Sowing the Seed- Part I

Over a week ago we had a team of 6 from our home church come and visit us. My team member and I took them into an area of villages for Gospel sharing. We split up into two teams, 3 with me and 3 with him, each team with a translator and driver. Over all, both teams shared in different village areas to over 600 people - most of whom had never heard the Gospel of Jesus before!

The first day, my team went to an area of low caste villagers in the morning. A crowd gathered, as most times happens when lighter skin people show up here. One of the team shared thier story and then we shared the Salvation of Jesus by telling His story. Some of the villagers accepted, along with a couple of guys who had just stopped by to see what was going on, they weren't even part of the village! These two guys, who ran a local business, were in the front listening to the Gospel presentation with wide eyes. Even our driver was intently listening. About 8 people accepted Jesus, including the businessmen and our taxi driver! The businessman said that his sister was a Christian and had shared Jesus with him before several times, but gave up finally and told him to find some other Christians he could listen to. When he heard the words we spoke, he felt that this was the day he needed to surrender his life. Praise the Lord for this Divine Appointment! The ones who were living in the village who accepted Jesus will be followed up on by our CP's in that area.

The next place we went, there were existing believers, but some that had not accepted yet. Unfortunately, most of the ones who had not heard were gone to the doctor due to illness. As we sat on the porch of this house, about 50 children came around us and listened to one of our team tell the story of David and Goliath. I played Goliath and one of the small boys played David. I gave it my best Hollywood try. Amazingly, when we got to the point in the story where David takes 3 smooth stones from the river, the boy had 3 marbles in his hand! Needless to say, David slew me and when I fell, all the children laughed and cheered, and David commenced to beating on me for more effect. We then went to another family of believers to pray over their household and encourage them.

After lunch and some rest, we went to another village to share with about 80 people. Many were women, so the one lady on our team shared her story and then we shared the Gospel. About 25 accepted, even some of the men who showed up after we started. We went a little further to another area in this village and shared out in the open, with about 100 people. About 30 accepted. The local CP in this area was with us and will be gathering many of these new believers together for prayer meetings. He also invited those who were interested to attend.

That night, both teams came together and rejoiced in the Lord with our stories of the day, of how God used us all to share with many people.

The next day, our team set out to another village area. After we visited a school that is being run by a local CP, we went for a walk by the river to see where many baptisms have taken place. Again, we drew a crowd. There were fishermen in boats casting fishing nets, and I joked that the team should go on a boat ride. Our translator then arranged a short boat ride for two of our team, which again drew much attention. The crowd followed us back to the school, where we shared the story about the miraculous catch of fish, and then shared the Gospel with the crowd, which was about 150 people. There was a young drunk man who was disturbing our sharing, and when he could not get anywhere, he told the crowd he was leaving and that everyone should follow him. No one did, and they even told him to be quiet and listen or go away. He walked away, but then came back to listen since no one followed. We prayed for the crowd, since no one accepted right there, however the Gospel was shared with many who had never heard before.

We then went to an area where many people gathered again, about 100, and we shared the Gospel. No one accepted, but again the seed was planted in many people's hearts. We moved on to share to another low caste village, and about 8 people accepted Christ. Again our two teams came together that night to rejoice in what the Lord had allowed us to do.

There is one more day to tell about, but since this post is so long, I'll leave it and the wrap up for the next post. Thanks again to our team who shared the Gospel with so many. You were the hands and feet of Jesus during your trip.

16th Anniversary

I just wanted to take time to thank God for my beautiful bride. 16 years ago today we were married, and I could not have asked for a more loving and Godly woman. We have been through much in these years, but God has been faithful to guide us and keep his promise to always be there for us and never forsake us. We could not have done it without Him. I never thought any of our years would be spent anywhere overseas, let alone on the mission field serving the Lord. But through all the trials, God has grown and matured us to be ready for the call He placed on our lives to be here in South Asia. I wouldn't have it any other way than to follow Jesus in obedience together. I love you T, and I pray we have many more years to grow in the Lord together.

We have been married 16 years, but if anyone ever to asked me in person how long we have been married, I'd tell them: "Not long enough!"

Remembrance

With a heavy heart, we have suffered a loss in our family. My Gramps, who had recently been diagnosed with bone cancer in his spine, was admitted to ICU on April 14 with multiple organ failure. There was nothing more the doctors could do but help him to be comfortable. My Dad rushed from across the country to his dad's bedside to be with his mother, brother and sisters so that they could all say goodbye together. He passed away on April 15, 2008. I know it was a hard journey for my Dad, but I thank the Lord for him being able to be there when Gramps passed peacefully. I thank you for all your prayers for our family during this time.

What can I say about my Gramps, except that he set the example as an honorable and Godly man. You see, the Dad that I speak of is my Step-Dad, and he and my Mom have been divorced since I was about 13 or 14. Even though I am not blood related with him, he treated me with the love that any young man growing up should have from a real father. He didn't have to, but he did anyway. That is why my only son is named after him. His parents, my Grams and Gramps, as well as my Uncle and Aunts showed me the same love; that of a blood family member. God gifted me with such a loving family that I could never even begin to repay the kindness and love they have given me over the years, and Gramps is the head of the family that gave this love that never expected anything in return.

It was hard not to be with the family during this time, but God allowed us to visit Grams and Gramps before leaving for South Asia. That is a time I will never forget. I know he was proud of what I and my family are doing for Jesus. I never planned on showing pictures of any family members on this blog for security reasons, but I make an exception for an exceptional man, so those who are reading this remembrance can look
on the face of a kind, loving, gentle, and Godly man. Gramps, I know you are praising the Lord Most High right now, and I look forward to the day when we see each other in heaven. Well done, good and faithful servant.

Rejoice!!

Our training in specific areas goes on over a 4 meeting period, with a couple of weeks in between meetings. I recently finished the first training which was a two day event about 1 hour from where we live. About 125 believers, 37 of whom were baptized after the training, were in attendance. Our first training consists of challenging them with the statistics of how many of their fellow people are dying without even knowing about the salvation that Jesus has made for us. The numbers here are astonishing. Every day about 2400 people die in our state, the majority of whom are going to hell because they had never heard of Jesus. So there needs to be a sense of urgency to share the Gospel and give everyone the same chance that they have been given- a chance at salvation.

We do this by teaching them how to share the gospel, because many do not know how and think that they need to bring someone to a pastor or church leader for them to be saved. This issue is solved by teaching them Matthew 28:18-20: that Jesus has given all of us the authority to go and make disciples. We teach them a method of sharing the gospel that is very easy for them to understand and remember, even though they may be illiterate. It is called 2-3-4. The 2 represents the Gospel, which has 2 parts- The first part is (1)Your Story or Testimony, and the second part is (2)His Story, or Jesus' story. Your story has 3 parts- (1)Your life before Christ, (2)How you met Christ, and (3)Your life after Christ. His story has four parts- (1)Judgement, (2)Repentance, (3)Jesus' sacrifice to take the punishment or the judgement for our sins, and (4)God raised Jesus to new life so that we could also have new life. We also teach them Romans 10:9, that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

We then challenge them to write out a list of all the people that they know who need to know Jesus. These are family members, friends, shop owners, etc. They are then to pray for God to lead them to the ones who will be most receptive to the Gospel, and share it with them using
2-3-4. They are to share with at least 5 people per week and tell the group the results during the next meeting. This is a way of showing them that we must be accountable to each other.

Yesterday, I did a 2nd training meeting with this group. The group dropped from 125 people to 60, but the results about their sharing was incredible. Some did not share, others shared with some, but many shared with at least 10 people if not more. We tallied up the totals and over 200 people heard the gospel for the very first time. We also counted how many accepted, and OVER 120 PEOPLE ARE NOW NEW BELIEVERS AND FOLLOWERS OF JESUS!! So, as the title of this post says, REJOICE!!

I reinforced to them on the great job they did, and told them that even though some of the people did not accept Jesus, those people have the seed of the Gospel planted in their hearts and minds and it is up to them to make the choice to follow Jesus now. We cannot force them to follow, only show them the way and let them decide.

So now, our next trainings are to encourage the people to continue to share the gospel, but then also teach them 2-3-4 and help them to start sharing the gospel also. We have also told them that they can baptize the new believers, as this is the first step of obedience to being a follower of Jesus. The teaching we are giving them, they are to begin grouping those new believers and teach them the things we are teaching them. We follow Paul's pattern in Acts, and through his letters where he entrusted his teaching of the Gospel to obedient and faithful men and women who would also go and teach it to others.

I look forward to meeting these obedient followers of Jesus again, and see how many more people have heard the Gospel and are now followers of Jesus. What's that sound? It's either the devil stomping mad or all God's people rejoicing! (Or both!)