As I was preparing my heart for this year’s Thanksgiving Day celebration I came across this wonderful devotional from the book The Valley of Vision  entitled “Praise and Thanksgiving.” I am so thankful for you and hope this will encourage you and direct your heart toward our great LORD! We praise God for who He is, what He has done, and the joy we have in knowing we will one day see Him in all His glory!

O MY GOD,

Thou fairest, greatest, first of all objects,
my heart admires, adores, loves thee,
for my little vessel is as full as it can be,
and I would pour out all that fullness before thee
in ceaseless flow.
When I think upon and converse with thee
ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,
ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,
ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart,
crowding into every moment of happiness.
I bless thee for the soul thou hast created,
for adorning it, sanctifying it,
though it is fixed in barren soil;
for the body thou hast given me,
for preserving its strength and vigour,
for providing senses to enjoy delights,
for the ease and freedom of my limbs,
for hands, eyes, ears that do thy bidding;
for thy royal bounty providing my daily support,
for a full table and overflowing cup,
for appetite, taste, sweetness,
for social joys of relatives and friends,
for ability to serve others,
for a heart that feels sorrows and necessities,
for a mind to care for my fellow-men,
for opportunities of spreading happiness around,
for loved ones in the joys of heaven,
for my own expectation of seeing thee clearly.
I love thee above the powers of language
to express,
for what thou art to thy creatures.
Increase my love, O my God, through time
and eternity.

What Has Been Going On in Fiji?

This past July, I had the privilege of returning to Fiji to meet with the leadership of the College of Theology and Evangelism and to discuss the details pertaining to partnering with their ministry beginning next year!

Tim Borruel (Elder at Placerita Bible Church), Dr. Narayan Nair (President CTEF), Premend Choy (Vice President CTEF), Me, Dr. Adam Tyson (Pastor of Placerita Bible Church), Lisa Tyson (Adam’s wife & my sister), and Del Seehusen (my father), met to prepare the way for our arrival next year.

It was a wonderful time of fellowship as we talked about the many ways the Lord is working at CTEF and how He is preparing the Seehusen family to join them!

During this trip our church, Placerita Bible Church, had the opportunity to host a Vacation Bible School at the college, which led to some amazing relationship building opportunities for CTEF and many young Hindu students making professions of faith.  It was such an amazing time of watching the Lord work and served to confirm our desire to begin ministry as soon as possible.

What Have We Been Up To? 

Life is never dull at the Seehusen home!  We have loved being able to continue being involved at our home church Placerita Bible Church and specifically in the leadership roles we’ve been given in small group, counseling center, and women’s ministry there.   In addition, I am working towards finishing up my ACBC certification which includes 50 hours of supervised counseling and have been blessed to have Dr. John Street as my supervisor!   This past semester we were also blessed to be involved in a counseling Sunday School class taught by Dr. Stuart Scott, a leader in the counseling community, who  provided us with many excellent insights and resources that will prove useful for our future ministry in Fiji. 

Where Are You Working?

I am currently working as the International Church Relations Manager for Joni and Friends in Agoura Hills, CA.  In this role I have had the privilege of meeting with key church and ministry leaders to help equip them to evangelize and disciple people affected by disabilities.  We are doing this by bringing the disability and biblical counseling worlds together so that churches will be prepared to effectively care for those who are often overlooked and neglected.  

This past October, I had the privilege of attending the ACBC and CCEF Biblical Counseling conferences with Joni and Friends and then flew to Singapore where we had a wonderful time with Pastor Soon Yong Tan, Roger Ng and John Zheng, and Jimmy and Rachel Tan.  In God’s amazing providence, Pastor Soon Yong has been an active partner with the College of Theology and Evangelism Fiji and regularly ministers at their annual pastor’s conference.  We are so thankful for God using Joni and Friends to introduce us to some of the people that will be walking alongside us in Fiji!  

What About Jordan and Taj?

Both of them are doing great!  Jordan is loving her role as a stay at home mom and thoroughly enjoyed her time helping co-lead a table at women’s Bible study on the book of Proverbs.  She is in the application process to pursue her Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling (MABC) through the Summer Intensive Program (designed for distance learning) at The Master’s University.  Taj is the sweetest and feistiest little toddler we have ever known and has discovered the joy of sports.  He currently loves pointing out a ball wherever he sees one.  He is a bit confused on produce though and trips to the grocery store are always entertaining as every peach, apple, orange or lemon gets an enthusiastic shout of “Ball!” along with a short, self congratulatory applause.  We are so thankful for him and for the abundant blessings the Lord has put in our lives. 

Please continue to pray for us as we prepare to take these next steps toward Fiji!