Lonely Singers

Move Number 5

2009-02-16T14:52:00.000-08:00

Some of you may remember a post that I made a while back when I moved into what I affectionately called the "Tree House". The "Tree House" was great while it lasted, though I have to admit, the "novelty" of coming home to the strong smell of mold, constantly hitting my head on the ceiling, and the creaking of the termite eaten floorboards wore off after a little while, and a change in location was overdue by the time Pam and I got married in November.

After a little searching, we found a two-room apartment, complete with our very own bathroom, which we are very excited about. We have turned one of the rooms into a kitchen/sitting room of sorts with our stove, table, fridge, and camp chairs, and the other room into the bedroom.

We have now been living there for about two-months, are starting to feel at home there, and are enjoying the $800 peso (or about $60USD) a month rent.

I realized the other day, that from the time I was born until I graduated high school, my family moved one time; from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Suwanee, GA. In the past year and a half or so since I moved to Mexico, I have now moved five times: From the US to a host family, from host family to the school's facilities, from the school to another host family, from host family to the "Tree House", and from the "Tree House" to my current apartment. God willing, we'll be able to stick around here for a little while before the next move.

Baptism

2008-11-05T16:49:00.000-08:00

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." -Matthew 28:19-20

A few months ago, I posted a blog telling about how my friend Saul had decided to follow Jesus. I wanted to give a little update on how he was doing now, a few months later. When Saul first told me that he wanted to follow Jesus, I asked him if he wanted to be baptized. He told me that he thought he should study more of the Bible and know God more before he did it, but that he would like to one day.

A couple of weeks ago, I revisited the subject with him, and Saul told me the same thing, thinking that he had to know all about the Bible and God before doing something so big as baptism. I then led him to the passage of the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40), which tells the story of Philip baptizing the Ethiopian eunuch immediately after the truth was explained to him. After reading this scripture Saul's response was almost the exact same as the eunuch’s...He looked at me and said, "So you don't need to know a lot to be baptized?" I told him no, that we needn't know all about the Bible and God to be baptized. Saul then asked me, "Then why shouldn't I be baptized?"

Saul is going to be baptized in a few weeks! Praise the Lord!

The Finishable Task?

2008-11-04T13:04:00.000-08:00

Here is a short excerpt from a book I've been reading called Christianity Rediscovered by Vincent J. Donovan. In the book, Donovan, a Catholic priest, tells of his time working among a Massai tribe in Tanzania, Africa, and the journey he went through to get away from the cultural missional models of his time and back to the models of Paul and more importantly, Jesus. This excerpt speaks of a few of the objectives we want to see accomplished here in Tlaxiaco and throughout the world, as well as some mission theory that we have been dialoging about recently. Anyways, there's just a little background on the book. Here's the quote...let me know what you think...

"That very idea of one hour left, symbolizing a short period of time, for founding church then leaving it, is a haunting notion to a missionary. It makes the dream of world evangelization seem possible somehow.
But before dreaming of word evangelization we would have to change our approach to young missional churches. Today before we count our work finished in the young churches, we feel compelled to leave with them a staggering complexity of buildings and institutions and organizations; church buildings and their accouterments, seminaries to train candidates for the priesthood, catechetical centers to train teachers, novice masters and superiors to begin religious congregations, lay organizations, diocesan and chancery structures and a promise of continued financial assistance and subsidies.
What if instead of this unending process we considered our work a truly finishable task and left these churches only what St. Paul left them? At first sight, this seems much less than we feel compelled to leave with them. In reality, it is more than we dare to give them.
As you sit watching the sinking sun you wonder if there were still time for missionaries, somewhere, somehow, to be able just once to carry out missionary work as it should be carried out:
To approach each culture with the respect due to it as the very place wherein resides the possibility of salvation and holiness and grace.
To approach the people of any culture or nation, not as individuals, but as community.
To plan to stay not one day longer than is necessary in any one place.
To give people nothing, literally nothing, but the unchanging, supracultural, interpreted gospel before baptism
To help them expand that gospel into a creed and a way of life after baptism.
To enable them to pray as Christians.
To leave them the Bible towards the day when they can read it and use it as a living letter in their lives.
To insist that they themselves be their own future missionaries.
To0 link them with the outside church in unity, and the outside world in charity and justice.
To agree with them that baptism is indeed everything; that the reception of baptism is the acceptance of the total responsibility and the full, active sacramental power of the church, the Eucharistic community with a mission.
To encourage them to trust in the Spirit given at baptism, and to use the powers and gifts and charisms given to the community by the Spirit.
And then the final step.
The final missionary step as regards the people of any nation or culture, and the most important lesson we will ever teach them is to leave them." P. 120-121

Let's Give a Hoorah to Jesus!

2008-07-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

Early in August of last year I met a guy named Saul (who many of you have been praying for for some time), who was drunk the first few times I saw him. He had worked in Florida for a few years a while back, and wanted to learn some more English, so I started teaching him English lessons a few times a week, and we started becoming friends. When school started last year early in September, we continued to hang out occasionally, but not nearly as much, as classes took up a little more of my time, and, after a while, we really never saw each other at all but for a few times when we bumped into each other on the street.

Early this summer, I ran into Saul one day, who was drunker than I had ever seen him before, which is saying quite a bit. He told me that he was having relationship problems and whatnot, and I wrote it off as no big deal, because I had seen the guy drunk so many times. I just figured that it was no big deal, and that he'd sleep it off and be fine the next day. I ran into him a couple of days later by mere "coincidence" and he was just as drunk as he was when I had left him a couple of days before. I had beaten Saul in a shooting competition we had between the two of us a while back and he owed me lunch, so I told him that I was hungry and wanted my lunch and used it as an opportunity to talk to him and figure out what was going on. Over the course of lunch he asked me, "Wasn't there a man in the Bible named Saul?" I told him there was. Then he asked me, "The Saul in the Bible was bad like me wasn't he?" I told him that the Saul in the Bible was one of the worst people there was, killing many followers of Jesus Christ, but that God came to him, redeemed him, and made him one of the most powerful disciples of Christ that has ever lived. Then I told Saul that God wanted to the same thing to him that He did to the Saul in the Bible. I told him that God wanted to transform and redeem him, and to use his life to bring Himself a whole lot of glory. I then asked Saul if he liked being that way, needing alcohol to kill his pain, and he told me no, to which I asked if he wanted me to show him another way. He told me yes, and agreed to study the Bible with me.

I honestly figured that he wouldn't remember about studying together once he sobered up, but sure enough, about a week later his girlfriend, himself, and I were sitting together in the kitchen together to study the Bible. God is so awesome...the first time we got together, I told them that I wanted to share with them my testimony before we did anything else, so that they knew why I believe what I believe and not think that I am just some rich white kid who had never had to put his beliefs to the test. As I began to share my testimony with him, Saul identified with every bit of it. As I shared with him about my struggle with anger, he told me that he did too. As I began to share with him about all that my mom went through with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), anxiety, and depression, I learned that he was dealing with all of the same things. I assured him that God had not only the power to heal him and deliver him from that oppression, but that God also loved him enough to do it. Saul led the prayer that night as we wrapped up, and told me that he wanted to continue studying the Bible together.

The next week or so we started studying the book of John, because it is all about love, and I felt Saul needed to know that God loved him. That though there was a lot of junk in his life, God loved him. A few weeks later, we studied John 3, and when Saul saw Jesus' love for him in John 3:16, he told me that he wanted to follow that Jesus. I had heard John 3:16 probably more than any other verse in scripture, and it sadly did not have quite as much power to me as it did the first time I had heard it, but to this thirty-two year old man that had probably never heard the verse before, he heard in it the love of Jesus, and wanted to follow Him too.

Saul and I are continuing to study the Bible together and learn together what exactly it means to follow Him...So, let's give a Hoorah to Jesus...Hoorah!

The "Tree House"

2008-07-21T15:03:00.001-07:00

As many of you already know, I have been living in a host family for the last few months, focusing on language learning and learning culture (the details of which to be discussed in a later post). I had a great time with them, and really got to bond with the family over the little time I was there.

As the summer has started winding down, it became time to start looking for an apartment to live in for the next four months or so until Pam and I get married in November. So, my future roommate, Chino, and I set out to look for a two-bedroom apartment to live in. After about six hours of knocking on doors like Jehovah's Witnesses in three different "barrios" (Or neighborhoods...they are really more like large sections of town rather than neighborhoods, but they don't consult me in the translation) and finding absolutely nothing, I have to admit, I was a bit discouraged. Chino and I had just about had enough looking around for a day, so we both decided to call it quits and go grab a bit to eat, when we noticed another apartment complex, so we decided to give it a look.

The landlady told us that she just had one small room available (remember we were looking for a two-bedroom apartment), but we figured that it couldn't hurt to see it. She walked us over to a tight spiral staircase and we climbed the steps whereupon I hit my head on the roof of the little balcony that comes about up to my eyes. We walked in the room, and the first thought in my head was that it looked exactly as if I was in the coolest tree house that I had ever been in. It had thick wood plank floors, with different cubby holes and a desk built in the wall. The ceiling was about two inches taller than the top of my head, and there was a thick wooden beam that ran across the top of the ceiling in the middle of the room, which I had to duck under when I crossed the room. It smelled a lot like what I imagine your grandma's house might smell like, which I have come to the belief is due to mold as I have yet to find a hidden bag of potpourri. And, to top it all off, there was a door in the wall that opens to nowhere...it just drops off the the ground 10 feet below. So, if you have been reading, I know I need not say that I promptly rented the room and moved in the next day, and will be staying there for the next few months.

I know there's a chance that the women who read this will not see the beauty in a house that you have to duck in, cubby holes, and a door that leads to nothing (or a trapdoor, if you will), but if you allow me to enjoy my tree house, I promise to let you enjoy your tea party.

...Oh yea, I hung a hammock in the middle of the room...it's pretty awesome...

Failures...

2008-07-21T14:12:00.000-07:00

I have recently realized that, though I have told a few stories about God's greatness and what He is doing here, I have failed to convey some of life's challenges and failures. In an attempt to sell as many of you out as I can for missions and for the nations, I have withheld stories of getting the door slammed in my face, feeling lonely, and being kept in bed for days with diarrhea. And though I will probably continue to spare you the stories of my bodily functions, I do believe that we can learn just as much (and sometimes more) from each other's failures and challenges as we can from each other's successes. So, below is something that I wrote in August, almost a year ago now, when I was still living with my first host family, and before I started Missions Training School. It is written in the third person, because I was too ashamed to put myself personally into the story. I hope that you may be challenged from a failure of mine to be a little bit more radical with a lot less fear for Jesus Christ.

"A woman crawls on hands and knees, her withered feet dragging uselessly across the cobblestone pathway leading to a church that can offer her nothing. Her gaze is focused on the ground rather than where she is going for she cannot bear to see the look in the eyes of those who pass her by. She sits next to the door, with a meager handful of two-day-old, slightly undersized and overripe fruit to sell for something more substantial to eat. With each opening and closing of the door, a brilliant golden light cascades over the pathway; but a painful reminder of her poverty. Every soul entering and exiting the grand cathedral has a purposeful, steadfast look, anywhere but at her. She is too humiliated to call out, to beg. She is alone, and she knows it.

Across the road, a man walks into the park, a foreigner carrying a backpack filled with the money of two different countries, a spare jacket, and extra food. He sits on a bench snacking on candy bought in the marketplace. Food bought on a whim, without having to consider the money it would cost. Laid open across his lap is a book, its pages wrinkled and it’s leather binding worn. For the man is not a mere visitor, but is there to share light with those walking in the darkness.

He pulls out the old book, which falls open easily in the palms of his hands, and is about to read when something catches his eye: a woman, sitting alone next to the door of the magnificent church. For a reason he cannot explain, he cannot take his eyes off of her. He had seen her once before, and he had passed her by. His heart, fills with compassion, and he longs to see her stand. He feels a tugging at his heart, some inexplicable force pulling him toward her, but he fights it. Fear overwhelms the compassion he only just felt. Fear of what, he isn’t sure. He fears that she will not stand, fear of being inadequate, fear of not knowing the words to say are all possibilities. One thing is for certain: this fear paralyzes him, rooting him to the bench in which he sits.

The woman knows she is being looked at; it is feeling she is only too used to. She lifts her head to see a foreign man, with eyes fixated upon her. His look is not that of disgust or disdain, but rather of tenderness and compassion. She knows that he has something to offer her that no one has ever offered her before; she can see it in his eyes. She longs to go to him, to see what it is that this strange foreigner has to say, but she is afraid. Afraid of what, she doesn’t know. Afraid that his look will change from compassion to aversion upon seeing her crawl his way, afraid that he will walk away.

So they sat, looking at one another, inner turmoil boiling within, fear stopping both of them to respond to the yearning of their hearts. He finishes eating, puts his Bible back in to his bag and walks away, crushed by his lack of faith. She puts her fruit back in to her pockets, adjusts the pads on her knees, and crawls the opposite direction, tears streaming down her cheeks at what that look could have meant.

The man goes to his room, and begs forgiveness from his merciful God, forgiveness for his lack of faith and ignoring the urgings of the Holy Spirit. His spirit lifted up, he goes back to look for her, but she is gone. He will keep looking for her. He will keep looking for all of them, all of those forgotten by the world, but remembered by God. He will not give up. When he sees her, when he sees them, fear will not overtake him. Not again."

...When we are connected to the Vine, that fear disappears. Let us all be so close to Him that we could not possibly fear for knowing that He will deliver, because His compassion and love far surpass ours (not to mention the fact that He promised He would). I pray that none of you would ever let fear hinder you, as it did me, from doing the work that God has laid out for you to accomplish, because His perfect love, indeed does, conquer all fear.

Videos...

2008-06-28T18:50:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to make a quick note that the organization that I am with, Global Frontier Missions, is running short-term mission trips all summer, and there are videos which recap each day of those trips posed on globalfrontiermissions.com/videos for any of you who are interested in seeing a different side of the work thats going on here in Tlaxiaco, Mexico. I myself will not be in any of these videos, because I am focussing my time this summer building relationships and ministering to the local people through language learning (I'll describe a little more in detail as to what that process looks like in another post). Have fun checking out the videos...I hope they fire you up for reaching the lost.

Engaged

2008-05-22T17:38:00.000-07:00

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." -Ephesians 5:25-27 The verses listed above and the verses that follow are awesome and profound truths, much like the rest of the Bible, and we could spend a great amount of time discussing those truths and concepts, but I chosen to go a different route instead. Instead, I´d like to share a story and piece of my life that goes along with this scripture.

Yesterday afternoon, May the 21st, I went to a beautiful river just outside of town with my girlfriend Pam. For those of you who aren´t already aware, Pam is another missionary working on the Church Planting Team with Global Frontier Missions. She has been in Mexico for a year longer than I have, and went through the same training program as I did, just one year ahead of me. Anyway, there is some background info, and now back to the story...

So the two of us spent an hour or so hanging out, enjoying both the river and each other´s company. Pam then asked me what God had taught me over the past week (Which gave me a perfect chance to bring up what I really wanted to talk about). I told her that God had been showing me some pretty cool stuff in Ephesians, and proceeded to read to her the passage that is listed above, along with the verses that follow until the end of the chapter (all the while trying to get my knees to stop shaking). At the end of reading, I told her that I loved her, and that I wanted to love her for the rest of my life, showing her the love that Christ has for His bride, the Church. I then asked her if she would marry me, and, after a series of squeals at various unhittable pitches, she said yes. Pam then took out her guitar, and we spent some time worshipping the Lord together, and the presence of the Holy Spirit was with us...Praise the Lord. So, all that to say, I´m engaged to get married. Pretty cool eh’

Please join Pam and I in prayer as we go about doing all of the things that need to be done before the "big day". Pray that God would direct every step in our engagement, and that the plans we make would be in accordance with His will. Pray that He would continue to bring us together in a way that honors Him and magnifies His name. Thank you for joining us in this next step in our lives, and I look forward to keeping you posted on details as I know them. God bless.

A Testimony of God's Love

2008-05-11T12:23:00.000-07:00

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." 1 John 4:18

I lied in bed the first night that I spent with my host family, and had just fallen asleep when I was awaken by crying and screaming coming from the bed next to me (I share a room with the two youngest boys of my host family (ages 5 and 8)). The older of the two boys, was having a nightmare, and was crying out, in his sleep, for his mom to protect him. I started praying against the spirit of fear in the room in the name of Jesus, and, shortly thereafter, he fell into a restful sleep.

The following night the exact same thing happened, so I called him over, and told him that he was a child of the living God, covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, and that the enemy could not touch him. He immediately fell asleep in my arms.

The next night, and all of the nights since then, I have had the two boys take turns praying over all of us for our protection and that we wouldn't have any fear as we slept, and he has slept peacefully and without fear every night since (although his sleep talking sometimes still keeps me awake).What an awesome testimony about how God's perfect love for us really does cast out all fear!

Jesus did not give His life up for us to be paralyzed by fear, but rather He gave up His life for our salvation, not only that we may be able to spend an eternity with Him in heaven, but also for our salvation and freedom here in this life on earth. May we let His love wash over us so fully that those fears would simply fade away, allowing us to run towards Him with everything we have, unhindered.

You Will Recieve Power

2008-05-05T13:03:00.000-07:00

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." -Acts 1:8

I sat on my bed a couple of days ago with my Bible on my lap, and had absolutely no clue what to read, so I somewhat mindlessly flipped over to Acts 1:8 in the hopes that, if nothing else, it would pump me up before I started my day. I decided to start from the beginning of Acts instead of with that particular verse, and I noticed something that I had overlooked every time I read the first few verses of Acts. To many of you, this is probably a "well, duh Tucker, where have you been?", but it hit me pretty hard, and I figured it might be noteworthy. It was verses 4 and 5 that spoke to me:

"...he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." -Acts 1:4B-5

We are not supposed to leave "Jerusalem" or, I'd venture to say, do anything until we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus said not to leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit fills us (Acts 1:4-5), and then he said that once the Spirit is upon us, we will be His witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). It seems pretty clear to me through these verses that we cannot truly be His witnesses until we have been baptized with the Holy Spirit. Because, how can we be witnesses of a Spirit that we do not carry?

It is easy for me to get so caught up in "going to the ends of the earth" that I forget that without the Holy Spirit resting upon me, anything I do will be fruitless. Just like the Israelites were led by a cloud in the day and a fire by night, so are we to be constantly led by the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Oh that we would have the same attitude of Moses who refused to go anywhere unless God was going there with him.

To the Ends of the Earth

2008-05-05T12:18:00.000-07:00

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." -Acts 1:8

I have a couple thoughts on this passage of the Bible, so I decided to break them up into two posts, because who wants to read one long posts when you could read two short ones?

Missionally speaking, this just might be one of the most heavily quoted scriptures in the Bible. I have often heard pastors preach about how this passage is about how we should be witnesses in our homes, or maybe even our home towns, and then we should move out to our prospective counties and be witnesses, and once we've done that, maybe our prospective states, then our country, and then we should be witnesses to the rest of the world. Among a few other concerns that I have with it (of which I will not discuss now), I believe there is one fundamental problem with this teaching.

For that to have been true, it must have also been true of Jesus' audience as well. So, who was Jesus talking to...to whom did He give this command? Jesus was talking to His disciples, who were not from Jerusalem, but from Galilee. So if Jesus was teaching in Acts that we should be witnesses in our home towns and work out, why did Jesus start with Jerusalem and not with Galilee?

I believe that Jesus was giving His disciples a missions strategy. If you look at a map, you will find Jerusalem at the center of the world, and, at the time that Jesus said this, Jerusalem truly was also very much the center of the world as far as trade and modern civilization at that time. Doesn't it just make sense then, why Jesus said to start there? As the word of God spread throughout Jerusalem, people also came in and out of Jerusalem for trade and travel, and were able to take Jesus' name with them as they went, thus, the name of Jesus was more readily able to be spread to the ends of the earth.

Is there a Jerusalem-type location in your sphere? A central place where the word of the Lord can more readily and easily be taken out to the ends of the earth? A city? A business? A country? If there isn't, are you willing to find it, and "be His witness in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth"?

Homeless...

2008-05-05T11:45:00.000-07:00

I feel like you are probably long overdue for a story from the ridiculous life I lead. Well, I returned to Mexico after spending a few weeks in the States, visiting family and friends, and doing a host of other things. I came back expecting to move in immediately with a host family and start a summer of intensive language learning to make me a more effective minister.

I got in late last Saturday night (April 26th), crashed at the base, and then went to my host family to make sure everything was good to go for me to move in later that day. When I asked the woman of the house if everything was a go, she responded by telling me that she had absolutely no idea what I was talking about; an awkward situation to say the least. I somehow managed to get myself out of the conversation, and proceeded to try to find out what in the world had just happened, and what I was going to do next seeing as my plans for a place to live for the next 3-4 months had just crumbled before my eyes.

I spent the next 4 or so days trying to get all of the confusion worked out, and though I'm still not positive what happened, I do know now that the woman of the house is apparently pretty sick with something or another, and I think the thought of hosting someone at their house right now is simply overwhelming. Please pray for her health. Her name is Jaci.

I finally did find a place to live with a different host family, and I will spend the rest of the summer with them, learning as much about the culture and language as possible in order to be a more effective minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is just another example of God’s faithfulness in all situations. He holds us in the palms of His hands, and He will see us through no matter what we face, even with things as small as finding a place to live. Praise the Lord!

Extraordinary Giving

2008-03-03T21:54:00.000-08:00

God's hand is moving mightily here in Tlaxiaco.
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds and to him who knocks the door will be opened."
~Matthew 7:7
The more that we ask the more that God gives. As we have been praying in accordance with God's will for the market town of Tlaxiaco, we are seeing the Lord give in spectacular ways. The Lord's desire is that none would perish but that all will come to freedom in Him. I have seen the answering of our prayers as friends begin to thirst for His truth and other friends come home with great news of people drawing close to the Lord. We are so blessed to serve a God who fulfills His promises, He is faithful, a God that is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow. As I learn to walk in the authority that the Lord has given me, I have found that my heart's cry is growing louder and pleading more persistently, More of You Lord, more of You. Please pray with me and all the workers here in Oaxaca as we enter into the Lord's throne room and intercede for Tlaxiaco. And rejoice with us, and all of heaven, as more are learning the sweetness of having the door opened to their persistent knocking and coming face to face with Christ. Praise God, He is worthy of all our praise.

Answer to Prayer

2008-01-28T15:09:00.000-08:00

God has done some incredible things these past couple of weeks. I have been meeting with a friend of mine, Jack, in town a couple of days a week since August, building a relationship with him. He has spent several years in the states and speaks English quite well, and is my language helper of sorts. Basically when we hang out, he speaks in English and I in Spanish, and we correct each other when we make mistakes, and whatnot.

I had been discouraged for a while that we were not getting deeper into God stuff, but rather staying pretty surface level with our conversations, so before I met him this past week, I asked a few friends of mine to pray for me, that God would help us to go deeper into the things of Him. So, while waiting for Jack, I started reading my Spanish Bible, and when he got there, I asked him to help me understand some of the Spanish that I didn't understand. Whenever he'd help me with a word, I would explain, in my own words, what I thought the story to be saying. He was really excited about me getting it, which was so awesome! At the end, I asked him if next time he would like it if I brought an English Bible, and he could read it to me, and practice his English. He was really excited about the idea, so we did that a couple of days later. Now we are going to study the Bible together twice a week, every week, switching between English and Spanish. Praise the Lord! I cannot wait to see what is going to come of it!

Biblical Basis for Missions (What Will We Do About It?)

2008-01-28T14:13:00.000-08:00

I want to make my life about being a fan of the things that God is a fan of, and hating the things that God hates, which is something I think that all Christians could get on board with. In the last entry we looked at God's heart for missions, and I think it's pretty evident in scripture that God is a fan of reaching the world with His love, so what will we do about it?

I believe there are three main things that we can do:

Pray:

Mark 11:15-18: "my house is to be a house of prayer for all nations..."
Matthew 9:37,38: "harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few..."

I cannot even begin to describe how important prayer is to the work that is going on here as well as all over the world. We need to pray intentionally; to stand in the gap for the Unreached People of the world, asking that God would stretch out His hand to them, supernaturally or through the "laborers" in this world.

Give:

Matthew 6:19-20: "store up for yourselves treasures in heaven..."

Why save up money for ourselves, instead, we should invest in the kingdom of God, our money can be used in no greater way than to further the Gospel.

Mark 16:15: "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."

Warning: If you pray and give, He just might ask you to Go...How fun would that be?!

Biblical Basis for Missions (God's Heart For the Nations)

2008-01-28T14:03:00.001-08:00

OK, here we go for part three. (Once again, I know this is lengthy, but it's so good for anybody who wants to learn a little bit more about the heart of God.)...

"How much does God care about missions anyway?" I believe that this is an incredibly important question to ask. Most of us, when talking about missions, can only site a few verses having to do with missions, namely the Great Commission, Acts 1:8, and possibly a few others. Although this information alone should be sufficient to get us fired up about missions, it seems fair to ask the question, "Is that it? I mean there are around 2,000 instances in the Bible referring to money, if missions were that important, you think it'd be in there a little more." The truth of the matter is that from Genesis to Revelation, the Bible screams God's heart for reaching the lost; for having his name glorified to the ends of the earth. Let's see what the Bible has to say...

Genesis 1:28 "God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth ..."

Wow, the very first words God ever spoke to mankind: be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Now why would he say the whole earth? Because God had this perfect relationship with Adam and Eve walking and talking the garden. God desired that type of relationship with more people and wanted them spread out through the whole earth. However, we know that by Genesis 3 sin had crept in and by chapter 8 the world was not looking good. So, as God floods the earth and starts over, listen to the command He gives Noah, just after he steps off the ark.

Genesis 9:1 "Then God blessed Noah and his sons saying to them, " Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. "

Sound familiar? "Hey Noah, don't just populate a city, fill the earth." There it is again, the command to multiply. So as we come to chapter 11 there should be one simple question on all of our minds: Does God get the earth filled? Lets keep reading,

Genesis 11: 1-4 "Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there ...Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth .'"

Can't you hear the talk of the town? "You know, we all look the same, act the same, talk the same, eat the same, and dress the same. Let's just stay right here and make a name for ourselves. Do we really want to be scattered? We're comfortable here! " This does not exactly sound like they are excited about obeying God's command. Because of man's urge to settle, God is forced to step in and scatter, filling the earth just as He desired.

Genesis 11:7-8 "'Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.' So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth , and they stopped building the city."

So, as we end the introduction we see that God has a problem: people scattered all over the earth speaking many different languages. How is He going to reach all of them? What will He do? Who will He use? The plot begins.

Genesis 12:1-3 "The Lord had said to Abram, ' Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you...I will bless you... and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you .'"

Hey Abram, leave. Leave your country, your people, your family, your life, your dreams, your ambitions, your future as well as all that you know and are familiar with and go to the land I will show you. Now if you keep reading, something really weird happens...

Genesis 12:4 " So Abram left , as the Lord had told him."

He leaves. Man obeys God. This is a pretty weird concept especially in today's world. So Abram is off to establish a nation that will bless all peoples. Interestingly, this command was not for Abram alone. Watch God continue to call succeeding generations to reach all nations. Next in line is Abraham's son, Isaac.

Genesis 26:4 "I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed ."

And to Isaac's son, Jacob:

Genesis 28:14 "Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring "

The rest of the Old Testament is filled with God using Israel to make His name great among the nations. Here are just a few examples:

The 10 Commandments

Deuteronomy 4:5-6 "Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations , who will hear about all these decrees and say, ' Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people .'"

His reputation spread after parting the Red Sea

Joshua 2:9-10 "I (Rahab) know that the Lord has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us... we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt..."

Solomon and his wisdom

1 Kings 4:34 " Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom."

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace

Daniel 3:29 "Therefore, I (Nebuchadnezzar) decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces... for no other God can save in this way."

Daniel in the lions' den

Daniel 6:26 " I (Darius) issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel..."

For further study see Psalm 33:13-14, 67:1-7, 86:9-10, 96:3; Isaiah 11:9-10, 49:6, 52:10, 61:11; Jonah 4:11, Habakkuk 1:5, Zephaniah 2:11, Haggai 2:7, Zechariah 8:20-23, Malachi 1:11

The fulfillment of the promise that God would bless all nations through Abraham as well as many OT prophecies was of course, Jesus. When he died on the cross, he did so to redeem people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. He died for the sins of all, but only those that call on the name of the Lord can be saved from those sins because there is salvation in no other name.

As we transition to the New Testament the plot only thickens. Now Christ, God in flesh, enters the scene and what do we see in the pattern of His life and ministry? Nothing different. Whether it is taking a longer route to reach a Samaritan women (John 4:1-42) or healing various Gentiles to teach His followers (Mark 5:1-20, 7:24-30). Christ in the New Testament maintained the pattern established in the Old Testament. He had a heart that people from all nations come in to relationship with him.

It is important to note here that the word "nation" in the Bible comes from the Greek word ethne meaning ethnic groups. When we think of a nation, we usually think of a country like Mexico. However, the Bible is talking about people groups when it uses the word nation. There are 24,000 people groups on the earth and almost 7,000 of them are still considered unreached with the gospel.

Mark 11:15-17 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area designated for the Gentiles to worship and he found people buying and selling there. As He drove them out saying "Is it not written; 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations '?"

Why did Jesus get so angry in the temple? Because people were using it as a market rather than a place of prayer for all nations.

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."

Jesus said this His gospel would be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all ethnic groups and then the end would come. We are supposed to live each day as if it could be the last, but Jesus himself said that His Word had to be preached to all nations before He would come back. Let's reach the remaining people groups in our lifetime!

Matthew 28:18-20 "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

Jesus' very last commandment before leaving this earth was to take His gospel to all nations/people groups. We should dedicate ourselves to that task until he returns.

Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth ."

The main reason that the Lord has given us his Holy Spirit to dwell inside of us is so that we can be witnesses to the ends of the earth.

Revelation 7:9 "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb ..."

It is important to connect what is happening in Revelation with what God started in Genesis 12 in the life of Abraham. God will do it. There will be a representative from every nation, tribe, people, and language bowing and worshipping at His feet. Heaven is multicultural. God is a missionary God, and from cover to cover He is showing us His mission. God doesn't want any to perish, but all to come to repentance. Will you join Him in bringing a representative from every people group to His throne? It will happen, the only question is will you be a part? The question remains:

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'

I hope that these passages were able to give you a little bit more insight about just how much God wants to reach the lost. Now what are you going to do about it?

(Note: Scripture verses and commentary taken from http://www.globalfrontiermissions.com/missions.html)

Biblical Basis for Missions (Unreached People Groups...Oaxaca, Mexico?)

2008-01-28T13:24:00.000-08:00

It is a fair question to ask, how Oaxaca, Mexico (the area of Mexico that I am currently working in) works into the scenario reaching those who are the least reached of the world.

Actually, there are 22 Unreached People Groups (UPG's) in total in the state of Oaxaca, which is the largest concentration of UPG's in the Western Hemisphere. The largest one of these groups is the Mixtec Indians on the Northwestern part of the state. In the center many of the Mixtec villages, sits a small city called Tlaxiaco, where I am currently living. Tlaxiaco (pronounced Tla-hi-a-ko) is a place where people from surrounding villages often come to work, and is also a weekly place of trade for those who live in the surrounding villages. We are working to disciple people into God's kingdom and to plant churches in Tlaxiaco with the hopes of them then going back to their villages and ministering to the people who live there.

You may be asking, "Why aren't you going to the villages yourself? This is a great question, and the answer to which is this; the mother tongue, or heart language, of the Mixtec Indians is not Spanish, but a tonal language called Mixteco, which is more like Vietnamese than Spanish. So, needless to say, the language barrier, although not at all insurmountable, would take years to get passed. Also, from village to village, the dialect of Mixteco varies so greatly that many deeper concepts are lost in the translation. Furthermore, many of the surrounding villages are often times closed to white people and any kind of change, often making it take years to build up enough trust in a village to be able to share the Gospel. In reaching the people of Tlaxiaco, they can go back to their villages, speaking the language fluently, and not having to deal with any trust issues, as they are just talking to their families, friends, etc. I hope that made sense.

It is also necessary, I think, to explain the necessity of the Gospel in an area which claims to be almost completely Catholic. The answer requires a short history lesson: Before the Spanish arrived in Mexico, most of the Indians native to Mexico were Animists, or people who worshiped spirits. When the Spanish came, the Conquistadors basically said, "Convert to Catholicism or die!", so the Indians "converted". In reality, they kept all of their old beliefs and inserted a pretty Jesus in white robes into the picture. Their lives are plagued with fear of evil spirits, people casting spells on them, the fear of the "evil eye", etc. Pray that God would reveal Himself to the Mixtec Indians, free them from the bondage of fear, and bring them into a relationship with Himself.

Biblical Basis for Missions (Unreached People Groups)

2008-01-28T10:36:00.000-08:00

OK, I know I have already talked about the Biblical basis of missions stuff with many of you, but I figured it would be good to go ahead and blog it anyway, for any of you who haven't heard it yet, and for those who have, a little review can never hurt. I know this will be a little lengthy, and due to that fact, I have decided to break this up into four posts. The first one will be about Unreached People Groups, the second about Unreached People groups in Oaxaca, Mexico, where I am working now, the third about God's heart for the nations; a look through the Bible, and the fourth will be about what we can do about it all. I think it's all stuff that is really important to know.

I decided a while ago that my missions statement of sorts was to "serve the least reached people of the world in such a way that will most effectively develop them into loving, growing, and reproducing disciples of Jesus Christ." This statement in and of itself, I believe, begs for two questions to be answered. One, who/what are the least reached people groups of the world? And two; How much does God care about that (missions) anyway?

So here goes: "Who are the least reached people groups of the world?" Well, a people group by itself is a group of people who share the same customs, traditions, language, etc. The least reached people groups of the world (or Unreached People Groups (UPG's)) are the people with almost no access to the Gospel. While there may be a few believers, there is no established local church that can reach out the rest of the group. Therefore, for the People group to come to know Jesus Christ, one of two things must happen. They must receive a divine revelation from God, like Paul on the road to Damascus, or believers elsewhere must bring Jesus to them. (It is important to note that a people group is not necessarily a nationality. For example, a people group would not be Mexicans, but rather, the Mixtec Indians, Triqui Indians, and Zapotec Indians. Most often, there are multiple people groups within a country.

Here's the Problem:

There are 16,225 people groups in the world.
6,881 of these groups are completely unreached with the Gospel.
There are roughly 6.61 billion people in the world.
2.72 billion of these people live in unreached people groups.

That's roughly 41% of the entire worlds population that has no access to the Gospel, who will never be able to hear the love of Jesus apart from someone going to them, bringing them God's word!

What's more, 95% of the Unreached people groups of the world lie in an area of the world called the 10/40 window, which is 10 degrees north latitude to 40 degrees north latitude encompassing North Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Sadly, only 5% of the world's missionaries are going to this area of most need. In the next entry of this little series, I will attempt to explain how working in Mexico fits into the whole picture of reaching the least reached of the world.

2008-01-14T13:33:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! It has been just over a week since I got back from the states after a few weeks of visiting family and friends during for Christmas and New Years. I have spent the last week catching up with all of my "Gringo" friends and reestablishing relationships with all of my Mexican friends.

Quick story:
Before I left for Christmas break, one of my classmates, Derrick and I were walking down the street to visit a friend, but when we got to his restaurant, he wasn't there. His restaurant was right next door to this "Spiritual Cleansing" place where a witch did his business, so we decided to sit down and pray against all of the spiritual darkness that was going on there. While walking in town yesterday, we saw that the sign was torn down and that he is out of business. It was an incredible answer to prayer!

Important Note:

2007-12-13T21:57:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention that all names (with the exception of fellow missionaries) will be changed for security reasons on all blogs that follow. For example, Juan will now be John and Pablo Paul and so on and so forth.

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone, and thank you for your patience as I begin to figure out how this all works what is the best way to do it...Dios te bendiga (God bless you).

Welcome

2007-12-04T22:48:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Alright, so I created this blog to solve a dilemma I was having about writing updates back home about what's going on here in Mexico and everything. Some people want short and concise updates letting them know what they need to know to be able to pray more effectively, while others want to know a little more about what's going on here. This is an attempt to spare those who don't want to know all the details from having to read them, while allowing for an opportunity for those who do want to know more. I hope that made sense.

My goal is to update this weekly, so if you see I have gone well over a week without posting, you are welcome to shoot me an email and keep me accountable (Although I'll be leaving soon for Christmas and probably won't do any posting during my stay in the states, but after that.)...I'd love that actually. Sometimes I just forget stuff.

Alright, I hope this blog thing is a blessing to you all...if you have any questions as to what I'm doing over here, or how you can better pray for me, or missions stuff in general, or just want to say hey, you are welcome to shoot me an email at tuckerw.martin@gmail.com. Dios te bendiga.