Making Disciples, Casting Vision, and Starting Churches

Well I have now been with the IMB for one full year. And what a year it has been. You could most assuredly say, ‘Life changing.’
While I was working in Pine Bluff as a youth minister at Shepherd Hill Baptist, Brother Harold asked me, “what is your vision for the ministry?” At the time I had no idea about vision, so my vision ended up being ‘to get the students just to read their bibles.’ Then I will go from there. That is such a small vision. The same as so many of us have. ‘Just go and tell one person about Jesus.’ And that is the extent of our vision. But since that time I have seen another vision. That vision is Matthew 28:18-20. Make disciples, who make disciples that will go out and plant churches. This process continues on and on. More people come to know Jesus and more churches start. Not a mega church, which by the example it has shown is not working, but a house church. A church that is vital and going to tell others about Jesus.
We arrived back from a training only a few days ago. At that training we gave them a vision. The vision was to start 44,000 churches. Do you think that is possible? I do. I know it is possible. Cause God does the impossible. They needed that many churches to see everyone in their district of 2.2 million people to be apart of a church. And so we taught toward that vision. Luke 10, John 4, Matthew 28:18-20 and 2 Timothy 2:2, and Acts 2:38-47. From just those passages we see a vision on how God can use us to start 44,000 churches. To multiply leaders. By the way, if they needed 44,000 churches, then they also needed 44,000 leaders. And that is the minimum they need. So who are those leaders going to be - The church. Who is the church? Acts 2:38-41 - those who repent and believe and are baptized. Those who are recognized as a member. A simple believer is the leader, 1 Peter 2:9. We are all the royal priest.
So why do we say things like this or that person is not ready? Are we the ones who are to decide that or is it the Holy Spirit in them? When we catch onto a vision, that God has given us and we see in the book of Acts, then we will see God move in a way we have never seen before.
So this is only a little of what I have learned in my time here in India. And it has changed my life. Being able to go and teach people and then seeing them understand the vision. It encourages me that God is at work. And it makes me stop and ask, how much am I trusting God?

RUNNING THE RACE...

WOW!!!!! So much has happened over the last few months. Let me begin by telling you about my month long trip. I started in Calcutta, then from there went to the jungle. From there I went north to the tea gardens followed by the rice fields. Here I stayed in a small hut made out of bamboo and a grass roof with no electricity. After this to the old capital city in the state of Assam. And after all this...my trip was only half way over.
Throughout the whole month I slept in 11 different beds in 15 different cities. I trained 90 people to share the gospel, how to enter a new field, how to make disciple, and how to begin a new church. I trained 113 people in the bible from Genesis to Revelations. So now those people can tell the entire bible story.
These are the accomplishments for the month of September. And this is only the beginning. We have only trained them, but the fruit will be much more than knowledge. Knowledge is only the beginning. But my hope, my prayer is it to see these men and women going and doing what they have learned. Teaching others what they have learned.
Like 2 Timothy 2:2 says, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” The meaning of this verse is...disciples making disciples. That is the role we play here in India in our training's. We teach others how to make disciples, and in turn they go out and make disciples. Then their disciples make disciples. This is a process that continues on and on. This is how leaders are made and the church grows, not a building, but people. Starting churches in houses and spreading to other houses. It is amazing how God gives us everything we need. Even the how to part.
Well I have now official been in India for 6 months now. My time here has had its ups and downs. But though it all, God has taught me so much. The other night I went for a run. I wanted to get out of the house and just go, so I went running. As I was going, I saw a road and took it. I went as far as I could on it and took a left turn. Then another and another. By the time I realized it, I had no idea where I was. I could see lights in the distance, so I knew about where I was. But I was unsure of how to get back to my house. So I just keep going and went towards the lights.
Well, eventually, I ended up back where I started. Exactly where I was hoping to end up at. And at that point a thought came into my mind. This whole adventure that I am on was sort of like that run. Even more so, when we go out to share the gospel and start new churches, it is like that to. We just keep going down the path we are on. Even though we may feel lost, we keep going. We know where we are cause we can see the lights in the distant. So we are not lost, we may just be confused as to where we exactly are at the time. But we keep moving.
Let me explain this a little bit. The road is where God is taking us. Sometimes we feel lost and confused, but we stay on the path that God has put us on. The lights in the distance is what we know God wants us doing, such as: abiding in Him through the Word and Prayer. We know these things are the will of God at all times. So we keep on doing these things. Then finally we end up at a familiar place and now we understand all that God was teaching us on the road. We must keep moving and abide in Him at all times. He will take us where we are to be. He knows the road we need to take. He even knows the outcome of our journey.
While I was running, God reminded me of what I need to keep doing. Abide in Him and keep moving cause there is a finish line and He is taking me there. I just do not know where it is, but I will know when I get there.
So here is my encouragement to you. Keep moving and abide in Him. He knows where He is taking you.

“The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people ad your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.”
- Genesis 12:1

Picture:Me and my Nepali Mother. She made homemade cinnamon rolls for me.
(They were tasty!!!)
Don’t worry Mom, I am in good hands here!

मेरा नम ऐडम है

Well it has been quite exciting here in South Asia so far. I have been traveling a lot seeing many places throughout the NorthEast. I have now spent 2 weeks in a place for the first time since I have arrived here. That was actually at the place I studied language at. But before I go into that, I would like to apologize for being unable to update this blog in quite a while now. Traveling mixed with low internet capabilities makes it very hard to update a blog. But now I have some internet and there is something to write about. Well there is always something to write about. So let me start off with what I have been doing for these last two months.
I simply teach that is my job. Travel and teach in the NorthEast. I love it!!!!!! {Mai prim kar hun|} So it is great. It has been a life changing, life forming experience so far. I teach about church planting. Ever time I hear it, something new is revealed to me. The letters of Paul, church planting. The book of Acts, church planting. Jesus' ministry, church planting. I mean it is right there in front of my nose all these years and I never really saw it. But now God has revealed it to me. Praise His Name!!!! I wish I could come back to America right now and teach it, so people would change their traditions and start reaching out to the lost people in way that will plant churches. And the other big thing, that is so big, wich breaks my heart cause the people in the NorthEast seem not to be able move past it sometimes, church buildings. Why do we need them? What is the point? Does it save lost people? I have come that conclusion, No!!!! It never has and never will. It is a building. And I wish the people in the NorthEast saw that. Not all of them are like this but a lot are. I wish they would realize that if they put away the church building and did house church or met at a school, a coffee shop, how more people could you reach that way. A church does not have to be 200 people, 300 people, 1000 people; all it needs to be is people [2 or more] who glorify God. That can happen anywhere. And when it does God will change people's lives. Why? Cause He is a God that wants to do that. He came to seek and save the lost. That is the most amazing truth we can ever learn. Praise His Name!!!!!
Now I could go on and on about the church planting material and all that God has taught me, but that will have to wait till another day. I would like to tell you about my language learning that I just got done with a few days ago. It was a two week schooling, and yes I mean schooling. My partner and I sat in a classroom with the little children in class 2, Kindergarden, class 3. It was so much fun!!! They became our teachers. But from all of that I was able to learn how to read and write Hindi, and now I know the grammar so I can form sentences. I am not able to talk it quickly, but I can speak and have a broken up conversation. But I hope to continue to learn and become able to speak it by the end of December. Well that is my goal. Everyday we woke at 6 am for our first Hindi lesson. Quick note, the sun here rises at 4 am. After our first lesson, we would go have breakfast. Then we would go to class witht the children, and then after school was out we would one more lesson. Our in between time we would just study or go try to speak it to the children. It was a lot of fun. God truly blessed us with wonderful people in our paths. The people here are amazing and that is all there is to it. Once you meet them you would fall in love with them in a heartbeat. I know I have!!!
But that has been my advebture so far in a nutshell. Now I am preparing to go to Thailand for a short break and some meetings. Then come back and begin the work once more. Learn more Hindi. And most of all love the people more and more!!!!!! This is a wonderful place and sometimes I think God why did you choose me to come here. Why did you choose to bless me with this and not someone else? But He did choose me, and I am thankful for that. So I am ready to come bakc home right now, not cause I am homesick, but to spread the truth of God's word that He has revealed to me. I wish I could do that, but God has called me here. And that most certainly will become a path one day. Praise His Name for all His goodness for He gives it so generously!!!! I hope all is well with you!!!! Keep God number one in your life!!!!! And tells others of His wonderful love, cause it is so amazing!!!!!!

P.S. I will pst again as soon as I can, I hope!!!!

And the Adventure Begins...

Well, what a first day! Actually it has not even been an entire 24 hours yet. By my words you may find yourself asking 'I wonder what is wrong with him?' Well let me tell you the story.

First off, goodbyes are always tough. You are not quite the same afterwards for awhile. So my flight from Little Rock to Chicago was something like that. Although you would imagine that it would and that I would just hop onto the next plane. And since this second would take me across the "Big Open Blue" I would begin to feel a little better and realize that I have really left. Well that did not happen at all in my 15 hours of leaving. Instead, when I arrived in Chicago at O'Hare the plane I was on sat in the runaway for a little over an hour and a half. What's more, in that time frame my plane lifted from the ground and headed over the Atlantic towards its destination at Heathrow in London. Which was great for the passengers abroad that aircraft. Unfortunately I was not one of those passengers. No, I finally got off of the plane and went to the nearest American Airline staff personell, so they could help me. Which they did, but I was unable to renew my ticket at that time since all of the flight had gone home for the night. Although I did get to stay at this really nice hotel. And no it was not the Holiday Inn Express. It was the Crown Plaza, very nice! So this is really where my story ends. But what is missing from it is far more valuable than the stroy itself. What is missing? Well it is what the Almighty has taught me in these last 15 hours or so.

Early this morning I awoke from two bad dreams. Not just one, but TWO. I know it is from the stress of all this. Now let me tell you, I do not mind this at all. But subconscienously it is driving me bonkers and stressing me out. Bad news for me, I never know when I am stressed out it just comes out in all different ways. Such as bad dreams. And after I awoke and went back to sleep, I just felt these words enter my heart. 'Adam you have to trust me, wholeheartedly.' Yes it was the Big Man Upstairs. I have to trust him, that simple huh? No way Hosea! It is not that simple. But the Father gave me some very encouraging words this morning.

Let's read, shall we! Matthew 17:14-23 and Matthew 18:10-14
The Father showed me how the '12' lacked faith. Then he proceeded to tell them that this fatiht only comes from prayer and fasting. Simple enough, but sometimes it is so hard to keep up that kind of faith (obedience faith). Maybe not for you, but for me it is. I struggle with it daily. Hence that is why now I am learning this trust issue. Funny how things work out huh? Well then the words go on. I always get stressed out when the Father tells what is coming next, even though I know he will be with me every step of the way. Oh, my lack of faith. And finally the Father delights in the unrighteous, the imperfect, who are lost being found. He delights in that even more than the ones who never go astray.

I know how this trust issue works. The Father is with me constantly and I must take rest in Him. How? By meditating on the Word daily, by praying continually for everything, and fasting. I must seek out the Father daily. How so much my desire is that, but my flesh wages war against me. It is so tough, let me tell you. But here is the great thing. For the next 2 years the Almighty is going to do on work on me over this issue. To me it is completely unknown, but to Him it is clear. So yes I am so excited about what I will get to learn over these next 2 years. I can not wait to see what the outcome will be. So please lift me up, for I need it despartly. Everyday. For I know I can not do this alone. I need your words going out to the Father. Trusting in Him!! Wow that is a load in itself. But what an adventure. It is like looking out over the landscape in which you are about to cross. How amazing it is to see what you will be taught through the adventure you are about to go on. Let me tell you, it is pretty stinkin' awesome. How I can not wait for this adventure to begin!

THE still small VOICE

Fear is a funny thing. It cause one to stop living, to push onward, it can even cause one to stay stagnant in their life. I do not know which I am, but I can tell you that I have dealt with this issue very recently in my life. About a week ago fear began to grip me. I felt inadequate to the work Father had called me to do. I had no clue how I would reach the people I was going to be with for nearly two years. We were given a worksheet to put it down on paper and develop ideas on how to reach those people. As I began to work on it, my heart began to weep over the fear that taken it. All day I walked around with a cloud over my head. I did not know what to do about it though. But that day I went to the Father for a special time with Him. I went back a read through my journal I have been keeping during my time here at the "compound." Ever entry spoke of how I needed the Father more. How I needed to cling to Him. Hold fast to Him. To be in Him. Almost everyday I had spoke of that to Father through my journal. So I began to write once more. The words seemed to come from the tip of my pen onto the page. My words to the Father through pen and paper. And what came out addressed the fear that had seized me. I am not to fear for the Father is with me. Even Paul was afraid, but Father told not to be afraid for He was with him. These words were assuring, but they did they were not set into my soul. So I laid down and fell asleep. When I awoke the fear that was bothering me earlier no longer resided in me. So I went down to the pond to sit there so I could be still and know. As I was sitting there, I noticed a rock on the edge of the bank. It had a water residue on it from the small waves that had battered it. And constantly those waves continued to hit the rock, but the water never went above the residue. But ever now and then, a more powerful wave came in and hit the rock. And when it did the water residue that was on the rock moved up slightly from that wave. I watched this for quite some time, then this still small voice began to resonate in my mind. This is what the voice said to me, "Adam those small constant waves are me continuing to give you what you need over and over again. So that you will be steadfast in me. So that you will not fear, but remain in me. And the larger wave is a time that is coming when all these constant reminders I am giving you will be tested. I am reminding you now to prepare you for the time to come." At that moment I knew who had just spoken to me and what He said. And since that day, the fear that had gripped me that day and everyday that I have been here was gone. Father took it over with His grace, His goodness, His mercy. For their is a time coming when all that He has taught me will be put to the test.

THE BITTER EPIC

First of all let me say, God is amazing! If you are going through a rough patch and are disagreeing with that statement, please read on!
Last week God had my number. For so long now, I have been really bitter about my Tourettes. People have always told me they were proud of me of how I endured, but they did not know the half of it. Constantly it was like I had a giant chip on my shoulder from being in class to just hanging out with my friends. I knew that I distracted the people around me and that bothered me a great deal. It bothered me even more when I heard of how I annoyed them. I know you may think that this was their fault, but not to me. I did not want Tourettes. I had no desire for it. I used to make jokes about it and laugh. But that never changed how I felt. Constantly, I had to take control measures. Like going to bed early, testing meds to make sure it would have no negative reaction with me, to all sorts of things. This really got to the core of me. Thinking all the time, why me? Why do I have to deal with this? And I never understood why God would, punish me, with this. To me that is what it was. But in all this time, I never realized I was bitter. And even more than that, bitter towards God. Any time a situation came around when my Tourettes had a chance to affect or if they did, I became extremely angered about it. Even before November, I had this problem.
Then last week, I had to test a malaria drug cause I was not sure how it would affect me. So I was heading over to the nurses office, when someone asked me, "Adam where are you heading?" And I proceeded to tell them what I was doing. Usually I would have been upset in the back of my mind about it, but at that moment nothing. It was like God wiped away all of my bitterness at that very moment. I never even prayed about it, but God still took it away. And now, just WOW! I can not believe how awesome God is. He has redeemed me from myself. Redeemed me from my bitterness, so that I might glorify Him through it all. Isn't God amazing? Taking someone like me, who had so much resentment built inside of me towards Him still took it all away in such a way that the only explanation was that He did it.

The Million Mile Gap

Tonight I just felt a million miles from my "Father." I have been so tired lately that I have neglected the few precious moments with Him. So when it came around to tonight, we got in a large group and just starting singing some songs along with guitars and a jimbae. At first I just felt not into it. Then we got into a sharing time about hard times that we were having and telling about friends we were sad about leaving behind. And so "we lifted them up." After the first person, I felt this overwhelming presence in me. I knew who it was. No longer did that gap seem present for I was in the presence of my "Father." It was so amazing. To feel a million miles away, then in one split second he crossed that gap for me and said, "Here I AM." Just remember, He wants that relationship with you. A relationship; it is a crazy thing to think about. A relationship with the Creator of all. It blows me away thinking about it, but not enough. 

Last night we had a self defense class here at the "Compound." Well it got down to the part where the attacker attacked from behind and put the victim in a choke hold. So the instructor showed the ladies how to throw an attacker over their shoulder. Well that person who got thrown was me. I was the smallest male there, so I was the logical choice. So the first lady came up to try this NEW MOVE out. The first time she did very well. But then she wanted to try it again. And when she did I went flying. I had held my balance through the air the first time. But the second time, I had no control whatsoever. That is how I want to feel about my "Father" and his amazing glory. I want to loose all balance on my life and just know that He is there to guide me, to take care of me, to provide for me, to be all-in-all, to be my... "Lift that up" for me. That I will go flying and loose all control and my "Father" will take it from me. Cause I want Him to be in control and not me.