 "We thank God for starting our VBS and Young Disciples on November 27th running through to December 3rd in Nairobi. There are 175 children attending and 39 decided to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We give God glory for His work. The children are mainly from Kibera slums and so we are providing transport and meals in addition to training materials.
The Lord is doing something beautiful. Kindly keep praying for us that provisions and more of Him will be given during these training sessions. We trust God one day at a time. Thank you for being part of this. Kindly join us in praying against our enemy, for we know that Christ is building His Church, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. Between December 5th - 6th, we are planning to train pastors and other church leaders in Matunda, and another one in Lopur, Turkana. Then on December 7th - 8th, we will be in Lopur which is over 850 km from Nairobi and accessing it is very difficult." We just received this information, so with a few days left in their training schedule, lets be diligent in prayer for God to use His word in a way that will impact this next generation.
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We never know exactly how printing in other countries is going to work out. A lot depends on their knowledge of the printing process, the type of equipment they have, the quality of paper available and ability to do a good binding. Often, we must accept what is available.
Reactions to our material vary depending on whether the printer is a Christian or not. In one Asian country, the printer was a Muslim who stated that our book, God's Plan for His Disciples met all the requirements of his government. In addition, "this was the best imported paper we put in the book. Its quality is guaranteed, and the colorful pictures will look absolutely beautiful and colorful. After proofreading the entire book, work is starting on it." Then the printer added in a separate text, "After reading it (GPHD), he said that it is a perfect book and it cannot hurt anyone's heart, so legally we can print it." How grateful we are that God has led us to printers that not only consider our safety and interests but want to produce a quality product for those we train. I was just thinking about God's work in the beginning of creation when Genesis 1:26 records that "God said, "Let us (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) make man in our image, after our likeness." As if to remind us that Adam's sin could not derail God's plan, chapter 5:1 says, "When God created man, He made him in the likeness of God."
Did thousands of years of man's sinning diminish the plan of God that mankind should bear and reflect His image? As Paul is describing the glory of the gospel of grace, he proclaims in Romans 8:29, “For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.” As these precious thoughts were filling my heart with joy, we received word that a granddaughter has been saved. Through "the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5), she will now be able reflect the image of God that He planned for her before creation. Only God can restore what sin robbed. He does it through the sacrifice of Jesus who removed the guilt and stain of sin so God's special creation can fulfill its original purpose. What is the result of asking God to "grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness" (Acts 4:29). In most difficult circumstances, we pray that God will stop the suffering and persecution. When the Church is inspired and controlled by the Holy Spirit, circumstances do not control what the Church is able to do. It is the power of God wielded by the Spirit of God that motivates disciples to accomplish His purpose.
As a result, “they were filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the Word of God with boldness. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:31, 33). No program, no committee, and no amount of money, separately or combined, can accomplish what submission to God in humble prayer can do. Knowing God's purpose for the Church and yielding to the Spirit is the only way of seeing God work under the most adverse conditions and unlikely places. In a world that seems to get more and more difficult to live our Christian faith in freedom and openly, would you take the risk to pray this kind of prayer?
The Church was very young. What happened in the last two years was amazing and proved to the Church that every word Jesus uttered was absolutely true. He had promised them a Helper, the Holy Spirit, to be with them and in them forever (John 14:15) and give them power to be effective witness everywhere they went (Acts 1:8). But suddenly, opposition, threats, and persecution raised its ugly head. They might have thought that healing "a man lame from birth" would convince the crowds and religious leaders that what had been done to Jesus was wrong, but when Peter and John explained that they had "delivered over and denied...the Holy and Righteous One...and you killed" (Acts 3:13-15), their public hatred of Jesus' name poured out of their lips. What should the Church do? There were no meetings to find a compromise and win public acceptance. There was no apology for their faith or position on the truth of Jesus and God's Word. Instead, the Church gathered for prayer (4:23-31). The central point of this prayer was "grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness" (29). Would you be afraid to pray like this? Tune in tomorrow to see the result of such a prayer.  I am sure that our regular readers remember the story I told on the 20th of Nuvia, a widow, who discovered the Spanish God's Plan for His Disciples (GPHD) and introduced it to a Quechua and Spanish church in Naranjal, Ecuador. From that small beginning it has spread to other churches and had a wonderful impact on many believers.
This story is not finished! Nuvia spoke to several pastors about getting this resource into the hands of Spanish speaking pastors in Miami, Florida. Tomorrow, several are flying to Miami and taking 50 manuals with them for these pastors and their congregations. Imagine the impact this will have! I also received this news today from Nepal. "At the Jivan Jyoti Church in Kapan, Nepal, a new training began today. The books were sent there 5 months ago which allowed students to get a start on their studies. The pastor called me a week ago asking me to begin the training. Keep this study in prayer. These days are difficult for us to share the gospel because the government is keeping a sharp eye on Christians everywhere. Some places are experiencing persecution. A couple of news people were sent from one place to another to disrupt Bible studies. Please pray for safety and courage to stand firm in these days." There are times when we receive requests that are staggering. This invitation comes from a brother we know and have worked with in India for some years. Nothing of any significance happened until Tim introduced our new book God's Plan for His Disciples in the Third Edition. Then the vision of what God wanted to do began to open. Here is the email we received:
"Pastor Tim and Team, Will you please consider training our leaders with your second new updated curriculum as we have discussed? God willing, we are planning to invite 100 plus key leaders to come and be trained in Delhi, February 2024. Will you please consider coming and training them from 25-27 February (Sunday to Tuesday)? As in the past, these leaders will go back to their churches and train their people. If so, we need God's Plan for His Church (GPHC) and God's Plan for Young Disciples (GPYD) to be translated and printed, 10000 copies each. Half will be translated in Hindi and half in Oriya languages. We are in prayer for resources, God's guidance, and related logistics." There are two major events that need to take place before these dates in February:
While we are excited and humbled at the opportunity, we also realize that such a task is beyond our ability without the Lord's help. Will you pray with us that God will supply what is needed and that this will greatly expand the Lord work in this land. “Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and LANGUAGE and people and nation…” Rev.5:9
"How often we take for granted our language, the most recognized language in the world, spoken by almost 1.5 billion people. But what would it be like if your language was spoken only in your region? And what would it be like if it was most difficult even to find one Bible in your language? This is the world of the Acholi-speaking people in northern Uganda. God has opened the door for us to bring them God’s Plan for His Disciples and Bibles in their language for the first time. Some Christian leaders do not have a copy of the Scriptures! Every place we go on this trip, except Nebbi, has a high concentration of Acholi people. (November 27 – December 10, 2023) Let us press on until EVERY LANGUAGE has the Word & knows the wonder of the One who wrote it." (Randy) In America we celebrate a holiday called "Thanksgiving" based on the experience of a few Pilgrims who came to this land several hundred years ago and survived a very difficult time.
How often do we take time to reflect on the enormous grace and goodness of God in our lives. Paul makes a point to remind believers in a good church to reflect on what God had done for them. “Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:12–13). The contrast could not be clearer. There is no circumstance or trial we pass through that even comes close to the hopeless condition of being without God and facing a lost eternity. The one thing that changed this was Jesus who became our substitute by taking the penalty of our sins on Himself. Through His blood we are freed from God's judgment and have been made "children of God...and fellow heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:16-17). If that alone does not make you thankful, there is something seriously wrong with your relationship with God. I urge you to examine the cause of ingratitude. The first church Tom visited was on a Friday night, and the place was packed with people of all ages. Seeing young people sitting there with their manuals was so encouraging as he watched them answering questions in the lessons. His primary purpose for going is to introduce the material and lead them through lessons two and three. When he returns to see how they are doing, he will answer any questions they have. The goal is always to encourage them to press on and to share with them that people are praying for them.
Several pastors there from other churches wanted to learn about the training material. Oswaldo has already been contacted by some of them who want us to come and introduce GPHD and GPHC. This is the way it was everywhere they went. Missionaries ministering in Ecuador all say they have never seen such a hunger for God’s word as in this movement. The lessons covered were, The Word of God, The Holy Spirit, Baptism, The Lord’s Supper, Prayer, Being in Christ, and others. Each lesson has questions related to the topic and Scripture verses to read and questions to answer as people work on the lessons independently and then come together as a group to discuss them. Once they have completed the manual, there will be a graduation with certificates of completion. From these two reports (yesterday and today), you can understand our gratitude to the Lord for what He is doing. |
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