Waves of Despair Lead to Obedience

Using Jonah as a theme to promote missions may make you think I am some kind of a weird mission team leader. I hope not. I hope you will see that the Lord has been in the business of restoring lost people to Himself ever since Adam and Eve's first sin. Remember that He went looking for them in the garden.

Probably the most difficult part of Jonah's book is chapter 2. Jonah's prayer contains a lot of imagery about facing death by drowning in the ocean. You can visualize Jonah's despair in verses 2-6, being pounded by billowing waves, covered in seaweed, and sinking into the seemingly bottomless deep.

These verses seem to trough and crest like waves, there are lots of lows but verses 4 and 6 each end in a high point, a little breaker that lifts Jonah's feelings in hope. 'Yet again I shall look upon your holy temple,' and 'yet you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God' express Jonah's sure hope that God had not abandoned him. Even in his helpless place he knew the Lord would rescue him.

Verses 7 and 9 sound like Jonah's repentance to me. At his most desperate point his prayer reached the Lord's temple. 'What I have vowed I will pay' may be his commitment to obey. Being a prophet implies that he may have vowed to serve the Lord and obeying the Lord by delivering the Lord's message would be his payment.

Since Jonah was not an idol worshiper verse 8 may be a reference to the people of Nineveh. God's reason for sending Jonah was to offer them His steadfast love in place of their vain idols. 'Salvation belongs to the Lord' could be Jonah's way of saying that he depended on the Lord to be saved, or that to whom he takes the message of salvation is not his choice, but the Lord's and this time the Lord chose the Ninevehites.

Our inconveniences in Peru in no way compare to Jonah's troubles in the ocean, but hopefully we are not running as he was. Salvation belongs to the Lord still applies to lost people we will meet. Our commitment, a vow of sorts, is that Jesus is our Lord, and our Lord's command is to go and share the gospel.

Join us on the Peru mission trip; application deadline is Thursday, March 31. Pray that the Lord will provide doctors and dentists.  

The Lord is Determined

News of people interested in the Peru mission trip keeps trickling in. Of course, it won't take too much of a trickle to soon fill all of the positions, and that is exciting.

The HGBC missions office is doing their thing with the applications right now, so I don't know who all has applied. So Casey and Dawn, if you're reading, I'd love to hear some names soon.

Team leaders have a meeting with Casey and Dawn on March 19th. Maybe there will be some news by then or before. Waiting is hard, but necessary. Our mission personnel and missions committee have worked out a great process for preparing teams. It will all be worth it when we get together for our first team meeting.

Have you ever considered how determined the Lord was to get His message of repentance to the lost and wicked people of Nineveh? Remember that God told Jonah to leave his job, as prophet in Israel, for a short-term mission trip to share a message of repentance with a people who were notoriously evil. Jonah didn't want to go. Think about everything God did to get Jonah, and God's message to Nineveh:
1) He created a ship shattering storm.
2) He allowed businessmen to lose their profits.
3) He drove the passengers and crew of the ship into a religious panic
4) He manipulated random selection to point out Jonah.
5) He drove the passengers and crew to a decision that bothered their moral consciences - they tossed Jonah overboard.
6) He created a fish large enough to swallow Jonah.
7) He created conditions in the fish that were humanly survivable. 
8) He caused the fish to vomit Jonah up onto dry land at the right spot.
You may be able to think of others - these eight are enough to convince me that the Lord was determined.

If the Lord was that determine to get His message to evil people, how determined do you think He is to get His message to the people of Peru who are just like you and I except for faith in Christ?

You can be part of the Lord's determined plan this summer. He created a fish for Jonah; He could do that for you - a flying fish, since we're so far from the ocean, or maybe a T-rex. Filing out an application to serve would be much easier - on you. Ask the Lord to show you why you shouldn't go.

Plans from the Field

Pastor Pablo, our contact in Peru, just sent a Facebook message saying that he heard from a brother with Arequipa Municipality. There is a possibility that we could schedule up to three medical clinics. What an opportunity to support our Peruvian co-workers in Christ! Good will from this kind of ministry opens doors for Christian nationals. It also prepares hearts to hear the gospel from the team.

Let's pray for the Lord to set up the trip schedule and pray that He will move some doctors, and dentists to join the nurses and CNA who have already shown an interest in serving. We hope that Pastor Pablo will enlist the help of Peruvian medical personnel through Lucas, a Peruvian Christian medical volunteer organization. Our teams have worked along side Lucas' volunteers for the past three mission trips. The camaraderie  between healthcare workers of similar training is a blessing to see. And these men and women have burdened hearts for their lost countrymen.

Of course, this in not just a medical trip. We need those of us who are not medical in training to be available to share Christ through our puppets, skits, testimonies, song, and direct witnessing. 

The Lord has already commanded us to go, ask Him to show you why you should not. If He doesn't, fill out your application!