Tim and Don leave tomorrow for Ecuador to attend GPHD graduations and introduce God’s Plan for His Church (GPHC) to Quechua leaders. The agenda for this trip is listed here so you can be praying that God the Spirit will work in every heart. (GPHD = God’s Plan for His Disciples). January 12 - Arrive in Quito. January 13-15 – Travel to Riobamba and Ambato to Introduce GPHD to the Quechua Church. January 16-17 - Visit Juan in Puyo to encourage him in the Lord’s work. January 18 – Travel from Puyo to Quito. January 19-20 - Fly to Guayaquil for GPHD graduation and introduce GPHC to Quechua churches. January 20 – Fly back to Quito for a GPHD graduation. January 21-22 - GPHD Graduation at an Otavalo church and attend the Sunday Service with Pablo. January 23 - Visit Barry and Marlene (translators) and depart in the PM for home. Please be in prayer for this very important event that God will go before them and work through them. Tom left today (1/11) for Uganda to introduce the Arabic GPHD in refugee camps for Sudanese. This is a significant opportunity. He will be there until January 24th, so we ask that you also keep this opportunity in prayer.
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As we look back on the formation of the Early Church and note the monumental changes that were taking place as the Spirit came and filled the apostles and disciples, we can understand their wonder. They heard the apostle tell “in their own tongues the mighty works of God. All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’” (Acts 2:12).
“Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them” (14). He did not use any human explanation but used the Old Testament Scriptures to connect the events of that day with God’s promises and prophecies. Those present in Jerusalem on that day were “Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven” (5). These men knew the Old Testament. In quoting Joel 2:28-32, these men would immediately make the connection. There are two aspects of Pentecost that should challenge us.
“Praise be to God for helping us complete GPHD. We held the graduation on January 2nd in Eldoret for participants trained last year. We are looking forward to our first training of the year for a whole week from January 23rd - 28th. We also have an invitation to teach GPHD in Uganda. They have requested training for 50 pastors and church leaders. Prayers: that the Holy Spirit will take charge and lead us during the training while ministering to His people and for traveling mercies.” The goal of all missionary endeavors should be worship. The path we take to secure worship from every nation, tribe and tongue is the gospel. This was Paul’s passion!
“For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience--by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation” (Romans 15:18–20). If we were to read all of Paul’s letters at one time, we would notice that he was ‘gospel-centric,’ meaning that his life and ministry revolved around the gospel and the gospel dictated all he did and how he did it. Because the gospel is built on Christ alone, that is why he refused to boast of any accomplishment except what Christ had done through him. Those nations that heard and received the gospel were worshipping the Lord through those who believed. It was Paul’s aim, and must be ours, that every nation not obeying the gospel would hear it through its proclamation. Is this our goal and passion? It will cause us to want the Spirit to powerfully work in and through us to this end – WORSHIP In our Zoom prayer time the other evening, we were reminded of what God is doing in the S. E. Asian country of Laos. One pastor left the church in a city to evangelize villages that have never heard the gospel. God has made this work very fruitful. With little or no education, the new believers are drinking from God’s Word with enthusiasm that is rarely found anywhere else.
This reminds me of the advice from Oswald J. Smith in his book, The Challenge of Missions. “As soon as they have been won to Christ, send them out as evangelists to their own people. The native is the key to the situation” (page 63). Indigenous converts are the best evangelists! Let’s not forget that evangelist John the Baptist merely proclaimed Jesus as “the Lamb of God” (John 1:36). Two men heard this and followed Jesus (38). Andrew was one of these two and was so convinced that he went and got his brother Simon Peter. The preaching was not a program or a gimmick to get people to attend a certain place. It was simply the person of Jesus. He is enough! This subject of being of “one accord” or “one spirit with one mind” was very much on Paul’s heart as he sat in a prison cell writing letters to certain churches.
“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27). “So, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind” (2:1–2). Paul makes it clear that his concern for their unity was not to avoid conflict in the church but for a much greater reason – the gospel! Walking together in unity is a direct reflection of the gospel of Christ and shows to others that we are serious about being models of Christ as we live the gospel. He makes one more point in chapter two. Their unity in the gospel, “striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” completed his joy! I challenge you to examine what gives you fulfillment in ministry. Is it numbers, money, a growing church facility, or a larger ministry staff? If any of these things are what bring you more joy than what the gospel is producing in making disciples, your focus is in the wrong place. There are occasions in our ministry when we are overwhelmed with the goodness of the Lord! So many opportunities bring the challenge of how to meet the demands for time, travel, translation, and printing. Often the answers do not come until just in time, right before the need is on us.
In these moments we find ourselves reflecting again on the Early Church and how God moved His Word and work forward. We noticed a most important characteristic that prepared the disciples for the Spirit to fill them and move them to accomplish His will and work. “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers” (Acts 1:14). Over the years I have noticed how the Spirit moves among God’s people when they come together in prayer to seek His will and guidance. That unity is from the Spirit and brings our hearts into alignment with the will of God. “SOUTH SUDAN is a country where around 10% are believers, but the gospel is not growing at all. Joshua Project reports that there is 0% conversion growth so the church and leaders we trained were eager to learn how they can reach others using GPHD. The picture shows a progression of the ministry we experienced in Juba. The church had a number of children, and we pray that their churches will reach the next generation, and 21 people responded to the gospel in a service on Sunday morning. After our training, young leaders including the three pictured were planning a strategy to reach the people who live in rural villages around the city. We ended our trip in EGYPT with a gathering of leaders and pastors in Cairo that are part of a growing church planting movement. Some dressed in traditional garb are reaching a segment in the culture that value their ancient culture while others seemed more modern in their dress and approach. Regardless of these differences, they all were very engaged and interested in how to make disciples throughout their country. We faced some challenges, such as a traditionalism that refuses to change in light of Scripture, but we fully believe God will accomplish all His Word was sent to do. Thank you for praying!” (Randy) These two days give us so much to pray for. May are hearts unite around God’s purpose for the nations that will bring Him eternal glory. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth,making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 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.” Isaiah 55:10-11
“A couple of days before Thanksgiving, Tim and I headed to the Middle East to join with another ministry that is actively planting churches in Iraq, South Sudan & Egypt. We knew that God opened this opportunity for us, and our sole focus was to help this ministry develop a discipleship emphasis that can be multiplied in any culture. IRAQ is a country where key Old Testament events took place. The tower of Babel is located in the southern part, the same area where the Babylonian Empire had its capital. Abraham was from Ur of Chaldees in the south and Nineveh where Jonah preached is northern Iraq. While we did not visit any of these places, we knew we were in a place of huge historic proportions where only .29% of the people are true evangelical believers and 98% are completely unreached peoples. We were pleased that over 40 key leaders gathered to be trained to use God’s Plan for His Disciples (GPHD), and we believe God will use the seeds planted for fruitful ministry.” (Randy) Several months ago, Tim and Terry introduced GPHD in Nepal (Nepali language). It was well received and one of our contacts there is already introducing the training to nearly 40 churches. Here is a brief report on a “dangerous” trip last week to carry these books to different areas. “My wife and I packed up our luggage and books and started our journey on a bike. It is 200 km and we were escorted by the pastor's son because we didn't know the route. He took us the shortest route and we were told that it will take four hours, but it took us six hours because the road was very bad and full of dust and rough. Also, it was very dangerous as it went through the mountains where the roads were scary, steep, without any bars on the edge. If one falls off the edge, it will land him 1000 meters below without any access to help. So, we were very prayerful and careful on our bike. At 7 pm we reached our destination and had food and straight to bed. We were supposed to start at 10 am, but people came late as some of them had travelled from other nearby districts as well. I could not believe that participants were from 13 different churchesfrom three different places: Sindhuli, Makwanpur, and Hetauda. There were 45 altogether.” Join us in praying that these disciples will discover a new love for God’s Word through GPHD and that transformation will take place. |
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