A Change of Direction

Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Isaiah 43:6 & 7

Consider this – we have been created for God’s glory. And He has given us the task of making His glory known to the ends of the earth.
God has been changing my focus over the past couple of years. I have been working on making Christ known in the Amazon for over 20 years. We believed God wanted us to encourage and train the Brazilians to reach their own people with the gospel.
God has chosen to do His work there through one church in particular. While Igreja Batista Nova Jerusalem (New Jerusalem Baptist Church) surely is not the only group of believers reaching out with the gospel in the Amazon region, it is a shining star in my opinion. Pastor Donizete has a heart to make Christ known, and his people have caught this vision.
I had a talk with my friend Pastor Adriano the other day and told him that the upcoming trip in mid-July will probably be our last to Brazil for a while. He was in complete agreement with me that our mission there has pretty much been accomplished.
I told him that I believe the correct approach for making disciples cross-culturally is to spend time in a place, lead folks to Christ, establish a self-sustaining church, and then move on to do the same thing in another area where there are not followers of Christ.
That is where we are at this point. I believe God is leading us to move on to other parts of the world where churches, believers, and the gospel are not readily available. There are so many people groups in the world who have not even heard the name of Christ. He is unknown to them. As we have been saying, “We have the delightful responsibility to reach them and make Him known to them.”
It is sad to say goodbye to so many dear friends in Brazil. We have been working side by side with them for many years. But we will be re-united in the next life, and until then we all have work to do for the Kingdom. They are getting the gospel to their own people on the Arapiuns River, and on the Tapajos, and in the city of Santarem as well.
God is opening doors for us in other parts of the world. There seems to be a huge opportunity for us in Turkey. Holly has been there for 10 years, helping soften up the ground for the seed of the gospel to take root. Now is the time for some of us to step up and help. Over 96% 0f the Turkish people are Muslim and do not follow Christ. Over 90% of these folks have been abused as children! They desperately need God’s love, hope, and forgiveness for sin.
Will you consider what the Father is asking you to do?

David Shaw, missions director