Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Believe

With all the incredible reports of success you read month after month in our newsletters, emails, or blogs, do not be fooled, none of this comes without a price to be paid.  First and foremost, the greatest price that could ever be paid was done so by my Savior, Jesus Christ on Calvary’s Cross, and His subsequent resurrection.  This amazing act of sacrifice sparked a chain of men and women across the pages of history to BELIEVE God and take giant steps of faith in order to bring the Gospel around the world. 

Take our contact in India, for example.  As a high-ranking official in the Indian army, he converted to Christianity from Hinduism.  After this radical transformation, he set out on a God-given mission to plant churches all over India and propagate Jesus wherever he went.  One of his sons, a dear friend of mine whom I attended grad-school with, has told me stories of his father being chased by militant Hindu zealots, seeking to kill him and his family.  He also recounts stories of he and his siblings passing out from hunger when they were young because there was no food in the house.  Their father had chosen to follow God and had received a vision to change his nation, but from an objective point of view, God had abandoned him.  In the face of criticism and persecution, he BELIEVED in God.  Today, thirty years later, Indian Evangelical Team (IET) is on pace to cross 7,000 churches planted, with over 250,000 people in combined church membership.

Throughout my entire life, my family has faced many challenges in ministry.  Even this year, we have experienced a physical transition from one state to another, gone weeks without a paycheck, spent days upon days separated from one another due to mission trips, had one door close and another one open for our office, and run GI operations with very little personnel.  Ask God what He wants you to do to further the Gospel around the world through Global Infusion.  Some people have told me they cannot afford to give towards missions right now; I say, in the scope of eternity, we cannot afford not to.  This is what I know:  God’s heart breaks for lost souls. God gave me a vision.  God’s ways are not my ways.  God is faithful, and I BELIEVE.