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Raleigh UBF, USA

I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU

Jeremiah 29:11

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you
and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

The Raleigh ministry’s 2013 key verse was Mark 6:34, “Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” In 2013 Jesus taught me compassion through making me a teaching professor for young college students. I tried to teach them many things, including doing what is right. I also showed them love and mercy as much as possible and when appropriate. Heather and I pray they can see the light of God in me, and that in 2014 my students will see Jesus clearly through my classes and interactions with them.

In 2013, God had many plans He revealed. Many of these plans were unexpected, but Heather and I believe God’s plans are always to prosper us and not to harm us, to give us hope and a future. The first unexpected plan was to invite a 19-year-old student from China in January for us to serve. His name is Rudy, and he is the nephew of my Bible student Mark. He became a Christian in China and has faithfully attended worship service and Bible study from the beginning. Heather and I were thankful to be able to help him to get set up as a freshman at NCSU. He is growing in faith and is a witness to others. We pray that Rudy will begin to grow in maturity and as a disciple of Jesus in 2014.

God’s second unexpected plan was also in January. John and Grace Martin moved back into our house from Chicago to get ready to go out as missionaries to England. Heather and I tried to support them in every way we could. Chris Kelly, Grace Martin, Heather, and I went together to the staff conference in February at Indiana University. We were privileged to serve the communion there. While the Martins stayed with us, John and I went fishing on the campus frequently. Through this time John met a new Bible student, Will, and I renewed my 1:1 with Devonte. Heather had a break from work in June and was able to help the Martins pack up and store many things for later shipping to our garage. Then in July the Martins went out as missionaries to England.

God’s third unexpected plan was that due to the state budget crisis, Msn. Joseph lost his funding and had to graduate in the spring semester. By God’s grace, Msn. Joseph got some funding and an engineering job for a few hours a week through the university. God enabled Joseph and Esther to sustain themselves until the birth of their third daughter, Elizabeth, in May.

God’s fourth unexpected plan was about Msn. Joseph’s graduation. Msn. Joseph Ryu should have received his Ph.D. in December 2012, but he had a great struggle with his Ph.D. advisor from January to May 2013. During this time we did not know whether Joseph would get his Ph.D. in March, April, August, or even at all. The potential graduation date changed many times because of Joseph’s advisor’s inabilities. We prayed faithfully for God to open the heart of Msn. Joseph’s advisor to let him graduate. I was able to help Msn. Joseph edit his dissertation and practice his defense. Msn. Joseph’s advisor wanted him to graduate in August, but by the rules, he should graduate in the spring semester as his last chance to get his Ph.D. Msn. Joseph prayed hard to graduate in the spring semester and had faith to go to his department chair to intervene so Joseph’s advisor would do what was right. By God’s grace, Msn. Joseph got his Ph.D. in April.

In March we had a Southeast Easter Conference with 31 attendants from Raleigh, Durham, Charlottesville, Atlanta, and Auburn ministries. The conference was entitled, “New Life in Christ” and was held at Christmount in Black Mountain, North Carolina. We learned that when we keep Christ crucified in our hearts and His words “Father, forgive them…” our new life is not one of slavery to sin. We have salvation, forgiveness, and the power to resist sin in our new life. Jesus conquers our old life problems through resurrection faith, and gives us a life of joy and fearless gospel witnessing. New life in Christ comes through Jesus’ victory over sin and death. Without resurrection faith, we don’t have new life but only dead spiritual activities, and we “look for the living among the dead” (Luke 24:5). Praise God that our Lord and Savior has risen!

We were thankful that Pastor Mark and Kathy Vucekovich were able to attend the Easter conference. Several of the Chinese families with whom Heather and I study the Bible were able to come, as were our friends from Taiwan. From that conference, Heather and I started to Skype with James and Jeder in Taiwan for 2:2 Bible study. We thank God that at the Easter conference we were able to collect a large special offering to support international delegates to participate in the 2013 International Summer Bible Conference.

Although we are not the most senior, mature, or learned people, Heather and I had the privilege to lead Bible studies at the staff conference and again at the international conference. We also had the privilege to introduce the gospel to many visiting Chinese scholars, professors, journalists, and medical doctors in 2013. We pray for each of our new Chinese friends to put their faith in the Gospel for their salvation and to continue to pursue God when they return to China.

God’s fifth unexpected plan occurred in May. Msn. Joseph could not find a civil engineering position in the U.S., so he and Msn. Esther moved back to Korea. He received a job in Geoje Island, South Korea for Samsung Heavy Industry as a civil engineer. That also meant that Heather and I became the only coworkers in Raleigh UBF.

God’s sixth and seventh unexpected plans involved Heather’s and my work. Due to the state budget crisis, Heather could not go back to work at the NCSU Career Development Center after her mandatory break in June as she had done in previous years. God did not open any doors in 2013 for Heather to go back to NCSU, despite several applications to positions and two interviews. But on January 6, 2014, Heather was able to retake her position at NCSU. Thank God she got her job back at NCSU! We pray it may become a permanent position and enable us to further serve students and preach the Gospel on campus.

At the same time, my position was supposed to end at Duke University in August. From January to July, I applied for many positions and had many interviews, including the faculty position we were praying for at NCSU. But God did not open any doors. Then, unexpectedly, my supervisor decided to move to Hong Kong in mid-December. Thanks be to God that because of that, I was able to work at Duke from August to mid-December helping my supervisor finish his work. Also at that time, God opened the door for me to become an adjunct assistant professor of mathematics at Elon University, teaching one class from August to December. From August to December, I also applied to many other positions and again had many interviews. Through this God opened the door for me to be an adjunct professor at Peace University and Elon University in Spring 2014, and God seems to be opening the door for me to have a position at Campbell University for Fall 2014.

Also in the fall, Vicky and her family unexpectedly moved to North Carolina. Vicky studied the Bible with Lehigh UBF coworkers while she was doing an internship with Dr. Bill Pottenger. She is a faithful Bible student of Heather’s and a faithful worship service attendant.

In 2013, Heather and I saw how much we know nothing of the specifics of God’s plans for us and our ministry, and we struggled how to do ministry by ourselves. But we believe that God’s plans for us are to give us hope and a future. So we took the opportunity to make connections with a few other NCSU ministries during this time. We shared Thanksgiving with more than 20 people at our house, including Bible students and their friends and families. Also, we renewed our relationship with the Seos in Chapel Hill UBF. We were able to attend and serve each other’s Christmas worship services.

Our Raleigh UBF 2014 key verse is Jeremiah 29:11, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” In 2013, we saw that we certainly did not know God’s plans in advance. There was a lot of uncertainty, but one thing is sure: God’s plan, even in difficulty and adversity, is “to prosper [us] and not to harm [us]…to give [us] hope and a future”. We still do not know God’s plans for our lives or ministry but we have “peace that surpasses understanding” through the faith God has planted in us through His Holy Scriptures. We trust God to lead our family and ministry in the right way.

In 2014, we pray for Rudy, Vicky, Will, Devonte, James, Jeder, Dan, Li, Wei, Yongmei, and Mark to grow in faith through Bible study and good shepherding. We pray for the other Chinese Bible students who are here or will come in 2014, that they will put their faith in Jesus. We pray to maintain and grow in our relationships with the Seos, Kellys, Yuns, and Ohs. We pray for God’s leading and revelation of His plans for Raleigh UBF, and for our family as well. We pray for John and Grace Martin to be God’s instruments in England and for Joseph and Esther Ryu to be God’s instruments on Geoje Island. Finally, we pray for Heather and my permanent university jobs.

Andrew Dellinger