Pray Without Ceasing—Prayer Blog

Thanks for your prayers for my trip to West Africa. The trip went well, and we figured out the challenging problem I mentioned in my last blog.

The journey home was exciting. On the trip from TWR’s West Africa Transmitting Station to the airport (which we had to make a few days early because of COVID testing), a 40-foot container had fallen off its truck and was blocking the road. We bushwhacked and drove through a small village to get around the container.

As my departure approached, I received a message from Delta stating that my flight between Atlanta and Dallas could be delayed or canceled due to the weather; it was scheduled to arrive at the same time the big storm was forecasted to hit Texas. Upon landing in Atlanta, I discovered that my flight from Atlanta to Dallas was canceled. Delta had already put me on an earlier flight to Dallas. However, I had just over an hour to clear immigration, get my bag, clear customs, and get to the gate. Thankfully I made the earlier flight and was reunited with my wife. (Sorry Atlanta friends, I will have to see you another day.) Praise God with me that Donna and I did not have to spend more time apart.

Pray as I switch gears, prepare for my March trip to Kenya (Africa Theological Seminary’s graduation and teaching a class), and as I return to writing (more on that in a later blog).

Since my last update, my Pentateuch and Major Prophets classes have finished. When Africa Theological Seminary (ATS) started doing online learning, my Teaching Assistant’s (TA) responsibilities were ensuring all the equipment for Zoom was set up and working. Gradually his responsibilities increased, and he is now helping with virtually every aspect of the course, including grading. Praise God for an outstanding TA. Pray for my TA and me as we grade all the field projects for Pentateuch and Major Prophets.

Currently, I am in West Africa (once again) helping TWR at their West Africa Transmitting Station (WATS) for a few weeks. It makes for a nice short break from ATS and keeps the engineering side of my brain from getting too rusty.

I was at WATS in October of last year. You may remember that one of the engineers, Graham, who was to join me in October, could not make the trip due to passport issues. Part of this trip is giving Graham an orientation to WATS, along with several projects and some repairs.

Praise God that the intermittent issues worked on in my last two trips seem to be fixed and that Graham is with me on this trip. Pray for us as we work on projects and some technical problems, one of which is quite challenging. Pray for Donna and me as we are physically separated by many miles once again.

Paul reviewing broadcast issues with WATS technicians.

2021 has been an interesting year for everyone. We all hoped that COVID would be waning and life would be back to “normal.” For me, the start of 2021 seemed promising as I headed off to Kenya for graduation at Africa Theological Seminary (ATS) and to teach classes in person. I was thankful to have attended graduation in March but a lockdown in Kenya forced me to leave before I could teach my classes in person. I was back to teaching via Zoom. While I am grateful for the technology to teach via Zoom, I very much prefer to teach in person.

May was a big month. Miriam (our youngest child) married Kade McComas. It was a joyous DIY celebration that matched Kade and Miriam’s personalities. In addition, Micah Joy (our middle child) graduated from Oklahoma State University (OSU) with a degree in ranch management. The other big family news is Miriam and Kade are expecting a daughter in June.

In October, I visited TWR’s West Africa Transmitting Station (where I served for many years) to work on some technical projects. It was very good to reunite with friends and colleagues there.

After a very short two week turnaround at home, I was back on a plane to Kenya to teach Major Prophets and Pentateuch. It was great to be teaching in person again. Questions and answers is a major part of my teaching style. This is more difficult with Zoom.

While 2021 did not go as planned or hoped, overall I have much for which to be thankful (especially in comparison with others). Praise God with me for the following in 2021:

• Able to attend ATS’ graduation
• The marriage of Kade and Miriam along with a new grand baby on the way
• Micah Joy’s graduation from OSU
• A successful trip to West Africa
• Being able to teach in person at ATS

Pray with me for the following in 2022:

• Another trip to West Africa on January 9
• That I can teach all my classes in person
• The completion of a number of writing projects

For those interested, you may Give Online.

Thank you for praying for my trip to West Africa. The trip went well, and with God’s help, some technical issues moved forward. Unfortunately, one of the engineers who planned on joining us did not receive his passport back in time. The other engineer, who was ill at the time of my last update, recovered and made the trip. Below are a few photos from the trip. Praise God for a good trip.

This week I board a plane—again—for Kenya to teach the synchronous portion of two hybrid classes and connect with my Kenyan colleagues. Please pray for:

• all the COVID stuff involved with international travel
• my time with the students at Africa Theological Seminary (ATS)
• my time connecting, planning, and fellowshipping with the ATS faculty.

Donna will be holding down the fort here in North Texas. She would appreciate your prayers as we once again say goodbye.

At the moment Paul is packing away, checking off things on the never ending to do list, making lists for me…

Do you ever get the sense that God is up to something? This trip was planned for December but was moved up to this week. TWR has again asked Paul plus two other engineers to work on one of the transmitters (same one Paul worked on last time), the solar system, and some other items in West Africa. A few hours ago there was discussion on if this trip would even take place. Illness and passport issues are delaying the other two engineers. Due to COVID exposure, Paul has spent this week at the family ranch quarantining, while still teaching his class remotely. It has been a crazy week! We sense that God is up to something really good!

The plan is for Paul to be gone for just over three weeks. While he is in West Africa he will continue his online class. Then home for about two weeks before heading to Kenya to teach in person; returning home before Thanksgiving…Lord willing.

Please pray for Paul’s travels in such unprecedented times and for God’s favor on this trip. I would also love prayer as I try to balance everything while he is gone.

Blessings,

Donna

One of my students, who graduated from Africa Theological Seminary (ATS) and works amongst the unreached, is experiencing some significant health challenges with a pregnancy. Please pray for God’s supernatural healing and protection.[1]

One of the challenges with online learning has been working through providing resources for students while they are away from the ATS campus. On campus there is access to numerous computers that have theWord Bible Software installed, which is excellent and free.[2] Since many students do not have laptops, I have worked on figuring out how to search the New Testament for multiple Greek words (in any conjugation or parsing) using an Android phone given the constraints of some students (apps need to be either free or very economical and they must not require Internet after the app and resources are installed).

Earlier this year I shared with you about the Android Bible app called MyBible.[3] Once again this little app has come through and provides a means for students of the Scriptures to do more complex searches involving multiple Greek words. Here is a seven minute video that I made for my students showing them how to do this:

Link to video: MyBible Multiple Greek Word Search

If you are interested here is a link to the play list with the other MyBible app videos that I have made: MyBible app Video Playlist

Thanks for your prayers and support.

Grace & Peace–Paul

Footnotes:

[1] Those of you who have been following me for a while will remember praying for this student back in 2016: New Testament Biblical Theology Prayer Requests (in the video this student’s 2016 prayer request starts at 2:54).

[2]

[3] Online Classes, Android Bible App, & Graduation Trip

Here are some snapshots since my last update.

My youngest child, Miriam, married Kade. It was a meaningful marriage that matched Kade and Miriam’s personalities and honored the creator of marriage. Below is a picture of Kade and Miriam along with a picture of Miriam and I.

Donna’s mom, Mary, had hip replacement surgery and stayed with us during her recovery for two weeks. Mary is doing well, back in her apartment and looking forward to the day she does not have to worry with movement restrictions.

I am teaching Synoptic Gospels online. This is the course I was to teach in person back in March before I had to quickly leave Kenya due to a COVID outbreak (see COVID Challanges, Leaving Kenya, and Back for details). There was a one week synchronous orientation (both students and I online at the same time) and now three months of asynchronous learning (students and I online at different times working on assignments and projects with due dates to keep things moving forward).

One of the interesting things that we deal with in Synoptic Gospels is the longer ending in Mark. Many Bibles have a note indicating that Mark 16:9-20 is not in older manuscripts. I put together a document showing two Greek manuscripts. One with the longer ending and one without. I marked and commented on the manuscripts so that you do not have to be a Greek scholar to see that one has the longer ending and other does not. If you are interested, have a look: The Ending of Mark. Below is a picture of Codex Alexandrinus and the longer ending in Mark from the document.

Thanks for praying, supporting and helping develop the next generation of African leaders.

Please Pray for my Colleague

Please pray for my colleague Margaret and her husband Moses. Recently Margaret’s mom and dad passed away (within a month of each other) and Moses’ mother passed away. In addition, Moses’ father has stage four cancer. Pray that God’s grace and provision would abound to this precious family.

As a cultural side note, in most African cultures the cost of funerals and medical care falls upon the children. So, in addition to the heartbreak of losing a parent, there is also the financial hardship of medical bills and funeral expenses.

Congratulations Micah Joy!

Micah Joy graduated with a bachelors degree in Ranch Management from Oklahoma State University. We are very proud of all her hard work and excited for the next phase of life for her. Please pray for her as she takes these next steps in life.

The Mundane

I love going to Kenya and teaching classes or being part of graduation. There is also an important part of my ministry with Africa Theological Seminary (ATS) that is … well … mundane: emailing, grading, prepping, etc…. So it is just not exciting newsletter material, but it has been my reality since I returned from Kenya. The one somewhat exciting thing I have worked on is new academic regalia for the ATS faculty. Below is a picture  of an old hood and possible new one.

Thanks for praying about my trip back to the States. One taxi, two airplanes, three trains, one car ride, and 31 hours later (door to door) I made it back. All went well including the COVID formalities. Praise be to God.