Stories from Haiti ..........

Hi everyone. I'm not sure how many of you know that there are at leas two Calvary Chapel churches in Haiti. One of them is in Porta-au-Prince, and the other in Caneille. Praise the Lord that both pastors and their families are safe and being used by the Lord in a great way right now. The church and orphanage in PAP though not totally destroyed still suffered some pretty severe damage structurally - enough so that nobody is staying at either facility. The church in Caneille didn't suffer any damages and is being used currently. Pastor Bastia and his wife Betty from C.C. Caneille have a great testimony of how the Lord protected them during the earthquake last week. Below is an email that we received from them the day after it took place.

Hi everyone,

We are writing this e mail to the many who have written and asked how we are in light of yesterday’s earthquake in Haiti. Short answer – Yes, Bastia and I are both safe and unharmed due to nothing short of a miracle of God..

Bastia and I were both in Port au Prince when the earthquake took place. Bastia dropped me off at a grocery store to do some shopping while he and our friend TiJean went across the street to get their hair cut. Within 10 minutes of being in the grocery store, I felt the floor start to tremble. I remember thinking, “This feels like an earthquake, but Haiti doesn’t have earthquakes”. As I looked up, the ceiling tiles were trembling. Underneath me, the trembling increased where I could not stand, so I knelt down on the floor, covered my head, and prayed. The trembling increased and the lights went out. It was pitch black everywhere. I heard people screaming and the sound of people trying to run to get out of the building as ceiling tiles fell and things fell off the shelves. All around me, I was aware that things were falling, but nothing touched me. The tremors stopped, and the first thing I tried to do was try to call Bastia from my cell phone. No answer, just a recorded message in Creole. Same thing the second attempt. I was aware that there was a woman behind me. “Are you OK?” I asked. “Yes”. I said, “Don’t be afraid, Jesus is with us.” I told her to follow me, and with the light of my cell phone, we carefully and slowly began crossing the debris to exit the building. As I exited, I looked everywhere for Bastia. And then, right there in front of me, there he was along with TiJean. I cannot explain the relief and joy to see his face.

Bastia had a more harrowing experience. It was a huge cement building and he and TiJean were sitting in the barber chairs when the tremors began. TiJean fell on the way out, but got out before the building collapsed. Bastia was not able to get out and a huge slab of cement fell down right above him and stopped right above his head. I personally believe Gods’ angels were holding up the cement to not crush him. He saw no way to get out, but then found a hole to crawl through and escaped. This morning, when we drove by the same barber shop, it had totally collapsed, and Bastia would have died if that had happened while he was in the building. Once out, he and TiJean came immediately to find me.

We are praising God continuously for His protection and deliverance. Thank you for all who pray for us. God has a plan and nothing will stop it. The situation in PAP is severe. Many people are trapped in buildings of which almost all are made of cement. This morning there were wounded, bleeding people everywhere, and dead people on the streets who were covered with a shirt or sheet. There was little vehicle traffic and literally thousands of people walked the streets looking at the damage and searching for their loved ones. One hospital was completely destroyed. We took a truckload of injured people to the hospital. There was hardly a place left on the hospital grounds to even put them. The hospital was full and there were no medical personnel seen outside. One beautiful young girl was dying before my very eyes as the young man with her looked at me and said, “She’s dying.” There were cries and wails of pain everywhere.

Schools throughout the entire country are closed till further notice. The presidents’ house has been destroyed as well as the police station, hospital, schools, many businesses, homes,etc. No one here ever recalls Haiti having had a severe earthquake like this. In Caneille and Hinche, light tremors were felt, but no damage. The light tremors hit Caneille and Hinche before PAP, and the people of Caneille said they were praying for us fervently and relentlessly. We arrived back in Hinche this afternoon and are trying to stock up on food, gas, and culligan water. Everything originates from PAP and we expect prices to skyrocket and things to be unavailable.

C.C. Philly is now working with these two churches, and we are currently praying on what the best way is to help them in the long term. Regarding trips there, this will probablly be a reality in the next couple of months. Keep an eye on our website , or this site for more information on short-term trips.

You can go to these sites if you would like some more information regarding the two churches mentioned above.

Calvary Chapel Canielle - http://www.cccaneille.org/
Calvary Chapel Port-Au-Prince - http://ccpap.blogspot.com/
Calvary Chapel Orphanage in PAP - http://calvarychapelinthecity.com/ccf-orphanage/

First Communion on Aniwa

As mentioned in my last post, I waned to write a little about John G. Paton and the impact that he had in the New Hebrides in the mid to late 1800's. Instead of quoting bits and pieces from one of my favorite chapters, I figured I would just post the entire chapter - yes, it's that good! Without ruining the story (because you guys have to get this book and read it), I will briefly write that John G. Paton left Tanna after 4 years, and after a series of events landed on the island if Aniwa not to far from Tanna. There he would spend over 40 years ministering to the cannibals, and over time, basically the entire isalnd gets saved, radically saved. The following talks about the first communion that was held at the church with local Aniwa believers participating. My prayer is that the Lord would impress on your heart those that still today have not heard about Jesus, but yet so need Him to deliver them from their bondage to sin. That we would be praying for the Lord to thrust out laborers into this harvest field of unreached peoples - all 1.8 billion of them!

And this leads me to relate the story of our First Communion on Aniwa. It was Sabbath, 24th October, 1869; and surely the Angels of God and the Church of the Redeemed in Glory were amongst the gieat cloud of witnesses who eagerly " peered" down upon the scene,—when we sat around the Lord's Table and partook of His body and blood with those few souls rescued out of the Heathen World. My Communicants' Class had occupied me now a considerable time. The conditions of attendance at this early stage were explicit, and had to be made very severe, and only twenty were admitted to the roll. At the final examination only twelve gave evidence of understanding what they were doing, and of having given their hearts to the service of the Lord Jesus. At their own urgent desire, and after every care in examining and instructing, they were solemnly dedicated in prayer to be baptized and admitted to the Holy Table• On that Lord's Day, after the usual opening Service, I gave a short and careful exposition of the Ten Commandments and of the Way of Salvation according to the Gospel. The twelve Candidates then stood up before all the inhabitants there assembled ; and, after a brief exhortation to them as Converts, I put to them the two questions that follow, and each gave an affirmative reply," Do you, in accordance with your profession of the Christian Faith, and your promises before God and the people, wish me now to baptize you ? And,—"Will you live henceforth for Jesus only, hating all sin and trying to love and serve your Saviour ? "

Then, beginning with the old Chief, the twelve came forward, and I baptized them one by one according to the Presbyterian usage. Two of them had also little children, and they were at the same time baptized, and received as the lambs of the flock. Solemn prayer was then offered, and in the name of the Holy Trinity the Church of Christ on Aniwa was formally constituted. I addressed them on the words of the Holy Institution—I Corinthians xi. 23—and then, after the prayer of Thanksgiving and Consecration, administered the Lord's Supper,—the first time since the Island of Aniwa was heaved out of its coral depths ! Mrs. McNair, my wife, and myself along with six Aneityumese Teachers, communicated with the newly baptized twelve. And I think, if ever in all my earthly experience, on that day I might truly add the blessed words—Jesus " in the midst"
The whole Service occupied nearly three hours. The Islanders looked on with a wonder whose unwonted silence was almost painful to bear. Many were led to inquire carefully about everything they saw, so new and strange. For the first time the Dorcas Street Sabbath School Teachers' gift from South Melbourne Presbyterian Church was put to use—a new Communion Service of silver. They gave it in faith that we would require it, and in such we received it And now the day had come and gone! For three years we had toiled and prayed and taught for this. At the moment when I put the bread and wine into those dark hands, once stained with the blood of Cannibalism, now stretched out to receive and partake the emblems and seals of the Redeemer's love, I had a foretaste of the joy of Glory that well nigh broke my heart to pieces. I shall never taste a deeper bliss, till I gaze on the glorified face of Jesus Himself.

On the afternoon of that Communion Day, an open-air Prayer Meeting was held under the shade of the great banyan tree in front of our Church. Seven of the new Church members there led the people in prayer to Jesus, a hymn being sung betwixt each. My heart was so full of joy that I could do little else but weep. Oh, I wonder, I wonder, when I see so many good Ministers at home, crowding each other and treading on each other's heels, whether they would not part with all their home privileges, and go out to the Heathen World and reap a joy like this— " the joy of the Lord."

The New Year is fast approaching......

Hello everyone. I'm not going to make any excuses on my blog tardiness. I will say however that I stared a Twitter account to hopefully offset my delay of long blog posts with shorter missions minded tweets. If you want to follow along, go over to the right of this blog, and click the link.

I recently finished reading the autobiography of John G. Paton. I must tell you that if you have never read it, I would consider it a must read, as well as one of my top 3 favorite missionary biography's. John Paton was a missionary to the New Hebrides (the modern day islands of Vanuatu) in the South Pacific. Around 1862 John Paton had been on the island of Tana for 4 years trying to teach the cannibals about the love of Jesus. At that point he had lost his wife and newborn son, some of his missionary friends had been killed and eaten, and he himself was daily trying to save his life from the hands of the Tannese who waned to kill him. One night while trying to run away from an angry mob that was chasing him, he climbed up a tall tree and hid in the darkness of the jungle. He writes,

I climbed into the tree and was left there alone in the bush. The hours I spent there live all before me as if it were but yesterday. I heard the frequent discharging of muskets, and the yells of the savages. Yet I sat there among the branches, as safe in the arms of Jesus. Never in all my sorrows, did my Lord draw nearer to me, and speak more soothingly in my soul, then when the moonlight flickered among those chestnut leaves, and the night air played on my throbbing brow, as I told all my heart to Jesus. Alone, yet not alone! If it be to glorify my God, I will not grudge to spend many nights alone in such a tree, to feel again my Saviour's spiritual presence, to enjoy His counseling fellowship. If thus thrown back upon your own soul, alone, all, all alone, in the midnight, in the bush, in the very embrace of death itself, have you a Friend that will not fail you then?

Wow, what a quote! Some of you may have seen a recent show on the travel channel called "Meet the Natives" where a group of tribal Indians from the island of Tanna (sound familiar) come to the US to experience it's customs and culture (and also give a message of stopping violence and war - how ironic right) ? It's very interesting, but to me what's more interesting is the history behind these people, and the gospel that had reached them 147 years before hand through John G. Paton! I think I'm going to share about the life on John G. Paton at our Missions Conference here at C.C. Philly on Saturday, May 22nd - that's right, mark your calendars. I'm sure I'll write some more about his life. The book was an absolute blessing in my life, I'm sure it will be the same for you.

Missions wise, 2010 has a lot of awesome stuff already lined up. Construction trip/ pastors conferences in Kasempa, Zambia. Two trips to help out the small church plants in the mountains of El Salvador, a trip to Israel and Jordan, as well as some other surprises. Keep checking back for some more updates. Lastly, pray for me as I attend the annual Calvary Chapel Missions Conference in Murrieta, California in a couple of weeks. Pray that the Lord would impart in me more of His heart for all peoples to know Him and declare His glory. Pray that I could be an encouragement to any missionary that needs it, and also for divine appointments set up by our Saviour. Thanks guys!

Blessings,
Carlos

El Salvador Medical Trip !

I hope you guys enjoy this. What an awesome trip!

El Salvador Medical Trip !

Greetings from El Salvador! I apologize to all those who have been checking this blog only to find no updates. I can assure you I have been trying, but the internet access here in in El Salvador is not very dependable to say the least. So I guess I have to fill you in on what's been happening here since Saturday. ( I don't know really where to start)! Today is the third day running medical clinics here in El Salvador. Each day we have been traveling to a different Calvary Chapel church plant throughout the country, and running free medical clinics. People in the neighborhoods where the churches are have been waiting to see our doctors and dentists for a couple of weeks now. For many, this is their only opportunity to receive medical and dental care because they lack the money to pay for the treatment. So usually we arrive at our site with a line of people already waiting to be seen. While the people are waiting to be checked out, we have a team (some from our C.C. Philly group, and some from the local Calvary) that shares Christ with them, and gives them Gospels of John as well as a pamphlet with directions to the church. Many people have gotten saved throughout these three days and we are praying for even more to believe on the name of Jesus during the last two clinics.

Everyone on our team is healthy, and doing great. They are all working extremely hard, and each night their exhausted from serving the Lord in this incredible heat! (I forgot to mention that we are all sweating by around 7:30 in the morning, and we don't stop sweating until the daily thunderstorms come and knock out all the power, and close the roads - that's at around 4:30 every afternoon). I would ask that you continue to pray for us - that the Lord would strengthen all of us for the remaining clinics, that He would be glorified in all that we do, and that many would continue to trust in Him as their Lord and Savior. We want to be a blessing to the local Calvary's here, so please also pray that their church is encouraged by the clinics and by those who end up coming to hear God's Word being taught every Sunday.

I think that's all for now - I will try to update tomorrow, and will also try to get some pictures posted on here in a little bit. Thanks for all your prayers, we can all sense the Lord's hand on this trip - please keep them coming!

Blessings,

Carlos

Medical Missions Trip Info / A great resource......

Hello everyone, sorry it's been awhile since my last post. I guess I'm not doing very well with my commitment for a once a week update. I just wanted to write to ask you to pray for our Medical Missions Trip to El Salvador which will take place from September 26th - October 3rd. This trip was a trip that we had to postpone last November because of paperwork that couldn't get done in time in El Salvador, and because of lots of red tape that we didn't know about going in. Anyway, the Lord's ways are not our ways, and His thoughts far beyond ours right ? SO I think that last November wasn't His timing, but I am praying that this September will be! And I am asking you guys to join me in praying for this trip. All the important paperwork is done, and it has all been submitted to the El Salvadorian government. At this time we are just waiting for the official "green light" from them. Please pray that we will get that soon, and that we can go ahead with the final planning and preparation for this trip. As in all trips that we do, we want to see Jesus magnified and exalted amongst the El Salvadorian people, and we are going to use free medical care as an open door to tell them about our glorious God and Savior. We will be able to meet some of their physical needs, and most importantly get a chance to share the gospel, and pray for them all while they will be at a Bible teaching church in their mountain village (where the clinics will be held). SO I am very excited about this opportunity but we certainly need your prayers for this trip - for right now in particular, so that we can get the approval from the government to host these free medical clinics. I will keep you guys updated on the status of everything as I get more information. Thanks for praying!

Secondly, I just waned to share with you a great resource that my buddy Matt Ellison from 1615 told me about. The book is called "From Akebu to Zapotec" and although I think it has been around since 2002, I have just learned about it recently. We just started carrying them here at the bookstore at C.C. Philly. The book is basically a children's book with illustrations and info on Bibleless peoples going from A to Z. Each people group has their own page with a beautiful illustration and then a story about life in their culture. It's a great way to get our kids to be thinking about these peoples, to be praying for them, and also for the Lord to send someone to give them the Bible in their language. Those of you who know me know how close to my heart that is. This is just another tool, another resource which enables us to talk to our kids about the importance of sharing Christ and His Word with those who have never heard. Check it out, I know you will not be disappointed !

The true story of Tokich Ishii

Hello everyone, like I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to share with you guys a little more from the book "A Gentleman in Prison", the story of Tokichi Ishii. If you haven't been on here in awhile scroll down to the last post and read that first. You guys know his story by now, but I just wanted to post some excerpts from his journal. The first talking about how exactly he came to believe in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, and the second talking about some "divine favors" that he has realized are his IN CHRIST JESUS.

I went on, and my attention was next taken by these words: "And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do". I stopped: I was stabbed to the heart, as if pierced by a five-inch nail. What did the verse reveal to me ? Shall I call it the love of the heart of Christ? Shall I call it His compassion? I do not know what to call it. I only know that with an unspeakably grateful heart, I believed. Through this simple sentence I was led into the whole of Christianity. This is how I thought it out: I suppose a man's greatest enemy is the one who seeks to take his life from him. There is surely no greater enemy than this.

Now at the very moment when Jesus' life was being taken from him, he prayed for his enemies to the God of Heaven. Father, forgive them for they know not 'what they do. What else could I believe but that he was indeed the son of God ? I argued that an ordinary man is filled with anger and hatred and every other spiteful passion on the slightest provocation. Jesus, on the other hand, prayed for his enemies at the very moment his life was being taken, that life which was so precious that nothing could take its place. Was an act like this possible for an ordinary man? I do not think so. Then we cannot but say that he was God. Again, chaplains and pastors, and those who see men die, agree that the last words a man utters come from the depths of his soul, and that he does not die with lies upon his lips. Jesus' last words were, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do, and so I cannot but believe that they reveal his true heart.

I can't help but think about how powerful the Word of the Lord is. In the chapters before this, Tokichi Ishii tells of how this missionary Caroline MacDonald had come to his cell and given him a New Testament. He said she would come by and share about the words of Christ, but that he really didn't give any thought to it. He didn't read the New Testament for a long time, but eventually started reading it out of curiosity. After the third time picking it up, he came across those words "Father forgive them", and he was saved. Let us remember the power that is in the Word of God, and how even a simple act of sharing His Word can have eternal value to it! Here is the next quote where he shares about what the Lord has given him in Christ Jesus.

I want to tell you what divine favors were given me after I became a believer in Christ. First I received the imperishable and everlasting salvation of that most important part of man, his soul. As it is written: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life'. And again: "Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out". If we believe these words then we know that God has not forsaken us but has saved our souls forever.

I shall now speak of a second favor in which I have received from God. When I was free I travelled about west and east out in the world, and saw and heard many things, and had varied experiences. Today I am sitting in my prison cell with no liberty to come and go, and yet I am far more contented than in the days of my freedom. In prison, with only poor, coarse food to eat, I am more thankful than I ever was out in the world when I could get whatever food I wanted. In this prison cell, only nine by six feet in size, I am happier than if I were living in the largest house I ever saw in the outer world. Whatever agony is in my heart I can now overcome. No matter what discomforts I endure there is only gladness in my heart. The joy of each day is very great. These things are all due to the grace and divine favor of Jesus Christ.

I wish to speak now of the greatest favor of all, the power of Christ, which cannot be measured by any of our standards. I have been more than twenty years in prison since I was nineteen years of age, and during that time I have known what it meant to endure suffering, although I have had some pleasant times as well. I have passed through all sorts of experiences, and have been urged often to repent of my sins. In spite of this, however, I did not repent, but on the contrary became more and more hardened. And then by the power of that one word of Christ's, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, my unspeakably hardened heart was changed, and I repented of all my crimes. Such power is not in man.

I love what he says about being content. I wish the world (and also us as believers) could understand and apply that truth to our own lives. Here is a man who had no freedom at all, and without the Lord was always longing to be a free man. When that so called freedom arrived, without the Lord it was just an allusion, and it quickly became more bondage. Now in Christ Jesus, this man who (in the world's eyes) was locked up with no freedom at all, and awaiting certain death in this world is experiencing true freedom because he has been set free from sin and death! What a lesson. Are we experiencing that life in Christ Jesus today ? Are we filled with the joy of His salvation, or are we longing for something else in this world ?

Keep checking back for some more on Tikichi Ishii!
Many blessings,

Carlos

A Gentleman in Prison

Tokichi Ishii

Hey everyone, as I mentioned in my last post, I finished a book last week called "A Gentleman in Prison", and I must say that it was fascinating. It's a book that was translated from Japanese to English, and then printed in 1920. The book is basically just the English translation of the journal of Tokichi Ishii, a famous Japanese thief, and murderer, who before being sent to his death wanted to write about how he received Christ while in prison the last year, and how he was a new creation in Christ Jesus. He explains how much of a sinner he was, and how much he loves Jesus for dying in is place, and for giving him a new life in Christ. He also then writes his testimony and how he came into this life of crime. Lastly he writes about the Lord, and also comments on scripture that has meant allot to him while waiting for his death. The book would have been great if it was just that, but the way in which Tokichi Ishii was given the death penalty, and the way he came to know Christ is perhaps one of the most famous stories in all of Japan. Here it is, summed up by Ms. Caroline MacDonald, the missionary that the Lord used to reveal Himself to Tokichi Ishii.

"The case itself was an amazing one in all its ramifications, the most extraordinary one, it is said, that ever passed through the Japanese courts. A geisha was murdered near Tokyo, and her lover was charged with the murder, and arrested. He confessed to the crime in the police station, but at the public trial, denied the charge, alleging that torture had been used by the police to extort the confession. There was strong circumstantial evidence against him, however, for he was the last one seen with the girl before her murder, and it was known that they had quarrelled. He was convicted and sentenced to be hanged. Before the sentence was carried out, however, a notorious criminal, Ishii by name, was arrested for a petty offence committed in Tokyo and thrown into the police cells. Seven or eight other men in the same cell were discussing the underworld of Tokyo and they
mentioned that a certain man had been convicted of the murder of a geisha called Oharu and condemned to death. Upon hearing this, Ishii confessed that it was he and not the man already condemned who had committed the crime. The confession created a great sensation. The other man was let out on parole and a new trial instituted. The court failed to find the slightest circumstantial evidence, however, to connect Ishii with the crime, and acquitted him in spite of his confession. The man himself protested against the acquittal, the public procurator appealed against the verdict, and the case was reopened in the appeal court. The trial dragged on in the courts and gained great notoriety. Newspapers were filled with the details of its xtraordinary ramifications. A man confesses to a crime, later denies it, but is sentenced to death on circumstantial evidence. Another man appears, confesses to the same crime, but is acquitted despite his confession. During the appeal trial, however, evidence was adduced which confirmed Ishii's confession to its minutest detail, and he was sentenced to death. As he says himself in his writing, he was thus able to make some amends for his sins and at the same time to save an innocent man from death.

He was a man forty-seven years of age, with practically no education, but with a remarkably clear mind. He had lived a life of crime, as his own story will tell, but marked as he was by the ravages of sin, his eye was clear and his purpose steady during his trial. I saw him often during those days, and on the morning after the death sentence had been given, he said to me very quietly, "It was God's own judgment and I am satisfied." During the days of waiting he took up his pen to write down the circumstances which led him into crime, and the story of his repentance. He worked night and day until his task was finished, for he did not know when the end might come. I saw him for the last time just a few days before his execution and his face was radiant; but of that day and of the end I shall write when the man has told his own story. The sequel is merely the translation of the manuscript I received from him through the prison authorities, and is reproduced, as far as possible, with the same straight forward simplicity as the original. I have not hesitated to depart on occasions from the literal translation, but I think I have not departed from the spirit. "

SO it was Tokichi Ishii's own confession that brought him the death penalty, but he was so lost in his own sin, and guilt of that crime, he writes that this was the only way he thought he could find peace. Little did he know at that time, that the Prince of Peace was knocking on the door of his heart, and soon he would know what perfect peace felt like! The lessons learned from this man are many, and in the next couple of posts I will be writing about some of the things that spoke to me about this mans story. I will also be adding some excerpts of his journals - many which are very inspiring. His childlike faith, and deep gratitude unto the Lord has sparked a flame in my own heart, and I pray that as you read some of his insights, the same will happen to you.

Blessings,

Carlos

Philly, Summer '09

Hey everyone, I just wanted to write a little bit about some outreach opportunities that are taking place here in our own city of Philadelphia this summer. Usually the summer is a time when our church family as well as our Jr. and Sr. High students go overseas to help our missionaries, and to share the love of Jesus in a cross-cultural setting. With the current economic situation in our country, and more importantly, with a prompting from the Lord, C.C. Philly (the church body, and both the Jr. and Sr. High) has decided to stay in Philadelphia this summer to share the love of Christ in our own city. This will be taking place in various forms of outreach, and at various times, in various places around our city.

C.C. Philadelphia has birthed 3 Calvary church plants in the past couple of years, and we are all very excited about what the Lord is doing in each of them. Part of our outreach to our city will be coming along side of these church plants and helping them out in any way that we can - from painting and fixing things up, to helping them with VBS, to street evangelism etc. The Jr. High and Sr. High will both be doing 2 week trips to the city to come alongside these churches.

In addition to all of that, we have some opportunities that are available to those in our congregation, as well as others around our city that have a burden for Philadelphia to be reached for Christ. Once a month we will be meeting at C.C. North Philly (meets at the YMCA at Broad and Master) at 10a.m. for worship and prayer, and then from there, we will go out on the streets to share the love of Jesus with those that the Lord directs us to. The next time we will be meeting is on Saturday, July 18th. Please pray about joining us!

We all meet there this past Saturday, (June 13th) and hit the streets afterward. With my team was a brother and his wife from C.C. Philly who is an incredible painter. He brought two huge paintings of his that depicted the crucifixion, one of them he was still working on. Our group of around eight people set up at Love Park in Center City, and as Ryan set up his paintings, and was working on them, many people stopped to look at them. As they were standing there we then began to share with them about what they were looking at and the importance of Jesus' death and resurrection. It was a great time, and the Lord called people to Himself that day - what a privilege it was to see God move that day! For the next event, I think Ryan will be working on painting the story of the Prodigal son. Please pray that the Lord anoints him to paint it according to the way He desires it to be done! I'm really excited about all of the outreach in Philadelphia this summer, and I'm asking you guys to pray for our city - that the Lord would do a great work in peoples hearts, and that the power of Christ would free people from the bondage of sin and death. Pray that they would treasure Him more than anything else this world would seek to give them, and please pray for us- that we would be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and that we would be filled with His strength as we go out and share Jesus during these events.

As a side note, I just got done reading a book called "A Gentleman in Prison", which is the story of a Japanese criminal named Tokichi Ishii who came to know Christ while in prison. While he is awaiting his death by hanging,he writes down all that the Lord has showed him, and I must say, it is a powerful book. In my next couple of posts I will be writing about his story in more detail, as well as some things that I have learned from reading it. I promise it will be sooner rather than later : ) !

Blessings,

Carlos

The late Ralph D. Winter

At 9:05 PM, May 20, 2009 Ralph Winter, the founder of the U. S. Center for World Missions went home to be with the Lord. I never met this man of God, but I have been deeply touched by his ministry. In many ways it directly impacts what i do on a daily basis. You see it was Dr. Winter that first talked about the term "unreached peoples" at the Lausanne Conference on World Evangelization in 1974. The shattering truth that was revealed at this conference was that in spite of the fact that every country in the world had been penetrated by the gospel, four out of five non-Christians were still cut off from the gospel because the barriers are CULTURAL and LINGUISTIC, not geographic. He called not recognizing this fact as "people blindness", blindness to the existence of separate peoples within countries. In 1982 the term "people group" was then translated as

" a significantly large grouping of individuals who perceive themselves to have a common affinity for one another because of their shared language, religion, ethnicity, residence, occupation, class, or caste, situation etc. or combining of these. It is the largest group within which the gospel can spread as a church planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance".

Thank the Lord that since then, many, many churches and ministries have been focused on reaching the unreached that was defined back in 1982. Dr. Winter and his team at the U.S. Center for World Missions have written out the stages of reaching these people groups in the following summary.

Stages in Reaching an Unreached People Group


Stage 1-"Reported" The people group is brought to the attention of a Christian research group which strives to verify them as unreached and lists them as such.

Stage 2-"Selected" A denomination or mission agency, capable of reaching the group, accepts responsibility to reach them and mobilize churches and Christians to adopt this people group so that a church may be started in their midst. They are actively recruiting churches and fellowship groups to adopt this group and partner together to reach them.

Stage 3-"Adopted" One, or several, churches or fellowship groups (could be a mission fellowship, student group, Sunday School class, etc.) has made the establishment of a strong church among the unreached people group their personal goal. They agree to support the work with prayers and finances. This is done with their denomination or in partnership with one or more mission agencies.

Stage 4"Engaged" The work has begun and cross-cultural workers are "on site" with the goal of establishing a "viable, indigenous church-planting movement."
A people group may already have been engaged when a church or fellowship group chooses to adopt. The church then commits itself to partner with the "on site" workers.

Stage 5-"Reached" A strong, indigenous church-planting movement has been established that is of sufficient size and strength to evangelize the rest of the group with no (or very little) outside help.
"Reached" does not mean the work is done, but the missionary thrust is closing and the evangelistic phase has begun which is now the responsibility of the indigenous church. They have moved from unreached to unevangelized.

This is something that C.C. Philadelphia believes in, and is currently supporting with our work among the Tarahumara in Northern Mexico, as well as the Tabwa people in the Katanga province of the DRC. Please join with me in praising the Lord for all the ways that He has used Dr. Winter, and to also pray that more and more churches, believers, and ministries would join hand in hand with these efforts to see Christ treasured among those who have never heard.

To know more about the U.S. Center for World Missions check out their website HERE.

Blessings,

Carlos

Ron and Bridget Wint speaking at Missions Prayer tonight!

West Indies Sunset - A light in the darkness.


Sorry this is so last minute, but among other things I want to write about, I just wanted to let everyone know that Ron and Bridget Wint will be speaking at our Missions Prayer tonight at C.C. Philly in the Prayer Room. They haven't been home since they left to go to Zambia as full-time missionaries over 3 years ago. If you can make it out, come and listen to them share about what the Lord is doing there in North-Western Zambia.

Since my last post I have been in the West Indies close to Trinidad and Venezuela, as well as in Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay at a Pastors Conference for Calvary pastors up and down the East Coast. We had the privilege to hear from some incredible men of God including one who is 86 years old and has been serving the Lord in full time ministry for over 60 years. I'll be writing more about the things the Lord showed me through these guys in my next post, but for now, I wanted to finish with my thoughts on those verses in Romans 13 that I was previously writing about.

While traveling around this past month, and having lots of time to spend listening to the voice of the Lord, it seems like He has been impressing on my heart this one theme - that the "night is far gone, and the day is at hand, so then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light". I was talking with my son the other day about why he is scared to go upstairs by himself. He told me "Dad I don't like to go upstairs by myself because it's to dark up there". I told him "Evan, you don't have to be scared of the dark, just turn the light on, and go upstairs"! I then began to talk to him about how Jesus called Himself the Light of the world, and how as believers we are called to be light in a dark world. I'm not sure if he totally grasped all of that yet, but it was just another reminder to me to make sure that in ALL that I am doing, I MUST be putting on the armor of light. I began to pray and ask the Lord to make me shine in EVERY situation. Every area of my life must be given to the Lord in order to let Him shine through me to this dark and sinful world.

The day is at hand - I really believe that brothers and sisters. The Lord desires so much to use our lives as a beam of light in our world. And the darker our world or our country gets (and it's getting pretty dark out there), the brighter our lights will shine. It's hard to try to write down all the things the Lord is showing me personally about this subject, but I do know that it's been a theme in my life as of late, and I just want to encourage you guys to make sure that in all areas of our lives, the Lord is shining through to the world that is constantly watching us. The time has come, let us cast off all works of darkness, and put on our Lord Jesus Christ!

"And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." Daniel 12:3

Blessings,

Carlos