CANDIDATE ORIENTATION

Greetings on my second-to-last weekend in Canada before I leave for Chad, by the mercy and provision of God. Unless God has other plans, my next posting will be coming to you from Chad. Praise God that I have received my visa.

Last week and this upcoming week, I have been and will be in Hamilton for candidate orientation (CO) at the Worldwide Evangelization for Christ (WEC) Canadian office. Part of my training is walking up to my room on the third floor (large roof dormer window on left)  : > )

WEC-Canada Headquarters in Hamilton Ontario

I am so encouraged by what God is doing in calling young men and women to overseas missions. We have a class of 12. Excluding myself I believe there is only 3 who are over 25. There is one couple and all the rest are single. Most have already done some short term mission work and are now wanting to go long term. Four of us are called Trekkers which means we are going short term. Our CO is only two weeks long but the other 8 will be in candidate orientation and will remain in Hamilton for 4 months. What is tremendously exciting to me is that 8 out of the 12 candidates are men. The mission fields that these young men and women are seeking to serve in are difficult and unfriendly to Christians. God is still working to bring the lost to Himself through His people.
I sense no age barrier between myself and these young men and women because of our love for Jesus and our mission goals. However I cannot stay up until past midnight listening to music and talking and then be fresh in the morning. God bless those young people who belong to Jesus and are going forward to serve Him.

CO class with our teacher Heather

WEC is truly a faith mission. WEC does no marketing or advertising or appeals for funds. You will not receive a monthly news letter asking for donations. That is one reason why WEC is not so publicly known as other missions. Also WEC does not take a percentage from donations off the top for administrative fees. What is given to the missionary goes to the missionary. For over 100 years now, God has provided for WEC, now with nearly 2,000 missionaries and working in over 75 countries around the world.
WEC also counts prayer as vital to the work of missions. WEC does not count prayer as important in name only but prays. Three times a week the staff meets for morning prayer for 45 minutes. We have had the privilege of joining with them this week. There is a day of fasting once a month and a monthly public prayer meeting which is very well attended. Prayer and faith is counted as most important in the work of missions.

Prayer in the morning with the staff

I praise God that He has led me to serve with Worldwide Evangelization for Christ. I would encourage you to read the story of our founder C. T. Studd who put the practice of faith and prayer into practice having seen and experienced prayer and faith in action in his own life and when working with Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission.

I am looking forward to writing you from Chad.Thank you for your faithfulness to the Lord.

If you would like to receive a private weekly prayer email send me an email at <rtulip231@gmail.com>. For financial information see this blog entry <http://ron-east-west.blogspot.ca/2014/07/the-holy-spirit-and-means.html>

HOME (FOR AWHILE)

Greetings from Welland, Ontario. I flew home July 25th. I am glad for my time working in Alberta but disappointed that I only worked about 40% of my days there because of rain, holidays and the occasional use of the equipment that I was driving.

Plans are to attend World Evangelization for Christ (WEC) orientation from August 18th to 29th in Hamilton and then to fly out to Chad on September 2nd arriving September 3rd and staying until December 22nd. I have not yet received my visa for Chad. The application is still at the Chadian embassy in Washington DC so please pray for its completion so my passport with the Chad visa stamp can be returned to me. Finances are coming in and I am thankful to God for His provision and continue to trust Him to provide what is still needed. [see July 5th entry on finances by clicking this link] I now have 30 prayer partners which receive a short weekly email with prayer requests. If you would like to be part of this team that is "holding the ropes" email me at rtulip231@gmail.com.

It is great to be with Gloria again and also to see Michelle and Kris and the grandkids. I am thankful for Rosedale Baptist Church and the worship and preaching of God's Word.

Four grandkids in Welland

I have also been doing some home renovations both planned and others unexpected but needed.

Replacing ant infested window frame (pictured is insulating foam not ant colonies)

And keeping an eye on the downtown bridge renovation project.

Sandblasting and painting downtown Welland bridge

Soon my time in Welland will be over. Thank you for your many prayers and encouragements. If this is your first time receiving this blog you can view other postings by clicking on the sidebar to the right or viewing the archives at the bottom right of the page.

Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me". God has given us the assurance in His Son and in His Word that history is unfolding as He has ordained it. Those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ and follow Him as Lord have a great eternal future ahead of them. Let us press on to that end.

FULFILLMENT

Let me share with you about God's guidance in my life over these last 20 years and why I am going to Chad. God does not lead me with audible voices or visions but He has impressed upon me over my 42 plus years as a Christian 3 significant verses. The first is my life verse which I was impressed with when I graduated from Bible College in 1983. "So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it" 2 Corinthians 5.9.
The second verse came when I was seeking God's direction after spending a year in Chicago studying at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. I was sitting in the old Alliance Church (the beehive shaped one) in Nipawin one Sunday morning when God impressed this verse upon me. "I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord" Ezekiel 37.14. That was in 1995. Shortly after receiving that verse we moved to Cambridge Ontario where I began to work as a Millwright. On a mission trip to Tunisia in 1999 I received a very special filling of the Holy Spirit which consisted of 1 1/2 days of waves of God's Spirit coming over me. I consider this as an anointing for the ministry that shortly followed and a fulfillment of Ezekiel 37.14.  During a layoff from work in 2001 I preached at Rosedale and became its full time Pastor. These nearly twelve years at Rosedale fulfilled God's 1995 word to me from Ezekiel.

I have always had a desire to serve overseas. Gloria and I seriously attempted to serve overseas at one point in our lives. I have also always had a desire to teach God's Word. In 2012 a third verse was impressed upon me from Isaiah 42.9 as I began to think it was time to end my pastorate at Rosedale. "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them". The former Ezekiel verse was fulfilled and a new direction was in store for Gloria and I. Please take the time to read from verses 5 to 8 of Isaiah 42. They outline my new job description and a serious warning to give all the Glory to God. In searching for a mission to work with, by God's guidance He led me to World Evangelization for Christ (WEC) and through WEC working in Chad was suggested. Chad may not be my final destination for overseas work but God has led in that direction for now and I am rejoicing in that calling.

I trust this will give you a fuller background to what may seem to some as a rash and radical decision to go to Chad. My goal is to please God and I am thankful that God is allowing my adventurous spirit, boldness, and inquisitive mind to be satisfied in following His will.

Yesterday I mailed out my application for a visa for Chad to the embassy in Washington DC.
Thank you to those who have sent in support for this 4 month trip to Chad. For information on finances see the blog entry <The Holy Spirit and Means> from July 5th.

This week I purchased my ticket to Chad. I leave on September 2nd on Ethiopian Airlines arriving in Chad on September 3rd via Addis Ababa.
I finalize my vaccinations with a Yellow Fever shot and my second Hepatitis B shot on Friday.
I bought my 220 volt to 110 volt converter/adapter.
I am thrilled to report that 27 people have asked to be on the private weekly prayer email that I will regularly be sending out. This will not be a long email and will have specific prayer requests each week. The first email will be sent this week. If you would like to be included in this mailing send me an email <rtulip231@gmail.com> and I will add your name to the list.
I think I will be returning home from Alberta at the end of July as there is not much work for Packer drivers at this time and there is maintenance needing to be done at home.
I have been reading two "can't put them down" books on the history of Islam and Shari'a and understand much better the present turmoil and some of the conflicts and factions within the movement. Islam has a rich heritage but over the centuries has struggled to determine the true way of Islam and how to interpret and apply the law, a fascinating struggle that all religions go through.

Send up a prayer for our persecuted brothers and sisters who love Jesus and are willing to die for that love. How precious is our God and Father, His Son Jesus, and the Word He has left us to treasure.

BEAUTIFUL ALBERTA - AMAZING GOD

Greetings from beautiful Alberta. I count it a privilege and blessing from God to be working in the oilfields in Alberta. Nearly every day while driving to work I have to be careful not run into a deer or two that is crossing the highway. This week I had to brake to let a large geese family cross the highway. This week I saw a fox carrying home his dinner of prairie dog, a wolf crossing the field, and some amazingly colorful birds and ducks. I have seen moose, elk and caribou when I was up north. The scenery here is also breathtaking. Truly God is amazingly creative and loves His creation even more than His creation does. Imagine the intelligence of God who created all this, organized it to function as it does, all the biological systems of each animal, their built in instincts and ability to adapt to their circumstance. Who could be so foolish to believe all this evolved. The greatness of God and the animals and landscape before my eyes brings me to tears. The ungodliness and irrelevance of God in the lives of those around me is also constantly amazing to me and brings a different kind of tears. The blindness and heart-hardening effect of sin is so very real. I am amazed that anyone can truly know God and belong to Him. Only the Grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit can make that possible in anyone. There is no place for a man or woman or young person coming to God on their own apart from the work of God upon them to convict of sin and salvation in Jesus Christ.

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

Sunrise in Northern Alberta

Two kinds of oil from Alberta: Canola and Crude

Duck nest discovered while I was cutting grass on a lease site

Amazing full rainbow seen during a severe storm while driving to work

Herd of Elk. Alberta is not just raising cattle

No I am not shooting Elk. Guns are part of life in Alberta

This week I am going to apply for my Visa to Chad so please pray with me that all will go smoothly. I also need to get two more vaccines in the next couple of weeks. I am planning to send out my first private prayer letter next week so if you have not yet requested to be on that mailing list send me an email at rtulip231@gmail.com and ask for your name to be put on the list. For financial information and how to support my mission to Chad see the July 5th blog. I hope to be back in Welland around August 11th to do some house repairs before orientation begins on August 18th. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported Gloria while I have been away. Please continue to remember Gloria as she makes my time in Alberta and my time in Chad possible.

My friends take time this week to lay down on the grass and enjoy the sun and to look at the clouds as they wift by and just think and imagine who your God is and all that you have in Christ. May the great peace of God envelope you and lead you to practice this activity more often.

THE HOLY SPIRIT AND MEANS

Greetings,
I love these guys and gal and pray that above all else God will get a hold of their hearts and use their unique personalities and gifts for His Glory.

Vance and Papa in Nipawin

Keegan, Oliver, Jonas and Rael

 To bring unbelievers - who have followed for hundreds of years, and some for over a thousand years, a religious system that brings under its influence all law, culture, family, and work - to receive Christ as their Savior and Lord requires the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. God is working in those kind of all-inclusive religious systems revealing Jesus as the only way to a relationship with God and bringing an understanding of truth. Those converts, our brothers and sisters in Christ, pay a dear price to follow Jesus and confess a new authority in the Bible. We are obliged to pray for and stand with our brothers and sisters in any way we can.

Bringing the Gospel of the Kingdom to these monolithic religious systems takes prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit. But it also requires believers to go and be witnesses and share the message. Witnesses need to be patient, repeating the message again and again, answering a multitude of questions, showing love and integrity, being helpful to meet needs, being content with little fruit over a long period of time with the hope that one day God may bring more fruit even though that fruit may be through someone else.

The missionary also needs a solid home team to pray and to provide for his needs on the field as God directs them. Thank you to those who have signed up to receive my private weekly email of prayer requests. This email will begin this month and will have more specific information for prayer. If you would like to have your name included on this prayer list send me an email at <rtulip231@gmail.com>. I covet your prayers for Chad and my work there.

I want to represent you in Chad. I am willing to pay the price to be your witness in Chad as God gives me a willing heart and grace to stay the course, whatever that course may be. If you would like to partner with me in this mission please commit yourself to prayer. If you would like to financially support my mission to Chad you can do that in two ways. For those who are connected to Rosedale Baptist Church you can donate to the Chad Mission Fund. Rosedale will forward these funds to WEC. Others can send checks directly to WEC Canada at 37 Aberdeen Ave, Hamilton ON, L8P 2N6. Please do not write my name on the check but include a note saying for Ron Latulippe going to Chad. Donations can also be given to WEC by credit-card by calling 905-529-0166.

I am pleased to be working with WEC (World Evangelization for Christ, www.wec-canada.org) because of its focus on prayer and dependence on God`s provision. 100% of money donated to my trip to Chad goes to that purpose, WEC does not charge administrative fees and in my case does not take any deductions off.  Donations will be used to cover my flight costs to Chad and back, numerous vaccinations I need to get before I leave, my visa, costs for living and traveling in Chad, travel insurance and two weeks of orientation at WEC headquarters in Hamilton at the end of August.

Recognition of spiritual need, coming to repentance and confession of faith in Jesus Christ is a supernatural work of God. But God also uses means - the prayers and witness of His people. In some way I am part of God`s means for a small part of His work in Chad. To God I give thanks for that opportunity.

If you have any questions you can send me an email.

**Remember to let me know if you want to be

on my private prayer email list. **

TASKS IN TCHAD

Greetings from Saskatchewan. Before sharing what I will be doing in Chad here is an update on my present circumstances. In the last 18 days I have only worked 5 days. I will be off work for the next two days because of Canada day and possibly not get back to work until July 3rd or later. If work does not pick up I will be coming home before mid-August as originally planned.

I am visiting my son Ben and Ashley and Vance in Nipawin Saskatchewan. Yesterday we were at the trailer at the lake and Ben and I went out to get sand for the sandbox and I buried my truck in the sand to the axle and had to get pulled out. It was fun and Vance is having fun in his sandboat.

Papa and Vance building sandcastles

Tchad. That is not a spelling mistake. Tchad with a "T" is the French spelling and also the Arabic transliteration spelling. So far it looks like I will be leaving around September 1st. Besides the two days for the flight, it takes a day by bus to travel to Abéché from the capital city of N`Djamena.

I will spend the first few weeks getting to know the team and getting orientated to the country. The Chad team annual conference will be held the first week of October. After that I will be teaching English. A regular English class runs twice a week for 10 weeks. If there is enough suitable students a superior level class - which is all Bible based, in effect a chronological presentation of the Gospel over the two 10 week periods - will be held. These classes give opportunity to befriend students most of which are Muslim. On Saturdays there is an English club where guys who have learned English and want to practice it come together to talk about an issue. These classes are possibilities and nothing is certain until classes and teachers are gathered together in October. There is also the possibility of practicing English with an MMB Pastor in Abéché.

Another possible area of activity is running the Hope program. The Hope is a chronological Gospel presentation which also comes in an English learning version. Learners come to our IT room and book time on a computer to work on the Hope material. Someone needs to be there to facilitate and interact with them as they have need.

As you can see this will be a relational ministry, making friends and having personal discussions in English and French and maybe some Arabic according to what I am able to learn and retain. I have already begun with some basic Arabic.

This week I was able to get some of my vaccines - Tetanus, Typhoid, Meningitis, and Hepatitis B. I still need two more Hep B shots, a Yellow Fever vaccine for which I have to travel to Edmonton, and I begin my Malaria regime just before I leave. In mid-July I will begin my Chad visa application. So preparations are falling into place. Next week I plan to share about finances.

Thank you to those who have already requested to be included in my prayer email. If you would like to receive, beginning in July, a private weekly email of prayer requests for this mission to Chad please email me at <rtulip231@gmail.com> and I will add you to the list. If you no longer want to receive this blog, email me and I will take you off the list. If you know anyone who would like to be included in this blog have them email me.

The city of Abeche

An Oasis is the desert in Chad

May God connect your heart and actions to the people of Chad as your prayers provide hope in Jesus Christ as an oasis in the desert. Talk to you next week. ron

CHAD AND THE OUADDAI PEOPLE

Greetings! I have not worked for five days due to rain and slowdown in work so please pray that work will increase for my remaining month and a half here in Alberta.

In this blog I want to introduce you to Chad in general and then to the people WEC is working with around the city of Abéché. The population of Chad is about 12.5 million with a mix of over 150 people groups. It has one of the lowest literacy levels in the world at 53% and 80% live below the poverty line. Chad rates 175th of 182 countries in the Human Development Index Ranking. 46% of the population is under 15 years of age and life expectancy is under 49 years. Average yearly income per person is $863 US dollars (Operation World, 2010).

Chad is a secular state with freedom of religion. Chad has the rare distinction of being a place where a Christian can work with Muslims and Arabs on a missionary visa. Considering the lack of religious freedom and Islamic radicalization of the countries that surround Chad, the religious freedom in Chad is a responsibility we need to take seriously. No one knows how long this opportunity will last. You may not be able or willing to go to Chad but you can make a difference in the physical and eternal destiny of some of the people in Chad by letting me represent you there. In July I will begin a private weekly prayer email for those who request to be on that list for specific prayer for people and personal needs so if you want to be part of that mailing send me a request at <rtulip231@gmail.com>.

I will be working out of the city of Abéché (center of green circle above) which is Chad's fourth largest city and has a population of between 76,000 to 97,000. You will also be glad to know that Abéché is the hottest major city in Chad with an average temperature of 36 C (97 F) : )  WEC has a Learning Center in Abéché and on my next blog I will share about what I will be doing at the Learning Center.

Abéché is the capital of the Ouaddai Region. This is an area of harsh living conditions, lack of roads, and one of the least evangelized areas of Africa (Operation World, 2010). WEC has pioneered this area working among the Maba, Massalit and Arabs.

There are over 600 Maba villages around Abéché. To read an expanded profile on the Maba people click here.The Massalit live in both Sudan and Chad to the south of Abéché. The read an expanded profile on the Massalit people click here. Both the Maba and Massalit are non-Arab people. WEC also works with the Arab nomads who wander with their herds to find pasture in the dry climate before and after the rainy season. To read more extensively on the Arab people click here.

I am praying that God will give you a burden for Chad, and the Maba, Massalit and Arab nomads. I pray the names of these Chadian people will become familiar language among you, a regular part of your prayers, and that God will give you a desire to act in sharing the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ with these people. Sharing the Gospel with these people who have been under another religious system for hundreds of years is not an easy process and impossible without prayer, the patient love of God's people, sacrifice and plain hard work. I pray you will be part of the WEC team to this great end.