I was told that newsletter writing would at times be a tedious ordeal, though very necessary; I know I’m knew to all of this, but it’s been very enjoyable thus far. I love to give God the glory for all that’s happening in my life, as it constantly blows my mind, the redirection that His hand has faithfully, patiently brought me through. It’s a promise from His word; “You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” (Psalm 16:11). This promise is of Heaven, and of the life I lead right now, by faith.
Last week, we had the chance to do an outreach to a Rehabilitation Center in Tijuana. With food, testimonies shared and a powerful message from Jacob, we had a handful of individuals give their lives to the Lord, and we got to pray over them.
The experience was powerful, though it was a lot to take in. My prayer is that the faith displayed by those we prayed over bears lasting fruit; but the truth is, besides prayer we cannot play a role in discipling them. This is the reality of short-term missions. There’s no way we can replace the impact of person-to-person discipleship, and fellowship with believers. As we were packing up and saying goodbye one of the clients of the center asked me if we were coming back. I didn’t know what to say in response, but I told him we specifically weren’t, but that the school would love to return next summer. It felt like a weak response, but it’s the truth. Other than that all that I could do is ask his name and pray for him.
This is the painful reality of the state of missions today; the ideal would be to see these people on a weekly/daily basis, walking through life with them, all with biblical counsel and discipleship. But that kind of commitment is far too rare to find in missionaries. However, that is the way that the vast majority of the world is going to encounter, truly encounter, the gospel of Jesus Christ; not through short-term trips with planned agendas and zero long-term relationship building. Short-term trips will not reach the unreached.
Here’s an additional painful reality that was shown to me in class this past week… Coca Cola has reached nearly every country in the world. In a brief, but sharp contrast, there are approximately 3.2 billion people who have never been reached with the gospel; people who have no idea who Jesus is.
The Lord has revealed to me that my calling in this life is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, to the ends of the earth; but this is the biblical calling of every Christian; every single one. My prayer is for the unreached to be reached, or as Paul says, “I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named…” (Romans 15:20). This leads me to the culmination of the 6 weeks that I’ve been spending down here in Rosarito. On Thursday of this week the team will be heading up a mountain in south-central Mexico to spend a weekend with the Kuare Tribe (an unreached people group). This is an incredible opportunity to share the gospel with the last, the least, and the lost; not for the sake of their safety, health or earthly comforts, but so that they might count all things as loss for the excellence of knowing Jesus Christ.
Lastly, I’ll share that we attended a massive church-planting conference at Calvary Rosarito. It was a testament to the power of the gospel to reach the nations. Earlier on, in the trip, I was shown the humble beginnings of CC Rosarito; it was special to see the Lord’s hand in their ministries throughout the years, and now the way that they biblically advocate for church-planting. God has generated a movement through them, with over 30 churches sent from them since 2002, not counting the second, third and fourth generation plants. During the weekend, we heard incredible testimonies and messages from a number of passionate, on fire servants of the Kingdom, and God was glorified. The team had the brief opportunity to work in the kitchen and prepare over 500 boxed lunches for the attendants of the conference.
As always, your prayers, messages and support are incredibly encouraging and are answers to prayers. If you feel led to reach out to me for anything please do, whether to ask questions, get involved in supporting, giving a word of encouragement, or to give me your prayer requests (I am always available for these as well). I am excited to share the next newsletter, to report all that the Lord is going to do through the tribe outreach this upcoming weekend. My prayer for all of you is that you see, if you don’t already, what the Lord can and wants to do through any one of us; we need no qualifications, we just need to be available. I encourage all of you to pray this over your lives right now, as I do so, as well; “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24).
Praise Reports
- The Lord empowering people to biblically spread the gospel during the conference this past weekend.
- For those who accepted Jesus at the rehab center to have godly discipleship, and for their faith to bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
Prayer Requests
- For the Kuare tribe to encounter the gospel of Jesus Christ in a powerful way, and for the spiritual warfare to not overwhelm us in this incredible opportunity.
- For the Lord to confirm a region of the world for me to research, showing me a language to learn, and for my heart to break for what breaks His.
- For His joy to truly be our strength, as we know that our treasures are not in this life!
