Hurricane Fiona Update

As we observe the following pictures, we get a sense of the damage and suffering caused by Hurricane Fiona for more than 8,000 families living on the east coastline of the Dominican Republic.

As in many other occasions, situations like this offer an opportunity for individuals to consider their lives and what is their personal relationship with their Creator and the Person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as they face the fragility of their earthy existence.

We thank the Lord that in the mist of these recent events we have seen the generosity of the people of the Dominican Republic in helping out as well we observed the rapid emergency response from our government authorities. This has been essential in preserving human life and material possessions and securing and restoring vital infrastructure.

We praise our Lord for the rapid response and care from our brethren from various local church bodies looking to serve and love their neighbors.

Our pastor network has reported that more that 2,000 homes in their area have been severely damaged, and the families have lost all their basic possessions. Also, reports show that all agriculture in the batey communities and plantain farms have been lost. We, as the EA family, are looking to coordinate with these churches to provide support to cover basic needs such as: roof repairs, temporary food provision, and health and hygiene necessities for the coming 3 months as families recover and go through the rehabilitation phase after a natural disaster such as this. Of course, we continue to offer our four foundational programs whose content serves in the immediate response and prepares Christ’s Church for such challenges in the future.

We cherish and request your continued prayer and financial support, which has enabled us to serve and glorify Christ in such a time as this (Esther 4:14).

Unity in the Gospel

Paul writes to the church in Philippi,

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. (Philippians 1:5)

James Montgomery Boice asserts that we do not know much about this church, but it would seem that there was little to bind them together by worldly standards. However, it was the fellowship of the gospel that unified them.

Boice states,

This must always be the bond between Christians. If you unite with other Christians on the basis of affluence, you will exclude the poor. If you unite along social issues, you will exclude those outside your own level of society, be it high or low. If you unite intellectually, you will exclude either the simple or the intelligent.  However, you do it, the witness of the church will suffer.  How thankful we must be that God did not establish the fellowship of his children along these lines.  Our fellowship is in the gospel of God.

This is a timely reminder as the toxic, divisive ideology of the world has crept into Christ’s church, professing to offer unity that is counter to Scripture.

Our fellowship is in the gospel.

The gospel that Paul so clearly defined for us,

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you–unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:1-4)

Octavius and Audrey

I was reading this past week through the book of Colossians where Paul described the Preeminence of Christ (Col 1:15-23), in response to a heresy threatening the church by denying the deity of Christ.

In the forefront of my mind were two things: the seemingly increasingly chaotic world around us, and the impending, emotional departure of our oldest child Audrey for college.

In studying the passage I ran across this quote from 19th century theologian Octavius Winslow, which I found extremely encouraging:

Living in a world of imperfection and change, we must expect nothing perfect, nothing stable, in what we are, in what we do, or in what we enjoy. But amid the dissolving views of the world that “passes away,” let us take firm hold of the unchangeableness of God. The wheels may revolve, but the axle on which they turn is immoveable. Such is our covenant God. Events may vary, providences may change, friends may die, feelings may fluctuate, but God in Christ will know “no variableness, neither the shadow of a turning.”

So amid the chaos and instability of our lives, look to Christ who is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, before all things, and in whom all things hold together” and who will “reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”

We covet your continued prayers for our EA ministry family, as well as the Husted family during this time of transition and growth.

The Faithfulness of Patience

Patience is vital to faithful ministry. Ask Adoniram Judson or William Carey who both labored over six years before their faithful ministry was rewarded. Or the prophet Jeremiah who saw no visible fruit after decades of ministry.

McKitterick (2020) cautions below regarding how impatience can cause even the best-intentioned servant to become unfaithful in their pursuit of being fruitful, while in the words of Hudson Taylor, “Attempting great things for God!”

We live in a society that expects everything now! We don’t like to wait for anything. You could say we live in a society of impatience. While this sin is concerning to the Lord in every believer’s life, its danger becomes exponentially greater when shepherding the church. Impatience illustrates an attempt to usurp the workings of God by taking matters into one’s own hands. Impatience can lead to rash decisions, manipulative leadership, and discontentment. It can frustrate the church by either dragging them along, or worse, running so far ahead that they are left in the dust. Impatience is often friends with irritability, anger, self-will, and other ministry crippling sins.

The team at Empowering Action is keenly aware of this danger. It wasn’t until our 8th year of ministry that our Savings Groups program was finally launched, which could have understandably resulted in frustration from staff members with both passion and proficiency in financial ministry. And yet after three years now and a slow methodical rollout we are grateful to the Lord for his acquiescence to be serving: 500 individuals at 25 churches in Haiti, 275 participants at 8 Haitian churches within the Dominican Republic, and 120 persons at 6 Dominican churches.

Faithfulness may require that we, as William Carey said, plod, while others foolishly rush ahead.

References:

McKitterick, J. (2020, July 21). Are we there yet? The need for patience in pastoral ministry. The Expositor’s Seminary. https://expositors.org/are-we-there-yet-the-need-for-patience-in-pastoral-ministry/

Praying for Emily, others and ourselves

As partners in ministry with our team, you may ask, “How can I pray specifically for the church leaders and community members being served through our efforts?” Individuals like Emily who shared her testimony recently of coming to Christ through participation in the Abundant Life Program.

The apostle Paul provides a wonderful template in 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, as you pray for Emily, your friends and family, and your own spiritual growth.

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul prays for two “means”, worthy walk and joyful service, leading to the “end” of glorifying Christ, which is the chief aim of man.

 Behavior Consistent with our Identity in Christ

“that our God may make you worthy of his calling”

 God takes sinners, worthy only of death (Rom. 1:32), and makes them worthy of His kingdom by imputing Christ’s positional righteousness to them (2 Cor. 5:21). However, Paul prayed that, beyond that amazing gift of grace, the Thessalonians would also prove worthy in practical righteousness through the sanctification of the Holy Spirit.

Delight in Serving the Lord

“and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power”

Emphasizing the contrast between guilt-induced duty and the inner delight that should characterize a Christian’s service, the late J. B. Lightfoot translated the phrase “delight in well-doing” as believers serve the Lord with gladness (Psalm 100:2).

As we become more like Christ through a worthy walk and joyful service, we become more deserving to bear His name, and he is glorified.

May that be our prayer for own lives and the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the globe today.

Ministry in Haiti

Last week members of our team spent some time in Haiti’s central plateau, following up with a ministry partner facilitating our Church Savings Group program. The smiles on the faces of Pastor Marino, Esperanza, and Johnson remind me of the joy that the Lord periodically provides us through the faithfulness of other believers.

 

You can sense such an overflowing joy in the words of the Apostle Paul to the church in Thessalonica as he struggled to adequately express to God the thanks which filled his heart:

 

“For what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God on your account.” (1 Thessalonians 3:9)

 

Legend has it that recognizing her husband Charles Haddon Spurgeon needed some encouragement during a tough stretch of ministry, Susannah Spurgeon posted a passage of Scripture on the ceiling directly above Charles’s side of the bed, so that every morning and evening the image was there to greet and encourage him.

 

Likewise, I pray this image is an encouragement to you today.

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).

Happy 5th Anniversary K:242!

Amid the rapid growth of early Christianity, the leadership of the Jerusalem church would send leaders to investigate remarkable developments:

  • “Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John.” (Acts 8:14)
  • “…a large number who believed turned to the Lord. The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch.” (Acts 11:21-22)

In a somewhat similar fashion, EA ministry partner, Precept Ministries International, has requested that our team travel to Guatemala to update the regional leadership regarding the growth of our K2:42 church network development program.

Recognizing that it is “God who causes the growth” (1 Cor. 3:7) and, as the great missionary George Muller said, “The Lord condescends to use us as His stewards,” we are excited to be able to share how God has graciously allowed us to minister to 5,314 students in the past 5 years, including 596 church leaders.

Please join us in praying for the upcoming trip in June that, like Barnabas, our visit would be an encouragement to “remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose” (Acts 11:23).

Additionally, the EA family has also experienced numerical growth with the addition of a few “gifts from the Lord” (Ps. 127:3). Join us in praising the Lord for blessing the family of Claudia Rodriguez with a beautiful daughter and the family of Pastor Elias with twins.