{"id":37,"date":"2015-04-17T17:57:49","date_gmt":"2015-04-17T17:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/amviana\/?p=37"},"modified":"2015-04-17T17:57:49","modified_gmt":"2015-04-17T17:57:49","slug":"serving-god-oh-the-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/amviana\/2015\/04\/17\/serving-god-oh-the-joy\/","title":{"rendered":"Serving God … Oh the Joy!!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PIC_0636\"<\/a>I’m fortunate…\u00a0 One of the blessed who get to serve God full time as my vocation.\u00a0 I am not alone.\u00a0 I have many brothers and sisters who also have this honor.\u00a0 Right now I am thinking of my Mozambican family.\u00a0 They work hard, they love their Lord, and for this past week they have been meeting together to grow, receive training and to baptize 36 new believers!\u00a0 What joy!\u00a0 What privilege!<\/p>\n

If you have not yet discovered the joy of serving God … well … you’re missing out on one of the greatest joys a believer in Christ can experience.\u00a0 It takes a bit of experimenting though to figure out where you fit, what you are gifted at, and what God has called you to do.<\/p>\n

My first exposure to ministry was as a Sunday School teacher.\u00a0 I was only 16 and I was TERRIBLE!!!\u00a0 No one gave me any instructions on how to do it.\u00a0 I was handed a book and let loose.\u00a0 I would finish the lessons so quickly that we soon began playing games to fill in the time left, one of which was tag in the dark!\u00a0 When I left teaching Sunday School the kids were really sad to discover that their new teacher had far less time to play games and definitely didn’t let them play in the dark\u00a0… Oops …<\/p>\n

My next foray into ministry was working at a summer camp.\u00a0 Camp Tadmor.\u00a0 What a wonderful time!\u00a0 I loved every minute of it!\u00a0 It was overwhelming, exhausting, and filled with joy.\u00a0 I did everything from washing dishes, to driving a backhoe, to counseling kids and leading them to the Lord.\u00a0 It was where I grew up in Christ.\u00a0 It was where I fell in love with serving Him.<\/p>\n

I’m still in love with serving Him.\u00a0 Only now I’m no longer working at a summer camp.\u00a0 Now I am preparing to work a world away in Africa.\u00a0 The joy is still there.\u00a0 The excitement has never waned.\u00a0 The greatest thing you can ever do is to\u00a0find your place of ministry.\u00a0 It may be encouraging folks who are going through a tough time.\u00a0 It may be as a Sunday School teacher.\u00a0 It may be as a missionary or pastor.\u00a0 Whatever it is,\u00a0\u00a0the honor of serving God will be one of the greatest things you will ever do.<\/p>\n

Please pray for these brothers and sisters who labor so hard for their Lord.\u00a0 Pray that God would multiply them and bring more folks to worship and serve Him.\u00a0 Pray that God would supply all their needs both physically and spiritually.\u00a0 Pray that they would know the joy of serving the Lord each and every day.<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m fortunate…\u00a0 One of the blessed who get to serve God full time as my vocation.\u00a0 I am not alone.\u00a0 I have many brothers and sisters who also have this honor.\u00a0 Right now I am thinking of my Mozambican family.\u00a0 They work hard, they love their Lord, and for this past week they have been … Continue reading »<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":159,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nServing God ... Oh the Joy!!! - The V's In Mozambique!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/amviana\/2015\/04\/17\/serving-god-oh-the-joy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Serving God ... Oh the Joy!!! - The V's In Mozambique!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I’m fortunate…\u00a0 One of the blessed who get to serve God full time as my vocation.\u00a0 I am not alone.\u00a0 I have many brothers and sisters who also have this honor.\u00a0 Right now I am thinking of my Mozambican family.\u00a0 They work hard, they love their Lord, and for this past week they have been … Continue reading »\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/amviana\/2015\/04\/17\/serving-god-oh-the-joy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The V's In Mozambique!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-17T17:57:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/amviana\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2015\/04\/PIC_0636-300x168.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Melanie Viana\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Melanie Viana\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/amviana\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/17\\\/serving-god-oh-the-joy\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/amviana\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/17\\\/serving-god-oh-the-joy\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Melanie Viana\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/amviana\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e5501b940969a554e0dfa3f71d0722ad\"},\"headline\":\"Serving God … Oh the Joy!!!\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-17T17:57:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/amviana\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/17\\\/serving-god-oh-the-joy\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":454,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/amviana\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/17\\\/serving-god-oh-the-joy\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/amviana\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/125\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/PIC_0636-300x168.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/amviana\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/17\\\/serving-god-oh-the-joy\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/amviana\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/17\\\/serving-god-oh-the-joy\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/amviana\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/17\\\/serving-god-oh-the-joy\\\/\",\"name\":\"Serving God ... 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They anticipate training local pastors in Bible, Theology, and leadership development. Vianas will also assist in the development of a self-sustainment business. They are currently raising funds and hope to arrive in Mozambique this fall. While Melanie grew up in a Christian home, she \u2018went through the motions\u2019 and thought that the harsh punishment at home reflected God\u2019s view of her. She heard missionary stories, but harbored anger toward God and anybody connected with the church. At the age of 16, Melanie attended a Christian camp in Oregon where she heard for the first time that God loved her. Through experiences of joy or darkness, Melanie knew His unconditional love and committed herself to serve Him. Alex grew up at Rolling Hills Covenant and became a Christian during junior high at Alpine Camp (Blue Jay CA). His father is Bolivian and grew up with Covenant missionary Eldon Johnson. The two men eventually moved to the States and began a Hispanic church in Los Angeles. Alex worked with\\\/helped lead the (Rolling Hills Covenant) high school group, and thought he would always live in the USA. When Global Ministry began, Alex went to Mozambique with a group from their church. While there, God worked in his heart, showing him the need for his presence in an overseas setting. For the last six years, Alex and Melanie have led the Global Ministry at Life Covenant (Torrance CA), a ministry focused in the country of Mozambique. Begun in mud huts without electricity or water, the ministry now includes two orphanages with water, electricity, and teaching facilities. A group of believers meets at each orphanage. The ministry is all Mozambican-led by leaders with a passion for caring for orphans, addressing the needs of poverty and injustice, evangelism to identified unreached people groups, and the development of biblicaly sound churches. To date, nine churches have been planted, and two more are in process. With the goal of living into a holistic ministry, Global Ministry has begun several self-sustainment projects. Gardens have been planted, and local people maintain a chicken farm and a corn and rice milling business. Because Global Ministry is led by all Mozambicans, Alex and Melanie will be their first full time missionaries. Most local pastors have just a 6th grade education and little or no theology or Bible education, so Alex and Melanie will help provide that training. Alex says, \u201cEntire communities have been brought into new life. This is the most fun we have ever had in ministry!\u201d Alex studied business at California State U-Dominguez Hills, and has run his own manufacturing business for over 30 years. Melanie received her BA from Multnomah Bible College (2004, Biblical Education, Portland OR) and her MA from Fuller Theological Seminary (2009, Theology, Pasadena, CA). Alex and Melanie are founding members of Life Covenant Church in Torrance, CA. Birthdays: Alex July 30 Joshua June 26, 2009 Melanie May 28 Joseph June 26, 2009 Anniversary: June 28, 1997\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.covchurch.org\\\/amviana\\\/author\\\/melanieviana\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Serving God ... Oh the Joy!!! - The V's In Mozambique!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/amviana\/2015\/04\/17\/serving-god-oh-the-joy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Serving God ... 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