Greetings to all! I hope you are have a wonderful year. Thank you for praying for me and for the work God is doing in Colombia and throughout the world. Thank you for holding the ropes for those of us who have gone into the well. Prayer is vital to the missionary task. Please pray that the word of Christ would continue to speed ahead and be glorified.
Please continue to pray for the displaced Embera in Bogota. There are over two thousand living in two parks. I’ve been able to visit with “Eli” and his family in a park in downtown and with “Levi” and his family in a park just outside of the city. With “Levi” and his family, we may have an entry into the community through starting an English class. Pray that through these classes, we will be able to clearly communicate the gospel. I was recently able to deliver some clothes that were donated by a local church. Please pray for wisdom as we seek how to best help them with their material needs and how to clearly give them the hope we have in Christ.
Pleas continue to pray for “Silas” and the Wounaan. I am studying 1 Peter with him. Pray that they will grow in their knowledge of Christ, know joy in suffering as we pass through this life as strangers and sojourners.
Continue to pray for my visits with “Mike” and his family. Life is hard. It’s difficult to make ends meet. Pray that he will come to know Christ as Savior. Pray for him as he struggles to make ends meet.
Please continue to pray that I can grow a team of people to help me in the work. I am hoping that I can find Colombian believers to help me. Some from Betania Baptist Church have helped in the past, but it is difficult to find people who have time free to accompany me on my visits.
A few new missionaries who have recently arrived in Bogota are also focusing on indigenous work. They have slightly different emphases as I, but we should both be able to help each other. One has already accompanied me to visit the Embera. Pray that together we can strategize how to reach the displaced indigenous with the gospel. There is much work that needs to be done.
Also I have a trip scheduled March 15-19, meeting with other Baptists in Colombia. Pray for safety and that I can connect with others who may be able to join us in the task before us. Thank you for your prayers. God bless.
Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Psalm 46 begins by proclaiming that God is refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. When everything around us seems to be falling apart, God is with us. In whatever hardships we face—famines, displacement, pandemics, civil unrest, disease, wars, earthquakes, tsunamis, violence, persecution—God is with us. God is with his people. And Jesus promised to be with us to the end of the age as we take the gospel to the nations. Therefore, we can go through this life with hope and confidence even in the midst of the most difficult of circumstances.
This psalm also speaks about the nations raging against God. Psalm 2 says similar things about the nations raging and setting themselves against Christ. And in Psalm 2 we also see that the nations are given to the Son as an inheritance. Therefore, we go forth and call out to the nations to be still and know that the LORD is God, to cease their raging and striving against God and come to exalt the name of God. In our missionary endeavors we are commanding all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). We are imploring with the nations on behalf of Christ, “Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20).
We are confident that God will be exalted among the nations. We know from Revelation that around the throne there will be worshipers from every tribe, nation, people group, and tongue exalting the Name of Christ (Rev 5:9; 7:9). Therefore, even in the midst of hardships we go forth boldly urging the nations to take refuge in God (Psa 46:1), to take refuge in the Son (Psa 2:12).
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