No More Jelly Donuts and Welcome to Mexico

It is hard to believe that Christmas is Monday!
Here is where we have been this last month:



December 3rd – New Hartford, CT
December 10th – Litchfield, ME
December 14th – Missions Night: Mexico, ME
December 16-18 – Brewer, ME


We are looking forward to the next couple weeks home side to rest and reconnect with family and friends.


Becky’s Deputation Perspective:

I only have 10 weeks left before the new baby comes! Where we are going to put it in the car when we are on the road… I do not know. Josiah’s new thing is wanting to be held like a baby when he drinks from his sippy cup, he wants to be the baby. Josiah is handling nursery’s and over nights in new houses very well. The car seat is a different story. Our neighbors let us borrow their DVD player for our four hour ride to Maine last weekend. That was a blessing. The first hour I thought it was on and Josiah starred at the “play” menu. The music really was repetitive so I checked the screen and sure enough, I didn’t hit play yet! After this he learned to say “on.”


Dad’s Deputation Perspective:
I really thought Josiah would enjoy a jelly donut. I don’t need to finish this story it’s kind of self explanatory, you’d think I’d have some foresight. Anyways 10 wipes later we had him cleaned up and after 10 more wipes we had most of the car seat and his shoes somewhat less sticky.

January is going to be a big month for us. Many churches have their annual business meetings and we are going to be voted on by several churches. Please pray that the Lord would lead.


A verse that I have been clinging to is:

Psalm 62:5
“My soul, wait thou only upon GOD; for my expectation is from HIM.”

David’s confidence, defense, and deliverance came only from God. He knew that God alone was in control. Though man seemingly plans and proceeds, it is God whom David clung to. The unchangeable, all powerful, all wise God. David didn’t wait on man to come to his aid, David’s one expectation was that God would show up and take care of him. He waited only for God.

As men pursued David and planned mischief against him their plans were in vain because an Almighty God was on David’s side. In this chapter David calls God his rock three times and also his defense, salvation and refuge, He declares that power and mercy belongeth to God.

With this view of God David then exhorts:
“Trust in him at all times; ye people”

On deputation and in daily life many times we feel like we have to wait on man for things to happen and for things to get done. I am encouraged by this verse to:
1.) STOP being anxious
2.) PRAY without ceasing
3.) WAIT only on GOD
4.) EXPECT nothing from man and everything from GOD.
5.) PRAISE God as we see Him answer.

If we expect everything from man and nothing from God we will always be let down.
and Missionary William Carey said:
“Attempt great things for God, and expect great things from God.”

Where We've Been

As Becky and I laid Josiah in his crib at about 10:30pm, he whispered "...Nigh, Nigh..." "You said it!" I told him. The last few weeks have been real busy but profitable! We took part in three back to back missions conferences:

October 28-29th Raymond Baptist Church
November 1-5th Calvary Bible Church, Derry
November 6-12th Merrimack Valley Baptist Church

We did everything from visiting Spanish and grade school classes, preaching in chapel times, and sharing our presentation. A lot of time was spent just getting to know people which was great.

Last night (Nov. 15th) I went on a solo mission to Twin Mountain Baptist Church, in Twin Mountain NH. It was about a 2 hour car ride. I raced home from work at about 4:00, showered, shaved and hit the road at 4:20. I got there at about 6:15 and set everything up for prayer meeting at 7pm.

November 18-20th - Old Saybrook, CT

Praises:
God's Provision: We are overwhelmed by the generosity of God's people. It is really humbling, knowing that the King of Kings never leaves us hanging but provides abundantly.

Many Meetings: A full fall and winter schedule in New England!

Prayer Requests:
A neighbor in our park lost her home in a devastating fire. Pray for her, that God would work out all things together for good.

That we would abide in Christ and our ministry in churches would challenge and bring about change.

A friend's mother who is battling cancer, pray for healing.

Thanks for your faithful prayers!
-Steve, for the Diem Family


On the random side of life:
-Josiah discovered the moon - very cute.
-In a blog entry I boasted, "toll booths take pennies!" - please note: some toll booths take pennies (story to follow)

Becoming Christ Conscious and Avoiding Traps

“The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.” Proverbs 29:25

To fear man is to fall into a trap. I struggle with this during meetings with Pastors or presenting our work to congregations. It is easy to become self-conscious. We question ourselves “Does the display look okay,” “Did I remember to mention,” and my personal favorite “What do you think that they thought of…” Wanting to know what people think of me is pride and makes me fall into a trap. In this trap nerves are rattled, burdens are felt, imperfections are overwhelming and mistakes become terrifying. A trap keeps something from moving and immobilizes and may eventually kill it. It’s possible to be so fearful of man that we do and say nothing. (Ever not shared your faith?)

Avoiding the trap – TRUST IN GOD
The opposite of falling into the trap of fearing man is found in this verse – "but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD…” We must turn our self-consciousness to Christ- consciousness! We can be aware of His presence and have confidence in His Word. We can put trust in CHRIST, His Word and His Power. What REST there is in His strength and grace. Those who do so are, as this verse says, “safe.” They are free from traps, free from ulcers and stress! They are free to walk close after Christ unhindered. A walk that seeks to bring Glory to Him and not compliments to ourselves.

Here are some practical steps that I use in avoiding the fear of man trap:
1.) Pray for all things and for all activities.
2.) Leave the consequences and outcome to God.
3.) Be committed to doing what is right and saying what is true.
4.) Rest in Christ - don't replay conversations and events in your mind. We can always overthink something, but we can never over pray!!


Itinerary Update

Please be in prayer for Becky and me during this fall season. God has been so faithful in giving us meetings, please pray for our support to come in. Here is our updated itinerary:
Oct 15 - Castleton, VT
Oct 21 - Wedding in NH
Oct 22 - Surry, NH
Oct 23 - New England Bible College
Oct 25 - Burlington, MA
Oct 26 - Durham, NH
Oct 28-29 - Missions Conf. Raymond, NH

Stay clear of traps!
- Steve

Whirlwind Tour of New England

In New York City last summer, as I stood up to preach the gospel in the subway, I opened my mouth and everyones eyes were on me. My mind was racing – is this crazy? will people listen? And sure enough, people listened, people believed, and people accepted Christ! The same feeling sweeps over me on Thursday morning as I begin to make phone calls. Will we get a meeting this week? Is this crazy? – God is faithful! And does not let us down! Nor will He ever!
Praise God! We’ve had some good meetings this last month. And to God’s glory have started to into 2007. September has been a tour of New England. We think of our “road trips” and that meaning 6+ hours a day on the road, but this does not compare with some of our colleagues at BMW who have been around the country and back! But here has where we have been:

August 27th – (PM) - Heritage Baptist Church, Hooksett NH

September 1st – (FRI) We visited Haven of Rest Baptist Church, West Haven CT
Calvary Bible Church, Plainville CT

September 2nd – (SAT) Family Reunion – Wakefield, RI

September 10th – (AM/PM) Calvary Bible Church, Narragansett RI

September 17th – (AM) - We visited Free Baptist Church, Waterboro ME
Pastor Charlie Storey and his wife fed us lunch, Josiah took a nap
and we were on our way to a meeting at (PM) South Gardiner Baptist
Church, S. Gardiner ME

September 24th - (AM) Walnut Grove Baptist Church, Rochester NH
(PM) FELLOWSHIP BIBLE CHURCH, CHESTER NH!!


Things We’ve Learned:
- Toll booths do take pennies (first take them out of the roll!)
- I don’t think Hudson Taylor had a laptop with a DVD player to keep his kids entertained,
nor a bottle of bubbles projected by a an AC vent.
- I learned not to be controlled by my notes when preaching

A Time of Transition

No, we are not in Argentina yet. We still live in Raymond NH. If you don't see us on Sunday morning, we are still living in Raymond 6 days a week!

So... What has deputation been like?

Becky:
The Negatives. It has been lonely sometimes visiting new churches. It takes time to build relationships with people. Steve and I are starting to get used to not being at Fellowship ever week and having start building friendships from the ground up. Josiah too has been feeling the transition. Holding him in my arms and keeping him well behaved and having an intelligent conversation with people we meet is a challenge.
The Positives: It has been neat to see how other churches do things differently. Even with order of service, worship times, etc. Every chance we get to talk about our ministry it renews the passion that my have to serve the Lord in South America.
Prayer Request: I'm feeling nauseous from this pregnancy and still on my toes with Josiah. Pray for long naps and calm stomachs. Pray that I can prioritize my time so that I can be giving out to the people around me (especially Josiah).

Steve:
The Negatives: I feel a bit David did. He was anointed by Samuel as king of the nation of Israel, but he did not immediately serve as king. So positionally he was king, but conditionally he was still a shepherd boy who had an ear for music. So this transition point for me, Positionally: we have been commissioned to Argentina. Conditionally: I still draft septic designs during the day. Pray that I can be diligent and faithful at work and trusting in God and patient.
These last few weeks I cut back my time at work to three days a week. Hoping to make more phone calls and make more contacts. Pray for open doors and this time to be used wisely.
Positives: The summer has been slow making contacts but these last few weeks the Lord has been opening up doors and our schedule is getting filled up! Praise the Lord. I praise God for putting some real gem of pastors in our path along the way that have been real encouragements to us, in prayer and in example. I am thankful too for friends who have been acting as our "agents" and helping us get some more meetings to present our work.

Josiah:
Negatives: car seats, bullies in nurseries, late nights
Positives: munchkins at D&D and new buddies along the way

Deputation underway

We are currently at 10% of the support needed to go to Argentina!! I have recieved emails from some of our national friends we made in Argentina. They remind us to that they are praying for us to return quickly.

Returning from the 2nd part of our canidate orientation at BMW in Atlanta GA, Becky and I were faced with some new and exciting challenges which require steps of faith. 1.) When do we sell our house? 2.) When do I quit my job and take deputation to the next level? The answer to both of these questions is: in God's perfect timing. When is that? I was encouraged in my devotions the other day in reading about King Hezekiah. The passage in II Kings 18 descibes him as a man who trusted God, in fact more than any other king before or after him. That is quite the statement! But as you continue to read this passage you see this word "trust" come up again and again, as this trust in God was being challenged. Trials came, the winds blew and the rain poured, Hezekiah held on to God. He stayed so close to God that he was in God's shadow (Psalm 91:1). Might we be characterized by this same trust as we take steps of faith to fulfill His call in our lives!

Becky and I are so encouraged and blessed to have a sending church that has been standing behind us: with prayer, fellowship, encouragement, and financial support.
You can learn more about our sending church at:
www.fellowshipbiblechester.org

Support

Support for the Diem family can be done in one of the following two methods:

1. Online - To learn about this option go to the Biblical Ministries Worldwide website and read more Click Here.
2. Mail - For a downloadable pdf form that can be filled out and mailed in Click Here.

Contact

If you wish to contact us, please do so either by mail or email:

***NEW***

Steven & Becky Diem

San Roque 393

3500 Resistencia

Chaco, Argentina

Email Address: sdiem@biblicalministries.org

To contact Biblical Ministries Worldwide:

Biblical Ministries Worldwide

1595 Herrington Road

Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043-5616

Phone: 770-339-3500

http://www.biblicalministries.org/

Vision

We are so excited to be apart of NordEste 2010.

A strategy for northern Argentina began in 2003 called NordEste 2010. The plan is to start nine new churches by 2010 in a circle of cities within a 250-km radius between Resistencia and Corrientes. Due to the shortage of personnel, however, this plan has not taken shape. We desire to help and encourage the church plant that is in Resistencia and to move into new surrounding cities.

By using Biblical methods of:

Evangelism: Knowing Christ
Building relationships, home bible studies, open air meetings, and street evangelism.

Discipleship: Growing in Christ
Biblical grounding, Theological & evangelistic training and prayer partnership.

Leadership Training: Preaching Christ
Committing the word to faithful men to lead evangelistic efforts, bible studies and churches.

The team still needs more missionaries and trained, committed Argentine believers involved in order to realize these aggressive goals. The strategy will use career missionaries, national workers, short-term teams, and short-term individual missionaries reach the region for Christ. With the goal to planting new churches that have with the vision to reach out in evangelism, commit to the discipleship of new believers, and to train and send out to start new church plants.

How do you believe the Lord wants you to get involved?

To learn more about the ministry in Argentina please go to:

http://www.biblicalministries.org/countries/argentina.html

Bio

“Who gave Himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
Titus 2:14

I grew up in a Roman Catholic home in the town of Windham NH. At the age of 14, my oldest sister Maria bought me my first Bible and began to have Bible studies with me. It was at the end of one of these Bible studies that God opened my eyes and I prayed to accept Christ as my Savior. My relationship with God turned from fear to friendship. Two years later my mother and father got saved and all three of us were baptized at Fellowship Bible Church of Chester, where we became members.

During the summer of my freshman year at the University of New Hampshire, I had the opportunity to go on a short-term missions trip to Honduras. God showed me in His word what it meant to truly have compassion for the lost. The truths of John 5:1-9 & II Corinthians 4:18 were firmly planted in my mind and I felt God call me to missions fulltime.
Becky grew up in a Christian home and accepted the Lord as her Savior at age 7. Her pastor gave a message on a Sunday morning and the thought of not being saved and going to hell frightened Becky. Later that day she talked with her mother who explained to her how to be saved and that is when Becky called out to God to save her.

I knew it would take a special woman to want to be a career missionary. Becky's parents owned and operated a Christian camp on the foothills of the White Mountains (Camp Victory, Wentworth NH). There she had the opportunity to hear God's word preached by many different guest speakers. This touched her heart and she dedicated her life to missions as a teenager (II Corinthians 5:15). It is awesome to see how God called us both separately to missions. And it is to God's glory that He brought us together to better serve Him as a family. We met on the same path and began to walk together. We were married January 3, 2004. On May 24, 2005 we were blessed with the birth of our first child, Josiah. And our second son Elliott was born March 16, 2007.

After graduating from the University of New Hampshire in 2003 with a degree in Anthropology, I attended the Northeastern School of Theology and Missions in Dracut MA (formerly the Burlington Bible Institute) for 3 years and earned a Foundation of Ministry Certificate in 2004. God also opened up a door for a one-year pastoral internship at the Fellowship Bible Church of Chester in March of 2005. After much prayer and seeking wisdom from our Elders we applied and were accepted into Biblical Ministries Worldwide in January 2006.