God's Provision in a Life-Shaking Season - from Joseph

April 24, 2017

As we approach our departure date for Guatemala, we are hit with the reality that time is moving fast and it seems that the things to do are more than time will allow. This Monday, May 1^st, we are putting our home on the market. We have let go of so many things that at one time had some value to us. However, now they just don’t seem important. Letting things go for the call to follow Jesus is getting easier and easier each step of the way. It is freeing.  We can’t believe how much stuff we have stored up over the years!  But now, we are no longer storing up things for this world and it actually feels like a relief to let it go!

We are overwhelmed at the way the Lord has continued to pour out His blessings in so many ways.  I don’t just mean the way He is providing for us financially.  We are also seeing Him work in the hearts of people around us and in our own hearts. For example, this past Monday, in one day the Lord provided three things we needed. Number one: I’ve been praying for months that the Lord would give us someone as a person of peace that would have a heart for the gospel in our neighborhood. I now have a man who is interested in learning more about the NoPlaceLeft vision and being a part of seeing the gospel spread in our neighborhood. Number 2: Through a friend in our Faith group, God gave us a lot of packing paper. When we recently met with the moving companies, they told us that we could save significant money by packing our own stuff for shipping. Number 3: I really wanted to get more NoPlaceLeft training before leaving, but all the level 3 opportunities are so far away. Well, The Lord provided plane tickets to a training in New Mexico through another Faith family. So, Jehova Jireh provides yet again.

People, paper and plane tickets. Our God has got this!  Down to the smallest detail!  And that is the secret to our rest during this incredibly busy, life-shaking season.  We have to keep working diligently to do all the things that need to be done, but we can rest knowing that it is God that will accomplish whatever He wants to accomplish with us.  He’s the One who will do it!    1 Thess. 5:24 “He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.”  And just like David said to Solomon when he was talking about the way God had called Solomon to the specific work of building the temple, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work.  Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you.  He will not fail you or forsake you.” (1 Chron. 28:20) Our God is faithful!! 

May 1, 2017 Update: So this happened today!

This past Sunday we had the opportunity to be a part of the message in our home church, Faith Baptist.  Our missions pastor, Ben McRoy, preached a short message and then called us up for an interview. We thought we would post this link to share with you what the Lord has been doing in our hearts as we prepare for Guatemala.  We were so blessed as we worked through the answers to these questions. We pray the Lord will also bless you through our journey in some way!

The March 19^th sermon is titled “Following the Exalted Savior”.  Our first interview begins at around the 11 minute mark and then we come on again around the 26 minute mark to answer a few more questions. Here is the link: http://faithnc.org/sermons/following-exalted-savior/?player=audio

We've also updated our Invitation to Partnership letter and our Support Form (in the column to the right).  Please check those out if you are interested in seeing where we are with our support.  Our God is faithful!!

January 21, 2017

I, Joseph, am en route back home to the US. These two weeks spent in Guatemala have been very beneficial. I spent the first week with a team of 19 North Americans and at least 15 translators from Central America doing campaigns with Good News In Action.  I was blessed to be able to share this experience with my brother, Scott, and another member of his church (New Covenant in Myrtle Beach) John Gallman, as they were able to join our team. We went into several different zones proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ where 260 people confessed Him as Lord for the first time. Please pray for wisdom and strength as the local church, Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva, now has the task of following up with these new believers. This particular week was full of surprises and exciting encounters. 

The super trooper team from Faith Baptist Church.  It took them 2 1/2 days of travel to get there and their luggage took another 3 days, but they worked hard and kept a great attitude through it all.

I will share briefly about two encounters...

One was Alex: He's 31 and a nurse. He was in the park hanging out with his buddies and blew me off the first time I approached to invite him to the festival. He came just a few minutes later as the gospel was being presented. He and his friends listened for a moment and then they left. I asked the Lord to move and then approached them. I asked them for just a moment of time and shared my story of how Jesus changed my life and gave me hope. The Spirit of God moved in their hearts and all four of those young men asked Jesus to be their king. Alex is wearing the white sweater in the picture below.

The second guy's name was also Alex. Alex is 32 years old. He was playing soccer with younger guys in the neighborhood. When I asked him for a moment of his time, he was more than happy to chat for a while. We talked for about 30 minutes or so. He said he already had a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ but he didn't always feel like he was right with God. We encouraged him, prayed with him and challenged him to spend time in the word and get plugged into the church. He asked for Javier from Vida Nueva to reach out to him for sound teaching and further encouragement.  Alex is the guy in the middle in the picture below.

On Sunday, I was able to worship with Vida Nueva, which will be our future home church.  There was a good crowd and I enjoyed having lunch with a few of the leaders after service. Nelson, Rosemarie and Camila were gracious hosts and a pleasure to spend time with. Thank you also to our dear friends, the Tello family, for the ride to Antigua and the coffee talk. 

Wendy and Vinicio Tello, and their daughters, Laura and Camila.

I spent my second week in Antigua attending language school everyday.  I had four hours of classes every morning and two hours of homework to do each afternoon.  While in Antigua, I also met a few different missionaries from different sending agencies. Some were new faces from the Christian Spanish Academy and others I had planned to meet with ahead of time. These folks gave of their time freely and were able to help answer questions and provide valuable insight. Chad Bader, David Donatto and his son Josiah, Dan and Dodi Ward, Adrian and Maurisa Hernandez - Thank you for your information, encouragement, transportation, meals and prayers. 

 

Me and Adrian Hernandez

Last, but not least, language school was amazing. I think Christian Spanish Academy will definitely be a good place for us to learn Spanish. As we study the language, I also believe that there will be many opportunities to share the Gospel along the way.  This week, I had opportunities to talk with English-speaking people from other countries - Japan, Germany, and other countries - just sitting in the coffee shop doing my homework. Some were hearing the gospel for the first time.  There are so many ministry opportunities in Antigua, Guatemala City, and in the towns and villages all around. Please pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out more workers and please pray that He will strengthen and encourage the workers already in the fields. 

My kindergarten Spanish graduation LOL

This time spent in Guatemala was definitely valuable. I am truly thankful for your prayers and financial support.

January 8, 2017

As I (Joseph) write this I am on a plane heading to Guatemala and listening to the Mercy Me album "Undone".  The song "Keep Singing" speaks to how I feel during this season of our life. As our hearts are torn between two places, we do not know what else to do but to keep looking up. To keep aiming and praising His name. As a family we are drawing closer to our Heavenly Father for comfort and peace. Our home is not on this earth. Our home is truly where the Lord is. In a sense I feel that moving to Guatemala will be climbing into His lap, completely trusting that He alone is our safe place, our shield. (Gen 15:1)

“After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: 

'Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward.'"

Genesis 15:1 NIV84

This trip has started out with many obstacles. Due to extreme winter weather conditions our team of 10 from Faith Baptist Church is stuck in a hotel near the Raleigh airport. We have a saying throughout Good News In Action Ministries, "¡Bienvenido a misiones!" It means, "welcome to missions!" where nothing goes as you intend it but God is in control. I was able to fly out because I was booked separately as I plan to stay an additional week to try out a language school and network with area missionaries.

I am reading through the book of Romans and I stumbled on this passage:

“The Scripture says, “Anyone who asks the Lord for help will be saved.”

But before people can trust in the Lord for help, they must believe in Him.

And before they can believe in the Lord, they must hear about Him.

And for them to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them.

And before someone can go and tell them, he must be sent.

It is written, “How beautiful is the person who comes to bring good news.”

So faith comes from hearing the Good News.

And people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ.”

Romans 10:13-15, 17 ICB

What a great reminder of why we tell people about Jesus. If we are not obedient to make disciples by proclaiming it, then how will people hear? If we are not obedient goers then, how will they ever be persuaded to follow Jesus? For me and my house, our current mission is Spencer's Gate (our neighborhood), my work place and Guatemala. What is your "assignment"? Where has God called you to proclaim the gospel? The question is not, "has He called you?" The real question is, "where?"

We were sitting in the Atlanta airport on our way home from Guatemala when I began this post and here I am almost a week later finally getting it out there!  Thank you to all of you that prayed for Joseph and I on our trip to Guatemala last week.  It was a great trip and our girls each had a great time with friends and family while we were gone.  Joseph and I had a very full few days with Nelson, Rosemarie and their youngest daughter, Camila.

This “scouting” trip was very important for us in many ways.  The first morning we were there, Joseph and Nelson met with an American missionary who grew up in Guatemala named Nathan Hardeman.  Nathan, the founder and director of Engadi Ministries International, was able to give us some very helpful insight from his personal experiences.  He also introduced us to his network of other American missionaries in Guatemala.  One of his recommendations was to consider the value of attending a language school.  This was likely the fifth or sixth time something like this has been suggested to us! So, needless to say, we are listening.  He highly recommended the Christian Spanish Academy in Antigua, Guatemala, which is about a 40-minute drive from Guatemala City.  We spent the next day in Antigua visiting the Christian Spanish Academy (CSA) as well as a couple of other language schools.  CSA is a well-respected school that was started with the specific mission to help train missionaries in the Spanish language.  They offer an intense full-immersion language program that has been known to be very successful.  We believe that this is exactly where we need to begin.  Joseph will be attending the school every day for 4-6 hours a day for 4 to 6 months. I (Christy) will have classes for 2 hours a day, twice a week.  We will get the most out of the classes by living in Antigua and focusing on learning Spanish full time.  We were able to look at some apartments that same day and found one that would be a good fit for us, with enough space for me to continue homeschooling the girls.  We are praying that we will be able to secure this apartment when the time comes.  After completing the language program, we would then look for a more permanent place to live in Guatemala City.  The total cost for the full program for both of us will be around $5,000. 

Christian Spanish Academy

We were also able to have many valuable conversations about life and ministry in Guatemala during our trip.  I appreciated practical things like going for a run in the neighborhood and grocery shopping with Rosemarie – they have Walmart and Pricemart!  She also took me to Cenma, a huge fresh fruit and vegetable market where you can buy tons of great produce for really cheap.  On Sunday morning, we were able to join in worship and fellowship with the church, Vida Nueva Guatemala. It is amazing to see the Lord putting a closeness between us and them as we progress toward our move there. There may be great physical distance between us but the Lord is already knitting our hearts together.  

Vida Nueva is gearing up for their Bilingual Bible School in November so they were all wearing their "Submerged" T-shirts that Sunday.  This is a big outreach event each year that brings in a lot of people from the city.

The Lord continues to confirm that He is calling our family there.  We believe He wants to use us to encourage the church in their identity as ambassadors of Christ with a ministry and a message of reconciliation.  We also believe that He will provide for the ministry that He has called us to.  He has already started moving on many of your hearts to come alongside us.  Thank you to those of you who are praying for us and those who are already supporting us financially.  If you are considering supporting us financially, please let us know by filling out our support form.  There is a link to this printable form on the right-hand column of this blog.  (You won't see it on the mobile version of the blog, you have to open the web version to see the link).  We are close to 40% of the total funds needed for a two-year period and we need to know when to make some long-term decisions such as selling our house, securing an apartment and enrolling in language school.  It would be really helpful if you would fill out the form for us so we can know how to make these decisions.

We are so humbled and thankful for all of you!! 

Main Square in Antigua

Guatemala City from the airplane

Friends, Christy and I are on our way today to Guatemala City to scout out the land. We will be staying with Pastor Nelson and his wife, Rosemarie Rivas. While we are there, we hope to discover a more realistic cost of living, transportation, etc. Many of you are partners in ministry through giving and praying so here’s how you can pray:

Ø  For our kids to feel safe and comforted while we are away.

Ø  For wisdom as we are on the scout. (Primarily housing and van)

Ø  This will be my first time mentioning NoPlaceLeft Guatemala to VNG (Vida Nueva Guatemala – the local church body). So please pray for clear casting of the NoPlaceLeft Guatemala vision to “faithful men” (2Tim 2:2).

Ø  Opportunities to share the gospel as we go.

Ø  That we are a blessing and encouragement to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Thank you in advance for your faithfulness to pray and support this ministry as we truly seek to see no place left where the gospel has not been shared in the region of Guatemala.  As Paul said in Romans 15:23, we also hope to see the gospel spread from generation to generation.  We will post an update when we return!

Since our last post, I (Joseph) have been learning the deeper meaning of God’s faithfulness to act on His word. We are continuing to learn more and more that He actually calls us out of darkness and into the light for His greater Kingdom purpose. He doesn’t call us out of darkness to settle into comfortable, casual Christianity. He calls us to follow Him, step by step, into daily trusting Him, obeying Him and taking Him at His word. This is a relationship that requires interaction. It requires daily bowing before Him and surrendering to His agenda. This looks different for each person but the end result is the same. For me personally, this is renouncing my desire to be the best industrial sales rep. in the country for Tnemec Company. I’ve been building relationships and reputation for 12 years in this territory. I had a goal to one day run my own independent agency for Tnemec and I was well on track to succeed. There was a time when my heart was given to this agenda of building my own kingdom.  On occasion I would share the gospel, but that just never seemed like enough. My heart was divided and not fully surrendered to King Jesus.

When I found myself unfulfilled and unsatisfied with my own agenda, I began to ask the Lord, “what more could I give?” Through praying and digging deeper into scripture, I found passages like James 2:23: “So the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, and he was called God’s friend.”

And John 15:8: “My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.”

Also, John 14:15: “If you love me, you will keep my commands.” And a little later in John 15:14: “You are my friends if you do what I command you.”

These verses speak for themselves. The Lord began to show me that His purpose for me and other professing believers is no different than that of these men who wrote the above passages. Our ultimate purpose is to point people to The Source of joy, The Wellspring of Living Water, the Bread of Life, Jesus. In John 4:34, Jesus tells His disciples that He has food that they do not know about. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of the Father who sent me and to finish His work.”

I am not especially qualified to be a missionary of the gospel to Guatemala. If I were my own god, I would stay on course to be the best Tnemec rep ever, but I am not any more. I am sure God could do better than us for this mission, but we are certain that He has put this on our hearts. So, we choose to walk in obedience into this uncharted territory.  We will go, and as we take Him at His word, we now know that we have a greater purpose than our physical accomplishments or achievements in life. He is proving Himself faithful as always.

God has a greater purpose for your life in Christ than anything you could ever achieve on your own. It far exceeds us and our lesser goals. In Christ, our purpose is to proclaim the good news that Christ came to pay the price for our sins, that we could not pay, so that through faith in Him we can have a restored relationship with God.  Those who hear and believe on the name of the Lord Jesus, enter in to this reconciled relationship with their Creator and now have this same purpose!  Take Him at His word and you will know that His plan is best for you. “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” –Jim Elliot