Guatemala Trip Update

Just a quick update on Carlos and Raydel’s trip last week to Guatemala.
 
The apostle Paul asked the Colossian church to pray that God would open the door to them for the ministry of the Word (Col. 4:3).
 
Paul used the same image of “open doors for effective work” elsewhere when writing to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 16:9; 2 Cor. 2:12).
 
Similarly, I’m happy to inform you that the Lord used the recent visit with our friends at Precept Ministries to open doors for ongoing partnership in Guatemala, as well as similar future exploratory trips to Mexico and Nicaragua, to share the multiplication strategy that the Lord has graciously been using in our church network development ministry, K2:42. 
 
We appreciate your prayers in that regard and will keep you updated.
 
As a closing thought: It is striking that Paul, imprisoned under Roman authority as he wrote those words above, was more concerned about “getting out” the message of Christ than about “getting out” of prison!
 
Thanks again for your ongoing support that enables our ministry of the Word!
 
PS: For further encouragement amid the current cultural chaos and quest to eliminate the family, check out our recent blog on the Genesis Family Ministry, equipping church leaders on what Scripture teaches about the family and how to put those principles into practice.

As goes the family, so goes society…

In Matthew 19:5 Jesus, in emphasizing the permanence and sanctity of marriage, quoted from the Genesis narrative where God established the family, stating, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).

Amid the current cultural chaos of America and quest to eliminate the family, find encouragement that the Genesis Family Ministry is hard at work equipping Dominican church leaders on what Scripture teaches about the family, and how to put those principles into practice in our homes.

The Family: God’s Gift to All People

God’s common grace to all humanity is evidenced in the establishment of various structures He has instituted within society, most notably the family unit. God ordained marriage between a man and a woman in creation BEFORE the fall; therefore, it is foundational to healthy, flourishing societies.

The Family: Cornerstone of Civilization

The family was God’s first earthly institution. Before there was a government, and long before God instituted the church, marriage and the family were initiated as the basic building block of society. Therefore the destruction of the family should serve as an ominous forewarning of the ultimate collapse of civilization.

In 1947 Harvard sociologist Carle Zimmerman examined the rise and fall of empires throughout the centuries. He concluded that deteriorating civilizations follow a definable pattern with the loss of the sacredness of marriage and acceptance of alternative forms of marriage at the top of the list.

Dr. Chuck Swindoll commented on the study, stated,

“Zimmerman’s conclusions are so current, they’re frightening. He appears to have observed the United States in the twenty-first century and then summarized his findings. In fact, he wrote them at the dawn of what many would consider the golden age of the traditional, nuclear family…Depravity is a universal problem. Left unchecked, the evil within humanity will cause us to self-destruct within one generation, possibly sooner.”

Help us stomp the summer slump!

The Apostle Paul described how word of the faithful ministry of the Thessalonian church was spreading throughout his missionary travels.  

For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. (1 Thessalonians 4:8)

The term sounded forth carries the concept of reverberation, conveying how the ministry of the Thessalonians had resulted in:

  • local outreach to Thessalonica,
  • national outreach to Macedonia and Achaia,
  • and international outreach to regions beyond.

As Raydel and Carlos depart today to present at the Precept Ministries International conference in Guatemala, we are grateful for the Lord’s gracious use of the ministry in local, national and international settings.

In the nonprofit fundraising world, the summer months have become known as the Summer Slump, as historically, donations typically cool down when the weather heats up. So if you are in a position to offer EA some extra prayer and financial support over the next few months, we would be most grateful.

We are incredibly enthusiastic about how the Lord continues to graciously use our efforts for His glory. With the recent easing of travel testing requirements we are anxious to soon see a return of visiting groups laboring alongside our staff and partnering churches in seeing individuals and communities “turning from sin and false gods to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).