Perhaps you are like me in that when circumstances change for the worse I tend to almost wallow in the negative. I spend some time trying to talk myself into a positive attitude. After a few days of darkness and despair I usually make up my mind to look at all the options to determine how I am going to pull myself up by the bootstraps and fix whatever problem I am facing. I spend hour after hour deep in thought, strategizing, planning, exhausting, what I think, is every angle to solve my dilemma. Minor things are magnified and exaggerated. Without fail, when I pursue this course and leave God out of the equation, I always end up back in the mud pit of negativity more desperate than when I started.
I must confess that I found myself in this situation just a few weeks ago. Life was going great. Anita and I were living an incredible life, a dream life, doing exactly what we wanted; reaching the lost, edifying the brethren, and training preachers in Tanzania. Then, an unexpected neck injury changed things. “What are we going to do?” “How will we make it?” and a host of other questions were on my mind 24/7. Unlike times past, this time, finally, I decided to put my money where my mouth is and trust my Father to provide the answers to our concerns. I prayed that if there were anyway that we could continue to work with our brethren in Africa and/or elsewhere in the world that God would afford us the opportunity. When life is in a holding pattern minutes sometimes seem like years and weeks, well, you get the idea. As is always the case, God wasn’t on my time schedule and so, because we have an obligation to keep you informed, I reported to you of our circumstances and asked that you support us for 6 more months while we tried to figure out our future. The compassion and kindness with which you responded has been absolutely humbling.
Good news! Shortly after sending that last report Cy Stafford and the staff at Bear Valley Bible Institute asked me to consider being the coordinator for the ACSOP. “Are you kidding me?! Yes, yes, absolutely, YES!” Thank you Father! Indeed the solution the Lord has provided is better than anything I could have imagined. The Bear Valley staff is sensitive to my surgery needs and will allow me to carry a workload that keeps me busy, but doesn’t overdo it, while I recover. While we are super excited about this opportunity we need to ask the one thing we hoped we could avoid. Will you please continue supporting us in this work? We know the work is worthwhile and we feel certain from your dedicated loyalty to the Lord that you believe the work is worthwhile too. We simply can’t do it without you.
As supporters you have been fantastic and have greatly encouraged us in every part of the work the Lord is doing in Tanzania. We hope that we are able to report for many years to come the results of our team effort abroad; God, you, and us - an unbeatable force against the prince of this world.
We will continue to keep you posted. If you would, please offer a prayer of gratitude on our behalf since God has provided us a way to continue in His service. We don’t feel like we can tell Him thank you enough. Please know that we love each of you for your dedication to the cause of Christ.
Until next time, take care and God bless.
With deep appreciation,
Sean & Anita Hochdorf