Episode 125

Oftentimes we hear when missionaries head out to their fields, but we don’t often hear of the difficulties, delays, and detours that occurred en route. In today’s episode of the Removing Barriers podcast, we interview Shane Dice, Missionary to England. Join us and hear of God’s patience, grace, and goodness in sending the Dice family to England to share the gospel with lost souls there. You would think missionaries are no longer needed in a country which produced the likes of Tyndale and Spurgeon, but as missionary Shane explains in this episode, the religiosity that has replaced genuine Christianity in England is a formidable barrier to tear down. Join us on this episode and hear how Missionary Shane Dice and his family are rising to the challenge in obedience to Christ everyday.

[Shane]

And in my mind, I thought there’s a lot of missionaries in England. In my mind, I thought, you know, England is a place that, yes, they need the gospel. But there are other places that are more needy.

[Jay]

Thank you for tuning in to the Removing Barriers podcast. I’m Jay, and I’m MCG and we’re attempting to remove barriers so we can all have a clear of the cross.

[MCG]

This is episode 125 of the Removing Barriers Podcast, and this is the 12th in the series of on the mission field, and in this episode, we’ll be going on the mission field with missionary Shane Dice to England. Bro. Shane, it’s a pleasure and welcome to the Removing Barriers podcast.

[Shane]

Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be here.

[MCG]

Well, thank you for placing a busy schedule. Let’s jump into it. Tell us about yourself, your family, your calling, whatever you feel comfortable sharing with the general public.

[Shane]

So I grew up in a Christian home and both of my parents had a testimony of salvation before I was even born. And my mother, she grew up in a home that was Catholic, and she didn’t ever really go to church. My mother got sick as a. Child and my grandfather became bitter against God and. He never went to church after that point, so my mom, she didn’t grow up in church. And my father, he grew up in a split home, a divorced home. His parents got divorced at the age of nine and my grandfather had been a Southern Baptist preacher, and so he had heard a little bit about the gospel as a young person. The divorce changed a lot of things for him in his life. Life and after he moved away from Wyoming and they moved back to Missouri, my grandmother remarried and the person that she remarried to was a Methodist. And so he grew up in a split religious home, my grandfather being a Methodist, and my grandmother being a Baptist. But at the age of nine, he knew that he needed to be. Saved and he accepted the figure. My mother, she never was saved until she met my dad. He at the time was running away from the Lord. And yet he knew. And he met her that they needed to be in a church if they were going to be married, and they needed to be married in a church. And so. He knew they needed to be in a Baptist Church and they found a Baptist Church that happened to be an independent Baptist Church and they went to that pastor for counseling. And the pastor asked them both if they had a testimony of salvation. My father had a testimony of salvation, but my mom didn’t, and the pastor asked her if she would be willing to accept the Lord as her savior, and she prayed a prayer to marry my dad. At that time, it wasn’t until they were married for three or four years. And I was already born at that point that my mom realized that she was not saved, that she was not a Christian. That she needed to be saved and she accepted the Lord as her savior. So that was the family dynamics that I grew up in. And by the time I was born, my parents were going to church every service, and I grew up in. Church and I remember at the age of four praying a prayer. After coming home from school, I remember kneeling down by a green chair and praying with my mom to be saved, but I doubted that extensively. After that point, there was a lot of doubt in my heart and mind, and I remember at the age of 11. Sitting in Sunday school and the Sunday school teacher. Was speaking about how that you can’t get to have him because you’re a good kid. You can’t get to heaven because of. Obeying your mom and dad or being in church every week, growing up in a religious home and the Holy Spirit of God was convicting my heart at that point that I needed to make a decision to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and that I was a Sinner. I was convicted of my sin at that point and the fact that I wasn’t saved. And I remember also being afraid. They’d of what people would think I was afraid of what people’s impression would be. Here I AM 11 years old. My parents think I’m saved and my friends here at the church think I’m saved and my friends in the Christian School think I’m saved. So all of that was going through my mind and I didn’t say anything to my teacher after Sunday school, so then. Following the Sunday school hour, I went over to the main service and the pastor that morning preached a message on Hell and I knew as soon as he was preaching boy, the spirit of God gripped me and I knew that if I died at that point, that’s exactly where I was. Going and. I remember when he gave the invitation call again, I was wrestling with the spirit of God. Not wanting to go forward, but I gave in and I went forward to the altar that morning. And my son school teacher was an altar worker. And he showed me from the Bible how I could be saved. And I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my sins.

I praise the Lord for that, you know, no matter whether you grew up in a Christian home or you don’t, we all have to come to that point where we personally place our faith and trust in Christ. And it doesn’t matter whether our parents are Christians or grandparents are Christians. Your siblings or Christians, if we haven’t made that decision for ourselves. Well, to by faith believe in the Lord Jesus. Then we are not saved. And so I praise the Lord for that, then Fast forward in time to the age of 14, and from the time I was 11 till the time I was 14, my parents had started to go on deputation. To raise support to go to New York City as missionaries to plan a church there, my dad surrendered in Bible College to go to New York City as a missionary. And so God has a sense of humor. I believe he called a boy that grew up, you know, in the country on a farm. Milking cows, raising cattle, raising crops to go to New York City. And so that was what was going on in my life at that point. After I got saved from the time I was 12 to the time I was fourteen, we traveled on the road to different churches to raise support to start a church there in New York. We got there when I was 14 years old, and I remember that being a big change in my life and exciting time in my. Life, but a big change and I remember that we had a teen activity with another church there in the city and a missionary came who was a missionary to Uzbekistan. And I remember him speaking about trusting in the Lord. And the Lord was working on my heart about trusting God with my life, and the verse that king to mine is proverbs 3-5 and six trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding in all thy ways. Acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. And the Lord was asking me to trust him with my life, and at that point I didn’t know what God’s will was for my life, what God’s plan was for my life. But he was asking me to trust him with my. And so I made a decision at that point that I would do whatever the Lord wanted me to do.

And I praise the Lord for his guidance and direction in our lives. And so from that time on, from the time I was 14 till the time I was 18I grew up on the mission field, the church there in New York City was a multicultural church. And if you’ve ever been to New York, you know that it’s a multicultural city. The church had 14 different nationalities in it at that point. A lot of the people in the church were. From Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana, South America, Bangladesh, India and. A smattering of other countries in the Caribbean, and that was the environment that I grew up in, and I believe that environment of growing up on the mission field, yes, it’s American soil, but the mission field influenced me later on. And giving me a heart for missions influence me at that point to have a heart permissions influence me later in my life to surrender to missions. And I believe that I’m a byproduct of missions. And so as a young person ready to go to college, having made that commitment to the Lord to do whatever. He wanted me to do. I went to Bible College and. Studied missions because I had a burden for missions and I wanted to. Do whatever I could to be involved in reaching souls for the Lord. And so I went through Bible College and went to a college that had a focus on missions and that was the primary focus of the school and graduated from the school. Not having a call to preach at that point or call the specific field, but just a heart that. A heart for the Lord to do whatever he wanted me to do. And at that point in my life, I was not yet married at that point in my life. I didn’t have that direction as far as where God wanted me to go, what God wanted me to do, and I began to allow. The lack of direction to bringing discouragement in my life, and there were so. There were some choices that I made in my life that took me further from the Lord and instead of taking me closer to him and one of those choices that I made at that point was to work a job that. Took me out. Of church to the services in a week, and I justified that decision to pay. In my school bill, I was in my last semester of college, but that was a bad decision because we need to be in the House of the Lord. We’re not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, and so here I was. I was about to finish Bible College and. Set to graduate the following year and I was out of church Sunday night and Wednesday night.

[MCG]

How did that decision impact your calling?

[Shane]

How did that impact? Well, I know that at that point there was a lot of discouragement as I said, and I was ready at that point to quit being involved in the ministries that I was involved in because I wasn’t under the preaching of the word. I wasn’t around the people of the Lord, and I was getting further and further away from God. And not getting closer to the Lord and so. I was ready to drop out of being involved in the bus ministry, ready to drop out of being involved in the music ministry in Sunday School Ministry and I remember there was a man in the church that. Was involved in the bus ministry and he was the captain of one of the buses and. He had gone through some difficulties in his life, his wife and him were estranged at that point and had been for almost 20 years. But he was still praying that God would put them back to. Better and here this man came alongside of me, and he could tell that I was drifting away from the Lord. And he said, I know that you were helping out in the bus ministry and I know that you helped out in these. Different ministries and we’re needing some help on our bus. Would you come and join us? And I’m so glad you did, because the Lord used him to encourage me to not walk away, but come back. And at that time I was very depressed and. Down and and I remember going out to this lake in Oklahoma City called Lake Overholser and spending a lot of time with the Lord spending a lot of time in prayer reading my Bible. And I was almost to the point of taking my own life because I was so discouraged, and I was so far from God, and I was.

[MCG]

Oh wow.

[Shane]

Even a place wasn’t a good place, but what I needed was the Lord, and I just got along with God and spent some time with him and the Lord. Help me through that difficult time through the encouragement of. The brother that came and encouraged me to come back and be involved in things through reading my Bible and prayer and fasting and just spending time alone with God. And so from that point forward, I began to see God use me in my life began to see the Lord help me get victory over things in my life. And began to. Changed some of the choices that I made. I went and told my employer. I said, you know this schedule that I’m working is not working out for me. I need a different schedule. And the only thing available was to work three days a week. So that was part time hours, and it wasn’t enough to pay the bills. But I knew that I needed to either find a different job or get a different schedule. And even if that meant less money and inability to pay all my bills, I needed to start making right choices. And so I cut back my hours and it was a struggle. I remember at that time I had a new car I could no longer afford. The payments on the car. I lost my car. I was struggling to pay. My rent for where I was staying, struggling to pay my bills, but. God was saying you need to make choices that are right not based on money, not based on your comfort, but based on whether or not it’s right. And so it wasn’t much longer after that that I was able to get a job at a local financial company. CIT group. And they had a home lending company here in Oklahoma City where I lived at that point. And I went and applied for that job, and they offered me a job with a raise, a $4000 raise because of the degree that I had from the Bible College. And there were other people that were working there. From the church. And so I worked there for a couple of years. And continued at that point to be involved in the bus ministry, to be involved in the music Ministry, I began to help out with the 11 and 12 year old boys class and after working at that employer, then the Lord moved me to another employer working in the energy industry, working for Chesapeake Energy and. I worked for them for almost 10 years. And it was during that point that I met my wife and I helped her actually get a job at Chesapeake Energy, and we went to church together. But the church we went to was a large church, so we didn’t see a whole lot of each other at the church, but by the time she had reached out to me about getting a job at Chesapeake. I was already praying about her and the Lord opened that door of opportunity for communication. And so when she reached out to me for a job, I didn’t let that opportunity slip and I tease her because we also worked together at a part time job at feed the children. And it was while working there at feed the children that she would go and she’d get these 10 pound boxes of, I’d say £10. But these boxes of Chinese food, there was a local Chinese restaurant where you could go and you could fill the box up with as much as you could fill it with. And they didn’t weigh it. It was a set price and she would get that box of Chinese food. And bring it back to work and she would finish off the whole box. And I. How is this, you know, petite, pretty girl, able to eat all of that. And at the time, I love food. And so we shared that in common. But I tease her. That I became interested in her because of her love of food. But when she reached out to me to get a job at Chesapeake Energy, I’ve been praying about her at that point already and didn’t let that opportunity slip and things progressed from there and we ended up getting married in 2013 and. The things that we had been doing separately as far as serving the Lord, we continue to do those things together. And the Lord gave us an opportunity to help out in the college and career class at the church. And one year after we got married. There are some things that happened. At the church where we were faced with the decision whether we were to stay or to go and. We prayed about God’s will for our lives. We prayed about God’s direction for our lives and. There was a lot of tears. There was a lot of sorrow there because we were married in that church and we both have been saved and baptized in that church. My wife grew up there her whole life. I had grown up most of my life in that ministry, but there were things that were happening that were not. Being done properly and so. We had to make a decision do. We stay here or. You know, follow the leading of the Lord somewhere else.

[MCG]

Was it around this time that the Lord was burdening your heart for England, or was this later?

[Shane]

This is even later, so we left the church and we moved over to Beth Haven Baptist Church, and it was at Beth Haven Baptist Church that we got plugged in with the ministries there. And I began to teach in the 11 and 12 year old boys class, My wife began to teach the 11 and 12 year old girls class. And then the Lord opened the opportunity for us to be able to teach the college and career. And it was while we were teaching the college and career class that I began to. Again, inserts this focus on missions and began to present to our class the need for missionaries and the need to get the gospel out around the world, and we would read prayer letters of the missionaries that we supported every week in our class. We had a map up on the wall of the world. To bring into focus the need for missions, and we also planned missions, trips, the Lord allowed us with that class to be able to go out to New Mexico to go visit a missionary we supported. That worked with the Hopi and the Zuni tribes. And so we had this focus on missions. But we didn’t know that God was going to call us into missions at this point, and our hearts were open to whatever. The Lord had. For us and we wanted to do you. Know the Lord’s will for our lives. But we didn’t know that God was going to. Do that well, we. We’re planning on a missions trip to England in 2019. We heard of an opportunity to go. And my wife and I went on a mission trip with our church in 2019 to go visit our missionaries in England, and it was on that missions trip to England. That the Lord really opened our eyes and our hearts for the people there, and I grew up in church, as I mentioned, and I met a lot of missionaries over the course of my lifetime and in my mind I thought there’s a lot of missionaries in England. In my mind, I thought, you know, England is a place that yes, they need the gospel. But there are other places that are more needy. And on the way down to where our missionaries were in Cornwall, England, we took a van from the airport, Heathrow airport, and it was a four and a half hour drive. And on that drive, the missionary was pointing out all of these towns that didn’t have anybody there that didn’t have. Somebody there to tell them about the gospel and he told me of churches that had closed their doors, told me of missionaries that had come off the field, and England is known as the graveyard of missionaries. And so the Lord just began to impress on my heart the need that is. There my wife and I. We talked about the need there and we talked about, you know, could you see yourself living here? And we both said yes, I could see the Lord, you know, if the Lord let us here, yes, I could see living here. And and I began to pray after that point. Lord, if you want me to go, go and the Lord directed me to. Isaiah chapter. 6 and I just began to pray. Through the end of 2019 into 2020, Lord, whatever your will is, Lord, I want to do. And there was a lot of uncertainty in 2020 and a lot of unknown things with my employer, a lot of unknown things, obviously because of COVID and the Lord kept directing my heart to second Timothy, 17 for God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind. And. He wanted me again to trust him as he spoke to me as a 14 year old boy. He wanted me to trust him. Then with my life and years later in 2020, he wanted me to trust him with. My life, and so in August 2nd of 2020, while sitting in a church service. Our pastor was preaching about walking in the spirit, and I remember that the spirit of God spoke to my heart and said it is time and I knew what that meant, that God wanted me to surrender, to be a missionary.

As I said, I’ve been praying for almost a year about. Going, you know, saying to the Lord I’m available. And when he spoke to my heart in that service, I knew that I needed to share that with my wife and share that with our past. And I told my wife what God was doing, and at first she didn’t believe me. And I say that because she knew that we were where God wanted us to be, and she loved our church as I did. And when I told her she was thinking, OK, but I don’t think God is calling us to be missionaries to England. And so I gave her some time to pray about it. And for the first week, really, she prayed. Lord, please show my husband that this is not your will for our lives. And after praying that for about a week the Lord spoke to her heart. And she began to pray. Lord, if this is your will, please show me. And the Lord confirmed that in her heart and in my heart. And and also in our pastors heart. And I praise the Lord for his confirmation and leading. In our lives. So that was August of 2020, when the Lord made it clear that we were to be missionaries to England. And then we didn’t have much time between that point. To where we started on deputation to go to England, and we began to prepare, putting things together, prayer cards, letterhead, scheduling meetings, we began to do that in November of 2020, and we started raising support in February of 21 we had planned. To go to the field for about a six week to three month time frame to kind of get acclimated on the field before traveling to churches to raise support, but that didn’t come to pass because of the country closing down again due to COVID. But it was amazing to see how God put the pieces together as we stepped out. Bath and at the time I worked for Chesapeake Energy and usually whenever somebody would put in their notice, they would let them go right away and not allow them to stay for even a day because of all the access to information there at the company. And the Lord impressed on my heart to speak to my manager. About us leaving. And so I spoke to my. Manager about us. And he said, well, I would like to help you on your way. And he asked how long I’d worked for the company. And I told him 10 years and he said, well, let me speak to my boss. And so he spoke to the VP of the department that we worked in and together they were able to work it out so that I would be laid off. From the company. And that was a good thing. That was what I was praying for. And because of that, that helped us when we started out on reputation, to have insurance, to have income for almost six months. And I see that as the hand of the Lord, his provision for us as we stepped out by faith truly was a blessing. So that’s kind of what brought us up to that’s the call that’s kind of what brings us to this point and we’re in preparation right now to move over to England this summer. We’re looking at a July 25th departure date and we have all of our support that is needed at this point. Praise the Lord and we have submitted our paperwork for. Our certificate of sponsorship, so we have a sponsor there in the country that is an independent Baptist missionary and they are the sponsors for us. And so we have submitted all the paperwork we need to them. They submitted that to the government around the 1st of April and we’re waiting at this point to hear back from them.

[MCG]

This is the. Remove it by Rich podcast we will be right back.

[Jay]

Hey, thanks so much for listening to the Removing Barriers podcast. Did you know that you could find us on Twitter, Gab Parlor, Facebook and Reddit, go to removingbarriers.net/contact and like and follow us on social media, removing barriers, a clear view of the cross?

[MCG]

Where in England are you going to be ministering?

[Shane]

We’re going to be in Plymouth, which is on the coast about four and a. Half hours South. Of London.

[MCG]

OK.

[Shane]

And that’s where the Mayflower left from.

[MCG]

Oh yeah! yeah. Remembering my history.

[Jay]

Can you tell us more about Plymouth and what the population, the people groups, what is the religious breakdown of that area?

[Shane]

So Plymouth is a agricultural city as well as. Office Services, business services, City, city of around 300,000 people and they do have primarily make up of people that. Are born and raised in England, but they do have a large population of Polish. That would be the second largest people group there. They do have a large group of Chinese people, and then you also see a lot of people from India as well and that while we were there in Plymouth. You know, handing out tracks on the street, going door to door, you know, meeting people, the multicultural aspect of the city reminded me a lot of New York and. The environment that I grew up. And a lot of times people will ask how many Muslims are there in that area and they only comprise around 1% of the population. So around 3000, Muslims are in the area of Plymouth. There is a mosque that was built around 10 years ago in that area and they have. Membership I believe around 12,000 there isn’t in that area and in England as a whole there is. And overall interest in religion, and you can see that in Plymouth as well as the country as a whole, around 51% of the people have no religious affiliation whatsoever and. A lot of the people in England are gravitating towards agnosticism or atheism, and that is very true there in. Plymouth as well. The largest religious group would be the Anglicans, and the Anglicans are similar to an Episcopal Church here in the states. And they teach a workspace. And a lot of people who claim to be Anglican don’t go to church, just as somebody might claim to be Catholic here in the states, they’re Catholic in name only around only one to maybe 3% of those that claim to be Anglican, even go to church on a regular basis.

[MCG]

What are some of the things that you’re keeping in mind as you prepare to go over on the field in England? I know there’s a difference in culture. There’s a difference in. Even the language in terms of spelling and accents and stuff like that, but what are some things that you’re keeping in mind and saying I’m going to expect something like this, but that is different from my American culture along that line.

[Shane]

Right. We are expecting differences and in what we will eat, they eat differently than we do. And my wife has even been learning how to make some of their dishes. So that we can invite people over and be hospitable. They do speak English, but their words over there mean different things. And so we have. And, you know, learning what those words are and kind of familiarizing ourselves with those words. I did stick my foot, my mouth over there a few times while speaking or with other groups. And so just trying to be aware of those things also, you know, preparing ourselves for the fact that. The British see the Americans as sort of obnoxious people, and so we want to not allow our Americanism or American culture to be what they see, but we want them to see the Lord in us and we don’t want to go over there. Pushing American culture. But we want to be over there. Sharing the Lord Jesus Christ with them, so one of the things that we will be doing to reach people over there is building relationships with people. And that’s something that we’re preparing ourselves for a lot of the outreach is relational, and the people over there are very curious about American culture, curious about the American ways. And so we will use that to our advantage as people will ask us, you know, why are you here in the country, you know what brought you to England? You know, we will use that as an opportunity and open. The door. But we will be looking at ways to insert ourselves into the community. One of the missionaries we know joined a ping pong club to be able to play ping pong table tennis with people that way. Another missionary put their kids in Taekwondo so that they can meet people through. Taekwondo practice, another missionary started a garden and the people over there in England, they love to garden. They don’t often have space around their homes to garden, and so they will rent a public space, which is called an allotment. And through that, the missionary met people and built relationships with people. And so there’s a lot of things that we will probably be engaged in that we wouldn’t have been engaged in here just because we would have said, oh, well, you know, that’s I want to save money. I’m not going to spend money on Taekwondo or. Ping pong practice or I’ll garden in my own yard. But all of those things are ministry outreach opportunities and that’s how we. Are preparing ourselves to look at those things to be able to look at how can our Family Minister, how can our family reach other families? How can we get in the community? And so those are some things that we’re preparing ourselves for as well as driving. Driving is a big one and driving on the other side of the road especially. With a manual, most of the cars over there are manual, and so that’s a big challenge. Shifting with your left hand, you know, holding the wheel with their right and all of the gears are laid out the same like they are here in the US as well as you know, driving. On the left versus the right, you know that’s a big challenge. We did that when we were over there and I I thought ohh I want to try this out and we drove into London and my wife said where’s the parking garage? I wanna let’s let’s start as soon as I can and you know it was quite a challenge and it was fun at the same time, but it’s one of those things that we’ll be preparing ourselves. Or a lot of the roads down in the area that we’re going to be, they’re considered two lane roads, but they’re really only wide enough for one car. And so that’s going to be a. Bit of a challenge.

[Jay]

We know Anglicanism to be the national religion of the country. And you mentioned that the area that you’re going to is not metropolitan in any way. It’s quite the opposite. Do you feel that in the culture that you’re walking into that the people are more of an acts chapter two group where they have some understanding of God. They have some understanding of sin. They may not acknowledge Christ’s savior, but they understand some of the fundamentals of. Who God is who we are, where we come from, that sort of thing. Or is it more like an Act 17 culture where everyone has their own religion? No one seems to really know the one true God and what sin is and who the savior.

[Shane]

Yeah, that’s a good question. I think that they’re in Plymouth and as well as the country as a whole. We’re seeing more of an Act 17 culture, even though the English people have a tradition in religion, even though the English people have been exposed to some extent to the Bible. Even through their schools, the schools over. There have a character hour every day, and that’s anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour of teaching, and that is provided to the students of the school. It is now optional. Parents are able to opt out of that class if they want to, but I was speaking to somebody recently. And they were telling me the story of a boy that was in class. He’s a Christian, and the person teaching the character hour was saying that Jesus isn’t God.

[Jay]

Oh wow.

[Shane]

And so here is this person that’s supposed to be teaching something from the Bible. Full and they’re teaching them something false, and he went back to the teacher with scripture showing the teacher well. Here, let me show you. This is what the Bible says. And Jesus is God. And the teacher was receptive to that. So I give the teacher credit to being receptive to accepting what the Bible said. I think there’s been a wide variety of things that. This generation has been exposed to, and we’re seeing more of an ACT 17 group of people where we have to go back to the beginning. We have to go. Lay some foundation because there is no understanding of the word of God. There is no understanding of who Jesus is. And that’s why I’ve been accumulating some material. I have actually a series of Bible studies. Therefore, Bible studies that we will be able to go through and lay that foundation of who Christ is, teaching them some foundational truths that Jesus is God and all those things to bring them to the. Point where they’re ready to be saved, and so I think that’s very necessary when witnessing over there to be able to do that.

[MCG]

Yeah, sound great. We actually interviewed another missionary to England, Amanda Baker. And she talked about the religious education part of the school. But for you, I wonder. Shane, what are some unfulfilled needs that you have right now before you head to the field that if those needs are filled, it will make your task or your ministry in England a little bit easier?

[Shane]

We have been really well taken care of as far as our needs and I praise the Lord for him providing things some of the things that we’ve been able to put together, our John and Romans. So we have John and Romans that have been ordered and we have a ministry in a church that’s putting all those together for us. The church is putting them together. The ministry is shipping them over to England for free. We were able to get a really nice design with the lighthouse from Plymouth that is well known, put on the front cover so people when they see it, they’ll recognize that and hopefully read it has the information from the ministry that we’re going to be working with over there in there for them so they can contact the pastor and that ministry. We’ve also been able to put together three different gospel tracks. One was a gospel track written in 2020, and the title of that gospel track is you can trust Christ in the crisis, and so it has a really good message even. Post COVID, there’s always things that are going on in people’s lives, and it’s a good attention getter to cause them to look to the Lord in the midst of their crisis, lead them to salvation, another gospel track that we are having printed to take over is called the cure, and it goes through the Old Testament. And Moses put the brazen serpent on the pole and he said to the people to look and live. And then the correlation to the New Testament to Christ, to look and live. It’s a very powerful message in that gospel track and then another one that we were able to put together. Is a gospel track from our home church called what are you looking for? And it goes through and lays out the gospel and living out the gospel. And that track actually was recently printed over there in Plymouth by the mission area that we were going to work with, and he had 2000 copies of that printed to hand out before. And so that was a blessing to be able to take part in that. So those are some of the materials that we put together to take with us as well as putting together some materials to be able to get in the schools. Lord Willing, I would like to be able to get into the schools to teach during that character hour, and that would be a great opportunity to be able to witness their. To the students in the school as far as needing. Right now we’re needing approval to be able to get in the country, so we appreciate prayers to be able to get approval to get in the country. We’re waiting to hear back on whether or not our ministry plan and financial plan and all of those things will be accepted by the government. So we appreciate prayers for that. Packing up all of our items that we’re taking with us and so we’re looking. On how we’re going to do that, how we’re going to ship over. Our household items and so we still have to figure that out. And so we’re praying that the Lord will guide us and direct us to the right company to be able to do that. And then when we get in country. Prayer that we can find a house quickly for our family to be able to settle in. We have booked a place to stay for a couple of months while we look for a House and that process can take anywhere from a month to a month and a half of time. And can be kind of difficult too, because you can’t open a bank account over there until you have a physical address, and we won’t have a physical address until we rent a place. And so when we go to put in offers on a house, they’re going to see this as high risk because we don’t yet have a bank account in the country. And so most likely we’ll have to put down 6 to 12 months of rent. Just to get into a house, but those are some of the things, the challenges of getting into the country, getting set up, you know, finding a car just because you have money for a car doesn’t mean that process happens as quickly.

[MCG]

Oh wow.

[Shane]

One of the missionaries told me he went to. A place found a car. Mark told him he had the money to buy it. They were kind of like, standoffish and scared because he was going to put all the money down and they really wanted him to make payments and they’re just not used to people paying cash for things. And they said, well, that’s great, but you’ll still have to wait. And so it was two weeks before he was even able to get a car. Over there in the country. And so that’s some of the challenges that we’ll have getting over there. Some of the things that we’re working on putting together to move over there right now.

[Jay]

I really hope that you’ll be able to get into the schools and teach the character hour. If the people that they have there now have no clue what the Bible truly says about who Jesus is and the fact that Jesus is God, we’re going to need some Bible believe in God fearing Christians in there who are able to tell people what thus saith the Lord, and what the. With is so that the gospel can get out there. I really pray and hope that that actually happens as well as the other needs that you need as well.

[Shane]

You know.

[Jay]

Is there anything that the church is doing here in the US that you think perhaps might make your job a little more difficult in Plymouth?

[Shane]

No, I can’t think of anything that the church is doing here that makes it difficult. I appreciate all the churches that have gotten behind us and are supporting. And for the people that are praying for us and we know that that makes a huge impact and we’ve personally seen time and time again where people have said we’re praying for you about something specifically and God answering that request. And so that’s a huge, huge blessing to our family.

[Jay]

I’m really grateful to hear that you don’t think anything will that anything the church is doing now will necessarily negatively affect you. One of the things that America does or has been doing with Aces recently is exporting our. Culture and as of the last year or two, our culture has become quite toxic, and so we were speaking to a missionary in the Middle East and he said that anything that comes out of the United States, they interpret as Christianity, even though that’s not the case. But that’s what they think. And so. If there are people in Plymouth, as you mentioned, that are interested in American culture, want. To know what’s being American about. Even though we are. We can come off as a bit standoffish, prayerfully some of the godless things that are permeating our culture now won’t make your job more difficult. Over in Plymouth. I’m really glad to hear you’re optimistic. Take on the fact that the churches are. Not doing anything right now to make your job more difficult, because being a missionary is tough enough. You certainly don’t need the extra difficulty there for sure.

[Shane]

Right. Yes, I will say that one of the things as far as Americanism and influencing them with the gospel, I mentioned this before, we’re trying to eliminate any sort of. Americanism, if you will, in our influence, specifically like when it comes to handing out literature, we don’t hand out literature that has any printing information on it from America, and we even send our tracks to a printer there in the UK to edit them first, to change the wording because they do use different words. And so we don’t want them to get a gospel track from us and say, oh, this is from an American. We want them to see it as something from somebody within their country, because even though in large part they are. Are atheistic and agnostic now. They still see themselves as a Christian nation, and so if they were to receive a gospel track with printing information from America or with American words in it, they would say, why are you giving this to me? You know, we’re a Christian nation. We don’t need missionaries here. And so because of, you know, they have this error that they’ve been around. Much longer than America, they have this error that they will continue on longer than America. They kind of probably have a different viewpoint of America than other countries would just because they kind of see themselves. As the father of America, if you will. Because America didn’t exist before they colonized America. And so there’s a different aspect, a different viewpoint. I think of the British towards Americans, but we’re trying to remove any hindrances that we can, especially Americanisms.

[MCG]

Yeah, that’s interesting because you know England, as you say, is the graveyard of missionaries. And, you know, England sent out a lot, a lot of missionaries, in your opinion, how did they get to where they are today, where now missionaries are? Going to them with the gospel because they have so greatly neglected the gospel over centuries now.

[Shane]

Yeah, I think it’s a historical as well as. Attitude towards spiritual things that has taken place and I was watching a video of a lady that teaches British English on YouTube. She’s not a Christian, but she was talking about how that in the 1930s, the culture of England changed radically because of World War One. And then, of course, World War Two continued to change the culture over there, and she was talking about how, because of the World War, how that the country became more industrialized. That the aristocracy became poor had to sell off property, and the people that lived in the villages that worked the land. They then began to go work in the factories, began to leave the place of their forebears, and in that process. Religion was swept aside in that process. They stopped going to church because. It was a family affair. It was a traditional thing. You went to the local church there in your community with the aristocracy, and that’s what you did. But when they were uprooted from their livelihoods and their homes and moved into the cities, they left God behind, if you will. And today, Fast forward almost 100 years. It’s a very secular society where emphasis is placed on education. Emphasis is placed on social program. What the government can provide emphasis is placed on your employer and place of employment, but it’s not placed on God and it’s a sad state where basically the government’s provision has replaced God and people over there that don’t see a need for God today.

[MCG]

Listening to the removing various podcast, we assisted our missionary Shane Dice to England. We’ll be right back.

[Jay]

Hi, this is Jay. MCG and I would like for you to help us remove barriers by going to removingbarriers.net and subscribing to receive all things removing barriers. If you’d like to take your efforts a bit further and help us keep the mics on, consider donating at removing barriers.net/donate removing barriers. A clear view of the cross.

[MCG]

Ok missionary Shane, let’s go in a little bit of a fun section and find out some of your favorites. What would you say is. Your favorite scripture verse?

[Shane]

Proverbs 3-5 and six trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways. Acknowledge him and he shall direct thy pass.

[Jay]

What is your favorite biblical historical account? We call it that because we don’t want to call them stories and give people the impression that they didn’t really happen. We know that the Bible is true. So what’s your favorite historical biblical account?

[Shane]

I love the story of David and Goliath and his fearlessness to. Conquer the giant.

[MCG]

What would you say is the most convicting scripture verse or passage to you?

[Shane]

Hmm, that’s a good one. I would say one of the most challenging or one of the most convicting scripture passages would be there in the Book of Ecclesiastes, where it says whatsoever thy hand find it, to do it with all my might.

[MCG]

Hmm, yeah, it’s so easy to. Not give your best or your all are yes.

[Jay]

What is the most comforting scripture verse for you?

[Shane]

Psalms 18, wine that the Lord is my strength.

[MCG]

And what would you say is your favorite hymn? Of the faith.

[Shane]

A love of him? Nothing but. The blood of Jesus.

[Jay]

That’s a great home. That’s a great home. And who is your favorite giant of the faith from the scriptures?

[Shane]

My favorite giant of the faith I would. Have to say. Is the apostle Paul and his fervency for the Lord, and I love the fact too, that in several different parts of the scriptures. That he asks the churches to pray for him. That boldness would be given unto him to speak the gospel, and I don’t ever see the apostle Paul as being somebody who was afraid to share his testimony or afraid to share the gospel. But yet here he was, revealing his humanity and needing the help of Almighty God. And that’s all of us. We all need the help. Of God to. Be bold in our witness because we don’t have the strength in and of ourselves. We need the Lord’s help.

[MCG]

So what would you say are some of the biggest barriers preventing the people of England from seeing the cross? Clearly receiving the gospel?

[Shane]

One of the barriers of them seeing the cross. Obviously, I think the religion is muddy. The waters for them teaching them religion, but not about Christ, that always muddies the waters and teaching them that. Being a good person, being a moral person gains you favor with God. That blurs their image. The Cross of Christ, because until they see themselves as lost, they’re not going to see that they need a savior and one of the men over there was witnessing to a British man, and he worked with him for almost a year before he realized. That he was lost and the British people are good people, you know, they’re moral people. They’re kind people polite. They see themselves as the benefactors of the world, if you will. That we know, according to Fusions 28 and nine, that for by grace are you saved through faith, not of works. Lest any man should boast, unless they get saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ, they are not going to be saved, and their faith in their own good deeds, their faith in their own good works. That is keeping them separated from God, and that’s a huge barrier.

[Jay]

And how would you say that those barriers can be removed? Because in many ways, England is the benefactor of the world. Many, many countries have benefited from England’s presence there, although of course there were drawbacks, of course. But how can those barriers be removed?

[Shane]

Yeah, that’s a great question. I think through just faithfully investing in people’s lives, building those relationships, as I mentioned, building those relationships is going to go a long way in us being able to have an open door to. Show people from the Bible what the Bible says about who they are, that they are sinners, that they do need a savior that without Christ there is no salvation and that message to the random stranger on the street is something that a lot of times they’re repulsed by that and they don’t want to hear it. They don’t have time for it, and so spending the time to invest in people is what is going to bring down those barriers, I believe. And as they get to know our family and we get to know them and they see that there’s something different about our family that. You know they’re sharing the gospel with us and they say they’re Christians, but they’re not like other Christians that I know, they’re not like other people that I have met, that claim the name of Christ. There’s something different about them in our prayers that they would see Christ in us, and as they see Christ in us as we share the gospel with them and. Do that patiently and consistently. Those barriers will come down through prayer and people will be saved.

[MCG]

Missionary Shane. Thank you for joining us on the Removing Barriers podcast.

[Shane]

Thank you very much.

[Jay]

Thank you so much for listening to the Removing Barriers podcast. Make sure to rate US everywhere you listen to podcasts, including Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, or Stitcher. Removing barriers, a clear view of the cross.

[MCG]

Thank you for listening. To get ahold of us to support this podcast or to learn more about removing barriers. Go to removingbarriers.net. This has been the removing barriers podcast. We attempted to remove barriers so that we all can have a clear view of the cross.