Many
of the streets in Mexico dont have names which doesnt help when
you dont know where you are going in the first place. The directions
you get also leave a lot to be desired. It can make you feel like you are
in one of Mr. Magoos adventure cartoons. On this particular occasion we had directions written on the back of a napkin which seemed to work up to the point where the auto parts store we were supposed to turn right at was the wrong color or something. After that we spent the next hour and a half going around in circles completely lost and by this time we were supposed to be already preaching. According to normal human thinking there was no point in continuing on because surely we had missed everything by now. We pulled over to pray thinking maybe we should just give up and forget it, it was too late now. However, the Holy Spirit spoke into our hearts: Dont give up! Persevere! We felt led to backtrack quite a ways and we ran into a person who could decipher the hieroglyphics on our napkin which finally led us to the outreach. But we were almost two hours late and we thought Well, at least we can explain what happened and say we tried. However, when we pulled up the person organizing the outreach came out and told us we were just in time to go in and preach even though we were late , they had stalled things to wait for us. We went in, preached and five people received Christ and many others were ministered to powerfully by the Holy Spirit. Where certain people will spend eternity can sometimes depend on our obedience to the Holy Spirit and persevering in faith to what He calls us. God demonstrated the importance of perseverance again a week later. We were on our way to preach in South San Diego when a tanker truck carrying highly explosive fuel flipped on the freeway and it was completely closed. After going 3/10 of a mile in 30 minutes, it was getting late and we were still really far away. It seemed hopeless to continue. The Lord led us to persevere though and not give up. We came near a gate to a military base and thought maybe we could cut through. Things since 9/11 have gotten very tight on bases and they had a sentry down by the onramp waving people on with a Dont even think about it look. But God is the factor that changes things when you are doing His will. We prayed and then approached the first sentry by the onramp and asked him about cutting through, surprisingly he |
told us to go talk to the next sentry at the gate. We
talked to the gate sentry and surprisingly again, he sent us onto the
base to see another sentry who was supposed to interview us and search
our car. We proceeded to him and he looked at us and waved us through
without even asking any questions. We knew it was purely miraculous since
due to the 9/11 attacks bicyclists cant even use the bike trail
through the base anymore. Mission
Focus
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of the dire situation
there. Only 2.4% of Europes population are evangelical (born again).
Norway for example has less than 3% that attend any kind of a church on a normal basis. Nominal religiosity has been the biggest enemy to real, vital, Christ-centered faith and spiritual life. If the salt loses its saltiness its no good. Seven years ago the Holy Spirit began to lead us over there, speaking to us about the great need for the Gospel and renewal in that continent. Now after six mission trips there it is exciting to see a few others in the Body of Christ beginning to catch the vision also. Peter Wagner recently did a conference focusing on Europe's need. Amsterdam 2000 also had a workshop on the need to reach Europe. This is just the beginning of a new mission focus that the Lord is bringing to the Body of Christ. We are preparing to go on another mission trip to Europe again soon. We appreciate your perseverance in prayer and support for us in this and other endeavors God has called us Europe is not always an easy place to minister as it is hard ground and for that reason we greatly appreciate your prayers and support. Perseverance in prayer, support and service to Christ is always richly rewarded by the Master who endured the cross for us all. Remember your donation is tax deductible when made out to Grace World Mission. God bless, Bryan, Mercedes and Patrick Marleaux
Patrick gets a sandcastle-building and motorcycle-riding lesson from Dad. Never a dull moment with these two! |
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