Quotes from the Heart: Missions is not an option...

As we look ahead to Summer 2015, let us also look back at a few students from last summer and their experiences and advice for future students. Maybe you are considering joining a team this coming summer or maybe you already have. We hope these posts encourage you.

How has your perception of a missionary and missions work changed as a result of this past summer?

I've known for awhile that I am going to do long term missions, but I always thought of it as a calling. Now I know that it is not a calling just for me, but for everyone. Missions and the Great Commission is why I am here on this earth. Missions is not an option; it is a command.

Enduring the predictable

Tolkien, in his epic story about Bilbo, talks about the challenge of sticking to the path no matter what. It is that "no matter what" that we get really nervous about.  He explains that along this path, we sometimes have to encounter the unpredictable and endure the predictable. 

In either case, we need much grace to endure.

In either case, we are tempted sometimes to quit.

In either case, we never know completely what God is up to or what will happen just around the bend. 

In Luke 1: 8-10, we are introduced to Zechariah, the priest, future father of John the Baptist. The Bible says, Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of The Lord and burn incense.  And when the time for the burning of the incense came, all the assembled worshippers were praying outside.  THEN.... an angel of The Lord....

There are several hints in this passage that Zechariah was simply sticking to the path, probably not expecting too much to happen. 

His division was on duty.

He was simply serving.

He was chosen by lot.

It was customary to do this.

When the time came....  Predictable!

Zechariah had come to work, and was going to do his duty and go home as usual.  But he did not know what God was about to do. 

We never know what God will do today or tomorrow.  There is never a good time to quit! 

We never know what all God is up to.

We never know what all God is saying or about to say.

We never know where we are in God's story.

We never know how significant our next step of obedience may be for the glory of God. 

God, give me grace to endure the predictable, knowing that I serve an unpredictable God. 

-Jess

Are you an adulterer?

Jesus rebuked the people of his day for being an adulterous generation.  He not only meant that they were immoral, but that they would not commit to anything.  An adulterous generation is led and controlled by emotions.  "I have the right to feel good, be comfortable, have my way." 

And when things get tough, this generation moves on to something easier or "more exciting."

Our generation is no different. We must deny ourselves, take up the cross of discipleship and do this daily… for a long time... for a life time.  This must be done in our marriages, families, workplace and especially in regard to finishing the Great Commission.   

Let us not be a generation of adulterers.

Do you have a thinking problem?

Our mind is a battlefield.  Many times we have a thinking problem: worry, inferiority, condemnation, thinking as the world thinks, having worldly goals and ambitions.  2 Corinthians 10:5 says that we are to take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.

We must put a security guard at the door of our minds and check every thought coming in so that the thoughts can be conformed to the word of God and the will of God.  I must meditate on what the word says about myself, the world, God, and God's will. 

Don't forget... commission permanence

It has now been 2 weeks.  As team members go about the normal routine of their day... the sights, sounds and faces of people race through their minds like a fragmented slide show.  They know they were there. They have the t-shirt and NT/P52 manual to prove it.  But it seems so surreal.  Almost like they never went. 
 
Child psychologists have discovered that infants do not have the ability to understand that something exists when they don’t see it.  Put an object in front of them, and it exists; take it away, and it ceases to exist.  There is no sense of object permanence. 
It has been said that this generation has a lack of compassion permanence.  Dangle a news report about a typhoon in the Philippines before them and they sit transfixed, their hearts “broken.”  Change the channel and in their minds, the typhoon and its victims cease to exist.

Final debrief session

 
On July 31^st, team members were challenged to take personal responsibility for finishing the Great Commission in this generation.  Many of them responded. They made a decision that was life changing for them and for those without Christ. 
 
We are now calling on them to continue on in commission permanence.  That is, staying with their commitment as a World Christian long term.  Keeping All Nations in view after the tearful emotions wear off; living a life of long obedience to His Great Commission.
Don’t forget!

Waray Riverboat team (Philippines)

Not if, but when... not should, but must

As Christians, we are all commanded to share our faith to the ends of the earth. It's not an if, it's a when. It's not a should, it's a must. So... when I see others condemning intercultural mission work & calling it useless & selfish because there are lost here, I would challenge them to think of the world out there who has NEVER heard of Jesus or what He did for them. 

It's hard to believe until you experience it, but there are millions who will give you a blank stare if you talk about Jesus.

God desires to bring every nation, tribe, & tongue unto Him. 

 He will do it, with or without us. 

So... before you call international missions selfish or pointless, think of the one missionary assigned to a people group of six million who have never heard. Think of how hell grows every day with the cries of those who had no one sent to them. Let God break your heart for the millions lost with no one to show them the way.

-Destinie
2014 Waray Riverboat

Heart for the Nations

He has chosen us to carry the treasure of the gospel to the nations.
Matthew 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
 
This is a command.
 
How many of us treat it as optional?
 
To all of you adventure-seekers out there... do you know the adventure of saying yes to God and throwing yourself into His plan, dying to yourself, and then the miracle of how He uses you to take light into the darkness and live on the edge and see beauty and experience cultures where no one has gone before?? That is the best kind of adventure.

Oh my brothers and sisters...  I know there are people here (in the USA) who need Jesus. I know. And God has convicted my heart this summer more than ever before about sharing the gospel everywhere I go, here and across the ocean, and talking about Jesus daily because after all, we were created to glorify Him. The truth I am trying to convey is that we often use the excuse that "there are still so many people who need Jesus here" as a reason not to go... but we forget... they have access to the gospel- it's in their language and down their street and in their bookstores and millions of others do not.
 
There are also internationals who have come here- in our schools and our workplaces and these people have come to us... but are we welcoming them? God literally hands us the nations in these instances and so many (myself included) overlook them or don't take the time to know them because they're different or "they just wouldn't understand me anyway."

I hope you hear my heart. I am burdened for the gospel. Y'all, it's all we have, and the only thing worth spending your life for because it's the only thing that has eternal value. You hold a treasure of hope and love and joy and peace and LIFE. Who are you sharing it with?
 
So maybe you can't go right this minute. I understand. My heart is burning with the knowledge of the need among the nations, but right now I just don't have the money to go and I have to go to school because that is where God has placed me for this season. But that doesn't let me off the hook. I can PRAY ...oh don't get me started on the power of prayer! Maybe you don't know yet. Maybe you haven't seen how God delights in answering the requests of His children when they are praying for His will to be done... test Him and see.  

Pray boldly for the missionaries, for the persecuted church, for God to send laborers to the fields ripe for harvest, for your lost friends and family, and for the sick and the burdened and the stress that you yourself are under. 
Pray with the knowledge of the power--that raised Jesus Christ from the grave!!-- that is in you as a child of God. Keep praying...and watch what God can do.
 
You and I can give to missions, and not just tossing a few coins in the plate as it passes by but really sacrificially giving... find a ministry that stirs your heart where the needs are written plain and the gospel is the message they carry... and dig deep. Give that money you would use at Starbucks to sit over coffee and talk about world change and give it to someone who is in a place to use it to literally change the world for Jesus (I'm preaching to myself here- y'all know how much I love my coffee)! 

Oh friends, do you see it?
 
You have the potential in you- and I know you want your life to make a difference in the world- to really change things. You truly do! Love the person next to you. Remember those serving and those in need of the gospel among the nations. Pray and give and look for opportunities to go. God has already given you the go-ahead... and time is short. Life keeps ticking by, people are born and die, and today won't come again. Make it count, my friend. If you see me wasting time with trivial things- call me out on it.

 

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come.

 

I want all nations to know Him because that is His heart. So it is my heart. When I get home (in heaven) I want to worship beside every tribe and tongue. I think my generation can do this. We have the resources and the passion and the adventurous spirit... but are we selfless enough to spend our lives for A Story that is so much greater than my story? 

 

I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me- the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

Acts 20:24

 

-Amanda

2014 Rural Healthcare Team, Philippines

Does your heart break?

They warned us it would be hard. Coming back. Everyone says welcome home and wants to hear about my journey but there are some problems: 

1. I'm not home. This summer taught me more than ever that only heaven is my home... and until I am kneeling up there before my Jesus, surrounded by the nations worshiping Him in every tongue, my heart will be restless and my feet will keep wandering this wide earth to carry the gospel to those without hope. 

2. Words. Can't. Even. I try, genuinely try, to communicate all God did this summer and how He changed me, but words fall short. How can I put into the words the ache in my heart for the people we left and the burning in my soul for the nations to know Him and the jittery feeling of frustration as I observe the "Christian hipsters" of our generation complacently talking of world change while sitting over coffee doing nothing with this treasure of the gospel???

I don't mean to offend anyone but oh I just want the ones who call themselves followers of Christ to wake up to the need that is surrounding us!! I think I understand a tiny bit more of the heart of Jesus... Did you know that the entire Bible is full of scripture pointing to God's heart for the nations? From Genesis to Revelation 7:9 "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'" (other references: Genesis 1:28, 9:1, 12:1-3, 26:4; Deuteronomy 4:4-6; Joshua 2:9-10; 1 Kings 4:34; Matthew 24:14, 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8, Romans 10:14-15... just to name a few)

Did you know that there are over 3.5 billion people who haven't heard the gospel??? The easy places have already been reached. The places that are left are the hard to reach (which is why they are still unreached) ...in the deep jungles and on the tops of mountains... the places without water and the places that flood... the places wrecked by the elements and considered "harsh" and unlivable"... the places filthy and disease-infested in the middle of cities and trash dumps where the people are "nobodies" and don't even speak the common language and they haven't heard because no one is taking the time to learn their language and love on them.... and oh if this isn't breaking your heart yet, do you remember where they are going? Those who have not heard the gospel and do not know what Jesus did for them on the cross are dying and going to hell because John 14:6 makes it abundantly clear that Jesus is the only way and their blood is crying up from the earth... "if only I had known the truth, if only someone had told me about Him, I knew there was something bigger than me that's why I worshiped idols because I thought maybe...." and Jesus is looking at His church and crying out... Do you not see? Can you not hear above the noise of your Christian music and comfortable culture the sound of people dying without ever knowing they can have a relationship with me??? 

-Amanda

2014 Rural Healthcare Team, Philippines 

2014 Quizzing Champs!

Winners of the 2014
debrief quizzing... way to go Filipino guys!

NT House Band

 

2014 Nehemiah Teams house band. 

Loved serving with these guys.

Dying so others can live

This group of incredible people died just a few hours ago so that others can have a chance to live. 

They committed to do their part in fulfilling the Great Commission in their "wherever." I can't begin to put into words how overwhelmed with gratitude I have been this summer to take even the smallest and insignificant part in something so much bigger than me. 

I was honored just to be able to unite in prayer for these selfless students as they traveled over the summer to their Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the Earth to give of themselves so that others can come to know Christ. I was able to sit in on some of their orientation meetings, worship sessions, and hear some of their testimonies. 

I have been challenged. 

I have been convicted. 

I have been inspired. 

I have been touched. 

Congratulations to Nehemiah Teams 2014! Thank you for your sacrifice. However, this is only the beginning of your journey!

-Jason B
Sylvania, AL

What Next?

As students have their last day of debrief today, please be praying for the final commitment service tonight. Students will have an opportunity to act on what they've heard... read... discussed... & lived all summer long. It's not our desire that this be an emotional time but rather just a personal act of obedience. Pray that students will be sensitive & obedient to the Lord's leading.

Pics from debrief (Tuesday)

So tired..... jet lag is wicked

Arrival... almost half of the group had arrived by lunch time

Tuesday evening worship... only about half of the group had arrived by this time

Tuesday evening worship

On their way!

One flight enroute. Others are lined up.

The finish line for Nehemiah Teams is in sight.

NT/P52 Debrief Schedule

We are so thankful that you are praying for the students are they prepare to travel back to the US for their final days of debrief. We hope you are using the previous blog to pray specifically for them as they leave their countries. While students will be arriving throughout the day on Tuesday, July 29th.... debrief will not be over until 9PM (CST) on Thursday.

Just like orientation, debrief is "closed" to the public so the students can focus on the training that will be going on. It is a very full few days. Students have been challenged throughout the summer through what they have been doing, reading, discussing, feeling, and experiencing. It's important that they have an opportunity to bring all of these things to a close & see what the Lord may be saying about future steps. We would like to ask that family & friends respect the schedule and not come to "visit" and "say Hey!" during these days. We will be more than happy to throw open the doors at 9PM (CST) on Thursday and let your student run into your arms!

Students will receive their personal phones back after the final session on July 31st. Feel free to call the church office (256-638-8787) if you need to get a message to your student. Please email us if you need additional information about the debrief location.

For students with flights home on Aug. 1st, local churches will be providing transportation to the airport (ATL & BHM) for them to catch their flights. There will also be vehicles taking students to Memphis, TN & Charlotte, NC. Those who are driving or getting picked up are able to leave after 9PM (CST) on July 31st. We ask that all students be picked up by 9AM (CST) on Aug. 1st.