tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46958030011639931912024-03-05T20:06:46.425-08:00Lost On Foreign ShoresMusings on Christ, the gospel, missions, and loving others.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-78834091755686956922021-03-23T18:00:00.001-07:002021-03-23T18:22:01.780-07:00Joy in the Midst of Chaos<p><a href="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1wSOxdptW0rwvXGVDTyozSEovLuMrCOFy"><img title="IMG_0044" style="border: 0px currentcolor; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="IMG_0044" src="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=121LS7nflIickbXAWG-aZ7GTgz1e-LPIc" width="557" height="418" /></a></p> <p>Our SOS Christmas Trip was quite the thriller. A few months before, I was wondering if we would even have a missions trip at all, and then suddenly we went from maybe going to El Salvador to the doors opening for all three countries. Between the coronavirus and hurricanes destroying the bridge on the road to Honduras, it seemed like every door was shutting.</p> <blockquote> <p>“But God.”</p> </blockquote> <p>It’s an amazing little phrase. In Ephesians 2, we were children of wrath who were lost and dead in our sins, and then suddenly in verse 4, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us…”</p> <p>We went from doomed to saved with those two words.</p> <p>God does the same to this day in so many other ways, like how He opened every door for our team to experience the joy of serving Him and being with our family in Central America.</p> <p>Every day leading to the trip was a new challenge – finding COVID tests, getting the results by the day of travel, making sure the tests were done at the right times, and the saga of two of our team members who were 5 minutes from missing their flight.</p> <blockquote> <p>“But God.”</p> </blockquote> <p>It was awesome having the team together that first night, realizing that none of us should have been there and yet the Lord opened the door for all of us there to come. And thus began our tour of joy…</p> <p><b><a href="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1iooLdId7KibkTclkZ2mfFU2_B93RqNM-"><img title="IMG_0225" style="border: 0px currentcolor; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="IMG_0225" src="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1C7Qe98yWWcS95ZM2NTulChFw5nKS_kJ_" width="557" height="418" /></a></b></p> <p><b>A small event</b></p> <p><a href="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=143QZ480-NJ9z1m9DPBOf2e5utup5XVpO"><img title="IMG_0080" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px; border: 0px currentcolor; float: right; display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="IMG_0080" src="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1UcRgSNXfjhXZcG-99hdJyGpyRbG-dbQH" width="288" align="right" height="216" /></a>Our first stop on the tour was in Guatemala, where from the first night’s church service, two people stepped forward in repentance toward Christ, and that set the tone for us. The next day we celebrated by baptizing eight into the Name, and the next, we were to have the second annual Christmas party. The last time we’d had about 180 people show up, so we figured we might have a few more this time.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1nceVkVoQVPvCOnA6xnJDegEcsa9Arc-E"><img title="IMG_0233" style="margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; border: 0px currentcolor; float: left; display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="IMG_0233" src="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1EJP9HoKHa1J75MfFMsPzPJtWck_jLq2H" width="262" align="left" height="196" /></a>The Christmas party began with a smaller crowd that kept growing… and growing. We eventually left the estimate at somewhere over 600 people based on the gifts we’d given out (and as always the Lord guarded the numbers so we had what we needed to reach them all). The people we met were hungry for something, including a man who told me that he knew the Lord had brought them there that day so he could hear about the Lord.</p> <p><a href="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1VHsFw51nlI0cSjeD7fRZPfAfbieSdlMv"><img title="IMG_2656" style="border: 0px currentcolor; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="IMG_2656" src="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1L1l-jiTyw_Q-gZ1tMckz_-B3GFeY9C7O" width="559" height="419" /></a></p> <p>Not only did we experience the joy of seeing so many people come to hear the gospel and receive a Christmas gift, we also got to participate in the baptism of eight new members of the church – one of whom had come to church through the ministry and has brought the gospel back to her own village two hours away – a village with no witness for the gospel that now has a lamp shining there. Please be praying for the Lord to open doors of ministry there.</p> <p><b><a href="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1SjCN1OvpHQfW79HH2OrxUgRCTOB9TOvv"><img title="IMG_0356" style="border: 0px currentcolor; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="IMG_0356" src="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1wpDF9Ly2usiX3l8um2URSX22aVgr_dc6" width="559" height="420" /></a></b></p> <p><b>A church of joy</b></p> <p><a href="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1uamoZDwk3qf05Iue1WCSb1KqCrr7PttL"><img title="IMG_0339" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px; border: 0px currentcolor; float: right; display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="IMG_0339" src="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1Y5098gMglx9MK2v9mZf-mo7N5tCuMs_X" width="274" align="right" height="366" /></a>If the Lord had not been on our side, there is no way we would have been able to make the crossing into Honduras. All on the same day, we received our COVID test results, arrived at the border to a chaotic new process, and barely made it only because the bus driver drove to speak to the border personnel five minutes before it closed. Yet somehow we were standing on the porch of the church there that night, hearing all of the amazing things the Lord has done there. </p> <p>Since the pandemic started, people have persecuted and mocked our leaders in Honduras for refusing to close the church. Most of the other churches closed in fear, but the church remained open. Local village leaders who have hated us from the beginning called the authorities to shut down the church. </p> <p>But God <a>always</a> makes the enemy’s plans backfire. </p> <p>Instead of closing the doors, the brothers decided to divide up the church into the various communities it represents and meet in small groups. Instead of shrinking and suffering from COVID, the church more than doubled in size. They baptized fifty people in just in the past few months, and over 150 people now attend the various home groups, including 25-35 from a new community. As of December, not a single member of the church had contracted COVID.</p> <p>As a side note, the church responded to their enemies by helping them with a construction project to build a road to their houses. That’s what it means to walk with the Lord – loving your enemies as He commanded us (Matthew 5:38-48).</p> <p>In the United States, we have backup plans and the ability to meet online (although I would say we have missed out on the face to face). In Honduras they didn’t have the option, but they wanted to remain obedient to the Lord by meeting together no matter what the cost, and He has blessed them incredibly in spite of the trials. I witnessed the joy on their faces for myself – join with them in faith, tasting and seeing that the Lord is good.</p> <p><b>What it means to be a shepherd</b></p> <p><a href="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1D5AgkUUCptSCAJijHSHJPdSG3b5290Yp"><img title="IMG_0342" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px; border: 0px currentcolor; float: right; display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="IMG_0342" src="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=15Gl-EfXVUd5_BphgiWCLjH-3_q8V9dTG" width="272" align="right" height="363" /></a>After the hurricanes hit, the bridge to one of our local communities washed out completely, leaving a writhing, brown river between the church members and their leader, Pedro. He was so burdened for his people that he and his son now brave the river (up to chest high water) multiple times a week so that they will hear a message of encouragement and be fed the word of God. </p> <p>I have felt weary in the work before and not wanted to drive 15 minutes to meet with people. There is no hour walk, no rivers to be forded, and I have not wanted to obey. Pedro on the other hand does so for the joy of the Lord’s work.</p> <p>The church in Honduras is known for their prayer, and as Pedro reminded us, their protection is found on their knees. Truly as the scriptures say, “In Your presence there is fullness of joy.” (Ps. 16:11)</p> <p><b>The joy famine</b></p> <p>As someone who had his joy robbed many times by the chaos of 2020, I believe that the lack of joy in the church here comes down to two main things.</p> <p>1. We do not spend time with the Lord</p> <p>2. We do not accompany Him in His work</p> <p>The church in Honduras is marked as a church of prayer by almost everyone who visits from the states. They are certainly not perfect, but they trust in the Lord. They have found what we did not, perhaps because we looked for joy in our comfort and security here. I know personally I spent too much time reading the news rather than His good news.</p> <p>Really, our joy is God Himself, and I have been seeing that clearly as I’ve spent the last two weeks under quarantine. Those weeks began with a great loneliness but ended in great joy, as I have spent more and more time with Him. I’ll leave you with this passage:</p> <p><i>Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling! Then I will go to the altar of God, <b>to God my exceeding joy</b>, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. <br /></i><b>Psalm 43:3-4</b><i></i></p> <p>Joy is found in no one else, because no one else loved us enough to redeem us from our sins as He did. Press on to Know Him above all else.</p> <p>Grace and peace, the last (and slowest) of His people to learn,</p> <p>- Paul</p> <p><b>Prayer Requests:</b></p> <p>- For the churches in Central America to grow and flourish and for the leadership to remain faithful and full of joy.</p> <p>- For the construction project in Guatemala for a community center, building for church services, and place for training and after school programs. More on this later.</p> <p>- For the Lord to give me personal wisdom in how to live my life for Him.</p> <p>- For the Lord to provide funds for a bridge to the village in Honduras</p> <p>- For a structure for our church in Guatemala (more on that soon!)</p> <p><b>Upcoming Events</b>:</p> <p>- <b>April 17<sup>th</sup></b> – Rainbow village ministry</p> <p>- <b>July 10<sup>th</sup> to August 8<sup>th</sup></b> – Summer Missions trip to Central America. <i>Dates subject to change</i></p>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-30914932727337307012020-09-05T10:34:00.011-07:002020-09-05T11:00:22.328-07:00September 2020 - My God Did Not Stop Working<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3LUiONxvFnNM7oQcJq7cStksd188oWSSz_F9IxsTe4crZjAEQo2D5bowxHNVXjXSPSmD-khtrdbO34T0XXfEPy8wVvnD2sBGW24AVngfMG6NBUpxacsTGWWKnFTDHwnpZ43U-l1IZRtxr/s1024/WhatsApp+Image+2020-06-01+at+11.13.04.jpeg" style=""><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3LUiONxvFnNM7oQcJq7cStksd188oWSSz_F9IxsTe4crZjAEQo2D5bowxHNVXjXSPSmD-khtrdbO34T0XXfEPy8wVvnD2sBGW24AVngfMG6NBUpxacsTGWWKnFTDHwnpZ43U-l1IZRtxr/w640-h480/WhatsApp+Image+2020-06-01+at+11.13.04.jpeg" width="100%" /></a></div><p>I’m writing this report to you from my home office – a reminder of the things that have swept our nation. I have to admit, as an extrovert, it’s a lot harder for me to get going when the morning commute is a room away. But I was just encouraged thinking that – yes, our country social distanced and shut down work places, but God did not stop working (<u>John 5:17</u>).</p><p>By God’s grace and the generosity of His people we were able to share food with hundreds of families in five countries during the hardest months of the crisis, and by His grace I’ve been a part of some ministries to some of the poor here in our own community. God truly has not forgotten us during this time.</p><p>I was in a meeting the other day with some young adults, and one of them blessed me by praying and asking God to show our group how to reach out to those around us – to do His work. It is encouraging to see that God is still working in the hearts of His people, so let’s take a brief tour, and consider how God may use you in this time to be an agent of reconciliation.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga_dta72r2u9LTJ-55FazS24qHSqw_T0O3F45H3pfWJzse16SVJmMVVbOvxGB_6UDFu5fANkfIemQcbvlMm418zfz6jm5fT_pkKoKch2HjT_-myVVZMiT4pVV7PpI53lP0c3C9yZEJfeX5/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2020-01-08+at+08.47.05.jpeg" style=""><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga_dta72r2u9LTJ-55FazS24qHSqw_T0O3F45H3pfWJzse16SVJmMVVbOvxGB_6UDFu5fANkfIemQcbvlMm418zfz6jm5fT_pkKoKch2HjT_-myVVZMiT4pVV7PpI53lP0c3C9yZEJfeX5/w640-h480/WhatsApp+Image+2020-01-08+at+08.47.05.jpeg" width="100%" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Guatemala</b></p><p>Thank the Lord, our churches in Central America are allowed to meet again this Sunday! In Guatemala, they’ll be limited to 10-20 people per service due to the distancing rule and the small space they have. So, they will be meeting for three hour long services tomorrow (that’s a lot of work).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuKyyk-DOflFAFHIPmIvIhtONWXGwJBFxaqGOjB-sciBkusuHymLF5f-BnYX1UMTTpkUsHYT74OED6EGmBAeWSAAELV-QnBshcd-o5ATo0UW4mJehNfXuHRLWDITEjnJVuAUYbNGXh6g2r/s633/Annotation+2020-09-05+132852.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="633" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuKyyk-DOflFAFHIPmIvIhtONWXGwJBFxaqGOjB-sciBkusuHymLF5f-BnYX1UMTTpkUsHYT74OED6EGmBAeWSAAELV-QnBshcd-o5ATo0UW4mJehNfXuHRLWDITEjnJVuAUYbNGXh6g2r/w200-h150/Annotation+2020-09-05+132852.png" width="200" /></a></div>Throughout the crisis Vlademir and his family have been able to deliver bags of aid to hurting families, and the local police even helped with the deliveries! The people have given their thanks again and again that the church around the world has remembered them. When one part of the body suffers, we all do.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcHP8x4kATvRnZjgXzNp4N-rch_AmvNas9SvkEo9T4e6LfvA5uN21p6MmZrl2_OMmv2ZEopM8K-eCHGNT33FV0T7tvPuSsMnjrDxLQjk08vqKEN9XMms85vrUXnZsbQtVf001vkCK6L8F/s1280/WhatsApp+Image+2020-06-01+at+13.02.31.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcHP8x4kATvRnZjgXzNp4N-rch_AmvNas9SvkEo9T4e6LfvA5uN21p6MmZrl2_OMmv2ZEopM8K-eCHGNT33FV0T7tvPuSsMnjrDxLQjk08vqKEN9XMms85vrUXnZsbQtVf001vkCK6L8F/w320-h181/WhatsApp+Image+2020-06-01+at+13.02.31.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Young Bladito is still teaching music classes three times weekly to a small group of students – along with one who has yet to meet the Lord but is attending services. Pray for two of the students who had to drop out of classes to help support their family, because the economic situation in Guatemala is still very severe.<p></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>A new ministry</b></p><p>The Lord has some amazing ways of opening up new ministries. One of the women who came to faith took the gospel back to her parents back in her hometown, and by God’s grace, the parents have come to faith and are being discipled in the Lord now. Their community is two hours of hard driving away, and there is no gospel-preaching church in the entire community.</p><p></p><p><b>El Salvador – First church service in months</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOSiJVIaQZk1c70WAAu9dJ6xAzL86X85JfA8Qy8g4D5_ZROSfMHAQKJ_IdW-Mr81XRAQAEkjnpmmkPx473qgEzDSJ3Luw-4l5-82zk4HZxq17bZIMTkgSVww51IK3zRBBHRsH05Fu2lMlK/s1280/23410d5b-58a7-49ad-8afb-952dfec811ee.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOSiJVIaQZk1c70WAAu9dJ6xAzL86X85JfA8Qy8g4D5_ZROSfMHAQKJ_IdW-Mr81XRAQAEkjnpmmkPx473qgEzDSJ3Luw-4l5-82zk4HZxq17bZIMTkgSVww51IK3zRBBHRsH05Fu2lMlK/s320/23410d5b-58a7-49ad-8afb-952dfec811ee.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />In El Salvador, they are having their first church service in months tomorrow, and they are hoping it will be a huge encouragement to those who have been isolated all this time. They’re also hoping to begin visiting and encouraging the family of God now that things are opening back up.<p></p><p>We are hoping by God’s grace to visit them soon to encourage them. Pray that the Lord gives the perfect timing for that.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZpgtSk50cgnOsOAJb-dzm1KUCuHXZeUlA7hW1U1oMxQXaRI_nkEKF70pl9GKo6kQvXeOOzdojyHUTvKCqVytoSAbJVPOqyqHe4Q9iJIjoNSsbHU9KXQF0hhSFd7ITUgHuMFWjDrAhdGy/s1440/HondurasMeeting.jpeg" style=""><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZpgtSk50cgnOsOAJb-dzm1KUCuHXZeUlA7hW1U1oMxQXaRI_nkEKF70pl9GKo6kQvXeOOzdojyHUTvKCqVytoSAbJVPOqyqHe4Q9iJIjoNSsbHU9KXQF0hhSFd7ITUgHuMFWjDrAhdGy/w640-h476/HondurasMeeting.jpeg" width="100%" /></a></div><p></p><p><b>Honduras – What man intends for evil…</b></p><p>In Honduras, our central church is located in a community whose leaders despise the gospel and want to see the church gone. Because of their threats and pressure, very few people from the town have been coming.</p><p>Seeing their opportunity during the early days of the pandemic, they got local authorities to shut down services even before a single case had appeared in the region. Perhaps they thought they had succeeded, but the Lord had other ideas. For the believer who is in Christ, resurrection always comes after suffering, because He rose from the tomb where they'd placed Him. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11KzjBRUDl_jNiTOM7y4dXFj1gbKCojO63LHR2WA1E-jBW1XZPoFuP_LcK33ZU2Y2_13xM0VdRJDDH_TjDII1rEEpX89JKQS7jTj8IIr_nd-HlgRlxKvTQ8rsWhGxg3HNLozuH8XIBqrO/s736/HondurasMeeting2.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="736" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11KzjBRUDl_jNiTOM7y4dXFj1gbKCojO63LHR2WA1E-jBW1XZPoFuP_LcK33ZU2Y2_13xM0VdRJDDH_TjDII1rEEpX89JKQS7jTj8IIr_nd-HlgRlxKvTQ8rsWhGxg3HNLozuH8XIBqrO/s320/HondurasMeeting2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Now, instead of meeting in one big service, each of our six elders carried the gospel back to their community and began small Bible studies and discipleship classes there. The Bible studies have each grown, and now they’ve even opened up a ministry in Corralito, a new community that had no church. The ministry there is still growing, so please pray for them!<p></p><p>Meanwhile in the original community that shut down the church services, curious people have been attending the bible studies – some out of boredom and some because they have been led by the Lord. Recently, a man came to faith who is a former murderer but has been redeemed. If Jesus can save such a hard man in such a hard community, imagine what He can do here!</p><p>He truly is able to do more than we could ever ask or think! Praise be to our God!</p><p><b>Prayer Requests:</b></p><ul><li><b>Pray for our nation </b>– these are difficult, turbulent times. Pray that we will be a light and an encouragement because, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”<b></b></li><li><b>Pray for Alex</b> – he has a ton on his shoulders as a supervisor of medical issues in his community, leading his church, and leading his family. Pray that God gives him the strength to press on.<b></b></li><li><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJAxJPbze7ycZoYZiQnHsMO7PnbS-eveAn8Yc8BsFOBhf5Oepxfi6AzIFJxnFXrepBoLjzq7wOKsQj0InO-E11n6Bjwq9jQp0pHn-59UlzAqfdF-7P12Y2hVUZcAAp9jnPNjRVS5QVgLuA/s1280/3d109edc-fa18-4ba5-993f-7c0a88d99629.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJAxJPbze7ycZoYZiQnHsMO7PnbS-eveAn8Yc8BsFOBhf5Oepxfi6AzIFJxnFXrepBoLjzq7wOKsQj0InO-E11n6Bjwq9jQp0pHn-59UlzAqfdF-7P12Y2hVUZcAAp9jnPNjRVS5QVgLuA/s320/3d109edc-fa18-4ba5-993f-7c0a88d99629.jpg" width="280" /></a></div><br />Pray that God keeps our brothers and sisters</b> <b>strong in the faith</b></li><li><b>Pray for protection</b> from the virus and the violence in the area<b></b></li><li><b>Pray for the new community in Guatemala</b> and for Vlademir and his family to press on<b></b></li><li><b>Pray for the elders in Honduras</b> that they press on in the ministry in their communities without growing weary<b></b></li><li><b>Pray for unity in the church in Honduras</b> – many who came to faith bring a lot of baggage with them, and some of them were formerly enemies and are now worshipping in the same church. While this is awesome, it can be difficult at times.</li></ul><p>Thank you all for your prayers and support! Keep pressing on!</p><p>- Paul</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-71588476766223913482020-04-13T12:13:00.001-07:002020-04-19T20:31:24.333-07:00God is Faithful<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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</style>These are unprecedented times.<br />
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The night before I was to leave for our latest El Salvador trip, I got a message from Alex (our Latin American Director) saying that the president of El Salvador was about to make an announcement. Within an hour, Alex sent me a somber voicemail informing us that the President of El Salvador had closed the borders. There was no March trip.<br />
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I was shocked; we’ve never had an entire nation shut its doors to all travel before. Reluctantly, we called everyone and told them the news. It was discouraging for us and for our friends in Central America, but it is good to remember that we serve the Living God who always provides for His people.<br />
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<b>The God who Provides</b><br />
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We had the smallest team we’d had in over 10 years this past December, and in fact the numbers were even smaller before the Lord provided some last-minute people (even as we got on the plane to leave).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our small team leaving for Honduras</td></tr>
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Each person who comes means we can give out more gifts, because each person brings a bag full of supplies. I remember trying to figure out how on earth we would visit all the villages we normally do, but God provided as always. </div>
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Several people decided to “adopt a village” and provide the funds for all the gifts for an entire community by donating. My church provided all the gifts for the annual Christmas Party in El Salvador, and God multiplied everything.<br />
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We saw last year how God miraculously supplied the gifts in one village, but this year we saw Him do that in <b>three villages</b> where the lines of people were impossibly long for the gifts we had left. We’d brought an extra 20 gifts beyond the biggest crowd we’d ever seen, still there were more people than gifts! Every time we ran low, we prayed that God would provide, and every time we handed out the last gift to the last person in line – the exact amount. We never ran out early.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blessing a village after we'd left</td></tr>
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Overall we ended up with enough extra gifts for our Salvadorian brothers to give to two churches and two extra villages after we left. God not only supplied for our immediate needs, He provided an abundance. Tell me that God in heaven doesn’t know our needs and provide when we seek Him first. <br />
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I also wanted to say that I am very thankful for Sherry Carlson, her church, and her family. God has used them to give a huge supply of Christmas gifts every year since I started coming in 2005. Having completed the work well, they will be retiring. Thanks ya’ll for all the years! You’ve blessed us a lot and I pray God blesses you in all your new adventures!<br />
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<b>The God who Gathers</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgmnzXnV2zATq-JFlwXVO8XVv89lwmWpAYVRV2BwND87Ph8OACi9KuXimIhaWHMVDQZQX9NIFGOBG9ZVxKZwz0fTYndyDblG3QFI3_OOn_UkGk_uJdGv-HTVXKcbxZKynKMfnO7svJ8iE/s1600/IMG_4126+%2528Large%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgmnzXnV2zATq-JFlwXVO8XVv89lwmWpAYVRV2BwND87Ph8OACi9KuXimIhaWHMVDQZQX9NIFGOBG9ZVxKZwz0fTYndyDblG3QFI3_OOn_UkGk_uJdGv-HTVXKcbxZKynKMfnO7svJ8iE/s320/IMG_4126+%2528Large%2529.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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In Guatemala, we celebrated our first Christmas program ever at the new mission. We were expecting 50-60 to show up. God sent 180 people (no social distancing there!). The looks on the kids faces, receiving their first ever SOS Christmas gift, were precious. They excitedly showed off the contents of their bags to anyone who would look.<br />
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Most importantly, it shows the hunger and need in this region. We are looking to build a worship center in hopes of using it for after school programs – with a soccer field and space to train and raise up future Guatemalan missionaries. Pray with me that God will provide the funds for this project to lift off the ground, and let me know if there’s any way you want to help.<br />
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<b>The God Who Plans Small Teams</b><br />
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Because our teams have been so small, it’s given us more opportunities to invite our Salvadorian brothers to come with us and have them share more of the work, and it’s been awesome to see them taking ownership and quite honestly – doing a far better job at the Christmas Programs than I ever could.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Salvadorian brothers in Honduras</td></tr>
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They really engage the kids – knowing the native language and the culture, and we were blessed to see one of the young men step up into leadership. He went from being shy to leading hundreds of kids in song and teaching them the word of God.<br />
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This is the second time in two trips that God raised up one of our Salvadorian youth to grow in his faith and to do the work of the ministry, and we already have some from Honduras who are wanting to step up into ministry as well.<br />
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Is this not what it means to make disciples? We are called not only to make converts, but to raise them up to follow Jesus wherever He goes, and that means ministering the gospel to these precious little ones. Despite the language and cultural differences, God has been making our multi-national teams one, just as Jesus prayed in <u>John 17</u>.<br />
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<b>The God Who Overcomes Death</b><br />
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I know these times are hard, but there are two things in this life we can count on.<br />
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<li>Death is certain unless Jesus comes back first</li>
<li>Jesus is coming back to reverse death</li>
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We know that these days we are living in the shadow of death, but we also know that Jesus walks with us, and those of us who have put our faith in Him will never see death, just as He promised (<u>John 8:51</u>).<br />
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But knowing that our time on this earth is short, how will we spend it? No matter what happens to us, we are walking in history here – people will write about this great and terrible event. Will we look back on this time knowing we followed our Lord and ministered to the needy (with all wisdom of course!) or will we look back and realize we wasted it sitting at home or hoarding what we thought was ours (<u>Psalm 100:3</u>).<br />
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Let us purse Him and ask how we can minister to others. Let us not embrace fear (<u>Isaiah 8:12</u>) but let us realize that the love of God never lets us down (<u>1 John 4:18</u>). If we are in Christ, death has no sting, no victory, because not even the power of death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (<u>Romans 8:38-39</u>).<br />
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Press on my brothers and sisters,<br />
- Paul<br />
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P.S. The Covid-19 social distancing measures and oil crisis are hitting our countries very hard. Many from Africa are telling me that people are getting desperate and that food is hard to find, but for a dollar a day, you can provide food for someone who may otherwise go hungry. You may even save their life. If you are interested in donating to our Covid-19 relief funds, please let me know. <br />
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Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-43896910856837404572019-11-24T19:25:00.000-08:002019-11-25T18:54:39.275-08:00The Greatest Need<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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To all my prayer partners who support me in the work, <br />
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Thanks so much for everything you do and all your encouragement. Keep pressing on in the work; keep praying for me and I invite you as always to come serve with us to see these things with your own eyes and to hear these stories with your own ears.<br />
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Our next trip to Central America will be on December 3<sup>rd</sup>. Please pray that God goes before us and continues to opens incredible doors for ministry there.<br />
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Having been on two trips with medical clinics this year, I can say I’m really encouraged by what I’ve seen. God does incredible things when we minister to people’s physical needs while also ministering to their spiritual needs.<br />
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In the places we visit, receiving quality medical care is either too expensive for people to afford, or it is simply unavailable. Many of us (myself included), groan when we have to visit the doctor, but imagine for just a moment that you are sick and didn’t know why. Your condition is getting worse and you have no hope of receiving any care – and how helpless you would feel. We do not know how blessed we are here in the States.<br />
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Seeing our blessings and the suffering of others should motivate us to go meet that need, especially knowing the Lord’s words: “I was sick, and you visited Me” (<u>Matt 25:36b</u>), and by God’s grace, we are doing that very thing.<br />
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Yet it is not enough to meet people in their physical needs, because humanity has a far deeper sickness – one of the heart (Jer. 17:9). Here in the States, we have access to nearly every luxury, but we are not happy, nor are we satisfied. Our heart is sick beyond cure and we all have a deep-seated need for a relationship with God – a relationship we cannot have because we love the darkness of sin rather than the holiness of God.<br />
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Enter Jesus – the great physician. He not only healed people’s physical brokenness, but he also died on the cross, rescuing us from sin and death, and providing us with a way to live forever. A doctor may be able to heal for a short time and extend life, but only Jesus can give us eternal life. (Do you believe this?)<br />
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Since we do believe this, we go in the steps of our Lord, healing the sick in His Name and preaching the good news of life in Christ.<br />
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<b>Africa – January 2019</b><br />
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Back in January, we brought a medical team to Africa, seeing hundreds of patients in several villages throughout the area where we serve. The crowd would arrive, and we would begin with a worship service, preaching the gospel, fielding questions from the curious, and praying over the village.<br />
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Then we set up the medical clinic, setting up a table where patients would get their vitals taken, wait for the doctor in the “waiting room” (sometimes under a tree), receive medical care and medicine, and visit what we dubbed as “the prayer chair” – where people could come and ask for prayer.<br />
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Of course, the prayer chair is voluntary, but I didn’t notice a single person avoid it. In fact, excited villagers made it a point to guide anyone who seemed unaware over to the chair.<br />
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In one village, we didn’t have enough people to translate for both the prayer chair and the clinic. Then a girl from the city who just so happened to be visiting the village volunteered to help us translate. When we were done praying for everyone, she took her seat in the chair, expectantly, “Ok, my turn; I need some prayer.”<br />
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We were overwhelmed by the response: even in the village where the villagers have rejected the truth and made it difficult for believers to come to church, the chief and his brother came to us both for medical care and prayer. Oh how powerful it is to love your enemies and to do good to them, and the example our Lord set for us in this when He died for His enemies (that’s us).<br />
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<b>A note on the prosperity gospel</b><br />
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In one village we held a worship service before the clinic that many excited people attended, then opened it up for a Q&A with the people. One man stood up and asked, “What do I do if I want to go to church but don’t have enough money to put in the offering plate?”<br />
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Another woman asked the same thing. What would you tell them? <br />
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We were stunned, but quickly responded – the gift of God is free. God doesn’t require us to give what we do not have, and when Jesus came for us, He bought us with His precious blood and we freely receive His gift.<br />
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So what happens if you don’t have enough money? You come anyway. It’s not about the money – it never was. God desires us to give out of joy, not obligation. Should we give? Absolutely. How could we not give back out of gratitude for what He has done for us. But if we cannot, there is no reason a person should feel any less welcome.<br />
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This is the result of the prosperity gospel and some who preach not for the love of the Lord and not in obedience to His command to make disciples, but out of a desire to make profits. Having traveled the world, I've seen this message preached where men use piety as a means of making money (1 Timothy 6:5b).<br />
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Whenever I am asked about a church, I always advise people to flee any pastor who says that the gift of God can be bought with “seed money” or that you can buy His blessing. It’s a gift (<u>Romans 6:23b</u>), and any pastor who has freely received this gift should freely give it (<u>Matthew 10:8</u>).<br />
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As for those who asked the questions, <b>they were overjoyed</b> when they heard that they could freely attend church and freely enjoy the blessings of God, because although Jesus Christ was rich, He became poor for our sakes.<br />
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<b>Guatemala and Honduras – July 2019</b><br />
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I had been hoping to get a medical trip together for some time now, and a friend of mine told me that there were some people who might be willing to put together a medical mission for this summer.<br />
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With a brand new church plant in Guatemala starting, I knew this would be a great opportunity to minister to the community there.<br />
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God opened every door and the team formed in a few short weeks; it’s good to know that He is still creating things out of nothing. Even in El Salvador the few days before we left, God opened the doors for 5 more Salvadorians to join us for the work.<br />
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We arrived in Guatemala without incident and put the team up in hammocks around the family garden. It was incredible to be there, because we hadn’t even thought we could find accommodations so quickly for the team, and also because the sisters who live there hadn’t been on speaking terms before Jesus saved them both a few months prior.<br />
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There was an excitement in the air that night as we ate together with “glad and sincere hearts”. The next day, we came expecting a clinic that ended at lunch, then quickly realized that our local leaders hadn’t communicated an ending time. How often does the plan change?<br />
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We settled in for an amazing nine hours of seeing patients, praying for people, giving medicine, and sharing the gospel with those who wanted to talk. All the while, God renewed our strength to continue the work. All told we saw about 180 patients, which for a one-day clinic is a LOT of patients.<br />
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People kept coming throughout the day, and our waiting room seemed filled with an endless stream of people. Some had walked miles to come, and it was touching to see the compassionate care our doctors gave to them, and how the team from El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, and the United States came together to care for the community (<u>John 17:20-21</u>).<br />
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One patient hadn’t been able to eat for 24 days; he came looking pale and frail. Our doctor gravely said, “Unless something changes, he’s not long for this world.” He gave him a pill for his pain and told him to come back later on for further care.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rugged Honduran countryside</td></tr>
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The man returned with a smile, his color once again healthy. He announced that he’d eaten and kept down a big meal for the first time in weeks, telling our doctor, “That pill you gave me worked!”<br />
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Amazed, the doctor said, “I didn’t give you a pill for that… just to take an edge off the pain. God healed you.” <br />
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The man left, glorifying God for his healing, and even as some of our team members talked to the man, God moved in the hearts of two team members to go speak his son. Even though he’d grown up in a Christian home, he had no hope for eternity, so our Honduran brother shared the gospel with him, and he made a profession of faith. <br />
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On the same day God spared the man and His son. That’s good news indeed, and this young man wasn’t the only one. Several made confessions of faith during conversations as our doctors worked to show the physical compassion of Christ.<br />
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Early on there was a concern that we wouldn’t be able to do enough to help, but since we left, people in the community have been telling our leaders how wonderful the clinic was. God is good.<br />
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We repeated the same thing in Honduras, and God miraculously healed seven people throughout the course of the trip. I’ve never experienced anything like that. I know Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), but I’d just never seen Him move like that.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Praying over believers about to get baptized</td></tr>
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But the medicine or the healings won’t have the greatest effect, and they don’t fill our greatest need. All of us will one day die, no matter how good our health, and all of us will stand before the judgment seat and give an account.<br />
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Our greatest need isn’t health – it’s the gospel. The truth that we can have peace with God through Jesus Christ. The truth that even though we are all great sinners, He set us free from our bondage to sin and the wrath of God freely by giving His life on the cross.<br />
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To love people is a great thing, but there is no greater love than the One who laid down His life for His friends, and He fills our greatest need with Himself. <br />
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So I ask you dear reader, do you know Him?<br />
Grace and peace to all in Christ,<br />
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- Paul, the least of His servants<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credits Mateo Cepeda. Thanks for all the hard work, brother!</span></i></div>
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Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-13729827777028428462018-10-20T18:44:00.000-07:002018-10-23T16:01:53.924-07:00Africa to Central America–October 2018<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cUKCuaoSA4Q/W8vZnngGD9I/AAAAAAAC5Fc/QLqJBXDbrV4U1T8s7ItW5A91btFL4_5dQCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_3112%255B7%255D"><img width="554" height="416" title="IMG_3112" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="IMG_3112" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xyYZUCqDCrs/W8vZpknvH4I/AAAAAAAC5Fg/CpgkUGI4vB880oZhLgLNrQtcQ3ssjipcgCHMYCw/IMG_3112_thumb%255B5%255D?imgmax=800" border="0"></a><p>As I’m going back over all the places the Lord has led me over the past 3 months, I’m somewhat overwhelmed. The Lord is working some awesome things throughout the globe, and it’s my privilege to participate in them, knowing that at the end of my life, when I stand before my Maker, I will say that I was only an unworthy servant who had done His duty.<p>So from conferences in Africa to translators and filters in Central America… here we go…<p><b>Training the Called – African Adventures</b><p>It <a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DLe6Y5qjCYA/W8vZrRIQQNI/AAAAAAAC5Fk/zZb3gDJxF5kPx1LiCqTHQK5g4udGkJONACHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_3145%255B6%255D"><img width="348" height="262" title="IMG_3145" align="left" style="margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; float: left; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="IMG_3145" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cpXaDUNRsYc/W8vZtT0HiwI/AAAAAAAC5Fo/nunwZiMyT9wmQiRJOxJjJy19Cyc4ozQywCHMYCw/IMG_3145_thumb%255B4%255D?imgmax=800" border="0"></a>had nearly been a year since my last trip to Africa, so imagine my excitement to have my feet back on the hard, red clay that covers seemingly every square inch of the land. We traveled immediately from the airport, arriving at the new SOS ministry headquarters, located right outside of one of the first villages I ever visited. Having stayed at many places here, I have to say, this is the nicest – no loud club music playing until 3:00 AM, no intense birthday parties going on around us, and no mosquito infested swamp to keep us slapping ourselves into late in the night.<p>In Africa, one of the biggest enemies of the gospel are so-called African churches where the pastors are only eager for selfish gain and teach that godliness is a means of making money. Many of these pastors live in luxury while their congregants give of their meager funds to keep the pastor in his lofty position.<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Oddikkudc24/W8vZvVgthhI/AAAAAAAC5Fs/RAtKC2vVLNoF4ORbTzAATLTR7In5pqC4wCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_3160%255B3%255D"><img width="298" height="224" title="IMG_3160" align="right" style="float: right; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="IMG_3160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaAKP89OzJLAZ4HiWIwRd82WDXDuvnoY1h7kt4i-VvY0UgtdLbfCXzbcGk1PiL3MRu6TVsDQRLczwWE82uGyzyhykVyPSzbIoCPdbXT6iJHLO-3v16UrkJLpI9dJoZy0QB8mS2tvxxcTxc/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a>Jesus taught that leaders in the church should be servants, not the high and lofty “pastors” who demand money from their people. This false gospel has taken over the churches and solid pastors have no formal training to combat the deception. Our pastors are excited about the gospel and diligent in their work, but no one has ever taken the time to train them.<p>This past May, we brought a small team from the States to teach a pastors’ conference, and the response was incredible. The attendees were encouraged, and we spent one night worshiping until long after midnight. It was awesome getting to be reunited with our Nigerian brothers and having the privilege to preach the gospel to men who had never heard it before. God is growing the ministry faster than we can raise up workers and funds, so pray that God will raise up the right people for the job.<p><b><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8NATBxMAWRA/W8-U3RDk6hI/AAAAAAAC5JM/fqKXJOBKjpsr7ppyabKz6ldumdasN5XtgCHMYCw/s1600-h/20180603_162111%255B5%255D"><img width="558" height="421" title="20180603_162111" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="20180603_162111" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_kuYnMqwmVM/W8-U5E9RGPI/AAAAAAAC5JQ/PN8tJK25WTgx3WXc71ebWo2d8qnpmHaYwCHMYCw/20180603_162111_thumb%255B3%255D?imgmax=800" border="0"></a>“I’m Listening”</b><b></b><p>The day after the conference ended, we visited a village where we had never been – a village whose chief greeted us stoically – a village with no way out except the way we’d come if things went weird. We greeted the people warmly and especially the chief. After exchanging pleasantries, Mike explained that we were there on behalf of the God who had created all things with a message for him. He responded through our translator: “I’m listening.”<p>Mike then proceeded to explain the creation and fall of man, his need for salvation, and the hope of Jesus Christ which is for all people. When he finished, one of the pastors asked for permission to speak and the chief said again, “I’m still listening.”<p>At the end <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1o1vsZInCjuT5goFXazKvkbVbhiOHO14cAG0_VvSMgQp6ghOSV4UNsdaplrfm04blgCExK7tcr31m2XaBSYIExxEvHnexT4VN0UNWwMKwHSZ1VNTKUaJ8kn6Do7lMAD7sXA1mWidVjs_D/s1600-h/IMG_3119%255B2%255D"><img width="184" height="244" title="IMG_3119" align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; float: right; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="IMG_3119" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EnzFGrED4RA/W8vZz5sYA_I/AAAAAAAC5F4/gbJhoh-Iioku2EVUraiy40pg7ookS1RwACHMYCw/IMG_3119_thumb?imgmax=800" border="0"></a>of our dialogue with the chief, with all the villagers watching, he gathered everyone close so we could pray for them, and the door seems wide open for the gospel to come into their village. Please pray that when we return that the chief will still be listening – for the salvation of him and his people!<p>Please also pray that God provides the funds for more water wells for the multitude of villages we love, because the need for clean drinking water is incredible.<p><b>El Salvador & Honduras Unfiltered</b><p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qfWs7f0zw2g/W8vZ10HupUI/AAAAAAAC5F8/dsZIRsm9YesSTpITMp6aCK-JYbXSNiubACHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_3791%255B10%255D"><img width="258" height="195" title="IMG_3791" align="left" style="margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; float: left; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="IMG_3791" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bi8q9c-5ccs/W8vZ3cckYnI/AAAAAAAC5GA/iYaqMjZ2nWsz4YW3vCW-G91WtGtowa4AACHMYCw/IMG_3791_thumb%255B6%255D?imgmax=800" border="0"></a>Speaking of clean drinking water, a month after leaving Africa, I found myself getting off a plane in El Salvador with two suitcases stocked with water filters. One of the biggest needs in developing countries without infrastructure is for clean drinking water, and a Christian businessman graciously donated 1,000 reusable water filters for us to give away free of charge – filters that could last these families for years. This meant that we had some awesome opportunities <a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CYGTVwlPWaI/W8vZ42qm6gI/AAAAAAAC5GE/5WNa2WE54ach8Az1iON14iXo-Wp2ZFJ9gCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_5209%255B11%255D"><img width="258" height="194" title="IMG_5209" align="right" style="margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; float: right; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="IMG_5209" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kULS-yoULGE/W8vZ6fC-DqI/AAAAAAAC5GI/3nkx_1iTkEg4qK8DJj-CdtGg2UtTHOiugCHMYCw/IMG_5209_thumb%255B4%255D?imgmax=800" border="0"></a>to visit people in their homes and deliver a potentially life-saving water filter that will serve them for years. One man who tried water from his new filter took one drink and declared, “Wow that is very good!”</p><p>But even more importantly, we were able to deliver the living water of Jesus Christ to thirsty souls.<p align="center"><br>“Come, everyone who thirsts,<br>come to the waters;<br>and he who has no money,<br>come, buy and eat!<br>Come, buy wine and milk<br>without money and without price.<br>Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,<br>and your labor for that which does not satisfy?<br>Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,<br>and delight yourselves in rich food.<br>Incline your ear, and come to me;<br>hear, that your soul may live;</p><p align="center"><b>Isaiah 55:1-3</b><p align="left"><b><b><b>Found in Translation</b></b></b><p>Last March, we lost a translator on the way to Honduras. This time when the bus pulled up, we had no translator. I greeted the bus driver and noticed a young girl sitting in the car so I talked with her for a moment in Spanish and suddenly something dawned on me, “you speak English… don’t you?”<p>“Yes I do!” she said, and started cheerfully telling me how she’d learned it from American movies and music – and that she’d never taken English as a course. She came with her dad to drop us off in Honduras, but ended up getting so excited over what we were doing and the idea of staying with the team that she asked if she could stay. Naturally, like a good team leader I contained my excitement and said calmly, “Yes I think we can do that.”<p>On the inside, it was more like, “Yesssssss!!!!!”<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yR9uK4snLZw/W8vZ85AbhiI/AAAAAAAC5GM/VE-hlDDVJZMmDyZmhhO-lusI0KFazInQgCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_3740%255B6%255D"><img width="300" height="226" title="IMG_3740" align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; float: right; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="IMG_3740" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qqStiB5syAE/W8vZ-Y32GWI/AAAAAAAC5GQ/naRrj1ZOUHYxtB69zBaMfjfFjYmAUxTNQCHMYCw/IMG_3740_thumb%255B3%255D?imgmax=800" border="0"></a>The next day, we were ministering at a remote school in the mountains and came to the point in the program where we presented the gospel and suddenly I found myself unable to translate for Joey Rasico, the young man who was speaking. I pointed to Alejandra, asking if she could step up and translate. “Paul I can’t do that!” she said.<p>I shrugged, “I’ll be right up here with you” and she came up out of the crowd (to my relief). <p>She seemed unsure at first, but I backed away slowly as she began to translate the gospel with amazing clarity with all the kids paying careful attention to every word. (Hats off to Joey for sharing the gospel in an amazing way!)<p>The next day, Alejandra was translating the gospel at another school when suddenly the lightbulb went on. She later told us that day, July 12th, was the first day she’d truly understood that Jesus had indeed paid for her sin. How awesome is it that last March, the Lord gave me the ability to translate the whole trip, but with this trip, He took it away at just the right moment so that Alejandra would hear and understand and be saved?<p>God’s word is amazingly powerful, and Alejandra was just one of the several who came to faith this past month – among many other amazing things, even a miraculous healing.<p>But we do not go for the miraculous healings, nor the salvation testimonies – though both are wonderful. We go because our Lord has called us, and it is better to be with Him doing His work than anything else.<p>Thank you all so much for your continued prayers. If you are looking to get involved in the ministry in any way, please let me know! And know that God can use you.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-53401184157007734382018-06-05T18:50:00.000-07:002018-10-20T18:43:40.382-07:00March Madness–Surprises and Help for the Helpless<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlR7S8Kp12VdMqMbnGljwMoiQtuduXSs7F0yemoXutg2aKm7zNjaUcB6FrzJBeUCmCe0tQoEvO9osZS1B1o4aK7BrrwaOuO8-Barsdbh4HN7TTgtS-ajEA8LA1tVp_bq251eAeOdO8aYZs/s1600-h/IMG_2660%255B3%255D"><img width="553" height="416" title="IMG_2660" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="IMG_2660" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMDEL1SJUpIyJ2HU60MlNiFHE1CCIgUvkPuG9ftMOpc8K-BjLFw2gxyFVx3W_5CQ_K-4NlkfgGbkYgdzGZYla7HWvAectoaWxH2nyPH04gFAFwsaNI1BAvJXpAOPs4xYbI0pkOdtQZQjR-/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a></p><p>Every March, S.O.S. Ministries sends down a team to Central America to minister and to run some women’s conferences in the various locations, and it’s an amazing trip. For the men who ask about such trips, I always encourage them that it’s not a ladies trip but that the conferences are a backdrop that often involves some amazing meetings with their husbands who wouldn’t normally set foot on the property. (It’s amazing what serving a family and serving food will do…)</p><p>Even with that being the case, this trip was unique…</p><h4>Lost in Translator</h4><p>We were on our way to Hondruas and picked up a new translator, Francisco, who turned his life over to Jesus a few months ago after living a disordered life of drinking and drugs. Last December he seemed to be going through the motions, but this time, he seemed genuinely excited to go.</p><p>As a primary translator for the team, I was doubly excited, because it meant I wouldn’t have to carry the main burden of translating for the team, which would free me up to do other things… like breathe.</p><p>When we got to the border, Francisco took a long time to come back from the office, and when he finally returned, he told us that there was a crime committed in his name that he’d have to clear up, which meant he couldn’t come with us.</p><p>He was upset, saying, “I’ve come to serve the Lord and now this happens?”</p><p>Anyone who’s been in the same situation knows what it’s like to have a closed door – it’s frustrating, and I was bemused and slightly frustrated that after telling everyone how happy I was not to be a team translator, I’d just gotten another promotion. A friend of mine reminded me of God’s faithfulness and the feeling quickly passed. Yes, He can and does use even my Spanish, and He also even used being turned back at the border to grow Francisco in his faith.</p><p>The team gathered around him and prayed, assuring him that God had some kind of purpose for this, and that he would be joining us on the ministry soon enough…</p><h4><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-URNurccl08M/Wxc92FqXWMI/AAAAAAACmxM/LTQCm_wNBHAp8c9LHLSphegDVLtlqXWVACHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_2678%255B4%255D"><img width="552" height="415" title="IMG_2678" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="IMG_2678" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUU0EWxWawSKtWOoH2WrNwLzHWgIER1W5-hdeucakd0uLWPh83M0BA-siKO-JbrYqpr1l721JLSA95gAQfaX8pb5yw4132FKIlG1peugY8N7boJTOx8QjZE7M_uZGwi_jJu5MJx3YrSeOb/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a></h4><h4>Children’s Ministry and the Main Thing</h4><p>“<em>For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven… so shall My word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.</em>” – from <u>Isaiah 55</u></p><p>In Honduras, we usually have a ministry team that takes care of the children while the women’s conference continues, which allows the women to relax and hear the word of God without distractions. This time, our ministry team was four men, and most of the children were pretty young. Our team did an admirable job of keeping them entertained but we were getting worn out and the kids were in danger of getting bored. We went to put on a movie when we felt we couldn’t do any more, but the projector wasn’t bright and the sound wasn’t working.</p><p>One of the team members told me he’d done kids ministry in the past and could give a lesson, but I was doubtful that we could keep their attention. Still, we gave it a shot, and the moment we began teaching them the word of God (the parable of the unmerciful servant), they became completely still and even asked some really good questions. We shared the gospel about how Jesus had completely forgiven us of our sins and that we should share that same forgiveness with others and several of the kids locked eyes with us the whole time.</p><p>This happened two days in a row and I realized, sheepishly, that the real purpose for the children’s programs should not be to distract the kids while their mothers hear the gospel; it is another venue to share the gospel. God worked through us the moment we were obedient to that calling and befuddled all our attempts to entertain outside that main thing – preaching the word to the least of these.</p><p>Hats off to the team… that was quite the adventure.</p><h4>Someone to help us</h4><p>You may remember this, but back last December, some of the young men from Honduras told us that their parents did not care for their spiritual growth and that no one would teach them the scriptures.</p><p>This trip, we played a game of soccer with them that went on for quite awhile and we invited the young men to join us for a Bible study. For a moment I thought that everyone left – something that does happen sometimes in the ministry – but two of the young men stayed behind.</p><p>One of the young men on the team and I went through parts of <u>Matthew 5</u> with them – that murder and adultery are not only sins of action but sins of the heart. When we told them that even looking at a woman with lustful intent was the same in God’s eyes as committing the act itself, their eyes grew big. “No one can do this,” they confessed. We finished with Jesus saying that you must be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect and about how He had provided a way by living the perfect life for us. We gave them notebooks and a Bible and they told us that when we returned, the notebook would be full of questions. It was an awesome answer to prayer, and we’re hoping to continue that ministry in July.</p><p>Just so you know how difficult it will be for these young men, their cousin had been coming to the church, but according to our church leaders, his parents told him that if he continued to attend, he would be thrown out of the house. Pray for them – the road to salvation will not be an easy one.</p><p><strong>Joining Together</strong></p><p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MCUhwoOyfL8/Wxc95GA86RI/AAAAAAACmxU/DEWGYkS3fBctPEzZXVPZvRbO9bynjlm2QCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_2711%255B3%255D"><img width="237" height="315" title="IMG_2711" align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; float: right; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="IMG_2711" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3zSipZOZc3o/Wxc96o81YnI/AAAAAAACmxY/fETEKBylzmEItkWuwNZGYStgNzTIavF7QCHMYCw/IMG_2711_thumb%255B1%255D?imgmax=800" border="0"></a>Because we had a smaller team this time, we brought the entire group of Hondurans (the cooks and leaders and their families) to eat with us in Copan, and the next morning, we invited everyone, even the cooks, to join us for breakfast. Laughter and amazing conversation followed – even across language boundaries. How good and pleasing is it for brothers to dwell in unity!</p><p>At first the younger Honduran girls balked at the idea, thinking it wasn’t permitted to eat with the Americans – wow. No wonder they seemed a bit stand-offish. No one had ever told them this, but they assumed it was the case, and I’m glad the team corrected this.</p><p>How beautiful is team unity? When we got ready to depart, several of the Hondurans told us that their favorite part of the team being there was the times we ate together as a group. Is this not what Jesus prayed for in John 17 that all believers would be one even as He and the Father were one? I’m excited to see what the next trip brings.</p><p><strong>Surprise</strong></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitHluc54l_Pz8GlpZ8GDSN5G4hKsOwCTQDDU03K09dDeMzqm0gQeYvRoyxLfBoYqySmF_ARl9Zg5ZyszaLd7PJXr1_406yej8D8tKY6j_-9jS989RR7PjoV8uhSbva0f_fnmuknZBGY3aq/s1600-h/IMG_2785%255B4%255D"><img width="205" height="273" title="IMG_2785" align="right" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; float: right; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="IMG_2785" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLZ1OUxqorF9QjcKWmPWEgMl9n0dvBxwTM8KYJ9KqRyHmzI5u_sADVaUVuTjtCY0YjT4Wk5lkReExFRZGbZ3gQLPHEDGuCfsKftbBzxj7zuIln41i3SrXSMYtC-pZIG1Ik4VWfVbfkU8WT/?imgmax=800" border="0"></a>When we returned, we were looking forward to a baptism for our new translator (Francisco) and his familiy. But the day of, we found out that he and his girlfriend of ten years were living together but not married, even having kids together.</p><p>Baptism into Christ is a baptism of repentance – turning from your old sins, so what would you do? I’ll tell you what would have been the easy thing, to turn a blind eye to the whole thing and just baptise them and hope they made it right.</p><p>But that’s not the way of the Lord. He desires His people to be holy and pure, so we confronted them in this, and it was… really… awkard at first. But the Lord began to work in their hearts and they went from being taken aback to getting excited about obeying the Lord.</p><p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FRvqH_YeDig/Wxc9-qaUEkI/AAAAAAACmxk/gEguTJYNHfMh4TbnxIKk28nvfySygTNEACHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_2774%255B4%255D"><img width="195" height="259" title="IMG_2774" align="left" style="margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; float: left; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="IMG_2774" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sq9ZrNvRbzE/Wxc9_qzknAI/AAAAAAACmxo/oA858rg8iMQW5sh7NDaspSwvRnYSmUFjwCHMYCw/IMG_2774_thumb%255B2%255D?imgmax=800" border="0"></a>He agreed to move out and to stay with the team at La Esperanza for the sake of obeying God’s call to purity in their lives. Just to show how excited they were to get married, he woke up at 4 AM the next morning to go pick up his future wife and get the process started, and later that day, they brought their entire family out to minister alongside us.</p><p>Now normally, the process of getting the paperwork and everything lined up for a marriage takes a week, but they were so excited that they got the process done and we celebrated the wedding just two nights after we had confronted them. Praise the Lord when His children obey Him. Pray for our brother Francisco and his wife, that they would pursue the Lord with all their hearts, and that their marriage would be blessed. Lord willing, we will be baptizing them in July.</p><p><strong>The team that “gets it”</strong></p><p>I needed to spend some time abiding in the Lord the last day of the trip, because things had been so chaotic and quite frankly, I had not prioritized my time with Him. The team had things under control with the last womens’ conference, so I decided I needed to go. On the way to the room, I saw the soldiers and some of the men outside and had a strong urge to evangelize them. Yet it was almost as though the Lord were urging me to spend time with Him instead – that He was able to do His work (John 15:5).</p><p>When I came back, all of the men from the team were sharing the gospel with the men on the property and the soldiers – one of them even using google translate to communicate the message. Some of the girls had befriended a local doctor and were making sure that the doctor and her sister left with Bibles.</p><p>It was incredible. The team just “got it”, and many people not only heard the gospel, they heard it compassionately from members of the team. God is good – it never ceases to amaze me what He is able to do when His people come together to serve Him. The same invitation I give to people in person I’ll give to you, come join us this summer. I would love to serve with you.</p><p><strong>School funding</strong></p><p>As one last thing, there are many in El Salvador who are seeking to get a higher education but who are unable to attend. One of them is a fine young man named Roberto who is constatly serving at the church and seeking to grow in the Lord. He’s brilliant – top of his class – but because his father abandoned him, he has no way of going ahead to the university and may not even be able to finish high school.</p><p>Please pray for those who are looking to further their education, and if you are interested in donating to the education fund for El Salvador, please contact me or go to <a href="http://www.soshope.org/donate">www.soshope.org/donate</a> and be sure that whatever you give is earmarked “El Salvador Education”. We will make sure that 100% of the funds go to that purpose, knowing that whatever we have done for the least of these, we have done for Jesus Himself. (<u>Matthew 25</u>)</p><p>In His strength,<br>the least of God’s servants,<br>- Paul</p>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-32660719881320783732018-03-31T18:03:00.002-07:002018-10-20T18:43:40.322-07:00Christmas Joy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--r6FrTZ-JKs/Wr-psQ8E5rI/AAAAAAACivs/p9zrQPvFI8MyxNRWKczvULHGQd8umKxoQCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_2139_thumb1%255B10%255D"><img alt="IMG_2139_thumb1" border="0" height="428" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FCXFwedyvTo/Wr-ptxY8oEI/AAAAAAACivw/2G1hmShf7r0K2I9oKkUyCnFCWsPixPy-QCHMYCw/IMG_2139_thumb1_thumb%255B5%255D?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px currentcolor; display: inline;" title="IMG_2139_thumb1" width="567" /></a><br />
<b>Ministry in Central America</b><br />
Our Honduras team was the smallest it’s been for 7 years, but that didn’t mean it felt like that. Every member of the team contributed in an awesome way, making sure that the hundreds of children we ministered to in many different areas not only received Christmas gifts but also the good news of the Savior of the world, brought into humble circumstances 2,000 years ago.
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Everywhere we went, we preached the gospel, and people were listening, even going out of their way in some cases to be sure they could overhear the conversation. Here are a few stories from the trip:
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<b>Dealing gently with others</b><br />
One of the houses we visited was home to a family that is staunchly opposed to the gospel. A 17-year-old from El Salvador boldly engaged the man of the house while we spoke with a woman we’ve spoken with before. At one point in the conversation, she asked, exasperated and in an accusing tone, “How do YOU know you’re going to heaven?” to a young woman in the group.
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How should we respond to people when they act like this?
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The young woman answered her gently, and all of us were very gracious to her and she settled back and listened to the gospel, then went out of her way to introduce the rest of her family, even putting a smile on her face.
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When we share the gospel and others oppose us, we must remember that it was in kindness that our Savior rescued us, and we should show that same mercy to others.
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<b>No one to help us</b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipVu1JDnDCsb9z9RJEK0Tc7cPw3pvn-pUgLBC46X-Y7VMz0Op_RG0qMIeYhYfgvyMpvOpqeRGKGBTt3iLPiFjfdaof-KwH4wMtvRYzm6CaNf17giLfNIAVHv5QVtOuLxa5SuJfCa0skpsp/s1600-h/IMG_2178_thumb111"><img align="right" alt="IMG_2178_thumb1" border="0" height="378" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HkiNVdM2Bxs/WsACqDCZWRI/AAAAAAACiyE/CBfnnIXh3Rs0wm2YGe2QeY2fQ25j969GACHMYCw/IMG_2178_thumb1_thumb6?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px currentcolor; display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" title="IMG_2178_thumb1" width="285" /></a>One of the last nights of the Honduras trip, we invited several of the local youths to an impromptu soccer match, which turned into a miniature tournament. One of the young men on the team volunteered to preach the gospel before we presented the prizes (prizes we put together on a whim because we didn’t know it was supposed to be a tournament), and many of the young men gave their full attention as we shared the gospel, even hushing those who weren’t paying attention.
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In a conversation later on, one of the young men told us that there was no one to preach the word of God to them and no one to teach them right from wrong, and their parents didn’t take them to church or teach them the Bible because they only cared about whether they were living an outwardly quiet life.
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There is a great need in Hacienda Grande for someone to teach the youth the scriptures. Please pray that God touches someone’s heart to do this.
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<b>Pastors’ Conference</b><br />
While we were serving in Honduras, our local elders traveled to El Salvador to a pastors’ conference (thank you Lakeside Community Chapel!) and on their return, each of them spoke about what an incredible blessing it had been for them to learn how to preach the scriptures more effectively. The men are hoping to return to the conference in July. Please keep praying for these courageous men.
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An incredible note about these men is that one of them was not even literate before he became an elder, and he learned to read for the sole purpose of studying the scripture. These men are unequipped by the standards of the world, but as Paul wrote, “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29).<br />
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If you should find yourself feeling discouraged and useless, remember this – God uses the foolish and weak things of the world to shame the strong (1 Cor 1:27-29). The race doesn’t belong to us – He does the work and He works in us.
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<b><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GQ3GKC-syvk/Wr-pvJP1gWI/AAAAAAACiv0/mXovtaMdtfcZcwk3JOKdJqj-sTFnm68kwCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_2134_thumb2%255B10%255D"><img alt="IMG_2134_thumb2" border="0" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-X7LzP3mshcM/Wr-pwfxS5yI/AAAAAAACiv4/g5c-bkYGD5QEroVYnMlsm2dO8weQiTdLACHMYCw/IMG_2134_thumb2_thumb%255B5%255D?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px currentcolor; display: inline;" title="IMG_2134_thumb2" width="568" /></a></b><br />
<b>New Frontier</b><br />
In El Salvador, we have been visiting some of the same villages since the first year I came (2005), and it’s a huge privilege to see the Lord work in those places through our continual visits. But every year we also visit a new location with a special need recommended by one of our local contacts. This time, we found ourselves in the beautiful village of San Jose that sits on a hilltop opposite the local volcano (no worries folks, it’s probably extinct).
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1hjffIcIwEY/Wr-pWgcRUhI/AAAAAAACivc/v9kH1-8TtHwwRw6EGXuhXevGitPB3pFfwCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_2131_thumb%255B7%255D"><img align="right" alt="IMG_2131_thumb" border="0" height="228" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ypVK95FOUhc/Wr-pX6WmXaI/AAAAAAACivg/mDZFmbtzLQ8ll7ZZvDkQq8W_dG78gRoGwCHMYCw/IMG_2131_thumb_thumb%255B2%255D?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px currentcolor; display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" title="IMG_2131_thumb" width="302" /></a>The people were extremely welcoming, and the program went off fairly well. Afterwards, my friend Casey and I went over to speak to some of the men of the village. Now usually the men won’t engage us in deep conversation, but Casey was very vulnerable with them, sharing his testimony and how the Lord had rescued him from the folly of his youth, and for some reason, the story resonated with the men. They told us at first that they believed that everyone was going to heaven, but that some of them had had struggles.
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We dialogued on man’s brokenness and his inability to please a holy God – how every one of our good deeds is defiled and how only the sacrifice of Jesus can cover over the filth of our sin. By the end of the conversation, one of the men said, “We are trapped in the mire, and unless we grab God’s outstretched hand, there is no hope for us.”
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7WJNUFDlj_Y/Wr-pY0oLOLI/AAAAAAACivk/j88cfSfUDvEsdi2HNyAvAdAxh4KUh9-PgCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_2133_thumb%255B8%255D"><img align="left" alt="IMG_2133_thumb" border="0" height="211" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tnI7-l_gl74/Wr-pae5bqXI/AAAAAAACivo/aL-fIn7Uy9EU3pQxQRld9ZyzvdG82bCdgCHMYCw/IMG_2133_thumb_thumb%255B3%255D?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px currentcolor; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;" title="IMG_2133_thumb" width="279" /></a>The men thanked us repeatedly for coming to their village and for sharing the word of God with them, and we were amazed by their openness, especially considering that both of us were younger than most of them. When God opens a door for ministry, none can shut it.
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Afterward, the medical worker briefed us on the sad conditions of the people in the village – teenage pregnancy, malnutrition, and family issues, and I felt a strange tug on my heart.
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<i>Could God be calling us to plant a church here?</i><br />
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Please pray for San Jose.
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<b>Personal</b><br />
It amazes me that God can or would use me. I remember at one time thinking that I was invaluable to the kingdom, but now He is showing me more and more just how little I have to offer in my own strength. He really does use the foolish and weak things of the world to shame the strong. I’ve been in awe of how He uses even the smallest grain of faith to move mountains, and I’m looking forward (hopefully) to sending a part two with an update from our latest trips.
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<b>Redeeming Communities Update – A Seed Finally Sprouts</b><br />
I just got off the phone with a friend of ours from Rainbow Village (the neighborhood in our area where we’re ministering) and a young man from there just told me how much he needed the Lord and to stop doing things in his own strength. He attended church last Sunday along with his family and he’s planning on attending more. He had a court date March 19<sup>th</sup> so please pray for him.
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We preached the gospel to him almost two years ago and he’s continually rejected it, so may this finally be the wake up call that brings him from darkness to light. <br />
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<strong><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aH2hA4e_Vyc/WsACrP4_NUI/AAAAAAACiyI/DNuW5TYjfQAjh2Qoth3csHUiGDqntUwNACHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_05932"><img align="right" alt="IMG_0593" border="0" height="244" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kTkLAsnp_lg/WsACsBWjyEI/AAAAAAACiyM/wI9XEX-k4AYhmLOg8_kogVYdTMnMT0u2QCHMYCw/IMG_0593_thumb?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px;" title="IMG_0593" width="164" /></a>Water for Life</strong><br />
Our regional director for Africa just gave us an urgent plea for us to support a new water well in a village that has no good source for water. Please pray for the Lord to provide, as it will affect an entire village and be a positive testimony of the gospel in a village that has an incredible thirst both physically and spiritually.<br />
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<b>Prayer Requests</b><br />
Thank you so much for your continued prayer and support. God is working more than I can say in a short letter and I ask for your continued prayers.
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Pray that God will glorify His name in the ministry, that He will sanctify me and give me wisdom to know Him better and to reach the lost, and that He would cause the word of God to be honored and to grow rapidly wherever we go.<br />
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With much love, the least of the followers of Jesus Christ,
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- Paul <br />
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Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-90733256440945975652016-05-30T19:19:00.001-07:002016-06-01T09:47:14.612-07:00Is Anger Your Treasure?<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MKKnyRz7RjA/V0z2H0QUj6I/AAAAAAACN-E/zyYS-cPsQKwSuVXVCflsdCDKjEyNAs5DgCHM/s1600-h/IMG_9746%255B1%255D"><img title="IMG_9746" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9746" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q04M1KNTrs8/V0z2Jtpb96I/AAAAAAACN-I/3ZwQ5fdk9Dkr34dJEKowbxusBM4JJWqbwCHM/IMG_9746_thumb%255B1%255D?imgmax=800" width="559" height="375"></a></p> <p>It feels good to be angry. </p> <p>It’s a rush of energy: the confidence that you are right, letting someone know your displeasure, and the momentary satisfaction that revenge provides. <p>It feels good, but we don’t stop to think about the cost. What we think in private and the way we look at the world when no one is watching affects the core of our being. <p>I remember holding a grudge for years. It felt good to unleash on the person in my mind in battles I always won, and it felt good to shun them in public for what they had done to me, but it was affecting me to the core. My curses affected me more than it did them – my anger led me to a great dissatisfaction with life and opened the door for more and more sin. <p>Jesus said that the eye is the lamp of the body, and if your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body is full of darkness. (<u>Matthew 6:22-23</u>). <p>In this context, if all you view is revenge and anger, and you’re the person who wants to give people what they deserve, it will cause your whole life to be full of darkness and in the end it will kill you. Jesus was betrayed by such a man – he was full of secret cursing and bitterness, and it ended up costing him his soul. <u>Psalm 109</u> speaks of him in this way: <p align="center"><i>He loved to curse; let curses come upon him!<br>He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him!<br>He clothed himself with cursing as his coat; <br>may it soak into his body like water, like oil into his bones!</i></p> <p>What you treasure up in your heart will come out in your life. People like those in Psalm 109 can only hide their wickedness for so long before it destroys them. But it need not end that way for us. Jesus took the curse for all our cursing when He died on the cross. He paid for our sinful anger, and if we repent and turn to Him we will be saved from it! <p>Once we are saved, we can look to His example on the cross, He responded to cursing and bitterness by saying, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” <p>He forgave when they cursed. He returned their cursing for a blessing, and now He is forever blessed. If we follow His example and delight in blessing rather than cursing – in patience and longsuffering rather than anger, then we too will be blessed. After all, Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” <p>Brothers and sisters, let us not be angry. Instead, let us return evil for good. In Jesus we were blessed in order to be a blessing to others –yes, even our enemies. <p>I resolve here not to cover myself in cursing any more. I resolve to speak what is good and true and loving in the example of my Lord, that I may know Him better. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-12447793440298536682016-04-24T20:13:00.001-07:002016-04-25T19:57:18.885-07:00Rescued from the Enemy’s Fortress<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-o9a1GUVkxI4/Vx2LOHfu9AI/AAAAAAACJbM/7mOPeXVcjLs/s1600-h/IMG_48654.jpg"><img title="IMG_4865" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_4865" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QrTGaIUwAvg/Vx2LQNUrHoI/AAAAAAACJbQ/CBjgHTdU-PU/IMG_4865_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="542" height="408"></a> <p>In one of our locations in Central America, to say that the situation is difficult would be an understatement. The people are afraid, the murder rate is up, and gangs have taken the nation in fear, but just like always, when things are at their darkest, the light of Christ shines most brightly. These are the stories of some who were rescued from darkness this past December: <p><b><font color="#000080" size="3">Military Ministry</font></b> </p> <div id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:29aaa87f-173f-4583-9547-756162ad4c7e" class="wlWriterSmartContent" style="float: right; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px"><a title="The soldiers" href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LKQ_WtD50uU/Vx2LSHavc6I/AAAAAAACJbU/wmkgRWzYMbc/IMG_5256-8x6.jpg?imgmax=800" rel="thumbnail"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JlfF17Yx2rM/Vx2LT3APdQI/AAAAAAACJbY/qIJo9pZTIsA/IMG_525634.png?imgmax=800" width="300" height="266"></a></div>Our friend the governor always sends soldiers to come and protect our teams when we serve in El Salvador, and it has become a natural thing to speak the gospel to the soldiers who have come to protect us. It's a beautiful exchange: they watch over our bodies and we watch over their souls. <p>I must commend the team I served with – no one had to tell them what to do. As soon as the soldiers arrived, they were speaking truth to them so that within a few days almost all of them had come to faith. In total, of the 11 soldiers who came to guard us, 5 came to faith. <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg8aFJC1qr2qN_wRS6adkC-gi5Kx_T8P32VCYcoUXioiYyV0OOz0i51UPQB8okLRg5qfWMkcinGtQo0hKJ3x6h4JEy8nGGXqFzX1-jMZh9zkiLMgCdJL2KVs60AzOKmk3Ake6lJdrFqTXt/s1600-h/IMG_525710.jpg"><img title="IMG_5257" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_5257" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yBABT6NIypM/Vx2LYhL6Z0I/AAAAAAACJbg/n44QeJhLPCw/IMG_5257_thumb4.jpg?imgmax=800" width="529" height="398"></a> <p>One of the soldiers seemed especially broken when we spoke to him, but he was quick to turn his life over to Christ. Later, he confided in us that he was in the gangs only seventeen months prior – doing “terrible things”. He escaped and returned to his family, joining the military some time later. He told us that, “I continued to do terrible things, but God brought you all here to preach the word of God to me.” <p>Many soldiers have come to faith over our trips, but this man was the first to obey the call to be baptized, giving his testimony in front of our group before entering the waters of the Pacific Ocean to publically declare his faith in Jesus. Please pray for him – his life is still dangerous from the gangs, and he doesn't have much in the way of encouragement right now. <p><b><font color="#4f81bd"><font color="#000080" size="3">Peace at Last</font><font color="#4f81bd"></font></b> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgToQDTYJAxzq1X5OdivcUt5v9cLB0el_MgZ9DXX68kkRKzOkeYwWzITF0lLTmE9ZuK8lmjEvZ-D5v55IAyXXrY7nOm57xnA1Xma2heV2fXlQ-pLGLN-ztZr68HpxISgWf35B4p_ZzD7jsK/s1600-h/IMG_13095.jpg"><font size="3"><img title="IMG_1309" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_1309" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w7A9eTeMkyg/Vx2LcSH72UI/AAAAAAACJbo/wimkppHV7J4/IMG_1309_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="276" align="right" height="185"></font></a></font>Our time in December always takes us to a local center of idolatry where people come and pour out their prayers and light candles to idols who can neither hear nor help them. This time, I was pacing the building looking for someone to speak to when I saw a group of our team members in deep conversation with a man who was pouring his heart out to them. <p>He had come into the building heartbroken and looking for hope, and we began to open the scriptures to him, telling him over and over that he needed to believe and be saved while he kept telling us the good works he needed to do to please God and be saved. <p>Yet he continued to show interest in the scriptures, so we continued expounding the truth to him until he said, “I feel that God is telling me to share this message with everyone.” <p>I was concerned for a moment that he was continuing to recite his need for good works for salvation but he continued to speak, “When I came in to this place, I was contemplating killing myself or doing something evil because I can’t find a job and I have no hope for my life. I was crying, but now I have peace. <b>Now I know that</b> <b>all I must do is believe and be saved.</b>” <p>We took him out of the place of idolatry, because our time was nearly over, and we prayed with him. Someone on the team gave him a Spanish Bible and he clutched it tight, saying, “This will be my most prized and priceless possession. I know that you did not give me this; God gave me this gift.” <p>This, my friends, is a changed life. We left him, mightily encouraged that it was not us or our superior wisdom but the word and the power of God that had ultimately convinced him. This is the power of opening up the scriptures with someone – the word of God never returns empty, not even in a center of idolatry. <p>I remember what may have been the day of my conversion – I too was reading the scriptures when an incredible peace came over me, and my life has never been the same since. <p><strong></strong> <p><strong><font color="#000080" size="3">The Power of Belief</font></strong></p> <p>What–or more precisely whom you believe changes everything. If you truly believe that your eternity rests on the work of Jesus Christ and turn to Him for your salvation, He will not leave you the same person.</p> <p>One who has not had their life transformed by the work of Jesus does not truly believe. If we truly saw His agonizing death on the cross as our only way to eternity and believed that He was our resurrected Lord, our entire life would look completely different.</p> <p>But it is impossible for anyone to believe in their own strength. God is the one who grants repentance (<em><u>2 Timothy 2:25</u></em>), God is the one who saves (<em><u>Titus 3:5</u></em>, <em><u>Mark 10:26-27</u></em>, <em><u>Ephesians 2:8</u></em>), God is the one who calls us to a holy calling (<u>2 Timothy 1:9</u>), and I am so grateful that I was saved by His grace.</p> <p>Once I hated people, now I desire to see them full of the joy of the Lord.<br>Once the men we spoke to in December were doing terrible things and thinking about terrible things, now they have begun their new life of hope.<br>Once we were lost – now we are found.</p> <p>I pray that if you are reading this, you are either encouraged by the news here and glorifying God, or that you will be challenged to trust in Jesus yourself and experience the true salvation that does not depend on our ability to be good. Being good and religious is exhausting, and it will never satisfy you, nor the wrath of God due for our sins.<br><br>Only the perfect life of Jesus and His death on the cross were sufficient to cover over our wretchedness and give us true peace. Only He can rescue us from Satan’s fortress and place us into the kingdom of light. To Him be all the glory for what He has done.</p> <p>Grace and peace to you,<br>- Paul</p>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-35159250328764777602015-10-04T20:06:00.000-07:002016-04-25T19:57:18.889-07:00Ministry in a Dry and Weary Land–July 2015<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JJSoxJpfVCQ/Vx2JZdPRE2I/AAAAAAACJaQ/qpUpC6lppow/s1600-h/clip_image0024.jpg"><img title="clip_image002" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="clip_image002" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XyfqrltyUFU/Vx2JbESJtbI/AAAAAAACJaU/DaSceHGBST4/clip_image002_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="542" height="363"></a> <p align="center"><b><i>Psalm 63:1</i></b><i><br>O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.</i></p> <p><b>A Month Down South</b></p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8ul3E0VCJZw/Vx2K0RRJrfI/AAAAAAACJa4/QP4qV2gUlXg/s1600-h/IMG_8868.jpg"><img title="IMG_8868" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_8868" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xGCvwvzJ06I/Vx2K2yjbhrI/AAAAAAACJa8/0APx3rgVlzY/IMG_8868_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="268" align="right" height="180"></a>This past July I served with about eighty other brothers and sisters in Christ as we preached the gospel, hosted a community soccer tournament, ran conferences for the youth, and ministered in some of the roughest areas of the country. God taught us all the amazing power of prayer as He worked amazing things and protected us time and time again. <p><b>Drought and Strife</b> <p>Unfortunately for El Salvador, not only is the country experiencing a severe drought. We spoke with many farmers who had their entire crops dry up and die, leaving them waiting and hoping that they could plant again before the dry season. Food prices are going up in the impoverished nation at the same time that the violence is spiking. People in the country are concerned for their lives and the prospect of violence. One man we met even wears a mask to work and sent his family away because of the threats he’s received from gang members. <p>It’s a tragedy what is happening there, and it’s the result of the idolatry of the people. Empty religion and tradition has done nothing to change the hearts of the people, and you can see and hear the emptiness. Yet through all of this there is hope, because in their desperation people are waking up to their need for the Lord. I have seldom seen such openness when we’ve gone to preach the gospel. <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWDrQuUYB8CeM1MUO14rUBIq175wVqsAx9meYo4FBNz3t0FwxpM4OCc40F8SYnREmhaXroZ9cfatovFmhoj0LBj0-mmLB5Xlzhif2q7ksnYupftpZ1gbRhI0pzefXR3meAJ2W2Ijfa_R0f/s1600-h/IMG_55794.jpg"><img title="IMG_5579" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_5579" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aBrUFkUzd_g/Vx2JkNa70nI/AAAAAAACJak/qDVZibn-BTs/IMG_5579_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="548" height="367"></a></p> <p><b>Open Doors</b></p> <p>Near the beginning of the month, we were planning to minister outside a school after the students were let out. As we were trying to figure out how to accomplish this I started talking to two men who were standing in a pick up truck outside the school and explained what we wanted to do. “That will never work,” they said. “You have five minutes until the busses come and pick up all the students. Let’s go inside and talk to the teachers.” <p>They led us inside, and we explained what we desired to do. The teachers were initially hesitant, but somehow the Lord opened the door for us to actually go inside the school and present dramas and the gospel later on the same day. I was floored; God opened the door for us. <p>As we waited for our opportunity in the town square nearby, we spoke with a group of young men from an accounting school about the gospel and the hope in Christ. None of them had come into a relationship with Christ, but three of them expressed that they desired salvation by the end of our conversation. Right as we had to leave to minister inside the school, a leader from our church arrived and continued the conversation with the young men, answering their questions and leaving them his contact information. That’s God’s timing. <p>The ministry inside the school was so successful that the teachers asked us to come again later on in the trip. In fact, we were able to minister the gospel in 5 different schools from the mountains of Honduras to a massive public school in the nearest city that holds about 2,000 students. <p><b>The Next Generation</b> <p>A few days before we arrived in Central America, a gang member – a youth from our area came to Christ. We immediately gave him a job helping with construction and members of the church came around him to begin discipling him and encouraging him in the faith. We got to speak to members of his family – all nonbelievers who were amazed by the change in him. They said, “We thought he would be dead because of what he is doing.” The testimony of this youth is showing his family the power of God for salvation. <p>By the end of the trip, another gang member attended our youth service and two members of our team were able to preach the gospel to him as well. <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GJiK6OLkVcI/Vx2JmXYZmoI/AAAAAAACJao/WddOEbxkhrg/s1600-h/IMG_89554.jpg"><img title="IMG_8955" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_8955" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3OiK1LkNErc/Vx2Jn0g-_bI/AAAAAAACJas/FT3cdG7Q-qs/IMG_8955_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="540" height="362"></a></p> <p>In Honduras, I had the pleasure of working alongside a young man named Alex. At 15 years old, he goes with us up into the mountains to preach the gospel in the villages, but he was very shy about it. During one of our presentations in a village, I pulled him aside and told him, “Hey, we’re going to share the gospel with someone as soon as we get done with the program here.” He looked at me with wide eyes, “Ok.” </p> <p>He seemed hesitant when we walked over to speak to the first group, but he willingly shared his testimony of everything God had done for him. By the time we got ready for a massive soccer tournament, he asked me if he could share his testimony in front of the crowd of hundreds that had gathered. With the amount of time we had to prepare, he didn’t have the chance to do so, but it was amazing to watch him grow in boldness over just a few days. Pray that he will grow in his faith and continue to be bold. <p><b>Finishing Well</b> <p>With so many pastors and leaders falling into sin around the world and ruining their testimony, I’ve realized now more than ever how hard it will be to be pure and holy until the day Jesus comes for me. I am not perfect–I am, like anyone a footstep away from falling into terrible sin. I would love to tell you that I am strong, but the truth is, I am weak–I am just a vessel of God made of clay, though I hold His treasure inside. The scriptures warn us with this: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.” <p>May it be said of all of us that we fought the good fight, we finished the course, and we kept the faith. Pray that God would help me to finish my race well. <p>- Paul </p>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-19090938190103368842015-10-04T15:13:00.001-07:002015-10-04T15:27:00.190-07:00Hope Across Generations<p><b><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fZrzdiWM0lM/VhGkbFFZqPI/AAAAAAAATNQ/2Kmehz1qP58/s1600-h/IMG_4280_thumb1%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_4280_thumb1" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_4280_thumb1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdMq_ACAf7RVpaEixsqBWNB2WQzl3O5xSRUAlOK38RQxsqOZ4XvAhitrJ8nYshgQo6HR5aVRb3Kjv4YVXmSGRi-ccklKdjN9Cg-5QIMJo1GyLfJkRKo1cpApKtHRbKUNa7llUD17FbaC4X/?imgmax=800" width="546" height="366"></a></b> <p>On our last trip to Africa, we ended up arriving an entire day late due to problems with the aircraft, already a great start for our journey, so we ended up already missing a day of ministry, something I wasn’t too happy about, but God’s plans are always higher than ours. <p>If you remember, earlier this year, we visited the chief of a village who subsequently came to faith as we preached the gospel. He died a month later, leaving the village without leadership. As providence would have it, the first of the only two places we were able to minister was the very village where this chief used to live. <p>When we arrived, it was strange being there knowing we wouldn’t see our friend there – I miss him. But we were encouraged that a sizeable crowd came out, among whom was a young man who had brought his Bible out. I figured that he was one of the church members, but after our Bible study and testimony time, he told us through a translator he was very happy in Islam and did not want to become a Christian. <p>Our translator also told me that he was the chief’s son. That probably explained why he stood out to me so much. Filled with compassion, we began speaking to him, but it wasn’t until the part where we mentioned Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin was death and the gift of God was eternal life that he opened the Bible to read that for himself. <p>He seemed moved by this word, and we told him about the faith and hope his father had that gave him eternal life, and from that point on he was riveted in the conversation. Near the end of our dialog, we asked him if a dead man could bring him back to life. <p>We told him that no matter their message or lifestyle, every founder of every other religion is currently dead and in the ground, but even Muslims believe that Jesus Christ lives to this day and is at the right hand of God. “Who then is able to save?” we asked him. <p>Our local ministers continued the conversation from there, and at the end the man announced that he was ready to come to Christ. Praise God for the hope he now shares with his father. <p>Afterward, we told him that things about his life would need to change, and deep in thought, he asked us if he should quit his job as a hunter now that he was a Christian. That’s a man who is considering the cost. <p>We told him, no, he didn’t need to quit his job, but that God has called him to live a holy life, even at work. We prayed for him and left encouraged - if God just sent us there for that one man, then the whole trip was worth it. What price can you put on a single human soul? <p>Like father, like son – two generations have come from darkness to light. But this hope is not limited to them. Jesus is not just another dead religious figure, He is our living hope. If I would trust anyone with my life, it would be the One who beat death.</p> <p align="center"><i>According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead<br><b>1 Peter 1:3</b></i></p> Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-44658200301151999552015-08-21T20:17:00.001-07:002015-08-22T10:30:20.761-07:00How should we respond when Christians fall?<p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3oxTomLcXi0/VdixgubZUPI/AAAAAAAALiw/H3FiRxqLwFc/s1600-h/FullSizeRender%252520%2525281%252529%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="FullSizeRender (1)" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="FullSizeRender (1)" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ws70syse1LQ/VdfsQrm9h9I/AAAAAAAALi8/ylosk-toX8U/FullSizeRender%252520%2525281%252529_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="204" align="right" height="129"></a>“Hypocrite! Christians are all hypocrites!”</p> <p>We hear the same things every time someone who claims the name of Christ falls into sin. How do we respond to the accusations? How do we respond as the world gloats? <p>Don’t be so quick to dismiss the claims. Are we really hypocrites? The evidence doesn’t lie – many who claim the faith and fall are often the most outspoken among us all, so we should respond to the accusations with great humility. <p>The truth is that we are ALL hypocrites. Jesus told us not to judge lest we be judged, yet people – Christians and non-Christians alike come out in judgment. The very people who say “don’t judge me” one moment turn and gossip in judgment on someone the next. We all have fallen short of even our own standards, let alone God’s standards. <p>How many times have we said, “People should act like this,” and then turn around and do the very same thing we just said people shouldn’t do? How many drivers have I been angry with in one moment, then catch myself doing the exact same thing the next? <p>As a follower of Jesus, I am frequently tempted to hide my struggles because I believe that if people knew who I really was and all my struggles they would <i>never</i> come to the faith, but the truth is that I still struggle with anger, lust, and pride on a daily basis – my thoughts are not always pure, I don’t<b> </b>have everything together and sometimes, yes, I am a hypocrite. <p>Maybe if we told others the truth – the truth that we are not good, maybe more of them would believe us when we talk to them about God’s grace. We are not saved because we look good; we are saved because Jesus is good. I’m not saying we don’t change when we come to Christ, but what I am saying is that we need to be honest and open and apologize when we do fail. The world doesn’t need another hypocrite – the world needs the truth in love. We need to come into the light and expose our works so that everyone will know that <b>God is good, and we are not.</b> <p>Christian, it is not our job to hide our sins – that’s what the world does. Jesus said in John 3:20,21 - “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N4uezXHQOB0/VdfsRnRSAXI/AAAAAAAALhg/5L5JGMHYPzk/s1600-h/IMG_9354.jpg"><img title="IMG_9354" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_9354" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4w7L96Ma2Oo/VdfsSaDdPFI/AAAAAAAALhs/F21nXQSMmrI/IMG_9354_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="224" align="left" height="151"></a>So I’m coming into the light; everyone needs to know that I was a wretched sinner who was saved by the grace of God. Christianity isn’t about my goodness, it’s about God’s goodness. If God can transform even the life of someone so wicked as me, He can save <i>anyone</i>. I’m not saved by my good works, but by the work of Christ. <p>And if it’s true that we all are hypocrites – that we all need God’s grace and mercy, then remember that <strong>mercy triumphs over judgment</strong>. We need to be merciful when people fall. We must not be known for eating our wounded but for our love even when someone stumbles publically. Don’t join the chorus of mockers, be merciful even as your heavenly Father is merciful. Look to the cross – Jesus loves sinners enough to die for them, and He told us to follow in His example. Love sinners, even fallen ones. <p>Knowing our weakness and knowing God’s kindness, it’s about time that we started telling people the truth about ourselves and the truth about God – that <strong>He loves sinners like us</strong>. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, so be humble and gentle in the face of accusation, and let’s come into the light and pray – pray that we too do not fall into temptation. Pray for the families of the fallen, and yes, even pray for those who have stumbled, that they may be restored. <p>Sincerely, the least of those loved by God,<br>- Paul</p> Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-45238931135392038132015-07-04T15:13:00.001-07:002015-07-04T20:18:06.029-07:00Christian Love Without Hypocrisy<p>How should we respond to the Supreme Court ruling as Christians? <p>First, to any who would call themselves homosexual, I know and love people who identify with your life, and I’ve heard their struggles and felt their pain. Anyone with a heart would weep at the treatment many of you have received at the hands of your fathers, families, strangers and even friends. I know that Jesus gave Himself for all kinds of people, straight and gay, and the doors of heaven are wide open to all who would turn and believe in Him no matter what they’ve done. I mean, let’s be honest, if God saved me – a wretched, selfish, hateful legalist, then He can certainly save you, and just because my beliefs cannot let me condone your lifestyle, that does not mean I would not be up at 3:00 AM if you needed anything, nor does it mean I believe that I am a better person than you; I’m a sinner desperately in need of God’s grace just like everyone else. <p>Second, to my brothers who are upset about this: be careful, be very careful, because God has not called us to build an American theocracy but to build His kingdom – a kingdom made of people whom He loves. You may be able to blast your way through an argument but you are then forgetting the command to show perfect courtesy to all people and to speak evil of no one (<strong>Titus 3:2</strong>). How do you desire God to treat you when you’ve been faithless and when you have dishonored Him? Wrath or mercy? It is not God’s wrath, but His kindness that leads us to repentance and we should desire mercy more than sacrifice. If what we are saying is not in love, we gain nothing, so please pray for people instead of writing scathing words that will do nothing but drive men away from the Kingdom of God. <p>Third, and most importantly – to those who call on the name of Jesus and yet are condoning homosexual marriage. I have to ask what you do with the <strong>1 Corinthians 6:9-11</strong> passage, which states very clearly that those who practice homosexuality as a lifestyle will not enter the Kingdom of God. You say that “love wins” but how can you love what God speaks so clearly against? My flesh would love to mince words here, but God calls it an abomination. Did He suddenly change His mind? God says He doesn’t change, and that means if He felt it was an abomination back then, He feels the same way today. The New Testament reaffirms the same sentiments about homosexual practice (<strong>Romans 1:26-27, 1 Timothy 1:10-11, Jude 7</strong>), so we must not deceive ourselves into thinking that this law was merely a portion of the ceremonial or cultural law of ancient Israel. <p>So is it loving for you to see someone walking into a minefield and to say nothing? Or worse yet, to tell them to continue onward? You have made the mistake of being the mouthpiece for the serpent. You have asked the deceiver’s question, “Did God really say…?” when God has made Himself clear. You have told people, “You will not surely die” when the scriptures make it clear that they are marching toward destruction. This is neither accepting nor loving; you are ensuring that your hearers are not accepted – that they never enter the Kingdom of God. Please do not fall into this error – we are called to live not as the culture dictates, but to speak the truth in love. We are called to be counter-cultural, which means that some of our beliefs will always be unpopular, whether we speak out to forgive our enemies or to love untouchables, or whether we speak against slavery, gladiatorial fights, abortion, gossip, or homosexuality. If you have fallen into sin in this area, God is faithful and just to forgive – repent and speak what is true, and do it in love. <p><a name="_GoBack"></a><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wLY0VI9AsYI/VZhdegs_o7I/AAAAAAAAC2c/8gNgmtC0_a8/s1600-h/FullSizeRender%25255B15%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 7px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="FullSizeRender" border="0" alt="FullSizeRender" align="right" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-A4L5k1uqOcI/VZhdfn0q77I/AAAAAAAAC2k/mJubKOQMsSo/FullSizeRender_thumb%25255B7%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="271" height="271"></a>Understand that I did not pen this because I think I’m better than anyone (for I was a terrible sinner when God called me), nor is it because I enjoy judging anyone – that’s infinitely above my pay grade to do so. Rather, it is because I believe what the scriptures say: that we already stand judged in our sins, all of us, but Jesus died to rescue us from every sin: from lying and from homosexuality, from gossip and even from murder. So when one comes to faith, he is no longer a liar or a homosexual, but a blood bought Christian who needs nothing else to identify himself with besides Jesus. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come. <p align="center"><em>Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.<br>Matthew 5:19</em></p> Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-38659040631923425262015-05-09T21:30:00.001-07:002015-05-12T08:30:16.758-07:00Can Jesus Set Me Free?<p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kdrPkxvvOVY/VU7e08ID8VI/AAAAAAAACwY/NdZ4jirkgx0/s1600-h/2Chiefs%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="2Chiefs" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="2Chiefs" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wrufdKYfY6o/VU7e1Rn6BlI/AAAAAAAACwc/oR7by2NJDjY/2Chiefs_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="556" height="333"></a></p> <p><strong>A Tale of Two Chiefs</strong></p> <p>Since my second trip to Africa, we have been following up with two chiefs of two distant villages, both very old, and both Muslim leaders in their separate communities. With both chiefs, we befriended them and shared the gospel with them, and both listened initially, inviting us to share more of the gospel with their village.</p> <p>Then the division happened. One of the chiefs, “Ramen”, who had initially invited us to build a church structure then closed off his village to our church, kicking us out from land he’d given us after we’d built a water well there. He still accepted our visits, but we heard darker and darker stories about him. First of all, he and the village elders kicked out the only believer in the village who was still attending church. Then, as he felt himself growing more and more sick, he turned increasingly to black magic and sorcery to keep himself alive, causing great harm to his family and those around him.</p> <div id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:7a4d9329-ed89-4602-8a48-4d369e629b70" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="float: right; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1Go3c9LA7WY/VU7e2KbV15I/AAAAAAAACwo/qZ9NT2qITnY/IMG_9150-8x6.jpg?imgmax=800" title="Our last visit with the chief" rel="thumbnail"><img border="0" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YcKwZEcQjOA/VU7e2081YII/AAAAAAAACww/_u7K4sLnPNg/IMG_9150%25255B19%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="335" height="272" /></a></div>The other chief, “Elijah”, continued to welcome us to his village, repeatedly encouraging his people to attend the church services and listening intently as we preached the word of God. He seemed confused at first, stating that both Mohammad and Jesus could save him, but as we went along, he became more and more solid in his understanding until last January (2014) where we were certain he had trusted Jesus completely with his life. He too was sick, but the situation in his village was more peaceful. Yet the story wasn’t done… <p>Near the end of 2014, we received news that Ramen had died apart from Christ. He’d relied on his own powers to keep him alive, but there is no magic, no money, and no ransom that can keep you from the grave, and he ended up doing a great amount of damage in doing so, to the point where the people around him were afraid of him. We also received word that Elijah was ill and death was looming; he might not be alive the next time we visited. At the time I received that news, I was on a break from the ministry, but I purposed in my heart that if at all possible, I wanted to return to see Elijah one last time before he died. <p>So in January when we arrived, my first question to the ministers there was how Chief Elijah was and how he was doing in his faith. They looked at me and told me, “He is alive, but he is confused.”</p> <p>“Confused?” I asked.</p> <p>“He thinks he needs to hold on to the gods of Africa to protect him in addition to Jesus, and he is afraid.”</p> <p>Crestfallen and saddened by the news, I asked further, wondering if they were mistaken. But as they explained his situation, I came to the sobering conclusion that the chief had only accepted the Lord as yet another protection on him, and he was concerned that if he left behind the religion of his fathers, the gods would come after him “like the mafia”, as our African brothers put it.</p> <p>We set to work praying for him, and began urgently trying to get in contact with someone who could take us back to the chief’s house in the nearby city where he had taken up residence in his illness.</p> <p><strong><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Y0H7CzQQ33w/VU7e3XCmrBI/AAAAAAAACw4/fBPbEp8xwhk/s1600-h/IMG_2778%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2778" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_2778" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT1VWuurJTNmlhaycevwK3byPV5bQW0sACdhcpubquK0t2SHK9nw8xqOCf7BYSHLGCFcyJJbxaPuSq6BBerbRJ1e2-F6iR6qC-wAzh9zeZvaWgnP9z3AaAHlSioMpIjlILjpGFvPIf_hFJ/?imgmax=800" width="253" align="right" height="377"></a>Visitation</strong></p> <p>Prayer pays off.</p> <p>We were staying at the orphanage when we finally received word that we would get a chance to visit with him. I began to prepare what I would say to him, knowing that this would likely be the last time I would see him on this earth.</p> <p>We passed through the city landscape on our way to the chief’s home, a strange, barren, and dusty part of the city without a single tree. We arrived underneath the canopy outside the chief’s house, and his wife bowed low to greet us, calling for her husband.</p> <p>I got up to meet him as he walked down the hallway toward us. He didn’t smile – he looked like he was distracted.</p> <p>I reached out to grab his extended hand in greeting, and the moment our hands touched, it seemed like all his life and strength were gone. At that point, I knew he didn’t have long. Short of a miracle, this was our last visit with him.</p> <p>He sat down, clearly in pain, hardly able to keep himself upright. All of my plans to speak were suddenly gone – I was expecting a vibrant old man who sometimes complained of his bad health, but he was a shadow of his former self, barely present.</p> <p>Knowing our time was short, we set to work, telling him of his need to come to Christ – of Christ’s sovereign rule over all and his power to protect over any African god or spirit that threatened. We encouraged him to trust in the Lord alone for his salvation. We also told him that we could not guarantee his physical protection, but promised that if he believed, Jesus would indeed raise him up from the dead.</p> <p>The chief told us he wanted to get his family together to discuss the decision before he did anything, but we reminded him that this decision was between him and God alone, and that he didn’t have the promise of another day, encouraging him to turn to the Lord.</p> <p><strong>Free At Last</strong></p> <p>And at the end of the conversation, we sat in silence until he asked, “Can Jesus set me free from the oath my family made to the gods of Africa?”</p> <blockquote> <p><em>This, my friends, is the question. Can Jesus set me free from my past? Does Jesus have the power to erase my past and to break the hold of every curse on me? All of us desperately need this hope, because all of us have black pages in our books.</em></p></blockquote> <p>I was overjoyed by his question. Yes – yes indeed Jesus can set you free, we told him. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed, free from every pact and bondage.</p> <p>The chief thought for a moment, then said, “I have decided to become a Christian.”</p> <p>Knowing that baptism is a sticking point, especially for those who are coming from a Muslim background, we pressed in, “Are you willing to be baptized then?”</p> <div id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:ec804ac5-2501-4826-bb95-42ae7b134099" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="float: right; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NFE1k0gQyI0/VU7e4dEuzMI/AAAAAAAACxI/-OHTuwpW_TU/IMG_2789-8x6.jpg?imgmax=800" title="The chief and his wife enjoying the picture we gave him" rel="thumbnail"><img border="0" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IE38moSDlTI/VU7e5FyHECI/AAAAAAAACxQ/m1TvaO5B0YY/IMG_2789%25255B5%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="335" height="290" /></a></div>He told us yes, he was willing to be baptized, and we were satisfied that he had truly crossed the line, so we closed out our conversation with joy. We brought out the pictures from our last visit with him, and his face broke into a smile for the first time since we’d arrived. It was as though dark clouds had broken, leaving a perfect day in their wake. <p>Knowing we only had a short time since we were leaving to minister in yet another dark place, we left him. We were almost back to the road when his wife came running after us as fast as her aging body would allow and told us to come back, because the chief wanted us to meet someone.</p> <p>When we arrived back, another man stood by the place where the chief sat. He said, “I will translate for my father.”</p> <p>The chief spoke again, and the man said, “My father would like you to know that he has decided to become a Christian.”</p> <p>The chief really wanted us to know he’d become a Christian, apparently. I asked the chief’s son what he thought of this turn of events, wondering if he too was a Muslim.</p> <p>The man smiled and said, “Praise the Lord! I too am a Christian.” He told us he was overjoyed by the news.</p> <p>I would have liked to have stayed and spoken with him more, but as it seems far too often in missions, you don’t get a chance to enjoy the moment – we took our leave and departed quickly, leaving the chief and his son as we prepared to bring the gospel to a new village we had never visited before. My head was spinning with joy and apprehension as to what the new ministry would bring, and it wasn’t until later that I was able to fully appreciate what had happened.</p> <p><strong><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sgZdDZNFf2U/VU7e54_mD8I/AAAAAAAACxY/-STww7XbqSI/s1600-h/IMG_2797%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2797" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_2797" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-os4uBogyx9Q/VU7e6pBsLcI/AAAAAAAACxg/iDZmEchMEkk/IMG_2797_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="561" height="375"></a></strong></p> <p><strong>Homecoming</strong></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiObikowYnYWHXvE60QlOsRUHkNVIZH9UnSVmUjQ5Kqaeiirm9LQ2MbGXaRolADQqdGhBzSWW0a9Nx6f5Fi2cWACY1WXqY6P9vgMKjIhn0_YSzSKWzTbDOi_mDKTbxqwqmEK5vmV2A-zzcX/s1600-h/IMG_0752%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_0752" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_0752" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8bQtxRYJ4wM/VU7e8JSp2JI/AAAAAAAACxs/EEcwFnV4Qe4/IMG_0752_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="164" align="right" height="196"></a>A month later, we received word that Chief Elijah had gone home to be with the Lord. His body may be gone, but his spirit is more alive now than it will ever be. And just as Jesus promised, one day he will rise again – free from his tortured old body, free from any pact made with the powers of darkness, and free to praise his King.</p> <p>Yet though we are joyful, please pray for his wife and the family he left behind.</p> <p>I miss him already; he was like a grandfather to me. I will be in Africa soon, and I regret that I will not see his smiling face this time, but I look forward to the day when we meet again, and on that day, we won’t need a translator.</p> <p>Know that no matter what you have done, no matter what you face, no matter what pact you have made with yourself, anyone, or anything – there is nothing that can prevent you from being set free, because as Jesus says in John 10:18, <em>“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”</em></p> <p>Look to the Son; believe and be saved.</p> <p>Grace to you,<br>- Paul</p> Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-16819992422708110012015-04-05T15:21:00.003-07:002015-05-12T08:35:03.267-07:00The Dividing Line<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The tomb is empty. What then will you do with the resurrection of Jesus?</div>
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You can cover up the truth, you can try to explain it away, you can ignore it, or live in the hope of it but one day, you will have to square away with what you've done with this truth. Whether death or life, choose whom you will serve - the fleeting pleasures of this short life or the risen King who is coming again.</div>
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Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-85607998802985944662015-04-04T14:00:00.000-07:002015-05-12T08:35:03.269-07:00The Heavenly Ambush<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRUZMNxgp63oDMCokKT_WUB8ddAcZBuc2Uqf8LaynopDqSb2ccLmmSdWj49og0bsYehyphenhyphendUtywB9Z7FVv4XbiKxocndOjTpy1PCuCdIWun_mvBlSfkmgL-cVAvUhdciVoIRAWWskGSr0mWp/s1600/Cross.jpg" height="124" style="float: right; padding-left: 15px;" width="200" />The cross was an ambush set by God to destroy the works of the devil and to demolish death once and for all. Jesus did not go to the cross in defeat; He went to the cross for victory, and at the end of it all, when He said "It is finished", He had already won.<br />
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Our God uses even the work of wicked men for his own good purposes - the salvation of all who would call on Him. There is no dark plan that He will not redeem - all things... yes, ALL things will one day work out for the good of God's people.<br />
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"It is a glorious phrase – 'He led captivity captive.' Psalm 68:18 </blockquote>
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The very triumphs of His foes, it means, He used for their defeat. He compelled their dark achievements to subserve His ends, not theirs. </blockquote>
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They nailed Him to a tree, not knowing that by that very act they were bringing the world to His feet. They gave Him a cross, not guessing that He would make it a throne. </blockquote>
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They flung Him outside the city gates to die, not knowing that in that very moment they were lifting up the gates of the universe, to let the King come in. They thought to root out His doctrines, not understanding that they were implanting imperishably in the hearts of men the very name they intended to destroy. </blockquote>
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They thought they had God with His back to the wall, pinned helpless and defeated: they did not know that it was God Himself who had tracked them down. He did not conquer in spite of the dark mystery of evil. He conquered through it." </blockquote>
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- James S. Stewart, Scotland (1896-1990) </blockquote>
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Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-86509416668674805972015-01-25T17:11:00.001-08:002015-05-12T08:30:16.777-07:00Africa January 2015 –The Poorest<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-kAtwiAmjLa0/VMWUFXHXLVI/AAAAAAAACpY/H7acrKSbl2U/s1600-h/IMG_2374%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2374" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_2374" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-YHrQROFMSMg/VMWUGMS4iKI/AAAAAAAACpg/aTVqYQ1rPI0/IMG_2374_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="559" height="374"></a></p> <p align="center"><em>For the needy shall not always be forgotten,<br>and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.<br></em><strong>Psalm 20:18</strong></p> <p>Imagine you live in a place so terrible that a few hours stay gives your clothes a stench that won’t leave.</p> <p>Imagine your expected life span is hovering somewhere around thirty because you drink sewage and breathe in the lingering smoke from a thousand fires every day.</p> <p>Imagine that your only school has dirt floors, almost no books, and you can’t get in because hundreds of others are waiting for a place in that same school.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-BPQ1FWJ_4b0/VMWUG9mLrJI/AAAAAAAACpo/vDH1Flvq-mI/s1600-h/IMG_2380%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2380" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_2380" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-LwIEZ0rLPrc/VMWUHWjRO0I/AAAAAAAACpw/VXHCgHOuBZ0/IMG_2380_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="308" align="right" height="207"></a>Welcome to life in the water town.</p> <p>You enter this place from the main road, walking through a narrow side alley for several minutes until you reach the shores of the standing water. You immediately notice the number of people who live here as they get in and out boats at the makeshift docks.</p> <p>You gingerly crawl into one of the boats, hoping it doesn’t send you on an unexpected trip into the black water. The boat takes you slowly through narrow roads of water onto the main highway where the missionary tells a story about a previous trip where a passing motor boat almost sent them all for unexpected swim.</p> <p align="left"><em>Comforting, right?</em></p> <p>Finally, you arrive at the only school, a building that is slowly collapsing under its own weight, looking forward to the swarm of children that will soon surround you.</p> <p>This is where God has called us, because He loves the poor and the needy, and if we are His hands and feet, we must love them just as He loves them.</p> <p><strong><font color="#4f81bd">Without Help</font></strong><strong><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-FaeadbCXXK0/VMWUH7MvVcI/AAAAAAAACp4/8uaCn2h7bHk/s1600-h/IMG_2442%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2442" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_2442" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Uw5pVlgAKeo/VMWUIXlTQxI/AAAAAAAACqA/44tX6dsXPug/IMG_2442_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="558" height="373"></a></strong></p> <p>The director of the school, a man named Noah, told me that the only way the school gets funded is by locals or foreign organizations. The government refuses to send any help of any kind, whether supplies or funds.</p> <p>We spent some time talking and praying with him. Pray that God provides the funds for us to upgrade the structure for the school. After looking at the school’s structure, which is bending under the weight of the upper story, we’re confident that if we don’t do anything, there could be a disaster.</p> <p><strong>Pray for Noah and pray that God provides the funds and supplies for this school to keep operating</strong>. Noah gives a lot of his own time and money to make sure the school runs, even to the point where he’s chosen to live among his own people so that he can do everything he can for them.</p> <p><strong><font color="#4f81bd">A Bible for Every Student</font><br></strong><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-340woMo8aNk/VMWUJMEYuTI/AAAAAAAACqI/pr7xmUVM4uE/s1600-h/Small%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Small" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Small" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-VT3kYKM3pxY/VMWUJibpBRI/AAAAAAAACqQ/654zq5nfGuM/Small_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="559" height="374"></a></p> <p>With the help of someone from my church who works for the Gideon society, we were able to provide Bibles for every student in the school as the teachers had asked us. The Bibles will be a powerful tool for them to practice their English (which is a second language for them) while learning the scriptures.</p> <p>Since we started coming and teaching the scriptures, there has been a massive difference in the attitude of both the teachers and the students. The students are now intensely alert during classes, asking good questions, and even quoting scripture that they’ve learned back to us.</p> <p>Thanks to the education they’re receiving, some of these precious ones will be able to further their education on the mainland. <strong>Pray for their physical and spiritual condition</strong> - that they would come to know our Savior, and that God would provide for them so that they can escape the cycle of poverty and bring others out with them.</p> <p><strong><font color="#4f81bd">Intercepted by Hope</font><br></strong><strong><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-JrGb3KXt6gc/VMWUKGuPLEI/AAAAAAAACqY/mx5j4VW_wDI/s1600-h/IMG_2451%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2451" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_2451" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-vkCCY66UmV8/VMWUKz-2pzI/AAAAAAAACqg/bVaarJHRWKU/IMG_2451_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="562" height="376"></a></strong></p> <p>After we’d given out the Bibles, I was walking to go photograph the students in their lessons when I saw two young men reading John 3:16 aloud to themselves. If God had ever provided a clearer opportunity to hear the message, I don’t know what it was.</p> <p>“Do you understand what you’re reading?” I asked as I sat down. They shook their heads. “No.”</p> <p>For the next forty minutes, my brother Gabriel and I sat, reading scripture with them, asking them questions, and explaining things they didn’t understand. When we finally asked if they had any questions, one of the young men asked, “If there is a man who is an idolater his whole life, yet comes to Christ three days before his death, what will happen to this man? Will he go to heaven?”</p> <p>Rather than answer his question directly, we took him to the story of the thief on the cross, who asked Jesus to remember him just hours before his death.</p> <p>When he was finished reading, he told us, “It’s clear that the idolater who comes to Christ will go to heaven.”</p> <p>I pointed at Gabriel, “Did you know he was an idol worshipper for many years?”</p> <p>The young men sat back, surprised to find such a man sitting among them. Gabriel then shared his testimony, about how much God hated his idolatry and sin, yet how God still had mercy on him through Christ.</p> <p>When he was done, the men said that they were ready to come to Christ. We prayed with them, and as the conversation was winding down, I found out that John normally worked at a factory on weekdays, and didn’t even live in the water village any more. Yet because he was sick on this particular day, he decided to visit his brother at the school.</p> <p>In other words, God used his sickness to bring him to hear the gospel.</p> <p>I don’t know the end result, but please <strong>pray for the three young men who listened – that the seeds we planted will sprout and grow</strong> into the hope that only Christ can give.</p> <p>Praise God for being a God who orders the steps of His children, that they would come to know Him.</p> <p align="center"><strong>Psalm 16:9</strong><br><em>The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.</em></p> <p align="center"><strong>Acts 17:26-27</strong><br><em>And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us</em></p> <p>Grace and peace,<br>- Paul</p> Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-36406758066771992552014-12-30T19:12:00.001-08:002015-05-12T08:30:16.754-07:00What Man Intended for Evil…<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-k7F_HmpFLxc/VKNpiJzWZdI/AAAAAAAAClA/S_S7RNT-Ayo/s1600-h/IMG_0252%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_0252" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_0252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIUllMI5BvH53SjMZLLv4UTAtyPxeYaz9Hm2QdQ97eScTFDxNvRsbD1h4cWqFzs9xiXgfNdQgcO6_44610fKrSHiJoSSVyi60V8xnUMH-PbAIoRXJTAoRuXGUU6Zpt5aquifcOQFR-n1oj/?imgmax=800" width="562" height="422"></a></p> <p>Two months ago I was praying and considering whether or not I should return to Central America this December. Everything is on the table, and I’ve been considering what my ministry is and what the Lord is calling me to, because I have no idea what the Lord has for me in the years to come.</p> <p>The Lord made two things clear though – 1. I should return to Central America at least in December, and 2. I should return to Africa in January.</p> <p>That’s all I have to run off of at the moment. Sometimes I think it would be nice to know, but I trust God.</p> <p>A week or two before the trip, I got a call from one of our translators in Central America – a man God saved out of a murderous lifestyle in the gangs. I was walking up to my workplace and almost considered ignoring the call because I’d be seeing him soon enough, but I took it anyway.</p> <p>I picked up – he sounded shaken. Through the conversation I quickly learned that men from one of the gangs near his village had raped his daughter and that she was now pregnant. He continued, telling me that his family was shaken up – his wife and daughter were losing faith, and he was at least a little tempted to pick up his old ways and get revenge.</p> <p align="center">“Pray for me Paul. I know what I once was and I don’t want to go back.”</p> <p align="left">At a loss for words, I struggled through the conversation. After I hung up, my next phone calls and texts were to tell members of the team who loved him to be praying, and plans were set in motion to visit him and his family in his village.</p> <p align="left">This man, this former gang member used to murder people to make a living. Now he’s praying and begging God not to let him take any revenge, but to help him forgive. There is no doubt in my mind that he is a new creation. He used to bring death everywhere he went, now he goes into gang territories and preaches the gospel of life even at great risk to himself.</p> <p align="left">Obviously, Satan hates this and would do anything to stop it, and our friend and his family have already paid a terrible cost for living in the place God has called them to live. Pray for them.</p> <p align="left"><strong><font color="#004080">Meeting with Death’s Messenger</font></strong></p> <p align="left"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-iz1gOyQ29oA/VKNplm5qHII/AAAAAAAAClQ/8nfvpfadM-A/s1600-h/Changed%25255B3%25255D.png"><img title="Changed" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Changed" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-0V1QrK6S26Y/VKNpnLRU0tI/AAAAAAAAClY/o8eiQGktpiA/Changed_thumb%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="557" height="419"></a></p> <p align="left">Two weeks later when we arrived in our friend’s village, our entire group was marching toward his humble house when I saw them – six men standing out in front of his house to greet us. Our friend ran up to me and said, “Paul, they’re from the gangs. Don’t be afraid, they’re here to hear the gospel!”</p> <p align="left">At their center stood the leader – “Juan”. His ball cap and tattoos covered his entire head, surrounding his care-lined face. He looked tired and worn out; I’ve seldom seen a man look so weary. Yet we knew he was a murderer – a cold-blooded killer.</p> <p>Men from the team went behind our friend’s house to meet with Juan and his men – to preach the gospel to them while the rest of us set about putting together a Christmas program for the children and people of the village. Several of the women spent the entire time ministering to our friend’s wife and daughter.</p> <div id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:d9ce5182-6778-4be2-955d-ee1972c7fcb6" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-vbBaxrt6kck/VKNrhLgpEVI/AAAAAAAACmM/b5TMOlWenCs/IMG_1433-8x6.jpg?imgmax=800" title="The Christmas Program" rel="thumbnail"><img border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-_FqwUq5BCgM/VKNrjNiyhYI/AAAAAAAACmU/pSz89lFN1l0/IMG_1433%25255B7%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="560" height="429" /></a></div> <p>Around the same time that the program started, Juan and his crew came out from the meeting and watched the gospel vividly presented through a drama, and the preaching of the Gospel from the Bible.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-YGv7qCQycDY/VKNpppCz3WI/AAAAAAAACmc/4eBZmbgEvzI/s1600-h/IMG_1449%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1449" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 7px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_1449" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-zk3ZrSBHq7s/VKNpqamDwFI/AAAAAAAACmk/xGTiMliHu2c/IMG_1449_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="287" align="right" height="193"></a>As we dispersed afterwards, I was with several of the young men from the team speaking to Juan – most of whom grew up in Christian households, like some bizarre contrast between light and darkness. Yet we are all the same as Juan – we all face the same plight. </p> <p>Juan acted on the thoughts we only had, and God graciously kept us from carrying them out or from growing up in the same violent environment. Juan has the same problem we have – our sins have separated us from a holy God and without salvation, we are destined for the place of our own choosing – the wrath of God and eternal separation from Him.</p> <p><img title="IMG_1446" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_1446" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Zny5I6kohos/VKNrnYwSD-I/AAAAAAAACms/lkDhlukGE9U/IMG_1446%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="280" align="left" height="188">Yet that day we offered him the hope that yes, Christ died so that he too could have life. Yes, even Juan’s horrific crimes against God can be forgiven, and even better still, like our friend the translator, he who once brought death could become a messenger of life.</p> <p>We gave Juan a Bible and prayed over him, and tears shone in his eyes as he reverently held the scriptures. Before we prayed, he asked us to pray for his son – that he would grow up differently than he did.</p> <p>Our friend the translator said that after we left, Juan and his men were standing around the open Bible in reverent awe. We have not heard from him in the short weeks since that day, but I pray that the Lord saves him.</p> <p>God called us to go preach the gospel to the lost, simply to invite them to the banquet of God’s grace and mercy freely offered through Christ’s death on the cross to ALL, with no concern as to their former lives. <u><strong>Matthew 22:10</strong></u> says that the servants of the king “went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, <strong>both bad and good</strong>. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.”</p> <p>Christ is able to transform all kinds of people, both the “good” and the bad, realizing this, that only God is truly good, and He has provided a Way for us to be like Him through Jesus His Son.</p> <p>Please pray for Juan and his men.</p> <p><strong><font color="#004080">The Frowning Hand of Providence</font></strong></p> <p><img title="IMG_1704" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 7px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_1704" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-GcJfX_9amrU/VKNpq2ntwRI/AAAAAAAACmA/gnC8XiFJRmo/IMG_1704%25255B11%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="274" align="right" height="184">Providentially, I just read the story of Joseph. His brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt, he was thrown into prison because he’d been falsely accused of rape, and he spent years forgotten as he waited for release.</p> <p>But because Joseph was stuck in prison, he was right where he needed to be when Pharaoh wanted his dream interpreted, an act of providence that saved the lives of countless people in the end.</p> <p>Everything that happened to Joseph--everything man intended for evil, God used for good.</p> <p>Wicked men raped our friend’s daughter, and that is something she will have to live with for the rest of her life, but our friend told us that since the trip, God has used this as an opportunity for her to know Christ in a more real way. Furthermore, God turned the situation into a chance for us to minister the gospel to a small crowd in our friend’s village, including several gang members who heard the gospel in many different ways. Perhaps God will use this to save their souls as well.</p> <p>God works out everything for good for those who love Him, and one day, He will wipe away every tear from our eyes. It is from this hope that we operate – we base all our confidence on the fact that this life is not all we have. Our reward – our home is not here but in heaven, where the former things, no matter how great or terrible, will never be remembered again. All of this life will fade except the Lord – yes, even this horror.</p> <p><strong>Please take some time right now to pray for our friend, his wife, and most importantly, his daughter</strong>. Pray that they find comfort and healing in the Lord, pray that they are able to forgive the wicked men who did this, and pray that God will continue to use this for good in their lives.</p> Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-58845770680614436752014-12-26T20:26:00.001-08:002015-05-12T08:35:25.183-07:00The Power of Unforgiveness<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-q1xl1rBScAQ/VJ42T0QlBcI/AAAAAAAACj8/KAuTyCTaTVc/s1600-h/IMG_1170%252520%252528Medium%252529%25255B11%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_1170 (Medium)" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_1170 (Medium)" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-CsNN5oZ_39U/VJ42XTTK0YI/AAAAAAAACkE/ReNP1YCyF2g/IMG_1170%252520%252528Medium%252529_thumb%25255B8%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="579" height="388"></a></p> <p>When any of us refuse to forgive, remember this:</p> <p>You could be living in riches and feasting in the mansions of God's grace in kindness toward us but you have chosen to live as a vagrant on the streets of unforgiveness.</p> <p>Worse yet, you have voluntarily locked yourself into the dungeon of bitterness, and though you hold the key of forgiveness with the power to unlock every door inside, you refuse to suffer your own escape.</p> <p>You have drank poison in hopes of killing your enemy, ignoring the fact that you have secretly become what you hate.</p> <p>You have forgotten your own forgiveness, and renounced your inheritance – the inheritance of mercy purchased for us by Christ on the cross. Repent and let it go! Gently lower your burden into the hands pierced for you and pursue peace, that it may find you. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.</p> <p>Love stands at the door and He knocks. Will you answer His call?</p> Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-71137320103076355592014-06-15T20:02:00.001-07:002015-05-12T08:30:16.767-07:00Transformations<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiru6o16AKOsXqBDw-nleFvAHJqo2kw5xHirj56aclCNPxGwW1r7hWKF74o0p77mgPetEoDLyaDyUrq2PPSZuzJ6YTwd154nLWpuVp-e5lZJGfjgKXLqQiej9w8I2mslukJ6lcKH6wVYfMD/s1600-h/image%25255B64%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-GC8BIJCXzWs/U55d720pp-I/AAAAAAAACbM/dfFurhIo1t0/image_thumb%25255B36%25255D.png?imgmax=800" height="421" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="559" /></a><br />
Our Lord Jesus is the master of transformations. He turned Zacchaeus from swindler to philanthropist, Peter from impulsive coward to pillar of the church, Paul from murderous zealot to passionate follower, and on and on the list goes. <br />
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Jesus is still transforming lives to this day in the same ways. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). I once was an angry, bitter man who loved nothing but computer games and his own interests, but now Christ is transforming me into a compassionate man who ministers to orphans and desires the salvation for the lost. </div>
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I’m not there yet. There’s still so much lacking in me, yet since I am in Christ, I am a new creation. This promise doesn’t just extend to me; I’m not anyone special, but my God can do anything. </div>
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If you read this, know that God can use you for the same things, and His transforming power only begins to work when you trust Jesus for salvation. He will not stop until you are perfect – until you resemble His Son. </div>
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These are just a few stories of the Lord’s transforming power that I have seen over the past six months. <br />
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The First Convert</h3>
<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-dHBc8d6pG0k/U55d9cjmkKI/AAAAAAAACaU/-e3kk8dHOw8/s1600-h/image%25255B61%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-3qbAbKedpIo/U55d-dzyHAI/AAAAAAAACac/nse9dquWt4c/image_thumb%25255B33%25255D.png?imgmax=800" height="417" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="555" /></a><br />
Several years ago we visited a village where the Muslim chief welcomed us and the gospel message. He gladly heard us and made provisions for us to have a structure where we could exposit the scriptures for them. <br />
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Yet even after several years, nobody in the village had come to Christ, and only two people – a man named Solomon and the chief himself – seemed interested at all in the gospel. There were a few exciting moments where people seemed to make professions of faith, but the passion and fire quickly died away. <br />
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Finally, last year, Solomon came to faith, renouncing his Islamic roots during the month of Ramadan. Imagine suddenly deciding you weren’t going to celebrate Christmas ever again on Christmas Eve. All of his friends, some of his family, and his neighbors all continued the month-long celebration, but he abstained for the first time, because his allegiance is now to Christ alone.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmwlcEZum-mJo_cmIMV5ArcjeQ1PaiBuZz8qdV2AF_B3M_H115ZvWoiSS0hCZliM118t0_erGDKZiTpc3dIxqeMtp9qvJYoE_lEMkmHNCZFTJrt6HzhdC-lr3OiSnwQ5v0toFUrZ2OXcKh/s1600-h/image%25255B34%25255D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-gc9M6rswh8M/U55eBcu8B8I/AAAAAAAACYc/H3LwTlKM1w4/image_thumb%25255B18%25255D.png?imgmax=800" height="287" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; float: right; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="193" /></a>Fast forward to January: we visited the village and found that Solomon’s seventeen year old son had also come to faith and was making some incredible statements. When we asked him how he came to faith, he said, “When I saw the futility of Islam and the gods of Africa and compared them to the new faith of my father, I knew I had to come to Christ.” <br />
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It is unbelievably important for a father to live out his faith in such a radical way that his children know that Jesus is real by his example. Solomon’s witness and faithfulness, even over a short few months, has already won his son over to Christ. <br />
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Although it was encouraging to see that Solomon was being faithful, the chief of the village was nowhere to be found. We learned that he was sick and receiving care in a city about an hour and a half away – a city we just so happened to be visiting. <br />
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From Victims to Missionaries</h3>
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<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-kDkL9o45o_Y/U55eCo9sKPI/AAAAAAAACak/6-VcZYzhn5E/s1600-h/image%25255B62%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-1cjXo7kQOuU/U55eDyUaSKI/AAAAAAAACas/Zfmn_Sw0lJE/image_thumb%25255B34%25255D.png?imgmax=800" height="419" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="557" /></a> <br />
The nearby city where the chief was staying is home to a massive orphanage with over four-hundred children who have had one or both parents murdered for their faith in Christ. We have the amazing opportunity to show the love of Christ to these kids, ranging from age 6 to 18, and the opportunity to disciple them as Jesus commanded in Matthew 28, “Teaching them to obey all I have commanded you.” <br />
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The best way to train someone up is to bring them along with you and share your very life with them. As the apostle Paul said, “We were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” These youth and kids are so dear to us that we go to Africa to share our very lives; so for several days, we stayed at this orphanage and brought several young men with us to minister wherever we went. <br />
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So those who were once victimized by religious persecution are now boldly going with us to share before the leaders of villages. The Holy Spirit of God can turn any victim into a mighty warrior who backs down before nothing. Make no mistake; these young men will be used for amazing things in the Kingdom of God. Pray for them! <br />
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Visiting a Chief</h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrGm5wkmjFBm94DeK-IzZkYiIDooMpBd9capzWPT1qO5S8V1Rj1PfFxbdolSQgx_bY1wR24_uggK4wFY8JoJocI4dB7sRdGl5mFyfJZi6FAlIF5zB3bOPs1SyNgPEB8nEsVv0PHTp97QXO/s1600-h/image%25255B63%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-v1mHZeQyfTk/U55eHB6ZgII/AAAAAAAACa8/vlf-YLHMNRM/image_thumb%25255B35%25255D.png?imgmax=800" height="419" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="557" /></a><br />
On one of these days, we were determined to track down and visit the chief using the contact information we were given. Our local contacts managed to call someone he was staying with, and we received directions. Taking two young men with us from the orphanage, we passed through a labyrinth of tight streets and marketplaces until we finally arrived at our destination – a quiet part of the city that would have looked right at home in a post-apocalyptic film. <br />
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I briefly wondered if we’d made a terrible mistake as the man led us through this desolate place, but soon, we arrived at a covered entryway where the chief awaited us. As fast as his feeble legs could carry him, he raced out to us, greeting us warmly and expressing his disbelief that we’d actually traveled all this way to visit him. <br />
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He welcomed us and we exchanged pleasantries, eventually opening up the scriptures with him and sharing the gospel with him. The young men with us shared their testimonies and what Jesus meant to them and the chief and those sitting with us all listened intently. <br />
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<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ZXHu38eOgpE/U55eIKVeu-I/AAAAAAAACZE/JxeoNJyPjlw/s1600-h/image%25255B30%25255D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-s0g-jVSE7lE/U55eJC3o0kI/AAAAAAAACZM/mICwnKqbQMw/image_thumb%25255B16%25255D.png?imgmax=800" height="389" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; float: right; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="293" /></a>Then we told him the situation in his village – not many were coming to the church, and many had turned back to offering sacrifices to the gods of Africa. And as we spoke, the chief interrupted us, “This must not be! I will go back and tell the people to stop sacrificing to the gods and to begin attending church!” <br />
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“Wow,” I thought. Then we asked, “What about you? Are you going back and celebrating Ramadan? Are you once again sacrificing to the gods of Africa?” <br />
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The chief responded clearly, “Only Jesus can save me. Mohammad cannot save me, the gods of Africa have no power – I follow Jesus.” <br />
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God is saving even Muslim chiefs steeped in idolatry. If that is what He is doing now, imagine what He will continue to do in our lives. Pray for this man, that he will walk boldly in his confession and that many in his village will come to Christ. <br />
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<span style="color: #000040;">Stories of the Redeemed</span></h3>
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Here are some of the young men the Lord has put in my life at the orphanage, whom I have the privilege of encouraging and being encouraged by: <br />
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<strong>Ibriham</strong> <br />
<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Vfkbc_jcqGI/U55eKFLqocI/AAAAAAAACZU/t3LjSQzJfcc/s1600-h/image%25255B39%25255D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-n_fCyd_YVJQ/U55eK7iTRII/AAAAAAAACZc/V9ve7Bh0R4s/image_thumb%25255B21%25255D.png?imgmax=800" height="222" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; float: right; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="296" /></a>He has one more year left of schooling before he seeks to get a degree in music. His village was attacked and his family managed to escape right before a massacre, but his father returned to help others escape and never returned. They found his body by the riverside. Ibriham said, “When my father was murdered, I thought I would never stop crying,” but when he came to the orphanage, God comforted him so that he was able to write a song about how Jesus had dried up all his tears. He has a passion for missions work, and seeks to be a missionary when he finishes school. He is extremely strong in his faith, and it’s a privilege to serve the Lord alongside him. <br />
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<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-siF72FeiHbw/U55eNGyhDPI/AAAAAAAACZk/tA0zSqNI1cc/s1600-h/image%25255B46%25255D.png"><img align="left" alt="image" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ZgOQHXdFQ0Q/U55eN-whBcI/AAAAAAAACZo/aHWya-FlDdk/image_thumb%25255B24%25255D.png?imgmax=800" height="281" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="212" /></a><strong>Isaac</strong> <br />
This is my 12 year old buddy who has a passion for photography and drawing, and he is quite the artist. He follows us wherever we go, and although he doesn’t say much, I pray the Lord is using our example to minister to him. His father was a pastor who was murdered by extremists, and he has a sister at the orphanage I finally had the privilege of meeting. Please pray for him, that God would open his eyes and that he would fully commit himself to the Lord.<br />
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<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-tB7Uz5sQdpQ/U55eOXfMwgI/AAAAAAAACZw/5SQ0TjpRLs4/IMG_9265-001-8x6.jpg?imgmax=800" rel="thumbnail" title="Missions is serious business"><img border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-T0WsGM4LnA0/U55ePGHH8MI/AAAAAAAACZ8/hmsw2HCKUMg/IMG_9265-001%25255B26%25255D.png?imgmax=800" height="298" width="340" /></a></div>
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And by the way, all of these young men have a terrific sense of humor. Fellowship with them is about as warm as you can get, and I rejoice that I know each of them.<br />
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In the United States, if we live as Christians, at most we will be inconvenienced. Yet around the world, our brothers and sisters are imprisoned, raped, and murdered just because they choose to love Jesus more than any false way. Pray that God will give us the strength to live up to the example our persecuted family has set! <br />
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<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-T958sixAKgc/U55eQBsL8OI/AAAAAAAACaE/W9iVXC0vIiY/s1600-h/image%25255B60%25255D.png"><img align="right" alt="image" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZ5aE8hy2huvXeNraqC9imH_e2L1RqAZq_1O1UvbLmrc9XL7i7pHiJN52F6JURh3DvSuRZape1sVDIrQSTFk59HAjgNOBwh8NUP63jnLMuW0UjEhnIr8Y4b53syJb5laRpbJlwpAxUHKH/?imgmax=800" height="365" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; float: right; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="245" /></a><b>Fired at his job – Literally</b><br />
This past April, I had the privilege of being reunited with my friend Edwin once again in Central America. Shot by his boss in anger and forced to return to his home-town, he met Jesus on the back porch of our church building last February. He was baptized last July and has been faithfully serving the Lord, even inviting others to come to the church, I recently wrote a blog about his story here: <a href="http://adexios.blogspot.com/2014/05/edwins-story-1-year-later.html">http://adexios.blogspot.com/2014/05/edwins-story-1-year-later.html</a> <br />
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Please pray for him and the many others whose stories I have not even begun to cover here. <br />
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The Power of the Gospel</h3>
So you have seen the stories here. Now I will tell you what the Lord has put on my heart- the power of the gospel. I once preached in such a way to encourage believers using the scriptures, but something was missing— I was not proclaiming the gospel in every message. <br />
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Think about it, if the gospel has the power to turn a chief away from Islam and make him suddenly care about the spiritual state of his people, if the gospel has the power to dry up our tears, make us renounce our former ways, and endure imprisonments and beatings because of what our Lord Jesus Christ did for us, then imagine what effect it can have on the life of a believer! <br />
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I believe that the weakness we see in ourselves and in the local church is because we do not prioritize the preaching of the gospel. The apostle Paul once wrote that he was eager to preach the gospel to the church in Rome. Paul was ecstatic to preach the gospel to believers and to non-believers, that there would be a harvest – a harvest, I believe, of righteous living and of power. <br />
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If Jesus’s death on the cross has the power to transform a sinner, it also has the power to transform us and to remind us once again of God’s great love and the mighty power He demonstrated when he atoned for our sin and raised up Christ on the third day. <br />
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I believe that God will begin an incredible revival in our nation when the gospel is prioritized and preached once again in every message from every pulpit and from the lips of every believer. God is doing incredible things around the world when we preach Christ and His incredible sacrifice, so why not preach the same way here! <br />
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Therefore, please pray for me, that God will give me the words to say in preaching the gospel – that I will do it boldly and unashamed, and that He will continue to give me holiness and that He will continue to lead me in His ways. <br />
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I love you all in the Lord. Grace and peace to you, <br />
- Paul </div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-14575468572864162102014-06-06T15:02:00.001-07:002015-05-12T08:34:03.123-07:00If Death is the End...<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-CZ6Th4eosrA/U5I7S9458PI/AAAAAAAACXE/gkosrfvogJ8/s1600-h/IMG_8068%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_8068" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_8068" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-1mmp4G7lMHM/U5I7T8GoOnI/AAAAAAAACXM/0RK2UsjzAKk/IMG_8068_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="558" height="374"></a> <p>Life is full of tragedy, seemingly without meaning. One moment you’re basking in glory, and the next, stricken and searching for answers. <p>I once heard the story of a man who spent his life in preparation for serving the gospel. Leaving his family fortune behind, William Borden graduated from Yale, studied at Princeton theological seminary, and departed for further training in Egypt – a bright, brilliant star. <p>He died shortly after – a light snuffed out. If death is truly the end, then Bordon’s death was a pointless waste. <p>It all seemed so senseless to me until I read and understood <u>Micah 3:16-17</u>: <blockquote> <p>“…those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. ‘On the day when I act,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘they will be my treasured possession.’” </p></blockquote> <p>God’s purpose for our lives goes far deeper than ministry; He doesn’t want our ministry, He wants us. We are His treasured possession. <p>For the follower of Christ, death is not a period; it is a comma. God is not working on us so we can be more effective ministers; He is working on us because He loves us. Our story <b><i>begins</i></b><i>, not ends </i>at death. God didn’t end Borden’s story; he turned the page and started the next chapter, as if to say, “I cannot wait for you to come home, son—today is the day.” <blockquote> <p><u>Ephesians 2:6-7</u> says that “…God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” </p></blockquote> <p>God’s purpose for us is to display the riches of His grace to us. This is a task that will take all of eternity, since His grace is infinite. We will spend all of eternity watching as God unloads treasure after treasure from His infinite hoard of grace, mercy, and kindness. This is our story. <p>Life on this plane isn’t a movie; it doesn’t end with every loose end conveniently tied up, and we’re often left asking “Why” without hope of hearing an answer. <p>All of our pain, all of the seemingly senseless agony and tragedy of this life, all of our rejections and sufferings, and everything we’ve lost are all unwoven threads of an unfinished tapestry, but the day will come when all of our scars and all of our stories are woven together by the Master Weaver Himself. On that day alone will it finally make sense, but until then, we know that He is the God who walks with us through our pain. <p>Bordon understood this. One of the last things he wrote in his Bible before he died was this simple phrase, “No regrets.” <p>Welcome home, son. <p>Finally, it all makes sense.</p> Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-80782239143567291332014-05-04T22:07:00.001-07:002015-05-12T08:30:16.772-07:00Edwin’s Story – 1 Year Later<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-6Im-qY378yY/U2ccg-GNvRI/AAAAAAAACRU/cT-99HRUTM8/s1600-h/IMG_7791%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_7791" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-FB42WEIkJmk/U2cchnCbbbI/AAAAAAAACRY/d1lrF4kfAAU/IMG_7791_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="371" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_7791" width="555" /></a></div>
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At times, I feel it necessary to recount all the amazing things the Lord has done over the past year and a half, and how the Lord has used us to share hope with many in need. This is just one of the many incredible things the Lord is doing throughout the world. <br />
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Last February, we arrived in Honduras in time for the youth service to begin at the local church plant. David, one of the men who traveled with us had been sharing his heart for discipleship for men, and the passion had rubbed off on me. <br />
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<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-nt4z9evCmmY/U2cciEMmlRI/AAAAAAAACRk/opfx_qQwwns/s1600-h/IMG_7495%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img align="right" alt="IMG_7495" border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-39hdHZVNJMk/U2cci6iVhlI/AAAAAAAACRo/fUyUvddZK44/IMG_7495_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="206" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; float: right; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_7495" width="307" /></a>As the service began, I took notice of a young man I hadn’t seen before. He wore a serious expression on his face and looked out of place, as if he was new to this church thing and attempting to mimic the actions of those around him to fit in. <br />
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From the moment I saw him, I knew that the Lord had called me to minister to him in some way. When we serve the living God, we should not be surprised or afraid when He speaks to us and when His Spirit leads us. It’s only been recently that I realized I’m not crazy and that this is a part of the Christian experience. We serve a Living God who speaks to His people. <i>Deal with it, Paul</i>. <br />
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<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-6gKUEsmw2Ms/U2ccjmGizhI/AAAAAAAACR0/Y9pFdE4SfEA/s1600-h/IMG_7496%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img align="left" alt="IMG_7496" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigC_BdHNSasOxsViND1_xRY2zMiIcsvTqTE3wLpl9SNdfd6a0E1ikT26iL_hhtWUjFO182gQ2DxIAu0GpRZ4tptSSZN9lg7J5ARREdRiJdy1e7e0AJgIPfuJE4tUcc6UMq3ymG46T7RjwJ/?imgmax=800" height="212" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; float: left; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_7496" width="316" /></a>After the service ended, I pulled David over to speak to him. He told me his name was Edwin, and that he didn’t play much soccer or do anything beyond reading and spending time with his family due to a recent injury. Assuming he was a believer because he was in the church service (oops), we began to encourage him on what it meant to be a godly man and to pursue after God whole-heartedly. He hung on our every word and after we prayed for him, requested a Bible, because he wanted to search out the things of God for himself. <br />
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As he walked out from the double doors, I noticed him walking with a pronounced limp and figured it was just a soccer injury that kept him from playing. <br />
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The next night, he showed us a local Mayan pillar in a nearby field, and I noted his limp even more pronounced than before. When we arrived back at the church, I asked him about his limp. He told me he’d been shot in the ankle. In disbelief, I repeated the Spanish back to him, “Shot… as in… with a pistol?” <br />
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He pulled his jeans out of the way to show a clear entry and exit wound. I winced, asking him what happened. He told me that he’d been working for an angry man who shot him just because he couldn’t open a gate in time. As though needing to justify that he didn’t deserve getting shot, Edwin added, “And it turned out he’d given me the wrong set of keys!” <br />
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I asked Edwin if he’d called the police and he said, “No, I believe God is calling me to forgive that man, and besides that, he would kill me.”<br />
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<i>Solid reasoning there, </i>I thought to myself.<br />
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As Edwin continued his story, he told me that just three days before our conversation, he had returned to his home town in Honduras – the town we were now visiting– and had begun to attend our church with his mother. Even though Edwin said he knew that God had placed him there and that God was calling him to forgive, I realized that he was not yet saved. <br />
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The call to dinner sounded, and I was getting ready to leave him when one of the other team members suggested that I invite him to join us, which he did gladly. We ate together at the end of the table near one of the elders, continuing our conversation. After dinner we opened the scriptures in the Bible we’d given him the night before. Passage after passage, we began to show him the gospel – Christ and Christ crucified as the only way of salvation. More of the elders arrived, and every passage we showed him, he continued to read long past the verses we’d recommended. <br />
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<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-bp4IZdDaNLg/U2cckn_BpOI/AAAAAAAACSE/z7H7OoRJjzo/s1600-h/IMG_4006%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img align="right" alt="IMG_4006" border="0" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-9fgRKPIpP34/U2cclCfWTBI/AAAAAAAACSI/_px-mDd0uF8/IMG_4006_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="356" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; float: right; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_4006" width="239" /></a>It was clear that he was hungry for the word of God, and that the Spirit of God was working on his heart even there as we answered his questions and took him through passage after passage. Finally, we asked if he was ready to receive Christ and he agreed, but I wanted to be sure, so I warned him that life as a believer also included the promise of persecutions and hardship. <br />
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It was here that he stuttered. He told us he wasn’t ready for that yet. <br />
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Years ago, I would have prayed for him, told him to read the scriptures, and moved on— but not tonight. The Lord had bigger things in store for him. <br />
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Instead, we asked him if we could go through more passages in the scriptures, and he agreed. <br />
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Diving back in, we saw the lights continue to come on as the Lord used His scriptures to open his eyes. Finally, we asked him again, “Are you ready to come to faith in Christ? You will face persecution, but He is worthy.” <br />
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Nothing would hinder him this time. There, at the end of the table, long after the meal had ended, Edwin met Jesus Christ. <br />
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<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-KUn1Xo0Bvgs/U2ccl8cB36I/AAAAAAAACSU/BQduYw8Phyg/s1600-h/IMG_7802%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img align="left" alt="IMG_7802" border="0" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-OaTKGgMwbME/U2ccmZ1b_7I/AAAAAAAACSY/fTBJ6DSaGUs/IMG_7802_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="329" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; float: left; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_7802" width="221" /></a>Smiling, he stood up from his seat and announced, “I just met Jesus!” And he worked his way down the table, announcing the good news to everyone at the table. His countenance had completely changed, and joy beamed from his usually serious face. <br />
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It took a bullet to the leg, a journey back home, and our unusually early arrival the evening of the youth service, but joy came to his life at last. God will save His own; He works out everything for their good. <br />
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One year later, Edwin has been baptized and is not only continuing to grow in the Lord, but he is also bringing another man to the church, and the cycle of hope is continuing. His hunger for the word has not diminished and he desires to carry the gospel to many. His life, though still serious, is now serious about knowing and serving Jesus Christ. I cannot wait to see what the Lord does in his life.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7g1lIECK_3A_7Cx7dYLNhAOWp1sBumx1Kc6tzGsmMcN1txkEyAf__tjDn3ry7v5bxXrd0mW6QrseOqXfJiudufF-veAiW9G3_2HCmFs8DGnkKLdcl6sbdGhqGJTGeT8UgU5yKf4ujCEm8/s1600-h/IMG_1377%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_1377" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-efbYaU0XbG0/U2ccn8tc1CI/AAAAAAAACSo/5MWjMnP_Ufs/IMG_1377_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" height="367" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IMG_1377" width="549" /></a><br />
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Please pray for Edwin, that God would continue to grow his love and his passion for the gospel. <br />
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Grace and peace to you, <br />
<br />
- Paul</div>
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Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-55629052338408461642014-04-17T21:15:00.001-07:002015-05-12T08:35:34.438-07:00A New Command - Meditations on Maunday Thursday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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“A new command I give
you: Love one another.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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These words must have echoed in the apostle’s ears as they
sat in the quiet of the upper room. A new command from the Teacher? What would
He ask of them? The last time a great prophet gave commandments, the law was
born.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But Jesus simply said, “Love one another.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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This was not a new command. Even in the old law, God
commanded His people to love their neighbors as themselves, even to the point
of loving a foreigner as if he was one of your own, so this concept was not new.
But then Jesus added this:<o:p></o:p></div>
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“As I have loved you,
so you must love one another.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is where things get harder. Jesus had just humbled
Himself to take on the task of a lowly servant – washing their feet, and He was
about to do something far more than that, He was about to love them so much that
He would give His life for them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This means that the command of Christ is that we must serve
one another even to the point of death. Our brothers and sisters must be so
valuable to us, so lovely in our eyes, that we are willing to die out of our
love for them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is a high and lofty goal, but it doesn’t work out so
easily in real life. We gossip about each other, we say hurtful things, we get
insulted and hurt and fight with one another. But Jesus calls us to a higher
standard – the competition to lay aside our own ambitions and desires that we
may serve people the same way He did.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Imagine if we all humbled ourselves to make our brothers and
sisters look better. Imagine if we began thinking of the needs of others as
more valuable than our own. Imagine if, when we heard a brother or sister was
gossiping about us, we were quick to pray for them and rush to their service.
Imagine if we repaid one another’s insults with kindness. What would the church
look like then?<o:p></o:p></div>
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“By this everyone
will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Everyone would know that we were disciples of Jesus if we
loved one another like this, and they would be forced to admit that God indeed
was among us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Remember that we will be with one another forever in our
Father’s house, so here’s the challenge. Find someone in the church you have
had difficulty with in the past. Go serve them, remembering how Christ served
you. It will be difficult; your flesh will hate it, but you will be a living
example of Jesus Christ, and the power of living like Him is unfathomable.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-54313923455805220632013-04-08T19:59:00.001-07:002015-05-12T08:30:16.762-07:00Don’t Tell Me Miracles Don’t Happen<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-WhGpFIulfJA/UWOD5Qz297I/AAAAAAAACBY/3BfSrTaOLaY/s1600-h/20130107-20130118_Nigeria%252520S.O.S%252520Ministries-356%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="20130107-20130118_Nigeria S.O.S Ministries-356" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="20130107-20130118_Nigeria S.O.S Ministries-356" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-C7fEWRmqW0w/UWOD6IOzx9I/AAAAAAAACBc/yP1feQwhuQ0/20130107-20130118_Nigeria%252520S.O.S%252520Ministries-356_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="559" height="374"></a></p> <p>Why doesn’t God work in signs and wonders and miracles as He did in the past? I hear this asked all the time, but with all due respect to the question, He does.</p> <p>The greatest miracle happens every day. An infinite gap crossed, an un-payable debt paid, death crossed over to life, a soul regenerated—yes, salvation. Salvation still happens today, and that is the greatest miracle of all. And if you think this is a cheap shot at the answer, consider this: any other miracle God does on this earth is temporary. Even when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, it still resulted in a second physical death for him. Only salvation lasts for all eternity. <p>And the change accompanying salvation baffles the secular mind. Some of the most loathsome people become, to the shock of everyone around them, some of the kindest. Still more amazing is that the change doesn’t end with the night and day transformation from old to new, it continues, growing ever brighter to the full dawn of day, and then onward for all eternity as we come to know Him more. <p>Sometimes we learn the answers to life’s questions in books and quiet conversation in the house, and other times God teaches them in the dusty, stifling heat of an impoverished village swallowed up in the middle of the African wilderness. <p>This past January in Nigeria was a perfect reminder of this miracle that continues to amaze me. Thanks everyone for your prayers and support, making this one of the most powerful and encouraging trips I’ve been on yet. <p><b><font size="3"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-r28nvYAk7Ug/UWOD6-XW2KI/AAAAAAAAB-I/xzNuPQBQowc/s1600-h/IMG_9403%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9403" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9403" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-VOJX13PLtlU/UWOD7iUAkcI/AAAAAAAAB-Q/-luupYt4oq0/IMG_9403_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="553" height="370"></a></font></b></p> <p align="left"><b><font size="3">Makoko: Bittersweet Reunion</font></b></p> <p>The town of Makoko is the poorest place I have ever been in my life; people survive in ramshackle huts stationed over still, rancid water full of garbage and human waste. In this terrible place, the life expectancy hovers around 25. If these troubles were not enough, the government is attempting to destroy the entire community for being an eyesore without providing so much as another place to live. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-saRwUfieozU/UWOD8ZIkBlI/AAAAAAAAB-Y/py6ZDSHF5fE/s1600-h/IMG_9421%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9421" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_9421" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRLILPuyci7AtVv-dIPMBX2wF3_tMSioIQOKIEXyaOrFSOWnS9Iybnk62lvaz9-jfoSDV3K75MzG2Au4K-GFzhoNx19zCtMqYshzVndta3yQwhCxBJVlc6uf_qy1_TcU-f4a2BZvM6n9aS/?imgmax=800" width="302" height="203"></a>But there is hope. The chief and some of the high ranking officials in the village have professed faith in Christ and are being discipled, albeit slowly. As we pulled up to the chief’s hut in our canoe, I wondered what condition we would find him, since this is the first time I have seen him since the government started tearing down parts of his city. We climbed up the staircase to the upper room where the Chief holds his meetings. It’s sparsely furnished with shaky benches to sit on and rests atop a building about as stable as a house of cards in an earthquake. This is the best Makoko has to offer. <p>When we sat down and started talking to the chief, he told us how he was fighting for his people, even while he was under pressure from the government and the village. He said that Christ alone would rescue the village, and that he’d refused people’s attempts to get him to use charms from the local superstitions to aid him. On the other hand, he also rebuffed offers by the government to make him a very rich man in return for betraying his people. We were overjoyed to hear that the chief is walking in integrity since his salvation. <p>But then we asked him, “What will happen if the government still tears down your land and God allows this, what then?” <p>Without hesitation he said, “Even if they take our land from us, we will still follow Christ wherever we go.” <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-GyYPDR-kggg/UWTEyIH8DnI/AAAAAAAACCE/N6Hvrz4h-2w/s1600-h/IMG_9392%25255B1%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9392" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_9392" align="left" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-UuiU9OpOEfw/UWOD-ICt73I/AAAAAAAACCI/bdyIHaqYHjw/IMG_9392_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="453"></a>I was incredibly encouraged to hear this. God does not promise us physical victory over every situation, only the contentment to glorify God and to demonstrate the power of Christ in every situation. In this world we will have trouble, but Christ has overcome it all. <p>Yet not all was well, because the first thing we noticed about the chief was that he was wearing a Muslim’s outfit with the outline of a beautifully architected mosque. When we asked him about it, he wisely replied that man looks on the outside appearance, but God looks on the heart. <p>While it’s true that God looks at the heart, man still looks on the outside appearance. This means that your outside appearance can affect your testimony. As an example, even though it would be safer for me to do so, I would never wear a Muslim prayer cap when visiting the Middle East, because I am not a Muslim. <p>So pray for the Chief. He is doing well in the Lord, but there is yet wisdom for him to grow in, and the pressure on him is unrelenting. <p><b><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Y1DMfmrIA-A/UWOD-1Yr1WI/AAAAAAAAB-4/qNwj1sER0MU/s1600-h/IMG_9656%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9656" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9656" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-up71932dv3M/UWOD_p3aqcI/AAAAAAAAB_A/xUR3pajNzg8/IMG_9656_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="550" height="368"></a></b></p> <p align="center"><strong><font size="3">Sprouting Seeds</font></strong></p> <p>In one of the villages we visit near the place where we stay, the people mix Islam along with local superstition to produce an idolatrous hybrid of the two. While they attend the mosque regularly, they also sacrifice to the gods of Africa, but even here, the seeds of the gospel planted over the past two years have begun to take root. <p>When we arrived for our first visit, we went to see the chief in his hut and found several elders distressed at our presence there, complaining that we were there to lead them away from their old religion. And the chief, a Muslim man, actually rebuked them, saying that we had only done good for the village. <p>This is a living example of <u>1 Peter 2:12</u>- <i>“Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”</i></p> <p><i><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-sCFMR1aTF2s/UWOEA5tN0gI/AAAAAAAAB_I/e7EKl_NYUCU/s1600-h/20130107-20130118_Nigeria%252520S.O.S%252520Ministries-357%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="20130107-20130118_Nigeria S.O.S Ministries-357" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="20130107-20130118_Nigeria S.O.S Ministries-357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT1dZlLMd7wU-qxHyPnqGWDVBHqYDanJWN00itq-GzdYj6VPFAiNrYtiNaAIGM057TcHRolzYzbhhykkTSfkZ3EFLWB8_Q6Kk4dVf0g3dAngOJO9UTxPlevfJfHhEev8neOVn-gstXskuD/?imgmax=800" width="549" height="367"></a></i></p> <p>Despite the controversy, the chief and the elders all came to hear two hours of teaching, and afterward I was shocked to discover that we had finished a fully functioning water well for the village. Since my last visit in May, we not only started drilling, but also completed it, a borehole sunk over eighty meters deep into fresh water. In the commissioning ceremony, we handed out glasses of pure, clean water from the well: crystal clear and sparking in the afternoon light. The chief, several of the elders, and even a few members of the team from the States, myself included, drank of the water! <p>This is the first time I have ever drunk any more than an accidental drop of local water, and here I was drinking an entire glass of the stuff, to no ill effect. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-IuASLdI4f7U/UWOECD7RwgI/AAAAAAAAB_Y/WDdTdDMGgpA/s1600-h/IMG_9648%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9648" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_9648" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIunBZ2I9-B5Cqoj7ubrNEac8p_0MO4JHIvDO_VSUmpbA01SyLlGhXEsKEMBm5nh9VN6VYbW6Y2M30cBnqX-fM4kkPM5ad6xtaZFFXEdx8dFqjGHg5rK6ar1PUqfwwHYQITyF34fF9JVBZ/?imgmax=800" width="271" height="182"></a></p> <p>What this means is that the water is so clear, so pure, and so healthy that even weak American immune systems can handle it. This will not only change the health of the entire village, but their way of life as well. Instead of walking down a steep path into a ravine with fetid water, now the locals have a source of water right in the village, and the women we asked said it had already changed their lives, and they thanked us profusely.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-EOczk1Pm07A/UWOEDS91nqI/AAAAAAAAB_o/KKsXxgVIHxg/s1600-h/IMG_9651%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9651" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_9651" align="left" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ioZBH84ERU4/UWOED3CcE3I/AAAAAAAAB_w/-KlTPPq9aRE/IMG_9651_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="272" height="183"></a>But even better than pure, clear, drinking water is the living water that Christ offers. No matter how clear the water, no matter how much their health improves as a result, they will still die. So imagine how encouraged we were when we talked to the chief, and he told us that he had turned from idolatry, saying, “The idols cannot save us- because we made them, but Jesus Christ lives in the heavens. Only He can help us.” One of the first converts, a man named Solomon, told us that all of his children had become Christians over the past two years, and his wife had become a believer even over the past year. <p>The signs of the change are spreading throughout the village. We passed housing for idols that now stood empty, with the locals wondering what to do with their extra storage space. And the chief told us that for the first time in the history of the village, there was unity. <p align="center"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-LxvjnbBDU6E/UWOEEtyAIgI/AAAAAAAAB_4/XqoplBgW_X8/s1600-h/20130107-20130118_Nigeria%252520S.O.S%252520Ministries-28%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRYDuysP9wUMZ_OEbkY4yyUTe5NmVeje0t1IJFw8U2wLQDpA3xX5qEAcx8d1nYCXnepL9m3TxK95XJYix7EJ61xi8Q2LSTwmAnLlNGgZ3uZ1_AWSvk-ZjQQdHUCpnDyo3F5A37VK89AM3R/?imgmax=800" width="542" height="363"></a><br><em>The chief (left)</em><br></p> <p align="center"><strong>Born of the Spirit</strong> <p>After the team left, I returned to the village with only one of our translators, finding it surprisingly empty. I was slightly concerned, not even two years prior a group of youth had threatened an earlier team. Would there be a surprise waiting for us?</p> <p>We made our way through the empty town square, relieved to find the chief sitting in the breezeway in his home. After greeting us, he told me he only had a few minutes because he was leaving for the nearby city. I was downcast because I had prepared a teaching that would take at least forty minutes. Resigning myself to the new circumstances, I began to teach <u>1 Peter 1:3-8</u> about the living hope of Jesus Christ, and very quickly, the chief got lost in translation, possibly because my translator still has troubles understanding my English. </p> <p>The Lord works in many ways to bring humility into my life. I breathed a prayer with a sigh, giving up on 1 Peter. At the Lord’s leading, I switched back to the original plan: recounting Elijah’s life and trials, and weaving the story told in 1 Kings 17 along with the idea that Jesus is our living hope. <p>As I spoke, men gradually filtered in, including some of the village elders, listening and hanging on every word. The chief’s ride arrived, and he also stayed for the whole time. <p>This message was not evangelistic in nature, and I know that it was not my superior storytelling that intrigued the men. I was using the life of Elijah to show them that if they came to Christ, it would actually make their lives more difficult. It wasn’t the best sales pitch, but we aren’t called to be salesmen. It is the Lord who calls. <p>When I finished, and all became quiet, the chief spoke, “Gradually the entire village will turn from idolatry to serve the living God. Please pray that God will give us the power to turn to Jesus Christ.” <p>That is incredible theology from a man either unsaved or newly born into the faith. <p>As my translator began to pray for the village, I noticed the chief praying quietly along with the him. When they finished, I felt a strong leading from the Lord to ask if the men were ready to receive Christ, telling them that I would think nothing less of them if they did not, but they were resolute. So I told them to pray—to deal with God right there. We would not tell them what to pray- no ‘sinner’s prayer’ here; this was to be a conversation between them and God. <p>Before I even knew what was happening, the men had bowed their heads and were praying quietly, and right there in the dark breezeway of the chief’s hut, the men began to pray. The air was electric; something inside me said that the Spirit was moving, and at the moment their lips began to move, the still air in the hut gave way before a sudden rush of wind that blew through the hallway. Not once before was there so much as a breath of air, and not once afterward; it reminded me that Jesus said that being born of the Spirit was like the wind: you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. <p>When that powerful moment concluded, we said our goodbyes, and one of the elders asked us if he could ride part of the way back with us. As the car jolted and lurched along the dirt tracks I would hardly call a road, I spoke with him, asking him his name and things about his family. Finally, I asked him how what he thought about the teaching and he said, “Today, I received Christ.” <p>I was stunned and amazed; the Lord used this weak vessel, these frail lips to accomplish the ultimate miracle—spiritual resurrection. Others did the hard work, sowing in hard soil and tilling rough ground, and I reaped what I did not labor for. For the rest of that day, I had a huge grin plastered on my face, even occasionally bursting out laughing for no reason at all, so great was my joy.</p> <p align="center"><img title="IMG_9685" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_9685" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-z5_w9Efrdkw/UWOEFi7OQAI/AAAAAAAACAI/KYWQ0GZJjPY/IMG_9685_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="546" height="365"><em>People from the village waving goodbye</em></p> <p>But even in my joy I also, with guarded caution, ask you to pray for the elder who confessed Christ, that the seed that sprouted in his life has found its way onto good soil. Please be praying for our new brother, bearing in mind that perhaps this was one of the elders who was initially complaining about our presence in the village. <p>God showed me three things that day: He is strong, He is loving, and He uses even a frail man of flesh like myself to carry eternal life to others. <p align="left"><b><font size="3">Sobering Reality</font><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-BcuWoi2N6gw/UWOEGDv7zUI/AAAAAAAACAQ/uu_YNFPzBcs/s1600-h/20130107-20130118_Richard%252527Elizabeth%252527Paul-79%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="20130107-20130118_RichardElizabethPaul-79" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="20130107-20130118_RichardElizabethPaul-79" align="right" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-8mAL-O1YwPg/UWOEGysvqUI/AAAAAAAACAY/S0bR8Sb0MZ0/20130107-20130118_Richard%252527Elizabeth%252527Paul-79_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="180" height="268"></a></b> </p> <p>While the gospel is on the move in some places, it appears to have stalled in one of the first villages we ministered to, where the message was first received with joy. Like the seed that sprouted quickly in the rocky soil only to wither away in the scorching sun, the people have mostly turned back to their old ways, exiling Amos, the only man who continues to attend the church, because he refuses to participate in local sacrifices to the gods of Africa. <p>We exhorted Amos not to grow bitter but to love those who threw him and his family out of the village. Pray for him, even that he may one day return and minister to the community who hated him. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-n-Y7dbGTJfI/UWOEHvXEuyI/AAAAAAAACAg/IeiMzSyPkxo/s1600-h/20130107-20130118_Richard%252527Elizabeth%252527Paul-149%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="Meeting with the chief of Akonkon." style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Meeting with the chief of Akonkon." align="right" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-3hzKMq0sk9A/UWOEIKFYpKI/AAAAAAAACAo/nvjKWAzt8pE/20130107-20130118_Richard%252527Elizabeth%252527Paul-149_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="278" height="187"></a>The chief of the village is an old man who my heart is incredibly burdened for. He is over 90 years old, surviving so many years to finally hear the gospel which he at first received, and is now rejecting. Please pray for him, and pray that God would give us the wisdom to know how to show kindness in the face of their persecution, so that perhaps they may also come to Christ. <p align="center"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-R_yC-DOd8co/UWOEJDNi2uI/AAAAAAAACAw/5r2RFINvguk/s1600-h/20130107-20130118_Richard%252527Elizabeth%252527Paul-182%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="20130107-20130118_RichardElizabethPaul-182" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="20130107-20130118_RichardElizabethPaul-182" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-4cPXZ-qiOqE/UWOEJgiP7II/AAAAAAAACA4/UHKl0R46-g4/20130107-20130118_Richard%252527Elizabeth%252527Paul-182_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="552" height="369"></a><br><em>Preaching the gospel message in the village</em></p> <p>Yet even here, the gospel is sprouting in the surrounding communities. In a nearby village, where many people walk thirty minutes to attend the distant service outside the village, the elder and another man asked us for just one thing: Bibles. Imagine that! They know we already put in a well nearby, and yet the only thing the chief is concerned with is receiving living water. Pray for this community, and pray that God would supply the means for us to drill for water here as well.</p> <p>UPDATE: Since I originally wrote this, eleven people from the village that exiled Amos are now attending services once again. Pray that they would persevere!</p> <p align="center"><b><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-XUutmoX7piQ/UWOEKfeDgcI/AAAAAAAACBA/3oAI0KZFRps/s1600-h/20130107-20130118_Richard%252527Elizabeth%252527Paul-83%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="20130107-20130118_RichardElizabethPaul-83" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="20130107-20130118_RichardElizabethPaul-83" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-V4wNWzeLPJo/UWOELLsHMLI/AAAAAAAACBI/z92WiuWszVA/20130107-20130118_Richard%252527Elizabeth%252527Paul-83_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="558" height="373"></a></b><em>Isaac (right)</em></p> <p align="center"><b>The Face of Persecution</b> <p>It is not only Amos who is facing persecution, for in the north, our brothers and sisters are facing death every day for their faith. We spent several days ministering in a home for the orphans of such persecution. And it was during one of the teaching times when I was sitting in the back with an orphan on my lap when the awful truth hit me. “This little one’s parents were violently taken from him, something he may even have witnessed.” <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-9OWVcbfUslU/UWTEzu511TI/AAAAAAAACBs/ipfi0somIpI/s1600-h/20130107-20130118_Nigeria%252520S.O.S%252520Ministries-83%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="20130107-20130118_Nigeria S.O.S Ministries-83" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="20130107-20130118_Nigeria S.O.S Ministries-83" align="right" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-l3T3XqiOgjA/UWTE0TB7uGI/AAAAAAAACB0/zWLRCL2gZmY/20130107-20130118_Nigeria%252520S.O.S%252520Ministries-83_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="302" height="203"></a>And I looked around at each one of the children’s faces. Each of the 311 children there have lost one or both parents violently. I knew this on a fact level already, but it was then that it hit me hard, and it was all I could do to keep from weeping. <p>Another boy named Isaac came up to me my first day there and asked me, “Will you be my friend?” <p>I said yes, hoping I’d be able to pick out his face from among the hundreds, and by the grace of God I was able to single him out the next day. He came with us to minister in the villages, and while we were walking the path, one of the children from a neighboring village was telling me, “I want to be a banker, and my dad’s a pastor!” <p>Isaac, who was walking next to me, commented, “My dad was a pastor too. But then they killed him.” <p>Again, I was struck and speechless. The things these children have been through are things that no child should ever experience. This world is broken and fleeting; I pray our Lord comes quickly. <p>So the question remains: Is Christ worth it? Is He worth our very lives? Is he worth being exiled for and estranged for? Is He worth losing your parents over? Here in the states we do not face this kind of persecution, yet we are timid about sharing the gospel. When will we too count the cost, saying that Jesus Christ is worth it? When will we agree with the apostle Paul that to live is Christ and to die is gain? <p>I encourage you all to consider the courageous examples of our brothers and sisters in Nigeria who remain true till death. Go preach the Word while it is still legal—while we remain free to do so. Pray for our brothers and sisters who are suffering in Nigeria, that they will remain faithful even to death. <p>Thank you all for your participation in the ministry through your prayers and support. I could not go and experience such amazing things for the Kingdom without you. Please keep praying that I will share the gospel with boldness as I should, both stateside and abroad. <p>Pressing on in the faith, <p>- Paul</p> Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4695803001163993191.post-59928023754943509202013-04-07T20:46:00.001-07:002015-05-12T08:34:45.157-07:00Immortality<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Though man is mortal, he can attempt to outlive his frail body by attaching himself to a cause that transcends himself. And to an extent, it is true: we remember the acts of great men throughout the ages, their hands stretching across the expanse of time to affect our lives long after their bodies have decayed. We take their names on our lips, remembering their actions and their heroism. Through u</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">s, they have achieved a kind of life beyond the grave.<br /><br />But every cause man devises, no matter how noble, will eventually fail.<br /><br />To live forever, he must attach himself to a cause that transcends himself- an immortal, indestructible cause that will outlive every kingdom and plot of man. Only the cause of Christ has such power to survive.<br /><br />Men give their lives for many causes, both noble and otherwise, but the man who gives himself up for the cause of Christ will find the very thing he gave returned to him with eternal interest.<br /><br />Every other cause takes your life. This one gives it back.</span></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876701195892878069noreply@blogger.com