Wednesday, February 1, 2023

February 2023 Update

Greetings! I hope everyone is doing well. Thank you for your prayers and support. Prayer is a vital and essential aspect of missions. We are helpless apart from our Father’s help, so we call upon Him. Please continue to pray that the word of Christ would speed ahead and be glorified, that the gospel would advance unhindered, that many would come to trust Jesus, and that the gospel would demolish any and all barriers Satan tries to amass against it.

 

Pray for our work among the Katío who live in the park just outside of the city and those who live in the shelter near downtown. We are making several visits each week to pray and share the good news of Christ. We are planning several relief projects for them, providing blankets, food, and hygiene kits for each family in both groups. With both groups, however, there are a lot of divisions among them. Pray that these divisions do not hinder the project or our continued work among them. Pray that we might clearly communicate the gospel so that many will come to find hope and peace in Christ.




Continue to pray for the Wounaan as well. I have been meeting with "Silas" (a believer) and his family. I have been leading a study with him through the gospel of Mark. There is a small Wounaan church in Bogota, but many of the Wounaan are still unreached. Pray that the Wounaan believers can reach out to their own people in Bogota with the gospel. Also pray for the Wounaan in western part of Colombia that they too might be reached with the gospel.    

 

Also, continue to pray for "Mike" and his family. Life is hard as he struggles to make ends meet and provide for his family. He has recently found a new job. Pray for me as I visit with him every week. Pray that I might clearly proclaim to him Christ. Pray that God would open his heart and that he would trust in Christ.




Continue to pray for Daniel and his family from Bethania Baptist Church as they minister in their neighborhood Las Cruces. I have been helping them in this for some time now. They have Bible studies for the neighborhood children on the weekends. Several people have become Christians through this ministry. Pray for them as they continue to reach those in Las Cruces.

 

Continue to pray for Bethania Baptist Church and other churches in Bogota. Pray that can help to mobilize them to become involved in the work among the thousands of displaced indigenous in Bogota. The task is large. We need more workers. Pray that God will raise up others to help reach them with the gospel.




Another aspect of the indigenous work in Bogota involves medical shelters. Indigenous peoples from eastern Colombia will come into Bogota to receive medical care and temporarily live in these shelters. A few of my colleagues have been working in these shelters to share Christ and provide hygiene kits. Pray for them as they reach out to those in the shelters.

 

Again, thank you for your prayers. Thank you for holding the ropes. Pray that the name of Christ would be great among the nations. 



Acts 8:30-31, 35

Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, 

and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 

And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” 

And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him... 

Then Philip opened his mouth, 

and beginning from this Scripture 

he preached Jesus to him.

 


In Acts 8, an Ethiopian eunuch is reading a scroll of Isaiah. And the Lord sends Philip to go to him. And so he does. Philip asked the Ethiopian if he could understand what he was reading. And the man replied he could not without someone to guide him. So from this text, Philip began to preach Christ to him. The man believed and was baptized.

 

Throughout the book of Acts, we see the church teaching and preaching Christ. Teaching is an essential part of the Great Commission. Teaching takes time, but it is absolutely indispensable to missions. Teaching is what the Spirit uses to bring others to Christ. The Spirit didn’t preach the gospel directly to the Ethiopian; He sent Philip to teach him. Missionaries must know how to teach and how to teach well. To teach well, they must know Scripture well and their particular audience well.  


The Ethiopian could not understand Isaiah without Philip clarifying and explaining the text to him. Pray that missionaries would teach with clarity so that people will rightly understand the Word of God, that they will see Christ in Scripture (cf. Acts 17:3; Col 4:3-4). Pray that missionaries would teach in a way that’s convincing. We not only want our message to be understood, but we also want it to be believed. We want to persuade people that the gospel is true (cf. 2 Cor 5:11; Acts 17:2-4; 18:4, 28; 19:26). We must know our audience and be ready to answer sincere objections they may have with thoughtful convincing arguments. Pray also that missionaries would teach with boldness in the face of obstacles and opposition (cf. Acts 4:19-20, 29-31; 13:46; 14:3; 20:20, 27; Eph 6:19-20). This is the kind of teaching and preaching we need in missions. Teaching that is clear to understand, persuasive that people will believe, and bold so that as many people as possible will hear. Pray that this kind of teaching and preaching would be pervasive on the mission field.


No comments: