Life, Death, and the Glory of God

The Glory of God is a phrase that Christians have used for thousands of years. But if you ask those who claim to be followers of Jesus what it means you might be surprised by the variety of answers. Take it from someone who has asked the question on numerous occasions and it’s clear that we really don’t know. Just about the only thing Christians do agree on is that we need to glorify God in all we do. So how is it that a phrase we use so frequently can be so misunderstood? Before I go on you should know that I am definitely not an expert on the topic but for the last six months this phrase and the ramifications of it have been placed on my heart.

I almost hesitate sharing these two stories together as evidence of the Glory of God because they are so different and they raise such different emotions. But at the same time God has used them both in a mighty way to open my eyes to what it means to bring Him Glory. This entire journey started back on August 12, 2012. I was sitting in a church listening to a friend of mine, Dan Witt, share the heartbreaking story of what was happening to him. Months earlier he had been diagnosed with cancer and it was literally beating him down. He sat up on stage that morning and recounted the details of the last year of his life. I was hanging onto every word he said and trying to imagine what it would be like to be in his shoes. As he spoke he did so like a man on a mission and he said a lot of things that I will never forget. He talked about what chemo was like and how the growing tumor in his stomach was taking its toll. He talked about how frustrating it was to feel helpless and he told us one of his greatest fears was not being there for his family. He talked about hospitals and emergency rooms and all the tests that were being run to monitor his health. He shared that at one point with the continuous flow of bad news the discouragement began to set in and finally he asked God a simple question, “When am I going to get a break?” It’s a valid question and I have no doubt that I would have been asking God the very same thing. But what Dan said next forever changed my understanding of perseverance in the face of suffering…

“God said what do you mean a break? Look at what we’re doing here. Look at what I’ve done for you. Then I realized God has opened so many doors for me to start glorifying Him through this process. I’m blessed that He chose to give me cancer.”

I remember hearing those words and thinking at the time that blessed isn’t exactly the terminology I would have used. Blessed is reserved for good times and happiness not sickness and pain. On top of that glorifying God through this process definitely sounded difficult and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t wrap my head around what he meant. Then he clarified by saying…

“I know it sounds completely crazy. But I have been able to talk to so many people and tell them how awesome Jesus is and how awesome God is. It doesn’t matter what your life situation is He is going to be there for you and walk beside you. You can trust Him.”

I sat there with a blank stare on my face and wondered if the situation was reversed if I would be as strong and as focused on bringing God glory as he was. I wasn’t sure of the answer and honestly I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer either. So like I have so many times before I filed away his impactful words and went on with my life. During the months that followed Dan continued to fight his battle with cancer and continued to give God glory for everything that was happening. My wife and I prayed for him often and began to focus our lives on what God was laying on our hearts, adoption.

My wife and I have been talking about our desire to adopt ever since our very first date. Obviously at that point we didn’t have a clue we would be adopting as husband and wife but God implanted a desire in each of us to be involved in the things that are closest to His heart. It’s embarrassing to admit but one of the biggest hindrances for us (and by us I mean me) in following through with adoption has always been the cost of the entire process. For those of you who don’t know adoptions involving newborns generally run around $20,000. Being the good steward that I am (I use that term loosely because steward can often mean a Christian license to hoard) I couldn’t imagine a scenario where we would have $20,000 just sitting in our bank account. We have debt to pay off, houses to move into, cars to buy, vacations to go on, and a long list of other American necessities. But God had other plans and as He usually does He let my wife know first (or quite possibly she obeyed first). So in August of this past year, a week after Dan shared his testimony, my wife approached me and said she really felt the Lord moving in her heart for us to begin the process. I listened as she shared and assured her I would spend some time in prayer because I wanted to make sure we were both hearing the same thing.

So I prayed (every so often) and tried to justify in my mind why it wasn’t the right time to adopt. Interestingly, God doesn’t like it when we have a halfhearted commitment to the things He has called us to do and He will often work in our lives to expose our hypocrisy. So in January of 2013, He decided to expose my heart very clearly through Matthew 18. My wife and I both teach college age bible studies and we were teaching through what it meant to have childlike faith.

Matthew 18:1-4 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

I remember standing in front of the students and asking them if they had any areas in their life where they were not exhibiting childlike faith. Areas where they were neglecting to turn, as verse three says, and become like children who place their complete trust and dependence on God. Even as the words were coming out of my mouth I knew where I was lacking that same faith and trust in God’s direction. So I confessed to the group and spent a few minutes sharing with them our desire to adopt. I also asked them to pray for me in the area of trusting in God’s provision and timing. They prayed, I trusted and later that week we decided to move forward with the two to three year process of adoption.

We spent the rest of January exploring our options and on February 4^th committed to an agency here in Tampa, FL. As you can imagine February was a busy month filled with lots of paperwork, background checks, home studies, interviews and all the other fun things that go along with adoption. We finished everything up the first week of March and then moved on with our lives. Much to our surprise (or lack of faith) two days later on March 5 we got a call from the agency telling us that we had been selected by a couple that was having a child. The mother’s due date was in less than a month and the parents wanted to meet with us to confirm their decision. I remember hanging up the phone in shock and just staring at Courtney as we both tried to let the good news sink in.

Good news has this amazing ability to overshadow everything else in your life. Unfortunately, bad news almost always does the exact same thing. As my wife and I spent March contemplating our future and the exciting addition to our family Dan and his family received word that his health was declining and the doctors were at the point where there was nothing else they could do. They sent him home and gave him just a few weeks to live. I can’t imagine the emotions that must be involved in getting that type of news. But as he has done every step of the way Dan stayed strong and attributed everything that happened to ultimately being part of God’s plan.  

The month of March was obviously very different for us then it was for Dan and his family. For us it was a blur of last minute paperwork and finalizing the preparations to our house for God’s little blessing. We met with the biological parents and were able to spend some time getting to know them. They were both nice caring individuals who thought long and hard about their decision to choose adoption for their son. The days passed and on Saturday, March 30, 2013, my wife and I stood in a hospital room with our unborn child’s birth parents. They were gracious enough to let us be in the room when he was born and even gave me the opportunity to cut his umbilical cord. Minutes later as we held him for the first time we couldn’t help but be in awe of God’s graciousness and His provision in our lives. Even the next day as we came to pick up our son we couldn’t help but thank God that his adoption into our family was happening on Easter Sunday. What a great reminder of the day that Christians are officially adopted as heirs into the kingdom of God with Christ’s death on the cross. We could do nothing but praise His name for who He is and how He works in the lives of those who follow Him.

Courtney & Jadyn

As I write this blog our son Jadyn is three and a half weeks old. Minus a little bout with pneumonia he is perfectly healthy and doing his job of keeping us up at night. It is amazing the opportunities we have had to tell people about the adoption and how quickly everything transpired. Everyone is amazed and we literally can say nothing except God has a plan and He is always at work in the lives of those who trust Him. I have been reminded many times over the last few weeks of what Dan said as he shared his story “it doesn’t matter what your life situation is He is going to be there for you and walk beside you. You can trust Him.” Dan’s words seem to make so much sense when times are good and yet so difficult to understand when times are tough.

It’s easy to thank God and give Him glory during the good times. It would be senseless for my wife and I to think we had anything to do with the speed and ease of our adoption. People spend years trying to adopt and our process from beginning to end didn’t even take three months. That literally can’t be explained any other way except to say that God is awesome and for that we praise His Name. On the flip side Dan did something that was far more difficult by giving praise to God and giving Him glory in the midst of suffering.

So how can God use two events, life and death, which are so contradictory in their very nature to bring glory to His Name? Even though it has taken me almost a year to truly understand I think I'm finally starting to get it. God's goal from the beginning of time has been to display His glory and bring honor and praise to His Great Name. The phrase God's glory points to all of His divine attributes (His wisdom, holiness, knowledge, love, mercy, righteousness, perfection, beauty, goodness, etc) working together in harmony and on display in one infinitely perfect being. All of these things represent how awesome God is and as believers in Christ even though these attributes are hard for us to understand our goal is to reflect His glory for the world to see. We do this in many different ways such as speaking of His goodness to us and His faithfulness in our lives. We share of His love for us and the comfort and peace He offers when times are tough. We speak of the mercy He has on us even though we are sinners and undeserving. When you think about it our lives are filled with peaks and valleys but the honor and praise we give our Savior should always remain the same. As we strive to reflect His glory to those around us He too is working among His people to display His glory. Sometimes that may come in the form of suffering and sometimes that may come in the form of triumph. How we react to these circumstances tells the world that we love His glory more than life itself. 

So how is this possible? It’s possible when we understand that our focus is not on this life but on the future glory prepared for us in heaven. The Apostle Paul explains it perfectly to the church at Rome.  

 Romans 8:18 - For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

No matter the situation we find peace in whatever God has in store for our lives and we praise Him every step of the way. John Piper says that our duty is to bring our thoughts, affections, and actions in line with this goal and ultimately it should become our goal. The way we glorify God is to delight in His glory more than in anything else and be grateful for it. Psalm 73 does an amazing job of explaining this mindset that Dan exemplified so well.  

Psalm 73:25-26 - Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

On April 18, 2013, at the age of 34 years old, Daniel Witt lost his fight with cancer. Thankfully on that same day he gained entrance into the most glorious place imaginable. As I look back it's weird to think that a man I knew for such a short amount of time could change my perspective on life in such a dramatic way. But I guess that's how God works. Constantly placing people in our lives to redirect our focus to Him.

Today at 12 o’clock we honored Dan and the life he lived on earth. It was evident to all who attended that his peace and his joy were found in Christ. He lived and died knowing that God had a plan and even though he might not fully understand what it was he would be faithful to it until the very end. I'm thankful for his testimony and I pray that his unwavering faith will point all who knew him to the God of the universe and they too will glorify His name.  

1 Corinthians 10:31 - So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Daniel Witt

This is a video that was played at Dan's funeral and 

it has some great audio clips of his testimony. 

Amazing

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 
~Psalms 19:1 

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?  ~ Psalm 8:3-4 
 

Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! ~ Psalm 148:3

For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. ~ 2 Chronicles 16:9a

Preaching...

Preaching has to be one of the toughest, most complicated, difficult areas of full time ministry. Not only do you have members from your congregation who don't approve of how you do things, but the spiritual warfare from outside the church has to be outrageous as well. In case you read this blog and choose to think I’m attacking pastors let me tell you up front that’s not true. I understand that God clearly calls men from all walks of life to communicate His gospel to people everywhere.

So here's where I get confused. A couple of years ago I spent a few days in Orlando at the Southern Baptist Convention’s Pastors Conference. No I’m not a pastor but it was open to the public and the lineup of preachers was pretty phenomenal. In two days I listened to 12 different speakers, and left wanting to move overseas and adopt an entire village of orphans. Maybe that’s a little exaggeration but the speakers were great and I left motivated to proclaim the Word. The speakers preached wonderful, challenging sermons to a convention center filled with thousands of preachers.

On the way home I was talking with a buddy of mine and something came up that I haven’t been able to forget. Why is it that our most gifted communicators travel the country week after week speaking to millions of people who already know Jesus?

I know that sounds extremely arrogant so please try and ignore the feeling to punch me in the face and listen to the root of my point. It seems to me that a preacher in America has arrived at the pinnacle of success when they are being fought over to preach at conferences, cruises, weekend retreats, conventions, seminaries and other churches. We advertise these events based on which dynamic speaker we were able to bring in, and 90% of the time these events are filled with people who already know Christ. When a preacher get's really popular we even create conferences based on which preachers can be there and what they can bring to the table. It just seems so weird to me and I'm not sure I can find that model anywhere in scripture.

I remember sitting at the convention and thinking I wish they could broadcast this all over Orlando for everyone to hear. I wish these guys could go to India and Africa and use their God given gifts to preach to the unreached people groups of the world. And better yet I wish just a small percentage of the men in America who feel called to preach would preach in areas that have the most need or have never heard. But sadly that doesn't happen very often.

No, I'm not against conferences. It's exciting and convicting to hear great communicators share the Word of God. I'm also not against preachers using their gifts to encourage, challenge, and proclaim Christ to His followers because clearly that is a fundamental aspect of the church. All I'm saying is that churches need people who will speak truth from the pulpit, but the nations need men who are called to preach that same truth as well. Preachers who are willing to use their gift in unfamiliar territories and in dangerous situations for the sake of reaching those who have never heard.

It's sad, but even as I write this I'm convicted that I share in that same responsibility and rarely do I act as if I do. At the end of the day if we are born again followers of Jesus Christ then we are all filled with the same Spirit of God. If we listen to His commands and allow Him to speak through us then we are just as capable of sharing the Word as someone who’s been to seminary and preaches every week. I’m not quite sure why but as members of the church we tend to leave the duties of sharing the gospel to the pastors, elders and deacons. In reality it is a required part of every believer’s walk with Christ and it is of utmost importance that we understand the task. I like what Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 when he says, All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

It's amazing to think that every single word in Scripture was breathed by God to men and recorded for all of us to read. Not just those placed in charge of leading our churches but those sitting in the pews as well. Every man (or woman) of God has complete access to the Spirit of God as well as the Word of God. What more do we need in order to be made complete and equipped for every good work. The word work in this verse is referring to the work of the Father and is used over 150 times in the New Testament. It is also the same word used by Jesus in John 17:4 in the holiest prayer ever prayed, I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.

Obviously our work is very different from that of Christ but ultimately our work is tell the world about His work. My prayer is that we will all be able to stand before the throne one day, give Him thanks for His sacrifice, and say with confidence that we accomplished the work he gave us to do. Maybe the real question is not so much why do our most gifted communicators travel the country speaking to people who already know Jesus, but why don’t we all spend more time sharing with those who have never heard?

Romans 10:14-15
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"

Are You Content?

Could you honestly be content with only food and clothing? Sadly most days the toys around me contribute more than I know to my satisfaction in life. If they were gone I'm not sure how content I'd be...

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
~ 1 Timothy 6:6-10

Unboxed Missions...

It’s weird how God sends certain people into our lives to open our eyes and help us grow. Leon was one of those people. He worked in the youth group I was a part of when I was a kid and then one day, all of a sudden, he decided to be a missionary and move to Russia. I was probably 12 at the time and I remember being dumbfounded that he would simply say goodbye to everything he knew and start a whole new life halfway across the world. People I knew just didn’t do that. It’s not that we didn’t love Jesus but foreign missions was not for everyone. It was for a more select group of really sold out people like retired pastors or for a few radically extreme holy rollers who spoke with God on a daily basis. Normal Americans just didn’t move to Russia where for all I knew the people ate polar bears and lived in ice huts. But Leon told us the Lord was calling him to work with the people of Russia and he wanted them to understand that Jesus came to save them. He wanted to share with them what it meant to have a relationship with the Lord and that was the most important thing he could do. Although I couldn’t quite wrap my head around that concept I went with the flow and cheered him on. Like any good church we added his picture to the “missions wall” and his name started appearing in the Wednesday night prayer sheet. My family added his picture to the refrigerator with all the other prayer cards and life went on.

That’s what happened in those days. When someone left for the mission field we all said goodbye and we prayed. We didn’t expect to see them again for at least a couple of years. Then out of the blue they would show up on a random Sunday night and we would all celebrate while listening to everything the Lord had done. They would be wearing weird clothes and would always start their sermon with a foreign language. Usually it was something along the lines of “Greetings from -insert random country-, we are excited to be here.” Before they left we would all get our updated refrigerator prayer cards and once again say our goodbyes. In the months that followed we were prayer warriors but ultimately their picture would get covered by the next missionary that came into town and the prayers would slow. It’s not that we didn’t love them or care about them but unfortunately they ended up being like any other family that moved away from the church and life went on.

Fast forward 18 years. Life is different now and although the seed to reach others has grown, Leon and the pictures on the refrigerator are all distant memories. I graduated high school and went on to receive my degree from the University of South Florida. I got married to an amazing woman who loves Jesus and loves helping other people. Life is predictable and deep down that’s probably the way I want it. Now I spend my days sitting in an office in downtown Tampa following the ups and downs of the stock market. Every so often I’ll catch myself daydreaming about the people around the world who have never heard the name of Jesus and my mind drifts back to the refrigerator pictures that will be engrained in my head forever. I spend a few minutes wondering how they’re doing and I even google their names to see if I can track them down to help. As you’d expect I can’t find anything of value so I give up and they vanish for a few more months.

Like any good Southern Baptist I go on the occasional mission trip and for a brief moment in time the seed of full time missions has life. I’m reminded of how much I truly enjoy partnering with missionaries for the sake of the gospel, but ultimately struggle with whether or not God is calling my wife and I to dedicate ourselves full time. I spend weeks questioning myself and my motives for not giving up everything and moving overseas. But in the end the Lord always gives me a peace that I’m right where He wants me. Eventually life goes on and everything returns to normal.

Right when I’m beginning to hate normal the Lord introduced me to a young man who changed my life. We became friends through a ministry geared toward international student outreach at the University of South Florida. He was originally from South Asia and came here for his education. While in the states he was saved and the Lord gave him a huge burden to return and reach his people. So he did.

We spent some time together in the months leading up to his departure and as any friend would, I asked him if there was anything I could do to help. I’m not exactly sure what I expected him to say but I do remember a small smile on his face as he began to lay out the vision the Lord laid on his heart. He explained that in the area of South Asia where he was headed persecution was a normal part of the faith. Obviously in these areas of the world there aren't as many traditional church buildings so most believers attend house churches; essentially small groups in the home. Thanks to local training centers and missionaries who have given their lives most of the house church pastors do have some basic biblical training. Unfortunately they don’t get a lot of encouragement or relief from the everyday grind. Most are bi-vocational and have families they are trying to raise. As you can imagine this puts a ton of responsibility on the pastors who don’t have multiple staff members to help lead their flock.

As he shared what life was like for a house church pastor I’m pretty sure I just sat there with the same dumb look on my face I had when Leon announced he was moving to Russia. The only difference was this time I was trying to figure out how I could take TWO mission trips a year to help my friend build the ministry the Lord was entrusting to him. As I worked numbers in my head and rearranged my vacation plans he began to share his vision for a ministry so beautiful that if successful could only be explained by the hand of the Lord Himself. I listened intently for the next 15 minutes and slowly watched my traditional view of missions climb outside of the box it had been in for so many years.

He explained that on the surface the ministry was no different then many others. The majority of the work would be done by nationals and missionaries who were living and working in the communities every single day. They would help their neighborhoods, start churches, and organize specific ministries aimed at reaching kids. Where things got interesting was the addition of 21st century technology. Due to the fact that some large Asian cities have house church pastors numbering in the thousands there is no possible way they can all receive the training, encouragement, and support necessary to reach their communities. He smiled and told me that’s where I come in. My responsibility was to set up a network of believers in the United States that would be willing to go through a basic theological training and then as the need arises train house churches pastors through Skype. In the end the goal was to bring house church congregations in South Asia together with churches and small groups in America for the sake of training, fellowship, encouragement and missions trips. Once the partnerships were in place and pastors were being trained he would move on to new regions and establish new relationships.

When he could tell my brain couldn't handle any more information we prayed together and said our goodbyes. Later that week he boarded a plane and left to start a new life halfway across the world. The church cheered him on as he said goodbye and his name started appearing in the small group prayer lists. Within weeks the excitement began to cool off and for a while everything returned to normal.

Unboxed Missions…

Then I was introduced to Mong. Mong is a house church pastor in South Asia. He and his wife run a small orphanage as well as minister to the people in their community. Even though he has never been to the United States, thanks to modern technology, Mong and I spend a little over an hour together every week. We have been studying the bible for almost 4 months now and I can honestly say God has used Mong to open my eyes. I’m not even sure I understand the ramifications of what we’re doing but it blows my mind to think that God is giving me the opportunity to encourage, teach, and pray with someone who lives halfway around the world.

For the teaching portion of our time together we use Davis Platt's Secret Church notes. Thanks to the Church at Brook Hills the notes have already been translated into his language. Admittedly we do go into more depth then the notes but they are an amazing place to start. While I teach, Mong has a copy of the notes in his language and in English as well as the bible in his language and in English. He was really excited at the beginning of our study to get his first copy of the bible in English; not sure why, but he loved it. Throughout the week that follows Mong uses the material that we studied to prepare his weekly sermon. He also uses the Secret Church notes to train other house church pastors who are not bilingual and would obviously have a difficult time partnering with small groups from the US.

I’ll never forget our first meeting together and listening to the story of a pastor who loved Jesus but was living a very different life than mine. It’s not that we didn’t share the same passion for the Word or a desire to grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ, but the way in which we lived it out was very different. Even down to something as simple as prayer. He explained that his house is always open no matter the time of day or night so people can stop by for prayer. In addition, every night of the week from 5pm-7pm people from all over the neighborhood and surrounding community come to his house for a time of prayer and worship. They sing together, they fellowship together and they ask God for wisdom and strength to live their daily lives. They pray for the salvation of their families and friends and they ask God to mend the broken relationships caused by their conversion to the faith. They pray for God to give new believers the courage they will need to walk down to the river and make a public profession that will change their lives forever. They also pray for the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers because the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

I can honestly say I have never experienced anything in my own life which has so quickly opened my eyes to the reality of how Christians live around the world. Each week I hear more and more of what God is doing in Mong’s churches and I’m reminded of the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit. I completely understand that discipleship/training through internet is not ideal, but I’ve been amazed these last 4 months to hear everything the Lord is doing through Mong and his ministry. Mong told me in our meeting this week that a revival has happened since we started meeting. His daily prayer meetings have quadrupled in size and people are coming from all over to hear about Jesus. The number of house churches he oversees has more than doubled since we started meeting bringing the current number to 30; when we started he had 13. A few weeks ago the high priest from the local temple and his family prayed to receive Christ and in the coming weeks Mong will be baptizing the entire family. The priest now stands at the door of his temple and tells anyone who comes to worship to turn from their worthless idols and go to Mong’s house to hear about the Living True GOD.

I need to make completely clear that there is nothing I am doing that warrants anything that has taken place. I teach the Word each week, pray with my new friend and God does the rest. I can’t explain it any other way and in actuality that’s how it should be.

What next…

It’s been a little over a year since I sat down with my friend and he told me he was returning home. Thanks to local believers and faithful missionaries on the ground the network of house church pastors is growing. With that growth comes opportunity as well as a great need for small groups to strategically partner for the sake of the gospel. I was introduced this week to another house church pastor who oversees 23 churches. He has very little theological training and is excited for us to start meeting every week. He also reaches out to his community and within a 2 mile radius of his house there are over 1 million people who are considered unreached. He has his own extraordinary testimony of conversion and it’s amazing to hear how God is using him. One of the most powerful parts of his story is that he’s only 23 years old.

Please join us in praying that the Lord would raise up groups in the US who are willing to embrace house churches in South Asia. Our prayer is that your fellowship of believers will come along side a house church leader to train, pray, fast, encourage, and even send members to the mission field. My own bible study plans on being bound to these pastors and the churches in South Asia for the rest of our earthly lives.

Welcome to missions and the 21st century. I’m humbled to be a small part in a massive, God-centered, church driven, worldwide network of Christians working together for the sake of the gospel. There are tens of thousands of Mong’s that would love to study with and be encouraged by a group of dedicated Christians in the US and I'm reminded of that every week. The last time I spoke with Mong he said something I'll never forget. “Pastor Shale, I thank God for bringing you into my life. Many great things have happened since we met and God is using our churches for His glory. I want you to know that your friend gave us a picture of you and your wife and we keep it in our house so the church can pray for you every day.” It’s humbling to think that a picture of my wife and I is hanging on a refrigerator in a house in South Asia and THEY are praying for us. Praise the Lord for allowing us to meet and share our lives together.

And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. ~ Luke 10:2

Francis Chan - BASIC - Follow Jesus

Jesus Praying Before the Cross - John 17

Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”