An amazing servant of God

*One of my favorite people in the world is a woman I will call "Jewel", for she is one! She is an incredible servant of God and my life pales in comparison to hers. I've been wanting to tell you her story (or part of it as there is just too much to tell!) for some time now and I finally found the English translation of her testimony she gave to me. It's a bit long, but well worth the read.

Jewel has been serving faithfully in Asia for the past 10 years. She works as a church planter, has started a free school and an orphanage. Her Asia stories are worthy of being written into a book. Wherever she goes, she has people on the edge of their seat in rapt attention begging for more. I am no exception! She is so inspiring. Jewel is currently back in Ecuador for a year of sabbatical and is working on our team. She is a one woman army and never seems to tire of working for the Lord. She is truly amazing!

Poverty Cannot Rob You
Of Your Heart's Desire

Poverty and hard work are all I knew in my life. I was born into a poor family in Ecuador, South America. We were six children - four girls and two boys. I am the second oldest. We spoke Spanish in our home but we are of several races - Ecuadorian, African, and European.

My paternal grandfather worked very hard in a factory. His wife was a nurse. My other grandfather was a fisherman. My maternal grandmother is still alive, though she is blind. She was and is very poor. She used to work for other people cooking and washing clothes. My mother earns a living cleaning in a hotel. My father, an artist in his youth, now paints houses.

My parents divorced when I was 11 years old. My father had become an alcoholic and made life very difficult for us. He beat my mother and us children. For about three or four years we kept running from house to house to get away from him. It was very traumatic. Not only was Father abusive, he was also involved with other women. I hated him for his unfaithfulness. Finally Mother decided to divorce him. I was so angry I told my mother not to marry again or bring another man into our house.

A few years later, Mother did bring a man home. She was only 31 and was raising six children. She wanted someone to help her. She worked hard full-time to make it possible for us children to go to school. I didn't understand; I was just in my early teens. When the man moved in, I ran away. My two brothers also left home. One brother went to live with a close family friend; the other one went to my grandparents. My mother continued faithfully to pay for their schooling. My oldest sister ran away with a man when she was only 15 to get away from the problems in our home. I went to a Christian family. Although our family was Roman Catholic I had been attending an evangelical church since my parents divorce. So I went to live with my pastor and his family.

The man who came to live with Mother left after a couple of years. A short time later I returned home. Even though we lived in different homes, my siblings and I were always close to our mother. She continued to take care of all of us. Through her hard work, Mother was able to buy some land. We built our own home and finally had our own place to live.

When I was only nine years old, I started to work at odd jobs to help my mother with the family income. Mother taught us always to do our best in whatever menial job we did. She taught us never to beg, but to work for our food. I had to study at night most of the time. Because we had moved around so much I was never in one school for long. However, Mother made sure we studied.

My parents did not go to church, but they sent us children every Sunday. Mother taught us the Lord's prayer. She was not Catholic as were my grandparents. One night as I was praying, "Our Father in Heaven," I realized that the picture I was praying to was only of Jesus and His mother. There was no Father in the picture. So I said to God, "Your family looks like my family; we are without a father. But I hear that You are a good Father. I want to meet you as a Father." God answered my child-like prayer.

A couple of weeks later, a lady from the Baptist church came to my neighborhood to invite all of us children to a Vacation Bible School. My brothers, sisters, and I all attended for the week. That week I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and God as my Father.

The church was having evangelistic meetings at that time, and as I sat in the church service, I heard the pastor talk about God's love. He read John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Those words really spoke to me. I cried and said, "God how can you love me and everybody in the world and send Jesus to die for us?" I was just a child, but I knew I needed to be saved and cleansed. I hated people and I used to fight the boys in my neighborhood to protect the younger children. I knew I was a sinner. When I heard that Jesus loved me and that His blood would cleanse me an make me His child, I stopped crying. The pastor then called for any who wanted to know Christ to come to the altar. I went forward. I said, "Yes, I want to receive Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. I believe He died on the cross for my sins." A number of other people also came. The pastor and other Christian workers came to lead us individually in prayer to ask for forgiveness of sins and to invite Jesus Christ into our hears and lives. That day I committed my life to Jesus.

The church folks gave me a Bible and literature explaining what the churach believed, what it means to be a Christian and how to walk by faith. The people in that church were faithful and continued to teach and disciple me. I went to class every day. Although I was only 11 years old, my family saw a change in my life. I was shy, but I was serious in my decision to follow the Lord. I prayed for my family so they, too, would be changed by the Lord. And I wanted to work for Him.

One day, Mother asked why I went to the Baptist Church so often when I had not completed my Communion classes at the Catholic Church. When I finished all the Communion classes, she gave me permission to attend the Baptist Church regularly. That church is still my home church.

Every Saturday was Missions Day for all ages, from children to adults. We had Bible study first, read a missionary biography, then prayed for current missionaries. When we read about William Carey, the first missionary to India, his life really impacted me. I faithfully prayed for India, China, and the Islamic countries.

When I was 14 years old, I attended youth camp. One of the missionary children gave her testimony. We also watched a movie about the five young missionary men who were killed by an Indian tribe in my country. The testimony and the movie moved me to tears. I said, "God, I want to work for You." When the camp director asked if anyone wanted to attend their Baptist Seminary, I replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah, "Here I am, Lord, Send me."

When we returned to the city, I told my pastor I wanted to work for the Lord full-time. He gave me a job at the church. I cleaned, ran errands, and did odd jobs as needed. Then he gave me a job as a full-time secretary. I also taught music and Bible to the children in the church primary school.

I attended high school in the evenings and then university for two years where I studied accounting. Instead of completing my university degree, I went to the seminary. After four years of study, I earned a degree in Theology. Women students usually studied Christian Education, but I challenged the director to allow me to study theology. I wanted to be a missionary or an evangelist and pastor. I was the first lady in my country to study theology at the Baptist Seminary.

I was still praying for the countries of the world, but especially for the countries in Asia. I prayed fervently for the Lord to send workers there. The churches in Ecuador were not yet ready to send their own missionaries out, so they would not send me overseas.

I thought I would become a home missionary, so I applied to do missionary work in my country. I was not accepted because I was not married. It was too difficult to send out single ladies.

I started to teach at the seminary and traveled around the country with my church in evangelistic work, church planting and youth work.

In 1995 I went with some of my friends to the country of Argentina to a youth conference. In Argentina, someone gave me an invitation to a conference in Costa Rica (in Central America) the following year. When we arrived in Costa Rica in January 1996, we learned that it was a missions conference. When I saw the photos and heard about the peoples of the world who are unreached for Christ, I wept. I prayed, "God, is that what You are calling me to do?"

After the conference, the Lord spoke to my heart not to return to my country, but to stay in Costa Rica. I asked Him for confirmation because I knew no one in the country, had no job and no place to live. All of this was a very big challenge to me.

During the conference, I noticed a lady using a lap-top computer. I had never seen one before, so I asked the lady what it was. She asked me who I was. I explained that I had come to the conference from Ecuador. She spoke to me for about five minutes and then apologized that she had to leave. She was going to neighboring Nicaragua for a two-day missionary retreat. She gave me her business card and said, "God sent you here for something. If He is asking you to stay in Costa Rica and you need a place to stay, please contact me and I will be happy to help you. My church sends out missionaries and we can support you."

When she left, I cried. I said, "Lord, You answered already." I began to write letters to my family, to the church and to the seminary to resign from my job.

The lady I met was a pastor/evangelist. When she returned she took me into her home and gave me a job in her office. Then she sent me to a mission called FEDEMEC to tell them God was calling me to be a missionary. The people there received my testimony and said I could study with them. They gave me free tuition, obtained a student visa for me and allowed me to study about missions for two years.

The Lord wonderfully opened the hearts of the pastors in several churches in Costa Rica and in my home country of Ecuador. I finally arrived in Asia in September, 1997. I have since learned English and the local language.

In spite of my background and the grinding poverty, God has given me the greatest desire of my heart. Nothing can keep us from God's will when He steps into our lives.

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*Thanks to my wife, Linda, for first publishing "Jewel's" testimony on her own excellent blog, A Foreign Life from where I have copied the above. To see several more photos of Jewel, click on the link. Don't forget to pray for her as you do!

Things God is showing us (Part 4 of 4)

Last night while taking home our team leader from a training, Geovanny was sharing with me some of the things God is revealing to him these days. When he mentioned John 12:24, something clicked within as one of the lessons God is also teaching me these days.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

The 'grain of wheat' that is falling into the earth and dying is my dream for a genuine church planting movement of simple/house churches here in Guayaquil. For nearly a decade we have labored, studied, prayed for, and dreamed of a movement of multiplying simple/house churches. But after ten years, we are still far from seeing this become a reality in our midst.

So, why am I saying our dream has to be put to death in order to bear fruit? Because that is what Jesus says. As long as it remains our dream, our vision, our passion, there will be little fruit to show from it all.

However, to truly allow it to fall to the earth and die, will ultimately bring about much fruit--maybe even the dreamed of CPM.

So, how is God bringing us to the point of surrendering our dream and allowing it to die?

I am a passionate student of all things related to ekklesia--a return to the concepts and principles of 1st Century Church and Christianity.

Today, many different terms are being used to describe this recapturing of the apostolic N.T. ekklesia: simple church, house church, organic church, emerging missional church, etc.

I devour materials/books by people like Neil Cole, Wolfgang Simson, Frank Viola, Alan Hirsch, and many others, too numerous to mention, who write in this fascinating genre.

David Garrison, Curtis Sergeant, David Watson are my CPM inspirations. I identify closely with House2House, DAWN, CMA, and NTRF. I have benefited from studies/writings/videos by George Patterson and associates, Steve Atkerson, Alan Knox, Jon Zens, Beresford Job, Gene Edwards, Watchman Nee, Rad Zdero and many others whose work has helped shape our understanding of the church and church planting over the years.

Our dream/vision has always been that this would happen as a movement of multiplying house/simple churches. What we are surrendering to the Lord is to allow Him to do things any way He chooses. Even if it means that the churches planted are of the contemporary/traditional kind with all the extra-biblical trappings that accompany them.

What trumps our passion for simple/house church is our desire to see this nation come to the feet of Jesus Christ--to see the Great Commission fulfilled in Ecuador. Are we willing to sacrifice our personal convictions about ekklesia in order for the greater Kingdom good to be realized?

What we are now coming to understand is that God may choose to do the very thing we have prayed for, but may use any number of models or manners of church planting to assemble the ingathering of new disciples:

-house/simple/organic churches
-satellite churches
-traditional/institutional churches
-cell model
-mega church
-multi-congregational model
-mother churches with daughter missions
-independent pioneer model
-colonization model
-missionary model
-denominational models
-etc.

Surrendering the first on the list is what is difficult for me. It is almost like if we can't have it our way, then no way at all is acceptable. This is what God is gently showing us--it is not about us planting churches using the "correct biblical model", but His way. This is His church we are talking about, not our church. Once we surrender having things our way, then He will be free to do things any way He pleases.

So, what do you think about these things?

Baptisms matter

In the most recent statistics available from the Southern Baptist Annual Church Profile (ACP), Baptist Press reports, "...baptisms last year dropped from 371,850 to 364,826, or 1.89 percent, eclipsing 2005 as the lowest annual total since 1993."

Along this same theme, Thom Rainer in an article for the Florida Baptist Witness "The Dying American Church." states the following:

It takes 86 church members in America one year to reach a person for Christ...if the research is even close to accurate, the reality is that the church is not reproducing herself. In just one or two generations, Christianity could be so marginalized that it will be deemed irrelevant by most observers...

Compare this to the 3:1 baptism ratio as shared in one of my recent posts of the folks in the Guayaquil house churches. It takes three of them one year to baptize one new believer. While that is a far cry from our goal of every believer winning/discipling four per year, it sure beats an 86:1 ratio for churches in the States, or even the current 44:1 ratio in Southern Baptist churches.

Baptisms are a key indicator to overall church health.

Why has the American church become evangelistically anemic? Thom of course gives several reasons in his article, but I would like to capitalize on just one of them, "Christians in churches often get caught up in the minor issues and fail to become passionate about the major issue of evangelism..."

I honestly believe most Stateside churches have more to learn from their Guayaquil brethren than the other way around.

What differences are there between our Ecuadorian national brethren and their Stateside counterparts? Why are the folks here so much more effective with their evangelism than Stateside Christians?

I can identify at least seven overlapping things I see house church believers consistently doing that are not usually seen in most Stateside churches:

1) Praying daily for the lost. Talk to the believers in a Guayaquil house church and they will show you their list of people they pray for daily of unsaved family, friends, and neighbors.

2) Active regular sharing of the Gospel. It is a very natural part of their Christian walk to share the Gospel with people they encounter in their daily lives. Christ has made such a difference in their lives, and they cannot help but share with those they come in contact with.

3) Planning regular evangelistic events. The house churches plan regular evangelistic events inviting those they are praying for to attend (concerts, outdoor street meetings, special programs, family conferences, DVD/Videos, invited guest speakers, neighborhood evangelistic door-to-door blitzes, etc.)

4) Visiting the sick and personally ministering to lost friends, neighbors and family in times of crisis. They are very good about visiting sick people outside of their church family, praying for healing and ministering to lost family and friends during difficult times.

5) Not distracted by a lot of outside issues like Thom Rainer mentions above. We too have our sticky issues, but they are more along the lines of things like can unmarried couples who get saved be baptized? How to counsel people with difficult problems? How to discern if someone is demon possessed or just emotionally unstable? How to handle questions that Roman Catholics always ask? Why doesn't God always heal someone when they are prayed for? If I were to share with them (and I don't) the issues that are causing all the uproar in the States these days, they would shake their heads in disbelief!

6) Intentionally focus on evangelism as a life priority. Talk to them and they will tell you that their ministry is to win/disciple at least four people to Christ this year. They expect God to give them these souls and are consciously praying and working to achieve this goal.

7) They maintain friendships/relationships with lost friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. They play ball on the street with them, visit them in their homes, minister to them in times of need. How are we ever supposed to win people to the Lord if we have little/no relationship with the lost? How is a Christian supposed to win lost people if they do not even know any? Folks here know plenty of lost people whom they are burdened for their salvation.

Stateside churches may be doing a lot of neat things, have wonderful church programs, great worship services and solid Biblical preaching, but if they are not winning people to Christ, baptizing, making disciples, and teaching them to observe all that Jesus commanded, are they really a healthy N.T. church?

Computer interview

Ever wonder about the lives of those bloggers you read? I confess to being curious about wanting to know a bit more about some of my cyber friends whose writings intrigue me. On my Facebook page there is an application where a computer "interviews" you. So you can get to know me a little better as a person and not just a blogger, the following are taken from that Facebook computer interview...

What is your favorite song of all time?
That's a tough one for a music lover, but I never seem to tire of Puccini's "O mio babbino caro."

Biggest regret?
Not keeping up my proficiency in playing the piano and guitar.

What kind of car do you drive?
KIA Carens is the mission vehicle assigned to us.

Coke or Pepsi?
Dr. Pepper (or Pony Malta)

If you were one word, what word would you be?
blessed

How many people are in your family?
4--wife Linda, son Josh (16), daughter Anna (12)

What language would you like to speak fluently?
Besides Spanish and English, I would like to learn Italian someday. I love the sound of the language.

Favorite hot drink?
coffee

Performing Arts, Fine Arts, or Sports?
Definitely the arts over sports. I am not much on sports or games.

Do you plan in advance?
I function better by instinct than by planning.

What attracts you most?
The mysterious, the unknown, and the beautiful.

If you could be successful at any job in the world, what would that job be?
A good dad and husband.

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Somewhere warm, safe, in a simple quiet house on the beach, with clear blue skies, sandy white beaches, palm trees, clear calm waters, cool sea breezes.

If you could be someone else for a day, who would it be?
I would like to be my wife for one day to get inside her head to better understand her.

What is your favorite word?
dance

What makes you cry?
I don't often shed tears, but am greatly moved by God's work in people's lives.

What do you do for fun?
Search for new music on the internet (emusic, napster), go to the movies (my wife and I both are huge movie fans), travel when the opportunity presents itself.

What 3 words would your best friend use to describe you?
People tell me I'm talented, encouraging, patient. I have my doubts about all three.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
Only God knows. Could be anywhere or right where we are now.

What are you most proud of in your life?
Being a servant of God.

Do you own any pets, and if so what do you have?
dog: Taffy, cat: Claudia

Who do you admire most?
Probably my parents.

Would you rather be hot or cold?
Definitely hot...I cannot stand the cold.

Favorite Place to Eat?
Mauro's Italian restaurant in Guayaquil.

If you had to pick one car, which would it be?
Any SUV for here in Ecuador (but it has to have a good sound system.)

Favorite fruit?
A good Texas cantaloupe.

Define yourself in 3 words...
Ask my wife.

What is your favorite TV show?
I enjoy local Ecuadorian news, The Office, Le Femme Nikita, Alias, ER, CSI, 24, Lost, Travel & Living channel, Discovery Channel, CNN Int'l.

Do you shower every single day?
Every single day, sometimes twice...we live in the hot, humid tropics.

Where do you want to travel next?
Anywhere away from crowds and the big city.

What is your favorite food?
Hot fresh bread, cheese, popcorn, avocados, my wife's everyday cooking.

Favorite body part?
eyes

What do you do on Fridays?
Fridays are like all the other days of the week for us, nothing special other than ordering in pizza for the kids. Our Fridays are Thursdays when my wife and I have a standing date.

How tall are you?
5' 7"

Do you like bananas?
Love 'em...supposedly they the perfect food...Ecuador is the world's biggest banana exporter so we never lack for having a banana around the house.

So now you know a little more about me. Comments on any of the above? How about yourself? How would YOU answer any of the above questions?

You Are His Hands

I am asking for just 3 minutes of your time. 2:30 to watch, and :30 to pray for the Ecuador flood relief efforts going on all over the coast of Ecuador.

These shots were taken last week with the visit of students from CMU in Pittsburgh, along with others from several of our house churches and local Baptist churches. There are numerous groups and churches out in areas like Babahoyo, Quevedo, Vinces, Taura, Yaguachi, Montalvo, Milagro, Naranjito, and Salitre doing what they can to relieve the suffering caused by the flooding.

We are grateful for the funds made available to us for these efforts through your giving to the IMB Disaster Relief Funds. Thanks for taking a moment to watch and pray!

Christ has no body now but yours
No hands, no feet on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes through which He looks
Compassion on this world
Christ has no body now on earth but yours

What a week

This past week has been a packed one indeed.

MONDAY: I spent the day compiling our team's "Annual Statistical Report" (ASR) for 2007. These are the indicators that the International Mission Board uses to help us evaluate our work over the past year. Our team reports for the past year: 18 new church starts, 202 baptisms, and 22 new outreach groups (churches in formation). We were close to reaching our goal of training 200 new church planters, though obviously, not all ended up planting new works. The 4:1 ratio of people trained and people actually implementing the training continues to hold. For every four people trained, only one will go out and DO what it is they have been trained to do.

TUESDAY-THURSDAY: Was spent at the annual meeting of the Ecuador Assemblies of God pastors as their invited guest. On Tuesday night I had the privilege of challenging their pastors to step out in faith in reaching their goal of 1-million new disciples for Jesus in '08-'09. During the invitation to commit to doing all they can to reach the million, nearly every single pastor came forward for a time of prayer. They have adopted our team's COSECHA (HARVEST) church planting materials as the tools to help them reach this goal. Basically the plan calls for 1) everyone praying the Lord of the Harvest to touch the hearts of 60,000 laborers this coming year and train them, 2) every church plant at least one new church, and 3) every believer in their assembly to win/disciple eight. These three emphases are to be pursued until the million are reached.

One of the highlights of this meeting was on the final night when one of their own pastors who is known for his leadership in prayer, challenged all the AG pastors present to lead their churches in 2000 hours of praying for the goal of a million new disciples. I "peeked" during the invitation time and saw what looked like more than 200+ AG pastors raise their hands promising God to lead their churches in this prayer challenge. Folks, that's 400,000 hours of prayer being focused on the million new disciples! Oh that we had that kind of prayer commitment in all our churches!

FRIDAY-SATURDAY: We went out with a team of volunteer students from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh to help with some of the flood relief going on about an hour out of Guayaquil. Words cannot express the magnitude of this incredible tragedy that has struck the coast of Ecuador. The suffering and despair of millions of people is beyond anybody's ability to grasp or begin to alleviate. One of the things that personally impacted me were the cries of help calling out to us from people needing food and water. We only had provisions for about 150 families. Our canoe was constantly being chased down from those who had boats with people begging us for food. Saturday, my wife Linda and son Joshua went out for the day and spent five hours in waters up to their waist installing split bamboo flooring in cane houses which were on the verge of falling into the water. I hope to have a YouTube video up in the coming days to show more of this tragedy taking place on the coast of Ecuador.

SUNDAY: We said good-bye to the volunteer team with a brunch at a fellow missionary's house and then off to the airport. The rest of the afternoon was given to making Sunday a literal "day of rest!"

Thanks for your many prayers and interest in all that God continues to do in our midst. Pray that we would have wisdom to know how to get a handle on training the 60,000 workers this year, and how to best alleviate the suffering of the millions in the ongoing flooding.

More Ecuador flood relief photos (Salitre)

It is one thing to see photos and view news clips, and quite another to be out amongst those who are living through the flooding which has 3/4 of the coast of Ecuador under water and 4-million people without work, food, water, and having lost nearly everything they own.

Yesterday we went out to Salitre, one of the flooded areas with a group of students on a missions trip from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Please click on this link and then click "Slide Show" to view. The devastation is overwhelming. Yesterday we were out five hours going from house to house in a remote part of the rural countryside. Today Linda and Joshua, along with the volunteers, and several from our house churches have gone out to continue where we left off.

If you should feel led of the Lord to not only pray for this crisis, but to give to the relief efforts going on in Ecuador, you can make a donation directly at the IMB website here.

Must see video

I am a missionary. I love missionary stories like the one linked to here from commissionstories.com.