Unexpected

This abandoned property that we are fixing into a place for ministry brought us a surprise. We found unexpected fruit. Pray that we will see the same thing happen among people around us who have abandoned any idea of faith in Jesus. In this 2 1/2 minute video you can see what's been happening.

Let's pray together

Take 4 minutes to go on a prayer walk with me. This is the route that I take every day from our house to the ministry property. It is a time for praise and prayer. This is a time for pears and apples so let's have a pear-able with an apple-ication.

Looking for Elkanah and Hannah

Every summer we go through part of the Old Testament. On July 1 we began 1 Samuel. I am envious of Eli. How wonderful it would be to have a little boy (or girl) sent by God through their mother and father, and teach them. He would learn the Word of God with me. He would learn to prune the grapes and feed the sheep and gather the eggs. As a person called by God to be his messenger he wouldn't have to commit all the errors that some of us have committed. He would be a genuine apprentice and I would be fulfilling the mission of training others. We would help him to identify his spiritual gifts and help him with his homework as he attends the local school. He would be a prime object of our prayers and we would hope to see him develop a great ministry. That's what happened to Samuel when his mother dropped him off at the temple.

Looking at 5 years

I read once in a book by Ted Engstrom that we tend to overestimate what we can do in a year and underestimate what we can do in 5 years. Recently as Sharon and I were planning some church activities I remarked that this needs to be part of a 5-year goal. What does it involve for missionaries who've been plugging away for over 40 years to say, "We're embarking on a new 5-year plan"? What has brought us to this point?

Things we have learned - Long ago, hitchhiking from Vancouver to Prince George a truck driver who picked me up stopped at a cafe where I saw a plaque on the wall, Ve get too soon oldt und too late schmardt. But these years in Spain have taught us a few things like:

• Although I am called to teach, I get restless when we accumulate a lot of classroom knowledge without putting it into practice. That is why we have prayed continually for helpers, younger people who love the Lord and want to learn. But at the same time:
• We have been too ready to include anyone who shows up. Sharon would have been more cautious but I always hoped they would work out. As I shared some months ago people come with different motivations and sometimes think they don't need to learn, but are here to take over. Right now there's just the 2 of us, and that is a factor in taking a serioius look at the future.
• There are some really nice people who have rejected anything to do with historical Christianity. We have many friends like this, and long for their eyes to be opened. 
• Even though the majority of Spain's Catholic majority are not really practicing Catholics, there are many sincere seekers after God, doing everything that they are told to do by their leaders.

What we want to do different

• Go from friendships to purposeful sharing. Although in the past we have seen good results from friendship evangelism,  now we tell our friends, we would like to go to your place (or meet at ours), to share our faith. The response has been positive. 2 days ago we spent 2 hours at the home of a couple who are community leaders, each of us sharing our faith. Their "testimony" is that of belonging to a group of a few thousand people worldwide, who meet regularly and call themselves Christians.and never open the Bible. They use a consciousness-altering drink in a large group, to get in touch with the supernatural. The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who don't believe... Lord, open their eyes. I felt that the best thing to recommend at that point was that they become familiar with the gospel of John. We have a long list of people to visit.
• We still want people to come to live and work with us, but mainly as trainees, with a good recommendation. In the past this was not much of an option: for a :number of years sending countries quit recruiting for Operation Mobilization in Spain because of leadership problems at a national level. It was traumatic for us as well. Finally the international leadership had to oversee the necessary changes, and things are looking up. 
• Use the property that we have been fixing up, as a center for outreach activities. The goal is to be able to eventually own the property by offering time-shares to tourists and for it to become self-supporting. 
• Special emphasis on outreach to children: We start with activities that they will enjoy. There still is widespread prejudice against anything "Evangelical", and we must build confidence with children and their parents. 
• Recruit local youth to help with these activities. Hopefully this will serve to draw in a group of idealistic young people whom we can train and share the way of Christ. The project is called Caminos, or Paths. We hope to see many people turn to El Camino, La Verdad, y La Vida (The way, the truth and the life)
• Emphasize being Christians rather than any particular denomination. This morning as I listened to a preacher talk about John Wesley I thought again how beautiful it would be to have groups of Christians meeting in homes in all 20 of the towns in this district

What we want to do the same

• More than ever, do everything by prayer. You, our prayer partners, and we, could be in touch weekly, daily. 
• The gospel never changes. People will always need God and his forgiveness, 
• Be a witness by our lives. We have lost some ground recently in this area as people who came to work with us have decided to do their own thing in a way that seems to be competition. 
• Count on the work of the Holy Spirit, who will convict of sin and turn people to Jesus

Why we stay

We're still here because we're not finished. In 1968 we arrived in Madrid for a teaching job in a Bible School. When we left Madrid years later to come to Extremadura, a couple of my students at the Sefovan Bible College were the grandchildren of the family where I had given my first home Bible studies. None of our co-workers from that time remain in Spain. Unless you include John Blake of the Billy Graham Association, whom I helped by being available to show the old evangelistic movies in Madrid while he lived in Barcelona. John told me recently that at 78 he is still going strong, supervising 21 co-ordinators of the My Hope TV evangelistic campaign. Our co-worker Raúl is nearing 80, and carries a full load.

We're still here because we can't think of anything we would rather do than share the gospel with people who need salvation. And we have a vision to establish communication networks in which the gospel can travel effectively.

We're still here because we are in good health and still able to carry on, hopefully with increased effectiveness, the ministry that God gave us.

We're still here because no one has come to replace us.

We're still here because we like to visit our grandchildren in Spain. (Of course we also like to visit the ones in the U.S.)

What got me thinking along this line was that this morning a song came to my mind from back in the days at Prairie Bible Institute,

Sacred Trust

Where He leads me I will follow; oft I've sung it blessed Lord.

Oft I've said with heart o'er flowing, I would follow at Thy word.

Now I stand in holy wonder, hushed and awed by pow'r divine

Stand before an open gateway, with my hand still clasped in Thine.

Sacred trust, Oh blessed privilege

Theme befitting angel voice, yet to me the trust is given

Oh my soul rejoice, rejoice! 

When the God of all creation bids me go his love to tell

Naught in earth or heav'n can stay me; home and friends and all, farewell.

The kind of people God uses

There is no one that God can't use, from Pharaoh and Judas on up. Weak people like Peter, uncooperative people like Jonah. Old people like me (this does not include Sharon). Imperfect people. And, of course, he is continually refining us to make us more useful.

It looks like there will be 6 of us that God wants to make into a team in this town (still working with Raúl as well, 25 miles away): Pedro and Sandrine have moved from our place into an apartment in town, their first place of their own in 3 years of being married. Even though he doesn't like agricultural work, that seems to be what he has to do, at our project, being paid from church offerings. We appreciate that they are putting serving the Lord above other interests

On Saturday the 22nd Leo and Ivon will be moving here. Both of them have studied biology and are interested in an agricultural project that will glorify God. Their situation is complicated by the fact that their income comes from Ivon's job in Madrid, 3 hours away by bus. She is temporarily on sick leave with pregnancy complications.

This couple moved here from Colombia and found a church in their neighborhood pastored by our friends Bruce and Merly, who have been discipling them. They have taken whatever jobs were available and now hope to settle into long-term vocational ministry.

Both these ladies are expecting their first baby. This is going to be exciting. La Vera is a good place to start a family.

Why We Work

Extremadura has about a million inhabitants in over 300 towns. There are about 20 (non-Gypsy) Evangelical churches and about the same number (with greater membership) of Gypsy churches. Almost all the pastors of these 40 smallish churches are self-supporting. That is, except where there are missionary pastors, which comprise maybe 15% of the pastors.

We are known in our town as those Canadians who are trying to start a sustainable agricultural project and who talk about Jesus. Sharon and I are also known as English teachers and in some high schools I'm known as the guy who gives talks on sustainability. We don't use herbicide in our olive and fig orchards, for example.

Never have we had as many good friends among the unchurched as we do now. We invite people over and they invite us, and they share their struggles and goals. We accept the fact that their antagonism toward Christianity has built up over the years, (besides all of Spain's history, such as the Inquisition) and it will be a process for them to find their way to God. They need to see us as ordinary folks who deal with some of the same things that they deal with. For instance the drop in the price of figs this year. They also know that we have people in, that need help (See the 12 who have been with us). So that is Why We Work (our very own WWW. Gathering figs this morning, a job that I do mainly on my knees, gives me a chance to sing, along with co-workers Pedro and Leo, and also to review people's prayer needs. Sharon was cutting off suckers in the olive orchard. Join us in prayer that the gospel will spread, and that people's lives will be rescued and not wasted like when the fruit is not harvested.