In the Mission Field

Dear Friends,
Yesterday (Saturday) we arrived in Barranquilla. Our team from NJ assembled at theChurch at 4:00am. It was primarily a travel day with a few connecting flights but it was exciting because teams from all over re-united in Miami for our final leg to Colombia. We got through customs pretty easily and with the exception of a few team members, our luggage arrived in tact. I had the opportunity to meet the smaller team that I am assigned to and had a great time getting to know them at dinner.

This morning we woke up about 6am, prepared for our breakfast and morning discipleship led by Sam Ingrassia. I look forward to these sessions every morning because Pastor Sam has an incredible teaching style that penetrates to your core. Today Sam taught on the topic of “Cruise Ship Christians” compared to “Battleship Christians” They are both ships that float but their similarities stop there. On the cruise ship, everyone has a good time, loving one another within their church, but do very little to reach out of their comfort zone. The “Battleship Christian” understands the spiritual battle going on and takes an active role by stepping into Darkness and pulling the people towards the light.

Ephesians 6:10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

After breakfast, the teams met up with the translators and we all took taxi cabs to the church we were assigned to for that day. Our specific team headed to a worship service in a pretty busy city in Barranquilla. This was a follow up visit from the original planting of this church about two years ago. The church was actually having service in a rented movie theater and was looking to expand their church into new areas as they were growing out of the space. When we arrived, one of the nationals escorted us to the front of the worship service where there were 5 seats waiting for our team.

The band continued to play music and then did something so special. They started to sing their worship songs in ENGLISH. This blew us all away and touched our hearts SO deeply because they were obviously preparing a long time for us to come. It was beautiful and emotional moment that I will never forget.

We all briefly introduced ourselves and my teammate James McMahel and I were asked to give our testimonies. I proceeded with my testimony but tied it to a message regarding belief.

John 6:47
I tell you the truth, he who BELIEVES has everlasting life.

Mark 16:15
Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Who ever BELIEVES and is baptized will be saved, but who ever does not BELIEVE will be condemned.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that who ever BELIEVES in him will not perish but have eternal life.

I believed in Jesus my whole life so what is the difference between the belief I have now when compared to the belief I had when I was growing up? Satan believes in Jesus and is the enemy of our Lord. What is the difference between the belief Satan has and the belief that Jesus wants us to have?

Matthew 7:21
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

As a Christian and follower of Christ, I think the difference between belief and BELIEF comes down to surrender. Do you recognize Jesus as God? If you truly BELIEVE that Jesus is the Lord over all the universe then the next step would be to surrender to His Lordship and will. I myself needed to be broken before the transformation in my life could begin. For me, events finally dropped me to my knees and with a broken and contrite heart, I asked Jesus to take the wheel. Once I surrendered, Jesus could finally begin molding this ugly lump of clay.

The pastor of this growing church was great. He spoke about how God even used his daughters lost cell phone to save 2 girls about to enter into a life of prostitution. This was an incredible testimony of how so many small things needed to align perfectly so these girls could come to know the Lord. God get’s personal and knocks on our door many times in our lives. Sometimes we just can’t connect the dots, step back, and see His magnificent love for us.

For further reading, please take a look at Luke 6:46, Matthew 7:23