Pastor Mark and Jill's Family Room

Yes, I am painfully aware that I have not been blogging regularly since returning from Europe.  I have been taking off every other week in order to utilize “sabbatical time”.  What is sabbatical time you say?

In Genesis 2 we see that God “sabbaticaled” or “rested.”  Mind you, He is God and does not need rest.  So why did He rest?  He did this as an example for us.  He calls us to rest one day a week.  He also instructed other periods of rest for lands and peoples.

Many people are familiar with the concept of the sabbaticals for university professors.  After about 7 years of teaching professors would take off 6 months to a year for studying, writing or travel.  In the U.K. 20% of the companies now extend career sabbaticals to give a break to weary execs in order to retain them from burnout.

In the past, Sabbaticals were most often associated with the ministry.  Unfortunately amongst evangelicals in the last century they have not been as common.  However, over the last couple of decades there has been a return to the awareness of their importance.

Did you know that most pastors quit the ministry long before age 40?  Between 9 and 14 years after finishing Seminary or Bible College most pastors quit and go into another career.  Of those who remain many move from church to church every few years hoping this will be enough of a change.  I guess that means Jill and I have lasted in Sturgeon Bay two to three times longer than most even stay in the ministry.

In addition to pastoring Family Worship Center for 27 years, for over 20 years I worked either on building WPFF or running it and growing it.  Due to the finances, we didn’t receive a regular full time salary until about 12 years ago.  So, I also had to work an outside job either part time or full time to support my family while pastoring.  I don’t regret it at all.  I did what the Lord called me to do.  However, by the time we turned WPFF over to Bethesda I was very very burned out.  I was ready for a change.  It was no longer just in the back of my mind that I entertained quitting the ministry.

After WPFF and WRGX (WNLI) were transferred I was finally able to take time off.  Remember, radio stations run 24 hours day 365 days a year.  It was like being able to sleep and breathe again!  For several years we had planned on adopting a sabbatical policy at FWC.  Our trustees did and gave us 25 weeks of sabbatical, one for each year we had served FWC.  I told myself I might as well stay and try sabbatical time because even if I left I would still be burned out.

We couldn’t take off for 25 weeks at one shot.  So, we have been slowly taking off weeks to rest and refresh in the midst of our labors.  This season has been so refreshing.  We took off a just a few weeks in 2008 while the transfer was still going through as I was under contract to be available to help Bethesda should they need me.  In 2009 we took off a few more weeks for sabbatical and also had a huge change of pace with our mission trip to Italy.  During 2010 we have been going away every other week and returning just for Sunday ministry.

Our sabbatical time is the rest we have so needed.  During this time Jill and I have enjoyed deepening our relationship.  We have spent time re-creating together with fun things like scuba diving and travel.  I can look back and see that had the trustees not gifted us with this time, as burned out as I was I would have left the ministry too.  Their wisdom was so timely.  With this refreshing time we have been able to make another long term commitment to FWC.

One piece of advice we were given by other pastors was to “get out of town during sabbaticals.”  The experience of other pastors has been if you don’t get away you won’t get away.  So we have been leaving town and escaping.  Sometimes that can be really hard.  I often feel guilty for “not being there.”  Saying “no” or “I can’t this week” is still hard to do.  But, I know that if I am to follow God’s example I must step away and do so even when it is against my grain.  If I feel like it’s rubbing the cat the wrong way, it is because this cat is facing the wrong direction.

While walking to church a couple of Sundays ago I noticed something in my prayer time.  Something was different.  Over the last four years so many days my “cry” to Father was “I am so tired Father.  I am sooo tired” The exhaustion wasn’t physical as much as emotional.  That morning I felt something different.  It wasn’t a huge surge of energy and vibrancy.  I just wasn’t “so tired.”  I felt like I am healing.  Not like I can run; but, like I can walk without a painful gait.

In a few days I hope to share more about this healing time.

We are back. Yes, I should have posted this sooner. Of course once we returned we found ourselves running full speed ahead to catch up things. David Bruss thought it would be a good idea to continue the blog as it keeps us in touch on a more personal level. It is nice to gather in the “family room.” I don’t think I would ever twitter. Life is busy enough. But taking time to share can build us up together.

Family Worship Center has been blessed. We are averaging close to 150 people each week. The sanctuary is filling up. Coming in January we are strongly considering a second service that will be on Saturday evening. This will be geared towards those who can’t come on Sunday mornings. So, it won’t relieve the Sunday morning fullness. But it will help others who work Sundays to be able to attend more regularly.

After 6 weeks of blessed ministry, Jill and I are using the last of our vacation time for the year. We are investing the time being together, scuba diving and relaxing.
Today I also just finished reading Mark Twain’s first work of historical fiction “The Prince and the Pauper.” That will be the title of my message for Sunday the 20th. It will be a special Christmas message.
Please leave a response and let me know you visited the family room.
Love
Pastor Mark

Jill and I had a wonderful time of ministry at Ponta Delgada. We were blessed to see the new work there and be a part of it. We are currently in the Atlantic ocean making our way to the U.S. We will land in Fort Lauderdale Florida. Since we are here (where it is still warm) we are going to take a few days for scuba diving together. We will be home next weekend. My message for November 1st is entitled “There’s no place like home.” We hope you will be there with us.

Missionaries to the Azore Islands John and Becky along with Pastor Mark and Jill overlooking crater lake, a lake in the top of a volcano

John (Pastor John's right hand man) Pastor Mark, Missionaries Becky and John stand in front of their speed the light van

We love you and miss you.

Pastor Mark

Hi friends:
On the ship Internet access is very slow and very expensive. So we are not able to post much. Please forgive the limitation. We are making our way home slowly as we will cross the Atlantic by ship. Next Sunday we will be in Ponte del gada in the Portuguese Azore Islands. I will be preaching there. Please pray for an effective outreach and ministry.
Love Pastor Mark

Tonight we have a small (and I mean small) room booked.   There is no bathroom in the hotel room (you share one with others on the floor).  There are rooms on four floors and there is NO elevator.  We arrive with our heavy cases and find, our room is on the first floor!  Someone was praying.  For this modest accommodation we pay 80Euro or $120 a night.  That is considered one of the lowest priced rooms on the Island.  The average room is well over $500 a night and one can pay much more.  But, our needs are few and our wants are simple.  The ancient beauty of Venice is so appealing. It is rugged and romantic.  This is our first stop on our way home.

Now begins a time of Sabbatical.  The word itself implies rest. After the last 5 weeks of ministry we definitely feel the need for it.  Tomorrow we will board a ship and continue our slow journey home.

Our train arrives in Venice

The alarm went off early and we finished packing our remaining stuff.  Of course, on the way to the train station we stopped by Ivano’s for one more perfect cappuccino.  Pastor Lawrence and Maxwell were so kind as to help us with our luggage and take the train/metro ride to Termini, the main station to get on our cross country train.

The 6 hour ride northeast takes us through the hills and valleys of the countryside and more cities of Italy.   Instead of the non-stop high-speed Euro Star that saves an hour and a half, we choose the Inter City train that costs much less.  Train travel in the U.S. is a lost art.  Here in Europe it is common and convenient.

Teo helping us pack, or not

Since Friday we have been quite busy on the BIG recording project. But there are many other things that have transpired. Sunday was our final day of preaching at International Christian Fellowship. The service was incredible. We could tell people have been praying. The people were appreciative of our ministry here. As a church, they presented Jill and I with a gift of a beautiful Italian clock. Several others gave gifts to express their love and appreciation. It was a wonderful day. We will miss the people here.
The BIG project of course took up most of the rest of Sunday and a few hours of Monday as well. The rest of Monday has been packing up 5 weeks of living and preparing to head to Venicia (Venice) for the next part of our journey. Some of the leadership team took us out for supper on Monday evening to express their appreciation. Much of the appreciation goes back to Family Worship Center for loaning us to them for these 5 weeks.

leadership team and the last supper

primo gelato in Achilia

Teo overlooks the packing process

Sometimes we don’t realize how a simple phrase in English can be so hard to translate. One of the three stories in the marionette show is about the story of the woman caught in adultery. To emphasize God’s love in contrast to man’s denigration, Philip used the wording “you’re not just meat on a platter.” That doesn’t translate well into Italian.
We had multiple discussions around this phrase. After the last discussion, about 30 minutes long, it was suggested (translated into English) “You are not just a use and throw away woman.”
The whole team has worked hard to create an accurate and touching presentation that will be a powerful tool for evangelism. If you would like to see the English version, you can goto youtube and search for “Philip Shorey.” Eventually, we hope to post the Italian version.
On Monday evening we finished the last recording Edorado did the part of Saul “the religious leader.” He was fantastic. After 3 days of recording, 36 pages of script, (and of course a few cappuccinos) we have completed a monumental task- The BIG project. Thank you to everyone who was praying. The hand of God was very evident.
David Bruss set up an FTP site for me to send the 125 megs of files back so we would have a secure backup. Early Tuesday morning the project was completed.

Translation and recording session

On Friday I was teaching Pastor Lawrence and Maxwell how to do brick work for the finishing inside the sanctuary. During the process, Pastor Lawrence accidentally stepped on a rusty nail. After I treated the wound with an antibiotic I asked when his last tetanus booster was. Like many of us; it was too long ago, more than the 10 years that it is good for.
Down at the Farmacia (Italian Pharmacy) I presented my U.S. credentials and secured a Tetanus Diphtheria vaccine (yeah with the 1 1/2 inch needle for an inter-muscular injection).
Pastor Lawrence was a brave patient.
So I get to play pastor, missionary, psychologist, electrician, bricklayer, and nurse too.
By the way…. when was your last Tetanus booster?

We spent most of the day working on the translation and recording project. We are taking Philip and Sari’s Suitcase Sideshow and translating it into Italian and recording it. Next summer Philip and Sari will be traveling through Europe doing street performances and preaching the Gospel. Thanks to the awesome work of Marina, we finished a huge amount today. Tomorrow (Sunday) we will try to finish the rest of the recording.
We really appreciate your prayers in this project. We believe there will be many souls brought to Christ through this outreach.