Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised:
Our European friend Brooklynn took a walk with me the other day and, in a completely God-ordained appointment, I was able to share my testimony with her. She was very interested and asked some excellent questions. She is coming to our house for dinner next week, so please be in prayer that God would give us continued opportunities to share His Truth with her.
Prayer Necessities for the Skimmers:
1. There have been quite a few distractions for us this week, as both Amy and Misty have had to deal with the health problems of relatives at home. Please be in prayer for their families and for them, that God would guard their hearts and minds with His peace that transcends all understanding and that they would be able to keep their eyes fixed on Him.
2. Pray that God would improve our Quechua so that we can share more of Who He is with our teachers. We have gradually improved but still only have minimal conversation skills. If not in Quechua, please ask that God would enable us to share Truth with them in Spanish.
Inquiring Minds Wanna Know (Bonus for the Readers):
I finally arrived in Bolivia in early September, and it was a joy to be reunited with my team again (I´m pictured here with Misty and Amy). My fellow team leader, Leah, and I spent a few weeks furnishing our house (my not-quite-finished bedroom is pictured below) and getting to know people and places in Sucre, our new home.
Sucre is in the foothills of the Andes Mountains, a city of about 250,000 people with an elevation of about 9000 feet. Though it has no American restaurants, there are plenty of modern conveniences, including a movie theater, a supermarket, and a small store where we can regularly get Reese´s Cups and Almond Joy (something that makes me very happy! :)). We have a washing machine, hot water, and high-speed Internet at our house (though "high-speed" is a relative term, so don´t go comparing it to your instantaneous YouTube downloads in the US :)). We are very grateful to the LORD for His provision and to Southern Baptists for allowing Him to use you to supply our needs.
In early October, Leah and I had to write up a master plan outlining the vision God has given us for the women´s team and how He has shown us to accomplish that vision. Writing that document really helped to clarify our work for us, and I hope that my sharing a little of it with you will help you to see and understand more clearly God´s work among the Quechua using our team. I pray that God will enable you to catch the vision for seeing this people group come to Christ and that you will be on your knees regularly begging the LORD to spread His Word like wildfire among them.
In order to engage a Quechua community where there is no evangelical presence, the plan is that our women´s team would enter that place after our Xtreme men´s team has already established a church there. But, because the Quechua are distinctly separated among gender lines, the likelihood is high that the women of the community will have never heard the Good News that the men´s team has brought.
The girls will make month-long trips into the communities, then return to Sucre for one-week rest breaks. While they are in the communities, they live and work with the women, seeking to develop relationships and to discern those who have an interest in the things of God.
They will share stories, in chronogical order, memorized in Quechua directly from the Bible, with the goal of having the women with whom they share the stories memorize them as well. Because the majority of the people, and especially the women, are unable to read, hiding the Word of God in their hearts through memorization is the only way to ensure they have it. (Incidentally, it´s the best way for you to have it, too!)
Our plan is to share 20-30 stories in order to evangelize the women. Then, once there are baptized female believers, we will share 10-15 stories in order to disciple them, teaching them to obey all that Christ commanded and what it means to be the church.
From the start, they will be encouraged to share the stories they have learned with others who have not heard them and, once they have become baptized followers of Christ, that will be an expectation. If you learn a story from God´s Word, you share it with somebody who hasn´t heard it. Simple as that. You fulfill the Great Commission from the start.
We hope that, by implementing this "sharing God´s story" mindset in these new believers from the beginning, the LORD will call out missionaries from among those young churches to go to other Quechua communities and share the Gospel there. Because they don´t have to learn a new language or culture, we think the Quechua themselves will be far more effective ambassadors for Christ to their own people than we will ever be.
Are you wondering what your part is in all of this? Well, let me tell you. :)
In order to reach for Christ the 93,000 Quechua in our province alone, we need the help of Great Commission-minded believers in the States as well. We´re hoping to find seminary and university students willing to participate in summer or semester missions. We also have ideas for short-term volunteer trips which, though they would require great sacrifice on the part of the volunteers, would offer huge benefits as well. If you know of anyone who might be interested in directly participating in God´s work here, please e-mail me.
And, of course, the most important aspect of your involvement in the work here is your prayers. Please be lifting these people up to the Lord of the harvest.
"Then he said to his disciples, ´The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.´" (Matt. 9:37-38)
Our European friend Brooklynn took a walk with me the other day and, in a completely God-ordained appointment, I was able to share my testimony with her. She was very interested and asked some excellent questions. She is coming to our house for dinner next week, so please be in prayer that God would give us continued opportunities to share His Truth with her.
Prayer Necessities for the Skimmers:
1. There have been quite a few distractions for us this week, as both Amy and Misty have had to deal with the health problems of relatives at home. Please be in prayer for their families and for them, that God would guard their hearts and minds with His peace that transcends all understanding and that they would be able to keep their eyes fixed on Him.
2. Pray that God would improve our Quechua so that we can share more of Who He is with our teachers. We have gradually improved but still only have minimal conversation skills. If not in Quechua, please ask that God would enable us to share Truth with them in Spanish.
Inquiring Minds Wanna Know (Bonus for the Readers):
I finally arrived in Bolivia in early September, and it was a joy to be reunited with my team again (I´m pictured here with Misty and Amy). My fellow team leader, Leah, and I spent a few weeks furnishing our house (my not-quite-finished bedroom is pictured below) and getting to know people and places in Sucre, our new home.Sucre is in the foothills of the Andes Mountains, a city of about 250,000 people with an elevation of about 9000 feet. Though it has no American restaurants, there are plenty of modern conveniences, including a movie theater, a supermarket, and a small store where we can regularly get Reese´s Cups and Almond Joy (something that makes me very happy! :)). We have a washing machine, hot water, and high-speed Internet at our house (though "high-speed" is a relative term, so don´t go comparing it to your instantaneous YouTube downloads in the US :)). We are very grateful to the LORD for His provision and to Southern Baptists for allowing Him to use you to supply our needs.
In early October, Leah and I had to write up a master plan outlining the vision God has given us for the women´s team and how He has shown us to accomplish that vision. Writing that document really helped to clarify our work for us, and I hope that my sharing a little of it with you will help you to see and understand more clearly God´s work among the Quechua using our team. I pray that God will enable you to catch the vision for seeing this people group come to Christ and that you will be on your knees regularly begging the LORD to spread His Word like wildfire among them.
In order to engage a Quechua community where there is no evangelical presence, the plan is that our women´s team would enter that place after our Xtreme men´s team has already established a church there. But, because the Quechua are distinctly separated among gender lines, the likelihood is high that the women of the community will have never heard the Good News that the men´s team has brought.
The girls will make month-long trips into the communities, then return to Sucre for one-week rest breaks. While they are in the communities, they live and work with the women, seeking to develop relationships and to discern those who have an interest in the things of God.
They will share stories, in chronogical order, memorized in Quechua directly from the Bible, with the goal of having the women with whom they share the stories memorize them as well. Because the majority of the people, and especially the women, are unable to read, hiding the Word of God in their hearts through memorization is the only way to ensure they have it. (Incidentally, it´s the best way for you to have it, too!)
Our plan is to share 20-30 stories in order to evangelize the women. Then, once there are baptized female believers, we will share 10-15 stories in order to disciple them, teaching them to obey all that Christ commanded and what it means to be the church.
From the start, they will be encouraged to share the stories they have learned with others who have not heard them and, once they have become baptized followers of Christ, that will be an expectation. If you learn a story from God´s Word, you share it with somebody who hasn´t heard it. Simple as that. You fulfill the Great Commission from the start.
We hope that, by implementing this "sharing God´s story" mindset in these new believers from the beginning, the LORD will call out missionaries from among those young churches to go to other Quechua communities and share the Gospel there. Because they don´t have to learn a new language or culture, we think the Quechua themselves will be far more effective ambassadors for Christ to their own people than we will ever be.
Are you wondering what your part is in all of this? Well, let me tell you. :)
In order to reach for Christ the 93,000 Quechua in our province alone, we need the help of Great Commission-minded believers in the States as well. We´re hoping to find seminary and university students willing to participate in summer or semester missions. We also have ideas for short-term volunteer trips which, though they would require great sacrifice on the part of the volunteers, would offer huge benefits as well. If you know of anyone who might be interested in directly participating in God´s work here, please e-mail me.
And, of course, the most important aspect of your involvement in the work here is your prayers. Please be lifting these people up to the Lord of the harvest.
"Then he said to his disciples, ´The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.´" (Matt. 9:37-38)
2 comments:
Wow, this sounds like a great plan! ;) I get excited just reading about it!
hey friend! sign me up for a summer/semester trip. that's awesome that volunteers are a part of your plan. love it!
Post a Comment