In Acts 14:19-22 there is an interesting story of Paul preaching in Lystra, but men from Antioch and Iconium come in and persuade a multitude of men to stone Paul and leave him for dead outside the city. The disciples pray for him and after Paul is raised back up he goes right back into the city (from where they just stoned him) and continues to preach the Gospel! The Gospel of Christ cannot be detained! Logic would say that if we cannot meet collectively in our churches that the Gospel of Christ would be deterred. Exactly the opposite is happening! Not only is the Gospel of Christ being preached even more than before in spite of the fact that we cannot collectively gather, but it is being preached in the midst of global despair. People are searching, those that are infected or scared of being infected with Coronavirus are searching, those that have lost their jobs, or fear loosing their jobs are searching, those that are valiantly working during this pandemic, exposing themselves sometimes to danger, are searching, they are all searching for Hope. Many churches and Christians are taking the opportunity to share the Hope of the gospel during this difficult time.
Global Focus churches
in Latin America are sharing Hope
Even though we are mentoring hundreds of churches in Latin America, I want to just share 3 examples with you of how the Gospel is not being detained:
A Global Focus church that we have mentored is Camino de Salvacion a small baptist church on the outskirts of Tijuana, Mexico. They have turned their church building into a refugee center for Central American and Haitian immigrants. They are feeding and housing them and helping them with medical attentions during this very difficult time for all, but even more so for immigrants. But most importantly they are sharing the Hope of the Gospel with their new friends. Last week they were able to baptize one of their Haitian immigrants that came to faith in Christ. The Gospel cannot be deterred, even in the midst of this pandemic!
Another Global Focus church is Vida Nueva a baptist church in Arequipa, Peru. They have recently started taking food bags to the Venezuelan immigrant families in their city. These families work daily, mostly selling food on the streets to feed themselves, but with the quarantine, they are not able to sell. Next week they will turn their church building into a place where they will be feeding 50 the immigrant families daily. They are not only sharing food with the Venezuelan immigrants, but they are sharing the Hope of the Gospel with them as well. A Global Focus church in Bogota (a different church than the one I wrote about last week), Centro de Fe y Esperanza, a pentecostal church that is sharing food with their needy neighbors in their own community. These neighbors are able to come to the church and they will give them a bag of food. They are being missional and sharing Hope in the midst of this pandemic.
Latin American missionaries
are sharing Hope in the Mslm world
A and Y are the Venezuelan workers that last week I shared with you that had been invited into one of the local “Daara’s” which is an islmc school for boys. Because the government cannot provide enough food, A and Y are helping to feed the children of the school breakfast and dinner. But now 2 other “Daara’s” have asked them to share food with their boys as well! God is opening some very unique doors of opportunity because of this pandemic, even among this islmc schools in West Africa! Not only are they asking about the bread they are sharing with them, they are asking about the Bread of Life, Jesus! The Gospel cannot be deterred in the midst of this pandemic!
A Peruvian lady we helped to send to work with refugee’s in the Middle East is now discipling online group of young ladies, former mslms that have come to faith in Christ. She is working with them and they are now openly sharing their faith in Christ with others. God is opening up some very interesting doors for her as she and her discipleship group continue to share the Hope of the Gospel in the midst of despair.
Our own daughter and son in law who are serving in a country that Coronavirus has not reached its peak yet in Southeast Asia. They are ministering to their mslm neighbors by sharing their own food and making up food baskets for them. Many of the poorer population of this country live day to day, and under quarantine are not allowed to go out and work. They have been sharing their food with very poor people that are in need, sharing Hope in the midst of despair.
Another Latin American worker from Bolivia is taking on the responsibly to share food and Hope with his neighbors in his city in the Middle East where he is serving. The Gospel cannot be detained!
Teaching and preaching in the midst of quarantine
This past week on Tuesday I was able to teach in a church in Bogota, Colombia. Then on Wednesday preach in another church in Guatemala, then yesterday speak to a youth missions ministry (like Urbana) in Argentina. Tomorrow I will speak to OM (Operation Movilization) in El Salvador, and Sunday am preach in a baptist church in Santiago, Chile. I have been teaching and preaching every day!
Of course all of this virtually. The last couple of weeks, and the next couple of weeks I am making videos of our entire Global Focus process for mentoring churches in missions (which is nearly 40 hours of teaching). Please pray that even in the midst of these times we are in, that we continue to mobilize churches and missionary candidates to the greatest cause on earth, taking the Hope of Christ to those who have none!
You can pray for Hope to come
to Mslms during this Ramadan
Today is the beginning of Ramadan which is the most religious and special month for mslms. They fast during the daylight hours, but in the evenings they break their fast’s with the special “Iftar” meal, which is a family or neighborhood gathering. This year, even though they will be fasting, they will not be able to have their nightly get togethers with family and friends. About 30 years ago, Christians around the world started praying for mslms during their holy month of Ramadan, praying that they would discover the Hope of the Gospel in Christ. Missiological statistics show us that more mslms have come to faith in Christ in the last 30 years, than any other period of time in the history of islm! Why? Because prayer does work! Let us pray that in the midst of this pandemic, that mslms as well as the rest of the population of the world, needs Hope. And only our Hope in Christ can fill that void! I have included 2 resources, and pdf version of a 30 day prayer guide for the next 30 days. Also a link to a New York Times article of a former Jihadist that is now leading Bible Studies and helping to bring Hope of Jesus to other mslms.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/24/world/middleeast/the-jihadi-who-turned-to-jesus.html
This past Sunday we celebrated the resurrection of Christ. If the resurrection teaches us anything, it teaches us that God can take that which we fear the most, and turn it into triumph! The Apostles were paralyzed by the fear that Jesus was being crucified and they scattered. But when they experienced the reality of His resurrection, it changed everything! They were no longer just participants in the Gospel, they now had become protagonist of the Gospel of Christ. The Gospel was no longer just local, it became global. They experienced God in a new way, because of the reality of the resurrection. That is exactly what God is doing in our world today. He is taking that which we fear the most, and he is launching us into His new reality. He is changing our perspective on many things through this difficult time.
The past weeks that I have been working from home; God is allowing me to teach virtually. Last week I taught a 2 hour class on how “God’s mission has not been quarantined” and we had over 400 missional leaders on the Zoom video webinar from 9 different Latin American countries! This weekend I will be teaching several different churches in Latin America via Zoom. I have also spent the last 2 weeks recording videos for our Global Focus missional process. I have been able to make 9 different videos, and this Monday will finish up with another 5. From there I will begin to video our entire Global Focus missional process. We are not sure what things will look like once this is all over, but we want to have our entire process ready for any circumstances. Why? Because we still have been commanded to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
I am having weekly Zoom meeting with our country directors for Global Focus Latin America, and I want to take a few minuted to share with you a few testimonies of what God is doing around Latin America with the churches that we are mentoring.
The first testimony is a miracle that has taken place in Venezuela. As you know the economy in Venezuela has already collapsed, even before this pandemic. But now, things are much worse, people cannot work, their is literal starvation happening in Venezuela. This country has been for the last 10 years one of our best countries to work in and recruit from. We have sent to the some of the most dangerous mission fields in totally closed countries more Venezuelan families than any other Latin American nation. We are currently mentoring more churches in Venezuela in our Global Focus missional process than any other country.
God did something last week that not only amazed me, it amazed the people of Venezuela. In the midst of this pandemic, when things are even worse than they have normally been, God sent millions of fish to the coast of Venezuela! The people were able to gather them in buckets and give them away to their friends and neighbors. God is literally feeding the starving people of Venezuela! Praise God that He is able to continue to do the same miracles we see in the Bible!
The Global Focus churches of Venezuela are still doing missions! FBC of Turen, one of the first Global Focus churches in Venezuela, has a group of members that meet every morning very early to pray for all of their missionaries on the field. They spend at least an hour before their days starts praying for missions, and for missionaries.
One of the missionaries sent by the church is a young lady serving in the Andes mountain region. She is taking the Gospel to a very poor indigenous community. This young lady is helping this very poor and the sick in community with food and medicine and she is going house to house teaching them the Bible at the same time!
Other Global Focus churches in Venezuela, the young people are venturing out into the city and they are taking food to their own community and to the hospitals. For a long time the government is no longer providing medicines, medical supplies, or food for the patients in the hospitals. They are taking the patients and the doctors and nurses food, but most importantly they are taking them hope! In Venezuela they are doing missions locally, and praying for missionaries globally!
In Colombia one of our Global Focus churches has been able to take over 1,000 food baskets to people in need in their own community! They are also having a daily virtual prayer service that lasts 6 hours, in which hundreds of members of their church are praying for all that God is doing in the midst of this pandemic. They also pray for each one of their missionaries. They have been able until now to continue to fully support each one of the missionary families sent from their church.
In Peru one of our Global Focus churches is having daily online services. They are also taking all of their offerings and using them to purchase food for needy families in their community. They are also meeting weekly with their different missionaries (they have several families they have sent from their own church), and praying with them during this pandemic, and have told each one of them, that their offering would not diminish during this time. They are trusting God by faith that He will provide for their local community, and for this global missionaries!
As you can see, like I taught last week, God’s mission is not quarantined, it is just as powerful as ever before. We are excited about all God is doing, and all of the new opportunities He is showing us.
It is interesting that last Sunday we celebrated Palm Sunday, where Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem and the people received Him with palms branches and praises. Then just a few days later, many of those same people were crying out “Crucify Him”, and a the next day he was being crucified. The one thing that this pandemic has taught all of us, is that our world can change very fast, just like the world of the Apostles did. All of their hopes and dreams seemed to dissipate when Jesus was crucified on the cross.
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But just as that which seemed to be the worst thing that could happen (His crucifixion), actually became the best thing. Although they were not able see it in that moment, but if it had not been for His death, and then His resurrection the Gospel would not have been catapulted to the entire world. So, God took that which the Apostles thought was the worst possible scenario, and He transformed it into a new reality that launched the Gospel to all peoples of the world.
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I recently wrote an article and wrote this frase: “Change, albeit uncomfortable, pushes us to re-evaluate our ministries, our lives and make adjustments”.
This pandemic did not catch God off guard or by surprise. He is totally and Sovereignly in control of everything that is happening, just like the week that Jesus was crucified. This “new reality” that we are having to adapt to, and live in, is making us re-evaluate some of our paradigms. The one thing that we have all learned from this is that the mission of God is people (making disciples; meeting needs) not programs and buildings.
So, is God working in the midst of this pandemic? Absolutely, and He is inviting us to participate with Him. One thing that we have learned is that each and every one of us can be and are, missionaries (sent ones on a mission). It is amazing to see what God has been doing in churches here in the U.S. Churches that would have hundreds or maybe even thousands in their buildings on Sunday’s are now preaching multiplied numbers of people than ever before. It is amazing to see fellow believers reaching out into their own communities meeting needs and giving hope. What we thought as the worst possible thing that could happen (our church buildings being shut down) is actually that which is catapulting the Gospel of Christ around the entire world.
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I would like to take some time to tell you what God is doing around the world with some of the missionaries that we have helped to send out to the field.
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In Southeast Asia, a country that has been growing increasingly more hostile to the Gospel. A Peruvian young lady that we sent told us that the leaders of the village are asking Christians to pray to their God so that they would be protected from this pandemic and that it would stop. She said,” I have never seen a greater openness in this place to the Gospel than now.”
We have a Venezuelan family in Central Asia, in a totally closed country that has been devastated by this pandemic. Their language school has been closed for over a month, but this week opened back up, and the very first day, they began to converse with their language instructor about Jesus, and she made a decision to follow Christ right there!
A Mexican family that we helped to send to the Middle East have a small house church in thier city. Obviously because of the very tight lockdown in their country they cannot meet. They decided to launch a church website, they now have over 500 people listening to their teachings, and over 10,000 people in this completely mslm country have visited their website!
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Another Salvadorian family in the same country wanted to take food bags to the refugee’s and the poor of their city but they did not have enough to share. They began to pray about that, and a friend called them and said, I have food bags made up, but I cannot go out, can I give them to you so you can give them out. They were able to give them out to some very needy families in their city, and God began to open even more doors for there ministry there.
A Venezuelan family we helped to send to East Africa have been feeding street children, they give them food, and also teach them the Bible. The week before last, the leader of an islmc school for boys asked if he could send his students to their feeding program. He said, I know you are Christians, and that you teach the Bible, but you are people of God, and my students are hungry. They are now taking food and soap into that school, and the leader allows them to teach the Bible there!
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A Peruvian doctor that we sent to the Middle East several years ago has been discipling a group of young ladies. One of her disciples led a young man to faith in Christ who was thrown out of his house for following Christ. He is now making videos of his conversion and posting them on social networks (very dangerous in this context), but he said that in the midst of this pandemic, people have to know that Jesus in our only hope.
Another Mexican family serving in the Middle East, a different country, said that they would normally see 2-3 people come to faith in a year, but now they are seeing 2-3 people come to faith every single week since the pandemic!
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Another Peruvian family we helped to send to Europe have started a church, and normally have about 40 people in attendance, but since they have launched their Facebook live services, they have around 170 watching!
This is not all that God is doing, He is doing so much more than we can even imagine, but we wanted to share just a sample of some of the things that He is doing with Latin American missionaries around the world.
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Please continue to pray for them, and for their churches that support them, it has been devastating on the economy in Latin America, and the churches are some that have been affected the most.
What God is doing around the world with some of the missionaries that we have helped to send out to the field.
🔸“Is God working in the midst of this pandemic? Absolutely, and He is inviting us to participate with Him. One thing that we have learned is that each and every one of us can be and are, missionaries (sent ones on a mission).” – Ralph Canada🔸
I saw report on how the military was being mobilized to help in certain areas with the pandemic that we are all in. The news reporter was interviewing the military person and asked him how the military could respond to this, and he immediately answered: “We were made for this”.. What a great answer, we are not running from this pandemic, we are not focusing only on our own selves, he said, we were made for this. That is exactly what our response as the church of Jesus Christ needs to be in midst of this pandemic; “We were made for this!”.
I was reading an article on how the early church responded to the plague in Rome in the second century. Cyprian, the pastor at Carthage said “How suitable, how necessary it is that this plague and pestilence, which seems horrible and deadly, searches out the justice of each and every one and examines the mind of the human race”. What a powerful statement; the plague searches out and examines us! During the plagues of the Roman Empire, where over 5,000 people a day were dying, family members, friends, even doctors would abandon the sick, for fear of becoming contaminated. The ones who cared for the sick and dying were the believers, at great risk to their own health. So Cyprian said that the plague “examines us” whether our motivation is one of “self preservation” or one of “self- sacrifice”. It was exactly during this time, when the church rose up to care for the sick and dying that Christianity spread across the entire Roman Empire. Church; We were made for this!
Workers are saying:
“This is why God called us here”
Our daughter and son in law were contacted by their missions agency and told them and the other workers, that they could come back to the U.S. for a short time because of the very real danger. They took some time to fast and pray about their decision, and they responded to the agency (and to us also) “This is why God called us here”.
I am in constant contact with our missionaries, and many other missionaries as well. Many of our missionaries are on severe lockdown, where the government will not allow them out of their houses, and they are living in very chaotic situations. Also in many countries, they are blaming foreigners for bringing Coronavirus to their country, all foreigners. Some workers have had their windows broken by rocks, they are avoided and looked upon with suspicion as they go outside. Please pray for them in the midst of this pandemic.
Everyone was given the choice to return to the home country during this pandemic, and all have responded the same: “This is why God called us here.” They are ministering to the local people by way of social media, phone calls, texts, but also by taking food to needy families. Please remember to pray for them as they are serving God. If it is difficult for us, it is much, much more difficult for them during this time.
Church; “We may be in quarantine, but the Gospel is not quarantined!” The Gospel is being preached, people are coming to faith in Christ and following Him. Remember; “We were made for this!”
We are all realizing that our world can change very quickly, that our situation just a few weeks ago, is not the same situation we are experiencing today. Xochitl and I just returned from Washington D.C. where I was to preach a missions conference for a great church in the area. Even though I checked with the church on Thursday PM before flying, and ate dinner with the pastor on Friday pm, taught the men on Saturday pm, and even a group of couples on Saturday pm, but late Saturday evening they made the correct decision to cancel their public services.
We totally understood because of the seriousness of the circumstances, and I preached my message that I had prepared to the host family where we were staying.Because of the rapidly changing situations, I wanted to take the opportunity to address how we can live missionary during this time and under these circumstances.
1. Do not give into fear.
Psalms 91 was written during a time of pestilence and David refers to God in this Psalm as “My God; refuge and my fortress, in whom I trust”. It is easy as we listen to the news, or see everything on social media to give way to fear. That is not the response of the redeemed; our response is to trust in the good hand of our Father and trust in what He is doing.Just like I wrote last week about the Sovereignty of God throughout this entire situation, we have to trust in the fact that God is doing something bigger than us, bigger than our political persuasion, bigger even than our country. He is doing something in the whole world. I believe that at the end of this crisis, He will be glorified more, the Gospel will be preached to more, and more people will be exposed to the only Hope that exists, the Hope of Jesus Christ! None of us know totally all that God is doing, but we can trust in “Our God, because He is our refuge, our fortress and in whom we trust”.
2. Churches are not closed,
just our buildings are.
Churches are not closed, buildings are closed, Temples are closed, but the church of Jesus Christ is alive and well. The areas of the world where the church of Jesus Christ is growing the fastest are the same areas of the world where they cannot meet in or build church buildings. Interesting, no?So now we are not able to meet in our buildings for a while, what can we learn:the church is not a building but a body; the church is not a service but the mission that Christ gave us to make disciples of all nations. So, now we are going to online services, that’s great! I have listened to several different pastors and teachers preach and teach in the last few days. I have participated in prayer services for churches hundreds of miles away from where I live. The church is becoming viral, we are realizing we are not contained by walls.
3. Unprecedented times present unprecedented opportunities.
Just because we are in isolation does not mean that we live like hermits or that we only focus on ourselves. These are unprecedented times, but at the same time they are presenting us with some unprecedented opportunities.
This is exactly the time when the church of Jesus Christ shines; we meet opportunities. Engage in your neighborhood, and also on social media. Find out what peoples needs are, people are fearful, some need help and assistance. Be sympathetic to those who are having a hard time financially. I met with a dear friend yesterday that is likely going to loose his business. There are many others that will, and others that will become unemployed They will have needs, let’s be sympathetic to those needs. I love the fact that our church has already started a food drive to help local families, and taking up special offerings to help those who will be affected financially by this crisis. I mentioned last week that the believers in Rome ministered to the citizens of Rome during the plague, and because they did almost all of Rome was evangelized. We certainly are living in unprecedented times, but they also are presenting unprecedented opportunities to minister and show the love of Christ.
Please take time to pray for missionaries who are serving in some of the areas most affected by Coronavirus. They are far away from their families and cannot travel. They themselves are at risk because of the countries where many of them live. We are in constant communications with them and will let you know of any news.
#Coronavirus #Covid19 #Pray #GlobalFocus #ConnectGlobal
