A glimpse of our partnership

"God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him"  Psalm 67:7

The month of January was so busy that before I knew it, it was February already and I was  in the car on my way to the border of US and Mexico. Before long we were in the air flying down to Culiacan for the annual short term mission to share the gospel with indigenous migrants workers from over 100 people groups..

The night we arrived at the base camp in Culiacan where we would live for a week, we had a worship service. One thing was said in that service that stuck in my heart and mind. "God blesses me so I can be a blessing to others." And He has blessed me with the most valuable gift anyone could ever have - salvation through Jesus Christ. So right there I prayed, "Lord make me sensitive to your Holy Spirit and help me to bless those I am supposed to bless according to your will."

As each day passed I saw God's hand in so many things. For example one evening we encountered a big group of guys as we were going from house to house. They were from the same people group that spoke Nahualt Huasteca Oriental. We started playing a story of the Bible in their language. This caused all who understood that language from that row of houses to shyly come out and listen. This allowed us to ask them if they would like to download those Bible stories on their phones or receive a CD in their heart language. They quickly nodded indicating they wanted to hear the stories. It was clear to me that this was no coincidence. It was appointed by our Almighty Lord for us to meet these people right then and there.

In two other camps I had at least a couple of people coming back to us whose heart language we had already determined using our special language diagnostic tools. They were concerned they might miss us when we came back with the recordings of Bible stories. They said, "We really didn't want to miss it!" How wonderful to see God making these people hungry for His Word/ It was a refreshing and a sober reminder to me that I too need to be that hungry for God's Word!

One big lesson I learned was this. If I don't come back from a mission trip loving Jesus more and wanting to work harder for Him using His gifts so I can be part of what is going on out there and empowering missionaries on the ground, then all the money, time and effort spent for me to go to Culiacan and experience everything that I saw and  heard wouldn't really matter. It would be a total waste.

May we be found faithful as Christ's workers in the Great Commission!

 

Greetings friends,

You may remember that in my last blog I wrote about praying for those who don't have anyone praying for them and I hope your response was to take the action in praying for these people. This time, I would like to bring you up to speed as to what is happening in my life of ministry, along with what the Lord has been showing me.

This summer has been a time of regrouping. I have been praying much, asking for God's direction for the next school year and for interacting with college/university students. It also has been a time to reevaluate the good and the difficult things about being a recruiter. Praise God for His infinite patience and guidance!

In asking for direction, God has shown me His sovereignty and once again reminded me to delight in trusting and obeying Him. I was also reminded of Luke 9:23 where Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow Him. There is a price to pay when we choose to follow Christ, and sometimes ministry can get really hard – to me particularly when there is a lot going on at home and the spiritual battle is fierce.

In August, and in God’s perfect timing, a student from the Evangelical Institute in South Carolina, where I recruited back in March this year, will be flying to California to do a mini-internship with me at Global Recordings Network. She will be learning and getting hands-on experience in what goes on behind the scenes with all the recordings we have available. She will also have opportunity to reach out to the asylum seekers and refugee communities around us. Another young believer will be joining us for some of our activities. This will be a "practice in discipleship" for us both.

Please pray:

• for all the preparations, especially that we would learn to love Christ and others, and be like Him even more 
• that we would be in tune with the Lord's will as we carry out the great commission and make disciples
• for open hearts and minds as we reach out and share our faith with those who don't have the assured hope we have in Christ
• for safety and wisdom to know what and when to speak
• for provision of our needs
• that 50% of the support that I am responsible to raise for Global Recordings Network comes in soon

Is anyone praying for them?

Lately my journey with the Lord has caused me to really think with great thankfulness about how many people I have who are praying for me. And what about all those who have prayed for me ever since I was born. As God moves me closer to Himself and teaches me which way I should go, slowly I started realizing that not a day has ever gone by when there was not someone praying for me. Every day of my life I have had at least some of my family or friends praying for me.

On the other hand I have started thinking of the masses of people in the world who never had anyone praying for them, not even once. How wonderful it would be for all people to hear about Christ. And how great if all people who hear the powerful message of the gospel would find it impossible to deny the True Savior of the world and surrender to His Lordship as an answer to our prayers.

I feel compelled to do more than I have been doing, not out of guilt or duty but because my Lord is drawing me closer to Himself and to love Him so much that I want to be like Him and not ever be apart from His presence. One way I can express my love for Him is to encourage more people to pray for the least-reached peoples in our world so that they can love Him too.


Would you pray specifically for a people that have never heard the name of Jesus? (I would love to send you the name and a profile of a people group.) Pray believing that our living God, the same God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, this God is able and willing to answer the prayers of His people for the salvation of many. May our hearts be in tuned to His heart.

The Word is great, the commission is clear and Christ has prevailed

It was a crowded flight back from Indiana and the Cross missions conference, I was tired and wished I didn't have to sit in the middle seat, but with the late check in I knew I would have no choice.

I ended up sitting in between a nine year old boy and a young adult girl (I will call them Mary and John, not their real names). At first I thought they were siblings because they were talking, and I even tried to see if Mary wanted to sit in the middle seat, to be with her brother, I thought to myself, but she said no.

As I talked to them I discovered that they were not siblings and that John was traveling alone, but they both had one thing in common--they are children from divorced parents. Mary said she started flying alone at nine as well. They seemed to accept this situation, after all, they have no choice; but it's really a heart breaking situation.

Mary eventually put on her ear phones, so I was left with John. I really felt compelled to share the gospel with this boy, especially when I pulled out my Bible. He said, "you've got a book, what kind of a book is this?" I told him that this was the Bible and asked him if he ever read it, and he shook his head.

In between tic tac toe and Monopoly games we talked and for the next two to three hours I discovered how smart he was. At one point I asked him if he had a good Christmas and if he got lots of gifts; the answer was, "It was okay but I didn't get many gifts because I was with my dad," who he lives with full time. I asked if he knew what we celebrate on Christmas; he thought for a long minute and asked, "The birth of Jesus?" I was impressed, and since he new about this I asked if he knew why Jesus had to be born. He shook his head.

I prayed, "Lord this is my chance, help me not to mess this up and present You clearly," so I told him that about two thousand years ago before Jesus was born, God created the earth and everything in it, including mankind. I went through the fall of men and told him that the wages of sin is death, and that's the reason Jesus was born, Jesus came to the earth to die for our sins because He is the only man who never sinned. Jesus was the only one qualified for that job.

I knew he was listening and desperately wanted to leave him something that would make him remember this conversation which could be crucial for his life. I went through my whole back pack and wished I had a pocket New testament because leaving my Bible might get him into trouble or just get thrown away. I found nothing but a bookmark presenting the 5fish app (which can teach anyone about Jesus and His salvation in over 6000 languages,) so gave it to him and told him that he could use it in his books, and that he could find the same story about Jesus I told him earlier in many other languages.

I did not have a dramatic conversion to Christianity; I understood Jesus' sacrifice for me when I was eight in a Christian camp, and  there is a chance that John might just have that kind of conversion; but there is a bigger chance that John, in his godless environment, might never be exposed to the gospel again.

While we pray for this sweet little boy, let's seize all the opportunities God puts before us and use the resources and abilities we have through the Holy Spirit to fulfill the Great Commission commanded to us all.

“...See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.”
Colossians 4:17

The meeting set by God Himself

My journey as a recruiter for GRN launched last month with a visit to Biola University in Southern California.
It all began with a conversation with a student earlier on that day who, after learning about GRN was excited to tell me that I needed to go talk to the "guy sitting under the tree." I asked why and she told me that he is a linguistics professor and that the "under the tree spot" was his office. She said I would like talking to him because of the nature of my mission organization.

Later that morning I decided to visit the professor. As I walked towards the spot, sure enough, he was sitting there with a student, engaged in conversation. I approached, introduced myself and asked if I could sit and listen for a while. The professor gave me permission and introduced me to Melissa, who was seated to my left. The professor told me they were talking about heritage and asked me to tell them about my heritage.

I told them that I was born and raised in Brazil but that I am Chinese by nationality. I also told them I spoke Chinese, Spanish and Portuguese. At that moment Melissa started crying and the professor was also almost tearing up, so I stopped not knowing if I said something wrong.

Finally the professor told me that one of the assignments for each of his students was to find a person who speaks the language they would like to learn next; they were just praying for that person for Melissa. Guess what language she wants to learn--Portuguese!!!

The professor asked me to tell Melissa a little about myself in Portuguese, so I did. When I finished, he told Melissa that I had a good accent for learning. He went on to say that his parents were missionaries for Wycliffe Bible Translators and that his mother was born in the same city in which I was born in Brazil, of all places!

It was a meeting set by God indeed! Later on, after exchanging information with Melissa, I asked her what she would like to do after Biola and without hesitation she said, "I want to translate the Bible." I told her a little about the work of GRN and what our recordists do, and we are praying together that God leads and shows Melissa what He desires for her.

As for now, Melissa and I are in contact once a week, to share language, life, and global missions, knowing that God is in the center of this picture.

What would the church look like?

Hi friends, I would like to share, encourage and challenge you as you read on. I have been asked what I think the church would look like if it depended on the different aspects of my Christian walk and I have to be honest, some aspects of my walk aren't pretty at all!

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves..."James 1:22-25

So I ask myself...

How would the church look if it was a reflection of my obedience to the Great Commission?

Would it be a genuine church, steady with sound doctrine and growing, or a church that preaches sound doctrine once in a while? I think of the opportunities that I had of sharing the gospel or a word of encouragement but I chose to make lame excuses of not being prepared or having no time. Thank God He doesn't deal with me in the same manner.

How would the church look if it was a reflection of my quiet time?

Would it be a steady and growing church or lukewarm? How many times I messed up my priorities and pushed my quiet time to the end of my list. By the time I get to it I am so tired that I go through the motion, check it off of my list and call it done. On top of that, I have the audacity to say I don't understand why I feel like God is so distant. What kind of relationship is that? Do I not seek to spend time with and get to know the people I love?

How would the church look if it was a reflection of my prayer life?

Would it be a steady and faithful church or a church that responds only in extreme circumstances? If I keep in constant communication with those I love, why don't I do the same with God? My loving Father is there with me all day long. Do I ignore Him until I have no choice but to cry for help because I realize I have no control of the situation?

How would the church look if it was a reflection of my dependency on the Lord in little and big things in life?

And this list goes on...

I am praying for the Lord's mercy on us and that He would help us all to be more Christlike ("If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." Colossians 3:1-2), so that we can walk worthy to be called His people and His church. ("And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent." Colossians 1:17-18)

Are you a rebel?

It's a shame but true when I say my best prayers are when I am in tough and struggling situations. When "all is well" my prayers become not so earnest. Why is that?

I think it's because we don't see the spiritual realm, although it's very real. We tend to be unaware of it and only pay attention to what we see with our physical eyes while going about our lives.

Maybe you are thinking, "what Christian wouldn't know this?" But although I know this, I easily forget and need to be reminded that Jesus took time to pray very often, to fellowship with the Father, so He knew the Father's will and was used according to His purpose, with earth-shaking and everlasting results that could only bring glory and honor to God.

Prayer is direct access to our ultimate commander in chief and we are called to have an intimate relationship with Him. We have the privilege to do that! Let's take advantage of this, and be more diligent about it so we can be His holy rebels in this world for His kingdom's sake.

"A praying Christian is a constant threat to the stability of Satan's government. The Christian is a holy rebel loose in a world with access to the throne of God." (A.W. Tozer)