So your parents told you “No.”

So you heard about iGo at Falls Creek or Super Summer and got really excited about going. Then you told your parents…and they said, “no.” How should you handle this? The following post is written by L.C., an iGo alum, who dealt with the same problem several years ago.

I had spent the past few weeks praying, seeking the Lord, and asking Him what the next step of obedience was for me. He was clear in letting me know that I was supposed to go overseas with iGo the following summer as a JSI. Sure of the Lord’s leading, I excitedly waited for what seemed to me to be a “good time” to drop the bomb on my parents. Well it turned out that I was more surprised by the conversation than they were. They told me no. Simple and straightforward, “No.”

I began to pray through the confusion, “But Lord, You said I was supposed to go. Your Word commands your people to go. But Your Word also says to honor your father and mother. And they just told me no? God, I don’t understand.”

If this is where you find yourself right now recognize two things. The first is that God is sovereign. It did not catch Him by surprise that your parents told you that you cannot go overseas next summer. The second is that there is nothing new under the sun. So take comfort in knowing that you are not the first student whose parents told them that they could not go overseas. There is the temptation to think, “Well, Jesus’ command in the Great Commission is far more important than what my parents have to say.”

But I would caution you against thinking this way. In fact, I would tell you that it is dangerous for to you think this way; it is wrong for you to think this way. God has placed your parents in authority over you. And God commands us throughout His Word to obey and humbly submit to our parents and to those He has placed in authority over us.

So does that mean you’re just supposed to forget about the whole thing and just not go? Or that you heard wrong and maybe God didn’t actually tell you that you were supposed to go? These are not questions that I can answer for you. So for now, what are you supposed to do? Seek God. Seek Him in prayer, through His Word, and with His people. And submit to your parents. I would challenge you also, to not forget the power of God. Pray for your parents. And then pray for them some more. Pray that if this truly is His will, that He would open their hearts and allow you to go and pray that He would help you to joyfully submit to them.

It may end up that your parents don’t change their mind. That’s okay. God doesn’t need you. And He will honor your obedience to your parents. Maybe you can go the next year. It also might end up the way that it did for me. Over the course of a few months God opened my parent’s hearts. They allowed me first to send in an application and then a few months after that they allowed me to get on the plane. And I was more convinced than ever that this was His working, and not my own.

What if God had your parents tell you no, so that you would seek Him more? That you would depend on Him more? That you would trust Him more? And that you would praise Him more as you see Him move?

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

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Emily Martin, August 16th 2011 | Posted in Insightful

Crystal’s Reflections on Leader Retreat

I turned my radio off, put my phone on silent and pointed my Honda down the road that would lead to my house some 45 minutes later. I hoped to process a bit of what the Lord did throughout the Leader Retreat weekend, even though I knew my brain had already stopped thinking clearly and was anticipating sleep rather than sorting out the weekend. I pushed forward anyway. By the time I reached my house, there was only one conclusion I had come to: my heart is deceitful but God is faithful. He is faithful to complete the work He began in me. But it’s not even about the work He’s doing in me, or the iGo staff, or the M’s, or any of the students who participated in the retreat. The good fruit we see is a by-product of what it’s really all about: His faithfulness to bring about His Glory to the nations. This is what stood out to me throughout the weekend from start to finish, weaved throughout every person God used to teach, correct, encourage and lead.

I was reminded of this truth when our staff met on Friday morning with the M’s & partners to spur one another on in the task set before us. I was kicked in the gut as AC shared on Friday night with the Team Leaders from 2 Chronicles, “even though we resolve to set our hearts to seek the Lord, God gives the victory, the salvation is His and He gets the glory for it.”  Saturday morning, I was reminded how God displays his glory through a once cocky, punk kid turned Team Leader how the Lord worked through his Team Leader years before to show him humility. Jami Lee brought the whole idea home when she shared, “You will multiply yourself when you acknowledge God can do it better than you can.”  Brad pushed it further with Philippians 2:5-11, commenting, “The reason Jesus took on our nasty skin was so that God would be glorified.” All of this happened in just the Team Leader portion of the weekend!

Then, the JSI’s arrived Saturday afternoon. (Sidebar: There is a distinct difference between the way excitement is expressed from the Team Leaders and the JSIs upon arrival. Neither one is wrong or right, just different. Team Leaders walk in calm, say their hellos, give high fives and get down to business. JSIs arrive FULL ON, talking 800 miles an hour, doing cheers, jumping up and down about their new t-shirts and never wanting the weekend to end. I love it all.) God used a JSI drawing out the core value on Ancient Work  from creation to Christ’s return to show that God has been working since the beginning to bring about His Glory. I had the privilege of challenging the JSIs with the how to’s of the JSI role and saw God’s handiwork again when I realized that 75% of them were stepping up to the leadership ladder because God had used their JSI in the previous years to encourage them.  Ky preached from Matthew and Mark that, “greatness is found in the mundane and ordinary,” charging us to “excel in our serving others rather than trying to increase our own positions.”

Sunday morning, God used Shu to speak God’s Sovereignty seen in Habbakuk saying, “God is reigning and ruling. He’s in control. Is that enough for you to press on even if everything is falling apart?” Rowdy brought the idea full circle for me from 2 Timothy 3: “You don’t have to rely on some manual iGo puts out that has steps A-Z in it. We have scripture and it’s sufficient.”

These are just a few highlights that stood out to me. We heard from the M’s and former JSI’s about being and making disciples; we worshipped through song with great leaders; we held small group discussions; we had lots of laughs getting to know one another better; we gave many hugs and high fives; and I believe we brought much Glory to God. He is it. The story we’re sharing is about Him, His plan, His sacrifice, His kingdom. He is the only one worthy of being made famous. What were your thoughts from the weekend?

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Crystal Meeker, April 13th 2011 | Posted in Crystal, Insightful

Update on Japan from an M in Tokyo

Gary F, an M in Japan shared this recently in a Facebook post:

CONTAMINATED AIR, FOOD & WATER, AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING

Is God REALLY in control?  Does He truly rule over the land, the sea, the mountains and their movements?  Can we trust in Him (not in our faith in Him but in the Person of God Himself!) when things are chaotic and so out of control in “real life”?  Is faith in a higher power just a “pipe dream”?

Many, many sincere and good people lose their faith in God and their trust in “religion” in times of trouble.  That is not a judgment but a statement of fact.  Believe me, I have been close to it myself some days.  I think that is a part of the human condition, isn’t it?

So, what do we do with the most recent news coming down from Tokyo?  It is very clear that radiation levels are higher than normal in many parts of the Kanto region wherein the city is nested. Some readings show very high amounts of radiation, others much lower.  But, regardless, the fact is that the readings are not normal.  What about water?  It has been confirmed by numerous sources that tap water is giving evidence of both iodine ( I-131) as well as cesium, both radioactive substances that should not be found in water under any circumstance.  The government is saying that these levels are not “immediate health hazards” but what about the long term? Just yesterday, it was confirmed that radioactive readings were found in food products such as spinach, milk and other food in areas as southward as Chiba-prefecture which is latitudinally on the same plane as Tokyo.  Finally, just this morning, it was revealed that an opening was discovered on the OUTSIDE of a building that houses a cooling pool at one of the reactors.  There is a suspicion, yet to be confirmed, that the pool may have leaked radioactive water into the ocean.  But there has been no recent update on that yet.

Let’s put these two realities together.  Radioactivity in the food and water chain.  Believing that God is sovereign and in control of everything, even nature.  Can we put these two together?  On the one hand, as a human being and as a parent, yes, I am concerned.  As a follower of Jesus, living here, I have to believe God.

This morning, I read the first chapter of the book by John Piper and Justin Taylor called “Suffering and the Sovereignty of God.”  In that chapter, John Piper says that this should be our prayer in the midst of suffering, “that God would stand forth and reassert his Creator-rights in our lives, and show to us his crucified and risen Son who has all authority in heaven and on earth, and waken in us the strongest faith in the supremacy of Christ, and the deepest comforts in suffering, and the sweetest fellowship with Jesus that we have ever known.”  AMEN!

Piper then goes on the detail 10 relevant points.  Each begins with the phrase,

“Let Us Celebrate That God is Sovereign”

1. Over Satan’s Delegated World Rule

2. Over Satan’s Angels (Demons, Evil Spirits)

3. Over Satan’s Hand in Persecution

4. Over Satan’s Life-Taking Power

5. Over Satan’s Hand in Natural Disasters

6. Over Satan’s Sickness-Causing Power

7. Over Satan’s Use of Animals and Plants

8. Over Satan’s Temptations to Sin

9. Over Satan’s Mind-Blinding Power

10. Over Satan’s Spiritual Bondage

Now, for those of you not familiar with the Bible or Christianity, this list might seem a little ridiculous. After all, aren’t Satan and demons a figment of our imagination?  Or, you might be thinking so, Gary, the way you’re framing this list are you saying that some of this is happening intentionally?  And others might be thinking, so, is this a battle of good versus evil?  And who’s winning?

Glad you asked!

To the first question I would say, the greatest and most successful deception of Satan is to make us believe that he does not exist.  If not for the teaching of Scripture we would know very little but the Bible is clear that the Satan or the devil is very real.  More later when I do a separate note on how Piper develops some of these themes.  To the second question, is what’s happening up in Tohoku not an accident, that is, did something cause it?  Well, let me take this out of Christianity for a second.  The governor of Tokyo made the mistake of calling the earthquake/tsunami that.  He said that because of Japan’s egoism this horrific disaster was a “Ten-batsu”, literally, punishment from heaven or “divine retribution” as some news agencies have translated it.  In other words, Shintaro Ishihara, a Japanese non-Christian man, said that there was “something behind this”, that it didn’t happen by accident.  More on this later, too.  To the last question, is this a battle between Satan and God, of good versus evil?  Actually, the question should be framed, is this an EQUAL battle between Satan/evil and God/good (to put it in plain terms)?  The answer here would be, no.  Nothing happens without God’s permission. Satan is under God’s sovereign control even should God allow Satan to cause havoc upon humankind (see Job, chapters one & two).  Again, this statement opens up a whole new can of “why” questions or even “how” ones.  Again, I can’t answer that here but want to try to address what Piper says on a few of these things.

Let me just quote him and close now.  I’ll come back to this later.  I need to go out pretty soon.

Signs of “in-breaking of the kingdom of God.”  Piper uses this phrase in relation to the impact of Christ healing people. But I think this concept has deep meaning when it is applied to radioactive foods, earthquake relief and human suffering in general.  Even in the midst of disaster and tragedy God “breaks in.”  He sometimes does it unilaterally on his own but many times He does it through people.  For the aforementioned serious issues we’re dealing with here, I am trusting Him for “the in-breaking of His kingdom.”

“God, not Satan, is the final ruler of wind — and the waves.”  Here, Piper was referring to the story in the gospels where Jesus literally made the wind and seas stop raging during a storm (see Mark 4:39).  But I am applying this to the wind carrying radioactive particles or the water and the waves tainting the water supply.  Yes, it is true that things are already beginning to happen here.  But, once more, is our faith and what the Bible says about God’s control over nature irrelevant in this circumstance?  Or, should we just trust in science to solve it or in our own intuition as we seek to flee from disaster (see my note on Calvin’s viewpoint on this)?

I want you to know that I am not treating this lightly and am not saying that this is all solved.  But does my faith relate to any of this or do I just put it to the side and rely on reason, science, the government or other “experts”?  It is a measure of all of the above, I think, but I don’t want faith to take a backseat while we trust in “man” and his abilities also (see Zech 4:6).

Finally, do we believe God more than Satan in the midst of this?  Because Satan has the power not simply to mislead people but to deceive and “blind” them to all that is true and good.  Piper quotes from 2 Corinthians 4:4, and 4:6, to show us “God’s blindness-removing power over against Satan’s blinding power” because this blinding power “is the most deadly weapon in the arsenal of Satan.  If he succeeds with a person, the suffering will be endless.”  I want to believe God more than Satan, more than even the circumstances I see around me.  I choose Christ even as I carefully evaluate the present danger.

God is the king of the universe, creator of nature itself.  God is in charge, Satan or “chance” is not. We are often blinded in our disbelief and must allow “the veil to be lifted” from our eyes so that our suffering is not self-fulfilling and endless.

Above all, as we walk with God and trust Him, even against insurmountable odds like the food and water supply we can rejoice in Him, and Him alone, for His glory.

Let Us Celebrate That God is Sovereign.”  God is good, God is great.  Let us thank Him.

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Jami Gainey, March 28th 2011 | Posted in Insightful, Jami, People Group Info

Mustard seeds aren’t sexy

“He put another parable before them saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” Matt. 13:31-32.

mustard-seed

A mustard seed starts as something very small, the smallest of all seeds. But it eventually becomes something huge. Palestinian mustard plants can grow up to 12 feet tall. The illustration Jesus is making is clear: Things seemingly small and insignificant are often quite the opposite. But in what way does that describe the Kingdom?

To a first century Jew expecting a Messiah to come and overthrow Rome, the life of Jesus would seem very small and insignificant. He was convicted by the authorities of the religion he claimed to uphold. He was crucified by the nation that the Messiah was expected to conquer. And the followings he amassed were always either small, unreliable, or both. Given the expectation of what the Messiah would do, it would seem that Jesus accomplished very little through His life and death.

God seems to love irony. The life and death of this seemingly insignificant person from Nazareth was the biggest, most significant thing ever to happen in the history of humanity. “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Mark 12:10). The end result of this seemingly insignificant man is a Kingdom (the church) far greater and influential than any political country or kingdom.

And it doesn’t stop with Jesus. This principle of God accomplishing his work through the seemingly insignificant is true of not only the beginning of His Kingdom but of it’s expansion, too. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:27, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”

I see this intersecting my every-day life in two ways:
1. It reminds me that we bring nothing to the table: Have you ever had the thought, “I really wish ____ would come to faith because that person is SO extraverted and influential. He would make a huge impact on the Kingdom.”? As if God needs important or influential people to accomplish His purposes.

Do we really think that God NEEDS celebrities and extraverts to expand His Kingdom? God launched this whole Christian movement with a Nazarene and 12 fickle, uneducated knuckleheads who fled the scene when things got dangerous. His options were truly endless, and yet that is how He chose to do it. Similarly, God is using the small, seemingly insignificant people like you and I (as part of His church) to advance His Kingdom. He doesn’t need celebrities to make it happen.

2. The ordinary is significant: Just like God chose 12 ordinary uneducated men as his means, He has chosen me to lead my family, serve His church and share His gospel.  That may mean that I need to spend less time dreaming about the “big things” that I could accomplish and focus more on the ordinary.

I remember as a high school student always looking for the next spiritual benchmark. I longed for that camp, or that trip, or that mentor that would take my faith to the next level. I treated those things as if they were the apex of spirituality. Ironically, the apex is the ordinary: Sitting with God’s people (church) under the preached word; Shepherding my wife by reading Scripture together; Taking the Lord’s Supper. Those things aren’t sexy, but neither are mustard seeds. These seemingly small things deserve my full attention. They are the means God has appointed for the expansion of His Kingdom in my life and around the world.

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Ky Martin, March 24th 2011 | Posted in Insightful, Ky

Listen to Shu’s Message

In November we hosted the first ever iGo Conference, and our theme was The Body. The Bride. The Church. (We are finalizing conference info for 2011 right now, which will be released soon.) We spent a couple of days talking about what it means to love and serve the local church.

Shu opened the conference with a challenge to love your church. He pointed us to God’s undying love for his church, even when it is unhealthy or dysfunctional. He closed that session by giving us 5 practical ways to love our church:

1) Pray for your church
2) Look for evidences of grace
3) Apply the Core Values
4) Invest in your church
5) Build up the body
It’s been a few months since then, and a lot has happened for all of us, so it is a good time to get introspective and ask ourselves if we’re really living this way. Are you investing in your local church, looking for evidences of God’s grace in it, and giving yourself to God’s work THROUGH your church, rather than around it or in spite of it?

Listen to Shu’s message again (by clicking the link or searching for iGo Global in iTunes), and ask yourself some hard questions. And then respond in obedience.

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Aaron Clayton, March 15th 2011 | Posted in AC, Insightful, Shu

Pray for the People of Laos

laos1

Capital: Vientiane

Population: 6,436,093

Peoples:

  • Lao-Tai – 59.2%
  • Mon-Khmer – 28.1%
  • Hmong-Mien – 4.0%
  • Tibetan-Himalayan – 2.7%
  • Other – 5.3%

Religion:
Persecution of Christians was extremely harsh between 1975-1978. Although restrictions eased afterward, churches and Christians are still watched and targeted. Buddhism has gained much of its old influence, but is heavily mixed with animism.

  • Buddhist – 57.29%
  • Ethnoreligious – 34.70%
  • Non-religious – 4.20%
  • Christian – 3.38%
  • Other – 0.43%

How can you pray?

1. Most people in Laos remained unreached, and the gospel has not easily crossed ethnic barriers. Buddhism and tribal religions are often blended together. There are an average of 5,000 temples and only 250 church buildings. Pray for the gospel to shine throughout Laos.

2. The suffering church has recognized that persecution is one factor in its growth saying that it keeps them praying and relying on God. Social pressure and the prevention of new church buildings are the opposition’s primary strategies of attack. Pray for perseverance and grace for those who must endure, and also for those who are singled out by persecutors. Pray for an increased openness to evangelism, church planting and building. Pray for believers and for a continued boldness in sharing the gospel. Pray for the discipleship; that believers would grow strong in their faith and not fall away.

3. Pray for leaders for the churches. Over 90% of all trained leaders left Laos in 1975, and most congregations do not have a trained pastor.

4. Pray for unreached people groups:

The Lao – This is the nation’s most prominent people and there has been major growth among the Lao (more than 40,000 Christians), and they are key in bringing the gospel to the rest of Laos. Anti-Christian bias in both government and society, and pressure to conform to the passive nature of the Laos culture are major obstacles to faith.

The Tai tribes – They are the most unevangelized and have almost no resources in their dialects (over 15 dialects).

The northern peoples – Many have responded to the gospel in China and Thailand but political conditions have never allowed missionary work; pray that this will change.

laos-couple1

The information provided is from the book Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation. You can go to the Operation World website to order your own copy here http://www.operationworld.org/

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Allison Aycock, February 3rd 2011 | Posted in Allison, Insightful, People Group Info

Book of the Month

Each month, we’ll be featuring a different book that one of our staff is reading. We encourage you to read them as well! This month, Chassidy Rogers shares about her latest read.

If you were to look at my bookshelf, you would see several of my old favorites, new favorites, and honestly, several books that I’ve never even touched. I used to do it often- buy books, begin reading them, and quickly put them away because I couldn’t quite get into them. It is sometimes a few months or a few years later before I ever give those books another look.

One morning after spending time in Proverbs and being really convicted of idleness, laziness, and lack of discipline, I wandered over to my bookshelf. After looking through several books I had read before, I found one of those that I had never really gotten into-“Discipline: The Glad Surrender” by Elisabeth Elliot.  The title seemed pretty fitting for what the Lord had been convicting me of, so I have spent the last few weeks reading it.

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Elisabeth Elliot, widow of famous missionary martyr Jim Elliot, has written several books. Though they vary from topic to topic, all are written in a very easy to read, conversational style. “Discipline” is no different. In this particular book, Elliot covers several aspects of discipline- starting with why we are to be disciplined as obedient followers of Christ, and then spending a chapter each on the individual disciplines of Body, Mind, Place, Time, Possessions, Work, and Feelings. Though each discipline rebuked and corrected me in a different way, the chapter that was most influential was on the discipline of feelings. I’ve been learning recently that in several ways I am the double-minded and unstable person James refers to in chapter 1 of his book. My emotions and feelings, fueled by my flesh, try to overpower the truth I know in my spirit- the truth of Scripture. But, like Elliot says, “It is Christ who is to be exalted, not our feelings. We will know Him by obedience, not by emotions. Our love will be shown by obedience, not by how good we feel about God at a given moment.” The Lord has definitely used this book to point me to Scriptures that have both convicted me of sin, and shown the importance of being disciplined in these various areas. I give it an A++!

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Chassidy, February 1st 2011 | Posted in Chassidy, Great Books!, Insightful

Reflecting on Tokyo Number Five

This was my fifth time in Tokyo…

My fifth time in a place where I’m familiar with the train systems and chopsticks;

My fifth time walking amongst the people I’ve come to love, small and polite, yet hopeless in so many ways;

My fifth time praying amongst busily-trodden streets, observing and attempting to emulate the cultural norms of cleanliness and silence;

And my fourth time revisiting where such a large part of my heart is and probably will remain forever.

But I’m learning that God’s changing my heart. Rather, he’s broadening it.

This year’s Texas Super Summer Global trip was incredible. As usual, my role varied from any role I’ve been in the previous four times I’ve served in Tokyo. From one week student to intern, to intern leader, to assistant coordinator, to head coordinator…God consistently teaches and stretches me, pushing me out of my comfort zone, and reminding me of my depravity, and his Holiness…and how I should glory not in my own pitiful status, but in the sufficiency of His scriptures, the beauty of His gospel, and the hope that only comes from Christ.

And this summer, like the previous ones, I was reminded that he doesn’t need me for this work…but he chooses to allow me to join him in what he’s doing.

Amazing. Humbling.

Our team of 123 individuals – made up of high school and college students, as well as adults, was incredible. Incredible. Never have I experienced a one-week team more understanding and joyful in the truths of scripture.

My prayer became that each of us would grow in a deeper understanding of bottom line truth: God, give us all a passion and desire for your glory. Make us jealous for your fame and glory among the nations.

And through the actions and words of our team, it was evident that God answered that prayer, for his glory.

Here are a few quotes from our team throughout the week:

“I was to the point where I was asking, ‘God, why are you making me weaker? I know the road is hard, but I also know it’s not about me. No matter how much I’m breaking, I know you will be exalted.’”

“No matter the darkness, God’s name is going to be exalted, and we can’t stop that.”

“I just want to encourage you to keep praying because it works and God wants us to keep crying out his name.”

“Ancient work is coming.”

Two of the core values we teach include Ancient Work and Joy of the Sower. We teach that God’s work is ancient – he’s been wherever we’re going to serve long before we arrive, and he’ll continue his work there long after we leave. Evidence of this is all throughout scripture, and we specifically teach it from Acts 8 and 10. Understanding this truth and living it out allowed the students to experience joy in their ministry – joy in prayerwalking, joy in meeting people, joy in sharing the gospel, and joy in simply being allowed to join God’s work in Tokyo, Japan. Joy of the Sower is something we teach from John 4. We impress upon the students that there is joy in sowing as much as there is joy in reaping, sometimes more in the former. Understanding that it is God who saves someone, not us, the students were joyful in simply being a part of the process of people coming to recognize and acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior. Grasping these two core values together showed the team’s grasp of the bottom line – of being about God’s glory rather than anything else. They were okay with not being the one with the fabulous story at the end of the day. They were okay with not being the one with the fabulous story, period. Grasping bottom line truth leaves no room for pride or selfishness…and that’s what I saw in this year’s Texas Super Summer Global team.

This was my first time to walk from beginning to end with a group of students…through the recruiting at camps, to reading their applications and learning about their struggles and strengths, to fighting through the fundraising process, to packing and losing their luggage at base camp. It was incredible to be reminded that these trips are the ones where our leaders originate…these trips are sometimes the beginning of God ruining the lives of students who will forever strive to live a bottom line life, wherever they are and whatever they’re doing. As Shu said during his teaching at base camp, this truth is so much bigger than our team.

It’s so much bigger than our trip.

It’s so much bigger than Tokyo.

It’s so much bigger than me and my passion for the Japanese people.

It’s about HIM and HIS glory and desire for his name.

And even though I’ve heard this truth and attempted, however feebly, to pursue it for the past five years of my life, this year brought a deeper understanding of it which challenges me and sparks within me a deeper joy than before.

I loved watching these students, seeing them be ruined for God’s purposes instead of their own, observing them grasp truths and struggle through application of those truths, and having them unknowingly challenge and humble me in the process.

And so for the first time ever, I’ve felt like God’s stretched my passion for his glory in Tokyo beyond the borders of that island, and outwards towards being jealous for his name everywhere.

For the first time I’m okay with never returning to Tokyo, if that is God’s will.

Because it’s not about Tokyo.

It’s not about the Japanese people.

It’s not about me.

It’s about God’s fame being spread everywhere.

And I’d love to do what I do anywhere on the face of the earth. Walking with these students and learning from them and growing with them is incredible. Wherever God allows me to do this, I’ll be joyful and obedient.

Because, like so many of our students proclaimed in Tokyo, God doesn’t need me anywhere. He allows me to join him specifically in places where he’s already at work. Why not have joy in that?

So my passion remains for Tokyo, but it stretches out far beyond the regions of Yokohama and Chiba and Saitama.

And I’ll love going with students wherever God allows us to join him.

Not my preference, but His glory.

So, like I end the majority of my tweets, so I end this entry:

I love my job.

3 Comments

Jami Gainey, January 27th 2011 | Posted in Insightful, Jami, Team Update

People Group of the Month

Each month we are going to start highlighting a different country, people groups within the country, and some things you can be praying for specifically for the people of that nation. This month we are going to share some information on the country of Morocco.

mapofm

MOROCCO

  • Capital: Rabat
  • Population: 32,777,808
  • Peoples:
  • Arabic – 55.7%
  • Berber – 41.4%
  • Other – 0.9%, French 0.3%

Religion:

Sunni Islam is the state religion. The existence of Christians and Jews is tolerated, but the government does not accept the existence of an indigenous Moroccan Church. Authorities carefully monitor all known Christian activity, even though it is legal both to talk about Christ and to invite friends home to discussion. Local believers are often harassed by police, while some have even been imprisoned.

  • Muslim – 99.88%
  • Christian – 0.09% (around 90% of the Christians are not Moroccan in
  • origin)
  • Jewish – 0.02%
  • Non-religious – 0.01%

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How can you pray?

1. Pray that this nation may become open for the good news. Pride in Morocco’s past as a centre of Islamic civilization and learning, and deeply rooted prejudice against Christianity remain barriers to the acceptance of the gospel. Only a small percentage of the population has been clearly presented with the gospel.

2. Pray for peace throughout the nation, for the countries leaders; that policies and planning might establish justice, fairness, and openness.

3. Pray for the church. There is a strong growing network of indigenous Christians throughout the country, pray that this network extends. Pray against divisions in the church, that there would be fellowship and unity among believers. For strength and perseverance for believers under pressure from family, police, or religious authorities. For the discipleship of believers which can be difficult in the context of persecution, isolation and fear. Pray that believers might increasingly engage with scripture, focus on Christ and understand their faith. Pray for the lack of scripture and teaching materials needed to develop and train leaders.

4. Pray for specific unreached minority people groups: The Maghreb Jews – today only a few thousand of these people remain in Morocco, and there is no known outreach among them. The nomadic desert tribes – have little contact with the gospel. Rural Moroccan Arabs – although they are part of a majority people group they are particularly unreached and isolated from the gospel.

5. Moroccans have started to migrate in large numbers due to unemployment, many illegally and dangerously. There are significant numbers of Moroccans in Europe: in France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Britain. Pray specifically for missionaries who are seeking to reach Moroccans in these countries.

The information provided is from the book Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation. You can go to the Operation World website to order your own copy here http://www.operationworld.org/

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Allison Aycock, January 20th 2011 | Posted in Allison, Insightful, People Group Info

Nick & Jesse (Pt 2)

When I (Jesse) arrived in Cardiff this summer, our JSI prepared us for what to expect at our ministry site. He told us about the team that was in “B” area the week before us. Apparently they hadn’t been able to share with anyone so he was talking to us about the importance of prayer walking.

The first day we arrived at the ministry site and began prayer walking. Thirty minutes later everyone on our team was engaged in conversation with people. We built a lot of relationships that day. Some of our new friends invited us to a youth center in the area and we played soccer with them and had a lot of great conversation. Our JSI was so pumped. He figured we would be prayer walking the whole time we were there. Instead, we only prayed for about 30 minutes. The rest of the time we were engaged in conversation!

For dinner that evening, we visited a small Somalian restaurant in the neighborhood. One of my trek members started talking with the owner. While they were talking, I was praying that God would give us a way to connect with the people in the restaurant. Pretty soon, the men playing dominoes in the back invited us to join them. We began playing dominoes and we got to know those guys really well. Our JSI nearly freaked out when he realized where we were. Apparently, in a year and a half of focusing on that area, no outsider had been invited to play dominoes or to even go in the back room.

The restaurant soon became our biggest focus of ministry during the week. We continued playing dominoes and having conversations with the men in the restaurant. Our trek was continually sharing the gospel with people. We even got to share with the restaurant owner. The people were so open about spiritual beliefs and would ask us to explain Christianity to them.

People would ask us “You guys are from America? You guys are Christians?” Many times we didn’t even have to turn the conversation toward spiritual things. They were asking us questions.

One guy even asked me to explain the Trinity to him. That guy had so many questions. “Why did Christ have to die on the cross?” he asked. We talked for about three hours. I explained who Jesus is, how he died and why he died.

Another time, we were prayer walking through the park and I began picking up trash as we walked. I was praying and asking God to send more people I could share with. Several kids were playing and one girl turned to me and asked why I was picking up trash. The conversation immediately turned to Jesus. “Who is Jesus?” she asked. For the next 15 minutes we shared with those kids. Soon their parents came over, wanting to know what we were talking about. We got to share with them as well.

No matter who we were talking to, each time we would answer a question you could almost see the seed being planted. They would pause and realize the truth of what we were saying. We were excited to know that they were really thinking about the things we were sharing with them.

The day after I returned to the US, I was at Falls Creek volunteering on their decision team. We broke up into small groups to pray and I went and sat by a guy, Nick, who I noticed, had the same iGo Make Him Famous notebook I had gotten at Base Camp prior to my trip. We prayed and then before we even started talking about our trips, I asked, “You were in the “B” area, weren’t you?” Somehow I just knew that he’d been in the “B” area prayer walking the week before my trip. Sure enough, he had. It was so amazing to share with Nick how God had answered his prayers through my trek. He had prayer walked miles each day, without getting to really share the gospel with anyone. My trek had gotten to sow the seeds of the gospel in the lives of so many people that we only spent about 30 minutes each day prayer walking! We were on different trips, but God used each of us in the life of the other – to further his kingdom and to grow us spiritually.

Read Nick’s story (Part 1)!

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Emily Martin, January 13th 2011 | Posted in Emily, Insightful, Student Story
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