From Backpacking January 2012, posted by Ian Fallis on 2/03/2012 (9 items)

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A missionary takes notes as they learn a language in Brazil.

Because of my work on NTM’s crisis team, I sometimes am awakened in the night to deal with issues that arise.

But I have to admit, I don’t really like it, and it seldom presents a ministry opportunity, as it did for a missionary in Brazil recently.

He awoke suddenly. Someone was standing outside his house in the tribal village, calling his name.

“I stumbled out of my bed to find Herbert at our veranda door,” the missionary wrote. “I opened the door and he came up on the veranda and sat down in the dark. I did not really know what was going on. I just thought that it was a weird time to come visit.”

Herbert began mumbling in Spanish, moving randomly from odd topic to odd topic. The missionary eventually realized that Herbert had drank a bit too much piyarentsi – a fermented manioc drink.

The missionary didn’t know much Spanish, but filled in with Portuguese and began explaining the Gospel. He’s still learning the language Herbert and his people speak.

“He was quiet as a mouse and I began revving up and my tongue got more loose as I began to really preach it to him,” the missionary wrote. “I thought to myself as I shared with him, ‘Wow he is really listening.’ I carried on for a few minutes and then turned on my flashlight only to find Herbert fast asleep across from me.”

After a great deal of effort, he managed to wake Herbert.

“Before he left my porch that evening he broke down crying and said, ‘I have no value … I am worthless!’,” the missionary wrote. “I felt so helpless as I could not tell him in his own language how much God loved him and that he is very valuable in God’s sight.”

Even if the missionary knew Spanish, or Herbert knew Portuguese, conveying spiritual truths still would have been very difficult. That’s why NTM missionaries learn the language, and why the investment of time and effort is worth it.

Aaron Luse works with two Patpatars

Do you ever feel like God’s timing doesn’t make a lot of sense?

Paal and her husband, Ezra, were scheduled to depart for a translation workshop this week. This will better equip them to help translate God’s Word into their language, Patpatar. But Paal’s older brother died, and his funeral was scheduled for the same day as their departure.

“He was a leader in the village and died after a long struggle with sickness,” wrote missionary Aaron Luse. “Culturally funerals are significant events and it is important to attend them.”

So when Ezra asked Aaron if their departure date for the workshop could be changed, Aaron was quite concerned as he explained that it could not.

“Don’t worry about it,” Ezra replied. “Paal and I have talked and we think that this work [the translation training] is what God wants us to do. We are ready to go.”

Taking such a trip in the first place was a stretch. The boat ride and a flight would take them farther away from home than most Patpatars have ever been. “In terms of miles, these trips are not that far away, but to the Patpatar it is taking them outside their comfort zone to a place they know little about,” Aaron wrote

And traveling instead of going to the funeral was not a popular choice among their clan and family.

“I know it was a difficult choice to be willing to go on this trip, but I could also see their smiles,” Aaron wrote. “They are willing to go to do the work of the Lord despite the cost.  What about us?  What are we willing to do in this new year for God?  Where are willing to go?  What are we willing to give up?”

Good questions.

I’ve reached that point in the message where I’m going to ask you to respond to what God had said to you. Before I do, I want to turn your attention to Philippians 2:13. In one modern translation, it reads like this: “It is God who produces in you the desires and actions that please Him.”

I think that means that if you are feeling that you should do something for God’s Kingdom, that’s God speaking to you. I am pretty sure Satan doesn’t want you praying for missions, or giving to missions, or going. And if you’re anything like me, the thought of giving your time or money away is not natural. If you’re feeling you should do something, that’s God talking.

So why does God want you to do something? You know He can do anything and everything without you, right? So why does He give us opportunities to be involved in His work? To bless us. To give us opportunities to grow in Him and know Him better.

Now, I know some people have become quite adept at ignoring God’s promptings. If that’s you, you have chosen your own rewards, and you are your pastor’s problem, not mine.

I’m talking to the people who are not ignoring God. And I’m telling you that you need to listen and do what He is prompting you to do. I often hear, “I’ll think about” or “I’ll pray about it.” Don’t. If God is prompting you, act. Act now.

That sounds so unspiritual, doesn’t it? But here’s the thing. A lot of folks who say they’ll think or pray about something … don’t. I’d say that’s the majority. They promptly forget what God prompted them to do, and there’s nothing spiritual about that.

Virtually all of the rest are using a double standard. They want to think and pray about doing anything to advance God’s Kingdom, but not about their own interests. There are people who will have to think and pray about God prompted them to give, who will go out and spend that much on lunch at a restaurant without even thinking about it. People have to think and pray long and hard about becoming a missionary, but how much did they think and pray about the line of work they’re in?

If God is prompting you to act, do it.

I want to start the new year obedient. I know I won’t get far without being disobedient in some way or another, but I at least want to start obedient. How about you?

Is God prompting you to pray? You can sign up for daily or weekly prayer bulletins from NTM, or updates from us.

Is God prompting you to give? You can give to our ministry with NTM, or to a variety of NTM projects.

Is God prompting you to go? NTM doesn’t have just church planters. I’m an editor and writer. We also have graphic artists and programmers and construction workers and teachers. Many of the things you do in your workplace, you could do as an NTM missionary. Find out about going.

Read part one, They need Jesus, and part two, Good or great?

Which would you choose -- a 10-year-old Ford or a new Mercedes?

This is the second part of a message I shared at Southside Baptist Church in Orlando on Jan. 1, 2012. Read part one: They need Jesus.

Would you prefer good or great?

I drove to church in a 2002 Ford Focus. It’s been a good car for us. But a brand new Mercedes, well, that’d be a great car, wouldn’t it? If I offered you the keys to my 10-year-old Ford, or the keys to a new Mercedes, which would you choose?

Most folks would pick the great car over the good car.

The reason we don’t all drive Mercedes is that we’re not all willing to work that hard for a great car. For most of us, getting a great car takes a lot more resources than we’re willing to put into a car. So we settle for – or at least hope for – good cars.

It’s that’s way in life. We take good because great takes time, work, perseverance, dedication, and all those other tough things.

And we do that in church too. We do that when it comes to God. God gave us the Great Commission. You’ll notice that Matthew 28:19 is never referred to as a good idea. It is the Great Commission: Make disciples of all nations.

The church in the First Century understood that to mean establishing churches where there were no churches. We see in the book of Acts that they spent months in particular locations, left people there, and sent people back in order to establish churches. And that makes sense. Churches are, in a sense, disciple factories. If we’re called to make disciples, it makes sense to establish churches.

But you know what? That takes time, work, perseverance, dedication, and all those other tough things.

It’s easier to drill a well than it is to plant a church. We can do something good and move on. It’s easier to send in food or a medical team than it is to take on the long-term ministry of planting a church. A short-term trip is easier to fund and sustain – because you don’t have to sustain it long – than a church-planting ministry.

In the long run, those good works don’t create bodies of believers who are interdependent with other bodies of believers in carrying out the Great Commission. They create dependent people with a sense of entitlement. In fact, doing good works in most cultures does not speak of the love of Christ as much as it plays into and reinforces their beliefs that those who have more are responsible to share it with those who have less.

The real need is Jesus.

The Great Commission tells us to make disciples of all nations. Of the world’s 6,500 people groups, 2,500 have no church and no ongoing effort to establish a church – a body of believers who make disciples.

I know there are some who would say, “Well, you’re emphasizing the Great Commission at the expense of the Great Commandment to love one another.”

Hogwash.

Do people who say that think missionaries just go and say, “I don’t care if you’re sick and dying, I’m just here to share the Gospel?” You don’t plant a church without good things for the people among whom you are ministering. And because those good works take place in a context that is designed to introduce them to Jesus, they work together and truly do good, instead of creating dependency.

Besides, what’s the real problem? In most cases, the surface needs of the world’s unreached people groups result from lives lived in fear of spirits. They need to meet the One who is control of all things. If you do good things, but never address the real need, are you truly showing love?

The real need is Jesus.

Others will say, “Oh, but these good things do plant churches!”

Really?

Generally speaking, when you set out to perform a certain task, you are doing well if you manage to carry it out. It is extremely rare that someone sets out to do something small and ends up accomplishing something huge.

Let’s take a mundane example. Let’s say I was to drive you to Miami this afternoon. I have been to Miami only once. I don’t really know Miami. Nevertheless, I am pretty confident that I could get you there. But it would be ridiculous for me to claim I could show you a good afternoon and evening in Miami. It might happen. Then again, I might end up taking us to the wrong neighborhood and we’d get carjacked and robbed.

If I want to show you a good afternoon and evening in Miami, I need to do more work. I need to research what to do and where to go, and I need to make a plan, and I need to carry out that plan.

Exactly how is it that people think a simple good deed, or a two-week trip, or a Bible translation, can end up accomplishing the complex, multi-faceted and long-term goal of establishing a church?

Good works in the context of an ongoing church planting ministry can be quite effective and helpful. But to think that good works can establish a church is like thinking that clearing some land for a garden will result in a bumper crop of tomatoes.

Planting a church is not cheap, easy or quick. But it is biblical and effective.

The real need is Jesus.

Stay tuned for part three.

Go back and read part one, They need Jesus.

Awayo's road to faith is inspiring people

I had the privilege of speaking on Sunday, Jan. 1, at Southside Baptist Church in Orlando. Here’s a recap …

Our team faced many obstacles in filming AWAYO a few years back, one of which was rain. It rained almost every day we were there, which meant there were parts of each day when we could film. It was also tough to work inside, because of all the noise on the tin roofs. Getting anywhere was hard, and not just because of the rugged terrain. There was also a lot of mud, and many creeks and rivers and streams.

Yet in spite of abundant water, the Moi people have many skin problems because they do not bathe. And they are frequently dehydrated because they do not drink enough water. You might look at a situation like that and say, “They needed a well.” But the fact is, they did not. They were afraid to access clean water because they believed evil, dangerous spirits live in the water. They did not simply need help with a physical problem; they needed freedom from fear.

They needed Jesus.

When my friend Ron Lindsey went to work among the Siawi people, he couldn’t help but notice that they ate dirt to satisfy their constant hunger. This was odd, since the river just below the village teamed with fish, and the hillside above the village was thick with wild pigs. He later found out that the spirits they lived in fear of put strict limits on everything they could eat, except dirt. They could eat all the dirt they wanted.

They were not allowed to hunt on the hillside above the village. They were not allowed to eat any fish large enough to have scales they could see. So because of fear, they ate dirt. They needed to find freedom from fear.

They needed Jesus.

When Matt Arnold got word that little Maria was still sick after a virus swept through the Southern Tepehuan village where he ministered, he went to visit her. He found her severely dehydrated, so he started an IV of saline solution and gave her parents some oral rehydration salts, along with instructions on how to use them. He left thinking she would be fine.

So he was surprised to find out later that Maria had died. Her parents had removed the IV and had not given her an oral rehydration fluid. Shamans had told them Maria was already dead, and they should not let the body revive. Maria was gone, and if her body revived, an evil spirit would come and live in it. They had access to medicine, but fear kept them from using it.

They needed Jesus.

When Sandra, a Guanano woman, decided she needed help with her marriage, she summoned a chanter, who would chant so the spirits would fix her relationship with her husband. It cost every bit of food she had in the house, but it was worth it to her. However, when her husband came home, he was greatly upset to find that there was no food in the house, and the couple argued.

Sandra knew what the problem was. She decided she had not hired a powerful enough chanter. She would have to borrow money from friends and family, putting the couple in debt, but she would hire a chanter to make things right.

That may sound silly to you and I. But it made perfect sense to Sandra and her people. They did not need someone to come in and tell them how they should do things. They needed to find out that the spirits were not in control of their lives.

They needed Jesus.

There’s a lot of good stuff we can do, such as providing access to clean water, food and medical care. But they’re not the great thing we are called to do: The Great Commission.

Go on to Good or Great: a New Year’s message, part two.

OK, besides God. Besides Jesus. That’s cheating. Stop it. You know who you are.

My favorite is Luke, because I identify with him. Yes, he was a physician, and no, I am not, but you know what? Only once, after Paul and his team are shipwrecked, does the Bible indicate that Luke did any medical work.

Paul’s references to Luke make it clear that he considered Luke his fellow missionary, yet only once – in Philippi – does the Bible indicate Luke did any evangelism.

So what was Luke doing?

Being a pest.

Well, not exactly, but I wanted to put it into terms that would help you see why I identify with Luke.

And in a sense, I imagine Luke was a bit of pest.

In order to write the clear, accurate letters we now know as the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, Luke must have taken a lot of notes. He interviewed many eyewitnesses. He wrote things down. And he must have had a lot of questions for Paul.

That’s the “pest” part. You see, in my reporter days, I “shadowed” people. That meant spending long hours with them, observing them, asking them questions, in order to be able to create a portrait for readers. For the subject, that can get irritating.

Considering that, and Paul’s straightforward, hard-working character, I have at times wondered whether Paul ever thought Luke should become a real missionary. You know, put away the parchments and the quills and the ink, stop talking to saved people, and get out there and preach the Gospel.

I don’t wonder about that anymore. I’ve come to the conclusion he did not.

Every indication in Scripture is that Paul considered Luke his faithful and valued co-worker.

I know Paul had no idea how much impact Luke’s writings would have, or for how long. But I think Paul recognized the importance of Luke using the gifts, talents and abilities that God had given him to build up the body and glorify God by declaring the works of His hands.

That’s how I’d describe my ministry as well, and I count it a privilege to have people like you standing with Julie and I, praying for us, giving to our ministry and encouraging us.

Jackie, our oldest daughter, returns from a week-long trip to California tonight. She’s been visiting a friend in the San Diego area. She has been considering moving out there. She has been thinking about a culinary school in the area as well. She’d love to be able to work and get off disability, but her constant vertigo still gets in the way a lot, sometimes severely. That’s a result of Lyme disease. Please pray.

Brynna is working full-time at TGI Friday’s in nearby Altamonte Springs and going to school full-time at Seminole State College. She’s working on general classes while deciding what she wants to do. She is considering psychology.

Would you please pray for her as she makes these and other decisions relating to her future?

Evan graduated this past spring from Crooms Academy of Information Technology, a magnet high school near where we live. He’s planning to work for a year, then go to New Tribes Bible Institute.

Jon and Meghan at Orlando International Airport this morning

Our daughter Meghan and son-in-law, Jonathan, left this morning for China.

They’ll be training in Colorado for a week, then go to Beijing for more training. After that, it’s off to Hohhot — which is in China but north of the Great Wall — to teach English at Hohhot Normal School, a university for teachers. They’ve made a minimum two-year commitment to be part of an ELIC teaching team there.

Teaching the Mwinikas

What would it be like to not be free?

I fear that for most Americans, July 4 means little more than a day off, cookouts and fireworks. There is supposed to be so much more to Independence Day than that.

But wait – I’ve got something even better. I have a freedom that can’t be taken away from me, even if I lived in the most repressive government on earth. I have freedom in Christ.

And two people groups are going to get a glimpse of that real freedom next week.

In Papua New Guinea, after years of preparation, the Siar people will begin hearing evangelistic Bible lessons.

Five Siar men – Amos, Bernard, Tande, Sali and Toiya – helped prepare Bible lessons for the teaching. Three more men – Jon, Benson and Ogen – helped translate Scriptures into the Siar language.

Now they will have the opportunity to put it all together as they, along with other Siars, listen to God’s Word being taught with key lessons about the character of God and His Creation to the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.

“Please be praying that these guys would embrace God’s free salvation and that their families would also place their faith in Christ,” wrote missionary Chris Lujan, one of the members of the missionary team among the Siars. “Pray that as we teach we would have God’s discernment on when to slow down and when to speed up, so that the message is clearly communicated.”

That message is in the final stages across the Indian Ocean in Africa. After months of teaching, the Mwinika people will hear about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.

“The last week has finally arrived,” wrote Nadia Hattingh, who serves among the Mwinikas along with her husband, Francois, and Phil and Elin Henderson. “We can hardly believe that after 18 weeks of teaching daily, we have reached this point. Praise God who has been faithful in calling those that must hear to come.”

Attendance has been good, and some people who live too far away to attend every lesson have been keeping up by listening to recordings of the lessons.

“Francois is very encouraged with the way the listeners are tracking during the lessons,” Nadia wrote. “Their understanding has greatly increased, so much so that they can anticipate what will be said next. They fully and completely believe that God’s Word is the authority.”

Many of the Mwinikas have tried hard to seek God in the only ways they knew, through their traditional religion. They have tried to please Him through their traditional religious practices. But to this point, no one has shared God’s plan of salvation with them.

“They are so ready to hear the Truth and the Way,” Nadia wrote. “May many find Life through this teaching!”

Pray that the important lessons they hear this week will be just the beginning of the spread of the Gospel among the Mwinika people.

I wonder how often you and I take for granted the freedom we have in Christ, just as so many people take for granted the freedom we have in the USA. It’s worth thinking about.