Blog Archives

Philippines July 2019 pastoral teaching and training

4/28/2019

We are excited for the opportunity for John Juneman and Mark Strickland to travel to the Philippines during the first two weeks of July to work with pastors in various training settings during that time. John and Mark will split up to work in different locations, including colleges, outlying districts, pastors’ meetings, and preaching in revivals and local churches. All of the training in the colleges and districts will contribute to helping pastors complete their requirements for ordination. We feel strongly that this trip has been orchestrated by God and brings together many connections from the past and the present. It is a homecoming of sorts for Mark as he spent a year of study in the Philippines during seminary, and has a deep love for this area. It is also a reunion with our seminary classmate, Dr. David Ackerman, who is the education coordinator for the Church of the Nazarene in the Philippines and who is planning this time for us. Some details are still being finalized, and so a final estimate for a cost for the trip is not yet available. More details will be coming. But if you would like to contribute toward this mission, please feel free to use our donation page. And thank you for your prayer as we seek and trust Jesus for this to be a life-shaping time as we come alongside of these pastors and support the training happening in the Philippines. For more information on the work of the Church of the Nazarene in the Philippines, go to http://asiapacificnazarene.org/fields/philippine-micronesia-field/

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Spring 2019 Update

4/28/2019

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Sometime in 2011, Trina and I sensed God’s clear leading for an additional focus and priority for our ministry over the next several years. Chaili had traveled extensively with us in the earlier years of her life, being in 43 states in her first three years of life. But we began to feel God's call for Carey to be involved. So, in February of 2012, Carey went on his first trip with me to a revival in Issaquah, WA. Over the next seven-plus years, Carey has traveled with me on dozens of trips by plane or by car to locations across the United States, plus Canada and Africa. It has been one of those decisions that you look back on and say, “I am so thankful.” God has used it as a life-shaping period in his life and in mine. I am forever grateful for these memories and this bond, and for the young man God is shaping him to be. Just a couple of weeks ago, we took our final ministry trip together for this particular time in our lives. Fittingly, it was to Fallon, Nevada, the place Carey has been to the most. I am deeply thankful for this group of people and for all they mean to us in Christ. It was a wonderful time as usual as we gathered for nightly services to preach the Word, and it was a deeply special moment as the church gathered around Carey to pray for him in his final time there for the foreseeable future.

On Friday, April 5, Carey and I were at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, where Carey officially accepted and signed his four-year appointment to the academy. When he graduates in the spring of 2023, he will be commissioned as an officer in the U.S Coast Guard. He will be majoring in cyber systems, which deals with understanding and defending against cyber warfare. His dream since he was young has been to fly C-130’s , and he will pursue this goal in the Coast Guard. He will report to the academy on July 1 and, from that moment, will be active duty, full-time military. Cadets are not allowed to use their cell phones during “swab summer” (a 7-week basic training), so we will be communicating the old fashioned way of writing letters. We are so proud of Carey and rejoice over him. We will miss him, but know it is God’s call and God’s timing. Remember, Carey, “I’m with you to the end of the line.”

The spring has been a blessing with the meetings in churches. From time at our beloved Clearwater First Church of the Nazarene in Clearwater, FL, to wonderful times of fellowship and powerful services with congregations in Bedford, IN and Beardstown, IL, which were new places for us to be, but with old friends in each location. We have more keenly felt and sensed the spiritual battle this spring, facing it in severe ways at moments. Yet, in the midst of this, God’s faithfulness has been abundant and the power of the Word has been evident in these times, for which we are so grateful.

Our family continues to be blessed and thankful for all God’s goodness and provision. Chaili continues to thrive in her ministry of being a nurse and caring for mothers and newborn babies. We have a busy summer ahead with camps and travel. In addition to all of this and our regular teaching online with The Potter’s School, I am beginning a new position teaching as adjunct faculty in the School of Graduate and Continuing Studies at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville. I have much to do in preparation for the course on Ethics beginning May 21. Mark Strickland and I are also making preparations to travel to the Philippines in July, where we will be preaching and assisting in teaching and pastoral training for ten days. Please see the separate article for more details on this.

In summary, God plans to do more today, tomorrow, and in the weeks and months ahead than we can ever dream of accomplishing. We are in complete dependence upon Jesus to live through us the message that we preach. Your care and prayer mean more to us than we can express as we continue,

Running together in Christ,
John Juneman

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