Wednesday morning around 4:30am, I finally crawled into my bed after 21 hours of bus & plane rides, layovers and van rides.  It was some tough traveling and delays were possibilities at every stop, but God was faithful to get us home.  This traveling was the culmination of a great mission trip by an impressive team.  The team was commissioned to do VBS ministry, door-to-door evangelism, abstinence training to youth, painting, sports evangelism, and we were asked to lead a church planting conference for local indigenous church planters (see picture for a few of the church leaders we trained).  My team was exceptional.  They served with a sacrificial heart, persevered through roadblocks, showed flexibility, and had the gospel at the heart of all they did.  We were fortunate to see God draw 22 people to himself through our ministry!

I would like to share two stories that touched my heart.  First, I met a little old lady in a village who had an infection in her foot.  She gave us permission to enter the house and her bedroom because her daughter wanted us to pray for her.  Our team knelt at her bedside and prayed for her.  Before leaving we ask, "Do you believe that Jesus has the power to heal your foot?"  Said responded in the affirmative so we pressed on, "Have you also trusted Christ to forgive your sins and be your Savior?"  So said, "No, I haven't."  We pressed even further with the gospel and she obliged us to share.  To my joy, she said that today she would like to give her life to Jesus.  We prayed and celebrated together.  In itself that is a great story but the most amazing part happened as we were leaving.  The daughter stop me and said (through a translator), "Many missionaries and church members have stop by to talk with my mother but every time she told them she was uninterested in receiving Christ.  I am so happy that you came.  My mother saw something different in you."  How cool is that?  God sent me around the world to have a divine appointment with a little woman named Norma.  She was unwilling to hear the gospel from others but God was set on gathering his harvest through me!

Second, there was a young man at our church planting conference (he is the 2nd person from the left wearing a black shirt).  This kid couldn't have been more than 12 years old and he was at a church planting conference!  We spoke every day for 8 hours and his focus was completely unhindered.  He was soaking in all that he could.  As Neal McGlohon rattled off complex-metaphorical concepts about church planting, he never lost focus.  I was amazed as he took pages of notes and plowed through his Bible passage-after-passage.  I was reminded that God is doing great things through this generation and he hasn't given up.  He is moving in the hearts of young men and woman to change the landscape of our world, our nations, and our communities.

This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.