Relying on God

Welcome back! It is exciting to be at the beginning stage of this ministry, and we will get to see where God leads us.

As we shared yesterday, our hope is eventually to be blessed by God to provide financial aid to this family of churches and their missionaries. Think about it, we in the U.S. train our citizens to travel to foreign lands, learn a new language and a new culture and try to bear fruit among the native peoples. How much does that cost us? Would it not make more sense to support local pastors and missionaries who already know the culture and language, or at least know enough about it to adapt if they are in cross cultural missions within their greater geographical group? Indigenous missionaries cost far less, and they bear more fruit.

But that discussion is for another day. Right now, we want to focus on the beginning of this calling of God in our lives. My ministry partner in the Philippines has been praying about this kind of ministry for years. I, (Micah speaking), was drafted into it. I'm like Saul on the Damascus road or John MacArthur sliding down the freeway on his back. (If you're not familiar with that story, check out http://www.gty.org/; he shares his testimony in various resources. If you don't find the testimony, there are plenty of other resources there that will enrich your spiritual life.) I never prayed for this ministry, but through many providences, I discovered both the need for and wisdom of this type of ministry. An enlisted soldier and a drafted soldier have the same duty, and I pray God may make me faithful to this, His calling.

I am like every man in this regard: I love to be the solution to every problem (unfortunately, I often tend to be the problem to every solution instead). With the financial needs of these churches, I would love nothing more than to give them money or immediately start fundraising. But two problems with that arise: First, I cannot supply all the needs, and second, we have a long way to go before we can start fundraising (we need a minister of red tape to help us out).

I am indebted greatly to K.P. Yohannan and his ministry Gospel for Asia for my understanding about this type of ministry. (If you are not familiar with GFA, please go to the website and order your free copy of Revolution in World Missions.) GFA raises funds for indigenous missionaries in India and other parts of Asia, but Yohannan makes a point of saying that the missionaries need more than our funds, they also need our prayers.

So, that's where we will start. We cannot ask you for money now. But we can ask for your prayers. We are just starting out. We need prayer warriors who will join us in praying for the ministry. We also need people who will promise to pray for the churches and missionaries.

I have had to face my limited resources, so that God could remind me of His unlimited resources. This ministry will never succeed if it is up to my abilities and wisdom and resourcefulness. But if we rely on God and His promises, and if we seek Him in prayer, then we can see Him do great things. Will you join us in praying? Will you join us in seeing God provide? Will you add your prayers for the work God is already doing in this nation?

I pray that you will.