Leaving home, family, friends, your country, your security - I've done it before, but I don't think I can say it becomes "easy" because it's happened before. In the 7 very intense months we had of preparing for our move to South Africa, God's grace was certainly there each step of the way. There was almost a physical under-girding I could feel from the Lord.

On the flight from the U.S. to South Africa, as we were flying across the ocean, I felt an incredible sense of insecurity. It surprised me. It was as if everything known and familiar was gone (I'm sure saying goodbye to our grandkids on the phone didn't help) - and there was a big emptiness of the unknown. This, too, seemed almost physical and very huge.

I was able to immediately start talking to the Lord about it. His presence and comfort was so real and close at 35,000 feet!!! He is such a rock and security. I'm so grateful for His faithfulness.

There's still a lot of "unknown" things, but I know the One who will work them out. I'm sure His grace will be equally abundant on this side of the ocean.

So at age 58 and going thru things I've done before, I'm finding it all new and different......but God is the same. I'm so thankful for that.

We've just spent a delightful week with our grandchildren - Kezia, age 4 1/2 and Luke, age 3. To have 2 darling kids running towards you with arms open wide yelling "Grandma! I missed you." - how can you not love that? They are both so cute and winsome, bright, eager to learn, funny, and huggable. We are getting ready to say goodbye, and I'm sure there will be some tears all around.......South Africa is a long ways away!!

I can't help but think what a gift and miracle these 2 little ones are. The doctors said Misha could never have children after her long illness - and then Kezia came along. We rejoiced in her life. Then, when Luke was born and we almost lost him and Misha, we and the doctors knew it was a miracle that they survived and that they didn't have any permanent brain damage. The doctors have said that their story will go in medical books because it's never happened before. Many of you prayed, for which we are eternally grateful.

I have only to look at these 2 beautiful faces to have worship and gratitude well up in my heart. God has been so good to us! I've thanked the Lord repeatedly these last days for the miracle of these lives.

Below is a very encouraging story from one of our team leaders in Nepal. It is a fascinating insight into how God has led him to tell the story of God and his love through an art medium called "Thankas."

Pasang is an older woman who comes from the same village as Dolma. For years she has had questions that the Buddhist lamas have not been able to answer concerning life and religion. These unanswered questions caused her to want to search in other places to find the truth. At one point in her life she heard about followers of Jezus but she didn't know anything about it. Although she had wanted to find out more, her husband and her family were very much opposed to that, even threatening her if she would pursue it further. So she continued to live a life of unfulfillment. Wondering if she would ever find answers.

Six months ago Pasang's husband died. Because she never had children and no longer had a husband, she was told by friends and relatives that she should go live in a Buddhist monastery. But not wanting to do that, she said, "Why should I go there? I still have my hands. I can work." She then decided to start a small restaurant and began looking for a place to begin again. On one visit to Boudha someone told her about a place where there was an empty room that she could use to start her business. So three weeks ago she moved into our neighborhood and opened her restaurant.

Right away, Dolma recognized her and began to talk to her about all the amazing things that God has been doing in her own life. Dolma shared about the peace and love that she now experiences in God, and the joy that has transformed her life. When Pasang shared her own story and told Dolma of the restlessness that she has had, Dolma said, "God brought you here so that you could find Him." Pasang responded immediately with the desire to learn about Jezus. She is so hungry to know more that she comes to our house every day and also spends much time listening to Dolma share her own testimony of the transforming power of the God of love.

"Thankas" are the name of the Buddhist art form that is used to tell the story of Buddha. We have commissioned about 30 Thankas to be done to tell the story of the Bible. The Thankas have had a very deep and profound impact on Pasang and all those who see them. As she has seen and heard the stories of God's creation, the fall of man, the tower of Babel and others she has finally gotten answers to questions that have been haunting her for years. She says that the stories on the Thankas are so clear that she knows that she is hearing the truth for the first time in her life. She said, "Why has no one shown our people these Thankas before? They are so true and right. All our Sherpa people need to see these. They need to know the truth." Right now, as I am writing this, Pasang is in our kitchen using one of the Thankas to tell another young Sherpa girl, Chimi, one of the B'ble stories that she just heard yesterday.

In this picture on our home page is Maritsa with two guys I ministered to in the maxium sercurity prison in South Africa. I have been asked by the guys if I would baptize them shortly after Sally and I arrive in South Africa!!

Another one of the men we met in the prison, Sebastian, has had severe health problems. This note from Maritsa (a social worker who ministers in the prison) explans more:

"The guys are doing really well on the spiritual side, but both Sebastian and Earl are not so well physically. Sebastian's a-plastic anemia has flared up again with his platelet levels being dangerously low. This means his back onto all the medication again to try and prevent him needing to be hospitalized and given a blood transfusion. It sounds like stress could also trigger the levels dropping so that's probably what happened since his parents and sister all started up their drinking and shouting habits again the last few weeks. It was really disturbing him (and he had to take care of some responsibilities re his sister's baby that they were neglecting) greatly and he actually went to stay at an aunt's house for a couple of nights to get away. Last weekend his condition got worse to the point that he lost consciousness for a while and had to be taken to hospital overnight to be stabilized, so now it seems everyone got such a fright they're sober again since then… He's feeling a bit better but still weak, so keep him and his family in prayer please. Earl on the other hand is feeling sick without them knowing the cause yet. He has been sweating at night for a while and his appetite comes and goes, but lately he also gets headaches, fever and some aches and pains that come and go as well. He has also lost 28 pounds over the last few months. He tested negative for HIV and is waiting on the TB results before they do further tests, but we're praying that God will just touch him and heal him quickly – especially since the medical services at the prison are not really good. I'm sure the timing is no coincidence since he is really doing major damage to the devil's "camp" on a daily basis… he is reaching out to many old friends, he's counseling people who keep coming to him with personal problems, and he has started his own weekly bible study/relationship-building group..."

Please pray for them, would you?

Thank you so much!

I celebrated my 61st birthday a few days ago. I feel more strength and vision now than at any point in my life! I feel like Caleb when he prayed, “My strength now is as my strength was then…now give me this mountain!”

The mountain I am asking God for is Africa. Caleb saw his mountain and asked for it. If you don’t know your mountain, you can find it…God gives to those who ask.

Joshua and Caleb were the oldest spies who were sent into the Promised Land. While others saw giants, they saw opportunities! Courage is what a person has who obeys God, no matter what their age. Courage is the God given ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from your chosen course of action.

I am getting up in years, but my heart is full of courage, not from myself, and not without pain, danger, difficulty or uncertainty. While others dream of retirement, I dream of nations being brought to Jesus. While some dream of pensions and wealth, I dream of laying up treasures in heaven. While some worry about security, I wonder at the unclaimed promises of God. While some want fixed retirement income, I want a sure reward in heaven.

These two verses stand out to me about Caleb:

“Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him: “You know the word which the LORD said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea.” Joshua 14:6

Caleb lived by the word of the Lord. He did not make his decisions in life based on what money he did or did not have, but on what God did or did not say. “You know the word of the Lord…” That is what I want to know, the word of the Lord. What is God saying? Let’s do that!

“And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. 14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.” Joshua 14:13

Caleb wholly followed the Lord. Amazing. What greater thing could be said about a person? “He wholly followed the Lord his God!” Not partially. Not part time. Not when it was easy. Not when it made sense to him. Caleb lived wholehearted – for God!

And notice the consequence of such abandon to the purposes of God: Caleb received a great inheritance. I want an eternal inheritance. I don’t want things for my inheritance. I don’t want fame. I want eternal riches. I want an inheritance of people who love, worship and obey Jesus. I want the nations for my inheritance.

Some bargain away their inheritance. Some sell it like Esau for a bowl of temporary comfort. What do you want my friend? Eternal rewards? Or the empty treasures that will burn and turn to ashes in your hands?

Caleb was a man of faith, courage and wholehearted dedication to God. May the same be said of you and me.

I have claimed the promises of God for the remaining years of my life. I don’t know how long I will have, I hope I have another twenty or thirty years of health and strength. However long God gives me, this is what I ask from the Lord:

“Now also, when I am old and grayheaded, O God do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come.” Psalm 71:18

For the Lamb Who is Worthy,

Floyd McClung

This is Sally McClung's blog, come back to find out what I'm doing.

There are two things burdening my heart. The first is the war raging between Israel and the Hezbollah. I am grieved and angry at the fighting, but not enough to be silent or do nothing. Martin Luther King Jr., said

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter."

We are making plans to send All Nations teams to Beirut the day the bombing ceases. Please pray for mature, experienced people to join the team. We have tried to get a team in earlier, but so far it hasn't worked.

The second thing on my heart is the work All Nations is doing in Mozambique with HIV babies. There are two new editions to the family, Anina & Ricardo. Anina is 3 years old and was abandoned by her mother and found wandering around her village crying and looking for food. Ricardo is 6 months old but extremely small, his mother died of AIDS and he is also infected. Both have made great progress since coming to the baby house and are getting the love and nutrition they need. Please pray for Pieter and Rika and their two helpers as they hold these babies, love them, feed them, and as they strive to plant a church in the neighborhood around the baby house.

You can see photos from the Baby House in Mozambique if you browse to our Photos section.

On a personal note, Sally and I leave Kansas City in two days time to drive across the States to visit family and friends, and to speak in churches. Please pray for our visa application to the South Africa government to be approved, and for permanent housing once we arrive in Africa. We leave the States Oct. 24th for South Africa.

Someone asked me to define "spirituality" recently. What does it mean to be spiritual? I think confusion on this subject is the result of misunderstanding, ignorance and lack of good teaching.

To me to be spiritual is to love obey Jesus, which results in be being fully human. A spiritual person is one who is on a journey of becoming all God meant him or her to be. True spirituality then, is to pursue the truth and then live the truth as we engage our culture and speak the truth to others.

One can be a missionary and be unspiritual, and a businessperson and be deeply spiritual. One can avoid attending church on Sunday but be an active member of a disciple making community that worships on Friday nights, and be spiritual. The day of the week you gather with other believers does not make one spiritual. Being like Jesus does.

Pseudo-spirituality is attractive only if we don't experience true life. Pseudo-spirituality seeks growth from establishing false boundaries, ways of guaranteeing spiritual growth. The boundaries we establish are often highly visual but relationally superficial practices that allow ourselves a modicum of security in regards to being "spiritual." But Jesus taught that we are not to be conformed to religious rules and sub-cultures, but rather to be transformed by simple faith.

True spiritual faith is dangerous because there is no way to guarantee one has it. No religious practice, no belief, nothing can produce such faith. Such faith is a personal response not a practice or belief. Sometimes orthodoxy is over-rated. Faith is trust in a person, not espousing a set of beliefs.

How do we guard against pseudo-spirituality? By recognizing it's ugly presence, not in others, but in our selves. Pseudo-spirituality occurs when we seek the appearance of being spiritual. We can tell it's root system is growing deep in us when we become judgmental, exclusive or proud.

Our spirituality is inauthentic if we become less approachable human beings as our responsibilities in life increase. Think about Jesus.

We are pseudo-spiritual if our spirituality is not resulting in us becoming more like Jesus. He is the true standard. To be spiritual is not to be weird.

True spirituality involves death, but not imposed death or shame-based death. To be truly alive we go through a death process to what is not real or alive or truthful in us. To be free is to die to our false self.

The apostle Paul wrote some profound things about being a truly spiritual person. There are many of them I could quote from Paul's writings, but I will focus on five that strike me as vital.

Try these on for size and see how they fit:

• Trust really trust God: "There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish…"


• Jesus – "Living is for Christ, and dying is even better…"


• Grow relationally - "Be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage…"


• Let go of the little things – "Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ 9 and be embraced by him."


• Laugh a lot – "Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him!"

What does it mean to you to be spiritual? I encourage you to share your ideas with another follower of Jesus, or better yet, with someone who doesn't follow Jesus.

Blessings,

Floyd

I have been meditating in the book of Philippians lately. One thing stood out to me as I read Paul’s letter to the church he loved so dearly: Paul is committed to pursuing Christ-likeness above everything else. There is no doubt that this is the consuming passion of his life, even more than telling people about Jesus. Paul had other passions. In fact, at times his longing to tell people about Jesus almost consumed him. But he returns again and again to the source of his life and passion: Jesus.

I did a study on those verses in Philippians that reveal Paul’s longing to know Jesus and to be like him. It was a moving experience. I could not keep from praying and worshipping as I meditated on what motivated Paul.

John Piper’s book, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, will also stir a longing in you to know Christ Jesus. I read this book two years ago and it put words to my desire to know Jesus. Piper has a way with words that will move you to know and love Jesus more deeply than you ever thought possible.

Our time in Kansas City is quickly growing to a close. In two weeks time we leave Kansas City to travel by car across the States to visit our children/grandchildren, and see friends. Our departure date for moving to South Africa is October 19th.

Pray for us, would you? There are many practical projects that take our time and energy. Pray we will know and love Jesus more than all the stuff we do for Jesus.

Thank you.

Yours,

Floyd and Sally McClung

I am writing to ask you to pray for the international leadership team of All Nations. We are meeting for six days, starting tomorrow morning, June 17th. We need God's wisdom, his grace and sensitivity to hear his voice. Thank you!

I received this very amazing news this morning about a radical Muslim man name Earl who came to Christ when I preached in a high security prison in South Africa in February:

"Earl would very much like to write to you. He's got your name, as well as Sally and your children, in his journal with the list of people that he prays for every day... I continue to stand amazed at the absolute change in him and his complete dedication/devotion to Jesus no matter what! One of his biggest frustrations at the moment is the fact that he doesn't see the people around him in the body of Christ living towards/with one another like the Word teaches, and he cannot comprehend why this is while the Word is so clear and we obviously just need to do exactly what the Word teaches!! And only almost four months old in the Lord..."

Please pray for Earl. He was the leader of a large, violent gang in the prison. He is having a major impact for Jesus!

Yours for his glory in all nations,

Floyd McClung