Eyes to See, Ears to Hear

Archive for February, 2007

Early tomorrow morning is our second round of immunizations and I’m not looking forward to it. Getting these shots is a totally different feeling from giving blood. At our first visit, I could feel the injections expanding my upper arm muscle as the fluid went in. Grossed out yet? If you have ever marinated a turkey with a syringe, you have seen the skin swell up because of what you’re putting in there. Yep. And we’ve got more of those in the morning. Guess it is better than catching something in Tanzania… RIGHT??!!!

Here are all that are required for us to get:

• Tetanus/Diphtheria
• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Meningococcal
• Typhoid
• Yellow Fever
• Polio

It happened this past Friday night when a couple of new partners joined the team. To be exact, we are now at 50.2% of our total monthly need! WOOHOO!
God has been doing some amazing things so far and we look forward to seeing what He keeps on-a-doin’!
50+% is awesome but we still have the other 50-% to go before we can leave for Tanzania. Please pray for more and more partners to become a part of this! Maybe it is you?

This is a rather new search engine that contributes money to your specified non-profit organization simply because you search through them.  Check it out.

My mind is nothing in comparison. My daily routine has grown to include doing things the way I think they should be done. ‘What’s wrong with that?’ you may ask. I had the same question because aren’t we to do the best we can in this life and strive to live morally? I have blossomed my pride in thinking that there were parts of my day when I could tell God, and myself, “I’ve got it. I’ve learned this before and am familiar with what is going on around me. I’m confident in myself.”
Then, I started noticing distance between God and me and couldn’t figure out why. This stride in pride is one of the reasons. I won’t take you through the others right now but I had to come to some startling realizations this week. Here we go.
If I do not actively seek God’s direction, seek to initiate God intervention, seek to have the mind of Christ, then I do not believe in the full authority of the Bible. If I believe there is a single split second in any day of my life in which I can go at it on my own, then I don’t believe I need to seek what God has to say about what I’m facing as I have already used my manly wisdom to determine what I will do. I had to get to a point of asking myself, “What do I want? Do I want to explore the infinite mind of the One who created eva-ree-thing and grasp things beyond my wildest imagination all-the-while having confidence that it is true? Or, do I want to take some things on myself, use my limited mind and hope I make the right choices, have the right reactions, control the right things, walk the healthy path?” I don’t know everything. I do not know the right choices to make, the right actions to take. I do not know how to face the things that are thrown at my family. I do not know how to be who I need to be to my wife. I do not know. But, God does.
“Oh, great! Now I have to go to God to make it day-to-day even?! You’re saying I need Him to that degree?” I asked myself that recently and the answer is, “You’re doggone right you (Jonathan) do!” To answer no to that is to be the spokesperson for Pride, Inc.

Who has understood the mind of
the Lord,
or instructed him as his counselor?
 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge
or showed him the path of understanding?
Isaiah 40.13

We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:
“For who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2.12

U.S. Senator Unhurt In Air Crash

The Associated Press reports that New York junior Senator Hillary Clinton, narrowly escaped injury in the aircraft she was piloting when she was forced to make an emergency landing in Southern New Jersey because of bad weather.

National Transportation Safety Board officials have issued a preliminary determination pilot error contributed to the accident, and the senator was flying a single engine aircraft in IFR [instrument flight rating] conditions while only having obtained a VFR (visual flight rating) rating.

The absence of a post-crash fire was likely due to insufficient fuel on board. No one on the ground was injured.

Photographs were taken at the scene show the extent of damage to Senator Clinton’s aircraft .

She was very lucky.

View wreckage here.

One of the common questions we are asked is, “If I decide to support you, how do I do it?” It is usually followed by, “Once I send in money, how does make its way to you?” I’m going to help you understand the process as it is a fairly easy one once you hear/read it.
First, there are multiple ways to support us but all of them have one thing in common; all funds make their way to Wycliffe Headquarters in Orlando, FL. I’ll explain below what happens from that point but let’s cover your options on how to get your support to Orlando. There are three options:

1. Go to www.wycliffe.org/give and click on ‘Missionary Ministries’ on the right hand side. Another window will open to a form. Here is all the information you need to fill in:
Last Name = McCall
First Name / Spouse = Jonathan / Dana
Amount = $(your contribution amount)
Click ‘Add to Cart’, that window will close and you’ll see your cart at the top right of the page.
Click ‘Checkout’ and a new window with your cart will open.
Click ‘Continue to Step 2′ in the middle of the page.
The next screen will allow you to enter all of your information.
Click ‘Submit’ at the bottom.

2. Fill out the response card you received when you attended one of our presentations at your church, group, Sunday School class, etc. meeting. Mail it with your contribution amount in the provided envelope or one of your own addressed to the Wycliffe Orlando address on the response card.

3. Enclose your contribution and a separate note stating ‘For the ministry of Jonathan and Dana McCall’ in an envelope addressed to Wycliffe Bible Translators, P.O. Box 628200, Orlando, Florida 32862-8200

4. Click on ‘CONTACT’ at the top of this page, fill in your contact information, and request a copy of an automatic bank draft form to be sent to you. Fill it out and send it to the above Wycliffe address.

After your contribution arrives at Wycliffe Orlando, it is processed. Deductions for health insurance, taxes, administration fees, etc. are taken and the remainder is deposited into our personal account. This could be a bank or the country branch under which we work (Uganda-Tanzania Branch).
We have sole responsibility to budget and spend your gifts wisely as they cover both our personal and ministry expenses.
It is very OK for you to have questions about this subject and even more OK for you to ask them. So, please don’t hesitate if you’d like to shoot a question over to us. Thanks!

~ Jonathan

I called a wild birds store in central Florida the other day to get some information. I wanted to know the best time to come down for the spring migration as bird watching is one of our favorite hobbies. Well, the bird expert I talked to recommended the month of April and even gave me some great locations. After he told me the third or fourth one, I asked him what we would see if we went there. Thing is, I didn’t use proper English. I used my heart language, my navite vernacular from the mountains of North Carolina.

Hear what I said.

What you see is the shoe I currently wear. Well, I wear a pair of them. I’ve got an EXTREMELY high arch in my foot so I did a lot of research to find this one recommended for my foot type. They are very comfortable and actually make walking enjoyable.

Speaking of walking, Dana and I are trying to walk everyday for both our sakes and for the sake of the poodle and lhasa. We are fans of Cesar Milan (The Dog Whisperer) and being that Theo has yapperitis, we have to get him in check before we introduce him to any Tanzanians. Cesar has a simple method in being your dog’s pack leader… Exercise –> Discipline –> Affection. It is amazing to see the difference following that makes in such a severe case of yapperitis as Theo’s. If you have a dog you need to check out Cesar!

So, when we left this morning it was 37 degrees (f). After 40+ minutes down some country road, walking in to our warm box (RV) gave me a chance to deal with my cold cheeks and tingly legs. That’s where my once again obscure title came from.

This weekend’s sermon at Elevation was one to behold. There was so much I got out of it that I may end up listening to it a few times over. Guys and gals need to listen to this as it has some fresh approaches to the way we view sex in America. Here’s the sermon:
Bringing Sexy Back – Part 1

If you love college basketball and March Madness, you NEED to go to this page and sign up with March Madness on Demand. Due to bandwidth restrictions, when the games come on, they can be watched in kind of a first-come-first-serve general admission basis. That means you may have to end up waiting in line for a spot to open up. BUT, you can sign up for one of a limited number of VIP passes that help out getting to watch what you want a whole lot!