Immanuel... God with us. The Scriptures tell us that before Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, God, through a messenger, spoke to both Joseph and Mary to explain what He was about to do. He told them that Mary would conceive of the Holy Spirit and bear a son and that they were to name him Jesus, “for He will save His people form their sins.” He also told Mary that Jesus would be called “the Son of the Highest”. The name Jesus is the English translation of the Greek name Iesous, which is from the Hebrew name Yehoshua: Yahweh is salvation. God was telling them both that they would be the earthly parents of His own Son - the Son of the Highest - who was coming to save His people from their sins, as His name foretold: Yahweh is salvation. The Son of God would become the son of man so that He might save us from our sins.
“Who, being in very nature God, did not demand and cling to His rights as God, but made Himself nothing, taking the humble position of a servant, being made in human likeness.” (Philippians 2:6-7) And so the Creator of the universe humbled himself and became a man. And not just any man, but a newborn infant. And not just any newborn infant, but one born to a poor, unwed girl, from a tiny, third-world, backwoods village in a despised and neglected region of a tiny little “country” detested by it’s occupying government. This was no ordinary birth. It was less than ordinary. The lowest of births. The humblest of beginnings.
“And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even a criminal's death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8) From the humblest of beginnings, came the most powerful man ever born. And yet His real power was not in miracles and healings, but in humble obedience. His real power was in the fact that though He was God in human flesh, he did not hold onto it, but humbled Himself and obeyed the Father in heaven. His obedience was ultimate and complete, willingly giving Himself to die a criminal’s death by crucifixion at the hand’s of the Roman’s, who had perfected the art of torturous death. His power was in His perfect humility and obedience. It was the most powerful force ever known, able to conquer the power of sin and death, enabling you and I to be free from the bondage of sin and the judgment of damnation, so that we can humbly serve our Creator in like manner to our Saviour.
Isaiah, in the 53rd chapter of his writings, sums up nicely the life of the Christ (and he was writing 700 years before Christ was born). He prophesies of the Messiah’s humble origin, His ministry, and His rejection leading to His atoning death. But then he reveals something so shocking in verse 10, “Yet it pleased the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin...” (Isaiah 53:10a). Having sent His one and only Son into the world as the greatest gift of all time - the first and only real “christmas” gift - He then crushed Him on our behalf! For “all sin and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus the Lord” (Romans 6:23). We’ve all earned our wages in this life, and the paycheck due us is death itself. Because God is perfect in righteousness, His righteousness requires Him to pay the wages owed. The choice was plain, crush you and me under the weight of our sin wage, or crush Christ, His only begotten Son. He chose the latter, and took pleasure in it.
The work of sin,
the wages owed,
we earned it, you and I.
Required to pay,
His Son He chose,
the price of love so high.
What kind of God would do such a thing? What kind of Christ would humbly submit to such an act? One who was not willing to spend eternity separated from the object of His love, His elect children. One who was willing to pay the highest price to redeem His creation from the chains of sin and set them free to know and serve Him once again.
Current Need. The Lord is so good to us. This past year He has blessed us not only with a beautiful new addition to the family, but He has also met each and every need of our family, each and every day. At home in Kigoma, through faithful partners like you, He has blessed us with a used diesel generator to replace our small Chinese “knock-off” that died on us. He also provided a used washing machine from an older retiring missionary couple in the area. With a little bit of hard work and money we should be able to get the water piping working good enough to use the washer and be free from the daily hand-washing in the tub. While in the U.S. the Lord has provided places to stay, food to eat, and opportunities to serve. These daily blessings and needs being met are a result of His divine care through ministry partners like you. We give Him thanks daily, knowing that He has used you to bless us. Now that we are so close to getting back home we have one rather large need, which we’re confident that He will provide for as well. We would like to get medical insurance for the next year (2009). This is special insurance that pays for health care for the entire family while abroad and even has partial coverage for short visits to the States. It pays for air transport to the nearest appropriate medical facility and evacuation in case of any emergencies. Considering what is covered, the cost of $4,000 for one year is very inexpensive (compared to U.S. rates), but still an expense we just don’t have enough for presently. Please join us in petitioning the Lord that He would meet this need. If you want to be used in this area, please contact Far Reaching Ministries and let them know you’d like to help with the Langley family’s medical insurance expense. Mungu akubariki!
Ministry News. As you probably know already, we’re in the States briefly due to the birth of Jasmine and the need for sorting out her papers and vaccinations before returning home to Kigoma. As an added blessing to our family and friends, this means we’re here for Christmas. Though our location is different, our ministry is similar. One of Carrie’s primary ministries is still the teaching of the children each day. Just as important, and even more time consuming and energy depleting is the caring for and raising of all five children, especially Jasmine. She was very blessed to be invited to speak at a women’s conference as well, and based on the feedback we got, the ladies at the conference were blessed to hear what the Lord had to say through her. Carrie was encouraged through this opportunity to continue to use her gift for teaching and encouraging others in the future. In fact, if you would like for her to come and share at your church’s ladies event, be sure to let us know right away so we can work out the details.
When I’m not helping to lighten Carrie’s load a little, I’m studying for the classes I’ll be teaching come January. I’ll be teaching Church History and Daniel this coming semester at the Bible College in Kigoma. There is much to do to prepare for these classes and I’m really enjoying the time spent studying and preparing the syllabi and outlines. In addition to the preparation for these classes, I’m volunteering at a local church as well and trying to organize opportunities to share at local churches about the ministry. In fact, if you would like us to come and share at your fellowship, please let us know right away so we can make the arrangements. We would love to come - no charge, no expectation of “honorariums”, etc. We just love to share about the Lord and encourage the family of Christ in the Word. Please don’t hesitate to contact us. All of our contact information is at the bottom of the page.
A new opportunity has arisen, one that we’d love to have you praying about. We’ve always told others that we felt the Lord was eventually going to have us do ministry in DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) after we settled in Tanzania. It would appear that He is putting the necessary things into place to accomplish this. I’ve been contacted by a Congolese pastor named John who has been networking with several other pastors in DRC and throughout East Africa. He has received a request from a group of former refugees that I met in 2006 while they were living in the Congolese refugee camp at Lugufu, Tanzania. Now that they have been repatriated back to DRC they’ve sent a request through John to me, asking if I would assist them in establishing a Bible School in Eastern DRC. Some have been repatriated to the Katanga Region of DRC, and others to the South Kivu Region. They would like to have a school for each but cannot really even afford one school, so they’re praying about a location “in the middle” so people from both areas can come. Now take a minute to look at the map of the DRC below. To
give you a reference point you can relate to, the DRC is roughly 30% of the size of the continental United States; or Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico COMBINED! The regions of South Kivu and Katanga are connected, just like Oregon and California are connected. Basically they’re trying to decide on a location between “Portland” and “Los Angeles” for a Bible School so that people from each location can attend. That’s how far they’re willing to walk in order to find a place where they can learn the Bible so they can return to their home villages and be used by God to teach and lead their own people. Following are some specific areas to pray for us regarding this new opportunity.- Safety. The South Kivu region is on the fringe of the renewed fighting between rebel Tutsi forces (former DRC military-turned rebels), and current DRC military forces. In addition, all of Eastern Congo is plagued with bandits and corrupt officials.
- Wisdom. We don’t want to turn down the opportunity but we are already stretched thin on time and completely spent on financial resources. We also need wisdom in helping our friends to decide on the best location, taking into consideration safety and accessibility.
- Resources. Pray that God will continue to provide for everything He asks us to do. Pray for co-laborers to come along side of us to help.
Family News. Jasmine is doing well. She eats, burps, spits, and sleeps, and fills her diaper just like any newborn baby should. She’s growing a bit every day as well. We were blessed to get her birth certificate and social security card quickly, and so have already applied for her passport and expect to receive it by Christmas. Meanwhile, a friend in Tanzania is working with the local immigration office to have her added to our work permit so we don’t have to pay an extra $100 when we go home to Kigoma after Christmas. Kevan, Keenan, and Caleb are all doing well with their schooling. Kevan recently took the CAT (California Achievement Test) so we could gauge where he’s at and make sure he’s doing as well as we thought. His overall score was in the 97th percentile! That was a real blessing for both of us, especially Carrie, as she bears the most burden in regards to his schooling and wants to be sure that she’s doing a good job, not just as a mom, but also as a teacher. We’ll probably have Keenan and Caleb do the same tests at the end of this school year. Jada absolutely loves having a baby sister to “pet” and “help” take care of. She’s a great big sister.
Please pray for all of us.
- Health and protection from the cold and flu “bugs” here in the States.
- Faithful and fruitful witness to family each day and throughout the holidays.
- Quick return of passport
- A safe return home.
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