It was great to have Monday as a holiday. Our team arrived back in Rogers at 2 am, Sunday morning. I know everyone has their own air travel horror stories, so I will not bore you with the details of ours in attempt to build sympathy. That said, I was committed to preaching all three Sunday morning services. I wanted to do it and knew that I had Sunday and Monday to rest up. So here we are on Tuesday. Here are few lessons from the trip that I have gleaned.
The purpose of God to bring glory to Himself is inseparably connected to the Gospel being shared, people being saved, and resulting in more worshipers of Our King. Worship that does not enlist workers who are passionate for the King and sharing the King’s message of redemption, forgiveness, salvation, and security is not really biblical worship.
The purpose of God requires His people to be inconvenienced, persecuted, challenged, suffering, tired, stretched, sacrificing, humbled, bold, empowered, anointed, filled, dependent, etc. God’s invitation to join Him is often an invitation into danger rather than safety, into difficulty rather than comfort, into impossibility instead of routine, into selflessness instead of self-gratification, into significance and suffering rather than success.
The Gospel is powerful to save and to transcend cultural barriers. One of the challenges that confronts the Western church is that the Gospel is not the priority. Other things which may be good and even some necessary for biblical growth sometimes begin to crowd out the priority of the Gospel. I have just taught pastors that the Great Commission is not completed until the “baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” has taken place. But we cannot baptize and teach unless people hear and receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
While traveling, I almost finished reading the book, “The Convergent Church: Missional Worshiper in an Emerging Culture.” by Alvin Reid and Mark Liederbach. These guys are both professors at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Reid spoke for me at our state convention last year and will be preaching in January at FBC Rogers and doing a youth worker workshop. My intent here is not to do an extensive book review. The book is good and balanced. They get beyond style and form to the heart of the matter of the Gospel, God’s people living missionally, and connecting with lost people so they can hear the Gospel. Unfortunately, we preach the Gospel in the church but the lost are not there. We do not live the Gospel missionally outside the church where the people are. Many people my generation and older have grown up with the view that God’s kingdom and His work takes place within the four walls of a building where saints gather each Sunday. I would venture to say that 90% of those who made POF last week did so outside the walls of a building with “church” on a sign out front. Now I do believe that people will come to church if a friend invites them and there they can hear the Gospel. Two key words in that previous sentence are “friend” and “invite.” We must have friends who need Christ. We must invite them to come with us to church.
There is also an observation of the openness of people to the Gospel. My great fear is that the US is following the pattern of Europe. Our views on morality have certainly slipped to European lows. Our culture here is becoming more and more anti-Christ and anti-Church. We shared the Gospel in schools in Nicaragua and hundreds of children and teenagers trusted in Christ. I remember learning the books of the Bible in my 3rd grade public school class. I remember beginning the day with prayer, Bible reading, and the pledge of allegiance in my 3rd grade public school class. I am not advocating that the schools and the government are the keys to spiritual awakening or revival. They are just indicators of where our culture is today. The same opposition and animosity that is overwhelming on all the major media outlets on TV and in print can be seen in many of the people in our communities.
I contrast that with what I just experienced in Nicaragua and I come to some conclusions. First, America desperately needs revival. Individual believers must assume responsibility for living for Christ and missionally in their life. Your purpose is to glorify God and introduce others to Him where you live and work whether it is in government, schools, business, etc. Value your purpose for God supremely. Second, there are definite harvest fields in the world today where people are readily responding to the Gospel. Jesus spoke of fields being white unto harvest. Growing up in an agricultural community, I have learned the importance of the harvest. If you don’t bring the harvest in, then everything that you have done all year, the planting, fertilizing, spraying, irrigating, etc. does not matter and was for nothing. The harvest is the most important thing. People put aside everything else for the harvest knowing that rest comes after the harvest is in. Third, while the harvest is hard, it is also the most exciting part of farming. Hopes and dreams are realized in a harvest. So when we eliminate the harvest from our life journey, we have lost the fun part of the journey where our hopes and dreams lie and are fulfilled. These are just a few thoughts and reflections from Nicaragua. Until next time. . .Wes
Bill Kersh sharing his testimony at the crusade Wednesday night.
12 year old Din
Block Party
Michelle Burton plays Sin Box Sally and Wes plays the strong man in the Sin Box Drama.
Wes sharing Gospel at the block party.
Wes sharing at a different block party.
Wes and Din (read more about Din)
John Hurley, Miguel (block party leader), Wes
Wes and Din playing baseball
Its late but a few comments are certainly due since I probably will not have internet access other than by the blackberry until Saturday night. We have conservatively recorded over 5200 POF this week. Mike Hulsey shared with the team that is the most that Voice of Hope has experienced. No doubt, Ronnie Hill made a great contribution to that. Ronnie did school assemblies all day everyday and then preached at night. He was a tireless worker. Ronnie will be at First Baptist Rogers the last week of September. I pray that we might see a great harvest at home.
You have seen a few pictures of Din. He is a twelve year old boy that I met on Monday night when he asked for my bottle of water which I gave to him. Then he showed up at the crusade on Wednesday night and followed us to our van. He and I enjoyed a playful exchange of “Hey Man”. This morning early when we got ready to leave the hotel, Din was waiting outside the hotel (not the stadium). Sherry Hulsey had talked to him at our van about going to school on Wednesday night. So Sherry let him come with us on our block parties. He really was a lot of help. He ate lunch with us at the hotel and we got to know him better. He lives with his grandmother. His family abuses drugs and alcohol and he is pretty much on his own. I had the opportunity to lead Din in a prayer to receive Christ this afternoon. One of our interpreter Denise was a big help because Din speaks some English but really understands Spanish much better. I guess being the father of boys, Din touched my heart. He sang the songs from the crusade with Michelle. Sherry made some contacts with a local youth pastor that will attempt to mentor Din and get him into a special school that can catch him up since he cannot read or write. Din is very smart in that he is bilingual and street smart with a very energetic personality. The youth pastor knows Din’s family and knows that he will get no help from there. If he can get caught up some academically through this special schooling then he can enter the public school in February. Sherry will keep in touch through our interpreter Denise on how Din is doing. We have challenged Din to learn to read, stay out of trouble, go to church, and grow up to be a great man of God. I want to ask you to join me in prayer for Din to grow into that mighty man of God. I sense a leader’s spirit and a magnanimous personality that could accomplish great things for God in Nicaragua.
We leave at 6 am tomorrow morning to leave Blue Fields by small plane back to Managua. Our luggage left at 4 pm today to go by boat. We will spend the day in Managua (or getting there) and leave for the US Saturday morning. Praying for no delays or missed flights on the return. This is certainly the most fruitful trip that I have been on. I am hoping that this will be an ongoing trip for us going to a harvest field. My observations will be shared in the days ahead. Our team was great and I believe deeply touched. Thanks to John Hurley for all the photos on my blog. I better get to bed. It is after midnight and breakfast is at 5:30 am. Grateful for the Gospel and its power, until next time.
Wes with Bernard at the Crusade. Bernard received Christ that morning when Wes witnessed to him on the street.
John Hurley, Sherry and Mike Hulsey (Director of Voice of Hope and FBC Rogers members) Wes, Linda and Bill Kersh, Christy Williams, Michelle Burton
Sherry Hulsey, Christy Williams, and Michelle Burton
John with translators Oscar, Juan, and Chico
John Hulsey and Bill Kersh with Roger at Crusade who they led to the Lord at a fiesta.
Over 200 Adults responded to the Invitation Wednesday Night with Ronnie Hill preaching.
Another great day comes to an end. I know that many are not interested in numbers, but these numbers represent many things. First they represent a real living person who will live eternally some where. Also, great measure has been taken in being conservative with the numbers. One example where I saw that was in a school where I shared the gospel and probably over 50 boys stood to their feet saying they had just trusted Christ. Mike Hulsey recorded 26 POF based on the age and how they listened and responded during the message. So what are the numbers. . .over 2500 POF with over 2000 of those coming outside the crusade itself. The numbers also reflect the responsiveness of the people. I can see it in the willingness of the Nicaraguan people to listen to the gospel and how many respond. I have also noticed how many people really believe in a works based salvation. This great deception of the enemy misleads many into a false and empty hope trying to be good enough. This devilish doctrine robs God of His glory.
I have been very proud of our team. They have all done exceedingly well in sharing Christ. Others have noticed how well they share their testimonies. Linda Kersh got to share her testimony at a women’s conference today where 5 women prayed to receive Christ. Bill Kersh shared his testimony during the crusade tonight. One local pastor was so moved by Bill’s testimony that he wants Bill to share his testimony on the radio tomorrow and it will be played 5 times next week. John Hurley shared a great devotion this morning. John has become a flaming evangelist this week. We have had a good time and laughed a lot. The big question is whether the pastor will participate in the drama tomorrow, the last day. He has avoided serving his time as either “Sin box Sally, a dancer, a drunk or a strong man”. I am sure that those of you who know me well can’t imagine why I haven’t jumped on these acting roles. The peer pressure is mounting since I am the only one who has not been in the drama. I have managed to do street witnessing instead. We all miss our families. I especially do–I have a lot more to miss.
I need to also give a big cudo to Mike and Sherry Hulsey. They have done a great job. They have handled a logistical nightmare with exceptional skill and grace. They have recruited an awesome team of nationals to serve as translators, drivers, nursemaids, and friends to we Americans. They have a heart for this work and a love for these people. Their focus is clearly on evangelism. We are blessed greatly to have them as members of FBC Rogers. I look forward to on going partnership with them in sharing ministry in one of the great harvest fields in the world. Getting late and have a busy day tomorrow. Until Next time. . .
Here are a few photos from John Hurley’s camera. As of the end of today, our team of about 40 people have reported just over 1700 Professions of Faith. The pictures tell a little of the story. We began with our flight out of Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport being cancelled. God put us on a different airline with a better schedule. We arrived in Managua at 8 pm and spent the night in a retreat area. We flew on a small plane to Blue Fields the next morning and then Wes and John preached in 2 of 10 churches that we were in that night. The next day most of the team got on a boat and went to an area called the Bluffs to do evangelism. Wes preached on the radio and did a Pastor’s Conference in the morning. Tuesday was more of the same with Wes joining the rest of the team in block parties and school assembly evangelism. John and Bill went to a prison for a couple of hours and saw many trust Christ. Block parties for our team saw many more come to Christ. The first night of the crusade in a baseball stadium resulted in about 300 POF. Looking forward to the next two days.
It has certainly been awhile since I posted. As always, I have been way too busy. Also my energy level has not been as it has been in the past. I wonder if age has anything to do with that. I am in Nicaragua with 4 others from FBC Rogers (Bill and Linda Kersh, Michelle Burton, John Hurley) and also Christy Williams from FBC Lavaca. We are here with FBC members and the Director of Voice of Hope Ministry, Michael Hulsey and his wife, Sherry. There are almost 40 on the entire team. Ronnie Hill is also here preaching a crusade at night and doing schools during the day. We have seen over 400 people pray to receive Christ and the crusade has not even started yet. It starts tonight. These POF were from block parties, street witnessing, school assemblies, and the Sunday’s church services. Our team is doing a great job. I have heard comments from other pastors here, of how well our folks are doing in talking with people about Christ and sharing their testimonies.
The weather is hot. We have had only minor illness among the team. Mike and Sherry do a great job in coordination and taking care of the team. There are some great translators that they work with that make preaching and sharing the Gospel more seamless than you would think. Gotta run. Until next time. Wes
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