Carlos’ North American Adventure

Carlos joined Empowering Action in 2014. It is impossible to quantify the impact his addition has made on our ministry. Carlos’ godly character, seasoned leadership, and organizational connections have been integral to EA’s development over the years. He embodies servant and steward leadership, earning the admiration of individuals and organizations alike. As a result, his presence and expertise are often in high demand.

For example, last month he took a 2-week ambassador trip, representing EA in South Carolina, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Toronto.  

I often share this statement from Peter Greer in Mission Drift:

“The excellent leader is the steward-in-chief of the organization’s story…Leadership comes down to protecting the story, bringing others into the story, and keeping the organization accountable to the story. The leader tells the story, over and over again, refining it, updating it, and driving it home.”

Throughout his trip, Carlos told of God’s grace in the story of Empowering Action, thanked and invited others to join the story, and cast vision for the future of EA’s story, should the Lord will.

Make no mistake, you are a vital part of EA’s story through your continued prayer and financial support, and we count you among the many blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us over the past 14 years.

As we approach the holiday season, please mark your calendars for our holiday party in Sterling, Virginia, on Sunday, December 13th at 4:00pm-7:00pm, and begin praying for the critical year-end giving season.

Our Goal: Scripture-Saturated Minds

Over the past few years, I have had the opportunity to serve in Liberty University’s Graduate School of Business Program. I shared this thought below with my students in a course entitled Entrepreneurial Innovation in the Nonprofit Organization, which speaks to EA’s priority of Scripture-saturated, sacrificial service in equipping the global Church for greater biblical fidelity and ministry effectiveness.  

 

While the Christian leader needs to understand secular principles and practices, priority must be given to leveraging the divine power afforded us through the knowledge of God found in His Word.

 

2 Peter 1:2-4 states, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”

 

Commenting on this passage, Charles Spurgeon stated:

“Many things are great which are not precious, such as great rocks, which are of little value; on the other hand, many things are precious which are not great, such as diamonds and other jewels. But here we have promises which are so great, that they are not less than infinite, and so precious, that they are not less than divine.”

 

As a ministry, we “labor through Christ’s power within us” under the firm conviction that a mind saturated in the precious and sufficient truths in God’s Word will lead to both discerning belief and Christ-honoring behavior.

 

References:

Spurgeon, C. H. (1865). The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Containing Sermons Preached and Rev. by C. H. Spurgeon During the Year 1864, 1869-70, 1887, 1895.

The Constant Amid Our Context

Faithful ministry has both a CONTEXT and a CONSTANT.

Our current context is that the world, and more shockingly, the Church itself, are increasingly ignorant regarding the things of God, lacking both “a firm grasp of the essential Christian faith revealed in Scripture” and “alignment in essential areas of worldview beliefs and behaviors.”

The Apostle Paul warned the Colossian church regarding ignorance and error within their midst, cautioning them about “being disqualified,” as a result of “shifting from the hope of the gospel,” being “deceived,” and “taken captive” by worldly ideologies. (Col. 1:23, 2:4, 8, 18)

Charles Spurgeon emphasized the vital importance of sound teaching from the all-sufficient, unchanging, all-powerful Word of God:

“If you read this epistle through, you will observe that Paul frequently alludes to knowledge and wisdom…He would not have them ignorant. He knew that spiritual ignorance is the constant source of error, instability, and sorrow; and therefore, he desired that they might be soundly taught in the things of God.”

Sadly, we watch our world overwhelmingly painting itself into illogical corners, the result of an unwillingness to acknowledge God and depraved minds, darkened hearts, and futile thinking (Rom. 1)

Correspondingly, we review our unwavering commitment to sound biblical instruction, “proclaiming Christ, warning and teaching with all wisdom, that we may present believers mature in Christ” (1:28).

Thank you for your financial support, which is the vehicle by which the Lord enables us to serve His Church, such as this recent Savings Group training with Haitian churches in the town of Bani, Dominican Republic.

The Blessing of Summer Visitors

This week, we have the blessing of a group from Apex Baptist Church in North Carolina serving alongside our team and partner churches. Before their visit, we emphasize to the team that they will be both blessed and a blessing, as we know the joy that comes from seeing Christ’s Church at work around the globe is only heightened by serving alongside one another to reach the lost and strengthen the Church.

The Apostle Paul speaks of this in Romans 12:4-5: “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

The late great theologian Warren Wiersbe commented on this passage:  

“The basic idea is that each believer is a living part of Christ’s body, and each one has a spiritual function to perform. Each believer has a gift (or gifts) to be used for the building up of the body and the perfecting of the other members of the body. In short, we belong to each other, we minister to each other, and we need each other.”

Please join us in praying for a fruitful week of ministry.

And thank you once again for your prayer and financial partnership in equipping Christ’s Church for greater biblical fidelity and ministry effectiveness!

Word of Empowering Action reaches Western PA

To pass the time as I flew down to meet with our staff in the Dominican Republic, I found myself scrolling through photos from the past year. One screenshot, in particular, caught my attention. It was the text below from Molly during her first week of classes at Geneva.

The following day, I shared the text with the staff during our devotional time as a means of encouragement as we studied the book of 1 Thessalonians.

At the outset of the book, the Apostle Paul explains that the church’s witness in Thessalonica had quickly spread throughout the entire region.

“You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves report about us what kind of an entrance we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thess. 1:6-10)

I stressed to the staff how amazing it is that, by God’s grace, word of their service to Christ’s Church in the Dominican Republic and beyond had been a topic of discussion in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, 2700 kilometers (and an ocean away) from our offices in Santo Domingo.

God is good! And you are greatly appreciated for your prayer and financial partnership in equipping Christ’s Church for greater biblical fidelity and ministry effectiveness!

Our Graduates

This past weekend, our oldest daughter Audrey graduated from Geneva College with a double major in Communications and Spanish. Throughout the weekend’s events, I found myself reflecting on what the occasion represented:

  • Hard work and perseverance by Audrey as a student
  • Care and investment by her godly professors
  • Years of training for a vocation through the lens of a biblical worldview
  • And support and encouragement of family and friends.

As I heard the commencement speaker, Nancy Pearcey, echo many of EA’s core beliefs regarding biblical worldview, Scriptural authority and sufficiency, and reference trusted partner Disciple Nations Alliance, I found myself considering the 11,506 graduates of EA’s programs who also demonstrated tremendous personal effort, and benefitted from the care and investment of EA instructors, resulting in equipping for individual spiritual maturity and collective strengthening of the local church.

This is what your support of Empowering Action facilitates: Strengthening the local church for greater biblical fidelity and ministry effectiveness, one graduate at a time!

We’re entering the traditional summer slump for ministries, when, as temperatures rise, financial support often falls. If you can partner with us financially during this all-important season, we would greatly appreciate it!

Historic Event in Nicaragua

Frequently, I am asked how we, as an organization, decide which opportunities to pursue. In a wonderful book, Strategic Planning for Christian Organizations, the author describes the prayerful and careful approach that ministries must take:

 

“Every opportunity should be evaluated against the institution’s mission, capabilities, and the sense its leaders have of God’s direction.”

 

In the Old Testament, amid the description of Ezra gathering a second group to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the people spiritually and morally, a powerful phrase is used: “According to the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of insight…” (Ezra 8:18). This man, Sherebiah, played a pivotal role in Ezra ultimately gathering the 1,515 men, plus women and children, who ushered in a spiritual revival in Jerusalem.

 

Last July, I had the privilege of meeting Pastor William from Nicaragua, who was anxious to partner with our ministry in his home country. After the prayerful consideration described above, EA leadership decided to proceed, believing that our connection with William was the result of the good hand of our God being upon us.

 

Please join us in praising the Lord for these recent photos of our first K2:42 Church Network Development graduating class in Nicaragua, which we believe, by God’s grace, to be just the beginning of many years of fruitful ministry to come!

Update on Riquelme Family

Last month, the Riquelme family officially received their Dominican citizenship. This historic event is the culmination of a lengthy process spanning years after moving from Cuba to join Empowering Action in January 2017. This development also opens new doors for ministry abroad, as their Cuban citizenship imposed restrictions on their travel. And yet, these limitations produced “opportunities out of necessity” requiring that Raydel and Madelines equip and empower other EA staff to travel in their place to strengthen churches abroad. During these years, we’ve often reflected on God’s sovereignty and on similarities with the Apostle Paul’s ministry regarding occasional restrictions and anticipation of new opportunities.  

For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and yet Satan hindered us…Therefore when we could endure it no longer, we were pleased to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith. (1 Thess. 2:18, 3:1-2)

For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how without ceasing I make mention of you, always in my prayers earnestly asking, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. (Rom. 1:9)

Thank you for your continued prayer and financial support of the ministry, which are absolutely vital, as each contribution, regardless of the amount, “is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also abounding through many thanksgivings to God.” (2 Cor. 9:12)

Happy Resurrection Day!

“And what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 1:19-20)

For the believer it is impossible to overstate the importance this day represents.

“It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection is the assurance that He is the Son of God. It is the assurance that He is the Messiah. The resurrection is the assurance that He will come again to judge and to reign. The resurrection is the assurance that our sins are forgiven and that all who are in Christ will be raised with Him.” (Zuber, 2021).

Today we celebrate that “He is risen…risen indeed!”

Reference:
Zuber, K. D. (2021). The Essential Scriptures. Moody Publishers.

Good Friday: It is finished.

John 19:30 reads, “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

Let the following commentary on the verse above by the Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon, bring us a renewed gratitude for what Good Friday represents in the life of a believer:

Hear it, Christians. Hear this shout of triumph as it rings today with all the freshness and force which it had years ago! Hear it from the sacred Word and from the Savior’s lips, and may the Spirit of God open your ears that you may understand what you hear!

Dear friends, once more, take comfort from this finality, for the redemption of Christ’s church is perfected. There is not another penny to be paid for her full release. There is no mortgage upon Christ’s inheritance. Those whom he bought with blood are forever clear of all charges—paid for to the utmost. “It is finished”—finished forever. All those overwhelming debts, which would have sunk us to the lowest hell, have been discharged by the cross. And they who believe in Christ may appear with boldness even before the throne of God itself. “It is finished.” Your sins have received their death blow; the robe of your righteousness has received its last thread. It is done—complete, perfect. It needs no addition; it can never suffer any diminution.

This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world that we celebrate today!

Happy Good Friday!