Writing to encourage Christians living amongst persecution in the Roman Empire, the Apostle Peter urged that they “like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2).

F.B. Meyer recognized that the absence of the desire for or faithful provision of biblical truth is the cause of many problems in individual Christian lives and in congregations:

“The sickly condition of so many Christians sets forth a lamentable complaint of the food with which they are supplied. To say nothing of strong meat, they do not even get milk. Hence the church of God too much resembles the wards of a children’s hospital.”

In contrast, I am pleased to report that during his recent visit to Nicaragua to launch the K2:42 program, Raydel was overwhelmed by the participants’ hunger for Scripture. We praise the Lord for the 30 churches EA is now ministering to through our local church partners, and pray that they too may “may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2).

Thank you for your faithful ongoing prayer and financial partnership with us.

[In my best Moses impression and courtesy of AI], “Now is the time to give!”

Not because there is a tax-deductible end-of-year deadline, or an opportunity for a matching gift, but because there is a critical need at this moment in EA’s 13-year history.  Which brings us to Moses…

Years ago, I was directed to Exodus 35-36, where God gives instructions at Mt. Sinai for the tabernacle to be built, via a free-will offering from the people:

“And the people came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments.” (Ex. 35:20-21)

The phrase, “whose heart was stirred,” literally means whose affections were set on the work.

“And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning.” (Ex. 36:3)

The detail that they continued bringing to Moses freewill offerings every morning, reinforces the fact that even willing hearts need to be told, “Now is the time to give!” Moses let them know, and the people responded.

“[The craftsman] said to Moses, ‘The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.’ So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, ‘Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.’ So the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.” (Ex. 36:4-7)

The late theologian G. Campbell Morgan commented on this passage, “When the heart is truly stirred, and the spirit makes willing, giving ceases to be calculating. Nothing is too precious to be given; no amount is too great.”

So, as you are able and your heart is stirred, please consider partnering with us financially in order that EA might have the resources “sufficient to do all the work, and more.”

My eldest daughter, Audrey, came on her first trip to the Dominican Republic at the age of 7. Over the years, she’s visited many times. Most recently, she returned this summer as a senior in college. As she leveraged her forthcoming degree in Communications and Spanish, accompanying me on various meetings and site visits, I was reminded again and again of her growth and the ministry’s growth over the years.

One moment in particular captured God’s grace in her life and the development of EA over time. As I watched Audrey interact with a visiting Nicaraguan pastor being trained that week to return to his country and facilitate our Church Network Development Program, I was reminded of the Apostle Paul’s statement, “…neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.” (1 Cor. 3:6-7)

Over the week, I reflected on God’s grace in Audrey’s maturation from that little girl to a young godly woman, and EA’s development to a ministry serving Christ’s Church in numerous countries, in both reach and depth that would have been unthinkable 13 years ago.

Thank you for your continued financial partnership.

Please keep in your prayers Pastor William, having returned to his country and implementing his training below.

Also, please pray for Audrey (and now our freshman Molly), as they return to Geneva College this week…and for our Emma, left behind with mom and dad.

At the request of our ministry partner, Phil Jeske of International Christian Ministries – Canada, Carlos Pimentel recently traveled to Magdeburg, Germany, to meet with ministry leaders from Russia, Germany, Poland, and Central Asia to encourage and speak to the remarkable impact of the Christian Leadership Academy curriculum within EA’s Church Network Development Program.

I am reminded of the Apostle Paul’s declaration in Romans 15:

“Therefore in Christ Jesus I have reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. For I will not be bold to speak of anything except what Christ has brought about through me, leading to the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and all around as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.” (Rom. 15:17-19)

Theologian Henry Morris commented,

“Paul will glory ONLY in what Christ has done THROUGH him. He is sure that Christ has done great things through him, and he is glad that he can draw attention to those things. But he is NOT trying to ATTRACT ADULATION. It is what CHRIST HAS DONE that is his theme.”

May that ever be true of EA’s ministry, and our personal lives as well: “…that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thess. 1:12)

Some of my fondest memories as a child involve our yearly treks to the beach. I would spend hours in the ocean. Often, when the surf was rough, over time, I would unknowingly be swept down the shore, prompting my parents to feverishly motion to me to return in front of them. Normally, the pull of the current would necessitate that I get out of the surf and walk along the beach.

Sadly, this is a fitting picture for many evangelical ministries today, having been “tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming” (Eph. 4:14). Willingly or, more often, unknowingly, the cultural tide with its redefined unbiblical definition of Christian love, and deceptive, interpretive gymnastics has washed them away from biblical orthodoxy, having been taken “captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, and not according to Christ” (Col. 2:8).

The solution for these ministries is three-fold. First, recognize how adrift you have become by heeding the impassioned calls for your return. Second, remove yourself from the current by assessing which siren calls of authors, associations, and admonitions have sent you awash. And finally, renew your commitment “to examine all things; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil” (2 Thess. 5:21-22). According to Francis Schaeffer, the result will be reformation, which is a return to the sound doctrine of the Bible, and revival, which is the practice of that sound doctrine under the power of the Holy Spirit.

Please continue to pray that EA would itself remain firmly anchored in Scripture and serve as an instrument of reformation and revival for God’s glory and the advancement of Christ’s Church.

And thank you for your continued prayer and financial partnership in this endeavor!

We are excited to have several visiting teams joining us in the coming months to both be a blessing, as they partner with the churches in the Dominican Republic, and be blessed, as they witness Christ’s Church at work, and co-labor with their global brothers and sisters in Christ.

• June 5-8        TruLife Church, FL
• June 21-27   Sterling Park Baptist Church, VA
• July 7-14        Apex Baptist Church, NC
• July 28-04     Immanuel Bible Church, VA
• Sept 25-28   Apex Baptist Church, NC

One of the gifts these trips afford Empowering Action is the ability to glorify the Lord by having individuals witness firsthand how God has graciously grown our ministry in the past 13 years. We can tell you how EA now serves Christ’s church in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and the Latino church in Ocala, Florida. However, interacting with ministry partners and participants in person is far more compelling and reflective of God’s mercy on our ministry.

Acts 15:12 describes how Barnabas and Paul conveyed to the early Church leadership what “God had done through them.”

One theologian noted, “It was a report not of their successes but of how God had acted.”

In other instances in Acts, the same phrase refers to what “God had done with them” (Acts 14:27; Acts 15:4).  However, in Acts 14:3, the description includes the phrase “with reliance on the Lord,” emphasizing that these missionaries were not superhuman but mere men, pliable, willing instruments in the hand of the Almighty God.

Pray that EA remains similarly pliable, willing instruments in the hand of Almighty God to serve Christ’s Church.

As you feel led and are able, please consider partnering with us financially during these most critical months of our financial year.

For the believer it is impossible to exaggerate 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.

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 and serve His Church together through Empowering Action.

Martin Luther once said, “The greatest and principal purpose of every church service is to preach and teach God’s Word.” Similarly, faithful biblical teaching is a thread that runs throughout all EA’s programs and efforts.

Earlier this year, we hosted the worship team from Immanuel Bible Church in Washington, DC, whose ministry included teaching the theology of worship.

Tom Pennington writes in Church Distinctives: Biblical Principles that Govern Faithful Churches:

“Scripture alone directs and informs the elements of our worship:

1. We sing the Scripture—we choose music rooted in the truth of God’s Word. (1 Cor. 14:15; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16)
2. We pray the Scripture—our prayers grow out of our response to the Scripture. (1 Tim. 2:1-8)
3. We read the Scripture. (1 Tim. 4:13)
4. We teach the Scripture. (2 Tim. 4:1-5; Titus 2:15)
5. We give our freewill offerings to see true scriptural worship supported and extended. (1 Cor. 16:1-4; Phil. 4:10-14)
6. We see the Scripture acted out in the signs or ceremonies of baptism and the Lord’s (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:38).”

As we partner with you, our faithful supporters, to serve Christ’s Church, rest assured that the supremacy and sufficiency of, and fidelity to, Scripture are foundational to all efforts.

These two pictures from separate graduations in the Dominican Republic this past week represent God’s Word at work. In both cases, the graduates are celebrating three months of study in inductive Bible study and Christian leadership.

Our thoughts echo these words of encouragement from the Apostle Paul to the church in Thessalonica,

“And for this reason we also thank God without ceasing that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also is at work in you who believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

We praise the Lord for moments like these, which remind us of His kindness in permitting us to participate in the equipping of His Church.

Hudson Taylor stated, “I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God: first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.”

The large-scale discipleship occurring today through EA’s four programs across numerous countries would have been unthinkable 12 years ago. Although it is often difficult, progress is being made by God’s grace and His provision.  

We thank you for your ongoing financial and prayer support of our all-important year-end campaign.