It has been wonderful having Gabe, Dawn, and Sailor here for the last few days. Yesterday was Gabe and Dawn’s third wedding anniversary so we got to watch Sailor for the day. She sure loves to eat! We did manage to get her to say “please” to ask for something to eat. It took a little bit of an effort on her part but she was excited about the results that when she says please she gets a cookie. We have enjoyed taking her to the same park that we took Josh, Ben, and Chris when they were little boys more than 25 years ago. She learned that the little monkeys don’t like to be petted. She also learned how to say, “No no monkey!” She has decided that she does not like monkeys but she still loves puppies.
I have started a new blog series centering around making disciples that can serve God in the city or place where they live. I was introduced to this concept while taking the seminary course Urban Ministry with Dr. Mark Hausfeld in Chicago. I will be taking about 5 or 6 people from a church in Penang through a series of teaching and outreach activities that disciples them how to reach out to the city of Penang. My purpose is to use this first group to create a model that can be contextualized for the Asian countries we are serving in. The source is a manual called Urban Disciples: A Beginners Guide to Serving God in the City by Jenell Paris and Margot Eyring. I am drawing from this book as a source but changing each lesson activity to suit the context of Penang. I invite you to comment each week as we learn how make disciples that can reach the place where they live.





