06/26/04 Tribal Update: I don't want to be sidetracked but want to take good care of the sheep

Hello Everyone:

Greetings to each of you in Christ's precious Name. I am amazed once again as I consider the wonder of His love as He "...endured the cross..." for each of us. Yes, how privileged we are to be His younger brothers and sisters...for it is written, "He is the Firstborn among many brothers and sisters".

We have been on the road in the States and Canada now for two months, enjoying family and friends. And what a treat it was to hang with our kids and grandkids in WI! And we just arrived a couple of days ago at Teresa's folk's place in Santa Barbara, California, where our daughter is too...so we'll be enjoying more good family times here as well. We will be here until the middle of August when we head up to see my folks in British Columbia, Canada, as well as many friends and partners. We look forward to seeing many of you.

As we have been piling on the miles, we have also been listening to our Tribal pastors share via audio tape. We tape Tribal messages and get feedback from them every time we are together and so have quite the library. And what a joy to hear Hernan share the following regarding his vision for personal holiness as it relates to ministry.

"When I teach the true God's words, I realize that I have to continue to learn how to better help others. And I keep thinking about this matter. Yes, I need to keep learning so I can help the believers well. This is what I continue to think deeply about. Because if I don't help their spirits well, then I am not doing my work properly. And if I suddenly do bad to the believers, if I suddenly am disgusted with them, if I suddenly don't like them, well, I truly will remain as one who is not able to truly help their spirits. Yes, if I do evil to them, I truly won't be able to continue to help them. This is what I continue to ponder. But yes, the opposition is intense. I can go off the trail of truth so easily. So quickly I can be trapped in sin. But I don't want to end up as one who is not able to help others. And I realize that even if I am alert, I can still end up going off the trail of truth. Yes, I realize I still have indwelling sin in my body. My old heart remains with me. So how do I go on living? Do I live thinking, "Ah yes, I am above sin, I truly won't be sidetracked, I truly won't do wrong". Do I live thinking like that? NO WAY! I live knowing that I can sin and greatly hurt the believers. And they would end up being very discouraged over it. The sent-one Paul wasn't without sin and neither was Timothy. They both struggled with sin. But having quickly made things right, having quickly brotherized (reconciled), they continued on in their work of helping the sheep. And they became more mature in their spirits as they lived in truth. And so it is with me. If I sin against a brother, very quickly I want to brotherize. Very quickly I want to fix things up. And so I live thinking about these things. I want to do all I can to learn how to help the sheep better, to speak more gently with them, and to encourage them more and more. Yes, I want to do nothing that would hurt them. This is the way I want to work."

Please Pray:
-for continued growth in the lives of the Tribal pastors
-for many more to learn to read and write well
-for little Zonia, who has had to have a second surgery but who seems to be on the mend now
-for our Venezuelan partners, the Ruíz and Porrello families, as they work to encourage the Tribal spiritually and in areas of Community Development
-for me as I continue to prepare Tribal teaching lessons from Genesis and Exodus during Home Assignment
-for a restful time in the States and Canada

Enjoying the adventure in Christ,
Merrill, for Teresa too

PS You can get in touch with us via our e-mail address or by the following phone numbers:

home: 805-966-4409
cell: 805-636-6279