“I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation…” Philippians 4:12

We have been meditating on this verse for nearly a year now.

In May 2017 I (Andy) began experiencing fatigue, dizziness and some difficulty concentrating in loud environments or in
large group discussions. As a result of these symptoms I have had to give up some types of ministry that I really enjoy. I
haven’t been able to preach in churches, teach classes at the Bible School or lead worship in our home church. Not
being able to participate in ministries that I really enjoy has been frustrating and I feel as if a part of my identity has been
lost. After numerous doctor visits, exams and consultations we still have no confirmed diagnosis. Parasites picked up
from years of living in Brasil, Thailand and global travels are the latest potential diagnosis and I am starting my third
round of medication to get rid of these parasites.
Gina has had chronic back pain for over 10 years now and continues to struggle with the
pain and discouragement that is part of dealing with chronic pain. Amid these health
challenges we have also been working through changing family dynamics. Our
granddaughter Alice, is such a joy to us but to see her being raised by the shared efforts of
her mom, her dad (our son Nate) and by us is sometimes sad and causes us to wish for a
strong nuclear family for her and her future. We praise God for His faithfulness to Alice
and, considering the circumstances, she is enjoying a good childhood with many people
who love her having the opportunity to help shape her life.
Over the past year we too find that we have learned the secret of being content in any
and every situation. However, we have realized that there is a difference between
knowing the secret of being content and actually being content.
The secret of being content is that God is the source of our life, for joy, love, acceptance and everything else that
matters.
Paul speaks of this in other verses in Philippians:
3:20 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly
body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
4:4-7 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness[d] be known to everyone. The Lord is
at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus.”
4:19 “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father
be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
The challenge, at least in our experience, is choosing to live in light of the secret. Yes the
Lord is able to heal us. Yes He loves our boys and our granddaughter more than we ever
To can. Yes He is able to sustain us through our health challenges. We know these truths

Choose intellectually. However…to choose joy when sickness is a daily reality. To choose to love
others when we feel frustrated. To choose peace when our hearts are stirred by uncertainty.
Joy And to choose to rest when our minds race with questions about the future. This has been a
difficult challenge for us to face. Sometimes we choose to fret about illness. We worry
about Alice and her future. We wonder why God doesn’t answer our prayers the way we
want them answered or in the time frame we have in mind. Yet God has been faithful, through His word, through
friends and through the Holy Spirit, to remind us that He is in control, that He loves us, that He can be trusted and that
we can choose to rest in Him and allow Him to carry our burdens.
We are excited about our ministry at Ethnos360 Bible Institute. We have
over 150 students from numerous countries attending and studying God’s
word every day as they prepare for a career in cross-cultural missions. We
love interacting with them in the cafeteria, through intermural sports,
having them over at our house for games and food and the many times
they just pop in to the library to visit Gina or into my office to chat with me.
We are blessed to be involved in these students’ lives every day. We also
love the fact that all three of our boys and our granddaughter live here in
Waukesha and we can eat meals together, hang out and show God’s love to
them on a daily basis.
We are celebrating the 99th birthday of Gina’s grandma at the beginning of next
month. This past month has brought many hospital visits and rehab in the
nursing home, but we are thankful that she is back at home with Gina’s parents
now. One of the blessings of doing ministry on your home turf is being able to
enjoy such milestones. We know many of you have followed her progress on
Facebook and we are thankful for all your prayers.
Thank you all for your friendship over the years, for your prayers for our family
and for partnering with us in ministry. You are an encouragement and a blessing
to us. Not to often do we share our physical weaknesses, and we cherish your
prayers on our behalf.