Let the Nations Be Glad

As I was reading through the Bible during this time of seeking God's will for next year, I kept on encountering lots of references to "going to the nations" or "all the earth worshiping the Lord" all throughout.

To quote from John Piper's book Let the Nations Be Glad, "Missions exists because worship doesn't." One need only read the Bible for a short time to discover that the purpose of missions is to spread God's worship to all corners of the earth.

Now, this doesn't mean that I will necessarily be on the field for the rest of my life, but it did seem meaningful that I kept encountering these passages as I was in the process of seeking what God might have me do for next year.

This is an idea of some of the passages I encountered just in a few books of the Old Testament:

Therefore I will praise you, LORD, among the nations; I will sing the praises of your name.

-2 Sam. 22:50

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

-1 Chron. 16:24

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!”

-1 Chron. 16:31

Here is a sampling from the Psalms alone:

Sing the praises of the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.

-Ps. 9:11

Therefore I will praise you, LORD, among the nations; I will sing the praises of your name. --Ps. 18:49

All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.

--Ps. 22:27-28

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

--Ps. 46:10

Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.

--Ps. 47:1

I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.

--Ps. 57:9

May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.

--Ps. 67:4

All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name.

--Ps. 86:9

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

--Ps. 96:3

Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

--Ps. 96:7

The nations will fear the name of the LORD, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.

--Ps. 102:15

Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.

--Ps. 105:1

I will praise you, LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.

--Ps. 108:3

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Staying for a second year will allow me to be part of spreading the Lord's fame so that He might be exalted among the nations.

What is a "Good" Missionary?

One real struggle I had in the decision to stay another year was that I didn't feel like I really had the "missionary call." I might call it more the "missionary fall": I just "fell" into being a missionary. I really liked Spanish and Mexican culture and I love God and had enjoyed my two month summer experience in 2009. Especially with an eye towards immigrant ministry in the future, I figured that spending a year in Mexico would be a good move.

It wasn't until I began considering the possibility of staying a second year that I found that I really needed to wrestle with some misconceptions that I had in my own life. One of the biggest ones was that somehow missionaries were spiritual superstars. On a lot of levels I didn't feel "worthy" or "a good missionary." I still struggled with putting others needs above my own. Sometimes I slept late and didn't have a quiet time... or at best I rushed it. I was nervous speaking in churches or praying aloud in Spanish. So how could I possibly have a missionary call? I felt like I didn't even have the basics.

Here are some things that God has shown me during this time of processing my "inadequacies."

I don't have to have a huge internationally renown ministry to be effective. My responsibility is to be faithful with what God has given me. Like with the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30), the key factor wasn't how many "talents" the master had given each servant, but what they did with them. God doesn't expect perfection; He wants faithfulness and then He will work in and through us. As one of my friends always said, "God doesn't choose the equipped, He equips those He chooses."

Second, and closely related to the first, God showed me that if He is calling me, He has plans for me and will use me. God's work in me is only "limited" to the extent that I limit myself. 2 Cor. 12:9 points out that God's power is "made perfect in weakness" so we can rest in that promise that He will make His name great even if we don't feel up to the task or have the first idea what we're getting ourselves into.

I was reading about the life of Moses during this decision process and was struck by his excuses to not serve. He focused on his inadequacies: how he was slow of speech and thought that therefore it couldn't be God's plan to use Him (not to mention he had run away from Egypt after killing a man and then being rejected by his own people... not exactly a good start to cultural relevancy). However, even after God gave him Aaron to help him, the responsibility was still on Moses.

Studying that story and God's response made me realize how hollow my excuses were; if the Lord really wanted me to be a missionary, we would do the necessary work in me! I reflected on what God had taught me just in the past year and realized that I will never be the "perfect missionary" or the "perfect Christian" even! And that's not the goal; faithfulness and a willing spirit are what God is looking for and He will do the rest.

God's thoughts are higher than my thoughts... and that means that sometimes I won't understand them!

The LORD said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” Ex. 4:11-12

Thoughts on Home

God had to really work on my heart for a couple months to make me okay with staying in Mexico, because I was longing for home.

During that time, He lead me to verses such as these:

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. Matt. 19:29 (echoed in Mark 10:28-30 and Luke 18:28-30 as well)

Matt. 10:37-38 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Heb. 11:8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

He also showed me that if i want to work with immigrants or refugees in the future, part of my preparations for making them feel welcome is to rely on the hospitality of others far away from home for another year.

Some of the questions I really wrestled through during this time were: What is home? What makes home, home? Is it the people? Or is it the memories? How much is timeless and how much is subject to change? To what lengths ought one to go to avoid change and maintain the status quo?

And is the ultimate good in life just to stay within my comfort zone? Just to live at home all my life? As I worked through these ideas, I realized that having a wonderful, loving home prepared me for ministry, but that I couldn't just hoard all of the treasures that He has designed to be shared with others (see the song at the end of this post). I'm not a child anymore, so the dynamic that I remember so fondly won't be the same. Nostalgia colors things and it can be pleasant to look back on the "good old days" but I can miss a lot of what God has planned for my present and future by living in the past and trying to recreate it. I need to concentrate on healthy ways that the past can be incorporated into my present situation to which God is calling me.

This song really summarizes a lot of my thoughts throughout this whole process of following God into the unknown of next year out of gratitude for what He has done for me, and a trust in who He is. I hope that it is an encouragement to you as well:

No Sacrifice, by Jason Upton: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxw3z-oD7ZE

Spearhead Year Two

As promised in my last update letter, here is a bit of a glimpse into the path that God has brought me on as He lead me to stay in Mexico for another year.

If you had asked me at the beginning of this year whether I planned on staying any longer in Mexico, I would have politely replied that I just saw myself "doing a year in Mexico and then continuing on with my life in the states." That's essentially what I told my assistant director and mentor in January when she asked me what I thought about staying another year.

From there, though, God began to put the thought more and more on my mind and heart as I began to pray about whether or not I should stay another year. For most of the Spring I would say I was about 50-50, seeing good reasons to go home and good reasons to stay in Mexico. After a talk with my parents, I would be looking at plane flights home; after a talk with my directors here, I would be looking at ministry opportunities for a second year. Then, slowly but steadily, God began to turn my heart towards staying in Mexico.

Here are a list of areas that God addressed over the course of a couple months that lead me to the decision to stay for Spearhead Year Two:

Thoughts on home

Wrestling with the issue of what makes "a good missionary"

God's heart for the nations all throughout the Bible

Ministry opportunities for the fall

A peace in staying

I will explain these in further detail in subsequent blog posts.

Honduras Follow-up: Praises and Continued Prayer

Financial Provision: One of the huge praises from the trip was even before we left just seeing how God has provided money for the team again this year. I will be honest that there were times I really was asking myself, "Where is this money going to come from?" Our fundraisers were bringing in an average of $30 or $40 a day, which then had to be divided among 4 people. And each participant needed about $900. Things seemed to be desperate... just the kind of circumstance that allows God's providence to shine! He provided enough money for us, and even more, allowing our ($40 USD/person) visas to be covered through the general fund rather than individually. We left for the trip already greatly strengthened in our faith at seeing God's hand at work.

Safety on the trip. Although we had many changes in our flight plans, God brought us safety to where we needed to be and sleep was all that really suffered. We didn't miss any of our ministry activities. Also, other than being really tired most of the week, no one got sick as far as I know! Praise God! We are still taking our nasty malaria pills as a precaution.

Wonderful relationships with the Honduran believers that we met. Our team especially had an incredible pastor and wife who were sold out to the Lord. They were also among the most humble and loving people I have met in my whole life. It was a blessing to serve alongside them and challenging to be served by the very people we supposedly came to serve! It was also so beautiful to live with Honduran believers and to be able to share life with them for a week.

Team unity Our team really bonded, both among the 30 and especially among the 10. We joked that we were the "reject" group, since the other teams were formed before ours... but really we know that God chose us all by hand, guided us sovereignly to go on the trip and then flourished our friendships while there. Please pray that the relationships formed on the trip will continue.

God's Leading God spoke to many people on the trip, confirming gifts and callings. For many it was their first missions trip and it was thrilling for me to be able to witness their reactions to what God was doing and to observe as their vision of the worldwide church expanded. The people that I had come to serve were now serving alongside me! What an honor to be able to see God's work coming full circle and to be able to be just a small part of that!

Ministry Throughout the week we were able to participate in a lot of ministry projects in the community of La Ceiba called Bella Oriente. The pastor lives there and our presence was able to strengthen both his witness and connections in the community as well as to strengthen the church that he pastors and present to them the challenge of the great commission. Please pray that although we weren't able to be there for a long time that there will be lasting fruit as a result of the time that we spent there.

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If you have read through both my update e-mail and this blog post then I will assume that you are actually interested in my trip and I will welcome any further questions you have personally. :-) Just e-mail me!

The Good News

This Friday in our Bible club I had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with the kids. So, here is the Easter story-- the good news-- as expressed to kids in Mexico:

As I have heard people say before, I need to explain first why the "Good News" is good. What's the bad news, first? The bad news: Even though God created us to be perfect and to be best friends with Him, we were separated from Him because of our sin, which is anything that we do that God doesn't like. (He tells us in the Bible, the book He wrote, what He does and doesn't like. He clearly tells us in the Bible how He wants us to live.)

God's team is perfection, life, everything that is good. He is there with the other people who are also God along with Him: Jesus and the Holy Spirit. That's the team where the first man and first woman (Adam and Eve) were when God created the world and them. But then they sinned and that put them on the devil's team. He has death and sin and sinners on his team. It doesn't matter if you're a rapist, murderer (sadly, the kids I work with at Amextra understand these terms better than I do) or just a kid that disobeys his parents-- if you're a sinner, you start out on Satan's team.

So, if sin is how you get from God's team to Satan's team, what do you need to do to get from Satan's team to God's team?

That's where the cross comes in. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to the world to give us a chance to be back on His team. There was no way that we could get back there by ourselves because we were sinners, not just because of what we do that is sin, but also because of who we are! Just as you look like your parents on the outside, you look like them on the inside, too. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned at the beginning of the world, every other person who has ever lived has been a sinner.

You know that Jesus Christ died on he cross, right? Why did he do that if He never did anything bad in His whole life? Well, He was killed by sinners because bad people hate good people... and Jesus Christ was perfect. While that is true, it's not the whole reason that Jesus died. He died because the punishment for sin, big or small is death. So, God knew that if He didn't send His perfect Son (who didn't deserve any punishment) to suffer in our place, we would be condemned to always be on Satan's team and eventually die not only a physical death, but also a spiritual death of separation from God forever.

So, since Jesus took the punishment for our sin and died, does that mean that Satan's team beat Him? No, because Jesus Christ then came back to life! God is stronger than the devil and Life is stronger than death.

Now, what we need to do is admit to Him that we are sinners and are on Satan's team, but tell God that we don't want to be anymore. We can thank Him for putting His own Son on earth to die instead of us. We tell Him that we accept His gift of life and that we want to follow Him with the rest of our lives, totally turning our back on anything that has to do with the way that Satan and His followers live.

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It was such a cool experience for me to teach this lesson when I did because in a sense I was preaching to myself and I felt the truth of this "old, old story" sink deeper into my heart and penetrate anew every fiber of my being from my emotions to my convictions to my actions. A vivid consciousness of the unfathomable love and sacrifice of Christ makes the celebration of Easter so much sweeter. Reflecting on His death that brought life makes the temporary parting that we experience with other believers so much more bearable. And as I reflect that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life," I am so much more energized to take that truth to Honduras!

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P.S. If I was incorrect, incomplete, or unclear on any of these points, please correct me! This is too important of a message to be telling wrong!

If

By: Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!