to come to the U.S. to pursue higher education. However, God in his great wisdom and power made the path possible for our family to come to Chicago in 1992—primarily for the medical treatment for my oldest son.
and from Isaiah 45, I praise God for leading me to be part of building and transforming a new ministry campus in 2015 for Wayside Cross Ministries and for serving him there faithfully since 1998.
Our pastor in India gave me the promise from Isaiah 45:1-5 as we departed for Chicago. And God fulfilled each of his promises in this Isaiah passage, including giving us the treasures of darkness through his refining work by allowing us to go through the furnace of affliction (see Isa. 48:10). Our original plan was to finish Jasper’s medical treatment and return to India in a year. But God had a different plan. Jasper went through 19 corrective surgeries in the subsequent years.
Here are some lessons I have learned along the way.
God also opened the door for me to attend Moody Theological Seminary in Chicago, where I finished my graduate degree with a master’s in biblical studies in 1998. Immediately after my graduation from Moody, I began serving as a director of two ministry divisions at Wayside Cross Ministries in Aurora. Four years later I was promoted to associate executive director and in 2011 became the executive director. Looking back these many years and remembering the challenge and promises I received from the Book of Haggai
• God is sovereign: “There is no maverick molecule in the universe.” RC Sproul • Evil is ordained by God, but he is not the author of evil. “Evil is not from his character but from his purpose.” (Sproul) • “We should never call evil good or good evil, but it is good that God allowed evil for the sake of his elect.” (Genesis 50:20; Acts 2:23; Romans 8:28-30). I also have two guiding Scriptures that help me in practical ways to live out this Christian life. • Matthew 6:33 - “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (NIV) And in all this, Micah 6:8 reminds me that “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”
See the Oberammergau Passion Play with College Church Almost 400 years ago, the people of Oberammergau, Germany, were threatened by the bubonic plague, and they made a vow that if God spared their village, they would perform a passion play every ten years. Traditionally, the play is performed every year ending in zero, with only a few exceptions. 2020 was one of those exceptional years, so the Oberammergau Passion Play will be performed in 2022. We have a unique opportunity as a church to attend the play, and to explore the roots of the reformation on a Reformation and Holocaust Tour of Germany, June 12-23, 2022. Gregg Quiggle and Shelly Wildman, both College Church members, are coordinating the trip. Gregg, a Moody Bible Institute professor, along with Jerry Root (Wheaton College professor emeritus) and Mike McDuffee (a former Moody professor), will lead the group in the footsteps of Martin Luther and Dietrich Bonhoeffer in places like Wittenberg, Munich, Berlin and Regensberg. The trip will culminate with a viewing of the Oberammergau Passion Play. If you’re interested in learning more, contact Shelly at discoverwalkabout@gmail.com or Gregg at gregg.quiggle@ moody.edu. Deposits are being taken now, and the trip must be filled by December 15 in order to be able to go.
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