Where there is no vision, the people perish: but
he that keepeth the law, happy is he. (Prov.29:18)
When I think of a vision it is a dream you have of
something in the future.It is defined
as ~ a sight (mentally), i.e. a dream, revelation, or oracle:--vision. And a primitive root; to gaze at; mentally, to
perceive, contemplate (with pleasure); specifically, to have a vision
of:--behold, look, prophesy, provide, see.
Everyone has a dream of something for example
everyone has a dream of being happily married, to have a job you love, to have
an a good incometo support your
family(man)to have a husband that
cherishes her (woman),to have good Christian friends that you love spending
time with, & to have a good Christ honoring church that you can attend.
For me several things that I mentioned are my
dreams. Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
(Prov.16:3) The verse above stats that if we commit are works unto the Lord,
that all of our thoughts shall be established.For example are founding fathers had a vision of a new nation under God.
Founded in justice, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness. And look what will
have had for the longest time.A nation
founded on biblical principles. Now we have to have a vision to believe that
this nation still can turn back to God. We have to believe in it, & do are
part, & trust God to do the rest. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;
and lean not unto thine own understanding.In all thy ways acknowledge him, and
he shall direct thy paths.(Prov.3:5-6) I was reading my Bible the other day,
& it said “All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect
heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of
Israel were of one heart to make David king. (1Chron. 12:38) The phrase “one
heart” stuck with me. The people came with one heart, if we do the same turn to
God with one heart. He will hear us & give us innumerable blessings.
But sometimes we have to wait on our visions. But
they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up
with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk,
and not faint.(Isa.40:31) Before some of your dreams come true we have to get
on are knees & seek the Lord’s face.If
my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and
seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven,
and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.(2Chron.7:14)
For me my visions are this ~ to be happily
married, to be involved in the ministry of some short, to have an income that
supports a family well, to own my own business, to have friends that I love
being around(& I do have), to be have a good Christ honoring churchto attend, to have a family I love.
The Lord had a vision as well for His people which
is summed up in one verse “Set your affection on things above, not on things on
the earth.” (Col.3:2). The apostle Paul goes on & explains in the verse &
then in verse 17 “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of
the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”We need to be concerned on heavenly things
not earthly. Don’t get me wrong we do need to be concerned only on heavenly
things, but we also need to be concerned with our nation which was founded on
the basis of freedom, liberty, justice, the pursuit of happiness, &
Biblical principles. And to everything with in our power to preserve our
freedom & our children, & children’s children, etc…By whatever means necessary. Which is in
accordance with His Word “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord,
and not unto men ; ( Col. 3:23).
I believe that pretty well sums it all up. Agree
or disagree is not the object of this, but to clearly encourage & uplift
each one of you. If you do disagree get in your own Bible(KJV) & search it
out for yourselves. This is what I have come to, & I will stick by it until
God shows me otherwise.
Where to begin? The Lord taught me so many things on this trip, I never dreamed of learning so many things in just one week of being out of the states but I did. As I was thinking on writing this report on what God did for me on this mission’s trip. I kept on thinking I couldn't go right into
the trip because the Lord taught me things right before I left for England not even one week before, we are talking about days. On the Sunday before we left for England, I got a call in the afternoon from a church nearby that wanted to help me on my trip. I have been praying for weeks to supply my needs for my mission’s trip, He met my need above & beyond I ever expected. Then on Wednesday before I left my church decided to help me as well. Both were an answer to prayer, God is so good, He supplies all of my needs. Right here he taught me patience & to just trust him.
Okay on to the trip. The mission’s field is an eye opener to everyone who goes & if it isn't something is definitely wrong with you. I'm going to try to list each one of these & explain them, on what the Lord did for me, to the best of my ability. I made several things & several of them seemed to me to go together with others. Quite a few things I'm not sure how to explain but I will give it a shot.
First ~ the Lord opens my eyes to the missions in general. In such a way it's unbelievable. When I think of this a verse pops into my mind is Lam. 3:51 " Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city."
Second ~ He gave me a vision which I never had before & I never want to forget or die with in me.
Third ~ when I came back to the states I felt like God had put a stick under me & lit it. And put me on fire for Him.
Fourth ~ He gave me new lifelong friends. I know that isn't something far as something the taught me but it is something he gave me.
Fifth ~ The Lord opened my eyes to colleges. I thought I possible never say since an institution I thought the Lord wanted me to go to several years ago went downhill. But He has opened my eyes, heart, soul, & mind to it. And allowing me playfully considers each one that has been brought to my attention, which believes the Bible way. I'm very seriously considering going there instated of distant learning.
Sixth ~ He allowed me to see & experience missions in action.
Seventh ~ He showed me how to work with a people of a different culture & country.
Eighth ~ He gave me a sincere desire to see His word put out whatever the coasts.
Ninth ~ He assured me that I can speak to a group of people & bring you message that you gave me.
Tenth ~ He adjusted my thing in week more than I ever dreamed possible in several different area’s in my
life. Eleventh ~ He recharged my spirit, to serve Him more fully.
Twelfth ~ on the trip he gave me such joy & gladness it was unbearable.
Thirteenth ~ He taught me how to effectually witness for Him.
Fourteenth ~ He gave me new interests.
Fifteenth ~ He gave me new desires.
Sixteenth ~ He gave me new goals.
HIS Ambassador, Asher Neal
*Bellow is a video I put together on my spiritual side of the trip.*
Where to begin? I guess the best place to start is at the
beginning!
On my travel date I was so nervous. For several reasons- first, I had never flown across the ocean before and if something did happen, I would be in the ocean. Second, I didn't know what kind of people I would be working with. Third, I didn't know the procedure of how we were going tdistribute the scriptures. I met Bro. Allen and the group he had with him at the time. We got through security. I despise security ! :) We grabbed a bite to eat in the food court before we got on the plane. One of the ladies going with us met us there. A couple of guys were waiting for us at the gate. When I met everyone at that time I could tell a few of us would hit it right off and did we ever! Take off time, and now it’s just a waiting game. I was hoping I would be able to sleep on the plane, but I couldn't at all. Thankfully, the plane had free movies that we could watch so the ones that couldn't sleep did that. They fed us on the plane. The dinner was horrible, but the breakfast was fine.Friday ~ We got in a little late but that was fine, we had to go through border control which took longer than usual, (for a plane trip that is) then we got our bags. We met Pastor Justin Williams & Bro. Corea and headed off to rent a few cars for the weekend. It's so weird seeing cars drive on the opposite side of the road and the driver driving from the right side of the vehicle. It was hilarious seeing Bro. Allen trying to get on the wrong side to drive. We ate en route to the hotel at Mc Donalds- believe it or not! We were starving since we had not had a decent meal since the Alanta airport. We arrived at the hotel, and got checked in. I didn’t have a roommate since the guy that was my roommate had his plane delayed and he missed the plane to London! When we took off, Bro. Allen had to work the details out to get him over here the next day. We all settled in to our rooms & had about an hour until we met for a little distribution for a couple of hours and then when went to eat at Toby’s Carvery . It was kind of like a buffet, but not all of the same. Let me explain, you could go up and get one plate full of meat, then as many plates of sides as you want. The building was like a mansion. As you looked it from the outside, and from the inside I guess you could say it was laid out like a mansion. After dinner we hit the hay.
Saturday ~ We had our first meeting in the morning, then we went out canvassing. Bro. Allen &and Sis. Dema had to go pick up my roommate at the airport. I worked with Bro. Corea doing letter boxing (which is basically putting tracks in mail boxes). In England you are allowed to do that. Bro. Corea told me that several companies hire people to do that for them and that he looked into in Ireland and it was very expensive. Another group and we were doing the letter boxing, and a couple of other groups were doing the John and Romans. Bro. Corea and I had lunch at McDonald's again. It was the quickest place to grab something and go. Then we went back out to do more distribution. While we were waiting on Pastor Williams to take us to another area we passed out several John and Romans and tracts . The total of tracts distributed in that day alone was 6,500. To God be the glory! Then we went to dinner at a restaurant called the Plough. It was excellent food. I had fish, chips, & mashed peas. Then we went to the hotel and some of us went down to the eating area and got on WIFI- or tried to that is!
Sunday ~ What a day to be in God's house in London, England! We were at the Grace Baptist Church in Enfield, London. I was privileged to lead singing in Sunday School at the church. Pastor Williams taught a very good adult Bible class. Bro. Allen preached the service and did an excellent job. It spoke to my heart. At end of service a lady raised her hand that she wanted to get saved. Parvina is from Turkmenistan, and was staying in the same hotel as us. She has a Muslim background, but gladly received the Russian and English gospel literature we gave her. She told us she was going to be continuing her studies with the Jehovah Witnesses on Sunday, but decided to come to church with us instead. After hearing a gospel message she raised her hand during the invitation, and Sis. Dema was able to deal with her for salvation! In between services of the a.m. and p.m we went sight-seeing. It was a blast. We went and saw Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, the London Eye, & Thames River. I enjoyed them all. We took lots of pictures. We were privileged to attend the Metropolitan Tabernacle (Charles Spurgeon's church) for the evening service.
Starting from today we rode the tubes, trains, and buses every day until we left. It was a good service on salvation. I enjoyed it, but it was a little different than I'm used to. Several of us enjoyed it- me included. After service we went to grab a bite to eat enroute to the hotel at Burger King in the bus
station. The bus station is like an airport. We got back from our long day, and several of us went down to the breakfast area & fellowshipped while we got on WI-FI.
Monday ~ We met for our meeting this morning & my roommate (Scott Rabideau) did our devotion this morning. We went distributing literature at the Buckingham Palace area. My group ( Tiffany, Sis. Dema and me) worked mostly in the St. James Park today. We went through several John and Romans in no time at all. We had a lunch at Caffé Nero. It is known for its coffee in the U. K.We had a good time of fellowship. Then we were back to distributing literature. Bro. Allen and I went to one spot near the park to distribute, and Sis. Dema and Tiffany went close to the tube station and distributed. We ate dinner at Nandos. They are known for their chicken. You can have almost any size of chicken fixed any way and put the level of spice you want on it. I had 1/4 of a chicken with medium spice, and then I put hot sauce and herb and garlic on my chicken. I also had chips and green beans. ( I think- I can't remember exactly!) Afterwards we all rode a double decker it was AWESOME!!! Bro. Harris wanted to ride a double decker and eat ice cream while he was on it from the very first day! Well, tonight he got his wish! After we got back to the motel several of us went to the breakfast area & fellowshipped once again.
Tuesday ~ we had our meeting and I was privileged to do our devotions this morning. Then we headed out to the Tower and Castle Bridge area. Even before we got to our area we were supposed to go today a man asked the Lord to save him. His name was Prince. Then not long after we got to our working area Clare was able to lead a lady named Paula to the Lord. WOW!!! Thank God for His fruit already today. We had to be extremely careful here since it was on private property. If someone would say something to us we stopped for a few minutes and then started in again. I was able to talk to two bobbies today and give them both a John and Romans. I was with Jim & Clare Woo as we distributed the John and Romans. We met up with the ladies (Tiffany, Courtney, & Mary) for lunch, some of us ate at KFC and some had Subway, but we all ate together at KFC. We did have a good time of fellowship with each other. After lunch we had a little time to spare for souvenir shopping. I got a few things for myself, John Henry, and Cierra. Then we went back distributing. After we finished distributing we went to eat at a place called Harvester's, which is like a English style Cracker Barrel. It was wonderful food. We were able to eat all of the salad that we wanted. I had salmon, chips, and green beans. Again, I know you all think I really enjoy the fish and chips- well I do! Then we had dessert. Most of the group had a sundae of some sort but I had a cheesecake. It was okay, it was definitely an English style of a dessert- I would not request it for my birthday, that’s for sure! We all did the same thing as we normally did.
Wednesday ~ We started the day like any other day, we are going to be working at PiccadillyCircus. I have never seen sooooo many people in my life! Our group ( Bro. Harris, Pastor Williams and me)
were empty in no time at all. Bro. Harris reminds me so much of Grandpa Bob it’s not funny- so no wonder we were empty in a very short time! I had lunch with a couple of the groups at the Thai Bar. I wasn't sure if I would like it, but it was actually very good. While we had lunch Pastor Williams went and refilled the big suitcase. When we got finished he still wasn't back so we went souvenir shopping and we exchanged money if we needed to. I couldn't believe the exchange
rate! I exchanged $ 80 U.S. dollars and I got I think 45 -50 pounds back. When he got back, we loaded up and distributed the rest. Then we headed to dinner at George's Fish'n Chips. He is known for his fish and chips. We hurried to church where Bro. Corea did the service, which was excellent. It dealt with my heart tremendously. We rode a double decker bus back to the hotel and put our stuff up that needed to be. Several of us went downstairs to the eating area and watched the Olympics, fellowshipped, and got on WI-FI. Thursday ~ We went to the Olympic Park today, and distributed scriptures. I normally emptied at the most two backpacks in a day, but I had to refill at least 3-4 times. WOW!!!! What a place to distribute His word. While we were there we saw Islamics passing out material. A group with Back to Genesis, a guy preaching, and a group doing some kind of native dance. What a place of action! As we were leaving the Islamics were ganging up on the guy preaching & Bro. Allen, Bro. Harris, and Bro. Corea backed him up, by simply saying AMEN!!! After we left we headed for the Eye & the boats. Some of us rode the Eye & the rest of them rode the boat. The eye was an experience and a half! I rode the Eye with Tiffany, Courtney, & Bro. Corea. Bro. Allen, Sis. Dema, Nate, Clint, Jim & Clare Woo, Bro. Scott, & Bro. Harris rode the boat. In the Eye you can see all of London which was amazing!!! It only took about 30 minutes at the most, they were saying 45 minutes, but there was no way! It kept on moving it never stopped. We finished before the others, so we went souvenier shopping. I got quite a bit of looking done before they got back. Then we were off to dinner at the Texas Embassy. It was very nice restaurant, it was set up a little differently. Normally we were able to get unlimited refills on four different drinks for about 2.35 pounds,but here you were not able to. I ate lasagna -the best I ever had, I do believe! We had a good time of fellowship while we were eating. We headed back to the hotel. We got back kind of late. Once again the four of us, (Bro. Scott, Tiffany, Courtney and me) went down to the breakfast area to get on WI-FI. Courtney was putting a disc together for everyone from the trip and was needing everyone's pictures, I was skyping mom, and Bro. Scott and Tiffany were doing e-mails. Tonight was the last night we all are going to be together. A couple of us started some missions conference fun. We started late, you don't want to know how late we were up!
Friday ~ Back to the states we go. I hate to see it end. I thank God that there was such a unity in the group, lifelong friendships for everyone, scriptures put out in abundance. We had one last meeting
we were sad to leave. Pastor Williams took a video of us that he wanted to send to his supporting churches, and we got a group picture (finally). Same rigamoral from the train station to the airport,
through security, etc.... We divided into three groups, the first group got there plenty early and was able to grab a bite to eat. The other two groups barely made it in time to grab something fast and board the plane. It was a good flight, I was actually able to sleep on this flight for a little while. The food actually was good on this flight, and not like the last one. When we landed we had to go through border control, and all of that junk. You know, having to tell what you brought back to the states, how much it costs, etc.....When we all got through customs we hated to leave each other. I have made some lifelong friendships here on this trip.
Thank you for taking the time to read my journal of my
missions trip.
Asher Neal
~Nehimiah 2:18~
*Bellow is a video of my missions trip to London. Please take the time to view it. Thanks!*
be
thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man;
3 And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his
statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it
is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou
doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:
4 That the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If
thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their
heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the
throne of Israel. 1Kings 2:2b-4
I read this in my daily Bible reading one day, & I started to ponder. How
do we shew ourselves a man?
I suppose the best way to know how to shew thyself a man is to figure out what
we are not to be. First of all we should not have any characteristics
pertaining to a woman, I hope I do not have to explain that. Secondly ~ to have
low morals, Third ~ to be blood thirsty, Forth ~ to be an hypocrite, Fifth ~ a
strange man, being loose. Sixth ~ being desperately wicked, Seventh ~ to have
no fear of God, Eighth~ to have no desire about the things of God, Ninth~ to
have no care about the house of God, Tenth ~ to live like we have no worries
about eternity. I know there are several others but here are the basics that I
have come up with, I’m sure several of you can come up with others.
Let me ask you something are one or any characteristics of the negative side of
“shew thyself a man” HONESTLY?
Ok, enough time to ponder. How do we shew ourselves a man? Well first of all we
are suppose to be gentlemen, secondly ~ he is honest & respectful, third ~
he is a servant, forth ~ to be God fearing, fifth ~ to being concerned about
our local church serving in it to the best of our abilities, sixth ~ to be a
prayer warrior, seventh ~ to be a man to search out the answer from the Bible,
eighth ~ to be a husband, father, & spiritual leader & physical leader
of our home, ninth ~ to live a godly example, tenth~ to be help provide for
your family, 11th ~ to be bold, 12th ~ to express your opinions openly /
honestly, 13th ~to make a
decision & hold to it right or wrong, 14th~ to take responsibility of our actions, 15th
to discern justly, 16th for our actions to be consent, 17th
to be willing to learn, 18th willing to fix our mistakes no matter
what the circumstances... I think that sums it up, I can’t think of
anything to add.
Our hunting trip started actually on Sunday night after church. We started to get things ready to leave on our three day hunt. We started to get our things that we needed for our hunt- sleeping bags, food, rifles, etc. We made lists so that we would not forget anything important because we were not planning to come back into town until our hunt was over. We went to bed expecting something to come out of it and praying that the trip would be fruitful. Day One:
We woke up with the weather at 23 degrees. As we were walking in to our hunting spot it started snowing- flakes the size of quarters, and the wind blowing. It is good morning, the animals should be moving.
We walked in and tried to get an elk to bugle for us, we thought we heard one but was not sure enough to investigate. We tried again and nothing, so we continued on to get our hunting spot set up.
It kept on snowing for about two to three hours. It started to get colder and colder. Nothing not even ground squirells were moving, so we decided to go back and set up camp and eat lunch. That evening we tried a different spot on a different mountain but there was nothing moving there either. We went back to camp and ate supper and enjoyed each others company for the rest of the evening. Day Two:
We expected and prayed even harder for God to give us an animal. We woke up and it was decent weather, there was a nice chill in the air- perfect for hunting. We walked into our hunting spot and watched extensively. One, two, three hours passed and we saw nothing at all. We saw good sign but no animals, so we decided to go back to camp to eat lunch, rest and recuperate. I
n the evening we went back to our hunting spot and watched, listened, smelled the air, and looked for tracks. But once again we struck out. We saw nothing except a grouse. We went back to camp to eat supper, sit around the fire, and enjoy each others company the rest of the evening. Day Three:
We woke up to a nice morning for hunting. For that matter, it was a nice day to do anything . We started to walk into our hunting spot and jumped a deer. Actually, all we saw was its tail as it was running away. We finally got to our hunting spot. It was about a mile to two miles into the spot. We watched for about three hours plus, and saw nothing, so we started walking the long way back to the vehicle, and still saw nothing.
Once we got to our vehicle we decided on taking a drive up the mountain hoping we could see something. When we drove up as far as we could we came to a gate where we might have been able to drive in to a spot. However, it would have been five miles or so in there .
We turned around and started going back down the mountain. We went down for a little while and then we looked up and saw a deer in the middle of the road! We stopped, got out, and put the sights of our guns on the deer. It is a buck! We thought is was at least a 3 point (6point) buck .
We shot at him one, two, three times, and then finally I shot at him and he went suddenly over the embankment. We thought we heard him crash and lay down. We went to investigate. It was thick in there. We jumped him up two times before we actually smelled him. I walked a little further and saw him. I went down to get him and had to keep on moving up and down taking a step or two until I finally was able to see him looking at me. I put my crosshairs on his nose, pulled the trigger and he was down for the count. I went down where he was and made sure he was dead, where I found out that he was a four by three (seven point) point buck!
We drug him up out of the woods, the terrain was nothing but deadfall as we were climbing/dragging him up the embankment. We loaded him onto the truck. We drove back to camp, and that pretty much wraps up our hunting trip.
I notice that is how God’s will is in a Christian’s life as we struggle to find an answer, but then get no answer. We go to him a second, third time and no answer, until finally we are in a crunch. We must decide to trust him to guide our life the way He wants us to go. Just as the last was of the hunt was finally a successful hunt. We hunt first days hard, and finally the last day of the hunt in the afternoon I got my four by three buck. I believe we just need to trust God in every situation till He answers. Knock on doors, if He opens them walk through them, just stay in God’s will no matter the cost, and He will bless throughout your whole life.
