our days here may be short. We are grateful that we did not get water in the basement as many others did around us. Adam and Michael went outside and dug a trough to drain a big puddle down our hill away from the house and saved our basement.
We continue to feel the challenge of pre-field activities amidst all this other stuff, so pray we can still focus on the needed tasks at hand. We have a number of presentations coming up in the near future and need to prepare for them. We will be visiting a church in Illinois the last weekend of September and also are doing two days of a missions conference in Ludington, MI at the end of the month. Pray that we can overcome all the distractions and concentrate on what the Lord wants us to share with these churches.
Michael and Maryellen have had a great start to their school year. Michael is taking three classes with other area homeschoolers and really enjoying it. That also relieves me (Marge) of much of the preparation for these classes. Maryellen has adjusted to middle school and is very motivated. She is also in band, jazz band and piano, so is busy practicing every day. Pray that they both can focus on their studies, especially as they grieve their grandpa's homegoing.
I am buried in the closets and corners of my house, trying to organize things into boxes - what to save, what to throw away, what to keep as we prepare to leave this house. After 15 years in this house, it is quite a job and a bit overwhelming. Pray that I can focus on what I accomplish in one day, rather than just look at what's not done.
We are continuing weekly to disciple a young couple and I am discipling a new believer. These times of bible study and prayer are rich, and encouraging to both of us as we watch others grow in their daily walk with Christ. We are studying prayer and learning ourselves to depend even more on our Lord. Phil 4:6 has become my life verse this month--"be anxious for nothing...."
We appreciate your prayers so much. We need them and desire to trust our Saviour as we go through all these transitions. Thank you for your support.
Marge
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Mission Failure
I took a four day weekend this week (as well as last) in order to do repairs and painting in preparation for putting our house up for sale. I painted for several hours and then took a morning coffee break.
Sitting on the front porch steps, petting the neighborhood cat and drinking my coffee, I thought about the home meth lab that caught fire several nights ago, and I thought about all the different people that pass in front my house using Bank street as a short cut for various neighborhoods. I still have a desire for these people and a passion for lost souls in Kalamazoo, specifically these urban neighborhoods.
As I thought about that, I considered the "failure" of that mission. My failure to not only see appreciable results in the last six years, but my failure to follow through on the work. I can tell you why. For one thing, it was too much for one person to pursue, and I was hard pressed to locate others to join in my passion.
Did I spend enough time trying to build and maintain a team? Initially, no. As time has progressed I have more and more adopted a style of training and building teams, but frankly, by that point, I was tired. I poured so much time into a few street kids that I exhausted myself. I would have been better served to build a team to reach street kids and develop multiple people within Bethel to support those kids.
I'm so much a doer, a man of action, that it was my down fall. Frankly, if I had been "successful", it might have been disastrous. I would have more energetically pursued the same course. The one-man-show would have proved the best way. Instead, by way of failure, I proved to myself, that a ministry leader needs to be an organizer and mentor of ministry doers. Also, the ministry leader must, as soon as possible, mentor new leadership to take over and replace the one who started the ministry.
In that sense, to say that we are preparing for missions is inaccurate, since for 5+ years I and my family worked to reach our street and to reach disadvantaged children in another urban area. I spent a lot of time, creativity, and energy, and my family joined in or dealt with my absence.
It's more accurate to say that, at least in my personal case, that on my own, I was a failure as a "tent maker" missionary, and a failure as a "home" missionary. Tent Makers go to a country, work a job and engage ministry on the side. Home missionaries are from the U.S. and minister in the U.S. I had no mission board or country/regional coordinator to monitor my progress, and no one else who had done what I was trying to do. I blew it.
It makes me sad to walk away from this town, as I have not achieved my objective. I don't know if I achieved God's objective, but I have a suspicion that I did.
Adam
Sitting on the front porch steps, petting the neighborhood cat and drinking my coffee, I thought about the home meth lab that caught fire several nights ago, and I thought about all the different people that pass in front my house using Bank street as a short cut for various neighborhoods. I still have a desire for these people and a passion for lost souls in Kalamazoo, specifically these urban neighborhoods.
As I thought about that, I considered the "failure" of that mission. My failure to not only see appreciable results in the last six years, but my failure to follow through on the work. I can tell you why. For one thing, it was too much for one person to pursue, and I was hard pressed to locate others to join in my passion.
Did I spend enough time trying to build and maintain a team? Initially, no. As time has progressed I have more and more adopted a style of training and building teams, but frankly, by that point, I was tired. I poured so much time into a few street kids that I exhausted myself. I would have been better served to build a team to reach street kids and develop multiple people within Bethel to support those kids.
I'm so much a doer, a man of action, that it was my down fall. Frankly, if I had been "successful", it might have been disastrous. I would have more energetically pursued the same course. The one-man-show would have proved the best way. Instead, by way of failure, I proved to myself, that a ministry leader needs to be an organizer and mentor of ministry doers. Also, the ministry leader must, as soon as possible, mentor new leadership to take over and replace the one who started the ministry.
In that sense, to say that we are preparing for missions is inaccurate, since for 5+ years I and my family worked to reach our street and to reach disadvantaged children in another urban area. I spent a lot of time, creativity, and energy, and my family joined in or dealt with my absence.
It's more accurate to say that, at least in my personal case, that on my own, I was a failure as a "tent maker" missionary, and a failure as a "home" missionary. Tent Makers go to a country, work a job and engage ministry on the side. Home missionaries are from the U.S. and minister in the U.S. I had no mission board or country/regional coordinator to monitor my progress, and no one else who had done what I was trying to do. I blew it.
It makes me sad to walk away from this town, as I have not achieved my objective. I don't know if I achieved God's objective, but I have a suspicion that I did.
Adam
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Tick, Tick, Tick
22-October-2008.
I'm getting layed-off from Pfizer. Not a temp thing. This is a termination due to company cost cutting. My last day is supposed to be 22-Oct-2008. I've written all of my remaining tasks/projects on my white board. I have six things left. One of them will take me weeks to complete.
With each task that I check off of the white board, I feel a little more tense. I have moments of peace, and trust. . . excitement over what comes next, and the sense that I have lately of a growing and deepening relationship with God.
Even so, the familiar is comfortable.
At home I am making some repairs and updates so that we can put our house up for sale. Each piece of trim that I paint and repair that I make, I can sense the clock tick some more.
It's like racing toward the edge of a cliff. I'm one of those base jumpers who parachute off of stationary objects like cliffs or buildings. I would have trained for it extensively, and would want to do it (no one forces a person to base jump), but the first jump would scare me silly.
Leaving my job, selling the house, living some place temporarily between then, trying to raise support. No guarantees that we will be able to raise support. No guarantees of anything.
Yet, I know that God has the end in mind. God is already aware of the steps, the milestones, and the ending. There's no reason to doubt. I do though, and it forces me to prayer and to struggle to exercises greater trust.
I'm making progress.
Adam
I'm getting layed-off from Pfizer. Not a temp thing. This is a termination due to company cost cutting. My last day is supposed to be 22-Oct-2008. I've written all of my remaining tasks/projects on my white board. I have six things left. One of them will take me weeks to complete.
With each task that I check off of the white board, I feel a little more tense. I have moments of peace, and trust. . . excitement over what comes next, and the sense that I have lately of a growing and deepening relationship with God.
Even so, the familiar is comfortable.
At home I am making some repairs and updates so that we can put our house up for sale. Each piece of trim that I paint and repair that I make, I can sense the clock tick some more.
It's like racing toward the edge of a cliff. I'm one of those base jumpers who parachute off of stationary objects like cliffs or buildings. I would have trained for it extensively, and would want to do it (no one forces a person to base jump), but the first jump would scare me silly.
Leaving my job, selling the house, living some place temporarily between then, trying to raise support. No guarantees that we will be able to raise support. No guarantees of anything.
Yet, I know that God has the end in mind. God is already aware of the steps, the milestones, and the ending. There's no reason to doubt. I do though, and it forces me to prayer and to struggle to exercises greater trust.
I'm making progress.
Adam
Monday, September 1, 2008
Powerless
It's about 4am and I've been awake for about an hour.
When I'm awake in the night (doesn't happen often). I try and pray for people. It's better than fretting. That worked for about thirty min. I prayed for all sorts of people and worshiped God, it was cool. I still couldn't sleap so I did a little Bible study.
I'm still awake, so I decided to get up and write.
There is so much changing right now. The clock is ticking on my job. My last day will be around 22-October. I'll have enough severence pay to keep us part way into next year, but leaving my job at Pfizer is a big change. It's unnerving to be at work and feel the days drawing to a close. It makes me tense.
As I paint the trim and get ready for the carpet, I sense the clock ticking on putting our house up for sale. I wanted to have it up for sale this summer, but it won't be until Jan 09. Even so, do I really fee like moving? No. In one sense I would love for everything to stay the way that it has been. The changes are unsettling.
I'm thinking about my dad a lot too. He had his leg amputated and is recovering in a nursing home. He's acting confused about why he is there and why he can't leave. It's difficult to watch my once strong, self sufficient father week and helplessly lying in a nursing home. I never realised how much of my confidence in life is based on my earthly father. That confidence has been shaken to the core, and I must transfer my confidence to my heavenly father.
It makes focussing on missions preparations tougher, but we are continuing to keep at it.
Thankfully, all of this has driven me to prayer. For that I am thankful.
Adam
When I'm awake in the night (doesn't happen often). I try and pray for people. It's better than fretting. That worked for about thirty min. I prayed for all sorts of people and worshiped God, it was cool. I still couldn't sleap so I did a little Bible study.
I'm still awake, so I decided to get up and write.
There is so much changing right now. The clock is ticking on my job. My last day will be around 22-October. I'll have enough severence pay to keep us part way into next year, but leaving my job at Pfizer is a big change. It's unnerving to be at work and feel the days drawing to a close. It makes me tense.
As I paint the trim and get ready for the carpet, I sense the clock ticking on putting our house up for sale. I wanted to have it up for sale this summer, but it won't be until Jan 09. Even so, do I really fee like moving? No. In one sense I would love for everything to stay the way that it has been. The changes are unsettling.
I'm thinking about my dad a lot too. He had his leg amputated and is recovering in a nursing home. He's acting confused about why he is there and why he can't leave. It's difficult to watch my once strong, self sufficient father week and helplessly lying in a nursing home. I never realised how much of my confidence in life is based on my earthly father. That confidence has been shaken to the core, and I must transfer my confidence to my heavenly father.
It makes focussing on missions preparations tougher, but we are continuing to keep at it.
Thankfully, all of this has driven me to prayer. For that I am thankful.
Adam
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