Exloring Life Eternal

A. The Bible says He does.
B. I have seen God answer prayer.

Read on for an account someone shares:

=====
What does it mean to 'adopt' a people group?

Jerry Rankin, President of the IMB, stated in his book, 'To the Ends of the Earth' that "A [church] can take ownership of a strategy to reach a people on the other side of the world without ever going there." All they have to do is to commit to pray plus do whatever God leads them to do. In his book, Jerry also shares the following true story of how God moved among a people group as a result of one man's commitment to pray and to lead his church in prayer.

"When disability and early retirement forced him to slow down, Tom Wright felt God speaking to him about a commitment he had made as a child. One Sunday morning Tom hobbled down the aisle and devoted himself to intercessory prayer for his church. The pastor had recently asked the congregation to pray for an Unreached People Group in the Last Frontier. Tom took the lead on the project. He promoted prayer for them, he prayed long hours for them himself, and he always asked prayer for them whenever the church met. They became his people.

A year went by and Tom expanded his prayer for the people group. He felt led to pray that the JESUS film be translated into their language. One of his fellow church members told him: "Tom, you can pray for that, but I have seen the websites on this people group. Only the old people and the priests speak that language now. No one else does. I think it would be a waste of time." But Tom and the church were persistent in their prayers.

Two years latter, a couple living and working among the people group came to the church and gave a report. They told how four years before there were no known believers among the group and little response to the gospel. But three years ago, they said, things changed. It was sudden and dramatic. The International Mission Board sent workers to live among them and they began to respond. Now there were more than five hundred believers. Tom realized this was about the time of his struggle with God. It was also about the time his pastor asked the congregation to begin praying for this people group and Tom had taken them on as a project.

The two workers went on to report that not having Scripture in the heart language of the people was one of the big problems for this group. While everyone spoke the language common to the country, in their homes and among themselves they still spoke the traditional language of their ancestors. But there was hope, they said. Two years before, one of the new believers felt called to translate the JESUS film into their language and was about to complete it.

The timing was more than coincidence. The man was called after Tom began to pray for that translation. The church was moved as they realized the Lord had brought the missionaries who live among their people group, love them, and know them, to their church to show how He was answering their prayers."

What about you? Will you too allow God to use you to reach a people group on the other side of the world?

[Taken from a newsletter sent by a Christian worker in West Africa.]

Someone asked a question recently about globalization & its impact on evangelization: if we can travel just about anywhere, then can we not also share the message of Christ in those same cities? All you have to do is hold down a decent job, live right, and tell others about Jesus, right?

I am answering this in terms of what it would take to maximize effectiveness in ministry ... and not necessarily the fact that all are called to be evidence of the Lord's presence:

It is possible to life as a follower of Christ in any land & get some sort of job most anywhere if your goal is simply to live there for a long time as a professing believer.

PTAP www.pray-ap.info is part of a network that seeks to connect people from various parts of the globe to live as Christians in the Arabian Peninsula for just this purpose: "to increase the salt content of those lands," if you know what I mean.

Having lived in various places & having sought to _make_disciples_ in those places, and having gotting just a _very_little_ acquainted with workers who are/were in the AP, I will offer a few caveats:

1. It takes time to make disciples (time to pray, study, seek, encourage, meet, travel.) For new life to occurr, life must be given. A reproduced life requires intimacy: first with God, then with the world. We are the seed. No time, no fruit. No fruit, no point. If the seed isn't in the soil, it will never bear produce. If the seed never dies to self-survival, it will remain alone.

2. Generally, successful missionaries (in terms of _making-disciples_) "work" no more than around 20 hours a week, if that, to maintain a presence in ltd access countries. I have found that there is roughly this same limit on how much time one can do non-mission
related activity if you hope to see fruit. No wise businessman who manages a thriving car business will spend 40 hours a week in the middle of the day, week in and week out fishing with his old buddies down at the creek behind his house.

3. In the Arabian Peninsula, the area where the most fruit harvest is taking place among the most needy peoples, there has been
a. the smallest number of expatriate Christians.
b. the fewest expatriate Christians who were holding "regular" jobs.
c. the most suffering among expatriate Christians: 3 martyrs.
d. the poorest of working conditions (ie. the economy is horrible for everyone.)
e. those Christians who were not focussed on _making_disciples_ had left (ie. those that did not really believe that the nations must follow Jesus if they are to be saved).

4. After Jesus called the disciples, he did not merely call them to believe, but to be "fishers-of-men." When they later tried to go back to fishing for fish, they were very ineffective. Why?
a. Jesus is Lord over the fish.
b. Jesus is Lord over the fishermen.
c. Jesus had given the fishermen a new assignment.
d. Jesus meant it & was training them through a long night of sleepless & fruitless labor.
e. Jesus is strong and loving: He showed his love by helping the fishermen get a big catch that probably paid their way back to Jerusalem & sustained them through until Pentecost. God worked a miracle so that his boys could get back to the real work.

BOTTOM LINE: I would not encourage people to pursue full-time work while professing to be a missionary, unless:
A. They are very single.
B. They are very willing to suffer.
C. They have a very portable skill.
D. They have a track record of _making_disciples_.

Simply believing in Jesus for yourself does not mean that you are making disciples. Making a comfortable living and making a lot of disciples are not always mutually compatible. Being content with Jesus & being contagious with the Gospel are.

Have a great day.

Kindly & calmly yours in Him,
Mert Hershberger
A migrant worker for the Miracle-Worker

PS: 2 boys I recently shared the gospel with were baptized yesterday! One plants, another harvests ... but God gets the increase!!