Excitement

The way we do our training here, we do combined 2 day group teaching and iron-on-iron time together. This past meeting was really first with the new group. We will usually give them some action items to do before we all come together for the next training a month later. They all come back and report on how they did and how their ministry is going. In between these trainings, I have the priviledge of going to visit them in their places of work. This week I was able to visit two of our new 16 for the first time.

Yesterday, I met with A. and his family. He was eager to tell me about things since our group meeting. He is very excited about the way his ministry is going since he started learning new things. He has been doing church planting for some time, and he knows all the right terminology for church planting, but he has had no clear focus or direction for the things he has learned in the past. I was really happy to hear how he had been affected by our training, and now had a clear focus for what he is doing. We taught the group about Luke 10:1-11, in finding the man of peace in a new place. First, to pray for God to give you a new place to go, and then go to that place. The man of peace is there, God has placed him in the place he is sending you to proclaim Jesus. Well, A. has since been waking up at night feeling that God is speaking to him about new places, and he has been planning to go to these places so he can share the gospel and start new churches in them. He is really excited about having direction in his ministry. Many others have seen a difference in him; even the main leader of this group who is helping me and has put this group together has noticed the change in his attitude and how excited he is to move forward in church planting.

This is great news, and I cannot wait, as I said before to see what these brothers are going to do with more teaching. Stay tuned!

I'm Back!

I have to really apologize to any who check on this blog for not posting any updates or anything since May. On the other hand, thank you to those who have been checking in. Whether blog, facebook, or newsletter, I have tried to keep all of those who are praying for us and the work here informed about what God is doing. We have traveled and had much happen here during these last 2 months. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time of service here, and we have seen much fruit. Here are some updates on what has been going on:

The time with the group of 14 we have been teaching has come to an end. For the last year, we trained and equipped 14 church planters in best practices of CPM. We helped them focus their ministry on best things rather than a lot of good things. Some of the group moved slowly, while we saw several of the group catch on to the concepts, and their ministries are growing quickly. Rajesh, who was skeptical that this new teaching would actually work, was simply going to come to the meetings and hear the teaching, but continue to do what he had been doing. As time webt on, he became convicted, and felt God asking him why he was not willing to put the teachings into practice. At this point, he realized he should be doing the things we were teaching about. He decided to go find the man of peace, according to the entry strategy we had taught from Luke 10:1-11. He prayed for God to show him the place he was to start a new church, and when that place was revealed he went. As he went, he prayed to meet the person of peace that God had placed there. A man approached him and asked him why he was there. Rajesh responded that he was a follower of Christ, and he was there to share some good news. The man said to him that some time back he had received a tract talking about Jesus, and asked Rajesh if he could explain this. They went to his home, where the gospel was shared and the man accepted Christ, he and entire family! A church has started there, and people are coming to know Christ through the efforts of finding this man of peace. Rajesh has found 7 new places since February, and all are meeting for church. A couple of these new churches have already sent members out to new places and started their own churches, so we have seen growth to the 3rd generation through Rajesh's obedience! Others in the group had existing churches they have been trying to get to healthy status so that they could multiply and plant other churches. Some of those churches are responsible for sending out members of their own body and sharing Christ in a new village also. As we held our group of 14 accountable to applying the teaching to their ministry, they were also holding the leadership under them accountable to also doing the things they were taught. They were challenged to go into a new place and find a man of peace. They were also given the task of teaching all their believers how to share the gospel with others, and hold them accountable to actually share. We are proud of this group and the way they have taken the teaching and applied it to their ministry. We know that through these brothers that this place will begin to transform and that God's glory would cover this place like to waters cover the sea. So, as Paul did in Acts 20:32-38, we committed our brothers to God and the word of his grace, we prayed over them and wept together as we said goodbye, knowing fully that we had finished the task of equipping these apostles.

As we finished with this group, I have been able to take a new group of church planters, who already have existing churches, and have had multitudes of training in church planting. However, now having heard of the growth of the group we were training, one leader has brought together 16 church planters who are wanting to focus their ministry on best practices. I met with them back in June, and told them a little of what they could expect out of intense training like this. It has been modeled to me by my supervisor, and now I am equipped to do the same with a new group. I committed to teaching them the best practices of church planting, as it comes from God's word, and they committed to learn and apply these things to their ministry. We came together at the end of July in our second meeting. I asked them what is different about this training and what their expectations were of this time together. One brother said that the teaching he had heard in the initial meeting made more sense than any he had heard before. Another took what little teaching we gave and found 10 new believers, baptized them and has formed them into a church, and he has 12 more new believers ready for baptism! I am excited to see what he and the others will do with full teaching. The first 2 day meeting just ended, and they have been given tasks to do in the time between now and our next meeting and then come back and report. I will also go and visit with them in their places of ministry, to observe and encourage them in the things they are doing. Pray for this new group, that they will apply the things we are learning together so their ministry can grow and that through these brothers, like the last group, this place will be covered with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

We also said goodbye to our team members who lived in the city with us. Their 3 year term came to an end in mid-July. They will be in the U.S. for one year until their oldest is sent to college, and then return to South Asia to continue the work. We shed tears and prayed over each other as they headed back home.

Finally, as you may have read in my last post, we had originally extended our 2-year term all the way until the summer of 2010, and I had been taking seminary courses in order to apply for career IMB status. We talked with our church leadership early in the year, and they told us that they were putting together a team of families and college students and planned to send them to Bangkok, Thailand to start a missionary training school. They asked us if we would pray and consider being on the team as the ones who would focus on the church planting part of the school. The team's task is to start an international church, set up a training school that would train missionaries from anywhere in the world. We would focus them on Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim, and the training school would be a springboard for them to actually go and live in South Asia as missionaries. We would be equipping international missionaries to live overseas while training them overseas. We would also be training and equipping believers in Bangkok the principles of church planting. The students of the team would enroll in an international university and start a student ministry. We were definitely intrigued by the opportunity that our home church was offering. However, we would not be financially supported like we have been with the IMB. We would be raising our own support back home in order to live overseas. This is a huge step for us and a little out of our comfort zone! We prayed about the decision for a month. We knew we needed to make a decision fast, because the team was being assembled and will be going through their own training together starting in January 2010. We talked and we began to feel a peace about the decision. Our home church, the church God brought us to and the leadership we have been following for the last 10 years - leadership we are confident is led by God and His Word, needed our decision. We have decided to shorten our extension here in South Asia, and go home in December after I finish training the current group. We will catch up with our team in January and train together for 5 months in Atlanta. In June, the rest of the team will be sent off to Thailand, and we will go back home to TN raise support for living overseas - something our team members are doing now. We are excited about this new opportunity, and are blessed to be part of a healthy church who is setting apart and sending directly from its own body. We are confident in God's provision for our lives, and that we must simply say yes to whatever God has planned for us - because he has plans to prosper us and give us a hope and a future.

So, now I'll take a breath. We look forward to what God holds for our future. We will work hard these last 5 months before going home, so that we can say, like Paul, we have not hesitated to proclaim the whole will of God during our work here.

More updates to follow - stay tuned...

Holi, Holi....HOLY!!!

We were again blessed to have a team from our home church visit us here. This is the 3rd visit since we have been here, and some have been several times before. Normally, however, we try to discourage teams from coming during major festivals, simply because it is difficult to travel, and find people who are open to hearing the Gospel in the middle of all the visiting and cooking food, etc. Our church had two college students who wanted to come, but they could only come during their spring break, which just happened to fall on the festival of Holi.

Holi, in South Asia is the festival of colors, to celebrate the coming of the warm weather. Everyone travels back to their home place celebrate with their relatives, so much is closed down during this time. The first day, people celebrate on the eve of Holi by burning giant fires around the city. Many people get drunk and sometimes it is a dangerous time to be out and about. The next day, people celebrate in the morning by putting colored dye into water and have giant water fights with each other.

All the members of the team played, and got colored nicely by the neighborhood kids- which made us all feel like kids again!

Run Away!!

They waited for us to come out, then shot. We were sitting ducks!

Defend ourselves we tried, but there were just too many of them, and they were determined!

After the color ran out, we headed for safe ground inside the house of our host.

We watched as the boys downstairs threw each other into the mud puddles, threw mud on each other as well as passers-by, then progressed to throwing dirt and ash on each other.

That evening, after washing as much of the color off as we could, we went to visit some neighbors, and low and behold, we were greated with more colors- dry this time though. We had some appointments to see some specific people and perhaps share the Gospel, but we got re-directed to a large gathering of men from the community who were meeting and they asked us to come over and visit. As we sat, the men came with hands full of colored powder which they proceeded to smear on our faces and hair.

This was a fun time, and though we weren't able to share the Gospel exactly like we expected to, we were able to pray for a household that day, and the team came away from this trip with a different perspective on life in South Asia.

We were, however, able to spend time in a house near-by that was really friendly- a perfect house of peace situation, which is what we teach our 14 (Luke 10:1-11). We sat, ate and drank what was put in front of us, which was ALOT! They were very friendly and open. The daughter of the house did mehindi on all the ladies hands.

After all the relational time we spent, we were totally comfortable sharing the Gospel. They were completely receptive, and when we asked if they wanted to accept the salvation of Jesus, they said yes. Praise the Lord! Husband, wife and son all prayed for forgiveness and accepted that Jesus died to take the punishment for their sins, and they committed to follow Jesus only. A house of peace that God can use to grow His kingdom on earth in that village. Pray for this family, as the local church planters continue to follow up with them in discipleship in order to harvest the local area and form into a healthy church. If the team just came out to share with that one family and give them the chance to accept salvation, the trip was a success.

In South Asia, we need to be careful not to knowingly participate in the worship of any other gods. A scripture that came to my mind was when Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 "Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews, I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law, I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do this all for the sake of the Gospel, that I may share in its blessings." The "throwing of colors" is not a type of worship for the locals so the team that came had a great opportunity to be part of the local celebration, and be one of the locals and do what they do for the sake of Christ.

It wasn't a typical trip, but we may never know how many lives were affected for the sake of the Gospel- but God knows. He was glorified, and during Holi, the team was able to put a little Holy into it!

Meeting of the 14

We have been teaching our 14 CPs about having a goal, or end vision for their ministry. We know that God's purpose is that His glory would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Hab 2:14. God's goal, or end vision is in Revelation 5:9 and 7:9- for every nation, tribe, people and language to receive and worship Him at the throne in heaven. They voiced their goals for certain people groups and languages they are already working with. We have taught them that they must have a plan- steps working toward the completion of their end vision. For, example, if we have even a simple goal of buying vegetables, we have specific steps we have to accomplish in order to get to that goal. First you must get dressed, put your shoes on, get your money, then go out the door, walk to the rickshaw, take a ride to the market, arrive at the market, and then accomplish your goal of buying what you need. Each step must take place in order to get to your goal efficiently. Putting on your clothes in the rickshaw is possible, but not practical. Walking around your house 2, 5, 10 times before getting in the rickshaw is possible, but wastes time. In the same way, we must put together steps in our ministry toward accomplishing our goal. The first step we are teaching them is how to find where your minsitry should start. We should have an entry plan for the first of 5 parts (Entry, Gospel, Discipleship, Church Formation, and Leadership Multiplication) of our CPM master plan. There are many ways of doing a certain thing, and while all those things are possible, doing many of them is not always practical, and we can easiliy lose our focus. Each step in a CPM must be thought out, and then each step must also be done well in order for the CPM to grow and grow quickly. Choosing one thing and doing is well is much better than trying to do many things and doing them just OK. Their entry strategy we have been teaching them to use, comes from Luke 10:1-11. We call it our HOP (House of Peace) strategy for Entry. Pray and go- let God lead you to the place he wants you to be. Jesus told them not to take extra things (bag or sandals) because we need to rely totally on Him to provide for us, and to allow someone in the place God is leading you to be able to show mercy on you. For blessed are the merciful, they will be shown mercy. Jesus also said, don't greet anyone on the road. When God has revealed to you the place you should go and bring the Good News, you should go directly to that place. Don't stop. Would a farmer who has precious seed to be planted in the field he has prepared stop on the way to that field? He has a task, and he knows how important and urgent it is that seed needs to be sown, and in that specific field. Once in the village, prayerwalk, and let God lead you to the person of peace. As we learn in Acts 17:26-27, God has determinied the times set for them and the places they should live, and that they should seek God. They are ready for the Good News. Or, they have a need that can be met through prayer, so that the power of God can be revealed to them, and then the salvation can be shared with them. But most important, get into the house. Let the person of peace invite you in and display his mercy upon you. Eat and drink what is put in front of you. Begin to develop the relationship, and then share the Gospel. Stay in the house! Once the Gospel is shared, and they decide to accept the salvation Jesus has offered to all people, stay with them. This is where discipleship starts, as well as church formation and leadership multiplication. From the very beginning, they are modeling how to reach others with the gospel.

This week, my team member and I were able to bring our 14 disciples/CPs in to our city, as we have scheduled every month for the next year. We have visited all of them over the past month in their homes, and given them action items to complete. The meeting is an iron on iron session, where we come together for more teaching as well as sharing praises and prayers about what is going on. Many of the brothers in this meeting were excited to share what has been happening in their ministry since the last meeting. Many of them have toiled many years in ministry and have struggled to see fruit. Since sharing with them the Luke 10:1-11 strategy, they have put it into practice already. Some have prayed for family members of people, and God has shown great healing in order to open doors for them. Others have simply prayed for God to lead them to a POP, and have been invited into the house and shared the Gospel. The 14 are so excited to see something working so quickly, it is going to be incredible to be visiting them in the next month to see what kind of impact God is making through these obedient 14 men.

Many of them have developed a master plan, and they have very specific strategies in each of their 5 parts in order to move toward their goal. They are thrilled to put these things we are learning together into practice, and see fruit like they have never seen it before in their ministry. Next is discipleship and church formation. I will cover this in more detail in future posts, as well as how it is happening among the 14.

Draw the Net

Last week, I was visiting with 'Paul', one of our 14 CPs. 'Paul' has toiled in his area many years. He has built a church on the side of his house and has 10 members. He also disciples 2 CPs in his area. His strategy has been to go door to door and sing praise songs and do bible drama skits as a means of sharing the gospel. He also preaches over radio broadcast and megaphone from his rooftop. Over the many years, he has seen little fruit, and he has been discouraged. Biblically, he is a sound believer, and his foundations in the Lord are solid. He has a real burden to reach the lost people of his area, but has not been able to see a movement of Christ among them yet. A couple of weeks ago, we held our monthly meeting of our 14 in our city. My partner taught Luke 10:1-11, that we should pray for God to lead us to the right place, then go and pray as you go that God will lead you to the person of peace He has already put in that place (Acts 17:26-27). This is the entry strategy phase of what we are teaching our 14. 'Paul', as soon as he came back to his area, put this strategy into action. God led him to a village and he began to share with a group of 35 people, all interested in the Gospel. He was so excited to see some results so quickly, that he is really sold out to do this everywhere he goes now. He said that no missionary has ever been to this village, and no one here has ever heard of Jesus before now.

This village of fishermen, have been listening to bible stories for the last few weeks, and always asks for 'Paul' and his son to come back, even trying to keep them overnight to keep preaching. No one has accepted yet, but the visits continue twice a week. I asked if they shared the salvation of Christ and asked if anyone wanted to receive it. He and his son, who has been going with him, said they did not want to ask yet for fear of getting run off. I used the analogy of a fisherman who had a large catch of fish in his net. Should he just let the net stay in the water for fear of losing the catch, or should he draw his net and pull in the ones in the net, even though a few get away? They answered, the fisherman should draw his net. I told them, in the same way we can share the Gospel with people, but if we do not ask them if they want to accept the salvation, they will not know what to do. I told them that they must do this in this village, because these people dod not know what to do with this new knowledge you have reavealed to them. God has led you to this place, and has given you an opportunity to give the Gospel, and draw the net by asking the question "Do you want to receive the salvation Jesus has offered to all people?" Some of these 35 people are ready, and that the question has to be asked, even if only one accepts. That would be your person of peace that God has led you to. Do not worry about all the others, the seeds of the Gospel have been planted in them, and they will respond when ready. 'Paul' and his son understood this, and did commit to drawing the net to find the people among this group who will become followers of Christ, and who they will begin to stay with and disciple. Praise God for giving this opportunity for 'Paul' to see fruit in this way. Pray for 'Paul' and his ministry, that this will be an encouraging springboard for him, and also for him to share in upcoming meetings with the other 14 his successes.

I was also able to share my testimony with one of their relatives. They have share with this young man many times, and he has shown interest, but never has been asked the question of accepting and following Jesus. God gave me the right words to say, and after hearing the Gospel, he accepted Christ. I was so excited, not just because of a new family member in the body of Christ, but that 'Paul' and his son were able to see how we draw the net. I explained later, that if I had just stopped at the Gospel without asking the question, this young man would still not know what he needed to do. God gave opportunity for 'Paul' to see this in action, so that he can go and do it. Over the next month, he will be going to new areas that God leads him, and putting the Luke 10:1-11 strategy (HOP- House Of Peace) to work, as well as taking his 2 CPs with him to model it for them to also do. God's word is so good. How do we ever stray from what is written in it, and try to do our own thing?

Field Time!

No, I'm not talking about football- but I am looking forward to listening to some over the Internet. There is only so much cricket a good old American sports fanatic can take!

Anyways, I just returned from the field spending time with 'Mark' (pseudonym) one of our 14 CP's. Normally, we are to spend time with them 1 on 1 when we come to them, but he had brought 8 of his CP's that he is training to for me to teach some things to them. I really had planned on meeting with 'Mark' only, and had nothing prepared. So, I winged it. I asked them questions. I needed to know what kind of training they have had, where their ministry is, how many churches they oversee, are the leaders they are discipling also discipling others to become leaders- basically interviewing them to measure maturity and get a feel for their theology. The first issue that came up which seems to come up a lot here among believers- what is a disciple? So I ask the question to the group- is there a difference between disciple and believer? All said yes. They told me that they believe a true committed follower of Jesus and His teachings is a disciple. A believer is one who only believes but does not follow. So, we looked in the bible at the requirements to be a believer. I ask them to read Romans 10:9 "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." All agreed that to be a believer is to do these things. When you confess that Jesus is Lord, what are you committing to do? You are committing to following Jesus only. When you commit to follow a lord, what does that make you? His disciple. AH-HA! They solved the problem themselves, by looking at God's Word. I think I saw light bulbs blink on, I'm not exactly sure. I could tell they all understood though. I restated that we should always look at the Bible for answers to our questions and not rely on another man's word if it is not Biblically based. This passage of scripture does not give levels of becoming a disciple, and does not recommend a good theologically sound bible college before you truly become a disciple of Christ- you confess and believe, and it is by grace you are saved, not works or knowledge.

Another question I asked them was if they were performing baptisms. They said yes. I asked if their CP's they were training were performing these things too. Most said no, that they themselves were doing the baptisms, Lord's Supper, etc. I asked them why, and they said that some were not ready, that maturity was not there yet from some of them, and they were waiting. I told them it was OK if their CPs personally were not ready to do these things yet, but the CPs should be told by their leaders (them) that they (the CPs) have the authority to do these things. We then read 1 Peter 2:9- "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." In most religions, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Catholic, I asked them who were the people who perform the rituals and ceremonies? Priests was the answer. I then asked, "in this passage, what does it say that all believers/followers of Christ are?" Priests came the answer. So, who can do the ceremonies like baptism, Lord's supper, etc.? All believers. Again, we looked at scripture together to get our answer, and they found the solution themselves. I told them that they were doing good work, but growth would never really take off the way they want it to unless they allow their leaders to take responsibilities. They need to let them loose to do the things God has given them the authority to do. I will be most interested in our next meeting to find how much they have moved forward in these two areas.

There is much potential in this small group, and all have had many trainings, but we stressed to them that we need to focus on one thing and do it well rather than try many different things and do them so-so. We shared end visions together, and I told them that if we are to reach the end visions they wanted, they needed to focus their strategy and stick to one thing. 'Mark' is obviously our point man in this group, and I stressed to him how important it was to model for these guys and teach them the things we will be teaching him over the next year.

There are some other things that happened in our meeting- one young man just happened to be brought in by 'Mark' as he met him on the street and rented him a room. He is 18, not a believer, and we got to talking about his future. God really hit a home run on this one, because the young man started by saying he knew all religions and respected them, but they were not for him. I began to share the Gospel with him, using the method we use and teach, in front of all we were meeting with that evening. After sharing, he accepted Christ, and is now a new creation! Not only that, but every one of these CP's got to see how to we share the Gospel- the way we teach it. That could not have gone better. Praise the Lord!

Before leaving, we gave 'Mark' some action items to complete before we meet again in one month. Pray for 'Mark' over the next few weeks as he is putting the strategy we are teaching into action- a strategy that is new to him. We studied Luke 10:1-10, by praying and going to find the person/house of peace God has put into place already, according to Acts 17:26-27. He will do this to some of the places he has been as well as one new place. He is also going to take a couple of his guys with him to model it and have them do the same while he watches. This is called our HOP House Of Peace strategy (more details on this later).

I told 'Mark' that we were not doing this to shame him or tell him he is doing anything wrong, but we simply want to help him and equip him to be able to see progress to his end vision for his district. He understood completely. Pray for his continued obedience and that he can really pour into the 10 CP's he is working with to all become great builders of the Kingdom. God's endvision- "For the earth will be covered by the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Habakkuk 2:14.

Back From Vacation

My family and I just returned to our city after a 21 day leave. We attended our regional AGM which was 10 days. It was good to reunite with many people from our orientation in August 2007, and to be spiritually filled through corporate worship of our Lord and Savior. Thanks to First Baptist Orlando, who came half-way around the world to put on VBS for our kids, hang out with us at meal times and provide worship for us, something that all of us needed very much. You really don't realize how spiritually dry you can get doing ministry in a foriegn country, until you come into worship that is familiar led by a worship team and pastor that really ministers to you the right way. A HUGE THANK YOU to FBC Orlando and your willingness to come that far to give us what we all needed- a much needed spiritual lift.


After that, my family and I took a 9 day vacation at a resort hotel. The kids loved the ocean, the pool, the elephant ride, the snorkeling. And, here was our view-
"The heavens tell about the glory of God. The skies show that his hands created them."
(Psalms 19:1) Don't they show it?
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." (Isaiah 6:3)
Isn't it full?

God really did create some beautiful things, and we try to always praise Him for what He has created, for He has created all things.

We really enjoyed the break, and the fun stuff we were able to do. We have returned refreshed, rejuvenated and ready for the ministry that will start with the discipleship training of our now 15 CP's that are going to start a change in this place for the Lord.

"Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. " Habakkuk 1:5

Sowing the Seed- Part II

So, getting back to the team that visited us from our home church-

Previously, I had been part of and lead a couple teams here on short term trips to teach new believers and encourage them as they go out to plant churches and proclaim God's kingdom on Earth. Important, but our strategy for volunteer teams when they come is for Gospel saturation. Nothing draws a crowd here quicker than a few foreign faces and some stories to share. The team did a great job the first two days, sharing with close to 400-some people who had never heard before. It was good for them to see how they fit into our strategy of reaching an unimaginable population who have never heard of Jesus. They said it would be much more of a draw for people to come on a trip to be sharing their testimony and the Gospel of Jesus rather than try to teach at a conference or seminar. Some of the members of this team have been on other international trips, and one of them said that this was the best one they had been on. They got to see fruit, and life change in front of their eyes. I thank God for their obedience to come and be part of our work here, and know much more about how to partner with us.

Anyways, the last day our team was in the field we planned to walk through a village area. On the way, we were invited into the house of one of the neighbors of our local CP. We shared who we were and we all drank tea (in 100+ degree heat mind you). One of our team shared his story with the whole family, and then we shared the Gospel of Jesus. The leader of the family said that this was a big decision and to ask him to make this decision now is difficult. He said that what we shared was good, but for him to make a decision would not only affect him but the entire family would be affected also. We told him that it was ok that he thinks about these things. It is better than him saying flat out "no". He is a wise man and a good family leader. Our local CP is going to continue to build this relationship further to be available for any questions that might come up.

We then left and walked through a local village, again drawing quite the excitement. A young man asked us to sit down under his small covering for shade and he offered us water. We offered to share a story. We actually acted out a skit about 3 people on their way to heaven- A priest who talks to God for the people; A person whose parents were religious; and a person who gives much time and money helping the poor. All these people thought that they would go to heaven and have no problem. On the way, they come across a man who wants to go with them. They ask what he does, and he tells them that he is just a man with sin in his life. The three tell him that he will probably not get into heaven, but he can come along only if he walks behind them a ways. When they get to the door of heaven (another of the team stands there as Jesus) all try to get in by knocking, but there is no answer, even when all three bang and yell. Just as the three are discussing why the door won't open, the sinner gets on his knees before the door, confesses that he is a sinner and asks Jesus for forgiveness. Jesus opens the door and welcomes him in with a hug, to the astonishment of the three (and many of the audience). We then explain to them about each person and then give the Gospel. There were people everywhere, about 200, and we were in the middle of the village road. People were climbing onto walls, into trees and pushing in close to see us and hear what we had to say. The young man who first invited us to sit accepted the salvation as did about 4 others- right in front of the entire village!! Our CP said that many times people are too shy to come forward in front of large amount of people as that, so the ones that did must have really been feeling the call from Jesus. We asked them how they all felt, and they said they felt peace. What a blessing to see eternal life change right in front of us like that! We moved on after some time and were invited into a house that was newly built and they were celebrating the opening. They counted it good luck for foreigners to come in to the house. When a house is new, before Hindus move in they have the local pundit come and do puja (hindu worship) in the house for a whole day while neighbors and family and friends come by. We were able to come in and witness some of this. We know that when they do this, they are inviting many kinds of evil into their home. This day, however, the Lord had us there. They actually asked us to pray a special blessing on the house! We all did, so Jesus' name has been proclaimed in this house. We prayed that they find peace when hearing the name of Jesus and that prosperity will come to this family and house in His name!

All in all, the trip was great! Thank you FBC for a great visit and for proclaiming the name of the Lord to the ends of the Earth! You may never know how many lives you actually affected, but the results and the glory belong to the One True God, and He will bless you for your obedience and faithful service!

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.

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!)

HIS Way, Not our way

More and more, God teaches me things that sometimes it takes me a while to figure out. I guess I am a little thick skulled! When we are hit with things like sickness that might take our life, or the life of a loved one, what is the meaning sometimes if that person is a believer, and why would God choose a faithful servant to suffer pain and agony only to die within two years? Even being a follower of Jesus for the past 18 years, I still ask these questions, and it is hard to see it happen.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my Gramps has been diagnosed with bone cancer, far advanced, and it has made the bones in his back so brittle that his spine has some fractures. He has been in intense pain and not very lucid because of it. The doctors said that they could slow or stop the cancer, but not cure it and it would take his life within two years. He is unable to have surgery to fix his back and will have to wear a back brace for the rest of his life. Again I asked why would this happen?

Thank God for my beautiful wife. I heard her explaining to my daughter about why Gramps is going through such a trial. Since Gramps has been diagnosed, my Dad has moved back from AZ to be at his side during this. Some of his other siblings are followers of Jesus, but my dad is not. My wife said that now the people who don't know Jesus get a front row seat to see God's power at work, and to have the best chance to fully understand it. And what has happened? The doctors have seen, and have said "miraculous" progress. Gramps has been eating, walking around and will be going home after his last radiation treatment this week! Praise God for this, and for showing His power in a way that others who do not know Him personally to now see Jesus for who he is and can be in their lives. Gramps still has a long hard road ahead of chemo treatments and still much pain, but it is a miracle that he has progressed this far from when the prognosis first came.

Maybe through all this, even I might come to understand and accept that His way is the best way, and His plans are to prosper us and give us hope for the future. I still have lots to learn, and it will be a fun class, but I know there will be some tough times of learning ahead. I thought maybe I had learned enough to get by, but Jesus is not finished with me yet! What a great God we serve!

House Finalized, Packed and Ready!

I must apologize for the ME centered posts these last few weeks, and that my posting has been few and far between. Of course, we have been busy with finishing packing, as I said, for the next two and a half months. I've never had to pack for that length of time. I guess this just gets us ready for packing for 3 years! Up really late last night getting all the bags the right weight, which means we needed to unload some things.

The house was finalized yesterday, and we handed over the keys to the new owners. We also finished our wills and signing over power of attorney to close friends that will take care of things while we are over seas.

We have said our goodbyes this weekend here in our home state. Everyone has been very generous towards us as far as prayer support and some monetary gifts. We cannot believe the generosity of our church family, as well as the church families that have committed to praying for us that have given us love offerings to cover upcoming expenses. God has truly blessed us with an incredible community of prayer partners. We thank each and every Sunday school class, small group and church family members and staff who have blessed us and lifted us up to Jesus these past few weeks. We'll need your prayers now more than ever as we head toward the journey that was planned before we were formed in the womb.

We will be on vacation in another state visiting family and saying our goodbyes here before flying to Richmond on August 7 to start 2 month orientation. I hope to be able to blog more from there as we should be settled when we get there. Thank you to all who read this and continue to pray for our travel and continued preparation to go to South Asia. Once we get out of all this ME stuff, things will get much more interesting to read!

God bless,
SAM

More updates

Updates to prayer requests- thank you for lifting them up with us.

I put my notice in yesterday and told the owner and my manager that spreading God's Word among people who have never heard of Him is what I was created for, and that July 13 would be my last day. Surprisingly, they were very happy that I was making this sacrifice in my life, felt sorry to lose me and would have trouble replacing me. They also asked me lots of questions about where I was going, how long I would be there, what are we doing with the kids, etc. I was able to let them know that this is what God created me to do, and that I was following His call.

Yesterday also, we had the inspection on our house for the sale. As we thought, there are a few repairs to make that were mentioned, but nothing huge. We have not seen the report or the list of the things that the new buyers will want us to repair, but praise the Lord that the house appraised for much more that we are selling it for, and that the repairs are either going to be made or we will subtract some money off the price for them to get the repairs done.

Again, thank you for all your prayers and I will keep updating as we continue to go throught the process.

Also, the next two Sundays, we will be speaking at two different churches to raise prayer support. Pray for us that we are able to speak clearly and get as many committed to pray for us as we begin God's work among the people of South Asia.

A Just In Time Offer?

God has many names. I think He has chosen to have us call Him "Justin Time", as we have seen Him be in the recent past.

I say that, to let you know that we have received a full price offer today with a closing date of July 20! Perfect timing, God's timing. We are praying that this family is able to get their financing for the house. I have been praying, as I posted last night, that this family will be as blessed with this house as we have been. We will send the offer back this afternoon and hopefully hear back soon that it has been accepted. I still hope to put a SOLD sign, (over a picture of the house here, Guy!), sometime this week! Pray with us that things go smoothly these next couple of days!

Team Members Coming Home!

Hallelujah, praise the Lord! Our last two team members from our trip to South Asia are coming home Friday. This is a huge relief. Our worship leader stayed with our sick team member in the hospital over there for this last week, but she has received her clearance to come home. I will feel much better when they are home Friday. Please continue to pray for these two traveling in the next days. Thank you all for your prayers up to now. God has been so good to have this situation in His hands and take care of our brother and sister.