Big News and Big Changes

 October 2020 Have you ever wondered about what was going through the Israelites minds when they stood before the Red Sea BEFORE God opened a pathway? Imagine just looking at the impossibility of an over 7,000 feet deep body of water before you and an angry Egyptian army closing in behind you. Moses stands before the Israelites in this moment of absolute fear and tells them, “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” 

Six months ago, we were struck with fear and anxiety as we made a choice to quickly evacuate Ecuador. We had three days to pack our things and leave the country our hearts knew as home. The place three of our children were born. The place our lives had been invested in for years and years. The place God called us to just a few months after we were married, almost 17 years ago. 

We decided to use this evacuation time to come and care for BJ’s mother who has been ill and in need of family support. We spent our quarantine time in New Jersey and then began making preparations to go to Kentucky where BJ’s mom lives. Now that we are in Kentucky and aware of more details, God has placed it upon our hearts to stay here and care for BJ’s mother. And so we faced our Red Sea moment. What do we do?! We placed the situation before the Lord and were reminded of the words God spoke to Moses, “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” 

We prayerfully contacted the people at our office to let them know of our decision. We asked God to make a way. We asked God for employment. We asked God for a home. We asked God for peace in our hearts and the hearts of our children as we adjust to a living in a new foreign country. And we were still. 

As we quickly approached a day when we had to make a decision of what we were going to do we received an amazing offer from One Mission Society. BJ has been offered and accepted a job where so much of his life and ministry experience will be put to use. He will be joining the ECC (Every Community for Christ) production team, and his official title will be Train & Multiply translator liaison. BJ will be organizing and encouraging all of the translators around the globe that are working to put One Mission Society’s discipleship materials into their own countries’ languages. With this team, he will be working to provide these translators with the supplies and materials needed as well as the emotional support that is so crucial for those in this type of kingdom building work. These translated discipleship materials are used to disciple new believers into a deeper relationship with Christ. They are also used as evangelistic tools that new believers can share with their families, friends, and neighbors! 

 Eventually (when travel restrictions are a bit looser), he will be traveling to visit some of those translation teams around the world for face-to-face meetings. BJ will be working remotely from our home here in Kentucky so that we can stay closer to his mother and be available to her as needed. We are so grateful for this opportunity to continue kingdom building work with One Mission Society. We will continue to depend on your generous gifts and donations as BJ takes on this new role. This means you still have the opportunity to financially partner with us as we reach the nations for Christ. Donations made to our support account will continue to support the work we are involved in just as they have in the past. If you already support us regularly, no changes are necessary. If you would like to partner with us in ministry, please visit our giving page by clicking here 

https://onemissionsociety.org/missionaries/detail/Williamson2.

 Andrea has decided to step away from One Mission Society and focus on helping the kids adjust to life in the USA and invest time in Jonathan as we only have a few more years with him before he starts school! We ask that you pray for us in this time of transition. Our hearts are grieving those we have left behind and yet eager to see what lies ahead. We ask that you pray for the ministry in Chaguarpamba, Ecuador, and for Telmo and Cecilia who are so diligently taking on the responsibilities of reaching their community for Christ. Pray also for the ministry opportunities that lie ahead and for God to continue to open doors where we can share Christ with those around us. We realize you may have questions that have not been answered in this letter and welcome each of you to contact us by phone (859-583-5805) or by email at (bjwilliamson@onemissionsociety.org).

 When the Israelites turned around after having crossed the Red Sea, their lives were never the same. They had seen the hand of God in everything. They knew only He could have accomplished such a mighty act. We, too, feel God’s hand at work in our lives. We see his providence. We know his peace in trying times. And we can forever return to moments like these past several months, when life seems overwhelming and without resolution, and know that we have seen the hand of God at work in it all and say that it has been good. 

Under His Wings, 

The Williamson Family

The adoption story

I am a person changed forever.  My perspective on life has been altered in an unskewable way that forever has altered my path.  I can't go back from where I come and I would not if I had the choice.  Wondering if I am sane or crazy is a daily occurrence.  Every day is packed with adventure and surprises.  It has been two months since we welcomed Jonathan Israel Williamson into our family.

I have so many questions that may never find their answers.  I have missed so many moments in this little boys life that I can not recuperate.  The natural connection that a mother has to her child is being built instead of naturally existing.  Adoption is not natural.  It is not what I thought it would be.  And yet, it is so much more.

The first time that we met Jonathan he was a trembling little boy clinging to his care giver and burrowing his face into her shoulder.  Even though he was only a few weeks shy of 3 years old his little soul knew something huge was on the horizon.  He was taken back outside to the patio to calm down.  Micah went outside to peek in on his new little brother.  He slowly walked over to this innocently fear filled child and  reached out.  Together they sat down on the pavement and played with a toy car that we had mailed to Jonathan the week before.  They sat together and built trust in the form of simple play.

As time ticked by we slowly inched our way closer to the two playing boys.  My youngest son was the bridge to my new youngest son.  It was beautiful and amazing all wrapped up in a few flittering moments.  And that was how it began.

Adoption is not at all what I thought it would be.  It is harder.  It is uglier.  It is raw and unguarded.  It is nothing that I thought it would be and more amazing than I could have ever imagined.  It is more rewarding.  It is more fulfilling.  It is more life changing.  Adoption is life altering.

Joseph was an adoptive father in scripture.  He raised a baby who was not his own.  He spent time with Jesus in his wood shop teaching him his trade.  He shared his love of creating with the son of the creator of the universe.  I now have new respect for Joseph.  He took a chance.  He chose to love. He welcomed a child who was not his own, into his life and into his heart.

As we approach the Christmas season my heart finds new glimmers of inspiration and joy.  Jesus knew what it was to be adopted.  Joseph knew what it was to choose to love.  Psalm 27:10 says, "Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me."  Adoption is all through scripture and Christmas is the pinnacle moment where it all begins to unfold.  We see the sweet innocent baby in a manger who is being sheltered and cared for by his adoptive father Joseph.  This innocent baby, the Christ Child, then grows up and saves the world.  Jesus bridges the gap between a sinful human race and a perfect heavenly father.  Jesus made the adoption possible.  He made a way for us to be adopted into God's family.

As we get ready to celebrate our first Christmas together as a family of 6 we are priveledged to a new insight into what it means to be adopted into the family of God.  We are chosen by God.  We are loved not because we did something worthy of love, but because God chose to love us.  And just as Jonathan is a delight to us even on the difficult days, we too are a delight to our heavenly father no matter what type of day we are having.  The Christ child who himself was adopted, came into the world so that we could all be adopted into the family of God.  Let us enter into the season of Christmas knowing that baby Jesus is just the beginning of the world's greatest adoption story.

I am not a carpet

Lying on the floor pretending I am not present....this totally could explain me most recently.  Lately I have woken up and peeked out from under the covers hoping and praying for calm.  Life has been pretty overwhelming.  So much going on.  High highs. Low lows.  It has been a whirlwind.  I have never desired low key moments so much as I have this past few months.  I feel as though I could have whiplash from the extremes.

Just about a month ago we welcomed an amazing little boy into our family.  His joy has been a delight to us.  Every day is a gift.  Every song that comes on is worthy of being danced to.  Every toy needs to be played with as he gleefully narrates playtime.  His joy is contagious and uplifting.  Jonathan has been the highest of highs.  

Just over 3 months ago Elijah became chronically sick and no one seemed to be able to figure out what was wrong.  He suffered and faked his way through the days not knowing the cause of his stomach pain.  His pain has been my lowest of lows.  God and I have spent a lot of time talking about timing, about "why now?", and about "when is enough, enough?".  Doctors believe they have found the problem but healing will be slow and time is needed.  

I have asked God many times this past few months if he has mistaken me for some type of superhero.  I am no superhero.  I am tired. I am overwhelmed.  I am living a roller coaster life.  But I am also a child of the LIVING GOD.  When life is too much I have had to place it all in my Father's hands and trust that He has a plan.  

Jesus knew very well what the overwhelmed life was all about.  He had so much potential to be overwhelmed.  Crowds and crowds of people wanting him to heal, touch, care for, fix.  Never a moment of peace. Never enough quiet. But Jesus had great boundaries.  When he was overwhelmed he would separate himself from the crazy and spend time in the presence of his Father.  There his heart would find comfort.  There he was renewed.  

As I have felt the overwhelming ebbs and flows of life I have found myself clinging to my morning quiet times.  Studying God's word and sipping coffee in the quiet mornings before little feet hit the floor has sustained me.  It has not taken away difficulties but it has given me hope to handle them.  It has given me words to share with Elijah as he passes through these difficult times.  It has given me peace in my heart.  

I have also asked for others to pray for us.  Our prayer team members have helped sustain us when we were too overwhelmed to utter the prayers ourselves.  I have found peace at times when peace was inexplainable.  I have found hope because others have gone before the throne and asked for it in our place.  I have seen the body of Christ in action and it has been a balm to my heart.  

So as I daily take steps forward in the life God has laid before me I will resist the desire to hide.  I will claim the promises God layes out in His word.  I will stop trying to hide in the carpet and begin praising God for the moments of joy that are the highs of my day.  I will stop trying hide in a carpet and choose to trust in God's plan.  God has never let me down.  I know He has his best for me.  I choose to see Him at work.  

Mimes and the Comfortable Life

Fingernails through the chair.  That's how tightly i was gripping my chair.  I was trying to force myself not to run away.  There was an interpretive dancer on stage.  I distinctly remember repeating to myself in my mind, your not on stage doing this, this is not your problem.  I have a few irrational fears.  One of them is mimes; another is interpretive dancers.  When I attended Asbury College this fear would occasionally surface when I had to watch any type of interpretive dance or miming during chapel service.  I feel a deep down embarrassment any time I see that white face and gloved hands or interpretive arm swinging to music.  The thought of crawling under my chair and hiding calls my name.  Really all I want to do is run away.  I am not alone in this fear and graciously God gave me a friend in college who understood my mime-aphobia.

Recently I started reflecting over my deep need to flee from the uncomfortable.  I think its a fairly normal response.  No one likes to be uncomfortable.  In some ways God has put that "flee" tendency in us as protection.  We see a shady looking character who might want to mug us and we flee.  That is a good thing.  We see smoke filling a room with no fireplace and we quickly exit the building.  When we see cheese with fuzzy mold growing on it, we make it flee from us by throwing it out. That too is a good thing.   But, what about those times when the uncomfortable is good for us?


Recently in ministry I have been faced with  those uncomfortable moments.  Instead of being in the background of our kids club organizing crafts and planning game time, where I am most comfortable, I have been in front of everyone running crafts and games. I have even been caught a time or two doing hand motions to the music.  (That is fairly close to the mime/interpretive dance category)

                                                          

Doing ministry in a new location where your fairly isolated can definitely be uncomfortable.  Many of times I have found myself wishing we had more team working with us in town.  It can become lonely.  Its hard to find balance between reaching out to an entire community and taking care of home life.  Some days it feels like a lot just to go into town to buy groceries or pay bills.  Uncomfortable is a common occurrence in our lives.

But, what I have learned in these past six months is what that discomfort brings.  It has brought relationship.  In my loneliness I have not had team members living right here beside us to rely on, so I have dug into relationships with new friends in the community.  Relationships that I might not have reached for had I had the comforts of team.  I have found that I am encouraging others in town to get involved with helping the childrens' club and get involved in teaching.  I would not have had that opportunity if we had team here working with us. Those opportunities would have been missed.  Those relationships would not be deepening had I been more comfortable.

At times I lose sight of what is important.  Why do I think things always need to be comfortable?  Was Moses comfortable when God asked him to go and tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites be free?  Was Gideon comfortable when God had him whittle down his army from 32,000 men to 300 men as he was about to go into battle with the Midianite army?  And what about Jesus?  He was obviously not comfortable when we he was hanging on the cross and dying for all of our sins!

So why do I start searching for reasons that something might be wrong when things are uncomfortable? Its just a way to flee.  But sometimes we need to stick a stake in the ground and hang on.  We need to look for the blessings that can come out of the discomfort.  Life is not supposed be gaged by comfort or discomfort.  That is not the way we were designed.

We were designed to glorify God.  We were designed to share the good news of salvation for all.  And if that causes a bit of discomfort that's ok by me because the outcome is worth the price.  Leading people to Christ and breaking new ground where we are living; that is the point.  We are here to be uncomfortable for Jesus.  Facing Satan and his armies was never meant to be a comfortable situation.  But just like Gideon, God may have dwindled down our army to a small amount, so small that it is just BJ, me, and the kids living here in this town.  But oh how amazing it will be as lives are won for Christ.  Because in that moment we will only be able to say, it was by no power we possess but by the power of God, that lives were changed.

So we go on day by day in our discomfort.  We put ourselves in vulnerable situations and try to connect with people who are open to listening to what we have to say.  We try to keep our eyes open for opportunities to present themselves where we can show love. We go to graduations, weddings, and school events where we stick out like a sore thumb (or very white gringos).   We go outside our home and live life with the people of Chaguarpamba and in our discomfort we are blessed.  So tomorrow when I wake up I will embrace the discomfort and know that I am growing deeper in my relationship with Christ as I step forward in the work he has put before me.  I just pray he never asks me to be a mime!

Mary had Chaos too

Chaos and Christmas go together.  Does that sound bad?  It’s true no matter how you look at it.  There is so much to be done and so many activities to attend.  The more we plan and try to pretend it is not crazy the worse it gets.  Think back to the beginning.  Even the first Christmas was total chaos.  Mary and Joseph were forced at the last minute to travel miles and miles for a census.  When they finally got to Bethlehem they were running so behind schedule that everyone else had already taken up all the available rooms.  They ended up in the stable with the animals.  I think Mary and I would have been good friends.  It was a pretty chaotic night. 

But it’s what Mary did amidst the chaos that spoke to my heart this Christmas.  Luke 2:19 says, “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” She didn’t try to pretend that the chaos wasn’t there, instead she chose to stop amidst the chaos and store up the treasures happening all around her. 

Many things are happening in our lives here in Ecuador right now.  Many blessings that translate to much business.  We just turned in our  adoption paperwork and it was accepted!  We are just a few steps away from getting our names on the waiting list for a child.   Super exciting!  We are in the midst of starting up a youth group in Chaguarpamba where we are living.  This past week we restarted our kids’ club that meets once a month.  We planned for 15-20 kids and had 42 show up!!  It was such a great chance  to share Jesus with the kids of Chaguarpamba.  We are having every day encounters with the people in town.  Relationships are forming and trust is being built.  We love what we are doing!  

Amidst the chaos of ministry and homeschooling our children life is pretty chaotic.  We have had to intentionally take time to stop and focus on the true meaning of Christmas.  Just like Mary, we are taking time to treasure all that Christmas represents.  Mary sat with the Christ child in her arms rocking him to sleep.  She knew so little of what lay ahead in her future, but she knew that  special was written all over it.  “God with us” was in her lap! 

As Christmas approaches will you join us in being intentional about spending time pondering the meaning of Christmas?  Sit in the stillness of the morning and read through the miracle of Christmas.  Before you go to bed at night read through a devotional that will help you treasure up the promise that is wrapped in Christmas.  Can you hear the amazing excitement in the air?  Ministry is about to burst open here in town.  But before the bursting, there is quiet.  Treasure it up in your hearts!

We pray your Christmas this year will be full of the true meaning of hope that was born that night. 

Merry Christmas,

The Williamson Family

 

                                                        

                                                                                            

Rodents of Unusual Sizes and Deep Grief

I was on my daily walk.  Walk might be too gentle a word.  Its a steep mountain we live on and walking anywhere requires bulging leg muscles that I am still trying to muster.  I had made it to the top and was on the steep road down when a watusa (Think rodents of unusual sizes from the movie Princess Bride) walked out in front of me.  If you don't know that they are vegetarians you might want to run screaming like I did....but up was the only escape and I didn't want to go up.  Rather, I couldn't because my leg muscles were not yet bulging.  This walk had suddenly gone way off plan.  I thought this dark furred mammal staring at me was going to eat me and then it brought out its baby as if to show me why it was going to eat me.  This momma watusa was not going to let me come between her and her baby.  My routine walk had suddenly become anything but routine.

Sometimes life comes at you that way.  This past week was a "watusa walk" kinda week. It started out like a "routine walk" and then suddenly we got the call.  A dear friend of ours in our town here in Ecuador had suddenly died of a heart attack.  Within about an hour of finding out that heart breaking news, we received news from the states that my grandfather was being rushed to the ER for what was later diagnosed as a massive stroke to the brain stem.  It was hard to know what to do first.  I wanted to hide in the house and wait by the phone, but I also knew that my dear friend and her 5 children where a few blocks away suffering at the sudden loss of their husband and father.

Some of the hardest times of being a missionary are when things are going on back home that you can't get to.  You want so desperately to go home and comfort your loved ones.  You want to link arms and help each other carry on.  You want that physical hug.  But as I climbed the mountain carrying my own grief, my husband and I went and sat with our friend.  There are no perfect words in those times.  There is nothing you can say that will even begin to take the pain away.  You just sit and let them know that you will not let them go through this alone.  You cry with them to let them know they do not cry alone.  Its not about fixing things. What is broken is now irreparable. It's about being present through the hard times.

This is why we moved to this town.  We wanted to be available for the good times and bad. I have spent the last several days sitting with my friend in her grief.  I have seen her children, most who are just entering into adulthood, crying out for their father who left them too soon.  I have seen his daughter weep for the loss of a father who was supposed to be walking her down the isle on her wedding day in two weeks.  I have seen his glassy eyed twelve year old daughter stare into nothing as she begins to process what has just happened.  And through the tears I know this is where I am supposed to be.

We went to the wake and saw hundreds of people come and stand in the streets to show their support and love for the family.  We brought the family some soup and bread to help nourish weary bodies.  We sat and talked about the good memories.  We talk about the loving words that were last spoken.  We talk about their paperwork and banking that needs to be dealt with.  We talk about nothing at all.  We hugged a lot.  We went to the funeral and saw so many people get up and speak kindly of a man who was so loved and admired in his town.  He was a doting husband and loving father in a culture where both are hard to come by.  People noticed the way he lived his life.  We went to the grave site and watched his wife and children say their final goodbyes.

We have witnessed a community come together and care for the new widow and her family.   We have seen good.  But we have also seen darkness.  Webster's Dictionary identifies idols as a representation or symbol of an object of worship, a false god.  We have seen a community praying to so many different idols asking them to guide Samuel's soul to heaven. We have seen people spend hours praying to remind God of the good things Samuel did so that God would let him into heaven.  We have seen so many people recognize a need to get to heaven but not truly understand the sacrifice that Christ made for each of them.  So many people here are trying to work for their salvation.  Trying to accumulate enough good deeds to persuade God that they are good enough to be heaven worthy.  If only they understood how filthy our good deeds look in comparison to the great and amazing act Christ did on the cross.

We live here to love.  We live here to live life with the lost so that some day they might be found.  We point to the cross.  We point to forgiveness.  We point to a Savior who has already paid the entrance fee of heaven.

As I was trying to explain to my children about their grandfather and how he was very sick I struggled to get the words out.  Too much grief, it seemed, for such little hearts.  As I spoke with my oldest son I told him that we would not be returning to the states if their Poppop did pass away.  And his childlike wisdom seemed ages more mature than my own.  He said to me, "Mom, we need to let our family in the states comfort each other, and we need to comfort our family here that has lost their dad and father."

And so with the wisdom of a child I take another step.  I offer another hug to a grieving wife.  I sit and hold her hand.  Ministry this week is being present and available.  And tomorrow, when I walk up the mountain, I will rejoice in the walks that do not include a watusa.  But I will accept the days that do, because even a watusa has a purpose, like getting my heart rate up just a bit more.

Hungry Hippos

Hungry Hippos.  For kids it is a fun game of gathering marbles by pressing a lever to get their hippopotamus to eat as many marbles from the center of the board.  To every parent it is the noisiest and most obnoxious game of all time.  Last night I was given an amazing t-shirt that symbolizes how I have been living these past few weeks.  

                                     

We have received our clearance to return to Ecuador and I have literally turned into the Hungry Hippo.  Scrambling, gathering, hording every possible thing we could need to return to Ecuador for four years.  It is a loud and messy process.  The amount of boxes and packaging materials in our home could confuse us for amazon’s packing center.  I wake up with a list of my “marbles” that I need to get that day.  Go! Go!  Get the marbles!  Buy extra underwear!!  Micah grew 6 inches last night!  Buy more clothes!!  What if Eli and Lydia do the same thing next week?  Buy them more clothes!  Shoes!  Get shoes!  What if they shrink?!  (This really happens!  USA fast food is no joke!)  Make sure they have smaller clothes too!  Oh, and make sure it totals up to the maximum weight requirement or less for luggage!!

                 

When you know that you will not see a Walmart, Target, or Amazon for 4 years you get into hungry hippo mode.  And yet, Spiritually I feel the same way.  We are getting ready to head back to Ecuador and live in a community that does not have a church.  We are going back to a spiritually dry community.  I feel as though every church service and prayer meeting that I attend needs to last in my heart.  I take notes so I can review the teachings once I am home.  I have horded my spiritual marbles as well.  Bible studies, devotionals, study videos.  And now the suitcases are zipped shut and we are ready to step on the plane. 

What lies ahead we never really know.  Plans change in a moments notice.  Circumstances change.  But what we know and what we firmly stand on is the knowledge, the truth, that God is good and has a plan.  God offers hope, has a plan for Loja province.  He has called us to go and even though the goodbyes squeeze every tear from our eyes, we step forward knowing we serve a God who can be trusted.  We serve a God who knows us and knows His plans for us.  God asked us several years ago to step out in faith and move to a remote community in southwestern Ecuador and we said yes.  That calling in our hearts remains.  The phone text messages and other contacts from our friends in these communities have kept our hearts hungry to return to Ecuador during these past 10 months in the states.  

                                         

The mountains that God has moved from before us to allow us to return has been astounding.  We held up our hands and handed God the support we needed to raise in order to be able to return.  It seemed too hard.  Too much to raise in too short a time.  But God calmed our hearts and provided ministry partners in amazing ways.  God has healed broken ankles and a sprained foot.  God has provided healing to my back and neck issues and even provided instruments to keep it that way.  Our hearts are full. 

 

And so as we climb onto the plane today and step out again in faith not really knowing what lies ahead we cling to what we do know.  God is good and has an amazing plan for our lives.  God loves us and the people of Ecuador.  And there is no better or safer place to be than at the center of His will.  So, as I sit here this morning sipping my coffee and trying to recall if each computer and phone has been charged, if the laundry was removed from the dryer, if each marble is in its place, I will cling to my spiritual marbles.  I will call to mind each bible verse I have gathered in my heart and know that those marbles, though they are many, don’t weigh a thing and won’t put our luggage over weight!