From everywhere to anywhere

Hanging in front of my desk and covering most of our office wall is the above map entitled in Spanish "MUCH REMAINS TO BE DONE."

Covered in tiny colored dots one is able to see at a glance where the largest concentrations of lostness are located in the world. The numbers are staggering: 6500 Unreached People Groups (UPG) totaling some 4-billion people who have yet to hear a clear presentation of the life-transforming Good News of Jesus Christ. Of these, 3000 are not only unreached, but unengaged by anyone. There is no one even trying to reach them! As Kirby Woods so aptly expressed, "The only thing worse than being lost, is being lost when no one is looking for you." 

This is why Linda and I are in Ecuador. To join Christ's team in doing everything possible to make His Name known in every single one of those "dots"--from everywhere in the world to anywhere God leads his people. That is our task. Our calling. Mobilization is the term used today to describe all that is involved in making disciples of the nations, who in turn, engage other nations. To mobilize is to Pray. Teach. Train. Equip. Encourage. Mentor. Assist. Counsel. When woven together we see a beautiful tapestry of disciples making disciples of the nations.

But this task is not ours alone. It belongs to us all. As C.H. Spurgeon said, "It is the whole business of the whole church to preach the whole gospel to the whole world." After more than 100 years of the Gospel seed being sown, watered and harvested in Ecuador, our adopted country has transitioned from being solely a mission field, and is now a front-line player in sending missionaries TO THE MISSION FIELD!

This past week a fellow missionary shared the following story that illustrates the kinds of things God is doing these days...

A Brazilian musician working in Vienna, Austria has started Bible studies with more than 30 Iranians and several Vietnamese families. Last month 12 of these were baptized and a new church started. This Brazilian evangelist/musician/church planter is being trained and mentored by two American families. One living in Germany and the other in Switzerland! 

God is indeed moving his people from everywhere to anywhere!

PLEASE PRAY. My wife and I work closely with Ecuador's interdenominational missions agency in sending Ecuadorians to the nations. IM is currently working with 28 Ecuadorian missionaries who are either on the field, on home assignment, or candidates in various stages of preparation to be sent out. It is a huge honor and blessing to be part of what God is doing to complete the cycle of Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and now to the nations of the earth.

We began our own missionary journey 28 years ago serving in Guayaquil (our Jerusalem). After several years we became part of the Guayas Mestizo Team (Judea) reaching out into the province. A few years later, we were charged with responsibility to reach the neighboring coastal provinces (Samaria). And now we are faced with reaching out to the nations (ends of the earth)!!!

A great deal of our time is spent working globally in the logistical side of sending Latino missionaries from all over the Americas into all the world. The #1 barrier for sending qualified Latino workers to their fields of service is in the area of finances. Recently a new project was approved by the IMB which seeks to supplement Latino cross-cultural workers enabling them to fulfill God's call on their life to go to the nations. The special Lottie Moon project is called "Partnerships For Global Sending" (NOTE: After clicking the preceding link you will have to click VIEW PROJECTS BY PEOPLE GROUP and then select AMERICAN from the drop box. The first project should be the one.) 

Jorge, from Venezuela, is an example of the kind of person we are seeking to help. His inspiring story is entitled "Called to Go" and can be viewed by clicking https://vimeo.com/100271203

How important prayer is for missionaries

We have been Stateside since May of this year. One of the things I have come to realize during our days in the USA is the cost--the sacrifice--involved in our calling as missionaries. For most of my life I have had the attitude of tossing aside any semblance that we are "sacrificing" anything for Jesus. I guess we have always seen our own condition as far more blessed than the vast majority of people we relate to on the mission field. We have been given so much. What are we really sacrificing? God has always provided for our every need. He is faithful.

And yet, being here in the States, I am seeing that following God's call on our life as overseas missionaries has been costly on us as a family. Each member of our family has had to pay a real price in order for us to live and serve our Lord overseas. I don't know if things would have been better or worse living this time in the USA, but I do know it has been costly to us as a family emotionally, spiritually, physically. In a real sense we bear real "scars" of our choice to follow Jesus like we have.

Peter:  "Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You." Jesus: "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life." (Luke 18)

These words were the text of the message preached by Keith Parks at our appointment service as missionaries back in December of '86. I have always focused on the last part that promises we will receive "many times as much" for the little we might have sacrificed. But there is no skipping over the high cost entailed in leaving behind those things (ie. houses, wives, brothers, parents, grand children, comforts, etc.) in order to fulfill Christ's call on our life. There is a price to be paid. It isn't easy.

I guess that is why Christ said count the cost before taking the plunge. Some of Jesus' toughest words are found in Luke 14,

Those who come to me cannot be my disciples unless they love me more than they love father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and themselves as well. Those who do not carry their own cross and come after me cannot be my disciples. If one of you is planning to build a tower, you sit down first and figure out what it will cost, to see if you have enough money to finish the job. If you don't, you will not be able to finish the tower after laying the foundation; and all who see what happened will make fun of you. 'You began to build but can't finish the job!' they will say... In the same way," concluded Jesus, "none of you can be my disciple unless you give up everything you have.

These days we have spent in the States have highlighted in so many ways, "what might have been" had we chosen otherwise. While America is far from perfect, there is much good and certainly an abundance of opportunities and blessings that few people in the rest of the world can even come close to dreaming about. When we see the houses, cars, and lifestyles of our peers, we can't help but wonder if, we too, might be living like that had we not chosen to follow His call on our lives. When we see the missed opportunities that our children might have experienced had we made different choices, we can easily "second guess" the decisions we have made to live overseas like we do.

Some of the questions going around in my head these days are:

• has it been worth it?
• are we really making a difference overseas?
• have we really made any kind of lasting, significant contribution?
• is it time to move on and do something else?
• is the work better or worse off for our being there?
• have we been faithful?
• are we supposed to go back?
• does God have more for us to do there before relieving us of this responsibility?
• how do we balance of obeying God's call with the needs of our children?

I share these thoughts with you as a means of expressing how important praying for missionaries is. We are common people, with real needs like anyone else. We need your prayers and support (eg. Lottie Moon Christmas Offering). Before William Carey, the "Father of the Modern Missionary Movement" went to India, he said to the small English society of believers sending him, "I will go down the mine, if you will all hold the ropes for me."

Will you continue to hold the ropes for us?

It's Lottie Moon Season!

While the amount varies from year to year, in 2013 the annual per capita giving of S. Baptists to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for global missions was $9.78.

In other words, if you gave $10 last year to global missions, you were giving more than the average S. Baptist.  As Lottie Moon herself asked over 100 years ago, "Why this strange indifferences to missions? Why these scant contributions? Why does money fail to be forthcoming when approved men and women are asking to be sent to proclaim the "unsearchable riches of Christ" to the heathen?"   I don't know, either, Lottie.

Every year Southern Baptist Churches in the United States collect a special offering in December for international missions. 100% goes for overseas work. The goal this year for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is $175 million.

Here is how the offering works:

Since we see first-hand and feel the direct impact of this offering, I would like to say to everyone who gave last year or is planning to give this year, THANK YOU.  Maybe $10/year is all you really can give, and if so, God knows this and will multiply that $10 like he did the five loaves and two fish to feed the 5000.  But there are others who really could give more.

Would you be willing to ask the Lord what he would have you give to make His Name known amongst the nations?

What follows is a list of things we have personally tried over the years or practice regularly as a family.

1) Decide what amount of money you will spend on your family this Christmas and give MORE than this amount to the LMCO. After all, it is Christ's birthday we are celebrating. Shouldn't He be getting more than us if it is his birthday?

2) Something we have done as a family for many years is set aside a monthly amount from our paycheck and have that amount automatically credited to the LMCO. This took a couple of email and phone calls to set up, but we haven't had to fool with it since, and are able to give to LMCO throughout the year.

3) A variation on the idea above would be to have a gift box that you deposit a set amount every week/month throughout the year. Then give this amount to your church when the offering is collected in December.

4) Sell tickets to a mother-daughter or father-son breakfast or brunch. Invite a missionary as a guest speaker. Proceeds go to missions.

5) Auction students to church members for a day of service, from cleaning house to raking leaves. Money members give for the work youth do goes to Lottie Moon.

6) One idea missionaries have done in the past is hold an auction where a volunteer team brings in "goodies" from the States and auction them off to the missionaries. A six-pack of Dr. Pepper went for $120 one year! My son paid $60 for a box of Double-Bubble gum. I myself have paid $35 for a jar of Jiff peanut butter! All proceeds go to the missions offerings. Might your church do something similar with imported foods purchased from your local grocery store?

7) Challenge folks to save money for the offering by giving up something small. Examples include a fast-food meal a week or a movie a month. Host a special ceremony for everyone to give their offering and share what God taught them through their sacrifice.

8) Double (or triple!) whatever you gave last year. Give sacrificially, not what is convenient.

9) As a church body, decide to channel funds to a lost world instead of to building improvements or beautification projects.

10) Watch this video by IMB President, David Platt:


Whatever you decide to give, please do so prayerfully. There are few offerings that make as much of an eternal impact on the world as the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Give online by clicking here.

Checks can be mailed to (gifts are tax-deductable)
Lottie Moon Christmas Offering
International Mission Board, SBC
P.O. Box 6767
Richmond, VA 23230

It's Lottie Moon Season!

While the amount varies from year to year, the best I have been able to ascertain is the annual capita giving swings somewhere in the neighborhood of $7.00 on the low end, and $8.35 on the high end.

In other words, if you contribute a mere $10 a year to global missions, you are giving more than the average S. Baptist.  As Lottie Moon herself asked over 100 years ago, "Why this strange indifferences to missions? Why these scant contributions? Why does money fail to be forthcoming when approved men and women are asking to be sent to proclaim the "unsearchable riches of Christ" to the heathen?"   I don't know, either, Lottie.

Every year Southern Baptist Churches in the United States collect a special offering in December for international missions. 100% goes for overseas work. The goal this year for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is $175 million.

Since we see first-hand and feel the direct impact of this offering, I would like to say to everyone who gave last year or is planning to give this year, THANK YOU.  Maybe $10/year is all you really can give, and if so, God knows this and will multiply that $10 like he did the five loaves and two fish to feed the 5000.  But there are others who really could give more, but aren't.

Would you be willing to ask the Lord what he would have you give to make His Name known amongst the nations?

Click here for some great ideas and resources to assist you in becoming a better informed giver to what God is doing in the nations. What follows is a list of things we have personally tried over the years or practice regularly as a family.

1) Decide what amount of money you will spend on your family this Christmas and give MORE than this amount to the LMCO. After all, it is Christ's birthday we are celebrating. Shouldn't He be getting more than us if it is his birthday?

2) Something we have done as a family for many years is set aside a monthly amount from our paycheck and have that amount automatically credited to the LMCO. This took a couple of email and phone calls to set up, but we haven't had to fool with it since, and are able to give to LMCO throughout the year.

3) A variation on the idea above would be to have a gift box that you deposit a set amount every week/month throughout the year. Then give this amount to your church when the offering is collected in December.

4) Sell tickets to a mother-daughter or father-son breakfast or brunch. Invite a missionary as a guest speaker. Proceeds go to missions.

5) Auction students to church members for a day of service, from cleaning house to raking leaves. Money members give for the work youth do goes to Lottie Moon.

6) One idea missionaries have done in the past is hold an auction where a volunteer team brings in "goodies" from the States and auction them off to the missionaries. A six-pack of Dr. Pepper went for $120 one year! My son paid $60 for a box of Double-Bubble gum. I myself have paid $35 for a jar of Jiff peanut butter! All proceeds go to the missions offerings. Might your church do something similar with imported foods purchased from your local grocery store?

7) Challenge folks to save money for the offering by giving up something small. Examples include a fast-food meal a week or a movie a month. Host a special ceremony for everyone to give their offering and share what God taught them through their sacrifice.

8) Double (or triple!) whatever you gave last year. Give sacrificially, not what is convenient.

9) As a church body, decide to channel funds to a lost world instead of to building improvements or beautification projects.

10) See how every dollar makes a difference by clicking on any of these related stories.

Whatever you decide to give, please do so prayerfully. The idea of just reaching in your pocket and giving whatever comes out doesn't seem worthy of the King of Kings. Give thoughtfully, prayerfully. There are few offerings that make as much of an eternal impact on the world as the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Do you feel a yearly offering of $8.35 is worthy of the One who left his throne in glory to die on a cross for our sins? How much will you give this year to see souls around the globe come to the Savior?

Checks can be mailed to (gifts are tax-deductable)
Lottie Moon Christmas Offering
International Mission Board, SBC
P.O. Box 6767
Richmond, VA 23230

Lottie Moon quotes*

“What we need in China is more workers. The harvest is very great, the laborers, oh! So few. Why does the Southern Baptist church lag behind in this great work?"

Nov. 1, 1873, Tungchow

"How many there are ... who imagine that because Jesus paid it all, they need pay nothing, forgetting that the prime object of their salvation was that they should follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ in bringing back a lost world to God."

Sept. 15, 1887, Tungchow

"Why should we not ... instead of the paltry offerings we make, do something that will prove that we are really in earnest in claiming to be followers of him who, though he was rich, for our sake became poor?"

Sept. 15, 1887, Tungchow

"Is not the festive season when families and friends exchange gifts in memory of The Gift laid on the altar of the world for the redemption of the human race, the most appropriate time to consecrate a portion from abounding riches and scant poverty to send forth the good tidings of great joy into all the earth?"

Sept. 15, 1887, Tungchow

"Why this strange indifferences to missions? Why these scant contributions? Why does money fail to be forthcoming when approved men and women are asking to be sent to proclaim the "unsearchable riches of Christ" to the heathen?"

Oct. 3, 1887, Pingtu

"A young man should ask himself not if it is his duty to go to the heathen, but if he may dare stay at home. The command is so plain: "Go."”

Nov. 1, 1873, Tungchow

"Oh! That my words could be as a trumpet call, stirring the hearts of my brethren and sisters to pray, to labor, to give themselves to this people. But some will say, "we must have results, else interest flags"...We are now, a very, very few feeble workers, scattering the grain broadcast according as time and strength permit. God will give the harvest; doubt it not. But the laborers are so few.  Where we have four, we should have not less than one hundred. Are these wild words? They would not seem so were the church of God awake to her high privilege and her weighty responsibilities."

Nov. 11, 1878, Pingtu

"The needs of these people press upon my soul, and I cannot be silent. It is grievous to think of these human souls going down to death without even one opportunity of hearing the name of Jesus...Once more I urge upon the consciences of my Christian brethren and sisters the claims of these people among whom I dwell. Here I am working alone in a city of many thousand inhabitants, with numberless villages clustered around or stretching away in the illuminate distance: how many can I reach?"

Oct. 3, 1887, Pingtu

"I would I had a thousand lives that I might give them to ... China!"

Aug. 27, 1888, Zhenjiang

"When the gospel is allowed to grow naturally in China, without forcing processes of development, the 'church in the house' is usually its first form of organization. God grant us faith and courage to keep 'hands off' and allow this new garden of the Lord's planting to ripen in the rays of the Divine Love, free from human interference!"

Sept. 10, 1890, Pingtu

-----------------------------------------
*quotes taken from imb.org website: Quotables: Lottie Herself and "Send the Light: Lottie Moon's Letters and Other Writings" edited by Keith Harper.

I cannot be silent - Lottie Moon of China

Who was Lottie Moon?

Lottie Moon - the namesake of the international missions offering - has become something of a legend to us. But in her time Lottie was anything but an untouchable hero. In fact, she was like today's missionaries. She was a hard-working, deep-loving Southern Baptist who labored tirelessly so her people group could know Jesus.

Why was the "Lottie Moon Christmas Offering" named for this early China missionary? Throughout her career, Lottie Moon wrote numerous letters home, urging Southern Baptists to greater missions involvement and support. One of those letters triggered Southern Baptists' first Christmas offering for international missions - enough to send three new missionaries to China.

Lottie served 39 years as a missionary, mostly in China's Shantung province. She taught in a girls' school and often made trips into China's interior to share the good news with women and girls. Lottie frequently wrote letters to the United States, detailing Chinese culture, missionary life and the great physical and spiritual needs of the Chinese people. Additionally, she challenged Southern Baptists to go to China or give so that others could go. By 1888, Southern Baptist women had organized and helped collect $3,315 to send workers needed in China. Lottie died aboard a ship in the Japanese harbor of Köbe on Dec. 24, 1912. She was 72 years old.

In 1918, Woman's Missionary Union (WMU) named the annual Christmas offering for international missions after the woman who had urged them to start it. Dec. 24, 2012, will mark 100 years since the death of Lottie Moon. The final day of Week of Prayer (Dec. 2-9) is dedicated to Lottie Moon, a portrait of obedience who influenced thousands to follow her, going just as boldly, obediently and sacrificially.

For several years now, my wife and I have set aside a percentage every month that we give to this missions offering.  Will you pray and ask the Lord how much He would lead you to give to this offering so that His Name might be known amongst the nations?  Like Lottie Moon, we cannot be silent.

C.L. Culpepper's audio testimony of the China Shantung Revival

This moving and powerful personal account by Southern Baptist missionary C.L. Culpepper of the Shantung Revival in China in the 1920's (one of the most remarkable mass moving of the Holy Spirit in history) continues to move and convict me each time I listen.

More than ever before, we need to be listening to the voices of these saints of old as they wrestled with personal sin and allowed the fullness of the Spirit of God to do what He so much wants to do--bring revival to his people! If only those of us who are called by His name, "will humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways," then He promises to "hear from heaven, forgive our sin and heal our land."

This testimony is well worth the 50-minutes it will take to listen. Many believe this revival was the catalyst for the house church movement that has flourished in spite of communist persecution for nearly 75 years in China.


Podcast Powered By Podbean

If you aren't familiar with sermonindex.net it is a gold mine of free downloadable audio messages from the likes of A.W. Tozer, Leonard Ravenhill, Ray Steadman, Duncan Campbell, John Piper, David Wilkerson, T. Austin Sparks, and dozens more--even clips by William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army!

Do you know how much the average Baptist gives to global missions per year?

Every year Southern Baptist Churches in the United States collect a special offering in December for international missions. 100% of this offering goes for overseas work. The goal this year for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is $175 million.

Since we see first-hand and experience the impact of this offering, I would like to say THANK YOU for giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

Do you know how much the average Southern Baptist gives to international missions per year? $8.35!!!

Here are a few suggestions that you might consider this Christmas Season as you determine what amount to give. Most of what follows are things we have tried over the years or personally practice as a family.

1) Decide what amount of money you will spend on your family this Christmas and give MORE than this amount to the LMCO. After all, it is Christ's birthday we are celebrating. Should we be getting more than He if it is his birthday?

2) Something we have done as a family for many years now is set aside an amount out of our monthly paycheck and have that amount automatically credited to the LMCO. This took a couple of email and phone calls to set up, but we haven't had to fool with it since, and are able to give to LMCO throughout the year.

3) A variation on the idea above would be to have a LMCO gift box that you deposit a set amount every week/month throughout the year. Then give this amount to your church when the offering is collected in December.

4) Sell tickets to a mother-daughter or father-son breakfast or brunch. Invite a missionary as a guest speaker. Proceeds go to Lottie Moon.

5) Auction students to church members for a day of service, from cleaning house to raking leaves. Money members give for the work youth do goes to Lottie Moon.

6) One idea we have had fun with is hold an auction where a volunteer team brings in "goodies" from the States and auctions them off to the highest bidder.  A six-pack of Dr. Pepper went for $120 one year! My son paid $60 for a box of Double-Bubble gum. I myself have paid $35 for a jar of Jiff peanut butter! All proceeds go to the missions offerings. Might your church or group do something similar?

7) Challenge folks to save money for the offering by giving up something small. Examples include a fast-food meal a week or a movie a month. Host a special ceremony for everyone to give their offering and share what God taught them through their sacrifice.

8) Double (or triple!) whatever you gave last year. Give sacrificially, not what is convenient.

9) As a church body, decide to channel funds to a lost world instead of to building improvements or beautification projects.

10) Try out some of the ideas and resources made available at the IMB website.

Whatever you decide to give, please do so beforehand in prayer. The idea of just reaching in your pocket and giving whatever comes out doesn't seem worthy of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Give thoughtfully, prayerfully. There are few offerings that make as much of an eternal impact on the world as the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Is $8.35 really all we can come up with in a year so that the world may know Him?

How much will you give this year to see souls around the globe come to the Savior?

You can give online here or checks can be mailed (gifts are tax-deductable) to:

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering
International Mission Board, SBC
P.O. Box 6767
Richmond, VA 23230

A life of significance

Who is this person called Lottie Moon and why is the annual Christmas offering named after her? See why Lottie lived a life of significance.

60 Años de Obra Misionera Bautista en el Ecuador (1950-2010)

60 Años de Obra Misionera Bautista en el Ecuador (1950-2010) from Guy Muse on Vimeo.

60 years ago Baptists began working in Ecuador. This compilation of photos was shared this past weekend as part of the annual meeting of the Ecuador Baptist Convention meeting in Quito, Ecuador.

Thanks to Joiner, Jones, Muse, and Smith families for sharing their historic photos with us for this time of celebration of what God has done.

It's your choice

December is the traditional month in Southern Baptist church life to collect the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions. Click here to see how the offering provides for Southern Baptist missionaries around the world.

"Every penny given to Lottie Moon is used to support Southern Baptist missionaries as they share the Gospel overseas. The offering represents 54 percent of the International Mission Board’s total income."

THE FACTS:

International Mission Board vital stats
• 5,618 missionaries (as of 4/20/09)
• 26,970 new churches*
• 565,967 baptisms*
• 562,091 new believers in discipleship*
*As reported in the 2008 Annual Statistical Report

Status of World Evangelization
• 11,599 people groups worldwide; 6.6 billion people
• 6,454 unreached* people groups; 3.8 billion people
• 5,850 Last Frontier** people groups; 1.6 billion people
*Less than 2 percent evangelical
**Less than 2 percent evangelical, no active church planting

Lottie Moon past and present
• 2009 goal: $175 million
• 2008 goal: $170 million
• 2008 receipts: $141.3 million

QUESTION:

With $180 to spend for Christmas, What can one buy for around $180?

• Apple iPod touch 8 GB (3rd Generation) $181.99
• Caterpillar Men's Black Airactive Chronograph Watch $184
• Helly Hansen Men's Velocity JPN Jacket $180.

All nice gifts. But consider how that same $180 might be invested in the Kingdom...

Last month $180 was used here in Guayaquil to train 15 church planters in CPM methodology. These 15 went out, and put into practice what they learned. One month later, 14 new outreach groups* have been started, and over 100 souls added to the Kingdom. Two of these "churches in formation" have already gone to 2nd generation church plants.

I am not asking you to do anything more than what we are also willing to do. This year our family is giving one Christmas gift apiece to one another. Our gift to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering in 2009 is $600. We know where these monies go, and live amongst the people whose lives are transformed because someone gave so that they might hear. Over and over we see how small amounts of money given for Kingdom causes is multiplied way beyond the dollar amounts much like the "five loaves and two fish."

Nobody is telling anybody else what to do with their money, but honestly, I can't think of a better place to invest than in the Kingdom of God through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

It's your choice.


----------------
*we call them "outreach groups" until they baptize their first batch of believers. After that, we refer to them as churches.

Unlikely Ecuadorian church planters prove effective

By Dea Davidson

GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (BP)--Seven years of moisture and exposure through the cheap, wooden frame have soiled the thin paper, but the faded certificate retains a prominent spot on the cement wall. Carlos Solis proudly points out the inscription: he is an official church planter.

Solis and about a dozen other Ecuadorians equally proud of their certificates weren’t exactly the people missionary Guy Muse had envisioned when he set out to train church planters in July 2000. One woman was blind. Three others were very old. Even Carlos and his wife, Maria, were former drunks who lived in “The Frontier” – a zone of Guayaquil where gangs meet and clash, and doors are locked by 5 p.m.

Yet within six weeks, the unlikely workers had started four churches. A year later they and other local believers had formed 70 more. Now, more than 100 churches are meeting in the streets and barrios (neighborhoods) of poverty-stricken Guayaquil.

Guy and his wife, Linda, both native Texans, have served among the 3.3 million Mestizos – mixed Spanish and Indian people – of the Guayaquil area for 20 years.

People of this city, which serves as a port to the Galapagos Islands, hold to a culture of nominal Roman Catholicism, with fewer than 5 percent of the population evangelicals.

“People on the coast of Ecuador are very open,” Guy says. “They know that they’re sinners. They know that they need God. Those are things that help us because they prepare the way for presenting Christ. We’re getting to harvest what many of our fellow missionaries that came before us had planted and watered.”

Guy was one of the first Baptists to plant seeds in Ecuadorian soil. In 1963, he arrived in the capital city of Quito as a missionary kid. He remembers handing out tracts with his dad on street corners, watching people rip the paper in pieces and throw them in his face.

Openness to the Gospel – and the strategies used to bring it to the Ecuadorian people – have changed in the past 30 years. In 1997, with the average Baptist church baptizing seven people a year, the work took on a new direction. Missionaries began focusing on building house churches rather than starting churches with buildings.

In March 2000 the Muses and the Guayaquil team began praying for the Lord to send helpers. Five months later, the Solis’ church became the first answer to those prayers.

At a missions meeting, Linda announced a church starting goal that people weren’t confident could happen.

“The next year at the missions meeting,” Linda says, “we got to get up and say, ‘We started 33 churches by December.’”

Casting a vision for reaching the country’s largest city is one of the first things Guy does every seven weeks as he begins another training group. Through radio announcements and word-of-mouth, between 20 and 30 Ecuadorian believers pour into the training center each week to learn how to start la iglesia en tu casa – the church in your house. When these servant-leaders lead people to Christ, they are expected to follow up within 48 hours and immediately begin discipling. Within four weeks, each trainee is to start a new Bible study that will become a functioning house church. Guy’s role is to train these disciples in church planting skills as the Ecuadorians to reach their own people.


Marlene Lorenti, a single mom and hairdresser turned Bible teacher, is one of the results of Guy’s training. Testimonies of her faithfulness in leading her neighbors and friends to Christ come from those who meet at her beauty shop for church. A new church started from this group meets 45 minutes away in another area.

“Marlene is an on-fire evangelist,” Guy says. “She has done everything that we’ve talked about. I feel like that’s my job, to empower people.”

Through servant-leaders like Marlene, the number of house churches in Guayaquil continues to expand, some even replicating to the second and third generations. As the Muses and their team continue catalyzing church plants, they also are looking for stateside partners to carry the Gospel to unreached pockets of their province. By teaming up with Ecuadorian churches, Southern Baptists have an opportunity to strategically take the Good News to people in coastal Ecuador.

“This is the time when we need to be putting everything into the effort,” Guy says. “We have an open window of opportunity like never before. This is not the time to be holding back. We need to put everything into finishing the task. It’s finishable.”

To volunteer, check out the “Go” section of samregion.org. The Muses are among the more than 5,500 Southern Baptist international missionaries supported by the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. The close-out date for 2008 offering receipts is May 31, 2009. To learn more about the offering, go to imb.org/offering.

-Dea Davidson covered this story as an overseas correspondent with the International Mission Board.

Will we be found faithful?

A truly meaningful Christmas

Recently seen at Missio Dei and well worth reflecting upon this Christmas Season.


So, how do you plan to modify your Christmas spending to accommodate giving something of more lasting value? What our family is doing about this is shared below in #1,#2 of our Lottie Moon post.

Who was Lottie Moon?

How many there are who imagine
that because Jesus paid it all,
they need pay nothing.
Lottie Moon, Tungchow, China, Sept. 15, 1887.

How do you define significance?


Thanks to Rick Boyne for posting this on his blog.

What will you give this year to Lottie Moon?

Every year Southern Baptist Churches in the United States collect a special offering in December for international missions. 100% of this offering goes for overseas work. The goal this year for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is $170 million.

Since we see first-hand and experience the impact of this offering, I would like to say THANK YOU for giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

Do you know how much the average Southern Baptist gives to international missions per year? $8.35!!!

Here are a few suggestions that you might consider this Christmas Season as you determine what amount to give. Some of these ideas come from the IMB website here, but most are things we have tried ourselves over the years and personally practice as a family.

1) Decide what amount of money you will spend on your family this Christmas and give MORE than this amount to the LMCO. After all, it is Christ's birthday we are celebrating. Should we be getting more than He if it is his birthday?

2) Something we have done as a family for several years now is set aside an amount out of our monthly paycheck and have that amount automatically credited to the LMCO. This took a couple of email and phone calls to set up, but we haven't had to fool with it since, and are able to give to LMCO throughout the year.

3) A variation on the idea above would be to have a LMCO gift box that you deposit a set amount every week/month throughout the year. Then give this amount to your church when the offering is collected in December.

4) Sell tickets to a mother-daughter or father-son breakfast or brunch. Invite a missionary as a guest speaker. Proceeds go to Lottie Moon.

5) Auction students to church members for a day of service, from cleaning house to raking leaves. Money members give for the work youth do goes to Lottie Moon.

6) One thing we missionaries have done for many years is have an auction where a volunteer team brings in "goodies" from the States and auction them off to the missionaries. A six-pack of Dr. Pepper went for $120 one year! My son paid $60 for a box of Double-Bubble gum. I myself have paid $35 for a jar of Jiff peanut butter! All proceeds go to the missions offerings. Might your church do something similar?

7) Challenge folks to save money for the offering by giving up something small. Examples include a fast-food meal a week or a movie a month. Host a special ceremony for everyone to give their offering and share what God taught them through their sacrifice.

8) Double (or triple!) whatever you gave last year. Give sacrificially, not what is convenient.

9) As a church body, decide to channel funds to a lost world instead of to building improvements or beautification projects.

10) View some of the ideas for promoting the LMCO at the IMB Idea Gallery.

Whatever you decide to give, please do so beforehand in prayer. The idea of just reaching in your pocket and giving whatever comes out doesn't seem worthy of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Give thoughtfully, prayerfully. There are few offerings that make as much of an eternal impact on the world as the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Is $8.35 really all we can come up with in a year so that the world may know Him?

How much will you give this year to see souls around the globe come to the Savior?

You can give online here or checks can be mailed (gifts are tax-deductable) to:

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering
International Mission Board, SBC
P.O. Box 6767
Richmond, VA 23230

The cost involved in being a missionary

One of the things I have come to realize during these days here in the USA, is the high cost--the sacrifice--involved in our calling as missionaries. For most of my life I have had the attitude of tossing aside any semblance that we are "sacrificing" anything for Jesus. I guess we have always seen our own condition as far more blessed than the vast majority of people we relate to on the mission field. We have been given so much. What are we sacrificing? Are we really out there "suffering for Jesus?" God has provided for our every need. He has always been faithful.

And yet, being here in the States, I am seeing that following God's call on our life as overseas missionaries has been costly on us as a family. We have given up much. Each member of our family has had to pay a real price in order to live and serve our Lord overseas. I don't know if things would have been better or worse living this time in the USA, but I do know it has been costly to us as a family emotionally, spiritually, physically. In a real sense we bear real "scars" of our choice to follow Jesus like we have.

I have often thought about Jesus response to Peters words in Luke 18, "Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You." And He [JESUS] said... "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life."

These words were the text of the message preached by Keith Parks at our appointment service as missionaries back in December of '86. I have always focused on the last part that promises we will receive "many times as much" for the little we might have sacrificed. But there is no skipping over the high cost entailed in leaving behind those things and people in order to fulfill one's calling. There is a price to be paid. It isn't easy.

These days we have spent in the States have highlighted in so many ways, "what might have been" had we NOT chosen to heed His call. While America is far from perfect, there is so much good and abundance of opportunities and blessings that few people in the rest of the world can even come close to dreaming about. When we see the houses, cars, and lifestyles of our peers, we can't help but wonder if, we too, might be living like that had we not chosen to follow His call on our lives. When we see all the missed opportunities available for our children, one can't help but have second thoughts about them getting "second best" by our living overseas like we do.

Don't get me wrong, we aren't thinking about resigning. I don't believe God is finished with us yet in what He has for us to do in Ecuador, but we have had a lot of time to reflect the past few weeks. Stateside Assignment (furlough) is indeed a time for reflection, evaluation, processing, restoration, healing, rest, and re-equipping for returning. We have been so grateful to the Lord for this time made available to us to deal with our own needs.

Some of the questions going around in my head these days are:

• has it been worth it?
  
• are we really making a difference overseas?
  
• have we really made any kind of lasting, significant contribution?
• is it time to move on and do something else?
• is the work better or worse off for our being there?
• have we been faithful?
• are we supposed to go back?
• does God have more for us to do there before relieving us of this responsibility?
• how do we balance of obeying God's call with the needs of our children?
  

I share these thoughts with you as a means of expressing how important praying for missionaries is. We are common people, with real needs like anyone else. We need your prayers and support (a la Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.) Before William Carey, the "Father of the Modern Missionary Movement" went to India, he said to the little society of believers sending him, "I will go down the mine, if you will all hold the ropes for me."

Will you continue to hold the ropes for us?

Money and S. Baptist Global Missions Efforts

Lottie Moon Fast Facts from the IMB on the state of world evangelization and the costs involved in the Southern Baptist global missions enterprise:

International Mission Board vital stats
• 5,359 missionaries (as of 5/12/08)
• 25,497 new churches*
• 609,968 baptisms*
• 567,413 new believers in discipleship*
*As reported in the 2007 Annual Statistical Report

Status of World Evangelization
• 11,573 people groups worldwide; 6.6 billion people
• 6,508 unreached* people groups; 3.8 billion people
• 5,903 Last Frontier** people groups; 1.6 billion people
• Less than 2 percent evangelical
**Less than 2 percent evangelical, no active church planting

Lottie Moon past and present
• 2008 goal: $170 million
• 2007 receipts: $150,409,653.86
• $3 billion given since offering’s inception
• $3,315 collected in 1888 for first offering, enough to send three women to China

IMB budgeted income:
Lottie Moon Christmas Offering - about 50 percent
Cooperative Program - 33 percent
World Hunger and General Relief - 6 percent
Field-generated funds, investment returns and other income - 11 percent

Total IMB expenditures 2007 - $300.4 million
• Overseas missions - $256.0 million
• Missionary support - $214.1 million
• Field work - $41.9 million
• Stateside - $44.4 million

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Evaluating results solely in financial terms, $300.4 million was spent in 2007. That comes to $11,781 expended for each of the 25,497 new churches planted last year, and $492 for each of the 609,968 baptisms. If this sounds like a high cost per church/baptism, try comparing your own church's costs per baptism and church plant (assuming there were baptisms and church plants since 10,449 S. Bapt churches did not baptize a single person, and according to the Barrett and Johnson's, World Christian Trends, the cost of each baptism in USA institutional churches is a staggering $1,551,466!!! not to mention new church plants.)

If one divides the number of IMB missionaries (5359) by the baptisms and new church plants, the numbers average out to 4.75 church starts per missionary (9.5 per couple), and 113 baptisms each in 2007. Of course these figures include the work of all of our national overseas partners, and not solely work done by the missionaries, but it does give an idea of the kind of global response and the overall costs involved.

In these times of global financial crisis and insecurity, can you think of a safer place to invest with such a high return than in the Kingdom? Giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for new disciples and church plants is a direct way of investing in Christ's Kingdom.

How much will you sacrificially give this year for global missions?

To live or die for Ecuador's Quichua

The following article entitled, Willing to die, he brings new life to his people, was written by Dea Davidson for the International Mission Board, SBC and is featured along with the Commissionstories.com video at the end in promotion of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions this year.

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They came for him in the afternoon.

With torches in hand, 250 of Gabriel Mugmal’s neighbors forced him and his family from their home perched on a mountainside in Ecuador’s Andes. Gasoline trickled down Gabriel’s face and arms as the mob prepared them for a brutal beating, then burning. The only way to save his family was to recant what he believed.

For months, the then 27-year-old Gabriel had preached from house to house the newfound faith he and his family had embraced. He had spoken openly about the sin of idol worship that permeated homes and churches in the area.

Enraged, the crowd demanded that Gabriel renounce his words.

The thought, “Don’t burn me,” raced through Gabriel’s mind. But he wasn’t afraid and began preaching to the crowd from Genesis.

Moment of truth

Then the circling mob fell silent.

The priest, moved by Gabriel’s willingness to die for Jesus, took Gabriel’s Bible, raised it before the crowd and declared freedom to preach the Gospel.

“The Word of God shall be preached throughout the entire world,” he shouted. “You all are doing a good thing. Keep preaching the Gospel so that everyone can know Christ.”

As the crowd dropped their stones and sticks and trickled away, some families remained. “We want that,” they said. “How can we receive Christ?”

More than 250 now worship

Today, more than 250 villagers meet for church each Sunday less than 200 yards from the site of Gabriel’s near execution in 1982. The people of Naranjito are a light among the 300,000 Quichua people of northern Ecuador. Gabriel and those he has led to Christ have started approximately 30 Bible studies and churches in the villages that dot neighboring ridges and canyons.

“He literally took the Great Commission in Matthew 28 that it was his responsibility to go to other communities and just talk to them,” says missionary Darrell Musick.

The Quichua live in thatched-roof dwellings on farms at elevations up to 14,000 feet. Darrell and Rogene Musick work alongside Quichua believers to share the Gospel, provide training and materials, and use their ranching background to offer agricultural help.

Gabriel walked three hours to ask help

The missionary couple met Gabriel in 2004. He knocked on their door after walking three hours across mountain trails to their home.

“God has sent me here,” he said to the new missionaries. “I want you to train me to lead my people.”

Within months, the Musicks trained Gabriel in church planting and discipling. He then asked them to train his fellow church members at Iglesia Bautista Cordero de Dios (Lamb of God Baptist Church). Today, more than 200 have been trained.

As the people of Naranjito go about their day – shearing sheep or roasting cuy (guinea pig) – Gabriel blends in, looking much like any other farmer of the region. Only his ever-present Bible signifies his role as a spiritual leader.

Faithful, humble discipler

“He is probably the most faithful, most humble discipler I’ve ever met in my life,” Darrell says. “When you give him instruction, or materials or Bibles, they don’t stay in his hands long.”

Gabriel and members of 27 church-planting teams he coordinates trek into Quichua communities each week to plow new ground for Bible studies that lead to reproducing house churches. On a bulletin board outside Cordero de Dios church, Gabriel posts names of villages the teams visit. Seeing their progress helps him coordinate a comprehensive church-planting strategy among these unreached people.

By hosting regular seminars he and fellow believers have trained more than 350 people scattered throughout the region. Gabriel’s prayer is to teach Bible studies and church-planting methods, to “quit crossing our arms and sitting,” as he says. “We’ve got work to do in Imbabura province.”

Darrell adds: “He wants every community to know the way of Christ. He doesn’t care where they are or who they are – just whoever will allow him to tell God’s plan for their lives.”

Act

• Go as a volunteer to help the Quichua reach fellow Quichua for Christ. Learn more about opportunities in South America. Find general volunteer opportunities.
• Give to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® to provide vital support to the IMB’s more than 5,300 missionaries worldwide, including the Musicks.
• Pray for the Musicks and the Imbabura Quichua people during the 2008 Week of Prayer Nov. 30-Dec. 7.

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Please click
http://www.commissionstories.com/?p=41
to see the video of this powerful story.

South America: Reached? Not Yet!

My wife, Linda, and I arrived this afternoon in Indianapolis for the annual meetings of the Southern Baptist Convention. We will be spending much of our time in and around the IMB booth helping elevate awareness of the spiritual needs in South America.

*Many people think South America has been reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But this continent holds some of the remotest, darkest places on the face of the earth with virtually no way for the light of the Gospel to penetrate. This unthinkable tragedy exists as near to us as a three-hour plane flight!

For example, did you know...

There are 699 people groups in South America. Of these 699 people groups, 411 are unreached people groups (less than 2% evangelical.) Of these 411 UPG, IMB missionaries work among only 48. Of these 411 UPG 200 have no evangelical presence of any kind.

Did you know there are 85 unreached tribes in the Amazon Basin that have no contact with the outside world?

Did you know that of the total 378.7 million population in South America, 355 million are lost? Nine out of ten who die today will die without Christ.

Are you aware that 77% of the region's people live in cities?

Did you know that besides Spanish and Portuguese, 433 other languages are spoken in South America?

That of the 699 people groups represented in South America, IMB missionaries have only engaged 87 of them?

Roman Catholics 79%
Evangelical 6%
Traditional Ethnic/Spiritist 3%
Non-religious/Other 12%

The unreached of South America desperately need our fervent prayers, generous hearts and going feet to unlock their spiritual prisons. Are you willing to go and tell them God's passionate message of love and salvation? Will you pray away these nearly impenetrable Gospel barriers? Will you give generously to support fellow Southern Baptist who are investing their lives there in obedience to God's call?

Before clicking away to some other read, please take a few seconds to view this very short video on the unreached of the Amazon Basin entitled Hidden in the jungle. And then: pray.

*adapted from IMB literature, also please see www.samregion.org and www.takingit2theedge.org or call (800)999-3113