We have been pleasantly surprised by reports that we’ve stumbled upon of some local outreach efforts that are focused on the people that we moved here to pursue. We knew that some things were happening, and even now it is still far less than what they need, but it is nice to know that we were wrong and that there are some local believers who see the need and are acting on it. Even as recently as the last few months we know of several hundred who have heard a clear presentation of the Good News, some of whom have put their faith in Christ.
We are thrilled that there are local Christians who are also reaching out to our focus people. One of our prayers is that that would happen more and more so that our role here would be unnecessary. At the same time, we also pray for a few things to change as these groups continue to reach out to them.
· Many local people seem convinced that there is no need to reach out to our focus people in their own language. We are praying for a work that presents the Gospel in a contextualized way and results in a truly indigenous church.
· One of the challenges to the Body of Christ in this place is the temptation to be possessive and protective. Of course people need to be careful, because some of the church networks are not sanctioned by the government and it is a risk to partner with anyone. This can be taken to extremes, though, that are not always helpful. It also can create a temptation to be very possessive and speak of people as being “mine” or “our believers” as opposed to someone else’s. This has sparked a lot of reflection in my own life, and a desire to be very careful with the terms I use that would ever indicate that some movement or some group of believers belongs to me. Any results belong to Jesus. Period. Any believers belong to Jesus. Period.
Anyway, back to the positive note on which this post started…
There is more to the story than we were aware of and for that we are thankful. May that continue to be the case as we become more established here. May we find that He has been at work in many hidden corners without our knowledge.
"Once we serve God surely we must go the way of the cross, so I will not quarrel against the Lord for what has happened."
These are the words of a pastor who has suffered much at the hands of the authorities. His home and church headquarters were demolished, and he was knocked unconscious when he tried to step in to prevent some students from being arrested. This is the fate of some of those who counted worthy to suffer for the sake of His name. This pastor continued to say, "Once the government tries to use violence it means they are defeated already."
Pray for him and others who suffer in order to make Him known. Pray that the seeds of their lives, having fallen to the ground and been crushed, will not fail to bear much fruit.
Filed under: testimonies
During a time when preaching the Gospel meant automatic imprisonment, he continued to proclaim Christ. Knowing the risks he refused to back down. This is part of the way that grace transforms us. His boldness was his ticket into the fellowship of those who have suffered for their faith. Three and half years in prison. While there, he continued to preach Christ and God saved some of the other inmates. Today he has been released and he continues to serve God, and God continues to use him to bring others into a relationship with Jesus. Meeting with him recently I felt very humbled. Humbled by my lack of faith and my concern for my own comforts. Humbled by his willingness to suffer and the fact that so many of our friends and supporters think that we sacrifice so much to be here. Humbled because I was visiting with someone whose very life and story reveals that faithful obedience to God is more valuable than comforts and freedoms and even life itself. This has helped spark a lot of other thoughts related to suffering for the Gospel that I will try to come back to soon.
Filed under: prayer, testimonies, Uncategorized, worldview | Tags: Prayer, testimonies, worldview
N was excited when he found out we were believers, because he had questions. He had noticed that Christians seemed to have true happiness and treated each other better than most people. This had made him very curious, a genuine seeker. He had never been to church and didn’t speak any English, so his searching was limited to what he could find online in his own language, which wasn’t too much. He had found some websites, though, and had been reading and even listening to some sermons. Here’s how some of the conversation went.
“Where does someone have to go in order to believe in Jesus?” he asked.
“Nowhere,” I told him, “There are no sacred spots or buildings, no temples or places more holy than others.”
“What about church?” I thought he was ask this, and I was glad he did, so I could try to explain that you don’t have to be in a church to begin following Jesus, but that church is a gathering of people who follow Jesus to be together, encourage each other, worship him together, learn about him, etc.
“What does it mean to believe in Jesus? How can God help me?”
“Well, many ways, but most importantly by forgiving our sins. All of us have sin in our lives and we are unable to do anything about it. No amount of good deeds can take away or lessen our bad. That’s why Jesus came to die for us.”
“Jesus died for everyone?”
“Yes, everyone.”
“Not just the Jews?”
“No. Everyone.”
“Then who are the Jews?”
“That’s gonna take some time to explain…”
“How can I know more about Jesus?”
“Read the Bible.”
“The whole thing? It’s huge!”
“Well, start with the gospels – they are 4 books about Jesus’ life that were written soon after his death and resurrection. They are named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.”
“You mean that’s what it means when the preacher says Matthew 22:37? What’s the 22 and the 37 mean? ” (I don’t actually remember what passage he asked about.)
I went on to explain chapters and verses, and remembered when I was confused about the chapter – colon – verse thing.
Before long we were out of time and I had to wrap up the conversation. We exchanged names for the first time in the conversation and exchanged contact info and that was it.
I was thankful for the opportunity to share with him, excited about the seeds that had already been planted in his heart, and saddened by the fact that I didn’t have much time that day and was leaving the country just a few days later. I connected him with friends and have prayed that he would remain open to the work that the Holy Spirit is doing in his life.
What is most exhilarating to me about this experience was that it was sparked by the witness of someone else, who will never know the power of their lived-out testimony before N and many others. It was a real example of John 13:35 and 1 Peter 3:15, two verses that we should pray will become a more consistent experience in our lives.
During our final week in our previous country there were several incidents that felt like they were gifts from God, blessings that he had reserved for our final week. Mostly they were ministry opportunities that he opened up for us–random meetings in unexpected places with people who were hungry for the Good News or opportunities to provide food and shelter to orphans or outcasts. None of them were things that we attempted to orchestrate ourselves, and it was clear to us that he had put these things together. We had experiences that would typically be a great source of frustration to us but didn’t affect us in this same way this time around, which felt like one of the signals to us to that we were in fact ready for the big challenge that was just around the corner for us. For months and months one of the questions on our hearts was whether or not we would be ready when the time came, and how we would know the answer to that question. It seemed like throughout our final week in country God was communicating in various ways that he had made us ready in his perfect timing. This feeling of “readiness” isn’t actually one of us being strong enough or anything like that, but a feeling of allowing him to be in control and to work through us instead of striving to accomplish things our own way. It’s freeing, too, because we need him to continue putting things like this together if we are going to remain here, engage this people group and see the vision fulfilled.
A moving & challenging video series from thelastletter.org.
Last Letter Documentary from Last Letter on Vimeo.
Two people recently came to faith, which should be cause for both great rejoicing and great interceding. Along with the angels of God (Luke 15), we rejoice at the news of anyone who repents and turns to God in faith…and how much more so when they come from a people who are largely cut off from the Good News! Yet this is also the reason that our rejoicing should be coupled with fervent prayer for these new believers. Just around the corner from their door of faith, isolation and harassment are waiting to pounce on them. Many other challenges will join in the battle in an attempt pull them back through the door and leave them on the side of unbelief. They come from a people for whom group harmony and social identity is more important than individual freedoms, so there will be immense pressure (both spoken and unspoken) to conform to the rest of their society. So, rejoice with us at the news of these two who have turned to God…but don’t stop there. Pray for them, that their faith will be proved genuine and that they will come through the trials having learned how to depend on God and being witnesses for him. Read the following passage, from the parable of the four soils, and let it guide your prayers. Look for the specific obstacles that these two will face and pray for them to be good soil.
The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop–thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown. (Mark 4:14-20)
